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THE WORLD’S
Sixteen Crucified Saviors
OR,
Christianity before Christ
https://archive.org/details/worldssixteencru00grav_0
CONTAINING
NEW, STARTLING, AND EXTRAORDINARY REVELATIONS IN RELIGIOUS
HISTORY, WHICH DISCLOSE THE ORIENTAL ORIGIN OF ALL
THE DOCTRINES, PRINCIPLES, PRECEPTS,
AND MIRACLES OF THE
CHRISTIAN NEW TESTAMENT,
AND FURNISHING A KEY FOR UNLOCKING MANY
OF ITS SACRED MYSTERIES, BESIDES
COMPRISING THE
HISTORY OF SIXTEEN HEATHEN CRUCIFIED GODS,
BY
KERSEY GRAVES,
AUTHOR OF “ THE BIOGRAPHY OF SATAN,” AND “ THE BIBLE OF BIBLES,”
(COMPRISING A DESCRIPTION OF TWENTY BIBLES.)
SIXTH EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED.
BOSTON:
COLBY AND RICH, PUBLISHERS,
No. 9 Montgomery Peace.
1878.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 187§>
By LYDIA M. GRAVES,
111 the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
Stereotyped at the
Boston Stereotype Foundry, 19 Spring Lane,
an
G ^
/S7*
[ CONTENTS.
PREFACE...............
EXPLANATION.
INTRODUCTION.
ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY.
CHAPTER I.
_ Rival Claims of the Saviors. .
-J
t
CHAPTER II.
Messianic Prophecies.
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/»
5
CHAPTER III.
Prophecies by the Figure of a Serpent. • •
CHAPTER IV.
Miraculous and Immaculate Conception of the Gods.
CHAPTER V.
Virgin Mothers and Virgin-born Gods. • •
CHAPTER VI.
Stars point out the Time and the Saviors’ Birth-place.
CHAPTER VII.
Angels, Shepherds, and Magi visit the Infant Saviors.
OG
<CT-
CHAPTER VIII.
The Twenty-fifth of December the Birthday of the Gods.
CHAPTER IX.
Titles of the Saviors...............
o 8
VAGI
7
11
18
19
27
38
37
41
49
53
57
62
66
4
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
The Saviors op Royal Descent, but Humble Birth. • • 70
CHAPTER XI.
Christ’s Genealogy................................72
CHAPTER XII.
The World’s Saviors saved from Destruction in Infancy. 76
CHAPTER XIII.
The Saviors exhibit Early Proofs of Divinity. • • • 83
CHAPTER XIY.
The Saviors’ Kingdoms not of this World...........86
CHAPTER XY.
The Saviors are real Personages. • • • • • 88
CHAPTER XYI.
Sixteen Saviors Crucified..............................92
CHAPTER XYII.
The Aphanasia, or Darkness, at the Crucifixion. • . 120
CHAPTER XVIII.
Descent of the Saviors into Hell. • • • • • 126
CHAPTER XIX.
Resurrection of the Saviors...........................128
CHAPTER XX.
Reappearance and Ascension of the Saviors. • • . 135
CHAPTER XXI.
The Atonements its Oriental or Heathen Origin. . . 138
CHAPTER XXII.
The Holy Ghost of Oriental Origin.....................146
CONTEN TS.
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Divine “Word” of Oriental Origin............
CHAPTER XXIY.
The Trinity very anciently a current Heathen Doctrine.
CHAPTER XXV.
Absolution, or the Confession of Sins, of Heathen Origin.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Origin of Baptism by Water, Fire, Blood, and the Holy
Ghost...........................................
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Sacrament or Eucharist of Heathen Origin. •
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Anointing with Oil of Oriental Origin...........
CHAPTER XXIX.
How Men, including Jesus Christ, came to be worshiped
as Gods.........................................
CHAPTER XXX.
Sacred Cycles explaining the Advent of the Gods, the
Master-key to the Divinity of Jesus Christ. •
CHAPTER XXXI.
Christianity derived from Heathen and Oriental Systems.
CHAPTER XXXII.
Three Hundred and Forty-six striking Analogies between
Christ and Chrishna.............................
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Apollonius, Osiris, and Magus as Gods. . .
CHAPTER XXXIV.
5
157
162
166
168
175
178
180
197
20?
225
26 3
The Three Pillars of the Christian Faith — Miracles,
Prophecies, and Precepts..................................
273
6
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXXV.
Logical or Common-sense View op the Doctrine op Divine
Incarnation............................• • • 808
CHAPTER XXXVI,
Philosophical Absurdities op the Doctrine op the Divine
Incarnation.............................• 315
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Physiological Absurdities op the Doctrine op the Divine
Incarnation..............• • • • • 818
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
A Historical View op the Divinity op Jesus Christ. • . 822
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The Scriptural View op Christ’s Divinity. • • • • 327
CHAPTER XL.
A Metonymic View op the Divinity of Jesus Christ. • 339
CHAPTER XLI.
The Precepts and Practical Life op Jesus Christ. • • 342
CHAPTER XLII.
Christ as a Spiritual Medium.................... 357
CHAPTER XLIII.
Conversion, Repentance, and “Getting Religion” op Hea-
then Origin.................................. 359
CHAPTER XLIV.
The Moral Lessons op Religious History. • . . • 369
CHAPTER XLV.
Conclusion and Review.............................372
NOTE OF EXPLANATION.
378
PREFACE.
Inversely to the remoteness of time has been man’s
ascent toward the temple of knowledge. Truth has made
its ingress into the human mind in the ratio by which
man has attained the capacity to receive and appreciate
it. Hence, as we tread back the meandering pathway of
human history, every step in the receding process brings
us to a lower plane of intelligence and a state of mind
more thoroughly encrusted with ignorance and supersti-
tion. It is, therefore, no source of surprise to learn, when
we take a survey of the world two or three thousand years
in the past, that every religious writer of that era com-
mitted errors on every subject which employed his pen,
involving a scientific principle. Hence the bible, or
sacred book, to which he was a contributor, is now found
to bear the marks of human imperfection. For the temple
of knowledge was but partially reared, and its chambers
but dimly lighted up. The intellectual brain was in a dark,
feeble, and dormant condition. Hence the moral and reli-
gious feelings were drifted about without a pilot on the
turbulent waves of superstition, and finally stranded on
the shoals of bigotry. The Christian bible, like other
bibles, having been written in an age when science was
but budding into life, and philosophy had attained but a
7
8
PREFACE.
feeble growth, should be expected to teach many things
incompatible with the principles of modern science. And
accordingly it is found to contain, like other bibles, numer-
ous statements so obviously at war with present established
scientific truths that almost any school-boy, at the present
day, can demonstrate their falsity. Let the unbiased
reader examine and compare the oriental and Christian
bibles together, and he will note the following facts,
viz.: —
1. That the cardinal religious conceptions of all bibles
are essentially the same — all running in parable grooves.
2. That every chapter of every bible is but a transcript
of the mental chart of the writer.
3. That no bible, pagan or Christian, contains anything
surpassing the natural, mental, and moral capacity of the
writer to originate. And hence no divine aid or inspira-
tion was necessary for its production.
4. That the moral and religious teachings of no bible
reach a higher altitude than the intelligence and mental de-
velopment of the age and country which produced it.
5. That the Christian bible, in some respects, is superior
to some of the other bibles, but only to the extent to which
the age in which it was written was superior in intelli-
gence and natural mental capacity to the era in which the
older bibles were penned; and that this superiority con-
sists not in its more exalted religious conceptions, but only
in the fact that, being of more modern origin, the progress
of mind had worn away some of the legendary rubbish of
the past. Being written in a later and more enlightened
age, it is consequently a little less encrusted with mytho-
logical tradition and oriental imagery. Though not free
PREFACE.
9
from these elements, it possesses them in less degree. And
by comparing Christ’s history with those of the oriental
Gods, it will be found, —
1. That he taught no new doctrine or moral precept.
2. That he inculcated the same religion and morality,
which he elaborated, as other moral teachers, to great
extremes.
3. That Christ differs so little in his character, preach-
ing, and practical life from some of the oriental Gods, that
no person whose mind is not deplorably warped and biased
by early training can call one divine while he considers the
other human.
4. That if Christ was a God, then all were Gods.
THE AUTHOR.
Richmond, Indiana, 1875.
——
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
As but a few months have elapsed since the first edition of
this work was published, and a second edition is called for, the
author embraces the opportunity to lay before the reader a
few thoughts appertaining to the work. He desires, in the
first place, to say the work has been carefully reviewed and
corrected, and some additions made, embracing two chapters
from “the Bible of Bibles,” and some explanatory notes. Ow-
ing to the indisposition of the author at the time the work
went to press, the manuscripts were sent away in a somewhat
defective condition; so that the errors made by the copyist)
who transcribed most of them for the press, were not cor-
rected. And some errors also crept into the work through
the hands of the type-setters. These errors were so numer-
ous, they may have had the effect to create in some critical
10
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
minds an unfavorable impression with respect to the charactef
of the work. But the author has carefully examined the work
since it came from the press, and is now able to place before
the reader a greatly improved edition.
The author also desires to say here, that the many flatter-
ing letters he has received from various parts of the country,
from those who have supplied themselves with the work,
excites in his mind the hope it will ultimately effect something
towards achieving the important end sought to be attained by
its publication — the banishment of that wide-spread delusion
comprehended in the belief in an incarnate, virgin-born God,
called Jesus Christ, and the infallibility of his teachings, with
the numerous evils growing legitimately out of this belief—
among the most important of which is, its cramping effect
upon the mind of the possessor, which interdicts its growth,
and thus constitutes a serious obstacle to the progress both
of the individual and of society. And such has been the
blinding effect of this delusion upon all who have fallen vic-
tims to its influence, that the numerous errors and evils of our
popular system of religious faith, which constitute its legiti-
mate fruits, have passed from age to age, unnoticed by all
except scientific and progressive minds, who are constantly
bringing these errors and evils to light. This state of things
has been a source of sorrow and regret to every philanthropist
desiring the welfare of the race. And if this wrork shall
achieve anything towards arresting this great evil, the author
will feel that he is amply compensated for the years of toil
and mental labor spent in its preparation.
Note. — As the different works consulted hare assigned different dates
for the same event, the author has, in one or two cases, followed their
example, accepting them as authority; as in the date of the birth and
death of the Gods of Mexico. The reader will also notice that the name
of the same God is found in different countries. Example — Adonis and
Bacchus are found amongst the Gods of both Greece and Egypt.
EXPLANATION.
* The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors.” What an
imposing title for a book ! What startling developments of
religious history it implies ! Is it founded on fact or on
fiction ? If it has a basis of truth, where was such an
extraordinary mine of sacred lore discovered? Where
were such startling facts obtained as the title of the work
suggests. These queries will doubtless arise as soliloquies
in the minds of many readers on glancing at the title-page.
And the author is disposed to gratify this natural and most
probable, in some cases, excited curiosity by a brief expla-
nation. In doing this, he deems it only necessary to state
that many of the most important facts collated in this work
were derived from Sir Godfrey Higgins’ Anacalypsis, a
work as valuable as it is rare — a work comprising the
result of twenty years’ labor, devoted to the investigation
of religious history. And although embodying many im-
portant historical facts which should have commanded for
it a world-wide circulation, but a few copies of this invalu-
able treasury of religious knowledge have ever found their
way into this country. One of these copies the author of
this work obtained, at no inconsiderable expense, long
enough to glean from its pages such facts as he presumed
would be most interesting and instructive to the general
reader, some of which will be found in nearly every
chapter of this volume. With the facts and materials
derived from this source, and 200 other unimpeachable
historical records, the present work might have been
swelled to fourfold its present size without exhausting
ll
12
EXPLANATION.
tho author’s ample store of materials and would have
possessed such unwieldy dimensions but for a strict con-
formity to the most rigid rules of eclecticism and con-
densation. A portion of the excluded materials, however,
will be found in another volume now nearly ready for the
press. In the author’s two works just noticed, the claims
of Christianity are presented and contested upon an en-
tirely new ground — that of their historical verity, differing
in this respect from any work heretofore published, ex-
cepting a few brief essays which cover a portion of the
ground only. Encouraged by the extensive demand for
his former work, “ The Biography of Satan,” which has
passed through seven editions, the author cherishes the
hope that the present work will meet with a circulation
commensurate with the importance of the many invaluable
facts which it contains. For he possesses the sad convic-
tion that the many religious errors and evils which it is
the object of this work to expose, operate very seriously
to retard the moral and intellectual growth and prosperity
of all Christian countries. They have the effect to injure
mentally, morally, and religiously the great body of Chris-
tian professors.
JK3T Dr. Prince, of Long Island (now deceased), wrote
to the author, respecting the thirty-fifth chapter of this
work, entitled “The Logical View of the Incarnation,”
after he had seen it in the columns of a newspaper, “ It is
a masterly piece of logic, and will startle, if it does not
revolutionize, the orthodox world. And the chapters com-
prising ( The Philosophical View ’ and 1 The Physiological
View,’ were afterward pronounced specimens of profound
and unanswerable logical reasoning,” We thus call the
reader’s attention to these chapters in advance, in order
to induce that thorough attention to their facts and argu-
ments which will result in banishing from his mind the last
vestiges of a belief (if he entertain any) in the doctrine of
the divine incarnation.
INTRODUCTION.
-
Important Facts constituting the Basis op this Work,
Ignorance of science and ignorance of history are the
two great bulwarks of religious error. There is scarcely
a tenet of religious faith now propagated to the world by
the professed disciples of Christ but that, if subjected to a
rigid test in the ordeal of modern science, would be found
to contain more or less error. Vast acquisitions have been
made in the fields of science and history within the last
half century, the moral lessons of which have done much
to undermine and unsettle our popular system of religious
faith, and to bring into disrepute or effectually change
many of its long-cherished dogmas. The scientific and
historical facts thus brought before the intelligent public,
have served as keys for explaining many of the doctrines
comprised in the popular creed. They have poured a flood
of light upon our whole system of religion as now taught
by its popular representatives, which have had the effect
to reveal many of its errors to those who have had the
temerity, or the curiosity, to investigate it upon these
grounds. Many of the doctrines and miraculous events
which have always been assigned a divine emanation by
the disciples of the Christian faith, are, by these scientific
and historical disclosures, shown to be explainable upon
natural grounds, and to have exclusively a natural basis.
13
u
INTRO D UCTION
Some of them are shown to be solvable by recently de-
veloped spiritual laws, while others are proven to be
founded wholly in error. The intelligent community are
now acquainted with many of these important facts, so
that no man of science can be found in this enlightened
age who can popularly be termed a Christian. No man
can be found in any Christian country who has the estab-
lished reputation of being a man of science, or who has made
any proficiency in the whole curriculum of the sciences,
whose creed, when examined by an orthodox committee,
would not be pronounced unsound. It is true that many
of the scientific class, not possessing the conviction that
duty imposes the moral necessity of making living martyrs
of themselves, have refrained from fully avowing or dis-
closing to the public their real convictions of the popular
faith. The changes and improvements in religious ideas
now observable in the most intelligent portion of the com-
munity, are due in part to the rapid progress of scientific
discovery and the dissemination of scientific knowledge in
Christian countries. The explorer in the field of religious
history, however, comes in here for his meed of praise.
New stores of historic facts and data may be reckoned
among the recent acquisitions of the laborious archeolo-
gist; new fountains of religious history have recently
been unsealed, which have had the effect to reveal many
errors and false claims set up for the current religion of
Christendom — a religion long regarded as settled and
stereotyped. For many centuries subsequent to the estab-
lishment of the Christian religion but little was known by
its disciples of the character, claims, and doctrines of the
oriental systems of worship. These religions, in fact, were
scarcely known to exist, because they had long been vailed
in secrecy. They were found, in some cases, enshrined in
religious books printed or written in a language so very
ancient and obscure, as to bid defiance for centuries to
INTRODUCTION.
15
the labors of the most indefatigable, profound, and erudite
archeological scholar to decipher it. That obstacle is now
partially surmounted. The recent translation for the first
time of the Hindoo Ye das into the English language (the
oldest bible now extant or ever written) has revealed to
the unwelcome gaze of the Christian reader the startling
fact that “ the heathen ” had long been in possession of
“ holy books,” possessing essentially the same character,
and teaching essentially the same doctrines, as the Christian
bible — there being, as Horace Greeley expresses it, “ no
doctrine of Christianity but what has been anticipated by
the Vedas.” (See Yol. II. Chap. 1, of this work.) If, then,
this heathen bible (compiled, according to the Christian
missionary Rev. D. 0. Allen, 1400 B. C.) contains all the
doctrines of Christianity, then away goes over the dam all
claim for the Christian bible as an original revelation, or
a work of divine inspiration. Bibles are thus shown to be
of heathen and human origin, instead of heavenly and divine
authorship, as claimed for them by their respective dis-
ciples — the Christian bible forming no exception to this
statement. The latter, being essentially like other bibles,
it must, of course, have had the same or a similar origin
— a fact which, though it may be new and startling to
millions, will be universally accepted as truth before the
lapse of many generations, and a fact which confronts with
open denial the claims of two hundred millions of Christian
professors, who assert with unscrupulous boldness that
every doctrine, principle, and precept of their bible is of
divine emanation. How utterly groundless and untenable
is such a claim when arranged by the side of modern dis-
coveries in religious history! Equally unsupportable is
the declaration that i: there is no other name given under
heaven whereby men can be saved, than that of Jesus
Christ and him crucified,” when viewed in the light of the
modern explorations of Sir Godfrey Higgins, which have
16
INTRODUCTION,
disclosed the history of nearly a score of crucified Gods,
and sin-atoning Saviors, who, we have equal proof, died
for the sins of mankind. Thus the two prime articles of
the Christian faith — Revelation and Crucifixion — are for-
ever established as human and heathen conceptions. And
the hope might be reasonably entertained that the impor-
tant historical facts disclosed in this work will have the
effect to open the eyes of the professors of the Christian
religion to see their serious error in putting forth such
exalted claims for their bible and their religion as that of
being perfect products of infinite wisdom, did not the
past history of all religious countries furnish sad proof
that reason and logic, and even the most cogent and con-
vincing facts of science and history, often prove powerless
when arrayed against a religious conviction, enstamped
upon the mind for thousands of years in the past, and
transmitted from parent to child until it has grown to a
colossal stature, and become a part of the living tissues of
the soul. No matter how glaringly absurd, how palpably
erroneous, or how demonstrably false an opinion or doc-
trine is shown to be, they cannot see it, but will still con-
tinue to hug it to their bosoms as a divinely-revealed
truth. No facts or evidence can prove an overmatch for
the inherited convictions of a thousand generations. In
this respect the Mahomedan, the Hindoo, and the Chris-
tian, all stand upon a level. It is about as easy to con-
< vince one as the other of their easily-demonstrated errors.
Religion op Natural Origin.
Among the numerous errors traceable in the history of
every religious sect, commemorated in the annals of the
world, none possesses a more serious character, or has been
attended with more deplorable consequences, than that of
assigning a wrong origin to religion. Every bible, every
INTRODUCTION.
17
sect, every creed, every catechism, and every orthodox
sermon teaches that u religion is the gift of God,” that
it is infused into the soul by the spirit and power of the
Lord.” Never was a greater mistake ever committed.
Every student of anthropology, every person who has
read any of the numerous modern works on mental sci-
ence, and tested their easily-demonstrated facts, knows
that religion is of natural, and not supernatural, origin;
that it is a natural element of the human mind, and not a
u direct gift from God;11 that it grows as spontaneously
out of the soul as flowers spring out of the ground. It is
as natural as eating, sleeping, or breathing. This conclu-
sion is not the offspring of mere imagination. It is no
hastily-concocted theory, but an oft-demonstrated and
scientifically-established fact, which any person can test
the truth of for himself. And this modern discovery will,
at no distant day, revolutionize all systems of religious faith
in existence, and either dissolve and dissipate them, or
modify and establish them upon a more natural and endur-
ing basis, expurgated of their dogmatic errors. Let us,
then, labor to banish the wide-spread delusion, believed
and taught by a thousand systems of worship — Jew, Pa-
gan, and Christian — that u religion is of supernatural or
divine origin,” and the many ruinous errors, senseless
dogmas, and deplorable soul-crushing superstitions so
thoroughly inwrought into the Christian system, will
vanish like fog before the morning sun, and be replaced
by a religion which sensible, intelligent, and scientific
men and women can accept, and will delight to honor and
practice.
2
ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY.
Friends and brethren — teachers of the Christian faith:
Will yon believe ns when we tell yon the divine claims of
yonr religion are gone — all swept away by the “ logic of
history,” and nullified by the demonstrations of science?
The recently opened fountains of historic lore, many of
whose potent facts will be found interspersed through the
pages of this work, sweep away the last inch of ground
on which can be predicated the least show for either the
divine origin of the Christian religion, or the divinity of
Jesus Christ. For these facts demonstrate beyond all
cavil and criticism, and with a logical force which can
leave not the vestige of a doubt upon any unbiased mind,
that all its doctrines are an outgrowth from older heathen
systems. Several systems of religion essentially the same
in character and spirit as that religion now known as Chris-
tianity, and setting forth the same doctrines, principles,
and precepts, and several personages filling a chapter in
history almost identical with that of Jesus Christ, it is
now known to those who are up with the discoveries and
intelligence of the age, were venerated in the East cen-
turies before a religion called Christian, or a personage
called Jesus Christ, were known to history. Will you
not, then, give it up that your religion is merely a human
production, reconstructed from heathen materials, — from
oriental systems several thousand years older than yours,
— or will you continue, in spite of the unanimous and
19
20
ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY.
unalterable verdict of history, science, facts, and logic, U
proclaim to the world the now historically demonstrated
error which you have so long preached, that God is the
author of your religion, and Jesus Christ a Deity-begotten
Messiah? Though you may have heretofore honestly
believed these doctrines to be true, you can now no longer
plead ignorance as an excuse for propagating such gigantic
and serious errors, as they are now overwhelmingly demon-
strated by a thousand facts of history to be untrue. You
must abandon such exalted claims for your religion, or pos-
terity will mark you as being “ blind leaders of the blind.”
They will heap upon your honored names their unmitigated
ridicule and condemnation. They will charge you as being
eilher deplorably ignorant, or disloyal to the cause of truth.
And shame and ignominy will be your portion. The fol-
lowing propositions (fatal to your claims for Christianity)
are established beyond confutation by the historical facts
cited in this work, viz.: —
1. There were many cases of the miraculous birth of
Gods reported in history before the case of Jesus Christ.
2. Also many other cases of Gods being born of virgin
mothers.
3. Many of these Gods, like Christ, were (reputedly)
born on the 25th of December.
4. Their advent into the world, like that of Jesus Christ,
is in many cases claimed to have been foretold by “ in-
spired prophets.”
5. Stars figured at the birth of several of them, as in the
case of Christ.
6. Also angels, shepherds, and magi, or “ wise men.”
7. Many of them, like Christ, were claimed to be of royal
or princely descent.
8. Their lives, like his, were also threatened in infancy
by the ruler of the country.
9. Several of them, like him, gave early proof of divinity
ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY.
21
10. And,' like him, retired from the world and fasted.
11. Also, like him, declared, “ My kingdom is not of this
world.”
12. Some of them preached a spiritual religion, too,
like his.
13. And were “ anointed with oil,” like him.
14. Many of them, like him, were “ crucified for the sins
of the world.”
15. And after three days7 interment “ rose from the dead.”
16. And finally, like him, are reported as ascending hack
to heaven.
17. The same violent convulsions of nature at the cruci-
fixion of several are reported.
18. They wefe nearly all called “ Saviors/7 “ Son of God,77
“ Messiah,” “ Redeemer/7 “ Lord,” &c.
19. Each one was the second member of the trinity of
“ Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.77
20. The doctrines of “ Original Sin/7 u Fall of Man/7
“ The Atonement/7 “ The Trinity,” “ The Word/7 “ For-
giveness/7 “ An angry God/7 “ Future Endless Punish-
ment/7 &c., &c. (see the authors “ Biogrophy of Satan ”),
were a part of the religion of each of these sin-atoning
Gods, as found set forth in several oriental bibles and
“ holy books/7 similar in character and spirit to the Chris-
tian’s bible, and written, like it,by “inspired and holy men”
before the time of either Christ or Moses (before Moses, in
some cases, at least). All these doctrines and declara-
tions, and many others not here enumerated, the histori-
cal citations of this work abundantly prove, were taught
in various oriental heathen nations centuries before the
birth of Christ, or before Christianity, as a religion, was
known in the world. Will you, then, after learning these
facts, longer dare assert that Christianity is of divine
emanation, or claim a special divine paternity for its
author. Only the priest, who loves his salary more than
22
ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY.
the cause of truth (and I fear this class are nutnerous), or
who is deplorably ignorant of history, will have the ef-
frontery or audacity to do so. For the historical facts
herein set forth as clearly prove such assumptions to be
false, as figures can demonstrate the truth of any mathe-
matical problem. And no logic can overthrow, and no
sophistry can set aside, these facts. They will stand till
the end of time in spite of your efforts either to evade,
ignore, or invalidate them. We will here briefly state
Why all the Ancient Religions were alike.
Two causes are obviously assignable for Christianity in
all its essential features and phases, being so strikingly
similar to the ancient pagan systems which preceded it,
as also the close analogies of all the principal systems,
whose doctrines and practical teachings have found a place
on the page of history.
1. The primary and constituent elements and properties
of human nature being essentially the same in all countries
and "&11 centuries, and the feeling called Religion being a
spontaneous outgrowth of the devotional elements of the
human mind, the coincidence would naturally produce
similar feelings, similar thoughts, similar views, and simi-
lar doctrines on the subject of religion in different coun-
tries, however widely separated. This accounts in part
for the analogous features observable in all the primary
systems of religious faith, which have flourished in the past
ages.
2. A more potent cause, however, for the proximate
identity extending to such an elaborate detail, as is
evinced by the foregoing schedule, is found in the histori-
cal incident which brought the disciples of the various
systems of worship together, face to face, in the then
grand religious emporium of the world — the royal and
ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY.
23
renowned city of Alexandria, the capital of Egypt. Here,
drawn together by various motives and influences, the
devotee of India (the devout disciple of Buddhism), the
ever-prayerful worshiper of u Mithra, the Mediator/7 the
representatives of the crucified Quexalcoate of Mexico, the
self-denying Essene, the superstitious Egyptian, the godly
Chaldean, the imitative Judean founders of Christianity,
and the disciples of other sin-atoning Gods, met and inter-
changed ideas, discussed their various dogmas, remolded
their doctrines, and recast and rehabilitated their systems
of religious faith by borrowing from each other, and from
other systems there represented. In this way all became
remarkably similar and alike in all their doctrines and de-
tails. And thus the mystery is solved, and the singular
resemblance of all the ancient systems of religion satis-
factorily accounted for. (For a fuller explanation of this
matter see Chapters XXX. and XXXI. of this work.) In
conclusion please note the following points : —
-
1. The religious conceptions of the Old Testament are
as easily traced to heathen sources as those of the New
Testament. But we are compelled to exclude such an ex-
position from this work.
2. The comparative exhibition of the doctrines and
teachings of twenty bibles which proves them to be in
their leading features essentially alike (originally designed
for this volume), is found to be, when completed, of suf-
ficient magnitude to constitute a volume of itself.
3. Here I desire to impress upon the minds of my cleri-
cal brethren the important fact, that the gospel histories
of Christ were written by men who had formerly been
Jews (see Acts xxi. 20), and probably possessing the
strong proclivity to imitate and borrow which their bible
shows was characteristic of that nation; and being written
many years after Christ’s death, according to that standard
Christian author, Dr. Lardner, it was impossible, under such
24
ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY.
circumstances, for them to separater.(if they had desired to)
the real facts and events of his life from the innumerable
fictions and fables then afloat everywhere relative to the
heathen Gods who had pre-enacted a similar history. Two
reasons are thus furnished for their constructing a history
of Christ almost identical with that of other Gods, as shown
in Chapters XXX., XXXI., and XXXII. of this work.
4. The singular and senseless defense of your now tot-
tering system we have known to be attempted by mem-
bers of your order, by the self-complacent soliloquy u Chris-
tianity, whether divine or human, is good enough for me.”
But such a subterfuge betrays both a weak mind and a
weak cause. The disciples of all the oriental systems
cherished a similar feeling and a similar sentiment. And
the deluded followers of Brigham Young exclaim in
like manner, u I want nothing better than Mormonism.”
“ Snakes, lizards, and frogs are good enough for me,” a
South Sea Islander once exclaimed to a missionary, when
a reform diet was proposed. Such logic, if universally
adopted, would keep the world eternally in barbarism.
No progress can be made where such sentiments prevail.
The truth is, no system of religion, whatever its ostensible
marks of perfection, can long remain “ good enough ” for
aspiring and progressive minds, unless occasionally im-
proved, like other institutions. And then it should be
borne in mind, that our controversy does not appertain
so much to the character as to the origin of the Christian
religion. Our many incontrovertible proofs, that it is of
human and heathen origin, proves at the same time that it
is an imperfect system, and as such needing occasional im-
provement, like other institutions. And its assumed per-
fection and divine origin, which have always guarded it
from improvement, amply accounts for its present corrupt,
immoral, declining, and dying condition, which a recent
number of Zion’s Watchman proclaims is now its real
ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY.
25
condition. And it will ere long die with paralysis, unless
its assumption of divine perfection is soon exchanged for
the principles of improvement and reconstruction. This
policy alone can save it.
5. We will here notice another feeble, futile, and foolish
expedient we have known resorted to by persons of your
order to save your sinking cause when the evidence is
presented with such cogency as to admit of no disproof,
that all the important doctrines of Christianity were taught
by older heathen systems before the era of Christ. The
plea is, that those systems were mere types, or ante-types,
of the Christian religion. But this plea is of itself a bor-
rowed subterfuge of heathenism, and is moreover devoid
of evidence. The ancient Egyptians, also the Greeks,
claimed that Brahminism was a type, or ante-type, of their
religious systems. And Mahomedans now claim that
both Judaism and Christianity were designed by God as
foreshadowing types of the religion of the Koran. And
the disciples of more than a thousand systems of religion
which have flourished in past ages, could have made such
logic equally available in showing, in each case, that every
system preceding theirs was designed by Infinite Wisdom
as simply a typical or ante-typical forerunner of theirs.
How ridiculous and senseless, therefore, is the argument
thus shown to be when critically examined in the light of
history ! so much so as scarcely to merit a serious notice.
6. Here permit us to say that we believe Christianity to
be not only of human origin, but of natural origin also;
that is, a natural outgrowth, like other systems, of the reli-
gious elements of the human mind — a hypothesis which
accounts most beautifully for the numerous human imper-
fections now visible in nearly every line of its teachings.
Those imperfections correspond exactly to the imperfect
minds which produced it.
7. And we believe that the principal teacher of Chris*
26
ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY.
tianity, “ the man Christ Jesus,” possessed a very exalted
and superior mind for that age in the moral and religious
departments, and in the intellectual to some exteht also.
But his superiority in these respects was not probably
greater than that of Jenny Lind’s of the present age in the
musical department, or than those of Zera Colburn or Henry
Safford in the mathematical department. And all proba-
bly derived their peculiar extraordinary traits of mind
from the same causes — that of strong psychological in-
fluence impressed upon the mind of the mothers prior to
their births. Had these ante-natal influences been as well
understood then as now, we presume Christ would have
escaped the fate of an exaltation to the Godhead.
8. In conclusion, permit us to say that the numerous and
overwhelming facts of this work render it utterly impos-
sible that the exalted claims you put forth for your religion
and its assumed author (that of a divine character) can be
true. And posterity will so decide, whether you do or
not. Cherishing for you naught but feelings of kindness
and brotherly love, and desiring to promote the truth, we
will answer any question, or discuss any proposition em-
braced in this work you may desire.
Your brother,
Kersey Graves.
Richmond, Indiana, 1875.
THE WORLD’S
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS.
CHAPTER 1/
RIVAL'CLAIMS OF THE SAVIORS.
It is claimed by the disciples of Jesus Christ, that he was of
supernatural and divine origin ; that he had a human being for
a mother, and a God for his father; that, although he was
woman-conceived, he was Deity-begotten, and molded in the
human form, but comprehending in essence a full measure of
the infinite Godhead; thus making him half human and half
divine in his sublunary origin. It is claimed that he was full
and perfect God, and perfect man; and while he was God, he
was also the son of God, and as such was sent down by his
father to save a fallen and guilty world; and that thus his
mission pertained to the whole human race; and his inspired
seers are made to declare that ultimately every nation, tongue,
kindred, and people under heaven will acknowledge allegiance
to his government, and concede his right to reign, and rule the
world; that “every knee must bow, and every tongue confess
that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
But we do not find that this prophecy has ever been or is
likely to be fulfilled. We do not observe that this claim to the
infinite deityship of Jesus Christ has been or is likely to be
universally conceded. On the contrary, it is found that by a
27
23
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
portion, and a large portion of the people of even those nations
now called Christian, this claim has been steadily and unswerv-
ingly controverted, through the whole line of history, stretch-
ing through the nearly two thousand years which have elapsed
since his advent to earth. Even some of those who are rep-
resented to have been personally acquainted with him—ay!
some of his own brethren in the flesh, children in the same
household, children of the same mother — had the temerity
to question the tenableness of his claim to a divine emana-
tion. And when we extend our researches to other countries,
we find this claim, so far from being conceded, is denied and
contested by whole nations upon other grounds. It is met and
confronted by rival claims. Upon this ground hundreds of
millions of the established believers in divine revelation — hun-
dreds of millions of believers in the divine character and origin
of religion — reject the pretensions set up for Jesus Christ.
They admit both a God and a Savior, but do not accept Jesus
of Nazareth as being either. They admit a Messiah, but not
the Messiah: these nations contend that the title is misplaced
which makes “the man Christ Jesus” the Savior of the world.
They claim to have been honored with the birth of the true
Savior among them, and defend this claim upon the ground of
priority of date. They aver that the advent of their Messiahs
were long prior to that of the Christians’, and that this circum-
stance adjudicates for them a superiority of claim as to having
had the true Messiah born upon their soil. It is argued that,
as the story of the incarnation of the Christians’ Savior is of
more recent date than that of these oriental and ancient reli-
gions (as is conceded by Christians themselves), the origin of
the former is thus indicated and foreshadowed as being an
outgrowth from, if not a plagiarism upon, the latter — a bor-
rowed copy, of which the pagan stories furnish the original.
Here, then, we observe a rivalship of claims, as to which of
the remarkable personages who have figured in the world as
Saviors, Messiahs, and Sons of God, in different ages and differ-
ent countries, can be considered the true Savior and “ sent of
God;” or whether all should be, or the claims of all rejected.
For researches into oriental history reveal the remarkable
RIVAL CLAIMS OF THE SAVIORS.
2S
fact that stories of incarnate Gods answering to and resem-
bling the miraculous character of Jesus Christ have been prev-
alent in most if not all the principal religious heathen nations
of antiquity; and the accounts and narrations of some of these
deific incarnations bear such a striking resemblance to that of
the Christian Savior, — not only in their general features, but in
some cases in the most minute details, from the legend of the
immaculate conception to that of the crucifixion, and subse-
quent ascension into heaven, — that one might almost be mis-
taken for the other.
More than twenty claims of this kind — claims of beings in-
vested with divine honor (deified) — have come forward and
presented themselves at the bar of the world with their creden-
tials, to contest the verdict of Christendom, in having pro-
claimed Jesus Christ, “ the only son, and sent of God twen-
ty Messiahs, Saviors, and Sons of God, according to history or
tradition, have, in past times, descended from heaven, and
taken upon themselves the form of men, clothing themselves
with human flesh, and furnishing incontestable evidence of a
divine :rigin, by various miracles, marvelous works, and super-
lative virtues; and finally these twenty Jesus Christs (accepting
their character for the name) laid the foundation for the salva-
tion of the world, and ascended back to heaven.
1. Chrishna of Hindostan.
2. Budha Sakia of India.
3. Salivahana of Bermuda.
4. Zulis, or Zhule, also Osiris
and Orus, of Egypt.
5. Odin of the Scandinavi-
ans.
6. Crite of Chaldea.
7. Zoroaster and Mithra of
Persia.
8* Baal and Taut, “ the only
Begotten of God,” of
Phenicia.
9. Indra of Thibet.
10. Bali of Afghanistan.
11. Jao of Nepaul.
12. Wittoba of the Bilingo-
nese.
13. Thammuz of Syria.
14. Atys of Phrygia.
15. Xamolxis of Thrace.
16. Zoar of the Bonzes.
17. Adad of Assyria.
18. Deva Tat, and Sammono-
cadam of Siam.
19. Alcides of Thebes.
20. Mikado of the Sintoos.
21. Beddru of Japan.
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
30
*
22. Hesus or Eros, and Brem-
rillah, of the Druids.
23. Thor, son of Odin, of the
Gauls.
24. Cadmus of Greece.
25. Hil and Feta of the Man-
dates.
26. Gentaut and Quexalcote
of Mexico.
27. Universal Monarch of the
Sibyls.
28. Ischy of the Island }f For
mosa.
29. Divine Teacher of Plato.
30. Holy One of Xaca
31. Fohi and Tien of China.
32. Adonis, son of the virgin
Io of Greece.
33. Ixion and Quirinus of
Rome.
34. Prometheus of Caucasus.
35. Mohamud, or Mahomet, of
Arabia.
These have all received divine honors, have nearly all been
worshiped as Gods, or sons of God ; were mostly incarnated as
Christs, Saviors, Messiahs, or Mediators; not a few of them were
reputedly born of virgins; some of them filling a character almost
identical with that ascribed by the Christian’s bible to Jesus
Christ; many of them, like him, are reported to have been cruci-
fied ; and all of them, taken together, furnish a prototype and par-
allel for nearly every important incident and wonder-inciting
miracle, doctrine, and precept recorded in the New Testament,
of the Christian’s Savior. Surely with so many Saviors the
world cannot, or should not, be lost. We have now presented
before us a twofold ground for doubting and disputing the claims
put forth by the Christian world in behalf of “ Our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.” In the first place, allowing the question
to be answered in the affirmative as to whether he was really a
Savior, or supernatural being, or more than a mere man, a neg-
ative answer to which seems to have been sprung (as pre-
viously intimated) at the very hour of his birth, and that by
his kindred, his own nearest relatives; as it is declared,
“his own brethren did not believe on him,” — a skepticism
which has been growing deeper and broader from that day
to this.
And now, upon the heel of this question, we find another
formidable query to be met and answered, viz.: Was he (Christ)
RIVAL CLAIMS OF THE SAVIORS. 3i
the only Savior, seeing that a multitude of similar claims are
no\v upon our council-board to be disposed of?
We shall, however, leave the theologians of the various reli-
gious schools to adjust and settle this difficulty among them-
selves. We shall leave them to settle the question as best they
can as to whether Jesus Christ was the only son and sent of
God —“the only begotten of the Father,” as John declares
him to be (John i. 14) — in view of the fact that long prior to
his time various personages, in different nations, were invested
with the title, “ Son of God,” and have left behind them sim-
ilar proofs and credentials of the justness of their claims to
such a title, if being essentially alike — as we shall prove and
demonstrate them to be — can make their claims similar. We
shall present an array of facts and historical proofs, drawn from
numerous histories and the Holy Scriptures and bibles apper-
taining to these various Saviors, and which include a history of
their lives and doctrines, that will go to show that in nearly all
their leading features, and mostly even in their details, they are
strikingly similar.
A comparison, or parallel view, extended throughout their
sacred histories, so as to include an exhibition presented in par-
allels of the teachings of their respective bibles, would make it
clearly manifest that, with respect to nearly every important
thought, deed, word, action, doctrine, principle, precept, tenet,
ritual, ordinance, or ceremony, and even the various important
characters or personages, who figure in their religious dramas
as Saviors, prophets, apostles, angels, devils, demons, exalted or
fallen genii — in a word, nearly every miraculous or marvel-
ous story, moral precept, or tenet of religious faith, noticed in
either the Old or New Testament Scriptures of Christendom,
— from the Jewish cosmogony, or story of creation in Genesis,
to the last legendary tale in St. John’s “ Arabian Nights ” (alias
the Apocalypse), — there is to be found an antitype for, or
outline of, somewhere in the sacred records or bibles of the ori-
ental heathen nations, making equal if not higher pretension to
a divine emanation and divine inspiration, and admitted by all
historians, even the most orthodox, to be of much more ancient
date \ for while Christians only claim, for the earthly advent
32
-
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
of their Savior and the birth of their religion, a period less than
nineteen hundred years in the past, on the contrary, most of
the deific or divine incarnations of the heathen and theii
respective religions are, by the concurrent and united verdict
of all history, assigned a date several hundred or several thou-
sand years earlier, thus leaving the inference patent that so
far as there has been any borrowing or transfer of materials
from one system to another, Christianity has been the bor-
rower. And as nearly the whole outline and constituent parts
of the Christian system are found scattered through these older,
systems, the query is at once sprung as to whether Christian
ity did not derive its materials from these sources, — that is,
from heathenism, instead of from high heaven, as it claims.
MESSIANIC PROPHECIES.
88
CHAPTER II.
MESSIANIC PROPHECIES.
Nearly all religious history is prophetic of the coming of
Saviors, Messiahs, Redeemers, and virgin-born Gods. Most
religious countries, and more than a score of religious systems,
had a standing prophecy that a divine deliverer would descend
from heaven and relieve them from their depressed state, and
ameliorate their condition. And in most cases that prophecy
Was believed to have been fulfilled by the birth of a being, who,
as he approached the goal of moral and intellectual manhood,
exhibited such remarkable proof of superiority of mind as to
be readily accepted as the promised Messiah. We can only
find room for a few citations and illustrations in proof of this
statement. Many texts have been hunted out and marked in
the Christian bible, by interested priests, as prophetic of the
coming and mission of Christ. But a thorough, candid, and
impartial investigation will convince any reader that none of
these texts have the remotest allusion to Christ, nor were they
intended to have. On the contrary, most of them refer to
events already past. The others are the mere ebullitions of
pent-up feelings hopefully prayerful in their anticipation of
better times, but very indefinite as to the period and the agen-
cies or means in which, or by which, the desired reformation
was to be brought about. A divine man was prayed for and
hopefully expected. But no such a being as Jesus Christ is
anticipated, or alluded to, or dreamed of, by the prophecies.
And it requires the most unwarrantable distortion to make one
text refer to him. But this perversion has been wrought on
3
34
THE WORLD S SA VIORS.
many texts. We will cite one case in proof. In Isaiah’s “ fa-
mous prophecy,” so called, the phrase “Unto us a child is
born ” (Isa. ix. 6), the context clearly shows, refers to the proph-
et’s own child, and the past tense, “is born,” is an evidence the
child was then born. And the title “ Mighty God,” found in
the text, Dr. Beard shows should have been translated “the
Mighty Hero,” thus proving it has no reference to a God. And
“ the Everlasting Father” should have been rendered, according
to this Christian writer, “the Father of the Everlasting Age.”
And other texts often quoted as prophecies by biased Christian
writers, the doctor proves, are erroneously translated, and have
no more reference to Christ than to Mahomet. It is true the
Jews, in common with other nations, cherished strong anticipa-
tions of the arrival of a Mighty Deliverer amongst them ; and
this august personage some of them supposed would be a God,
or a God-man (a demi-God). Hence such prophetic utterances
as, “ Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness ” (Isa. xxxii. 1),
“And all nations shall flow unto Zion” (Isa. ii. 2). The Hin-
doo Budhists long previously indulged similar anticipations
with respect to the triumph of their religion. Hence their seers
prophesied that at the end of the Cali Yug period, a divine
child (Avatar, or Savior) would be born, who would understand
the divine writings (the Holy Scriptures) and the sciences,
without the labor of learning them. “ He will supremely un-
derstand all things.” “ He will relieve the earth of sin, and
cause justice and truth to reign everywhere. And will bring
the whole earth into the acceptance of the Hindoo religion.”
And the Hindoo prophet Bala also predicted that a divine
Savior would “become incarnate in the house of Yadu, and
issue forth to mortal birth from the womb of Devaci” (a Holy
Virgin), and relieve the oppressed earth of its load of sin and
sorrow.” Much more similar language may be found in their
holy bible, the Vedas. Colonel Wilford tells us the advent
of their Savior Christina occurred in exact fulfillment of proph-
ecy found in their sacred books.
And the Chinese bible also contains a number of Messianic
prophecies. In one of the five volumes a prophecy runs thus:
MESSIANIC PROPHECIES.
85
“The Holy One, when he comes, will unite in himself nil the
virtues of heaven and earth. By his justice the world will be
established in righteousness. He will labor and suffer much,
. . . and will finally offer up a sacrifice worthy of himself” i. e.,
worthy of a God. And a singular animal, called the Kilin (sig-
nifying the Lamb of God), was seen in the yard, with a stone
in its mouth, on which was inscribed a prophecy of the event.
And when the young God (Chang-ti) was born, in fulfillment
of this prophecy, heavenly music, and angels, and shepherds
attended the scene. See “History of China” by Martinus,
also Halde’s “History of China,” and “Putnam’s Maga-
zine.”
We will also give place to a Messianic prophecy of Persia.
Mr. Faber, an English writer, in his “ History of Idolatry,” tells
us that Zoroaster prophetically declared, that “ A virgin should
conceive and bear a son, and a star would appear blazing at
midday to signalize the occurrence.” “ When you behold the
star,” said he to his followers, “ follow it whithersoever it leads
you. Adore the mysterious child, offering him gifts with pro-
found humility. He is indeed the Almighty Word which cre-
ated the heavens. He is indeed your Lord and everlasting
King.” (Faber, vol. ii. p. 92.) Abulfaragius, in his “Historia
Dynastarium,” and Maurice, in his “ Indian Skeptics Refuted,”
both speak of this prophecy, fulfilled, according to Mr. Higgins,
by the advent of the Persian and Chaldean God Josa. And
Chalcidius (of the second century), in his “ Comments on the
Timeas of Plato,” speaks of “ a star which presaged neither dis-
ease nor death, but the descent of a God amongst men, and which
is attested by Chaldean astronomers, who immediately hastened
to adore the new-born deity, and present him gifts.” We are
compelled to omit, for the want of room, the notice of numer-
ous Messianic prophecies found in the sacred writings of Egypt,
Greece, Rome, Mexico, Arabia, and other countries, all of which
tend to show that the same prophetic spirit pervaded all reli-
gious countries, reliable only to the extent it might have issued
from an interior spiritual vision, or have been illuminated by de-
parted spirits. And we find as much evidence that these pagan
36
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
prophecies were inspired, and also fulfilled, as those found in
Jew - Christian bible, thus reducing all to a common level.
The possibility of the interior vision being expanded and illu-
minated by spiritual beings, so as to enable the possessor to
forestall the occurrence of future events, we, however, by no
means deny, since we have abundant proof of it in connection
with the practical history of modern Spiritualism. (See Chap-
ter XXXIV., section 2.)
PROPHECIES BT THE FIGURE OF A SERPENT. 37
CHAPTER III.
PROPHECIES BY THE FIGURE OF A SERPENT.
The Seed of the Woman bruising the Serpent’s Head.
“ And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Gen. iii. 15.) This text is often
cited by Christian writers and controversialists as prefiguring
the mission of the Christian Savior, viz., the destruction of
the serpent, alias the devil. St. John calls “ the grand adver-
sary of souls which deceiveth the whole world ” “ the dragon,
the serpent, the devil, and Satan.” (Rev. xii. 8.) The serpent,
then, is the devil; that is, the dragon, the serpent, the devil,
and Satan are all one. The object of this chapter is to show the
origin of the singular figure set forth in the first text quoted,
and to prove that those Christian writers who assume it to be
a revelation from heaven were profoundly ignorant of oriental
history, as the same figure is found in several heathen systems
of older date, as we will now cite the facts to prove. Some of
the saviors or demigods of Egypt, India, Greece, Persia,
Mexico, and Etruria are represented as performing the same
drama with the serpent or devil. “ Osiris of Egypt (says Mr.
Bryant) bruised the head of the serpent after it had bitten his
heel.” Descending to Greece, Mr. Faber relates, that “ on the
spheres Hercules is represented in the act of contending with
the serpent, the head of which is placed under his foot; and this
serpent guarded the tree with golden fruit in the midst of the
garden Hesperides” — Eden. (Origin of Idolatry, vol. i. p.
443.) “And we may observe,” says this author, “ the same tra-
dition in the Phenician fable of Ophion or Ophiones.” (Ibid.)
85
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
In Genesis the serpent is the subject of two legends. But
here it will be observed they are both couched in one.
Again, it is related by more than one oriental writer that
Chrishna of India is represented on some very ancient sculp-
tures and stone monuments with his heel on the head of a ser-
pent. Mr. Maurice, in his Indian Antiquities, vol. ii., speaks of
“ Chrishna crushing the head of a serpent with his foot,” and
pronounces the striking similarity of this story with that found
in the Christian bible as “ very mysterious.” Another author
tells us, “ The image of Chrishna is sculptured in the ancient
temples of India, sometimes wreathed in the folds of a serpent
ivhich is biting his foot, and sometimes treading victoriously
on the head of a serpent.” (Prog. Rel. Ideas, vol. i.) In
the Mexican Antiquities, vol. vi., we are told, “A messenger
from heaven announced to the first woman created (Suchique-
cul), that she should bear a son who should bruise the serpent's
head, and then presented her with a rose.” Here is the origin
of the Genesis legend, the rose being the fruit of the tree of
“ the knowledge of good and evil” “The ancient Persians,”
says Yolney, in his “Ruins of Empires,” p. 169, “had the tradi-
tion of a virgin, from whom they predicted would be born, or
would spring up, a shoot (a son) that would crush the serpent’s
head, and thus deliver the world from sin.” And both the ser-
pent and the virgin, he tells us, are represented imaginarily in
the heavens, and pictured on their astronomical globes and
spheres, as on those of the Romish Christian. (See Burritt’s
Geography of the Heavens.) In the ancient Etrurian story, im
stead of “ the seed of the woman ” (the virgin), it is the woman
herself who is represented as standing with one foot on the
head of a serpent, which has the twig of an apple tree in its
mouth to which an apple is suspended (the forbidden fruit),
while its tail is tw’isted around a celestial globe, thus reminding
us of St.John’s dragon hauling down one third of the stars with
his tail. (See Rev. xii. 4.) In the ancient celestial diagram
of the Etrurians, the head of the virgin is surmounted with a
crown of stars — doubtless the same legend from which St.
John borrowed his metaphor of “a woman with a crown of
twelve stars on her head.” (Rev. xiii.) “ The Regina Stellarum99
PROPHECIES BT THE FIGURE OF A SERPENT. 39
(Queen of the Stars), spoken of in some of the ancient systems,
appertains to the .same fable. Also the tradition of Achilles of
Greece being invulnerable in the heel, as related by Homer,
The last clause of the first text quoted reads, “ It shall bruise
thy head ” — a very curious prophetic reference to the savior of
the world, if the text refers to him, to represent him as being
of the neuter gender, for the neuter pronoun it always refers to
a thing without sex.
In the further exposition of the serpent tradition, we are now
brought to notice, and will trace to its origin, the story of the
original transgression and fall of man — two cardinal doctrines
of the Christian religion. Like every other tenet of the Chris-
tian faith, we find these doctrines taught in heathen systems
much older than Christianity, and whose antiquity antedates
even the birth of Moses. We will first notice the Persian tra-
dition. u According to the doctrine of the Persians,” says the
Rev. J. C. Pitrat, “ Meshia and Meshiane, the first man and
first woman, were pure, and submitted to Ormuzd, their maker.
But Ahriman (the evil one) saw them, and envied them their
happiness. He approached them under the form of a serpent,
presented fruits to them, and persuaded them that he was the
maker of man, of animals, of plants, and of the beautiful uni-
verse in which they dwelt. They believed it. Since that time
Ahriman was their master. Their natures became corrupt, and
this corruption infested their whole posterity.” This story is
taken from the Yandidatsade of the Persians, pp. 305 and 428.
The Indian or Hindoo story is furnished us by the Rev.
Father Bouchat, in a letter to the bishops of Avranches, and
runs thus : “ Our Hindoos say the Gods tried by all means to
obtain immortality. After many inquiries and trials, they con-
ceived the idea that they would find it in the tree of life,
which is in the Chorcan (paradise). In fact they succeeded,
and by eating once in a while of the fruits of that tree, they
kept the precious treasure they so much valued. A famous
snake, named Cheiden, saw that the tree of life had been found
by the Gods of the second order. As probably he had been
intrusted with guarding that tree, he became so angry because
his vigilance had been deceived, that he immediately poured
40
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
out an enormous quantity of poison, which spread over the
whole earth.” How much like this is the story of St. John,
“ And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after
the woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the
flood ” ! (Rev. xii. 15.) The idea of a snake or serpent inundat-
ing the earth from its mouth, as taught in both stories, is so
novel, and so far removed from the sphere of natural causes
and possible events, that we are compelled to the conclusion
that one is borrowed from the other, or both from a common
original. And as facts cited in other chapters prove beyond
dispute that the Hindoo system, containing this story, extends
in antiquity far beyond the time of Moses, the question is thus
settled as to which system borrowed the story from the other.
Before closing the chapter, we wish to call the attention of
the reader to the important fact that three out of four of the
cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith are taught in the two
heathen mythological stories of creation just presented, viz.,—
1. Original sin.
2. The fall of man caused by a serpent.
8. The consequent corruption and depravity of the human
race.
These doctrines, then, it must be admitted, are of heathen
origin, and not, as Christians claim, “ important truths revealed
from heaven.” For a historical exposition of the other cardinal
doctrine of the Christian faith, viz., man’s restoration by the
atonement achieved through the crucifixion of a God, see
Chapters xvi. and xxi.
MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION OF THE GODS. 41
CHAPTER IV.
MIRACULOUS AND IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OP
THE GODS.
The ancients very naturally concluded that an offspring of
God (a son of God) should have a purer, higher, and holier
maternal origin than is incident to the lot of mortals, and this
was to constitute one of the evidences of his emanation from
the Deity — that is, of his supernatural or divine origin. He,
as a matter of course, must not only have a different origin, but
one in the highest degree superior and supernatural. He must
not only be able to claim the highest paternal origin, but the
highest maternal also. And on the part of the mother, a
sexual connection with the great Potentate of heaven would
evince for her offspring the very acme of superiority with re-
spect to his origin, moral perfection, and authority. That the
Savior was born of a woman could not possibly be made a
matter of concealment. But his paternal parentage was not
so obvious and apparent to general observation, being cognizant
alone to the mother. This circumstance furnished the most
propitious opportunity to concoct the story that “The Most
High ” had condescended and descended to become both a
father and a grandfather to a human being, or a being appar-
ently human at least.
-
.
We say grandfather, because, if God (as the Christian bible
itself frequently asserts, both directly and by implication) is
father of the whole human family, then he was father to the
maternal parent; so that her son, though deriving existence
from him, would be his grandson as well as his son. Hence
42
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
the corollary, Jesus Christ was a grandson of God as well as
a son of God,, and Jehovah both his father and grandfather.
Again, to make the origin and character of the God and
Saviour stand higher for purity, and partake in the highest
degree of the miraculous, the impression must go abroad that
he was born of a woman while she was yet a maiden — i. e., be-
fore she was contaminated by illicit association with the mas-
culine sex. Hence nearly all the saviors were reputedly born
of virgins. And the process of birth, too, was out of the line
of natural causes, in order to invest the character of the savior
with the ne plus ultra of the miraculous. And hence it is re-
lated of Jesus Christ (in an Apocryphal Gospel), of Chrishna
of India, and other saviors, that they were born through the
mothers’ side. It is true our present canonical gospels are
silent as to the manner of Christ’s birth; but one of the Apoc-
ryphal gospels, which gives the matter in fuller detail, and
whose authority in the earlier ages of the Christian church
was not disputed, declares that the manner of his birth was
as related above. And, besides, some of the early Christian
fathers fully indorsed the story. The same is related in the
pagan bibles of heathen Gods. The motives which originated
the reports of the immaculate conception of the Saviors, it may
be further remarked, were of a twofold character: —
1. To establish their spotless origin (as the word immacu-
late means spotless).
2. To make it appear that there was a Deific power and
agency concerned in their conception.
And we may observe here that it is not the Saviors alone
who are reported to have been ushered into tangible existence
without a human father, but it is declared of beings known and
acknowledged to be men, as Plato, Pythagoras, Alexander,
Augustus, and a number of others. Of Plato an author re-
marks, “He was born of Pareatonia, and begotten of Apollo,
and not Ariston, his father.” Both the manner, or process, and
the source of the influence by which the Gods and Saviors
were generated, seem to have been different in different coun-
tries, though the idea of “ overshadowing with the Holy Ghost ”
seems to have been most current. Mr. Higgins says that “ the
MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION OF THE GODS. 43
Supreme First Cause was generally believed to overshadow, or
in some other mysterious manner to impregnate, the mother of
the God, or personage” (vol. i. 378). We are told that Py-
thais, the mother of Pythagoras, five hundred and fifty years
B. C., conceived by a specter or ghost (of course the Holy
Ghost) of the God Apollo, or God Sol.
In Malcolm’s “ History of Persia” (vol. i. 494) the author tells
us that “ Zoroaster was born of an immaculate conception by a
ray from the Divine Reason.” The immaculate conception of
Juno of Greece is thus described by the poet: —
tl Juno touched the flower;
Its wondrous virtues such,
She touched it, and grew pregnant at the touch;
Then entered Thrace — the Propontic shore;
When mistress of her touch,
God Mars she bore.”
This case may certainly be set down as the ne plus ultra of
etiquette with respect to sexual commerce or purity of concep-
tion. The sweet odor of an expanded flower, we are here
taught, is adequate to the conception and production of a God.
Here we have “the immaculate conception” in the superlative
degree, and while much more beautiful and grand, it cannot be
more senseless or unreasonable than the conception by a ghost.
It proves at least that the doctrine of the immaculate concep-
tion is of very ancient date. And this fastidious maiden lady
and immaculate virgin, Juno, not only conceived the God Mars
by the touch of a flower, but she also (so the story reads) con-
ceived Vulcan by being overshadowed by the wind — exactly
a parallel case with that of the virgin Mary, as we find that
ghost, in the original, means wind. Thus we observe that
Vulcan, long before Jesus Christ was “born of the Holy
Ghost,” i. e., both were conceived by the “ Holy Wind.” And
the author of the “ Perennial Calendar ” speaks of the miracu-
lous conception of Juno Jugulis, “the blessed virgin queen of
heaven,” and describes it as falling on the 2d of February,
the very day which the early Christians celebrated with a
festival, as being the date of the conception of the “ ever
44
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
Blessed Virgin Mary” Of the ancient Mexicans it is said,
“they had the immaculate conception, the crucifixion, and the
resurrection after three days.” (Mex. Antiq., vol. i.) And in
an ancient work called “Codex Vaticanus,” the immaculate
conception is spoken of as a part of the history of Quexalcote,
the Mexican Savior. “ Suchiquecal,” says the Mexican Anti-
quities, “was called the Queen of Heaven. She conceived
a son without connection with a man” — a very obvious case
of immaculate conception. Alvarez Semedo, in his “History
of China,” page 89, speaks of a sect in that country who
worshiped a Savior known as Xaca, who was reputedly con-
ceived of his mother, Maia, by a white elephant, which she
saw in her sleep, and “ for greater purity, she brought him forth
from one of her sides.” Colonel Tod, of England, tells us in his
“History of the Rajahs,” page 57, that Yu, the first Chinese
monarch, was conceived by his mother being struck with a star
while traveling. In the case of Christ, it will be recollected,
Ihe star did not appear till after his birth. But here the star
is the author and agent of the conception. According to
Ranking’s “History of the Moguls,” page 178, Tamerlane’s
mother (of Bermuda) professedly conceived by having had
sexual intercourse with “ the God of Day.” The mother of
Ghengis Khan, of Tartary, “being too modest to claim that she
was the mother of the son of God, said only that he was
the son of the sun” (History of Moguls, page 65.) Both
Julis and Osiris of Egypt are spoken of by some authors as
having been honored with a divine immaculate conception —
the former being the son of the beautiful virgin Cronis
Celestine, and “begotten by the Father of all Gods.”
Both Budha and Chrishna, of India, are reported as hav-
ing been immaculately conceived. The mother of the latter
(God) was (as the Hindoo Holy Book declares) over-
shadowed by the Supreme God, Brahma, while the spirit-
author of the conception (that is, the Holy Ghost) was Nara-
an. The mother of Apollonius of Cappadocia, who was
cotemporary with Jesus Christ (according to his history by
Philostratus — and his (Apollonius’) disciple Damis testifies to
the same effect) — gave birth to this God and rival Savior of
MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION OF THE GODS. 45
Jesus Christ, by having been previously “ overshadowed ” by
the supreme God Proteus. For the corporeal existence and
earthly career of Augustus Caesar, the world has ostensibly to
acknowledge itself indebted to the “ overshadowing ” influence
and generating power of Jove, by whose divine influence he
was immaculously conceived in the temple of Apollo, accord-
ing to the statement of Nimrod, his biographer. The virgin
mother Shing-Mon of China furnishes another case of immac-
ulate conception. Possessing a sensibility too lofty and too
refined to descend to the ordinary routine of the world, she
gave birth to the God Yu from previous conception by a water
lily. This case, with respect to the degree of procreative deli-
cacy and refinement evinced, may be classed with that of Juno
of Greece. Here it may be noted as a curious circumstance, that
several of the virgin mothers of Gods and great men are
specifically represented as going ten months between concep-
tion and delivery. The mother^ of Hercules, Sakia, Guatama,
Scipio, Arion, Solomon, and Jesus Christ may be mentioned as
samples of this character. This tradition probably grew out
of the established belief in the ten sacred cycles which con-
stitute the great prospective and portentous millennial epoch as
described in Chapter XXX. Arion, mentioned above, is repre-
sented as being both miraculously and immaculously conceived
by the Gods in the citadel of Byrsa.
In view of the foregoing facts drawn from accredited histo-
ries, the reader will readily concede that the tradition of the
miraculous conception of Gods (sons of God), Saviors, and
Messiahs was very prevalent in the world at a very ancient
period of time, and long before the mother of Jesus was “ over-
shadowed by the Most High.” Indeed, says Mr. Higgins, “ the
belief in the immaculate conception extended to every nation
in the world.” And Grote, referring to Greece, makes the
remarkable declaration, that “ the furtive pregnancy of young
women, often by a God, is one of the most frequently recurring
incidents in the legendary narratives of the country.” And
we find that both the prevalency and great antiquity of the
doctrine of the immaculate conception among the heathen is
conceded by Christian writers themselves (of former ages) in
46
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
their attempts to find arguments and commendatory prece-
dents to justify tneir own belief in the doctrine. For proof of
this, we need only cite the Christian writer Mr. Bailey, who
remarks, “What I have said of St. Augustine, is applicable
also to Origen and Lactanius, who have endeavored to persuade
us of the immaculate virginity of the mother of Jesus Christ
by the example of similar events stored by the heathen.” Here
we have several Christian authorities cited by another writer,
also a Christian, for placing, the doctrine of the immaculate
conception among the heathen legends in ages long anterior
to Christ.
With respect to the degree of credence to be attached to
the story of the immaculate conception of the mother of Jesus,
it need only be observed that there was no other person con-
cerned in the transaction but herself who could possess positive,
absolute knowledge of his parentage. And she, let it be noted,
settles the matter forever, by# virtually affirming that Joseph
was his father in the declaration addressed to Jesus when she
found him in the temple —‘ 1 and thy father have sought thee
sorrowing.” (Luke ii. 48.) No one will dispute that the fa-
ther here spoken of was Joseph, which amounts to a positive
declaration by the mother, that Joseph was Jesus’ father.
Immaculate Conception and Miraculous Birth of the
Christian Savior.
The following considerations exhibit some of the numerous
absurdities involved in the story of the miraculous birth of
Jesus Christ.
1. The evangelical narratives show that Christ himself did
not claim to have a miraculous birth. He did not once allude
to such an event; while if, as Christians claim, it is the princi-
pal evidence of his deityship, he certainly would have done so.
2. His paternal genealogy, as made out by Matthew and
Luke, completely disproves the story of his miraculous concep-
tion by a virgin. For they both trace his lineage through
Joseph, which they could not do only on the assumption that
Joseph was his father. This, of course, disproves his sireship
by the Holy Ghost, ergo, his miraculous conception. It ia
MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION OF THE GODS. 47
the lineage and parentage of Joseph, and not Mary, that is given
in tracing back his ancestry to the royal household — a fact
which completely overthrows the story of his miraculous birth.
3. And the fact that his own disciple (Philip) declared him
to be the son of Joseph, and that several texts show that it
was the current impression, is still further confirmation of the
conclusion.
4. We find the story of the immaculate conception resting
entirely upon the slender foundation comprised in the legends
of an angel and a dream. We are told that Mary got it by an
angel, and Joseph by a dream. And through these sources we
have the whole groundwork and foundation of the story of the
divinity of Jesus Christ.
5. It should be noticed that we have neither Joseph’s nor
Mary’s report of these things, but only Matthew and Luke’s
version of the affair. And we are not informed that either of
them ever saw or conversed with Joseph or Mary on the sub-
ject. It is probable they got it from Dame Rumor with her
thousand tongues.
6. If Christ were a miraculously born God, is it possible his
mother would have reproved him for misconduct when she
found him in the temple, as she must have known his char-
acter ?
7. If Mary was miraculously conceived, why was the im-
portant secret kept so long from Joseph ? Why did she keep
the “ wool drawn over his eyes ” till an angel had to be sent
from heaven to let him into the secret.
8. If she were a virtuously-minded woman, why did she thus
attempt to deceive him ?
9. Why did not God inform Joseph by “ inspiration,” instead
of employing the roundabout way of sending an angel to do it?
10. We are told that “ Mary was found with child of the
Holy Ghost.” But as we are not informed who found it out,
or who made the discovery, or how it was madp, is it not thus
left in a very suspicious aspect ?
11. As the whole affair seems to have been based on dreams,
and was carried on through dreams, and has no better foun-
dation than dreams, why should we consider it entitled to any
48
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
better credit than similar stories found in works on heathen
mythology ?
12. And would it not prove that Christianity is rather a
dreamy religion ?
13. Should not the astounding and incredible report of the
birth of a God be based on a better foundation than that of
dreams, and angels, and the legends of oriental myth61ogy, to
entitle it to the belief of an intelligent and scientific age ?
14. Or can any man of science entertain for a moment the
superlative solecism of an Infinite God by any special act
“ overshadowing ” a finite human female, especially as modern
science teaches us that God is both male and female, and as
much one as the other?
15. As history teaches us the ancient orientalists believed
that sexual commerce is sinful, and contaminating to the child
thus begotten and born, and hence had their incarnate Gods
sent into the world through human virgins, can any unbiased
mind resist the conviction that this is the source of the origin
of the story of Christ’s immaculate conception ?
16. And finally, if it were necessary for Christ to come into
the world in such a way as to avoid the impure channel of
human conception and parturition, why did he not descend
directly from heaven in person ? Why could he not “ descend
on the clouds ”.by his first advent, as the bible says he will do
when he makes his second advent ?
17. Would not this course have furnished a hundred fold
more convincing proof and demonstration of his divine power
and divine attributes than the ridiculous story and the inscru-
table mystery of the divine conception, which is not susceptible
of either investigation or proof.
VIRGIN MOTHERS AND VIRGIN-BORN GODS. 49
-
CHAPTER V.
VIRGIN MOTHERS AND VIRGIN-BORN GODS.
The report in authentic history of a case of a virtuous
woman giving birth to a child with the usual form, and pos-
sessing the usual characteristics of a human being, and who
should testify she had no male partner in the conception, might,
in an age of miracles and ignorance of natural law, be believed
with implicit credulity. But in an age of intelligence, when
the keys of science have unlocked the sacred shrines and hal-
lowed vaults of sacerdotal mysteries, and modern researches of
history have laid bare the fact that most ancient religious
countries abound in reports of this character, a profound and
general skepticism must be the result, and a total rejection of
their truth by all men of science and historic intelligence.
Many are the cases noted in history of young maidens claim-
ing a paternity for their male offspring by a God. In Greece
it became so common that the reigning king issued an edict,
decreeing the death of all young women who should offer such
an insult to deity as to lay to him the charge of begetting their
children. The virgin Alcmene fnrnishes a case of a young
woman claiming God as the father of her offspring, when she
brought forth the divine Redeemer Alcides, 1280 years B. O.
And Ceres, the virgin mother of Osiris, claimed that he was
begotten by “ the father of all Gods.” Mr. Kenrick tells us the
likeness of this virgin mother, with the divine child in her arms,
may now be seen represented in sculpture on some of the an-
cient, ruined temples of that ruined empire. And Mr. Higgins
makes the broad declaration that “ the worship of this virgin
mother, with her God-begotten child, prevailed everywhere.”
This author also quotes Mr. Riquord as saying, this son of God
4
60
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
“ was exhibited in effigy, lying in a manger, in the same man-
ner the infant Jesus was afterward laid in the cave at Bethle-
hem.” Mr. Higgins further testifies that the worship of this
virgin God-mother (that is, the God and the mother) is of very
ancient date and universal prevalence in all the Eastern coun-
tries, as is proved by sculptured figures bearing the marks of
great age. In corroboration of this statement we might cite
many cases, if our space would permit, from the religious rec-
ords of India, Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, Mexico, Thibet, &c-
Maia, mother of Sakia and Yasoda of Chrishna, Celestine,
mother of the crucified Zulis; Chimalman, mother of Quexal-
cote; Semele, mother of the Egyptian Bacchus, and Minerva,
mother of the Grecian Bacchus ; Prudence, mother of Hercules;
Alcmene, mother of Alcides ; Shing-Mon, mother of Yu, and
Mayence, mother of Hesus, were all as confidently believed to
De pure, holy, and chaste virgins, while giving birth to these
Gods, sons of God, Saviors and sin-atoning Mediators, as was
Mary, mother of Jesus, and long before her time.
Mr. Higgins remarks that the mother was still held to be a
virgin, even after she had given birth to other children besides
the deity-begotten bantling, which furnishes another striking
parallel to the history of Mary, as she was still called a virgin
after she had given birth to Jesus and his brothers James and
John. And it is an incident worth noticing here, that, in the
case of Mayence, virgin mother of the God-sired Hesus of the
Druids, the ancient traditions of the country, more than two
thousand years old, represent her body as being enveloped in
light, and a crown of twelve stars upon her head, correspond-
ing exactly to the apocalyptic figure described by the mysta-
gogue St. John, in the twelfth chapter of his Revelation. She
is also represented with her foot on the head of a serpent,
according to Davie’s “Universal Etymology.” (Vide the case
of the seed of the woman bruising the serpent’s head, Gen. iii.
15.) Auguste Nichols tells us, in his “ Philosophical Essays on
Christianity,” that Io is called, in Eschylus, “ the Chaste Vir-
gin,” and her- son “ the Son of God.” (For other similar cases,
see Guigne’s History of the Huns.) Gonzales informs us he
found on an ancient temple in India the Latin inscription Par-
VIRGIN MOTHERS AND VIRGIN-BORN GODS. 52
turce Virginia, “the virgin about to bring forth.” And similar
inscriptions have been found on pagan temples ir the country
of the ancient Gauls, (For proof, see Riquord’s Theology of
the Ancient Gauls, Chap. X.) “ He who hath ears to hear, let
him hear,” and treasure up these facts. According to Chinese
history there were two beings,—Tien nnd Chang-ti, — wor-
shiped in that country as Gods more tl an twenty-five hun-
dred years ago, born of virgins “ who 1 new no man.” The
mother of the mighty and almighty God 1 tercules, we are told,
“ knew only Jove.”
If history and tradition, then, are to be credited, God had
many “ well-beloved sons,” born of pious and holy virgins, be-
sides Jesus Christ. And some of them are represented as being
his “ only begotten,” and others his “ first begotten,” sons. And
all these cases appear to be equally as well authenticated as the
story of Jesus Christ. All stand upon a level, the same kind and
the same amount of evidence being offered in each case. Here
we will note it as a curious circumstance, that several of the
above-named Saviors are represented as being black, Jesus
Christ included with this number. There is as much evidence
that the Christian Savior was a black man, or at least a dark
man, as there is of his being the son of the Virgin Mary, or
that he once lived and moved upon the earth. And that evi-
dence is the testimony of his disciples, who had nearly as good
an opportunity of knowing what his complexion was as the
evangelists, who omit to say anything about it. In the pic-
tures and portraits of Christ by the early Christians, he is uni-
formly represented as being black. And to make this the more
certain, the red tinge is given to the lips; and the only text in
the Christian bible quoted by orthodox Christians, as describ-
ing his complexion, represents it as being black. Solomon’s
declaration, “I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jeru-
salem ” (Sol. i. 5), is often cited as referring to Christ. Accord-
ing to the bible itself, then, Jesus Christ was a black man. Let
us suppose that, at some future time, he makes his second
advent to the earth, as some Christians anticipate he will do,
and that he comes in the character of a sable Messiah, how
would he be received by our negro-hating Christians, of sensi-
MWXBBSITY Of ILLINOIS
LIBRARY
52
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
tive olfactory nerves? Would they worship a negro God?
Let us imagine he enters one of our fashionable churches, with
his “rough and ready,” linsey-woolsey, seamless garment on,
made of wild sea-grass, thus presenting a very forbidding ap-
pearance, and what would be the result? Would the sexton
show him to a seat? Would he not rather point to the door,
and exclaim, “ Get out of here; no place here for niggers ” ?
What a ludicrous series of ideas is thus suggested by the
thought that Jesus Christ was a “ darky.”
And the tradition of divine Saviors being born of undefiled
and undeflowered virgins has an astronomical chapter we must
not omit to notice. The virgin, with her God-begotten child,
was pictured imaginably in the heavens from time immemorial.
They are represented on the Hindoo zodiac, at least three thou-
sand years old, and on the ancient Egyptian planispheres. And
if you will examine “ Burritt’s Geography of the Heavens,” you
will find the infant God-son (the sun) is represented as being
born into a new year on the 25th of December (the very date
assigned for Christ’s birth), and may be seen rising over the
eastern horizon, out of Mary, Maria, or Mare (the Latin for
sea), with the infant God in her arms, being heralded and pre-
ceded by a bright star, which rises immediately preceding the
virgin and her child, thus suggesting the text, u We have seen
his star in the east, and have come to worship him.” (Matt. ii.
8.) Such facts led the learned Alphonso to exclaim,w The adven-
tures of Jesus Christ are all depicted among the stars.” And
such facts fasten the conviction on our mind that the stories of
Gods cohabiting with young maids or virgins, and begetting
other Gods, is of astrological origin, — the story of Jesus
Christ included. A critical research §hows that astronomy
and religion were interblended, interwoven, and confounded
together at a very early period of time, so indissolubly, that it
now becomes impossible to separate them.
X
THE SAVIORS’ BIRTH ANNOUNCED BT STARS. 53
CHAPTER VI.
STARS POINT OUT THE TIME AND THE SAVIORS5
BIRTH-PLACE.
A profusion of evidence is furnished, at every step along the
devious pathway of sacred history, tending to show that all the
systems of worship which have existed in the past have had a
dip in “the halo of the heavenly orbs,” and hence shine with a
light derived from that source. We find the stars acting di-
rectly a conspicuous part at the births of several of the Saviors,
besides figuring in some cases by marking important events in
their subsequent history. Mr. Higgins remarks that “ among the
ancients there seems to have been a very general idea that the
arrival of Gods and great personages, who were expected to
come, would be announced by a star.” And the cases of Abra-
ham, Caesar, Pythagoras, Vu, Chrishna, and Christ, may be
cited in proof of this declaration. A star figured either before
or at the birth of each, according to their respective histories.
And it is a historical fact that should be noted here that the
practice of calculating nativities by the stars was in vogue in
the era and country of Christ’s birth, and had been for a long
period previously in various countries. “We have seen his
star in the east, and have come to worship him.” (Matt. ii. 1.)
Now mark, here, it was not the sta?% nor a star, but “his
star;” thus disclosing its unmistakable astrological features.
Mr. Faber (in his “ Origin of Idolatry,” vol. ii. p. 77) reports
Zoroaster (600 B. C.) as prophetically announcing to “the wise
men ” of that country, that a Savior would be born, “ attended
by a star at noonday.” For a fuller exposition of this case see
Chapter II.
In the history of the Hindoo Savior, Chrishna, we are told
54
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
that “as soon as Nared, who, having heard of his fame, had
examined the stars, he declared him to be from God; i. e., the
Son of God. The Roman Calcidius speaks of “ a wonderful
star, presaging the descent of a God amongst men.” ( See Mau-
rice’s Indian Skeptics Refuted,” p. 62.) Quite suggestive of the
star apprising “ the wise men ” of Christ’s descent from above.
And a star is said to have foretokened the birth of the Roman
Julius Caesar. The Chinese God Yu was not only heralded by
a star, but conceived and brought to mortal birth by a star. In
Numbers xxiv. 17, it is declared, “There shall come a star out
of Jacob,” &c. This is a text often quoted by Christian writers
as having a prophetic reference to the Christian Messiah. But
the same text declares further, “ It shall destroy the children
of Seth,” a prediction which no rational interpretation can make
apply to Jesus Christ. And then we find this star of Jacob or
Judah (the same) represented on astronomical maps as a prom-
inent star in the constellation Virgo (the Virgin), fancifully
termed by the Hebrew Ephraim. It was known in the Syrian,
Arabian, and Persian systems of astronomy as Messaeil (sug
gestive of Messiah), and was considered the ruling genius of the
constellation. The “ star of Jacob,” then, was simply a figure
borrowed from the ancient pagan systems of astronomy, in
which they fancifully represent a virgin rising with an infant
Messiah (Messaeil) in her arms. Messaeil is, when analyzed,
Messaeh-el (Messiah-God), and is found in the constellation
Virgo, which commences rising at midnight, on the 25th of De-
cember, with this “ star in the east ” in her arms — the star
which piloted “ the wise men.” The whole thing, then, is evi-
dently an astronomical legend.
Albert the Great, in his “Book on the Universe,” tells us,
“ The sign of the celestial virgin rises above the horizon, at the
moment we find fixed for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
To which we will add the declaration of Sir William Drum-
mond, who, in his “CEdipus Judaicus,” p. 27, most significantly
remarks, “ The anointed of El, the male infant, who rises in the
arms of Virgo, was called Jesus by the Hebrews, . . . and was
hailed as the anointed king or Messiah ” — still further proof of
the astrological origin of the story. Dr. Hales, in his “ Chro*
THE SAVIOR'S BIRTH ANNOUNCED BT STARS. 55
nology,” calls Christcc the star of our salvation, the true Apollo,
the sun of righteousness,”— all of which are astronomical terms.
And here we may recur to the fact that some of the early in-
habitants of the earth regarded a star as a thing of life, because
it appeared to move, and acted as though controlled by a living
spirit. And this fetchic idea we observe lurking amongst the
borrowed orientalisms of the Jewish Old Testament. The rep-
resentation of the morning stars joining in a chorus and singing
together (see Job xxxviii. 9), is an instance of this kind of
fetchic conception. And then we find a much stronger and
more conclusive case in the New Testament, where Matthew
represents a star as breaking loose from its orbit, and traveling
some millions of miles, in order to stand over the young child
Jesus, as he lay amongst the oxen and asses in a stable. (See
Matt. ii. 7.) Wonderfully accommodating star indeed ! How
did its inhabitants feel while thus traveling with the velocity
of lightning ? This achievement would not only require life,
but an active intelligence, on the part of the star, as it is repre-
sented as being an act of the planet itself. 14 All nations,” says
Mr. Higgins, 44 once believed that the planetary bodies or their
inhabitants controlled the affairs of men, and even their births.”
Hence the cant prases, 44 My stars,” 44 He is ill-starred,” &c., in
use then, and still in use at the present day. The good or
ill luck of a person was attributed to the good or evil stars
which it was believed ruled at the hour of his birth. We find
a counterpart to the story of Matthew’s traveling star in Vir-
gil’s writings, who declares (60 B. C.) that a star guided tine-
as in a journey westward from Troy. In the days of Pliny
(see his 44 Natural History,” Book II.), the people of Rome fan-
cied they saw a God in a star or comet in the form of a man.
The Apocryphal book of Seth relates that a star descended
from heaven and lighted on a mountain, in the midst of which
a divine child was seen bearing a cross. Christ betrays the
same ignorance of astronomy, when he speaks of 44 the stars
falling from heaven to the earth.” (See Matt. xxiv. 29.) For
if there could be any falling in the case, the falling would be in
the other direction, and the earth would fall to the stars, as
larger bodies always attract smaller ones. As shown above,
56
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
the stupendous orbs of night were represented by Jew, Pagan,
and Christian, as breaking away from their orbits, and running
hither and thither, like a fly on a ceiling, or a ball from a sky-
rocket, being regarded as mere jack-a-lanterns, that could
appear anywhere at any time creative fancy might dictate 01
require; while science teaches that the stars are stupendous
orbs, some of them a thousand times larger than the planet on
which we live, and that they could not depart one rod from
their accustomed orbits without breaking up the whole plane-
tary system, and destroying the universe. And then observe
the absurdity in Matthew’s story, which teaches that the wise
men followed the star in the east, when they, coming from the
east, were, as a matter of course, traveling westward, which
would place the star to their backs. That must be a sui gene-
ris pilot or guide which follows after, instead of going before.
Omitting further citations from history, we will only observe
further, that the ancient Hindoos, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Syr-
ians, Mexicans, &c., took great account of stars, and employed
them on all important occasions, especially on long journeys
and at the births of Gods and great personages — a circum-
stance which aids in explaining the star-chapter in the gospel
history of Christ.
VISIT OF ANGELS, SHEPHERDS, 57
-
CHAPTER YII.
ANGELS, SHEPHERDS, AND MAGI VISIT THE
INFANT SAVIORS.
In an age when Gods and men were on the most familiar
terms, and when the character of one furnished a transcript for
the other, and when each consented to act a reciprocal part
towards elevating, honoring, and glorifying the other, the birth
of a God or Messiah was, as a matter of course, regarded as an
event of sufficient importance to attract the attention of the
great ones of the earth, and even the denizens of heaven also.
And hence we find it related in the history of several of the
God-begotten Saviors of antiquity, that as soon as they were
born into the world they were visited by “ wise men from a
distance ” (or Magi, as they were called by the Persians and
Brahmins). And in some cases they were likewise waited upon
and adored by the neighboring shepherds; and even celestial
spirits are reported in some instances as leaving their star-gilt
homes to wing their way to the humble mansion, the rude
tenement, containing a new-born God, that they might honor
and adore “ the Savior of men, the Savior of the world.”
The sacred biographies of both Confucius and Christ furnish
examples of the angel host forsaking their golden pavilions in
the skies to pay their devoirs to a Deity-begotten bantling, sent
down by the “ Father of Mercies,” to save a guilt-laden world.
And in both cases the Magi are reported as assembling to pre-
sent their offerings to the infant God. In the case of Confucius
(born 598 B. C.), it is declared, “Five wise men from a dis-
tance came to the house, celestial music was heard in the
skies, and angels attended the scene ” (See the Five Volumes.)
Now let us observe how strikingly similar to this ancient legend,
in each of the several characteristics, is the Christian story
68
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
Matthew (ii. 1) speaks of “wise men from the east,” journey-
ing to Jerusalem to visit the infant Christ, soon after his
birth, amongst the mules and oxen in a stable, though he
omits to state the number of itinerant adorers who presented
themselves on the occasion. The Persian story is more specific,
as it gives the number of Magi who visited the young Savior
of that country as five.
Luke (ii. 13) speaks of “ a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God,” in gratulation of the birth of the Judean Savior.
Now, when we bear in mind that one method of praising God,
with the orientals, was by music, we will at once observe that
this is only another mode of proclaiming, as in the case of
Confucius, that “celestial music was heard in the skies.”
And “ angels attended the scene ” of Confucius' birth. So,
likewise, Luke (ii. 15) relates that the angels, after rejoicing
with the shepherds on the occasion of the birth of Christ,
“ went away into heaven.” How complete the parallel! and,
but for the digression, and monopoly of space, we might trace
it much further, and show that Confucius, like Christ, had
twelve chosen disciples; that he was descended from a royal
house of princes, as Christ from the royal house of David; that
he, in like manner, retired for a long period from the noise and
bustle of society into religious contemplative seclusion; that
he inculcated the same Golden Rule of doing to others as we
desire them to act toward us, and other moral maxims equal
in importance to anything that can be found in the Christian
Scriptures, &c.
But to the line of history. Other Saviors at birth, we are
told, were visited by both angels and shepherds, also “ wise
men,” at least great men. Chrishna, the eighth avatar of India
(1200 B. C.) (so it is related by the “ inspired penman ” of
their pagan theocracy) was visited by angels, shepherds, and
prophets (avatars). “ Immediately after his birth he was
visited by a chorus of devatas (angels), and surrounded by
shepherds, all of whom were impressed with the conviction of
his future greatness” We are informed further that “gold,
frankincense, and myrrh ” were presented to him as offerings.
The well-known modern traveler, Mr. Ditson, who visited
VISIT OF ANGELS, SHEPHERDS, 59
India but a few years since, uses the emphatic declaration, sIn
fact, as soon as Chrishna was born he was saluted by a chorus of
devatas, or angels.” In the evangelical narrative of the Chris-
tian Savior an angel is reported to have saluted his mother
thus : “ Hail, thou that art highly favored; the Lord is with
thee; blessed art thou among women” (Luke i. 28.) And
in the next chapter the angel is reported as joining with “ the
heavenly host” in “praising God.” A similar report is found
in the Hindoo bible (the Ramayana), appertaining to the
mother of the eighth Savior, of whom it is declared u Brah-
ma and Siva, with a host of attending spirits, came to her and
sang, c In thy delivery, O favored among women, all nations
shall have cause to exult.’” And when the celestial infant
(Chrishna) appeared (it is related in a subsequent chapter)?
“ a chorus of heavenly spirits saluted him with hymns; the
whole room was illuminated by his light, and the countenance
of his father and mother shone with brightness and glory (by
reflection), their understandings were opened so that they
knew him to be the Preserver of the world, and they began to
worship him.” The last text here quoted brings to mind Luke
xxiv. 45, which declares, “Then he (Christ) opened their (his
parents) understandings.”
The ninth avatar of India (Sakia) furnishes to some extent
a similar parallel. According to the account of an exploration
made in India, and published in the New York Correspondent
of 1828, “ There is on a silver plate in a cave in India an in-
scription stating that about the time of the advent of Budha
Sakia (600 B. C.), a saint in the woods learned by inspiration
that another avatar (Messiah or Savior) had appeared in the
house of Rajah of Lailas. Learning which, he flew through the
air to the place, and when he beheld the new-born Savior, ha
declared him to be the great avator (Savior or prophet), and
that he was destined to establish a new religion ” — The New
Covenant Religion.
We next draw on the history of Greece. It is authentically
related of Pythagoras (600 B. C.), that his fame having reached
Miletas and neighboring cities, men renowned for wisdom
(wise men) came to visit him (Progress of Religious Ideas,
60
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
vol. i.). In the Anacalypsis we are told that “Magi came from
the East to offer gifts at Socrates’ birth, bringing gold, frankin-
cense, and myrrh,” the same kind of offering as that presented
to the two divine infants, Chrishna and Christ, according to
their respective “inspired” biographers. (See Matt. ii. 4, and
the Ram ay ana.)
And the legend of Mithra, of Persia, might also be included
in our category of comparison, if we had space for it. All the
four Saviors last named (if Socrates may be called such) are
reported as having been honored and enriched with aromatic
offerings at their respective births. And we have the state-
ment from Mr. Higgins, that the same assortment of spices
(with the gold) constituted the materials offered as gifts to the
sun, in Persia more than three thousand years ago; and like-
wise in Arabia near the same era. And it may be stated here,
that an ancient historic account of Zoroaster of Persia (6000
B. C., according to Pliny and Aristotle), speaks of his having
also been visited by Magi, or “Magia,” at the period of his
earthly advent. *
And it is, perhaps, well to note in this place, that “Magi”
is the term used in the Apocryphal Gospels to designate the
“ wise men ” who visited Christ at birth; and that Magi, Magic,
and Magician are but variations of the same word, at least
derivations from the same root, all suggesting a wisdom corre-
lated to the Gods. Osiris, an incarnate deity of Egypt, we
may cite as another case of an infantile God receiving signal
honors and eclat at birth, as he was visited while yet in the
cradle by a host of admiring adorers. “People flocked from
all parts of the world to behold the heaven-born infant.” Such
a world-wide fame must have had the effect to attract, with the
numerous crowd who thronged to see and worship him, no
small number of “wise men.”
At this stage of our historical exposition, we will suggest it
as rather a singular circumstance that the divine Father, in his
infinite wisdom, should have chosen to reveal the intelligence
of the birth of his son Jesus Christ to a set of nomadic heathen
idolaters hundreds of miles distant (though known as “wise
men ” because of their skill in astrology) before he made it
VISIT OF ANGELS, SHEPHERDS, AND MAGI. 61
known to his own “ chosen people ” (the Jews), who had ever
regarded themselves as the recipients of his special favors.
And perhaps it is still more singular that these pagan pedes-
trians should have been denominated “ wise men,” while men
of God’s own election, according to the Christian bible, were
often stigmatized and denounced as “ fools,” a “ generation of
vipers,” &c. But it so happens that “ human reason ” finds
many incongruities in “ Divine Revelations.”
62
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE TWENTY-FIFTH OF DECEMBER THE BIRTH-
DAY OF THE GODS.
Divested of all explanation, the announcement of the fact
that the time of the birth of many of the incarnated Gods and
Saviors of antiquity was fixed at the same period, and this peri-
od the 25th of December, celebrated all over Christendom as
the birthday of Jesus Christ, would sound marvelously strange,
especially when it is noticed that this period formerly dated the
birth of a new year—the birth of King Sol. And when we
find that the ancient pagans were in the habit of celebrating
this venerated 25th of December as the birthday of their Gods
in the same manner Christians now celebrate it as the birthday
of Christ, we are driven to admit that something more than
mere fortuitous accident must be adduced to account for the
coincidence. According to Dr. Lightfoot, the temple of Jeru-
salem was employed in celebrating the birthday of a pagan
God (Adonis) on the very night Christians assign for the birth
of Christ. And Robert Taylor informs us that nearly all
the nations of the East were once in the habit of rising at
midnight to celebrate the birthday of their Gods, on the 25th
of December. And to this statement Mr. Higgins adds, tl at,
“ at the first moment after midnight of the 24th of December,
the ancient nations celebrated the accouchement of the queen
of heaven and celestial virgin, and the birth of the God Sol,
the infant Savior, and the God of Day.”
Bacchus of Egypt, Bacchus of Greece, Adonis of Greece,
Chrishna of India, Chang-ti of China, Chris of Chaldea, Mithra
of Persia, Sakia of India, Jao Wapaul (a crucified Savior of
ancient Britain), were all born on the 25th of December, ac
THE BIRTHDAY OF THE GODS.
63
cording to their respective histories. Chrishna is represented to
have been born at midnight on the 25th of the month Savarana,
which answers to our December, and millions of his disciples cel-
ebrated his birthday by decorating their houses with garlands
and gilt paper, and the bestowment of presents to friends. , The
Rev. Mr. Barret tells us, “ It was once common for the women
in Rome to perambulate the streets on the 25th of December,
singing in a loud voice, “ Unto us a child is born this day.” The
25th of December, then, it will be observed, was marked as the
birthday of the incarnated Gods, Saviors, and Sons of God, of
many of the religious systems of antiquity, long prior to the
birth of Christ. And why his birth was fixed at that date is
not hard to account for. According to the celebrated Chris-
tian writer Mr. Goodrich, the Christian world had no chronol-
ogy and recorded no dates for several centuries after the com-
mencement of the Christian era. (See History of all Nations,
p. 23.) No event of their history was marked by dates for
nearly four hundred years. Hence the time of Christ’s birth is
altogether a matter of conjecture, as is also every other event no-
ticed in the Christian bible. This is proved by the fact that the
ablest Christian writers and chronologists differ to the extent
of thirty-five hundred years in fixing the time of every event
in the bible. A Mr. Kennedy presents us with three hundred
different chronological systems, by different Christian writers,
all founded on the bible, and proving that the date of its vari-
ous events are inextricably involved in a labyrinth of doubt,
darkness, and uncertainty.
Relative to the time of Christ’s birth, the “ Encyclopedia Bri-
tannica” says, “Christians count one hundred and thirty-three
contrary opinions of different authors concerning the year the
Messiah appeared on earth — many of them celebrated writers.”
(Art. Chron.) Mark the declaration — one hundred and thirty-
three different opinions as to the year Christ was born in; one
hundred and thirty-three different years fixed on by different
Christian chronologists as the time of the birth of the most
extraordinary and most noted being, as Christians would have
us believe, that ever appeared on earth. Think of an omnipo-
tent God descending from heaven, performing astounding mhv
64
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
acles, and presenting other proofs of being a God, and yet not one
of the three hundred writers of that era take any notice of him,
or make any note of his birth or any event of his life. This cir-
cumstance is of itself sufficient to banish and dissipate all faith
in his divinity. It is evident, from the facts just presented, tha*b
all systems of Christian chronology are founded on mere conjec-
ture, and hence should be rejected as worthless. What event of
Christ’s life, then, can be accepted as certain, when no record
was made of it till the time was forgotten, and none for at least
half a century after the dawn of the Christian era, according to
Dr. Lardner, when nearly all who witnessed it must have been
dead ? We think the most reasonable conclusion in the case is,
that Christ, instead of performing those Munchausen prodigies
attributed to him, — such as casting out devils, raising the
dead, controlling the elements of nature, &c., — led such an ordi-
nary, obscure life, — excelling only in healing the sick and other
noble deeds of charity and philanthropy, — that he attracted
but little notice by the higher classes, or by anybody but those
of a similar turn of mind, till he was deified by Constantine, in
the year 825 A. D. Hence the time of his birth was not re-
corded, and was forgotten. Consequently, the 25th of Decem-
ber was selected as his birthday, because it was the birthday
of other Gods, and because it was regarded by the heathen,
from time immemorial, as the birthday of Sol, the glorious
luminary of heaven, it being the period he is born again into a
new year, and “ commences again his journey and his life ; ” and
because, also, this epoch was, as Sharon Turner informs us, in
his u History of the Anglo-Saxons,” the commencement of a new
year up to the tenth century.
These events signalized the 25th of December, and made it
a period of sufficient importance to lead the early Christians
to suppose it must have been the birthday of their Messiah.
Mosheim, however, confesses that the day or the year in
which it happened “has not been fixed with certainty, not-
withstanding the profound researches of the learned.” So that
it is*still an open question as to when Christ was born. What
day of the month, what year, or what century it took place in,
is still unknown. This circumstance is, as before suggested,
THE BIRTHDAY OF THE GODS.
65
-
sufficient of itself to utterly prostrate all faith in the divine
claims for Jesus Christ. What would be thought of a witness
who should testify in court to the truth of an occurrence of
which he did not know the year, or even the century, in which
it took place, or who could come no nearer than one hundred
and thirty-three years in fixing or guessing at the time. Would
the court accept such testimony?
5
66
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS
CHAPTER IX.
TITLES OF THE SAVIORS.
The various deific titles applied to Jesus Christ in the Hew
Testament are regarded by some Christian writers as presump-
tive evidence of his divinity. But the argument proves too
much for the case; as we find the proof in history that many
other beings, whom Christians regard as men, were honored and
addressed by the same titles, such as God, Lord, Savior, Re-
deemer, Mediator, Messiah, &c. The Hindoo Chrishna, more
than two thousand years ago, was prayerfully worshiped as
“ God, the Most High.” His disciple Amarca once addressed
him thus: “ Thou art the Lord of all things, the God of the
universe, the emblem of mercy, the bestower of salvation. Be
propitious, O Most High God,” &c. Here he is addressed both
as Lord and God. He is also styled “ God of Gods.” Adonis
of Greece was addressed as “ God Supreme,” and Osiris of
Egypt as “ the Lord of Life.” In Phrygia, it was “ Lord
Atys,” as Christians say, “Lord Jesus Christ.” Narayan of
Bermuda was styled the “Holy Living God.” The title “Son
of God ” was so common in nearly all religious countries as to
excite but little awe or attention. St. Basil says, “ Every un-
commonly good man was called c the Son of God.’ ” The “ Asi-
atic Researches ” says, “ The Tamulese adored a divine Son of
God,” and Thor of the Scandinavians was denominated “ the
first-born Son of God; ” and so was Chrishna of India, and other
demigods.
It requires, therefore, a wide stretch of faith to believe that
Jesus Christ was in any peculiar sense “the Son of God,”
because so denominated, or “the only begotten Son of God,”
when so many others are reported in history bearing that title
TITLES OF THE SAVIORS.
67
The title Savior is found in the legends of every religious
country. So also God, Redeemer, and Mediator. “ When a
Mogul or Thibetan is asked who was Chrishna,” says the Chris-
tian missionary Hue, “ the reply is, instantly,1 the Savior of
men.’” Budha was known as “the Savior, Creator, and Wis-
dom of God,” and Mithra as both Mediator and Savior, also as
“ the Redeemer,” and Chrishna as “ the Divine Redeemer,”
also “ the Redeemer of the World.” The terms Mediator and
Intercessor were also frequently applied to him by his disci-
ples. And both he and Quexalcote were hailed as “the Mes-
siah.” In short, most ancient religious nations were honored
with or expected a Messiah.
Was Jesus Christ the “ Lamb of God ? ” (John i. 9.) So was
Chrishna styled “ the Holy Lamb.” The Mexicans, preferring
a full-grown sheep, had their “Ram of God.” The Celts had
their “ Heifer of God,” and the Egyptians their “ Bull of God.”
All these terms are ludicrous emblems of Deity, representing
him as a quadruped, as the title “ Lamb of God ” does Jesus
Christ, a term no less ludicrous than the titles of the pagan
Gods as cited above. And was Christ “ the True Light ? ” (John
i. 9.) So was Chrishna likewise called “the True Light,” also
“the Giver of Light,” “the Inward Light,” &c. Osiris was
“ the Redeemer of Light,” and Pythagoras was both “ Light
and Truth.” Apollonius was styled “ the True Light of the
world;” while Simon Magus was called “ the Light of all men.”
Several nations had also their Christs, though in many cases
the word is diiferently spelled. Chrest, the Greek mode of
spelling Christ, may be found on several of the ancient tomb-
stones of that country. The Christian writer Elsley, in his
“Annotations of the Gospels” (vol. i. p. 25), spells the word
Christ in this manner, Chrest. The people of Loretto had a
black Savior, called Ch :est, or Christ. Lucian, in his “ Philo-
patris,” admits the ancient Gentiles had the name of Christ,
which shows it was a heathen title. The Chaldeans had their
Chris, the Hindoos their Chrishna, the Greeks their Chrest, and
the Christians theft Christ, all, doubtless, derived from the
same original root.
As for Jesus, it was a common name among the Jews long
68
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
before the advent of Christ. Josephus refers to seven or eight
persons by that name, as, “Jesus, brother of Onias,” “Jesus,
son of Phabet,” &c. Joshua in the Greek form, Jesus,
was in still more common use.
Again, was Jesus Christ w the Alpha and Omega, the Begin-
ning and the End ?” so, likewise, Chrishna proclaimed, “I am
the Beginning, the Middle, and the End.” Osiris and Chrishna
were both proclaimed u Judge of the Dead,” as Jesus was “Judge
of quick and dead.” Isaiah represents the Father as proclaim-
ing, “I am Jehovah; besides me there is no Savior.” (Isa. xliii.
11.) With what consistency, then, can Christ be called “ the
Savior,” if there is but one Savior, and that is the Father ?
And other divine titles besides those above named — in fact,
all those applied to Christ — are found used also in reference to
the older pagan Gods, and hence prove nothing.
Origin of the Terms Mediator, Intercessor, &c.
Several causes contributed to originate a belief in the offices
imaginarily assigned to divine God-descended Mediators, Re-
deemers, and Intercessors.
1. In the first place, the Great Supreme God was believed
to be too far off and too aristocratic to be on familiar terms
with his subjects, or at all times accessible to their prayers.
Hence was gotten up a “ Mediator,” or middle God, to stand
midway between the Great Supreme and the people, and trans-
mit messages from one to the other, and thus serve as agent
for both parties. Confirmatory of this statement is the dec-
laration of Mamoides, in his “ Guide to the Erring,” that “ the
ancient Sabeans conceived the principal God, on account of
his great distance, to be inaccessible; and hence, in imitation
of the people in their conduct toward their king, who had
to address him through a person appointed for the purpose,
they imaginarily employed a middle divinity, who was called
a Mediator, to present their claims to the Supreme God.”
Here the whole secret is out, the whole thing is explained,
and we now understand why Christ is called a Mediator, In-
tercessor, “ Advocate with the Father,” &c.
2. Again, the Supreme God was supposed to be frequently
TITLES OF THE SAVIORS.
6<>
angry with the people, and threatening to punish if not tc de-
stroy them. “ I will punish the multitude.” (Jer. xlvi. 25.) “ I
will destroy the people.” (Ex. xxiii. 27.) Hence this middle
divinity, this second person of the trinity, stepped in to plead
and intercede on their behalf, being, as we must presume, a bet-
ter-natured and more merciful being than the Father. And
thus interceding, he received the titles of Intercessor and u Ad-
vocate with the Father.” (1 John ii. 1.)
3. The principal circumstance, however, which led to the
conception of a divine Savior, was the desire to find some way
to continue in sin and wrong-doing, and escape its natural and
legitimate consequences; in other words, to evade the penalty.
Hence it came to be believed that people might run riot in sin,
and plunge into the indulgence of their passions and their lusts,
till the hour of death approached, when they would have noth-
ing to do but to ask forgiveness, and cast the burden of their
sins and sufferings on the merits of “ a crucified Savior and
Redeemer,” who “ suffered once for all, that we might escape,”
and thus dodge the penalty for sin. It was, as Mr. Fleurbach
expresses it, “a realised wish to be free from the laws of mo-
rality, and escape the natural consequences of wrong-doing.”
70
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER X.
THE SAVIORS OF ROYAL DESCENT, BUT HUMBLE
BIRTH.
We have the singular coincidence presented in the histories
of several of the Saviors of their lineal descent through a line
of kings or princes, and yet commencing their probationary life
under the most humble and adverse circumstances — being
born in stables, caves, and other inauspicious situations.
The story of their royal blood was calculated to add dignity
to their characters, while their humble birth in the midst of
poverty, and unmarked by ostentation, would evince their hu-
mility, meekness, condescension, and absence of pride, and thus
proclaim a lesson of humility and resignation to their disciples
and followers. Here seems to be plainly indicated the motives
for assigning them such a birth, and such a character. Christ’s
lineal descent, it will be remembered, is professedly traced
(though in a very zigzag, disjointed manner) from the royal
house of David. And yet his royal blood did not save him
from the most ignoble and ignominious birth, and an obscure
exordium of his earth life. A singular story, and yet a simi-
lar story, is told of the Indian Savior Chrishna, who was,
according to the Rev. Mr. Allen (India, p. 379) of the royal
house of Kousa, traced back through many generations. Yet,
in order to teach the world a lesson of true humility, and
administer a just reprehension to pride, he submitted to be
born in a cave, amid the denizens of subterranean abodes. And
here let it be noted, the best and most orthodox writers concede
that while Christ is said to have been born in a manger, that
manger was in a cave. Mr. Fleecwood (a very popular Chris-
tian writer) testifies in his matter that “the Greek fathers
SAVIORS OF ROTAL DESCENT.
71
generally agree that the place of Christ’s birth was a cave.
(Life of Christ, p. 568.) Then the coincidence in this respect
between Christ and Chrishna may be set down as complete.
We have no means of learning, how many of the Saviors
were of royal blood, as the genealogy of some of them is not
given. But those whose lineal descent is furnished us are
almost uniformly traced to or evinced as springing from royal
parentage, and practical humility, so far as it can be taught
by an unostentatious birth, is a lesson taught by nearly all.
Budha Sakia of Hindostan is directly traced through a royal
pedigree. Speaking on this point, one writer remarks, “Tra-
dition affirms that his mother was betrothed to a rajah,
and of course her son belonged to the same royal caste that
Chrishna did during his existence on earth ” (Prog. Rel.
Ideas, vol. i. 84.) “The Great Prophet” of Arabia (Ma-
homet) not only commenced his earthly career in a humble
situation, but resembled Christ in having “ nowhere to lay his
head.” It is said of the Great Prophet, “ A cloak spread on
the ground served him for a bed, and a skin filled with date
leaves was his pillow.” The genealogy of the God Yu (of
China) is traced through a line of princes to a very remote
origin, while his whole life was a lesson of practical humility,
and proclaimed at every step, “This is the way; walk ye in it.”
72
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XI.
CHRIST’S GENEALOGY.
In order to exalt the dignity and character of the Christian
Messiah still higher than a mere claim for a divine origin pater-
nally would have the effect to do, two of his assumed to be
inspired biographers have set up for him a claim to a royal lin-
eage through the maternal line. Hence they tell us that he de-
scended from and through a line of kings embracing the house
of David. Butin presenting the names, and the number of
generations, in their attempts to make out this royal distinc-
tion, this kingly exaltation of birth, they exhibit a most egre-
gious bungle, and the most barefaced tissue of discrepancies.
For they not only differ widely with each other in this matter,
but differ with the Old Testament genealogy, and differ with
those texts which give the maternal ancestry of Jesus. Indeed,
though varying as wide as the poles from each other, they both
miss Jesus and arrive at Joseph in tracing down the generations
from Abraham (unless we assume they intended to represent
Joseph as being his father).
Luke, in his Gospel, names and counts off forty-one genera-
tions from David to Joseph, though he had previously repre-
sented it as being forty-two; but Matthew says that “from
Abraham to David are fourteen generations,” but according to
his own showing, and according to his own list of names, there
are but thirteen. And then he tells us there are but fourteen
generations from David to the carrying away into Babylon.
But according to the Old Testament genealogy (see 1 Chron.
iii.) there were eighteen. And then the names comprised in
CHRIST'S GENEALOGY.
78
the two genealogies of Matthew and Luke are so widely differ-
ent from that found in Chronicles, as to set all analogy and
agreement at defiance. In fact, in their whole list of names,
from David down to Joseph, they only come together twice.
Their names are all different but two, that of Salathiel and
Zorobabel, which names alone are found in both lists. Mat-
thew tells us that the son of David, through whom Joseph de-
scended, was Solomon, but Luke says it was Nathan. The
next name in Matthew’s list is that of Roboam, but the cor-
responding name in Luke’s list is Mattatha. Matthew’s next
name is Abia, which Luke gives as Menan, while Chronicles
differs from both, and gives it as Abijah. Matthew says Joram
begat Ozias, but Chronicles virtually declares Joram had no
such son, although he had a great-great-grandson Uzziah. But
Luke says, in effect, there was no such person in the genea-
logical tree, or family line, as either Joram, Ozias, or Uzziah.
Matthew says again, “ Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren,
about the time they were carried away to Babylon.” (Matt.
L11‘)
But Chronicles declares that Jechonias was Jehoiakim’s
son, and not Josiah’s, and that Josiah had no such son. And,
besides, we learn from 2 Kings xiii. that Josiah was killed
eleven years before the exile to Babylon, and could not well
beget a son after he had been defunct a tenth of a century.
Matthew, after naming twenty-four generations as filling out
the line, and making it complete between David and Jacob,
concludes by saying, “ and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of
Mary.” But Luke, antecedent to spinning out his list to four-
teen generations more than Matthew, i. e., making it fourteen
generations longer, declares that “Joseph was the son of Hell.”
So that Joseph either had two fathers, Jacob and Heli, or Mat-
thew or Luke, or both, were most egregiously mistaken, with
all their “inspiration.”
Again, Luke says that Salathiel was the son of Neri; but
Chronicles says he was the son of Jechonias. And after
Chronicles had registered Zorobabel as the son of Penniah,
Matthew and Luke, assuming to become “ wise above what was
written,” both declare that he was the son of Salathiel. They
74
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
agree here in contradicting Chronicles, which is the onlj
instance but one of their agreement in the whole list of pro-
genitors from David to Joseph. With this exception they
contradict each other all the way through, and in many instances
that of Chronicles too. This is a strange way indeed of prov-
ing Jesus Christ to have had two fathers! to be both the son
of God and son of David! And it is still stranger that they
should trace his genealogy to Joseph, if they did not con-
sider him Joseph’s son. Otherwise, the genealogy of “Sin-
bad the Sailor,” or “ Harry Haulaway,” would have been as
apropos.
Such are the beautiful harmony and agreement in the words
of “ divine inspiration ” which Christians prate so much about.
And all this appears to be the result of an attempt to elevate
the man Christ Jesus to a level with the demigods of antiquity,
nearly all of whom claimed to be of royal or princely descent.
Such continual blundering, guessing, cross-firing, and clashing
of names as is exhibited in the foregoing exposition, reminds
us of the Hibernian’s reply when asked for the number and
names of his brothers : —
“Well, sir, I have fourteen brothers, and they are all named
Bill but Bob,-----his name is Tom.”
Matthew and Luke’s attempt to exalt and dignify the char-
acter of Christ by making out for him a pure, holy, and royal
lineage, we find upon a critical examination not only proved a
very signal but a very singular and ludicrous failure, for all his
female ancestors who are brought to notice were persons of
libidinous or licentious tendencies, according to their own bib-
lical history. “It is remarkable,” says Dr. Alexander Walker
(a Christian writer, in his work on Woman, p. 330), “that
in the genealogy of Christ only four women are named :
Thamar, who seduced the father of her late husband, and
Rachel, a common prostitute, and Ruth, who, instead of marry-
ing one of her cousins, went to bed with another of them,
and Bathsheba, an adulteress, who espoused David, the mur-
derer of her first husband.” What a pedigree for an incar-
nate God — a being ostensibly of spotless origin! though his
CHRIST'S GENEALOGT.
75
impure aneestral origin does not detract from the high moral
character and distinguished moral life which marks the his-
tory of wthe man Christ Jesus,” many incidents of whose
Jife show him to have been what is now known as a spirit-
ual medium.
:6
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
-
CHAPTER XII.
THE WORLD’S SAVIORS SAVED FROM DESTRUC- -
TION IN INFANCY.
Of course such an extraordinary circumstance as the birth
of a God into the world mast be marked with unusual inci-
dents and great eclat. This was first exhibited by angels, shep-
herds, prophets, magi, or uwise men,” flocking around their
cradles. In the second place we observe an unusual display
of divine power and providential care on the part of the great
Father God, who was still left in heaven to save the young
saviors through their infancy. It is certainly a remarkable cir-
cumstance that so many of the infant Saviors should have been
threatened with the most imminent danger of destruction, and
yet in every case miraculously preserved, and thus were the
Saviors saved. A jealousy seems to have existed in several
instances in the mind of the tyrant king or ruler of the country
that the young Saviors and prospective spiritual rulers (who
were mostly of royal descent) would ultimately acquire such
favor with the people, by such a display of superior power and
greatness of mind as to endanger his retaining peaceable pos-
session of the secular throne; to express it in brief, he feared
the young God would prove a rival king, and hence took
measures to destroy him.
In the case of the Christian Savior we are told that an angel,
or “the angel,” warned Joseph (the assumed father) to take the
young Savior and God, and flee with him into Egypt, because
“Herod the king sought to destroy the young child’s life,”
and had, in order to effect this end, decreed the destruction of
all the children under two years old. And Joseph heeded the
divine warning, and fled as directed. An angel and a dream,
SAVIORS SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION.
77
then, it will be observed, were the instrumentalities used to
save the young Judean Savior from massacre. And strange as
it may seem, we find the same agencies had been previously
employed to effect the rescue of other Saviors likewise and
similarly threatened.
In the case of Chrishna of India, in particular, the similitude
is very striking in nearly every feature of the whole story.
In the first place, there is the angel warning. In the Chris-
tian story we are not specifically informed how the tyrant
Herod first became apprised of the birth of the Judean Savior.
The Hindoo story is fuller, and indicates that the angel was
not only sufficiently thoughtful to warn the parents to flee
from a danger which threatened to dispossess them of a divine
child, and the world of a Savior, but was condescending enough
to apprise the tyrant ruler (Cansa) of his danger likewise — as
we are told he heard an angel voice announcing that a rival
ruler was born in his kingdom..
And hence, like Herod, he set about concocting measures to
destroy him without a direct attack. Why either of them
should have taken such a circuitous or roundabout way of
killing an infant, when the life of the strongest man, and every
man in their kingdoms, was at their instant disposal, “ divine
inspiration” does not inform us. But so it was. And we
must not seek to “ become wise above what is written ” in their
bibles. Herod’s decree required the destruction of all infants
under two years of age (see Matt. ii. 16) —first ordering, how-
ever, “ Go, and search diligently for the young child.” (Matt. ii.
8.) Cansa’s decree ran thus: “ Let active search be made for
whatever young children there may be upon earth, and let every
boy in whom there may be found signs of unusual greatness
be slain without remorse.” Now, let it be specially noticed
that there is to this day in the cave temple at Elephanta, in
India, the sculptured likeness of a king represented with a drawn
sword, and surrounded with slaughtered infants — admitted by
all writers to be much older than Christianity. Mr. Forbes, in his
“ Oriental Memories,” vol. iii. p. 447, says, “ The figures of the
slaughtered infants in the cave of Elephanta represent them as
being all boys, who are surrounded by groups of figures of men
78
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
And women in the act, apparently, of supplicating for those
children.” And Mr. Higgins testifies relative to the case, that
Chrishna was carried away by night, and concealed in a region
remote from his natal place, for fear of a tyrant whose de-
stroyer it had been foretold he would become, who, for that
reason, had ordered all the male children born at that time to
be slain. Sculptures in Elephanta attest the story where the
tyrant is represented as destroying the children. The date of
this sculpture is of the most remote antiquity. “ He who hath
ears to hear, let him hear,” and deduce the pregnant inference.
Joseph and Mary fled with the young Judean God into Egypt;
Chrishna’s parents likewise fled with the young Hindoo Savior
to Gokul. Now, let us observe for a moment the chain or
category of resemblance.
1. There was an angel warning in each case relative to the
impending danger.
2. The governor or ruler was hostile in each case to the mis-
sion of the young Savior.
3. A bloody decree was issued in both cases, having for its
object the destruction of these infant Messiahs.
4. The flight of the parents takes place in each case.
5. And it may be remarked further, that the “ Gospel of the
Infancy of Jesus,” once believed by the Christian world to be
‘‘inspired,” and which for hundreds of years passed current as
divine authority, relates that Christ and his parents sojourned
for a time at a place called Matarea, or Mathura, as Sir
William Jones spell it, who says it was the birthplace of
Chrishna.
It is further related in the case of Chrishna, that as he and
his parents approached the River Jumna in their flight, the
waters “ parted hither and thither,” so that they passed over
“ dry shod,” like Moses and* the Israelites in crossing the Red
Sea. And here let it be noted that the representation of this
flight, which is said to have occurred at midnight, is like
that of the massacre perpetuated and attested by imperishable
monuments of stone bearing evidence of being now several
thousand years old.
Sir William Jones says,—
SAVIORS SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION.
79
“The Indian incarnate God Chrishna, the Hindoos believe,
had a virgin mother of the royal race, who was sought to be
destroyed in his infancy about nine hundred years before
Christ. It appears that he passed his life in working miracles,
and preaching, and was so humble as to wash his friends’ feet;
at length dying, but rising from the dead, he ascended into
heaven in the presence of a multitude. The Cingalese relate
nearly the same things of their “ Budha.” And several authors
of Egyptian history refer to a story perpetuated in the Egyptian
legends concerning the God Osiris, who was threatened with
destruction by the tyrant Amulius, to save whom his parents
fled and concealed him in an arm of the River Nile, as Christ
was concealed in the same country, and, for aught that appears
to the contrary, in the same locality. The mother of another
and older Savior of Egypt fled by a timely warning to Epidarais
before the birth of the divine child, and was there delivered of
“our Lord and Savior” Horus. And the earthly or adopted
father of the Grecian Savior, and God, Alcides, had to flee with
him and his mother to Galem for protection from threatening
danger. In the ninth and tenth volumes of the “ Asiatic Re-
searches” we find the story of the “only begotten,” or “first
begotten son of God,” Salvahana, of Cape Comorin, son of a
virgin mother (as were all the other Saviors referred to), and
a carpenter by the name of Taishnea. (It will be remem-
bered that Joseph, “foster-father of Jesus,” was a carpenter.)
The story of this “ Son of God” presents several features very
similar to that relating to Jesus. Sir William Jones, Colonel
Wilford, and the Rev. Mr. Maurice, all confess to the antiquity
of this story, as originating before the birth of Christ. Speak-
ing of Zoroaster of Persia (another case), 600 B. C., an author
remarks, “ Tradition reports that his mother had alarming
dreams of evil spirits seeking to destroy the child to whom she
was about to give birth. But a good spirit came to rescue him,
and consoled her by saying, “ Fear not; God Ormuzd will pro-
tect the infant, who has sent him as a prophet to the people
and the world who are waiting for hirn.”
China, too, presents us with a case of the threatened destruc-
tion of a Savior in infancy, evidently recorded more than two
80
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
thousand five hundred years ago. It is the case of the God
.Yu, who was concealed in a manner similar to that of Moses
— a commemoration of the story of which is perpetuatd by an
image or picture of a virgin mother with a babe upon her knee
— sometimes in her arms. Now, let it be noted that these
virgin-born Gods, who, we are told, came “ to save the world,”
could not save themselves, but had to be protected and saved by
other Gods.
Without pursuing the subject further in detail, we may men-
tion, by way of recapitulation, that Chrishna, Alcides, Zoroaster,
Salvahana, Yu, to which list we may add Bacchus, Romulus,
Moses, and Cyrus, according to their reputed history, were
threatened with death and destruction, but were providentially
and miraculously preserved. The case of Augustus is related
by Suetonius, that of Romulus by Livy, and that of Cyrus
by Herodotus. It will be recollected that Pharaoh, like Herod,
in order to reach the infant Moses, ordered the massacre of all
the male infants (Herod making no distinction of sex), in order
that he might, by this singular and circuitous method, reach the
object of his jealousy and malignity without passing a direct
sentence of death upon him.
The whole story of Herod’s slaughter edict, with the history
of its execution, like nearly every other miraculous incident
related in “ The Holy Scriptures,” which detail their histories,
are traceable in the skies. Herod, we are told, literally means
hero of the skin — a term applied also to Hercules, a personifi-
cation of the sun—because the sun, on entering the constel-
lation of the Zodiac in July, was supposed or assumed to
invest himself with the skin of the lion, and this became
“the hero of the skin,” or a hero with a new skin. Now this
solar Herod, passing through the astronomical twins and young
infants of May, was said to destroy them, though the word de-
stroy is in the Greek anairean, which any person, on turning to
the Greek lexicon, will observe means also to take away, pass
through, or withdraw from, so that Pharaoh more properly
passed through the infants than destroyed them.
The text, “ In Rama there was a voice heard,” “ Rachel weep-
ing for her children,” &c., is quoted by a writer (Strauss) as
SAVIORS SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION.
81
referring to the children slaughtered by Pharaoh. Let two
things be noticed here: 1. Rama is the Indian and Phenician
name for the zodiac. 2. Rachel had but two children to weep
for—Joseph and Benjamin—just the number found in the
fifth sign, or May sign, of the zodiac. And Venus, among the
ancient Assyrians and Phenicians, was in tears when the sun,
in his annual cross through the heavens, passed through or
over the astronomical Twins (Gemini), doubtless fearfully appre-
hending their destruction.
The case of the massacre is an illustration, and example, of
the manner in which all the miraculous stories related in the
Christian Scriptures, as having been practically exemplified in
the life of Jesus Christ, are traceable to older sources, frequently
terminating among the stars.
Section II.—Incredibility of the Story of the
Massacre of the Hebrew Infants.
1. It is a cogent and potent fact, calculated to render the
story of the murder of the Hebrew children by Herod wholly
incredible, that not one writer of that age, or that nation, or
any other nation, makes any mention of the circumstance.
2. Even the Rabbinical writers who detail his wicked life so
minutely, and who bring to his charge so many flagitious acts,
fail to record any notice of this horrible and atrocious deed,
which must have been published far and wide, and known to
all the writers of that age and country, had it occurred.
3. And still more logically ruinous to the credit of the story
is the omission of Josephus to throw out one hint that such a
wholesale slaughter ever took place in Judea. And yet he not
only lived in that country, but was related to Herod’s wife, and
regarded him as his most implacable enemy, and professes to
write out the whole history of his wicked life in the most
minute detail, devoting thirty-seven chapters of his large work
to this subject, and apparently enumerates every evil act of
his life. And yet Josephus says not a word about his in-
human and infamous butchery of the babes which Matthew
charges him with (about fourteen thousand in number) — a
6
82
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
bloody deed, unmatched in the annals of tyranny. Such facts
prove the story not only incredible, but impossihle. Josephus
could not and would not have omitted to notice this the most
notorious and nefarious act of his life, had it occurred. It there-
fore could not have occurred. And it is almost equally incredi-
ble that Roman historians, who furnish us with a particular
account of Herod’s character, should pass over in silence such a
villainous and bloody deed.
4. And then some of our ablest and most reliable chronolo*
gists have shown that Herod was not living at the time this
bloody decree should have been issued by him; that he died
about three years prior to that period, and hence could have
been guilty of no such villainy, and high-handed murder, and
cruel infanticide.
5. And even if living, he would have been an old man (not
less than sixty-eight according to Josephus). Hence he could
not have calculated on surviving long enough for the son of a
village carpenter, then a babe, to oust him from his throne.
6. It is wholly incredible, also, that Herod should have
adopted such a roundabout method of destroying the object of
his fear and envy when he could have singled him out, and put
him to death at once, and thus avoid the felonious act of break-
ing the hearts of thousands of parents, and his most loyal sub-
jects, too.
7. From the foregoing considerations, we indorse the senti-
ment of the Rev. Edward Evanson, that it is “ an incredible,
borrowed fiction.”
EARLT PROOF OF DIVINITT.
83
CHAPTER XIII.
THE SAVIORS EXHIBIT EARLY PROOFS OF
DIVINITY.
Of course all Gods must be heroes — physically or intel-
lectually, or both. The more danger they encounter, and the
earlier they manifest a precocious or preternatural smartness,
the more like Gods. And hence we find several of the Saviors
in very early childhood displaying great physical prowess in
meeting and conquering danger, while others exhibit their su-
periority mentally by vanquishing their opponents in argument.
Christ first began to exhibit proof of his divine character and
greatness by meeting and silencing the doctors in the temple
when only about twelve years of age. And similar proofs of
divinity at or near this age is found in the history of some of
the pagan Saviors. Of Christ it is declared, “ There went out
a fame of him through all the region round about.” (Luke
iv. 14.) And of the Grecian Esculapius it is likewise declared,
“The voice of fame soon published the birth of a miraculous
child,” and “the people flocked from all quarters to behold
him.” Of Confucius of China it is declared, “His extensive
knowledge and great wisdom soon made him known, and
kings were governed by his counsels, and the people adored
him wherever he went.” And it is further declared of this
“Divine Man” that he seemed to arrive at reason and the per-
fect use of his faculties almost from infancy. It is reported of
the God Chang-ti, that when questioned on the subject of gov-
ernment and the duties of princes and rulers while yet a child,
his answers were such as to astonish the whole empire by his
knowledge and wisdom.
It is related of a Grecian God that he demolished the
84
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
serpents which attempted to bite or destroy him while in his
cradle. “The proof of Osiris’s divinity was a blaze of light
shining around his cradle soon after he was born. Relative to
Pythagoras of the same country, we have it upon the authority
of a Christian writer, that he exhibited such a remarkable char-
acter, even in youth, as to attract the attention of all who saw
and heard him speak.” And the author further testifies of
him that he “ never was at any time overcome with anger,
laughter, or perturbation of mind or precipitation of conduct ”
u His fame having reached Miletus and neighboring cities, it is
said by another writer, the people flocked to see and hear him,
and he was reverenced by multitudes.” Luke declares of Christ,
that the people “were astonished at his understanding and
answers.” (Luke ii. 47.) And the “Gospel of the Infancy”
tells us that his tutor Zacheas was astonished at his learning,
which reminds us of the statement found in “The Divine
Word” of the Hindoos (The Mahabarat), that the parents of
the Savior Chrishna, in making arrangements to give him an
education, sent him to a learned Brahmin as tutor, whom he
instantly astonished with his vast learning, and under whose
tuition he mastered the whole circle of sciences in a day and a
night. “Men, seeing the wonders performed by this child, told
Nanda (his adopted father) that this could not possibly be his
son.” It is told of Budha Sakia of India, that “ as soon as he
was born, a light shone around his cradle, when he stood up
and proclaimed his mission, and that the River Ganges during
this time rose in a miraculous manner, which was stilled by his
divine power, as Christ stilled the tempest on the sea. “He
was born,” says the New American Cyclopedia (vol. iv. p. 61),
“ amidst great miracles, and as soon as born, most solemnly pro-
claims his mission.” Of Narayan “the Holy,” it is declared
that “mysterious words dropped from his lips on various
occasions, giving hints of his divine nature and the purposes
for which he had come down to the earth.” (Prog. Rel. Ideas,
vol. i. p. 128.) The divine power and mission of Yu of China
was very early evinced by the display of great miracles. And
here let us observe, that some of the Old Testament or Jewish
heroes, as Moses, Solomon, and Samuel, are reported as exhibit-
EARLY PROOF OF DIVINITY.
-
85
ing great superiority of mind in very early life — thus proving
(it was thought) that if they were not Gods, they were at least
from God — that is, endowed by him with divine power while
yet mere children. Thus the histories of all Gods and divine
personages run in parallel grooves.
86
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE SAVIORS* KINGDOMS NOT OF THIS WORLD,
Retirement and Forty Days’ Fasting.
Christ taught, “ My kingdom is not of this world.” And
we find that most of the other Saviors virtually and practically
taught the same doctrine. The first practical ev in cement of it
was exhibited by retiring from the world ; that is, they retired
from the noise and commotion, from the busy scenes of life,
into some sequestered spot excluded from human observation.'
Christ is reported to have withdrawn from society, and to have
spent some forty days in the wilderness fasting and being
tempted by Satan — a man of straw conjured up in order to
furnish the hero God something to combat with, that he might
thereby exhibit practical proof of his divine power and prowess.
It was simply the two kings or rulers of two hostile kingdoms
(heaven and hell) contending for the mastery. Lord Kings-
borough tells us, “The ancient Mexicans had a forty days’ fast
in honor and memory of one of their demigods, or Saviors, who
was tempted forty days on a mountain. He is called “the
Morning Star.” Mr. Kingsborough (being a Christian, remarks,
“ These things are very curious and mysterious.” It is said of
“ the Son of God ” and Savior Chrishna that “he imparted his
doctrines and precepts in the silent depths of the forest.” Of
the Egyptian God Osiris, we are informed in his sacred
legends, that “he observed both fasting and penance,” while
Pythagoras of Greece spent several years in meditation and
retirement in a cave, and was much given to fasting, and often
inculcated the doctrine of “forsaking the world” and “the
tilings thereof.” He taught these things both by precept and
SAVIORS’ KINGDOM NOT OF THIS WORLD. 8?
example, even to “ the forsaking of relations.” Both Confucius
and the Divine Savior Chang-ti of China, “ in order to attain
to a more perfect state of holiness,” spent several years in re-
tirement and “ divine meditation,” the former in a wilderness?
the latter on a mountain, and fasted, and their disciples after
them often fasted in a very devout manner. The Persian
Zoroaster also spent several years in retirement and “ contem-
plation on tiue holiness ” — partly in a wilderness and partly on
a “ holy mountain,” “ holy mountains being the favorite places
of resort of most of the holy Saviors, holy Gods, and holy men
of antiquity. One of the ancient Saviors, Thammuz, is reported
to have spent “twelve years in devout and contemplative re-
tirement from the busy world.” According to the Christian
bible, Moses, Elijah, and Christ, each fasted forty days, and
a Mexican Savior, too (Quexalcoate),spent forty days in a simi-
lar manner, and other cases are so reported. We may institute
the inquiry here, “ How happens this coincidence? The
answer is indicated by “the Hierophant,” which says, “Jesus in
his baptism and forty days’ fast imitated the passage of the
sun through the constellation Aquarius, where John, Joannes,
or Janus the baptizer had his domicile, and baptized the earth
with his yearly rains.” Having been baptized in Jordan, he
fasted forty days in the wilderness, in imitation of the passage
of the sun from the constellation Aquarius through the Fishes to
the Lamb or Ram of March. During the forty days when the
sun is among the Fishes (in the sign of the Fish) the faithful
Catholics, Episcopalians, and Mahomedans abstain from meat
and live upon the fishes during the season of Lent, as did the
Jews and pagans, and as did also Jesus, “ to fulfill all righteous-
ness.”
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XV.
THE SAVIORS WERE REAL PERSONAGES.
It is unwarrantably assumed by Christian writers that the
incarnated Gods and crucified Saviors of the pagan religions
were all either mere fabulous characters or ordinary human
beings invested with divine titles and divine attributes; while,
on the other hand, the assumption is put forth with equal bold
ness that Jesus Christ was a real divine personage, “seen and
believed on in the world, and finally crucified on Mount
Calvary.” But we do not find the facts in history to warrant
any such assumptions or any such distinctions. They all
stand in these respects upon the same ground and on equal
footing. And their respective disciples point to the same kind
of evidence to prove their real existence and their divine char-
acter, and to prove that they once walked and talked amongst
men, as well as now sit on the eternal throne in heaven “ at the
right hand of the Father.” And we find even Christian
writers admitting the once bona fide or personal existence on
earth of most of the pagan Saviors. As to the two chief incar-
nated Gods of India, Chrishna and Sakia, there is scarcely “a
peg left to hang a doubt upon ” as to the fact of their having
descended to the earth, taken upon themselves the form of
men, and having been worshiped as veritable Gods. Indeed
we believe but few of the missionaries who have visited that
country question the statement and general belief prevalent
there of their once personal reality. Colonel 'Todd, in his
“History of the Rajahs” (p. 44), says, “We must discard the
idea that the Mahabarat, the history of Rama, of Chrishna, and
the five Padua brothers are mere allegories. Colossal figures,
undent temples, and caves inscribed with characters yet un-
THE SAVIORS REAL PERSONAGES.
89
known, confirm the reality, and their race, their cities, and their
coins yet exist.” To argue further the personal reality of this
crucified God would be a waste of words, as it is generally
admitted, both by historical writers and missionaries. Mr.
Higgins declares, “ Chrishna lived at the conclusion of the
brazen age, which is calculated to have been eleven hundred
or twelve hundred years before Christ.” Here is a very positive
and specific declaration as to his tangible actuality. Colonel
How, Mr. Robinson, and others use similar language. Relative
to Bacchus, of whose history many writers have spoken as be-
ing wholly fabulous or fictitious, Diodorus Siculus says (lib. iii.
p. 187), “ the Libyans claim Bacchus, and say he was the son
of Ammon, a king of Libya; that he built a temple to his
father, Ammon.” And that world-wide famous historian (Mr.
Goodrich) is still more explicit, if possible, as to his material
entity. After giving it directly as his opinion that there was
such a being, he says, “ He planted vineyards and fig trees,
and erected many noble cities.” He moreover tells us, “ His
skill in legislation and agriculture is much praised ” (p. 499).
With respect to Osiris of Egypt, another God-Savior, Mr.
Hittle declares unqualifiedly that “ Herodotus saw the tomb of
Osiris, at Sais nearly five centuries before Christ ” (vol. i. p.
246). Rather a strong evidence of his previous personality
certainly, but not more so than that furnished by the New
York Journal of Commerce a few years since, relative to the
Egyptian Apis or Thulis, whose theophany was annually cele-
brated, at the rising of the Nile, with great festivities and de-
votion, several thousand years ago. The Paris correspondent
of that Journal, after speaking of Mr. Auguste Marietta’s travels,
“a distinguished scientific gentleman who for four years past
had been employed by the French government in making
Egyptian researches,” having returned home, says, “ The most
important of Mr. Marietta’s discoveries was the tomb of Apis
(Thulis), a monument excavated entirely in lime-rock. “ There
are (he says in conclusion) epitaphs, forming a chronological
record of each of the Apis buried in the common tomb. The
sculpture is of the date of the Pyramids, and the statutes are in
the best state of preservation; the colors are perfectly bright.
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
The execution is admirable, and they convey an exact idea of
the physical character of the primitive population.” The New
American Cyclopedia (art. Apis), in speaking of this Egyptian
God, tells us his lifetime was twenty-five years; in harmony
with one of the theologico-astronomical cycles of the Egyp-
tians. The same work and volume (p. 132), in speaking of
the real existence of Adonis of Greece, tells us, upon the
authority of the poet Panyasis, that he was a veritable son of
Theias, king of Syria. But of all the characters who figured
in the mythological works or lawless rhapsodies of the ancients,
and worshiped by them as crucified Gods and sin-atoning
Saviors, none has, perhaps, been so indubitably, so positively,
and so universally set down as mythological or fabulous as
that of Prometheus of Caucasus. And yet Mr. Lempriere, D. D.,
tells us in his Classical Dictionary that he was the son of Ja-
petus. Sir Isaac Newton says he was a descendant of the
famous African Sesostris; while that erudite and masterly his-
torian (Mr. Higgins) seems to have entertained no doubt of
his personal esse; nor, indeed, of many, if any, of the pagan
Saviors, as the following declaration will show. He says,
“Finding men in India and other countries of the same name
of the inferior Gods (as it is quite common to name men for
them) has led some to conclude that those deified men never
existed, but are merely mythological names of the sun. True,
the first supreme God of every nation (not excepting the Jews)
was the sun. But more modernly the names were transferred
to men.” Again he says, “ Inasmuch as some of them are
found to have been real bona fide human beings, there is noth-
ing unreasonable in concluding that all were.” And if we
take into consideration the true and indisputable fact that the
priests had everything at their disposal, and the strongest
motives for concealing and suppressing, not to say garbling and
destroying, evidence, it is not to be wondered at that the his-
tories of some of these Gods should be somewhat obscure and
ambiguous.” Further on he declares, “ In every case the Savior
was incarnate, and in nearly every case the place in which he
Was actually born was exhibited to the people.” And upon the
authority of the Hierophant, we will add, the memories of many
THE SAVIORS REAL PERSONAGES.
91
of them have been consecrated and perpetuated by tombs
placed beside their temples, which is perhaps the most convin-
cing species of evidence that could be offered. The evidence,
then, is precisely of the same character as that offered in the
case of Jesus Christ to prove that the pagan Saviors did really
possess a substantial, earthly, and bodily existence. Though
it is true that it never has been universally conceded or believed
by Christians themselves that Jesus Christ ever had a personal
or corporeal existence on earth. Cotilenius, in a note on Ig-
natius, Epistle to the Trallians, written in the third century
of the Christian era, declares that “it is as absurd to deny
the doctrine which taught that Jesus Christ’s body was a
phantom as to deny that the sun shone at midday: his physical
body of course was meant, for it appear he believed in his
eternal existence as a spirit in heaven. And we find whole
sects advocating similar views in the early ages of the Christian
church. “One of the most primitive and learned sects,” says
a writer, “ were the Manicheans, who denied that Jesus Christ
ever existed in flesh and blood, but believed him to be a God
in spirit only; others denied him to be a God, but believed him
to have been a prophet, or inspired character, like the Unitarians
of the present day. Some denied his crucifixion, others asserted
it. It is more than probable that this was the cause of dispute
between Paul and Barnabas, mentioned in the Acts of the
Apostles, seeing that Paul had laid such peculiar emphasis on
“Jesus Christ and him crucified.” And this conclusion is cor-
roborated by its being expressly stated in the Gospel of Barna-
bas that “Jesus Christ was not crucified, but was carried to
heaven by four angels.” “ There was a long list,” says the same
writer, “ from the earliest times, of sincere Christians who de-
nied that Jesus Christ rose from the dead; ” while, as we may
remark here, there could not have been at that early date any
grounds for denying these things, had he really figured in the
world in the miraculous and extraordinary and public manner
as that related in the Gospels.
92
THE WORLD9S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XYI.
SIXTEEN SAVIORS CRUCIFIED.
“For I determined not to know anything among yon, save
Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Cor. ii. 2.) There must
have existed a considerable amount of skepticism in the com-
munity as to the truth of the report of the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ in the country and era of its occurrence to make it ne-
cessary thus to erect it into an important dogma, and make it
imperative to believe it. There must have been a large mar-
gin for distrusting its truth. The determination not to know
anything but the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was narrowing
down his knowledge to rather a small compass. And such a
resolution would necessarily preclude him from acquainting
himself with the history of any other cases of crucifixion that
might have occurred before that of his own favorite Messiah.
“ What! was there ever a case of crucifixion beside that of
Jesus Christ?” a good Christian brother or sister sometimes
exclaims, when the world’s sixteen crucified Saviors are spo-
ken of.”
We meet the question with the reply, “You seem to be a
disciple of Paul, whose position would not allow him to know
of any other cases of crucifixion but that of Jesus Christ.
Hence he may have considered it meritorious to perpetuate
his ignorance on the subject. And you, perhaps, are ignorant
from the same cause. It is the nature of all religions based on
fear and unchangeable dogmas, to deter and thus exclude its
disciples from all knowledge adverse to their own creeds. And
sometimes their own religious systems are magnified to such
an exalted appreciation above all others as to lead them to
destroy the evidence of the existence of the latter for fear ot
SIXTEEN SAVIORS CRUCIFIED.
93
their ultimate rivalry. Mr. Taylor informs us that some of the
early disciples of the Christian faith demolished accessible
monuments representing and memorializing the crucifixion of
the ancient oriental sin-atoning Gods, so that they are now
unknown in the annals of Christian history. Hence the sur-
prise excited in the minds of Christian professors when other
cases are mentioned. Such influences as referred to above
have shut out from the minds of the disciples of several reli-
gious systems a knowledge of all crucified Gods but their
own. Hence the Hindoo rejoices in knowing only “ Christina
and him crucified.” The Persian entwines around his heart the
remembrance only of the atoning sufferings on the cross of
Mithra the Mediator. The Mexican daily sends up his earnest,
soul-breathing prayer for the return of the spirit of his crucified
Savior, Quexalcoate; while the Caucasian, with equal devo-
tion, chants daily praises to his slain “Divine Intercessor” for
voluntarily offering himself upon the cross for the sins of a
fallen race. And the Christian disciple hugs to his bosom the
bloody cross of the murdered Jesus, unhaunted by the suspicion
that other Gods died for the sins of man long anterior to the
advent of the immaculate Nazarene.
We will now lay before the reader a brief account of the
crucifixion of more than a dozen virgin-born Gods and sin-aton-
ing Saviors, predicated upon facts which have escaped the hands
of the Christian iconoclasts determined to know only Jesus
Christ crucified. We will first notice the case of the Indian
God Christina.
I. Crucifixion of Chrishna of India, 1200 B. C.
Among the sin-atoning Gods who condescended m ancient
times to forsake the throne of heaven, and descend upon the
plains of India, through human birth, to suffer and die for the
sins and transgressions of the human race, the eighth Avatar,
or Savior, may be considered the most important and the most
exalted character, as he led the most conspicuous life, and
commanded the most devout and the most universal homage.
And while some of the other incarnate demigods were invested
94
-
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
with only a limited measure of the infinite deityship, Chrishna,
according to the teaching of their New Testament (the Rama-
zand), comprehended in himself “ a full measure of the God-
head bodily.” The evidence of his having been crucified is as
conclusive as any other sacrificial or sin-atoning God, whose
name has been memorialized in history, or embalmed as a
sacred idol in the memories of his devout worshipers. Mr.
Moore, an English traveler and writer, in a large collection of
drawings taken from Hindoo sculptures and monuments,
which he has arranged together in a work entitled u The Hin-
doo Pantheon,” has one representing, suspended on the cross,
the Hindoo crucified God and Son of God, “ our Lord and
Savior” Chrishna, with holes pierced in his feet, evidently in-
tended to represent the nail-holes made by the act of crucifix-
ion. Mr. Higgins, who examined this work, which he found
in the British Museum, makes a report of a number of the tran
script drawings, intended to represent the crucifixion of this
oriental and mediatorial God, which we will here condense.
In plate ninety-eight this Savior is represented with a hole in
the top.of one foot, just above the toes, where the nail was in-
serted in the act of crucifixion. In another drawing he is
represented exactly in the form of a Romish Christian crucifix,
but not fixed or fastened to a tree, though the legs and feet are
arranged in the usual way, with nail-holes in the latter. There
is a halo of glory over it, emanating from the heavens above,
just as we have seen Jesus Christ represented in a work by a
Christian writer, entitled Quarles’ Emblems, also in other
Christian books. In several of the icons (drawings) there are
marks of holes in both feet, and in others of holes in the hands
only. In the first drawing which he consulted the marks are
very faint, so as to be scarcely visible. In figures four and
five of plate eleven the figures have nail-holes in both feet,
while the hands are not represented. Figure six has on it the
representation of a round hole in the side. To his collar or
shirt hangs an emblem of a heart, represented in the same
manner as those attached to the imaginary likenesses of Jesus
Christ, which may now be found in some Christian coun-
tries. Figure ninety-one has a hole in one foot and a nail
SIXTEEN SAVIORS CRUCIFIED.
95
through the other, and a round nail or pin mark in one hand
only, while the other is ornamented with a dove and a serpent
(both emblems of deity in the Christian’s bible). Now, we raise
the query here, and drive it into the innermost temple of the
Christian’s conscience, with the overwhelming force of the un-
conquerable logic of history, what does all this mean? And if
they will only let conviction have its perfect work while answer-
ing this question unhampered by the inherited prejudices of a
thousand years, they can henceforth rejoice in the discovery of
a glorious historical truth, calculated to disinthrall their minds
from the soul-cramping superstitions of crosses, crucifixions,
and bloody atonements on which they have been accustomed
to hang the salvation of the world. If the credibility of the
relation of these incidents going to prove an astonishing co-
incidence in the sacred histories of the Hindoo and Christian
Saviors, and demonstrating the doctrine of the crucifixion as
having been practically realized, and preached to the world
long anterior to the offering of a God u once for all” on Mount
Calvary; if its credibility rested upon mere ex parte testimony,
mere pagan tradition, or even upon the best digested and
most authentic annals of the past that have escaped the rav-
ages of time, there might still be a forlorn hope for the stickler
for the Christian faith now struggling in the agonies of a credal
skepticism, that the whole thing has been plagiarized from the
Christian Gospels. For paper and parchment history can be,
and has been, mutilated. But the verity of this account rests
upon no such a precarious basis. Its antiquity, reaching far
beyond the Christian era, is corroborated and demonstrated
by imperishable monuments, deep-chiseled indentures bur-
rowed into the granite rock, which bid defiance to the fingers
of time, and even the hands of the frenzied iconoclast, to de-
stroy or deface, though impelled and spurred on to the effort
by the long-cherished conviction burning in his soul, that the
salvation of the human race depends upon believing that “there
is no other name given under heaven whereby men can be
saved” than his own crucified God, and that all others are
but thieves, robbers, and antichrists. Some oi the disciples of
the oriental systems cherished this conviction, and Christians
96
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
and Mahomedans seem to have inherited it in magnified pro-
portions. Hence we are credibly informed that some of the
earlier Christian saints, having determined, like Paul, “to know
only Jesus Christ and him crucified,” made repeated efforts to
obliterate these sacred facts (so fatally damaging to their one-
sided creeds) from the page of history. Mr. Higgins suggests
that if we could have persons less under the influence of sec-
tarian prejudice to visit, examine, and report on the sculptures
and monuments of India, covered over as they are with anti-
quated and significant figures appertaining to and illustrating
their religious history, we might accumulate still more light
bearing upon the history of the crucifixion of the Savior and
sin-atoning Chrishna. “ Most of our reports,” he declares, “ are
fragmentary, if not one-sided, having come through the hands of
Christian missionaries, bishops, and priests.” He informs us that
a report on the Hindoo religion, made out by a deputation from
the British Parliament, sent to India for the purpose of examin-
ing their sacred books and monuments, being left in the hands of
a Christian bishop at Calcutta, and with instructions to forward
it to England, was found, on its arrival in London, to be so hor-
ribly mutilated and eviscerated as to be scarcely cognizable.
The account of the crucifixion was gone — cancelled out. The
inference is patent.
And we have it upon the authority of this same reliable and
truthful writer (Sir Godfrey Higgins), that the author of the
Hindoo Pantheon (Mr. Moor), after having announced his
intention to publish it to the world, was visited and labored
with by some of his devout Christian neighbors zealous “for
the faith once delivered to the saints,” who endeavored to dis-
suade him from publishing such facts to the world as he repre-
sented his book to contain, for fear it would have the effect to
unsettle the faith of some of the weak brethren (some of the
weak-kneed church members) in the soul-saving religion of
Jesus Cfhrist, by raising doubts in their minds as to the origi-
nality of the gospel story of the crucifixion of Christ, or at least
of his having been crucified as a God for a sin-offering. His
crucifixion is a possible event. It may be thus far a true nar-
rative, but the adjunct of the atonement, with its efficacy to
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS.
97
obliterate the effects of sin, connected with the idea that an
infinite, omnipotent, and self-existent God was put to death,
when a human form was slain upon the cross, never, no, never:
it is a thought too monstrous to find lodgment in an enlight-
ened human mind.
Another case evincing the same spirit as that narrated above
is found in the circumstance of a Christian missionary (a Mr.
Maurice) publishing a historical account of this man-god or
demigod of the Hindoos, and omitting any allusion to his cru-
cifixion : this was entirely left out, apparently from design. His
death, resurrection, and ascension were spoken of, but the cruci-
fixion skipped over. He could not have been ignorant of this
chapter in his history, as the writers preceding him, from whom
he copied, had related it. Among this number may be men-
tioned the learned French writer Monsieur Guigniant, who, in
his “Religion of the Ancients,” speaks so specifically of the cru-
cifixion of this God, as to name the circumstance of his being
nailed to a tree. He also states, that before his exit he made
some remarkable prophecies appertaining to the crimes and
miseries of the world in the approaching future, reminding us
of the wars and rumors of wars predicted by the Christian
Messiah. Mr. Higgins names the same circumstance. We
have it upon the authority of more than one writer on Hindoo
or Indian antiquities that there is a rock temple at Mathura in
the form of a cross, and facing the four cardinal points of the
compass, which is admitted by all beholders as presenting the
proof in bold relief of extreme age, and inside of this temple
stands a statue of “the Savior of men,” Chrishna of India, pre-
senting the proof of being coeval in construction with the
temple itself by the circumstance of its being cut out of the
same rock and constituting apart of the temple. (Further cita-
tions of this character will be found under the head of Parallels,
Chapter XXXII.)
Thus we have the proof deeply and indelibly carved in the
old time-chiseled rocks of India, that their “Lord and Savior
Chrishna” atoned for the sins of a guilt-stricken world by
“pouring out his blood as a propitiatory offering” while
stretched upon the cross. No wonder, in view of such historic
7
THE WORLD'S SAVIOR
08
bulwarks, Colonel Wiseman, for ten years a Christian mission*
ary, should have exclaimed, “ Can we be surprised that the ene-
mies of our holy religion should seize upon this legend (the cru-
cifixion of Chrishna) as containing the original of our gospel
history?” Christian reader, please ponder over the facts of this
chapter, and let conviction have its perfect work.
Life, Character, Religion, and Miracles of Chrishna.
The history of Chrishna Zeus (or Jeseus, as some writers
spell it) is contained principally in the Baghavat Gita, the epi-
sode portion of the Mahabarat bible. The book is believed to
be divinely inspired, like all other bibles; and the Hindoos
claim for it an antiquity of six thousand years. Like Christ, he
was of humble origin, and like him had to encounter opposition
and persecution. But he seems to have been more successful
in the propagation of his doctrines; for it is declared, “he
soon became surrounded by many earnest followers, and the
people in vast multitudes followed him, crying aloud, c This is
indeed the Redeemer promised to our fathers.5 55 His pathway
was thickly strewn with miracles, which consisted in healing the
sick, curing lepers, restoring the dumb, deaf, and the blind,
raising the dead, aiding the weak, comforting the sorrow-
stricken, relieving the oppressed, casting out devils, &c. He
came not ostensibly to destroy the previous religion, but to
purify it of its impurities, and preach a better doctrine. He
came, as he declared, “to reject evil and restore the reign of
good, and redeem man from the consequences of the fall, and
deliver the oppressed earth from its load of sin and suffering.”
His disciples believed him to be God himself, and millions
worshiped him as such in the time of Alexander the Great,
830 B. C,' The hundreds of counterparts to the history of
Christ, proving their histories to be almost identical, will be
found enumerated in Chapter XXXII., such as, 1. His miracu-
lous birth by a virgin; 2. The mother and child being visited
by shepherds, wise men, and the angelic host, who joyously
sang, “In thy delivery, O favored among women, all nations
shall have cause to exult;” 3. The edict of the tyrant ruler
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS.
99
Cansa ordering all the first born to be put to death; 4. The
miraculous escape of the mother and child from his bloody
decree by the parting of the waves of the River Jumna to per-
mit them to pass through on dry ground; 5. The early retire-
ment of Christina to a desert; 6. His baptism or ablution in the
River Ganges, corresponding to Christ’s baptism in Jordan; 7.
His transfiguration at Madura, where he assured his disciples
that “ present or absent, I will always be with you; ” 8. He
had a favorite disciple (Arjoon), who was his bosom friend, as
John was Christ’s; 9. He was anointed with oil by women, like
Christ; 10. A somewhat similar fish story is also told of him
— his disciples being enabled by him to catch large draughts
of the finny prey in their nets. (For three hundred other simi-
lar parallels, see Chapter XXXII.) Like Christ he taught much
by parables and precepts. A notable sermon preached by him *
is also reported, which we have not space for here. On one
occasion, having returned from a ministerial journey, as he
entered Madura, the people came out in crowds to meet him,
strewing the ground with the branches of cocoa-nut trees, and
desiring to hear him; he addressed them in parables — the con-
clusion and moral of one of which, called the parable of the
fishes, runs thus : “ And thus it is, O people of Madura, that you
ought to protect the weak and each other, and not retaliate
upon an enemy the wrongs he may have done you.” Here we
see the peace doctrine preached in its purity. “ And thus it
was,” says a writer, “that Chrishna spread among the people
the holy doctrines of purest morality, and initiated his hearers
into the exalted principles of charity, of self-denial, and self-
respect at a time when the desert countries of the west were
inhabited only by savage tribes; ” and we will add, long before
Christianity was thought of. Furity of life and spiritual in-
sight, we are told, were distinguishing traits ” in the character
of this oriental sin-atoning Savior, and that “he was often
moved with compassion for the down-trodden and the suffer-
ing.” A Budhist in Ceylon, who sent his son to a Christian
school, once remarked to a missionary, “ I respect Christianity
as a help to Budhism.” Thus is disclosed the fact that the
motives of some of “the heathen” in sending to Christian
100
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
schools is the promotion of their own religion, which they con
sider superior, and in many respects most of them are. (For
proof see Chapter on Bibles.) We have the remarkable admis-
sion of the Christian Examiner that “the best precepts of the
(Christian) bible are contained in the Hindoo Baghavat.”
Then it is not true that “ Christ spake as never man spake.”
And if his “best precepts ” were previously recorded in an old
heathen bible, then they afford no proof of his divinity. This
suicidal concession of the Examiner pulls up the claims of
orthodox Christianity by the roots. And many of the precepts
uttered by Chrishna display a profound wisdom and depth of
thought equal to any of those attributed to Jesus Christ. In
proof of the statement, we will cite a few examples out of the
hundreds in our possession.
-
1. Those who do not control their passions cannot act properly
toward others.
2. The evils we inflict upon others follow us as our shadows
follow our bodies.
3. Only the humble are beloved of God.
4. Virtue sustains the soul as the muscles sustain the
body.
5. When the poor man knocks at your door, take him and
administer to his wants, for the poor are the chosen of God
(Christ said, “ God hath chosen the poor”).
6. Let your hand be always open to the unfortunate.
7. Look not upon a woman with unchaste desires.
8. Avoid envy, covetousness, falsehood, imposture and slan-
der, and sexual desires.
9. Above all things, cultivate love for your neighbor.
10. When you die you leave your worldly wealth behind
you, but your virtues and vices follow you.
11. Contemn riches and worldly honor.
12. Seek the company of the wicked in order to reform
them.
13. Do good for its own sake, and expect not your reward
for it on earth.
14. The soul is immortal, but must be pure and free from
all sin and stain before it can return to Him who gave it.
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS.
101
15. The soul is inclined to good when it follows the inward
light.
16. The soul is responsible to God for its actions, who has
established rewards and punishments.
17. Cultivate that inward knowledge which teaches what is
right and wrong.
18. Never take delight in another’s misfortunes.
19. It is better to forgive an injury than avenge it.
20. You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by
force.
21. A noble spirit finds a cure for injustice by forget-
ting it.
22. Pardon the offense of others, but not your own.
28. What you blame in others do not practice yourself.
24. By forgiving an enemy you make many friends.
25. Do right from hatred of evil, and not from fear of pun-
ishment.
26. A wise man corrects his own errors by observing those
of others.
27. He who rules his temper conquers his greatest en-
emy.
28. The wise man governs his passions, but the fool obeys
them.
29. Be at war with men’s vices, but at peace with their
persons.
30. There should be no disagreement between your lives
and your doctrine.
31. Spend every day as though it were the last.
32. Lead not one life in public and another in private.
33. Anger in trying to torture others punishes itself.
34. A disgraceful death is honorable when you die in a good
cause.
35. By growing familiar with vices, we learn to tolerate them
easily.
36. We must master our evil propensities, or they will mas-
ter us.
87. He who has conquered his propensities rules over a
kingdom.
102
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
38. Protect love, and assist others, if you would serve God.
39. From thought springs the will, and from the will action,
true or false, just or unjust.
40. As the sandal tree perfumes the ax which fells it, so the
good man sheds fragrance on his enemies.
41. Spend a portion of each day in pious devotion.
42. To love the virtues of others is to brighten your own.
43. He who gives to the needy loses nothing himself.
44. A good, wise, and benevolent man cannot be rich.
45. Much riches is a curse to the possessor.
46. The wounds of the soul are more important than those
of the body.
47. The virtuous man is like the banyan tree, which shelters
and protects all around it.
48. Money does not satisfy the love of gain, but only stimu-
lates it.
49. Your greatest enemy is in your own bosom.
50. To flee when charged is to confess your guilt.
51. The wounds of conscience leave a scar.
Compare these fifty-one precepts of Chrishna with the forty-
two precepts of Christ, and you must confess they suffer noth*
ing by the comparison. If we had space we would like to
quote also from the Vedas. We will merely cite a few exam-
ples relative to woman.
1. He who is cursed by woman is cursed by God.
2. God will punish him who laughs at woman’s sufferings.
3. When woman is honored, God is honored.
4. The virtuous woman will have but one husband, and the
right-minded man but one wife.
5. It is the highest crime to take advantage of the weakness
of woman.
6. Woman should be loved, respected, and protected by
husbands, fathers, and brothers, &c. (For more, see Chapter
on Bibles.)
Before we close this chapter we must anticipate and answer
an objection. It will be said that the reported amours of
Chrishna and his rencounter with Cansa constitute a criticism
on his character. If so, we will point to Christ’s fight or angry
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS.
108
combat with the money-changers in the temple as an offset to it.
And then it should be remembered that Chrishna’s disciples
claim that these stories are mere fable, or allegorical, and are
not found in the most approved or canonical writings.
II. Crucifixion of the Hindoo Sakia, 600 B. C.
How many Gods who figured in Hindoo history suffered
death upon the cross as atoning offerings for the sins of man-
kind is a point not clearly established by their sacred books.
But the death of the God above named, known as Sakia,
Budha Sakia, or Sakia Muni, is distinctly referred to by several
writers, both oriental and Christian, though there appears
to be in Budhist countries different accounts of the death
of the famous and extensively worshiped sin-atoning Saviors.
In some countries the story runs a God was crucified by an
arrow being driven through his body, which fastened him to
a tree: the tree, with the arrow thus projecting at right an-
gles, formed the cross, emblematical of the atoning sacrifice.
Sakia, an account states, was crucified by his enemies for the
humble act of plucking a flower in a garden — doubtless seized
on as a mere pretext, rather than as being considered a crime.
One of the accusations brought against Christ, it will be re-
membered, was that of plucking the ripened ears of corn on
the Sabbath. And it is a remarkable circumstance, that in
the pictures of Christian countries representing the virgin
Mary with the infant Jesus in her arms, either the child or the
mother is frequently represented with a bunch of flowers in the
hand. Here let it be noted, the association of flowers with
divinely born Saviors, in India, is indicated in the religious
books of that country to have originated from the conception
of the virgin parting with the flowers of her virginity by giv-
ing birth to a divine child, whereby she lost the immortality of
her physical nature, it being transferred by that act to her
Deity-begotten son. And from this circumstance, Sakia is
represented as having been crucified for abstracting a flower
from a garden. That his crucifixion was designed as a sin«
atoning offering, is evident from the following declaration
104
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found in his sacred biography, viz., “ He in mercy left Paradise,
and came down to earth because he was filled with compassion
for the sins and miseries of mankind. He songht to lead them
into better paths, and took their sufferings upon himself that
he might expiate their crimes and mitigate the punishment
they must otherwise inevitably undergo.” t (Prog. Rel. Ideas,
vol. i. p. 86.)
He believed and taught his followers that all sin is inevitably
punished, either in this or the future life; and so great were
his sympathy and tenderness, that he condescended to suffer
that punishment himself, by an ignominious death upon the
cross, after which he descended into Hades (Hell), to suffer for
a time (three days) for the inmates of that dreadful and hor-
rible prison, that he might show he sympathized with them.
After his resurrection, and before his ascension to heaven, as
well as during his earthly sojourn, he imparted to the world
some beautiful, lofty, and soul-elevating precepts.
“The object of his mission,” says a writer, “ was to instruct
those who were straying from the right path, and expiate the
sins of mortals by his own suffering, and procure for them a
happy entrance into Paradise by obedience to his precepts and
prayers to his name.” (Ibid.) “ His followers always speak of
him as one with God from all eternity.” (Ibid.) His most
common title was “the Savior of the World.” He was also
called “ the Benevolent One,” “ the Dispenser of Grace,” “ the
Source of Life,” “the Light of the World,” “the True Light,”
&c. His mother was a very pure, refined, pious, and devout
woman; never indulged in any impure thoughts, words, or
actions. She was so much esteemed for her virtues and for
being the mother of a God, that an escort of ladies attended
her wherever she went. The trees bowed before her as she
passed through the forest, and flowers sprang up wherever her
foot pressed the ground. She was saluted as “ the Holy Virgin,
Queen of Heaven.” It is said that when her divine child was
born, he stood upright and proclaimed, “ I will put an end to
the sufferings and sorrows of the world.” And immediately a
light shone round about the young Messiah. He spent much
time in retirement, and, like Christ in another respect, was once
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS.
10ft
tempted by a demon who offered him all the honors and wealth
of the world. But he rebuked the devil, saying, “Be gone;
hinder me not.” He began, like Christ, to preach his gospel
and heal the sick when about twenty-eight years of age. And
it is declared, “The blind saw, the deaf heard, the dumb spoke,
the lame danced, and the crooked became straight.” Hence the
people declared, “He is no mortal child, but an incarnation of
the Deity.” His religion was of a very superior character. He
proclaimed, “My law is a law of grace for all.” His religion
knew no race, no sex, no caste, and no aristocratic priesthood.
“It taught,” says Max Muller, “ the equality of all men, and the
brotherhood of the human race.” “ All men, without regard to
rank, birth, or nation,” says Dunckar, “ form, according to
Bud ha’s view, one great suffering association in this earthly
vale of tears; therefore the commandments of love, forbear-
ance, patience, compassion, pity, brotherliness of all men.”
Klaproth (a German professor of oriental languages) says this
religion is calculated to ennoble the human race. “ It is diffi-
cult to comprehend,” says a French writer (M. Laboulay),
“ how men, not assisted by revelation, could have soared so
high, and approached so near the truth.” Dunckar says this
oriental God “ taught self-denial, chastity, temperance, the con-
trol of the passions, to bear injustice from others, to suffer death
quietly, and without hate of your persecutor, to grieve not
for one’s own misfortunes, but for those of others.” An in-
vestigation of their history will show that they lived up to
these moral injunctions. “ Besides the five great command-
ments,” says a Wesleyan missionary (Spense Hardy) in his
Dahmma Padam, “ every shade of vice, hypocrisy, anger, pride,
suspicion, greediness, gossiping, and cruelty to animals is
guarded against by special precepts. Among the virtues
recommended, we find not only reverence for parents, care
for children, submission to authority, gratitude, moderation in
all things, submission in time of trial, equanimity at all times,
but virtues unknown in some systems of morality, such as
the duty of forgiving injuries, and not rewarding evil for
evil.” And we will add, both charity and love are specially
recommended. We have it also upon the authority of Dunckai
106
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS:
that u Budha proclaimed that salvation and redemption have
come for all, even the lowest and most abject classes.” For he
broke down the iron caste of the Brailtninical code which had
so long ruled India, and aimed to place all mankind upon a
level. His followers have been stigmatized by Christian pro-
fessors as “ idolaters; ” but Sir John Bowring, in his “ King-
dom and People of Siam,” denies that they are idolaters, “ be-
cause,” says he, “ no Budhist believes his image to be God, or
anything more than an outward representation of Deity.”
Their deific images are looked upon with the same views and
feelings as a Christian venerates the photograph of his deceased
friend. Hence, if one is an idolater, the other is also. With
respect to the charge of polytheism, Missionary Hue says, “ that
although their religion embraces many inferior deities, who fill
the same offices that angels do under the Christian system;
yet,” adds M. Hue, “ monotheism is the real character of
Budhism,” and confirms the statement by the testimony of a
Thibetan.
It should be noted here that although Budhism succeeded in
converting about three hundred millions, or one third of the
inhabitants of the globe, it was never propagated by the sword,
and never persecuted the disciples of other religions. Its con-
quests were made by a rational appeal to the human mind.
Mr. Hodgson says, “It recognizes the infinite capacity of the
human intellect.” And St. Hilaire declares, “ Love for all beings
is its nucleus; and to love our enemies, and not persecute, are
the virtues of this people.” Max Muller says, “ Its moral code,
taken by itself, is one of the most perfect the world has ever
known.” Its five commandments are,—
1. Thou shalt not kill.
2. Thou shalt not steal.
S. Thou shalt not commit adultery or any impurity.
4. Thou shalt not lie.
5. Thou shalt not intoxicate thyself.
To establish the above cited doctrines and precepts, Budha
sent forth his disciples into the world to preach his gospel to
every creature. And if any convert had committed a sin in
word, thought^ or deed, he was to confess and repent. One of
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS.
107
the tracts which they distributed declares, “There is undoubt-
edly a life after this in which the virtuous may expect the
reward of their good deeds. . . . Judgment takes place im-
mediately after death.” Budha and his followers set an ex-
ample to the world of enduring opposition and persecution with
great patience and non-resistance. And some of them suffered
martyrdom rather than abandon their principles, and gloried in
thus sealing their doctrines with their lives. A story is told of
a rich merchant, by the name of Puma, forsaking all to follow
his lord and master; and also of his encountering and talking
with a woman of low caste at a well, which reminds us of similar
incidents in the history of Christ. But his enemies, becoming
jealous and fearful of his growing power, finally crucified him
near the foot of the Nepaul mountains, about 600 B. C. But
after his death, burial, and resurrection, we are told he ascended
back to heaven, where millions of his followers believed he had
existed with Brahma from all eternity.
[Note. In the cases of crucifixion which follow, nothing like accuracy
can be expected with respect to the dates of their occurrence, as all his-
tory covering the period beyond the modern era, or prior to the time of
Alexander the Great (330 B. C.) is involved in a labyrinth of uncertainty
with respect to dates. Hence bible chronologists differ to the extent of
three thousand years with respect to the time of every event recorded in
the Old Testament. Compare the Hebrew and Septuagint versions of
the bible: the former makes the world three thousand nine hundred and
forty-four, and the latter five thousand two hundred and seventy years
old at the birth of Christ — a difference of thirteen hundred and twenty-
six years. And other translations differ still more widely. All the cases
of crucifixion which follow occurred before the time of Christ, but the ex-
act time of many of them cannot be fixed .with certainty.]
III. Thammuz of Syria Crucified, 1160 B. C.
The history of this God is furnished us in fragments by
several writers, portions of which will be found in other chap-
ters of this work. The fullest history extant of this God-
Savior is probably that of Ctesias (400 B. C.), author of “ Per-
eika.” The poet has perpetuated his memory in rhyme.
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
“Trust, ye saints, your Lord restored;
Trust ye in your risen Lord;
For the pains which Thamrauz endured
Our salvation have procured.”
Mr. Higgins informs us (Anac. vol. i. p. 246) that this God
was crucified at the period above named, as a sin-atoning offer-
ing. The stanza just quoted is predicated upon the follow-
ing Greek text, translated by Godwin: “ Trust ye in God, for
out of his loins salvation is come unto us.” Julius Firmicus
speaks of this God “ rising from the dead for the salvation of
the world.” The Christian writer Parkhurst alludes to this
Savior as preceding the advent of Christ, and as filling to some
extent the same chapter in sacred history.
IY. Crucifixion- of Wittoba of the Telingonese,
552 B. C.
We have a very conclusive historical proof of the crucifixion
of this heathen God. Mr. Higgins tells us, “ He is represented
in his history with nail-holes in his bands and the soles of his
feet.” Nails, hammers, and pincers are constantly seen repre-
sented on his crucifixes, and are objects of adoration among his
followers. And the iron crown of Lombardy has within it a
nail of what is claimed as his true original cross, and is much
admired and venerated on* that account. The worship of this
crucified God, according to our author, prevails chiefly in the
Travancore and other southern countries in the region of
Madura.
V. Iao of Nepaul Crucified, 622 B. C.
With respect to the crucifixion of this ancient Savior, we
have this very definite and specific testimony that “he was
crucified on a tree in Nepaul.” (See Georgius, p. 202.) The
name of this incarnate God and oriental Savior occurs fre-
quently in the holy bibles and sacred books of other countries.
Some suppose that Iao (often spelt Jao) is the root of the name
of the Jewish God Jehovah.
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS.
109
VI. Hesus of the Celtic Druids Crucified, 834 B. C.
Mr. Higgins informs us that the Celtic Druids represent their
God Hesus as having been crucified with a lamb on one side
and an elephant on the other, and that this occurred long be-
fore the Christian era. Also that a representation of it may
now be seen upon “the fire tower of Brechin.”
In this symbolical representation of the crucifixion, the ele-
phant, being the largest animal known, was chosen to represent
the magnitude of the sins of the world, while the lamb, from its
proverbial innocent nature, was chosen to represent the inno-
cency of the victim (the God offered as a propitiatory sacrifice).
And thus we have “the Lamb of God taking away the sins of
the world ” — symbolical language used with respect to the
offering of Jesus Christ. And here is indicated very clearly
the origin of the figure. It is evidently borrowed from the
Druids. We have the statement of the above writer that this
legend was found amongst the Canutes of Gaul long before
Jesus Christ was known to history. (See Anac. vol. ii. p. 130.)
-
VII. Quexalcote of Mexico Crucified, 587 B. C.
Historical authority, relative to the crucifixion of this Mexi-
can God, and to his execution upon the cross as a propitiatory
sacrifice for the sins of mankind, is explicit, unequivocal, and in-
effaceable. The evidence is tangible, and indelibly engraven
upon steel and metal plates. One of these plates represents
him as having been crucified on a mountain ; another represents
him as having been crucified in the heavens, as St. Justin tells
us Christ was. According to another writer, he is sometimes
represented as having been nailed to a cross, and by other
accounts as hanging with a cross in his hand. The “ Mexican
Antiquities ” (vol. vi. p. 166) says, “ Quexalcote is represented
in the paintings of c Codex Borgianus ’ as nailed to the cross.”
Sometimes two thieves are represented as having been crucified
with him. That the advent of this crucified Savior and Mexi-
can God was long anterior to the era of Christ, is admitted by
Christian writers, as we have shown elsewhere. In the work
no
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
above named, “ Codex Borgianus,” maybe found the account, not
only of his crucifixion, but of his death, burial, descent into hell,
and resurrection on the third day. And another work, entitled
“ Codex Vaticanus,” contains the story of his immaculate birth
by a virgin mother by the name of Chimalman. Many other
incidences are found related of him in his sacred biography, in
which we find the most striking counterparts to the more
modern gospel story of Jesus Christ, such as his forty days’
temptation, and fasting, his riding on an ass, his purifica-
tion in the temple, his baptism and regeneration by water, his
forgiving of sins, being anointed with oil, &c. “All these
things, and many more, found related of this Mexican God in
their sacred books,” says Lord Kingsborough (a Christian
writer) “ are curious and mysterious.” (See the books above
cited.)
VIII. Quirinus of Rome Crucified, 506 B. C.
The crucifixion of this Roman Savior is briefly noticed by
Mr. Higgins, and is remarkable for presenting (like other cruci-
fied Gods) several parallel features to that of the Judean Savior,
not only in the circumstances related as attending his crucifix-
ion, but also in a considerable portion of liis antecedent life.
He is represented, like Christ, —
1. As having been conceived and brought forth by a virgin.
2. His life was sought by the reigning king (Amulius).
8. He was of royal blood, his mother being of kingly de-
scent.
4. He was “ put to death by wicked hands ” — i. e., cru-
cified.
5. At his mortal exit the whole earth is said to have been
enveloped in darkness, as in the cases of Christ, Chrishna, and
Prometheus.
6. And finally he is resurrected, and ascends back to heaven.
IX. (JEschylus) Prometheus Crucified, 547 B. C.
In the account of the crucifixion of Prometheus of Caucasus,
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVxURS.
Ill
as furnished by Seneca, Hesiod, and other writers, it is stated,
that he was nailed to an upright beam of timber, to which were
affixed extended arms of wood, and that this cross was situated
near the Caspian Straits. The modern story of this crucified
God, which represents him as having been bound to a rock for
thirty years, while vultures preyed upon his vitals, Mr. Higgins
pronounces an impious Christian fraud. “ For,” says this
learned historical writer, “I have seen the account which de-
clares he was nailed to a cross with hammer and nails.” (Anac.
vol. i. 327.) Confirmatory of this statement is the declaration
of Mr. Southwell, that “ he exposed himself to the wrath of
God in his zeal to save mankind.” The poet, in portraying his
propitiatory offering, says, —
“Lo, streaming from the fatal tree
His all-atoning blood,
Is this the Infinite; yes, ’tis he,
Prometheus, and a God.
“ Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And veil his glories in,
When God, the great Prometheus, died
For man the creature’s sin.”
The “ New American Cyclopedia ” (vol. i. p. 157) contains
the following significant declaration relative to this sin-atoning,
oriental Savior: “ It is doubtful whether there is to be found
in the whole range of Greek letters deeper pathos than that
of the divine woe of the beneficent demigod Prometheus, cru-
cified on his Scythian crags for his love to mortals.” Here we
have first-class authority for the truth of the crucifixion of this
oriental God.
In Lempriere’s “ Classical Dictionary,” Higgins’“Anacalyp-
sis,” and other works, may be found the following particulars
relative to the final exit of the God above named, viz.: —
1. That the whole frame of nature became convulsed.
2. The earth shook, the rocks were rent, the graves were
opened, and in a storm, which seemed to threaten the disso-
lution of the universe, the solemn scene forever closed, and
“ Our Lord and Savior ” Prometheus gave up the ghost. “ The
112
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
cause for which he suffered,” says Mr. Southwell, “ was his love
for the human race.” Mr. Taylor makes the statement in his
Syntagma (p. 95), that the whole story of Prometheus’ cruci-
fixion, burial, and resurrection was acted in pantomime in
Athens five hundred years before Christ, which proves its great
antiquity. Minutius Felix, one of the most popular Christian
writers of the second century (in his “ Octavius,” sect. 29), thus
addresses the people of Rome: “ Your victorious trophies not
only represent a simple cross, but a cross with a man on it,”
and this man St. Jerome calls a God. These coincidences
furnish still further proof that the tradition of the crucifixion
of Gods has been very long prevalent among the heathen.
X. Crucifixion of Thulis of Egypt, 1700 B. C.
Thulis of Egypt, whence comes “ Ultima Thule,” died the
death of the cross about thirty-five hundred years ago.
Ultima Thule was the island which marked the ultimate bounds
of the extensive empire of this legitimate descendant of the
Gods. This Egyptian Savior appears also to have been known
as Zulis, and with this name Mr. Wilkison tells us, “his his-
tory is curiously illustrated in the sculptures, made seventeen
hundred years B. C., of a small, retired chamber lying nearly
over the western adytum of the temple.” We are told twenty-
eight lotus plants near his grave indicate the number of years
he lived on the earth. After suffering a violent death, he was
buried, but rose again, ascended into heaven, and there became
“ the judge of the dead,” or of souls in a future state. Wilki-
son says he came down from heaven to benefit mankind, and
that he was said to be “ full of grace and truth.”
XI. Crucifixion of Indra of Thibet, 725 B. C.
The account of the crucifixion of the God and Savior Indra
may be found in Georgius, Thibetinum Alphabetum, p. 230.
A brief notice of the case is all we have space for here. In the
work just referred to may be found plates representing this
Thibetan Savior as having been nailed to the cross. There
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS.
113
are five wounds, representing the nail-holes and the piercing of
the side. The antiquity of the story is beyond dispute. Mar-
velous stories were told of the birth of the Divine Redeemer.
His mother was a virgin of black complexion, and hence his
complexion was of the ebony hue, as in the case of Christ and
some other sin-atoning Saviors. He descended from heaven on
a mission of benevolence, and ascended back to the heavenly
mansion after his crucifixion. He led a life of strict celibacy,
which, he taught, was essential to true holiness. He inculcated
great tenderness towards all living beings. He could walk
upon the water or upon the air; could foretell future events
with great accuracy. He practiced the most devout contempla-
tion, severe discipline of the body and mind, and acquired the
most complete subjection of his passions. He was worshiped
as a God who had existed as a spirit from all eternity, and
nis followers were called “ Heavenly Teachers.”
XII. Alcestos op Euripides Crucified, 600 B. C.
The “English Classical Journal” (vol.xxxvii.) furnishes us
with the story of another crucified God, known as Alcestos —
a female God or Goddess; and in this respect, it is a novelty in
sacred history, being the first, if not the only, example of a
feminine God atoning for the sins of the world upon the cross.
The doctrine of the trinity and atonining offering for sin was
inculcated as a part of her religion.
XIII. Atys of Phrygia Crucified, 1170 B. C.
Speaking of this crucified Messiah, the Anacalypsis informs
us that several histories are given of him, but all concur in rep-
resenting him as having been an atoning offering for sin. And
the Latin phrase “suspensus lingo,” found in his history, indi-
cates the manner of his death. He was suspended on a tree,
crucified, buried, and rose again.
XIY. Crite of Chaldea Crucified, 1200 B. C.
The Chaldeans, as Mr. Higgins informs us, have noted in
their sacred books the account of the crucifixion of a God with
8
114
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
the above name. He was also known as “the Redeemer,” and
was styled “the Ever Blessed Son of God,” “the Savior of the
Race,” “the Atoning Offering for an angry God,” &c. And
when he was offered up, both heaven and earth were shaken to
their foundations.
XV. Bali of Orissa Crucified, 725 B. C.
We learn by the oriental books, that in the district of coun-
try known as Orissa, in Asia, they have the story of a crucified
God, known by several names, including the above, all of which,
we are told, signify “ Lord Second,” having reference to him
as the second person or second member of the trinity, as most
of the crucified Gods occupied that position in the triad of dei-
ties constituting the trinity, as indicated by the language
“ Father, Son. and Holy Ghost,” — the Son, in all cases, being
the atoning offering, “ the Crucified Redeemer,” and the second
person of the trinity. This God Bali was also called Baliu, and
sometimes Bel. The Anacalypsis informs us (vol. i. 257) that
monuments of this crucified God, bearing great age, may be
found amid the ruins of the magnificent city of Mahabalipore,
partially buried amongst the figures in the temple.
XVI. Mithra of Persia Crucified, 600 B. C.
This Persian God, according to Mr. Higgins, was “slain upon
the cross to make atonement for mankind, and to take away
the sins of the world.” He was reputedly born on the twenty-
fifth day of December, and crucified on a tree. It is a remark-
able circumstance that two Christian writers (Mr. Faber and
Mr. Bryant) both speak of his “ being slain,” and yet both omit
to speak of the manner in which he was put to death. And the
same policy has been pursued with respect to other crucified
Gods of the pagans, as we have shown elsewhere.
Our list is full, or we might note other cases of crucifixion.
Devatat of Siam, Ixion of Rome, Apollonius of Tyana in Cappa-
docia, are all reported in history a having “died the death of
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS. lift
the cross.” Ixion, 400 B. C., according to Nimrod, was ciuci-
fied on a wheel, the rim representing the world, and the spokes
constituting the cross. It is declared, “ He bore the burden of
the world ” (that is, “ the sins of the world”) on his back while
suspended on the cross. Hence he was sometimes called “ the
crucified spirit of the world.” With respect to Apollonius, it
is a remarkable, if not a suspicious circumstance that should
not be passed unnoticed, that several Christian writers, while
they recount a long list of miracles and remarkable incidents
in the life of this Cappadocian Savior, extending through his
whole life, and forming a parallel to similar incidents of the
Christian Savior, not a word is said about his crucifixion.
And a similar policy has been pursued with respect to Mithra
and other sin-atoning Gods, including Chrishna and Prometheus,
as before noticed. This important chapter in their history has
been omitted by Christian writers for fear the relation of it
would damage the credibility of the crucifixion of Christ, or
lessen its spiritual force. For, like Paul, they were “deter-
mined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified”
(1 Cor. ii. 2), i. e., to know no other God had been crucified but
Jesus Christ. They thus exalted the tradition of the crucifix-
ion into the most important dogma of the Christian faith.
Hence their efforts to conceal from the public a knowledge of
the fact that it is of pagan origin.
By reference to Mackey’s “ Lexicon of Freemasonry ” (p. 85)
we learn that Freemasons secretly taught the doctrine of the
crucifixion, atonement, and resurrection long anterior to the
Christian era, and that similar doctrines were taught in “all
the ancient mysteries,” thus proving that the conception of these
tenets of faith existed at a very early period of time.
And it may be noted here, that the doctrine of salvation by
crucifixion had likewise, with most of the ancient forms of re-
ligious faith, an astronomical representation—i. e., a repre-
sentation in astronomical symbols. According to the emblemat-
ical figures comprised in their astral worship, people were saved
by the sun’s crucifixion or crossification, realized by crossing
over the equinoctial line into the season of spring, apd thereby
gave out a saving heat and light to the world, and stimulated
116
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
-
the generative organs of animal and vegetable life. It waa
from this conception that the ancients were in the habit of carv*
mg or painting the organs of generation upon the walls of
their holy temples. The blood of the grape, which was ripened
by the heat of the sun, as he crossed over by resurrection into
spring (i. e., was crucified), was symbolically “ the blood of the
cross,” or “ the blood of the Lamb.”
If we should be met here with the statement, that the stories
of the ancient crucifixions of Gods were mere myths or fables,
unwarrantably saddled on to their histories as mere romance,
and have no foundation in fact, we reply, there is as much
ground for suspecting the same thing as being true of Jesus
Christ. One of the most celebrated and most frequently
quoted Christian writers of the ancient bishops (Irenaeus) de-
clares upon the authority of the martyr Polycarp, who claimed
to have got it from St. John and all the elders of Asia, that Jesus
Christ was not crucified, but lived to be about fifty years old.
We fincl there always has been a margin for doubt amongst his
own followers as to the fact of his crucifixion. Many of the
early Christians, and cotemporary Jews and Gentiles doubted
it, and some openly disputed its ever having taken place.
Others bestowed upon it a mere spiritual signification, and not
a few considered it symbolical of a “holy life.” One circum-
stance, calculated to lead to the entire discredit of the story
of the crucifixion of Christ, is the relation, in connection with
it, of a violent convulsion of nature, and the resurrection of the
long-buried saints—events not supported by any authentic
cotemporaneous history, sacred or profane. (See Chap. XVII.,
Aphanasia.) And as these events must be set down as fabu-
lous, they leave the mind in doubt with respect to the fact of
the crucifixion itself, especially when the many absurdities in-
volved in the doctrine of the crucifixion are brought to view,
in connection with it, some of them so palpably erroneous, that
an unlettered savage could see and point them out. The
Indian chief Red Jacket is reported to have replied to the
Christian missionaries, when they urged upon his attention the
benefits of Christ’s death by crucifixion, “ Brethren, if you
white men murdered the son of the Great Spirit, we Indians
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS.
Ill
have nothing to do with it, and it is none of our affair. If he
had come among us, we would not have killed him. We would
have treated him well. You must make amends for that crime
yourselves.” This view of the crucifixion suggested to the mind
of an illiterate heathen we deem more sensible and rational
than that of the orthodox Christians, which makes it a meri-
torious act, and a moral necessity. For this would not only
exonerate Judas from any criminality or guilt for the part he
took in the affair, but would entitle him as well as Christ to
the honorable title of a “ Savior ” for performing an act with-
out which the crucifixion and consequent salvation of the world
could not have been effected. If it was necessary for Christ to
suffer death upon the cross as an atonement for sin, then the
act of crucifixion was right, and a monument should be erected
to the memory of Judas for bringing it about. We challenge
Christian logic to find a flaw in this argument. And another
important consideration arises here. If the inhabitants of this
planet required the murderous death of a God as an atonement,
we must presume that the eighty-five millions of inhabited
worlds recently discovered by astronomers are, or have been, in
equal need of a divine atonement. And this would require
the crucifixion of eighty-five millions of Gods. Assuming
one of these Gods to be crucified every minute, the whole
would occupy a period of nearly twenty years. This would
be killing off Gods at rather a rapid rate, and would make
the work of the atonement and salvation a very murderous
and bloody affair — a conception which brings to the mind a
series of very revolting reflections. The conception of Gods
coming down from heaven, and being born of virgins, and
dying a violent death for the moral blunders of the people,
originated in an age of the world when man was a savage,
and dwelt exclusively upon the animal plane, and blood was
the requisition for every offense. And it was an age when no
world was known to exist but the one we inhabit. The stars
Were then supposed to be mere blazing tapers set in the azure
vault to light this pygmy planet, or peep-holes for Gods to look
out of heaven, to see and learn what was going on below.
Such conceptions are in perfect keeping with the doctrine of
113
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
the atoning crucifixion of Gods, which could never have origi*
nated or been entertained for a moment by an astronomer,
with a knowledge of the existence of innumerable inhabited
wrorlds. For as there is to the monotheistic Christian but one
God, or Son of God, to be offered, he must be incarnated and
crucified every day for a thousand years to make a sin-offering
for each of these worlds — a conception too monstrous and pre-
posterous to find a lodgment in a rational mind.
Origin of the Belief in the Crucifixion of Gods.
It had always been presumed that death, and especially death
by crucifixion, involved the highest state of suffering possible
to be endured by mortals. Hence the Gods must suffer in this
way as an example of courage and fortitude, and to show them-
selves willing to undergo all the affliction and misery incident
to the lot, and unavoidable to the lives, of their devoted wor-
shipers. They must not only be equal, but superior to their
subjects in this respect. Hence they would not merely die,
but choose, or at least uncomplainingly submit to, the most
ignoble and ignominious mode of suffering death that could
be devised, and that was crucifixion. This gave the highest
finishing touch to the drama. And thus the legend of the cru-
cifixion became the crowning chapter, the aggrandizing episode
in the history of their lives. It was presumed that nothing less
than a God could endure such excruciating tortures without
complaining. Hence, when the victim was reported to have
submitted with such fortitude that no murmur was heard to
issue from his lips, this circumstance of itself was deemed suffi-
cient evidence of his Godship. The story of the crucifixion,
therefore, whether true or false, deified or helped. deify many
great men, and exalt them to the rank of Gods. Though some
of the disciples of Budhism, and some of the primitive profess-
ors of Christianity also (including, according to Christian his-
tory, Peter and his brother Andrew), voluntarily chose this
mode of dying in imitation of their crucified Lord, without ex-
periencing, however, the desired promotion to divine honors.
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS.
119
They failed of an exaltation to the deityship, and hence are
not now worshiped as Gods. Christian reader, what can you
now make of the story of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ but a
borrowed legend—at least the story of his being crucified as
a God?
Note. — The author desires it to be understood with respect to the cases
of crucifixion here briefly narrated, that they are not vouched for as ac-
tual occurrences, of which there is much ground to doubt. It has neither
been his aim or his desire to prove them to be real historical events, nor
to establish any certain number of cases. Indeed, he deems it unimpor-
tant to know, if it could be determined, whether they are fact or fiction,
or whether one God was crucified, or many. The moral lesson designed
to be taught by this chapter is, simply, that the belief in the crucifixion
of Gods was prevalent m various oriental or heathen countries long prior
to the reported crucifixion of Christ. If this point is established, —which
he feels certain no reader will dispute, — then he is not concerned to
know whether he has made out sixteen cases of crucifixion or not. Six
will prove it as well as sixteen. In fact, one case is sufficient to estab-
lish the important proposition in view. The reader is therefore left to
decide each case for himself, according as he may value the evidence
presented. More authorities could have been adduced, and a more ex-
tended history presented of each God brought to notice. But this wo aid
have operated to exclude other matter, which the author considers of
more importance.
120
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE APHANASIA, OR DARKNESS AT THE CRU-
CIFIXION.
1. Matthew tells us (xxvii. 31) that when Christ was cruci-
fied, there was darkness over all the land for three hours, and
“ the earth did quake, and the rocks were rent, and many of
the saints came out of their graves.” Here we have a series
of events spoken of so strange, so unusual, and so extraordi-
nary, that had they occurred, they must have attracted the
attention of the whole world, especially the amazing scene of
the sun’s withdrawing his light, and ceasing to shine, and
thereby causing an almost total darkness near the middle of
the day. And yet no writer of that age or conn try, or any
other age or country, mentions the circumstance but Matthew.
A phenomenon so terrible and so serious in its effects as literally
to unhinge the planets and partially disorganize the universe
must have excited the alarm and amazement of the whole
world, and caused a serious disturbance in the affairs of nations.
And yet strange, superlatively strange, not one of the numer-
ous historians of that age makes the slightest allusion to such
an astounding event. Even Seneca and the elder Pliny, who
so particularly and minutely chronicle the events of those times,
are as silent as the grave relative to this greatest event in the
history of the world. Nor do Mark, Luke, or John, who all
furnish us with a history of the crucifixion, make the slightest
hint at any of these wonder-exciting events, except Mark’s in-
cidental allusion to the darkness. Gibbon says, “ It happened
during the life of Seneca and the elder Pliny, who must have
experienced its immediate effects, or received the earliest
DARKNESS AT THE CRUCIFIXION.
121
intelligence of the prodigy. Each of these philosophers, in
a labored work, has recorded all the phenomena of Nature’s
earthquakes, meteors, and eclipses, which his indefatigable
curiosity could collect. Both the one and the other have
omitted to mention the greatest phenomenon, to which the
mortal eye has been witness since the creation of the world.
(Gibbon, p. 451.)
2. With reference to the “bodies” of the dead saints coming
out of their tombs (for it is declared their “ bodies arose; see
Matt, xxvii. 52), many rather curious and puzzling questions
might be started, which would at once disclose its utter absurd-
ity. We might ask, for example, —
1. Who were those “ many saints ” who came out of their
graves, seeing there were as yet but few Christians to occupy
graves, if they had been all dead, as the enumeration at Antioch
made out only one hundred and twenty ? (See Acts.) 2. How
long had they lain in their graves ? 3. How long since their
bodies had turned to dust, and been food for worms? 4. And
would not those worms have to be hunted up and required to
disgorge the contents of their stomachs in order to furnish the
saints with the materials for their bodies again ? 5. And were
the shrouds or grave clothes of those saints also resurrected ? or
did they travel about in a state of nudity ? 6. For what pur-
pose were they reanimated? 7. And should not Matthew have
furnished us, by way of proof, with the names of some of these
ghostly visitors ? 8. How long did they live this second time?
9. Did they die again, or did they ascend to heaven with their
new-made bodies? 10. What business did they engage in?
11. Why have we not some account of what they said and
did ? 12. And what finally became of them ? Until these ques-
tions are rationally answered, the story must be regarded as too
incredible and too ludicrous to merit serious notice.
3. Nearly all the phenomena represented as occurring at the
crucifixion of Christ are reported to have been witnessed also at
the final exit of Senerus, an ancient pagan demigod, who figured
in history at a still more remote period of time. And similar
incidents are related likewise in the legendary histories of
122
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
several other heathen demigods and great mer partially pro-
moted to the honor of Gods. In the time-honored records of the
oldest religion in the world, it is declared, “ A cloud surround-
ed the moon; and the sun was darkened at noonday, and the
sky rained fire and ashes during the crucifixion of the Indian
God Chrishna. In the case of Osiris of Egypt, Mr. Southwell
says, “ As his birth had been attended by an eclipse of the sun,
so his death was attended by a still greater darkness of the
solar orb.” At the critical juncture of the crucifixion of Prome-
theus, it is declared, “ The whole frame of nature became con-
vulsed, the earth shook, the rocks were rent, the graves opened,
and in a storm which threatened the disolution of the universe,
the scene closed.” (Higgins.) According to Livy, the last hours
of the mortal demise of Romulus were marked by a storm and
by a solar eclipse. And similar stories are furnished us by
several writers of Caesar and Alexander the Great. With re-
spect to the latter, Mr. Nimrod says, u Six hours of darkness
formed his aphanasia, and his soul, like Polycarp’s, was seen to
fly away in the form of a dove.” (Nimrod, vol. iii. p, 458.)
“ It is remarkable,” says a writer, “ what a host of respectable
authorities vouch for an acknowledged fable — the preternatural
darkness which followed Caesar’s death.” Gibbon alludes to
this event when he speaks of “ the singular defect of light
which followed the murder of Caesar.” He likewise says,
wThis season of darkness had already been celebrated by most
of the poets and historians of that memorable age ” (Gibbon,
p. 452.) It is very remarkable that Pliny speaks of a darkness
attending Caesar’s death, but omits to mention such a scene as
attending the crucifixion of Christ. Virgil also seeks to exalt
this royal personage by relating this prodigy. (See his
Georgius, p. 465.) Another writer says, “ Similar prodigies were
supposed or said to accompany the great men of former days.”
Let the reader make a note of this fact, that the same story was
told of the graves opening, and the dead rising at the final
mortal exit of several heathen Gods and several great men long
before it was penned as a chapter in the history of Christ
Shakespeare in his Hamlet says,—
DARKNESS AT THE CRUCIFIXION.
-
128
“ In the most high and palmy days of Rome,
A little ere the mighty Julius fell,
The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets.”
These historical citations strongly press the conclusion that
this portion of the history of Christ was borrowed from old
pagan legends.
4. Many cases are recorded in history of the light of the sun
being obscured at midday so as to result in almost total dark-
ness, when it was known not to be produced by an eclipse.
And it is probable that these natural events furnish the basis
in part for those wild legends we have brought to notice.
Humboldt relates in his Cosmos, that “ in the year 358, before
the earthquake of Numidia, the darkness was very dense for two
or three hours.” Another obscuration of the sun took place
in the year 360, which lasted five or six hours, and was so dense
that the stars were visible at midday. Another circumstance
of this kind was witnessed on the 19th of May, 1730, which
lasted eight hours. And so great was the darkness, that candles
and lamps had to be lighted at midday to dine by. Similar
events are chronicled for the years 1094, 1206, 1241, 1547,
and 1730. And if any such solar obscurations occurred near
the mortal exit of any of the Gods above named, of course
they would be seized on as a part of their practical history
wrought up into hyperbole, and interwoven in their narratives,
to give eclat to the pageantry of their biographies — a fact
which helps to solve the mystery.
Oeigin of the Stoey of the Aphanasia at the
Cetjcifixion.
There is but little ground to doubt but that the various
stories of a similar character then current in different countries,
as shown above, first suggested the thought to Christ’s biog-
raphers of investing his history with the incredible events re-
ported as being connected with the crucifixion. The principal
motive, however, seems to have grown out of a desire to fulfill
124
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
a prophecy of the Jewish prophet Joel, as we find many of the
important miraculous events ingrafted into Christ’s history
were recorded by way of fulfilling some prophecy. “ That the
prophecy might be fulfilled ” is the very language his evangeli-
cal biographers use. Joel’s prediction runs thus : “ And I will
show wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, flood and fire,
and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness,
and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of
the Lord come.” (Joel ii. 80.) A little impartial investigation
will satisfy any unprejudiced mind that this poetic rhapsody
has not the most remote allusion to the closing events in the
life of Christ, and was not intended to have. But his biog-
raphers, writing a long time after his death, supposing and
assuming that this and various other texts, which they quote
from the prophets, had reference to him, and had been fulfilled,
incorporated it into his history as a part of his practical life.
The conviction that the prophecy must have been fulfilled, with-
out knowing that it had, added to similar stories of other Gods,
with which Christ’s history became confounded, misled them
into the conclusion that they were warranted in assuming that
the incredible events they name were really witnessed at the
mortal termination of Christ’s earthly career, when they did
not know it, and could not have known it. This view of the
case becomes very rational and very forcible when we observe
various texts quoted from the prophets by the gospel writers,
or rather most butcheringly misquoted, tortured or distorted into
Messianic prophecies, when the context shows they have no
reference to Christ whatever.
DESCENT OF THE SAVIORS INTO HELL, 125
CHAPTER XVIII.
DESCENT OE THE SAVIORS INTO HELL.
The next mo^i important event in the histories of the
Saviors after their crucifixion, and the act of giving up the
ghost, is that of their descent into the infernal regions. That
Jesus Christ descended into hell after his crucifixion is not
expressly taught in the Christian bible, but it is a matter of
such obvious inference from several passages of scripture, the
early Christians taught it as a scriptural doctrine. Mr. Sears,
a Christian writer, tells us that “ on the doctrine of Christ’s
underground mission the early Christians were united. . . .
It was a point too well settled to admit of dispute.” (See
Foregleams of Immortality, p. 262.) And besides this testi-
mony, the “ Apostles’ Creed ” teaches the doctrine explicitly,
which was once as good authority throughout Christendom as
the bible itself; indeed, it may be considered as constituting a
part of the bible prior to the council of Nice (A. D. 325), being
supposed to have been written by the apostles themselves. It
declares that “Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
crucified (dead) and buried. He descended into hell; the third
day he rose again from the dead,” &c. This testimony is very
explicit. And Peter is supposed to refer to the same event
when he says, “ being put to death in the flesh, but quickened
by the spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the
spirits in prison.” (1 Peter iii. 18.) The word prison, which
occurs in this text, has undoubted reference to the Christian
fabled hell. For no possible sense can be attached to the word
prison in this connection without such a construction. Where
have spirits ever been supposed to be imprisoned but in hell ?
And then we find a text in the Acts of the Apostles, which
126
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
seems to remove all doubt in the case, and banishes at once all
ground for dispute. It is explicitly stated that “his soul was
not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption ” (Acts ii.
31.) Why talk about his soul not being left in hell if it had
never been there ? Language could hardly be plainer. The
most positive declaration that Christ did descend into hell
could not make it more certainly a scriptural Christian doctrine.
We then rest the case here, and proceed to enumerate other
cases of Gods and Saviors descending into Pandemonium
(the realms of Pluto) long before Jesus Christ walked on
the water or on the earth. It is unquestionably stated in the
Hindoo bible, written more than three thousand years ago,
that the Savior Chrishna “went down to hell to preach to the
inmates of that dark and dreary prison, with the view of re-
forming them, and getting them back to heaven, and was will-
ing himself to suffer to abridge the period of their torment.”
And certainly, in the midst of the fire and smoke of brimstone,
it could not have been hard to effect their conversion or repent-
ance. One writer tells us that “ so great was his (Chrishna’s)
tenderness, that he even descended into hell to teach souls in
bondage.” Now observe how much “ teaching souls in bon-
dage ” sounds like “ preaching to souls in prison,” as Peter rep-
resents Christ as doing. And can any reader doubt that the
meaning in the two cases is the same? And must we not con-
fess that we are gratefully indebted to the Hindoo bible for an
explanation of the two occult and mysterious texts which I
have quoted from the Christian bible, and which have puzzled
so many learned critics to explain, or find a meaning for? We
have another case of a God descending into hell in the per-
son or spirit of the Savior Quexalcote of -Mexico. (300
B. C.) The story will be found in the Codex Borgianus,
wherein is related the account of his death, and burial after
crucifixion, his descent into hell, and subsequent resurrection.
Of Adonis of Greece it is declared, that “ after his descent into
hell, he rose again to life and immortality.” Prometheus of
Caucasus (600 B. C.) likewise is represented as “ suffering
and descending into hell, rising again from the dead, and
ascending to heaven.” Horus of Greece is described as “ first
DESCENT OF THE SAVIORS INTO HELL. 12?
reigning a thousand years, then dying, and being buried for
three days, at the end of which time he triumphed over Typhon,
the evil principle, and rose again to life evermore.” And
Osiris of Egypt also is represented as making a descent into
hell, and after a period of three days rose again. Homer and
Virgil speak of several cases of descent into Pluto’s dominions.
Hercules, Ulysses, and^Eneas are represented as performing the
hellward journey on, as we infer, benevolent missions. Hig-
gins remarks, “ The Gods became incarnate, and descended into
hell to teach humility and set an example of suffering.” The
story of their descent into hell was doubtless invented to find
employment for them during their three days of hibernation or
conservation in the tomb, that they might not appear to be
really dead nor idle in the time, and as a still further proof of
their matchless and unrivaled capacity and fortitude for suffer-
ing. And the story of the three days’ entombment is likewise
clearly traceable in appearance to the astronomical incident of
the sun’s lying apparently dead, and buried, and motionless, for
nearly three days at the period of the vernal epoch, from the
21st to the 25th of March. It was a matter of belief or fancy,
that the sun remained stationary for about three days, when he
gradually rose again “ into newness of life.” And hence this
period or era was chosen to figuratively represent the three
days’ descent of the Gods into hell. We are told that the Per-
sians have an ancient astronomical figure representing the de-
scent of a God, divine, into hell, and returning at the time that
Orsus, the goddess of spring, had conquered the God or genus
of winter, after the manner St. John describes the Lamb of God
(see Rev. xii.) as conquering the dragon, which may be inter-
preted as the Scorpion or Dragon of the first month of winter
(October) being conquered by the Lamb of March or spring.
128
THE WORLD'S -SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XIX.
RESURRECTION OF THE SAVIORS.
We find presented in the canonized histories of several of
the demigod Saviors the following remarkable coincidences
appertaining to their death: —
1. Their resurrection from the dead.
2. Their lying in the tomb just three days.
3. The resurrection of several of them about the time of the
vernal equinox.
The 25th of March is the period assigned by the Christian
world generally for the resurrection of Christ, though some
Christian writers have assigned other dates for this event.
They all agree, however, that Christ rose from the dead, and
that this ocrurred three days after the entombment. Bishop
Theophilus of Cesarea remarks, relative to this event, “ Since
the birth of Christ is celebrated on the 25th of December, . . .
so also should the resurrection of Jesus be celebrated on
the 25th of March, on whatever day of the week it may fall,
the Lord having risen again on that day.” (Cent.ii. Call.p. 118.)
“All the ancient Christians,” says a writer, “ were persuaded
that Christ was crucified on the 23d of March, and rose from
the dead on the 25th.” And accordingly Constantine and
cotemporary Christians celebrated the 25th of March with great
eclat as the date of the resurrection. The 23d and 25th, in-
cluding the 24th, would comprise a period of three days, the
time of the entombment. Now mark, Quexalcote of Mexico,
Chris of Chaldea, Quirinus of Rome, Prometheus of Caucasus)
Osiris of Egypt, Atys of Phrygia, and “ Mitlira the Mediator5
of Persia, did, according to their respective histories, rise from
RESURRECTION OF THE SAVIORS.
129
the dead after three days’ burial, and the time of their resurrec
tion is in several cases fixed for the 25th of March. And there
is an account more than three thousand years old of the Hindoo
crucified Savior Chrishna, three days after his interment, for-
saking “the silent bourn, whence (as we are told) no traveler
ever returns,” and laying aside the moldy cerements of the
dead, again walking forth to mortal life, to be again seen, recog-
nized, admired, and adored by his pious, devout, and awe-
stricken followers, and thus present to the gaze of a hoping yet
doubting world “the first fruits of the resurrection.” Of Tham-
muz of Syria the poet says,—
“ Trust, ye saints, your God restored;
Trust ye in your risen Lord;
For the pains which Thammuz endured
Your salvation have procured.”
At the annual celebration of the resurrection of the Persian
• Savior “Mithra the Mediator,” more than three thousand years
ago, the priests were in the habit of exclaiming in a solemn and
loud voice, “Cheer up, holy mourners; your God is come again
to life; his sorrows and his sufferings will save you.” (See
Pitrat, p. 105.) The 25th of March was with the ancient Per-
sians the commencement of a new year, and on that day was
celebrated “the feast of the Neurone,” and by the ancient
Romans “ the festival of the Hilaria.” And we find the
ancients had both the crucifixion and resurrection of a God
symbolically and astronomically represented among the plants.
“ Their foundation,” says Clement of Alexandria, “ was the ficti-
tious death and resurrection of the sun, the soul of the world,
the principle of life and motion.” The inauguration of spring
(the 25th of March), and the summer solstice (the 25th of June)5 *
were both important periods with the ancients. Hence the
latter period was fixed on as the birthday of John the Baptist
(as marked in the almanacs), when the sun begins to decline
southward — that is, decrease. How appropriately, therefore,
John is made to say, “I shall decrease, but he shall increase.”
And the consecrated 25th of March is also the day marked in
our calendars as the date of the conception and annunciation
9
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of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And it was, likewise, the period
of the conception of the ancient Roman virgin Asteria, and of
the ever-chaste and holy virgin Iris, as well as the time of the
conjugal embrace of the solar and lunar potentates of the visible
universe. May we not, then, very appropriately exclaim of re-
ligion and astronomy “what God hath joined together, let no
man put asunder.”
Resurrection op Jesus Christ.
With respect to the physical resurrection of the Christian
Savior, it may be observed that, aside from the physical impossi-
bility of such an occurrence, the account, as reported to us by
his four “ inspired ” Gospel biographers, are so palpably at vari-
ance with each other, so entirely contradictory in their reports, as
to render their testimony as infallible writers utterly unworthy of
credence, and impels us to the conclusion that the event is both
physically and historically incredible. There is scarcely one
incident or particular in which they all agree. They are at
loggerheads, 1. With respect to the time of its discovery; 2.
The persons who made the discovery (for no witness claims to
have seen it) ; 8. With respect to what took place at the sepul-
cher; 4. What Peter saw and did there; 5. And as to what
occurred afterward, having a relation to that event.
1. Relative to the time the witness or witnesses visited the
sepulcher and learned of the resurrection, Matthew (chap,
xxviii.) tells us, “It was at the end of the Sabbath, as it began
to dawn; ” but according to Mark (xvi.), the Sabbath was past,
and the sun was rising; while John (chap, xx.) declares it was
yet dark. Now there is certainly some difference between the
three periods, “ the dawning of the day,” “ the rising of the sun,”
and “ the darkness of night.” If the writers were divinely in-
spired, there would be a perfect agreement.
2. With respect to the persons who first visited the sepul
cher, Matthew states that it was Mary Magdalene and anothei
Mary; but Luke says it was “ Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and
Mary the mother of James, and other women; ” while, according
to John (and he virtually reiterates it), Mary Magdalene went
RESURRECTION OF THE SAVIORS.
133
-
alone. It will be observed, then, that the first “inspired” and
“ infallible ” witness testifies there were two women ; the second
that there were four; and the third witness declares there was
but one. What beautiful harmony. No court in the civilized
world would accept such discordant testimony.
3. And in relation to what took place at the tomb, Matthew
testifies that “ the angel of the Lord ” sat upon a stone at the
door of the sepulcher, and told the women their Lord was
risen. But Luke steps forward here, and aveirs that instead of
an angel they found two men there, not outside, but inside, and
not sitting, but standing. But Mark sets the testimony of both
these “inspired” witnesses aside by affirming there was but
one man there, and he was sitting. While Matthew says “ they,”
St. John says “she” (speaking of the person or persons who
left the sepulcher.) According to Matthew the angel who
rolled away the stone from the sepulcher sent a message to the
disciples. But Mark affirms it was not an “ angel ” outside,
but a “young man” inside, who did this. And here the ques
tion naturally arises, Why was it necessary for a being who
could say, “ I have power to lay down my life and take it up
again ” (John), to have an angel to roll away the stone from
the. sepulcher. Certainly, if he possessed such omnipotent
power, he needed no aid from any being to perform such an act.
4. And relative to Peter’s visit to the tomb, there is a total
disparity in the testimony of the witnesses. According to
Luke, he did not go into the sepulcher, but only stooped down
and looked in. But Mark affirms he did go in, and that it was
the disciple who went with him who stooped down.
5. And with respect to the events which occurred immedi-
ately subsequent to the resurrection, there is no less discre-
pancy, no nearer agreement, in the testimony of the evangelical
witnesses. Matthew says that when Christ’s disciples first met
him after the resurrection, they worshiped him, and held him
by the feet. (Matt, xxviii. 9.) Strange, indeed, and wholly in-
credible, if John is a reliable witness, for he affirms he did not
allow even his best and dearest friend (Mary) to touch him.
And then John combats this testimony of his by declaring
lie invited the skeptical Thomas, not only to touch him, but to
thrust his hand into his side for tangible proof of his identity.
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6. And why, let us ask here, was not the skeptical Thomas
damned for his doubting, when we, who live thousands of miles
from the place, and nearly two thousand years from the time, are
often told by the priesthood we must “ believe or be damned ” ?
7. And if Thomas was really convinced by this occurrence
or if it ever took place, why have we no account of his subse-
quent life? What good was effected by his convincement if
he never said or did anything afterward ?
8. John tells us Mary first saw Christ, after his resurrection,
at the tomb, but Matthew says it was on her way home she first
saw him.
9. We are told by Luke (xxiv. 3G) that when Christ ap-
peared to his disciples on a certain occasion' they were fright-
ened, supposing it to be a spirit. But John (xx. 20) says they
were glad. Which must we believe?
10. According to Matthew, the disciples were all present on
this occasion ; but according to John, Thomas was not there.
11. Here let it be noted that none of the narrators claim to
have seen Christ rise from the tomb, nor to have got it from
anybody who did see it. The only proof in this case is their
declaration, “ It came to pass.”
12. And we are prompted to ask here, how a it came to
pass ” that the chief priests and pharisees cherished sufficient
faith in Christ’s resurrection to set a watch for it, as Matthew
reports, when his own disciples were too faithless in such an
event to be present, or to believe he had risen after the report
reached their ears ; for we are told some doubted. (See Matt*
xxviii.)
13. And how came Matthew to know the soldiers were
bribed to say Christ’s body was stolen away by his disciples,
when the disclosures of such a secret would have been death
under the Roman government.
14. And their confession of being asleep, as related by Mat-
thew, would have subjected them to the same fatal penalty by
the civil rulers of Rome.
15. And if the soldiers were all asleep, can we not suggest
several ways the body may have disappeared without being
restored to life ?
RESURRECTION OF THE SAVIORS.
135
16. And here we would ask if Christ rose f~om the dead in
order to convince the world of his divine power, why did not
the event take place in public ? Why was it seen only by a
few credulous and interested disciples?
17. And if such an astonishing and miraculous event did
occur, why does not one of the numerous cotemporary writers
of those times make any allusion to it? Neither Pliny, Taci-
tus, nor Josephus, who detail the events very minutely, not
only of those times, but of that very country, says a word about
such a wonder-exciting occurrence. This fact of itself entirely
overthrows the credibility of the story.
18. And the fact that several Christian sects, which flourished
near those times, as the Corinthians and Carpocratians, &c.,
rejected the story in toto, furnishes another powerful argument
for discrediting it.
19. And then add to this the fact that his own chosen fol-
lowers were upbraided for their unbelief in the matter.
20. And what was Christ doing during the forty days between
his resurrection and ascension, that he should only be seen a
few times, and but a few minutes at a time, and by but a few
persons, and those interested ?
21. And we would ask, likewise, What more can be proved
by Christ’s physical resurrection than that of the resurrection
of Lazarus, the widow’s son, and several cases related in the
Old Testament, or the numerous cases reported in oriental his-
tory ?
22. And what analogy is there in the resurrection of the
dead body of a perfect self-existent God and that of vile
man?
23. And why should Christ be called “the first fruits of the
resurrection,” when so many cases are reported as occurring
before his ?
24. And why do Christians build their hopes of immortality
almost entirely upon Christ’s alleged resurrection, in view of
the numerous facts we have cited showing it to be a mere
sandy foundation ?
25. Of course no person who believes in modern Spiritualism
will discredit the story of Christ being visually recognized
131
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
after his death as a spirit — for they have ocular proof that
many such cases have occurred within the last decade of
years. But it is the story of his physical resurrection we are
combating — the reanimation of his flesh and bones after hav-
ing been subjected for three days to the laws of decomposition.
Neither science nor sense can indorse such a story.
26. It was a very easy matter, and very natural to mistake
Christ’s spiritual body for his physical body; for such mis-
takes have been made a thousand times in the world’s history.
27. Is it not strange, in view of the countless defects in the
story of Christ’s physical resurrection as enumerated above,
that the orthodox Christian world should rely upon it as the
great sheet-anchor of their faith, and as their chief and almost
their only hope of immortal life ?
REAPPEARANCE OF THE SAVIORS.
135
CHAPTER XX.
REAPPEARANCE AND ASCENSION OF THE
SAVIORS.
Many cases are related by their respective sacred narratives
of the ancient Saviors, and other beings possessing the form of
man, and previously recognized as men reappearing to their dis-
ciples and friends, after having been consigned to the tomb for
three days, or a longer or shorter period of time, and of their
final ascension to the house of many mansions. It is related of
the Indian or Hindoo Savior Chrishna, that after having risen
from the dead, he appeared again to his disciples. 44 He
ascended to Yoiacantha (heaven), to Brahma,” the first person
of the trinity (he himself being the second), and that as he
ascended, 44 all men saw him, and exclaimed,4 Lo, Chrishna’s
soul ascends its native skies.’ ” And it is further related that,
44 attended by celestial spirits, ... he pursued by his own
light the journey between earth and heaven, to the bright
paradise whence he had descended.” Of the ninth incarnation
of India, the Savior Sakia, it is declared, that he 44 ascended to
the celestial regions; ” and his pious and devout disciples point
the skeptic to indelible impressions and ineffaceable footprints
on the rocks of a high mountain as an imperishable proof of the
declaration that he took his last leave of earth and made his
ascent from that point.
It is related of the crucified Prometheus, likewise, that after
having given up the ghost on the cross,46 descended to hell ”
(Christ’s soul was 44 not left in hell,” see Acts ii. 81), 44 he rose
again from the dead, and ascended into heaven.” And then it
is declared of the Egyptian Savior Alcides, that44 after having
136
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
been seen a number of times, he ascended to a higher life,”
going up, like Elijah, in “ a chariot of fire ; ” and the story of the
crucifixion of Quexalcote of Mexico, followed by his burial,
resurrection, and ascension, is distinctly related in the “holy”
and inspired “ gospels of that country, which Lord Kingsborough
admitted to be more than two thousand years old. Of Laotsi
of China, it is said that when “ he had completed his mission
of benevolence, he ascended bodily alive into the paradise
above.” (Prog, of Rel. Ideas, vol. i. 214.) And it is related
of Fo of the same country, that having completed his glorious
mission on earth, he u ascended back to paradise, where he had
previously existed from all eternity.” It is related also in the
ancient legends, that the Savior or God Xamalxis of Thrace,
having died, and descended beneath the earth, and remained
there three years, made his appearance again in the fourth year
after his death, as he had previously foretold, and eventually
ascended to heaven about 600 B. C. Even some of the Hindoo
saints are reported in their “ holy ” and time-honored books to
have been seen ascending to heaven. “ And impressions on
the rocks are shown,” says an author, “ said to be of footprints
they left when they ascended.”
It is related both by the Grecian biographer Plutarch, in his
life of Romulus, and by a Roman historian, that the great
founder of Rome (Romulus) suddenly ascended in a tempest
during a solar eclipse, about 713 B. C. And Julius Proculus, a
Roman senator of great fame and high reputation, declared,
under solemn oath, that he saw him, and talked with him after
his death.
Astronomical Version of the Story.
Before dismissing this chapter, we may state that, in common
frith most other religious conceptions, the doctrine of the
ascension has in the ancient legends an astronomical represen-
tation.
Having said that a planet was buried because it sunk below
the horizon, when it returned to light and gained its state of
eminence, they spoke of it as dead, risen again, and ascended
REAPPEARANCE OF THE SAVIORS.
137
into heaven. (Volney, p. 143.) What is the story of the ascen-
sion of Christ worth in view of these ancient pagan traditions
of earlier origin ?
Ascension op the Christian Savior.
1. The different scriptural accounts of the ascension of Christ
are, like the different stories of the resurrection, quite con-
tradictory, and hence entitled to as little credit. In Luke
(xxiv.) he is represented as ascending on the evening of the
third day after the crucifixion. But the writer of Acts (i. 3)
says he did not ascend till forty days after his resurrection;
while, according to his own declaration to the thief on the cross,
“ This day shalt thou be with me in paradise,” he must have
ascended on the same day of his crucifixion. Which statement
must we accept as inspired, or what is proved by such contra-
dictory testimony ?
2. Which must we believe, Paul’s declaration that he was
seen by above five hundred of the brethren at opce (1 Cor. xv.
6), or the statement of the author of the Acts (i. 15), that there
were but one hundred and twenty brethren in all after that
period?
3. How would his ascension do anything toward proving
his divinity, unless it also proves the divinity of Enoch and
Elijah, who are reported to have ascended long prior to that
era ?
4. As these stories of the ascension of Christ, according to
Lardner, were written many years after his crucifixion, is it not
hence probable they grew out of similar stories relative to the
heathen Gods long previously prevalent in oriental countries ?
5. As these gospel writers could not have been present to wit-
ness the ascension, as it must have occurred before their time
of active life, does not this fact of itself seriously damage the
credibility of the accounts, and more especially as neither Mark
nor Luke, who are the only reporters of the occurrence, were not
disciples of Christ at the time, while Matthew and John, who
were, say nothing about it ? — another fact which casts a shade
on the credibility of the story.
138
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XXL
THE ATONEMENT: ITS ORIENTAL OR HEATHEN
ORIGIN.
There were various practices in vogue amongst the orien-
talists, which originated with the design of appeasing the anger,
and propitiating the favor of a presumed to be irascible deity.
Most of these practices consisted in some kind of sacrifice or
destructive offering called the “ atonement” But here let it
be observed, that the doctrine of atonement for sin, by sacrifice,
was unfolded by degrees, and that the crucifixion of a God was
not the first practical exhibition of it. On the contrary, it
appears to have commenced with the most valueless or cheap-
est species of property then known; and from this starting-
point ascended gradually, so as finally to embody the most
costly commodities; and did not stop here, but reached for-
ward till it laid its murderous hands on human beings, and
immolated them upon its bloody altars. And finally, to cap
the climax, it assumed the effrontery to drag a God off the
throne of heaven, to stanch its bloodthirsty spirit, as evinced
by Paul’s declaration, “ Without the shedding of blood there
can be no remission of sin.” Rather a bloody doctrine, and
one which our humanity rejects with instinctive horror. We
will trace the doctrine of the atonement briefly through its
successive stages of growth and development. The idea seems
to have started very early in the* practical history of the human
race, that the sacrifice and consequent deprivation of earthly
goods, or some terrestrial enjoyment, would have the effect
to mitigate the anger, propitiate the favor, and obtain the
mercy of an imaginary vengeful God. This idea obviously
was suggested by observing that their earthly rulers always
THE ATONEMENT.
13&
-
smiled, and became less rigorous in their laws, and milder in
their treatment of their subjects, when they made them pres-
ents of some valuable or desirable commodity. They soon
learned that such offerings had the effect to check their cruel
and bloody mode of governing the people; so that when their
houses were shaken down, or swallowed up by earthquakes, the
trees riven by lightning, and prostrated by storms, and their cattle
swept away by floods, supposing it to be the work of an angry
God, the thought arose in their minds at once, that perhaps his
wrath could be abated by the same expedient as that which
had served in the case of their mundane lords — that of making
presents of property. But as this property could not be car-
ried up to the celestial throne, the expedient was adopted of
burning it, so that the substance or quintessence of it would be
conveyed up to the heavenly Potentate in the shape of steam
and smoke, which would make for him, as the Jews express it,
“a sweet-smelling savor.” Abundant and conspicuous is the
evidence in history to show that the custom of burnt-offer-
ings and atonements for sin originated in this way. The
first species of property made use of for burnt-offerings ap-
pears to have been the fruits of the earth, — vegetables, fruits,
roots, &c., — the lowest kind of property in point of value.
But the thought soon naturally sprang up in the mind of
the devotee, that a more valuable offering would sooner
and more effectually secure the divine favor. Hence levies
were made on living herds of cattle, sheep, goats, and other
domestic animals. This was the second step in the ascend-
ing scale toward Gods. And here we find the key to open
and solve the mystery of Jehovah’s preferring Abel’s offer-
ing to Cain’s. While the latter consisted in mere inanimate
substances, the former embraced the firstlings of the flock
— a higher and more valuable species of property, and quite
sufficient to induce the selfish Jehovah to prefer Abel’s offer-
ing to Cain’s, or rather for the selfish Jews to cherish this
conception. In all nations where offerings were made, the con-
clusion became established in the minds of the people that
the amount of God’s favor procured in this way must be pro-
oortionate to the value of the commodity or victim offered up
140
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
— a conviction which, ultimately led to the seizure of human
beings for the atoning offering, which brings us to the third
stage of growth in the atonement doctrine. Children frequently
constituted the victims in this case. The sacrifice of Jephthah’s
daughter, as related in Judges xi. 30, and other cases cited by
bible writers, Isaiah xxxii. 25, and modern Christian authors,
prove that this practice was in vogue among “God’s holy
people.” One step more (constituting the fourth stage of de-
velopment) brings us to the sacrifice of Gods. The climax is
now reached; the conception can go no higher. The ancient
Birmese taught that while common property in burnt-offerings
would procure the temporary favor of the ruling God, the
sacrifice of human beings would secure his good pleasure for
a thousand years, and cancel out all the sins committed in
that period. And when one of the three Gods on the throne
of heaven was dragged down, or voluntarily came down (as
some of the sects taught), and was put to death on the cross
as an atonement for sin, such was the value of the victim,
such the magnitude of the offering, that it “ atoned for all sin,
past, present, and future, for all the human race.” The Hin-
doos, cherishing this conception, taught that the crucifixion of
their sin-atoning Savior Chrishna (1200 B. C.) put an end to
both animal and human sacrifices, and accordingly such offer-
ings ceased in most Hindoo countries centuries ago. Thus far
back in the mire and midnight of human ignorance, and amid
the clouds of mental darkness, while man dwelt upon the ani-
mal plane, and was governed by his brutal feelings, and “blood
for blood ” was the requisition for human offenses, originated
the bloody, savage, and revolting doctrine of the atonement.
Another mode of adjudicating the sins of the people in vogue
in some countries anterior to the custom of shedding blood as
an expiation, was that of packing them on the back, head, or
horns of some animal by a formal hocus-pocus process, and then
driving the animal into a wilderness, or some other place so
remote that the brute could not find its way back amongst the
people with its cargo of sins. The cloth or fabric used for
inclosing the sins and iniquities of the people was usually of a
red or scarlet color — of the semblance of blood. In fact it
THE ATONEMENT.
u:
was generally dipped in blood. This, being lashed to the ani-
mal, would, of course, be exposed to the weather and the
drenching rains, would consequently, in the course of time, fade
and become white. Hence we have the key to Isaiah’s decla-
ration, “Though your sins be (red) as scarlet, they shall be-
come (white) as wool.” (See Isaiah, i. 18.) And thus the
meaning of this obscure text is clearly explained by tracing its
origin to its oriental source. And there are many other texts
in the Christian bible which might be elucidated in a similar
manner by using oriental tradition, or oriental sacred books, as
a key to unlock and explain their meaning. We have stated
above that some animal was made use of by different nations
to convey the imaginary load of the people’s sins out of the
country. For this purpose the Jews had their “ scape-goat,” the
Egyptians their “ scape-ox,” the Hindoos their “ scape-horse,”
the Chaldeans their “scape-ram,” the Britons their “scape-
bull,” the Mexicans their “ scape-lamb ” and “ scape-mouse,”
the Tamalese their “ scape-hen,” and the Christians at a later
period their scape- God. Jesus Christ may properly be termed
the scape-God of orthodox Christians, as he stands in the same
relation to his disciples, who believe in the atonement, as the
goat did to the Jews, and performs the same end and office.
The goat and the other sin-offering animals took away the sin
of the nation in each case respectively. In like manner Jesus
Christ takes away the sin of the world, being called “the
Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” (John i.
29.) And more than two thousand years ago the Mexicans
sacrificed a lamb as an atonement, which they called “the
Lamb of God” — the same title scripturally applied to Jesus
Christ. The conception in each case is, then, the same — that
of the atonement for sin by the sacrifice of an innocent victim. .
The above citations show that the present custom of orthodox
Christendom, in packing their sins upon the back of a God, is
just the same substantially as that of various heathen nations,
who were anciently in the habit of packing them upon the backs
of various dumb animals. If some of our Christian brethren
should protest against our speaking of the church’s idea of
atonement as that of packing their sins upon the back of a
142
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
God, we will here prove the appropriateness of the terra
upon the authority of the bible. Peter expressly declares
Christ bore our sins upon his own body on a tree (see 1 Peter
ii. 24), just as the Jews declared the goat bore their sins on his
body, and the ancient Brahmins taught that the bulls and the
heifers bore theirs away, &c., which shows that the whole con-
ception is of purely heathen origin. And hereafter, when they
laugh at the Jewish superstition of a scape-goat, let them bear
in mind that more sensible and intelligent people may laugh in
turn at their superstitious doctrine of a scape-God.
These superstitious customs were simply expedients of differ-
ent nations to evade the punishment of their sins — an attempt
to shift their retributive consequences on to other beings. The
divine atonement more especially possessed this character. This
system teaches that the Son of God and Savior of the world
was sent down and incarnated, in order to die for the people,
and thus suffer by proxy the punishment meted out by divine
wrath for the sins of the whole world. The blood of a God must
atone for the sins of the whole human family, as rams, goats,
bullocks, and other animals had atoned for the sins of families
and nations under older systems. Thus taught Brahminism,
Budhism, Persianism, and other religious systems before the
dawn of Christianity. The nucleus of the atoning system is
founded in the doctrine, “ Without the shedding of blood there
is no remission for sin ” (Rom. v. 9) — a monstrous and morally
revolting doctrine — a doctrine which teaches us that some-
body's blood must be shed, somebody’s veins and arteries de-
pleted, for every trivial offense committed against the moral
law. Somebody must pay the penalty in blood, somebody
must be slaughtered for every little foible, or peccadillo, or moral
blunder into which erring man may chance to stumble while
upon the pilgrimage of life, while journeying through the
wilderness of time, even if a God has to be dragged from his
throne in heaven, and murdered to accomplish it. Nothing
less will mitigate the divine wrath. Whose soul, possessing
the slightest moral sensibility, does not inwardly and instinc-
tively revolt at such a doctrine? We would not teach it to the
world, for it is founded in butchery and bloodshed, and is an
THE ATONEMENT.
143
old pagan superstition, which originated far back in the mid-
night of mental darkness and heathen ignorance, when the
whole human race were under the lawless sway of their brutal
propensities, and when the ennobling attributes of love, mercy,
and forgiveness had as yet found no place, no abiding home,
in the human bosom. The bloody soul of the savage first gave
it birth. We hold the doctrine to be a high-handed insult to
the All-loving Father, who, we are told, is “long suffering in
mercy,” and “ plentiful in forgiveness,” to charge Him with
sanctioning such a doctrine, much less with originating it.
There is no “mercy or forgiveness” in putting an innocent
being to death for any pretext whatever. And for the Father
to consent to the brutal assassination of His own innocent Son
upon the cross to gratify an implacable revenge toward his
own children, the workmanship of his own hands, rather than
forgive a moral weakness implanted in their natures by a vol-
untary act of his own, and for which consequently he alone
ought to be responsible, would be nothing short of murder in
the first degree. We cherish no such conception. We cannot
for a moment harbor a blasphemous doctrine, which represents
the Universal Father as being a bloody-minded and murderons
being, instead of a being of infinite love, infinite wisdom, and
infinite in all the moral virtues. Such a character would be a
deep-dyed stigma upon any being. And no person actuated by
a strict sense of justice would accept salvation upon any such
terms as that prescribed by the Christian atonement. It is
manifestly too unjust, too devoid of moral principle, besides
being a flagrant violation of the first principles of civil and
criminal jurisprudence. It is a double wrong to punish the
innocent for the guilty. It is the infliction of injustice on the
one hand, and the omission of justice on the other. It inflicts
the highest penalty of the law upon an innocent being, whom
that law ought to shield from punishment, while it exculpates
and liberates the guilty party, whose punishment the moral
law demands. It robs society of a useful man on the one
hand, and turns a moral pest upon community on the other,
thus committing a twofold wrong, or act of injustice. No court
m any civilized country would be allowed to act upon such a
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
principle ; and the judge who should indorse it, or favor a law,
or principle, which punishes the innocent for the guilty, would
be ruled off the bench at once. Here, however, we are some-
times met with the plea, that the offering of Jesus Christ was
a voluntary act, that it was made with his own free will. But
the plea don’t do away with either the injustice or criminality
of the act. No innocent person has a right to suffer for the
guilty, and the courts have no right to accept the offer or admit
the substitute. An illustration will show this. If Jefferson Davis
had been convicted of the crime of treason, and sentenced to be
hung, and Abraham Lincoln had come forward and offered to
be stretched upon the gallows in his place, is there a court in .
the civilized world which would have accepted the substitute,
and hung Lincoln, and liberated Davis ? To ask the question
is to answer it. It is an insult to reason, law, and justice, to
entertain the proposition.
The doctrine of the atonement also involves the infinite ab-
surdity of God punishing himself to appease his own wrath.
For if “ the fullness of the godhead dwelt in Christ bodily ” (as
taught in Col. ii. 9), then his death was the death of God —
that is, a divine suicide, prompted and committed by a feeling
of anger and revenge, which terminated the life of the Infinite
Ruler — a doctrine utterly devoid of reason, science, or sense.
We are sometimes told man owes a debt to his Maker, and the
atonement pays that debt. To be sure ! And to whom is the
debt owing, and who pays it? Why, the debt is owing to
God, and God (in the person of Jesus Christ) pays it — pays it
to himself. We will illustrate. A man approaches his neigh-
bor, and says, “ Sir, I owe you a thousand dollars, but can
never pay it.” “Very well; it makes no difference,” replies the
claimant; “ I will pay it myself; ” and forthwith thrusts his hand
into his right pocket and extracts the money, transfers it to the
left pocket, and exclaims, “ There, the debt is paid! ” A curi-
ous way of paying debts, and one utterly devoid of sense ; and
yet the orthodox world have adopted it for their God. We
find, however, that they carefully avoid practicing this princi-
ple themselves in their dealings with each other. When they
have a claim' against a neighbor, we do not find them ever
THE ATONEMENT. 145
thrusting their hands into their own pockets to pay it off, but
sue him, and compel him to pay, if he refuses to do it without
compulsion, thus proving they do not consider it a correct prin-
ciple of trade. But we find, upon further investigation, that
the assumed debt is not paid, after all. When a debt is
paid, it is canceled, and dismissed from memory, and nothing
more said about it; but in this case the sinner is told he must
still suffer the penalty for every sin he commits, notwithstand-
ing Christ died to atone for and cancel that sin. Where then
is the virtue of the atonement? Like other doctrines of the
orthodox creed, it is at war writh reason, and common sense,
and every principle of sound morality, and will be marked by
coming ages as a relic of barbarism.
10
146
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE HOLY GHOST OE ORIENTAL ORIGIN.
Of all the weird, fanciful, and fabulous stories appertaining
to the Gods and other spiritual entities of the olden times,
whose capricious adventures we find so profusely narrated in
oriental mythology, — of all the strange, mythical, and mys-
tical feats, and ever-varying and ever-diverging changes in the
shape, appearance, sex, and modes of manifestation which char-
acterize the hobgoblins or ghostly beings which comprise the
esoteric stock of the ancient mysteries, that appertaining to
the third member of “ the hypostatic union,” the Holy Ghost,
seems to stand pre-eminent. And I propose here to submit
the facts to show that the Holy Ghost story of the Christian
Gospels, like the more ancient pagan versions of the same
story, is marked by the same wild, discordant, and legendary
characteristics which abound in all the accounts of gods and
ghosts found recorded in the religious books of various nations.
The following brief exposition of the history and exploits of
this anomalous, nondescript, chameleon-like being will clearly
evince that the same fanciful, metaphorical, and fabulous changes
in the size, shape, sex, and appearance of this third limb of the
triune God are found in the Christian Scriptures which are
disclosed in the more ancient oriental traditions. We will first
exhibit a classification of the names and characteristics of this
imaginary being drawn from the gospels and epistles of the
Christian bible, by which it will be observed that scarcely any
two references to it agree in assigning it the same character or
attributes.
1. In John xiv. 26, the Holy Ghost is spoken of as a person
or personal God.^
THE HOLT GHOST OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 147
2. In Luke iii. 22, the Holy Ghost changes, and assumes the
form of a dove.
3. In Matt. xiii. 16, the Holy Ghost becomes a spirit.
4. In John i. 32, the Holy Ghost is presented as an inanimate,
senseless object.
5. In 1 John v. 7, the Holy Ghost becomes a God — the third
member of the Trinity.
6. In Acts ii. 1, the Holy Ghost is averred to be “ a mighty,
rushing wind.”
7. In Acts x. 38, the Holy Ghost, we infer, from its mode of
application, is an ointment.
8. In John xx. 22, the Holy Ghost is the breath, as we legit-
imately infer by its being breathed into the mouth of the recip-
ient after the ancient oriental custom.
9. In Acts ii. 3, we learn the Holy Ghost “ sat upon each of
them,” probably in the form of a bird, as at Jesus’ baptism.
10. In Acts ii. 1, the Holy Ghost appears as “cloven tongues
of fire.”
11. In Luke ii. 26, the Holy Ghost is the author of a revela-
tion or inspiration.
12. In Acts viii. 17, the Holy Ghost is a magnetic aura im-
parted by the “laying on of hands.”
13. In Mark i. 8, the Holy Ghost is a medium or element for
baptism.
14. In Acts xxviii. 25, the Holy Ghost appears with vocal
organs, and speaks.
15. In Heb. vi. 4, the Holy Ghost is dealt out or imparted
by measure.
16. In Luke iii. 22, the Holy Ghost appears with a tangible
body.
17. In Luke i. 5, and many other texts, we are taught, peo-
ple are filled with the Holy Ghost.
18. In Matt. xi. 15, the Holy Ghost falls upon the people as
a ponderable substance.
19. In Luke iv. 1, the Holy Ghost is a God within a God —
“Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost.”
20. In Acts xxi. 11, the Holy Ghost is a being of the mascu-
line or feminine gender — “ Thus saith the Holy Ghost,” &c.
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
21. In John i. 32, the Holy Ghost is of the neuter gender —
“It (the Holy Ghost) abode upon him.”
22. In Matt. i. 18, the Holy Ghost becomes a vicarious agent
in the procreation of another God; that is, this third member
of the Trinity aids the first member (the Father) in the crea-
tion or generation of the second member of the triad of bach-
elor Gods — the Word, or Savior, or Son of God.
Such are the ever-shifting scenes presented in the Scripture
panorama of the Holy Ghost. Surpassing the fabulous changes
of some of the more ancient demigods, the Christian Holy
Ghost undergoes (as is shown by the above-quoted texts) a
perpetual metathesis or metamorphosis — being variously pre-
sented, on different occasions, as a personal and rational being,
a dove, a spirit, an inanimate object, a God, the wind or a wind,
an ointment, the breath or a breath, cloven tongues of fire, a
bird, or some other flying, recumbent animal, a revelator, or
divine messenger, a medium, or element for baptism, an intelli-
gent, speaking being, a lifeless, bodiless, sexless being, a meas-
urable fluid substance, a being possessing a body, ponderable,
unconscious substance, a God dwelling within a God, and, final-
ly— though really first in order — the author or agent of the
incarnation of the second God in the Trinity (Jesus Christ).
That many of these fabulous conceptions were drawn from
mythological sources will be made manifest by the following
facts of history: —
1. The Holy Ghost in the shape of a bird {a dove or pigeon).
This is proven to be a very ancient pagan tradition, as it is
found incorporated in several of the oriental religious systems.
In ancient India, whose prolific spiritual fancies constitute the
primary parentage of nearly all the doctrines, dogmas, and
superstitions found incorporated in the Christian Scriptures,.a
dove was uniformly the emblem of the Holy Spirit, or Spirit
of God. Confirmatory of this statement, we find the declara-
tion in the Anacalypsis, that “ a dove stood for or represented
a third member of the Trinity, and was the regenerator or re-
gen eratory power.” This meets the Christian idea of “ regen-
eration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” (Titus iii. 5.) A per-
son being baptized under the Brahminical theocracy was said
THE HOLT GHOST OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN 149
to be 44 regenerated and born again,” or, as the above-quoted
writer expresses it, 44 They were born into the spirit, or the
spirit into them — that is, the dove into or upon them ” (as
vide the case of the Christian’s 44 Holy Ghost descending in
bodily shape like a dove,” and alighting on Christ’s head at
baptism, as related in Luke iii. 22). In ancient Rome a dove
or pigeon was the emblem of the female procreative energy,
and frequently a legendary spirit, the accompaniment of Venus.
And hence, as a writer remarks,44 It is very appropriately rep-
resented as descending at baptism in the character of the third
member of the Trinity.” The same writer tells us, 44 The dove
fills the Grecian oracles with their spirit and power.” We find
the dove, also, in the romantic eclogues of ancient Syria. In
the time-chiseled Syrian temple of Hierapolis, Semiramis is
represented with a dove on her head, thus constituting the pro-
totype of the dove on the head of the Christian Messiah at
baptism. And a dove was in more than one of the ancient
religious systems—44 The Spirit of God (Holy Ghost) moving
on the face of the waters” at creation, as implied in Gen. i. 2,
though a pigeon, was often indiscriminately substituted. In
Howe’s 44 Ancient Mysteries” it is related that 44in St. Paul’s
Cathedral, at the feast of the Whitsuntide, the descent of the
Holy Ghost was performed by a white pigeon being let fly out
of a hole in the midst of the roof of the great aisle.” The
dove and the pigeon, being but slight variations of the same
species of the feathered tribe, were used indiscriminately.
2. As evinced above, the Holy Ghost was the third member
of the Trinity in several of the oriental systems. Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, or Father, Word, and Holy Ghost (1 John v. 7),
are familiar Christian terms to express the divine triad, which
shows the Holy Ghost to be the acknowledged third member
of the Christian Trinity. And, as already suggested, the same
is true of the more ancient systems. 44 The Holy Spirit and
the Evil Spirit were, each in their turn (says Mr. Higgins),
third member of the Trinity.” We might, if space would
allow, draw largely upon the ancient defunct systems in proof
of this statement. 44 In these triads (says Mr. Hillell) the third
member, as might be supposed, was not of equal rank with the
150
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
other two.” And hence, in the Theban Trinity, Khonso was
inferior to Arion and Mant. In the Hindoo triad, Siva was
subordinate to Brahma and Yishnu. And a score of similar
examples might be adduced from the fancy-constructed trinities
of other and older oriental religious systems (but for the inflex-
ible rule of brevity which forbids their presentation here), with
all of which the more modern Holy Ghost conception of the
Christian world is an exact correspondence, as this imaginary,
tabulous being is less conspicuous than, and has always stood
third in rank with, the Father, and second to the Son, alias the
Word, and is now seldom addressed in practical Christian devo-
tion ; and thus the analogy is complete. Mr. Maurice says,
“ This notion of a third person in the Deity (the Holy Ghost)
was diffused among all the nations of the earth.” (See Ind.
Antiq., vol. iv. p. 750.) And Mr. Worseley, in his “Voyage”
(vol. i. p. 259), avers this doctrine to be “ of very great antiqui-
ty, and generally received by all the Gothic and Celtic nations.”
8. The Holy Ghost was the Holy Breath which, in the
Hindoo traditions, moved on the face of the waters at cre-
ation, and imparted life and vitality into everything created.
A similar conception is recognized in the Christian Scriptures.
In Psalms xxxiii. 6, we read, “By the Word of the Lord were
the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of
his mouth.” Here is the Brahminical conception, square out,
of the act of creation by the Divine Breath, which is the Holy
Ghost, the same, also, which was breathed into Adam, by which
he became “a living soul.” M. Dubois observes, “The Prana,
or principle of life, of the Hindoos is the breath of life by
which the Creator (Brahma) animates the clay, and man be-
came a living soul.” (Page 298.)
4. Holy Ghost, Holy Breath, and Holy Wind appear to have
been synonymous and convertible terms for the living vocal
emanations from the mouth of the Supreme God, as memori-
alized in several of the pagan traditions. The last term (Holy
Wind) is suggested by “ the mighty rushing wind from heaven ”
which filled the house, or church, on the day of Pentecost. (See
Acts ii. 2.) Several of the old religious systems recognize “ the
Holy Wind ” as a term for the Holy Ghost. The doxology
THE JlOLT GHOST OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 151
(reported by a missionary) in the religious service of the Syrian
worship runs thus: —
“Praise to the Holy Spiritual Wind, which is the Holy Ghost;
Praise to the three persons which are one true God.”
Some writers maintain that the Hebrew Huh Aliem, trans-
lated “.Spirit of God” (Gen. i. 2) in our version, should read,
“Wind of the Gods.” And we find that the word pneuma, of
our Greek New Testament, is sometimes translated “Ghost”
and sometimes “ Wind,” as best suited the fancy of the trans-
lators. In John iii. 5, we find the word Spirit, and in verse 8
both Wind and Spirit are found ; and in Luke i. 35, we observe
the term Holy Ghost — all translated from the same word.
Let it be specially noted that in the Greek Testament the word
pneuma is used in all these cases, thus proving that Spirit, Holy
Ghost, and Wind are used in the Christian Scriptures as synony-
mous terms; and proving, also, that an unwarranted license has
been assumed by translators in rendering the same word three
different ways. M. Auvaroff, in his “Essays on the Eleusinian
Mysteries,” speaks of “the torch being ignited at the command
of Hermes of Egypt, the spiritual agent in the workshop of
creation; ” relative to which statement a writer remarks,
“ Hermes appears in this instance as a personification of Wind
or Spirit, as in the bible (meaning the Christian bible), God,
Wind, and Spirit are often interchangeable terms, and the Word
appears to be from the same windy source.”
5. The Holy Ghost as “ a tongue of fire, which sat upon
each of them” {the apostles). (See Acts ii. 3.) Even this con-
ception is an orientalism. Mr. Higgins tells us that “ Bud ha,
an incarnate God of the Hindoos (three thousand years ago),
is often seen with a glory or tongue of fire upon his head.”
And the tradition of the visible manifestation of the Holy
Ghost by fire was prevalent among the ancient Budhists,
Celts, Druids, and Etrurians. In fact, as our author truly re-
marks, “The Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, when visible, was
always in the form of fire (or a bird), and was always accom-
panied with wisdom and power.” Hence is disclosed the origin
of the ancient custom amongst the Hindoos, Persians, and
152
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
Chaldeans, of making offerings to the solar fire, emblem of the
Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit*
6. Inspiration by the Holy Ghost. (Luke ii. 26.) “ Holy men
of God,” including some of the prophets, are claimed to have
been inspired by the Holy Ghost. (See 2 Peter i. 21; Acts
xxviii. 25.) In like manner, as we are informed by Mr. Cleland
in his “ Specimens” (see Appendix), the ancient Celts were not
only “ moved by the Holy Ghost ” in their divine decrees and
prophetic utterances, but they claimed that their Salic laws
(seventy-two in number) were inspired by the “ Salo Ghost”
(Holy Ghost), known also as “the Wisdom of the Spirit, or
the Voice of the Spirit.” This author several times alludes to
the fact, and exhibits the proof, that the doctrine of the Holy
Ghost was known to this ancient people.
7. The Holy Ghost imparted by “ the laying on of hands!
This, too, is an ancient oriental custom. “And by the imposi-
tion of hands on the head of the candidate ” says Mr. Cleland,
speaking of the Celts, “the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, was con-
veyed.” And thus was the Holy Spirit, Ghost, Gas, Wind,
Electrical Fire, or Spirit of Authority imparted to the hiero-
phant or gospel novitiate. “ And their public assemblies,” con-
tinues our author, “were always opened by an invocation to
the Holy Ghost.”
8. Baptism by or into the Holy Ghost accompanied with fire.
(Matt. iii. 11.) This rite, too, is traceable to a very ancient
period, and was practiced by several of the old symbolical and
mythological systems. The Tuscans, or Etrurians, baptized
with fire, wind (ghost), and water. Baptism into the first
member of the Trinity (the Father) was with fire; baptism
into the second member of the Trinity (the Word) was with
water; while baptism into the third member of the Trinity
(the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit) consisted of the initiatory
spiritual or symbolical application of gas, gust, ghost, wind, or
spirit. It appears from “Herbert’s Travels,” that, in “ancient
countries, the child was taken to the priest, who named him
(christened him) before the sacred fire; ” after which ceremony
he was sprinkled with “holy water” from a vessel made of the
sacred tree known as “ The Holme.”
THE HOLT GHOST OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN 158
9. The Holy Ghost imparted by breathing. (See John xx. 22.)
w Sometimes,” says Mr. Higgins, relative to this custom among
the ancient heathen, “ the priest blew his breath upon the child,
which was then considered baptized by air, spiritus sanctus, or
ghost — i. e., baptism by the Holy Ghost.” In case of baptism,
a portion of the Holy Ghost was supposed to be transferred
from the priest to the candidate. “ The practice of breathing
in or upon,” says our author, “ was quite common among the
ancient heathen.”
10, The Holy Ghost as the agent in divine conception, or the
procreation of other gods. Jesus is said to have been con-
ceived by the Holy Ghost (see Matt. i. 18), and we find similar
claims instituted still more anciently for other incarnate demi-
gods. In the Mexican Trinity, Y, Zona was the Father, JBacal
the Word, and Echvah the Holy Ghost, by the last of whom
Chimalman conceived and brought forth the enfleshed god
Quexalcote. (See Mex. Ant., vol. vi. p. 1650.) In the Hindoo
mythos, Sakia was conceived by the Holy Ghost Nara-an.
Other cases might be cited proving the same point.
Thus we observe that the various heterogeneous conceptions,
discordant traditions, and contradictory superstitions appertain-
ing to that anomalous nondescript being known as the Holy
Ghost, are traceable to various oriental countries, and to a very
remote antiquity. We will only occupy space with one or two
more historical citations of a general nature, tending to prove
the prevalence of this ghostly myth in other countries, not yet
cited. “ Tell me, O thou strong in fire! ” ejaculated Sesostris
of Egypt to the oracle, as reported by Manetho, “ who before
me could subjugate all things, and who shall after me?” But
the oracle rebuked him, saying, “ First God, then the Word,
and with them the Spirit.” (See Nimrod, vol. i. p. 119.) “ And
Plutarch, in his ‘Life of Numa,’” says our oft-quoted author,
“ shows that the incarnation of the Holy Spirit was known both
to the ancient Romans and Egyptians.” The doctiine is thus
shown to have been nearly universal.
154
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THE' WORLD'S SAVIORS.
Origin of the Holy Ghost Superstition.
The origin of the tradition respecting this fabulous and myth-
ical being is easily traced to the ancient Brahminical trifold
conception of the Deity, in which stands, in Trinity order, first,
the God of power, or might — Brahma, or Brahm (the Father);
second, the God of creation — the Word — answering to John’s
creative Word (see John i. 3) ; and, third, the God of genera-
tion and regeneration — the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost. The
last member of the triune conception of the Deity was consid-
ered, under the Brahminical theocracy, the living, vital, active,
life-imparting agent in both the first and second births of men
and the gods. It will be borne in mind by the reader that the
Holy Ghost is represented in the Christian Scripture as being
the active generating agent of Christ’s conception, he being, as
Matthew declares, “ conceived by the Holy Ghost.” The Holy
Ghost was also the regenerating agent at his baptism. Although
the specific object of the descent of the Holy Ghost on that
occasion is not stated by Luke, who relates it; although it is
not stated for what purpose the Holy Spirit, after assuming the
form of a bird, alighted and sat upon his head, yet the motive
is fully disclosed in the older mythical religions, where we find
the matter in fuller detail. Baptism itself is claimed by all its
Christian votaries as regenerating or imparting a new spiritual
life; and this new spiritual life was believed by several nations,
as before stated, to make its appearance in the character and
shape of a bird — sometimes a pigeon, sometimes a dove; and
thus the origin of this tradition is most clearly and unmistak-
ably exposed. As the foregoing historical exposition exhibits
the Holy Ghost as performing several distinct and discordant
offices, so we likewise find it possessing at least two distinct
genders, the masculine and neuter, i. e., no gender — changing,
ghost-like, from one to the other, as occasion seemed to require.
From all these metamorphoses it is shown and demonstrated
that the sexual and other changes of this “mysterious” being
equal many of the demigods of mythology. The primary
windy conception of the Holy Ghost is traceable to that early
THE HOLT GHOST OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 155
period of society when the rude and untutored denizens of the
earth, in their profound ignorance of natural causes, were very
easily and naturally led into the belief that wherever there was
motion there was a God, or the active manifestation of a God,
whether it was in the wind, breath, water, fire, or the sun.
Hence the Buddhists had their god Vasus, who manifested
himself variously in the shape or character of fire, wind, storms,
gas, ghosts, gusts, and the breath, thus constituting a very
nearly-allied counterpart to the Christian Holy Ghost, which
Mr. Parkhurst tells us originally meant “air in motion.” This
god was believed to have sprung from the supreme, primordial
God, which the ancient Brahmins and Budhists generally be-
lieved was constituted of a fine, spiritual substance, — aura,
anirna, wind, ether, igneous fluid, or electrical fire, i. e., fire
from the sun, — giving rise to “ baptism by fire; ” and hence the
third God, or third member of the Trinity, subsequently arising
out of this compound being, was also necessarily composed of,
or consisted of, the same properties — all of which were be-
lieved to be correlative, if not identical.
Such is a complete, though brief, historical elucidation of that
mysterious, imaginary being so corporally intangible that Faus-
tus, of the third century, declared respecting it, “The Holy
Spirit, the third majesty, has the air for his residence.” And
it is a fabulous God whose scriptural biography is invested with
so many ludicrous and abstruse incidents as to incite several
hundred Christian writers to labor hard and with a “godly
zeal,” by a reconstruction of “God’s Word” and a rehabiliment
of the ghostly texts, to effect some kind of a reconciliation of
the story with reason and common sense — with what success
the reader is left to judge.
The Unpardonable Sin against the Holy Ghost.
Before dismissing our ghostly narrative, it may effect some-
thing in the way of mitigating the anxious fears of some of our
Christian brethren and sisters to explain the nature of “the sin
against the Holy Ghost,” and assign the reason for its being
\mpardonable. The sin against the Holy Ghost consisted, ac-
156
THE WORLD’S SAVIORS.
cording to the ancient Mexican traditions, in resisting its opera-
tions in the second birth — that is, the regeneration of the heart
or soul by the Holy Ghost. And as the rectification of the
heart or soul was a prominent idea with Christ, there is scarcely
any ground to doubt but that this was the notion he cherished
of the nature of the sin against the Holy Ghost. And it was
considered unpardonable, simply because as the pardoning and
cleansing process consisted in, or was at least always accompa-
nied with, baptism by water, in which operation the Holy Ghost
was the agent in effecting a “ new birth,” therefore when the
ministrations or operations of this indispensable agent were
resisted or rejected, there was no channel, no means, no possible
mode left for the sinner to find a renewed acceptance with God.
When a person sinned against the Father or the Word (the
Son), he could find a door of forgiveness through the baptizing
processes, spiritual or elementary, of the Holy Ghost. But an
offense committed against this third limb of the godhead had
the effect to close and bar the door so that there could be “ no
forgiveness, either in this life or that which is to come ” To
sin against the Holy Ghost was to tear down the scaffold by
which the door of heaven was to be reached.
And thus is explained the great “ mystery of godliness,” the
“ unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost,” which, on account
of the frightful penalty annexed to it, while it is impossible to
learn what it consists in, — it being undefined and ?indefinable,—
has caused thousands, and probably millions, of the disciples
of the Christian faith the most agonizing hours of alarm and
despair.
THE DI VINE WORD OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN. 157
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE DIVINE “WORD” OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN.
The Word as Creator, as Second Person op the
Trinity and its Pre-existence.
The Word of Oriental Origin.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word w^asGod.” (John i. 1.) The doctrine of the
divine creative word (from the Greek Logos) appears to have
been coeval in its origin with that of the Trinity, if not insep-
arably connected with it, as it constitutes the second member
of the Trinity of “Father, Word, and Holy Ghost” in most of
the ancient systems of religion. Works on heathen mythology
show that it was anciently a very prevalent custom to per-
sonify ideas, thoughts, and words into angels and Gods.
Words were first personated, and transformed into men, then
into angels, and finally into Gods. And here is foreshad-
owed the origin of John’s personification of “the Word made
flesh.” It was simply the word of the supreme God as it
escaped from his mouth, assuming the form and characteristics
of a divine being like himself, and taking position as a sec-
ondary God and second member of the Trinity. This was the
orient conception, and it appears to have been John’s. He
evidently had no thought of Christ experiencing human birth,
at first, or being born of a woman, but believed, like some of
the orientalists, that he came out of the mouth of the Father,
and was thus “ made flesh.” (John i. 2.) Not a word of Christ
being born is found in John’s Gospel, till after his existence as
the Word is spoken of. (See first note on page 379.)
158
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
The Word as Creator.
John also represents the Word as having been the Cieator.
“All things were made by him.” (John i. 3.) And Peter de-
clares, “By the word of God the heavens were of old.” (2
Peter iii. 5.) Now let it be observed here, as a notable cir-
cumstance, that the Chinese bible, much older than the Chris-
tian’s New Testament, likewise declares, “God pronounced the
primeval Word, and his own eternal and glorious abode sprang
into existence.” Mr. Guizot, in a note on Gibbon’s work, says,
“ According to the Zend-Avesta (the Persian bible, more than
three thousand years old), it is by the Word, more ancient than
the world, that Ormuzd created the universe.” In like manner
the sacred writings of the ancient Thibetans speak of “the
Word which produced the world” — an exact counterpart to
John’s declaration, “All things were made by him.” And the
ancient Greek writer Amelias, speaking of the God Mercury,
says, “And this plainly was the Logos (the Word), by whom
all things were made, he being himself eternal, as Heraclitus
would say, . . . He assumed to be with God, and to be God,
and in him everything that was made, has its life and being,
who, descending into body, and putting on flesh, took the
appearance of a man, though still retaining the majesty of his
nature. Here is “the Word made flesh” set forth in most
explicit terms. The Psalmist exclaims, “By the Word of God
were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the Breath
of his mouth.” (Ps. xxxiii. 6.) Here is disclosed not only the
conception of the Word as Creator, but also the Word and the
Breath as synonymous terms, both of which conceptions orien-
tal history amply proves to be of heathen derivation. It was
anciently believed that the Word and Breath of God were the
same, and possessed a vitalizing power, which, as they issued
from his mouth, might be transformed into another being, known
as a secondary God. Both the Jews and the Christians seem
to have inherited this belief, as evinced by the foregoing quota-
tions from their bible. The most ancient tradition taught that
the Word emanated from the mouth of the principal God, and
THE DIVINE WORD OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN 15D
“became flesh,” that is, took form, as the ancient Brahmins
expressed it, for the special purpose of serving as agent in the
work of creation, that is, to become the creator of the external
universe. St. John evidently borrowed this idea. Read his
first chapter.
Pre-existence op the Word.
The pre-existence or previous existence of the Word, ante-
cedent to the date of its metamorphosis into the human form,
we find taught in several of the ancient systems of religion, as
well as the more modern Christian system. Several texts in
the Christian New Testament set forth the doctrine quite ex-
plicitly. Christ, as the Divine Word, declared, “ Before Abra-
ham was I am,” and that he had an existence with the Father
before the foundation of the world, &c., which is a distinct
avowal of the doctrine of pre-existence. But oriental history
proves the doctrine is much older than Christianity. The
Hindoo very anciently taught that “the Word had existed
with God from all eternity, and when spoken it became a
glorious form, the aggregate embodiment of all the divine
ideas, and performed the work of creation.” And of Chrishna
it is affirmed, that “ while upon the earth he existed also in
heaven.” (See Baghavat Gita.) In like manner it is declared
of an Egyptian God, that “though he was born into the
world, he existed with his father God before the world was
made.” And parallel to this is the statement of the Chinese
bible, that “though the Holy Word (Chang-si) will be born
upon the earth, yet he existed before anything was made.”
Even for Pythagoras it was claimed he existed in heaven be-
fore he was born upon the earth. Mr. Higgins, in summing
up the matter, declares, “All the old religions believed the
world was created by the Word, and that this Word existed
before creation” (Ana. vol. ii. p. 77), which clearly indicates
the source of St. John’s creative Word.
The Dual or twofold Name op the Word.
In most cases the living Divine Word was known by differ-
ent names and titles, prior to the era of its assuming the vnor-
160
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
tal form, from that by which it was known after its fleshly in*
vestment. Among the ancient Persians, the name for the
divine spiritual Word was Honover. After its human birth, it
was called “Mithra the Mediator.” The Hindoo oriental
term for the primeval Word was Om, or Aum. After assuming
its most important incarnate form, it was known as Chrishna.
The Chinese Holy Interior Word was Om-i-to, and its princi-
pal incarnation was Chang-ti or Ti-en-ti. The Japanese also
proclaimed their belief in a Divine Word before the Christian
era, which, in their language, was Amida. They taught, like
John, that it came forth from the mouth of the Supreme God
(Brahm) to perform the work of creation, after which it was
known as Sakia. And that popular Christian writer, Mr. Mil-
man, informs us that the Jewish founders of Christianity be-
lieved in an original Divine Word, which they called Memra.
When it descended to the earth, and “ became flesh, and dwelt
amongst us” (John i. 4), according to the evangelist John, it
was known as Jesus Christ. Mr. Milman states also, that “the
appellation of the Word is found in the Indian (Hindoo), Per-
sian, the Platonic, and the Alexandrian systems.” (Hist, of
Chr. Book I. chap. 2.) Thus the question is settled by Chris-
tian testimony, that the various conceptions of the Divine Word
are of heathen origin.
The Word as Second Member op the Trinity.
“ There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the
Word, and the Holy Ghost.” (1 John v. 7.) Observe, the Word
is the second person in the Trinity. And this was its post in
the Brahman, Hindoo, Persian, and other systems. “ All reli-
gions,” says a writer, “ which taught the existence of the Word
as a great primeval spirit, represent him as secondary to the
supreme.” (P. R. 3, vol. ii. p. 386.) “The Hindoos reverenced
it next to Brahm.” Mr. Higgins cuts the matter short by de-
claring, “The Logos, or Word, was the second person of the
Trinity in all the ancient systems, as in the Christian system,”
which again indicates its heathen origin.
THE DIVINE WORD OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN 161
Tiie Word as a Biblical Title.
“The Word,” “the Holy Word,” “the Divine Word,” &c.
are terms now frequently applied to the Christian bible, with-
out any suspicion of their heathen origin. The Zend-Avesta,
the Persian bible, was always called “ The Living Word of
God,” for that is the meaning of the term Zend-Avesta, and the
oldest bible in the world is the Yedas, and it means both Word
and Wisdom. Om, the Egyptian’s Holy Word, they frequently
applied both to their incarnate Gods and to their sacred writ-
ings.
The practice of calling bibles “The Word of God” origi-
nated from the belief, that when the incarnate Word left the
earth, and returned to heaven, he infused a portion of his living
spirit into the divine writings which contained his history and
his doctrines, and which he himself had prompted his disciples
to write as his “Last Revelation to man.” They then must
contain a portion of him, i. e., a portion of the Holy Word,-
hence both were called “The Holy Word.” And this heathen
custom Christians borrowed.
Origin op the Word as Creator.
The motive which prompted a belief in the creative Word
may be styled a theological necessity. It was believed that
the principal God, like the rulers of earth, was too aristocratic
to labor with his own hands. Hence another God was origi-
nated to perform the work of creation, and called “ The Word.”
The origin of the creative Word is still further indicated by
Blackwood’s Magazine. It says, “ Creation became impossible
to a being already infinite, and was a derogation to a being
already perfect. Some lower God, some Avatar, must be inter-
posed (as an emanation from the mouth of the God supreme)
to perform the subordinate task of creation Hence originated
and came forth the Word as Creator.”
11
162
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XXIV.
-
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE TRINITY VERY ANCIENTLY A CURRENT
HEATHEN DOCTRINE.
“ There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.” (1
John v. 7.) This text, which evidently discloses a belief in the
existence of three separate and distinct beings in the Godhead,
sets forth a doctrine which was anciently of almost universal
prevalence. Nearly every nation, whether oriental or occiden-
tal, whose religious faith has been commemorated in history,
discloses in its creed a belief in the trifold nature and triune
division of the Deity. St. Jerome testifies unequivocally, “ All
the ancient nations believed in the Trinity.” And a volume of
facts and figures might be cited here, if we had space for them,
in proof of this statement. A text from one of the Hindoo
bibles (the Puranas) will evince the antiquity and prevalence
of this belief in a nation of one hundred and fifty millions of
people more than two thousand years ago.
“Oyou three Lords!” ejaculated Attencion, “know that I
recognize only one God. Inform me, therefore, which of you
is the true divinity, that I may address to him alone my vows
and adorations. The three Gods, Brahma, Yishnu, and Siva,
becoming manifest to him, replied, “Learn, O devotee, that
there is no real distinction between us. What to you appears
such is only by semblance. The single being appears under
three forms by the acts of creation, preservation, and destruc-
tion, but he is one.”
Now, reader, note the remark here, that the ancient Christian
fathers almost universally and unanimously proclaimed the
THE TRINITT A HEATHEN DOCTRINE. 163
doctrine of the Trinity as one of the leading tenets of the
Christian faith, and, as a doctrine derived directly by revela-
tion from heaven. But here we find it most explicitly set forth
by a disciple of a pagan religion more than three thousand
years ago, as the Christian missionary D. O. Allen states, that
the Hindoo bible, in which it is found, was compiled fourteen
hundred years before Christ, and written at a still earlier
period. And we find the same doctrine very explicitly taught
in the ancient Brahmin, Persian, Chaldean, Chinese, Mexican,
and Grecian systems — all much older than Christianity. No
writer ever taught or avowed a belief in any tenet of religious faith
more fully or plainly than Plato sets forth, the doctrine of the
Trinity in his Phaedon, written four hundred years B. C. And his
terms are found to be in most striking conformity to the Chris-
tian doctrine on this subject, as taught in the New Testament.
Plato’s first term for the Trinity was in Greek, 1. To Agathon,
the supreme God or Father; 2. The Logos, which is the Greek
term for the Word; and 3. Psyche, which the Greek Lexicon
defines to mean “soul, spirit, or ghost” — of course, the Holy
Ghost. Here we have the three terms of the Christian Trinity,
Father, Word, and Holy Ghost, as plainly taught as language
can express it, thus making Plato’s exposition of the Trinity and
definition of its terms, published four hundred years B. C., iden-
tical in meaning with those of St. John’s, as found in his Gospel,
and contained in the above quoted text. Where, then, is the
foundation for the dogmatic claim on the part of Christian pro-
fessors for the divine origin of the Trinity doctrine. We will
here cite the testimony of some Christian writers to prove that
the Trinity is a pagan-derived doctrine. A Christian bishop,
Mr. Powell, declares, “ I not only confess, but I maintain, such
a similitude of Plato’s and John’s Trinity doctrines as bespeaks
a common origin.” (Thirteenth letter to Dr. Priestley.) What
is that you say, bishop ? “ A common origin.” Then you con-
cede both are heaven-derived, or both heathen-derived. If the
former, then revelation and heathenism are synonymous terms.
If the latter, then Christianity stands on a level with heathen
mythology. Which horn of the dilemma will you choose ? St.
Aug istine confessed he found the beginning of John’s Gospel
164
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
in Plato’s Phsedon, which is a concession of the whole ground
Another writer, Chataubron, speaks of an ancient Greek in-
scription on the great obelisk at Rome, which reads, “ 1. The
Mighty God; 2. The Begotten of God (as Christ is declared
to be “the only begotten of the Father” (John i. 14); and 3.
Apollo the Spirit” — the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost; thus
presenting in plain language the three terms of the Trinity.
And Mr. Cud worth, in corroboration of this report, says, “ The
Greeks had a first God, and second God, and third God, and
the second was begotten by the first. And yet for all that,”
continues Mr. Cudworth, “ they considered all these one.” In
the Platonic or Grecian Trinity, the first person was considered
the planner of the work of creation, the second person the
creator, and the third person the ghost or spirit which moved
upon the face of the waters, and infused life into the mighty
deep at creation — the same Holy Ghost which descended
from heaven to infuse life into the waters at Christ’s bap-
tism. Thus the resemblance is complete. Mr. Basnage quotes
a Christian writer of the fifth century as declaring, “ The Athe-
nian sage Plato marvelously anticipated one of the most im-
portant and mysterious doctrines of the Christian religion” —
meaning the Trinity — an important concession truly. The
oldest and probably the original form of the Trinity is that
found in the Brahmin and Hindoo systems—the terms of
which are, 1. Brahma, the Father or supreme God; 2. Vishnu,
the incarnate Word and Creator; 3. Siva, the Spirit of God,
i. e., the Holy Spirit or Ghost — each answering to correspond-
ing terms of the Christian Trinity, and yet two thousand years
older, according to Dr. Smith. We have not allowable space
for other facts and citations (as this work is designed as a mere
epitome), although we have but entered upon the threshold of
the evidence tending to prove that the Christian Trinity was
born of heathen parents, that it is an offspring of heathen my-
thology, like other doctrines of the Christian faith, claimed by
its disciples as the gift of divine revelation.
Here let it be noted as a curious chapter in sacred history,
that the numerous divine Trinities, which have constituted a
part of nearly every religious system ever propagated to the
THE TRINITY A HEATHEN DOCTRINE.
1G5
world, were composed in every case of male Gods. No female
has ever yet been admitted into the triad of Gods composing
the orthodox Trinity. Every member of the Trinity in every
case is a male, and an old bachelor— a doctrine most flagrantly
at war with the principles of modern philosophy. For this
science teaches us that the endowment of a being with either
male or female organs, presupposes the existence of the other
sex; and that either sex, without the other, would be a ludi-
crous anomaly, and a ludicrous distortion of nature unparalleled
in the history of science. As sexual organs create an imperious
desire for the other sex, no male or female being could long en-
joy full happiness in the absence of the other party. What an un-
happy, lonesome place, therefore, the orthodox heaven must have
been, during the eternity of the past, with no society but old
bachelors ! The Trinity was constituted of males simply because
woman has always been considered a mere cipher in society —
a mere tool for man’s convenience, an appendage to his wants.
Hence, instead of having a place among the Gods, she led the
practical life of a servant and a menial, which accounts for her
exclusion from the Trinity. But the time is coming when she
will rule both heaven and earth with the omnipotent power of
her love-nature. Then we shall have no “war in heaven,’1
and no fighting on earth.
166
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XXV.
ABSOLUTION, AND THE CONFESSION OF SINS, OF
HEATHEN ORIGIN.
Some Christian writers have labored to make it appear that
this is exclusively a Christian doctrine, while others have labored
as hard to get it out of their bible, or make the people believe
that it is not therein taught. We shall show, upon scriptural
and historical authority, that both are wrong. There can be no
question as to this rite having existed outside of Christianity,
or of its being much older than Christianity. History proves
both. Nor can it be successfully denied that it is taught in the
Christian Scriptures, both the confessing of sins and that of for-
giving sins. The apostle James, with respect to the former, is
quite explicit. He enjoins, emphatically, “ Confess your faults
one to another, and pray one for another.” (James v. 16.) The
practice of forgiving sins is also enjoined. “Forgiving one an-
other” is recommended both in Ephesians (iv. 32) and Colos-
sians (iii. 13). “And whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall
be loosed in heaven” (Matt, xviii. 18), is interpreted as con-
ferring the power to forgive sins.
And then we remark that the practices both of confessing
and forgiving sins are very ancient pagan rites and customs.
Speaking of their prevalence in ancient India, the author of
the Anacalypsis remarks, “ The person offering sacrifices made
a verbal confession of his sins, and received absolution.” Au-
ricular confession was also practiced among the ancient Mithri-
acs, or Persians, and the Parsees proper of the same country.
Mr. Volney tells us, “They observed all the Christian sacra-
ments, even to the laying on of hands in the confirmation. (211.)
And the Christian Tertullian also tells us that “The priests of
ABSOLUTION AND CONFESSION.
16?
Mithra promised absolution from sin on confession and bap-
tism,” while another author adds, that “on such occasions Mithra
marked his followers (the servants of God) in their foreheads,”
and that “he celebrated the sacrifice of bread, which is the
resurrection.”
In the collection of the Jewish laws called “The Mishna,”
we are told the Jews confessed their sins by placing their hands
upon a calf belonging to the priest, and that this was called
“the Confession of Calves.” (See Mishna, tom. ii. p. 394.)
Confessing sins was practiced in ancient Mexico; also, under
Numa of Rome, whose priests, we are informed, had to clear
their consciences by confessing their sins before they could
offer sacrifices. The practice of confessing and forgiving sins
as recommended in the Christian bible, and practiced by some
of the Christian sects, has been the source of much practical
evil by furnishing a pretext and license, to some extent, for the
commission of crime and sin. While sins can be so easily
obliterated, they will be committed—perpetrated without much
remorse or restraint. “ In China (says the Rev. Mr. Pitrat, 232),
the invocation of Omito is sufficient to remit the punishment
of the greatest crimes.” The same author tells us, “ The an-
cient initiations of the pagans had tribunals of penance, where
the priests, under the name of Hoes, heard from the mouth of
the sinners themselves the avowal of their sins of which their
souls were to be purified, and from the punishment of which
they wished to be exempted.” (Page 37.) The granting of
absolution for sin or misconduct among the early primitive
Christians was so common, St. Cyprian informs us, that “ thou-
sands of reprieves were granted daily,” which served as an
indirect license to crime. And thus the doctrine of divine for-
giveness, as taught by pagans and Christians, has proved to be
demoralizing in its effects upon society.
168
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XXVI.
ORIGIN OF BAPTISM BY WATER, FIRE, BLOOD,
AND THE HOLY GHOST.
Baptism, in some of its various forms, is a very ancient rite,
and was extensively practiced in several oriental countries. It
was administered in a great variety of forms, and with the use
of different elements. Water was the most common, but fire
and air, wind, spirit, or ghost, were also used; and both the
living and the dead were made the subjects of its solemn and
imposing ceremonies. We will notice each of these modes of
baptism separately — appropriating a brief space to each.
I. Baptism by Water.
“ Baptism by water,” says Mr. Higgins, “ is a very old rite,
being practiced by the followers of Zoroaster, by the Romans,
the Egyptians, and other nations.” It was also in vogue among
the ancient Hindoos at a still earlier date. Their mode of ad-
ministering it was to dip the candidate for immersion three
times in the watery element, in the same manner as is now
practiced by some of the Christian sects, during the perform-
ance of which the hierophant would ejaculate the following
prayer and ceremony: “ O Lord, this man is impure, like the
mud of this stream ! But do thou cleanse and deliver his soul
from sin as the water cleanses his body.” They believed that
water possessed the virtue of purifying both soul and body —
the latter from filth, and the former from sin. The ancient
Mexicans, Persians, Hindoos, and Jews were in the habit of
baptizing their infants soon after they were born. And the
water used for this purpose was called “ the water of regenera-
ORIGIN OF BAPTISM.
169
tion.” Paul speaks of being “ saved by the washing of regen-
eration.” (See Titus iii. 5.) Those who touched these infants
before they were baptized were deemed impure. And as this
was unavoidable on the part of the mothers, they were required,
as in the cases of the mothers of Chrislma and Christ, to pre-
sent themselves on the eighth day after accouchement to the
priest in the temple to be. purified. The Romans chose the
eighth day for girls and the ninth for boys. The child was
usually named (christened) at the time it was baptized. And
in India, the name, or God’s name, or some other mark, was
engraven or written on the forehead. This .custom is several
times recognized in the Christian bible, both in the Old and in
the New Testament. (See Ezek. ix. 4; Rev. xiv. 9; xix. 20, &c.)
John speaks of a mark being made on the forehead. (See Rev-
xiii. 16.) Also of the name of God being written on the fore-
head. (Rev. iii. 12.)
The Dove Descending at Baptism.
At this stage of our inquiry it may be stated that several of
the ancient religious orders had the legend of a dove or pigeon
descending at baptism — a counterpart to the evangelical story
of “ the Spirit of God descending in bodily shape like a dove,”
and alighting on the head of Jesus Christ while being baptized
by John in Jordan. (See Luke iii. 22.) It will be observed
here that the spirit, or soul, of God descended not only in the
manner, but in “ bodily shape like a dove.” This accords with
the tradition anciently prevalent among the Hindoos, Mexicans,
Greeks, Romans, and Persians, or Babylonians, that all souls, or
spirits, possessed, or were capable of assuming, the form of a
dove. Hence it is reported of Polycarp, Semiramis, Caesar,
and others, that at death their souls, or spirits, were seen to
leave the body in “bodily shape like a dove” and ascend to
heaven. “ The Divine Love, or Eros,” says Mr. Higgins, “ was
supposed by the oriental heathen to descend often in the form
of a dove to bless the candidate for baptism.” These tradi-
tions, doubtless, gave rise to the story of the dove descending
at Christ’s baptism — that is, God in the shape of a dove, for
170
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
that is clearly the meaning of the text. We are also informed
by our author just quoted, that a dove stood for and represent-
ed, among the orientalists, the third person of the Trinity, as
it does in the gospel story of Christ — he being the second
member of the Christian Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost. It was considered “the regenerator, or regenerating
spirit,” and persons being baptized were said to be “ born again ”
into the spirit or the spirit into them; that is, the dove into or
upon them.
What a master-key is furnished by these oriental religions
for solving the mysteries of the Christian bible! IIow much
more lucid than Divine Revelation, so called ! We will quote
again from Higgins. “ Among all nations, from the very earli-
est period, water has been used as a species of religious sacra-
ment. Because, as it dripped from the clouds, it was observed
to have the power of reviving drooping nature and creating
anew, or regenerating, the whole vegetable kingdom in spring,
it was hence chosen as an emblem of spiritual regeneration and
a medium of baptism. Water was the element by means of
which everything was born again through the agency of the
Eros, Dove, or Divine Love.” And hence the ceremony of dip-
ping, or plunging (or, as it is modernly termed, baptizing), came
into vogue for the remission of sins and “the regeneration into
a new and more holy life.” Some streams were supposed to
have more efficacy in these respects than others. Hence nearly
all religious nations had their “Holy Rivers,” “Holy Water,”
“ Sacred Pools,” &c. The Hindoos resorted to the “ Holy Gan-
ges,” the Egyptians to the “ Holy Nile,” the Chaldeans and
Persians to their “ Holy Euphrates,” the Greeks to their “Holy
Lustral Water,” the Italians to the river Po, and the Jews and
Christians to their holy river Jordan. If Jordan was not called
“ holy,” it was undoubtedly considered so, else why did Elisha
order Naaman to wash seven times in that stream instead of
Damascus, which was much nearer and more accessible ? And
why was Christ baptized in Jordan? “And all the land of
Judea, and they of Jerusalem, were baptized in Jordan, con-
fessing their sins.” (Matt. iii. 6.) Why, as several streams were
handier to a large portion of the candidates, simply because
ORIGIN OF BAPTISM.
-
ORIGIN OF BAPTISM.
171
Jordan was considered to be “ more holy.” And Christians
had their sacred pool of Bethesda, as the Hindoos had their
Sahar.
The rite of baptism was at first generally practiced in caves,
as were also other religious rites; and as these caves were often
difficult of access, and their mouths, doors, or gates narrow and
difficult to enter, they fully exemplify Christ’s declaration,
“ Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto
life.” (Matt. vii. 14.) And when he declared, “Except a man
be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter the king-
dom of heaven” (John iii. 5), he was only seconding the exhor-
tation of the priests to enter these subterranean vaults and be
baptized after the oriental and Jewish custom. Thus originated
baptism by water in the form of dipping, or immersion.
Baptism by Sprinkling.
Owing to the scarcity of water in some countries, and its en-
tire absence in others, and the fatal effects sometimes resulting
from the practice of baptizing infants and invalids by immer-
sion, a new mode of baptism eventually sprung up, now known
as “sprinkling,” in which sometimes water and sometimes blood
was used. Virgil, Ovid, and Cicero all speak of its prevalence
amongst the ancient Romans, or Latins. We are informed that
the ancient Jews practiced it upon their women while in a state
of nudity, the ceremony being administered by three rabbis, or
priests. But the custom finally gave way to one more conso-
nant with decorum. Blood, being considered “the life thereof”
of man, was deemed more efficacious than water, and hence was
often used in lieu of that element. The Greeks kept a “ holy
vessel” for this purpose, known as the Facina. The Romans
used a brush, which may now be seen engraven upon some of
their ancient coins, and sculptured on their ancient temples.
The Hindoos and Persians used a branch of laurel or some
other shrub for sprinkling the repentant candidate, whether
water or blood was used. In some countries the rite was prac-
ticed as a talisman against evil spirits. The Mexicans never
approached their altars without sprinkling them with blood
172
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
drawn from their own bodies, as the Jews sprinkled the walls
and door-posts of their temples with blood under the requisition
of the Levitical code. This mode of fancied purification by
sprinkling either with water or blood we find recognized, and
apparently sanctioned, in the Christian bible, both in the Old
and New Testaments. Ezekiel says, “I will sprinkle clean water
on you.” (Ezek. xxxvi. 25.) Peter uses the phrase, “ The
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter i. 2.) And
Paul makes use of the expression, “ The blood of sprinkling,
that speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Heb. xii. 24),
which we regard as an indirect sanction of the senseless hea-
then idea of effecting spiritual purification by drops of blood.
(See Potter’s Antiquities and Herbert’s Travels.)
Baptism by Fiee.
Baptism by fire was a form or mode of application which
seems to have been introduced from the belief that it was pro-
ductive of a higher degree of purification. There were sev-
eral ways of using fire in the baptismal rite. In some cases the
candidate for immortality ran through blazing streams of fire —
a custom which was called “ the baptism of fire.” M. de Hum-
boldt, in his “ Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of Amer-
ica,” informs us it prevailed in India, Chaldea, and Syria, and
throughout eastern Asia. It appears to have been gotten up
as a substitute for sun-worship, as this luminary was believed
to be constituted of fire, though in reality there never was any
such thing as sun or solar worship. Christian writers represent
the ancient Persians as having been addicted to solar worship.
But Firdausi, Cudworth, and other authors declare that neither
they nor any other nation ever worshiped the sun, but merely
an imaginary Deity supposed to reside in the sun. Heathen
nations have been charged with many things of which they were
not guilty; though it is true that in the spirit of Christ’s exhor-
tation, “ Whosoever loseth his life for my sake shall find it,”
some of the candidates for the fiery ordeal voluntarily sacrificed
their lives in the operation, under the persuasion that it was
necessary to purify the soul, and would enable them to ascend
ORIGIN OF BAPTISM.
173
to higher posts or planes of enjoyment in the celestial world.
And some of them were taught that sins not expurgated by
fire, or some other efficaciously renovating process in this life,
would be punished by fire in the life to come. Here we will
mention that there is a seeming recognition of this ancient hea-
then rite in both departments of the Christian’s bible. Isaiah
says, “When thou wTalkest through fire thou shalt not be
burned.” (lxiii. 2.) And the Baptist John recognizes three
modes of baptism: “I indeed baptize you with water, but he
that cometh after me shall baptize you with fire and the Holy
Ghost.” (Matt. iii. 11.) And Paul teaches the necessity of
being purified by fire. (See 1 Cor. iii. 15.) So it is both a hea-
then and a Christian idea.
Baptism by the Holy Ghost.
This fanciful ceremony is both a Christian and a heathen rite,
and is undoubtedly of heathen origin. The mode of applying
it was to breathe into or upon the seeker for divine favors. This
was done by the priest, who, it was believed, imparted the Spirit
of God by the process. The custom, Mr. Herbert informs us,
was anciently quite common in oriental countries, and was at a
later date borrowed by Christ and his apostles and incorporated
into the Christian ceremonies. We find that Christ not only
sanctioned it, but practiced it, as it is declared that when he
met his disciples after his resurrection “he breathed on them,
and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” (John xx. 22.)
And the following language of Ezekiel is evidently a sanction
of the same heathen custom : “Thus saith the Lord God, Come
from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain,
that they may live.” (xxxvii. 9.) Let it be borne in mind here
that breath, air, wind, spirit, and ghost were used as synonymous
terms, according to Mr. Parkhurst (see Chap. XXII.), and this
breathing was supposed to impart spiritual life, being nothing
less than the Spirit of God, the same as that breathed into
Adam when “he became a living soul.” (See Gen. ii. 7.) For
a fuller exposition see Chapter XXII.
174
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
Baptism op or for the Dead.
It was customary among the Hindoos and other nations to
postpone baptism till near the supposed terminus of life, in
order that the ablution might extinguish all the sins and mis-
deeds of the subject’s earthly probation. But it sometimes
happened that men and women were killed, or died unexpect-
edly, before the rite was administered. And as it would not do
for these unfortunate souls to be deprived of the benefit of this
soul-saving ordinance, the custom was devised of baptizing the
defunct body, or more commonly some living person in its stead.
The method of executing the latter expedient, according to St.
Chrysostom, was to place some living person under the bed or
couch on which the corpse was reclining, when the defunct was
asked if he would be baptized. The living man, responding for
the dead, answered in the affirmative. The corpse was then
taken and dipped in a vessel prepared for the purpose. This
silly practice was in vogue among the early Christians, and Paul
seems to regard it as an important custom. “ Else what shall
they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at
all.” (1 Cor. xv. 9.) The inference derivable from this text is,
that Paul held that the labor of baptizing the dead would be
lost in the event of the falsification of the doctrine of the res-
urrection, but otherwise it would be valid — which evinces his
faith in the senseless and superstitious practice. It will be ob-
served from the historical exposition of this chapter that all the
various ancient heathen modes and rites of baptism have been
practiced by Christians, and are sanctioned by their bible.
THE SACRAMENT OF HEATHEN ORIGIN. 175
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE SACRAMENT OR EUCHARIST OE HEATHEN
ORIGIN.
At the feast of the Passover, Christ is represented, while
distributing bread to his disciples, to have said, “ Take, eat; this
is my body ” (Matt. xxvi. 26); and while handing round the
consecrated cup, he enjoined, “ Drink ye all of it, for this is my
blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the re-
mission of sins” (xxvi. 27). Here is a very clear and explicit
indorsement of what Is generally termed “ the Eucharist or
Sacrament.” And nothing can be more susceptible of proof
than that this rite or ordinance is of pagan origin, and was prac-
tically recognized many centuries prior to the dawn of the
Christian era. So we observe, by the text above quoted, the
Christian Savior and Lawgiver copied, or reproduced, an old
pagan rite as a part of his professedly new and spiritual system,
one of the most ancient and widely-extended formulas of pagan-
dom. And stranger still, the catechisms of the Christian church
represent this ordinance as having originated in the design and
motive to keep the ancient Christian world in remembrance of
the death, and sufferings, and sacrifice of Christ, while we find it
existing long prior to his time, both among Jews and pagans,
this being virtually admitted in the Bible itself, so far as re-
spects the pagans, thus proving that it did not originate with
Christ, and therefore is not of Christian origin. For in Gen.
xiv. 18, we read, “ And Melchisedek, king of Salem, brought
forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High
God.” Because the Melchisedek here spoken of is represented
as being “ a priest of the Most High God,” and showed so
176
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
much respect to Abraham, it is presumed and assumed, by
Christian writers, that he was a Jewish priest and king; and
Mr. Faber (vol. i. p. 72) calls him “an incarnation of the
son of God.” But there is no intimation throughout the
Jewish Scriptures of the Jews ever having had a king or
priest by that name. And besides, Eupolemus (vol. i. p. 39),
tells us that the temple of Melchisedek was the temple of Jupi-
ter, in which Pythagoras studied philosophy. Then, again,
according to some writers, the name is synonymous with
Moloch, the God of war among the Greeks. Strange, then,
that Melchisedek should be claimed as a priest and king among
the Jews. Be this as it may, the case proves that the cere-
mony of offering bread and wine existed long before the era of
Jesus Christ. And then we have much more and much stronger
proof of this fact than is here furnished. The Christian Mr.
Faber virtually admits it, when he tells us, “The devil led
the heathen to anticipate Christ with respect to several things,
as the mysteries of the Eucharist,” &c. w And this very so-
lemnity (says St. Justin) the evil spirit introduced into the
mysteries of Mithra.” (Reeves, Justin, p. 86.) Mr. Higgins
observes, “It was instituted hundreds of years before the
Lord’s death took place.” Amongst the ancient religious
orders and nations who practiced this rite, we may name the
Essenes, Persians, Pythagoreans, Gnostics, Brahmins, and
Mexicans. For proof of its existence and antiquity among
the last-named nation, we refer the reader to the “ Travels ”
(chap, ii.) of that Christian writer, Father Acosta. Mr. Ma-
rolles, in his Memoirs (p. 215), quotes Tibullus as saying,
“The pagan appeased the divinity with holy bread.” And
Tibullus, in a panegyric on Marsella, wrote, “ A little cake, a
little morsel of bread, appeased the divinities.” And here we
discover the idea which originated the ceremony. It was
started, like animal sacrifices, for the purpose of appeasing the
wrath or propitiating the favor of the angry Gods. Tracing
the conception still further in the rear of its progress, and
apparently to its primary inception, Mr. Higgins observes, “ The
whole paschal supper (the Lord’s supper with the Christians)
was in fact a festival of joy to celebrate the passage of the sun
THE SACRAMENT OF HEATHEN ORIGIN 177
across the equinox of spring” We find one pagan writer who
had intelligence enough to ridicule this senseless ceremonial
custom, called “ the sacrament.” Cicero, some forty years
before Christ, shows up the doctrine of the sacrament, or sub-
stantiation, in its true light. He asks, “ IIow can a man be so
stupid as to imagine that which he eats to be a God?” A
writer quoted above says, “Mass, or the sacrifice of bread and
wine, was common to many ancient nations.” (Anac. vol. ii.
p. 62.) According to Alnetonae, the ancient Brahmins had a
kind of Eucharist called “prajadam.” And the same writer
informs us that the ancient Peruvians, “after sacrificing a
lamb, mingled his blood with flour, and distributed it among
the people.” Writers on Grecian mythology relate that Ceres,
the goddess of corn, gave her flesh to eat, and that Bacchus, the
God of wine, gave blood to drink. Nor is there any evidence
that Christ and his followers made a better use, or different
use, or a more spiritual application, of the sacrament, or cere-
monial offering of bread and wine, than the pagans did, though
some have claimed this. It was a species of symbolism with
both, notwithstanding Mr. Glover, a Christian writer, de-
clares, that “in the sacrament of the altar are the natural body
and blood of Christ, verily and indeed.” (See Glover’s Remarks
on Bishop Marsh's Compendious Review.) It may be noted
here, that the Persians, Pythagoreans, Essenes, and Gnostics
used water instead of wrine, and that this mode of practice was
less objectionable than that of the Christians, who (as sad ex-
perience proves) have too often laid the foundation for the
ruin of some poor unsuspecting devotee, by luring him to the
fatal fascination of the intoxicating bowl, by holding the sacred
and ceremonial wine to his lips, while administering the sacra-
ment, or the Lord’s supper.
12
178
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
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CHAPTER XXVIII.
ANOINTING WITH OIL OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN.
The custom and ceremony of anointing with oil by way of
imparting some fancied spiritual power and religious qualifica-
tion, seem to have been extensively practiced by the Jews
and primitive Christians, and still more anciently by various ori-
ental nations. Mark (xiv. 4), reports Jesus Christ as speaking
commendingly of the practice, by which it is evident he was in
favor of the superstitious custom. The apostle James not only
sanctions it, but recommends it in the most specific language.
“ Is any sick among you, let him call for the elders of the
church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in
the name of the Lord.” (James v. 14.) The practice of
greasing or smearing with oil, it may be noted here, was in
vogue from other motives besides the one here indicated. We
find the statement in the New American Cyclopedia (vol. i. p.
620), that “ anointing with perfumed oil was in common use
among the Greeks and Romans as a mark of hospitality to
guests. And modern travelers in the East still find it a custom
for visitors to be sprinkled with rose-water, or their head, face,
and beard anointed with olive oil.” “Anointing, we are also told,
is an ancient and still prevalent custom throughout the East,
by pouring aromatic oils on persons as a token of honor. . . .
It was also employed in consecrating priests, prophets, and
kings, and the places and instruments appointed for worship.”
{Ibid.) Joshua anointed the ten stones he set up in Jordan,
and Jacob the stone on which he slept at the time of his great
vision. The early Christians were in the habit of anointing
the altars, and even the walls of the churches, in the same man-
ner as the images, obelisks, statues, &c., had long been conse-
ORIGIN OF ANOINTING WITH OIL.
170
crated by the devotees of the oriental systems. Aaron, Saul,
David, Solomon, and even Jesus Christ were anointed with
oil in the same way. David Malcom, in his “Essay on the
Antiquity of the Britons,” p. 144, says, “ The Mexican king
was anointed with Holy Unction by the high priest while
dancing before the Lord.” ( Vide the case of David “ dancing
before the Lord with all his might.”) Dr. Lightfoot, in his
“Harmony of the New Testament,” speaks of the custom
among the Jews of anointing the sick on the Sabbath day (see
Works, vol. i. p. 883; also Toland, Sect. Naz. p. 54), as after-
wards recommended by the apostle James, as shown above.
This accords exactly with the method of treating the sick in
ancient India and other heathen countries several thousand
years ago. For proof, consult Hyde, Bryant, Tertullian, and
other writers. The custom of anointing the sick, accompanied
with prayer and other ceremonies, was quite fashionable in the
East long before the birth of either Jesus or James. One
writer testifies that “ the practice of anointing with oil, so
much in vogue among the Jews, and sanctioned by Christ and
his followers, was held in high esteem in nearly all the Eastern
religions.” The foregoing historical facts furnish still fuither
proof that Christianity is the offspring of heathenism.
180
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XXIX.
HOW MEN, INCLUDING JESUS CHRIST, CAME
TO BE WORSHIPED AS GODS.
Jesus Christ a Demigod according to Christian
Writers.
It is truly surprising to observe the damaging concessions
of some of the early Christian writers, ruinous to the dogmas
of their own faith with respect to the divinity of Jesus Christ,
placing him, as they do, on an exact level with the heathen
demigods, proving that the belief in his divinity originated in
the same manner the belief in theirs did, by which it is clearly
shown to be a pagan-derived doctrine. Several Christian
writers admit the belief in earth-born Gods (called Sons of
Gods), and their coming into the world by human birth was
prevalent among the heathen long prior to the time of Christ.
Hear the proof. We will first quote St. Justin relative to the
prevalence of the belief among the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Addressing them, he says, “The title of Son of God (as applied
to Jesus Christ) is very justifiable upon the account of his
wisdom, considering you have your Mercury in your worship,
under the title of Word or Messenger of God.” (Reeves Apol.
p. 76.) Here is the proof that the tradition of the Son of God
coming into the world, and “the Word becoming flesh,” was
established amongst the ancient Greeks and Romans long
prior to the era of Christianity, or the birth of Christ. And
yet more than a hundred millions of Christian professors can
now be found, who, in their historic ignorance, suppose St.
John was the first writer who taught the doctrine of “the
Word becoming flesh,” and that Jesus Christ was “the first
WORSHIP OF MEN AS GODS.
181
and only begotten Son of God ” who ever made his appearance
on earth. How true it is that “ ignorance is the mother of
devotion” to creeds. How “the man Christ Jesus” came to
be worshiped as a God, is pretty clearly indicated by Bishop
Horne, who shows that the doctrine of the incarnation was of
universal prevalence long before Jesus Christ came in the
flesh. He says, “ That God should, in some extraordinary man-
ner, visit and dwell with man, is an idea, which, as we read
the writings of the ancient heathen, meets us in a thousand
different forms.” If, then, the tradition of God being born into
the world was so universally established in heathen countries
before the Christian era, as here shown, why should not, and
why will not, our good Christian brethren dismiss their preju-
dices, and tear the scales from their eyes, so as to see that this
universal belief wTould as naturally lead to the deification and
worship of “the man Christ Jesus” as water flows down a
descending plane ? And, certainly, a thousand times more
reasonable is the assumption that his deification originated in
this way, than that, with all his frailties and foibles, he was en-
titled to the appellation of a God — a conclusion strongly cor-
roborated by the testimony of that able Christian writer, Mr.
Norton, who tells us that “many of the first Christians being
converts from Gentileism, their imaginations were familiar with
the reputed incarnation of heathen deities.” How natural it
would be for such converts to worship “ the man Christ Jesus ”
as a God on account of his superior manhood l Again, that
ancient pillar of the Christian church, St. Justin, concedes that
the ancient oriental heathen held all the cardinal doctrines of
the Christian faith relating to the incarnation long prior to the
introduction and establishment of Christianity. Hear him.
Addressing the pagans, he says, “For by declaring the Logos
the first begotten Son of God, our Master, Jesus Christ, to be
born of a virgin without any human mixture,* and to be cruci-
fied, and dead, and to have risen again into heaven, we say no
more in this than what you say of those whom you style the
sons of Jove ” (Reeves, Apol. vol. i. p. 69.) Now, Christian
reader, mark the several important admissions which are made
here: —
182
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
1. Here is traced to ancient heathen tradition the belief in
an incarnate Son of God.
2. The doctrine of a “first begotten Son of God.”
3. Of his being born of a virgin.
4. Of his crucifixion.
5. Of his resurrection.
6. Of his final ascension into heaven.
All these cardinal doctrines of Christianity are here shown
to have been in existence, and to have been preached by pagan
priests long anterior to the Christian era, thus entirely overset-
ting the common belief of Christendom that these doctrines
were never known or preached in the world until heralded by
the first disciples of the Christian religion. A fatal mistake,
truly ! This suicidal admission of St. Justin (a standard Chris-
tian writer) thus entirely uptrips all pretensions to originality
in the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, and shows
it to be a mere travesty of the more ancient heathen systems.
And we have still other testimony to corroborate this conclu-
sion. The French writer Bazin says, “ The most ancient his-
tories are those of Gods becoming incarnate in order to govern
mankind.” Again he says, “The idea sprang up everywhere
from confused ideas of God, which prevailed everywhere among
mankind that Gods formerly descended upon earth. The fertile
imagination of the people of various nations converted men
into Gods.” And to the same effect is the declaration of Mr.
Higgins, that “ there were incarnate Gods in all religions.”
Sadly beclouded and warped indeed must be that mind which
cannot see that here is set in as plain view as the cloudless sun
at noonday, the origin of the deification of “the man Christ
Jesus.” No unbiased mind can possibly stave off the conclu-
sion that such a universal prevalence of the practice of God-
making throughout the religious world would cause such a
man as Jesus Christ to be worshiped as a God—especially
when we look at the various motives which promoted men to
Gods, which we will now present.
WORSHIP OF MEN AS GODS.
183
Motives to Incarnation, or the Cause of Men being
WORSHIPED AS GODS.
The causes which led to the conception of Gods and Sons
of God becoming clothed in human flesh — the manner in
which the absurd idea originated of an infinite being descend-
ing from heaven, assuming the form of a man, being born of a
pure and spotless virgin, and finally being killed by his own
children, the subjects of his own government, are palpably plain
and easily understood in the light of oriental history. And at
the same time it is so shockingly absurd, that the rapid march
of science and civilization will soon inaugurate the era when
the man or woman who shall still be found clinging to these
childish and superstitious conceptions — the offspring of igno-
rance, and the relics of barbarism, and a certain proof of unde-
veloped or unenlightened minds — will be looked upon as deplo-
rably ignorant and superstitious. We will proceed to enumer-
ate some of the causes which promoted men to the dignity
of Gods.
1. God must come down to suffer and sympathize with the
people.
The people of all ancient religious countries were so exter-
nally-minded, that they demanded a God whom they could
l<now by virtue of his corporeity, really sympathized with their
sorrows, their sufferings, their wrongs, and their oppressions,
and, like Jesus Christ, “ touched with a feeling of our infirmi-
ties” (Heb. iv. 15) — a God so far invested with human attri-
butes, human frailties, and human sympathies, that he could
shoulder their burdens and their infirmities, and take upon
himself a portion of their sufferings. Hence it is said of Christ,
“himself took our infirmities.” (Matt. iii. 17.) The same
conception runs through the pagan systems. One writer sets
forth the matter thus: “ The Creator occasionally assumed a
mortal form to assist mankind in great emergencies ” (as Jesus
Christ was afterward reported as being the Creator. See Col.
i. 16.) “ And as repealed sojourners on earth in various capa-
cities, they (the Saviors) became practically acquainted with all
184
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
the sorrows and temptations of humanity, and couldjustly judge
of its sins while they sympathized with its weaknesses and
its sufferings. When they again returned to the higher regions
(heaven), they remembered the lower forms they had dwelt
amongst, and felt a lively interest in the world they had once
inhabited. They could penetrate even the secret thoughts of
mortals ” The people then demanding a God of sympathy and
suffering (as shown above), their credulous imaginations would
not be long in finding one. Let a man rise up in society en-
dowed with an extraordinary degree of spirituality and sym-
pathy for human suffering; let him, like Chrishna, Pythag-
oras, Christ, and Mahomet, spend his time in visiting the
hovels of the poor, or consoling their sorrows, laboring to miti-
gate their griefs, and in performing acts of charity, disinterested
alms and deeds of benevolence, kindness and love, and so cer-
tain would he sooner or later command the homage of a God.
For this was always the mode adopted, in an ignorant, unde-
veloped, and unenlightened age, for accounting not merely for
moral greatness, but for every species of mental and physical
superiority, as will be hereafter shown. We will proceed to
notice the second cause of men being invested with divine
attributes.
2. The people must and would have an external God they
could see, hear, and talk to.
All the oriental nations, as well as Christian, taught that
“God was a spirit,” but no nation or class of people, not even
the founders of Christianity, entertained a consistent view of
the doctrine. Only a few learned philosophers saw the scien-
tific impossibility of an infinite spirit being crowded into the
human form. Hence they alone were contented to “ worship
God in spirit and in truth.” Every religious nation went counter
to the spirit of this injunction in worshiping for a God a being
in the human form. Even the founders of Christianity, though
making high claims to spirituality, were too gross, too sensuous
in their conceptions, too externally-minded, and too idolatrous
in their feelings and proclivities, to be content to “ worship God
in spirit.” Hence their deification of the “man Christ Jesus91
WORSHIP OF MEN AS GOBS.
185
to answer the requisition of an external worship, by which
they violated the command to “ worship God as a spirit”
That the practice of promoting men to the Godhead origi-
nated with minds on the external plane, and evinces a want of
spiritual development, is clearly set forth by the author of
“The Nineteenth Century” (a Christian writer), who tells us.
“The idea of the primitive ages were wholly sensuous, and the
masses did not believe in anything except that which they
could touch, see, hear, and taste.” A true description, no
doubt, of the ancient pagan worshipers of demigods. But we
warn the Christian reader not to cast anchor here, for we have
at our elbow abundance of Christian testimony from the pens
of the very oracles of the church to prove that the same state
of things, the same state of society, the same state of mind, the
same proclivity for God-making, existed with the people among
whom Christ was born, and that it was owing to this sensuous,
idolatrous state of mind among his disciples that he received
the homage and title of a God. Hence the famous Archbishop
Tillotson says, “Another very common notion, and rife in the
heathen world, and a great source of their idolatry, was their
deification of great men fit to be worshiped as Gods.” . . .
“ There was a great inclination in mankind to the worship of a
visible Deity. So God was pleased to appear in our nature,
that they who were so fond of a visible Deity might have one,
even a true and natural incarnation of God the Father, the
express image of his person.” Now, we enjoin the reader to
mark this testimony well, and impress it indelibly upon his
memory. According to this orthodox Christian bishop, Jesus
Christ appeared on earth as a God in condescension to the
wishes of a people too devoid of spirituality, and too strongly
inclined to idolatry, to worship God as a spirit. For he
admits the worship of a God-man or a man-God is a species of
idolatry. This tells the whole story of the apotheosis of “the
man Christ Jesus.” We have no doubt but that here is sug-
gested one of the true causes of his elevation to the Deityship.
Again he says, “ The world was mightily bent on addressing
their requests and supplications, not to the Deity immediately,
but by some Mediator between the Gods and men.” (See
186
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
-
Wadsworth’s Eccles. Biog. p. 172.) Here, then, we ha^e the
most conclusive proof that the belief in mediators is of pagan
origin. We will now hear from another archbishop on this
subject. In his “ Caution to the Times ” (p. 71), Archbishop
Whately says, “ As the Infinite Being ijs an object too remote
and incomprehensible for our minds to dwell upon, he has
manifested himself in his Son, the man Jesus Christ.” Precisely
so! just the kind of reasoning employed to account for the
worship of man-Gods among the heathen. This logic fits one
case as well as the other. The Christian writer F. D. Maurice
declares in like manner, “We accept the fact of the incarnation
(of Jesus Christ), because we feel that it is impossible to know
the absolute invisible God without an incarnation, as man needs
to know him, and craves to know him.” (Logical Essay, p. 79.)
Here is more pagan logic — the same reasoning they employed
to prove the divinity of their Saviors and demigods. And the
Rev. Dr. Thomas Arnold declares, “It (the incarnation of
Christ) was very necessary, especially at a time when men
were so accustomed to worship their highest Gods under the
form of men” (Sermon on Christian Life, p. 61.) Let the
reader attentively observe the explicit avowal here made, and
mark well its pregnant inferences. He makes Jesus Christ
come into the world in condescension to the idolatrous rivalry
of the Jews to be up with the heathen nations in worshiping
God in the form of man ; that is, the founders of Christianity,
having been Jews, disclosed the true Jewish character in run-
ning after and adopting the customs of heathen countries then
so rife — that of hunting up a great man, and making him a God
— which was only one case out of many of the Jews adopting
some of the numerous forms of idolatry and other religious
customs of their heathen neighbors. Their whole history, as
set forth in the Bible, proves, as we have shown in another
chapter, that they were strongly prone to such acts. It is not
strange, therefore, that they should and did convert “the man
Christ Jesus” into a God. We will now listen to another
Christian writer, the notable and noteworthy Dr. T. Cham-
bers. “ Whatever the falsely or superstitiously fearful imagina-
tion conjures up because of God being at a distance, can only be
WORSHIP OF MEN AS GODS.
187
dispelled by God being brought nigh to us. . . . The vail which
hides the unseen God from the eyes of mortals must be some-
how withdrawn.” (Select Works, vol. iii. p. 161.) Most significant
indeed is thi3 species of reasoning. It is the same kind of
logic which had led to the promotion of more than a score of
great men to the Godhead among the ancient heathen. “ The
vail which hides the unseen God must be removedsays Dr.
Chambers ; and so had reasoned in soliloquy a thousand pagans
long before, when determined to worship men for Gods. It is
simply saying, “ We are too carnally-minded to worship God in
spirit; we must and will have a God of flesh and blood — a God
who can be recognized by the external senses ; he must “ become
flesh, and dwell amongst us.” (See John i. 14.) Our author
continues: “ Now all this (removing the vail from the unseen
God) has been done once, and done only once in the person of
Jesus Christ.” {Ibid.) Mistake, most fatal mistake, brother
Chambers! It has been done more than a score of times in
various heathen countries — a fact which proves you ignorant of
oriental history. Now let the reader mark the foregoing cita-
tions from standard Christian authors, setting forth some of
the reasons which led the founders of Christianity to adopt a
visible man-God in their worship in the person of Jesus Christ.
Language could hardly be used to prove more conclusively
that the whole thing grew out of an idolatrous proclivity to
man-worship, — that is, the gross,sensuous, carnally-minded pro-
pensity to worship an external, visible God, — proving, with the
corroborative evidence of many other facts, that they were not
a whit above the heathen in spiritual development. The reason
employed by the Thibetan for the worship of the Hindoo
Chrishna as a God, tells the whole story of the worship and
deification of Jesus Christ. “ We could not always have God
behind the clouds; so we had him come down where we could
see him.” This is the same kind of reasoning made use of by
the Christian writer above quoted, all of which discloses a state
of mind among both heathen and Christians that would not
long rest satisfied without deifying somebody, in order to have
a visible God to worship. And hence Christians deified “ the
man Christ Jesus ” for this purpose. “ The more externally
188
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
minded (says Fleurbach), the greater was the determination to
worship a personal God ”— God in the form of man. And as
the Jewish founders of Christianity (as every chapter of their
history demonstrates) were dwelling on the external plane, it
was not an act of direct innovation, therefore, for them to fall
into the habit of worshiping the personal Jesus as a God. It
involved no serious incursion on previous thoughts or habits*
And warped and blinded, indeed, must be that mind which
cannot here discover the true key to the apotheosis of Jesus —
one of the real causes of his being stripped of his manhood, and
advanced to the Godhead. It was as naturally to be expected
from the then state of the religious world, and the state of the
Jewish mind concerned in the founding of Christianity, as that
an autumnal crop of fruit should succeed the bloom of spring.
Let it be specially noted, that all the Christian writers above
cited tell us, in effect, that God sent his Son Jesus Christ into
the world to be worshiped as a God in condescension to the
ignorance and superstitious tendencies, and we will add, idola-
trous proclivities of the people. From this stand-point we
challenge the world to show why God may not have sent the
oriental Saviors into the world for the same reason — that is,
in condescension to the prejudices of the devout worshipers
under the heathen systems. Why, then, is there not as much
probability that he did do so? Why would he not be as likely
to accommodate their ignorance and prejudices in this way as
those of the founders of the Christian system. This question
we shall keep standing before the Christian world till it is
answered, and we challenge them to meet it, and overthrow it
if they can.
3. Men deified on account of mental and moral superiority.
The ancient nations, in their entire ignorance of the philoso-
phy of the human mind, and the laws controlling its actions,
always accounted for the appearance of great men amongst
them by supposing them to be Gods. Every country occasion-
ally produced a man, who, by virtue of natural superiority, rose
so high in the scale of moral and intellectual greatness as to
fill the ideal of the people with respect to the characteristics of
a God. So low, so limited, so narrow, so greatly circumscribed
WORSHIP OF MEN AS GODS.
180
were the conceptions of deity, of the undeveloped and Ir tel-
lectually dwarfed minds of all religious countries in that age,
that a man had to rise but a few degrees above the common
level of the populace to become a God. He could “ easily fill
the bill,” and exhibit all the qualities they assigned to the
highest God in the heavens. And this is as true of the Jewish
mind as that of any other nation, a portion of whom adored
Jesus as a God. Or if they lacked anything in natural inclina-
tion, they made it up by imitation, a propensity which they
possessed in no small degree, that is, a proneness to imitate the
customs of other nations. Mr. Higgins tells us that “ men of
brilliant intellects and high moral attainments, and great heal-
ers (of which Christ was one), were almost certain to be dei-
fied.” In like manner Archbishop Tillotson says, “ They dei-
fied famous and eminent persons by advancing them after their
death to the dignity of an inferior kind of Gods fit to be wor-
shiped by men on earth.” Mark the expression, “ after their
death” We have shown in another chapter that Jesus Christ
was not generally considered a God, even by his followers, till
more than three hundred years after his death, when Constan-
tine declared him to be “ God of very God ” — a circumstance
of itself sufficient to establish the conclusion that he did not
possess this character. A God would be adored as such by
everybody while living, but a man’s worshipers rise up after his
death, as in the case of “ the man Christ Jesus.” Great men-
tal endowments, or great moral attainments, would, in most
countries, bring the most ignorant down on their knees to wor-
ship such a man as a God. But it required years, and some-
times centuries, to get him fully established among the Gods.
This is as true of Jesus Christ as the other human-descended
deities. Whatever amount of homage Jesus might have re-
ceived while living, any person who will institute a thorough,
unbiased scrutiny in the case will discover that it was his great
healing powers and superior mental qualities which finally dei-
fied him. His ignorant admirers knew no way of accounting
for such extraordinary qualities but to suppose him to be the
embodiment of infinite wisdom. Like the Chinaman who ex-
claimed, “See the God in that man,” when an Englishman
190
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
cured a young woman of partial blindness by anointing he!
eyes with kerosene. Such a deed would deify almost any man,
in almost any country, before the dawn of letters and the rec-
ognition of the science of mind. The missionary Rev. D. O.
Allen’s method of accounting for the deification of the Hindoo
God Chrishna is so suggestive, that we here present it. He
tells us that, “as the exploits ascribed to Chrishna exceed mere
human power, the difficulty was removed by placing him among
the incarnations of Vishnu.” (India, Ancient and Modern, p.
26.) Exactly so! We are glad of such historic information.
We hope the Christian reader will note the lesson it suggests.
For certainly, every reader, who has not had his reason ship-
wrecked on the shoals of a blind and dogmatic theology, can
see here a key to unlock the great mystery of the Christian
incarnation—the divinity of Jesus Christ? As some of the
exploits of Chrishna were supposed to “exceed mere human
power,” we are told the difficulty was explained by imagining
him to be a God. How powerful the suggestion! how conclu-
sive the explanation, not only for the Godhood of this sin-aton-
ing Savior, but for that of “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,”
and all the other Lords, and Gods, and Saviors of antiquity!
A single hint will sometimes explain whole volumes of obscure
history, as does this of the Rev. Christian Hindoo missionary
D. O. Allen. And surely, most deplorably blinded by super-
stition must be the two hundred millions of Christ worshipers,
the three hundred millions who worship Chrishna, the one
hundred and twenty million adorers of Confucius, the fifty
millions of suppliants of Mithra the Mediator, and the one
hundred and fifty millions of followers of Mahomet, who cannot
see here a satisfactory solution of the deityship of all these
Gods, and all the other man-Gods of antiquity.
The question is sometimes asked, How could two hundred
millions of people come to believe that Jesus was a God merely
because of his superiority as a man? We will answer by point-
ing to the history of the Hindoo Chrishna, and by asking the
same question with respect to his Godhead. How could three
hundred millions of people be brought to believe in his divinity,
and worship him as a God, merely because he was a superior
WORSHIP OF MEN AS GODS.
191
human being? One question is as easily answered as the other,
and posterity will answer both questions alike. When we ob-
serve it taught as an important and easily learned lesson of his-
tory, and one based on a thousand facts, that no man could rise
to intellectual greatness or moral distinction in the era in which
Christ was born without being advanced to the dignity of a
God, and worshiped as such, it is really a source of humility
and sorrow to every unshackled lover of truth and humanity
to reflect that there are so many millions of people whose men-
tal vision is so beclouded by a dogmatic and inexorable theol-
ogy that they cannot see the logical potency of these facts, —
that they cannot be even moved by this great and overwhelm-
ing amount of evidence against the divinity dogma, and ob-
serve that it explodes it into a thousand fragments, but still
cling to the delusion that u the man Christ Jesus,” with all the
human qualities and human frailties with which his own history
(the Gospels) invest him, was nevertheless a God, — ay, the
monstrous delusion that any being possessing a finite form
could be an infinite being — a most self-evident and shocking
absurdity. And we challenge all Christendom to show, or ap-
proximate one inch toward showing, that there was sufficient
difference between Christ and Chrishna to require us to accept
one as a man and the other as a God. It cannot be done.
We have shown, then, by the foregoing exposition, that one
cause of the deification of men was simply an attempt to solve
the problem of human greatness, — an attempt to account for
the moral and intellectual superiorty of men which enabled
them to perform deeds and otherwise exhibit a character far
above the capacity of the multitude to comprehend, and which
they could find no other way to account for than to suppose
them to be Gods, while the low and groveling conceptions
which most religious nations, and especially the Jews, had
formed of the character and essential attributes of the Infinite
Deity (often investing him with the most ignoble human attri-
butes, human passions, and human imperfections), made it per-
fectly easy to convert their great men by imagination into Gods.
The Jews represented God not only as coming down from heav-
en in propria persona, and walking, talking, wrestling, &c., as
192
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
a man (on one occasion we are told he and Jacob scuffled all
night), but he is often represented as acting the part of a
wicked man, such as lying (see 2 Chron. v. 22), getting mad (see
Deut. i. 37), swearing, sanctioning the high-handed and demor-
alizing crimes of stealing (see Ex. iii. 2), of robbery (see Ex. xii.
36), of murder (see Deut. xiii. 2), and even fornication (see Gen.
xxxi. 1, and Num. xxxi.), and thus they invested Deity with such
mean, low, despicable attributes as to reduce his moral char-
acter to a level with the most immoral man in society. So that
it was very easy, if not very natural, to elevate their great men
(if it really required any elevation) to a level with their God.
Men and Gods were in character and conception so nearly alike,
that it was easy to bring them on a level, or to mistake one for
the other. And hence it is we find an incarnated God, Savior,
Son of God, Redeemer, &c., figuring in the early history of
nearly every oriental religious nation whose name and history
has descended to us. Indeed, the practice of deifying men, or
mistaking men for Gods, was once so common, so nearly univer-
sal, that it must require a mind very ignorant of oriental his-
tory to adore Jesus Christ as having been the only character of
this kind who figured in the religious world. It was, as before
suggested, deemed the most rational way of accounting for the
marked superiority among men, to suppose that some men had
a divine birth, and were begotten by the great Infinite Deity
himself, and descended to the earth through the purest human
(virgin) channel. As Mr. Higgins remarks, “ Every person who
possessed a striking superiority of mind, either for talent or
goodness, was supposed anciently to have a portion of the di-
vine mind or essence incorporated or incarnated in him.” The
Jews had a number of men whose names imply a participation
in the divine nature, among which we will cite Elijah and Eli-
sha (El-i-jah and El-i-sha), El being the Hebrew name or term
for God, while Jah is Jehovah (see Ps. lxviii. 4), and Sha
means a Savior. Elijah, then, is an approximation to God —
Jehovah, and Elisha is God — a Savior. The character of men
and Gods were cast in molds so approximately similar, so nearly
identical, as to make the transition, or change from one to the
other, so slight and easy, either of men into Gods or Gods into
WORSHIP OF MEN AS GODS.
193
-
men, that several nations went so far as to teach that a man
might by his own natural exertions, his own voluptary powers,
raise himself to a level with the Deity, and thereby become a
God. Mr. Ritter, in his “History of Ancient Philosophy”
(Chap. II.), tells us that some of the Budhist sect held that “ a
man by freeing himself by holiness of conduct from the obsta-
cles of nature, may deliver his fellows from the corruption of
the times, and become a benefactor and redeemer of his race,
and also even become a God”— a “Budha” — i. e., a Savior and
Son of God. Singular enough that the Christian should object
to this doctrine as being rather blasphemous, when his own
bible abundantly and explicitly teaches the same doctrine in
effect! We find the same thing substantially taught over and
over again in the Christian Scriptures. “ Be ye perfect even
as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. v. 18), requires a
man to become morally perfect as God, which is all that the
Budhist precept requires or contemplates, and no man can be-
come perfect as God without becoming a God. But we are not
left to mere inference in the matter. We have the doctrine
several times expressed and unquestionably taught in the Chris-
tian bible of man’s power and prerogative to become either a
God or Son of God. “ Said I not that ye are Gods ? ” (Ex.
iv. 16.) “ Behold, now, we are the sons of God.” (1 John i. 2.)
Here is the Budhist doctrine as explicitly stated as it can be
taught. It is, then, a Christian bible doctrine as well as a pagan
doctrine, that man can become a God, and that God can be born
of woman, and thereby invested with all the frail and imperfect
attributes of man. It cannot be considered a matter of marvel,
therefore, that so many of the good, the great, and the wise men
of almost every country, including “the man Christ Jesus,”
should be honored and adored with the titles of Deity, and
worshiped as God absolute, “Son of God,” “Savior,” “Re-
deemer,” “ Intercessor,” Mediator,” &c.
4. God comes down and is incarnated to fight and conquer
the devil. We will proceed to enumerate other causes and
motives which conspired in various cases to invest some one or
more of the great men of a nation with divine honors, and
adore them as veritable Gods and Saviors “ come down to us
13
194
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
in the form of men.” It was a tenet of faith with most of the
ancient religions, that almost at the dawn of human existence
a devil or evil principle found its way into the world, to the
great discomfiture of man and the no small annoyance of the
Supreme Creator himself, and that hence there must needs be
a Savior, a Redeemer, an Intercessor to combat and if possible
“ destroy the devil and his works.” For this purpose appeared
the Savior Chrishna, in India, the Savior Osiris, in Egypt, the
God or Mediator Mithra, in Persia, the Redeemer Quexalcote,
m Mexico, the Savior Jesus Christ, in Judea, &c. In the initia-
tory chapter on the transgression and fall of man, some of the
oriental bibles graphically describe the scene of “ the war in
heaven ” — a counterpart to the story of St. John, as found in
the twelfth chapter of Revelation, wherein Michael and the
dragon are represented as the captains and commanders-in-
chief of their respective embattled hosts, and in which the for-
mer was crowned as victor in the contest, as he succeeded in
vanquishing and “ casting out the evil one.” In the pagan mil-
itary drama the scene of the war in heaven is transferred to the
earth. A God, a Savior (a Son of God), comes down to put a
stop to the machinations of the “ Evil One,” i. e., to u destroy
the devil and his works,” as we are told Christ came for that
purpose. (1 John iii. 8.) See the Author’s “ Biography of
Satan.”
The Egyptian story runs thus: “ Osiris appeared on earth
to benefit mankind, and after he had performed the duties of
his mission, and had fallen a sacrifice to Typhon (the devil, or
evil principle), which, however, he eventually overcame (‘over*
came the wicked one,’ 1 John ii. 11), by rising from the dead,
after being crucified, he became the judge of mankind in a fu-
ture state.” (See Kerrick’s “Ancient Egypt; ” also Wilkinson’s
“Egypt”)
The Budhist, or Hindoo, version of the story is on this wise:
“ The prince (of darkness), or evil spirit, Ravana, or Mahesa,
got into a contest and a war with the divine hero Rama, in
which the latter proved victorious, and put to flight the army
of ‘the wicked one,’ but not till after considerable injury had
been done to the human family, and the whole'order of the urn*
WORSHIP OF MEN AS GODS.
195
verse subverted; to rectify which, and to achieve a final and
complete triumph over Ravana (the devil) and his works, and
thus save the human race from utter destruction, the gods be-
sought Yishnu (the second person of the Trinity) to descend
to the earth and take upon himself the form and flesh of man.
And it was argued that as the mission appertained to man, the
God Yishnu, when he descended to the earth in the capacity
of a Savior, should become half man and half God, and that
the most feasible way to accomplish this end was for him to be
born of a woman. And that the glory and honor of his tri-
umph over Ravana, the devil, would be greater if achieved in
this capacity than if he were to come down from heaven and
conquer Ravana wholly with his attributes as a God, or wholly
in his divine character — i. e., as absolute God, uninvested with
human nature. The suggestion was approved by Vishnu, who
descended and took upon himself the form of man ” ( “the form
of a servant” — Phil. ii. 7). And that his metamorphosis or
earth-born life might be the purer, it was decided that he should
be born of a woman wholly uncontaminated with man — that
is, a virgin. And thus, far back in the midnight of mythology
and fable, originated the story of divine Saviors and Gods be-
ing born of virgins — a conception now found incorporated in
the religious histories of various ancient nations.
And now let us observe how substantially the Christian story
of a Savior conforms to the above. Jesus, like the Saviors of
India and Egypt, was believed to be a man-God — half man
and half God, and reputedly he came into the world, like them,
to'u destroy the devil and his works,” or the works of the devil —
that is, to put an end to the evil or malignant principle intro-
duced into the world by the serpent in the garden of Eden ; as
it is declared “the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s
head ” (Gen. iii. 15) — which is interpreted as referring to
Christ. And like these and various other pagan Saviors Jesus
is assigned the highest and most ennobling human origin — a
birth from a virgin. And, as in the instances above named,
Jesus had also several encounters with tire devil; first in the
wilderness, then on a mountain, and finally, like them, falls a
sacrifice to his insidious, malignant power acting through the
196
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
agency and mediumship of Judas Iscariot; for his betrayA is
ascribed wholly to Satan, whom John calls the serpent, entering
into Judas and prompting the act. (See Rev. xii. 3.) And thus
Christ, like the other Saviors, falls a victim to the serpentine or
satanic power acting through the instrumentality of a Judas
Iscariot; but finally triumphed, like the Savior of Egypt
(Osiris), by rising from the dead — “ the first fruits of immor-
tality.” And thus the stories run parallel — the more modern
Christian with the more ancient pagan.
(For a full exposition of the belief and traditions respecting
a devil and a hell in all ages and all countries, see the Author’s
:i Biography of Satan.”)
SACRED CYCLES.
197
CHAPTER XXX.
SACRED CYJLES EXPLAINING THE ADVENT OF
THE GODS,
THE MASTER-KEY TO THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST.
Extraordinary Revelations in History and Science.
Recent explorations in the field of oriental sacred history
have revealed to the antiquarian some curious and deeply inter-
esting facts appertaining to traditions founded on, and growing
out of, astronomical phenomena and changes in the visible
heavens, which throw much light on, and go far toward eluci-
dating and furnishing a satisfactory explanation of many of
the a mysteries ” of the Christian bible. The works which we
have consulted, containing the reports and results of researches
of this character, tend to elucidate and establish the following
conclusions: —
1. That anciently, in religious countries, time was divided
into Cycles, Aetas, or Neros.
2. That these measures of time grew out of, and represented
periodical changes, or periodically occurring phenomena in the
astronomical heavens.
3. That some religious nations had three Cycular periods of
different lengths, representing three orders and degrees of mi-
raculous births. In India the length of the first or shorter
Cycle was thirty days, the length of one moon or month.
Every change of the moon marked an important event in their
religious history. Each change was supposed to denote the
birth of some angel or celestial being, known as an Eon. The
second Cycular period was of six hundred years’ duration, and
was founded on a text of the sacred book of India, known as
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
the Surya Sidhanta, which declares“ the equinoctial point moves
eastward one degree in thirty times twenty years” (thirty
times twenty being 600). At every occurrence of this equi-
noctial change, hightened by an eclipse of the sun or moon, or
some other wonder-exciting phenomenon, a God was supposed
to be born. Such a marvelous and terror-inspiring event, in
the apprehensions of the credulous and superstitious populace
of an unscientific age, could not be designed for anything less
than the birth of a God or Divine Savior. Their theology
teaches that such was the wickedness of man, that a God had
to descend from heaven, and suffer and die for the people, in
some way, every six hundred years. And this period was
announced by the God’s causing a collision of the sun and
moon, or some other terror-exciting phenomena in the heavens
above, or the earth beneath. When one of these six hundred
Cycular periods was about to expire, and another commence,
every remarkable phenomenon in the heavens was watched and
interpreted as being connected with it. And some person born
at that period, who exhibited any remarkable or extraordinary *
traits of character, was certain to be promoted to the Godhead,
as being miraculously born and brought forth for the special
occasion. He was the Avatar Savior or Messiah for that
Cycle. There were two extraordinary events to be accounted
for — one was the display of unusual and terror-exciting phe-
nomena in the heavens, and the other the birth of extraordinary
men on earth. And it was natural for an ignorant age to asso-
ciate them together, and make one aid in accounting for the
other. And as these celestial phenomena were only witnessed
at intervals distant apart, the thought naturally arose, and the
conclusion was easily established, that they came periodically,
and for the special purpose of heralding the birth of a God. And
as tradition reported that similar events were witnessed six hun-
dred years before the conviction was fixed in the popular mind,
this was the established period intervening between these
great epochs. And thus the six hundred year Cycular tradi-
tion became established in India, and finally spread through all
the Eastern countries. We find traces of it in Egypt, Syria,
Persia, Chaldea, China, Italy, apd Judea. And the proof that
SACRED CYCLES.
199
the deification of great men in some countries grew out of this
Cycular tradition is found in the fact that many of them were
born at the commencement of Cycles. The Hindoos are able
to recount the names of ten sin-atoning Saviors who made their
appearance on earth at these regular intervals of six hundred
years. The name of the first Avatar Mediator and Savior who
forsook the throne of heaven to come down and die for the peo-
ple was Matsa. Tradition and the sacred books fix his birth
at about six thousand years B. C. The names and advent of
the other sin-atoning Saviors occur in the following order: 2.
Vurahay, 3. Kurma, 4. Nursu, 5. Waman, 6. Pursuram, 7.
Kama, 8. Chrishna, 9. Sakia, 10. Salavahana. The last named
Savior was cotemporary with Jesus Christ. The God and
Savior Sakia was born six hundred years B. C. “ Our Lord
and Savior” and “Son of God,” Chrishna, was immaculately
conceived and miraculously born, according to Higgins, 1200
B. C.
A circumstance strongly confirming the conclusion that
Cycular periods had much to do with the promotion of men to
the dignity of Gods is, that most of the deified personages re-
ported in history were, according to the best authorities, born
near the commencement of Cycles. Recurring back to the
eighth Cycle, we observe the advent at that period of
Chrishna, Zoroaster 2d, Bali, Thammuz, Atys, Osiris, and sev-
eral others. At the commencement of the ninth Cycle ap-
peared Sakia, Quexalcote, Zoroaster 2d, Xion, Quirinus, Prome-
theus, Mithra, and many others. The tenth Cycle brought in
Jesus Christ, Salavahana, Apollonius, and others that might be
named. Mahomet succeeded Jesus Christ just six hundred
years (he was born in the year 600 A. D.}, which inaugurated
another Cycle. Many facts are recorded in history proving the
prevalence and sacredness of the Cycle idea in different coun-
tries. The story in Egypt of the bird called the Phoenix, being
hatched, according to tradition, just 600 years B. C., and living
to be just six hundred years old, and having the power to re-
new itself every six hundred years, shows the prevalence of the
Cycular tradition in that country. We have the statement
upon the records of history that when the first six hundred
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
years after the foundation of Rome were about to expire, the
people became greatly excited with the apprehension that some
extraordinary event must attend the occasion. And but for
the influence of the philosophers, some extraordinary man
would have been hunted up and promoted to divine honor as
being the God born for that Cycle. The writings of Plato,
Plutarch, Ovid, Cicero, Virgil, and Aristotle, all evince a belief
in Cycles, and the belief that ten Cycles, or Aetas, were the
measure for the duration of the world. According to M. Faber,
a new-born Savior was always expected to make his appearance
at the commencement of one of these Cycles. Hence the deifi-
cation of those personages above named, and many others that
might be named. It is a remarkable circumstance that the
Jewish bible should speak of Noah as being six hundred years
old at the commencement of the flood, when it was a tradition
amongst the ancient Egyptians that the ushering in of the six
hundredth year Cycle was to be attended with a flood. And
the time antecedent to Noah after creation, was the measure
of three Cycles, according to the chronology of the Samari-
tan bible, it being 600 + 600 + 600 = 1800 years from Adam
to Noah. It is an interesting fact that those enigmatical
figures made use of by Daniel, as also some of those found
in the Apocalypse, are susceptible of a Cycular explanation.
These occult prophecies, as they are supposed to be, which have
puzzled and bewildered many thousands of Christian minds
and bible expounders in their attempt to evolve their signifi-
cation, are susceptible of a Cycular explanation. They are of
easy solution on a Cycular basis, or with the Cycular key.
Take, for example, Daniel’s famous prophecy (so called) of the
seventy weeks, as found in the ninth chapter, announcing the
advent of a Messiah at the end of that period. We find by a cal-
culation based on Tyson’s “ Historical Atlas,” and Haskell’s
“ Chronology and Universal History,” that Daniel lived in the
hundred and tenth year of the ninth Cycle, at which time the
prefigure seems to have been used. Assuming this as a basis,
and multiplying seventy weeks by seven, to convert it into
years, as Christian essayists are accustomed to doing, and we
have as the result 70 X 7 =490, which being added to one
SACRED CYCLES.
201
hundred and ten, the year that gave birth to the prophecy,
makes six hundred, which exactly completes the Cycle, and
furnishes a simple and beautiful explanation of a mystical
figure, on which many thousands of conjectures, speculations,
and guesses have been founded, but on which they have failed
to throw any light.
The 70x7 = 490 years, were wanting to complete the
Cycle; and when this rolled away, it brought a new Cycle,
and with it a new sin-atoning Savior was always expected in
some countries (the country in which Daniel lived being one
of this number) ; a new Messiah (or sin-atoning Savior), and
some great man born at that time, was fixed upon and dei-
fied as being that Messiah. Hence the Jews, in imitation of
their neighbors, yielding to their strong proclivities to bor-
row from and copy after heathen nations, selected “ the man
Christ Jesus” as their Messiah and Savior. The mystical era
of Daniel, signified by “a time, times, and the dividing of time”
(Dan. vii. 25), or, as St. John has it, “a time, times, and a half
time (see Rev. xii. 14), is explainable by the same Cycular
key. Some writers have conjectured that Daniel was a Chal-
dean priest. If so, he must have had a knowledge of their
astronomical Cycle of two thousand one hundred and sixty
years, which completed the period of the precession of the
equinoxes. Explained by this Cycle, his “time, times, and
dividing of time, or half time, or “a time, another time, and a
half time,” as some writers have rendered it, would be 2160 +
2160 + 1080 = 5400; nine Cycles exactly, as 600x9 = 5400.
Add this to the Cycle in which he lived, and we have 5400 +
600 = 6000, the great Millennial Cycle, when not only a new
Savior and Messiah was to be born, but a new world also. Both
the long and short Cycle (and one was a measure of the
other) were expected to expire at that time, according to a
Chaldean tradition. And thus is beautifully explained another
“ deep, dark, and unfathomable mystery,” which thousands of
devout minds have exhausted their ingenuity in trying to find
a meaning for. Again, look at the frightful nightmare visions
of Daniel and the author of the Apocalypse, in which they saw
a monstrous beast with seven heads and ten horns, though
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
-
aniel mentions only the horns. The seven heads were, in all
probability, the seven auspicious months of the year in which
some of the nations reveled in the enjoyment of, and praised
and celebrated their fruitful, bountiful blessings, the year being
divided into two seasons, seven summer months and five winter
months. Now, let it be noted, St. John lived near the tenth
Cycle, which answers to the ten horns of the beast. Hence is
most forcibly suggested that interpretation of the figure.
Daniel’s ten horns should have been translated eleven horns,
as he lived in the ninth Cycle, though so near the tenth
that he probably constructed his figure on the tenth. And
Daniel’s prophetic declaration (so considered), found in the
eighth chapter, that it would be two thousand three hundred
days until the sanctuary should be closed, is explainable in the
same manner. According to Mr. Irving, Mr. Frere, and other
writers, there was a large fraction over the three hundred days,
making it nearer four hundred, and hence might have been so
rendered, which would make 2000 + 400 = 2400 ; the exact
length of four Cycles, 600x4=2400. And there are other
mystical figures, frightful visions, and occult metaphors found
in the Apocalypse susceptible of a Cycular solution. The
Cycle is the true key for unlocking many of the ancient mys- .
teries of various religions. The Chinese have always reckoned
by Cycles of sixty years, instead of by centuries. (See New
Am. Encyclop., vol. v. p. 105.)
We will now bestow a brief notice on the Millennial Cycle:
the sacred period of 6000 years, composed of ten of the smaller
Cycles, 600x10=6000. Dr. Hales says, “A tradition of Mil-
lennial ages prevailed throughout the east, and finally reached
the west.” (Chron. vol. i. p. 44.) We are told by astronomers
that if the angle which-the plane of the ecliptic forms with the
plane of the equator had decreased gradually, as it was once
supposed to do, the two planes would coincide in about six
thousand years — a period which comprises ten of the smaller
Cycles, 600 X10 = 6000. And it was very easy and very natural
for an ignorant and superstitious age to conclude that such a
prodigious, astounding, and awful event as that of two stupen-
dous orbits or planes coming in contact with each other, should
SACRED CYCLES.
20S
be attended with some direful and calamitous event, and with
a tremendous display of divine power. Nothing less than an
entire revolution, if not the total destruction of the world, could
comport with the majesty and magnitude of such an event.
And this great crisis was to bring down the Omnipotent Divine
Judge from the throne of heaven; that is, the Almighty
Being who caused it was to come down, or send his Son to
call the nations to judgment, and drown the world, or set it on
fire. The first destruction, according to the tradition of the
Chaldeans, Persians, Assyrians, Mexicans, and some other
nations, was to be by water, and the next by fire, when the
oceans, seas, and lakes were to be converted into ashes. And
Christ’s apostles seem to have cherished this tradition. Peter
says, “whereby the world that was then, being overflowed by
water, perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now,
by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against
the day of judgment.” (2 Peter iii. 6.) This was a pagan belief
long prior to the era of Peter. Josephus says, “ A lam predicted
that the world would be twice destroyed, once by water, next
by fire.” A writer says, “ A glorious, blissful future attends
the destruction of the world by fire, and the re-appearance of
Vishnu (i. e., eleventh incarnation of Vishnu) has been for
several thousand years the hopeful anticipation of India.” “The
last coming of Vishnu in power and glory,” says another writ-
er, “to consummate the final overthrow of evil, sin, and death,
is so firmly fixed in the minds of the devotees, that they have
an annual festival in commemoration of their prophecy referring
to it, at which they exclaim, in a loud voice, “ When will the
Divine Helper come? when will the Deliverer appear?” At
the consummation of this event, “ a comet will roll under the
moon and set the world on fire; ” so affirms their bible. And
the Persian bible, the Zend-Avesta, in like manner predicts that
“a star, with a tail in course of its revolution, will strike the
earth and set it on fire.” Seneca predicts that “ the time will
come when the world will be wrapped in flames, and the oppo
site powers in conflict will mutually destroy each other.”
Ovid prophesies poetically,—
204
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS. p
“ For thus the stern, unyielding Fates decree,
That earth, air, heaven, with the capacious sea,
All shall fall victims to devouring fire,
And in fierce flames the blazing orbs expire.”
Lucian, in a b’ke spirit, exclaims, —
“ One vast, appointed flame, by Fate’s decree,
Shall waste yon azure heavens, the earth and sea.”
The Egyptians marked their houses with red, to indicate that
the world would be destroyed by fire. Orpheus, 1200 B. C.,
at the inauguration of the eighth Cycle, entertained fearful
forebodings of the speedy destruction of the world by water or
tire. Some nations held that the alternate destruction of the
world by water and fire had already occurred, and would occur
again. Theopompus informs us that some of the orientalists
believed that “the God of light and the God of darkness
reigned by turn every six thousand years (commencing with
an astronomical Cycle of course), and that during this period
the other was held in subjection, which finally resulted in “ a
war in heaven ; ” a counterpart to St. John’s story. (See Rev.
chap, xii.) This accords with Yolney’s statement, that “it
was recorded in the sacred books of the Persians and Chaldeans
that the world, composed of a total revolution of twelve thou-
sand periods, was divided into two partial revolutions of six
thousand years each — one being the reign of good, and the
other the reign of evil.” (Ruins, p. 244.) This belief was dis-
seminated through most of the nations. One of these revolu-
tions was produced, some believed, by a concussion of worlds,
which displaced the oceans and seas, and thus produced a
general flood, which drowned every living thing on the earth.
The next revolution will be caused by a collision of worlds,
which will produce fire, and burn the earth to ashes. Now,
let it be noted that all these grand epochs were founded on
Cycles, and accompanied by the tradition of a God being born
upon the earth (conceived by a virgin maid), or descending in
person ; that is, men were promoted to the Godhead. And
in this way Jesus Christ was deified. Volney explains the
matter thus: “Now, according to the Jewish computation, six
SACRED CYCLES.
205
thousand years had nearly elapsed since the supposed creation
of the world (according to their chronology). This coinci-
dence produced considerable fermentation in the minds of the
people. Nothing was thought of but the approaching termina-
tion. The great Mediator and Final Judge was expected, and
his advent desired, that an end might be put to their calami-
ties.” (Ruins, 'p. 168.) Mr. Higgins corroborates this state-
ment, when he tells us that “ about the time of the Caesars there
seems to have been a general expectation that some Great One
was to appear. And finally, when the Cycle had passed, the
people, the Jew-Christians, began to look about to see who
that Great One was. Some fixed on Herod, some on Julius
Caesar, and some on others. But finally public opinion settled
on one Jesus of Nazareth, on account of his superiority in
morals and intellect, while the Hindoos deified Salavahana, the
Greeks Apollonius, &c. And thus science and history join
hand in hand to explain most beautifully and conclusively the
greatest mystery that ever brought two hundred mil ions of
people daily upon their knees—the apotheosis, or deification
of “ the man Christ Jesus.”
206
THE WORLD ’S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XXXI.
CHRISTIANITY DERIVED FROM HEATHEN AND
ORIENTAL SYSTEMS.
More than twenty thousand sermons are preached in the
Christian pulpits, on every recurring Sabbath, to convince the
people that the religion and morality taught and practiced by
Jesus Christ was of divine emanation, and was never before
taught in the world, — that his system of morality was without
a parallel, and his practical life without a precedent, — that the
doctrine of self-denial, humility, unselfishness, benevolence, and
charity, — also devout piety, kind treatment of enemies, and
love for the human race, which he preached and practiced, had
never before been exemplified in the life and teachings of any
individual or nation. But a thorough acquaintance with the
history and moral systems of some of the oriental nations, and
the practical lives of piety and self-denial exemplified in their
leading men long anterior to the birth of Christ, and long be-
fore the name of Christianity was anywhere known, must
convince any unprejudiced mind that such a claim is without
foundation. And to prove it, we will here institute a critical
comparison between Christianity and some of the older sys-
tems with respect to the essential spirit of their teachings, and
observe how utterly untenable and groundless is the dogmatic
assumption which claims for the Christian religion either any
originality or any superiority. Of course if there is nothing
new or original, there is nothing superior.
We will first arrange Christianity side by side with the an-
cient system known as Essenism — a religion whose origin has
never been discovered, though it is known that the Essenes exist-
ed in the :lnys of Jonathan Maccabeus, B. C. 150, and that they
CHRISTIANITY'S ANCIENT DERIVATION. 207
were of Jewish origin, and constituted one of the three Jewish
sects (the other two being Pharisees and Sadducees). We have
but fragments of their history as furnished by Philo, Josephus,
Pliny, and their copyists, Eusebius, Dr. Ginsburgh, and others,
on whose authority we will proceed to show that Alexandrian
and Judean Essenism was identically the same system in spirit
and essence as its successor Judean Christianity; in othei
words, Judean Christianity teaches the same doctrines and
moral precepts which had been previously inculcated by the
disciples of the Essenian religion.
A Parallel Exhibition of the Precepts and Practical
Lives of Christ and the Essenes.
We will condense from Philo, Josephus, and other authors.
1. Philo says, “It is our first duty to seek the kingdom of
God and his righteousness;” so the Essenes believed and
taught.
Scripture parallel. “ Seek first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness, and all else shall be added.” (Matt. vi. 88; Luke
xii. 31.)
2. Philo says, “ They abj ured all amusements, all elegances,
and all pleasures of the senses.”
Scripture parallel. “Forsake the world and the things
thereof.”
3. The Essenes say, “Lay up nothing on earth, but fix your
mind solely on heaven ”
Scripture parallel. “ Lay not up treasures on earth,” &c.
4. “ The Essenes, having laid aside all the anxieties of life,”
says Philo, “ and leaving society, they make their residence in
solitary wilds and in gardens ”
Scripture parallel. “ They wandered in deserts, and in
mountains, and in dens, and in caves of the earth.” (Heb.
xi. 38.)
5. Josephus says, “They neither buy nor sell among them-
selves, but give of what they have to him that wanteth.”
Scripture parallel. “ And parted them (their goods) to all
men as every man had need.” (Acts ii. 45.)
203
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
6. Eusebeus says, “Even as it is related in the Acts of the
Apostles, all (the Essenes) . . . were wont to sell their posses-
sions and their substance, and divide among all according as
any one had need, so that there was not one among them in
want.”
Scripture parallel. “Neither was there any among them
that lacked, for as many as were possessors of lands or houses
sold them, and brought the price of the things that were sold,”
&c. (Acts iv. 34.)
7. Eusebius says, “ For whoever, of Christ’s disciples, were
owners of estates or houses, sold them, and brought the price
thereof, and laid them at the apostles’ feet, and distribution was
made as every one had need. So Philo relates things exactly
similar of the Essenes.”
Scripture parallel. (The text above quoted.)
8. w Philo tells us (says Eusebius) that the Essenes forsook
father, mother, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, for their
religion.”
Scripture parallel. “ Whosoever forsaketh not father and
mother, houses and lands,” &c., “ cannot be my disciples.”
9. “ Their being sometimes called monks was owing to their
abstraction from the world,” says Eusebius.
Scripture parallel. “ They are not of the world, even as I
am not of the world.” (John xvii. 16.)
10. “ And the name Ascetics was applied to them on account
of their rigid discipline, their prayers, fasting, self-mortification,
&c., as they made themselves eunuchs.”
Scripture parallel. “ There be eunuchs which have made
themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.”
11. “They maintained a perfect community of goods, and an
equality of external rank.” (Mich. vol. iv. p. 83.)
Scripture parallel. “ Whosoever will be chief among you,
let him be your servant.” (Matt. xx. 27.)
12. “ The Essenes had all things in common, and appointed
one of their number to manage the common bag.” (Dr. Gins-
burg.)
Scripture parallel. “And had all things in common.” (Acts
ii. 44; see also Acts iv. 32.)
CHRISTIANITIES ANCIENT DERIVATION. 209
13. “ All ornamental dress they (Essenes) detested.” (Mich,
vol. iv. p. 83.)
Scripture parallel. “ Whose adorning let it not be that out-
ward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, and
putting on of apparel.” (1 Peter iii. 3.)
14. “ They would call no man master.” (Mich.)
Scripture parallel. “ Be not called Rabbi, for one is your
Master. (Matt, xxiii. 8.)
15. u They said the Creator made all mankind equal.” (Mich.)
Scripture parallel, “ God hath made of one blood all them
that dwell upon the earth.”
16. “They renounced oaths, saying, He who cannot be be-
lieved without swearing is condemned already.” (Mich.)
Scripture parallel. “ Swear not at all.”
17. “ They would not eat anything which had blood in it, or
meat which had been offered to idols. Their food was hys-
sop, and bread, and salt; and water their only drink.” (Mich.)
Scripture parallel. “ That ye abstain from meat offered to
idols, and from blood.” (Acts xv. 29.)
18. “ Taking nothing with them, neither meat nor drink, nor
anything necessary for the wants of the body.”
Scripture parallel. “Take nothing for your journey; neither
staves nor scrip; neither bread, neither money, neither have
two coats apiece.”
19. “ They expounded the literal sense of the Holy Scriptures
by allegory.”
Scripture parallel. “ Which things are an allegory.” (Gal.
iv. 24.)
20. “They abjured the pleasures of the body, not desiring
mortal offspring, and they renounced marriage, believing it to
be detrimental to a holy life.” (Mich.)
Scripture parallel. It will be recollected that neither Jesus
nor Paul ever married, and that they discouraged the marriage
relation. Christ says, “ They that shall be counted worthy of
that world and the resurrection neither marry nor are given in
marriage.” And Paul says, “The unmarried careth for the
things of the Lord.” (1 Cor. vii. 32.)
21. “They strove to disengage their minds entirely from the
world.”
14
210
-
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
Scripture parallel. “ If any man love the world, the love of
the Father is not in him.”
22. “ Devoting themselves to the Lord, they provided not for
future subsistence.”
Scripture parallel. “ Take no thought for the morrow, what
ye shall eat and drink,” &c.
23. “ Regarding the body as a prison, they were ashamed to
give it sustenance.” (c. ii. 71.)
Scripture parallel. “ Who shall change our vile bodies ? ”
(Phil. iii. 21.)
24. “They spent nearly all their time in silent meditation
and inward prayer.” (c. ii. 71.)
Scripture parallel. “ Men ought always to pray.” (Luke
xviii. 1.) “ Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thess. v. 17.)
25. “ Believing the poor were the Lord’s favorites, they vowed
perpetual chastity and poverty.” (c. ii. 71.)
Scripture parallel. “ Blessed be ye poor.” (Luke vi. 20.)
“ Hath not God chosen the poor ? ” (James ii. 5.)
26. “ They devoted themselves entirely to contemplation in
divine things.” (c. ii. 71.)
Scripture parallel. “ Meditate upon these (divine) things;
give thyself wholly to them.” (1 Tim. iv. 15.)
27. “ They fasted often, sometimes tasting food but once in
three or even six days.”
Scripture parallel. Christ’s disciples were “ in fastings often.”
(2 Cor. xi. 27; see also v. 34.)
28. “ They offered no sacrifices, believing that a serious and
devout soul was most acceptable.” (c. ii. 71.)
Scripture parallel. “ There is no more offering for sin.”
(Heb. x. 18.)
29. “They believed in and practiced baptizing the dead.”
(c. ii. 71.)
Scripture parallel. “ Else what shall they do which are bap-
tized for the dead.” (1 Cor. xv. 29.)
30. “ They gave a mystical sense to the Scriptures, disregard-
ing the letter.”
Scripture parallel. 4 The letter killeth, but the spirit maketh
alive.” (1 Cor. iii. 6.)
CHRISTIANITY'S ANCIENT DERIVATION 211
31. “ They taught by metaphors, symbols, and parables.”
Scripture parallel. “ Without a parable spake he not unto
them.” (Matt. xiii. 34.)
32. “ They had many mysteries in their religion which they
were sworn to keep secret.”
Scripture parallel. “ To you it is given to know the myste-
ries of the kingdom; to them it is not given.” (Matt. xiii. 11.)
“ Great is the mystery of godliness.”
33. “ They had in their churches bishops, elders, deacons, and
priests.”
Scripture parallel. “ Ordained elders in every church.” (Acts
xiv. 23.) For “ deacon,” see 1 Tim. iii. 1.
34. “ When assembled together they would often sing psalms.”
Scripture parallel. “ Teaching and admonishing one another
in psalms.” (Col. iii. 16.)
35. “ They healed and cured the minds and bodies of those
who joined them.”
Scripture parallel. “ Healing all manner of sickness,” &c.
(Matt. iv. 23.)
36. “ They practiced certain ceremonial purifications by
water.”
Scripture parallel. “ The accomplishment of the days of
purification.” (Acts xxi. 26.)
37. “ They assembled at the Sabbath festivals clothed in
white garments.”
Scripture parallel. “ Shall be clothed in white garments.”
(Rev. iii. 4.)
38. “They disbelieved in the resurrection of the external
body.”
Scripture parallel. “ It is sown a natural body, it is raised
a spiritual body.” (1 Cor. xv. 44.)
39. Pliny says, “ They were the only sort of men who lived
without money and without women.”
Scripture parallel. “ The love of money is the root of all
evil.” (1 Tim. vi. 10.) Christ’s disciples travelled without
money and without scrip, and “ eschew the lusts of the flesh.”
40. “ They practiced the extremest charity to the poor.”
(c. ii. 71.)
212
THE WORLD9S SAVIORS.
Scripture parallel. “ Bestow all thy goods to feed the poor.*
(1 Cor. xiii. 3.)
41. “ They were skillful in interpreting dreams, and in fore*
telling future events.”
Scripture parallel. “Your sons and daughters shall proph-
esy, and your old men shall dream dreams.” (Acts ii. 17.)
42. “ They believed in a paradise, . . . and in a place of
never-ending lamentations.”
Scripture parallel. “Life everlasting.” (Gal. viii. 8.) “Weep-
ing, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. xiii. 42.)
43. “ They affirmed,” says Josephus, “that God foreordained
all the events of human life.”
Scripture parallel. “ Foreordained before the foundation of
the world.” (1 Peter.)
44. “ They believed in Mediators between God and the souls
of men.”
Scripture parallel. “One Mediator between God and men.”
(1 Tim. ii. 5.)
45. “ They practiced the pantomimic representation of the
death, burial, and resurrection of God ” — Christ the Spirit.
Scripture parallel. With respect to the death, burial, and
resurrection of Christ, see 1 Cor. xv. 4.
46. “ They inculcated the forgiveness of injuries.”
Scripture parallel. “Father, forgive them; for they know
not what they do.” (Luke xxiii. 34.)
47. “ They totally disapproved of all war.”
Scripture parallel. “ If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight.” (John xviii. 36.)
48. “ They inculcated obedience to magistrates, and to the
civil authorities.”
Scripture parallel. “ Obey them which have the rule over
you.” (Heb. xiii. 17; xxvi. 65.)
49. “ They retired within themselves to receive interior rev-
elations of divine truth.” (c. ii. 71.)
Scripture parallel. “ Every one of you hath a revelation.”
(1 Cor. xiv. 26.)
50. “ They were scrupulous in speaking the truth.”
Scripture parallel. “ Speaking all things in truth.” (2 Cor
vii. 14.)
CHRISTIANITY'S ANCIENT DERIVATION. 213
51. “ They perform many wonderful miracles.”
Scripture parallel. Many texts teach us that Christ and his
apostles did the same.
52. “Essenism put all its members upon the same level,
forbidding the exercise of authority of one over another.”
(Dr. Ginsburg.)
Scripture parallel. Christ did the same. For proof, see
Matt. xx. 25 ; Mark ix. 35.
53. “ Essenism laid the greatest stress on being meek and
lowly in spirit.” (Dr. Ginsburg.)
Scripture parallel. See Matt. v. 5 ; ix. 28.
54. “ The Essenes commended the poor in spirit, those who
hunger and thirst after righteousness, and the merciful, and the
pure in heart.” (Dr. Ginsburg.)
Scripture parallel. For proof that Christ did the same, see
Matt.
55. “.The Essenes commended the peacemakers.” (Dr. Gins-
burg*)
Scripture parallel. “ Blessed are the peacemakers.”
56. “ The Essenes declared their disciples must cast out evil
spirits, and perform miraculous cures, as signs and proof of their
faith.” (Dr. Ginsburg.)
Scripture parallel. Christ’s disciples were to cast out devils,
heal the sick, and raise the dead, &c., as signs and proof of their
faith. (Mark xvi. 17.)
57. “ They sacrificed the lusts of the flesh to gain spiritual
happiness.”
Scripture parallel. “You abstain from fleshly lusts.” (1 Peter
ii. 11.)
58. “ The breaking of bread was a veritable ordinance among
the Essenes.”
Scripture parallel. “ He (Jesus) took bread, and gave thanks,
and brake it.” (Luke xxii. 19.)
59. “ The Essenes enjoined the loving of enemies.” (Philo.)
Scripture parallel. So did Christ say, “Love your ene-
mies,” &c.
60. The Essenes enjoined, “Doing unto others as you would
have them do unto you.”
214
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
Scripture parallel. The Confucian golden rule, as taught
by Christ.
This parallel might be extended much further, but we will
proceed to present the reader with a general description of
Essenism, as furnished us by Philo, Josephus, and some Chris-
tian writers. Philo, who was born in Alexandria 20 B. C., and
lived to 60 A. D., and who was himself an Essenian Jew, in his
account of them, says, “ They do not lay up treasures of gold
or silver, . . . but provide themselves only with the necessities
of life.” Paul afterwards, having caught the same spirit, advises
the same course of life. “Having food and raiment, therewith
be content.” Contentment of mind they regarded as the
greatest of riches. They make no instruments of war. They
repudiate every inducement to covetousness, None are held
as slaves, but all are free, and serve each other. They are in-
structed in piety and holiness, righteousness, economy, &c.
They are guided by a threefold rule: love of God, love of virtue,
and love of mankind. Of their love of God they give innumer-
able demonstrations, which is found in their constant and un-
alterable holiness throughout the whole of their lives, their
avoidance of oaths and falsehoods, and their firm belief that
God is the source of all good, but of nothing evil. “ Of their
love of virtue they give proof in their contempt for money, fame,
and pleasures, their continence, easy satisfying of their wants,
their simplicity, modesty,” &c. Their love of man is proved
by their benevolence and equality, and their having all things
in common, which is beyond all deception. They rever-
ence and take care of the aged, as children do their parents.
(Condensed from Philo’s treatise, “Every Virtuous Man is
Free”)
Josephus, 37 A. D., and who was also at one time a member
of the Essenian Brotherhood, furnishes another fragmentary
account of the Essenes in his “Jewish Wars,” of which the fol-
lowing is the substance : —
“ They love each other more than others (that is, are “ par-
tial to the household of faith ” ) ; they despise riches, and havo
all things in common, so that there is neither abjectness of
poverty nor distinction of riches among them; they change
CHRISTIANITY'S ANCIENT DERIVATION. 215
neither garments nor shoes till they are worn out or become
unfit for use; they neither buy nor sell among themselves;
their piety is extraordinary; they never speak about worldly
matters before sunrise; they are girt about with a linen apron,
and have a baptism of cold water; they eat but one kind of
food at a time, and commence with a prayer, and the priest
must say grace before any one eats (that is, breaks and blesses as
Christ did) ; they also return thanks after eating, and then put
off their white garments; strangers were made welcome at
their tables, without money and without price; they give food
to the hungry and the needy, and show mercy to all; they
curb their passions, restrain their anger, and claim to be min-
isters of peace; an oath they regard as worse than perjury;
they excommunicate offenders (‘ Go tell it to the churches,’
says Christ) ; they condemn finery in dress; though condemn-
ing in most solemn terms oaths, members were admitted to the
secret brotherhood by an oath (c See thou tell no man,’ said
Christ); they endured pain with heroic fortitude, and regarded
an honorable death as better than long life; they read and
study their Holy Scriptures from youth, often prophesy, and it
was very seldom they failed in their predictions.”
Dr. Ginburg’s testimony, abridged, is as follows: —
“The Essenes had a high appreciation of the inspired law
of God. The highest aim of their lives was to become fit
temples of the Holy Ghost (see 1 Cor. vi. 19); also to perform
miraculous cures, and to be spiritually qualified for forerunners
of the Messiah. They taught the duty of mortifying the flesh
and the lusts thereof, and to become meek and lowly in spirit;
they answered by yea, yea, and nay, nay (see Matt.), scrupu-
lously avoiding oaths; they avoided impure contact with the
heathen and the world’s people, and lived retired from the
world, being in numbers about four thousand ; they strove to
be like the angels of heaven ; there were no rich and poor, or
masters and servants, amongst them; they lived peaceably
with all men; a mysterious silence was observed while eating;
a solemn oath was required on becoming a member of the
secret order, which required three things: 1. Love to God ; 2.
Merciful justice to all men, and to avoid the wicked, and help
216
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
the righteous; 3. Purity of character, which implied love of
truth, .hatred of falsehood, and strict observance of4 the mys-
teries of godliness’ to outsiders — that is,‘heathen and publi-
cans;’ they endured suffering for righteousness’ sake, with
rejoicings, and even sought it; regarding the body as a prison
for the soul, they desired the time to come to escape from it;
they recognized eight different stages of spiritual growth and
perfection: 1. Bodily purity; 2 Celibacy; 3. Spiritual purity;
4. The suppression of anger and malice, and the cultivation of a
meek,lowly spirit; 5. The attainment of true holiness; 6. Be-
coming fit temples for the Holy Ghost; 7. The ability to per-
form miraculous cures, and raise the dead; 8. Becoming fore-
runners of the Messiah; and finally, they took a solemn vow
to exercise piety toward God and justice toward all men, to
hate the wicked, assist the good to keep clear of theft and un-
righteous gains, to conceal none of their 6 mysteries of godli-
ness’ from each other, or disclose them to others. c Great is the
mystery of godliness ’ (‘ See thou tell no man ’); they w’ere
to walk humbly with God, shun bad society, forgive their ene-
mies, sacrifice their passions, and crucify the lusts of the flesh ;
they disregarded bodily suffering, and even gloried in martyr-
dom, preaching and singing to God amid their sufferings ; but
in their domestic habits they were extremely filthy; they wore
their clothes till they became ragged, filthy, and offensive, never
changing them till they were worn out; their food consisted
of bread and water, and wild roots and fruits of the palm tree ;
they enjoined the duty, not only of forgiving enemies, but of
seeking to benefit them, and of even blessing the destroyer
who took life and property.” Such was the religion, such the
moral system, such the devout piety, and such the practical
lives of the Essenian Jews, a religious sect which flourished in
Alexandria and Judea several hundred years before the birth of
Christ, and went out of history the hour Christianity came in.
Now, as the foregoing exposition shows that Essenism and
Christianity are most strikingly alike in all their essential
features, that the former system contains nearly every impor-
tant doctrine and precept of the Christian religion, the question
occurs here as one of momentous import, How is this striking
CHRISTIANITY'S ANCIENT DERIVATION. 217
resemblance, this identity of character of the two religions, to
be accounted for ? Does it not go far toward proving that
Christianity is an outgrowth, a legitimate offspring, of Judean
Essenism ? Indeed, are we not absolutely driven to such a con-
clusion? Let us briefly recite some of the important facts
brought to light by the investigation of the character and his-
tory of these two religions, and see if those facts do not bring
them together, and weld them as one system — as one and the
same religion.
1. Both are alike, and Essenism is much the older system.
2. Both religions are an outgrowth of Judaism.
3. Both were known and taught in Judea and in Alexan-
dria.
4. Josephus living in Judea, and Philo in Alexandria, neither
of them speaks of Christianity, or refers to any such religion
by that name, and yet both describe a religion inculcating
the same doctrines and moral precepts, which they call Esse-
nism.
Is not this very nearly conclusive proof that Essenism was only
another name for Christianity — that it had not yet changed its
name to Christianity ? That famous standard author, Mr. Gib-
bon, was evidently of this opinion when he said, “ Whether,
indeed, the first of that sect (the Essenes) took the name of
Christian when the appellation of Christian had as yet been
nowhere announced, it is by no means necessary to discuss.”
(Book II. chap, xvi.) Here is evidence that Gibbon believed
that the Essenes, after having borne that name for centuries,
changed the appellation to Christian. And we find still stronger
language than this in the writings of the same author expres-
sive of this opinion. In a note to chapter xv. he says, “It is
probable that the Therapeuts (Essenes) changed their name to
Christians, as some writers affirm, and adopted some new arti-
cles of faith.” Here the position is assumed that the Christian
religion is an outgrowth of Essenism, that is, merely a continu-
ation of that religion under a change of name, with a slight
modification of its creed.
5. And then we have the declaration of Christian writers,
expressed in the most positive terms, that Essenism and Chris-
‘^18
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
-
tianity were the same religion, the former name being used
at an earlier period. Hear Eusebius, a standard ecclesiastical
writer of the fourth century. He asserts positively, “ Those
ancient Therapeuts (Essenes) were Christians, and their ancient
writings were our Gospels.” (Eccl. Hist. p. 63.) Hark! hark !
my good Christian reader, here is one of your own sworn wit-
nesses testifying that the Essenes originated and established the
Christian religion; i. e., the religion now known by that name.
Will you then give it up? If not, we have other testimony of
a similar character, rendering the proposition still stronger.
Robert Taylor declares, “The learned Basnage has shown
that the Essenes were really Christians centuries before
Christ, and that they were actually in possession of those very
writings which are now our Gospels and Epistles.” (P. 81.)
And then we have the declaration of the author of “Christ the
Spirit” (p. 110), that “the Christians were the later Essenes —
that is, the Essenes of the time of Eusebius under a changed
name, that name having been made at Antioch, where the dis-
ciples were first called Christian ” The same writer suggests
that “ their sacred books are our sacred books.” We will now
hear Eusebius again: “It is highly probable that their (the
Essenes’) ancient commentaries, which Philo says the Essenes
have, are the very Gospels and writings of the apostles.” Based
upon this conclusion, he calls the Essenes “the first heralds
of the gospel” “I find it, therefore, most probable,” says Mr.
Weilting, “that Jesus and John belonged literally to the society
of the Essenes.” And then the New American Cyclopedia
furnishes us with the testimony of a very able English author
of the last century (De Quincy), who concurs with all the
writers cited above. “Mr. De Quincy (it says; identified the
Essenes as being the early Christians; i. e., the early Christians
were known as Essenes. Such testimony, coming from such a
source, is entitled to much weight.” (Yol. i. p. 157.) And to
the same effect is the testimony of Bishop Marsh, who admits
that our Gospels were drawn from those of the Essenes. (See
his edition of Michaelis’ translation of the New Testament.)
Thus far historical writers. We will now lay before the reader
some historical facts, fraught with unanswerable logical potency,
CHRISTIANITY'S ANCIENT DERIVATION 219
and pointing to the same conclusion. It is a fact, and one of
deep logical import, and tending to corroborate the conclusion
of some of the writers cited above, who tell us the Christian
Gospels were first composed by the Essenes; that the language
in which those Gospels were originally written was Greek, the
language in which the Alexandrian Essenes always wrote,
while the evangelical writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
being illiterate fishermen, could have had no knowledge of any
but the Jewish, their own mother-tongue, — at least it is suscep-
tible of satisfactory proof that they never wrote in any other
language. Hence the conclusion is irresistible that they were
not the original authors of the Gospels. The works of several
authors are now lying at our elbow, who express the conviction
unequivocally that the Gospels were copied, if not translated,
from older writings. Mr, Le Clerc, one of the ablest writers of
his time, maintained this position, and did it ably. Another
writer, a Mr. Hatfield, was awarded a prize in 1793, by. the
theological faculty of Gottingen, for an essay, in which the
position was ably argued that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
were not the authors of the books which bear their names, but
were mere copyists. Dr. Lessing and others concur with him
in this conclusion. A circumstance confirming this verdict is
found in the fact that the word church occurs in our Gospels,
which were written before such an institution was established
by those who were then called Christians.
“ Go tell it to the church ” (Matt, xviii. 17) was uttered before
any steps had been taken by the then representatives of the
Christian faith to organize such a body — an evidence this,
that he alluded to the church of the Essenes, as there were
no other churches in existence at the time; which leaves the
inference patent and irresistible that he and his disciples were
Essenes, perhaps then under the changed name of Christians.
Centuries prior to that era the Essenes had not only churches,
but their whole ecclesiastical nomenclature of bishops, deacons,
elders, priests, disciples, scriptures, gospels, epistles, psalms,
hymns, mystery, allegory, &c. If Christianity was re-established
in the days of Christ and his apostles, they had nothing to
originate, either with respect to doctrines, precepts, church
220
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
polity, or ecclesiastical terras — all being established for them
centuries before that era. With these facts in view, it seems
impossible that the two religious orders — Essenes and Chris-
tians— could have been in existence at the same time as sepa-
rate institutions. The former must have ended when the latter
commenced. Josephus says “ The Essenes were scattered far
and wide, and were in every city,” being quite numerous in
Judea in his time. But he makes no reference to any sect or
religious order by the title of Christian — a strong inferential
evidence, upon sound priori reasoning, that Christianity as yet
was sailing under another name. Josephus must have known
and named the fact, had there been a Christian sect or disciple
there bearing that name. Impossible otherwise. We are then
(upon the logical force of these and many other facts) driven
to the conclusion that Christianity began when Essenism
ended, and the change was only in name. I challenge the
whole Christian world to find the historical proof that Christian-
•ity commenced one hour before the termination of Essenism,
or of Essenism overlapping the Christian religion so far as to
survive one day beyond or after its birth. I will confront them
with the logic of dates, and defy them to find any proof except
their own unauthorized, unauthenticated, and fictitious chro-
nology, that a Christian was ever known in any country by that
name prior to the time of Tacitus, 104 A. D., who is the first
of the three hundred writers of that era that makes any men-
tion of Christianity, Christ, or a Christian. This was long after
Josephus’ time, which accounts most satisfactorily for his
omitting any allusion to Christ or Christianity. That religion
had not yet dropped the name of Essenism and adopted that of
Christianity.
Now, hard indeed must distorted reason fight the ramparts
of logic and history to resist the conviction, in view of the fore-
going facts, that Christianity is simply an outcropping of Esse-
nism, either direct or through Budhism. And even if it were
possible to prove that the two religions never became welded
together, yet it is not possible to disprove the striking iden-
tity of their doctrines, and the spirit of their precepts, and
the practical lives of their disciples. And this identity, coupled
CHRISTIANITY'S ANCIENT DERIVATION 221
with the fact that Essenism is the older system, is of itself most
superlatively fatal to all pretension or claim to originality for
the doctrines of the Christian faith. It is a matter of no impor-
tance whether Christianity was originally known by another
name, so long as it can be shown that its doctrines had all been
preached and proclaimed to the world centuries prior to the
date assigned for its origin. And this is proved by the long
list of parallelisms presented in the incipient pages of this chap-
ter. And this proof explodes the pretensions of Christianity
to an “ original divine revelation,” and brings it down to a level
with pagan orientalism. And the fact that it sprang up in a
country where its doctrine had long been taught by pagans
and orientalists, must produce the conviction, deep and indeli-
ble, in all unbiased minds, that orientalism was the mother and
heathenism the father of the Christian religion, even in the
absence of any other proof. In fact, no other proof can be
needed. And what are the arguments, it may be well here to
inquire, with which orthodox Christians attempt to meet, com-
bat, and vanquish the overwhelming mass of historical facts
and historical testimonies we have presented in preceding
pages, tending to prove and demonstrate the oriental origin of
their religion and its identity with Essenism? Their whole
argument is comprised in the naked postulate of the Rev. Mr.
Prideaux, D. D., that “ the Essenes did not believe in the resur-
rection of the physical body (but believed in a spiritual resur-
rection), and omit from their creed the Trinity and Incarna-
tion doctrine, and therefore they could not have been the
originators of the Christian religion; ” but this argument is as
easily demolished as a cobweb, as the following facts will
prove: —
1. We have but a fragment of the Essenian religion, — but
one end of their creed, — mere scraps furnished us by Philo,
Josephus, and Pliny. We have none of their sacred books
apart from the Christian New Testament.
2. They had secret books, as we have shown, in which doc-
trines were taught which they regarded as too sacred to be
thrown before the public, as “ pearls before swine.” And no
doctrines were regarded as more sacred or secret in that age
222
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
than the doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation. Christ’s
injunction, “See thou tell no man,” was probably their motto,
which prevented the publicity of a portion of their doctrines.
And as their sacred books, containing their doctrines, perished
with the extinction of the sect (except those now found in the
Christian New Testament), a full knowledge of their doctrines,
therefore, never reached the public mind. All religious sects
had secret doctrines, designated as “ Mysteries of Godliness,”
including the principal Jewish sects and the earliest Christian
churches. It is, therefore, highly probable that if we were in
possession of all their sacred books, we would be in possession
of the proof that they believed and taught in their monasteries
the doctrines above named. But we are not left to mere infer-
ence that the Essenes’ creed did include the doctrines of the
Trinity and the Divine Incarnation. We find skeletons of
these doctrines scattered along the line of their history. Philo
himself, an Essene teacher, most distinctly teaches the doctrine
of “the Incarnation of the Divine Word or Logos.” And “Son
of God,” “ Mediator,” “ Intercessor,” and “ Messiah,” were
familiar words with him. The idea often reappears in his
writings, that the “Word could become flesh;” that the Son
of God could appear as a personality, and return to the bosom
of the Father. Moreover, one writer informs us that the
Essenes celebrated the birth and death of a Divine Savior as a
“Mystery of Godliness.” And they claimed in their earlier
history to be “forerunners of the Messiah” — a claim which
would soon bring a Messiah before the world, that is, lead
them to deify and worship some great man as “ The Messiah
As for the doctrine of the Trinity, we have the authority of
Eusebius that they taught this doctrine too. So that it is not
true that they did not recognize these two prime articles of
the Christian faith, the Incarnation and Trinity doctrines. Some
modern Christians assert that the Essenes not only omitted to
teach these doctrines, but that, on the other hand, they taught
other doctrines not taught in the Christian New Testament.
This is not improbable. For the Christian religion has been
characterized by frequent changes in its doctrines in every
stage of its practical history, as was also the Jewish religion
CHRISTIANITY'S ANCIENT DERIVATION 225
which preceded it, and from which it emanated. Judaism is a
perpetual series of changes. It changed even the name of
its God from Elohim to Jehovah. Its leader and founder
Abram was changed to Abraham, and his grandson and suc-
cessor from Jacob to Israel. And we have the works of many
Christian writers in our possession who prove by their own
bible that the Jews made many changes in their religious polity
and religious doctrines. This is more especially observable
when they came in contact with nations teaching a different re-
ligion. Their whole history shows they were prone to imitate,
and borrow, and always did borrow on such occasions, and
engraft the new doctrines thus obtained into their own creed,
and thus effected important changes in their religion. We
have the authority of Dr. Campbell for saying the Jews never
believed and taught the doctrine of future punishment (and
other doctrines that might be named) till after they were
brought in contact with Persians in Babylon who had long
taught these doctrines. (See Dissertation VI.) And Dr. En-
field declares their theological opinions underwent thorough
changes during this period of seventy years’ captivity. Even
their national title was changed at one period from Israelites to
Jews. With all these changes of names, titles, and doctrines
in view, it is not incredible that one of the Jewish sects should
change its name from Essenes to Christians, and with this
change modify some of the doctrines. And more especially
as their title, according to Dr. Ginsburg, had been changed
before from Chassidim to Essenes. And PLilo at one period
calls them Therapeuts, while Eusebius say^j the Therapeuts
were Christians. Put this and that together, and the question
is forever settled.
Now, with all this overwhelming mass of historical evidence
before us, “ piled mountain high,3’ tending to prove the truth of
the proposition that Christianity is the offspring and out-
growth of ancient Judean Essenism, we feel certain that
no sophistry, from interested charlatans or stereotyped creed
worshipers, can stave off or obliterate the conviction in un-
prejudiced minds, that the proposition is most amply proven.
224
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
We will now collate Christianity with another ancient re«
ligious system, which we are certain it will not be disputed,
after the comparison is critically examined, contains the sum
total of the doctrines and teachings of Christianity in all their
details.
CHRIST AND CHRISHNA.
225
CHAPTER XXXII.
THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX STRIKING
ANALOGIES BETWEEN CHRIST AND CHRISHNA.
I. Their Miraculous History and Leading Principles.
1. The advent of each Savior was miraculously foretold by
prophets.
2. The fallen and degenerate condition of the human race is
taught in the religion of each.
3. A plan of restoration or salvation is provided for in each
case.
4. A divine Savior is considered necessary in both cases.
5. The necessity of atoning for sin is taught in the religion
of each.
6. A God, or Son of God, is selected as the victim for the
atoning sacrifice in each case.
7. This God is sent down from heaven in each case in the
form of a man.
8. The God or Savior in each case is the second person of
the Trinity.
9. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was held to be really God in-
carnate.
10. The mission of each Savior is the same.
11. There is a resemblance in name — Chrishna and Christ.
12. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was incarnated and born of a
woman.
13. The mother in each case was a holy virgin.
14. The same peculiarities of a miraculous conception and
birth are related of each.
15. Each had an adopted earthly father.
15
226
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
16. The father of Chrishna, as well as that of Christ, was a
carpenter.
17. God is claimed as the real father in both cases.
18. A Spirit or Ghost was the author of the conception of
each.
19. There was rejoicing on earth when each Savior was born.
20. There was also joy in heaven at the birth and advent of
each.
21. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was of royal descent.
22. Their mothers were both reputedly pious women.
23. The names of two mothers are somewhat similar — Mary
and Maia.
24. Each has a special female friend — Elizabeth in the one
case, and the wife of Nanda in the other.
25. Neither Savior was born in a house, but both in obscure
situations.
26. Both were born on the 25th of December.
27. Both, at birth, were visited by wise men and shepherds.
28. The visitors conducted by a star in each case.
29. The rite of purification observed by the mothers of each.
30. An angel warning of impending danger in each case.
31. The incumbent ruler was hostile in each case.
32. A bloody decree in each case for the destruction of the
infant Savior.
33. A flight of the parents takes place in both cases.
34. The parents of one sojourned at Muturea, the other at
Mathura.
35. Each Savior had a forerunner—John the Baptist in one
case, Bali Rama in the other.
36. Both were preternaturally smart in childhood.
37. Each disputed with and vanquished learned opponents.
38. Both became objects of search by their parents.
39. And both occasioned anxiety, if not sorrow, to their
parents.
40. The mother of each had other children — that is, chil-
dren begotten by man as well as God.
41. Both Saviors retired to, and spent considerable time in,
\he wilderness.
CHRIST AND CHRISHNA.
227
42. The religious rite of “fasting” was practiced by each
Savior.
43. Each delivered a noteworthy sermon, or series of moral
lessons.
44. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was called and considered
God.
45. Each was both God and the Son of God (so regarded).
46. “ Savior ” was one of the divine titles of each.
47. Each was designated “ the Savior of man,” “ the Savior
of the world,” &c.
48. Both expressed a desire to “ save all.”
49. Each sustained the character of a Messiah.
50. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was a Redeemer.
51. Each Savior was called “ Shepherd.”
52. Both were believed to be the Creator of the world.
53. Each is sometimes spoken of, also, as only an agent in
the creation.
54. Both were the “ Light and Life ” of men.
55. Each “ brought life and immortality to light.”
56. Both are represented as “ the seed of the woman bruis-
ing the serpent’s head ”
57. Was Christ a “ Dispenser of grace,” so was the Hindoo
Savior.
58. One was “the lion of the tribe of Judah,” the other “the
lion of the tribe of Sakia.”
59. Christ was “the Beginning and the End,” Chrishna “ the
Beginning, the Middle, and the End.”
60. Both proclaimed, “ I am the Resurrection.”
61. Each was “ the way to the Father.”
62. Both represented emblematically “the Sun of Righteous-
ness.”
63. Each is figuratively represented as being “all in all.”
64. Both speak of having existed prior to human birth.
65. A dual existence — an existence in both heaven and earth
at once — is claimed by or for both.
66. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was “ without sin.”
67. Both assumed the divine prerogative of forgiving sins.
68. The mission of each was to deliver from sin.
228
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
69. Both came to destroy the devil and his works.
70. The doctrine of the “ atonement ” is practically realized
in each case.
71. Each made a voluntary offering for the sins of the world.
72. Both were human as well as divine.
78. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was worshiped as God abso-
lute.
74. Each was regarded as “the Lord from heaven.”
75. Chrishna, as well as Christ, had applied to him all the
attributes of God.
76. Was Christ omniscient, so was Chrishna.
77. Was one omnipotent, so was the other (so believed).
78. And both are represented as being omnipresent.
79. Each was believed to be divinely perfect.
80. Was one “ Lord of lords,” so was the other.
81. Each embodied the “power and wisdom of God.”
82. All power was committed unto each (so claimed).
83. Chrishna performed many miracles as well as Christ.
84. One of the first miracles of each was the cure of a leper.
85. Each healed “ all manner of diseases.”
86. The work of casting out devils constitutes a part of the
mission of each.
87. Each practically proved his power to raise the dead.
88. A miracle appertaining to a tree is related of both.
89. Both could read the thoughts of the people.
90. The power to detect and eject evil spirits was claimed
by both.
91. Both had the keys or control of death.
92. Each led an extraordinary life.
93. Each had a character for supernatural greatness.
94. Both possessed or claimed a oneness with the Father.
95. A “ oneness with his Lord and Master” is claimed, also,
for the disciples of each.
96. A strong reciprocal affection between Master and disciple
*n each case.
97. Each offers to shoulder the burdens of his disciples.
98. A portion of the life of each was spent in preaching.
99. Both made converts by their miracles and preaching.
CHRIST AND CHRISTINA.
229
100. A numerous retinue of believers springs up in each case.
101. Both had commissioned apostles to proclaim their reli-
gion.
102. Each was an innovator upon the antecedent religion.
103. A beautiful reform in religion was inaugurated by each
Savior.
104. Each opposed the existing popular priesthood.
105. Both abolished the law of lineal descent in the ancient
priesthood.
106. Each was an object of conspiracy by his enemies.
107. Humility and external poverty distinguished the life of
each.
108. Each denounced riches and rich men, and loathed and
detested wealth.
109. Both had a character for meekness.
110. Chastity or unmarried life was a distinguishing charac-
teristic of each.
111. Mercy was a noteworthy characteristic of each.
112. Both were censured for associating with sinners.
113. Each was a special friend to the poor.
114. A poor widow woman receives marked attention by
each.
115. Each encounters a gentile woman at a well.
116. Both submitted unresistingly to injuries and insults.
117. General practical philanthropy and impartiality marks
the life of each Savior.
118. Each took more pleasure in repentant sinners than in
virtuous saints.
119. Both practically disclosed God’s attempt to reconcile
the world to himself.
120. The closing incidents in the earth-life of each were
strikingly similar:
121. A memorable last supper marked the closing career of
both.
122. Both were put to death by “ wicked hands.”
123. Chrishna, as well as Christ, was crucified.
124. Darkness attended the crucifixion of each.
125. Both were crucified between two thieves.
230
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
126. Each is reported to have forgiven his enemies.
127. The age of each at death corresponds (being between
thirty and thirty-six years).
128. Each, after giving up the ghost, descends into hell.
129. The resurrection from the dead is a marked period in
the history of each.
180. Each ascends to heaven after his resurrection.
131. Many people are reported to have witnessed the ascen
sion in each case.
132. Each is reported as having both descended and ascended.
133. The head of each, while living on earth, was anointed
with oil.
II. Doctrines.
134. There is a similarity in the doctrines of their respective
religions.
135. The same doctrines are propagated by the disciples of
each.
136. The doctrine of future rewards and punishments is a
part of each system.
137. Analogous views of heaven are found in each system.
138. A third heaven is spoken of in each system.
139. All sin must be punished according to the bible teach-
ings of each.
140. Each has a hell provided for the wicked.
141. Both teach a hell of darkness and a hell of light.
142. An immortal worm finds employment in the hell of each
system (“the worm that dieth not”).
143. The arch-demon of the under world uses brimstone for
fuel in one case, and oil in the other.
144. The motive for future punishment is in both cases the
same.
145. Each has a purgatory or sort of half-way house.
146. Special divine judgments on nations are taught by each.
147. A great and final day of judgment is taught by each.
148. A general resurrection also is taught in each religion.
149. That there is a “ Judge of the dead ” is a doctrine o/
?ach.
CHRIST AND CHRISHNA.
231
150. Two witnesses are to report on human actions in tho
final assizes.
151. We are furnished in each case with the dimension of
heaven or “ the holy city.”
152. Man is enjoined to strive against temptation to sin by
each.
153. And repentance for sin is a doctrine taught by the bible
of each.
154. Each has a prepared city for a paradise.
155. The bibles of both teach that we have no continuing
city here.
156. Souls are carried to heaven by angels, as in the instance
of Lazarus, in each case.
157. A belief in angels or spirits is a tenet of each religion.
158. The doctrine of fallen or evil angels is found in both
systems.
159. Obsession by wicked or evil spirits is taught by each.
160. Both teach that sickness or disease is caused by evil
spirits.
161. Each has a king-devil or arch-demon with a posse of
subalterns or evil spirits.
162. Both bibles record the story of a “ hellaballoo ” or war
in heaven.
163. Both teach that an evil man can neither do nor speak a
good thing.
164. Both teach that sin is a disadvantage in the present life
as well as in the future.
165. The doctrine of free will or free agency is taught by
each.
166. Predestination seems to be inferentially taught by
each.
167. In each case man is a prize in a lottery, with God and
the devil for ticket-holders.
168. Both make the devil (or devils) a scape-goat for sin.
169. Both teach the devil or evil spirits as the primary cause
of all evil.
170. The destiny of both body and soul is pointed out by
each.
232
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
171. The true believers are known as “saints” under both
systems.
172. Saints with u white robes ” are spoken of by each.
173. Both specify “ the Word or Logos ” as God.
174. Wisdom, too, is personified as God by the holy Scrip-
tures of each.
175. Both teach that God may be known by his works.
176. The doctrine of one supreme God is taught in each bible.
177. Light and truth are important words in the religious
nomenclature of each.
178. Both profess a high veneration for truth.
179. “ Where the treasure is, there is the heart also,” is taught
by each.
180. “ Seek and ye shall find” is a condition prescribed by
each.
181. Religious toleration is a virtue professed by both.
182. All nations are professedly based on an equality by each.
183. Both, however, enjoin partiality to “the household of
faith.”
184. The doors of salvation are thrown open to high and low,
rich and poor, by each.
185. Each professes to have “the only true and saving faith.”
186. There is a mystery in the mission of each Savior.
187. “ Rama ” is a well-known word in the bible of each.
188. “The understanding of the wise'’ is a phrase in each.
189. Both speak figuratively of “ the blind leading the blind.”
190. “A new heaven and a new earth” is spoken of by each.
191. The doctrine of a Trinity in the Godhead is taught by
each.
192. Baptism by water is a tenet and ordinance of each.
193. “ Living water ” is a metaphor found in each.
194. Baptism by fire seems also to be recognized by each.
195. Fasting is emphatically enjoined by each.
196. Sacrifices are of secondary importance in each system,
and are partially or wholly abandoned by each.
197. The higher law is paramount to ceremonies in each
religion.
198. The bible of each religion literally condemns idolatry.
CHRIST AND CHRISHNA.
233
199. Botli also make concessions to idolatry
200. Polygamy is not literally encouraged nor openly con-
demned by either.
201. The power to forgive sins is conferred on the disciples
of each.
202. The doctrine of blasphemy is recognized by each.
203. Pantheism, or the reciprocal in-being of God in nature
and nature in God, is taught by both.
III. Bibles and Holy Scriptures.
204. Each has a bible which is the idolized fountain of all
religious teaching.
205. Both have an Old Testament and a New Testament^
virtually.
206. The New Testament inaugurates a new and reform sys-
tem of religion in each case.
207. /‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” is the
faith of the disciples of each.
208. Each system claimed to have its inspired men to write
its scriptures.
209. Both hold a spiritual qualification necessary to under-
stand their bibles.
210. It is a sin to become “ wise beyond what is written ” in
their respective bibles.
211. Both recommend knowing the Scriptures in youth.
212. Alteration of their respective bibles is divinely inter-
dicted.
213. The bible is an infallible rule of faith and practice in both
cases.
214. “ All Scripture is profitable for doctrine ” is the faith of
each.
215. Both explain away the errors of their bibles.
IY. Spirituality of the two Religions.
216. The religion of Chrishna is pre-eminently spiritual ao
less than Christ’s.
234
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
217. Both teach that “to be carnally minded is death.”
218. External rites are practically dispensed with in each
religion.
219. The spiritual law written on the heart is recognized by
each.
220. “ God is within you,” Budhists teach as well as Chris-
tians.
221. Both recognize an invisible spiritual Savior.
222. “God dwells in the heart,” say Hindoos as well as
Christians.
223. An inward recognition of the divine law is amply seen
in both.
224. Both confess allegiance to an inward monitor.
225. The doctrine of inspiration and internal illumination is
found in both.
226. The indwelling Comforter is believed in by both.
227. Both also teach that religion is an inward work.
228. Both speak of being born again —i. e., the second birth.
229. A spiritual body is also believed in by both.
230. “ Spiritual things are incomprehensible to the natural
man,” say each.
231. God’s spiritually sustaining power Budhists also ac-
knowledge.
232. Both give a spiritual interpretation to their bibles.
233. Each has a new and more interior law superseding the
old law.
234. The spiritual cross — self-denial or asceticism — is a
prominent feature of each religion.
235. The duty of renouncing and abandoning the external
world is solemnly enjoined by each.
236. Budhists renounce the world more practically than
Christians.
237. Withdrawal or seclusion from society is recommended
by each.
238. Bodily suffering as a benefit to the soul is encouraged
by each.
239. Voluntary suffering for righteousness’ sake is a virtue
with each.
CHRIST AND CHRISHNA.
235
-
240. The cross is a religious emblem in each system.
241. Both glory in “ the religion of the cross” as better than
a religion without suffering.
242. Hence both teach “ the greater the cross the greater the
crown.”
243. Earthly pleasures are regarded as evil by both.
244. Contempt for the body as an enemy to the soul is visi-
ble in both.
245. Retirement for religious contemplation is a duty with
each.
246. The forsaking of relations is also enjoined by each.
247. Spiritual relationship is superior to external relationship
with both.
248. “ To die is great gain ” we are taught by each.
249. A subjugation of the passions is a religious duty with
each.
250. The road to heaven is a narrow one with each.
251. The same state of religious perfection is aspired to by
the disciples of each.
Y. The Doctrine of Faith or Belief.
252. Faith is an all-important element and doctrine with
each.
253. Heresy, or want of faith, is a sin of great magnitude
with both.
254. Faith in the Savior is a condition to salvation by
both.
255. Confessing the Savior is also required in both cases.
256. “Believe or be damned ” is the condition, or profess to
believe the terrible sine qua non to salvation by each.
257. Skeptics or unbelievers are with both the chief of sin-
ners.
258. “ Faith can remove mountains,” either with a Budhist
or a Christian.
259. Both contrast faith with works.
260. Faith without works is dead — so teach both Budhists
and Christians.
236
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
VI. The Doctrine and Practice of Prayer.
261. Prayer is an important rite in each religion.
262. Private or secret prayer is recommended by both.
263. Each has also a formula of prayer.
264. “ Pray without ceasing is a Budhist as well as a Chris-
tian injunction.
265. Praying to their respective Saviors in sickness and in
health is a custom with both.
266. The custom of praying for the dead is recognized in each
system.
VII. Treatment of Enemies.
267. It is a Hindoo as well as a Christian injunction to treat
enemies kindly.
268. Passive submission to injuries and abuse is enjoined by
both.
269. The holy Scriptures of both require us to pray for en-
emies, and feed them.
270. And even love to enemies is a part of the spirit of each
religion.
VIII. The Millennium.
271. Hindoos, like Christians, prophesy of a great millen-
nial era.
272. There is a remarkable similarity in their notions with
respect to it.
273. Both anticipate a second advent or new Savior on the
occasion.
274. The destruction of the world also is to take place in
both cases.
275. And an entire renovation and a new order of things are
to be established in each case.
IX. Miracles.
276. There is almost a constant display of miraculous powef
in each system.
CHRIST AND CHRISHNA. 237
277. The disciples of both are professedly endowed with this
power.
278. Miraculous cures of the lame, the 'Wind, and the sick are
reported in both cases.
279. Miracles of handling poisonous reptiles with impunity
are reported by both.
280. Swallowing deadly poison is enjoined by Christians and
practiced by Hindoos.
281. Many cases of the miraculous ejection of devils are re-
ported by both.
282. The miracle of thought-reading is displayed by both.
283. The saints in both cases are reported as raising the dead.
X. Precepts.
284. “The kingdom of heaven” was to be sought first of all
things in each case.
285. Love to God is a paramount obligation under each sys-
tem.
286. And the worship of God is an essential requisition in
each religious polity.
287. “ Cease to do evil and learn to do well ” is virtually en-
joined by each.
288. An inward knowledge of God is taught as essential by
both systems.
289. A reliance on works is discouraged by both.
290. Purity of heart is inculcated by Hindoos as well as
Christians.
291. Speak and think evil of no man is a gospel injunction
of each.
292. A love of all beings is more prominently the spirit of
Budhism than that of Christianity.
293. The practice of strict godly virtue is enjoined by both.
294. Moderation and temperance are recommended by both.
295. Patience is a virtue in each religion.
296. The duty of controlling our thoughts is taught by
each.
297. Charity has a high appreciation by each.
238
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
298. Both make the poor special objects of attention.
299. The practice of hospitality is recommended by each.
300. Humility is a duty and a virtue under both systems.
301. Mirthfulness or light conversation is forbidden by each,
302. Purity of life is a duty with Hindoos as well as Chris-
tians.
303. Chasteness in conversation is inculcated by both.
304. “Respect to persons” is a sin in the moral polity of
both.
305. Alms-giving is religiously enjoined by the holy Scrip-
tures of both.
306. Both teach that “ it is better to give than to receive.”
307. Loyalty to rulers is a moral requisition of each system
308. Honor to father and mother is esteemed a great virtue
by both.
309. The correct training of children is with each a scrip-
tural duty.
310. “ Look not upon a woman ” is more than hinted by
each.
311. The reading of the holy Scriptures is enjoined by both.
312. Lying or falsehood is with each a sin of great magni-
tude.
313. Swearing is discountenanced by both religions.
314. Theft or stealing is specially condemned by both.
315. Both deprecate and condemn the practice of war.
316. Both discountenance fighting.
317. Neither of them professes to believe in slavery.
318. Drunkenness and the use of wine are more specifically
condemned by the Hindoo religion.
319. Adultery and fornication are heinous sins in the eyes
of both.
320. Both condemn covetousness as a great sin.
321. Budhists more practically condemn anger than Chris-
tians do.
XI. Miscellaneous Analogies.
322. Both have their apocryphal as well as their canonical
Scriptures.
CHRIST AND CHRISHNA.
239
323. Stories are found in the bible of each which would be
rejected if found elsewhere.
324. Both make their bible a finality in matters of faith.
325. Both have had their councils and commentaries to
reveal their bibles over again.
326. Numerous schisms, divisions, sects, and creeds have
sprung up in each.
327. Various religious reforms have sprung up under each.
328. Conversion from one religious sect to another is common
to both.
329. Both religions have been troubled with numerous skep-
tics or infidels.
330. Both have often resorted to new interpretations for
their bibles to suit the times.
331. The unconverted are stigmatized by each.
332. “Knock and it shall be opened” is the invitation of
each.
333. Public confession of sins in class-meetings is known to
each.
334. Death-bed repentance often witnessed under both reli-
gious systems.
335. A belief in haunted houses incident to the religious
countries of both.
336. A superior respect for women claimed by each.
337. An idolatrous veneration for religious ancestors by each.
338. Both sustain a numerous horde of expensive priests.
339. A divine call or illumination to preach claimed by
each.
340. Religious martyrdom the glory of each.
341. Both have encountered “perils by sea and land” for
their religion.
342. He who loseth his life (for his religion) shall find it, say
both.
343. Both in ancient times suffered much persecution.
344. The disciples of both have suffered death without flinch-
ing from the faith.
345. Each sent numerous missionaries abroad to pieach and
convert.
240
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
346. And, finally, each cherished the hope of converting the
world to their religion.
The author has in his possession historical quotations to prove
the truth of each one of the above parallels. He has all the
historical facts on which they were constructed found in and
drawn from the sacred books of the Hindoo religion and the
works of Christian writers descriptive of their religion. But
they would swell the present volume to unwieldy dimensions,
and far beyond its proper and prescribed limits, to present them
here; they are therefore reserved for the second volume, and
may be published in pamphlet form also.
In proof of the correctness of the foregoing comparative
analogies, we will now summon the testimony of various au-
thors setting forth the historical character of the Hindoo God
Chrishna, and the essential nature of his religion, so far as it
approximates in its doctrines and moral teachings to the Chris-
tian religion. We will first hear from Colonel Wiseman, for ten
years a Christian missionary in India.
“ There is one Indian (Hindoo) legend of considerable im-
portance,” says this writer. . . . “ This is the story of Chrishna,
the Indian Apollo. In native legends he is represented as an
Avatar, or incarnation of the Divinity. At his birth, choirs of
Devitas (angels) sung hymns of praise, while shepherds sur-
rounded his cradle. It was necessary to conceal his birth from
the tyrant ruler, Cansa, to whom it had been foretold that the
infant Savior should destroy him. The child escaped with his
parents beyond the coast of Lamouna. For a time he lived in
obscurity, and then commenced a public life distinguished for
prowess and beneficence. He washed the feet of the Brahmins,
and preached the most excellent doctrines; but at length the
power of his enemies prevailed. . . . Before dying, he foretold
the miseries which would take place in the Cali-yuga, or wicked
age (Dark Age) of the world.”
“ Chrishna (says another writer) taught his followers that
they alone were the true believers of the saving faith; throwing
down the barriers of caste, and elevating the dogmas of their
faith above the sacerdotal class, he admitted every one who
CHRIST AND CIIRISHNA.
241
felt an inward desire to the ministry to the preaching of their
religion. A system thus associating itself with the habits, feel-
ings, and personal advantages of its disciples could not fail
to make rapid progress.” (Upham’s History. Doctrines of
Budhism.)
“Budhism inculcates benevolence, tenderness, forgiveness of
injuries, and love of enemies; and forbids sensuality, love of
pleasure, and attachment to worldly objects.” (Judson.)
“ At the moment of his (Chrishna’s) conception a God left
heaven to enter the womb of his mother (a virgin). Imme-
diately after his birth he was recognized as a divine personage,
and it was predicted that he would surpass all previous divine
incarnations in holiness. Every one adored him, saluting him
as ‘ the God of Gods.’ When twenty years of age he went
into a desert, and lived there in the austerest retirement, pov-
erty, simplicity, and virtue, spending his whole time in religious
cohtemplation. He was tempted in various ways, but his self-
denial resisted all the seductive approaches of sin. He declared,
‘ Religion is my essence.’ He experienced a lively opposition
from the priests attached to the ancient creeds (as Christ sub-
sequently did). But he triumphed over all his enemies after
holding a discussion with them (as Christ did with the doctors
in the Temple). He revised the existing code of morals and
the social law. He reduced the main principles of morality
to four, viz.: mercy, aversion to cruelty, unbounded sympathy
for all animated beings, and the strictest adherence to the
moral law. He also gave a decalogue of commandments, viz.:
1. Not to kill. 2. Not to steal. 3. To be chaste. 4. Not to
testify falsely. 5. Not to lie. 6. Not to swear. 7. To avoid
all impure words. 8. To be disinterested. 9. Not to take re-
venge. 10. And not to be superstitious. This code of morals
was firmly established in the hearts of his followers.” (Abridged
from Hardy’s Manual of Budhism.)
“ It was prophesied in olden times that a person would arise
and redeem Hindostan from 4the yoke of bondage.’ ‘At mid-
night, when the birth of Chrishna was taking place, the clouds
emitted low music, and poured down a rain of flowers. The
celestial child was greeted with hymns by attending spirits.
16
242
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
The room was illuminated by his light, and the countenances
of his father and mother emitted rays of glory, and they bowed
in worship.’ ‘ The people believed he was a God.’ They eager-
ly caught the words which fell from his lips, which taught his
divine mission, and they called him the ‘Holy One,’ and finally
the ‘ Living God.’ lie performed miraculous cures. At his
birth a marvelous light illumed the earth. His followers bap-
tized, and performed miraculous cures. And he, when a child,
attracted attention by his miracles. While attending the herds
with his foster-father a great serpent poisoned the river, which
caused the death of cows and shepherd-boys when they drank
of it, whom Chrishna restored to life by a look of divine power.
His life was devoted to mercy and charity. He left paradise
from pure compassion, to die for suffering sinners. He sought
to lead men to better paths and lives of virtue and rectitude.
He suffered to atone for the sins of the world; and the sinner,
through faith in him, can be saved. Christ and Chrishna both
taught the equality of man. Prayers addressed to Chrishna
were after this fashion : ‘ O thou Supreme One! thy essence is
inscrutable. Thou art all in all. The understanding of man
cannot reach thy Almighty Power. I, who know nothing, fly
to thee for protection. Show mercy unto me, and enable me
to see and know thee.’ Chrishna replies, ‘Have faith in me.
No one who worships me can perish. Address thyself to me
as the only asylum. I will deliver thee from sin. I am ani-
mated with equal benevolence toward all beings. I know
neither hatred nor partiality. Those who adore me devoutly
are in me and I in them’”—“Christ within you the hope of
glory.” (Abridged from Mr. Tuttle.)
“ If we consider that Budhism proclaimed the equality of all
men and women in the sight of God, that it denounced the
impious pretensions of the most mischievous priesthood the
world ever saw, and that it inculcated a pure system of practi-
cal morality, we must admit that the innovation was as advan-
tageous as it was extensively spread and adopted.” (Hue’s
Journey through China, chap, v.)
“ To Chrishna the Hindoos were indebted for a code of pure
and practical morality, which inculcated charity and chastity,
CHRIST AND CHRISHNA.
243
performance of good works, abstinence from evil, and general
kindness to all living things.” (Cunningham.)
“ Budhism never confounds right and wrong, and never ex-
cuses any sin.” (Catharine Beecher.)
“ He (Chrishna) honored humanity by his virtues.” (St. Hi-
laire.)
“ It is probable that every incident in his (Chrishna’s) life is
founded in fact, which, if separated from surrounding fable,
would afford a history that would scarce have an equal in the
importance of the lessons it would teach.” (Hardy’s Manual
of Budhism.)
“ He (Chrishna) undertakes and counsels a constant struggle
against the body. In his eyes the body is the enemy of man’s
soul (as Paul thought when he spoke of ‘our vile bodies’)-
He aims to subdue the body and the burning passions which
consume it. . . . He requires humility, disregard of worldly
wealth, patience and resignation in adversity, love to enemies,
religious tolerance, horror at falsehood, avoidance of frivolous
conversation, consideration and esteem for women, sanctity of
the marriage relation, non-resistance to evil, confession of sins,
and conversion.” (St. Hilaire.)
“Budhism has been called the Christianity of the East.”
(Abel Remuset.)
-
“ The doctrine and practical piety of their bible (the Bagha-
vat Gita) bear a strong resemblance to those of the Holy Scrip-
tures. It has scarcely a precept or principle that is not found
in the (Christian) bible. And were the people to live up to its
principles of peace and love, oppression and injury would be
known no more within their borders. ... It has no mythology
of obscene and ferocious deities, no sanguinary or impure ob-
servances, no self-inflicting tortures, no tyrannizing priesthood,
no confounding of right and wrong by making certain iniquities
laudable in worship. In its moral code, its description of the
purity and peace of the first ages, and the shortening of man’s
life by sin, it seems to follow genuine traditions. In almost
every respect it seems to be the best religion ever invented by
man.” (Rev. H. Mai corn’s Travels in Asia.)
“ If the morality of Budhism be examined, its exhortations
244
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
to guard the will, to curb the thoughts, to exercise kindness
toward others, to abstain from wrong to all, it propounds a very
high standard of practice.” (Upham’s Doctrines and History
of Budhism.)
“ It seeks the highest triumphants of humanity in the exer-
cise of devotion, self-contemplation, and self-denial .” (Theog-
ony of the Hindoos, by Bjornsjerma.)
“And the doctrines of Budhism are not alone in the beauty
of their sentiments and the excellence of much of their moral-
ity. 4 It is not permitted to you to return evil for evil ’ is one
of the sentiments of Socrates.” (Rev. H. S. Hardy’s Eastern
Monachism.)
“ Budhism insists on the necessity of taking the intellectual
faculties for guides in philosophical researches.” (Tiberghien.)
“ It sought to wean mankind from the pleasures and vanities
of life by pointing to the transitoriness of all human enjoyment.”
(Smith’s Mongolia.)
“ The principal characteristics of Budhism are the doctrines
of mildness and the universal brotherhood of man.” (Ibid.)
“ Life is a state of probation and misery, according to Budh-
ism.” (Upham, chap, vi.)
“ The Brahmins found fault with him (Chrishna) for receiv-
ing as disciples the outcasts of Hindoo society (as the Jews did
Christ for fellowsbiping publicans and sinners). But he (Chrish-
na) replied, 4My law is a law of mercy to all.’” (Hue’s
Voyages through China.)
“ Budhism attracted and furnished consolation for the poor
and unfortunate.” (Ibid.)
“ Budhism is a rationalistic and reform system as compared
with Brahminism. Landresse expresses his high admiration of
the heroism with which the Budhist missionaries before Christ
crossed streams and seas which had arrested armies, and trav-
ersed deserts and mountains upon which no caravans dared to
venture, and braved dangers and surmounted obstacles which
had defied the omnipotence of the emperors.” (A note on
Landresse’s Foe Foul Ft.)
44 If we addressed a Mogul or Thibetan this question, Who
CHRIST AND CI1RISHNA.
245
is Chrishna? the reply was, instantly, ‘The Savior of men.’”
(Hue’s Journey through China.)
“ Chrishna, the incarnate Deity of the Sanscrit romance, con-
tinues to this hour the darling God of the women of India. . . .
Chrishna was the person of Vishnu (God) himself in the hu-
man form.” (Asiat. Researches, 260.)
“ Respectable natives told me that some of the missionaries
had told them that they were even now almost Christians”
(owing to the two religions being so nearly alike). (Ibid.)
“All that converting the Hindoos to Christianity does for
them is to change the object of their worship from Chrishna to
Christ.” (Robert Cheyne.)
“ Brahminism or Budhism in some of its forms is said to con-
stitute the religion of considerably more than half the human
race. It teaches the existence of one supreme, eternal, and un-
created God, called Brahma, who created the world through
Chrishna, the second member of the Trinity.” Paul says, God
created the world through Jesus Christ, the second member of
the Christian Trinity. (Eph. iii. 9.) How striking the resem-
blance ! “ The doctrine of the incarnation, the descent of the
Deity upon earth, and his manifestation in a human form for the
redemption of mankind, seems to have existed in the shape of
prophecy or fact in all ages of the world. Hindooism teaches
nine of these incarnations. Furthermore, it teaches the doc-
trine of the Trinity, the fall and redemption of man, and a
state of future rewards and punishments in a future life. . . .
This religion in chief of Asia is traceable to remote ages. The
doctrine of the Trinity is represented in the Elephantine cav-
ern, and taught in the Mahabarat, which goes back for its ori-
gin nearly two thousand years before Christ.” (New York
Sunday Despatch, 1855.)
“ In the year 3600, Chrishna descended to the earth for the
purpose of defeating the evil machinations of Chivan (the
devil), as Christ ‘ came to destroy the devil and his works.’ (See
John iii. 8.) After a fierce combat with the devil, or serpent,
he defeated him by bruising his head — he receiving, during
the contest, a wound in the heel. It [the serpent] shall bruise
246
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.’ — Gen. iii. 15.) He
died at last between two thieves. . . . He led a pure and holy
life, and was a meek, tender, and benevolent being, and enjoined
charity, hospitality, and mercy, and forbade lying, prevarica*
lion, hypocrisy, and overreaching in dealing, and pilfering, and
theft, and violence toward any being.” (Lecture before the
Free Press Association in 1827.)
“ The birthplace of the Hindoo hero (Chrishna) is called
Mathura, which is easily changed, and by correct translation be-
comes Maturea, the place where Christ is said to have stopped,
between Nazareth and Egypt. . . . To show his humility he
washed the feet of the Brahmins (as Christ is said to have
washed the feet of the Jews — see John xiii. 14). One day a
woman came to him and anointed his hair with oil, in return
for which he healed her maladies. One of his first miracles was
that of healing a leper, like Christ (see Mark i. 4). Finally,
he was crucified, then descended to Hades. (It is said of
Christ, ‘his soul was not left in hell.’ — Acts ii. 31.) He
(Chrishna) rose from the dead and ascended to Voicontha”
(heaven). (Higgins’ Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 239.)
Now, we ask, is it any wonder, in view of the foregoing his-
torical exposition, that Eusebius should exclaim, “The religion
of Jesus Christ is neither new nor strange ” ? (Eccl. Hist. ch. iv.)
Truly did St. Augustine say, “This, in our day,is the Christian
religion, not as having been unknown in former times, but as
having recently received that name.”
Here, then, we pause to ask our good Christian reader, "Where
is your original Christianity now? or what constitutes the
revealed religion of Jesus Christ? or where is the evidence
that any new religion was revealed by him or preached by him,
seeing we have all his religion, as shown by the foregoing his-
torical citations, included in an old heathen system more than
a thousand years old when Jesus Christ was born? We find
it all here in this old oriental system of Budhism — every essen•
tial part, particle, and principle of it. We find Christianity all
here — its Alpha and Omega, its beginning and end. We find
it here in all its details, — its root, essence, and entity, — all its
“ revealed doctrines,” religious ideas, beautiful truths, senseless
CHRIST AND CHRISTINA.
241
dogmas and oriental phantoms. Not a doctrine, principle, oi
precept of the Christian system, but that is here proclaimed ta
the world ages before “ the angels announced the birth of a
divine babe in Bethlehem.” Will you, then, persist in claiming
that “truth, life, and immortality came by Jesus Christ,” and
that “ Christ came to preach a new gospel to the world, and to
set forth a new religion never before heard amongst men ” (to
use the language of Archbishop Tillotson), when the historical
facts cited in this work demonstrate a hundred times over that
such a position is palpably erroneous ? Will you still persist,
with all those undeniable facts staring you in the face (proving
and re-proving, with overwhelming demonstration, that the
statement is untrue), in declaring that “the religion of Jesus
Christ is the only true and soul-saving religion, and all other
systems are mere straw, stubble, tradition, and superstition ” (as
asserted by a popular Christian writer), when no mathematician
ever demonstrated a scientific problem more clearly than we
have proved in these pages that all the principal systems of the
past, by no means excepting Christianity, are essentially alike
in every important particular — all their cardinal doctrines
being the same, differing only in unimportant details ?
Seeing, then, that all systems of religion have been found to
be essentially alike in spirit and in practice, the all-important
question arises here, What is the true cause assignable for this
striking resemblance ? How is it to be accounted for? Perhaps
some of our good Christian readers, unacquainted with history,
may cherish the thought that all th»e oriental systems brought
to notice are but imitations of Christianity; that they were re-
constructed out of materials obtained from that source; that
Christianity is the parent, and they the offspring. But, alas
for their long-cherished idol, those who entertain such forlorn
hopes are “sowing to the wind, and are doomed to disappoint-
ment.” With the exception of Mahomedanism alone, Christian-
ity is the youngest system in the whole catalogue. The his-
torical facts to prove this statement are voluminous. But as
it needs no proof to those who have read religious history, but
little space will be occupied with citations for this purpose.
With respect to the antiquity of the principal oriental system,
248
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
we nee<l only quote the testimony of Sir William Jones, a de
vout Christian writer, who spent years in India, and whose
testimony will be accepted by any person acquainted with his
history. lie makes the emphatic declaration, “ That the name
of Chrishna, and the general outline of his history, were long
anterior to the birth of our Savior, and probably to the time of
Homer (900 B. C.), we know very certainly.” (Asiat. Res. vol. i.
p. 254.) No guess-work about it. “ We know very certainly.”
And being a scholar, a traveler, and a sojourner among the
Hindoos, and well versed in their history, no person ever had a
better opportunity to know than he. We will hear this re-
nowned author further. “In the Sanscrit dictionary, compiled
more than two thousand years ago, we have the whole history
of the incarnate deity (Chrishna), born of a virgin, and miracu-
lously escaping in his infancy from the reigning tyrant of his
country (Cansa). He passed a life of the most extraordinary
and incomprehensible devotion. His birth was concealed from
the tyrant Cansa, to whom it had been predicted that one born
at that time, and in that family, would destroy him; ” i. e.,
destroy his power. (Asiat. Res. vol. i. p. 278.) This writer
also states that the first Christian missionaries who entered
India were astonished to find there a religion so near like their
own, and could only account for it by supposing that the devil,
foreseeing the advent of Christ, originated a system of religion
in advance of his, and “just like it.” Stated in other words,
he got out the second edition of the gospel plan of salvation
before the first edition was published or had an existence.
Rather a smart trick this, thus to outwit God Almighty.
With respect to the vast antiquity of the Hindoo oriental
religion, which indicates it as being not only the source from
which the materials of the Christian religion were drawn, but
as being the parent of all the leading systems, with their three
thousand subordinate branches which existed at a much earlier
period than Christianity, we need only point to the deep chis-
eled sculptures and imperishable monuments enstamped on
their time-honored temples, tombs, altars, vases, columns,
pagodas, ruined towers, &c., wThich, with cotemporary inscrip-
tions, warrant us in antedating the religion of the Himma-
CHRIST AND CIJRISIINA.
249
lelis far beyond the authentic records of any other religion
that has floated down to us on the stream of time. The numer-
ous images of their crucified Gods, Chrishna and Sakia, em-
blazoned on their old rock temples in various parts of the
country, some of which are contructed of clay porphyry, now
the very hardest species of rock, with their attendant inscrip-
tions in a language so very ancient as to be lost to the memory
of man, vie with the Sanscrit in age, the oldest deciphered
language in the world.
All these and a hundred corroboratory historical facts fix on
India as being the birthplace of the mother of all religions
now existing, or that ever had an existence, while the great
workshop in which they were subsequently remodeled was in
Alexandria in Egypt, whose theological schools furnished the
model for nearly every system now found noticed on the page
of history — Christianity of course included. So much for
the unrivaled antiquity of the Hindoo religion. Now, the more
important query arises, What relationship does ancient heathen
or Hindoo Budhism bear to Christianity ? What is the evi-
dence that the latter is an outgrowth of the former? As an
answer to this question, the reader will please note the follow-
ing facts of history : —
1. Alexandria, the home of the world’s great conqueror, was
at one period of time the great focal center for religious specu-
lation and propagandism, the great emporium for religious dog-
mas throughout the East, and a place of resort for the disciples
of nearly every system of religious faith then existing.
2. In this capital city, comprising about five hundred thou-
sand inhabitants, were established a voluminous library, and
vast theological schools, in which men of every religious order,
and of every phase of faith, met and exchanged religious ideas,
and borrowed new doctrines, with which they remodeled their
former systems of faith, amounting in some cases to an entire
change of their long-established creeds.
3. In these theological schools the Jewish sect, which after-
ward became the founders of Christianity, were extensively
represented; for, let it be noted, its first disciples and found-
ers had all been Jews, probably of the Essene sect. “For a
250
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
long time the Christians were but a Jewish sect,” says M.
Reuss’ “History of Christian Theology.” Alexander liadf
previous to this time (tlut is, about 330 B. C.), subjected the
whole of Western Asia to his dominions, including, of course,
“ The Holy Land ” — Judea.
4. By this act a large portion of the Jewish nation were
transferred from their own country to Alexandria. And this
number was afterward vastly increased by Alexander’s suc-
cessor, Ptolemy Sotor, who carried off and settled in that
credal city one hundred thousand more Jews.
5. As the result, in part, of these repeated calamities, “ the
Lord’s chosen people” were literally broken up. They lost
their law, lost their leader and lawgiver, lost their language,
lost the control of their country, the “ Promised Land? which
(they verily believed) the Lord had deeded to them in fee
simple, and ratified in the high court of heaven, and had de-
clared they should hold and possess forever. And finally they
partially lost their nationality, being literally dissolved and
broken up; and were finally almost lost to history — the ten
tribes disappearing entirely.
6. The Jews had ever manifested a proneness for copying after
the religious customs of their heathen neighbors, and engraft-
ing their doctrines into their own creeds, as their bible history
furnishes ample proof.
7. In Alexandria a very superior opportunity was afforded
for doing this, excelling in this respect any previous period of
their history.
-
8. The shattered condition of their own religion, with all its
conventional creeds, customs, and ceremonies, now suspended
and literally prostrated, as above shown, vastly augmented the
temptation ever rife with them to make another change in
their religion, and subject their creed to another installment of
new doctrines, by which it became Christianity.
9. The liberal character and tolerant spirit of the political
and religious institutions of the kingdom of Alexandria, with its
vast and attractive library of two hundred thousand volumes,
established principally by Ptolemy Philadelphus, with othei
attractive features already pointed out, furnished great facilh
CHRIST AND CHRISHNA.
25}
ties, as well as increased temptations to religious propagandists
to absorb new theories, and make new creeds out of the vast
medley of religious doctrines and speculative dogmas preached
and propagated in that royal city by the disciples and repre-
sentatives of nearly every religious system then in existence,
brought together by the attractions above specified.
10 Hence every consideration would lead us to conclude,
taken in connection with the facts above -stated, and the well-
known borrowing proclivity and imitative propensity of the
Jews, that they would not, and could not, withstand the over-
weening and overpowering temptation to make another radical
change in their religion by a new draught on the boundless
reservoir of speculative ideas, religious tenets, and specious
theories then glowing in the popular schools of Alexandria.
11. All the facts above enumerated would impel us to the
conclusion that the Jews would — and every page of history
touching the matter proves they did —make important changes
in their religion by this contact with the oriental systems, as
they had repeatedly done before. Some of this proof we will
here present, to show how they originated Christianity.
12. “The schools of Alexandria,” says Mr. Enfield, a Chris-
tian writer, “ by pretending to teach sublime doctrines concern-
ing God and divine things, enticed men of different countries and
religions, and among the rest the Jews, to study its mysteries,
and incorporate them with their own. . . . The Jewish faith
mixed with the Pythagorean, and afterward with the Egyp-
tian oriental theology ” (that is, they became Essenes in the
Grecian school of Pythagoras, who taught the doctrines of
that religious order, then Budhists in the Egyptian schools of
Alexandria). And finally, with Christ as their leader, who
taught the doctrines of both schools (they being essential-
ly alike), they assumed the name of Christian in honor of
him, and thus is Christianity from Essene Budhism.
13. Beers, in his “History of the Jews,” sustains the above
statement by the declaration that the Essenian Jews “ fled to
Egypt at the time of the Babylonian captivity, and there be-
came acquainted with the Pythagorean philosophy, and in-
grafted it upon the religion of Moses,” which would make them
252
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
Essenian Budhists — for Cunningham assures us that “the
doctrines of Pythagoras were intensely Budhistic.” (Philsa.
Topus, chap, x.)
14. We will condense a few more historical testimonies rela-
tive to the entire change of the Jewish faith, while in Alexandria,
as well as on other occasions, to show how easy and natural it
was for that portion of the Jews who afterward became the
founders of Christianity to slide into and adopt Essenian
Budhism, whose doctrines they took to constitute the Christian
religion.
15. Mr. Gibbon (chap, xxi.) declares that the theological
opinions of the Jews underwent great changes by their contact
with the various foreigners they found in Alexandria. Mr.
Tytler likewise, in his u Universal History,” assures us that the
Jewish religion “ became totally changed by the intermixture
of heathen doctrines.” Dr. Campbell also testifies that “their
views came pretty much to coincide with those of the pagans.”
(See his Dissertation, vi.) And the author of “The Expositor
for 1854 ” complains that the pagan “ theology stole upon them
from every quarter, and mingled in all the views of the then
known tribes, so that by the year 150 B. C. it had wrought
visible changes in their notions and habits of thought.” (P.
428.) Here we have the proof that the whole Jewish religion
underwent a change in Alexandria.
16. Now, most certainly a nation or sect professing a religion
so easily changed, and possessing a character so fickle, or so
impressible as to yield on every slight occasion, and embrace
every opportunity to imbibe new religious ideas and doctrines,
would easily, if not naturally, slide into the adoption of the re-
ligious system then promulgated in Alexandria under the name
of Budhism, and afterward remodeled or transformed, and
called Christianity.
17. The Jews of the Essenian order, as \ye have in part
shown in a previous chapter, set forth in their creed all the
leading doctrines now comprised in the Christian religion hun-
dreds of years before the advent of Christ, not excepting the
doctrine of the divine incarnation and its adjuncts, as these
concomitants of the present popular faith, we will now prove,
CHRIST AND CIIRISIINA.
253
were not unknown to the Jewish theology, but constituted a
part of the religion of some of the principal Jewish sects. That
standard Christian author, Mr. Milman, in his “ History of Chris-
tianity,” tells us that “the doctrine of the incarnation (‘God
manifest in the flesh ’) was the doctrine from the Ganges, and
even the shores of the Yellow Sea to the Ilissus. It was the
fundamental principle of the Indian Budhist religion and phi-
losophy. It was the basis of Zoroasterism. It was pure Plato-
nism. It was Platonic Judaism in the Alexandrian school.”
Here it is positively declared, by a popular Christian writer,
whose work is a part of nearly every popular library in Chris-
tendom as a standard authority, that the appearance of God
amongst men in the human form, by human birth, was a doc-
trine of the Jewish religion in some of its branches, especially
the Essenian branch — further proof that Christianity originated
nothing, and gave utterance to no new doctrine or precepts,
and performed no new miracles. Where, then, is the claim
for its originality ? On what ground is it predicated ? Please
answer us, good Christian brother.
18. It is a question of no importance, if it could be settled,
whether Christianity is a direct outgrowth from one of the new-
fangled sects of Judaism, or whether it derived a portion of its
doctrines from this source and the balance from ascetic Budh-
ism. Yet we regard it as an incontrovertible proposition that
it all grew out of Budhism originally, either directly or indi-
rectly.
19. Christ may have received his doctrines second-handed,
all or a portion from the Essenian Jews; for that sect held all
the leading doctrines of Budhism (as we have shown in a pre-
vious chapter), which now goes under the name of the religion
of Jesus Christ.
20. Or we may indulge the not unreasonable hypothesis that
the founders of Christianity, who republished the doctrines of
Budhism and adopted them as their own, received them all
direct from the disciples of that religious order; for “ they were
everywhere,” as one writer (Mr. Taylor) declares, speaking of
their extensive travels to propagate their doctrines through the
world. And it was about that period, as Mr. Goodrich informs
254
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
us, they sent out nine hundred missionaries, who made six
millions of converts, — a small fraction of their present number
(three hundred and eighty millions, as given by some of our
geographies), — one third more than the entire census of
Christendom, and six times the number of believers in the
Christian religion, if we omit Greeks and Catholics. “ It is,” as
a writer remarks, “the oldest and most widely spread religion
in the world.” And, whatever hypothesis may be adduced to
account for the fact, Christianity is now all Budhism.
21. It is impossible, with the historic darkness which at pres-
ent environs and beclouds our pathway, to determine at what
period or in what manner Christ became an Essene, — whether
he was born of Essenian parents, or became a convert to the
faith, — because the whole period of his life, with the exception
of about three years, is a total blank in history. There is but
one incident related of his movements by his bible biographers
prior to his twenty-seventh year, leaving more than a quarter
of a century of his probably active life unreported — a period
that may have witnessed several important changes in his re-
ligion. We have not even his ancestry reported in his scrip-
tural biography, in either parental line, unless we assume
Joseph to have been his father. The parental lineage of his
mother is entirely omitted. Had we his line of ancestry, or
could we trace him back to his national or family origin, we
doubt not but we should there find a full clew to the origin of
his religion. We should find his ancestors were Essenian
Jews.
22. Nor can we fix the date when Essenian Budhism among
the Jews received the name of Christianity for a similar reason.
There is a link — a chain of events of four hundred years left
out of the bible between Judaism and Christianity — thus lack-
ing four hundred years of connecting the two religions together,
or of showing how the latter grew out of the former. Malachi,
the last book of the Old Testament, antedates the first events
of Christian history four centuries, or twelve generations, thus
leaving a wide and dark gap between them. And besides, we
cannot find the name of Christ or Christianity mentioned in any
vf the cotemporary histories of that era till one hundred and
CHRIST AND CHRISIINA.
255
four years after the time fixed for Christ’s birth by Christen*
dom; Tacitus being the first writer who names either, and
this was at that date.
23. These facts disclose the whole secret with respect to the
mystery and darkness thrown around the origin of the Chris-
tian religion — the how, the when, and the where of its origin.
That chapter of Christian history is left out of the record.
The bible account itself is but fragmentary, as it leaves nine
tenths of Christ’s history a blank, — twenty-seven years out of
the thirty, — and omits all mention of his ancestors beyond his
grandmother, and leaves even the time of his birth a blank.
“ The researches of the learned,” says Mr. Mosheim (a standard
Christian author), “though long and ably conducted, have been
unable to fix the time of Christ’s birth with certainty.” (Eccl.
Hist. p. 23.) Wonderful admission, truly, as it is an evidence
that nothing else can be fixed “ with certainty,” with respect to
the history of “the man Christ Jesus,” only that his doctrines
and precepts were all borrowed perhaps during the twenty-
seven dark and mysterious years of his life, if not an Essene
by birth.
24. There is no escaping the conclusion that Christianity is
a borrowed system — an outgrowth and remodeling of Budh-
ism, with a change of name only. A thousand facts of history
prove and proclaim it, and the verdict of posterity will be unani-
mous in affirming it.
25. From the almost endless chain of analogies, exhibiting
a striking resemblance even in their minute details of Chris-
tianity and Budhism, we are compelled to conclude that one
furnished the materials for the other : that one is the offspring
— the legitimate child — of the other. And as it is a settled
historical fact that Budhism is much the older system, there is
hence no difficulty in determining which is the parent and
which is the child.
26. In the Hindoo story of the creation of the human race,
we find Adimo and Heva given as the names of the first man
and woman answering to our Adam and Eve. And our Shem,
Ham, and Japheth are traceable to their Sherma, Hama, and
Jiapheta: the difference in the mode of spelling is probably
256
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
owing to the difference in the languages. And under the new
era we have Christ Jesus answering to their Chrishna Zeus, aa
some writers give the name of the eighth Avatar. And for
Maia, a godmother, we have Mary. And other similar analo-
gies might be pointed out besides the long string of strikingly
similar events previously presented in the history of the two
Saviors (Christ and Chrishna), amounting to hundreds.
27. Such an almost countless list of similar and nearly iden-
tical incidents bids defiance, and absolutely sets at naught all
attempts to account for it as a mere fortuitous accident. There
is no other explanation possible but that Christianity is a re- .
vamp or re-establishment of Budhism.
28. Here let it be noted that Christianity was not the only
religion which was rehabilitated in the Alexandrian schools.
On the contrary, all the popular oriental systems then in active
being had long previously passed through the same representa-
tive theological schools and creed-making institutions of that
royal and commercial city. All were remodeled in its theo
logical workshops—a fact which accounts most conclusively
for the same train of religious ideas and historical incidents
being found in the later sacred books of each. And besides,
Sir William Jones says, “The disciples of these various sys-
tems of religion had intercourse w*ith each other long before
the time of Christ,’which would necessarily bring about a uni-
formity in the doctrines and general character of each system.5
29. The disciples of all the religious systems cited their initi-
atory miracles as a proof of being on familiar terms with God
Almighty. They all (as is claimed) healed the sick; all re-
stored the deaf, the dumb, and the blind; all cast out devils,
and all raised the dead. (See chapter on Parallels.) In fact, all
their miracles and legendary marvels run in parallel lines, be-
cause all were recast in the same creed-mold in Alexandria.
A coincidence is thus beautifully explained, which would other-
wise be hard to account for.
30. Mr. Gibbon says, “ It was in the school of Alexandria
that the Christian theology appears to have assumed a regular
and scientific form” (Decline, &c., chap, xv.) ; that is, the regu-
lar and scientific form of Budhism or Essenism.
CHRIST AND CHRISHNA.
257
31. Pregnant with meaning is the text, “ It was in the city of
Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” (Acts xi. 36.)
Here is conclusive proof that the disciples of the Christian faith
were not always known by the same name, and were not at
first called Christians. Then what were they called during the
earlier years of their history ? Here is a great and important
query, and one involving a momentous problem. Couple the
two facts together, that the disciples were first known as Chris-
tians at Antioch, and that the Essenian order of believers ex-
pired and went out of history about that period, and the ques-
tion is at once and forever satisfactorily settled. It was not an
infrequent act on making important changes in a religion, and
adopting some new items of faith to change the title of the
system, and give it a new name.
-
After Alexander Campbell had made some modifications in
his previous religious faith, and started a new church, his fol-
lowers were popularly called Campbellites. Elias Hicks in-
grafted some reform ideas into the Quaker faith, and instituted
a new society of that order. Hence, and henceforth, his disci-
ples were known as Hicksites. In like manner Jesus Christ
having made some innovations in his inherited Jewish faith
(which was of the Essene stamp) by ingrafting more of the
Budhist doctrine into it, his followers were henceforth called
Christians. How complete the analogy! Here let it be borne
in mind, as powerfully confirmatory of this conclusion, that the
first Christians were (as history affirms) “ merely reformatory
Jews.” The twelve chosen were all Jews, probably of the
Essene order. According to the Rev. Mr. Prideaux (Jewish
History), the Jews of this order were first called Israelites, in
common with the other tribes ; then Chassidim; and thirdly
Essenes. And finally, after the Essenian Jesus Christ, with some
new radical ideas, proclaimed, “Ye have heard it hath been said
by them of old time” thus and so, “but I say unto you” differ-
ently. The title was again changed, and they adopted or received
the name of Christians — the Essenes going out of history
at the very date Christians first appear in history. Put this
and that together, and the chain is welded. Thus we can as
easily trace the origin of Christianity as we can trace the origin
17
258
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
of a root running beneath the soil in the direction of a certain
tree. History, then, proclaims that to the honest, pious, deep-
ly*devout, self-denying, yet ignorant, slothful, and filthy Budh-
istic Essenes must be awarded the honor or dishonor of giving
birth to that system of religion now known as Christianity.
Chrishna as a God—Additional Facts.
The following additional facts relative to the history, char-
acter, life, and teachings of Zeus Chrishna, or Jeseus Christna
(as styled by one writer) are drawn mostly from the Vedas,
Baghavat, Gita (Bible in India).
1. His Virgin Mother, her Character. — The holy book de-
clares, that “ through her the designs of God were accomplished.
She was pure and chaste; no animal food ever touched her
lips; honey and milk were her sustenance; her time wras spent
in solitude, lost in the contemplation of God, who showered
upon her innumerable blessings ; she looked upon death as the
birth to a new and better life; when she traveled, a column of
fire in the heavens went before her to guide her. One evening,
as she was praying, she heard celestial music, and fell into a
profound ecstasy, and being overshadowed by the spirit of
God, she conceived the God Chrishna.” (Baghavat Gita.)
2. Chrishna, his Life and Mission. — This sin-atoning God
was about sixteen when he commenced active life. Like Christ,
he chose twelve disciples to aid him in propagating his doc-
trines. “ lie spent his time working miracles, resuscitating the
dead, healing lepers, restoring the deaf and the blind, defend-
ing the weak against the strong, and the oppressed against the
oppressor, and in proclaiming his divine mission to redeem
man from original sin, and banish evil, and restore the reign
of good.” (Baghavat, Gita.) It is declared that he came to
teach peace, charity, love to man, self-respect, the practice of
good for its own sake, and faith in the inexhaustible goodness
of the Creator; also to preach the immortality of the soul,
and the doctrine of future rewards and punishments, and to
vanquish the prince of darkness, Rakshas. It is further declared
that “Brahma sent his son (Chrishna) upon the earth to die
CHRIST AND C HR IS IINA.
259
for the salvation of man.” “Ilis lofty precepts and the purity
of his life spread his fame throughout all India, and finally won
for him more than three millions of followers.” “He inculcated
the snblimest doctrines, and the purest morals, and the grand
principles of charity and self-denial.” “He forbade revenge,
and commanded to return good for evil, and consoled the
feeble and the unhappy.” “ He lived poor, and loved the poor.”
“ He lived chaste, and enjoined chastity.” “Problems the most
lofty, and morals the most pure and sublime, and the future
destiny of man, were themes which engaged his most profound
attention.” “Chrishna, we will venture to say (says the Bible
in India), was the greatest of philosophers, not only of India,
but of the entire world.” “ He was the grandest moral figure
of ancient times.” (Bible in India.) “Chrishna was a moralist
and a philosopher.” “We should admire his moral lessons, so
sublime and so pure.” “He was recognized as the ‘Divine
Word.5” “He received the title of Jeseus, which means pure
Essense.” Chrishna signifies the “Promised of God,” the
“Messiah.” “ When he preached, he often spoke from a mount.
He also spoke in parables. ‘ Parable plays a large part in the
familiar instructions of this Hindoo Redeemer.5” He relates a
very interesting parable of a fisherman who was much perse-
cuted by his neighbors, but who in the time of a severe famine,
when the people were suffering and dying for the want of food,
being so noble as to return good for evil, he carried food to
these same persecuting enemies, and thus saved them from
starvation. “ Therefore,” said he, “ do good to all, both the evil
and the good, even your enemies.” His addresses to the peo-
ple were simple, but to his disciples they were elevated and
philosophical. Such was the wisdom of his sermons and his
parables, that the people crowded around him, eager to behold
and hear him, “ saying, This is indeed the Redeemer promised
to our fathers.” Great multitudes followed him, exclaiming,
“ This is he who resuscitates the dead, and heals the lame, and
the deaf, and the blind.” On one occasion, as he entered
Madura (as Christ once entered Jerusalem), “the people came
out in flocks to meet him, and strewed branches in his way.”
On another occasion two women approached him, anointed him
260
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
with oil, and worshiped him. When the people murmured at
this waste, he replied, “Better is a little given with an humble
heart than much given with ostentation.” Such was his sense
of decorum, that he admonished some girls he once observed
playing in a state of nudity on the bank of a river after bathing.
They repented, asked his forgiveness, and reformed. “The
followers of Chrishna practiced all the virtues, and observed a
complete abnegation of self (self-denial), and lived poor, hoping
for a reward in the future life. They occupied all their time in
the service of their Divine Master. Pure and majestic was
their worship.” Chrishna had a favorite disciple, Adjaurna,
who sustained to him the relation of John to Christ, while
Angada acted the part of Judas by following him to the Ganges
and betraying him.
3. His last Hours. — “When Chrishna knew his hour had
come, forbidding his disciples to follow him, he repaired to the
bank of the River Ganges; and having performed three ablu-
tions, he knelt down, and looking up to heaven, he prayed to
Brahma.” While nailed to the cross, the tree on which he was
suspended became suddenly covered with great red flowers,
which diffused their fragrance all around. And it is said he
often appeared to his disciples after his death “in all his divine
majesty.”
4. The second Advent of Chrishna. — “ There is not a Hindoo
or a Brahmin who does not look upon the second coming of
Chrishna as an established article of faith.” Their holy bibles
(the Yedas and Gita) prophesy of him thus: “He shall come
crowned with lights; he shall come, and the heavens and the
earth shall be joyous; the stars shall pale before his splendor;
the earth will be too small to contain him, for he is infinite, he
is Almighty, he is Wisdom, he is Beauty, he is all and in all;
and all men, all animated beings, beasts, birds, trees, and plants,
will chant his praises; he will regenerate all bodies, and purify
all souls.” “ He will be as sweet as honey and ambrosia, and
as pure as the lamb without spot, or as the lips of a virgin.
All hearts will be transported with joy. From the rising to
the setting of the sun it will be a day of joy and exultation,
when this God shall manifest his power and his glory, and
CHRIST AND CHRISHNA.
261
reconcile the world unto himself.” Such are a few of the
prophetic utterances of his devout and prayerful disciples.
44 We find,” says a writer, 44 in all the theogonies of different
countries the hope of the advent of a God (either his first or
second coming) — a hope which sprang from a sense of their
own imperfections and sufferings, which naturally induced
them to look for a divine Redeemer.”
5. Precepts of Chrishna.— Numerous are the prescriptive
admonitions found in the holy books which set forth the religion
of41 this heathen demigod” (so called by Christian professors).
They appertain to all the duties of life, but are too numerous
to be quoted here. Those appertaining to woman enjoin the
most sacred regard for her rights, such as44 woman should be pro-
tected with tenderness, and shielded with fostering solicitude.”
44 There is no crime more odious than to persecute woman, or
take advantage of her weakness.” 44 Degrade woman, and you
degrade man.” For other similar precepts, see Chapter XXXII.
The injunctions to read their holy bible (the Yedas, &c.) are
quite numerous, such as, 44 Let him study the holy Scriptures
unceasingly.” 44 Pray night and morning, and read the holy
Scriptures in the attitude of devotion ” And many of them
read it through upon their knees. (See Chap.XLIV.) We have
not space for a further exposition of this subject here; but it
will be found more fully set forth in the pamphlet, 44 Christ and
Chrishna Compared,” which will, perhaps, become an Appen-
dix to this work. It may be objected that there are precepts
and stories to be found in the religion of this Hindoo God
(Chrishna), which reflect but little credit or honor upon
that religion. This is true. And similar reflections would
materially damage the religion of Christianity also. The story
of Christ beating and maltreating the money-changers in the
temple, his cursing an innocent, unoffending, and unconscious
fig tree, and his indulgence in profane swearing at his enemies,
—44 O ye fools and blind, ye generation of vipers, how can you
escape the damnation of hell! ”— does not reflect any credit upon
his religion, viewed as a system. Defects, then, may be found
in both systems In viewing the analogies of the two religions,
it should be noted that the Hindoos claim, with a forcible show
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of facts and logic, that the religion of Christianity grew out of
theirs. It has not been long since a learned Hindoo main*
tained this position in a public debate with a missionary. If
all these facts effect nothing in the way of inducing the Chris-
tian clergy to confess the falsity of their position in claiming
their religion to be a direct emanation from God, it will be a
sad commentary upon either their intelligence or their honesty.
These historical facts, with those set forth in the preceding
chapters, prove that the religion called Christianity, instead of
being, as Christians claim, “ the product of the Divine Mind,”
is the product of “heathen” minds; i. e., a spontaneous out*
growth of the moral and religious elements of the human mind.
And therefore, for God to have revealed it over again to the
founders of Christianity would have been superfluous, and a
proof of his ignorance of history.
Note. — The author deems it proper to state here, with respect to the
comparison between Christ and Chrishna, that some of the doctrines
which he has selected as constituting a part of the religion of the Hindoo
Savior, are not found in the reported teachings of that deified moralist.
But as they appear to breathe forth the same spirit, it is presumed he
would have indorsed them, had they come under his notice. As Christians
assume the liberty to arrange the doctrines of Paul and Peter under the
head of Christianity because claimed to be in consonance with the religion
of Christ, though not all taught by him, the author, in like manner, has
assumed, that some doctrines taught by other systems and religious teach-
ers of India accord with those taught by Chrishna, and hence has ar-
ranged them with his. The author’s purpose is not to set forth the doc-
trines of any sect, any system, or any religious teacher, but to show that
all the doctrines of Christianity are traceable to ancient India. But
whether taught by this sect or that sect, it is foreign to our purpose to
inquire; and hence, for convenience, he has arranged them all into one
system, and designated them Chrishnaanity (borrowing a new term).
There can be no more impropriety, he presumes, in arranging the doc-
trines of the various conflicting sects of India into one system (including
even Brahminism and Budhism), than to arrange, as Christians do, the
doctrines taught by the antagonistic systems of Catholicism and Protes-
tantism, and their six hundred conflicting sects, under the head of Chris-
tianity. Hence Christians, of course, will not fault the arrangement. The
classification above alluded to comprises, in part, the religion of many
of the Hindoo sects, but does not set forth all their doctrines, only those
analogous to Christianity. Chrishna was a Vishnuite, and not a Brahmin,
as some writers assume. He and Christ were both reformers, and de-
parted from the ancient faith. Vishnuism appears to have finally centered
in Budhism.
APOLLONIUS. OSIRIS, -4JV2J MAGUS.
263
CHAPTER XXXIII.
APOLLONIUS, OSIRIS, MAGUS, &C.-G0DS.
Miraculous Achievements op other Gods and Demi-
gods op Antiquity.
The age in which Christ flourished, as before remarked,
was pre-eminently an age of miracle. The practice of thau-
maturgy, and the legends invested with the display of the mir-
acle-working power, both preceding and subsequent to that
era, rose to a great hight. “ All nations of that time,” says a
writer, “ were mightily bent on working miracles.” And the
disciples who acted the part of biographers for the various
crucified Gods and sin-atoning Saviors, throughout the East,
seemed to vie with each other in setting off the lives and his-
tories of their favorite objects of worship respectively, with
marvelous exploits and the pageantry of the most astounding
prodigies. And the miracles in each case were pretty much
of the same character, thus indicating a common source for
their origin, — all probably having been cast in the same
mold, in the theological schools of the once famous, world-
renowned city of Alexandria the capital of Egypt. Having, in
the preceding chapters, presented the miraculous achievements
of the Hindoo Gods Chrishna and Sakia, we will here bring to
notice those of other Gods.
The Miracles recorded op Alcides, Osiris, and other
Gods op Egypt.
1. We have the miraculous birth by a virgin in the case of
Alcides.
264
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
2. Osiris, while a sticking infant in his cradle, killed two
serpents which came to destroy him.
3. Alcides performed many miraculous cures.
4. According to Ovid he cured by a miracle the daughter of
Archiades.
5. Also the wife of Theogenes, after the doctors had given
her up.
6. And both these Gods converted water into wine.
7. Both of them frequently cast out devils.
8. Julius declares Alcides raised Tyndarus and Hippolitus
from the dead.
9. When Zulis was crucified, the sun became dark and the
moon refused to shine.
10. Both he and Osiris were resurrected by a miracle.
11. Both ascend to heaven in sight of many witnesses.
12. And finally we are told that from Alexandria the whole
empire became filled with the fame of these miracle-workers,
who restored the blind to sight, cured the paralytic, caused the
dumb to speak, the lame to walk, &c. All these miracles were
as credibly related of these Gods as similar miracles of Jesus
Christ.
Miracles performed by Pythagoras and other Gods
of Greece.
1. Pythagoras was a spirit in heaven before he was born on
earth.
2. His birth was miraculously foretold.
3. His mother conceived him by a specter (the Holy Ghost).
4. His mother (Pytheas) was a holy virgin of great moral
purity.
5. Plato’s mother, Paretonia (says Olympiodorus), conceived
him by the God Apollo.
6. Pythagoras in his youth astonishes the doctors by his
wisdom.
7. Was worshiped as the “ Son of God,” “ Paraclete,” “ Child
of Divinity,” &c.
APOLLONIUS, OSIRIS, ^4iVZ> MAGUS.
265
-
8. Could see events many ages in the future (says Rich*
ardson, his biographer).
9. Could bring down the eagle from its lofty hight by
command.
10. Could approach and subdue the wild, ferocious Daunian
bear.
11. Could, like Christ, appear at two.places at once.
12. Could walk on the water and travel on the air.
13. Could discern and read the thoughts of his disciples.
14. Could handle poisonous reptiles with impunity.
15. Cured all manner of diseases.
16. Restored sight to the blind.
17. He “ cast out devils.”
18. Jamblicus says he could allay storms on the sea.
19. Raised several persons from the dead.
20. And, finally, “ a thousand other wonderful things are
told of him,” says Jamblicus.
With respect to his character, it is said that “ for humility,
and practical goodness, and the wisdom of his moral precepts,
he stood without a rival.” He discarded bloody sacrifices,
discouraged wars, forbade the use of wine and other intoxicat-
ing drinks, enjoined the forgiveness of enemies and their kind
treatment, and also respect to parents. He was a special friend
to the poor, and taught that they were the favorites of God.
“ Blessed are ye poor.” He practiced and recommended the
silent worship of God. He retired from the world, and often
fasted, and was a great enemy to riches (like Jesus Christ).
He considered poverty a virtue, and despised the pomp of the
world. He recommended (like Christ) the abandonment of
parents, relations, and friends, houses and lands, &c., for reli-
gion’s sake. His disciples, like those of Christ, had a common
treasury and a general community of goods, to which all had
free access, so that there was no poverty or suffering amongst
them while the supply lasted. All shared alike. In fact, with
respect to the spirit of his precepts, his moral lessons, and near-
ly his whole practical life, he bore a striking resemblance to
Jesus Christ, and presented the same kind of evidence, and
equally convincing evidence, of being a God. And as he was
266
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
born into the world five hundred and fifty-four years before
Christ, the latter probably obtained the materials of his moral
system from that Grecian teacher, or in the same school of the
Essenian Budhists, in which both Pythagoras and Christ ap«
pear to have taken lessons.
Miracles op the Roman Gods Quirinus and Pro-
metheus.
1. Prometheus was honored with a miraculous birth.
2. Quirinus was miraculously preserved in infancy, when
threatened with destruction by the tyrant ruler Amulius.
3. He performed the miracles, according to Seneca and He-
siod, of curing the sick, restoring the blind, raising the dead,
and casting out devils.
4. Both these Gods were crucified amid signs, and wonders,
and miracles.
5. All nature was convulsed, and the saints arose when they
were crucified.
6. The sun was also darkened, and refused to shine.
7. Both descended to hell, and rose from it by divine power.
8. And Prometheus was seen to ascend to heaven.
We cite these lists of miraculous events as if real facts, not
because we believe they were such, but as possessing the same
degree of credibility as those related of Jesus Christ.
Miracles and Religion op Apollonius op Tyana.
1. Everything was subject to his miraculous power.
2. He performed many miraculous cures.
3. He restored sight to the blind.
4. He cast out devils, which sometimes “ cut up ” like those
of Christ.
5. He enabled the lame to walk.
6. He re-animated the dead.
7. He could read the thoughts of bystanders.
8. Sometimes disappeared in a miraculous manner.
9. Caused a tree to bloom, while Christ made another tree to
wither away.
APOLLONIUS, OSIRIS, ^4AZ> MAGUS.
267
10. The laws of nature obeyed him.
11. Could speak in many languages he had never learned.
12. Was at one time transfigured, like Christ. «
13. His birth was miraculously foretold by an angel.
14. Was bom of a spotless virgin.
15. There were demonstrations of joy and singing at his
birth.
16. Exhibited proofs in infancy of being a God.
17. Manifested extraordinary wisdom in childhood.
18. He was called “ the Son of God.”
19. Also “the image of the Eternal Father manifested in
the flesh.”
20. He was also styled “ a prophet.”
21. Like Christ, he retired into mystic silence.
22. His religion was one of exalted spirituality.
23. He taught the doctrine of “ the Inner Life.”
24. He possessed exalted views of purity and holiness.
25. Like Christ, he was a religious ascetic.
26. His religion, as in the case of Christ, forbade him to marry.
27. He ate no animal food, and would wear no woolen
garments.
28. Gave his substance to the poor.
29. Eschewed love for wine and women.
30. Refrained from artificial ornaments and sumptuous living.
31. He was a high-toned moral reformer.
32. He condemned external sacrifices.
33. Also condemned gladiatorial shows.
34. He religiously opposed dancing and sexual pleasures.
35. He recommended the pursuit of wisdom.
36. Was of a serene temper, and never got angry.
37. Was a true prophet, foresaw and foretold many future
events.
38. Foresaw a plague, and stopped it after it had commenced.
39. Crowds were attracted by his great miracles and his
wisdom.
40. He disputed with and vanquished the wise men of
Greece and Asia, as Christ did the learned doctors in the
temple.
268
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
41. When imprisoned by Domitian and loaded with chains,
lie disenthralled himself by divine power.
42. lie was followed by crowds when entering Alexandria,
like Christ when entering Jerusalem.
43. Was crucified amidst a display of divine power.
44. He rose from the dead.
45. Appeared to his disciples after his resurrection.
46. Like Christ, he convinced a Tommy Didymus by getting
him to feel the print of the nails in his hands and feet.
47. Was seen by many witnesses after his resurrection, and
was hailed by them as the “God Incarnate,” “the Lord from
Heaven.”
48. He finally ascended back to heaven, and now “ sits at
the right hand of the Father,” pleading for a sinful world.
49. When he entered the temple of Diana, “ a voice from
above was heard saying, c Come to heaven.’ ”
50. Accordingly he was seen no more on earth only as a
spirit.
The reader will observe that the foregoing list of analogies,
drawn from the history of Apollonius, as furnished us by his
disciple Damos and his biographer Philostratus, are found also,
in almost every particular, in the history of Jesus Christ. And
the list might have been extended. It is declared, “ A beauty
shone in his countenance, and the words he uttered were di-
vine,” which reminds us of Christ’s transfiguration. And his
“ staying a plague at Ephesus ” revives the case of Christ stilling
the tempest on the waters. Now, the question very naturally
arises here, How came the histories of Apollonius and Christ
to be so strikingly alike ? Was one plagiarized from the other?
As for the miraculous history of Apollonius being reconstruct-
ed from that of Jesus Christ, as some Christians have assumed,
there is not the slightest foundation for such a conclusion, as
the following facts will show, viz.: —
1. The Cappadocian Savior (Apollonius) was born several
years anterior to the advent of the Christian Savior, and ap-
peared at an earlier date upon the stage of active life, and thus
got the start of Christ in the promulgations of his doctrines
and the exhibition of his miracles. Christ’s active life, Chris-
APOLLONIUS, OSIRIS, MAGUS.
20<>
tians concede and the bible proves, did not commence till about
liis twenty-eighth or thirtieth year, which was long after Ap-
ollonius had inaugurated his religion, and long after he* had
commenced the promulgation of his doctrines, and attested
them by wonderful miracles, according to his biographer Phi*
lostratus.
2. The New American Cyclopedia tells us, “ Apollonius la-
bored for the purity of Paganism, and to sustain its tottering
edifice against the assaults of the Christians.” So that, being
placed in a hostile attitude toward the representatives of the
Christian faith, it is not likely he would condescend to borrow
their doctrines and the miraculous history of their incarnate
God, to invest his own life with. He was probably one of the
“anti-Christs” spoken of in the New Testament; but this cir-
cumstance reflects nothing dishonorable upon his character;
for some of those distinguished personages denounced as ^anti-
Christ,” by Christ’s gospel biographers, were, according to
impartial history, noble, honest, and righteous men. Their
only offense consisted in robbing Christ of his divine laurels,
by claiming similar titles, and claiming to perform the same
kind of miracles: and there is as much proof that they did
achieve these prodigies as that Christ did.
3. The early Christian writers conceded that Apollonius and
the other oriental Gods did perform the miracles which are
ascribed to them by their respective disciples, but accounted
for it by the childish expedient of obsession. Christ was as-
sumed to perform miracles by divine power, they by the power
of the devil — a childish and senseless distinction truly, and
one which can have no logical force in this enlightened age.
Miracles and Claims for Simon Magus, B. C.
1. It is declared, “he was in the beginning with God.”
2. That “ he existed with God from all eternity.”
3. That “ he took upon himself the form of a man.”
4. That “he was the Son of God,” “the Word,” &c.
5. That “ he was the second person in the godhead.”
6. That “ he came down to destroy the devil and his works.”
270
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
7. That “ he was the image of the Eternal Father ”
8. That “ he was the first-born Son of God.”
9. That he could control the elements.
10. That he could walk on the air as Christ did on the
water.
11. Could move anything by the command, “ Be thou re*
' moved.”
12. That he could raise the dead.
13. That he could transform himself into the image of any
man.
14. That he was “ the Paraclete, or Comforter.”
15. That he*came to “ redeem the world from sin.”
16. ^Finally, he was the world’s “ Savior,” “Redeemer,” “the
Only Begotten of the Father,” and “ through bis name men
are to be saved.”
The reader will call to mind that this Simon Magus is men-
tioned and condemned in the Acts of the Apostles, for offering
to pay Peter for a bestowment of* the gift of the Holy Ghost.
And yet every philosopher in this age must concede that Ma-
gus’ assumption in the case is more sensible and philosophical
than that of Peter’s. For the latter calls it “ a gift from God,”
whereas every person now acquainted with the nature, princi-
ples, and science of animal magnetism, knows that such mani-
festation as that which Peter ascribes to God and the Holy
Ghost, is a simple natural phenomenon; and that, consequently,
it can be no more a violation of the rules of propriety to pay
for the labor of making such developments than it is to pay a
teacher for developing the mind of a child. It was certainly a
greater act of courtesy to offer to pay for it than to demand it
as a gratuitous favor. Hence we infer he excelled Peter in
his demeanor as a gentleman, especially as he bore Peter’s
severe reprimand with patience, and apparently with a better
spirit than that which dictated it. And we may remark here,
also, that notwithstanding this Samaritan Jew is so unsparingly
denounced by the godly Peter, and by the early Christian
fathers also, yet we have the historical proof that he was an
honest, pious, and ardently devout man. His whole life was
absorbed in the cause of religion, and his whole soul devoted
APOLLONIUS, OSIRIS, ^4JVZ> MAGUS.
271
to his religious duties and the worship of his God. Hence we
think Peter’s rebuke was uncalled for.
Let the reader note the fact here that there are three circum-
stances amply sufficient to account for bibles and religious
books being profusely supplied with the reports of groundless
miracles.
1. As everybody then believed in miracles (at least every-
body who dared speak) there was nobody to investigate the
reports of such occurrences, to learn whether they were true or
false.
2. The few who attempted to disprove the truth of those
miraculous occurrences now found reported in sacred history,
had their books burned, as in the case of Porphyry and Celsus,
in the early history of Christianity, who called in question the
truth of bible miracles.
3. These marvelous facts were not usually recorded till long
after the period in which they are said to have occurred, when
the witnesses had left the stage of time, and every event excit-
ing any attention had grown to a monstrous prodigy. These
circumstances, in an age of boundless credulity and scientific
ignorance, which magnified every phenomenon, and looked
upon every natural event as a direct display of divine power,
accounts most fully and satisfactorily for the burdensome repe-
tition of groundless miraculous stories found upon nearly every
page of the sacred history of every religious nation, without driv-
ing us to the necessity of challenging the veracity of the writers
who recorded them. They may all have been honest men.
Confucius of China, boen 551 B. C.
This moral teacher, religious chieftain, and philosopher,
though not subjected to the ignominious death of the cross,
deserves a passing notice for the excellency of his morals and
the acquisition of a world-wide fame. In the following par-
ticulars his history bears a strong analogy to that of Jesus
Christ.
1. He commenced as a religious teacher when about thirty
years of age.
272
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
2. The Golden Rule (see Chap. XXXIV.) was his favorite
maxim.
3. Most of his moral maxims were sound and of a high order.
The New American Cyclopedia says (vol. v. p. 604), “ His
writings approach the Christian standard of morality;” and in
some respects they excel.
4. He traveled in different countries, preaching and teach-
ing his doctrines.
5. He made a host of converts, amounting now to one hun-
dred and fifty millions.
6. His religion and morals have been propagated by apostles
and missionaries, some of whom are now traveling in this
country, laboring to convert Christians to their superior reli-
gion and morals. “ There was a time,” says the work above
quoted, “ when European philosophers vied with each other in
extolling Confucius as one of the sublimest teachers of truth
among mankind.”
In the following respects his teachings were superior to those
of Christ: —
1. He taught that “ the knowledge of one’s self is the basis
of all real advances in morals and manners.” A lesson Christ
neglected to teach.
2. “ The duties man owes to society and himself are minute-
ly defined by Confucius,” says the Cyclopedia. Another im-
portant work Christ partially omitted.
He constructed several hundred beautiful and instructive
moral maxims, which we have not space for here, and which
amply prove that u the holiest truths were inculcated by pagan
philosophers.”
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, ^4iVZ> PRECEPTS. 273
CHAPTER XXXIY.
THE THREE PILLARS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
— MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, AND PRECEPTS,
When Christians are asked for the proof of the divinity of
Jesus Christ, they point to his miracles and precepts, and the
Messianic prophecies, said to have been fulfilled by his coming.
And the same kind of evidence is adduced to prove the divine
claims of their bible and its religion, including the Old Testa-
ment, which contains the prophecies. Their divine origin and
supernatural character are claimed to be proved by the miracles,
prophecies, and precepts found recorded in the Holy Book.
All, then, stand or fall together — the divinity of Christ, and
the divinity of the bible and its religion, all, rest on this three-
fold argument. All, it is claimed, are attested and proved by
a threefold display of divine power, manifested, —
1. By the performance of various acts, transcending human
power and the laws of nature, called Miracles.
- 2. By the discernment of events lying in the future which
no human sagacity or prescience could have foreseen, unless
aided by Omniscience; the display of such power being called
Prophecy.
8. By the enunciation of Moral Precepts beyond the mental
capacity of human beings to originate.
-
These three propositions cover the whole ground. They con-
stitute the three grand pillars of the Christian faith, which, if
shown to be untenable, must prostrate the whole superstructure
to the ground. We will examine each separately, commencing
with miracles.
18
1274
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
I. Miracles the first Pillar of the Christian Faith.
We will not occupy space in discussing the various meanings
assigned to the word miracle by different writers, but take the
popular definition as given above, and proceed to inquire how
much evidence can be deduced from the miracles represented
as having been performed by Jesus Christ, toward proving his
divinity and the truth of his religion. In the first place, it
should be borne in mind that Christianity is not the only
religion which appeals to miracles as a proof of its divine
authorship. More than three hundred systems and sects are
reported in history, most of which have, from time immemorial,
gloried in being able to wield this knock-down argument, as
they claim it to be, in support of the truth and divine authen-
ticity of their various systems of faith. We will briefly notice
some of the miraculous achievements reported in their sacred
books, and ascribed to their Gods and sin-atoning Saviors, and
compare them with similar ones related of Jesus Christ, com-
mencing with
Pagan Miracles.
As the whole pathway of religious history is thickly bestud-
ded with miracles wrought in all ages and countries, and every
page of the oriental bibles and religious books is literally loaded
down with the relation of these marvelous prodigies said to
have been wrought by their Gods, Demigods, and crucified
Saviors, it places a writer in a quandary to know where to be-
gin to make a selection. We will express no opinion here as
to whether these astounding feats were ever witnessed or not;
but will merely state that they come to us as well authenticated
as those reported in the Christian bible. There is as much
evidence that Zoroaster, at the request of King Gustaph, caused
a tree to spring up in a man’s yard forthwith, of such magnifi-
cent proportions that no rope could be found large enough to
reach around it, as that Jesus Christ caused a fig tree to wither
away by merely cursing it. And we have the same kind of
evidence that the Hindoo Messiah, Chrishna, of India, restored
two boys to life who had been killed by the bites of serpents,
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, ,4iVZ> PRECEPTS. 275
as that Jesus Christ resurrected Lazarus and the widow’s son
of Nain ; and as much proof that Bacchus turned water into
wine, as that Jesus performed this act six hundred years after.
And a hundred other similar comparisons might be drawn.
The evidence of the truth of these performances in both cases,
pagan and Christian, is simply the report of the writer. If
there are any exceptions to be made in either case of better
evidence, it will be found in favor of the pagan religion ; for its
adherents are able in many cases to point to imperishable mon-
uments of stone erected in commemoration of their miracles.
And Mr. Goodrich tells us this is the highest species of evidence
that can be offered to prove the truth of any ancient event.
But as Christians, on the other hand, can find no such evidence
to prove the performance of any miracles reported in their bible,
it will be seen at once that the pagan miracles are the best au-
thenticated. The famous historian Pausanias states upon cur-
rent authority that Esculapius raised several persons from the
dead, and names Hippolytus among the number, and then
points to a stone monument erected as a proof of the occur-
rence — thus furnishing, according to Christian logic, the most
conclusive proof of one of the most astounding miracles ever
wrought. And yet’ no philosopher or man of science in this
age can credit the literal truth of the story. But a spiritualist
can easily conceive that he and others might have mistaken the
risen spirits of those resurrected persons for their physical
bodies, because they know that many mistakes of this kind
have occurred in modern times.
We might refer to many other cases of pagan miracles at-
tested by monumental evidence if our space would permit —
such as the names of many persons engraven upon the walls of
the Temple of Serapis, miraculously carved by the God Escu-
lapius. Strabo tells us the ancient temples are full of tablets
describing miraculous cures performed by virgin-born Gods of
those times, and names a case of two blind men being restored
to sight by the son of God Alcides in the presence of a large
multitude of people, “ who acknowledged the miraculous power
of the God with loud acclaim.” Many spiritualists at the pres-
ent day know by practical experience how these “ miraculous
276
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
cures” were performed. Without continuing the citation of
cases, suffice it to say, the sin-atoning Gods of the orientals are
reported as performing the same train of miracles assigned to
Jesus Christ, such as performing astonishing cures, casting out
devils, raising the dead, &c. Now, sadly warped indeed by
education must be that mind which cannot see that if the
account of such prodigies, reported in the history of Jesus
Christ, can do anything towards proving him to have been a
God, then the world must have been full of Gods long before
his time. It is impossible to dodge or evade such a conclusion.
Christians are in the habit of assuming that all the miraculous
reports in the bible are unquestionably true, while those re-
ported in pagan bibles are mere fable and fiction. But if they
will reverse this proposition, it can be easier supported, because
we have shown their miracles are better attested and authen-
ticated. Their own bible admits that the heathen not only
could and did perform miracles, but miraculous prodigies of
the most astonishing character, equal to anything reported in
their own religious history — such as transmuting water into
blood, sticks into serpents, and stones into frogs. In a word,
it is admitted they performed all the miraculous feats of Moses
with the single exception of turning dust into lice. But cer-
tainly making lice was not a more difficult achievement than
that of making frogs, and this it is admitted they did do success-
fully. Hence it will be seen that the Egyptian pagans made
as great a display of divine or miraculous power as “ God’s
Holy People,” according to the admission of the bible itself.
And there is no intimation that the mode of performing the
miracles was not the same in both cases, but a strong proba-
bility exists that it was, a conclusion confirmed by the bible
report of the case which leads us to infer that they performed
the miracles in the same way Moses did. For it is said, “ The
Egyptians did so with their enchantments ” — that is, with the
“ enchanting rod ” used on such occasions by the Egyptians,
Assyrians, Babylonians, and other nations, including also the
Jews. Now, as Moses always used the “enchanting rod” in
performing miracles, called by him “the rod of God, the rod
of divination,” &c. (see Ex. iv.), there is thus furnished the most
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, ^4AZ> PRECEPTS. 277
satisfactory proof that he performed his miracles on this occa-
sion, as well as all other occasions, by the same stratagem as
the Egyptians and other nations did. And even if the mode
adopted by the Egyptians had been different, it is still admitted
they performed the miracles. In the name of reason and com-
mon sense, then, we ask if such facts as here presented with
the case just referred to do not forever prostrate and annihilate
all arguments based on miracles toward proving the divine
character or divine origin of the religion of the bible, or to-
wards proving Jesus Christ, or any other being reported to have
performed miracles, as possessing divine attributes ?
Catholic Miracles.
Some of the most astonishing and best authenticated miracles
ever performed by any religious sect we find reported in the
history of the Roman Catholic church, looked upon and styled
by the Protestants “ the mother of Harlots and Abomination.”
And yet there is much stronger proof that the Catholic religion
has the divine sanction, if miracles can furnish such proof.
The editor of “ The Official Memoirs ” declares that during the
Italian war in 1797, several pictures of the virgin Mary, situ-
ated in different parts of the country, were seen to open and
shut their eyes for the space of six or seven months, and that
no less than sixty thousand people actually saw this miracle
performed, including many bishops, deacons, cardinals, and other
officers of the church, whose names are given. And Forsyth’s
Italy (p. 844), written by a highly accredited author, tells us
that a withered elm tree was suddenly restored to full life and
vigor by coming in contact with the body of St. Zenobis, and
that this miracle took place in the most public part of the
town, in the presence of many thousands of people; that “ it
is recorded by cotemporary historians, and inscribed upon a
marble column now standing where the tree stood.” Now, the
question may be asked here, Would the people have allowed
such an impudent trick to insult them as the erection of a
monument for an event that never took place ? If not, how is
the matter to be explained? These are only specimens of a
hundred more Catholic miracles of an astonishing character at
278
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
our command. Several queries may be entertained in the solu-
tion of these stories. 1st, Were some phenomena really wit-
nessed on which these stories were constructed, but which go*
magnified from a molehill to a mountain before they found
their way into history ? or, 2d, Were they manufactured as a
pious fraud, which was rather a fashionable business with the
early disciples of the Christian faith, according to Mr. Mosheim?
Whatever answer may be given to these questions will explain
the miracles of the Christian bible, excepting those which can
be accounted for on natural principles.
Satanic Miracles.
Among all the workers of miracles reported in the bible the
devil seems to have been pre-eminent, and hence must come
in for the better end of the argument toward proving him to
have been a God. No miracle could excel the act of his
“transforming himself into an angel of light,” as stated in
2 Cor. xi. 14. It is not transcended by any other case, not
even by Christ’s transfiguration. And according to Paul he
was endowed “ with all power, and signs, and lying wonders.”
(Thess. ii. 9.) If, then, he possessed “ all power,” Christ, and
no other God, could have possessed a miraculous power supe-
rior to his, for “ all ” comprehends the whole, beyond which
nothing can reach. Where, then, is the evidence to come from
to prove that Christ was a God, because he was a miracle-
worker, or his religion divine, because attested by miracles —
seeing the devil performed some of the most difficult miracles
ever wrought. Should we not then change his title from that
of a demon to a God, and place his religion amongst the di-
vinely endowed systems. St. John represents the “ Evil One ”
as having power to make “fire come down from heaven in the
sight of men,” and “to deceive those that dwell on the earth
by means of those miracles which he hath power to do.” (Rev.
xiii. 13 )
Here the question arises, What can a miracle prove, what end
can it serve, or wh^t good can possibly arise from the display
of the miracle-working power, when it is liable “to deceive
those that dwell upon the earth”? Certainly, therefore, it
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, yliVZ> PRECEPTS. 27!)
proves nothing, and accomplishes nothing. And may not the
apostles themselves have been deceived in ascribing some of
the miracles they record to Jesus instead of the devil? Cer-
tainly we are drifted upon the quicksands of uncertainty by such
a display of the miracle-working power, and are obnoxious to
most fatal deception, which proves the total inutility and futil-
ity of such prodigies.
Christ's Miracles not his Own, but wrought through Him and
not by Him.
How could Christ’s miracles, assuming they were wrought,
do anything toward proving his divinity, when he did not
claim to be their author, but merely the agent or instrument in
the hands of the Father, like the apostles, who are reported to
have performed the same miracles ? “ The Father he doeth the
work,” is his own declaration. And the apostles seem to have
accepted his word, and his view of the matter. For proof
listen to Peter: “ Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of
Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles,
and wonders, and signs, which God did by him in the midst of
you, as ye yourselves do know.” (Acts ii. 22.) Let it be noted,
then, that Christ’s miracles were not performed by him as a
God, but as “ a man approved of God; ” he was the mere
medium or instrument in the case — a fact which banishes at
once all grounds for controversy relative to his miracles serv-
ing the purpose of attesting his divinity, especially when it is
conceded that men, magicians, and devils could achieve the
same feats.
Christ's Miracles did not convince the People.
As the miracles of Christ seem to have had little effect
toward convincing the people of his claims to the godhead, it
is evident they could have been but little superior to those per-
formed by others, and therefore not designed, at least not cal-
culated, to convince them that he was a God. The frequent
instances in which he upbraids the people for their unbelief,
and calls them fools, “ slow of heart,” &c., is a proof of this state-
ment.
280
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
Christ's Miracles not designed to convince the People.
A circumstance involving pretty strong proof that Christ’s
miraculous achievements were not considered as evidence of
his divinity, is the fact that they were frequently performed in
private, sometimes in the night, and often under the injunction
of secrecy. “ See thou tell no man,” was the injunction, after
the feat was performed, perhaps, in a private room. How can
such facts be reconciled with the assumption that his miracles
were designed to convince the people of his claim to the Divine
Entity, as Christians frequently assert, when the people were
not allowed to witness them, nor his disciples even to report
them? Who can believe that he was a Divine Being, or Mes-
siah, when he charged his disciples to tell no man ” that he
was such a Being ? Such incongruities verge to a contradic-
tion. It is a logical contradiction to say that private miracles
were designed to dissolve public skepticism. And yet many, if
not most, of his reputed miraculous achievements were of this
character. When he cured a blind man, he not only *• led him
out of the town ” (Mark viii. 23), but forbid him, when his sight
was restored, returning to the city, for fear he would publish it.
When he resurrected Lazarus, he did not call the whole country
around to witness it, but performed the act before a private
party. The re animation of Jairus’s daughter was in the same
concealed manner, in a private room, where nobody was admit-
ted but his three confidential disciples (Peter, James, and John)
and the parents, none of whom make any report of the case.
How, therefore, the reporter (Mark) found it out, when he was
not present, and none of the party were allowed to tell it to
anybody, or why he should betray his trust by publishing it, if
he was informed of it, is a “ mystery of Godliness ” not easily
divined. When Christ cleansed the leper, he sent him to the
priest, enjoining him to “ say nothing to any man.” The dumb,
when restored to speech, was not allowed to exhibit any practi-
cal proof of the fact by using his tongue. His miraculous per-
ambulation on the surface of the sea (walking on the water) was
not only alone, but in the dark. His transfiguration, likewise,
according to Dr. Barnes, took place in the night, his three favor
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, /1VZ? PRECEPTS. 281
-
ite companions being the only witnesses, and they “ heavy with
sleep.” And finally, the crowning miracle of all, the resurrection,
is not only represented as taking place in the night, but without
one substantial or terrestrial witness to report it. Verily such
facts as these are not calculated to augment the faith or work the
conviction of a skeptic that these miracles were ever performed,
seeing so few are reported as witnessing them, and even their
testimony is not given. We have not the testimony of one
person who claims to have been present and seen these won-
ders performed. Such facts are calculated to cast distrust
upon the whole matter, especially when taken in connection
with the fact that nine tenths of his life form a perfect blank
in history. Is it possible, we ask, to reconcile such a fact with
the belief of his divinity ? Is it possible a God could lead a pri-
vate life, or live twenty-seven years on earth, and do nothing
worthy of note — a God known to nobody and noticed by no-
body ? Most transcendingly absurd is such a thought. Had
Christ possessed the character that is claimed for him, not an
hour of his life could have passed unaccompanied by some re-
markable incident that would have been heralded abroad, and
its record indelibly engraven upon the page of history; but in-
stead of this, his acts were too commonplace to be noticed.
All History ignores Him.
The fact that no history, sacred or profane, — that not one
of the three hundred histories of that age,— makes the slight-
est allusion to Christ, or any of the miraculous incidents ingraft-
ed into his life, certainly proves, with a cogency that no logic
can overthrow, no sophistry can contradict, and no honest
skepticism can resist, that there never was such a miraculously
endowed being as his many orthodox disciples claim him to
have been. The fact that Christ finds no place in the history
of the era in which he lived, — that not one event of his life is
recorded by anybody but his own interested and prejudiced
biographers,— settles the conclusion, beyond cavil or criticism,
that the godlike achievements ascribed to him are naught but
fable or fiction. It not only proves he was not miraculously
endowed, but proves he was not even naturally endowed to
282
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
such an extraordinary degree as to make him an object oi gen
eral attention. It would be a historical anomaly without a
precedent, that Christ should have performed any of the ex-
traordinary acts attributed to him in the Gospels, and no Ro-
man or Grecian historian, and neither Philo nor Josephus, both
writing in that age, and both living almost on the spot
where they are said to have been witnessed, and both record-
ing minutely all the religious events of that age and country,
make the slightest mention of one of them, nor their reputed
authors. Such a historical fact banishes the last shadow of
faith in their reality. It is true a few lines are found in one of
Josephus’s large works alluding to Christ. But it is so mani-
festly a forgery, that we believe all modern critics of any note,
even of the orthodox school, reject it as a base interpolation.
Even Dr. Lardner, one of the ablest defenders of the Christian
faith that ever wielded a pen in its support, and who has writ-
ten ten large volumes to bolster it up, assigns nine cogent
reasons (which we would insert here if we had space) for the
conclusion that Josephus could not have penned those few
lines found in his “ Jewish Antiquities ” referring to Christ. No
Jew could possibly use such language. It would be a glaring
absurdity to suppose a leading Jew could call Jesus “The
Christ,” when the whole Jewish nation have ever contested the
claim with the sternest logic, and fought it to the bitter end.
“It ought, therefore” (says Dr. Lardner, for the nine reasons
which he assigns), “to be forever discarded from any place
among the evidences of Christianity.” (Life of Lardner by Dr.
Kippis, p. 28.) As the passage is not found in any edition of
Josephus prior to the era of Eusebius, the suspicion has fas-
tened upon that Christian writer as being its author, who argued
that falsehood might be used as a medicine for the benefit of
the churches. (See his Eccles. Hist.) Origen, who lived before
Eusebius, admitted Josephus makes no allusion to Christ. Of
course the passage was not, then, in Josephus. One or two
other similar passages have been found, in other authors of that
era, which it is not necessary to notice here, as they are re-
jected by Christian writers. It must be conceded, therefore,
that the numerous histories covering the epoch of the birth of
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, ^4AZ? PRECEPTS. 288
Christ chronicle none of the astounding feats incorporated in
his Gospel biographies as signalizing his earthly career, and
make no mention of the reputed hero of these achievements,
either by name or character. The conclusion is thus irresisti-
bly forced upon us, not only that he was not a miracle-worker,
but that he must have led rather an obscure life, entirely in-
compatible with his being a God or a Messiah, who came “ to
draw all men unto him.” And it should also be noted here
that none of Christ’s famous biographers, Matthew, Mark, Luke,
or John, are honored with a notice in history till one hundred
and ninety years after the birth of Christ. And then the no-
tice was by a Christian writer (Ireneus).
“We look in vain,” says a writer, “for any cotemporary
notice of the Gospels, or Christ the subject of the Gospels, out-
side of the New Testament. So little was this ‘king of the
Jews’ known, that the Romans were compelled to pay one of
his apostles to turn traitor and act as guide before they could
find him. It is impossible to observe this negative testimony
of all history against Christ and his miracles, and not be struck
with amazement, and seized with the conviction that he was
not a God, and not a very extraordinary man.” Who can
believe that a God, from off the throne of heaven, could make
his appearance on earth, and while performing the most as-
tounding miracles ever recorded in any history, or that ever
excited the credulity of any people, and be finally publicly cru-
cified in the vicinity of a great city, and yet all the histories
written in those times, both sacred and profane, pass over with
entire silence the slightest notice of any of these extraordinary
events. Impossible — most self-evidently impossible !! And
when we find that this omission was so absolute that no record
was made of the day or year of his birth by any person in the
era in which he lived, and that they were finally forgotten, and
hence that there are, as a writer informs us, no less than one
hundred and thirty-three different opinions about the matter,
the question assumes a still more serious aspect. From the
logical potency of these facts we are driven to the conclusion
that Christ received but little attention outside of the circle of
his own credulous and interested followers, and consequently
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
284
stands on a level with Chrishna of India, Mithra of Persia, Osi-
ris of Egypt, and other demigods of antiquity, all whose mirac-
ulous legends were ingrafted in their histories long after their
death. This leads us to consider
IIow Christ's incredible Legends got into his History.
There is a remarkably easy and satisfactory way of account-
ing for all the marvelous feats and incredible stories found in
the Gospel narratives of Jesus Christ, without assuming their
reality or any intentional fraud or falsehood by the writers.
"When we learn that none of his evangelical biographies were
penned (as Dr. Lardner affirms) till long after his death, we are
no longer puzzled for a moment to understand exactly how
many statements wholly incredible and morally impossible
crept into his history, without challenging or calling in ques-
tion the veracity or honesty of the writer. Perhaps the most
powerful cord of moral conviction which holds the Christian
professor to a belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ, is the diffi-
culty of bringing himself to believe that the numerous mira-
cles ascribed to him in the Gospels are merely the work of
fiction, fabricated without a basis of truth, when they were
evidently penned by men of the deepest piety and the strictest
moral integrity. We ourselves were once environed with this
difficulty. But it stands in our way no longer. We are disin-
thralled. We have solved the problem. We have found the
true explanation. The key and clew to the whole secret is
found in the simple fact, admitted by Christian writers and evi-
denced by the bible itself, that no history of Christ's practical
life was written out by a person claiming to ham been an eye-
witness of the events reported, nor until every incident and act
of the noble-minded Nazarene had had ample time to become
enormously magnified and distorted by rumor, fable, and fic-
tion ; so that it was impossible to discriminate or separate the
real from the unreal, the true from the false, in his partly-for-
gotten life. It could not be done. A true history could not then
be, nor have been written under such circumstances. It is man-
ifestly impossible. The time for writing each Gospel is fixed by
Dr Lardner as follows, viz.: Matthew 62 A. D., Mark 64 A.D.,
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, .4AZ> PRECEPTS. 285
Luke 63 or 64 A. D., and John 68 A. D.; thus allowing ample
time for every noteworthy incident of his life to grow from mole-
hills to mountains, and to swell into fiction, fable, and prodigy, a
tendency to which was then very rife and very prevalent in all
religious countries. Having made a note of this fact, let the
reader treasure in memory, as another equally important fact,
that the biography of no man of note who figured in that era,
or who lived prior to the dawn of letters (if penned many years
after his death, as was frequently the case), is free from a large
percentage of extravagant detail, and simple incidents magni-
fied into miracles. This was the uncurbed tendency of the
age which ultimated into universal custom.
The simplest incident in every man’s life, who exhibited mind
enough to attract attention, by rolling from year to year, and
passing from mouth to mouth, invariably got to be finally
swelled into such undue and enormous proportions, that it
could only be accounted for by assuming the actor to have
been a God. In this way many men of different countries,
who had made a mark in the world, received divine honors and
divine attributes, including such characters as Chrishna of India,
Mithra of Persia, Quirinus of Rome, Eras of the Druids, Quex-
alcote of Mexico, Jesus Christ of Judea, and many others who
might be mentioned. This circumstance deified them. The
evidence of history to prove this declaration is abundant and
irresistible.
Posthumous Histories alone deified Men.
To the two important facts above cited, viz., that Jesus
Christ’s evangelical histories were all written long after his
death, and that unwritten histories of great men always become
swollen and distorted with the lapse of time, let the reader add
the equally significant fact that there is in all cases a vast dif-
ference in the biographies of famous men, penned during their
actual lives, or immediately subsequent to their death, while
every act and incident of their career was fresh and vigorous
in the minds and memories of the cotemporaneous people, and
before the ball of exaggerated rumor was set rolling, compared
with those written at a later date, after molehills of fact had
286
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
become mountains of fiction. The former are natural and rea-
sonable, the latter unnatural and extravagant, and often fabu-
lous. We will cite a few cases in proof. Let the reader com-
pare the biographical sketches of Alexander the Great written
near the epoch of his practical life, and those composed since
the dawn of the Christian era, and he will find that the posthu-
mous notices of him alone contain the story of the sun becom-
ing obscured, and the earth enveloped in darkness, at the time
of his mortal exit. It will be found, also, that Virgil’s account
of “the sheeted dead,” rising from their graves at the time of
Caesar’s death, and which was written long after that famous
hero left the stage of action, is omitted in all the cotemporary
notices of that monarch, having crept in subsequently.
In like manner, the various miracles recorded of Pythagoras
by his biographer Jamblicus, — such as his walking on the
air, stilling the tempest, raising the dead, &c., — are not related
of him by any cotemporaneous writers who lived in the era of
his practical life. And let the reader compare, also, Damos’
life of Apollonius with that of his later biography by Philos-
tratus, as an illustration of the same historical fact. Mahomet
and his biographies might be included in the same category.
It is a remarkable circumstance that neither Mahomet himself
nor any of his immediate followers claim for him more than the
humble title of prophet, or “God’s holy prophet,” while his
later admirers and devout disciples have elevated him to the
throne of heaven, and given him a seat among the Gods.
And this historical analysis might be extended much farther
if necessary. But cases enough have been cited to prove the
principle and establish the proposition. And what is the lesson
taught by these facts ? A deeply-instructive and all-important
one. From the foregoing historical illustrations we are im-
pelled to the important conclusion, that the tissue of extrava-
gant and incredible stories of demigod performances which run
as a vein of fiction through the Gospel narrations of Jesus Christ,
all grow out of long-continued rumor, in an age when the ima-
gination was untamed and unbounded, and credulity uncurbed
by a practical knowledge of the principles of science, and con-
sequently the pen of the historian had lawless scope. All diffi-
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, vliVZ> PRECEPTS. 287
# culty then vanishes, and the question is put fore rer at rest by
assuming that if the Gospel histories of Jesus had been written
by men who claimed to record only what they saw and heard
themselves, we should have a more credible and instructive his-
tory of the great Judean reformer, freed from those Munchau-
sen prodigies and that wild romance which mar the beauty
and credibility of those now in popular use. This conclusion
is not only natural, but irresistible, to a mind untrammeled by
education and unbefogged by priestcraft. All that is wanting
to convince us that miracles constitute no part of the real his-
tory of Christ, is a cotemporary instead of a posthumous biog-
raphy— a history written in the age which knew him, and by
an unprejudiced writer who witnessed all his movements. And
we are perfectly willing to risk our reputation in this life, and
our salvation in the next, by stating our conviction that this
will be the unanimous verdict of posterity before fifty genera-
tions pass away.
Christ’s Miracles reconstructed from former Miracles.
There are other circumstances than those noticed in the pre-
ceding chapter, which can aid us very materially in solving the
problem of Christ’s divinity; or, in other words, can aid us in
tracing his miracles to their origin, and thus confirm the truth
of the preceding proposition. Moses and the prophets were
considered by the evangelists antetypes or archetypes of the
coming Savior. Hence some of the more important incidents
of their lives were hunted up and worked over again, to make
them fit the life of Christ as the Messiah, reconstructed and
applied to him as the second Moses, and a new prophet; for
Moses is represented as saying, “A prophet shall the Lord
your God raise up like unto me.” Hence Moses comes in with
the prophets as an antetype of Christ. The transfiguration of
Christ is therefore constituted after the model of the transfigu-
ration of Moses on Mount Sinai. And Christ is represented as
raising the dead, not only because Elijah and Elisha had per-
formed such miracles, but did it under circumstances which
prove, as they suppose, he possessed superior power. For while
they could only reanimate the body immediately after the
288
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
breath had left it, Christ could raise a man after he had been *
dead four days (the case of Lazarus). Hence the New Prophet
was superior to the old, and more like a God — the thing they
desired to prove. Both Elijah and Christ are represented as
raising a widow’s son, — Elijah being considered the special
prototype of Christ, who, many believed, had re-appeared under
the changed name of Elias. (See John v. 17.) And then
we observe that while Elisha exhausted his skill in making
three gallons of oil, Christ could make thirty gallons of wine
— another proof of the superiority of the New Prophet. Then,
again, the miracle of feeding one hundred men with twenty
loaves is far excelled by the latter, who feeds five thousand
men with five loaves. And both prophets, Elisha and Christ,
-en countered unford able streams in their travels; the expedient
of the former is to make a passage, but Christ performed the
greater miracle of walking on the surface. And while Moses
had to send the leper without the camp before he could heal
him, Christ could heal him instantly with a single touch. The
same slaughter of the infants is commanded by Herod, in order
to destroy Christ, that Pharaoh had ordered to effect the de-
struction of Moses. And thus many of the miracles of Jesus
can be accounted for as reconstructions of former miracles. It
was simply a competition or rivalry between the New Messi-
anic prophet and the old prophets. The New Prophet excels
and comes off victorious in every case, and is thus considered
to be a God. The object of the competition is to show that
while the prophets, assisted by God, could perform marvelous
deeds, Christ, being God himself, could perform greater. This
was to be the proof of his being a God, that he could outvie
the servants of God in every miraculous thing ascribed to them.
This was one way adopted to prove his divinity.
-
Christs Miracles manufactured from Prophecies.
Several of Christ’s miracles seem to have grown out of the
Messianic prophecies; that is, were manufactured in order to
fulfill the prophecies. There was, as we learn by the Gospels,
an impression deep and wide-spread among the disciples of
Christ, that the Old Testament was full of texts foretelling the
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, yliVZ> PRECEPTS. 289
advent of their Messiah, and foreshadowing his practical life.
Under this conviction, a number of passages are quoted in the
Gospels from the prophets as referring to Christ, but which,
however, the context shows could not possibly.have been writ-
ten with any such thought or intention. Matthew has five
miracles appertaining to Christ, built on prophecies, in his first
two chapters. And they are represented as taking place 44 in
order that the prophecy might be fulfilled ; ” that is, Matthew,
writing sixty-four years after Christ’s advent, assumes those
miracles had taken place because the prophecy required their
performance, and hence recorded it as a fact without knowing
it to be such. A great deal of that kind of license was as-
sumed in that and subsequent ages, as the facts of history are
ample to prove. It was done under the religious conviction
that the cause of God and the church required it to be done,
and that therefore it was justifiable.
Strict Veracity not required or observed.
It is by no means necessary to assume that the recorders of
the New Testament miracles knew they had been performed,
or that they would hesitate to record them as facts because
they did not know them to be such. We are under no moral
obligation to suppose they knew anything about it. People in
that age were not so nice or so morally exact, as to require
proof of a thing before they stated it, or never to state it unless
they had the proof for its being true. We would be very far
from accusing the apostolic writers of malicious falsehood, or
criminal misrepresentation. But we find that the disciples of
all religions, in that age of the world, considered it not only
allowable, but a religious duty, in the absence of knowledge, to
supply omissions by guess-work or conjecture; that is, to use
assumption in the place of proof, and to state that a thing was
so when there was no proof of it whatever, and even when the
proof was against it. All religious history is fulKof the exhibi-
tion of this kind of elasticity of conscience. Even a species of
pious lying was considered justifiable in many cases. Paul fur-
nishes evidence of this, when he says,44 If the truth of God hath
more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why am I judged
19
200
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
a sinner? ” (Rom. iii. 16.) “No sin to lie for the glory of God,*
seems to be the teaching of this text. Although Paul does
not clearly disclose for what purpose this policy was employed,
yet it can easily be inferred. A part of the important business
of the New Testament writers was to build up a reputation
for Christ and his inspired band of disciples for working mira-
cles. A fame for achieving “ signs and wonders ” was the great
set off of the age. There seems to have been an almost bound-
less competition amongst the disciples of the various religious
orders, including Jews, Pagans, and Christians, as to who could,
or whose God could outstrip all competitors in achieving aston-
ishing prodigies that should set the laws of nature at defiance.
And no devout disciple, who had good inventive powers, would
allow any rival to outdo him. Nothing could authenticate the
claim of the adopted Messiah to the throne of heaven, or a par-
ticipation in the Divine Essence, like a miraculous display of
divine power. Hence the history of all the Gods and demi-
gods of the illiterate ages, including that of Christ, is loaded
down with miraculous feats. There is the clearest proof that
Christ’s disciples were in this general rivalry — this universal
miracle-working melee.
Two things very necessary to be accomplished, in the estima-
tion of the apostles, were, first, to show that Christ outdid the
heathen Gods, and even the prophets, in the display of the
wonder-exciting miraculous power, and thus proved his divin-
ity ; and second, that the prophecies had been fulfilled in his
coming and his practical life. And there is reason to believe
all the New Testament miracles are founded on and grew out
of prophecy. For, although we do not find prophecies in the
Old Testament for every miracle related of Christ, yet it is
probable, if we had the Book of God, “the Book of Jehu,”
“ the Life of Hezekiah,” and other lost books mentioned in the
Old Testament, we should find the supposed prophecy for every
miracle of the New Testament. We should there find the key to
every miracle. The true explanation of the matter seems to be,
that the apostolic writers, looking through the Old Testament,
and finding texts therein which they believed to be prophetic
of the display of the miraculous power of Jesus, and passages
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, PRECEPTS. 291
which they religiously believed foreshadowed his coming and
mission, or some important event in his history, they were
impressed with the deepest conviction that God would not
suffer any prophecy to go unfulfilled. But Vhen they sat down
to write the history of their Messiah, long after his death,
they found they had not the evidence before them that the
prophecies had been fulfilled. A third of a century had rolled
away since his history had been practically before the people.
The subject of their narrative had long since gone to “ the
house of many mansions,” and left not a note, or scratch of a
pen, of any act of his life behind him. And the current of
time had washed away, or partially obliterated, nearly every
event of his earthly career. The witnesses had nearly all left
the stage of action, and their voices were forever hushed in the
silent tomb. What was to be done in such an emergency ? It
was all-important to show that the prophecies had been fulfilled
to the letter in his practical life. This quandary, however, did
not beset them long. The difficulty was easily surmounted.
Every religious country, including Judea, was full of miraculous
legends and astonishing prodigies appertaining to the terrestrial
movements of their Gods and demigods, some of which had
floated down on the stream of tradition from time immemorial.
And all had become blended, confounded, and mixed up to-
gether, until it was impossible to know whence they originated,
where they belonged, or to what God they appertained. These
miraculous stories were so numerous, and so varied in charac-
ter, that there was no little difficulty in finding which seemed
to be the fulfilment of any Messianic prophecy that had been
or might be found in the Old Testament; and thus of the
hundreds of miraculous stories afloat, one was picked out and
assumed to be the fulfillment of the prophecy. With the count-
less number of such stories before them, which had been for
half a century current in the community, they set themselves
to work to select and reject, prune and remodel, honestly be-
lieving that this miracle was intended to fulfill this prophecy,
and that miracle that prophecy, &c. And accordingly we now
find it so stated in the New Testament. As, for example, a
story had long been going the rounds that the parents of a
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
292
young God had to flee with him out of the country, to save
Ins life from being destroyed by its jealous ruler. This they
supposed must of course refer to Jesus, because they had found
a supposed prophecy of such an event in the Jewish bible,
when a more thorough acquaintance with history would have
taught them that the story did not refer to the ruler of Judea
(Ilerod), but to Cansa, an ancient, jealous, despotic king, who
ruled India at a much earlier period. And the story of the
darkness at the crucifixion they incorporated as a part of the
histoiy of Jesus, because they had seen a text in Joel which
they supposed presaged such an event, while, if they had been
well versed in oriental history, they would have known that it
had long been recorded as the last chapter in the earthly drama
of. the Hindoo God Chrishna. And so of the other miracles
now found related as a part of the history of Jesus. A histor-
ical investigation of the matter would have shown the Gospel
writers that they were a part of the written history of other
and more ancient Gods, and had never formed a part of the
practical life of Jesus, or been realized in his experience. This
is a more charitable and honorable explanation of the matter
than that found in the assumption of some other writers, that
every miracle was constructed for the occasion — that it is a
sheer fabrication; and yet there are some plausible grounds for
this solution of the case.
These critical writers tell us there was a religious persuasion
deeply enstamped upon the minds of all religious countries,
that God often justified a departure from the truth—the con-
scientious or veracious faculty being in that age but feebly
developed. And the bible itself is full of evidence to establish
the allegation. The prophets often disclose it, and the apostles
were their strict imitators. Ezekiel represents God as saying,
44 If a prophet is deceived, I the Lord deceived that prophet.”
(Ezek. xiv. 9.) And Jeremiah asks God,44 Wilt thou be to me
as a liar?” (Jer. xv. 8.) While the writer of Kings rep-
resents God as putting a lying spirit into the mouth of his own
prophets. (1 Kings xxii. 28.) And most certainly if God him-
self might thus habitually depart from the truth, it was an
ample warrant for his apostles, as well as the prophets, to adopt
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, yliVX> PRECEPTS. 293
the same expedient. The ease of Paul lying for tue glory of
God, which we have cited from Romans iii. 4, proves they wert
morally capable of doing this. Mosheim tells us that among
the early Christians, “it was an almost universally adopted
maxim, that it was an act of virtue to deceive and lie, wher. by
so doing they could promote the interest of the church.” (Mosh-
vol. i. p. 198.) And Mr. Higgins informs us that “great num-
bers, of every age and of every religion, have been guilty of
systematic frauds and falsehoods to support their religions, to
an extent of which we can have no conception. They not only
practiced it, but they reduced it to system. They avowed it,
and they justified it by declaring it to be meritorious to lie in a
good cause.” (Ana. vol. i. p. 143.) The reader who can hesi-
tate to credit these statements only betrays his ignorance of
the moral weakness of human nature, and the imperfect growth
in that era of the veracious faculty, which consequently had but
a feeble voice in the councils of the mind. Even the most pious
and devout professors of religion did not consider a rigid con-
formity to truth necessary, or morally obligatory, in their labors
to promote the glory of God and the salvation of souls. And
when direct falsehood was not resorted to, the writer still al-
lowed himself to color, magnify, and invent largely; that is, to
draw copiously upon the resources of his imagination, in the
way of supplying omissions and defects, and filling out missing
links in the chain of history. And hence it is that all ancient
sacred history is so profusely inlaid with stories and statements
manifestly fabricated for the occasion, without any historical
support, and therefore wholly incredible. Let the Christian
reader not, however, misapprehend us by supposing we wish to
drive him to the extreme alternative of accepting this as the
true explanation, or as indicating the real origin of the incred-
ible stories and senseless miraculous feats interwoven into the
Gospel life of Jesus. We only offer it as a plausible, but not
as the probable explanation. The above citations from the
Scriptures and other history prove most clearly that sacred
writers were morally capable of fabricating or manufacturing
history to supply assumed omissions. And this explanation
is twofold more reasonable than to accept the miracles as real
294
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
occurrences, for such a belief would be at war with common
sense, and prostrate our reason beneath our feet. But there
is no necessity of adopting lying hypotheses, while the borrow-
ing theory is amply adequate to account for every Gospel mir-
acle. There is not a miraculous story or incredible legend in-
corporated in the New Testament as a part of the history of
Jesus, that was not afloat in some shape or form, on the wings
of tradition, in nearly every religious country, ages before his
birth. The model for each and every miracle was already con-
structed, was already in the market, and already a part of the *
history or tradition of other and older Gods. And all that was
wanted to make it appear as a part of the history of the Chris-
tian’s deified Jesus, was to fill in names and dates. Yes, his-
tory with a hundred tongues proclaims it as the real explana-
tion of the incredible and the impossible in the history of
Jesus Christ. And the evidence is so voluminous and so over-
whelming to disprove the common Christian dogma which
makes the son of Joseph and Mary a miracle-working' God (a
portion of which we have presented under the several propo-
sitions of this chapter), that it really demolishes the last timber
in the Christian fabric, and leaves it a heap of ruins. And we
are certain that if we could divest the Christian reader’s mind,
for a few moments, of an inherited and fostered prejudice, he
would see that our explanation is much more rational, more
probable, more beautiful than the popular belief, which degrades
the illustrious Judean reformer to a level with the heathen
thaumaturgist, and gives him the same undignified reputation
as a miracle-worker.
But we are sometimes told we are under as much moral
obligation to believe in the miracles reported of Jesus, as to
believe in any other portion of his history; that we must ac-
cept his Gospel history as a whole, or reject it in toto. But
this is manifestly a false assumption, and one easily exploded.
No person who is acquainted with Grecian history doubts that
Alexander the Great was born in Macedonia, and founded a city
in Egypt bearing his own name. Yet not one of those readers
will credit for a moment what one of his biographers relates
pf him? that he stopped the sun in its course, or that he had
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, ^4iVZ> PRECEPTS. 295
no human father. We all accept Pythagoras as a real entity,
while we reject the story of his walking on the air. Are we
morally bound to accept Romulus and Remus, founders oi
Rome, as mere fabulous beings, because their biographers re-
late the incredible story of their being suckled by a wolf?
Many other illustrations might be given in proof of the falsity
of the assumption that, because a portion of a man’s biography
is found to be incredible, the whole must be rejected as false, as
unworthy of credence. This would be to annihilate history.
For no biography of any person, and no history of any nation,
can be accepted as plenarily pure, unmixed truth. There is
always more or less chaff with the grain, and it is our privilege
and our duty to separate them. And by so doing we not only
confer a favor on the cause of truth, but add to the luster and
honor of the name of the deceased reformer; and especially is
this true of the renowned Judean philanthropist and reformer.
Much more lovely and beautiful would his evangelical history
stand before the world if stripped of the wild, the weird, and
the miraculous. Much more interesting is he when viewed
and venerated as a man than when worshiped as a God, guilty
of the frequent violation of his own laws, by the display of the
miracle-working power.
And much more beautiful and much more rational is the doc-
trine which accepts every event that ever occurred as the legit-
imate and harmonious operation of the great machinery of
nature, than as the smart trick, the lawless caprice or wild feat,
of an arbitrary, wonder-exciting God, performed not to make
the people better, more moral or more righteous (for miracles
cannot do this), but merely to make them gape and stare, and
shout, What a smart God we have got!
-
And then the belief in miracles involves an utter repudiation
of all law, all order, and all system, and introduces in their
stead chaos, anarchy, and universal confusion. It is simply
“ the doctrine of chance,” which all orthodox Christendom pro-
fesses to deprecate and execrate as the quintessence of atheism.
But they make a mistake; “chance” is more legitimately the
fruit of miracle than of atheism; an assertion which we will
here briefly prove.
296
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
If tlie sun may be arrested in his coarse through the heavens,
“ the moon turned into blood,” and “the stars fall from heaven,”
— sticks turned into serpents, water into blood, and dust into
lice, — all of which orthodox Christians profess to believe were
witnessed in the days of Moses and Christ, then everything is
thrown upon the wheel of chance; everything is involved in
uncertainty. If the course of nature could be arrested, or the
natural qualities of objects changed by the prayer of a prophet,
patriarch, or apostle, then the food set before us to eat may
suddenly, in compliance with the prayers of some absent saint,
become a deadly poison; the clothes we wear may be instantly
transformed into virulent adders, which may inflict the fatal
sting before we- suspect it; some favorite servant of God (a
Moses or an Elijah) might be this moment praying to God to
stop the dews from falling, or the rain from descending for the
next three months, or three years, as the latter is reported as
doing (see James v. 17), so that we could not plant with any
certainty that the seed would grow, or that we should be re-
warded by a crop. Such would be the incertitude, such the
“chance” against us in everything in which we might engage,
if it were true that God ever intercepts the action of his laws
by working a miracle, that we should eventually become dis-
couraged by this chaos of u chance,” the wheels of industry
would stop, and the car of civilization go backward. If it
were true, as taught by orthodox Christians, that “God in his
providence,” or “ God in the dispensation of his providence,”
often “ visits people with sickness,” then it would be useless to
study the laws of health with a view of complying with them.
For we could not know in any case whether our sickness had
been brought upon us by an “ overruling providence,” or by
our own imprudence. Our incentives to study and comply
with these laws, if there could be any, would consequently be
very weak indeed, for we might comply with every physiological
requisition, and yet there would be several “chances,” against
us that to-morrow we may be stretched upon a “ sick bed and
rolling pillow by the visitation of God.” Thus the doctrine
of miracles is shown to be pre-eminently the doctrine of
“ chance.”
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, PRECEPTS. 297
The doctrine of miraculous agency makes God an imperfect
being, by implying that his laws were defective in their original
construction, that by mistake he left some emergency unpro-
vided for, and now has to supply the omission by an afterclap
exercise of power. Or if his laws were originally perfect,
then the working of a miracle would disturb them, and make
them imperfect; if originally imperfect, then God himself must
have been imperfect, and hence no God at all. Think of a
wonder-working God violating, suspending, or intercepting his
own laws. Such a God would be a puerile, short-sighted being,
that only ignorant and uncultivated minds could admire and
adore.
The age of miracles, however, is gone. The belief in divine
prodigies has receded before the advancing genius of civiliza-
tion. It has died away in the exact ratio of the progress of
science and general intelligence. And a thorough acquaint-
ance with nature’s laws will banish the last vestige of such a
belief. Hence it is that the most illiterate and ignorant nations
and tribes have always been able to recount the longest list of
miraculous prodigies achieved by a disorderly God, who seems
to have taken pleasure in violating his own laws, or suspending
them, for the most trivial purposes.
Yes, the time is approaching when the belief in a “miracu-
lous interposition” or “special providences” must pass away
under the lights of science and civilization, and be numbered
amongst the things which have been and can be no more, and
men will cherish more noble and elevated ideas of the great
Ruler of the universe, who is infinite in order, infinite in wis-
dom, ay, infinite in all his attributes and virtues, ever un-
changeably the same.
II. Prophecy, the second Pillar of the Christian
Faith, proves as much for Heathenism and Spirit-
ualism.
Truthful prophecy, attested to be such by its fulfillment, is
assumed to be one of the basic pillars and one of the main
proofs of the truth of the Christian religion. But the follow-
298
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
ing consideration will show that this assumption has no logical
force, or real, tangible foundation.
First. Every ancient system of religion had its prophets and
seers, who professed to be able to foresee events of the future.
And we find but little difference in the proofs each one has left
to the world that they possessed this power, if we except the
Greeks and Romans, some of whom evidently excelled all the
Jewish prophets in their ability to take cognizance of events
lying behind the curtain of time. Tacitus, the Latin historian,
prophesied the downfall of the Roman empire and its attend-
ant calamities more than five hundred years before its occur-
rence, which was fulfilled to the letter. And Solon, one of the
seven wise men of Greece, foresaw and foretold a series of
calamities which befell the Athenians two hundred years before
they were realized. A still more remarkable example is fur-
nished in the history of Marcus Tullius Cicero, who, writing of
the future, with his mind fixed on the west, about 50 B. C.,
exclaimed, “ There will arise after many ages (if we may credit
the Sibylline oracles), a hero who will deliver his oppressed
countrymen from bondage ” — a prophecy most signally fulfilled
in the life of General Washington. Many other examples of
heathen prophecy and their fulfillment might be cited, if we had
space for them.
Second. The history of modern spiritualism furnishes many
cases of future events being predicted long before they took
place. In fact, many of the most important events of modern
times which have occurred in this and other countries, wer«
foreseen and foretold by spiritual seers known as “ seeing medi-
ums,” when there was not the slightest probability that such
events would ever occur. We will cite one or two cases, by
way of proof and illustration. A few years ago John P. Coles,
of New York, known as a spiritual medium, prophesied, when
under spirit control, that Nicholas of Russia would shortly have
a serious difficulty with his secretary Menzicoff, and just three
months from that time would die — a prediction that was ful-
filled to the very letter and to the very hour. And yet there
was not the slightest probability, externally indicated, at the
time the prophecy was uttered, that either of these events
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, ^4iVZ> PRECEPTS. 29$
would ever be realized. And this prophecy, let it be noted,
was published in the New York Times at least two months
before it was verified, thus proving that the prediction was not
an u afterclap ” affair, but preceded the event. Take another
example. The serious calamity which befell the ill-fated steamer
known as the Arctic, which was lost at sea a few years ago,
with all on board, was prophetically described in minute detail,
by a spirit medium, several months before it occurred; and
was seen and described by another medium, while taking place
more than a thousand miles distant. The proof is at our com-
mand. And the late disastrous war was foreseen and described
by Cora Tappan, of New York, and other mediums, and its
principal events pointed out long before the war broke out —
a fact which is now a matter of history. These are only a few
cases out of hundreds that might be cited of a similar charac-
ter, drawn from the practical history of modern spiritualism.
If, then, prophecy can do anything toward the truth or divine
emanation of the Christian religion, it must do the same for the
heathen and spiritual systems. And thus proving too much,
it proves nothing at all.
Third, The Jewish prophecies not fulfilled. We have ex-
amined critically the various texts of the Christian bible called
prophecies, and find that, if claimed as predictions of future
events beyond the powers of the natural mind to foresee, they
have all failed. But few of them have been fulfilled in any
sense, and those few required no divine prescience to foresee
the result. Many events have transpired in every country,
which the natural sagacity of the most observant minds in that
country had anticipated as the result of natural causes, such as
the ravages and downfall of cities and the overthrow of empires
by the merciless hand of war. The Jewish prophet, fostering
a spirit of envy and enmity towards Egypt, Babylon, and other
superior kingdoms, because they had been overpowered by
them and long held in subjection to their superior sway, were
always prophesying evil things of these principalities. And
though some of the evils which constituted the burden of
prophecy might have been reasonably anticipated as natural
occurrences, it is a signal fact they never transpired at all, —
800
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
such as the total destruction of Babylon, Tyre, Damascus, and
other cities belonging to those hostile kingdoms the Jews so
much envied and execrated. Look, for proof, at the case of
Damascus. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, all
poured out their fulminatory thunders upon this city. Isaiah
declared it should be a “ ruinous heap.” (Isa. xvii. 1.) And
Jeremiah predicted its destruction by fire. (Jer. xlix. 27.) And
yet, notwithstanding these predictions of ruin, Damascus still
stands as “ one of the paradises of the earth,” as one writer
styles it, with a population, according to Burckhardt, of not less
than two hundred and fifty thousand, being one of the most
magnificent and prosperous commercial cities on the glob&
Instead of being blotted out of existence, as the Jewish proph-
ets prayed and predicted, it has suffered less by the ravages of
war and the scythe of time than almost any other city of the
east. It has stood nearly three thousand years without becom-
ing a “ ruinous heap,” or being consumed by fire or destroyed
by war. (Jer. xlix. 26.) And the prophecy against Tyre has
most signally failed also. Ezekiel declared it should be de-
stroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and never be found again. (Ezek.
xxvi.-xxix.) But two hundred and fifty years after Nebuchad-
nezzar’s time Alexander found it a strong commercial city. And
it still contains a population of five thousand or more. St. Je-
rome, of the fourth century, declared it to be then the finest
city of Phoenicia, and was astonished that Ezekiel’s prophecy
had so utterly failed.
And Isaiah’s famous prediction against Babylon furnishes
another proof of the utter failure of Jewish prophecy. He de-
clared, after predicting its destruction, “It shall never be in-
habited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to genera-
tion, neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there.” (Isa. xiii. 20.)
Of course he desired it should be so. But, unfortunately for
his credit as a prophet, it never suffered such a calamity. On
the contrary, according to Layard and Rawlinson, British com-
missioners who recently visited the place, it now presents “all
the-activity of a hive of bees ” (to use Layard’s language),
and contains several thousand inhabitants, though its name
is, since rebuilt, called Hill ah. And thus the prophecy it*
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, ,4iVZ> PRECEPTS. 301
falsified. “ No,” exclaims a good Christian brother, in forlorn
hope, it may be fulfilled yet. But if* he will examine the lan-
guage of the prophecy, he will find he is entirely cut off from
this “ saving clause.” The prophet says, “ Her time is near to
come, and her days shall not be prolonged.” (Isa. xiii. 22.)
Thus il is evident the prophecy was to be fulfilled in that age
and generation. The failure, then, is absolute and indisputable*
And these are but mere samples of the complete failure of every
text called a prophecy, when applied to the prognostication of
future events. Numerous texts can be found in the prophets
auguring evil for Egypt, which have made no approximation
toward fulfillment. Ezekiel prophesied “the fall of Egypt,”
“the desolation of Egypt,” “the destruction of Egypt,” &c.,
not one of which calamities has ever been realized in her expe-
rience. Prophecies respecting the restoration of the lost tribes
and the perpetuity of the Israelitish throne are complete fail-
ures ; also all “ the Messianic prophecies,” so called. (See Chap.
II.) With respect to the prophecy on Babylon, it may be fur-
ther observed that while the prophet declares, “Neither shall
the Arabian pitch tent there” (Isa. xiii. 22), Layard declares
that is the very thing they did do while he was there. He
says he saw a number of Arabian tents pitched on the ground ;
thus proving a failure of the prophecy all round in every par-
ticular. (See note page 379.)
Fourth. The bible itself is a witness that truthful prophecy
can do nothing toward authenticating a religion, or toward
proving the prophet divinely inspired. The same damaging
concession is made here as in the case of miracles, that a hea-
then and an unbeliever could and did succeed as well as the true
disciples of the faith. The proof of this statement is found in
the history of Balaam. His figurative representation of a star
coming out of Jacob and a scepter out of Judah (see Numb,
chap, xxiv.) is often quoted by Christian writers as presaging
or prefiguring the coming of Christ, — thus making a heathen
and an unbeliever the oracle of a Messianic prophecy, and a
heathen, too, of sinful and ungodly habits. So that the Chris-
tian subterfuge is not available here, that “ God might make a
righteous man of any nation the vehicle of prophecy.” For we
8r2
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
have the express declaration of the bible itself that he was not
a righteous man, but the very reverse. Peter tells us, “ He
loved the wages of unrighteousness,” at the very time this
prophecy so called was uttered (see 2 Peter ii. 13), which pros-
trates forever the Christian plea that “ he might have possessed
the true spirit of prophecy by virtue of being a righteous man,”
and drives us to the admission that an unconverted savage and
ungodly heathen unbeliever could make a true prophecy. It
not being necessary, then, to be a Jew, or a Christian, or a be-
liever, or even a moral man, to foresee or foretell the far-off
important events of the future, the argument falls forever to the
ground that the fulfillment of the Jewish prophecies, if admit-
ted to have been fulfilled, could do anything toward proving
the truth or divine acceptance of the religion of the bible, or
its superiority over any heathen or oriental religion then or
subsequently known to history, as they all present the same
evidence of being endowed with the true spirit of prophecy.
All argument for Christianity based on the prophecies, or “ the
gift of prophecy,” is, then, forever at an end, as it has been
shown that the power to foretell future events is not restricted
by the bible itself to any nation, to any religion, to any faith, to
any belief, or to any moral or religious qualification. What,
then, is prophecy worth, or what does it prove? Another case,
and one similar to that of Balaam in its essential points, is
found in the New Testament. Caiaphas, though not claiming
to be any part of a believer, utters a prophecy in the interest
of the Christian religion for which the bible itself gives him
full credit as a prophet. Here, then, is another case of a heathen
stealing the Christian’s thunder, and another proof that the
spirit of true prophecy has never been confined to any nation
or any religion ; and hence, according to the teachings of the
bible itself, does nothing at all toward establishing the exalted
claims of Christianity, or toward proving its superiority ovei
other systems of religion.
-
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, PRECEPTS. 305
III. .Moral Precepts the third Pillar of the Chris-
tian Faith.
It is declared, in view of the many wise precepts which is-
sued from the mouth of Jesus Christ, that “ he spake as never
man spake.” (John vii. 46.) If this were true, then Gods
must have been very numerous prior to the Christian era. For
there is not one of the moral maxims or preceptive commands
which he gave utterance to that cannot be found literally or
substantially in the older bibles of other nations, or the writings
of the Greek philosophers, and the religious dissertations of
heathen moralists, who gave out moral and religious lessons for
the instruction of the world long prior to the birth of Christ.
Even the Golden Rule, which Christian writers, ignorant of ori-
ental history, have erroneously ascribed to Jesus Christ, .and
lauded him as being the author of, is found variously expressed
in the writings of several heathen or oriental nations. We
find it in the Chinese bible, at least five hundred years older
than ours, almost word for word as Jesus uttered it. We will
here present it as expressed by different writers.
1. Golden Rule by Confucius, 500 B. C.
“Do unto another what you would have him do unto you, and
do not to another what you would not have him do unto you.
Thou needest this law alone. It is the foundation of all the
rest.”
2. Golden Rule by Aristotle, 385 B. C.
“We should conduct ourselves toward others as we would
have them act toward us.”
8. Golden Rule by Pittacus, 650 B. £7.
“ Do not to your neighbor what you would take ill from him.”
4. Golden Rule by Thales, 464 B. C.
“ Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing/'
5. Golden Rule by Isocrates, 338 B, C
“Act toward others as you desire them to act toward you.”
304
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
6. Golden Rule by Aristippus, 365 B. C.
“ Cherish reciprocal benevolence, which will make you as
anxious for another’s welfare as your own.”
7. Golden Rule by Sextus, a Pythagorean,, 406 JB. C.
“ What you wish your neighbors to be to you, such be also
to them.”
8. Golden Rule by Hillel, 50 B. G.
“ Do not to others what you would not like others to do to
you.”
Here is the Golden Rule proclaimed by seven heathen moral-
ists and a Jew long before it was republished by the founder
of Christianity; thus proving it to be of heathen origin, and
proving that it does not transcend the natural capacity of the
human brain to originate, and hence needs no God to reveal it.
Indeed, it is one of the most natural sentiments of the human
mind. “ Would I like to be treated thus ? ” is the first thought
which naturally arises in the mind of a person when maltreat-
ing a neighbor; thus showing that the Golden Rule is a spon-
taneous utterance of the moral feelings of the human mind.
Love and kind Treatment of Enemies.
Love to enemies is considered to be another praiseworthy
precept, which Christ has erroneously the credit of being the
author of. We have heard the declaration made in the Chris-
tian pulpit, that Jesus Christ was the first moral teacher who
inculcated love to enemies; a most transcendent error, as the
following historical citations will show. Most of the religious
books and religious teachers of the ancient oriental heathen
breathe forth a spirit of love and kindness toward enemies.
The following is from the old Persian bible, the Sadder: —
1. “ Forgive thy foes, nor that alone ;
Their evil deeds with good repay;
Fill those with joy who leave thee none,
And kiss the hand upraised to slay.”
The Christian bible would be searched in vain to find a moral
sentiment or precept superior to this. Certainly it is the lofti-
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, .4AZ> PRECEPTS. 805
est sentiment of kindness toward enemies that ever issued from
human lips, or was ever penned by mortal man. And yet it is
found in an old heathen bible. Think of “kissing the hand
upraised to slay.” Never was love, and kindness, and forbear-
ance toward enemies more sublimely expressed than in the old
Persian ballad.
2. “Treat thine enemy as though a friend, and he will be-
come thy friend,” was expressed by Publius Syrus, a Roman
slave, which is a wiser admonition than that of Christ, “ Love
thine enemy,” as it is a moral impossibility.
3. “ All nature cries aloud, Shall man do less
Than heal the smiter, and the railer bless?”
(Hafiz, a Mahomedan.)
4. “ Bridle thine anger, and forgive thine enemy; give unto
him who takes from thee.” (Koran, Mahomedan bible.)
5. “ Let no man be offended with those who are angry at
him, but reply gently to those who curse him.” (Code of
Menu.)
6. “ Let him endure injuries, and despise no one.” (Ibid.)
7. “ Commit no hostile action for your own preservation.”
(Ibid.)
8. “To be revenged on enemies, become more virtuous.”
(Diogenes.)
9. “ To strike a man, or vex him with words, is a sin.” (Zend-
Avesta, Persian bible.)
10. “ Even the intention to strike is a sin.” (Ibid.)
11. “Desire not tfie death of thine enemy.” (Confucius.)
12. “Acknowledge benefits, but never revenge injuries.
(Ibid.)
13. “We may dislike an enemy without desiring revenge.”
(Ibid.)
14. “Pardon the offenses of others, but never your own.”
(Publius Syrus.)
15. “ The noble spirit cures injustice by forgiving it.” (Ibid.)
16. “ It is much better to be injured than to kill a man.”
(Pythagoras.)
17. “You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by
force.” (Publius Syrus.)
20
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
18. “ Better overlook an injury than avenge it.” (Publius
Syrus.)
19. “It is enough to think ill of an enemy without avenging
it.” (Publius Syrus.)
20. “ It is a kingly spirit to return good deeds for evil ones.”
(Ibid.)
21. “Learn from yon orient shell to love thy foe,
And store with pearls the hand that brings thee woe;
Flee, like yon rock, from base, vindictive pride,
Emblaze with gems the wrist that rends thy side.”
(Hafiz.)
22. “To revenge yourself on an enemy, make him your
friend.” (Pythagoras.)
28. “ It is not permitted to a man who has received an injury
to revenge it by doing another.” (Socrates, in his Crito.)
24. “Seek him who turns thee out, and pardon him who
injures thee.” (Koran.)
25. “ Return not evil for evil.” (Socrates.)
26. “Endure all things if you would serve God.” (Sextus.)
27. “Desire to be able to benefit your enemies.” (Ibid.)
28. “Receive an injury rather than do one.” (Publius Syrus.)
29. “ Be at war with men’s vices, but at peace with their
persons.” (Ibid.)
80. “ Cultivate friendship for an enemy.” (Pittacus.)
31. “ Be kind to your friends that they may continue so, and
to your enemies that they may become so.” (Ibid.)
32. “Prevent injuries if possible; if not, do not revenge
them.” (Ibid.)
33. “ An enemy should not be hated, but cured.” (Seneca.)
34. “To act unkindly toward an enemy will increase his
hate.” (Antonius.)
35. “ Be to everybody kind and friendly.” (Ibid.)
36. “ Speak evil of no one, not even your enemies.” (Pit-
tacus.)
Thus it will be observed that love and kindness toward all
mankind, both friends and enemies, is not confined to the teach-
ings of Christ or to the Christian religion, as many have erro-
neously supposed, but is unquestionably a natural sentiment
MIRACLES, PROPHECIES, PRECEPTS. £07
of the moral instinct or moral impulses of the human mind,
and hence is no proof that their teacher is either a God or di
vinely inspired.
And we have in our possession nearly eight hundred more
precepts (see vol. ii.) from the pens or mouths of the ancient
heathen, enjoining just and kind treatment of women, and set-
ting forth nearly all the duties of life, and teaching the immor-
tality of the soul, &c. And these precepts breathe the same
lofty moral sentiment and moral feeling as those quoted above.
How ignorant and how conceited must be the Christian profes-
sor who supposes all goodness is confined to Christianity, or that
it even possesses any great superiority over other religious sys-
tems ! And how completely the three foregoing parts of this
chapter, “Miracles,” “Prophecies,5’ and “Precepts,” prostrate
the divine claims of Christianity, and leave not an inch of ground
for them to rest upon!
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CHAPTER XXXV. \
LOGICAL OR COMMON SENSE VIEW OF THE
DOCTRINE OF DIVINE INCARNATION.
The incarnation of an infinite God is a shocking absurdity, and
an infinite impossibility. We ask in all solemn earnestness,
and in the name of the intuitive monitions of an unshackled
reason and an unbiased conscience, can any man in his sober
senses, who has been in the habit of reflecting before he be-
lieves, entertain for a moment the monstrous absurdity that
the Almighty and Infinite Maker of the universe was once re-
duced to a little wailing infant, lying in senseless and helpless
weakness on the lap of its mother, unable to walk a step, or
lisp a word, or do aught but cry with pain or for the nourish-
ment stored in the mother’s breast ? What! Almighty God
fallen from his burnished, dazzling throne in the lofty heavens,
and reduced to helpless, senseless babyhood! Omnipotence
shorn of all power but to breathe, and cry, and smile! What!
that Omniscient Being, who “leads one world by day, and ten
thousand more by night,” becoming suddenly transformed into
a human bantling, which knows no higher enjoyment than that
of being “ pleased with a rattle, and tickled with a straw! ”
Who can believe it ? Ay, who dare believe it, if he would
escape the charge of blasphemy? Then say not that “the
man Christ Jesus,” though standing at the top of the ladder of
moral manhood, and high above the common plane of humanity,
was yet a God — “the Infinite Ruler of the infinite universe.”
Who can believe that that Being, whose existence stretches
to an eternity beyond human conception, yea, whom “ the
heaven of heavens cannot contain,” was ever cooped up in a
human body, reduced so near to nothing in dimensions as to
DIVINE INCARNATION
309
be susceptible (as was Jesus) of being weighed in scales, and
measured with a yardstick ?
We ask again, Who, from the deepest depths of his inmost,
enlightened consciousness, can believe such revolting, such
atheistical doctrine as this ? Or who will venture to descend
still lower, and conceive of an Almighty, Omnipresent Being,
who fills all space above, around, and beneath, “ from infinity
below to yon fixed star above,” and millions upon millions of
miles beyond it, sinking and dwindling to that mere mite,
speck, or monad state and condition comprehended in the initi-
atory step to embryonic existence? And then think of the
Almighty, Omnipotent Creator of the universe lying in a man-
ger with four-footed beasts and creeping things, sleeping with
oxen and asses in a stable. Next he is seen an urchin on the
street playing with marbles and jack-knives, absorbed and for-
getful of the world around him. Who can believe that awfully
majestic Being, who is represented by his own inspired book as
being so transcendently grand and awe-inspiring that “ no man
can see him and live” (Ex. xxxiii. 20), was not only daily
seen by hundreds and thousands, but was on such familiar
terms with men, that they regarded him as their companion,
and equal, and even sometimes coolly reprimanded him for
supposed misdemeanors and errors? Could they believe this
to be Almighty God? Impossible! Impossible! And then
who can believe that that infinite Being, whom we have been
taught to regard as absolutely and eternally unchangeable,
could become subject to hunger and thirst (as did Jesus) ?
Or who can believe that the eternally and unceasingly watchful
Omnipotent Deity, whose eye, we are told, “ never slumbers,”
could sink into unconscious sleep, become “ to dumb forgetful-
ness a prey,” night after night, for thirty years, oblivious, and
unconscious of the world around him ? Think of a being of
incomprehensible majesty, dignity, and power, able to “ shake
the heavens and the earth also,” being unable to protect him-
self from insult, and was therefore derided and “ spit upon,”
and finally overcome by his enemies, as is related of Jesus.
Can any man believe, who has not made shipwreck of his senses,
or banished Reason from her courts, that God Almighty, who
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
comprehends in himself the most absolute and boundless per-
fection of goodness and wisdom, was tempted by demons, devils,
and crawling serpents ? Who can believe that the Lord, who
owns “the cattle upon a thousand hills” (Psalm 1. 10), and the
countless host of worlds besides, that wheel their course through
infinite space, had not “where to lay his head ”? Who can be-
lieve that that was the all-wise, omnipotent, and omnipresent
God, possessing all power in heaven above and the earth be-
neath, who was betrayed by weak, finite mortals ? What! the
Almighty Creator betrayed by a puny being of his own creation
into the hands of his disobedient and rebellious children ? Why
could he not, if possessing “ power to lay down his life, and
take it up again” (John x. 17), cause that all these children of
his (as we must assume they were, if he was Almighty God,
and hence Father of all) should love him, instead of hating
him ? Can any man believe that Jesus was possessed with
omnipotent power while standing to be whipped (scourged)
by Pontius Pilate, or that he possessed a power above that of
finite mortals while in the act of praying, with such extreme
ardor that the sweat dropped from his face, that the cup of
death might pass from his lips, or while calling for an angel to
support him in the hour of his mortal dissolution ? or that He,
“ by whom all things exist,” could cease himself to exist, by
dying upon the cross between malefactors? Think of this,
reader! and think of the eternal Creator, the infinite Deity,
the omnipotent Jehovah, the Maker of worlds as numberless
as the sands upon the sea-shore for multitude, fainting, bleed-
ing, dying, and pouring out his own blood to appease his own
wrath ; dying an ignominious death to satisfy an implacable re-
venge ! Away with such insulting mockery, such blasphemous
flummery! It can only find place in the dark chambers of an
unenlightened mind.
Well has Watts said of Locke’s skepticism,—
“Reason could scarcely sustain to see,
Or bear the infant Deity:
A ransomed world, a bleeding God,
And heaven appeased by flowing blood,
Were themes too painful to be understood/’
DIVINE INCARNATION.
311
Yes, and too painful to be believed, too, Mr, Watts! Hero
we have a “bleeding God,” an “infant Deity,” and a vengeful
God, appeased by murder and streams of “ flowing blood ”
Gracious heavens ! Whose reason does not revolt at such a
picture ? Whose soul does not sicken at the thought, and
who would not prefer, infinitely prefer, to sink to annihilation,
if not to perdition itself, to being thus saved by navigating a
river of blood ? Dr. South hits off some of the absurdities in-
volved in the Christian doctrine of the incarnation so forcibly
and so lucidly, that we cannot resist the temptation to subjoin
here a few extracts from his sermon on the subject. “ But now,”
says this Christian clergyman, “ was there ever any wonder
comparable to this, to behold the Lord (Jesus Christ) thus
clothed in flesh, the Creator of all things, humbled, not only to
the company, but also to the cognation, of his creatures ? It
is as if one should imagine the whole world not only represent-
ed upon, but also contained in, one of our own artificial globes,
or the body of the sun enveloped in a cloud as big as a man’s
hand, all of which would be looked upon as astonishing impos-
sibilities, and yet is as short of the other as the finite is of the
infinite, between which the disparity is immeasurable. It is,
as it were, to cancel the essential distances of things, to remove
the bounds of nature, to bring heaven and earth, and what is
more, both ends of the contradiction, together. Men cannot
persuade themselves that a Deity and infinity should lie within
so narrow a compass as the dimensions of a human body;
that omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence should ever
be wrapped in swaddling clothes, and debased to the homely
usages of a stable and a manger; that the glorious Artificer of
the whole universe, who spread out the heaven like a curtain,
and laid the foundations of the earth, could ever turn carpenter,
and exercise an inglorious trade in a little cell. They cannot
imagine that He who once created and at present governs the
world, and shall hereafter judge the world, should be abased in
all his concerns and relations, be scourged, spit upon, mocked,
and at last crucified. All which are passages which lie ex-
tremely close to the notions or conceptions which reason has
made to itself of that high and impossible perfection that
312
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
-
resided in the divine Creator.” (Sermon, 1665.) Dr. South,
it will be observed, admits that the doctrine of the divine
incarnation involves many palpable absurdities and contradic-
tions, and lies directly across the path of reason. Fatal admis-
sion to the doctrine of the deityship of Christ, but true, as his
own elucidation of the subject demonstrates. To the author,
since he first subjected the question to a logical scrutiny, and
looked at it with an unbiased mind, it presents difficulties in-
surmountable, and absurdities innumerable. He can imagine
nothing more transcendently shocking, revolting, and dwarfing
to the mind, both morally and intellectually, than the thought
of believing that a being born of and suckled by a woman, and
possessing the mere form and dimensions of a man, can be re-
garded as the great Almighty and Omnipotent God, the Creator
of unnumbered worlds, millions of which are larger than this
planet, on which Jesus was born.
And then, reader, look for a moment at some of the many
childish incongruities and logical difficulties this giant absurdity
drags with it. It represents Almighty God as coming into the
world through the hands of a midwife, as passing through the
process of gestation and parturition. It insults our reason
with the idea that the great, infinite Jehovah could be molded
into the human form — a thought that is shocking to the moral
sense, and withering, cramping, and dwarfing to the intellect-
ual mind, imposing upon it a heavy drag-chain which checks
its expansion, and forbids its onward progress. Christians tell
us that the human and the divine were united in “ the man
Christ Jesus.” But this is a monstrous absurdity, which no
truly rational and unbiased mind can accept for an instant —
that of hitching, splicing, tying, or dovetailing together finite
man with the infinite Jehovah, that of amalgamating and com-
mingling human foibles with divine perfection. Think of
wedding mortal weakness to omnipotent power, local man with
the omnipresent Deity! Think of compounding the creature
and the Creator in one and the same being! Think of the
omnipresent “ I AM,” whose illimitable existence stretches
far away throughout the expansive arena of a boundless uni-
verse, occupying a dwelling within the narrow confines of the
DIVINE INCARNATION.
313
human temple ! As well essay to crowd the universe into your
pocket, or the Himalayas Mountains into a thimble. On the
other hand, think of a small compound of flesh, blood, and bones,
a few feet in dimensions, and weighing perhaps not more than
one hundred and fifty pounds avoirdupois, containing that
infinite, omnipresent Being, whom, we are told (we repeat the
quotation), “the heaven of heavens cannot contain”! And
more than all, kind reader, I ask you if yoit can accept for a
moment, without the immolation of your common sense, and
the trampling of your reason beneath your feet, the monstrous
thought that that mighty and almighty Architect who created
the countless myriads upon myriads of ponderous worlds, which
now roll in majestic order and eternal rotation along the great
cerulean causeway of heaven, that mighty Architect who, from
time beyond human computation, has been rolling out orb after
orb, world after world, if not myriads at a time, ten thousand
times, ten thousand of which would dwindle our little pygmy,
Lilliputian planet into insignificance, if compared with it in size.
I ask, and drive home the query to your inward conscious-
ness, and the inmost temples of your sacred reason, Can you
believe, after a moment’s reflection, that a Being who is too
vast, infinitely too vast in power and ubiquity to be grasped by
the human understanding, did become (as did the finite and
humble Jesus) a helpless, senseless, unconscious, human infant;
a suckling, crying, squalling babe, powerless of speech, and un-
able to walk? Ay, worse, more startling still, we are shocked
with the thought that this mighty World-builder, this infi-
nite, omnipotent Creator, was reduced so near to the verge of
nonenity, so near to the last glimmering spark or speck of ex-
istence, and the world so near without a God, as to become an
inanimate foetus — a monad in the matrix of a human virgin?
Shocking the thought! Blasphemous the doctrine! Believe
it who will; believe it who can ! We cannot; we would not;
we are infinitely beyond it. Such a belief may be deposited
by educational tradition in the affections, but to enter the tem-
ple of Reason, it never did, it never can. She never unbarred
her doors to admit such monstrous, such enormous incongrui-
ties. And all these logical absurdities, and a thousand more,
814
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
grow legitimately out of the doctrine of the divine incarnation,
— out of the postulate which would (following in the line of the
pagan superstitions) elevate the finite, humble, mortal Jesus to
the throne of heaven, the exclusive prerogative of Almighty
God. Come away, my Christian friends, from such disparaging,
such dishonorable views of the Deity, such blasphemous cari-
catures of Almighty God. Come away from such morally
darkening and such intellectually dwarfing superstitions, the
moldering relics of oriental mythology, the expiring embers of
childish credulity and tradition, wrhich originated far back in
the dark cradle of human existence, in the infancy of an unde-
veloped age, ruled by ignorance, superstition, and priestcraft.
Yet millions of people laying claim to sense and intelligence,
even now profess to believe it! Talk not to me of infidelity
or blasphemy for denying the divinity or Godhead of Jesus
Christ.* The blasphemy lies in the other direction. The infi-
delity is with the opposite party. It is with those who thus
make the dignity and character of Deity the sport of childish
baubles, the game of priestly tawdryism. And be assured, dear
friends, one and all, that coming generations will mark the
man who now worships “ the man Christ Jesus ” as being “very
God ” as an idolater, if not a blasphemer — for worshiping a
finite man for an infinite God, even though the motives for
such worship may be as pure as the pearly stream that issues
forth from the golden fount which rolls and sparkles beneath
the throne of Almighty God.
Note. The words Creator, Maker, &c., are used from a Christian
standpoint. Science knows no Creator.
ABSURDITIES OF DIVINE INCARNA1 ION. 315
CHAPTER XXXVI.
PHILOSOPHICAL ABSURDITIES OF THE DOCTRINE
OF THE DIVINE INCARNATION.
There is a philosophical principle underlying the doctiine
of the Divine Incarnation, whose logical deductions completely
overthrow the claim of Jesus of Nazareth to the Godhead, and
which we regard as settling the question as conclusively as any
demonstrated problem in mathematics. This argument is pred-
icated upon the philosophical axiom, that two infinite beings,
of any description or conception, cannot exist, either in whole
or in part, at the same time; and per consequence, it is impossi-
ble that the Father and Son should both be God in a divine
sense, either conjointly or separately. The word infinite com-
prehends all; it covers the whole ground; it fills the immensity
of the universe, and fills it to repletion, so that there is no
room left for any other being to exist. And whoever and what-
ever does exist must constitute a part of this infinite whole.
Now, the Christian world concedes (for it is the teaching of
their Scriptures), that the Father is God, always and truly, per-
fect, complete, and absolute; that there is nothing wanting in
him to constitute him God in the most comprehensive and
absolute sense of the term; that he is all we can conceive of
. as constituting God, “ the one only true God ” (John xvii. 3),
and was such from all eternity, before Jesus Christ was born
into the world; and Paul puts the keystone into the arch by
proclaiming, “ To us there is but one God, the Father.” (1
Cor. viii. 6.) Hence we have here a logical proposition (de-
spite the sophistry of Christendom) as impregnable as the rocks
of Gibraltar, that the Father alone is or can be God, which
effectually shuts out every other and all other beings in the
316
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
universe from any participation in the Godhead with the Father.
And thus this parity of reasoning demonstrates that the very
moment you attempt to make Christ God, or any part of the
Godhead, you attempt a philosophical impossibility. You can-
not introduce another being as God in the infinite sense until
the first-named infinite God is dethroned and put out of exist-
ence, and this, of course, is a self-evident impossibility. If it
were not such, then we should have two Gods, both absolute
and infinite. On the other hand, if that other being (who with
the Christians is Jesus Christ, with the Hindoos Christina,
with the Budhists Sakia, &c.) is introduced as only a part of
the infinite and perfect God, then it is evident to every mind
with the least philosophical perception, that some change or
alteration must take place in the latter before such a union can
be effected. But such a change, or any alteration, in a perfect
infinite being would at once reduce him to a changeable and
finite being, and thus he would cease to be God. For it is a
clear philosophical and mathematical axiom, that a perfect and
infinite being cannot become more than infinite. And if he
could and should become less than infinite, he would at once
become finite, and thus lose all the attributes of the Godhead.
To say or assume, then, that Christ wTas God in the absolute or
divine sense, and the Father also God absolute, and yet that
there is but one God, or that the two could in any manner be
united, so as to constitute but one God, is not only a glaring
solecism, but a positive contradiction in terms, and an utter
violation of the first axiomatic principles of philosophy and
mathematics. It also asserts the illogical hypothesis, that a
part can be equal to the whole : it first assumes the Father to
be absolutely God, then assumes the Son also to be abso-
lutely God, and finally assumes each to be only a part, and has
to unite them to make a whole and complete God; and thereby
culminates the theological farce. Such is Christian ratiocina-
tion
Again, it is conceded by Christians, that the Father is an
omnipresent being; and we have shown that it is a mathemati-
cal impossibility for two omnipresent beings, or two beings
possessing any infinite attributes, to exist at one and the same
ABSURDITIES OF DIVINE INCARNATION. 317
time. Hence the clear logical deduction that the Se n could not
be omnipresent, and per sequence, not God. Again, we have
another philosophical maxim or axiom familiar to every school-
boy, that no two substances or beings can occupy the same place
at the same time; the first must be removed before the second
can by any possibility be introduced, in order thus to make room
for the latter. But as omnipresent means existing everywhere,
there can be no place to remove an omnipresent being to, or
rather there can be no place or space he can be withdrawn
from in order to make room for another being, without his ceas-
ing to be omnipresent himself, and thereby ceasing to be God.
It is thus shown to be a demonstrable truth that the omni-
presence of the Father does and must exclude that of the Son,
and thus exclude the possibility of his apotheosis or incarnated
deityship. In other words, it is established as a scientific prin-
ciple upon a philosophical and mathematical basis, that Jesus
Christ was not and could not be “the great I AM,” 1,6the only
true God.”
We will notice one other philosophical absurdity involved
in the doctrine of the divine incarnation — one other sole-
cism comprehended in the childish notion which invests the
infinite God with finite attributes. It is a well-established
and well-understood axiom in philosophy, that “the less can-
not be made to contain the greater.” A pint bottle cannot
be made to contain a quart of wine. For the same reason a
finite body cannot contain an infinite spirit. Hence philosophy
presses the conclusion that “the man Christ Jesus” could not
have comprehended in himself “ the Godhead bodily,” inasmuch
as it would have required the infinite God to be incorporated
in a finite human body. We are therefore compelled to reject
the doctrine of the incarnate divinity, the belief in the deity-
ship of Jesus Christ, because (with many other reasons enumer-
ated elsewhere) it involves a direct tilt against some of the
plainest principles of science, and challenges, ay, virtually over-
throws, some of the fundamental laws of both natural and moral
philosophy. No philosopher, therefore, does or can believe in
the absolute divinity of Jesus Christ.
318
THE WORLD'S SAIIORS.
CHAPTER XXXVII. x
PHYSIOLOGICAL ABSURDITIES OF THE DOCTRINE
OF THE DIVINE INCARNATION.
There is also a physiological principle (discovered by the
author) comprised in the doctrine of the Divine Incarnation
fatal in its practical and logical application to the divinity of
Jesus Christ, and all the other incarnate or flesh-invested Gods
of antiquity. It is evidently fraught with much logical force.
It is based upon the law of mental and physical correspondence.
As is the physical conformation, so is the mentality, is a law
of analogy which pilots us to nearly all our practical knowledge
of the natural world. A knowledge of either serves as an
index to the other.
When we observe an animal possessing that physical form
and construction peculiar to its species, we expect to find it
practically exhibiting the nature, character, disposition, and
habits peculiar to that class of animals. If it possesses, for ex-
ample, the conformation of a sheep, we infer at once that it has
the disposition of a sheep, and we are never disappointed in
this conclusion. And when we encounter an animal with the
tiger form, we expect to see exhibited the tiger spirit. If it
possesses the well-known physical conformation of the tiger, we
are never deceived or misled when we assign it a predatory
disposition. If it is a tiger in form, it is sure to be a tiger in
character and habits. And so of all the genera and species of
animals that range upon the face of the globe. We may travel
through the whole field of animated nature, and observe the
infallible operation of this beautiful law of correspondence till
we come, however, to the crowning work of God, called Man
ABSURDITIES OF DIVINE INCARNATION. 319
Here we find this law, this beautiful chain of analogy, broken
by the doctrine of the “divine incarnation.” God becomes a
man, at least is made to exhibit every external appearance of a
man. All external distinction between God and man is thus
obliterated. So that the very first being we meet in the street
or on the highway possessing the form, size, and physical con-
formation of a man, and presenting every other external appear-
ance of being a man, may nevertheless be a God. And no less
is this'objection practically exemplified, and not less is the in-
fraction of this beautiful law of analogy observable in the case
of Jesus Christ, than in the numerous other incarnate Gods and
. demigods of antiquity. Being in appearance a man, how was he
to be, or how could he be, visually distinguished from a man ? Or
how could those men who were cotemporary with him, know, as
they approached him, or as they approached each other, whether
they were meeting a man or a God ? Seeing that “he was found
in fashion as a man ” (Phil. ii. 8), either he might be mistaken
for a man, or they for a God. They were constantly liable to
be confounded. If, then, the infinite deityship was lodged in
the person of Jesus Christ, it is evident that that important
fundamental law of nature — “ as is the form, so is the character ”
— was utterly annulled, prostrated, annihilated, and banished
from the world by the act. So that all was, and is henceforth
and forever, chaos, confusion, and uncertainty. For if the prin-
ciple can be violated in one instance, it may be in another, and
in thousands of cases, ad infinitum. If one case could be
allowed to occur, the principle is established, and nature’s uni-
versal chain of analogy is broken and destroyed; for to inter-
cept the law is to “break the tenth and ten thousandth link
alike.”
-
Hence it is evident that if a being resembling a man may
be a God, an animal resembling a cow may be a horse, and
yonder stick a poisonous adder; and fatal may be the conse-
quences, in thousands of instances, in judging or inferring the
nature and character of an animal by its form and size. A sup-
posed* innocent animal might be a deadly enemy, or vice versa.
Can we then believe, or dare we believe, a doctrine so atheisti-
cal in its tendencies as that the Infinite Deity was incorporated
820
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
in the person of the meek and lowly Jesus, when it would thus
set at naught, violate, prostrate, and utterly cancel from the
world one of God’s owTn fundamental laws, and one of the
essential principles of natural science, and banish forever the
co-ordinate harmony of the universe, and thus inaugurate a
state of universal disorder, incertitude, anarchy, and misrule
into the otherwise beautifully law-governed, well-regulated do-
main of nature ? Certainly, most certainly not! If the incar-
nation of the Deity should or could take place, there should be
something strikingly peculiar, ay, infinitely peculiar, in his
figure, size, and general appearance, in order to make him sus-
ceptible of being distinguished from the human. Otherwise,
men would be liable to be constantly mistaking and worship-
ing each other for the Great Almighty and Ubiquitous God, and
thus constantly blundering into idolatry. And we actually
find several cases reported in the Scriptures (mark the fact
well) of men, ay, the saints themselves, being led into this error;
being led to commit “the high-handed sin of idolatry ” in conse-
quence of their previous acceptance of the belief in a man-God
— that is, a God of human size and type. St. John, in two
instances, was in the act of worshiping a being possessing the
human form, whom he mistook for the omnipotent and omni-
present God. (See Rev. xix. 10, and xxii. 4.) Having, per-
haps, been taught that “ the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily
in Christ Jesus,” he probably mistook the being he met for
Him, and hence offered to worship him. If, then, Christ’s own
“inspired disciples” could be thus betrayed into “the sin of
idolatry ” by having abolished the infinite distinction between
the divine and the human, we surely find here a very weighty
argument against such a leveling and equalizing doctrine. And
certainly nothing could be better calculated to promote “ the
sin of idolatry” than thus to obliterate the broad, the in-
finitely grand line of demarkation between the infinite God and
his finite creature man. Indeed, may we not here find the
very origin and the cause of the now general prevalence of
idolatry in pagan countries ? Is it not directly traceable to the
demolition of the broad, high, and insurmountable wall of dis-
tinction which ought forever to stand between a God of infi-
ABSURDITIES OF DIVINE INCARNATION. 32l
nite attributes, and a being caged up in the human form? Cer-
tainly, most certainly it is. Hence here 1 would ask, How
can Christians, after subscribing to the doctrine, “ that the full-
ness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in the man Christ Jesus ”
(as Paul very appropriately calls him), condemn the people of
any age or nation for worshiping as God their fellow-beings —
that is, beings with the human form ? Certainly the man who
could believe that the infinite God could be comprehended or
incorporated in the person of Jesus, could easily be brought to
believe that the Grand Lama of Thibet is a proper object of
divine worship. He only lacks the substitution of names.
Substitute the Grand Lama for that of Jesus Christ, and the
thing is done. And idolatry thus becomes an easily established
institution, and its abolition in any country an absolute moral
impossibility.
21
822
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
A HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE DIVINITY OF JESUS
CHRIST.
A most fatal distrust is thrown upon the miraculous portions
of the history of Jesus Christ, as found in his Gospel narratives,
by the discovery of the fact (brought to light through recent ar-
chaeological researches), that the same marvelous feats, the same
miraculous incidents, which were recorded in his life, were long
previously ingrafted into the sacred biographies of Gods and
demigods no less adored and worshiped as beings possessing
divine attributes. We shall leave the reader to account for
the long list of astonishing coincidences, as we proceed to re-
capitulate and abridge from previous chapters, the almost innu-
merable parallel incidents running through the legendary histo-
ry of the many demigods and sin-atoning saviors of antiquity.
The historical vouchers are given. We shall first direct atten-
tion to the long string of corresponding events recorded in the
sacred histories of ancient Hindoo Gods, as compared with
those of Jesus Christ at a much later period.
As far back as 1200 B. C., sacred records were extant and
traditions were current, in the East, which taught that the
heathen Savior (Chrishna) was, 1st. Immaculately conceived
and born of a spotless virgin, “ who had never known man.”
2d. That the author of, or agent in, the conception, was a spirit
or ghost (of course a Holy Ghost). 3d. That he was threat-
ened in early infancy with death by the ruling tyrant, Cansa.
4th. That his parents had, consequently, to flee with him to
Gokul for safety. 5th. That all the young male children under
two years of age were slain by an order issued by Cansa, similar
to that of Herod in Judea. 6th. That angels and shepherds
DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST.
323
attended his birth. 7th. That his birth and advent occurred on
the 25th of December. 8th. That it occurred in accordance
with previous prophecy. 9th. That he was presented at birth
with frankincense, myrrh, &c. 10th. That he was saluted and
worshiped as “ the Savior of men,” according to the report of
the late Christian missionary Hue. 11th. That he led a life of
humility and practical moral usefulness. 12th. That he wrought
various astounding miracles, such as healing the sick, restoring
sight to the blind, casting out devils, raising the dead to life,
&c. 13th. That he was finally put to death upon the cross
(i. e., crucified) between two thieves. 14th. After which he
descended to hell, rose from the dead, and ascended back to
heaven “in the sight of all men,” as his biblical history declares.
For hundreds of other similar parallels, including his doctrines
and precepts, see Chapter XXXII.
Now, all these were matters of the firmest belief, more than
three thousand years ago, in the minds of millions of the most
devout worshipers that ever bowed the knee in humble prayer
to the Father of Mercies. The reader can draw his ow;n de-
duction.
And then we have presented similar brief lists of parallels in
Chapter XXXIII., comprised in a comparative view of the mi-
raculous lives of the Judean and Egyptian Saviors, Christ, Al-
cides, Osiris, Tulis, &c. In this analogous exhibition, it will
be observed the Egyptian Gods are reported, as remotely as
900 B. C., as performing, besides several of the miraculous
achievements enumerated above, other miracles equally indica-
tive of divine power, such as converting water into wine, caus-
ing “rain to descend from heaven,” &c. And on the occasion
of the crucifixion of Tulis we are told “ the sun became dark-
ened and the moon refused to shine.”
We find, also, several well-authenticated instances of raising
the dead to life, in works portraying the miraculous achieve-
ments of the Egyptian Gods, the relation being given in such
specific detail in some cases that the names of the reanimated
dead are furnished. Tyndarus and Hypolitus were instances
of this kind, both (according to Julius) having been raised
from the dead. Descending the line of history, until we arrive
324
THE WORLD’S SAVIORS.
at the confines of Grecian theology, we find here die same train
of marvelous events recorded in the histories of their virgin-
born Gods, as we have shown in Chapter XXXIII., such as their
healing the sick and the cripples, causing the blind to see, the
lame to walk, the dead to be resuscitated to life, &c. And
cases, as we have shown, are reported of their reading the
thoughts of their disciples, as Jesus did those of the woman of
Samaria. Apollonius declares he knew many Hindoo saints to
perform this achievement with entire strangers.
Likewise Apollonius of Tyana and Simon Magus, both cotem-
porary with Jesus Christ, we have arranged in the historic par-
allel (see Chapter XXXIII.), with their long train of miracles,
constituting an exact counterpart with those related in the
Gospel history of Christ, and including in Apollonius’s case,
besides those specified in the histories of the Gods above
named, the miracle of transfiguration, the resurrection from the
dead, his visible ascent to heaven, &c., while Simon Magus was
very expert in casting out devils, raising the dead, allaying
storms, walking on the sea, &c. -
But without recapitulating further, we will recite some new
historic facts not embraced in any of the preceding chapters of
this work, and tending to demonstrate still further the univer-
sal analogy of all religions, past and present, in their claims for
a miraculous power for their Gods and incarnate Saviors. The
“New York. Correspondent,” published in 1828, furnishes us
the following brief history of an ancient Chinese God, known
as Beddou: —
“ All the Eastern writers agree in placing the birth of Bed-
dou 1027 B. C. The doctrines of this Deity prevailed over
Japan, China, and Ceylon. According to the sacred tenets of
his religion, c God is incessantly rendering himself incarnate,’
but his greatest and most solemn incarnation was three thou-
sand years ago, in the province of Cashmere, under the name
of Fot, or Beddou. He was believed to have sprung from the
right intercostal of a virgin of the royal blood, who, when she
became a mother, did not the less continue to be a virgin; that
the king of the country, uneasy at his birth, was desirous to
put him to death, and hence caused all the males that were
DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST.
325
born at the same period to be put to death, and alsD that, being
saved by shepherds, he lived in the desert to the age of thirty
years, at which time he opened his commission, preaching the
doctrines of truth, and casting out devils; that he performed a
multitude of the most astonishing miracles, spent his life fast-
ing, and in the severest mortifications, and at his death be-
queathed to his disciples the volume in which the principles of
his religion are contained.”
Here, it will be observed, are some very striking counterparts
lo the miraculous incidents found related in the Gospel history
of Jesus Christ. And no less analogous is the no less well-au-
thenticated story of Quexalcote of Mexico, which the Rev. Mr.
Maurice concedes to be, and Lord Kingsborough and Niebuhr
(in his history of Rome) prove to be much older than the Gospel
account of Jesus Christ. According to Maurice’s “ Ind. Ant.,”
Humboldt’s 66 Researches in Mexico,” Lord Kingsborough’s
“ Mexican Ant.,” and other works, the incarnate God Quexalcote
was born (about 800 B. C.) of a spotless virgin, by the name
Chimalman, and led a life of the deepest humility and piety;
retired to a wilderness, fasted forty days, was worshiped as a
God, and was finally crucified between two thieves; after which
he was buried and descended into hell, but rose again the third
day. The following is a part of Lord Kingsborough’s testimony
in the case: “ The temptation of Quexalcote, the fast of forty
days ordained by the Mexican ritual, the cup with which he
was presented to drink (on the cross), the reed which was his
sign, the ; Morning Star,’ which he is designated, the c Teotee-
pall, or Divine Stone,’ which was laid on his altar, and which
was likewise an object of adoration,— all these circumstances?
connected with many others relating to Quexalcote of Mexico,
but which are here omitted, are very curious and mysterious.”
(Vol. vi. p. 237, of Mexican Ant.)
Again, “Quexalcote is represented, in the painting of Co-
dex Borgianus, as nailed to the cross.” (See Mex. Ant. vol. vi.
p. 166.) One plate in this work represents him as being cruci-
fied in the heavens, one as being crucified between two thieves.
Sometimes he is represented as being nailed to the cross, and
sometimes as hanging with the cross in his hands. The same
826
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
work speaks of his burial, descent into hell, and his resurrec-
tion ; while the account of his immaculate conception and
miraculous birth are found in a work called “ Codex Vati-
can us.”
Other parallel incidents could be cited, if we had space for
them, appertaining to the history of this Mexican God. And
parallels might also be constructed upon the histories of other
ancient Gods, — as that of Sakia of India, Salivahana of Ber-
muda, Hesus, or Eros, of the Celtic Druids, Mithra of Persia,
Hil and Feta of the Mandaites, &c.
But we will close with the testimony of a French philoso-
pher (Bazin) on the subject of deific incarnations. This writ-
er says, “ The most ancient histories are those of Gods who
became incarnate in order to govern mankind. All those fables
are the same in spirit, and sprang up everywhere from con-
fused ideas, which have universally prevailed among mankind,
— that Gods formerly descended upon earth.”
Now, we ask the Christian reader, — and it will be the first
query of every man whose religious faith has not made ship-
wreck of his reason, — u What does all this mean ? How are
you going to sustain the declaration that Jesus Christ was the
only son and sent of God, in view of these historic facts?
Where are the superior credentials of his claim ? How will
you prove his apparently legendary history (that is, the miracu-
lous portion of his history) to be real, and the others false ? ”
We boldly aver it cannot be done. Please answer these ques-
tions, or relinquish your doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ.
CHRIST'S DIVINITT\
32T
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE SCRIPTURAL VIEW OF CHRIST'S DIVINITY.
The monstrous scientific paradox (as coming ages will regard
it) comprehended in the conception of an almighty, omnipres-
ent, and infinite Being, “ the Creator of innumerable worlds,”
(“by him [Christ] were all things made that were made,” John
i. 3-10), being born of a frail and finite woman, as taught by
both the oriental and Christian religion, is so exceedingly
shocking to every rational mind, which has not been sadly
warped, perverted, and coerced into the belief by early psycho-
logical influence, that we would naturally presume that those
who, on the assumption of the remotest possibility of its truth,
should venture to put forth a doctrine so glaringly unreasona-
ble and so obviously untenable, would of course vindicate it and
establish it by the strongest arguments and by the most unas-
sailable and most irrefragable proofs ; and that in setting forth a
doctrine so manifestly at war with every law and analogy of
nature and every principle of science, no language should have
been used, nor the slightest admission made, that could possibly
lead to the slightest degree of suspicion that the original authors
and propagators of this doctrine had either any doubt of the
truth of the doctrine themselves, or were wanting in the most
ample, the most abundant proof to sustain it. No language, no
text, not a word, not a syllable should have been used making
the most remote concession damaging to the validity of the
doctrine, so that not “ the shadow of a shade of doubt” could
be left on any mind of its truth. Omnipotent indeed should
be the logic, and irresistible the proof, in support of a thesis or
a doctrine which so squarely confronts and contradicts all the
observation, all the experience, the whole range of scientific
328
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
knowledge, and the common sense of mankind. How startling,
then, to every devout and honest professor of the Christian
faith ought to be the recent discovery of the fact, that the great
majority of the texts having any bearing upon the doctrine of
the divinity of Jesus Christ, — a large majority of the passages
in the very book on which the doctrine is predicated, and which
is acknowledged as the sole warranty for such a belief, — are ac-
tually at variance with the doctrine, and actually amount to its
virtual denial and overthrow. For we find, upon a critical ex-
amination of the matter, that at least three fourths of the texts,
both in the Gospels and Epistles, which relate to the divinity
of Christ, specifically or by implication either teach a different
and a contrary doctrine, or make concessions entirely fatal to
it, by investing him with finite human qualities utterly incom-
patible with the character and attributes of a divine or infinite
Being. How strange, then, how superlatively strange, that
millions should yet hold to such a strange “ freak of nature,”
such a dark relic of oriental heathenism, such a monstrously
foolish and childish superstition, as that which teaches that the
infinite Creator and “ Upholder of the universe ” could be re-
duced so near to nonentity, as wras required to pass through
the ordinary stages of human generation, human birth, and
human parturition, — a puerile notion which reason, science,
nature, philosophy, and common sense, proclaim to be supreme-
ly absurd and self-evidently impossible, and which even the
Scriptures fail to sustain, — a logical, scriptural exposition, of
which we will here present a brief summary : —
1. The essential attributes of a self-existing God and Crea-
tor, and “Upholder of all things,” are infinitude, omnipotence,
omniscience, and omnipresence, and any being not possessing
all these attributes to repletion, or possessing any quality or
characteristic in the slightest degree incompatible with any one
of these attributes, cannot be a God in a divine sense, but
must of necessity be a frail, fallible, finite being.
2. Jesus Christ disclaims, hundreds of times over, directly or
impliedly, the inherent possession of any one of these divine
attributes.
3. His evangelical biographers have invested him witli the
CHRIST'S DIVINITY.
329
-
entire category of human qualities and characteristics, each one
ot which is entirely unbefitting a God, and taken together are
the only distinguishing characteristics by which we can know
a man from a God.
4. Furthermore, there issued from his own mouth various
sayings and concessions most fatal to the conception of his
being a God.
5. His devout biographers have reported various actions and
movements in his practical life which we are compelled to re-
gard as absolutely irreconcilable with the infinite majesty, lofty
character, and supreme attributes of an almighty Being.
6. Th ese human qualities were so obvious to all who saw
him and all who became acquainted with him, that doubts
sprang up among his own immediate followers, which ultimate-
ly matured into an open avowal of disbelief in his divinity in
that early age.
7. Upon the axiomatical principles of philosophy it is an
utter and absolute impossibility to unite in repletion the divine
and the human in the same being.
8. And then Christ had a human birth.
9. He was constituted in part, like human beings, of flesh
and blood.
10. Pie became, on certain occasions, “an hungered,” like
finite beings.
11. He also became thirsty (John xix. 28), like perishable
mortals.
12. He often slept, like mortals, and thus became “to dumb
forgetfulness a prey.”
13. He sometimes became weary, like human beings. (See
John iv. 6.)
14. He was occasionally tempted, like fallible mortals. (Matt.
ir,L)
15. His “ soul became exceeding sorrowful,” as a frail, finite
being. (Matt. xxvi. 88.)
16. He disclosed the weakness of human passion by weep-
ing. (John xi. 35.)
17. He was originally an imperfect being, “ made perfect
through suffering.” (Heb. ii. 10.)
330
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
18. He “ increased in wisdom and stature ” (Luke ii. 52) ;
therefore he must have possessed finite, changeable, mortal
attributes.
19. And he finally died and was buried, like all perishable
mortals. He could not possibly, from these considerations, have
been a God. It is utterly impracticable to associate with or
comprehend, in a God of infinite powers and infinite attri-
butes, all or any of these finite human qualities.
20. Dark, intellectually dark, indeed, must be that mind, and
sunk, sorrowfully sunk in superstition, that can worship a being
as the great omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent “ I AM,”
who possessed all those qualities which were constitutionally
characteristic of the pious, the noble, the devout, the Godlike,
yet finite and fallible Jesus, according to his own admissions
and the representations of his own interested biographers.
21. The only step which the disciples of the Christian faith
have made toward disproving or setting aside these arguments,
objections, and difficulties, is that of assigning the incarnate
Jesus a double or twofold nature — the amalgamation of the
human .and the divine; a postulate and a groundless assump-
tion, which we have proved and demonstrated by thirteen ar-
guments, which we believe to be .unanswerable, is not only
absurd, illogical, and impossible, but foolish and ludicrous in
the highest degree. (See vol. ii.)
22. This senseless hypothesis, and every other assumption
and argument made use of by the professors of the Christian
faith to vindicate their favorite dogma of the divinity of Jesus,
we have shown to be equally applicable to the demigods of the
ancient heathen, more than twenty of whom were invested
with the same combination of human and divine qualities which
the followers and worshipers of Jesus claim for him.
23. Testimony of the Father against the divinity of the Son.
The Father utterly precludes the Son from any participation in
•the divine essence, or any claim in the Godhead, by such dec-
larations as the following: “I am Jehovah, and beside me
there is no Savior.” (Isaiah xliii, 11.) How, then, we would
ask, can Jesus Christ be the Savior? “I, Jehovah, am thy
Savior and thy Redeemer.” Then Christ can be neither the
CHRIST'S DIVINITY.
331
Savior nor Redeemer. “ There is no God else beside me, a
just God and a Savior; there is none beside me.” (Isaiah xiv
21.) So the Father virtually declares, according to “ the in-
spired prophet Isaiah,” that the Son, in a divine sense, cannot
be either God, Savior, or Redeemer. Again, “ I am Jehovah,
thy God, and thou shalt not acknowledge a God beside me.”
(Hosea xiii. 4.) Here Christ is not only by implication cut off
from the Godhead, but positively prohibited from being wor-
shiped as God. And thus the testimony of the Father dis-
proves and sets aside the divinity of the Son.
24. Testimony of the mother. When Mary found, after a long
search, her son Jesus in the temple, disputing with the doctors,
and chided or reproved him for staying from home without the
consent of his parents, and declared, “ thy father and I sought
thee, sorrowing” (Luke ii. 48), she proclaimed a twofold deni-
al of his divinity. In the first place it cannot be possible that
she regarded her son Jesus as “ that awful Being, before
whom e’en the devout saints bow in trembling fear,” when she
used such language and evinced such a spirit as she did.
“ Why hast thou thus dealt with us ? ” (Luke ii. 48) is her
chiding language. And then, when she speaks of Joseph as
his father, “ thy father and I,” she issues a declaration against
his divinity which ought to be regarded as settling the ques-
tion forever. For who could know better than the mother, or,
rather, who could know but the mother, who the father of the
child Jesus was? And as she acknowledges it was Joseph,
she thus repudiates the story of the immaculate conception,
which constitutes the whole basis for the claim of his divinity.
Hence the testimony of the mother, also, disproves his title to
the Godhead.
25. Testimony or disclaimer of the Son. We will show
by a specific citation of twenty-five texts that there is not one
attribute comprehended in or peculiar to a divine and infinite
Being, but that Christ rejects as applicable to himself—that he
most conclusively disclaims every attribute of a divine Being,
both by precept and practice, and often in the most explicit
language.
26. By declaring, “ The Son can do nothing of himself”
332
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
(John v. 19), he most emphatically disclaims the attribute of
omnipotence. For an omnipotent Being can need no aid, and
can accept of none.
27. When he acknowledged and avowed his ignorance of the
day of judgment, which must be presumed to be the most im-
portant event in the world’s history, he disclaimed the attri-
bute of omniscience. “ Of that day and hour knoweth no
man, neither the Son, but the Father only.” (Matt. xxiv. 36.)
Now, as an omniscient Being must possess all knowledge, his
avowed ignorance in this case is a confession he was not omni-
scient, and hence not a God.
28. And when he declares, “I am glad for your sakes I was
not there” (at the grave of Lazarus), he most distinctly disa-
vows being omnipresent, and thus denies to himself another es-
sential attribute of an infinite God.
29. And the emphatic declaration, “ I live by the Father”
(John vi. 57), is a direct disclaimer of the attributes of self-
existence / as a being who lives by another cannot be self-exist-
ent, and, per consequence, not the infinite God.
30. He disclaims possessing infinite goodness, another essen-
tial attribute of a supreme divine Being. “ Why callest thou
me good ? there is none good but one, that is God.” (Mark
x. 18.)
31. He disclaimed divine honors, and directed them to the
father. “ I honor my Father.” (John viii. 49.) “ I receive not
honor from men.” (John v. 41.)
32. He recommended supreme worship to the Father, and
not to himself. “ The true worshipers shall worship the Father
in spirit and in truth.” (John iv. 21.)
33. He ascribed supreme dominion to the Father. “ Thine
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.” (Matt.)
vi, 13.)
34. It will be seen, from the foregoing text, that Christ also
acknowledges that the kingdom is the Father’s. A God with-
out a kingdom would be a ludicrous state of things.
35. He conceded supreme authority to the Father. “My
doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.” (John vii. 16.)
36. He considered the Father as the supreme protector and
CHRIST9 S DIVINITY\
833
preserver of even his own disciples. “ I pray that thou shouldst
keep them from the evil.” (John xvii. 15.) What, omnipo*
tence not able to protect his own disciples ?
37. In fine, he humbly acknowledged that his power, his
will, his ministry, his mission, his authority, his works, his
knowledge, and his very life, were all from, and belonged to,
and were under the control of, the Father. “ I can do nothing
of myself;” “I came to do the will of him that sent me;”
“ The Father that dwelleth within me, he doeth the work,”
&c. “ A God within a God,” is an old pagan Otaheitan doc-
trine.
38. He declared that even spiritual communion was the work
of the Father. (See John vi. 45.)
39. He acknowledged himself controlled by the Father. (See
John v. 30.)
40. He acknowledged his entire helplessness and dependence
on the Father. “ The Son can do nothing of himself, but what
he seeth the Father do.” (John v. 19.)
41. He acknowledged that even his body was the work of
his Father ; in other words, that he was dependent on his Fa-
ther for his physical life. (See Heb. xvi. 5.)
42. And more than all, he not only called the Father “the
only true God” (John xvii. 3), but calls him “my Father and
my God.” (John xx. 17.) Now, it would be superlative non-
sense to consider a being himself a God, or the God\ who
could use such language as is here ascribed to the humble
Jesus. This text, this language, is sufficient of itself to show
that Christ could not have laid any claim to the Godhead on
any occasion, unless we degrade him to the charge of the
most palpable and shameful contradictions.
43. He uniformly directed his disciples to pray, not to him,
but the Father. (See Matt. vi. 6.)
44. On one occasion, as we have cited the proof (in Matt. xi.
in. he even acknowledged John the Baptist to be greater than
he ; while it must be patent to every reader that no man could
be greater than the almighty, supreme Potentate of heaven and
earth, in any sense whatever.
45. Testimony of the disciples. Another remarkable proof
334
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
of the human sireship of Jesus is, that one of his own disciples
— ay, one of the chosen twelve, selected by him as being en-
dowed with a perfect knowledge of his character, mission, and
origin — this witness, thus posted and thus authorized, proclaims,
in unequivocal language, that Jesus was the son of Joseph.
Hear the language of Philip addressed to Nathanael. “We
have found him of whom Moses, in the law and the prophets,
did write — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph? (John i.
45.) No language could be more explicit, no declaration more
positive, that Jesus was the son of Joseph. And no higher
authority could be adduced to settle the question, coming as it
does from “ headquarters.” And what will, or what can, the
devout stickler for the divinely paternal origin of Jesus Christ
do with such testimony ? It is a clincher which no sophistry
can set aside, ne reasoning can grapple with, and no logic over-
throw.
46. liis disciples, instead of representing him as being “ the
only true God,” often speak of him in contradistinction to
God.
47. They never speak of him as the God Christ Jesus, but as
“ the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. ii. 5.) “ Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God.” (Acts ii. 23.) It would certainly be
blasphemy to speak of the Supreme Being as “ a man approved
of God.” Christian reader, reflect upon this text. “ By that man
whom he (the Father) hath ordained” (Acts xvii. 3), by the
assumption of the Godhead of Christ, we would be presented
with the double or twofold solecism, 1st. Of God being u or-
dained ” by another God \ and 2d. That of his being blasphe-
mously called a “man.”
48. Paul’s declaration has been cited, that “ unto us there is
but one God — the Father.” (1 Cor. iv. 8.) Now, it is plain to
common sense, that if there is but one God, and that God is
comprehended in the Father, then Christ is entirely excluded
from the Godhead.
49. If John’s declaration be true, that “ no man hath seen
God at any time ” (John iv. 12), then the important question
arises, How could Christ be God, as he was seen by thousands
of men, and seen hundreds of times ?
CHRIST'S DIVINITY,
835
50. God the Father is declared to be the “ One,” “ the Holy
One,” “the only One,” &c., more than one hundred times, as if
purposely to exclude the participation of any other being in
the Godhead.
51. This one, this only God, is shown to be the Father alone
in more than four thousand texts, thirteen hundred and twenty*
six of which are found in the New Testament.
52. More than fifty texts have been found which declare,
either explicitly or by implication, that God the Father has no
equal, which effectually denies or shuts out the divine equality
of the Son. “ To whom will ye liken me, or shall I be equal
with, saith the holy One.” (Isa. xl. 25.)
53. Christ in the New Testament is called “man,” and “the
Son of man,” eighty-four times, — egregious and dishonorable
misnomers, most certainly, to apply to a supreme and infinite
Deity. On the other hand, he is called God but three times,
and denominates himself “ the Son of God” but once, and that
rather obscurely.
54. The Father is spoken of, in several instances, as standing
in the relation of God to the Son, as “ the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ.” (Acts iii. 2.) “Ye are Christ’s, and Christ is
God’s.” (1 Cor. xi. 3.) Now, the God of a God is a polythe-
istic, heathen conception; and no meaning or interpretation, as
we have shown, can be forced upon such texts as these, that
will not admit a plurality of Gods, if we admit the titles as
applicable to Christ, or that his scriptural biographers intend
to apfffy such a title in a superior or supreme sense.
55. Many texts make Christ the mere tool, agent, image, ser-
vant, or representative of God, as Christ, “the image of God”
(Heb. i. 3), Christ, the appointed of God (Heb. iii. 1), Christ,
“ the servant of God ” (Matt. xii. 18), &c. To consider a
being thus spoken of as himself the supreme God, is, as we
have demonstrated, the very climax of absurdity and nonsense.
To believe “the servant of God” is God himself, — that is,
the servant of himself, — and that God and his “ image ” are
the same, is to descend within one step of buffoonery.
56. And then it has been ascertained that there are more
than three hundred texts which declare, either expressly or by
836
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
implication, Christ’s subordination to and dependence on thfc
Father, as, “I can do nothing of myself;” “Not mine, but his
that sent me;” UI came to do the will of him that sent me”
(John iv. 34) ; “ I seek the will of my Father,” &c.
57. And more than one hundred and fifty texts make the
Son inferior to the Father, as “ the Son knoweth not, but the
Father does ” (Mark viii. 32) ; “ My Father is greater than I; ”
“The Son can do nothing of himself” (John v. 19), &c.
58. There are many divine titles applied to the Father
which are never used with reference to the Son, as “ Jehovah,’*
“ The Most High,” “ God Almighty,” “ The Almighty,” &c.
On the other hand, those few divine epithets or titles which
are used in application to Jesus Christ, as Lord, God, Savior,
Redeemer, Intercessor, &c., it has been shown were all used
prior to the birth of Christ, in application to beings known and
acknowledged to be men, and some of them are found so ap-
plied in the bible itself; as, for example, Moses is called a
God in two instances, as we have shown, and cited the proof
(in Ex. iv. 16, vii. 1), while the title of Lord is applied to men
at this day, even in Christian countries. And instances have
been cited in the bible of the term Savior being applied to
men, both in the singular and plural numbers. (See 2 Kings
xiii. 5, and Neh. ix. 27.) Seeing, then, that the most important
divine titles which the writers of the New Testament have
applied to Jesus were previously used in application to men,
known and admitted to be such, it is therefore at once evident
that those titles do nothing toward proving him to be the
Great Divine Being, as the modern Christian world assume him
to be, even if we base the argument wholly on scriptural
grounds. While, on the other hand, we have demonstrated it
to be an absolute impossibility to apply with any propriety or
any sense to a divine infinite omnipotent Being those finite
human qualities which are so frequently used with reference to
Jesus throughout the New Testament. And hence, even if we
should suppose nr concede that the writers of the New Testa-
ment did really believe him to be the great Infinite Spirit, or
the almighty, omnipotent God, we must conclude they were
mistaken, from their own language, from their own description
CHRIST'S DIVINITY.
337
-
of him, as well as his own virtual denial and rejection of such
a claim, when he applied to himself, as he did in nine cases out
of ten, strictly finite human qualities and human titles (as we
have shown), wholly incompatible with the character of an in-
finite divine Being. We say, from the foregoing considerations,
if the primitive disciples of Jesus did really believe him to be
the great Infinite, both their descriptions of him and his de-
scription or representation of himself, would amply and most
conclusively prove that they were mistaken. At least we are
compelled to admit that there is either an error in applying
divine titles to Jesus, or often an error in describing his qual-
ities and powers, by himself and his original followers, as there
is no compatibility or agreement between the two. Divine
titles to such a being as they represent him to be, would be an
egregious misnomer. We say, then, that it must be clearly
and conclusively evident to every unbiased mind, from evi-
dence furnished by the bible itself, that if the divine titles ap-
plied to Jesus were intended to have a divine significance, then
they are misapplied. Yet we would not here conclude an
intentional misrepresentation in the case, but simply a mistake
growing out of a misconception, and the very limited childish
conception, of the nature, character, and attributes of the “ great
positive Mind,” so universally prevalent in that semi-barbarous
age, and the apparently total ignorance of the distinguishing
characteristics which separate the divine and the human. We
will illustrate: some children, on passing through a wild por-
tion of the State of Maine recently, reported they encountered
a bear; and to prove they could not be mistaken in the animal,
they described it as being a tall, slight-built animal, with long,
slender legs, of yellowish auburn hue, a short, white, bushy tail,
cloven feet, large branchy horns, &c. Now, it will be seen at
once that, while their description of the animal is evidently in
the main correct, they had simply mistaken a deer for a bear,
and hence misnamed the animal.
In like manner we must conclude, from the repeated in-
stances in which Christ’s biographers have ascribed to him all
the foibles, frailties, and finite qualities and characteristics of a
human being, that if they have in any instance called him a
22
338
THE WORLD9S SAVIORS.
God in a divine sense, it is an egregious misnomer. Their de-
scription of him makes him a man, and hut a man, whatever
may have been their opinion with respect to the propriety of
calling him a God. And if the two do not harmonize, the for-
mer must rule the judgment in all cases. . The truth is, the
Jewish founders of Christianity entertained such a low, narrow,
contracted, and mean opinion of Deity and the infinite distinc-
tion and distance between the divine and the human, that their
theology reduced him to a level with man; and hence they
usually described him as a man.
CHRIST'S DIVINITY\
339
CHAPTER XL.
A METONYMIC VIEW OF THE DIVINITY OF JESUS
CHRIST.
If Jesus Christ were truly God, or if there exiited such a
co-equal and co-essential oneness between the Father and the
Son that they constituted but one being or divine essence,
then what is true of one is true of the other, and a change of
names and titles from one to the other cannot alter the sense
of the text. Let us, then, substitute the titles found applied to
the Son in the New Testament, to the Father, and observe the
effect: —
“My Son is greater than I.” (John viii. 28.)
“ God can do nothing of himself.” (John v. 19.)
“ I must be about my Son’s business.” (Luke ii. 49.)
“The kingdom of heaven is not mine to give, but the Son’s”
(Matt. xx. 23.)
“ I am come in my Son’s name, and ye receive me not.”
(John v. 43.)
“God cried, Jesus, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt,
xiii. 28.)
“No man hath seen Jesus at any time.” (1 John i. 5.)
“ Jesus created all things by his Son.” (Eph. iii. 9.)
“ God sat down (in heaven) at the right hand of Jesus.”
(Luke xxii. 69.)
“ There is one Jesus, one mediator between Jesus and men.”
(Gal. iii. 20.)
“Jesus gave his only begotten Father.” (1 John iv. 9.)
“ God knows not the hour, but Jesus does.” (Mark
viii. 32.)
340
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
“ God is the servant of Jesus.” (Mark xii. 18.)
“ God is ordained by Jesus.” (Acts xvii. 31.)
“The head of God is Christ.” (Eph. i. 3.)
“We have an advocate with Jesus, God the righteous.” (J
John ii. 1.)
“Jesus gave all power to God.” (Matt, xxviii. 18.)
“ God abode all night in prayer to Jesus.” (Luke vi. 12.)
“ God came down from heaven to do the will of Jesus.”
(John vi. 38.)
“Jesus has made the Father his high priest” (Heb
x. 24.)
“ Last of all, the Son sent the Father.” (Matt. xxi. 39.)
“Jesus will save the world by that God whom he hath
ordained.”
“Jesus is God of the Father.” (John xx. 17.)
“ Jesus hath exalted God, and given him a more excellent
name.” (Phil. ii. 9.)
“Jesus hath made God a little lower than the angels”
(Heb. ii. 9.)
“God can do nothing except what he seeth Jesus do.” (John
v. 19.)
Now, the question arises, Is the above representation a true
one ? Most certainly it must be, if Jesus and the Father are
but one almighty Being. A change of names and titles can-
not alter the truth nor the sense.
To say that Chief Justice Chase has gone south; Secretary
Chase has gone south; Governor Chase has gone south; Ex-
Senator Chase has gone south, or Salmon P. Chase has gone
south, are affirmations equally true and equally sensible, because
they all have reference to the same being; the case is too
plain to need argument.
The above reversal of names and titles of Jesus and the
Father may sound very unpleasant and rather grating to
Christ-adoring Christians, simply because it is the transposi-
tion of the titles of two very scripturally dissimilar beings,
instead of being, as generally taught by orthodox Christians,
“ one in essence, one in mind, one in body or being, and one
CHRIST'S DIVINITY.
341
in name,” as the Rev. Mr. Barnes affirms. Most self-evidently
false is his statement, based solely on scriptural ground. If
Jesus is “ very God,” and there is but one God\ then the fore-
going transposition cannot mar the sense nor alter the truth
of one text quoted.
842
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XLI.
TEE PRECEPTS AND PRACTICAL LIFE OF JESUS
CHRIST.
His Two Hundred Errors.
The exaltation of men to the character and homage of divine
beings has always had the effect to draw a vail over their errors
and imperfections, so as to render them imperceptible to those
who worship them as Gods. This is true of nearly all the dei-
fied men of antiquity, who were adored as incarnate divinities,
among which may be included the Christian’s man~Gody Jesus
Christ. The practice of the followers of these Gods has been,
when an error was pointed out in their teachings, brought to
light by the progress of science and general intelligence, to be-
stow upon the text some new and unwarranted meaning, entirely
incompatible with its literal reading, or else to insist with a godly
zeal on the correctness of the sentiment inculcated by the text,
and thus essay to make error pass for truth. In this way millions
of the disciples of these Gods have been misled and blinded, and
made to believe by their religious teachers and their religious
education, that everything taught by their assumed-to-be divine
exemplars is perfect truth, in perfect harmony with science,
sense, and true morals. Indeed, the perversion of the mind and
judgment by a religious education has been in many cases
carried to such an extreme as to cause their devout and preju-
diced followers either to entirely overlook and ignore their
erroneous teachings, or to magnify them into God-given truths,
and thus, as before stated, clothe error with the livery of truth.
This state of things, it has long been noticed by unprejudiced
minds, exists amongst the rnilliojis of professed belieyers in the
1RECEPTS OF JESUS.
343
divinity of Jesus Christ. Hence the errors, both in his moral
lessons and his practical life, have passed from age to age unno-
ticed, because his pious and awe-stricken followers, having been
taught that he was a divine teacher, have assumed that his
teachings must all be true; and hence, too, have instituted no
serutiny to determine their truth or falsity. But we will now
proceed to show that the progress of science and general intel-
ligence has brought to light many errors, not only in his teach-
ings, but in his practical life also. In enumerating them, we
will arrange them under the head
Moral and Religious Errors.
1. The first moral precept in the teachings of Christ, which
we will bring to notice, is one of a numerous class, which
may very properly be arranged under the head of Moral Ex-
tremism. We find many of his admonitions of this character.
Nearly everything that is said is oversaid, carried to extremes
— thus constituting an overwrought, extravagant system of
morality, impracticable in its requisitions; as, for example,
“ Take no thought for the morrow.” (Matt, v.) If the spirit
of this injunction were carried out in practical life, there would
be no grain sown and no seed planted in spring, no reaping
done in harvest, and no crop garnered in autumn; and the
result would be universal starvation in less than twelve mouths.
But, fortunately for society, the Christian world have laid this
positive injunction upon the table under the rule of “indefinite
postponement.”
2. Christ’s assumed-to-be most important requisition is found
in the injunction, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and
his righteousness, and all else shall be added unto you.” (Matt,
vi. 33.) His early followers understood by this injunction, and
doubtless understood it correctly, that they were to spend their
lives in religious devotion, and neglect the practical duties of
life, leaving 4< Providence ” to take care of their families — a
course of life which reduced many of them to the point of star-
vation.
3. The disciple of Christ is required, “ when smitten on one
cheek, to turn the other also;” that is, when one cheek is pom-
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
meled into a jelly by some vile miscreant or drunken wretch,
turn the other, to be smashed up in like manner. This is an
extravagant requisition, which none of his modern disciples
even attempt to observe.
4. “Resist not evil” (Matt. v. 34) breathes forth a kindred
spirit. This injunction requires you to stand with your hands
in your pocket while being maltreated so cruelly and unmerci-
fully that the forfeiture of your life may be the consequence —-
at least Christ’s early followers so understood it.
5. The disciple of Christ is required, when his cloak is for-
mally wrested from him, to give up his coat also. (See Matt.
v. ) And to carry out the principle, if the marauder demands
it, he must next give up his boots, then his shirt, and thus strip
himself of all his garments, and go naked. This looks like an
invitation and bribe to robbery.
6. “ Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth.” (Matt.
vi. 19.) This is another positive command of Christ, which the
modern Christian world, by common consent, have laid on the
table under the rule of “ indefinite postponement,” under the
conviction that the wants of their families and the exigencies
of sickness and old age cannot be served if they should live
up to such an injunction.
7. “ Sell all that thou hast, . . . and come and follow me,”
is another command which bespeaks more piety than wisdom,
as all who have attempted to comply with it have reduced
their families to beggary and want.
8. “ If any man love the world, the love of the Father is
not in him.” Then he must hate it, as there are but the two
principles, and “from hate proceed envy, strife, evil surmis-
ings, and persecution.” Evidently the remedy in this case for
“worldly-mindedness ” is worse than the disease.
9. “ He that cometh to me, and hateth not father, mother,
brother, and sister, &c., cannot be my disciple.” (Luke xiv.
26 ) This breathes forth the same spirit as tne last text quoted
above. Many learned expositions have been penned by Christian
writers to make it appear that hate in this case does not mean
hate. But certainly it would be a slander upon infinite wis-
dom to leave it to be inferred that he could not say or “ in-
PRECEPTS OF JESUS.
345
spire” his disciples to say exactly what he meant, and to say it
so plainly as to leave no possibility of being misunderstood,
or leave any ground for dispute about the meaning.
10. “Rejoice and be exceeding glad” when persecuted.
(Matt. v. 4.) Now, as a state of rejoicing is the highest con-
dition of happiness that can be realized, such advice must
naturally prompt the religious zealot to court persecution, in
order to obtain complete happiness, and consequently to pursue
a dare-devil life to provoke persecution.
11. “ Whosoever shall seek to save his life, shall lose it,” &c.
(Luke xvii. 33.) Here is displayed the spirit of martyrdom
which has made millions reckless of life, and goaded on the
frenzied bigot to seek the fiery fagot and the halter. We re-
gard it as another display of religious fanaticism.
12. “ Ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.” (Matt,
x. 12.) How repulsive must have been their doctrines or their
conduct! No sensible religion could excite the universal hatred
of mankind. For it would contain something adapted to the
moral, religious, or spiritual taste of some class or portion of
society, and hence make it and its disciples loved instead of
hated. And then how could they be “hated of all men,” when
not one man in a thousand ever heard of them ? Here is more
of the extravagance of religious enthusiasm.
13. “Shake off the dust of your feet” against those who can-
not see the truth or utility of your doctrines. (Matt. x. 14.)
Here Christ encourages in his disciples a spirit of contempt
for the opinions of others calculated to make them “ hated.” A
proper regard for the rules of good-breeding would have for-
bidden, such rudeness toward strangers for a mere honest differ-
ence of opinion.
14. “Take nothing for your journey, neither staff, nor scrip,
nor purse ” (Mark vi. 8) ; that is, “ sponge on your friends, and
force yourselves on your enemies,” the latter class of which
seem to have been much the most numerous. A preacher who
should attempt to carry out this advice at the present day would
be stopped at the first toll-gate, and compelled to return.
Here is more violation of the rules of good-breeding, and the
common courtesies of civilized life.
346
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
15. “ Go and teach all nations,” &c. Why issue an injunc-
tion that could not possibly be carried out ? It never has been,
and never will be, executed, for three fourths of the human race
have never yet heard of Christianity. It was not, therefore, a
mark of wisdom, or a superior mind, to issue such an injunc-
tion.
16. “And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
but he that believeth not shall be damned.” What intolerance,
bigotry, relentless cruelty, and ignorance of the science of
mind are here displayed! No philosopher would give utter-
ance to, or indorse such a sentiment. It assumes that belief
is a creature of the will, and that a man can believe anything
he chooses, which is wide of the truth. And the assumption
has been followed by persecution, misery, and bloodshed.
17. “ All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing,
ye shall receive.” (Matt. xxi. 22.) Here is an entire negation
of natural law in the necessity of physical labor as a means
to procure the comforts of life. When anything is wanted in
the shape of food or raiment, it is to be obtained, according to
this text, by going down on your knees and asking God to be-
stow it. But no Christian ever realized “all things whatso-
ever asked for in prayer,” though “believing with all his heart ”
he should obtain it. The author knows, by his own practical
experience, that this declaration is not true. This promise has
been falsified thousands of times by thousands of praying
Christians.
18. “Be not called rabbi.” “Call no man your father.”
(Matt, xxiii.) The Christian world assume that much of what
Christ taught is mere idle nonsense, or the incoherent utterings
of a religious fanatic; for they pay no more practical atten-
tion to it than the barking of a dog. And here is one com-
mand treated in this manner: “ Call no man father.” Where
is the Christian who refuses to call his earthly sire a father?
19. “ Call no man master.” (Matt, xxiii.) And yet mister,
which is the same thing, is the most common title in Christen-
dom.
20. He who enunciates the two words, “4 Thou fool,’ shall
be in danger of hell fire.” (Matt, xxii.'l Mercy! Who, then,
PRECEPTS OF JESUS.
347
-
can be saved ? For there is probably not a live Christian in
the world who has not called somebody a “fool,” when he
knew him to be such, and could not with truthfulness be called
anything else. Here, then, is another command universally
ignored and “ indefinitely postponed.”
21. “ Swear not at all, neither by heaven nor earth.” (Matt,
v.) And yet no Christian refuses to indulge in legal, if not pro-
fane, swearing which the text evidently forbids.
22. “Men ought always to pray.” (Luke xviii.) No
time to be allowed for eating or sleeping. More religious
fanaticism.
23. “ Whosoever will be chief among you let him be your
servant ” (Matt. xx. 27) ; that is, no Christian professor shall
be a president, governor, major-general, deacon, or priest.
Another command laid on the table.
24. “Love your enemies.” (Matt. v. 44.) Then what kind
of feeling should we cultivate toward friends ? And how much
did he love his enemies when he called them “ fools,” “ liars,”
“ hypocrites,” “ generation of vipers,” &c. ? And yet he is held
up as “ our” example in love, meekness, and forbearance. But
no man ever did love an enemy. It is a moral impossibility,
as much so as to love bitter or nauseating food. The advice
of the Roman slave Syrus is indicative of more sense and
wisdom — “ Treat your enemy kindly, and thus make him a
friend.”
25. We are required to forgive an enemy four hundred
and ninety times; that is, “ seventy times seven.” (Matt, vii.)
Another outburst of religious enthusiasm; another proof of an
overheated imagination.
26. “ Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is per-
fect.” (Matt. v. 48.) Here is more of the religious extrava-
gance of a mind uncultured by science. For it is self-evident
that human beings can make no approximation to divine per-
fection. The distance between human imperfection and a per-
fect God is, and ever must be, infinite.
27. Christ commended those who “ became eunuchs for the
kingdom of heaven’s sake ” (Matt. xix. 12) — a custom requiring
a murderous, self-butchering process; destructive of the energies
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
818
of life and the vigor of manhood, and rendering the subject
weak, effeminate, and mopish, and unfit for the business of life.
It is a low species of piety, and discloses a lamentable lack of a
scientific knowledge of the true functions of the sexual organs
on the part of Jesus.
28. Christ also encouraged t his disciples to “ pluck out the
eye,” and “cut off the hand,” as a means of rendering it im-
possible to perpetrate evil with those members. And we would
suggest, if such advice is consistent with sound reasoning, the
head also should be cut off, as a means of more effectually carry-
ing out the same principle. Such advice never came from the
mouth of a philosopher. It is a part of Christ’s system of ex-
travagant piety.
29. He also taught the senseless, oriental tradition of “ the
unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost” — a fabulous being,
who figured more anciently in the history of various countries.
(See Chapter XXII.) No philosopher orman of science could
harbor such childish conceptions as are embodied in this tradi-
tion, which neither describes the being nor explains the nature
of the sin.
80. We find many proofs, in Christ’s Gospel history, that ha
believed in the ancient heathen tradition which taught that
disease is caused by demons and evil spirits. (See Luke vii.
21, and viii. 2.)
81. Many cases are reported of his relieving the obsessed by
casting out the diabolical intruders, in imitation of the oriental
custom long in vogue in various couutries, by which he evinced
a profound ignorance of the natural causes of disease.
82. Christ also taught the old pagan superstition that “ God
is a God of anger,” while modern science teaches that it would
be as impossible for a God of perfect and infinite attributes to
experience the feeling of anger as to commit suicide ; and recent
discoveries in physiology prove that anger is a species of sui-
cide, and that it is also a species of insanity. Hence an
angry God would be an insane God — an omnipotent lunatic5
“ ruling the kingdom of heaven,” which would make heaven a
lunatic asylum, and rather a dangerous place to live.
88. And Christ’s injunction to “fear God” also implies that
PRECEPTS OF JESUS.
349
he is an angry being. (See Luke xxiii. 40.) But past history
proves that “ the fear of God ” has always been the great lever
of priestcraft, and the most paltry and pitiful motive that ever
moved the human mind. It has paralyzed the noblest intel-
lects, crushed the elasticity of youth, and augmented the hesi-
tating indecision of old age, and finally filled the world with
cowardly, trembling slaves. No philosopher will either love or
worship a God he fears. “ The fear of the Lord ” is a very
ancient heathen superstition.
34. The inducement Christ holds out for leading a virtuous
life by the promise of “ Well done, thou good and faithful ser-
vant,” bespeaks a childish ignorance of the nature of the human
mind and the true science of life. It ranks with the promise
of the nurse of sugar-plums to the boy if he would keep his
garments unsoiled. (For the remainder of the two hundred
errors of Christ, see Yol. II.)
There are many other errors found in the precepts and prac-
tical life of Jesus Christ (which we are compelled to omit an
exposition of here), such as his losing his temper, and abusing
the money-changers by overthrowing their counting-table, and
expelling them from the temple with a whip of cords when en-
gaged in a lawful and laudable business; his getting mad at and
cursing the fig tree; his dooming Capernaum to hell in a fit of
anger; his being deceived by two of his disciples (Peter and
Judas), which prompted him to call them devils; his implied
approval of David, with his fourteen crimes and penitentiary
deeds, and also of Abraham, with his falsehoods, polygamy, and
incest, and his implied sanction of the Old Testament, with all
its errors and numerous, crimes; his promise to his twelve
apostles to “ sit upon the twelve thrones of Israel ” in heaven,
thus evincing a very limited and childish conception of the en-
joyments of the future life ; his puerile idea of sin, consisting in
a personal affront to a personal God; his omission to say any-
thing about human freedom, the inalienable rights of man, &c.
The Scientific Errors of Christ.
That Jesus Christ was neither a natural or moral philosopher
is evident from the following facts: —
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THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
1. He never made any use of the word “ philosophy.”
2. Never gave utterance to the word u science.”
3. Never spoke of a natural law, or assigned a natural cause
for anything. The fact that he never made use of these words
now so current in all civilized countries, is evidence that he
was totally ignorant of these important branches of knowledge,
the cultivation of which is now known to be essential to the
progress of civilization. And yet it is claimed his religion has
been a great lever in the advancement of civilization. But this
is a mistake — a solemn mistake, as elsewhere shown. (See
Chap. XLV.)
4. Everything to Christ was miracle; everything was pro-
duced and controlled by the arbitrary power of an angry or
irascible God. He evidently had no idea of a ruling principle
in nature or of the existence of natural law, as controlling any
event he witnessed. Hence he set no bounds to anything, and
recognized no limits to the possible. He believed God to be
a supernatural personal being, who possessed unlimited power,
and who ruled and controlled everything by his arbitrary will,
without any law or any limitation to its exercises. Hence he
told his disciples they would have anything they prayed for in
faith ; that by faith they could roll mountains into the sea, or
bring to a halt the rolling billows of the mighty deep. He
evidently believed that the forked lightning, the outbursting
earth-shaking thunder, and the roaring, heaving volcano were
but pliant tools or obsequious servants to the man of faith.
And he displays no less ignorance of the laws of mind than
the laws of nature; thus proving him to have been neither a
natural, moral, nor mental philosopher. He omitted to teach
the great moral lessons learned by human experience, of which
he was evidently totally ignorant.
5. He never taught that the practice of virtue contains its
own reward.
6. That the question of right and wrong of any action is to
be decided by its effect upon the individual, or upon society.
7. That no life can be displeasing to God which is useful to
man.
8. And he omitted to teach the most important lesson that
PRECEPTS OP JESUS,
351
can engage the attention of man, viz.: that the great purpose
of life is self-development.
9. That no person can attain or approximate to real happi-
ness without bestowing a special attention to the cultivation
and exercise of all the mental and physical faculties, so far as
to keep them in a healthy condition. None of the important
lessons above named are hinted at in his teachings, which, if
punctually observed, would do more to advance the happiness
of the human race than all the sermons Christ or Chrishna ever
preached, or ever taught.
10. And then he taught many doctrines which are plainly
contradicted by the established principle of modern science,
such as, —
11. Disease being produced by demons, devils, or wicked
spirits. (See Mark ix. 20.)
Christ nowhere assigns a natural cause for disease, or a
scientific explanation for its cure.
12. His rebuking a fever discloses a similar lack of scientific
knowledge. (See Luke iv. 39.)
13. His belief in a literal hell and a lake of fire and brim-
stone (see Matt, xviii. 8) is an ancient heathen superstition
science knows nothing about, and has no use for.
14. His belief in a personal devil also (see Matt. xvii. 18),
which is another oriental tradition, furnishes more sad proof of
an utter want of scientific knowledge, as science has no place
for and no use for such a being.
15. Christ taught the unphilosophical doctrine of repentance,
as he declared he “ came to call sinners to repentance” (Matt,
ix. 13) — a mental process, which consists merely in a revival of
early impressions, and often leads a person to condemn that
which is right, as well as that which is wrong. (For proof, see
Chapter XLIII.)
16. The doctrine of “ forgiveness,” which Christ so often in
culcated, is also at variance with the teachings of science, as it
can do nothing toward changing the nature of the act forgiven,
or toward cancelling its previous effects upon society. Science
teaches that every crime has its penalty attached to it, which
no act of forgiveness, by God or man, can arrest or set aside.
352
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
17. But nothing evinces, perhaps, more clearly Christ’s total
lack of scientific knowledge than his holding a man responsible
for his belief, and condemning for disbelief, as he does in nu-
merous instances (see Mark xvi. 16), for a man could as easily
control the circulation of the blood in his veins as control his
belief. Science teaches that belief depends upon evidence,
and without it, it is impossible to believe, and with it, it is impos-
sible to disbelieve. How foolish and unphilosophical, therefore,
to condemn for either belief or disbelief!
18. The numerous cases in which Christ speaks of the heart
as being the seat of consciousness, instead of the brain, evinces
a remarkable ignorance of the science of mental philosophy.
He speaks of an “upright heart,” “a pure heart,” &c., when
“an upright liver,” “a pure liver,” would be as sensible, as
the latter has as much to do with the character as the former.
19. And the many cases in which he makes it meritorious to
have a right “ faith,” and places it above reason, and assumes
it to be a voluntary act, shows his utter ignorance of the nature
of the human mind.
20. And Christ evinced a remarkable ignorance of the cause
of physical defects, when he told his hearers a certain man was
born blind, in order that he might cure him. (Matt. vii. 22.)
21. And Christ’s declaration, that those who marry are not
worthy of being saved (see Luke xx. 34), shows that he was
very ignorant of the nature of the sexual functions of the
human system.
22. Nothing could more completely demonstrate a total
ignorance of the grand science of astronomy than Christ’s pre-
diction of the stars falling to the earth. (See Luke xxi. 25.)
23. And the conflagration of the world, “ the gathering of
the elect,” and the realization of a fancied millennium, which
he several times predicted would take place in his time, “ before
this generation pass away” (Matt. xxiv. 34), proves a like
ignorance, both of astronomy and philosophy.
24. And his cursing of the fig tree for not bearing fruit in
the winter season (see Matt. xxi. 20), not only proves his
ignorance of the laws of nature, but evinces a bad temper.
25. Christ indorses the truth of Noah’s flood story (see Luke
PRECEPTS OF JESUS.
353
xvii. 27), which every person at the present day, versed in
science and natural law, knows is mere fiction, and never took
place.
And numerous other errors, evincing the most profound
ignorance of science and natural law, might be pointed out in
Christ’s teachings, if we had space for them. It has always
been alleged by orthodox Christendom, that Christ’s teach-
ing and moral system are so faultless as to challenge criticism,
and so perfect as to defy improvement. But this is a serious
mistake. For most of his precepts and moral inculcations
which are not directly at war with the principles of science, or
do not involve a flagrant violation of the laws of nature, are*
nevertheless, characterized by a lawless and extravagant mode
of expression peculiar to semi-savage life, and which, as it
renders it impossible to reduce them to practice, shows they
could not have emanated from a philosopher, or man of science,
or a man of evenly-balanced mind. They impose upon the
world a system of morality, pushed to such extremes that its
own professed admirers do not live it out, or even attempt to
do so. They long ago abandoned it as an impracticable duty.
We will prove this by enumerating most of its requisitions, and
showing that they are daily violated and trampled under foot
by all Christendom. Where can the Christian professor be
found who, 1. “takes no thought for the morrow;” or, 2. who
“lays not up treasure on earth,” or, at least, tries to do it; or, 3.
who “gives up all his property to the poor;” or who, “when
his cloak is wrested from him by a robber, gives up his coat
also; or who calls no man master or mister (the most common
title in Christendom) ; or who calls no man father (if he has a
father) ; or who calls no man a fool (when he knows he is a fool) ;
or who, when one cheek is pommeled into a jelly by some vile
miscreant or drunken wretch, turns the other to be battered up
in the same way; or who prays without ceasing; or who rejoices
when persecuted; or who forgives an enemy four hundred and
ninety times (70 times 7); or who manifests by his practical
life that he loves his enemies (the way he loves him is to
report him to the grand jury, or hand him over to the sheriff) ;
or who forsakes houses and land, and everything, “for the king-
23
854
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
dom of heaven sake.” No Christian professor lives up to these
precepts, or any of them, or even tries to do so. To talk, there
fore, of finding a practical Christian, while nearly the whole
moral code of Christ is thus daily and habitually outraged and
trampled under foot by all the churches and every one of the
two hundred millions of Christian professors, is bitter irony and
supreme solecism. We would go five hundred miles, or pay
five hundred dollars, to see a Christian. If a man can be a
Christian while openly and habitually violating every precept
of Christ, then the word has no meaning. These precepts, the
Christian world finding to be impossible to practice, have unan-
imously laid upon the table under the rule of “indefinite post-
ponement.” They are the product of a mind with an ardent
temperament, and the religious faculties developed to excess,
and unrestrained by scientific or intellectual culture. A simi-
lar vein of extravagant religious duty is found in the Essenian,
Budhist, and Pythagorean systems. As Zera Colburn possessed
the mathematical faculty to excess, and Jenny Lind the musical
talent, Christ in like manner was all religion. And from the
extreme ardor of his religious feeling, thus derived, sprang his
extravagant notions of the duties of life. This peculiarity of
his organization explains the whole mystery.
Christ as a Man, and Christ as a Sectarian.
-
To every observant and unbiased mind a strange contrast
must be visible in the practical life of Jesus Christ when viewed
in his twofold capacity of a man and a priest. While standing
upon the broad plane of humanity, with his deep sympathetic
nature directed towTard the poor, the unfortunate, and the down-
trodden, there often gushed forth from his impassioned bosom
the most sublime expressions of pity, and the strongest out-
burst of commiseration for wrongs and sufferings, and his noble
goodness and tender love yearned with a throbbing heart to
relieve them. But the moment he put on the sacerdotal robe,
and assumed the character of a priest, that moment, if any one
crossed his path by refusing to yield to his requisitions of faith,
or dissented from his religious creed, his whole nature was
seemingly changed. It was no longer, “ Blessed are ye,” but
355
PRECEPTS OP'^ESUS.
“Cursed are ye,” or “Woe unto you.” Like the founders of
other religious systems, he was ardent toward friends and bit-
ter toward enemies, and extolled his own religion, while he
denounced all others. His way was the only way, and a 1 who
did not walk therein, or conform thereto, were loaded with
curses and imprecations, and all who could not accomplish
the impossible mental achievement of believing everything he
set forth or urged upon their credence, and that, too, without
evidence, were to be eternally damned. All who climbed up
any other way were thieves and robbers. All who professed
faith in any other religion than his were on the road to hell.
Like the oriental Gods, he taught that the world was to be
saved through faith in him and his religion. All who did not
honor him were to be dishonored by the Father. And “ with-
out faith (in him and his religion), it is impossible to please
God.” He declared that all who were not for him were against
him; and all who were not on the same road are “ heathens
and publicans.” His disciples were enjoined to shake off the
dust from their feet as a manifestation of displeasure toward
those who could not conscientiously subscribe to their creeds
and dogmas. Thus we discover a strong vein of intolerance
and sectarianism in the religion of the otherwise, and in other
respects, the kind and loving Jesus. Though most benignantly
kind and affectionate while moving and acting under the con-
trolling impulses of his lofty manhood, yet when his ardent re-
ligious feelings were touched, he became chafed, irritated, and
sometimes intolerant. He then could tolerate no such thing as
liberty of conscience, or freedom of thought, or the right to
differ with him in religious belief. His extremely ardent devo-
tional nature, when roused into action in defense of a stereo-
typed faith, eclipsed his more noble, lofty, and lovely traits,
and often dimmed his mental vision, thus presenting in the same
individual a strange medley, and a strange contrast of the most
opposite traits of character. That such a being should have
been considered and worshiped as a God, and for the very
reason that he possessed such strange, contradictory traits of
character, and often let his religion run riot with his reason,
will be looked upon by posterity as one of the strangest chap-
356
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
ters in the history of the human race. But so it is. Extraor-
dinary good qualities, though intermingled with many errors
and human foibles, have deified many men.
Note. One Christian writer alleges, in defense of the objectionabU
precepts of Jesus Christ, that “He taught some errors in condescension
to the ignorance of the people.” If this be true, that he taught both truth
and falsehood, then the question arises, How can we know which is which?
By what rule can we discriminate them, as he himself furnishes none?
Or how are we to determine that he taught truth at all? And then
this plea would account for and excuse all the errors found in the teach-
ings of the oriental Gods. If it will apply in one case, it will in the other.
And thus it proves too much.
CHRIST AS A SPIRITUAL MEDIUM.
357
CHAPTER XLII.
CHRIST AS A SPIRITUAL MEDIUM.
Theke are many incidents related in the life of Christ, which,
when critically examined, furnish abundant evidence that he
was what is now known as a spiritual medium. He unques-
tionably represented, and often practically exhibited, several
important phases of modern mediumship.
1. The many instantaneous cures which he wrought, as re-
ported in his Gospel narrative, performed in the same manner
that “ spirit doctors ” now heal the sick, prove that he was an
excellent “ healing medium.”
2. His declaration to Nathanael, “ When thou wast under the
fig tree, I saw thee,” and his recounting to the woman of
Samaria the deeds of her past life (acts similar to which are
now performed every day by spiritualists), are evidence that
he was also a “clairvoyant medium.”
3. His walking on the water (if the story is true), as D. D.
Home has frequently, within the past few yeaiv, walked or
floated on the air in the presence of many witnesses (including
men of science, royal personages, and members of parliament),
entitles him to the appellation of a “ physical medium.”
4. And the circumstance of his pointing his disciples to the
mark of the spear in his side, and the print of the nails in his
hands, while amongst them as a spirit, has led many spiritualists
to conclude he was also a “ medium for materialization.” His
spirit was made to present the peculiar marks which had
been inflicted upon his physical body, cases parallel to which
are now witnessed every day by modern spiritualists. Hun-
dreds of cases have occurred of departed spirits presenting
themselves to their friends with all the peculiar marks which
858
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
their physical bodies had long worn while in the earth life.
And the former physical wounds have often been exhibited by
the spirit in the same manner Christ exhibited his. And thus
spiritualism explains the phenomenon which otherwise would
be entirely incredible.
5. And there is yet another phase of mediumship which
Christ often exhibited in his practical life. He claimed to have
frequent intercourse with some invisible being, whom he called
“ the Father.” But as modern science has settled the ques-
tion of the personality of God in the negative, we are led to
conclude that Christ, like many eminent persons since his time,
mistook some finite spirit for the great infinite but impersonal
Father spirit — though his attendant invisible companion was
probably a spirit of a very high order. And the great beauty
and grandeur of his life are exhibited by his frequent intercourse
with and dependence upon this his “ guardian spirit.” He de-
clared he did nothing of himself, so dependent was he upon
his invisible guide. And the strongest proof that he had a
spirit companion, which he often looked to for counsel and aid,
and that this was the being he called the Father, is furnished
by the fact, that when he prayed to the Father, his petition
was answered by an angel spirit. (See Luke xxii. 44.) And
there is no account and no evidence of any invisible or spirit-
ual being ever presenting itself to him but an angel or spirit.
That he should have supposed this spirit to be the great infinite
Father God was very natural. Thousands since, and some be-
fore his time, committed a similar mistake. The author has
known several persons who had long had intercourse with some
invisible being they supposed to be God, who have recently^ by
the light afforded by modern spiritualism, become entirely con-
vinced that they had simply mistaken a finite spirit for the great
Infinite Spirit. And did Christ live in our day, he would proba-
bly be rescued from a similar error in the same way. In con-
clusion, we will remark that it was doubtless his frequent dis-
plays of several very remarkable phases of spiritual medium-
ship that contributed much to lead the people into the error of
supposing him to be God. And this fact will yet be known.
CONVERSION OF HEATHEN ORIGIN.
359
CHAPTER XLIII.
CONVERSION, REPENTANCE, AND “ GETTING
RELIGION ” OF HEATHEN ORIGIN.
Their Numerous Eyils and Absurdities.
Of all the follies ever enacted or exhibited under the
sun, and of all the ignorance of history, science, and human
nature ever displayed in the history of the human race, that
which stands out in bold relief, as pre-eminent, is the fashionable
custom of conversion, or “ getting religion.” When the evi-
dence lies all around us as thick as the fallen leaves of autumn,
clustering on the pages of history, and proclaimed by every
principle of mental science, that what is called conversion is
nothing but a mental and temperamental or nervous phenom-
enon— a psychological process — how can we rank those
amongst intelligent people who still claim it to be “the power
of God operating upon the soul of the sinner”? Ignorance is
the only plea that can acquit them of the charge of imbecility.
The number who daily fall victims to this priestly delusion in
various parts of the country may be reckoned by thousands.
We propose in this chapter to exhibit some of the evils and
absurdities of this wide-spread delusion and religious mono-
mania. To do so the more effectually, we will arrange the
presentation of the subject under four separate heads We
will attempt to show, —
1. Its historical errors.
2. Its logical errors.
3. Its philosophical or scientific errors.
4. Its moral evils.
8G0
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
1st. Its Historical Errors. — Can we conceive it possible that
the thousands of priests who are now employed in “ converting
souls to God” are so ignorant of history as not to know that it
is an old pagan custom ? that it was prevalent in heathen coun-
tries long before a single soul was converted to Christianity,
and is earned on to some extent now, both among pagans and
Mahomedans ? From such facts it would appear (viewing the
matter from the Christian stand-point) that God is indifferent
as to what kind of religion, or what sort of religious nonsense,
people are converted to, or whether it is truth or error they
embrace, or whether it is a true religion or a false one they
imbibe, so he gets them converted. According to Mr. Hig-
gins, the practice of converting people from one sect to another
by the popular priesthood was prevalent under the ancient
Persian system, and was carried on there quite extensively
more than three thousand years ago; and the process was essen-
tially the same as that now in vogue amongst modern Method^
ists, and the effect the same. At their large revival meetings
the whole congregation would sometimes become so affected
under the eloquent ministrations of the officiating priest, as
to cry, and shout, and prostrate themselves upon the ground,
which was afterward found to be drenched with their tears;
and on these occasions they would confess their sins to each
other, and to their priests; and yet those very sins they con-
demned were, perhaps, amongst the best acts of their lives,
while their real crimes were overlooked and justified, instead of
being condemned, thus showing that an honest, just, and sensi-
ble God could have had nothing to do with it. And we have
reports of similar scenes witnessed more recently among the
Mahomedans. Major Denham furnishes us an account of
some “revival meetings” he attended a few years since in
Arabia, carried on by one of the Mahomedan sects. On one
occasion the effect of the discourse of the preacher upon the
audience in the way of “ converting souls to God ” was so
powerful, that he could only convince himself that he was not
in a Methodist revival meeting by a knowledge of his geograph-
ical position. The preacher’s name was Malem Chadily, and
here is a specimen of some of his language. “ Turn, turn, sin-
CONVERSION OF HEATHEN ORIGIN.
361
ner, unto God; confess he is good, and that Mahomet is his
prophet; wash, and become clean of your sins, and paradise
is open before you: without this nothing can save you from
eternal fire.” During this earnest appeal (says the major),
tears flowed plentifully, and everybody appeared to be affected.
One of his hearers, becoming converted, shouted, “Your words,
pierce my soul,” and fell upon the floor. Now let it be borne
in mind, that Mahomet is stigmatized and condemned by the
Christian churches as “ a false prophet,” and his religion de-
nounced as “ a system of fraud,” “ a false religion,” &c. Of
course, then, Christians will not argue, nor admit, that conver-
sion, and “getting religion,” in this case, is the work of God.
A just God would have nothing to do in converting people to
“a false religion.” What explanation shall we adopt for it
then ? To assume it to be the work of the devil (the dernier
ressort for all religious difficulties), and conversions among
Christians the work of God, when both are so clearly and
obviously alike, is to insult common sense. To assume that
two things, exactly alike in character, can be exactly and dia-
metrically unlike in origin, is a scientific paradox which no
person of common intelligence can swallow, or accept for a
moment. Both, then, we must admit, have the same origin.
This train of argument leads us to speak of,—
2d. The Logical Absurdities of the Doctrine of Conversion.
— There are several circumstances which point, unmistakably as
the needle to the pole, to the mundane origin of the phenome-
non of conversion.
The character of many of the priestly conductors who “ run
the battery,” is sufficient of itself to preclude the hypothesis of
any divine agency in the matter. The most powerful revivalist
we ever knew, the priest who could convert an audience the
quickest, and bring down sinners to the mourners’ bench faster
than any other clergyman we ever heard “ dealing out dam-
nation ” to the people, was a broad-shouldered, muscular, sten-
torian-voiced circuit rider of the “Buckeye State,” who, as
was afterward learned, was guilty of perpetrating some of the
blackest crimes that ever blotted the page of human history, at
the very time of his most successful career in the way of “ con*
362
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
victing souls of sin, and converting them to God.” He was
apprehended by the officers of the law in the midst of one of
his most flourishing revivals, under the twofold charge, 1. Of
being the father of an illegitimate child, the young mother
of which was a member of his church; 2. Of defrauding one
of his neighbors in a trade, to the amount of nearly a thousand
dollars — both of which charges he was convicted of. A
similar case, but possessing some worse features, occurred a few
years since in the county in which the author now resides. A
preacher, who had had criminal connection with a young woman
of his church, in order to conceal his guilt resorted to the
damnable expedient of administering poison to bis victim shortly
before his illicit intercourse with her would have been made
manifest by the birth of a child, thus committing a double murder.
He was apprehended for the crime while carrying on “ a most glo-
rious revival,” as it was styled by some of the deluded congre-
gation. Now to ascribe the irresistible power which these two
preachers exerted over their audience (in the way of “ convert-
them to God ”) to a divine source, as they claimed for it, would
be to trifle with common sense, common decency, and all
honorable conceptions of a God. These reverend scamps often
instituted the high claim of being “ called of God ” to their
ministerial labors. But if we concede the claim, we should have
to conclude that God knew but little about them, for he cer-
tainly would not knowingly employ such moral outlaws upon
such an important mission.
Having thus briefly spoken of the character of some of the
actors and agents in the work of conversion, we will now
glance at the character of some of the religions and religious
ideas, and moral course of conduct, to which the sinner is con-
verted. It is evident that if an All-wise God had anything to
do in the process of converting people to any system of reli-
gion, he would also convert them to correct moral habits. But
in many cases, after conversion they are no nearer right in this
respect, and in some cases further from it than before being
thus sanctified. In some cases their religion becomes worse,
their religious ideas less sensible, and their moral conduct more
objectionable, by “the change of heart” in “getting religion.”
CONVERSION OF HEATHEN ORIGIN
363
Mr. Spencer informs us that the Vewas, a sect or tribe of the
Feegees, often cry for hours under conviction for sin. And
what is that sin ? Why, the neglect to offer sacrifices to their
God. And those sacrifices consist in human beings, sometimes
their own children. And their conviction, conversion, and re-
pentance only make them more diligent in practicing this
crime. It is evident, then, that their religion is at war with
their humanity, and the former always triumphs in the contest.
They are addicted to cannibalism, infanticide, and polygamy.
But as the process of “ getting religion ” never makes anybody
more intelligent, the “ change of heart,” with the Vewas, never
changes their views, or opens their eyes to see the enormity of
their crimes. In “ getting religion ” people get neither sense,
knowledge, nor morality. They get neither a larger stock, nor
an improved quality, of either. Their moral conduct is not
often sensibly improved, materially or permanently.
-
3d. Scientific Errors, and Scientific Explanations of Conver-
sion.— The phenomena of conversion and “getting religion”
are so easily explained in the light of science and philosophy,
and that explanation is susceptible of so many proofs and demon-
strations, that it seems remarakably strange that any persons
claiming to be intelligent, and situated in the focal, scientific
light of the nineteenth century, should still be hampered with
the delusion that such phenomena are the direct display of the
power of God. It requires but little investigation and reflec-
tion to convince any person that what is called conversion, and
“ repentance for sin,” is nothing but the revival of early educa-
tional impressions resuscitated by the influence of mind on
mind. No person has ever been known to get or embrace a
religion he was not biased in favor of prior to the time of his
conversion, unless we except a few weak-minded persons nega-
tive to any influence, and convertible to any religion the priest
may urge upon their attention. A very strong proof of this
statement is furnished by the history of the Christian mission-
ary enterprise. The reports of travelers and sojourners in
India show, that with two hundred years’ labor, and two hun-
dred missionaries in the field during a part of that period, the
churches have not succeeded in converting one in ten thousand
364
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
of the Hindoos to the Christian religion — unless we except
those who, while children, were sent to Christian schools insti-
tuted by the missionaries for the special purpose of converting
and warping the young mind, and welding it to the Christian
faith before it should receive an unchangeable and unyielding
bias in favor of another religion. So fruitless has been the
effort to convert to Christianity those who were already es-
tablished in the religion of the country, that, according to the
estimate of Colonel Dow, each convert, on an average, has cost
the missionary enterprise not less than ten thousand dollars.
An intelligent Hindoo, while lecturing recently in London,
made the remarkable statement, that conversions which are
made to the Christian religion are not amongst the intelligent
or learned classes, but are confined to the low, ignorant, and
superstitious classes, “ who have not sense or intelligence
enough to perceive the difference between the religion they are
converted toy and that which they are converted from.” And
the effort to convert the Mahomedans, Chinese, Persians, and
the disciples of other religions has been attended with the same
fruitless results — all seeming to warrant the conclusion that
God can do but little toward converting any nation to Chris-
tianity which has always been biased in favor of another reli-
gion. The reason why people are so easily converted from
one sect to another in Christian countries is owing to the fact
that their religious convictions are unsettled. The members
of the different Christian sects are all mixed up together in
the various settlements throughout the country, and are
brought in daily contact with each other in the busy scenes
of life.
Hence the children have the seeds of Methodism, Presbyteri-
anism, Baptistism, Quakerism, and various other isms implanted
in their minds in very early life. And which one of these will
ultimately predominate depends upon what priest they fhll
victims to first. Having thus the germs of so many religious
isms implanted in their minds, they are easily shifted about,
and converted from one sect to another. And this shuttlecock
process is called “getting religion,” while, if they had lived in
CONVERSION OF HEATHEN ORIGIN.
365
a country where only one form of religion exists, they would be
as hard to convert as Mahomedans and Hindoos.
Repentance.— Much importance is attached by the orthodox
churches to the act of getting religion in the dying hour, —
called “ death-bed repentance,” — as if a person were better capa-
ble of discriminating between right and wrong when his brain
is deranged with fever, and his whole system racked with
disease and pain, than when in health. Such repentance can
do nothing more than prove the honesty of the dying man or
woman. For very often their doctrines, or religious belief, will
be found to be no nearer right, and sometimes more erroneous
after repentance than before, as repentance merely consists in
the return to early impressions — the revival of former convic-
tions, which may be either right or wrong, and are about as
likely to be the latter as the former. No instance can be found
of a person condemning a wrong act, or a wrong course of life,
in his dying moments, unless he had previously believed it to
be wrong, or if he had always believed it to be right. How
much, then, does repentance do toward deciding what is right
and what is wrong? Mahomedanism we know to be deeply
fraught with error, but we never read nor heard of an instance
of the many millions who had been educated to believe it
is right, condemning it on their death-beds, or repenting for not
having embraced Christianity, and led the life of a Christian,
or for adoring Mahomet instead of Jesus Christ. On the con-
trary we have a well-authenticated instance of a Mahomedan
(a Mr. Merton} who had embraced Christianity, and lived the
life of a Christian for many years, renouncing it all, and return-
ing to his primitive faith, when he was taken sick and became
apprehensive he was going to die : his early religious impres-
sions, returning involuntarily, wiped out his Christianity, and
he died glorying in Mahomedanism. And we have an equally
well authenticated case of an Indian of the Choctaw tribe, who
had been taught to believe from early life that the white man
was his natural enemy, and that it was his right and duty to
kill him, repenting on his death-bed for having a short time
previously neglected, when the opportunity presented, to de-
366
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
spatch a “pale face” he met in his travels. Instead of killing
him, he yielded for the moment to the impulse of his better
feelings, and passed him by. But on reviewing his past life at
the approach of death, he came to the conclusion he had sinned
in omitting to kill this man, and he grieved and lamented
sorely over this dereliction of apprehended duty. Here we have
a case of repentance sanctioning murder. Must we, therefore,
conclude that murder is morally right, or a righteous act?
Certainly, according to orthodox logic.
Their religious tracts assume that repentance is always for
the right, and is prima facie evidence of being right. If not,
what does it prove, or of what moral value is it ? According
to orthodox teaching, being “a murderer at heart,” he was
as consignable to perdition as if he had committed the act.
There is no escaping the conclusion, therefore, that his repent-
ance landed him in hell, or else proves murder to be right
according to orthodox logic.
We have known Quakers to leave their dying testimony
against water baptism; and Baptists, with their last breath,
declare it is right, and a sin to neglect it. Which is right ?
Who can tell? We have also known Quakers to condemn
dancing in their dying hours, but Shakers never; because one
had been taught that it is wrong, and the other that it is
right. And which testimony must we accept ? Mahomedans
often, when approaching the confines of time, repent (some-
times in tears) for not having lived out more rigidly the
injunctions of the Koran, but never regret not having been
Christians. They often call upon Mahomet to aid them
through the gates of death; but not one of the million who
die every year ever calls upon Jesus Christ. What, then, does
such a conflicting jargon of death-bed repentance prove ?
What good can grow out of it, or what moral value can pos-
sibly attach to it ? It establishes simply two principles, —
1st. That repentance grows out of education.
2d. That it depends entirely upon previous convictions as
to what it may sanction, and what it may condemn.
No Christian ever repents in favor of Mahomedanism; and
CONVERSION OF HEATHEN ORIGIN.
367
no Mahomedan ever lifts up bis dying voice in favor of Chris-
tianity as being superior to his own religion; and no Hin-
doo has ever been known to indulge in death-bed lamenta-
tion for not having previously embraced either Christianity
or Mahomedanism; because their earlier education never
turned their minds in that direction. The mind has to be
educated over again before it can embrace a new religion,
or even condemn a wrong act, which, up to that period, it
had always believed to be right.
Hence it is evident repentance may lead a person to con-
demn what is right and sanction what is wrong. How pro-
foundly ignorant of religious history and mental science must
those persons therefore be who attach any importance to
those diseased and often incoherent utterances, called “ death-
bed recantations,” or who believe a thing the sooner because
sanctioned by a dying man or woman, or that they do any-
thing toward proving what is right or what is wrong with
respect to either our belief or our moral conduct! And yet
we find the orthodox churches printing every year, through
their tract societies, stories of death-bed repentance in tract
form, and scattering them over the country by the million.
As they prove nothing but the honesty of the dying man or
woman, they are not worth the paper on which they are
printed.
The phenomenon of repentance is simply the operation of
a natural law, by which the last impressions made upon the
“ mind are generally cancelled from the memory first, by the
progress of fever and disease, thus leaving the earlier impres-
sions to rule the judgment. The person is then virtually a
child, controlled by his early youthful convictions, with which,
if his late belief and conduct disagree, it causes a mental
conflict, called repentance. Thus, instead of being the visi-
tation of God, as Christians claim, repentance is shown to be
the product of natural causes. The conclusion is thus estab-
lished beyond disproof, that the mental processes called con-
version, repentance, and “getting religion ” are simply natural
psychological operations, depending upon education, organ-
368
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
ization, and intelligence. They depend also upon intellect
and scientific knowledge. For persons of large intellectual
brains, or extensive scientific culture, never fall victims to these
mental derangements. Hence those priests who claim God
as their author are either deplorably and inexcusably ignorant,
or lacking in moral honesty.
MORAL LESSONS OR RELIGIOUS IIISTORT. 869
CHAPTER XL1V.
THE MORAL LESSONS OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
1 The most important lesson deducible from all the religious
systems, commemorated in history, and noticed in this work, is,
that all religious conceptions, whether in the shape of doc-
trine, precept, prophecy, prayer, religious devotion, or a belief
in miracles, are a spontaneous outgrowth of the moral and
religious elements of the human mind. And to assign them
a higher origin is to ignore the developments of modern
science, and insult the highest intelligence of the age.
2. From the elevated scientific plane occupied by the most
enlightened portion of the present age, there is no difficulty
in finding a satisfactory solution for every event, every occur-
rence, and every performance recorded in any of the numer-
ous bibles which have long been afloat in the world, and
which have always constituted the sole basis for the claim to
a divine origin of all the religious systems of the past; so
that such a claim can be no longer vindicated by historically
intelligent people.
3. We have shown in this work that all the miraculous inci-
dents related in the history of Jesus Christ as a proof of his
divinity can find a more rational explanation than that which
assigns them to divine agency. Some of them are now known
to lie within the natural capacity of the human mind to
achieve, others are explained by recently discovered natural
laws. Another class are now well understood mental or
nervous phenomena. Other stories, now regarded by the
Christian world as referring to miraculous acchievements,
were probably designed by the writer as mere fable or meta-
24
370
THE WORLDS SAVIORS.
phor. All the events in Christ’s history, we have shown, are
susceptible of a hundred fold more rational explanation than
that which regards them as the feats of a God in violation
of his own laws.
4. We have also shown that the same marvelous inci-
dents now found incorporated in the Gospel history of Jesus
Christ were related long previously as a part of the sacred
history of other Gods; such as being miraculously conceived
and born of a virgin; born on the 25th of December; visited
in infancy by angels and shepherds; threatened by the ruler
of the country; being of royal lineage; receiving the same
divine titles; performing the same miracles, &c.
In a word, we have shown that various heathen Gods and
Demigods had, long before Christ’s advent, filled the same
chapter in history now reported of him in the Christian
New Testament. All these stories of the heathen Gods prove
as conclusively as any scientific problem can be demonstrated
by figures, that the same stories related of Jesus Christ have
no other foundation than that of heathen tradition. And
will the Christian world, then, hereafter stultify their common
sense by ignoring these facts of history so fatal to their claims ?
Past history points to an affirmative answer to this question,
as we will illustrate.
In the early history of this country, several reports were
published of showers of blood being seen to fall in some of
the sea-coast states, which were regarded as a divine judg-
ment. But the use of the telescope revealed the fact that
it was the ordure of butterflies, as those insects were seen at
the time in vast swarms. But the devout Christian, whose
faith in his religion has always been proof against the demon-
strations of science, would not give it up. He would not ac-
cept the butterfly explanation, but continued to teach his
children that it came from God out of heaven as a manifes-
tation of displeasure toward the sins of the people. And it
now remains to be seen whether Christian professors at the
present day will manifest a similar folly by standing out against
the demonstrated truths and facts of this work.
MORAL LESSONS OF RELIGIOUS HISTORT. 371
5. We here cite it as the last and most sorrowful lesson
of history, that no facts, no proofs, no demonstrations of
science can eradicate religious errors from the human mind,
if instilled in early life, and never disturbed till the possessor
arrives at mature age or middle life.
372
THE WORLD’S SAVIORS.
CHAPTER XLV.
CONCLUSION AND REVIEW.
In writing the concluding chapter, of this work, the author
deems it proper to re-state some points, and elaborate others,
and anticipate some objections to some of the positions ad-
vanced. Each division of the subject will be marked by a
separate figure, and treated in a brief and succinct manner, as
follows: —
1. Several persons, who examined this work before it went
to press, have expressed the opinion that it must exert a
powerful influence in the way of producing an entire revolution
in the religion of orthodox Christendom sooner or later. But
this must of course be the work of time, as moral revolutions
are not the work of a day. When the human system has been
long prostrated with chronic disease, no system of medication
can restore it at once to health. The same principle govern-
ing the mind makes it morally impossible to eradicate its deep-
ly-seated moral and religious errors in a day by even the
presentation of the most powerful and convincing truths and
demonstrations that can be brought to bear or operate upon
the human judgment. The mind instinctively repels every-
thing (no difference how true or how beautiful) that conflicts
with its long-established opinions and convictions. The fires
of truth usually require much time to burn their way through
those incrustations of moral and religious error which often
environ the human mind as the products of a false education.
But when they once enter, the work of convincement is com-
plete.
2. It has been stated that the resemblance between Christi-
anity and the more ancient heathen systems is complete and
CONCLUSION AND REVIEW.
-
373
absolute throughout in all their essential doctrines, and princi-
ples, and precepts. And if it shall be found, on a critical read-
ing of this work after it comes from the press, that there is one
feature of Christianity which has not been traced to pagan
origin, or that any points of resemblance have been omitted,
they will be supplied in an appendix.
3. It has been stated that a transfiguration is related of
Chrishna of India (1200 B. C.) in the Hindoo bible (the Bag-
havat Gita), which is strikingly similar to that of Christ. We
will here present the proof. “Abandoning the mortal form, he
(Chrishna) appeared to his disciples in all the divine eclat of
his Divine Majesty, his brow encircled with such a brilliant
light that Adjourna and the other disciples, unable to bear it,
fell with their faces in the dust, and prayed the Lord (Chrishna)
to pardon their unworthiness. He replied, c Have you not
faith in me ? Know ye not, that whether present or absent in
body, I will be ever present with you to guard and protect
you ? ’ ” (Baghavat Gita.) How remarkable this to the story of
Christ’s transfiguration!
4. Some readers, perhaps, will be surprised to observe that
we have named so many crucified gods to whom some writers
assign a different death. But we have followed, as we be-
lieve, the best authorities in doing so.
5. In our work, “ The Bible of Bibles,” we have shown that
the score of bibles which have been extant in the world teach
essentially the same doctrines, principles, and precepts. There
are to be found in the old pagan bibles the same grand and
beautiful truths mixed up with the same mind-enslaving errors
and deleterious superstitions as those contained in the Chris-
tian bible. And the same exalted claim is set up by the disci-
ples of each for their respective holy books — that of being a
direct revelation from God, and inspired at the fountain of
infinite wisdom. And all were exalted, adored, and idolized
by their respective admirers, as containing a perfect embodi-
ment of truth, without any admixture of error. The ancient
Persians carried their bibles in their bosoms, and read them
and prayed over them daily. The Hindoos often read their
bible through on their bended knees, and sometimes committed
274
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
it all to memory. The Baghavat has the following text: “ The
most important of all duties is to study the Holy Scriptures,
which is the word of Brahma and Chrishna, revealed to the
world.” Some of the Mahomedans claim that immortal life
can only be obtained by reading the Koran, and that the read-
ing of it is essential to the progress and practice of good morals,
and the advancement of civilization; and that it will ulti-
mately reform and civilize the world. Both they and the Hin-
doos, like the Christian world, have numerous commentaries,
explaining the obscure texts of their bibles, and aiming to recon-
cile their teachings with reason and science. And the disciples
of all bibles had a mode of doing away with the immoral teach-
ings, and concealing the worst features of their sacred books by
bestowing on them a spiritual meaning, as Christians do theirs,
thus dressing up error in the guise of truth. The Hindoo bible,
the Mahomedan bible, and other holy books, consign those who
disbelieve in their teachings to eternal damnation, denouncing
them as infidels. In this respect, also, they are like the Chris-
tian’s bible.
6. uBut then, after all (as some good pious Christian will
probably exclaim after reading this work), the bible and Chris-
tianity are essential to the progress of good morals, and the
advancement of the cause of civilization, and the civilized
world would sink into a state of heathen darkness, demoraliza-
tion, and savagism without them; for every enlightened nation
owes its present moral and intellectual greatness to the Chris-
tian bible and the Christian religion, and would relapse into
barbarism without them.” This is a mistake, a most egregious
mistake, my good brother Christian, as the following facts of
history will show : —
1. There are heathen nations now existing who never saw a
bible, and others which flourished in the past, before our bible
was written, who nevertheless attained to a higher state of
morals, and a higher state of civilization in some respects, than
any Christian nation known to history. A whole volume of
facts might be adduced, if we had space for them, drawn from
the ablest and most reliable authorities, to prove that India,
Egypt, Greece, and other countries had reached a high state
CON CL US ION AND RE VIE W.
875
of civilization centuries before Christianity or any of its founders
were even heard of, or made their appearance in the world.
India was distinguished for her learning, her laws, her legisla-
tion, her civil courts, her judicial tribunals, her astronomers, her
poets, her philosophers, her writers, her moralists, her libraries,
her men of literature, and her good morals long before Moses
was found in the bulrushes. Jacolliot says, “ India gave civil-
ization to the world.” Egypt borrowed of India, the Greeks
of the Egyptians, and the Jews and Christians are indebted
to the Greeks for both their morals and their civilization.
Dubois, a Christian missionary, in his “ Memoirs of India,”
testifies that u kindness, justice, humanity, good faith, compas-
sion, disinterestedness, and in fact nearly all the moral virtues,
were familiar to the ancient Brahmans and Hindoos, and they
taught them both by precept and example.” Can as much be
said of any Christian nation ? Certainly not. And the Itev.
D. O. Allen says they were distinguished for all the arts
and refinement of civilized life — thus placing them on the
highest plane of civilization and moral elevation. And other
nations might be referred to. Egypt had her vast temples of
science, Chaldea her astronomical observatories, and Greece
her distinguished academies of learning, her profound philoso-
phers, and her high-toned moral writers and moral teachers,
while the Jews, “God’s holy people,” were in a state of semi-
barbarism. So affirms the Rev. Albert Barnes.
2. No advancement has often been made in morals or civil-
ization in any country by the introduction of the Christian
bible or the Christian religion. It is the arts and sciences which
accompany or follow the bible which do the work. A proof
of this statement is found in the fact, that no improvement
takes place in the morals of the people by the introduction of
the bible till the arts and sciences are also introduced amongst
them. On the contrary, the morals of many deteriorate by
reading the bible alone, because it sanctions as well as con-
demns every species of crime then known to society. (For
proof see Chap. XXIX. of this work.) That India has become
corrupted and sunk in morals since the introduction of the
Christian bible, is admitted by the Rev. D. 0. Allen, for twenty-
376
THE WORLD'S SAVIORS.
five years a missionary in that country. But science, espe-
cially moral science, imparts a different influence. It explains
the nature of crimes, and teaches and demonstrates that a life
of honesty and virtue can alone produce true and real happi-
ness, while the bible augments the temptation to commit sin
by teaching that “it is a sweet morsel to be rolled under the
tongue,” and that its punitive effects may be entirely escaped
by an act of divine forgiveness. But science, either directly or
by the enlightening of the mind, teaches and convinces the
wrong-doer that there is no escape from the evil effects of a
wrong or wicked act, and that sin is not a “ sweet morsel,” but
ultimately a bitter pill. And thus it arrests the demoralizing
effects of this pernicious doctrine of the Christian bible.
3. It may startle some of the bible devotees to bq told that
their sacred book, instead of being a prompter to civilization
and good morals, is really a hindrance to those ends; and
that consequently nations without bibles advance faster in these
respects than those who are well supplied with this book.
But the facts of history seem to establish this as a fact. As a
proof we will contrast the present condition of heathen Japan
with that of Christian Abyssinia. Colonel Hall and Dr. Oli-
phant both testify that no drunkenness, no fighting, no quarrel-
ing, no thefts, no robberies, no rapes, no fornication, no domes-
tic feuds or broils, and no fraudulent dealing take place in
Japan. No locks or keys are used, for none are needed. There
is no disposition to steal, or even to cheat, or overreach in deal-
ing. But in Christian Abyssinia, on the other hand, according
to Mr. Goodrich, where bibles and churches are numerous, and
preaching and praying are heard every day, nearly all the crimes
above enumerated are daily committed. The people go naked
eat raw flesh, cheat, lie, and murder, and practice polygamy.
Such a thing as a legitimate child, he tells us, is not known.
And thus it has been for fifteen hundred years, while in the
daily practice of reading their bible. The arts and sciences
have never been introduced amongst them. And this fact ex-
plains the cause of their continued moral degradation.
4. According to Noah Webster, the cultivation of the arts
and sciences is essential to the progress of civilization and
CONCL USION AND RE VIE W«
377
good morals. But bible religion knows nothing about the arts
and sciences. It don’t even use the words. Paul uses the
word science only once, and then to condemn it. But Jesus
omits any allusion to science, philosophy, or natural law. So
thoroughly convinced were the early disciples of the Christian
faith that the teachings of their bible are inimical to the arts
and sciences, that they destroyed works of art wherever they
could find them, and opposed with a deadly aim every new
discovery in the sciences.
5. As bibles represent only the morals and state of society
in the age in which they are written, and are not allowed to be
altered or transcended, they thus hold their disciples back in
all coming time, and compel them to teach and practice the
morals of that semi-barbarous age as found taught in their
bibles. And thus bibles prevent the moral growth of the peo-
ple as effectually as the Chinese wooden shoes prevent the
growth of the feet. For a fuller exposition of this matter, see
The Bible of Bibles, Chap. XIV.
NOTE OF EXPLANATION.
In Chapter XXXI. we have traced Christianity to Essenism. This
may need a fuller explanation than we have yet devoted to this point,
though we have stated several times we consider them essentially one.
The Essenes had their “ Exoteric ” and their “ Esoteric” doctrines. The
latter, which seems to have included the incarnation, atonement, trinity,
and all the other Budhist doctrines as set forth in Chapter XXXII. (and
now included in the term Christianity), they never published to the world.
Hence Chapter XXXI. sets forth only their Exoteric doctrines. But as
Philo, Milman, Tytler, and other eminent authors show they held all
the doctrines of Budhism, we assume they were a Budhist sect. Hence,
when we speak of Christianity growing out of Budhism, in Chapter XXXII.,
we mean Budhism under the name of Essenism. We believe Christianity
is from Essenism and Budhism both, because they are essentially one;
and that Christianity is merely a continuation of Budhism as taught by
the Essenian sect of Budhists. Hence we have sometimes used the term
Essenism, and sometimes the term Budhism, as being the fountain head
of Christianity. We have stated Christ may have been an Essene either
by birth or by conversion. But our conviction now is, that he was one
by birth. And we now think it probable that that portion of the Jewish
nation which became known as Essenes sprang up in the Budhist school
of Pythagoras, in Alexandria, in the second or third century before Christ,
and thus became Essenian Budhists; i. e., a sect of Jewish Budhists who
called themselves Essenes. And consequently, neither Christ nor his
disciples made any changes in the Essenian religion, when they changed
its name to Christianity, except to ingraft a few unimportant tenets bor-
rowed from the principal Budhist sect. We are now convinced that
Essenism was complete Budhism, that Christ was born of Essene par-
ents, and that no important changes were made bj droning the term
Essenism, and adopting the term Christianity in its place.
378
NOTE TO PAGE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-
SEVEN.
It may not be improper to explain more fully the reason for the opinion
expressed on page 157, that the Gospel writer John did not believe that
Christ first came into existence through human birth, but believed that
he, like seme of the oriental Gods, was “ The Word” personified, without
the process of birth; though he may, like the heathen orientalists, have
cherished the tradition that the second God in the trinity (as he repre-
sents Christ to be)., after having sprung into existence as “ The Word,”
was subsequently subjected to human birth. Either so, or else his allu-
sion to “the mother of Christ” was done in condescension to the gen-
eral belief among the people, that he had a human mother. Be that as
it may, he declares, “The Word was made flesh ” (John i. 14); nearly
the same language used by the orientalists,—which with them did not
imply human birth. And the declaration, “All things were made by
him” (John i. 3), is proof positive he believed in Christ’s existence as
the creator, before his human birth. Much of John’s language is so
strikingly similar to that employed by the disciples of some of the orien-
tal religions, who believed that a second God emanated from the mouth
of the Supreme, to perform the act of creation, that we cannot resist the
conviction that this was John’s belief; especially as many of them be-
lieved, like him, that this creative “Word” became afterward a subject
of human birth. Thus, as we conceive, the proposition is established.
NOTE TO PAGE THREE HUNDRED AND ONE.
Our most reliable authorities testify that Babylon never was destroyed,
but successfully resisted, for one hundred and fifty years after Isaiah’s
time, many of the most powerful sieges, and “the mightiest munitions of
war,” conducted by seven of the most skilful generals that ever wielded
the sword — Cyrus, Darius, Alexander the Great, Antigonus, Demetrius,
Poliorcetes, and Antiochus. She then gradually declined by the removal
of her inhabitants to other and newer cities; thus falsifying the predic-
tion of Jeremiah (li. 8), “Her end has come,” and of Isaiah (xiii. 22),
“ Her days shall not be prolonged,” and that “ desolation shall come
upon her in a day,” and her destruction shall be effected suddenly— all
of which are falsified by the facts just presented. And even if Babylon
379
380
APPENDIX.
had been destroyed, the present existence of Hillah, built in 1101 upon
the same spot, with a population, according to Wellstead, of twenty-five
thousand, is a signal overthrow of Jeremiah’s prophecy, that it “ shall
become a wilderness, wherein no man dwelleth ” (li. 43), and of Isaiah,
also, that it should not be dwelt in from generation to generation. Jere-
miah first predicted that her sea and springs should dry up (li. 38), and
then declared the waves of the sea should come upon her (li. 42) ; and
finally, that she should sink to rise no more (li. 64). And Isaiah’s pre-
diction of ruin and destruction included with Babylon, “ the land of
the Chaldeans” (1. 39), which was then, and is yet, a great commercial
country, with an annual revenue at this time, according to Harvey
Brydges, of a million pounds sterling. Here, then, is a long series of
prophecies falsified. Our authority for saying that Hillah occupies the
site of ancient Babylon is Malte-Brun’s Geography (page 655), which de-
clares, “ Hillah is situated within the precincts of Babylon; ” thus prov-
ing it is not “ a wilderness, wherein no man dwelleth.” Had we space,
we should present an extended view of the prophecies.
-
INDEX
Absurdities of the Christian Holy Ghost stoiy...........................147
Abyssinian Christians uncivilized.......................................376
Angels figure at the birth of Gods...................................... 57
Ascension of the Saviors............................................... 135
Of Chrishna, Prometheus, Alcides, &c............................. 136
Of Christ, story of...............................................137
Atonement, how belief in, originated...............................116, 144
Errors and evils of the doctrine.............................116, 144
Baptism, origin of..................................................... 168
By water........................................................ 168
Dove descending at............................................... 169
By sprinkling.................................................... 171
By fire.......................................................... 172
By the Holy Ghost................................................ 173
For the dead.................................................... 174.
China, Messianic Prophecies in.......................................... 34
Chrishna and Christ compared............................................225
Two hundred and forty-six parallels...............................225
Their precepts alike............................................. 237
Their doctrines alike................................................
Authors cited proving the above......................................
Chrishna, his life, history, mission, &c............................... 258
His precepts.................................................100, 2G1
His second advent....................................................
Crucifixion of.................................................. gg
Descent into hell................................................ ^26
Resurrection of.................................................. ^2§
Ascension of..........................*...................... ^ 236
His miraculous birth............................................. 44.
His advent foretold............................................... g^
Stars figure at his birth....................................... gg
Angels figure at his birth......................................... ^
Born twenty-fifth of December..................................... g2
His virgin mother................................................ 253
Christ, his numerous errors............................................ g42
Moral and religious errors of.................................... g^g
Scientific errors................................................. g^
As a man and as a sectarian...................................... g-4
As a medium...................................................... g^g
Miraculous birth of............................................... ^g
Divinity of, logically viewed.................................... o08
381
382 INDEX.
Christ, divinity of, philosophical view of..............................315
Physiological view of.............................................318
Historical view of................................................322
Scriptural view of................................................327
Metonymic view of.................................................339
His miracles examined.............................................279
How his story got into histoiy....................................284
All history ignores him...........................................281
(Note. — “ Not one single document is there of the existence of Christ within the first
hundred years.” — Syntagma, p. 190. Allusion to him by Abgarus and other writers
are now admitted to be forgeries.)
Christianity from Essenism..............................................249
Many historical proofs of.........................................249
Conclusion and review................................................. 372
Confucius, his history, life, character, precepts, &c...................271
Angels figure at his birth........................................ 58
Conversion explained, historically, philosophically, &c.................360
Its history, errors, &c...........................................360
Logical absurdities of............................................361
Scientific explanation of.........................................363
Crucifixion of the Gods, introduction to................................ 92
Chrishna of India................................................. 93
Sakia of India................................................... 103
Thammuz of Syria..................................................107
"YVittoba of the Telingonese......................................108
Iao of Nepaul............. • • ..................................108
Hesus of the Druids...............................................109
Quexalcote of Mexico............................................. 109
Quirinus of Pome..................................................110
Thulis of Egypt...................................................112
Indra of Thibet...................................................112
Alcestos of Euripides............................................ 113
Atys of Phrygia...................................................113
Crite of Chaldea..................................................113
Bali of Orissa................................................... 114
Mithra of Persia..................................................114
Devatat, Apollonius, &c.......................................... 114
Origin of the belief in......................................... 118
Darkness attending the crucifixion of the Gods..........................120
“ “ “ Osiris and of Christ.............121
Origin of the stoiy.............................................. 123
Decree for killing infants by Herod................................... 81
By Cansa.......................................................... 77
Deified men, long list of............................................... 29
INDEX.
383
Essenes, history of......................................................206
Their religion like that of Christ................................207
Many authorities cited in proof...................................214
Genealogy of Christ...................................................... 72
Gods, incarnate, all smart in childhood.................................... 83
Christ’s, Chrishna’s, Osiris’, and Sakia’s early proofs of divinity. 86
Golden Rule by eight different writers.....................................303
Hell, descent into, by the Gods............................................ 125
By Quexalcote, Prometheus, and Christ............................ 126
History, moral lessons of................................................369
Holy Ghost, origin of the belief in................................146, 154
Shape of..........................................................148
The third member of the Trinity.................................. 148
As a tongue of fire.............................................. 152
Inspiration by.................................................. 152
Baptism of....................................................... 153
Imparted by breathing.............................................153
Divine conception by............................................. 153
Unpardonable sin against..........................................155
Of Oriental origin................................................157
As the Creator....................................................158
Dual or twofold nature of........................................ 159
As second member of the Trinity.................................. 160
As a biblical title.............................................. 161
As Creator, origin of.......................................... 161
Mediator and Intercessor, origin of the belief in.......................... 68
Messianic Prophecies in different nations.................................. 33
In India and in China............................................. 84
In Persia......................................................... 85
Miracles wrought by heathen Gods........................................... 263
By Alcides and Osiris.............................................263
By Grecian Gods...................................................264
By Roman Gods.....................................................266
By Apollonius.....................................................266
By Simon Magus....................................................269
Miracles of many religions...............................................273
Pagan miracles....................................................274
Catholic miracles.................................................277
Satanic miracles..................................................278
Of Christ.........................................................279
Reasoning on absurdity of........................................ 296
Miraculous birth of the Gods............................................. 41
Oil, anointing with, by different nations............................... 178
By Mexicans and Hindoos...................................... 179
INDEX.
384
Precepts by various writers........................................... 303
On treatment of enemies......................................... 304
Of India.........................................................237
Of Chrishna..................................................... 100
Of Sakia........................................................ 106
Of Confucius.....................................................272
Of Christ..................................................... 342
Prophecies by different nations........................................297
By Greece and Borne..............................................298
By Spiritualists.................................................298
Jewish prophecies................................................299
On Babylon and Damascus..........................................300
By the figure of a serpent....................................... 37
Found in heathen nations.......................................37, 38
Beligion of natural origin............................................. 16
Beligions all alike, and why........................................... 22
Bepentance philosophically explained.................................. 365
Besurrection of the Saviors........................................... 128
Of many heathen Saviors......................................... 128
Of Christ........................................................130
Bival claims of the Saviors............................................ 27
Botal descent of the Saviors........................................... 70
Of Chrishna, Sakia, and Christ................................... 70
Sacrament of heathen origin........................................... 175
Practised by the Essenes, Persians, &c.......................... 176
Sacred cycles, explanation of......................................... 197
Six hundred year cycles......................................... 197
Six thousand year cycles.........................................202
Sakia of India, his life, character, and mission...................... 103
His precepts.................................................... 106
His miraculous birth............................................. 50
His crucifixion................................................. 103
Note. — (“Buddha is said to have been crucified for robbing a garden of a flower.”—
Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 244.)
Saviors were real persons........................................... 88
Chrishna, Osiris, Prometheus, &c., real persons............... 88
Saviors saved from death in infancy................................. 76
Chrishna, Christ, Yu, Bacchus, &c............................. 77
Sins, confession of, among the heathen.............................. 166
Stars figure at the birth of the Gods............................... 53
Titles of the Saviors—God, Lord, Savior, Creator, Lamb, &c., &c..... 66
Transgression and fall of man, heathen stories of. *................ 39
Persian and Hindoo story of................................... 39