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The Bank of Wisdom is run by Emmett Fields out of his home in Kentucky. He painstakingly scanned in these works and put them on disks for others to have available. Mr. Fields makes these disks available for only the cost of the media.
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"To the mind, as it develops in speculative power, the problem
of the universe suggests itself. What is it? and Whence comes it?
are questions that press for solution, when, from time to time, the
imagination rises above daily trivialities."
Herbert Spencer
LONDON:
WATTS & CO., 17, JOHNSON'S COURT, FLEET ST.
1897.
TO
A DEAR WIFE
THIS MANUAL IS AFFECTIONATELY
DEDICATED,
IN REMEMBRANCE OF JOINT EFFORTS
TO DISCOVER, AMID THE CONFLICTING
BELIEFS AND OPINIONS OF THE DAY,
WHAT IS TRUTH.
The writer may be accused of dogmatism, but it is impossible to teach without it. The Rationalist has nothing to say against "dogmatism" itself; it is a dogmatism consisting of unverified and unverifiable dogmas -- dogmas that must not be questioned or inquired into, but be held on "faith" as "mysteries," that he objects to. Let the dogmatism be one of truth, one that can bear the light of day, that can be explained by human reason, and be proved by indisputable evidence then the dogmatism is not only justifiable, but essential.
What have these pioneers of science fought for? Why have they sacrificed time, money, domestic comfort, and popularity? Is it possible, as the tongue of ignorance suggests, that these men have devoted their lives and abilities to the deliberate uprooting of religion and morality, by which society would be thrown into a state of chaos, and a way of unlimited freedom opened up for the working of wickedness? Certainly not. They have, indeed, striven to uproot the evil plant which is variously called theology, ecclesiastes, clericalism. But they have not striven to uproot moral and intellectual truth.
And they did well to strike at the power of the priest. For centuries the human mind has been fettered by the priestly chain. The priest claimed the whole life. Scarcely had a child entered the world when he lost his freedom in the rite of baptism; his will was made captive by the representative of theology; he was educated in the way of credulity, so that when he came to the age of Reason (or what should have been Reason) he submissively accepted the priest's dogmas as being of divine origin and supernaturally revealed. Ninety-nine men out of every hundred have been satisfied to accept the word of the priest for the truth of these dogmas, to yield their souls up as slaves to clericalism, and swear allegiance to the illegitimate authority of "The Church."
The questions which Rationalists fearlessly set themselves to solve are: -- Is there any truth in the so-called Christian "revelation" which has for so long a period maintained its hold over the Western world? And, further, has any revelation of a supernatural character ever taken place? Or, is the only revelation which possesses any human value the revelation of natural science?
If a revelation had been made to the human race by a divine and almighty being, we should be justified in expecting it to be done in a manner clear, unmistakable, and evident to all, and it would have had an irresistible claim upon our allegiance. But this has not happened. On the contrary: instead of being furnished with proofs, we are enjoined to ask no questions; we are told that doubt is sin, and that we must reduce ourselves to a condition of infantile dependence; we are bidden to accept all the statements which the priestly dispensers of "revelation" choose to dole out to us, however much opposed to reason, nature, and science. When we examine the alleged revelation, we discover that it consists of a series of legends, characterized by a morality which is frequently atrocious, and by absurdities which rank with the tales of the nursery. And we find that the divinity worshipped by the churches is an imaginary figure, a fetish established for the benefit of the clerical caste, and supported by the priesthood for mercantile ends. It is time to cast off the bondage so long imposed upon us, and snap the rod of hell so long held over our heads. We must transfer our allegiance from God to Man. Instead of wasting our time and energy in contemplating and appeasing a fictitious deity, and obeying the selfish motive of desire for future reward, let us dedicate our lives to the interests of the present world, to social cooperation, to the study of natural science, to the explanation of the phenomena that environs us, to the spread of knowledge and happiness.
The Christian myth is based on no valid evidence: it rests only on the assumed "inspiration" of the Bible -- a collection of ancient writings, most of them written no one knows when, where, or by whom. Some people fear lest, if the Christian myth were discarded, each individual would seize the liberty to do as he liked, and give way to all kinds of libertinism, and repeat the motto of the debauches, "Eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die." But this very fear suggests the existence of an improper motive to goodness, and that a selfish prudence and pious cunning had been the only means to virtue furnished by Christianism. Shall we admit that there can be any true spring of morality in the fear of offending a deity who possesses the bad attributes of vindictiveness, jealousy, and cruelty; and in the dread of losing heaven and incurring the pains of hell? Such an inadequate motive to right conduct leaves out of the consideration the welfare of our fellow-men, and the desire to please and make others happy.
When asked to reject the unwarranted theory of a future life, some experience a revulsion against the idea of not meeting again those who have become endeared to them in the present life. But, if it can be shown that we know, and can know, nothing of a world-to- come, and that assertions on the subject are vain incursions into the realm of the unknowable, our duty is to resign ourselves to the solemn Inevitable. He who accepts the belief in Immortality does so simply on the bare word of another man, who knows no more about the mystery than himself. Is it right to believe what we cannot possibly know, merely because other people believe it, or because it yields irrational comfort? Why should we stake our happiness on the chances of a visionary future, instead of realizing the possibilities of a life which, if we develop it in defiance of the dictates of orthodoxy, may yield so much profit and enjoyment? What pleasure can we derive from speculating whether our departed friends have succeeded in obtaining a place in Elysium; or whether, having fallen short of the regulations laid down by the deity, they have attained the Middle State of Purgatory, where a due amount of suffering is officially meted out to them; or whether they (good and amiable as they appeared to us) have had the misfortune to fall under the divine displeasure, and are condemned to the eternal flames of Hell? God is represented to us as being good and merciful and omnipotent. Could he not, then, have made mankind perfect and incapable of sin? For, if he had done this, the necessity for a hell would never have arisen.
Christianism ridicules the superstition of the pagan, and holds up its hands in sanctimonious horror at the worship of natural objects. But is it more foolish to adore the glorious and beneficent sun than to adore a being who has been built up out of materials supplied by the human imagination? If you ask a theologian where this creature of fancy exists, and on which of the innumerable heavenly bodies he has pitched his residence, you get no intelligible answer. Surely the various forms of Paganism were as rational as (i.e., not more irrational than) the vague and plagiarized creed of Christendom?
Can our words of scorn towards Christianism be justified? The following pages will show.
SUPERNATURAL REVELATION
We should expect that a message divinely revealed to man would
be a unity, and not split into different portions; that each single
part would corroborate and confirm the others; that contradictions
would be absent; that the contents would be reconcilable with
science; and that its morality should be perfect. Now, does the
Christian revelation possess these characteristics? We shall find
that it does not possess one of them. Not only so, but its alleged
divine origin is attested by no reliable evidence, and its purely
human development can be distinctly traced. The sources of its
dogmas may be detected in the older religions of Babylonia, Persia,
Egypt, etc. In other words, the pretended revelation was borrowed
from Paganism. We find its leading myths, such as the supernatural
birth of a Savior, the slaughter of the Innocents, the temptation
in the wilderness, the performance of miracles, the death and
resurrection of the god, forming features in pre-christian
religions.
The very fact of there being more than one "revelation" is sufficient to raise doubts in the minds of reasoning people as to the validity of any of them. The particular "revelation" which the average man accepts depends upon the accident of his birth, Creeds follow geographical lines. If we happen to be born in Great Britain or the British colonies, we adopt one of the many varieties of Christianism; if in Turkey, Mohammedanism; if in China, Taoism, or Confucianism, or Buddhism; if in India, Brahmanism; if in a certain quarter of Bombay, Parseeism, etc. And each "revelation" claims divine origin. The Mohammedan appeals to the Koran, the Parsee to the Zend-avesta, the Taoist to the Tau-teh-king; the Buddhist to his Tripitaka; the Brahman to his Vedas and the Christian to his Bible. Though we observe in these phases of faith many resemblances suggestive of borrowing and derivation, we also observe differences in important details. Each counts itself orthodox, and regards the rest as heretical or infidel. Our notion of truth or heresy, therefore, is modified according to the locality of out birth and the sphere of our education.
Christianity cannot boast an inner unity of its own. It is divided into a bewildering array of sects. The Churches of Christ differ from each other on more or less essential questions. In these schisms they simply exemplify the contradictions presented by their Scriptures. Yet, marvelous to say, the only point the sects agree upon is the necessity of appeal to these very scriptures which yield so many interpretations! In Roman Catholic countries Protestant agents seek to make converts, a Protestant Bishop being a short time ago consecrated for Catholic Madrid, while Roman Catholic bishops map out dioceses in the midst of Protestant populations. The Catholic churches insist on the duty of eating their god; the Protestants regard this doctrine as an abomination.
The Christian revelation is blindly accepted on the assumption that the Bible is inspired. We shall see if there exist solid grounds for the assumption. Is the "revelation" reconcilable with science? The researches and discoveries of modern science have laid bare the fallacies upon which the Bible is founded, and the erroneous opinions that run through it. They have demonstrated that there is no such thing as instantaneous creation; that the present cosmos has been gradually evolved from a preexistent one; that matter is indestructible, eternal, fixed in quantity; that neither man nor animals nor plants were called into being so recently as 6,000 years ago; that our ancestors lived millennia before the supposed date of the creation; and that our race has ascended through long processes of development from simple protoplasmic cells. Genesis itself speaks with an uncertain voice. It contains two separate stories of the creation, and they contradict one another. The Genesis cosmogony is based upon mistaken ideas of the universe, the shape and movements of the earth and sun, and their mutual relations. And upon the truth of the occurrences reported in Genesis rests the whole Christian theory of "Redemption." If the "Fall" of man did not occur, sin did not enter the world by the disobedience of Eve. And if Eve did not introduce the microbes of sir, there is no sin-disease for all mankind to inherit; and, consequently, there is no necessity for a Savior or Redeemer to suffer the sacrifice entailed by the fault of the ancestors of the race.
Till a comparatively recent date Christianity taught the Ptolemaic theory of the universe -- i.e., that the earth was the center of a system of planets, and that the sun rose and set daily over it. By order of the Congregation of the Holy Office, Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake in 1600 for indulging in astronomical speculations; for supporting the Copernican theory, the reason given being because it was "contrary to the bible;" and for suggesting that the Bible did not contain the whole of science. In 1616 Galileo was summoned before the Inquisition, and cawed by threats for teaching new theories of the heavens. He was again hauled up, at the age of seventy, for writing a book on the System of the World, in which he proved the truth of the Copernican theory, which is now accepted by all the civilized world. He was made to kneel, and swear, with his hands on the gospels, that it was not true that the earth moved round the sun, and that he would never again spread the "damnable heresy." Here we have evidence of two failures on the part of the Christian Church: it condemned the thinkers, who maintained a theory of the universe now everywhere admitted; and it publicly declared its conviction that the Copernican theory ran counter to the science of the Bible.
Again, is Christianity sound in its moral teaching? The Yahuh (Jehovah) of the Old Testament authorizes, directly or indirectly, the burning of witches (Ex. xxii. 18), human sacrifice (Ex. xiii.), slavery (Ex. xxi., xxv.), adultery (Gen. xii. 10), violation of virgins (Mum. xxxi. 17), and many other acts of gross injustice. The Jesus of the New Testament teaches improvidence by the precept that no thought is to be taken for the morrow as to food, drink, or clothing -- an injunction which is at variance with all prudence and economic wisdom. He took part in encouraging the ignorant and cruel method of treating disease as the work of demons. He pretended to drive "unclean spirits" out of the poor lunatic who spent his life among the tombs, and whom no man could bind with chains. We are expected to believe that the devils asked to be sent into a herd of swine, after which they ran violently down the hill into the sea and were drowned. No mention is made of any recompense having been made to the owner of the herd (numbering about 2,000), and, as Jesus is said to have been in a chronically impecunious state, we may assume that none was made. Another example of injustice is exemplified in the statement, "Whosoever hath to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath." As further cases, take the advice to offer the other cheek when smitten -- a course which insults human dignity -- or the admonition to hand over a second garment to the robber who has despoiled you of your coat -- a direct premium on stealing. The cursing of the barren fig-tree was a display of folly and childish petulance. Immorality marks the prophecy of Jesus, which has only too literally been fulfilled, that bloodshed should prepare the way of Christian triumph. He said: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth, but a sword." In the fulfillment of this prophecy fifty millions of people were destined to perish.
We may, therefore, accept it as proved that the "revelation" which Christian priests offer for our acceptance is not of divine origin, and that, in the words of Mr. S. Laing, "The subjects which their theologians profess to have such an exact knowledge of are, for the most part, subjects respecting which nothing is or can be known." Christianism is nothing but "Paganism writ different" -- in other words, it is Paganism modernized.
THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST NOT ORIGINAL
We
often hear of the beauty and charm of the teachings of
Jesus, and of the self-evidence of their divine source. But, on
investigation, we find that his doctrines do not bear the stamp of
originality. Nor did he so far value them himself as to put them
consistently into practice -- e.g., having taught his followers
that whosoever should call his brother a fool should be in danger
of hell-fire, he himself called the Pharisees fools, and so
unconsciously pronounced his own sentence!
If he had been a true Messiah, he would surely have utilized the opportunity afforded him when the lawyer came and asked him, before a large crowd, what he should do to inherit eternal life. Yet what happened? Did the Son of God adduce any striking proof of his divinity by enunciating new and wonderful precepts of wisdom and morality? No he repeated, nearly word for word, certain maxims which he had culled from the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus. The commands given in Matt. Vii. 22 and xxiii. 37-46 simply echo the teachings of previous sages. Thus, Confucius, who lived some 550 years before Christ, uttered the words: "Do not to another what you would not want done to yourself; thou hast need of this law alone; it is the foundation of all the rest"; and "Acknowledge thy benefits by return of other benefits, but never avenge injuries." The so-called "Lord's Prayer" is merely a reiteration of similar prayers in the Jewish Talmud. The conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus echoes the teaching of Krishna in the Hindu poem of the Bhagavat-Gita. The doctrine of the water that removes thirst for ever has its parallel in Hindu mythology, and Philo had already taught it as follows: "The Word (Logos) is the fountain of life...... it is of the greatest consequence to every person to strive without remission to approach the divine Word of God above, who is the fountain of all wisdom, that, by drinking largely of that sacred spring, instead of death, he may be rewarded with everlasting life." Many other passages in the Fourth Gospel show dependence on the non-Christian works of Philo.
INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE
This
is, as Mr. Laing remarks, "a theory which breaks down
when tested by the ordinary rules of criticism, and examined
impartially by the light of modern knowledge." As before pointed
out, no inspired writing should be self-contradictory, or contain
false statements; and the Bible suffers from both these marks of
fallibility.
The Bible comprises a Hebrew and a Christian portion, both being, as regards the bulk of their contents, of unknown authorship. Both are accepted by Christians as inspired, it being popularly supposed that the New Testament contains the fulfillment of the types and prophecies of the Old. The most important theme of the Old Testament is that of the Creation and Fall; and the leading topic of the New is the career of the Christian Savior who appeared as the propitiation for the sin which occurred at the beginning of human history.
Now, the Bible not only makes mistakes in matters of science, but it puts forward two contradictory accounts of the Creation. These are given in the first and second chapters of Genesis, and they disagree in nearly every detail. If such errors occur in one historical particular, they may occur elsewhere. The whole theory of inspiration is vitiated and our confidence disappears. The more we read the Bible, the more convinced we feel of its lack of clearness and authority and educative value. Had it been divinely inspired, we may be sure it would have taken the form of unimpeachable history and logical instruction, so that no doubt could or would have arisen in the mind of the most cultured reader, If we are born tainted with original sin, and if that sin is removable, means would have been taken to impart to the world the mode of salvation, and this in such a way that conviction of its truth would follow immediately on hearing or reading. What, on the contrary, has occurred? We hear of miracles having been performed in cases where they were not needed; and we find them absent in circumstances where they might have rendered real aid. Surely, if miracles could have been worked for such trifling purposes as the provision of wine for wedding guests, we might have expected some miraculous intervention to secure the general acceptance of the Bible canon. Where is our certainty? Books once regarded with suspicion now find an honored place in the Bible; and books once included in the sacred collections of the early churches are now cast into outer darkness. We are left, in this happy-go-lucky manner, to ascertain the mode of redemption from a sin which we did not commit, but yet have to incur the penalty for. The divine message, instead of being published in the sight of all men, has been inscribed on old parchments hidden away in all sorts of holes and corners, as if the very authors had been ashamed of their productions. These parchments are, in some instances, old skins from which pagan manuscripts had been partially erased before the "Word of God" was written on them by Christian pens. Is this the way in which a good and just God would treat mankind? It does not seem reasonable. Goodness and justice, forsooth! Look at the attitude which, according to the New Testament itself, God adopts towards the race he has created. Jesus tells his followers that, before some of them taste of death, he will return (of course, he did not) on clouds of glory and in the day of vengeance. Vengeance! A jealous and revengeful God will return to wreak his anger upon the helpless creatures, who are guiltless of the responsibility of the sin of their "first parents," and whose appearance on this planet at all he might have mercifully prevented!
MISTRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE TEXT
The current translations in this country are known as the
Authorized and the Douay versions, the latter having been rendered
into English from the Latin. The authorized version of the time of
James I. was so erroneously executed that a revised translation was
called for a few years ago. Though more correct than its
predecessor, this is still marred by many faulty readings; and some
interpolations, admitted as suspicious by the revisers themselves,
are suffered to remain. An instance of these interpolations will be
found in the last chapter of the Mark-gospel, from verse 9 to the
end.
Then, again, the language has been so manipulated as to induce the reader to believe that the Jews were monotheists or worshippers of one God only, and to render obscure the immortal character of Yahuh (the "Lord"). Elohim (literally the gods) is rendered God, and Yahuh Elohim (literally Yahuh of the Gods) is rendered Lord God. Jephthah, who sacrificed his daughter because she came to greet him, argues with the Amorites that every nation is entitled to what its national God bestows upon it (Judges ii. 24). The sixty-eighth Psalm is positively a song to the Sun-God! It opens with the invocation, "Let God arise" (literally, "Let the Mighty One arise"), and bids all inferior creatures "cast up a highway for him that rideth through the heavens by his name Yah." The frequent references to sun-gods under various names are all disguised by the English version. The title Adonai, the Phoenician name for the sun- god, is, when it occurs single, translated "the Lord;" but, when it is met with in conjunction with Yahuh or Elghiin, "the Lord God." Psalm cx. i ought to read "Yahuh said to Adonai (or "to our Adonis"), Sit at my right hand." The popular deity of Thebes, Amen- Ra, is met with in the Psalms as "Ammon" (the hidden sun). He is one with Adonai; with "the Stygian Jupiter" when he descended to the lowest point of his annual declination in December; with the Olympian Zeus, rising to his highest point of ascension in June; and with the Jupiter Ammon, worshipped as the hidden or occult God, and reappearing in the sign "Aries" (see Is. xlv. 15). The name "Ammon" in Is. lxv. 16 is twice wrongly rendered "the God of Truth," instead of "the God Ammon." This deity is again alluded to in Ps. x. 1, where "Lord" ought to read "Yahuh," and again in Ps. lxxxix, 46, "Yahuh, how long wilt thou hide thyself?" and verse 52, "Blessed be Yahuh for ever more (who is) Ammon, even Ammon." The name Ammon, in its shortened form of "Amen," found its way later into the Greek language, and was used in the sense of truly. In the Apocalypse the word is written with "Ho" prefixed, when it is rendered "The Amen," a senseless expression. In Rev. iii. 4 we ought to read "These things, saith Ammon, the true and faithful witness."
Another name for the Hebrew sun-god is Shaddai, sometimes conjoined with the prefix El, Bel (the Babylonian sun-god), and Baal (the Syrian). Yahuh, or Yahweh, is usually written "Jehovah," which does not convey to the mind any idea of the true Hebrew pronunciation of Yahouyeh. The name was pronounced by the Semites generally (by whom Yahuh was worshipped) as Yahuh, Yahu, or Yho. In the reign of the Assyrian King Sargon II. the throne of Hamath was occupied by Yahou-behdi, which name literally means the "Servant of Yahuh." The Phoenicians venerated this deity also, for in the inscriptions of Assur-bani-pal, another Assyrian King, we read that the name of the then crown-prince of Tyrenus Yahu-melek = "Yahuh is my King." On a coin from Gaza of the fourth century B.C., now in the British Museum, is a figure of a deity in a chariot of fire, over whose head is written Yho in old Phoenician characters. But Yahuh held only a subordinate position in the general mythology of the Semites, and he only owes his notoriety to the fact that he was chosen as the patron deity of the Beni-Israel. The word Ashera or Asherah is admitted in the preface to the Revised Bible to be "uniformly and wrongly rendered grove" in the authorized version. Why this misleading device? In order, probably, to conceal the gross character of the thing signified. The Ashera was an upright stone, and was undoubtedly a Phallic (sexual) emblem.
The "two angels," who are represented as appearing to Lot in the city of Sodom, are, in the original text, gods. Adam's demon- wife, Lilith, has been suppressed in Isaiah xxxiv. 14, and the meaningless expression, "the night monster," substituted.
Jesus, pronounced in Hebrew Yezua, was a very common name. The Jesus of the New Testament was, to a large extent, a mythical personage, being a personification of the sun-god and Savior -- Bacchus, the Phoenician Ies, identical with the Hindu Krishna or Christna, the Persian Mithra, the Egyptian Horus, and other sun- gods. After the captivity the name was interchanged with Joshua or Yahoshua -- the successor of Moses; in the Greek it was Yesous and Jason. In the authorized version it was rendered Jesus (Acts vii. 45, Heb. iv. 8), but in the revised version it is rendered Joshua -- the "same word rendered Jeshua in Nehemiah viii. 17. The idea connected with the word Jesus, and with the letters I H S and I E E S, was Phallic vigor.
The word repent has been in the Douay version wrongly rendered through the Latin do penance.
We shall now examine some of the many renderings of the Hebrew word Ruach, and shall see how they illustrate ecclesiastical ingenuity in building up a system of ghosts, and even a theory of Apostolic succession!
The word rendered Ghost, Holy Ghost, and Spirit in the New Testament is the Greek word Pneuma, which is the equivalent of Ruach in the Hebrew of the Old Testament. Both words mean air in motion or breath. Ruach is rendered in Gen. iii. 8, "in the cool of the evening;" in Gen. viii. 1 as "wind;" and in Gen. i. 2 Ruach Elohini is translated "the spirit of God," but, literally rendered, it should be "the breath of the gods." In the Latin Vulgate, from which the Catholic or Douay translation is made, pneuma is rendered "spiritus," from Spiro = I breathe. When the Bible was translated from the Latin into Anglo-Saxon, "spiritus" was rendered gast. In the Middle English gast became goost and gost, approaching very near to, and probably derived from, the old German geist, which is the present equivalent of pneuma, spiritus, and ruach. If these words mean breath in Genesis, they also mean breath in the New Testament.
"Jesus gave up the Ghost," "the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee," and "receive ye the Holy Ghost," etc., are all mistranslations. In Luke iv. 1 the same word pneuma is rendered differently: "And Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost (pneuma) ... was led by the Spirit (pneuma)," In Luke viii. 55 the same word again is rendered spirit, instead of breath. These are only a few of the inaccuracies to be found. And thus the various translations of the Bible, instead of being executed in a spirit of scholarly candor, have only testified to the theological bias of the translators.
SOME BIBLE LEGENDS
A cursory notice of the stories of "Creation" and "Fall of
Man," "the Deluge," and the "Tower of Babel" (all of Babylonian
origin), with a few remarks on the New Testament, will suffice to
show the kind of literature that educated men are asked by
Christians to accept as "inspired."
THE CREATION STORY: ERRORS OF FACT
"The earth was without form and void." Every object has
form, which is an essential of material existence. Void means empty
or vacant. To speak of the earth as being -- i.e., existing,
occupying space, and yet void -- is a direct contradiction. 2.
First day. -- "Light and darkness" created and "divided" from each
other. Light and darkness could not be created, for every educated
person knows that they are both produced by the relative position
of the earth with regard to the sun; but the sun is not created
till the fourth day; and light and darkness could not be divided,
for they were never mixed. The writer was obviously ignorant of the
nature and property of light, and would have been much surprised
had he been told that it is radiant energy transmitted from the sun
through the ethereal medium of the universe in vibratory waves. 3.
Second day. -- "A firmament in the midst of the waters" created.
The writer evidently is laboring under the delusion that the earth
was flat and occupied a position in the center of the universe. In
the old Vedic cosmology the world was round and supported on
columns; that of the Hindus was convex, and was supported on
elephants which stood on an immense tortoise. 4. Third day. -- The
vegetable kingdom created -- Grass, herbs, fruit trees, yielding
fruit"
-- mosses, trees, insectivorous plants (though insects are
not yet created), and flowing plants without insects to fertilize
them.
All this without a ray of sunshine, and without an atom of
chlorophyll to give color to the plants, leaves, and flowers. 5.
Fourth day. -- "The sun to rule the day, and the stars to rule the
night." Here is evidence that the writer was a planet worshipper.
He was unaware of the fact that it is to the sun that we are
indebted for light and vegetation. 6. Fifth day. -- "Whales,
fishes, and birds" created. The water population first, the winged
population second, and the land population third. Here is an error
again, for science proves that a part of the water population
appeared first, the land population second, and the winged popula-
tion last. 7. Sixth day. -- "Insects, reptiles, cattle, man"
created. Insects and reptiles are proved by science to have been
evolved thousands, possibly millions, of years before man. 8.
Discrepancies in the two stories. -- The first account (the
Elohistic) in Genesis extends from i. i to ii. 3, when the second
account (the Yahvistic) commences, and extends to the end of the
chapter. The word Elohim (plural), meaning the gods or the mighty
ones, is used in the first account; the words Yahuh Elohim,
erroneously rendered Lord God, meaning Yahuh of the Gods, are used
in the second account.
THE TWO ACCOUNTS OF THE STORY OF CREATION
In parallel columns we shall expose the discrepancies of the
two Creation stories: --
GENESIS i. to ii. 3. GENESES ii. 4 to end.
1. The appellation of 1. The appellation of deity
deity is uniformly "Elohim" is uniformly "Yahuh Elohim"
(the gods), rendered God. (Yahuh of the gods), rendered
Lord God.
2. The portion of the 2. It is called "the
universe beyond the earth is heavens."
called "the heaven."
3. The earth, a chaos 3. The earth is a dry
covered with water. The waters plain. Vegetation cannot exist
must be assuaged before because there is no moisture
vegetation can appear. (ii. 5).
4. Plants are created 4. Plants appear to be
from the earth generally confined to the Garden of Eden
(i. 12). (ii. 8, 9).
5. Fowls, fish, and 5. Fowls and land animals
aquatic animals form one created at the same time in one
act of creation, land animals creative act (ii. 19).
and reptiles another
(i. 21-25).
6. Fowls created out of 6. Fowls created out of the
the water (i. 20). ground (ii. 19).
7. Trees created before 7. Trees created after man
man (i. 12-27). (ii. 7, 8).
8. Fowls created before 8. Fowls created after man
man. (ii. 19).
9. Man created after 9. Man created before
beasts (i. 24-31). beasts (ii. 7-19).
10. Man and woman created 10. Woman created after man
at the same time (i. 27). with a considerable interval
between.
11. Man created in the 11. This is not intimated.
image of God." It is only after Adam and Eve
have partaken of the tree of
knowledge that "God" is led to
say: "The man is become as one
of us."
12. Man at the creation 12. He is given fruit
given fruit and herbs to alone, and only after he sins
subsist upon (i. 29). and the curse is pronounced
upon him is he ordered to "eat
the herb of the field," as a
consequence of his "fall"
(iii.18).
13. Man given dominion 13. Man confined to a
over all the earth (i. 26). garden (ii. 15).
14. The heavens and the 14. No mention made of the
earth created in six literal six days' creation. On the
days. contrary, the account mentions
"the day that the Lord God made
the earth and the heavens"
(ii. 4).
15. The purpose of this 15. Contains no recognition
story appears to be to of the Sabbath. The purpose
inculcate the divine appears to be to establish the
institution of the Sabbath. doctrine of the Fall of Man.
16. Anthropomorphic 16. Absent.
conception of God present.
17. Elohim comprises 17. Yahuh is a deity in one
two separate beings -- body, both sexes combined.
male and female.
18. God from his throne 18. God comes down on
in heaven calls various earth, plants a garden, molds
elements into being -- man out of clay, breathes into
"Let the earth bring forth his nostrils, fashions woman
...... and it was so." out of a rib, makes birds and
animals, and brings them to
Adam to see what he will call
them.
19. Though not in accord 19. Is destitute of
with science, possesses scientific and literary merit.
literary merit.
These two accounts can neither be reconciled with each other,
nor be made to harmonize with science. Dean Stanley says "The first
and second chapters of Genesis contain two narratives, differing
from
each other in almost every particular of time, place, and
order."
THE FALL OF MAN
This story is about as foolish and illogical a legend as that
of the Creation. Here we have presented to us a pair of human
beings, who have no "knowledge of good and evil," and are commanded
by the deity (literally, the gods) not to eat a certain fruit which
would give them that knowledge, and which a wise deity would
naturally have allowed them to eat, if, thereby, they would know
good
from evil. They ate the fruit, and the deity, in fright
because man has now "become as one of us" (plural) -- i.e., having
equal power with gods -- comes hurrying down from his throne in
heaven, and curses not only Adam, Eve, and the serpent, but even
the ground. The first three are condemned to certain punishments,
in which their innocent posterity are to participate. These
legendary punishments have, of ,course, never been fulfilled. Man
was to "eat bread by the sweat of his face," which we know all men
do not do. Woman was to "bring forth children in sorrow and
multiplied conceptions;" many perform this function of nature
without sorrow, and some actually with pleasure, and the process in
the
human female is only similar to what may be observed every day
among
the cattle and beasts, who have never been "cursed," and
whose conceptions are conspicuously "multiplied." The Serpent was
doomed
to glide on his belly and consume a diet of "dust." Serpents
have crawled ever since they were evolved as reptiles, and they do
not eat "dust."
Leaving out of view the peevish and undignified action of the Hebrew deity, what shall we say to the patent injustice and incongruity of the punishment? The innocent serpent and all future serpents cursed because the devil pretended to be a serpent; the guilty devil getting off scot free, and permitted to roam about the world to do further mischief; and all mankind condemned to bear the burden of Original Sin as an after-effect of this one trivial act of disobedience, the theft of a fruit! For such a theft in the present day a human and uninspired magistrate would mete out, perhaps, a day's imprisonment; but here we have a deity, represented to us by himself and his followers as all-good, all- wise, benevolent, merciful, and forgiving, condemning the whole human race to a punishment far in excess of any sin that could be remitted by man, and utterly disproportionate with the offence. Then we are told that man was made in "the image and likeness of God" -- who, we are also told, "has no image nor likeness" -- "no form nor parts." The fact is, instead of man being made in the image and likeness of God," the god that man desires to worship has been made in his own image and likeness, and the originators of the story, in their primeval ignorance and credulity, drew the inconsistent materials of the legend from the store of their own anthropomorphic fancy. The deity at first pronounces all his "creations" "good," and afterwards repents of having made man. It might be difficult to conceive a deity of infinite wisdom and knowledge regretting his work, but not so difficult when we consider that he was also given to changing his mind; for do we not find him laying down at one time (Leviticus xxiv. 20) the theory of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" as a principle, and at another Matthew (v. 38) the reverse? Yet, unless Christians accept all this tissue of contradictions, their theory of redemption falls to the ground like a house of cards.
"The discovery and decipherment of the Assyrian records," says Mr. Edwards, (Witness of Assyria, p. 9.) "have raised the curtain upon forgotten dramas of the earth's history, and have removed the Jewish writings from the solitary position they once occupied. We have now before us the voluminous literature of a race allied to the Jews in blood, creed, thought, and language. The stories of Creation, Deluge, and Tower of Babel are shown to be Babylonian; the ritual, dress, and furniture of the Temple were Babylonian; and the religious poetry of the Hebrews is anticipated by that of Babylon. The history and chronology of the Hebrew scriptures are proved faulty and unreliable, and the whole evidence at command supports the opinion of critics as to the very late date of the Jewish literature."
During the explorations of the ancient cities of Assyria and Babylonia a number of clay tablets have been discovered, containing accounts of Creation, Flood, and Tower of Babel. They are written in cuneiform (wedge-shaped) characters, in the form of epic poems. The story of Creation occupies seven tablets, and gives two accounts, which are now called the "Akkadian" and the "Babylonian." Tablets have also been discovered amid the ruins of the ancient city of Tel-el-Amarna, in Egypt, evidently relics of an ancient library containing the official correspondence between the King of Egypt and the officers and sovereigns of Assyria, Babylonia, and other Asiatic countries; one was also discovered among the ruins of Lachish in Southern Palestine. The decipherment of these may be looked upon as one of the wonderful discoveries of our age; for, by this, the origin of the two contradictory accounts of Creation given in Genesis, which before was a puzzle, is now disclosed. The Babylonian account is identical with the Elohistic, relating how the creation of the world took place by successive stages, man being the final act; the Akkadian is identical with the Yavistic, man being created before plants and animals. The first tablet opens with a description of chaos: "At that time the heaven above had not yet announced, or the earth beneath recorded, a name. The unopened deep was their generator; Mummu-Tiamat (the chaos of the sea) was the mother of them all. Their waters were embosomed as one, and the cornfield was unharvested. The pasture was ungrown. At that time the gods had not appeared, any of them ...... no destiny had they fixed. Then the great gods were created."
THE DELUGE
The twelve tablets in which this legend appears
correspond with the twelve signs of the zodiac and the twelve
months
of the Akkadian year, and describe the exploits of the
Chaldean Hercules-Gilgames. The story is told by the Chaldean Noah-
Tamzi, Izduhar, or Hasisadra (Xisuthros of Berosus, and in Semitic
--
Shamas napisti -- the "Sun of Life") -- to Gilgames, in the
eleventh tablet. This flood lasted six days and nights. The story
tells how, at the end of the Flood, Tamzi looked out of his ship
and saw that "mankind was turned to clay; like reeds the corpses
floated." Relating how he was commissioned by the gods to save
himself and family, he says: "I alone was the servant of the great
gods. Their father, Anu, their king; their counsellor, the warrior
Bel; their throne-bearer, the god Uras; their prince, En-nugi; and
Hea, the Lord of the Underworld, repeated their decree. I this
destiny hearing, Hea said to me: Destroy thy house and build a
ship,
for I will destroy the seed of life." Instructions are then
given as to the size of the ship, which eventually landed on Mount
Nizor (Mount Rowandiz) -- the Akkadian Olympus. In the Hindu legend
of the flood a rainbow appeared on the surface of the subsiding
water, the ark or ship resting on the Himalayas. In the ancient
Greek legend Deucalion is the hero, and the ship rested on Mount
Parnassus. The Chinese, Parsees, Scandinavians, Mexicans, and other
ancient nations, also had similar legends. The Biblical legend, and
the
older legend from which it took its rise (probably during the
captivity), may have been founded on a real occurrence in the
Tigris-Euphrates valley. A flood of considerable extent may have
been originated by the usual periodical rise of the two great
rivers, which took place in the eleventh month of the Chaldean
year;
and was caused probably by a combination of accidental
circumstances favorable to the event -- a typhoon in the Indian
ocean
and a favorable wind. Noah's ark was 150 yards long by 25
feet wide, and 15 feet high. In this ark were crammed pairs,
sevens, or fourteens of every living thing. There are already known
at least 1,600 species of mammalia, 12,500 of birds, 600 of
reptiles, and 1,000,000 of insects and other inferior creatures,
besides animalcule. These came from all parts of the earth. The
South American sloth, it is calculated, must have started several
years before the Creation to have been there in time. The voyage
lasted over a year (compare Genesis vii. 11 and vii. 14,) Eight
persons attended to the wants of some two million living creatures,
and Noah provided food for all of them! The flood is said to have
covered the whole earth, so that it must have risen higher than 5
1/2, miles -- the height of the highest mountain, Mount Everest --
about 2 1/2 miles above the level of the top of Mount Ararat, on
which
the ark is said to have filially rested! The injustice of
drowning all created beings because the Creator had made one
species imperfect is obvious.
THE TOWER OF BABEL is said to have been named so "because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth," and we have always been given to understand that the name "Babel" is derived from balal, to confound; but this is altogether erroneous. The "inspired" writer must have been romancing! We now know, from the tablets that have been found among the ruins of Babylon, the exact form of the name by which its inhabitants called it Bab-ilu = the gate of God, (Witness of Assyria," P- 37.) sometimes written with two signs -- a gate and god; and there can, therefore, be no mistake about it. The Hebrew bears the same interpretation without any forced etymology -- Babel = the gate of God. The place was not founded by Semitic Babylonians, but by the Akkadians, and it was neither a city nor a town, but a temple, consisting of seven platforms, each being tinted a different color, and dedicated to the seven planets, the topmost one being dedicated to the moon. It was called by the Semitic invaders Ca-dimorra, the gate of God thus being translated by them into their own tongue. The story of the confusion of languages was a theory born in the imagination of the writer of the "inspired text." So much for the veracity and "inspiration" of Genesis xiv. 9.
We have neither time nor space to do more than mention some of the other chief absurd stories and legends found in the Bible, in many of which immoral teaching is very conspicuous. The stories of:
DANIEL AND THE LION'S PIT (Daniel vi.) and the injustice to the Royal officers, their wives and families, allowed by the Hebrew god. The same power that saved the God-fearing and divinely- protected Daniel could have prevented the in justice of punishing the innocent wives and children of the officers who were simply carrying out their orders, for a fault they did not commit. THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT (Exodus vii.), the writer of which was evidently familiar with a similar legend of the Sun-god Bacchus; for Orpheus, the earliest Greek poet, relates that Bacchus had a rod with which he drew water from a rock, and performed miracles, and which he could change into a serpent at pleasure; and that he passed through the Red Sea dry shod at the head of his army. That Pharaoh and his host should have been drowned in the Red Sea, and the fact not be mentioned by any historian of the period, is incredible; but such is the case. RECEIPT OF THE DECALOGUE by Moses (Exodus xix.). Almost every nation of antiquity had a legend of their holy men ascending a mountain to ask counsel of their gods. Minos, the Cretan law-giver, ascended Mount Dicta and received from Zeus the sacred laws. A similar legend is told of Zoroaster, to whom Ormuzd handed "The Book of the Law" -- the "Zend Avesta." SAMSON'S SIX EXPLOITS (Judas xiv. and xv.) are culled from the exploits of Hercules and lzdubar. JONAH AND THE FISH (Jonah i. and ii.), where he is thrown from a ship and swallowed up by a whale, in whose stomach he remained alive three days and nights, during which time he offered up a prayer to Yahuh, apparently composed of odd bits taken from the Psalms. When Yahuh spoke to the whale, it vomited Jonah on to dry land, alive and well! The truth of this story is guaranteed by Jesus, in Matthew xii. 40. ELIJAH ASCENDING IN A WHIRLWIND. THE RE-ANIMATION OF DRY BONES to form a large army (Ezekiel xxxvii.).The TALKING ASS (Numbers xxii,); the TALKING SERPENT (Genesis iii.); and the TALKING CLOUD (Exodus xxxiii.). The ARMY OF DEAD MEN, wakening up and finding themselves dead corpses (2 Kings xix.). THE GOING BACK OF THE SUN to guarantee the efficacy of a fig poultice (2 Kings xx.), and the STANDING STILL. OF THE SUN one whole day, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies (Joshua x.). THE GIANTS generated by the sons of God with the women of the earth -- becoming "mighty men and men of renown" (Genesis vii.). THE FLOATING IRON AXE-HEAD (2 Kings vi.). THE RIVAL GODS in the house of Dapon; the Jewish god being in a box (i Samuel v.). The RAISING OF THE SPIRITS OF THE DEAD by means of the witch of Endor (i Samuel xxviii.). (Where are the witches of the present day?) The DESTRUCTION OF 600 PHILISTINES with an ox-goad, by one man (judges iii.). MOSES turning the water of the river into blood with his magic rod (Exodus vii.), and DESCRIBING HIS OWN DEATH (Deuteronorny xxiv.). AARON'S PLAGUE OF FROGS, produced by stretching his hands over the waters of Egypt (Exodus viii.).
These are specimens of absurd legends, which, with the abominable immoralities of the Pentateuch, form part of the Holy Scriptures, the same "inspired word" which Jesus "expounded" to his followers, and which he told them were able to make them wise unto salvation (Luke xxiv. 25); and "given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy iii. 15), "as profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness;" and for the non-acceptance of which he reproves them (Luke xvi. 31; John vi. 39, 46); and containing "the Law," which he said he had "not come to destroy" -- "the Law," with the Jews, being the Pentateuch."
The New Testament upholds the innumerable atrocities of the Old, and adds worse terrors and atrocities of its own in the shape of eternal torments (Matthew V. 28; xviii. 8; xxiii. 32 3. xxv. 41; Mark ix. 43); a minute description being given of Hell by Christ to the multitude (Luke xvi. 23), and by "John the Divine;" and the rejoicing of the saints over the sufferings of the tormented (Revelation xiv. 9, 11; xix. 1-4, 20; xx. 1-3, 10). The way to life made by a beneficent Creator, we are told (Matthew vii. 14), is "narrow," and to be found by "few,;" that "many" of his own creations, which he pronounced to be "very good," are called by this loving Creator "but few chosen " (Matthew xxii. 13; Luke xiii. 23). This Hell, as described in Revelation xxi. 8, xxii. 15" 1 Corinthians vi. 9, is for those "that know not God" (2 Thessalonians 1. 7), for those who describe a fool correctly (Matthew v. 22), for unbelief, and for the rich.
A FEW CONTRADICTIONS TAKEN FROM THE "INSPIRED WORD"
A fragment of a Gospel of Peter, which, according to early Christian writers, was in common use in the second century, and received as inspired with the rest of the New Testament writings, has recently been found in an Egyptian tomb at Akhmim. This gospel directly contradicts most important details in the accounts given of the alleged appearances of Jesus after his death in the so- called canonical gospels, the Acts, and the Pauline epistles. Thus, at one fell swoop, disappear Peter's following of triple denial the presence of John and others at the foot of the cross the appearances to Mary Magdalene and other women; the walk to Emmaus; the apparition to the eleven of a material body through closed doors; the second apparition to remove Thomas's doubts; the appearances at Jerusalem during forty days by many living proofs; those mentioned in the epistles to the Corinthians." ["Gospel of Peter" by S. Laing.] The gospel was at a later period dropped, probably for the reason, says Mr. Laing, that it "fevered the heresy of the Docetae, who held that the body of the Christ was a specter or illusion for the gospel says, relating to the Crucifixion "They brought two malefactors, and crucified him between them; but he kept silence, as feeling no pain," and this silence is maintained until he died, crying out, "My power, my power, thou hast left me," which sounds, says Mr. Laing, "more like the cry of a baffled magician than of either a natural man or a Son of God... This contradicts no less than eight utterances from the cross recorded in the canonical gospels: (1) 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'; (2) 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do' (3) 'Verily, this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise;' (4) 'Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit;' (5) 'Woman, behold thy son';' (6) 'Behold thy mother;' (7) 'I thirst;' (8) 'It is finished.'" Still more startling is the account given of the Resurrection and Ascension, which differs in essential points from the already contradictory accounts given in the canonical gospels.
We will now proceed to inquire if there is any evidence in the writings of the historians contemporary with the time of Jesus.
JESUS AND CONTEMPORARY HISTORY
IF all the wonderful things said about Jesus were true, we
should naturally expect to hear something about him in the writings
of the period. But not one of the writers of the first century --
"the Augustan Age of Letters" -- even mentions him, his apostles,
or his miracles. There were writers in History, Natural History,
Medicine, Materia Medica, Astronomy, Miracles, Fables, Satire, etc.
What do Josephus and Tacitus say? Nothing. Such extraordinary
events
as feeding thousands of people with a few small loaves and
fishes; raising the dead to life again; their ghosts walking about
the streets; miraculous darkness covering all the land for several
hours; earthquakes; mysterious voices from the clouds; rising
through the air into the clouds, etc., must have formed topics of
general conversation, and must have found a place in the literature
of the day. Cures being wrought must have interested the writers on
medicine; but not a word on the subject. It is incredible that no
one except the four interested partisans, who are supposed to have
written the gospels, should ever have referred to them. Josephus
was a Jew, and lived in the country where all these things are said
to have occurred, and wrote a history of the period; yet he makes
no mention of even the existence of Jesus. But in the manuscript of
his "Antiquities" (book xviii., 3) an unknown hand has inserted
between the account of the Sedition of the Jews against Pontius
Pilate, and that of Anubis and Pauline in the Temple of Isis, a
purple patch relating to Jesus, which is clearly a forgery.
Josephus, a Jew, is made to say: "Now, there was about this time
Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a
doer of wonderful works; a teacher of such men as receive the truth
with pleasure." Now, it is not likely that a Jew would show such a
respect towards Jesus, who was known among his own people as a
seditious person; and talk about his teaching "the truth." Further
on he is made to say: "He was the Christ, and when Pilate ... had
condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did
not forsake him , for he appeared to them alive again the third
day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand
other wonderful things concerning him." These are expressions, not
of a
Jew, but of a Christian; and surely the writer could not have
remained a Jew another hour. Forgeries were easy in those days,
when all books were written on skins, to which fresh pieces could
easily
be fastened. Neither Philo, nor the two Plinys, nor any
other writer of the age, mention the name of Jesus, much less the
"ten thousand other wonderful things" mentioned by the interpolator
of Josephus. Tacitus wrote a History, and made no mention of Jesus.
But a forged "Introduction," entitled "The Annals of Tacitus," was
found in a Benedictine monastery at Hirsehfelde, in Saxony, in 514.
These "Annals" were not found in any other copy of the History of
Tacitus, and not one writer from the time of Tacitus to the above
date had mentioned the existence of the work. Beatus Rhenanus first
called them "Annals" in 1533. It appears that in the time of
Wicliffe, when the existence of Christendom was seriously menaced
and the Inquisition was instituted, people were inquiring into the
origin
of Christianity. Large sums of money were offered for the
discovery of ancient manuscripts, which would bear testimony to the
divine authority of the Church, in consequence of which the supply
was
equal to the demand, as it generally is, and plenty of
manuscripts were forthcoming from needy monks. Among these were the
"Annals" of Tacitus, composed by a late Papal secretary, Poggio
Bracciolini, at the price of 500 gold sequins, and re-written by a
monk at Hirschfelde, in imitation of a very old copy of the
"History" of Tacitus. In this Tacitus is represented as saying that
"one Christus was put to death under Pontius Pilate, and had left
behind him a sect called after him." The forged writings were sent
to his friend and employer, Niccoli, with a letter in which the
following occurs: "Everything is now complete with respect to the
little work, concerning which I will, on some future opportunity,
write to you; and, at the same time, send it to you to read in
order to get your opinion on it." After its discovery it was
deposited in the Library at Florence. Mr. W. Oxley says: "The
nefarious and mendacious writings of anonymous monkish authors have
been noticed and exposed even by Catholic historians, The late
Cardinal Newman, in his 'Grammar of Assent' (P. 289), says,
referring to the opinion of Father Hardouin: 'Most of our Latin
classics are forgeries of the monks of the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries.' Such a statement, coming from one of the
heads of the Church, is more than significant ... In Hardouin's
'Prolegomena' (1766) he says: 'The ecclesiastical history of the
first twelve centuries is absolutely fabulous. The series of Popes
is no more authentic than the series of Jewish high priests. The
agreement of the monastic chronicles for the year 1215 shows that
they
were all the product of one monastic 'Scriptoria.' Not one was
written by a contemporary of the events described. Gregory 'the
great,' elected 1227, is the first of whom we have any historic
notice; which leaves a forged and fraudulent list of some 180 Popes
who
never
had an existence other than in the worse than imagination
of the compilers ... There are no tombs or sepulchers of any of the
Popes prior to this date, nor yet coins, but what are acknowledged
to be spurious." Hardouin (who was "a learned scholar and a writer
of high position in the Jesuit College in Paris" 1645-1728) exposes
the worthlessness and lying legends of the so-called "Patristic
Fathers." He dates the first design of the forgers in France from
1180-1229, which was continued 1245-1314; and the construction of
this class of literature went on to an immense extent during the
next 150 years.
EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF JESUS
On examining the New Testament carefully, we find numerous
discrepancies and contradictions concerning the details of the life
of
Jesus. His birth is said, in the "Matthew gospel," to have
occurred during the reign of Herod, who was made Governor of Judoea
(a province of Syria), B.C. 40, under the imperial Anthony, and
died at Jericho (B.C. 4) after a period of absence on account of
illness from Jerusalem. In Luke the birth is said to have taken
place when Quirinus (Cyrenius) was Governor of Judoea (5 C.E.), and
when Augustus was Emperor, nine years at least after the death of
Herod.
He is said to have been born of a virgin. Doane says: "The
worship of 'the Virgin,' 'the Queen of Heaven,' 'the Great
Goddess,' 'the Mother of God,' etc., which has become one of the
grand features of the Christian religion (the Council of Ephesus
1431 C.E.] having declared Mary 'Mother of God,' her 'Assumption'
being declared in 813, and her 'Immaculate Conception' in 1851),
was almost universal for ages before the birth of Jesus." ["Bible
Myths"
p. 326.] And Dr. Inman says: "The pure virginity of the
celestial mother was a tenet of faith for 2,000 years before the
virgin now adored was born." ["Ancient Faiths" vol. 1, p. 159.] The
following were all worshipped as virgin goddesses: -- Maya, the
mother
of Buddha; Devaki, the mother of Krishna ( = the black);
Isis, of Egypt and Italy, mother of Horus; Neith, the mother of
Osiris; Mylitta, of Babylon, and later of Greece, mother of Tammuz;
Nutria, of Etrusca and Italy; Myrrha, mother of Bacchus.; Cybele
(to whom Lady Day was formerly dedicated); Juno (represented, like
Isis and Mary, standing on the crescent moon); Diana (represented,
like
Isis and Mary, with stars surrounding her head). "Upon the
altars
of the Chinese temples were placed, behind a screen, an
image of Shin-moo, or the 'Holy Mother,' sitting with a child in
her
arms, in an alcove, with rays of glory around her head, and
tapers constantly burning before her." [Gross, "Heathen Religions,"
p. 60.] The most ancient pictures and statues in Italy and other
parts of Europe, says Doane (p. 335), are black. The "Bambino" at
Rome,
and the Virgin and Child at Loretto are black, as are other
similar images in Rome.
The death of Jesus is said, in three of the gospels, to have taken place after the Passover feast; in one, before that feast, The "Mark" gospel states that he was crucified at the third hour; the "John" gospel, that he was under examination at the sixth hour; the "Matthew" and "Mark" gospels, that it was dark from the sixth to the ninth hour. In the number of women who came to the tomb after the Resurrection, the "John" gospel gives one; "Mark," three, and "Luke," a large number. The number of angels at the tomb is given in the "Mark" gospel as "a young man clothed in white;" in the "Luke," as three men in shining garments while in the "John" an entirely different account appears. From the above it will be seen that Herod, who spent the last two years of his life as an invalid at the hot springs of Calirrhoe, dying on his way home to Jerusalem, could not have had the alleged interview with the Magicians on their arrival in Judaea; nor could he have slaughtered the innocents. The Magicians, it must be remembered, after seeing the new star, had to travel 1,500 miles across a desert from Persia to Bethlehem, a journey which could not be accomplished under two years by their method of travelling.
THE CRUCIFIXION
The
idea of redemption from sin by the sufferings and death of
a divine "incarnate Savior" was common among the ancients, and was
the crowning point of the idea entertained by primitive man, that
the gods demanded a sacrifice to atone for sin or avert calamity.
Among
the Hindus the same idea was prevalent. The Rig Veda
represents the gods as sacrificing Purusha, the first male, and
supposed to be coeval with the Creator. Krishna came upon earth to
redeem man by his sufferings. He is represented hanging on a cross,
the tradition being that he was nailed thereto by an arrow.
[Guigniaut, "Religion de l'Antiquite."] Dr. Inman says: Krishna,
whose history so closely resembles our Lord's, was also like him in
his
being crucified." ["Ancient Faiths," vol. 1, p. 411.] Hanging
on a
tree was a common form of punishment. It was frequently called
"the accursed tree." "He that is hanged on a tree is accursed of
God" (Deut. xxi. 22 and Gal. iii. 13). If an artificial gibbet were
made, it was cruciform, but yet was called "a tree." [Higgins,
"Anacalypsis" vol. 1.] Crucifixes displaying the god Indra are to
be seen at the corners of the roads in Tibet. In Some parts of
India
the worship of the crucified god Bulli, an incarnation of
Vishnu, occurs. The "incarnate god" Buddha and "suffering Savior
expired at the foot of the tree." The expression is frequently used
in the Roman Missal. Osiris and Horus were also crucified as
saviours and redeemers. The sufferings, death, and resurrection of
Osiris formed the great mystery of the Egyptian religion. Attys was
"the
only begotten son and savior" of the Phrygians, represented as
a man nailed or tied to a tree, at the foot of which was a lamb.
Tammuz
or Adonis, the Syrian and Jewish Adonai, was another virgin
born
god, who "suffered for mankind" as a "crucified savior."
Prometheus, of Greece, was with chains nailed to the rocks on Mount
Caucasus, "with arms extended," [Murray, "Manual of Mythology" p.
82] as a savior; and the tragedy of the crucifixion was acted in
Athens 500 years before the Christian era. [Doane, "Bible Myths,"
p. 192] Bacchus, the offspring of Jupiter and Semele, "the only
begotten son," the "sin-bearer," "redeemer," etc., Hercules, son of
Zeus; Apollo; Serapis; Mithras, of ancient Persia -- "The Logos;"
Zoroaster; and Hermes, were all "saviours" centuries before Jesus
was made one.
THE DARKNESS OF THE CRUCIFIXION
WE are told by the "Luke" gospel that "there was darkness from
the
sixth to the ninth hour;" by "Matthew," that "the earth quaked,
the
rocks we're rent, and the graves were opened, and many bodies
of the saints, which slept, arose and came out of their graves and
went
into the holy city and appeared to many." But if such
extraordinary events had really happened, surely some persons would
have
been curious enough to have obtained from the resurrected
saints some account of their experiences in the other world. But
history records nothing, not even their names. Is it possible that
such unusual events could have occurred and no notice be taken of
them by the historians of the time? The star of Jesus, having shone
at the time of his birth, made it necessary, for his success as an
"Avatar" (Messiah) and "Savior," that something miraculous should
happen
at his death, as had happened at the death of the others
whose stars had also shone; the myth would not have been complete
without it. Darkness, rending the veil of the temple, earthquakes,
etc., were prodigies that attended the death of nearly all ancient
heroes. An eclipse was out of the question to account for the
darkness, because the Passover moon was at the full, and an eclipse
would only last about six minutes. At the death of the Hindu
savior, Krishna, "a black circle surrounded the moon, and the sun
was darkened at noon-day; the sky rained fire and ashes; flames
burned dusky and livid; demons committed depredations on earth. At
sunrise and sunset thousands of figures were seen skirmishing in
the air; and spirits were to be seen on all sides." [Amberley's
"Analysis of Religious Belief."] At the conflict between Buddha,
the "Savior of the world," and the Prince of Evil, a thousand
appalling meteors fell; darkness prevailed; the earth quaked; the
ocean rose; rivers flowed back; peaks of lofty mountains rolled
down; a fierce storm howled around; and a host of headless spirits
filled the air. When Prometheus was crucified by chains on Mount
Caucasus, the whole frame of nature became convulsed -- the earth
quaked; thunder roared; lightning flashed; winds blew; and the sea
rose.
The ancient Greeks and Romans thought that the births and
deaths
of great men were announced by celestial signs. On the death
of Romulus, founder of Rome, the sun was darkened for six hours.
When Julius Caesar was murdered, there was darkness for six hours.
When AEsculapius, "the savior," was put to death, the sun shone
dimly from the heavens, the birds were silent, the trees bowed
their heads in sorrow, etc. When Hercules died, darkness was on the
face of the earth, thunder crashed through the earth. Zeus, "the
god of gods," carried his son home, and the halls of Olympus were
opened
to welcome him, where he now sits, clothed in a white robe,
with a crown upon his head. When Alexander the Great died, similar
events occurred. When Atreus, of Mycenae, murdered his nephews, the
sun, unable to endure a sight so horrible, turned his course
backwards and withdrew his light. When the Mexican crucified
savior, Quetzalcoatle, died, the sun was darkened.
Belief in the influence of the stars over life and death, and in special portents at the death of great men, survived even to recent times. Shakespeare says ("Hamlet," scene 1., act 1.): --
"When beggars die there are no comets seen
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes."
THE DESCENT INTO HELL
The apocryphal "gospel of Nicodemus" gives an account of the
descent of Jesus into hell, of his rising again on the third day,
and ascending, in company with numerous saints and Adam, into
heaven; and of the attempt of Satan and the Prince of Hell to close
the
gates of hell against him; when, in voice of thunder,
accompanied by the rushing of winds, was heard: "Lift up ye gates
(of hell), O ye Princes, and be ye lifted up, O ye everlasting
gates, and the King of Glory shall come in." The story is
interesting as showing the ideas on the subject that were held in
the
early days of Christianism.
"The reason why 'the Christ' Jesus has been made to descend into hell," says Doane, "is because it is part of the universal mythos, even the three days' duration. The saviours of mankind had all done so; he must, therefore, do likewise." ["Bible Myths," p. 213.] The following gods "descended into hell, and remained there for the space of three days and three nights, as the sun did at the winter solstice, rising again on the third day, as did the sun when, at midnight, on December 24th and 25th, he commenced his annual ascension: -- Krishna, the Hindu savior; ["Asiatic Researches," vol. 1 p. 237: Bonwick, "Egyptian Belief," p. 168.] Zoroaster, the Persian savior; ["Monumental Christianity," p. 286.] Osiris ["Dupuis, "Orgin of Religious Belief," p. 256; Bonwick, p. 125.] and Horus, [Doane, "Bible Myths," p. 213.] of Egypt; Adonis; [Bell, "Pantheon," vol. 1, p. 12.] Bacchus; [Higgins, "Anacalypsis," vol. 1. p. 322: Dupuis, p. 257.] Hercules; [Taylor, "Mysteries," p. 40.] Mercury ["Pantheon," vol. 2, p. 72.] Baldur and Quetzalcoatle, [Bonwick, p. 169; Mallet, p. 448.] etc.
The story of Jesus descending into hell had its origin in the old pagan story of a war in heaven. This story, besides being given in the Apocalypse or Revelation, is to be found in the Persian Zend Avesta, and was known to the Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, ancient Mexicans, the natives of the Caroline Islands, the Hindus, etc. It was told of the Infant Krishna, "whose life was threatened by the tyrant Kansa, who had heard a prediction that Krishna (or Christna) would one day slay him. The child escaped and grew up among rustic cow-herds. Among the miracles he performed was the raising of a widow's son from the dead. He slew Kansa, and descended into hell to restore certain children to their sorrowing mothers." This is strangely like the story we read of Jesus. In Egypt, Typhon was the "god of evil;" and Anubis, the "jackal-headed genius of death," conducted souls to the land of shades. Osiris was "god of the underworld and judge of the dead."
The "descent into hell" was not added to the Apostles' Creed until after the sixth century. The Creed before that stood as follows: -- "I believe in God the Father Almighty; and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, our Lord; who was born of the Holy Ghost and Virgin Mary; and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and was buried; and the third day rose again from the dead; ascended into heaven; sitteth on the right hand of the Father; whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead; and in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Church; the remission of sins; and the resurrection of the flesh. -- Amen." It is not to be under stood that this Creed was framed by the apostles, or that it existed as a creed in their time. It was an invention of a much later period.
THE RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION
The narrators, of the gospels differ considerably in their
accounts of the Resurrection, which can only be explained by the
fact
that it was necessary for the later ones to correct, and
endeavor to reconcile with common sense, the mistakes, and
absurdities of the earlier ones. The "Matthew" and "John" gospels
do not even mention the Ascension. The "Mark" gospel says that
"Jesus was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of
God;"
but the twelve verses in which the account appears are
admitted in the revised edition to be spurious. The "Luke" gospel,
is the only one that can be said to give the story, the writer
says:
"He was carried up into heaven." The writer of the Acts says:
"He was taken up, and a cloud received him out of sight." No
evidence whatever is forthcoming to support the assertion. Krishna
"rose from the dead, and ascended bodily into heaven all men saw
him." Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, "ascended into heaven." The
coverings of the body of Buddha, son of the Virgin (Queen) Maya,
"unrolled themselves, and the lid of his coffin was opened by
superhuman agency, when he ascended bodily into heaven." Lao-Kiun,
or Lao-Tse -- the virgin born -- "ascended bodily into heaven,"
since which he has been worshipped as a god, and splendid temples
erected to his memory. Zoroaster, the Persian savior, "ascended to
heaven." AEsculapius, "the son of god" -- the "savior," "rose from
the dead," after being put to death, which event (and this shows
how easy it is to fulfil prophecies when they are useful to further
a cause) was prophesied in Ovid's "Metamorphoses": --
"Then shalt thou die, but from the darkness above
Shalt rise victorious, and be twice a god."
The Phrygian savior, Attys or Atyces, and the Persian savior and "mediator between god and man," Mithra, were "put to death and rose again." Tammuz, the Babylonian savior, son of the virgin Mylitta; Bacchus, son of the virgin Semele; Hercules, son of Zeus; Memnon, whose mother Eos wept tears at his death, like Mary is said to have done for Jesus; Baldur, the Scandinavian lord and savior; and the Greek Amphiarius, "all rose again after death."
So that we see that Mary and Jesus were nothing more than representatives of Isis and Horus of Egypt, Devaki and Krishna of Judaea, Ormuz and Mithra of Persia, and many other virgins and virgin-born gods, who were the pagan prototypes of the modern black virgin and child of Loretto, the "Bambino" or black child at Rome, and the virgin and child of the Roman Missal and the English prayer-book.
MIRACLES are imaginary deviations from the known laws of nature by the supposed will and power of a deity, which laws have been proved by experience to be firm and unalterable; no deviation from them having ever yet been known. Belief in miracles is generally the result either of ignorance, or of the confusion of belief with knowledge; and their acceptance, without proper verification, is responsible for the countless errors, delusions, and superstitions which have gained possession of the human mind.
There was a disposition among the people who lived contemporary with Jesus to believe in anything. It was a credulous age. All leaders of religion had recommended themselves to the public by working miracles and curing diseases. The expected messiah, in order to stand any chance of success, must therefore work miracles and heal from sickness. The Essenes, as we have seen, pretended to effect miracles and extraordinary cures, and Jesus was an Essene. The biographers of Jesus, therefore, not wishing their master to be outdone, made him also a performer of miracles, of which prodigies and wonders the legendary history of Jesus contained in the New Testament is full. Without them Christianism could not have prospered. "The Hindu sacred books represent Krishna, their savior and redeemer, as in constant strife against the evil spirit, surmounting extraordinary dangers, strewing his way with miracles, raising the dead, healing the sick, restoring the maimed, the deaf, and the blind; everywhere supporting the weak against the strong, the oppressed against the powerful. The people crowded his way and adored him as a god, and these pretended miracles were the evidences of his divinity for centuries before the time of Jesus. [Doane -- "Bible Myths."] Buddha performed what appeared to be "great miracles for the good of mankind, and the legends concerning him are full of the most extravagant prodigies and wonders." "It was by belief in these," says Burnouf, "that the religion of Buddha was established." Innumerable are the miracles ascribed to Buddhist saints. Their garments and staffs were supposed to imbibe some mysterious power, and blessed were they who were allowed to touch them. A Buddhist saint, who attained the power called "perfection," was able to rise and float along through the air, his body becoming imponderous. Buddhist annals give accounts of miraculous suspensions in the air. We are also told that in B.C. 217 nineteen Buddhist missionary priests entered China to propagate their faith, and were imprisoned by the emperor; but that an angel came and opened the prison door and liberated them. The Hindu sage, Vasudeva (i.e., Krishna), was liberated from prison in like manner. We may, therefore, easily see where the legends of Peter and his release from prison (Acts v.), and the Ascension, came from.
Zoroaster, the founder of the religion of the Persians, opposed his persecutors by performing miracles in order to confirm his divine mission. Bochia, of the Persians, also performed miracles, the places where they occurred being consecrated, and people flocked in crowds to visit them. Horus and Serapis, Egyptian saviours, performed great miracles, among which was that of raising the dead to life. Osiris and Isis also performed miracles, and pilgrimages were made to the temples of Isis by the sick. Marduk, the Assyrian god ("the Logos") -- "he who made heaven and earth" -- "the merciful one," "the life giver," etc., performed great miracles and raised the dead to life. Bacchus, son of Zeus by the virgin goddess Seniele, was a great performer of miracles, among which may be mentioned his changing water into wine, as is recorded of Jesus. AEsculapius, son of Apollo, the Creek god, was also a great performer of miracles, and cured, the sick and raised the dead. Apollonius, of Tyana, in Cappadocia, born about four years before Jesus, among other miracles restored a dead maiden to life. Simon Magus, the Samaritan, by his proficiency in performing miracles was called "the Magician" and "Magus." He travelled about and made many converts, professed to be "the Wisdom of God," "the Word of God," "the Paraclete" or "Comforter," "the image of the eternal father manifested in the flesh," and his followers claimed that he was "the first born of the Supreme." All these were titles in after years applied to Jesus. They also had a gospel called "The Four Corners of the World," from which Irenaeus probably borrowed his reason for the choice and number of the four gospels. Menander, "the wonder-worker" of Samaria, was another great performer of miracles. Eusebius says of him: "He revelled in still more arrogant pretensions to miracles ... than his master (Simon Magus) ... saying that he was in truth the Savior." ["Ecclesiastical History," lib. iii, 26.] Justin is quoted by Eusebius as having said of Menander: "He deceived many by his magic arts ... and there are now some of his followers who can testify the same." Vespasian, a contemporary of Jesus, performed wonderful miracles. Tacitus says that "he cured a blind man in Alexandria by means of his spittle, and a lame man by the mere touch of his foot."
Miracles were not uncommon among the Jews before and during the time of Jesus. Casting out devils was an everyday occurrence, and miracles were frequently wrought to confirm the sayings of the Rabbis. One is said to have Cried out, when his opinions were disputed: "May this tree prove that I am right!" and the tree is said to have been torn up by the roots and hurled to a distance. And when his opponents declared that a tree could prove nothing, he said, "May this stream then witness for me," and at once it flowed the opposite way. [Geikie, "Life of Christ."] "No one custom of antiquity is so frequently mentioned by ancient historians as the practice which was so common of making votive offerings to their deities, and hanging them up in their temples -- images of metal, stone, and clay; arms, legs, and other parts of the body, in testimony of some divine cure effected," says Middleton. ["Letters from Rome."] It was a popular adage among the Greeks -- "Miracles for fools." The shrewder Romans said: "The common people like to be deceived; deceived let them be." Celsus, in common with most Greeks, looked upon Christianity as a "blind faith" that "shunned the light of reason." In speaking of Christians, he says: "They are forever repeating: 'Do not examine; only believe, and thy faith will make thee blessed; wisdom is a bad thing in life, foolishness is to be preferred."' [Origen, "Cont. Celsus," bk. 1, ch. 9.]
Jesus was accused of being a "necromancer, and a magician, and a deceiver of the people," says Justin Martyr. He was said to have been initiated in magical art in the heathen temples of Egypt. Both Jesus, and Horus the Egyptian savior, are represented on monuments with wands, in the received guise of necromancers, while raising the dead to life. Dr. Middleton tells us that "there was just reason to suspect that there was some fraud " in the actions of these Yesuans, or primitive Christians, who travelled about from city to city to convert the Pagans; and that "the strolling wonder- workers, by a dexterity of jugglery, which art, not heaven, had taught them, imposed on the credulity of the pious Fathers, whose strong prejudices and ardent zeal for the interests of Christianity would dispose them to embrace, without examination, whatever seemed to promote so good a cause ... the pretended miracles of the primitive Church were all mere fictions, which the pious and zealous Fathers, partly from a weak credulity and partly from reasons of policy, were induced to espouse and propagate for the support of a righteous cause." The primitive Christians were perpetually reproached for their credulity; and Julian says that "the sum of all their wisdom was comprised in the single precept -- 'believe.'" According to the very books which record the miracles of Jesus, he never claimed to perform such deeds, and Paul declares that the great reason why Israel did not believe Jesus to be the Messiah was that "the Jews required a sign." "John," in the second century, makes Jesus reproach his fellow-countrymen with "Unless you see signs and wonders you do not believe." It is evident, therefore, that, had he performed the miracles that his followers said he did, the Jews would have accepted him as their Messiah; and that, since he was not accepted by them, we may justly conclude that he performed no miracles. His miracles were evidently concocted and recorded for him. When told that, if he wanted people to believe in him, he must first prove his claim by a miracle, he said: "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, and no sign shall be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." This answer not satisfying the questioners, they came to him again, and asked: "If the kingdom of God is, as you say, close at hand, show us at least some one of the signs in the heavens which are to precede the coming of the Messiah?" It was generally understood then that the end of the present age was at hand, and was to be heralded by signs from heaven. The light of the sun was to be put out, the moon turned to blood, the stars robbed of their brightness, etc. Historians of that period, curiously enough, have recorded miracles and wonders alleged to have been performed by other persons, but not a word is said by them about the miracles claimed by Christians to have been performed by Jesus. Justus of Tiberias, who was born about five years after the time assigned for the crucifixion of Jesus, wrote a Jewish History, but it contained no mention of the coming of Jesus, nor of the events concerning him, nor of the prodigies he is supposed to have wrought. If they could have been present at one of Messrs. Maskelyne and Cook's entertainments, these credulous ancients would have certainly wanted to worship these expert conjurers as gods; and the dentist who could fit the vacant gums with a new set of teeth, or the driver of a steam engine, would have been probably deified as "creators." "Our increased knowledge of nature," says Dr. Oort, "has gradually undermined the belief in the probability of miracles, and the time is not far distant when, in the mind of every man of any culture, all accounts of miracles will be banished altogether to their proper region -- that of legend." What was said to have been done in India was said by the writers of the gospels to have been done in Palestine. The change of names and places, with the mixing up of various sketches of Egyptian, Phoenician, Greek, and Roman mythology, was all that was necessary. They had an abundance of material, and with it they built. A long-continued habit of imposing upon others would in time subdue the minds of the impostors themselves, and cause them to become at length the dupes of their own deception."
ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE
We must not suppose that the Jews had their Bibles as
Christians now have. In the reign of Josiah, about 100 years before
the captivity, there was only one copy of the "Law of Moses" in the
whole of Judoea. It was neither read nor even consulted by them,
for when Hilkiah the priest accidentally found a copy in a "rubbish
heap of the Temple" [Julian, "Old and New Testament."] it was
announced as a wonderful discovery; but it was afterwards destroyed
by fire. All that the Jews knew about Moses and his religion they
learnt from hearsay, just as the Greeks and Romans knew about their
mythology. It was a system taught by their priests. Ezra says (2
Esdras xiv.) he was the only man who knew it by heart, and that
after
the return from captivity in Babylon he retired to a field
for
forty days, and wrote from memory the five books of Moses,
probably including Joshua and other historical books of the Old
Testament, aided by drinking a cup full of some strong liquor of
the substance of water and the color of fire! Moses and Joshua
could
not have been the authors of the books attributed to them,
for they describe their own deaths. Ezra must have been born in
captivity; and during the period of seventy years the Jews must
have
lost a great many of their own traditions, and imbibed many of
the Babylonian, conforming, to a great extent to the custom of
these people, among whom they lived, and many were born.
The Old Testament was written in ancient Hebrew on rough skins, in ink almost obliterated by age, and crossed in different inks and languages. The writing consisted of capital letters only, very badly formed, and with no vowels, stops, or division into words by spaces; being, like modern Hebrew, written from right to left. There were originally about 150 old writings of this description, supposed to have been inspired by the "spirit of God." Fifty-three were formerly considered by the Christian Church as canonical; they included the "Pentateuch," or five books of Moses but in 1380 fourteen were decided to be uncanonical, and were classed as "apocryphal by Wicliffe -- the Reformer and Bible translator. These fourteen books were omitted from the Protestant Bibles, though they are said in the Articles of Religion of the English State Church to be useful "for example of life and instruction of manners." Many of the old writings are now lost.
The books of the New Testament were written on papyrus, some in Greek and some in Latin; "Matthew" was written in Syro-Chaldaic; "Mark," "Luke," "John," Acts, and Romans, in Greek. Twenty-seven books are now considered to be canonical, but there were sixty-one others now classed as apocryphal. "Twelve were excluded at first, but afterwards received as canonical; among the apocryphal books were 'the Gospel of the Egyptians,' one of the Essene Scriptures, and one a Gospel which circulated among the Christians of the first three centuries, containing the doctrine of a 'Trinity,' a doctrine which was not established in the Christian Church till 327 C.E., but which was taught by a Buddhist sect in Alexandria. There were forty-one, consisting of absurd fables, many of which are lost; and twenty-eight writings mentioned or referred to in the various canonical books, which also are lost." [H.J. Hardwicke, "Evolution and Creation."]
"Out of 182 works accepted for centuries as the genuine writings of Christians during the first 180 years of the present era, only twelve are now contended by theologians to be genuine; 170 forged writings permitted by the alleged 'Guider into all truth' to have existed for centuries, and believed in by poor, feeble man." [Julian, "Old and New Testament Examined."] The manufacture of some of these manuscripts probably took place at the great monastery at Mount Athos, in Salonica, where about "60,000 monks were employed" [Investigator, "Origin of the Christ Church."] in that occupation. The first that we know of the four Christian gospels is in the time of Irenaeus, who, in the second century, intimates that he has "received four gospels as authentic scriptures." "This pious forger was probably the adapter of the John Gospel." [Investigator, "Origin of the Christian Church."]
Three accounts are given of how the books which now appear in the New Testament were chosen: (1) That by Popius, in his "Synodicon" to the Council of Nicaea, says that 200 "versions of the gospel were placed under a Communion table, and, while the Council prayed, the inspired books jumped on the slab, but the rest remained under it." (2) That by Irenmus says "the Church selected the four most popular of the gospels." (3) That by the Council of Laodicea (366) says that "each book was decided by ballot. The Gospel of Luke escaped by one vote, while the Acts of the Apostles and the Apocalypse were rejected as forgeries."
PRAYER
Prayer to deities is a very ancient superstition, As the
planetary gods were supposed to influence events, it was natural
that pleading should be resorted to by primitive man to satisfy his
daily wants. But prayer to an inscrutable power, of which we know
nothing beyond what has been revealed to us by science and
phenomena, would involve a belief in the personality of that power,
and its possession of human attributes, such as hearing, pitying,
etc.; and, as that power is inscrutable and infinite, we cannot
give to it, and it cannot receive from us, anything. "Anything that
we do,
or fail to do, cannot in the slightest degree affect an
'infinite power;' consequently, no relations can exist between the
finite and the infinite." [R.G. Ingersoll.] The means of providing
for his daily wants have been discovered by man, and he has no
reason for expecting, and no right to conceive it possible, that
the immutable laws of nature will, or can, be upset in his favor,
to the possible detriment and inconvenience of others. All supposed
response to prayer can be traced to natural causes, if we only have
sufficient knowledge to enable us to trace it. Christians tell us
that
"God knows the secrets of the heart" (Psalm xliv. 21); if this
is so, why pray to him? Also, that "all the inhabitants of the
earth
are reputed as nothing, and that he (Yahuh -- ie, Jehovah)
doeth according to his will among them, and none can stay his hand"
(Daniel iv. 35); also, "For I the Lord change not" (Malach iii. 6).
Then
what can possibly be the use of prayer? If Yahuh does 'just as
he
likes, nothing can change him; and if he knows everything,
including our wants, what is the use of pestering his throne with
prayers?
Again, if prayer was of any use we should expect to see some practical result from it. But do we? Those who are prayed for most are those who are prayed for publicly; these are sovereigns and other heads of States, the nobility, and the clergy. Can we say fairly that these are any the better for all the prayers that go up to the throne of Yahuh? Experience teaches us that the answer is "No." Have our kings or queens enjoyed better health, become any richer, or lived any longer for the prayer in the State Prayer Book, that asks that it may be granted him or her "in health and wealth long to live"? Are our nobility endowed with greater divine "grace, wisdom, or understanding" for the prayers that go up to this effect? Experience teaches us that the contrary is the case. Are the clergy of the State Church, who are supposed to be called to the ministry by the Holy Ghost, protected more than anyone else against temptation, immorality, infectious diseases, sickness, or the asphyxiating effects of gas or drowning? Missionaries are eaten and digested by cannibals, just as any other person who has only his own prayers to rely upon. Do we ever hear of cannibals suffering in any way after eating "holy missionary"? Does prayer protect us from calamitous floods? Is it not proverbial that prayers for rain, in seasons of drought, have no effect? Were the lives of the Prince Consort, the Duke of Clarence, the Czar of Russia, the German Emperor, or Presidents Lincoln or Garfield, saved because of the national prayers that went up for them? No, these all died because their physicians were unable to cure them. When the Prince of Wales recovered from his fever, thanksgivings went up all over the land to Yahuh's throne. But why should his recovery be attributed to prayer, and not to the skill of the first physicians of the day? If Yahuh could save the Prince of Wales, he surely could have saved those above mentioned who died. We are told he is not a respecter of persons. Then why should Yahuh show ill- nature towards them, and display such favor to the Prince of Wales? The answer is obvious: the Prince was cured by his physicians. Does the history of earthquakes and other misfortunes, due to natural phenomena, show that praying people are saved from danger, while the non-praying ones suffer? When the earthquake of 1887, in the south of France, occurred, were the churches (God's own houses) saved, and the gaming-tables at Monte Carlo destroyed? No, just the contrary. Why did the late successful preacher, Spurgeon (a minister of God), go to Mentone, when he had the gout, leaving his congregation behind to pray for him; notwithstanding which collective praying, he died? Mr. Foote says: "As soon as the Mediterranean air and sunshine have given him relief, he writes to the Tabernacle: 'Beloved, the Lord has heard our prayers ... Not only could God cure Spurgeon's gout in the south of London as easily as in the south of France, but he might extend his divine assistance to the myriad sufferers f