Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions by T. W. Doane

Poo-ta-la is the name of a monastery, described in Lord Macartney's mission, and is an extensive establishment, which was found in Manchow-Tartary, beyond the great wall. This building offered shelter to no less than eight hundred Chinese Buddhist priests.[401:1] The Rev. Mr. Gutzlaff, in his "Journal of Voyages along the coast of China," tells us that he found the Buddhist "Monasteries, nuns, and friars very numerous;" and adds that: "their priests are generally very ignorant."[401:2] This reminds us of the fact that, for centuries during the "dark ages" of Christianity, Christian bishops and prelates, the teachers, spiritual pastors and masters, were mostly _marksmen_, that is, they supplied, by the sign of the cross, their inability to write their own name.[402:1] Many of the bishops in the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, it is said, could not write their names. Ignorance was not considered a disqualification for ordination. A cloud of ignorance overspread the whole face of the Church, hardly broken by a few glimmering lights, who owe almost the whole of their distinction to the surrounding darkness.[402:2] One of the principal objects of curiosity to the Europeans who first went to China, was a large monastery at Canton. This monastery, which was dedicated to Fo, or Buddha, and which is on a very large scale, is situated upon the southern side of the river. There are extensive grounds surrounding the building, planted with trees, in the center of which is a broad pavement of granite, which is kept very clean. An English gentleman, Mr. Bennett, entered this establishment, which he fully describes. He says that after walking along this granite pavement, they entered a temple, where the priesthood happened to be assembled, worshiping. They were arranged in rows, chanting, striking gongs, &c. These priests, with their shaven crowns, and arrayed in the yellow robes of the religion, appeared to go through the mummery with devotion. As soon as the mummery had ceased, the priests all flocked out of the temple, adjourned to their respective rooms, divested themselves of their official robes, and the images--among which were evidently representations of Shin-moo, the "Holy Mother," and "Queen of Heaven," and "The Three Pure Ones,"--were left to themselves, with lamps burning before them. To expiate sin, offerings made to these priests are--according to the Buddhist idea--sufficient. To facilitate the release of some unfortunate from purgatory, they said masses. Their prayers are counted by means of a rosary, and they live in a state of celibacy. Mr. Gutzlaff, in describing a temple dedicated to Buddha, situated on the island of Poo-ta-la, says: "We were present at the vespers of the priests, which they chanted in the Pali language, not unlike the Latin service of the Romish church. They held their rosaries in their hands, which rested folded upon their breasts. One of them had a small bell, by the tingling of which the service was regulated." The Buddhists in _India_ have similar institutions. The French missionary, M. L'Abbé Huc, says of them: "The Buddhist ascetic not aspiring to elevate himself only, he practiced virtue and applied himself to perfection to make other men share in its belief; and by the institution of an order of religious mendicants, which increased to an immense extent, he attached towards him, and restored to society, the poor and unfortunate. It was, indeed, precisely because Buddha received among his disciples miserable creatures who were outcasts from the respectable class of India, that he became an object of mockery to the Brahmins. But he merely replied to their taunts, 'My law is a law of mercy for all.'"[403:1] In the words of Viscount Amberly, we can say that, "Monasticism, in countries where Buddhism reigns supreme, is a vast and powerful institution." The _Essenes_, of whom we shall speak more fully anon, were an order of ascetics, dwelling in monasteries. Among the order of Pythagoras, which was very similar to the Essenes, there was an order of nuns.[403:2] The ancient Druids admitted females into their sacred order, and initiated them into the mysteries of their religion.[403:3] The priestesses of the Saxon Frigga devoted themselves to perpetual virginity.[403:4] The vestal virgins[403:5] were bound by a solemn vow to preserve their chastity for a space of thirty years.[403:6] The Egyptian priests of Isis were obliged to observe perpetual chastity.[403:7] They were also tonsured like the Buddhist priests.[403:8] The Assyrian, Arabian, Persian and Egyptian priests wore _white_ surplices,[403:9] and so did the ancient Druids. The Corinthian Aphrodite had her Hierodoulio, the pure Gerairai ministered to the goddess of the Parthenon, the altar of the Latin Vesta was tended by her chosen virgins, and the Romish "Queen of Heaven" has her nuns. When the Spaniards had established themselves in Mexico and Peru, they were astonished to find, among other things which closely resembled their religion, _monastic institutions_ on a large scale. The Rev. Father Acosta, in his "Natural and Moral History of the Indies," says: "There is one thing worthy of special regard, the which is, how the Devil, by his pride, hath opposed himself to God; and that which God, by his wisdom, hath decreed for his honor and service, and for the good and health of man, the devil strives to imitate and pervert, to be honored, and to cause men to be damned: for as we see the great God hath Sacrifices, Priests, Sacraments, Religious Prophets, and Ministers, dedicated to his divine service and holy ceremonies, so likewise the devil hath his Sacrifices, Priests, his kinds of Sacraments, his Ministers appointed, his secluded and feigned holiness, with a thousand sorts of false prophets."[403:10] "We find among all the nations of the world, men especially dedicated to the service of the true God, or to the false, which serve in sacrifices, and declare unto the people what their gods command them. There was in Mexico a strange curiosity upon this point. And the devil, counterfeiting the use of the church of God, hath placed in the order of his Priests, some greater or superiors, and some less, the one as Acolites, the other as Levites, and that which hath made most to wonder, was, that the devil would usurp to himself the service of God; yea, and use the same name: for the Mexicans in their ancient tongue call their high priests _Papes_, as they should say sovereign bishops, as it appears now by their histories."[404:1] In Mexico, within the circuit of the great temple, there were two monasteries, one for virgins, the other for men, which they called religious. These men lived poorly and chastely, and did the office of Levites.[404:2] "These priests and religious men used great fastings, of five or ten days together, before any of their great feasts, and they were unto them as our four ember week; they were so strict in continence that some of them (not to fall into any sensuality) slit their members in the midst, and did a thousand things to make themselves unable, lest they should offend their gods."[404:3] "There were in Peru many monasteries of virgins (for there are no other admitted), at the least one in every province. In these monasteries there were two sorts of women, one ancient, which they called Mamacomas (mothers), for the instruction of the young, and the other was of young maidens placed there for a certain time, and after they were drawn forth, either for their gods or for the Inca." "If any of the Mamacomas or Acllas were found to have trespassed against their honor, it was an inevitable chastisement to bury them alive or to put them to death by some other kind of cruel torment."[404:4] The Rev. Father concludes by saying: "In truth it is very strange to see that this false opinion of religion hath so great force among these young men and maidens of Mexico, that they will serve the devil with so great rigor and austerity, which many of us do not in the service of the most high God, the which is a great shame and confusion."[404:5] The religious orders of the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians are described at length in Lord Kingsborough's "Mexican Antiquities," and by most every writer on ancient Mexico. Differing in minor details, the grand features of self-consecration are everywhere the same, whether we look to the saintly Rishis of ancient India, to the wearers of the yellow robe in China or Ceylon, to the Essenes among the Jews, to the devotees of Vitziliputzli in pagan Mexico, or to the monks and nuns of Christian times in Africa, in Asia, and in Europe. Throughout the various creeds of these distant lands there runs the same unconquerable impulse, producing the same remarkable effects. The "_Sacred Heart_," was a great mystery with the ancients. _Horus_, the Egyptian virgin-born Saviour, was represented carrying the sacred heart outside on his breast. _Vishnu_, the Mediator and Preserver of the Hindoos, was also represented in that manner. So was it with _Bel_ of Babylon.[405:1] In like manner, Christ Jesus, the Christian Saviour, is represented at the present day. The amulets or charms which the Roman Christians wear, to drive away diseases, and to protect them from harm, are other relics of paganism. The ancient pagans wore these charms for the same purpose. The name of their favorite god was generally inscribed upon them, and we learn by a quotation from Chrysostom that the Christians at Antioch used to bind brass coins of Alexander the Great about their heads, to keep off or drive away diseases.[405:2] The Christians also used amulets with the name or monogram of the god _Serapis_ engraved thereon, which show that it made no difference whether the god was their own or that of another. Even the charm which is worn by the Christians at the present day, has none other than the monogram of _Bacchus_ engraved thereon, _i. e._, I. H. S.[405:3] The ancient Roman children carried around their necks a small ornament in the form of a heart, called _Bulla_. This was imitated by the early Christians. Upon their ancient monuments in the Vatican, the heart is very common, and it may be seen in numbers of old pictures. After some time it was succeeded by the _Agnus Dei_, which, like the ancient _Bulla_, was supposed to avert dangers from the children and the wearers of them. Cardinal Baronius (an eminent Roman Catholic ecclesiastical historian, born at Sora, in Naples, A. D. 1538) says, that those who have been baptized carry pendent from their neck an _Agnus Dei_, in imitation of a devotion of the Pagans, who hung to the neck of their children little bottles in the form of a heart, which served as preservatives against charms and enchantments. Says Mr. Cox: "That ornaments in the shape of a _vesica_ have been popular in all countries as preservatives against dangers, and especially from evil spirits, can as little be questioned as the fact that they still retain some measure of their ancient popularity in England, where horse-shoes are nailed to walls as a safeguard against unknown perils, where a shoe is thrown by way of good-luck after newly-married couples, and where the villagers have not yet ceased to dance round the May-pole on the green."[405:4] All of these are emblems of either the Linga or Yoni. The use of amulets was carried to the most extravagant excess in ancient Egypt, and their Sacred Book of the Dead, even in its earliest form, shows the importance attached to such things.[406:1] We can say with M. Renan that: "Almost all our superstitions are the remains of a religion anterior to Christianity, and which Christianity has not been able entirely to root out."[406:2] Baptismal fonts were used by the pagans, as well as the little cisterns which are to be seen at the entrance of Catholic churches. In the temple of Apollo, at Delphi, there were two of these; one of silver, and the other of gold.[406:3] Temples always faced the east, to receive the rays of the rising sun. They contained an outer court for the public, and an inner sanctuary for the priests, called the "_Adytum_." Near the entrance was a large vessel, of stone or brass, filled with water, made holy by plunging into it a burning torch from the altar. All who were admitted to the sacrifices were sprinkled with this water, and none but the unpolluted were allowed to pass beyond it. In the center of the building stood the statue of the god, on a pedestal raised above the altar and enclosed by a railing. On festival occasions, the people brought laurel, olive, or ivy, to decorate the pillars and walls. Before they entered they always washed their hands, as a type of purification from sin.[406:4] A story is told of a man who was struck dead by a thunderbolt because he omitted this ceremony when entering a temple of Jupiter. Sometimes they crawled up the steps on their knees, and bowing their heads to the ground, kissed the threshold. Always when they passed one of these sacred edifices they kissed their right hand to it, in token of veneration. In all the temples of Vishnu, Crishna, Rama, Durga, and Kali, in India, there are to be seen idols before which lights and incense are burned. Moreover, the idols of these gods are constantly decorated with flowers and costly ornaments, especially on festive occasions.[406:5] The ancient Egyptian worship had a great splendor of ritual. There was a morning service, a kind of mass, celebrated by a priest, shorn and beardless; there were sprinklings of holy water, &c., &c.[406:6] All of this kind of worship was finally adopted by the Christians. The sublime and simple theology of the primitive Christians was gradually corrupted and degraded by the introduction of a popular mythology, which tended to restore the reign of polytheism. As the objects of religion were gradually reduced to the standard of the imagination, the rites and ceremonies were introduced that seemed most powerfully to affect the senses of the vulgar. If, in the beginning of the fifth century, Tertullian, or Lactantius, had been suddenly raised from the dead, to assist at the festival of some popular saint or martyr, they would have gazed with astonishment and indignation on the profane spectacle, which had succeeded to the pure and spiritual worship of a Christian congregation.[407:1] Dr. Draper, in speaking of the early Christian Church, says: "Great is the difference between Christianity under Severus (born 146) and Christianity under Constantine (born 274). Many of the doctrines which at the latter period were pre-eminent, in the former were unknown. Two causes led to the amalgamation of Christianity with Paganism. 1. The political necessities of the new dynasty: 2. The policy adopted by the new religion to insure its spread. "Though the Christian party had proved itself sufficiently strong to give a master to the empire, it was never sufficiently strong to destroy its antagonist, Paganism. The issue of the struggle between them _was an amalgamation of the principles of both_. In this, Christianity differed from Mohammedanism, which absolutely annihilated its antagonist, and spread its own doctrines without adulteration. "Constantine continually showed by his acts that he felt he must be the impartial sovereign of all his people, not merely the representative of a successful faction. Hence, if he built Christian churches, he also restored Pagan temples; if he listened to the clergy, he also consulted the haruspices; if he summoned the Council of Nicea, he also honored the statue of Fortune; if he accepted the rite of Baptism, he also struck a medal bearing his title of 'God.' His statue, on top of the great porphyry pillar at Constantinople, consisted of an ancient image of Apollo, whose features were replaced by those of the emperor, and its head surrounded by the nails feigned to have been used at the crucifixion of Christ, arranged so as to form a crown of glory. "Feeling that there must be concessions to the defeated Pagan party, in accordance with its ideas, he looked with favor on the idolatrous movements of his court. In fact, the leaders of these movements were persons of his own family. "To the emperor,--a mere worldling--a man without any religious convictions, doubtless it appeared best for himself, best for the empire, and best for the contending parties, Christian and Pagan, to promote their _union or amalgamation as much as possible_. Even sincere Christians do not seem to have been averse to this; perhaps they believed that the new doctrines would diffuse most thoroughly by incorporating in themselves ideas borrowed from the old; that Truth would assert herself in the end, and the impurities be cast off. In accomplishing this amalgamation, Helen, the Empress-mother, aided by the court ladies, led the way. "As years passed on, the faith described by Tertullian (A. D. 150-195) was transformed into one more fashionable and more debased. It was incorporated with the old Greek mythology. Olympus was restored, but the divinities passed under new names. . . . "Heathen rites were adopted, a pompous and splendid ritual, gorgeous robes, mitres, tiaras, wax-tapers, processional services, lustrations, gold and silver vases, were introduced. "The festival of the Purification of the Virgin was invented to remove the uneasiness of heathen converts on account of the loss of their Lupercalia, or feasts of Pan. "The apotheosis of the old Roman times was replaced by canonization; tutelary _saints_ succeeded to local mythological divinities. Then came the mystery of _transubstantiation_, or the conversion of bread and wine by the priest into the flesh and blood of Christ. As centuries passed, the _paganization_ became more and more complete."[408:1] The early Christian saints, bishops, and fathers, _confessedly_ adopted the liturgies, rites, ceremonies, and terms of heathenism; making it their boast, that the pagan religion, properly explained, really was nothing else than Christianity; that the best and wisest of its professors, in all ages, had been Christians all along; that Christianity was but a name more recently acquired to a religion which had previously existed, and had been known to the Greek philosophers, to Plato, Socrates, and Heraclitus; and that "if the writings of Cicero had been read as they ought to have been, there would have been no occasion for the Christian Scriptures." And our Protestant, and most orthodox Christian divines, the best learned on ecclesiastical antiquity, and most entirely persuaded of the truth of the Christian religion, unable to resist or to conflict with the constraining demonstration of the data that prove the absolute sameness and identity of Paganism and Christianity, and unable to point out so much as one single idea or notion, of which they could show that it was peculiar to Christianity, or that Christianity had it, and Paganism had it not, have invented the apology of an hypothesis, that the Pagan religion was _typical_, and that Crishna, Buddha, Bacchus, Hercules, Adonis, Osiris, Horus, &c., were all of them _types_ and forerunners of the _true_ and _real_ Saviour, Christ Jesus. Those who are satisfied with this kind of reasoning are certainly welcome to it. That Christianity is nothing more than Paganism under a new name, has, as we said above, been admitted over and over again by the Fathers of the Church, and others. Aringhus (in his account of subterraneous Rome) acknowledges the conformity between the Pagan and Christian form of worship, and defends the admission of the ceremonies of heathenism into the service of the Church, by the authority of the wisest prelates and governors, whom, he says, found it necessary, in the conversion of the Gentiles, to dissemble, and wink at many things, and yield to the times; and not to use force against customs which the people were so obstinately fond of.[409:1] Melito (a Christian bishop of Sardis), in an _apology_ delivered to the Emperor Marcus Antoninus, in the year 170, claims the patronage of the emperor, for the _now_ called Christian religion, which he calls "_our philosophy_," "on account of its _high antiquity_, as having been _imported_ from countries lying beyond the limits of the Roman empire, in the region of his ancestor Augustus, who found its _importation_ ominous of good fortune to his government."[409:2] This is an absolute demonstration that Christianity did _not_ originate in Judea, which was a Roman province, but really was an exotic oriental fable, _imported_ from India, and that Paul was doing as he claimed, viz.: preaching a God manifest in the flesh who had been "believed on in the world" centuries before his time, and a doctrine which had already been preached "unto every creature under heaven." Baronius (an eminent Catholic ecclesiastical historian) says: "It is permitted to the Church to use, _for the purpose of piety_, the ceremonies which the pagans used _for the purpose of impiety_ in a superstitious religion, after having first expiated them by consecration--to the end, that the devil might receive a greater affront from employing, in honor of Jesus Christ, that which his enemy had destined for his own service."[409:3] Clarke, in his "Evidences of Revealed Religion," says: "Some of the ancient writers of the church have not scrupled expressly to call the Athenian _Socrates_, and some others of the best of the _heathen moralists_, by the name of _Christians_, and to affirm, as the law was as it were a schoolmaster, to bring the Jews unto Christ, so true moral philosophy was to the Gentiles a preparative to receive the gospel."[409:4] Clemens Alexandrinus says: "Those who lived according to the _Logos_ were really _Christians_, though they have been thought to be atheists; as Socrates and Heraclitus were among the Greeks, and such as resembled them."[409:5] And St. Augustine says: "_That_, in our times, is the _Christian religion_, which to know and follow is the most sure and certain health, called according to that name, but not according to the thing itself, of which it is the name; for the thing itself which is now called the _Christian religion_, really was known to the ancients, nor was wanting at any time from the beginning of the human race, until the time when Christ came in the flesh, from whence the true religion, _which had previously existed_, began to be called _Christian_; and this in our days is the Christian religion, not as having been wanting in former times, but as having in later times received this name."[410:1] Eusebius, the great champion of Christianity, admits that that which is called the Christian religion, is neither new nor strange, but--if it be lawful to testify the truth--was known to the _ancients_.[410:2] How the common people were Christianized, we gather from a remarkable passage which Mosheim, the ecclesiastical historian, has preserved for us, in the life of Gregory, surnamed "_Thaumaturgus_," that is, "the wonder worker." The passage is as follows: "When Gregory perceived that the simple and unskilled multitude persisted in their worship of images, on account of the pleasures and sensual gratifications which they enjoyed at the Pagan festivals, _he granted them a permission to indulge themselves in the like pleasures_, in celebrating the memory of the holy martyrs, hoping that in process of time, they would return of their own accord, to a more virtuous and regular course of life."[410:3] The historian remarks that there is no sort of doubt, that by this permission, Gregory allowed the Christians to dance, sport, and feast at the tombs of the martyrs, upon their respective festivals, and to do everything which the Pagans were accustomed to do in their temples, during the feasts celebrated in honor of their gods. The learned Christian advocate, M. Turretin, in describing the state of Christianity in the fourth century, has a well-turned rhetoricism, the point of which is, that "it was not so much the empire that was brought over to the faith, as the faith that was brought over to the empire; not the Pagans who were converted to Christianity, but Christianity that was converted to Paganism."[410:4] Edward Gibbon says: "It must be confessed that the ministers of the Catholic church imitated the profane model which they were impatient to destroy. The most respectable bishops had persuaded themselves, that the ignorant rusties would more cheerfully renounce the superstitions of Paganism, if they found some resemblance, some compensation, in the bosom of Christianity. The religion of Constantine achieved, in less than a century, the final conquest of the Roman empire: _but the victors themselves were insensibly subdued by the arts of their vanquished rivals_."[411:1] Faustus, writing to St. Augustine, says: "You have substituted your agapæ for the sacrifices of the Pagans; for their idols your martyrs, whom you serve with the very same honors. You appease the shades of the dead with wine and feasts; you celebrate the solemn festivities of the _Gentiles_, their calends, and their solstices; and, as to their manners, those you have retained without any alteration. _Nothing distinguishes you from the Pagans, except that you hold your assemblies apart from them._"[411:2] Ammonius Saccus (a Greek philosopher, founder of the Neo-platonic school) taught that: "Christianity and Paganism, when rightly understood, differ in no essential points, but had a common origin, _and are really one and the same thing_."[411:3] Justin explains the thing in the following manner: "It having reached the devil's ears that the prophets had foretold that Christ would come . . . he (the devil) set the heathen poets to bring forward a great many who should be called sons of Jove, (_i. e._, "The Sons of God.") The devil laying his scheme in this, to get men to imagine that the _true_ history of Christ was of the same character as the prodigious fables and poetic stories."[411:4] Cæcilius, in the Octavius of Minucius Felix, says: "All these fragments of crack-brained opiniatry and silly solaces played off in the sweetness of song by (the) deceitful (Pagan) poets, by you too credulous creatures (_i. e._, the Christians) have been shamefully reformed and made over to your own god."[411:5] Celsus, the Epicurean philosopher, wrote that: "The Christian religion contains nothing but what Christians hold in common with heathens; nothing new, or truly great."[411:6] This assertion is fully verified by Justin Martyr, in his apology to the Emperor Adrian, which is one of the most remarkable admissions ever made by a Christian writer. He says: "In saying that all things were made in this beautiful order by God, what do we seem to say more than Plato? When we teach a general conflagration, what do we teach more than the Stoics? By opposing the worship of the works of men's hands, we concur with Menander, the comedian; and by declaring the Logos, the first begotten of God, our master Jesus Christ, to be born of a virgin, without any human mixture, to be crucified and dead, and to have rose again, and ascended into heaven: _we say no more in this, than what you say of those whom you style the Sons of Jove_. For you need not be told what a parcel of sons, the writers most in vogue among you, assign to Jove; there's Mercury, Jove's interpreter, in imitation of the Logos, in worship among you. There's Æsculapius, the physician, smitten by a thunderbolt, and after that ascending into heaven. There's Bacchus, torn to pieces; and Hercules, burnt to get rid of his pains. There's Pollux and Castor, the sons of Jove by Leda, and Perseus by Danae; and not to mention others, I would fain know why you always deify the departed emperors and have a fellow at hand to make affidavit that he saw Cæsar mount to heaven from the funeral pile? "As to the son of God, called Jesus, should we allow him to be nothing more than man, yet the title of the son of God is very justifiable, upon the account of his wisdom, considering that you have your Mercury in worship, under the title of the Word and Messenger of God. "_As to the objection of our Jesus's being crucified_, I say, that suffering was common to all the forementioned sons of Jove, but only they suffered another kind of death. As to his being born of a virgin, you have your Perseus to balance that. As to his curing the lame, and the paralytic, and such as were cripples from birth, this is little more than what you say of your Æsculapius."[412:1] The most celebrated Fathers of the Christian church, the most frequently quoted, and those whose names stand the highest were nothing more nor less than Pagans, being born and educated Pagans. Pantaenus (A. D. 193) was one of these half-Pagan, half-Christian, Fathers. He at one time presided in the school of the faithful in _Alexandria_ in Egypt, and was celebrated on account of his learning. He was brought up in the Stoic philosophy.[412:2] Clemens Alexandrinus (A. D. 194) or St. Clement of Alexandria, was another Christian Father of the same sort, being originally a Pagan. He succeeded Pantaenus as president of the _monkish_ university at Alexandria. His works are very extensive, and his authority very high in the church.[412:3] Tertullian (A. D. 200) may next be mentioned. He also was originally a Pagan, and at one time Presbyter of the Christian church of Carthage, in Africa. The following is a specimen of his manner of reasoning on the evidences of Christianity. He says: "I find no other means to prove myself to be impudent with success, and happily a fool, than by my contempt of shame; as, for instance--I maintain that the Son of God was born; why am I not ashamed of maintaining such a thing? Why! but because it is itself a shameful thing. I maintain that the Son of God died: well, that is wholly credible because it is monstrously absurd. I maintain that after having been buried, he rose again: and that I take to be absolutely true, because it was manifestly impossible."[412:4] Origen (A. D. 230), one of the shining lights of the Christian church, was another Father of this class. Porphyry (a Neo-platonist philosopher) objects to him on this account.[413:1] He also was born in the great cradle and nursery of superstition--Egypt--and studied under that celebrated philosopher, Ammonius Saccus, who taught that "Christianity and Paganism, when rightly understood, differed in no essential point, but had a common origin." This man was so sincere in his devotion to the cause of monkery, or Essenism, that he made himself an eunuch "for the kingdom of heaven's sake."[413:2] The writer of the twelfth verse of the nineteenth chapter of Matthew, was without doubt an Egyptian monk. The words are put into the mouth of the _Jewish_ Jesus, which is simply ridiculous, when it is considered that the Jews did not allow an eunuch so much as to enter the congregation of the Lord.[413:3] St. Gregory (A. D. 240), bishop of Neo-Cæsarea in Pontus, was another celebrated Christian Father, born of Pagan parents and educated a Pagan. He is called Thaumaturgus, or the wonder-worker, and is said to have performed miracles when still a Pagan.[413:4] He, too, was an Alexandrian student. This is the Gregory who was commended by his namesake of Nyssa for changing the Pagan festivals into Christian holidays, the better to draw the heathen to the religion of Christ.[413:5] Mosheim, the ecclesiastical historian, in speaking of the Christian church during the second century, says: "The profound respect that was paid to the Greek and Roman _mysteries_, and the extraordinary sanctity that was attributed to them, induced the Christians to give their religion a _mystic_ air, in order to put it upon an equal footing, in point of dignity, with that of the Pagans. For this purpose they gave the name of _mysteries_ to the institutions of the gospel, and decorated, particularly the holy sacrament, with that solemn title. They used, in that sacred institution, as also in that of baptism, several of the terms employed in the heathen mysteries, and proceeded so far at length, as even to adopt some of the rites and ceremonies of which those renowned mysteries consisted."[413:6] We have seen, then, that the only difference between Christianity and Paganism is that Brahma, Ormuzd, Osiris, Zeus, Jupiter, etc., are called by another name; Crishna, Buddha, Bacchus, Adonis, Mithras, etc., have been turned into Christ Jesus: Venus' pigeon into the Holy Ghost; Diana, Isis, Devaki, etc., into the Virgin Mary; and the demi-gods and heroes into saints. The exploits of the one were represented as the miracles of the other. Pagan festivals became Christian holidays, and Pagan temples became Christian churches. Mr. Mahaffy, Fellow and Tutor in Trinity College, and Lecturer on Ancient History in the University of Dublin, ends his "Prolegomena to Ancient History" in the following manner: "There is indeed, hardly a great or fruitful idea in the Jewish or Christian systems, which has not its analogy in the (ancient) Egyptian faith. The development of the one God into a _trinity_; the incarnation of the mediating deity in a Virgin, and without a father; his conflict and his momentary defeat by the powers of darkness; his partial victory (for the enemy is not destroyed); his resurrection and reign over an eternal kingdom with his justified saints; his distinction from, and yet identity with, the uncreate incomprehensible Father, whose form is unknown, and who dwelleth not in temples made with hands--_all these theological conceptions pervade the oldest religion of Egypt_. So, too, the contrast and even the apparent inconsistencies between our moral and theological beliefs--the vacillating attribution of sin and guilt partly to moral weakness, partly to the interference of evil spirits, and likewise of righteousness to moral worth, and again to the help of good genii or angels; the immortality of the soul and its final judgment--_all these things have met us in the Egyptian ritual and moral treatises_. So, too, the purely human side of morals, and the catalogue of virtues and vices, are by natural consequences as like as are the theological systems. _But I recoil from opening this great subject now; it is enough to have lifted the veil and shown the scene of many a future contest._"[414:1] In regard to the _moral sentiments_ expressed in the books of the New Testament, and believed by the majority of Christians to be peculiar to Christianity, we shall touch them but lightly, as this has already been done so frequently by many able scholars. The moral doctrines that appear in the New Testament, even the sayings of the Sermon on the Mount and the Lord's Prayer, are found with slight variation, among the Rabbins, who have certainly borrowed nothing out of the New Testament. Christian teachers have delighted to exhibit the essential superiority of Christianity to Judaism, have quoted with triumph the maxims that are said to have fallen from the lips of Jesus, and which, they surmised, could not be paralleled in the elder Scriptures, and have put the least favorable construction on such passages in the ancient books as seemed to contain the thoughts of evangelists and apostles. A more ingenious study of the Hebrew law, according to the oldest traditions, as well as its later interpretations by the prophets, reduces these differences materially by bringing into relief sentiments and precepts whereof the New Testament morality is but an echo. There are passages in Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, even tenderer in their humanity than anything in the Gospels. The preacher from the Mount, the prophet of the Beatitudes, does but repeat with persuasive lips what the law-givers of his race proclaimed in mighty tones of command. Such an acquaintance with the later literature of the Jews as is really obtained now from popular sources, will convince the ordinarily fair mind that the originality of the New Testament has been greatly over-estimated. "To feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, bury the dead, loyally serve the king, forms the first duty of a pious man and faithful subject," is an abstract from the Egyptian "Book of the Dead," the oldest Bible in the world. Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, born 551 B. C., said: "Obey Heaven, and follow the orders of Him who governs it. _Love your neighbor as yourself._ Do to another what you would he should do unto you; and do not unto another what you would should not be done unto you; thou only needest this law alone, it is the foundation and principle of all the rest. Acknowledge thy benefits by the return of other benefits, _but never revenge injuries_."[415:1] The following extracts from Manu and the _Maha-bharata_, an Indian epic poem, written many centuries before the time of Christ Jesus,[415:2] compared with similar sentiment contained in the books of the New Testament, are very striking. "An evil-minded man is quick to see his neighbor's faults, though small as mustard-seed; but when he turns his eyes towards his own, though large as Bilva fruit, he none descries." (Maha-bharata.) "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" (Matt. vii. 3.) "Conquer a man who never gives by gifts; subdue untruthful men by truthfulness; vanquish an angry man by gentleness; and overcome the evil man by goodness." (Ibid.) "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans, xii. 21.) "To injure none by thought or word or deed, to give to others, and be kind to all--this is the constant duty of the good. High-minded men delight in doing good, without a thought of their own interest; when they confer a benefit on others, they reckon not on favors in return." (Ibid.) "Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil." (Luke, vii. 35.) "Two persons will hereafter be exalted above the heavens--the man with boundless power, who yet forbears to use it indiscreetly, and he who is not rich, and yet can give." (Ibid.) "Just heaven is not so pleased with costly gifts, offered in hope of future recompense, as with the merest trifle set apart from honest gains, and sanctified by faith." (Ibid.) "And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all _they_ did cast in of their abundance, but she of her want did cast all that she had, even all her living." (Mark, xii. 41-44.) "To curb the tongue and moderate the speech, is held to be the hardest of all tasks. The words of him who talk too volubly have neither substance nor variety." (Ibid.) "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." (James, iii. 8.) "Even to foes who visit us as guests due hospitality should be displayed; the tree screens with its leaves, the man who fells it." (Ibid.) "Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." (Rom. xii. 20.) "In granting or refusing a request, a man obtains a proper rule of action by looking on his neighbor as himself." (Ibid.) "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matt. xxii. 39.) "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." (Luke vi. 31.) "Before infirmities creep o'er thy flesh; before decay impairs thy strength and mars the beauty of thy limbs; before the Ender, whose charioteer is sickness, hastes towards thee, breaks up thy fragile frame and ends thy life, lay up the only treasure: Do good deeds; practice sobriety and self-control; amass that wealth which thieves cannot abstract, nor tyrants seize, which follows thee at death, which never wastes away, nor is corrupted." (Ibid.) "Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say: I have no pleasure in them." (Ecc. xii. 1.) "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal." (Matt. vi. 19-20.) "This is the sum of all true righteousness--Treat others as thou wouldst thyself be treated. Do nothing to thy neighbor, which hereafter thou would'st not have thy neighbor do to thee. In causing pleasure, or in giving pain, in doing good or injury to others, in granting or refusing a request, a man obtains a proper rule of action by looking on his neighbor as himself." (Ibid.) "Ye have heard that it hath been said: Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." (Matt. v. 43-44.) "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another: as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." (John, xii. 34.) "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matt, xi 39.) "Think constantly, O Son, how thou mayest please Thy father, mother, teacher,--these obey. By deep devotion seek thy debt to pay. This is thy highest duty and religion." (Manu.) "Wound not another, though by him provoked. Do no one injury by thought or deed. Utter no word to pain thy fellow-creatures." (Ibid.) "Treat no one with disdain, with patience bear Reviling language; with an angry man Be never angry; blessings give for curses." (Ibid.) "E'en as a driver checks his restive steeds, Do thou, if thou art wise, restrain thy passions, Which, running wild, will hurry thee away." (Ibid.) "Pride not thyself on thy religious works. Give to the poor, but talk not of thy gifts. By pride religious merit melts away, The merit of thy alms by ostentation." (Ibid.) "Good words, good deeds, and beautiful expressions A wise man ever culls from every quarter, E'en as a gleaner gathers ears of corn." (Maha-bharata.) "Repeated sin destroys the understanding, And he whose reason is impaired, repeats His sins. The constant practice of virtue Strengthens the mental faculties, and he Whose judgment stronger grows, acts always right." (Ibid.) "If thou art wise seek ease and happiness In deeds of virtue and of usefulness; And ever act in such a way by day That in the night thy sleep may tranquil be; And so comport thyself when thou art young That when thou art grown old, thy age may pass In calm serenity. So ply thy talk Through thy life, that when thy days are ended, Thou may'st enjoy eternal bliss hereafter." (Ibid.) "Do naught to others which if done to thee Would cause thee pain; this is the sum of duty." (Ibid.) "No sacred lore can save the hypocrite,-- Though he employ it craftily,--from hell; When his end comes, his pious texts take wings, Like fledglings eager to forsake their nest." (Ibid.) "Iniquity once practiced, like a seed, Fails not to yield its fruit to him who wrought it, If not to him, yet to his sons and grandsons." (Manu.) "Single is every living creature born, Single he passes to another world. Single he eats the fruit of evil deeds, Single, the fruit of good; and when he leaves His body like a log or heap of clay Upon the ground, his kinsmen walk away; Virtue alone stands by him at the tomb, And bears him through the dreary, trackless gloom." (Ibid.) "Thou canst not gather what thou dost not sow; As thou dost plant the tree so will it grow." (Ibid.) "He who pretends to be what he is not, Acts a part, commits the worst of crimes, For, thief-like, he abstracts a good man's heart." (Ibid.) FOOTNOTES: [384:1] "Before the separation of the Aryan race, before the existence of Sanscrit, Greek, or Latin, before the gods of the Veda had been worshiped, ONE SUPREME DEITY had been found, had been named, and had been invoked by the ancestors of our race." (Prof. Max Müller: The Science of Religion, p. 67.) [384:2] See Chap. XII. and Chap. XX., for Only-begotten Sons. [384:3] See Chap. XII. and Chap. XXXII., where we have shown that many other virgin-born gods were conceived by the Holy Ghost, and that the name MARY is the same as Maia, Maya, Myrra, &c. [384:4] See Chap. XX., for Crucified Saviours. [385:1] See Chap. XXII. [385:2] See Chaps. XXII. and XXXIX., for Resurrected Saviours. [385:3] See Ibid. [385:4] See Chap. XXIV., and Chap. XXV. [385:5] See Chap. XII., and Chap. XXXV. [385:6] That is, the holy _true_ Church. All peoples who have had a religion believe that _theirs_ was the _Catholic_ faith. [385:7] There was no nation of antiquity who did not believe in "the forgiveness of sins," especially if some innocent creature _redeemed_ them by the shedding of his blood (see Chap. IV., and Chap. XX.), and as far as _confession_ of sins is concerned, and thereby being forgiven, this too is almost as old as humanity. Father Acosta found it even among the Mexicans, and said that "the father of lies (the Devil) counterfeited the sacrament of confession, so that he might be honored with ceremonies very like the Christians." (See Acosta, vol. ii. p. 360.) [385:8] "No doctrine except that of a supreme and subtly-pervading deity, is so extended, and has retained its primitive form so distinctly, _as a belief in immortality_, and a future state of rewards and punishments. Among the most savage races, the idea of a future existence in a place of delight is found." (Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie.) "Go back far as we may in the history of the Indo-European race, of which the Greeks and Italians are branches, and we do not find that this race has ever thought that after this short life all was finished for man. The most ancient generations, long before there were philosophers, believed in a second existence after the present. They looked upon death not as a dissolution of our being, but simply as a change of life." (M. De Coulanges: The Ancient City, p. 15.) [385:9] For full information on this subject see Archbishop Wake's Apostolic Fathers, p. 108, Justice Bailey's Common Prayer, Taylor's Diegesis, p. 10, and Chambers's Encyclo., art. "Creeds." [386:1] Rev. xi. 7-9. [386:2] S. Baring-Gould: Legends of Patriarchs, p. 25. [386:3] II. Peter, ii. 4. [386:4] Jude, 6. [386:5] S. Baring-Gould: Legends of Patriarchs, p. 16. [387:1] S. Baring-Gould: Legends of Patriarchs, p. 17. [387:2] Indian Wisdom, p. 39. [387:3] See Renouf's Hibbert Lectures, p. 165. Dupuis: Origin of Relig. Beliefs, p. 73, and Baring-Gould's Legends of the Prophets, p. 19. [387:4] S. Baring-Gould's Legends of Patriarchs, p. 19. [388:1] Priestley, p. 35. [388:2] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 411. [388:3] See Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 819. Taylor's Diegesis, p. 215, and Dupuis: Origin of Relig. Beliefs, p. 78. [388:4] See Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 31. [388:5] S. Baring-Gould's Legends of Patriarchs, p. 20. [388:6] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 159, and Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. [389:1] This subject is most fully entered into by Mr. Herbert Spencer, in vol. i. of "Principles of Sociology." [390:1] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 426. [391:1] See Appendix C. [391:2] See Fiske, pp. 104-107. [392:1] Williams' Hinduism, pp. 182, 183. [392:2] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 216. [392:3] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 111. [392:4] See Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 466. [392:5] Williams' Hinduism, p. 184. [393:1] "The _Seventh_ day was sacred to _Saturn_ throughout the East." (Dunlap's Spirit Hist., pp. 35, 36.) "Saturn's day was made sacred to God, and the planet is now called cochab shabbath, 'The Sabbath Star.' "The sanctification of the Sabbath is clearly connected with the word Shabua or Sheba, _i. e._, _seven_." (Inman's Anct. Faiths, vol. ii. p. 504.) "The Babylonians, Egyptians, Chinese, and the natives of India, were acquainted with the _seven_ days' division of time, as were the ancient Druids." (Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 412.) "With the Egyptians the _Seventh_ day was consecrated to God the Father." (Ibid.) "Hesiod, Herodotus, Philostratus, &c., mention that day. Homer, Callimachus, and other ancient writers call the _Seventh_ day the _Holy One_. Eusebius confesses its observance by almost all philosophers and poets." (Ibid.) [393:2] Ibid. [393:3] Ibid. p. 413. [393:4] Pococke Specimen: Hist. Arab., p. 97. Quoted in Dunlap's Spirit Hist., p. 274. "Some of the families of the Israelites worshiped _Saturn_ under the name of Kiwan, which may have given rise to the religious observance of the Seventh day." (Bible for Learners, vol. i, p. 317.) [393:5] Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 283. [393:6] Mover's Phönizier, vol. i. p. 313. Quoted in Dunlap's Spirit Hist., p. 36. [393:7] Assyrian Discoveries. [393:8] Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 92. [393:9] Old Norse, _Odinsdagr_; Swe. and Danish, _Onsdag_; Ang. Sax., _Wodensdeg_; Dutch, _Woensdag_; Eng., _Wednesday_. [395:1] Rev. M. J. Savage. [395:2] Acts, xv. 20. [396:1] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 182. [396:2] See Eusebius' Life of Constantine, lib. iv. chs. xviii. and xxiii. [396:3] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 237. [396:4] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 187, and Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. pp. 142, 143. [396:5] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 236, and Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. pp. 142, 143. [396:6] Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 137. [396:7] Ibid. p. 307. [397:1] Gruter's Inscriptions. Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 237. [397:2] Boldonius' Epigraphs. Quoted in Ibid. [397:3] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 237. Taylor's Diegesis, p. 48, and Middleton's Letters from Rome. [397:4] Baring-Gould's Curious Myths, p. 428. [398:1] Mosheim, Cent. ii. p. 202. Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 48. [398:2] Draper: Religion and Science, pp. 48, 49. [398:3] Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 84. [399:1] See Higgins' Anacalypsis. [399:2] Jones on the Canon, vol. i. p. 11. Diegesis, p. 49. [399:3] Compare "Apollo among the Muses," and "The Vine and its Branches" (that is, Christ Jesus and his Disciples), in Lundy's _Monumental Christianity_, pp. 141-143. As Mr. Lundy says, there is so striking a resemblance between the two, that one looks very much like a copy of the other. Apollo is also represented as the "_Good Shepherd_," with a lamb upon his back, just exactly as Christ Jesus is represented in Christian Art. (See Lundy's Monumental Christianity, and Jameson's Hist. of Our Lord in Art.) [399:4] The Roman god Jonas, or Janus, with his keys, was changed into Peter, who was surnamed Bar-Jonas. Many years ago a statue of the god Janus, in bronze, being found in Rome, he was perched up in St. Peter's with his keys in his hand: the very identical god, in all his native ugliness. This statue sits as St. Peter, under the cupola of the church of St. Peter. It is looked upon with the most profound veneration: the toes are nearly kissed away by devotees. [400:1] Frothingham: The Cradle of the Christ, p. 179. [400:2] See Hardy's Eastern Monachism. [400:3] The "_Grand Lama_" is the head of a priestly order in Thibet and Tartar. The office is not hereditary, but, like the Pope of Rome, he is elected by the priests. (Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 203. See also, Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. pp. 32-34.) [400:4] See Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 233, Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 203, and Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 211. [401:1] Davis: Hist. China, vol. ii. pp. 105, 106. [401:2] Gutzlaff's Voyages, p. 309. [402:1] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 34. [402:2] See Hallam's Middle Ages. [403:1] Huc's Travels, vol. i. p. 329. [403:2] See Hardy's Eastern Monachism, p. 163. [403:3] Ibid. [403:4] Ibid. [403:5] "Vestal Virgins," an order of virgins consecrated to the goddess Vesta. [403:6] Hardy: Eastern Monachism, p. 163. [403:7] Ibid. p. 48. [403:8] See Herodotus, b. ii. ch. 36. [403:9] Dunlap: Son of the Man, p. x. [403:10] Acosta, vol. ii. p. 324. [404:1] Acosta, vol. ii. p. 330. [404:2] Ibid. p. 336. [404:3] Ibid. p. 338. [404:4] Ibid. pp. 332, 333. [404:5] Ibid. p. 337. [405:1] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 241. [405:2] See Lardner's Works, vol. viii. pp. 375, 376. [405:3] See Chap. XXXIII. [405:4] Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 127. [406:1] Renouf: Hibbert Lectures, p. 191. [406:2] Renan: Hibbert Lectures, p. 32. [406:3] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 232. [406:4] "At their entrance, purifying themselves by washing their hands in _holy water_, they were at the same time admonished to present themselves with pure minds, without which the external cleanness of the body would by no means be accepted." (Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 282.) [406:5] See Williams' Hinduism, p. 99. [406:6] See Renan's Hibbert Lectures, p. 35. [407:1] Edward Gibbon: Decline and Fall, vol. iii. p. 161. [408:1] Draper: Science and Religion, pp. 46-49. [409:1] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 237. [409:2] Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 249. See also, Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., book iv. ch. xxvi. who alludes to it. [409:3] Baronius' Annals, An. 36. [409:4] Quoted by Rev. R. Taylor, Diegesis p. 41. [409:5] Strom. bk. i. ch. xix. [410:1] "Es est nostris temporibus Christiana religio, quam cognoscere ac sequi securissima et certissima salus est: secundum hoc nomen dictum est non secundum ipsam rem cujus hoc nomen est: nam res ipsa quæ nunc Christiana religio nuncupatur erat et apud antiquos, nec defuit ab initio generis humani, quousque ipse Christus veniret in carne, unde vera religio quæ jam erat cæpit appellari Christiana. Hæc est nostris temporibus Christiana religio, non quia prioribus temporibus non fuit, sed quia posterioribus hoc nomen accepit." (Opera Augustini, vol. i. p.