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

and there can hardly be any doubt that the _Essenes_ as a body must have embraced Christianity." Here is the solution of the problem. The sacred books of Hindoos and Buddhists were among the _Essenes_, and in the library at Alexandria. The _Essenes_, who were afterwards called _Christians_, applied the legend of the _Angel-Messiah_--"the very ancient Eastern doctrine," which we have shown throughout this work--to Christ Jesus. It was simply a transformation of names, _a transformation which had previously occurred in many cases_.[442:1] After this came _additions_ to the legend from other sources. Portions of the legends related of the Persian, Greek and Roman Saviours and Redeemers of mankind, were, from time to time, added to the already legendary history of the Christian Saviour. Thus history was repeating itself. Thus the virgin-born God and Saviour, worshiped by all nations of the earth, though called by different names, was but one and the same. In a subsequent chapter we shall see _who_ this One God was, and _how_ the myth originated. Albert Revillé says: "_Alexandria_, the home of Philonism, and Neo-Platonism (and we might add _Essenism_), was naturally the centre _whence spread the dogma of the deity of Jesus Christ_. In that city, through the third century, flourished a school of transcendental theology, afterwards looked upon with suspicion by the conservators of ecclesiastical doctrine, but not the less the real cradle of orthodoxy. It was still the Platonic tendency which influenced the speculations of Clement, Origen and Dionysius, and the theory of the Logos was at the foundation of their theology."[443:1] Among the numerous gospels in circulation among the Christians of the first three centuries, there was one entitled "The Gospel of the _Egyptians_." Epiphanius (A. D. 385), speaking of it, says: "Many things are proposed (in this Gospel of the Egyptians) in a hidden, _mysterious manner_, as by our Saviour, as though he had said to his disciples, that the Father was the same person, the Son the same person, and the Holy Ghost the same person." That this was one of the "_Scriptures_" of the Essenes, becomes very evident when we find it admitted by the most learned of Christian theologians that it was in existence "_before either of the canonical Gospels_," and that it contained the doctrine of the _Trinity_, a doctrine not established in the Christian church until A. D. 327, but which was taught by this Buddhist sect in Alexandria, in Egypt, which has been well called, "Egypt, the land of Trinities." The learned Dr. Grabe thought it was composed by _some Christians in Egypt_, and that it was published _before either of the canonical Gospels_. Dr. Mill also believed that it was composed _before either of the canonical Gospels_, and, what is more important than all, _that the authors of it were Essenes_. _These "Scriptures" of the Essenes were undoubtedly amalgamated with the "Gospels" of the Christians, the result being the canonical Gospels as we now have them._ The "Gospel of the Hebrews," and such like, on the one hand, and the "Gospel of the Egyptians," or Essenes, and such like, on the other. That the "Gospel of the Hebrews" spoke of Jesus of Nazareth as the son of Joseph and Mary, _according to the flesh_, and that it taught _nothing_ about his miracles, his resurrection from the dead, and other such prodigies, is admitted on all hands. That the "Scriptures" of the Essenes contained the whole legend of the Angel-Messiah, which was afterwards added to the history of Jesus, _making him a_ CHRIST, _or an Anointed Angel_, is a probability almost to a certainty. Do we now understand how all the traditions and legends, originally _Indian_, escaping from the great focus through _Egypt_, were able to reach Judea, Greece and Rome? To continue with our subject, "why Christianity prospered," we must now speak of another great support to the cause, _i. e._, _Persecution_. Ernest de Bunsen, speaking of Buddha, says: "His religion has never been propagated by the sword. It has been effected entirely by the influence of peaceable and persevering devotees." Can we say as much for what is termed "the religion of Christ?" No! this religion has had the aid of the sword and firebrand, the rack and the thumb-screw. "_Persecution_," is to be seen written on the pages of ecclesiastical history, from the time of Constantine even to the present day.[444:1] This Christian emperor and saint was the first to check free-thought. "We search in vain," (says M. Renan), "in the collection of Roman laws _before Constantine_, for any enactment aimed at free thought, or in the history of the emperors, for a persecution of abstract doctrine. Not a single _savant_ was disturbed. Men whom the Middle Ages would have burned--such as Galen, Lucian, Plotinus--lived in peace, protected by the law."[444:2] Born and educated a pagan, Constantine embraced the Christian faith from the following motives. Having committed horrid crimes, in fact, having committed murders,[444:3] and, "When he would have had his (Pagan) priests purge him by sacrifice, of these horrible murders, and could not have his purpose (for they answered plainly, it lay not in their power to cleanse him)[444:4] he lighted at last upon an _Egyptian_ who came out of Iberia, and being persuaded by him that the Christian faith was of force to wipe away every sin, were it ever so heinous, he embraced willingly at whatever the Egyptian told him."[444:5] Mons. Dupuis, speaking of this conversion, says: "Constantine, soiled with all sorts of crimes, and stained with the blood of his wife, after repeated perjuries and assassinations, presented himself before the heathen priests in order to be absolved of so many outrages he had committed. He was answered, that amongst the various kinds of expiations, there was none which could expiate so many crimes, and that no religion whatever could offer efficient protection against the justice of the gods; and Constantine was emperor. One of the courtiers of the palace, who witnessed the trouble and agitation of his mind, torn by remorse, which nothing could appease, informed him, that the evil he was suffering was not without a remedy; that there existed in the religion of the Christians certain purifications, which expiated every kind of misdeeds, of whatever nature, and in whatsoever number they were: that one of the promises of the religion was, that whoever was converted to it, as impious and as great a villain as he might be, could hope that his crimes were immediately forgotten.[445:1] From that moment, Constantine declared himself the protector of a sect which treats great criminals with so much lenity.[445:2] He was a great villain, who tried to lull himself with illusions to smother his remorse."[445:3] By the delay of baptism, a person who had accepted the _true_ faith could venture freely to indulge their passions in the enjoyment of this world, while they still retained in their own hands the means of salvation; therefore, we find that Constantine, although he accepted the faith, did not get baptized until he was on his death-bed, as he wished to continue, as long as possible, the wicked life he was leading. Mr. Gibbon, speaking of him, says: "The example and reputation of Constantine seemed to countenance the delay of baptism. Future tyrants were encouraged to believe, that the innocent blood which they might shed in a long reign would instantly be washed away in the waters of regeneration; and the abuse of religion dangerously undermined the foundations of moral virtue."[445:4] Eusebius, in his "Life of Constantine," tells us that: "_When he thought that he was near his death_, he confessed his sins, desiring pardon for them of God, and was baptized. "Before doing so, he assembled the bishops of Nicomedia together, and spake thus unto them: "'Brethren, the salvation which I have earnestly desired of God these many years, I do now this day expect. It is time therefore that we should be sealed and signed with the badge of immortality. And though I proposed to receive it in the river Jordan, in which our Saviour for our example was baptized, yet God, knowing what is fittest for me, hath appointed that I shall receive it in this place, _therefore let me not be delayed_.'" "And so, after the service of baptism was read, they baptized him with all the ceremonies belonging to this mysterious sacrament. So that Constantine was the first of all the emperors who was regenerated by the new birth of baptism, and that was signed with the sign of the cross."[446:1] When Constantine had heard the good news from the Christian monk from Egypt, he commenced by conferring many dignities on the Christians, and those only who were addicted to Christianity, he made governors of his provinces, &c.[446:2] He then issued edicts against heretics,--_i. e._, those who, like Arius, did not believe that Christ was "_of one substance with the Father_," and others--calling them "enemies of truth and eternal life," "authors and councillors of death," &c.[446:3] He "_commanded by law_" that none should dare "to meet at conventicles," and that "all places where they were wont to keep their meetings should be _demolished_," or "confiscated to the Catholic church;"[446:4] _and Constantine was emperor_. "By this means," says Eusebius, "_such as maintained doctrines and opinions contrary to the church, were suppressed._"[446:5] This Constantine, says Eusebius: "Caused his image to be engraven on his gold coins, in the form of prayer, with his hands joined together, and looking up towards Heaven." "And over divers gates of his palace, he was drawn praying, and lifting up his hands and eyes to heaven."[446:6] After his death, "effigies of this blessed man" were engraved on the Roman coins, "sitting in and driving a chariot, and a hand reached down from heaven to receive and take him up."[446:7] The hopes of wealth and honors, the example of an emperor, his exhortations, his irresistible smiles, diffused conviction among the venal and obsequious crowds which usually fill the apartments of a palace, and as the lower ranks of society are governed by example, the conversion of those who possessed any eminence of birth, of power, or of riches, _was soon followed by dependent multitudes_. Constantine passed a law which gave freedom to all the slaves who should embrace Christianity, and to those who were not slaves, he gave a white garment and twenty pieces of gold, upon their embracing the Christian faith. The common people were thus _purchased_ at such an easy rate that, in one year, _twelve thousand men were baptised at Rome_, besides a proportionable number of women and children.[447:1] To suppress the opinions of philosophers, which were contrary to Christianity, the Christian emperors published edicts. The respective decrees of the emperors Constantine and Theodosius,[447:2] generally ran in the words, "that all writings adverse to the claims of the Christian religion, in the possession of whomsoever they should be found, should be committed to the fire," as the pious emperors would not that those things tending to provoke God to wrath, should be allowed to offend the minds of the piously disposed. The following is a decree of the Emperor Theodosius of this purport: "We decree, therefore, that all writings, whatever, which Porphyry or anyone else hath written against the Christian religion, in the possession of whomsoever they shall be found should be committed to the fire; for we would not suffer any of those things so much as to come to men's ears, which tend to provoke God to wrath and offend the minds of the _pious_."[447:3] A similar decree of the emperor for establishing the doctrine of the Trinity, concludes with an admonition to all who shall object to it, that, "Besides the condemnation of divine justice, they must expect to suffer the severe penalties, which _our_ authority, guided by heavenly wisdom, may think proper to inflict upon them."[447:4] This orthodox emperor (Theodosius) considered every heretic (as he called those who did not believe as he and his ecclesiastics _professed_) a rebel against the supreme powers of heaven and of earth (he being one of the supreme powers of earth), _and each of the powers_ might exercise their peculiar jurisdiction _over the soul and body of the guilty_. The decrees of the Council of Constantinople had ascertained the _true_ standard of the faith, _and the ecclesiastics, who governed the conscience of Theodosius, suggested the most effectual methods of persecution_. In the space of fifteen years he promulgated at least fifteen severe edicts against the heretics, _more especially against those who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity_.[448:1] _Arius_ (the presbyter of whom we have spoken in Chapter XXXV., as declaring that, in the nature of things, _a father must be older than his son_) was _excommunicated_ for his so-called _heretical_ notions concerning the Trinity. His followers, who were very numerous, were called Arians. Their writings, _if they had been permitted to exist_,[448:2] would undoubtedly contain the lamentable story of the persecution which affected the church under the reign of the impious Emperor _Theodosius_. In Asia Minor the people were persecuted by orders of Constantius, and these orders were more than obeyed by Macedonius. The civil and military powers were ordered to obey his commands; the consequence was, he disgraced the reign of Constantius. "The rites of baptism were conferred on women and children, who, for that purpose, had been torn from the arms of their friends and parents; the mouths of the communicants were held open by a wooden engine, while the consecrated bread was forced down their throats; the breasts of tender virgins were either burned with red-hot egg-shells, or inhumanly compressed between sharp and heavy boards."[448:3] The principal assistants of Macedonius--the tool of Constantius--in the work of persecution, were the two bishops of Nicomedia and Cyzicus, who were esteemed for their virtues, and especially for their charity.[448:4] Julian, the successor of Constantius, has described some of the theological calamities which afflicted the empire, and more especially in the East, in the reign of a prince who was the slave of his own passions, and of those of his eunuchs: "Many were imprisoned, and persecuted, and driven into exile. Whole troops of those who are styled _heretics_ were massacred, particularly at Cyzicus, and at Samosata. In Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Gallatia, and in many other provinces, towns and villages were laid waste, and utterly destroyed."[449:1] Persecutions in the name of Christ Jesus were inflicted on the heathen in most every part of the then known world. Even among the Norwegians, the Christian sword was unsheathed. They clung tenaciously to the worship of their forefathers, and numbers of them died real martyrs for their faith, after suffering the most cruel torments from their persecutors. It was by sheer compulsion that the Norwegians embraced Christianity. The reign of Olaf Tryggvason, a Christian king of Norway, was in fact entirely devoted to the propagation of the new faith, by means the most revolting to humanity. His general practice was to enter a district at the head of a formidable force, summon a _Thing_,[449:2] and give the people the alternative of fighting with him, or of being baptized. Most of them, of course, preferred baptism to the risk of a battle with an adversary so well prepared for combat; and the recusants were tortured to death with fiend-like ferocity, and their estates confiscated.[449:3] These are some of the reasons "why Christianity prospered." * * * * * NOTE.--The learned Christian historian Pagi endeavors to smoothe over the crimes of Constantine. He says: "As for those few murders (which Eusebius says nothing about), had he thought it worth his while to refer to them, he would perhaps, with Baronius himself have said, that the young Licinius (his infant nephew), although the fact might not generally have been known, had most likely been an accomplice in the treason of his father. That as to the murder of his son, the Emperor is rather to be considered as unfortunate than as criminal. And with respect to his putting his wife to death, he ought to be pronounced rather a just and righteous judge. As for his numerous friends, whom Eutropius informs us he put to death one after another, we are bound to believe that most of them deserved it, and they were found out to have abused the Emperor's too great credulity, for the gratification of their own inordinate wickedness, and insatiable avarice; and such no doubt was that SOPATER the philosopher, who was at last put to death upon the accusation of Adlabius, and that by the righteous dispensation of God, for his having attempted to alienate the mind of Constantine from the true religion." (_Pagi Ann._ 324, quoted in Latin by Dr. Lardner, vol. iv. p. 371, in his notes for the benefit of the _learned_ reader, but gives no rendering into English.) FOOTNOTES: [419:1] "Numerous bodies of ascetics (Therapeutæ), especially near Lake Mareotis, devoted themselves to discipline and study, abjuring society and labor, and often forgetting, it is said, the simplest wants of nature, in contemplating the hidden wisdom of the _Scriptures_. Eusebius even claimed them as _Christians_; and some of the forms of monasticism were evidently modeled after the _Therapeutæ_." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, art. "_Alexandria_.") [420:1] Comp. Matt. vi. 33; Luke, xii. 31. [420:2] Comp. Matt. vi. 19-21. [420:3] Comp. Matt. xix. 21; Luke, xii. 33. [420:4] Comp. Acts, ii. 44, 45; iv. 32-34; John, xii. 6; xiii. 29. [420:5] Comp. Matt. xx. 25-28; Mark, ix. 35-37; x. 42-45. [420:6] Comp. Matt. xxiii. 8-10. [420:7] Comp. Matt. v. 5; xi. 29. [420:8] Comp. Mark, xvi. 17; Matt. x. 8; Luke, ix. 1, 2; x. 9. [420:9] Comp. Matt. v. 34. [420:10] Comp. Matt. x. 9, 10. [421:1] Comp. Luke, xxii. 36. [421:2] Comp. Matt. xix. 10-12; I. Cor. viii. [421:3] Comp. Rom. xii. 1. [421:4] Comp. I. Cor. xiv. 1, 39. [421:5] The above comparisons have been taken from Ginsburg's "Essenes," to which the reader is referred for a more lengthy observation on the subject. [421:6] Ginsburg's Essenes, p. 24. [421:7] "We hear very little of them after A. D. 40; and there can hardly be any doubt that, owing to the great similarity existing between their precepts and practices and those of primitive Christians, the Essenes _as a body_ must have embraced Christianity." (Dr. Ginsburg, p. 27.) [422:1] This will be alluded to in another chapter. [422:2] It was believed by some that the order of _Essenes_ was instituted by Elias, and some writers asserted that there was a regular succession of hermits upon Mount Carmel from the time of the prophets to that of Christ, and that the hermits embraced Christianity at an early period. (See Ginsburgh's Essenes, and Hardy's Eastern Monachism, p. 358.) [422:3] King's Gnostics and their Remains, p. 1. [422:4] Ibid. p. 6. [422:5] King's Gnostics, p. 23. [422:6] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 2, ch. xvii. [423:1] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 2, ch. xvii. [423:2] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. vii. "The New Testament is the Essene-Nazarene Glad Tidings! Adon, Adoni, Adonis, style of worship." (S. F. Dunlap: Son of the Man, p. iii.) [423:3] Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 747; vol. ii. p. 34. [423:4] "In this," says Mr. Lillie, "he was supported by philosophers of the calibre of Schilling and Schopenhauer, and the great Sanscrit authority, Lassen. Renan also sees traces of this Buddhist propagandism in Palestine before the Christian era. Hilgenfeld, Mutter, Bohlen, King, all admit the Buddhist influence. Colebrooke saw a striking similarity between the Buddhist philosophy and that of the Pythagoreans. Dean Milman was convinced that the Therapeuts sprung from the 'contemplative and indolent fraternities' of India." And, he might have added, the Rev. Robert Taylor in his "_Diegesis_," and Godfrey Higgins in his "Anacalypsis," have brought strong arguments to bear in support of this theory. [424:1] Buddha and Early Buddhism, p. vi. [424:2] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 121. [424:3] Ibid. p. 240. [425:1] "The Essenes abounded in Egypt, especially about Alexandria." (Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 2, ch. xvii.) [425:2] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 255. [426:1] Rhys Davids' Buddhism, p. 179. [426:2] This is clearly shown by Mr. Higgins in his Anacalypsis. It should be remembered that Gautama Buddha, the "Angel-Messiah," and Cyrus, the "Anointed" of the Lord, are placed about six hundred years before Jesus, the "Anointed." This cycle of six hundred years was called the "_great year_." Josephus, the Jewish historian, alludes to it when speaking of the patriarchs that lived to a great age. "God afforded them a longer time of life," says he, "on account of their virtue, and the good use they made of it in astronomical and geometrical discoveries, which would not have afforded the time for foretelling (the periods of the stars), unless they had lived _six hundred years_; for the _great year_ is completed in that interval." (Josephus, Antiq., bk. i. c. iii.) "From this cycle of _six hundred_," says Col. Vallancey, "came the name of the bird Phoenix, called by the Egyptians Phenu, with the well-known story of its going to Egypt to burn itself on the altar of the Sun (at Heliopolis) and rise again from its ashes, at the end of a certain period." [426:3] "Philo's writings prove the probability, almost rising to a certainty, that already in his time the Essenes did expect an Angel-Messiah as one of a series of divine incarnations. Within about fifty years after Philo's death, Elkesai the Essene probably applied this doctrine to Jesus, and it was promulgated in Rome about the same time, if not earlier, by the Pseudo-Clementines." (Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 118.) "There was, at this time (_i. e._, at the time of the birth of Jesus), a prevalent expectation that some remarkable personage was about to appear in Judea. The Jews were anxiously looking for the coming of the _Messiah_. By computing the time mentioned by Daniel (ch. ix. 23-27), they knew that the period was approaching when the Messiah should appear. This personage, _they supposed_, would be a temporal prince, and they were expecting that he would deliver them from Roman bondage. _It was natural that this expectation should spread into other countries._" (Barnes' Notes, vol. i. p. 27.) [427:1] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 273. [427:2] See Lardner's Works, vol. viii. p. 353. [427:3] Apol. 1, ch. xxvi. [428:1] See Lardner's Works, vol. viii. p. 593. [428:2] Socrates: Eccl. Hist., lib. i. ch. xvii. [429:1] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 3, ch. xxiii. [429:2] Ibid. lib. 7, ch. xxx. [429:3] The death of Manes, according to Socrates, was as follows: The King of Persia, hearing that he was in Mesopotamia, "made him to be apprehended, flayed him alive, took his skin, filled it full of chaff, and hanged it at the gates of the city." (Eccl. Hist., lib. 1, ch. xv.) [430:1] Plato in Apolog. Anac., ii. p. 189. [431:1] Mark, xiii. 21, 22. [432:1] Geikie: Life of Christ, vol. i. p. 79. [433:1] Frothingham's Cradle of the Christ. [433:2] "The prevailing opinion of the Rabbis and the people alike, in Christ's day, was, that the Messiah would be simply a great prince, who should found a kingdom of matchless splendor." "With a few, however, the conception of the Messiah's kingdom was pure and lofty. . . . Daniel, and all who wrote after him, painted the 'Expected One' as a _heavenly being_. He was the 'messenger,' the 'Elect of God,' appointed from eternity, to appear in due time, and _redeem_ his people." (Geikie's Life of Christ, vol. i. pp. 80, 81.) In the book of _Daniel_, by some supposed to have been written during the captivity, by others as late as Antiochus Epiphanes (B. C. 75), the restoration of the Jews is described in tremendous language, and the Messiah is portrayed as a supernatural personage, in close relation with Jehovah himself. In the book of Enoch, supposed to have been written at various intervals between 144 and 120 (B. C.) and to have been completed in its present form in the first half of the second century that preceded the advent of Jesus, the figure of the Messiah is invested with superhuman attributes. He is called "The Son of God," "whose name was spoken before the Sun was made;" "who existed from the beginning in the presence of God," that is, was pre-existent. At the same time his human characteristics are insisted on. He is called "Son of Man," even "Son of Woman," "The Anointed" or "The Christ," "The Righteous One," &c. (Frothingham: The Cradle of the Christ, p. 20.) [433:3] This is clearly seen from the statement made by the Matthew narrator (xvii. 9-13) that the disciples of Christ Jesus supposed John the Baptist was Elias. [434:1] Isaiah, xlv. 1. [434:2] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 17. [434:3] Quoted in Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 51. [434:4] Hieron ad Nep. Quoted Volney's Ruins, p. 177, _note_. [434:5] See his Eccl. Hist., viii. 21. [435:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii. pp. 79, 80. [435:2] "On voit dans l'histoire que j'ai rapportée une sorte d'hypocrisie, qui n'a peut-être été que trop commune dans tous les tems. C'est que des ecclésiastiques, non-seulement ne disent pas ce qu'ils pensent, mais disent tout le contraire de ce qu'ils pensent. Philosophes dans leur cabinet, hors delà, ils content des fables, quoiqu'ils sachent bien que ce sont des fables. Ils font plus; ils livrent au bourreau des gens de biens, pour l'avoir dit. Combiens d'athées et de profanes ont fait brûler de saints personnages, sous prétexte d'hérésie? Tous les jours des hypocrites, consacrent et font adorer l'hostie, bien qu'ils soient aussi convaincus que moi, que ce n'est qu'un morceau de pain." (Tom. 2, p. 568.) [435:3] On the Use of the Fathers, pp. 36, 37. [435:4] Quoted in Taylor's Syntagma, p. 170. [435:5] Mosheim: vol. 1, p. 198. [435:6] "Postremo illud quoque me vehementer movet, quod videam primis ecclesiæ temporibus, quam plurimos extitisse, qui facinus palmarium judicabant, cælestem veritatem, figmentis suis ire adjutum, quo facilius nova doctrina a gentium sapientibus admitteretur Officiosa hæc mendacia vocabant bono fine exeogitata." (Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 44, and Giles' Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. ii. p. 19.) [436:1] See the Vision of Hermas, b. 2, c. iii. [436:2] Mosheim, vol. i. p. 197. Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 47. [436:3] Dr. Giles: Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. ii. p. 99. [436:4] "Continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister." (Colossians, i. 23.) [436:5] "Being crafty, I caught you with guile." (II. Cor. xii. 16.) [436:6] "For if the truth of God had more abounded _through my lie_ unto his glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner." (Romans, iii. 7.) [437:1] "Si me tamen audire velis, mallem te pænas has dicere indefinitas quam infinitas. Sed veniet dies, cum non minus absurda, habebitur et odiosa hæc opinio quam transubstantiatio hodie." (De Statu Mort., p. 304. Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 43.) [437:2] Quoted in Taylor's Syntagma, p. 52. Among the ancients, there were many stories current of countries, the inhabitants of which were of peculiar size, form or features. Our Christian saint evidently believed these tales, and thinking thus, sought to make others believe them. We find the following examples related by _Herodotus_: "Aristeas, son of Caystrobius, a native of Proconesus, says in his epic verses that, inspired by Apollo, he came to the Issedones; that beyond the Issedones dwell the Arimaspians, _a people that have only one eye_." (Herodotus, book iv. ch. 13.) "When one has passed through a considerable extent of the rugged country (of the Seythians), a people are found living at the foot of lofty mountains, _who are said to be all bald from their birth_, both men and women alike, and they are flat-nosed, and have large chins." (Ibid. ch. 23.) "These bald men say, what to me is incredible, that _men with goat's feet_ inhabit these mountains; and when one has passed beyond them, other men are found, _who sleep six months at a time_, but this I do not at all admit." (Ibid. ch. 24.) In the country westward of Libya, "there are enormous serpents, and lions, elephants, bears, asps, and asses with horns, and monsters with dog's heads and without heads, _who have eyes in their breasts_, at least, as the Libyans say, and wild men and wild women, and many other wild beasts which are not fabulous." (Ibid. ch. 192.) [438:1] Nicodemus, Apoc., ch. xii. [438:2] See Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 1, ch. xiv. [438:3] Socrates: Eccl. Hist., lib. 1, ch. xiii. [438:4] In year 1444, Caxton published the first book ever printed in England. In 1474, the then Bishop of London, in a convocation of his clergy, said: "_If we do not destroy this dangerous invention, it will one day destroy us._" (See Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 4.) The reader should compare this with Pope Leo X.'s avowal that, "_it is well known how profitable this fable of Christ has been to us_;" and Archdeacon Paley's declaration that "_he could ill afford to have a conscience_." [438:5] _Porphyry_, who flourished about the year 270 A. D., a man of great abilities, published a large work of fifteen books against the Christians. "His objections against Christianity," says Dr. Lardner, "were in esteem with Gentile people for a long while; and the Christians were not insensible of the importance of his work; as may be concluded from the several answers made to it by Eusebius, and others in great repute for learning." (Vol. viii. p. 158.) There are but fragments of these _fifteen_ books remaining, _Christian magistrates_ having ordered them to be destroyed. (Ibid.) [438:6] _Hierocles_ was a Neo-Platonist, who lived at Alexandria about the middle of the fifth century, and enjoyed a great reputation. He was the author of a great number of works, a few extracts of which alone remain. [438:7] _Celsus_ was an Epicurean philosopher, who lived in the second century A. D. He wrote a work called "The True Word," against Christianity, but as it has been destroyed we know nothing about it. Origen claims to give quotations from it. [440:1] Draper: Religion and Science, pp. 18-21. [440:2] Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. p. 146. [441:1] Draper: Religion and Science, pp. 55, 56. See also, Socrates' Eccl. Hist., lib. 7, ch. xv. [442:1] We have seen this particularly in the cases of Crishna and Buddha. Mr. Cox, speaking of the former, says: "If it be urged that the attribution to Crishna of qualities or powers belonging to the other deities is a mere device by which _his_ devotees sought to supersede the more ancient gods, _the answer must be that nothing has been done in his case which has not been done in the case of almost every other member of the great company of the gods_." (Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 130.) These words apply to the case we have before us. Jesus was simply attributed with the qualities or powers which _had been previously attributed to other deities_. This we hope to be able to fully demonstrate in our chapter on "_Explanation_." [443:1] "Dogma of the Deity of Jesus Christ," p. 41. [444:1] Adherents of the old religion of Russia have been persecuted in that country within the past year, and even in enlightened England, a gentleman has been persecuted by government officials because he believes in neither a personal God or a personal Devil. [444:2] Renan, Hibbert Lectures, p. 22. [444:3] The following are the names of his victims: Maximian, His wife's father, A. D. 310 Bassianus, His sister's husband, A. D. 314 Licinius, His nephew, A. D. 319 Fausta, His wife, A. D. 320 Sopater, His former friend, A. D. 321 Licinius, His sister's husband, A. D. 325 Crispus, His own son, A. D. 326 Dr. Lardner, in speaking of the murders committed by this Christian saint, is constrained to say that: "The death of Crispus is altogether without any _good_ excuse, so likewise is the death of the young Licinianus, who could not have been more than a little above eleven years of age, and appears not to have been charged with any fault, and could hardly be suspected of any." [444:4] The Emperor Nero could not be _baptized_ and be initiated into Pagan Mysteries--as Constantine was initiated into those of the Christians--on account of the murder of his mother. And he did not dare to _compel_--which he certainly could have done--the priests to initiate him. [444:5] Zosimus, in Socrates, lib. iii. ch. xl. [445:1] "The sacrament of baptism was supposed to contain a full and absolute expiation of sin; and the soul was instantly restored to its original purity and entitled to the promise of eternal salvation. Among the proselytes of Christianity, there were many who judged it imprudent to precipitate a salutary rite, which could not be repeated. By the delay of their baptism, they could venture freely to indulge their passions in the enjoyments of this world, while they still retained in their own hands the means of a sure and speedy absolution." (Gibbon: ii. pp. 272, 273.) [445:2] "Constantine, as he was praying about noon-tide, God showed him a vision in the sky, which was the sign of the cross lively figured in the air, with this inscription on it: 'In hoc vince;' that is, 'By this overcome.'" This is the story as related by Eusebius (Life of Constantine, lib. 1, ch. xxii.), but it must be remembered that Eusebius acknowledged that he told falsehoods. That night Christ appeared unto Constantine in his dream, and commanded him to make the figure of the cross which he had seen, and to wear it in his _banner_ when he went to battle with his enemies. (See Eusebius' Life of Constantine, lib. 1, ch. xxiii. See also, Socrates: Eccl. Hist., lib. 1, ch. ii.) [445:3] Dupuis, p. 405. [445:4] Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii. p. 373. The Fathers, who censured this criminal delay, could not deny the certain and victorious efficacy even of a death-bed baptism. The ingenious rhetoric of Chrysostom (A. D. 347-407) could find only three arguments against these prudent Christians. 1. "That we should love and pursue virtue for her own sake, and not merely for the reward. 2. That we may be surprised by death without an opportunity of baptism. 3. That although we shall be placed in heaven, we shall only twinkle like little stars, when compared to the suns of righteousness who have run their appointed course with labor, with success, and with glory." (Chrysostom in Epist. ad Hebræos. Homil. xiii. Quoted in Gibbon's "Rome," ii. 272.) [446:1] Lib. 4, chs. lxi. and lxii., and Socrates: Eccl. Hist., lib. 2, ch. xxvi. [446:2] Eusebius: Life of Constantine, lib. 2, ch. xliii. [446:3] Ibid. lib. 3, ch. lxii. [446:4] Ibid. lib. 3, ch. lxiii. [446:5] Ibid. lib. 3, ch. lxiv. [446:6] Ibid. lib. 4, ch. xv. [446:7] Ibid. ch. lxiii. Plato places the ferocious tyrants in the Tartarus, such as Ardiacus of Pamphylia, who had slain his own father, a venerable old man, also an elder brother, and was stained with a great many other crimes. Constantine, covered with similar crimes, was better treated by the Christians, who have sent him to heaven, and _sainted_ him besides. [447:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii. p. 274. [447:2] "Theodosius, though a professor of the orthodox Christian faith, was not baptized till 380, and his behavior after that period stamps him as one of the most cruel and vindictive persecutors who ever wore the purple. His arbitrary establishment of the Nicene faith over the whole empire, the deprivation of civil rites of all apostates from Christianity and of the Eunomians, the sentence of death on the Manicheans, and Quarto-decimans all prove this." (Chambers's Encyclo., art. Theodosius.) [447:3] Quoted in Taylor's Syntagma, p. 54. [447:4] Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. p. 81. [448:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. pp. 91, 92. [448:2] All their writings were ordered to be destroyed. [448:3] Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii. p. 359. [448:4] Ibid. note 154. [449:1] Julian: Epistol. lii. p. 436. Quoted in Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii. p. 360. [449:2] "_Thing_"--a general assembly of the freemen, who gave their assent to a measure by striking their shields with their drawn swords. [449:3] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, pp. 180, 351, and 470.