The Crucifixion Of Christ Jesus

The punishment of an individual by crucifixion, for claiming to be "King

of the Jews," "Son of God," or "The Christ;" which are the causes

assigned by the Evangelists for the Crucifixion of Jesus, would need but

a passing glance in our inquiry, were it not for the fact that there is

much attached to it of a dogmatic and heathenish nature, which

demands considerably more than a "passing glance." The doctrine of

atonemen for sin had been preached long before the doctrine was deduced

from the Christian Scriptures, long before these Scriptures are

pretended to have been written. Before the period assigned for the birth

of Christ Jesus, the poet Ovid had assailed the demoralizing delusion

with the most powerful shafts of philosophic scorn: "When thou thyself

art guilty," says he, "why should a victim die for thee? What folly it

is to expect salvation from the death of another."



The idea of expiation by the sacrifice of a god was to be found among

the Hindoos even in Vedic times. The sacrificer was mystically

identified with the victim, which was regarded as the ransom for sin,

and the instrument of its annulment. The Rig-Veda represents the gods

as sacrificing Purusha, the primeval male, supposed to be coeval with

the Creator. This idea is even more remarkably developed in the

Tandya-brahmanas, thus:



"The lord of creatures (praja-pati) offered himself a

sacrifice for the gods."



And again, in the Satapatha-brahmana:



"He who, knowing this, sacrifices the Purusha-medha, or

sacrifice of the primeval male, becomes everything."[181:1]



Prof. Monier Williams, from whose work on Hindooism we quote the

above, says:



"Surely, in these mystical allusions to the sacrifice of a

representative man, we may perceive traces of the original

institution of sacrifice as a divinely-appointed ordinance

typical of the one great sacrifice of the Son of God for the

sins of the world."[182:1]



This idea of redemption from sin through the sufferings and death of a

Divine Incarnate Saviour, is simply the crowning-point of the idea

entertained by primitive man that the gods demanded a sacrifice of

some kind, to atone for some sin, or avert some calamity.



In primitive ages, when men lived mostly on vegetables, they offered

only grain, water, salt, fruit, and flowers to the gods, to propitiate

them and thereby obtain temporal blessings. But when they began to eat

meat and spices, and drink wine, they offered the same; naturally

supposing the deities would be pleased with whatever was useful or

agreeable to themselves. They imagined that some gods were partial to

animals, others to fruits, flowers, etc. To the celestial gods they

offered white victims at sunrise, or at open day. To the infernal

deities they sacrificed black animals in the night. Each god had some

creature peculiarly devoted to his worship. They sacrificed a bull to

Mars, a dove to Venus, and to Minerva, a heifer without blemish,

which had never been put to the yoke. If a man was too poor to sacrifice

a living animal, he offered an image of one made of bread.



In the course of time, it began to be imagined that the gods demanded

something more sacred as offerings or atonements for sin. This led to

the sacrifice of human beings, principally slaves and those taken in

war, then, their own children, even their most beloved "first-born." It

came to be an idea that every sin must have its prescribed amount of

punishment, and that the gods would accept the life of one person as

atonement for the sins of others. This idea prevailed even in Greece

and Rome: but there it mainly took the form of heroic self-sacrifice for

the public good. Cicero says: "The force of religion was so great among

our ancestors, that some of their commanders have, with their faces

veiled, and with the strongest expressions of sincerity, sacrificed

themselves to the immortal gods to save their country."[182:2]



In Egypt, offerings of human sacrifices, for the atonement of sin,

became so general that "if the eldest born of the family of Athamas

entered the temple of the Laphystan Jupiter at Alos in Achaia, he was

sacrificed, crowned with garlands like an animal victim."[182:3]



When the Egyptian priests offered up a sacrifice to the gods, they

pronounced the following imprecations on the head of the victim:



"If any evil is about to befall either those who now

sacrifice, or Egypt in general, may it be averted on this

head."[183:1]



This idea of atonement finally resulted in the belief that the incarnate

Christ, the Anointed, the God among us, was to save mankind from

a curse by God imposed. Man had sinned, and God could not and did not

forgive without a propitiatory sacrifice. The curse of God must be

removed from the sinful, and the sinless must bear the load of that

curse. It was asserted that divine justice required BLOOD.[183:2]



The belief of redemption from sin by the sufferings of a Divine

Incarnation, whether by death on the cross or otherwise, was general

and popular among the heathen, centuries before the time of Jesus of

Nazareth, and this dogma, no matter how sacred it may have become, or

how consoling it may be, must fall along with the rest of the material

of which the Christian church is built.



Julius Firmicius, referring to this popular belief among the Pagans,

says: "The devil has his Christs."[183:3] This was the general

off-hand manner in which the Christian Fathers disposed of such matters.

Everything in the religion of the Pagans which corresponded to their

religion was of the devil. Most Protestant divines have resorted to the

type theory, of which we shall speak anon.



As we have done heretofore in our inquiries, we will first turn to

India, where we shall find, in the words of M. l'Abbe Huc, that "the

idea of redemption by a divine incarnation," who came into the world

for the express purpose of redeeming mankind, was "general and

popular."[183:4]



"A sense of original corruption," says Prof. Monier Williams, seems

to be felt by all classes of Hindoos, as indicated by the following

prayer used after the Gayatri by some Vaishnavas:



"'I am sinful, I commit sin, my nature is sinful, I am

conceived in sin. Save me, O thou lotus-eyed Heri (Saviour),

the remover of sin.'"[184:1]



Moreover, the doctrine of bhakti (salvation by faith) existed among

the Hindoos from the earliest times.[184:2]



Crishna, the virgin-born, "the Divine Vishnu himself,"[184:3] "he who is

without beginning, middle or end,"[184:4] being moved "to relieve the

earth of her load,"[184:5] came upon earth and redeemed man by his

sufferings--to save him.



The accounts of the deaths of most all the virgin-born Saviours of whom

we shall speak, are conflicting. It is stated in one place that such an

one died in such a manner, and in another place we may find it stated

altogether differently. Even the accounts of the death of Jesus, as we

shall hereafter see, are conflicting; therefore, until the chapter on

"Explanation" is read, these myths cannot really be thoroughly

understood.



As the Rev. Geo. W. Cox remarks, in his Aryan Mythology, Crishna is

described, in one of his aspects, as a self-sacrificing and unselfish

hero, a being who is filled with divine wisdom and love, who offers up a

sacrifice which he alone can make.[184:6]



The Vishnu Purana[184:7] speaks of Crishna being shot in the foot

with an arrow, and states that this was the cause of his death. Other

accounts, however, state that he was suspended on a tree, or in other

words, crucified.



Mons. Guigniaut, in his "Religion de l'Antiquite" says:



"The death of Crishna is very differently related. One

remarkable and convincing tradition makes him perish on a

tree, to which he was nailed by the stroke of an

arrow."[184:8]



Rev. J. P. Lundy alludes to this passage of Guigniaut's in his

"Monumental Christianity," and translates the passage "un bois fatal"

(see note below) "a cross." Although we do not think he is justified

in doing this, as M. Guigniaut has distinctly stated that this "bois

fatal" (which is applied to a gibbet, a cross, a scaffold, etc.) was "un

arbre" (a tree), yet, he is justified in doing so on other accounts,

for we find that Crishna is represented hanging on a cross, and we

know that a cross was frequently called the "accursed tree." It was

an ancient custom to use trees as gibbets for crucifixion, or, if

artificial, to call the cross a tree.[185:1]



A writer in Deuteronomy[185:2] speaks of hanging criminals upon a

tree, as though it was a general custom, and says:



"He that is hanged (on a tree) is accursed of God."



And Paul undoubtedly refers to this text when he says:



"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being

made a curse for us; for it is written, 'Cursed is every one

that hangeth on a tree.'"[185:3]



It is evident, then, that to be hung on a cross was anciently called

hanging on a tree, and to be hung on a tree was called crucifixion. We

may therefore conclude from this, and from what we shall now see, that

Crishna was said to have been crucified.



In the earlier copies of Moor's "Hindu Pantheon," is to be seen

representations of Crishna (as Wittoba),[185:4] with marks of holes in

both feet, and in others, of holes in the hands. In Figures 4 and 5 of

Plate 11 (Moor's work), the figures have nail-holes in both feet.

Figure 6 has a round hole in the side; to his collar or shirt hangs

the emblem of a heart (which we often see in pictures of Christ Jesus)

and on his head he has a Yoni-Linga (which we do not see in pictures

of Christ Jesus.)



Our Figure No. 7 (next page), is a pre-Christian crucifix of Asiatic

origin,[185:5] evidently intended to represent Crishna crucified. Figure

No. 8 we can speak more positively of, it is surely Crishna crucified.

It is unlike any Christian crucifix ever made, and, with that described

above with the Yoni-Linga attached to the head, would probably not be

claimed as such. Instead of the crown of thorns usually put on the

head of the Christian Saviour, it has the turreted coronet of the

Ephesian Diana, the ankles are tied together by a cord, and the dress

about the loins is exactly the style with which Crishna is almost always

represented.[185:6]



Rev. J. P. Lundy, speaking of the Christian crucifix, says:



"I object to the crucifix because it is an image, and

liable to gross abuse, just as the old Hindoo crucifix was an

idol."[186:1]









And Dr. Inman says:



"Crishna, whose history so closely resembles our Lord's, was

also like him in his being crucified."[186:2]



The Evangelist[186:3] relates that when Jesus was crucified two others

(malefactors) were crucified with him, one of whom, through his favor,

went to heaven. One of the malefactors reviled him, but the other said

to Jesus: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." And

Jesus said unto him: "Verily I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with

me in paradise." According to the Vishnu Purana, the hunter who shot

the arrow at Crishna afterwards said unto him: "Have pity upon me, who

am consumed by my crime, for thou art able to consume me!" Crishna

replied: "Fear not thou in the least. Go, hunter, through my favor, to

heaven, the abode of the gods." As soon as he had thus spoken, a

celestial car appeared, and the hunter, ascending it, forthwith

proceeded to heaven. Then the illustrious Crishna, having united himself

with his own pure, spiritual, inexhaustible, inconceivable, unborn,

undecaying, imperishable and universal spirit, which is one with

Vasudeva (God),[186:4] abandoned his mortal body, and the condition of

the threefold equalities.[186:5] One of the titles of Crishna is

"Pardoner of sins," another is "Liberator from the Serpent of

death."[187:1]









The monk Georgius, in his Tibetinum Alphabetum (p. 203), has given

plates of a crucified god who was worshiped in Nepal. These

crucifixes were to be seen at the corners of roads and on eminences. He

calls it the god Indra. Figures No. 9 and No. 10 are taken from this

work. They are also different from any Christian crucifix yet produced.

Georgius says:



"If the matter stands as Beausobre thinks, then the

inhabitants of India, and the Buddhists, whose religion is the

same as that of the inhabitants of Thibet, have received these

new portents of fanatics nowhere else than from the

Manicheans. For those nations, especially in the city of

Nepal, in the month of August, being about to celebrate the

festival days of the god Indra, erect crosses, wreathed with

Abrotono, to his memory, everywhere. You have the

description of these in letter B, the picture following after;

for A is the representation of Indra himself crucified,

bearing on his forehead, hands and feet the signs

Telech."[187:2]



P. Andrada la Crozius, one of the first Europeans who went to Nepal and

Thibet, in speaking of the god whom they worshiped there--Indra--tells

us that they said he spilt his blood for the salvation of the human

race, and that he was pierced through the body with nails. He further

says that, although they do not say he suffered the penalty of the

cross, yet they find, nevertheless, figures of it in their books.[188:1]



In regard to Beausobre's ideas that the religion of India is corrupted

Christianity, obtained from the Manicheans, little need be said, as all

scholars of the present day know that the religion of India is many

centuries older than Mani or the Manicheans.[188:2]



In the promontory of India, in the South, at Tanjore, and in the North,

at Oude or Ayoudia, was found the worship of the crucified god Bal-li.

This god, who was believed to have been an incarnation of Vishnu, was

represented with holes in his hands and side.[188:3]



The incarnate god Buddha, although said to have expired peacefully at

the foot of a tree, is nevertheless described as a suffering Saviour,

who, "when his mind was moved by pity (for the human race) gave his

life like grass for the sake of others."[188:4]



A hymn, addressed to Buddha, says:



"Persecutions without end,

Revilings and many prisons,

Death and murder,

These hast thou suffered with love and patience

(To secure the happiness of mankind),

Forgiving thine executioners."[188:5]



He was called the "Great Physician,"[188:6] the "Saviour of the

World,"[188:7] the "Blessed One,"[188:8] the "God among Gods,"[188:9]

the "Anointed," or the "Christ,"[188:10] the "Messiah,"[188:11] the

"Only Begotten,"[188:12] etc. He is described by the author of the

"Cambridge Key"[188:13] as sacrificing his life to wash away the

offenses of mankind, and thereby to make them partakers of the kingdom

of heaven. This induces him to say "Can a Christian doubt that this

Buddha was the TYPE of the Saviour of the World."[189:1]



As a spirit in the fourth heaven, he resolves to give up "all that

glory, in order to be born into the world," "to rescue all men from

their misery and every future consequence of it." He vows "to deliver

all men, who are left as it were without a Saviour."[189:2]



While in the realms of the blest, and when about to descend upon earth

to be born as man, he said:



"I am now about to assume a body; not for the sake of gaining

wealth, or enjoying the pleasures of sense, but I am about to

descend and be born, among men, simply to give peace and rest

to all flesh; to remove all sorrow and grief from the

world."[189:3]



M. l'Abbe Huc says:



"In the eyes of the Buddhists, this personage (Buddha) is

sometimes a man and sometimes a god, or rather both one and

the other--a divine incarnation, a man-god--who came into the

world to enlighten men, to redeem them, and to indicate to

them the way of safety. This idea of redemption by a divine

incarnation is so general and popular among the Buddhists,

that during our travels in Upper Asia we everywhere found it

expressed in a neat formula. If we addressed to a Mongol or a

Thibetan the question 'Who is Buddha?' he would immediately

reply: 'The Saviour of Men!'"[189:4]



According to Prof. Max Mueller, Buddha is reported as saying:



"Let all the sins that were committed in this world fall on

me, that the world may be delivered."[189:5]



The Indians are no strangers to the doctrine of original sin. It is

their invariable belief that man is a fallen being; admitted by them

from time immemorial.[189:6] And what we have seen concerning their

beliefs in Crishna and Buddha unmistakably shows a belief in a

divine Saviour, who redeems man, and takes upon himself the sins of

the world; so that "Baddha paid it all, all to him is due."[189:7]



The idea of redemption through the sufferings and death of a Divine

Saviour, is to be found even in the ancient religions of China. One of

their five sacred volumes, called the Y-King, says, in speaking of

Tien, the "Holy One":



"The Holy One will unite in himself all the virtues of

heaven and earth. By his justice the world will be

re-established in the ways of righteousness. He will labor and

suffer much. He must pass the great torrent, whose waves shall

enter into his soul; but he alone can offer up to the Lord a

sacrifice worthy of him."[190:1]



An ancient commentator says:



"The common people sacrifice their lives to gain bread; the

philosophers to gain reputation; the nobility to perpetuate

their families. The Holy One (Tien) does not seek himself,

but the good of others. He dies to save the world."[190:2]



Tien, the Holy One, is always spoken of as one with God, existing with

him from all eternity, "before anything was made."



Osiris and Horus, the Egyptian virgin-born gods, suffered

death.[190:3] Mr. Bonwick, speaking of Osiris, says:



"He is one of the Saviours or deliverers of humanity, to be

found in almost all lands." "In his efforts to do good, he

encounters evil; in struggling with that he is overcome; he is

killed."[190:4]



Alexander Murray says:



"The Egyptian Saviour Osiris was gratefully regarded as the

great exemplar of self-sacrifice, in giving his life for

others."[190:5]



Sir J. G. Wilkinson says of him:



"The sufferings and death of Osiris were the great Mystery

of the Egyptian religion, and some traces of it are

perceptible among other peoples of antiquity. His being the

Divine Goodness, and the abstract idea of 'good,' his

manifestation upon earth (like a Hindoo god), his death and

resurrection, and his office as judge of the dead in a future

state, look like the early revelation of a future

manifestation of the deity converted into a mythological

fable."[190:6]



Horus was also called "The Saviour." "As Horus Sneb, he is the

Redeemer. He is the Lord of Life and the Eternal One."[190:7] He is

also called "The Only-Begotten."[190:8]



Attys, who was called the "Only Begotten Son"[190:9] and

"Saviour," was worshiped by the Phrygians (who were regarded as one of

the oldest races of Asia Minor). He was represented by them as a man

tied to a tree, at the foot of which was a lamb,[191:1] and, without

doubt, also as a man nailed to the tree, or stake, for we find

Lactantius making this Apollo of Miletus (anciently, the greatest and

most flourishing city of Ionia, in Asia Minor) say that:



"He was a mortal according to the flesh; wise in miraculous

works; but, being arrested by an armed force by command of the

Chaldean judges, he suffered a death made bitter with nails

and stakes."[191:2]



In this god of the Phrygians, we again have the myth of the crucified

Saviour of Paganism.



By referring to Mrs. Jameson's "History of Our Lord in Art,"[191:3] or

to illustrations in chapter xl. this work, it will be seen that a common

mode of representing a crucifixion was that of a man, tied with cords by

the hands and feet, to an upright beam or stake. The lamb, spoken of

above, which signifies considerable, we shall speak of in its proper

place.



Tammuz, or Adonis, the Syrian and Jewish Adonai (in Hebrew "Our

Lord"), was another virgin-born god, who suffered for mankind, and who

had the title of Saviour. The accounts of his death are conflicting,

just as it is with almost all of the so-called Saviours of mankind

(including the Christian Saviour, as we shall hereafter see) one

account, however, makes him a crucified Saviour.[191:4]



It is certain, however, that the ancients who honored him as their Lord

and Saviour, celebrated, annually, a feast in commemoration of his

death. An image, intended as a representation of their Lord, was laid on

a bed or bier, and bewailed in mournful ditties--just as the Roman

Catholics do at the present day in their "Good Friday" mass.



During this ceremony the priest murmured:



"Trust ye in your Lord, for the pains which he endured, our

salvation have procured."[191:5]



The Rev. Dr. Parkhurst, in his "Hebrew Lexicon," after referring to what

we have just stated above, says:



"I find myself obliged to refer Tammuz to that class of

idols which were originally designed to represent the promised

Saviour, the Desire of all Nations. His other name, Adonis,

is almost the very Hebrew Adoni or Lord, a well-known

title of Christ."[191:6]



Prometheus was a crucified Saviour. He was "an immortal god, a friend

of the human race, who does not shrink even from sacrificing himself

for their salvation."[192:1]



The tragedy of the crucifixion of Prometheus, written by AEschylus, was

acted in Athens five hundred years before the Christian Era, and is by

many considered to be the most ancient dramatic poem now in existence.

The plot was derived from materials even at that time of an infinitely

remote antiquity. Nothing was ever so exquisitely calculated to work

upon the feelings of the spectators. No author ever displayed greater

powers of poetry, with equal strength of judgment, in supporting through

the piece the august character of the Divine Sufferer. The spectators

themselves were unconsciously made a party to the interest of the scene:

its hero was their friend, their benefactor, their creator, and their

Saviour; his wrongs were incurred in their quarrel--his sorrows were

endured for their salvation; "he was wounded for their transgressions,

and bruised for their iniquities; the chastisement of their peace was

upon him, and by his stripes they were healed;" "he was oppressed and

afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth." The majesty of his silence,

whilst the ministers of an offended god were nailing him by the hands

and feet to Mount Caucasus,[192:2] could be only equaled by the modesty

with which he relates, while hanging with arms extended in the form of

a cross, his services to the human race, which had brought on him that

horrible crucifixion.[192:3] "None, save myself," says he, "opposed his

(Jove's) will,"



"I dared;

And boldly pleading saved them from destruction,

Saved them from sinking to the realms of night.

For this offense I bend beneath these pains,

Dreadful to suffer, piteous to behold:

For mercy to mankind I am not deem'd

Worthy of mercy; but with ruthless hate

In this uncouth appointment am fix'd here

A spectacle dishonorable to Jove."[192:4]



In the catastrophe of the plot, his especially professed friend,

Oceanus, the Fisherman--as his name Petraeus indicates,[193:1]--being

unable to prevail on him to make his peace with Jupiter, by throwing the

cause of human redemption out of his hands,[193:2] forsook him and fled.

None remained to be witness of his dying agonies but the chorus of

ever-amiable and ever-faithful which also bewailed and lamented

him,[193:3] but were unable to subdue his inflexible philanthropy.[193:4]



In the words of Justin Martyr: "Suffering was common to all the sons of

Jove." They were called the "Slain Ones," "Saviours," "Redeemers," &c.



Bacchus, the offspring of Jupiter and Semele,[193:5] was called the

"Saviour."[193:6] He was called the "Only Begotten Son,"[193:7] the

"Slain One,"[193:8] the "Sin Bearer,"[193:9] the "Redeemer,"[193:10] &c.

Evil having spread itself over the earth, through the inquisitiveness of

Pandora, the Lord of the gods is begged to come to the relief of

mankind. Jupiter lends a willing ear to the entreaties, "and wishes that

his son should be the redeemer of the misfortunes of the world; The

Bacchus Saviour. He promises to the earth a Liberator . . The

universe shall worship him, and shall praise in songs his blessings." In

order to execute his purpose, Jupiter overshadows the beautiful young

maiden--the virgin Semele--who becomes the mother of the

Redeemer.[193:11]



"It is I (says the lord Bacchus to mankind), who guides you;

it is I who protects you, and who saves you; I who am Alpha

and Omega."[193:12]



Hercules, the son of Zeus, was called "The Saviour."[193:13] The words

"Hercules the Saviour" were engraven on ancient coins and

monuments.[193:14] He was also called "The Only Begotten," and the

"Universal Word." He was re-absorbed into God. He was said by Ovid to be

the "Self-produced," the Generator and Ruler of all things, and the

Father of time.[193:15]



AEsculapius was distinguished by the epithet "The Saviour."[194:1] The

temple erected to his memory in the city of Athens was called: "The

Temple of the Saviour."[194:2]



Apollo was distinguished by the epithet "The Saviour."[194:3] In a

hymn to Apollo he is called: "The willing Saviour of distressed

mankind."[194:4]



Serapis was called "The Saviour."[194:5] He was considered by Hadrian,

the Roman emperor (117-138 A. D.), and the Gentiles, to be the peculiar

god of the Christians.[194:6] A cross was found under the ruins of his

temple in Alexandria in Egypt.[194:7] Fig. No. 11 is a representation of

this Egyptian Saviour, taken from Murray's "Manual of Mythology." It

certainly resembles the pictures of "the peculiar God of the

Christians." It is very evident that the pictures of Christ Jesus, as we

know them to-day, are simply the pictures of some of the Pagan gods, who

were, for certain reasons which we shall speak of in a subsequent

chapter, always represented with long yellow or red hair, and a florid

complexion. If such a person as Jesus of Nazareth ever lived in the

flesh, he was undoubtedly a Jew, and would therefore have Jewish

features; this his pictures do not betray.[194:8]






Mithras, who was "Mediator between God and man,"[194:9] was called

"The Saviour." He was the peculiar god of the Persians, who believed

that he had, by his sufferings, worked their salvation, and on this

account he was called their Saviour.[194:10] He was also called "The

Logos."[194:11]



The Persians believed that they were tainted with original sin, owing

to the fall of their first parents who were tempted by the evil one in

the form of a serpent.[194:12]



They considered their law-giver Zoroaster to be also a Divine

Messenger, sent to redeem men from their evil ways, and they always

worshiped his memory. To this day his followers mention him with the

greatest reverence, calling him "The Immortal Zoroaster," "The

Blessed Zoroaster," "The First-Born of the Eternal One," &c.[195:1]



"In the life of Zoroaster the common mythos is apparent. He was born in

innocence, of an immaculate conception, of a ray of the Divine Reason.

As soon as he was born, the glory arising from his body enlightened the

room, and he laughed at his mother. He was called a Splendid Light from

the Tree of Knowledge, and, in fine, he or his soul was suspensus a

lingo, hung upon a tree, and this was the Tree of Knowledge."[195:2]



How much this resembles "the mystery which hath been hid from ages and

from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints."[195:3]



Hermes was called "The Saviour." On the altar of Pepi (B. C. 3500)

are to be found prayers to Hermes--"He who is the good

Saviour."[195:4] He was also called "The Logos." The church fathers,

Hippolytus, Justin Martyr, and Plutarch (de Iside et Osir) assert that

the Logos is Hermes.[195:5] The term "Logos" is Greek, and

signifies literally "Word."[195:6] He was also "The Messenger of

God."[195:7]



Dr. Inman says:



"There are few words which strike more strongly upon the

senses of an inquirer into the nature of ancient faiths, than

Salvation and Saviour. Both were used long before the

birth of Christ, and they are still common among those who

never heard of Jesus, or of that which is known among us as

the Gospels."[195:8]



He also tells us that there is a very remarkable figure copied in Payne

Knight's work, in which we see on a man's shoulders a cock's head,

whilst on the pediment are placed the words: "The Saviour of the

World."[195:9]



Besides the titles of "God's First-Born," "Only Begotten," the

"Mediator," the "Shepherd," the "Advocate," the "Paraclete or

Comforter," the "Son of God," the "Logos," &c.,[195:10] being applied to

heathen virgin-born gods, before the time assigned for the birth of

Jesus of Nazareth, we have also that of Christ and Jesus.



Cyrus, King of Persia, was called the "Christ," or the "Anointed of

God."[196:1] As Dr. Giles says, "Christ" is "a name having no

spiritual signification, and importing nothing more than an ordinary

surname."[196:2] The worshipers of Serapis were called

"Christians," and those devoted to Serapis were called "Bishops of

Christ."[196:3] Eusebius, the ecclesiastical historian, says, that the

names of "Jesus" and "Christ," were both known and honored among the

ancients.[196:4]



Mithras was called the "Anointed" or the "Christ;"[196:5] and Horus,

Mano, Mithras, Bel-Minor, Iao, Adoni, &c., were each of them

"God of Light," "Light of the World," the "Anointed," or the

"Christ."[196:6]



It is said that Peter called his Master the Christ, whereupon "he

straightway charged them (the disciples), and commanded them to tell no

man that thing."[196:7]



The title of "Christ" or "The Anointed," was held by the kings of

Israel. "Touch not my Christ and do my prophets no harm," says the

Psalmist.[196:8]



The term "Christ" was applied to religious teachers, leaders of

factions, necromancers or wonder-workers, &c. This is seen by the

passage in Matthew, where the writer says:



"There shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall

show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were

possible, they shall deceive the very elect."[196:9]



The virgin-born Crishna and Buddha were incarnations of Vishnu, called

Avatars. An Avatar is an Angel-Messiah, a God-man, a CHRIST; for the

word Christ is from the Greek Christos, an Anointed One, a

Messiah.



The name Jesus, which is pronounced in Hebrew Yezua, and is

sometimes Grecized into Jason, was very common. After the Captivity it

occurs quite frequently, and is interchanged with the name Joshua.

Indeed Joshua, the successor of Moses, is called Jesus in the New

Testament more than once,[196:10] though the meaning of the two names is

not really quite the same. We know of a Jesus, son of Sirach, a writer

of proverbs, whose collection is preserved among the apocryphal books

of the Old Testament. The notorious Barabbas[197:1] or son of Abbas,

was himself called Jesus. Among Paul's opponents we find a magician

called Elymas, the Son of Jesus. Among the early Christians a certain

Jesus, also called Justus, appears. Flavius Josephus mentions more than

ten distinct persons--priests, robbers, peasants, and others--who bore

the name of Jesus, all of whom lived during the last century of the

Jewish state.[197:2]



To return now to our theme--crucified gods before the time of Jesus of

Nazareth.



The holy Father Minucius Felix, in his Octavius, written as late as

A. D. 211, indignantly resents the supposition that the sign of the

cross should be considered exclusively as a Christian symbol, and

represents his advocate of the Christian argument as retorting on an

infidel opponent. His words are:



"As for the adoration of crosses which you (Pagans) object

against us (Christians), I must tell you, that we neither

adore crosses nor desire them; you it is, ye Pagans . . . who

are the most likely people to adore wooden crosses . . . for

what else are your ensigns, flags, and standards, but crosses

gilt and beautiful. Your victorious trophies not only

represent a simple cross, but a cross with a man upon

it."[197:3]



The existence, in the writings of Minucius Felix, of this passage, is

probably owing to an oversight of the destroyers of all evidences

against the Christian religion that could be had. The practice of the

Romans, here alluded to, of carrying a cross with a man on it, or, in

other words, a crucifix, has evidently been concealed from us by the

careful destruction of such of their works as alluded to it. The priests

had everything their own way for centuries, and to destroy what was

evidence against their claims was a very simple matter.



It is very evident that this celebrated Christian Father alludes to some

Gentile mystery, of which the prudence of his successors has deprived

us. When we compare this with the fact that for centuries after the time

assigned for the birth of Christ Jesus, he was not represented as a man

on a cross, and that the Christians did not have such a thing as a

crucifix, we are inclined to think that the effigies of a black or

dark-skinned crucified man, which were to be seen in many places in

Italy even during the last century, may have had something to do with

it.[197:4]



While speaking of "a cross with a man on it" as being carried by the

Pagan Romans as a standard, we might mention the fact, related by

Arrian the historian,[198:1] that the troops of Porus, in their war with

Alexander the Great, carried on their standards the figure of a

man.[198:2] Here is evidently the crucifix standard again.



"This must have been (says Mr. Higgins) a Staurobates or

Salivahana, and looks very like the figure of a man carried on

their standards by the Romans. This was similar to the dove

carried on the standards of the Assyrians. This must have been

the crucifix of Nepaul."[198:3]



Tertullian, a Christian Father of the second and third centuries,

writing to the Pagans, says:



"The origin of your gods is derived from figures moulded on

a cross. All those rows of images on your standards are the

appendages of crosses; those hangings on your standards and

banners are the robes of crosses."[198:4]



We have it then, on the authority of a Christian Father, as late as A.

D. 211, that the Christians "neither adored crosses nor desired them,"

but that the Pagans "adored crosses," and not that alone, but "a

cross with a man upon it." This we shall presently find to be the case.

Jesus, in those days, nor for centuries after, was not represented as

a man on a cross. He was represented as a lamb, and the adoration of

the crucifix, by the Christians, was a later addition to their religion.

But this we shall treat of in its place.



We may now ask the question, who was this crucified man whom the

Pagans "adored" before and after the time of Jesus of Nazareth? Who

did the crucifix represent? It was, undoubtedly, "the Saviour crucified

for the salvation of mankind," long before the Christian Era, whose

effigies were to be seen in many places all over Italy. These Pagan

crucifixes were either destroyed, corrupted, or adopted; the latter was

the case with many ancient paintings of the Bambino,[198:5] on which

may be seen the words Deo Soli. Now, these two words can never apply

to Christ Jesus. He was not Deus Solus, in any sense, according to the

idiom of the Latin language, and the Romish faith. Whether we construe

the words to "the only God," or "God alone," they are equally heretical.

No priest, in any age of the Church, would have thought of putting them

there, but finding them there, they tolerated them.



In the "Celtic Druids," Mr. Higgins describes a crucifix, a lamb,

and an elephant, which was cut upon the "fire tower"--so-called--at

Brechin, a town of Forfarshire, in Scotland. Although they appeared to

be of very ancient date, he supposed, at that time, that they were

modern, and belonged to Christianity, but some years afterwards, he

wrote as follows:



"I now doubt (the modern date of the tower), for we have, over

and over again, seen the crucified man before Christ. We have

also found 'The Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world,'

among the Carnutes of Gaul, before the time of Christ; and

when I contemplate these, and the Elephant or

Ganesa,[199:1] and the Ring[199:2] and its Cobra,[199:3]

Linga,[199:4] Iona,[199:5] and Nandies, found not far from

the tower, on the estate of Lord Castles, with the Colidei,

the island of Iona, and Ii, . . . I am induced to doubt my

former conclusions. The Elephant, the Ganesa of India, is a

very stubborn fellow to be found here. The Ring, too, when

joined with other matters, I cannot get over. All these

superstitions must have come from India."[199:6]



On one of the Irish "round towers" is to be seen a crucifix of

unmistakable Asiatic origin.[199:7]



If we turn to the New World, we shall find strange though it may appear,

that the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians worshiped a crucified

Saviour. This was the virgin-born Quetzalcoatle whose crucifixion is

represented in the paintings of the "Codex Borgianus," and the "Codex

Vaticanus."



These paintings illustrate the religious opinions of the ancient

Mexicans, and were copied from the hieroglyphics found in Mexico. The

Spaniards destroyed nearly all the books, ancient monuments and

paintings which they could find; had it not been for this, much more

regarding the religion of the ancient Mexicans would have been handed

down to us. Many chapters were also taken--by the Spanish

authorities--from the writings of the first historians who wrote on

ancient Mexico. All manuscripts had to be inspected previous to being

published. Anything found among these heathens resembling the religion

of the Christians, was destroyed when possible.[199:8]



The first Spanish monks who went to Mexico were surprised to find the

crucifix among the heathen inhabitants, and upon inquiring what it

meant, were told that it was a representation of Bacob

(Quetzalcoatle), the Son of God, who was put to death by Eopuco. They

said that he was placed on a beam of wood, with his arms stretched

out, and that he died there.[200:1]



Lord Kingsborough, from whose very learned and elaborate work we have

taken the above, says:



"Being questioned as to the manner in which they became

acquainted with these things, they replied that the lords

instructed their sons in them, and that thus this doctrine

descended from one to another."[200:2]



Sometimes Quetzalcoatle or Bacob is represented as tied to the

cross--just as we have seen that Attys was represented by the

Phrygians--and at other times he is represented "in the attitude of a

person crucified, with impressions of nail-holes in his hands and feet,

but not actually upon a cross"--just as we have found the Hindoo

Crishna, and as he is represented in Fig. No. 8. Beneath this

representation of Quetzalcoatle crucified, is an image of Death, which

an angry serpent seems threatening to devour.[200:3]



On the 73d page of the Borgian MS., he is represented crucified on a

cross of the Greek form. In this print there are also impressions of

nails to be seen on the feet and hands, and his body is strangely

covered with suns.[200:4]



In vol. ii. plate 75, the god is crucified in a circle of nineteen

figures, and a serpent is depriving him of the organs of generation.



Lord Kingsborough, commenting on these paintings, says:



"It is remarkable that in these Mexican paintings the faces of

many of the figures are black, and that the visage of

Quetzalcoatle is frequently painted in a very deformed

manner."[200:5]



His lordship further tells us that (according to the belief of the

ancient Mexicans), "the death of Quetzalcoatle upon the cross" was "an

atonement for the sins of mankind."[200:6]



Dr. Daniel Brinton, in his "Myths of the New World," tells us that the

Aztecs had a feast which they celebrated "in the early spring," when

"victims were nailed to a cross and shot with an arrow."[200:7]



Alexander Von Humboldt, in his "American Researches," also speaks of

this feast, when the Mexicans crucified a man, and pierced him with an

arrow.[200:8]



The author of Monumental Christianity, speaking of this, says:



"Here is the old story of the Prometheus crucified on the

Caucasus, and of all other Pagan crucifixions of the young

incarnate divinities of India, Persia, Asia Minor and

Egypt."[201:1]



This we believe; but how did this myth get there? He does not say, but

we shall attempt to show, in a future chapter, how this and other

myths of Eastern origin became known in the New World.[201:2]



It must not be forgotten, in connection with what we have seen

concerning the Mexican crucified god being sometimes represented as

black, and the feast when the crucified man was shot with an arrow,

that effigies of a black crucified man were found in Italy; that

Crishna, the crucified, is very often represented black; and that

Crishna was shot with an arrow.



Crosses were also found in Yucatan, as well as Mexico, with a man

upon them.[201:3] Cogolludo, in his "History of Yucatan," speaking of a

crucifix found there, says:



"Don Eugenio de Alcantara (one of the true teachers of the

Gospel), told me, not only once, that I might safely write

that the Indians of Cozumel possessed this holy cross in the

time of their paganism; and that some years had elapsed since

it was brought to Medira; for having heard from many persons

what was reported of it, he had made particular inquiries of

some very old Indians who resided there, who assured him that

it was the fact."



He then speaks of the difficulty in accounting for this crucifix being

found among the Indians of Cozumel, and ends by saying:



"But if it be considered that these Indians believed that the

Son of God, whom they called Bacob, had died upon a cross,

with his arms stretched out upon it, it cannot appear so

difficult a matter to comprehend that they should have formed

his image according to the religious creed which they

possessed."[201:4]



We shall find, in another chapter, that these virgin-born "Saviours"

and "Slain Ones;" Crishna, Osiris, Horus, Attys, Adonis, Bacchus,

&c.--whether torn in pieces, killed by a boar, or crucified--will all

melt into ONE.



We now come to a very important fact not generally known, namely: There

are no early representations of Christ Jesus suffering on the cross.



Rev. J. P. Lundy, speaking of this, says:



"Why should a fact so well known to the heathen as the

crucifixion be concealed? And yet its actual realistic

representation never once occurs in the monuments of

Christianity, for more than six or seven centuries."[202:1]



Mrs. Jameson, in her "History of Our Lord in Art," says:



"The crucifixion is not one of the subjects of early

Christianity. The death of our Lord was represented by various

types, but never in its actual form.



"The earliest instances of the crucifixion are found in

illustrated manuscripts of various countries, and in those

ivory and enameled forms which are described in the

Introduction. Some of these are ascertained, by historical or

by internal evidence, to have been executed in the ninth

century, there is one also, of an extraordinary rude and

fantastic character, in a MS. in the ancient library of St.

Galle, which is ascertained to be of the eighth century. At

all events, there seems no just grounds at present for

assigning an earlier date."[202:2]



"Early Christian art, such as it appears in the bas-reliefs on

sarcophagi, gave but one solitary incident from the story of

Our Lord's Passion, and that utterly divested of all

circumstances of suffering. Our Lord is represented as young

and beautiful, free from bonds, with no 'accursed tree' on

his shoulders."[202:3]



The oldest representation of Christ Jesus was a figure of a

lamb,[202:4] to which sometimes a vase was added, into which his blood

flowed, and at other times couched at the foot of a cross. This custom

subsisted up to the year 680, and until the pontificate of Agathon,

during the reign of Constantine Pogonat. By the sixth synod of

Constantinople (canon 82) it was ordained that instead of the ancient

symbol, which had been the LAMB, the figure of a man fastened to a

cross (such as the Pagans had adored), should be represented. All

this was confirmed by Pope Adrian I.[202:5]



A simple cross, which was the symbol of eternal life, or of salvation,

among the ancients, was sometimes, as we have seen, placed alongside of

the Lamb. In the course of time, the Lamb was put on the cross, as

the ancient Israelites had put the paschal lamb centuries

before,[202:6] and then, as we have seen, they put a man upon it.



Christ Jesus is also represented in early art as the "Good Shepherd,"

that is, as a young man with a lamb on his shoulders.[202:7]



This is just the manner in which the Pagan Apollo, Mercury and others

were represented centuries before.[203:1]



Mrs. Jameson says:



"Mercury attired as a shepherd, with a ram on his

shoulders, borne in the same manner as in many of the

Christian representations, was no unfrequent object (in

ancient art) and in some instances led to a difficulty in

distinguishing between the two,"[203:2] that is, between

Mercury and Christ Jesus.



M. Renan says:



"The Good Shepherd of the catacombs in Rome is a copy from the

Aristeus, or from the Apollo Nomius, which figured in the

same posture on the Pagan sarcophagi; and still carries the

flute of Pan, in the midst of the four half-naked

seasons."[203:3]



The Egyptian Saviour Horus was called the "Shepherd of the

People."[203:4]



The Hindoo Saviour Crishna was called the "Royal Good

Shepherd."[203:5]



We have seen, then, on the authority of a Christian writer who has made

the subject a special study, that, "there seems no just grounds at

present for assigning an earlier date," for the "earliest instances of

the crucifixion" of Christ Jesus, represented in art, than the eighth

or ninth century. Now, a few words in regard to what these crucifixes

looked like. If the reader imagines that the crucifixes which are

familiar to us at the present day are similar to those early ones, we

would inform him that such is not the case. The earliest artists of the

crucifixion represent the Christian Saviour as young and beardless,

always without the crown of thorns, alive, and erect, apparently elate;

no signs of bodily suffering are there.[203:6]



On page 151, plate 181, of Jameson's "History of Our Lord in Art" (vol.

ii.), he is represented standing on a foot-rest on the cross, alive, and

eyes open. Again, on page 330, plate 253, he is represented standing

"with body upright and arms extended straight, with no nails, no

wounds, no crown of thorns--frequently clothed, and with a regal

crown--a God, young and beautiful, hanging, as it were, without

compulsion or pain."



On page 167, plate 188, are to be seen "the thieves bound to their

cross (which is simply an upright beam, without cross-bars), with the

figure of the Lord standing between them." He is not bound nor nailed

to a cross; no cross is there. He is simply standing erect in the form

of a cross. This is a representation of what is styled, "Early

crucifixion with thieves." On page 173, plate 190, we have a

representation of the crucifixion, in which Jesus and the thieves are

represented crucified on the Egyptian tau (see Fig. No. 12). The

thieves are tied, but the man-god is nailed to the cross. A similar

representation may be seen on page 189, plate 198.



On page 155, plate 183, there is a representation of what is called

"Virgin and St. John at foot of cross," but this cross is simply an

upright beam (as Fig. No. 13). There are no cross-bars attached. On

page 167, plate 188, the thieves are tied to an upright beam (as Fig.

13), and Jesus stands between them, with arms extended in the form of a

cross, as the Hindoo Crishna is to be seen in Fig. No. 8. On page 157,

plate 185, Jesus is represented crucified on the Egyptian cross (as No.

12).



Some ancient crucifixes represent the Christian Saviour crucified on a

cross similar in form to the Roman figure which stands for the number

ten (see Fig. No. 14). Thus we see that there was no uniformity in

representing the "cross of Christ," among the early Christians; even the

cross which Constantine put on his "Labarum," or sacred banner, was

nothing more than the monogram of the Pagan god Osiris (Fig. No.

15),[204:1] as we shall see in a subsequent chapter.






The dogma of the vicarious atonement has met with no success whatever

among the Jews. The reason for this is very evident. The idea of

vicarious atonement, in any form, is contrary to Jewish ethics, but it

is in full accord with the Gentile. The law ordains that[205:1]

"every man shall be put to death for his own sin," and not for the sin

or crime committed by any other person. No ransom should protect the

murderer against the arm of justice.[205:2] The principle of equal

rights and equal responsibilities is fundamental in the law. If the law

of God--for as such it is received--denounces the vicarious atonement,

viz., to slaughter an innocent person to atone for the crimes of

others, then God must abhor it. What is more, Jesus is said to have

sanctioned this law, for is he not made to say: "Think not that I am

come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but

to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one

jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law."[205:3]



"Salvation is and can be nothing else than learning the laws of life and

keeping them. There is, in the modern world, neither place nor need for

any of the theological 'schemes of salvation' or theological 'Saviours.'

No wrath of either God or devil stands in man's way; and therefore no

'sacrifice' is needed to get them out of the way. Jesus saves only as he

helps men know and keep God's laws. Thousands of other men, in their

degree, are Saviours in precisely the same way. As there has been no

'fall of man,' all the hundreds of theological devices for obviating its

supposed effects are only imaginary cures for imaginary ills. What man

does need is to be taught the necessary laws of life, and have brought

to bear upon him adequate motives for obeying them. To know and keep

God's laws is being reconciled to him. This is health; and out of

health--that is, the perfect condition of the whole man, called holiness

or wholeness--comes happiness, in this world and in all worlds."





FOOTNOTES:



[181:1] Monier Williams: Hinduism, pp. 36-40.



[182:1] Monier Williams: Hinduism, p. 36.



[182:2] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 303.



[182:3] Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 443.



[183:1] Herodotus: bk. ii. ch. 39.



[183:2] In the trial of Dr. Thomas (at Chicago) for "doctrinal

heresy," one of the charges made against him (Sept. 8, 1881) was that

he had said "the BLOOD of the Lamb had nothing to do with salvation."

And in a sermon preached in Boston, Sept. 2, 1881, at the Columbus

Avenue Presbyterian Church, by the Rev. Andrew A. Bonar. D. D., the

preacher said: "No sinner dares to meet the holy God until his sin has

been forgiven, or until he has received remission. The penalty of sin

is death, and this penalty is not remitted by anything the sinner can

do for himself, but only through the BLOOD of Jesus. If you have

accepted Jesus as your Saviour, you can take the blood of Jesus, and

with boldness present it to the Father as payment in full of the

penalties of all your sins. Sinful man has no right to the benefits and

the beauties and glories of nature. These were all lost to him through

Adam's sin, but to the blood of Christ's sacrifice he has a right; it

was shed for him. It is Christ's death that does the blessed work of

salvation for us. It was not his life nor his Incarnation. His

Incarnation could not pay a farthing of our debt, but his blood shed

in redeeming love, pays it all." (See Boston Advertiser, Sept. 3,

1881.)



[183:3] Habet ergo Diabolus Christos suos.



[183:4] Huc's Travels, vol. i. pp. 326 and 327.



[184:1] Hinduism, p. 214.



[184:2] Ibid. p. 115.



[184:3] Vishnu Purana, p. 440.



[184:4] Ibid.



[184:5] Ibid.



[184:6] Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 132.



[184:7] Pages 274 and 612.



[184:8] "On reconte fort diversement la mort de Crishna. Une tradition

remarquable et averee le fait perir sur un bois fatal (un arbre), ou il

fut cloue d'un coup de fleche." (Quoted by Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i.

p. 144.)



[185:1] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 499, and Mrs. Jameson's

"History of Our Lord in Art," ii. 317, where the cross is called the

"accursed tree."



[185:2] Chap. xxi. 22, 23: "If a man have committed a sin worthy of

death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: his

body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any

wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that

thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an

inheritance."



[185:3] Galatians, iii. 13.



[185:4] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 146, and Inman's Ancient

Faiths, vol. i. p. 402.



"The crucified god Wittoba is also called Balue. He is worshiped in a

marked manner at Pander-poor or Bunder-poor, near Poonah." (Higgins:

Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 750, note 1.)



"A form of Vishnu (Crishna), called Viththal or Vithoba, is the

popular god at Pandharpur in Maha-rashtra, the favorite of the

celebrated Marathi poet Tukarama." (Prof. Monier Williams: Indian

Wisdom, p. xlviii.)



[185:5] See Lundy: Monumental Christianity, p. 160.



[185:6] This can be seen by referring to Calmet, Sonnerat, or Higgins,

vol. ii., which contain plates representing Crishna.



[186:1] Monumental Christianity, p. 128.



[186:2] Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 411.



[186:3] Luke, xxiii. 39-43.



[186:4] Vasudeva means God. See Vishnu Purana, p. 274.



[186:5] Vishnu Purana, p. 612.



[187:1] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 72.



[187:2] "Si ita se res habet, ut existimat Beausobrius, Indi, et

Budistae quorum religio, eadem est ac Tibetana, nonnisi a Manichaeis

nova haec deliriorum portenta acceperunt. Haenamque gentes praesertim in

urbe Nepal, Luna XII. Badr seu Bhadon Augusti mensis, dies festos

auspicaturae Dei Indrae, erigunt ad illius memoriam ubique locorum

cruces amictas Abrotono. Earum figuram descriptam habes ad lit. B,

Tabula pone sequenti. Nam A effigies est ipsius Indrae crucifixi signa

Telech in fronte manibus pedibusque gerentis." (Alph Tibet, p. 203.

Quoted in Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 130.)



[188:1] "Ils conviennent qu'il a repandu son sang pour le salut du genre

humain, ayant ete perce de clous par tout son corps. Quoiqu'ils ne

disent pas qu'il a souffert le supplice de la croix, ou en trouve

pourtant la figure dans leurs livres." (Quoted in Higgins' Anacalypsis,

vol. ii. p. 118.)



[188:2] "Although the nations of Europe have changed their religions

during the past eighteen centuries, the Hindoo has not done so, except

very partially. . . . The religious creeds, rites, customs, and habits

of thought of the Hindoos generally, have altered little since the days

of Manu, 500 years B. C." (Prof. Monier Williams: Indian Wisdom, p. iv.)



[188:3] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. pp. 147, 572, 667 and 750;

vol. ii. p. 122, and note 4, p. 185, this chapter.



[188:4] See Max Mueller's Science of Religion, p. 224.



[188:5] Quoted in Lillie's Buddhism, p. 93.



[188:6] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 20.



[188:7] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, pp. 20, 25, 85. Prog. Relig. Ideas,

vol. i. p. 247. Huc's Travels, vol. i. pp. 326, 327, and almost any work

on Buddhism.



[188:8] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 20.



[188:9] Ibid. Johnson's Oriental Religions, p. 604. See also Asiatic

Researches, vol. iii., or chapter xii. of this work.



[188:10] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 18.



[188:11] Ibid.



[188:12] Ibid.



[188:13] Vol. i. p. 118.



[189:1] Quoted in Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 118.



[189:2] Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 20.



[189:3] Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. 33.



[189:4] Huc's Travels, vol. i. pp. 326, 337.



[189:5] Mueller: Hist. Sanscrit Literature, p. 80.



[189:6] See Maurice: Indian Antiquities, vol. v. p. 95, and Williams:

Hinduism, p. 214.



[189:7] "He in mercy left paradise, and came down to earth, because he

was filled with compassion for the sins and miseries of mankind. He

sought to lead them into better paths, and took their sufferings upon

himself, that he might expiate their crimes, and mitigate the

punishment they must otherwise inevitably undergo." (Prog. Relig. Ideas,

vol. ii. p. 86.)



"The object of his mission on earth was to instruct those who were

straying from the right path, expiate the sins of mortals by his own

sufferings, and produce for them a happy entrance into another

existence by obedience to his precepts and prayers in his name. They

always speak of him as one with God from all eternity. His most common

title is 'The Saviour of the World.'" (Ibid. vol. i. p. 247.)



[190:1] Quoted in Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 211.



[190:2] Ibid.



[190:3] See Renouf: Religions of Ancient Egypt, p. 178.



[190:4] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 155.



[190:5] Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 848.



[190:6] In Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii. p. 171. Quoted in Knight's

Art and Mythology, p. 71.



[190:7] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 185.



[190:8] See Mysteries of Adoni, p. 88.



[190:9] See Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. xxii. note.



[191:1] Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 255.



[191:2] Vol. ii.



[191:3] Lactant. Inst., div. iv. chap. xiii. In Anacalypsis, vol. i. p.

544.



[191:4] See chapter xxxix. this work.



[191:5] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 114, and Taylor's

Diegesis, p. 163.



[191:6] See the chapter on "The Resurrection of Jesus."



[192:1] Chambers's Encyclo., art. "Prometheus."



[192:2] "Prometheus has been a favorite subject with the poets. He is



represented as the friend of mankind, who interposed in their behalf

when Jove was incensed against them." (Bulfinch: The Age of Fable, p.

32.)



"In the mythos relating to Prometheus, he always appears as the friend

of the human race, suffering in its behalf the most fearful tortures."

(John Fiske: Myths and Myth-makers, pp. 64, 65.) "Prometheus was

nailed to the rocks on Mount Caucasus, with arms extended."

(Alexander Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 82.) "Prometheus is said to

have been nailed up with arms extended, near the Caspian Straits, on

Mount Caucasus. The history of Prometheus on the Cathedral at Bordeaux

(France) here receives its explanation." (Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii.

p. 113.)



[192:3] See AEschylus' "Prometheus Chained." Translated by the Rev. R.

Potter: Harper & Bros., N. Y.



[192:4] Ibid. p. 82.



[193:1] Petraeus was an interchangeable synonym of the name Oceanus.



[193:2] "Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying: Be it far

from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee." (Matt. xvi. 22.)



[193:3] "And there followed him a great company of people, and of women,

which also bewailed and lamented him." (Luke, xxiii. 27.)



[193:4] See Taylor's Diegesis, pp. 193, 194, or Potter's AEschylus.



[193:5] "They say that the god (Bacchus), the offspring of Zeus and

Demeter, was torn to pieces." (Diodorus Siculus, in Knight, p. 156,

note.)



[193:6] See Knight: Anct. Art and Mythology, p. 98, note. Dupuis:

Origin of Religious Belief, 258. Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 102.



[193:7] Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. xxii. note.



[193:8] Ibid.



[193:9] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 169.



[193:10] Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 135.



[193:11] Ibid.



[193:12] Beausobre quotes the inscription on a monument of Bacchus,

thus: "C'est moi, dit il, qui vous conduis, C'est moi, qui vous

conserve, ou qui vous sauve; Je sui Alpha et Omega, &c." (See chap.

xxxix this work.)



[193:13] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 322. Dupuis: Origin of

Religious Belief, p. 195. Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 152. Dunlap:

Mysteries of Adoni, p. 94.



[193:14] See Celtic Druids, Taylor's Diegesis, p. 153, and Montfaucon,

vol. i.



[193:15] See Mysteries of Adoni, p. 91, and Higgins: Anac., vol. i. p.

322.



[194:1] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 153.



[194:2] See the chapter on "Miracles of Jesus."



[194:3] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 254.



[194:4] See Monumental Christianity, p. 186.



[194:5] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 15.



[194:6] See Giles: Hebrew and Christian Records, vol. ii. p. 86.



[194:7] See Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 15, and our chapter on Christian

Symbols.



[194:8] This subject will be referred to again in chapter xxxix.



[194:9] See Dunlap's Spirit Hist., pp. 237, 241, 242, and Mysteries of

Adoni, p. 123, note.



[194:10] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 99.



[194:11] See Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 20.



"According to the most ancient tradition of the East-Iranians recorded

in the Zend-Avesta, the God of Light (Ormuzd) communicated his

mysteries to some men through his Word." (Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p.

75.)



[194:12] Wake: Phallism, &c., p. 47.



[195:1] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. pp. 258, 259.



[195:2] Malcolm: Hist. Persia, vol. i. Ap. p. 494; Nimrod, vol. ii. p.

31. Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 649.



[195:3] Col. i. 26.



[195:4] See Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 102.



[195:5] See Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 89, marginal note.



[195:6] "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God." (John, i. 1.)



[195:7] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. 69 and 71.



[195:8] Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 652.



[195:9] Ibid. vol. i. p. 537.



[195:10] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 119. Knight's Ancient Art and

Mythology, pp. xxii. and 98. Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 71, and Spirit

History, pp. 183, 205, 206, 249. Bible for Learners, vol. ii. p. 25.

Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. pp. 195, 237, 516, besides the authorities

already cited.



[196:1] See Bunsen's Bible Chronology, p. 5. Keys of St. Peter, 135.

Volney's Ruins, p. 168.



[196:2] Giles: Hebrew and Christian Records, p. 64, vol. ii.



[196:3] Ibid. p. 86, and Taylor's Diegesis, pp. 202, 206, 407. Dupuis:

p. 267.



[196:4] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 1, ch. iv.



[196:5] See Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 78.



[196:6] See Ibid. p. 39.



[196:7] Luke, iv. 21.



[196:8] Psalm, cv. 15. The term "an Anointed One," which we use in

English, is Christos in Greek, and Messiah in Hebrew. (See Bible for

Learners, and Religion of Israel, p. 147.)



[196:9] Matthew, xxiv. 24.



[196:10] Acts, vii. 45; Hebrews, iv. 8; compare Nehemiah, viii. 17.



[197:1] He who, it is said, was liberated at the time of the crucifixion

of Jesus of Nazareth.



[197:2] See Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 60.



[197:3] Octavius, c. xxix.



[197:4] See Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 116.



[198:1] In his History of the Campaigns of Alexander.



[198:2] See Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 118.



[198:3] Ibid.



[198:4] Apol. c. 16; Ad Nationes, c. xii.



[198:5] See the chapter on "The Worship of the Virgin."



[199:1] Ganesa is the Indian God of Wisdom. (See Asiatic Researches,

vol. i.)



[199:2] The Ring and circle was an emblem of god, or eternity, among

the Hindoos. (See Lundy: Monumental Christianity, p. 87.)



[199:3] The Cobra, or hooded snake, is a native of the East Indies,

where it is held as sacred. (See Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 16,

and Fergusson's Tree and Serpent Worship.)



[199:4] Linga denotes, in the sectarian worship of the Hindoos, the

Phallus, an emblem of the male or generative power of nature.



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