"It appears to me to be profoundly important that the youthful English mind should be faithfully and accurately informed of the results of modern research into the early development of the Israelitish religion. Deplorable and irreparable mischief will be done to the generation, now passing into manhood and womanhood, if their educators leave them ignorant or loosely informed on these topics; for they will then be rudely awakened by the enemies of Christianity from a blind and unreasoning faith in the supernatural inspiration of the Scriptures; and being suddenly and bluntly made aware that Abraham, Moses, David, and the rest did not say, do, or write what has been ascribed to them, they will fling away all care for the venerable religion of Israel and all hope that it can nourish their own religious life. How much happier will those of our children and young people be who learn what is now known of the actual origin of the Pentateuch and the Writings, from the same lips which have taught them that the Prophets indeed prepared the way for Jesus, and that God is indeed our Heavenly Father. For these will, without difficulty, perceive that God's love is none the feebler and that the Bible is no less precious, because Moses knew nothing of the Levitical legislation, or because it was not the warrior monarch on his semi-barbaric throne, but some far later son of Israel, who breathed forth the immortal hymn of faith, 'The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.'"
For the benefit of those who may think that the evidence of plagiarism on the part of the Hebrew writers has not been sufficiently substantiated, we will quote a few words from Prof. Max Müller, who is one of the best English authorities on this subject that can be produced. In speaking of this he says:
"The opinion that the Pagan religions were mere corruptions of the religion of the Old Testament, once supported by men of high authority and great learning, is now as completely surrendered as the attempts of explaining Greek and Latin as the corruptions of Hebrew."[106:1]
Again he says:
"As soon as the ancient language and religion of India became known in Europe it was asserted that Sanskrit, like all other languages, was to be derived from Hebrew, and the ancient religion of the Brahmans from the Old Testament. There was at that time an enthusiasm among Oriental scholars, particularly at Calcutta, and an interest for Oriental antiquities in the public at large, of which we, in these days of apathy for Eastern literature, can hardly form an adequate idea. Everybody wished to be first in the field, and to bring to light some of the treasures which were supposed to be hidden in the sacred literature of the Brahmans. . . . No doubt the temptation was great. No one could look down for a moment into the rich mine of religious and mythological lore that was suddenly opened before the eyes of scholars and theologians, without being struck by a host of similarities, not only in the languages, but also in the ancient traditions of the Hindoos, the Greeks, and the Romans; and if at that time the Greeks and Romans were still supposed to have borrowed their language and their religion from Jewish quarters, the same conclusion could hardly be avoided with regard to the language and the religion of the Brahmans of India. . . .
"The student of Pagan religion as well as Christian missionaries were bent on discovering more striking and more startling coincidences, in order to use them in confirmation of their favorite theory that some rays of a primeval revelation, or some reflection of the Jewish religion, had reached the uttermost ends of the world."[107:1]
The result of all this is summed up by Prof. Müller as follows:
"It was the fate of all (these) pioneers, not only to be left behind in the assault which they had planned, but to find that many of their approaches were made in a false direction, and had to be abandoned."[107:2]
Before closing this chapter, we shall say a few words on the religion of Israel. It is supposed by many—in fact, we have heard it asserted by those who should know better—that the Israelites were always monotheists, that they worshiped One God only—Jehovah.[107:3] This is altogether erroneous; they were not different from their neighbors—the Heathen, so-called—in regard to their religion.
In the first place, we know that they revered and worshiped a Bull, called Apis,[107:4] just as the ancient Egyptians did. They worshiped the sun,[108:1] the moon,[108:2] the stars and all the host of heaven.[108:3]
They worshiped fire, and kept it burning on an altar, just as the Persians and other nations.[108:4] They worshiped stones,[108:5] revered an oak tree,[108:6] and "bowed down" to images.[108:7] They worshiped a "Queen of Heaven" called the goddess Astarte or Mylitta, and "burned incense" to her.[108:8] They worshiped Baal,[108:9] Moloch,[108:10] and Chemosh,[108:11] and offered up human sacrifices to them,[108:12] after which in some instances, they ate the victim.[108:13]
It was during the Captivity that idolatry ceased among the Israelites.[108:14] The Babylonian Captivity is clearly referred to in the book of Deuteronomy, as the close of Israel's idolatry.[108:15]
There is reason to believe that the real genius of the people was first called into full exercise, and put on its career of development at this time; that Babylon was a forcing nursery, not a prison cell; creating instead of stifling a nation. The astonishing outburst of intellectual and moral energy that accompanied the return from the Babylonish Captivity, attests the spiritual activity of that "mysterious and momentous" time. As Prof. Goldziher says: "The intellect of Babylon and Assyria exerted a more than passing influence on that of the Hebrews, not merely touching it, but entering deep into it, and leaving its own impression upon it."[108:16]
This impression we have already partly seen in the legends which they borrowed, and it may also be seen in the religious ideas which they imbibed.
The Assyrian colonies which came and occupied the land of the tribes of Israel filled the kingdom of Samaria with the dogma of the Magi, which very soon penetrated into the kingdom of Judah. Afterward, Jerusalem being subjugated, the defenseless country was entered by persons of different nationalities, who introduced their opinions, and in this way, the religion of Israel was doubly mutilated. Besides, the priests and great men, who were transported to Babylon, were educated in the sciences of the Chaldeans, and imbibed, during a residence of fifty years, nearly the whole of their theology. It was not until this time that the dogmas of the hostile genius (Satan), the angels Michael, Uriel, Yar, Nisan, &c., the rebel angels, the battle in heaven, the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection, were introduced and naturalized among the Jews.[109:1]
Note.—It is not generally known that the Jews were removed from their own land until the time of the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar, but there is evidence that Jerusalem was plundered by the Edomites about 800 B. C., who sold some of the captive Jews to the Greeks (Joel, iii. 6). When the captives returned to their country from "the Islands which are beyond the sea" (Jer. xxv. 18, 22), they would naturally bring back with them much of the Hellenic lore of their conquerors. In Isaiah (xi. 11), we find a reference to this first captivity in the following words: "In that day the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the Islands of the sea;" i. e., Greece.
[89:1] See Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. 111, et seq.
[89:2] Bell's Pantheon, under "Perseus;" Knight: Ancient Art and Mytho., p. 178, and Bulfinch: Age of Fables, p. 161.
[90:1] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 118. Taylor's Diegesis, p. 190. Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 19.
[90:2] Ibid.
[90:3] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 122. Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 174. Goldziher: Hebrew Mythology, p. 179. Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 19.
[90:4] Bell's Pantheon, art. "Osiris;" and Bulfinch: Age of Fable, p. 391
[90:5] Baring-Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, i. 159.
[90:6] Exodus, ii.
[90:7] See Child: Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 6, and most any work on Buddhism.
[90:8] See Smith: Chaldean Account of Genesis.
[90:9] See Goldziher: Hebrew Mythology, p. 128, note.
[90:10] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. pp. 213, 214.
[90:11] I. Samuel, xvii.
[91:1] See Goldzhier: Hebrew Mythology, p. 430, and Bulfinch: Age of Fable, 440.
[91:2] Chapter xxii.
[91:3] See Smith's Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 188, et seq.
[91:4] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 323.
[91:5] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 19.
[91:6] Ibid. i. 191, and ii. 241; Franklin: Bud. & Jeynes, 174.
[91:7] Hardy: Buddhist Legends, pp. 50, 53, and 140.
[91:8] See Ibid.
[91:9] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 191.
[91:10] Ibid. p. 39.
[92:1] "Septuagint."—The Old Greek version of the Old Testament.
[92:2] "Vulgate."—The Latin version of the Old Testament.
[92:3] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. ii. pp. 186, 187.
[92:4] The Religion of Israel, p. 9.
[92:5] Besides the many other facts which show that the Pentateuch was not composed until long after the time of Moses and Joshua, the following may be mentioned as examples: Gilgal, mentioned in Deut. xi. 30, was not given as the name of that place till after the entrance into Canaan. Dan, mentioned in Genesis xiv. 14, was not so called till long after the time of Moses. In Gen. xxxvi. 31, the beginning of the reign of the kings over Israel is spoken of historically, an event which did not occur before the time of Samuel. (See, for further information, Bishop Colenso's Pentateuch Examined, vol. ii. ch. v. and vi.)
[93:1] The Religion of Israel, p. 9.
[93:2] Ibid. p. 10.
[93:3] Chambers's Encyclo., art. "Jews."
[93:4] The Religion of Israel, pp. 10, 11.
[94:1] The Religion of Israel, p. 11.
[94:2] See Ibid. pp. 120, 122.
[94:3] See Ibid. p. 122.
[94:4] The account of the finding of this book by Hilkiah is to be found in II. Chronicles, ch. xxxiv.
[94:5] See Religion of Israel, pp. 124, 125.
[94:6] Ibid. p. 11.
[95:1] The Religion of Israel, pp. 186, 187.
[95:2] "Talmud."—The books containing the Jewish traditions.
[95:3] See Chambers's Encyclo., art. "Bible."
[95:4] The Religion of Israel, pp. 240, 241.
[96:1] The Religion of Israel, p. 11.
[96:2] The Pentateuch Examined, vol. ii. p. 178.
[96:3] The Religion of Israel, p. 241.
[96:4] On the strength of II. Maccabees, ii. 12.
[96:5] The Religion of Israel, p. 242.
[96:6] Ibid. p. 243.
[97:1] Chambers's Encyclo., art. "Bible."
[97:2] Ibid.
[97:3] Chambers's Encyclo., art. "Akiba."
[97:4] The Religion of Israel, pp. 19, 23.
[98:1] "What is the Bible," by J. T. Sunderland. "The Bible of To-day," by J. W. Chadwick. "Hebrew and Christian Records," by the Rev. Dr. Giles, 2 vols. Prof. W. R. Smith's article on "The Bible," in the last edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. "Introduction to the Old Testament," by Davidson. "The Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua Examined," by Bishop Colenso. Prof. F. W. Newman's "Hebrew Monarchy." "The Bible for Learners" (vols. i. and ii.), by Prof. Oort and others. "The Old Testament in the Jewish Church," by Prof. Robertson Smith, and Kuenen's "Religion of Israel."
[98:2] Smith: Chaldean Account of Genesis, pp. 22, 29.
[99:1] Ibid. pp. 29, 100. Also, Assyrian Discoveries, p. 397.
[99:2] Tree and Serpent Worship, pp. 6, 7.
[99:3] Myths and Myth-Makers, p. 112.
[99:4] Draper: Religion and Science, p. 62.
[99:5] Goldziher: Hebrew Mythology, p. 328, et seq.
[100:1] Quoted by Bishop Colenso: The Pentateuch Examined, iv. 283.
[100:2] "Much of the Old Testament which Christian divines, in their ignorance of Jewish lore, have insisted on receiving and interpreting literally, the informed Rabbis never dreamed of regarding as anything but allegorical. The 'literalists' they called fools. The account of the Creation was one of the portions which the unlearned were specially forbidden to meddle with." (Greg: The Creed of Christendom, p. 80.)
[100:3] Quoted by Dupuis: Origin of Religious Belief, p. 226.
[100:4] See Ibid. p. 227.
[100:5] Quoted by Dunlap: Mysteries of Adoni, p. 176. See also, Bunsen: Keys of St. Peter, p. 406.
[101:1] See Appendix, c.
[101:2] See Westropp & Wakes, "Phallic Worship."
[101:4] See Assyrian Discoveries, pp. 167, 168, and Chaldean Account of Genesis.
[101:5] "Upon the carrying away of the Jews to Babylon, they were brought into contact with a flood of Iranian as well as Chaldean myths, and adopted them without hesitation." (S. Baring-Gould; Curious Myths, p. 316.)
[102:1] Chambers's Encyclo., art. "Deucalion."
[102:2] See chapter ii.
[102:3] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 185, and Maurice: Indian Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 277.
[102:5] See Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 153, note.
[102:6] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 254.
[102:7] See Ibid. p. 367.
[102:8] See Ibid. p. 252.
[102:9] Goldzhier: Hebrew Mythology, pp. 130-135, and Smith's Chaldean Account of Genesis.
[103:1] Chaldean Account of Genesis, pp. 27, 28.
[103:2] See Note, p. 109.
[103:3] See Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 685.
[103:4] "Targum."—The general term for the Aramaic versions of the Old Testament.
[103:5] In Genesis xxiii. 2, Abraham is called rich in gold and in silver.
[103:6] See Volney's Researches in Ancient History, pp. 144-147.
[104:1] The Religion of Israel, p. 49.
[104:2] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 122. Higgins: vol. ii. p. 19.
[104:3] In claiming the "mighty man" and "lion-killer" as one of their own race, the Jews were simply doing what other nations had done before them. The Greeks claimed Hercules as their countryman; stated where he was born, and showed his tomb. The Egyptians affirmed that he was born in their country (see Tacitus, Annals, b. ii. ch. lix.), and so did many other nations.
[105:1] See Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, pp. 92, 93.
[105:2] Chaldean Account of Genesis, pp. 168 and 174; and Assyrian Discoveries, p. 167.
[105:3] Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 168.
[105:4] See The Religion of Israel, p. 12; and Chadwick's Bible of To-Day, p. 55.
[105:5] See The Religion of Israel, p. 41, and Chadwick's Bible of To-Day, p. 24.
[106:1] The Science of Religion, p. 48.
[107:1] They even claimed that one of the "lost tribes of Israel" had found their way to America, and had taught the natives Hebrew.
[107:2] The Science of Religion, pp. 285, 292.
[107:3] "It is an assumption of the popular theology, and an almost universal belief in the popular mind, that the Jewish nation was selected by the Almighty to preserve and carry down to later ages a knowledge of the One and true God—that the Patriarchs possessed this knowledge—that Moses delivered and enforced this doctrine as the fundamental tenet of the national creed; and that it was, in fact, the received and distinctive dogma of the Hebrew people. This alleged possession of the true faith by one only people, while all surrounding tribes were lost in Polytheism, or something worse, has been adduced by divines in general as a proof of the truth of the sacred history, and of the divine origin of the Mosaic dispensation." (Greg: The Creed of Christendom, p. 145.)
Even such authorities as Paley and Milman have written in this strain. (See quotations from Paley's "Evidences of Christianity," and Dean Milman's "History of the Jews," made by Mr. Greg in his "Creed of Christendom," p. 145.)
[107:4] See the Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 321, vol. ii. p. 102; and Dunlap: Mysteries of Adoni, p. 108.
[108:1] See the Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 317, 418; vol. ii. p. 301. Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 3, and his Spirit Hist., pp. 68 and 182. Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. pp. 782, 783; and Goldziher: Hebrew Mythol., pp. 227, 240, 242.
[108:2] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 317. Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 3; and Spirit Hist., p. 68. Also, Goldziher: Hebrew Mythol., p. 159.
[108:3] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 26, and 317; vol. ii. p. 301 and 328. Dunlap's Son of the Man, p. 3. Dunlap's Spirit Hist., 68; Mysteries of Adoni, pp. xvii. and 108; and The Religion of Israel, p. 38.
[108:4] Bunsen: Keys of St. Peter, pp. 101, 102.
[108:5] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 175-178, 317, 322, 448.
[108:6] Ibid. 115.
[108:7] Ibid. i. 23, 321; ii. 102, 103, 109, 264, 274. Dunlap's Spirit Hist., p. 108. Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 438; vol. ii. p. 30.
[108:8] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 88, 318; vol. ii. pp. 102, 113, 300. Dunlap: Son of the Man, p. 3; and Mysteries of Adoni, p. xvii. Müller: The Science of Religion, p. 261.
[108:9] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 21-25, 105, 391; vol. ii. pp. 102, 136-138. Dunlap: Son of the Man, p. 3. Mysteries of Adoni, pp. 106, 177. Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. pp. 782, 783. Bunsen: The Keys of St. Peter, p. 91. Müller: The Science of Religion, p. 181. Bal, Bel or Belus was an idol of the Chaldeans and Phenicians or Canaanites. The word Bal, in the Punic language, signifies Lord or Master. The name Bal is often joined with some other, as Bal-berith, Bal-peor, Bal-zephon, &c. "The Israelites made him their god, and erected altars to him on which they offered human sacrifices," and "what is still more unnatural, they ate of the victims they offered." (Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. pp. 113, 114.)
[108:10] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. pp. 17, 26; vol. ii. pp. 102, 299, 300. Bunsen: Keys of St. Peter, p. 110. Müller: The Science of Religion, p. 285. Moloch was a god of the Ammonites, also worshiped among the Israelites. Solomon built a temple to him, on the Mount of Olives, and human sacrifices were offered to him. (Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. pp. 84, 85.)
[108:11] The Bible for Learners, vol. i. p. 153; vol. ii. pp. 71, 83, 125. Smith's Bible Dictionary art. "Chemosh."