"In saying that all things were made in this beautiful order by God, what do we seem to say more than Plato? When we teach a general conflagration, what do we teach more than the Stoics? By opposing the worship of the works of men's hands, we concur with Menander, the comedian; and by declaring the Logos, the first begotten of God, our master Jesus Christ, to be born of a virgin, without any human mixture, to be crucified and dead, and to have rose again, and ascended into heaven: we say no more in this, than what you say of those whom you style the Sons of Jove. For you need not be told what a parcel of sons, the writers most in vogue among you, assign to Jove; there's Mercury, Jove's interpreter, in imitation of the Logos, in worship among you. There's Æsculapius, the physician, smitten by a thunderbolt, and after that ascending into heaven. There's Bacchus, torn to pieces; and Hercules, burnt to get rid of his pains. There's Pollux and Castor, the sons of Jove by Leda, and Perseus by Danae; and not to mention others, I would fain know why you always deify the departed emperors and have a fellow at hand to make affidavit that he saw Cæsar mount to heaven from the funeral pile?

"As to the son of God, called Jesus, should we allow him to be nothing more than man, yet the title of the son of God is very justifiable, upon the account of his wisdom, considering that you have your Mercury in worship, under the title of the Word and Messenger of God.

"As to the objection of our Jesus's being crucified, I say, that suffering was common to all the forementioned sons of Jove, but only they suffered another kind of death. As to his being born of a virgin, you have your Perseus to balance that. As to his curing the lame, and the paralytic, and such as were cripples from birth, this is little more than what you say of your Æsculapius."[412:1]

The most celebrated Fathers of the Christian church, the most frequently quoted, and those whose names stand the highest were nothing more nor less than Pagans, being born and educated Pagans. Pantaenus (A. D. 193) was one of these half-Pagan, half-Christian, Fathers. He at one time presided in the school of the faithful in Alexandria in Egypt, and was celebrated on account of his learning. He was brought up in the Stoic philosophy.[412:2]

Clemens Alexandrinus (A. D. 194) or St. Clement of Alexandria, was another Christian Father of the same sort, being originally a Pagan. He succeeded Pantaenus as president of the monkish university at Alexandria. His works are very extensive, and his authority very high in the church.[412:3]

Tertullian (A. D. 200) may next be mentioned. He also was originally a Pagan, and at one time Presbyter of the Christian church of Carthage, in Africa. The following is a specimen of his manner of reasoning on the evidences of Christianity. He says:

"I find no other means to prove myself to be impudent with success, and happily a fool, than by my contempt of shame; as, for instance—I maintain that the Son of God was born; why am I not ashamed of maintaining such a thing? Why! but because it is itself a shameful thing. I maintain that the Son of God died: well, that is wholly credible because it is monstrously absurd. I maintain that after having been buried, he rose again: and that I take to be absolutely true, because it was manifestly impossible."[412:4]

Origen (A. D. 230), one of the shining lights of the Christian church, was another Father of this class. Porphyry (a Neo-platonist philosopher) objects to him on this account.[413:1]

He also was born in the great cradle and nursery of superstition—Egypt—and studied under that celebrated philosopher, Ammonius Saccus, who taught that "Christianity and Paganism, when rightly understood, differed in no essential point, but had a common origin." This man was so sincere in his devotion to the cause of monkery, or Essenism, that he made himself an eunuch "for the kingdom of heaven's sake."[413:2] The writer of the twelfth verse of the nineteenth chapter of Matthew, was without doubt an Egyptian monk. The words are put into the mouth of the Jewish Jesus, which is simply ridiculous, when it is considered that the Jews did not allow an eunuch so much as to enter the congregation of the Lord.[413:3]

St. Gregory (A. D. 240), bishop of Neo-Cæsarea in Pontus, was another celebrated Christian Father, born of Pagan parents and educated a Pagan. He is called Thaumaturgus, or the wonder-worker, and is said to have performed miracles when still a Pagan.[413:4] He, too, was an Alexandrian student. This is the Gregory who was commended by his namesake of Nyssa for changing the Pagan festivals into Christian holidays, the better to draw the heathen to the religion of Christ.[413:5]

Mosheim, the ecclesiastical historian, in speaking of the Christian church during the second century, says:

"The profound respect that was paid to the Greek and Roman mysteries, and the extraordinary sanctity that was attributed to them, induced the Christians to give their religion a mystic air, in order to put it upon an equal footing, in point of dignity, with that of the Pagans. For this purpose they gave the name of mysteries to the institutions of the gospel, and decorated, particularly the holy sacrament, with that solemn title. They used, in that sacred institution, as also in that of baptism, several of the terms employed in the heathen mysteries, and proceeded so far at length, as even to adopt some of the rites and ceremonies of which those renowned mysteries consisted."[413:6]

We have seen, then, that the only difference between Christianity and Paganism is that Brahma, Ormuzd, Osiris, Zeus, Jupiter, etc., are called by another name; Crishna, Buddha, Bacchus, Adonis, Mithras, etc., have been turned into Christ Jesus: Venus' pigeon into the Holy Ghost; Diana, Isis, Devaki, etc., into the Virgin Mary; and the demi-gods and heroes into saints. The exploits of the one were represented as the miracles of the other. Pagan festivals became Christian holidays, and Pagan temples became Christian churches.

Mr. Mahaffy, Fellow and Tutor in Trinity College, and Lecturer on Ancient History in the University of Dublin, ends his "Prolegomena to Ancient History" in the following manner:

"There is indeed, hardly a great or fruitful idea in the Jewish or Christian systems, which has not its analogy in the (ancient) Egyptian faith. The development of the one God into a trinity; the incarnation of the mediating deity in a Virgin, and without a father; his conflict and his momentary defeat by the powers of darkness; his partial victory (for the enemy is not destroyed); his resurrection and reign over an eternal kingdom with his justified saints; his distinction from, and yet identity with, the uncreate incomprehensible Father, whose form is unknown, and who dwelleth not in temples made with hands—all these theological conceptions pervade the oldest religion of Egypt. So, too, the contrast and even the apparent inconsistencies between our moral and theological beliefs—the vacillating attribution of sin and guilt partly to moral weakness, partly to the interference of evil spirits, and likewise of righteousness to moral worth, and again to the help of good genii or angels; the immortality of the soul and its final judgment—all these things have met us in the Egyptian ritual and moral treatises. So, too, the purely human side of morals, and the catalogue of virtues and vices, are by natural consequences as like as are the theological systems. But I recoil from opening this great subject now; it is enough to have lifted the veil and shown the scene of many a future contest."[414:1]

In regard to the moral sentiments expressed in the books of the New Testament, and believed by the majority of Christians to be peculiar to Christianity, we shall touch them but lightly, as this has already been done so frequently by many able scholars.

The moral doctrines that appear in the New Testament, even the sayings of the Sermon on the Mount and the Lord's Prayer, are found with slight variation, among the Rabbins, who have certainly borrowed nothing out of the New Testament.

Christian teachers have delighted to exhibit the essential superiority of Christianity to Judaism, have quoted with triumph the maxims that are said to have fallen from the lips of Jesus, and which, they surmised, could not be paralleled in the elder Scriptures, and have put the least favorable construction on such passages in the ancient books as seemed to contain the thoughts of evangelists and apostles. A more ingenious study of the Hebrew law, according to the oldest traditions, as well as its later interpretations by the prophets, reduces these differences materially by bringing into relief sentiments and precepts whereof the New Testament morality is but an echo.

There are passages in Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, even tenderer in their humanity than anything in the Gospels. The preacher from the Mount, the prophet of the Beatitudes, does but repeat with persuasive lips what the law-givers of his race proclaimed in mighty tones of command. Such an acquaintance with the later literature of the Jews as is really obtained now from popular sources, will convince the ordinarily fair mind that the originality of the New Testament has been greatly over-estimated.

"To feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, bury the dead, loyally serve the king, forms the first duty of a pious man and faithful subject,"

is an abstract from the Egyptian "Book of the Dead," the oldest Bible in the world.

Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, born 551 B. C., said:

"Obey Heaven, and follow the orders of Him who governs it. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do to another what you would he should do unto you; and do not unto another what you would should not be done unto you; thou only needest this law alone, it is the foundation and principle of all the rest. Acknowledge thy benefits by the return of other benefits, but never revenge injuries."[415:1]

The following extracts from Manu and the Maha-bharata, an Indian epic poem, written many centuries before the time of Christ Jesus,[415:2] compared with similar sentiment contained in the books of the New Testament, are very striking.

"An evil-minded man is quick to see his neighbor's faults, though small as mustard-seed; but when he turns his eyes towards his own, though large as Bilva fruit, he none descries." (Maha-bharata.)   "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" (Matt. vii. 3.)
"Conquer a man who never gives by gifts; subdue untruthful men by truthfulness; vanquish an angry man by gentleness; and overcome the evil man by goodness." (Ibid.)   "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans, xii. 21.)
"To injure none by thought or word or deed, to give to others, and be kind to all—this is the constant duty of the good. High-minded men delight in doing good, without a thought of their own interest; when they confer a benefit on others, they reckon not on favors in return." (Ibid.)   "Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil." (Luke, vii. 35.)
"Two persons will hereafter be exalted above the heavens—the man with boundless power, who yet forbears to use it indiscreetly, and he who is not rich, and yet can give." (Ibid.)

"Just heaven is not so pleased with costly gifts, offered in hope of future recompense, as with the merest trifle set apart from honest gains, and sanctified by faith." (Ibid.)		   "And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance, but she of her want did cast all that she had, even all her living." (Mark, xii. 41-44.)
"To curb the tongue and moderate the speech, is held to be the hardest of all tasks. The words of him who talk too volubly have neither substance nor variety." (Ibid.)   "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." (James, iii. 8.)
"Even to foes who visit us as guests due hospitality should be displayed; the tree screens with its leaves, the man who fells it." (Ibid.)   "Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." (Rom. xii. 20.)
"In granting or refusing a request, a man obtains a proper rule of action by looking on his neighbor as himself." (Ibid.)   "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matt. xxii. 39.)

"And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." (Luke vi. 31.)
"Before infirmities creep o'er thy flesh; before decay impairs thy strength and mars the beauty of thy limbs; before the Ender, whose charioteer is sickness, hastes towards thee, breaks up thy fragile frame and ends thy life, lay up the only treasure: Do good deeds; practice sobriety and self-control; amass that wealth which thieves cannot abstract, nor tyrants seize, which follows thee at death, which never wastes away, nor is corrupted." (Ibid.)   "Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say: I have no pleasure in them." (Ecc. xii. 1.)

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal." (Matt. vi. 19-20.)
"This is the sum of all true righteousness—Treat others as thou wouldst thyself be treated. Do nothing to thy neighbor, which hereafter thou would'st not have thy neighbor do to thee. In causing pleasure, or in giving pain, in doing good or injury to others, in granting or refusing a request, a man obtains a proper rule of action by looking on his neighbor as himself." (Ibid.)   "Ye have heard that it hath been said: Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." (Matt. v. 43-44.)

"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another: as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." (John, xii. 34.)

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matt, xi 39.)
"Think constantly, O Son, how thou mayest please
 Thy father, mother, teacher,—these obey.
 By deep devotion seek thy debt to pay.
 This is thy highest duty and religion."

(Manu.)

"Wound not another, though by him provoked.
 Do no one injury by thought or deed.
 Utter no word to pain thy fellow-creatures."

(Ibid.)

"Treat no one with disdain, with patience bear
 Reviling language; with an angry man
 Be never angry; blessings give for curses."

(Ibid.)

"E'en as a driver checks his restive steeds,
 Do thou, if thou art wise, restrain thy passions,
 Which, running wild, will hurry thee away."

(Ibid.)

"Pride not thyself on thy religious works.
 Give to the poor, but talk not of thy gifts.
 By pride religious merit melts away,
 The merit of thy alms by ostentation."

(Ibid.)

"Good words, good deeds, and beautiful expressions
 A wise man ever culls from every quarter,
 E'en as a gleaner gathers ears of corn."

(Maha-bharata.)

"Repeated sin destroys the understanding,
 And he whose reason is impaired, repeats
 His sins. The constant practice of virtue
 Strengthens the mental faculties, and he
 Whose judgment stronger grows, acts always right."

(Ibid.)

"If thou art wise seek ease and happiness
 In deeds of virtue and of usefulness;
 And ever act in such a way by day
 That in the night thy sleep may tranquil be;
 And so comport thyself when thou art young
 That when thou art grown old, thy age may pass
 In calm serenity. So ply thy talk
 Through thy life, that when thy days are ended,
 Thou may'st enjoy eternal bliss hereafter."

(Ibid.)

"Do naught to others which if done to thee
 Would cause thee pain; this is the sum of duty."

(Ibid.)

"No sacred lore can save the hypocrite,—
 Though he employ it craftily,—from hell;
 When his end comes, his pious texts take wings,
 Like fledglings eager to forsake their nest."

(Ibid.)

"Iniquity once practiced, like a seed,
 Fails not to yield its fruit to him who wrought it,
 If not to him, yet to his sons and grandsons."

(Manu.)

"Single is every living creature born,
 Single he passes to another world.
 Single he eats the fruit of evil deeds,
 Single, the fruit of good; and when he leaves
 His body like a log or heap of clay
 Upon the ground, his kinsmen walk away;
 Virtue alone stands by him at the tomb,
 And bears him through the dreary, trackless gloom."

(Ibid.)

"Thou canst not gather what thou dost not sow;
 As thou dost plant the tree so will it grow."

(Ibid.)

"He who pretends to be what he is not,
 Acts a part, commits the worst of crimes,
 For, thief-like, he abstracts a good man's heart."

(Ibid.)

FOOTNOTES:

[384:1] "Before the separation of the Aryan race, before the existence of Sanscrit, Greek, or Latin, before the gods of the Veda had been worshiped, ONE SUPREME DEITY had been found, had been named, and had been invoked by the ancestors of our race." (Prof. Max Müller: The Science of Religion, p. 67.)

[384:2] See Chap. XII. and Chap. XX., for Only-begotten Sons.

[384:3] See Chap. XII. and Chap. XXXII., where we have shown that many other virgin-born gods were conceived by the Holy Ghost, and that the name Mary is the same as Maia, Maya, Myrra, &c.

[384:4] See Chap. XX., for Crucified Saviours.

[385:1] See Chap. XXII.

[385:2] See Chaps. XXII. and XXXIX., for Resurrected Saviours.

[385:3] See Ibid.

[385:4] See Chap. XXIV., and Chap. XXV.

[385:5] See Chap. XII., and Chap. XXXV.

[385:6] That is, the holy true Church. All peoples who have had a religion believe that theirs was the Catholic faith.

[385:7] There was no nation of antiquity who did not believe in "the forgiveness of sins," especially if some innocent creature redeemed them by the shedding of his blood (see Chap. IV., and Chap. XX.), and as far as confession of sins is concerned, and thereby being forgiven, this too is almost as old as humanity. Father Acosta found it even among the Mexicans, and said that "the father of lies (the Devil) counterfeited the sacrament of confession, so that he might be honored with ceremonies very like the Christians." (See Acosta, vol. ii. p. 360.)

[385:8] "No doctrine except that of a supreme and subtly-pervading deity, is so extended, and has retained its primitive form so distinctly, as a belief in immortality, and a future state of rewards and punishments. Among the most savage races, the idea of a future existence in a place of delight is found." (Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie.)

"Go back far as we may in the history of the Indo-European race, of which the Greeks and Italians are branches, and we do not find that this race has ever thought that after this short life all was finished for man. The most ancient generations, long before there were philosophers, believed in a second existence after the present. They looked upon death not as a dissolution of our being, but simply as a change of life." (M. De Coulanges: The Ancient City, p. 15.)

[385:9] For full information on this subject see Archbishop Wake's Apostolic Fathers, p. 108, Justice Bailey's Common Prayer, Taylor's Diegesis, p. 10, and Chambers's Encyclo., art. "Creeds."

[386:1] Rev. xi. 7-9.

[386:2] S. Baring-Gould: Legends of Patriarchs, p. 25.

[386:3] II. Peter, ii. 4.

[386:4] Jude, 6.

[386:5] S. Baring-Gould: Legends of Patriarchs, p. 16.

[387:1] S. Baring-Gould: Legends of Patriarchs, p. 17.

[387:2] Indian Wisdom, p. 39.

[387:3] See Renouf's Hibbert Lectures, p. 165. Dupuis: Origin of Relig. Beliefs, p. 73, and Baring-Gould's Legends of the Prophets, p. 19.

[387:4] S. Baring-Gould's Legends of Patriarchs, p. 19.

[388:1] Priestley, p. 35.

[388:2] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 411.

[388:3] See Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 819. Taylor's Diegesis, p. 215, and Dupuis: Origin of Relig. Beliefs, p. 78.

[388:4] See Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 31.

[388:5] S. Baring-Gould's Legends of Patriarchs, p. 20.

[388:6] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 159, and Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i.

[389:1] This subject is most fully entered into by Mr. Herbert Spencer, in vol. i. of "Principles of Sociology."

[390:1] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 426.

[391:1] See Appendix C.

[391:2] See Fiske, pp. 104-107.

[392:1] Williams' Hinduism, pp. 182, 183.

[392:2] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 216.

[392:3] See Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 111.

[392:4] See Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 466.

[392:5] Williams' Hinduism, p. 184.

[393:1] "The Seventh day was sacred to Saturn throughout the East." (Dunlap's Spirit Hist., pp. 35, 36.)

"Saturn's day was made sacred to God, and the planet is now called cochab shabbath, 'The Sabbath Star.'

"The sanctification of the Sabbath is clearly connected with the word Shabua or Sheba, i. e., seven." (Inman's Anct. Faiths, vol. ii. p. 504.) "The Babylonians, Egyptians, Chinese, and the natives of India, were acquainted with the seven days' division of time, as were the ancient Druids." (Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 412.) "With the Egyptians the Seventh day was consecrated to God the Father." (Ibid.) "Hesiod, Herodotus, Philostratus, &c., mention that day. Homer, Callimachus, and other ancient writers call the Seventh day the Holy One. Eusebius confesses its observance by almost all philosophers and poets." (Ibid.)

[393:2] Ibid.

[393:3] Ibid. p. 413.

[393:4] Pococke Specimen: Hist. Arab., p. 97. Quoted in Dunlap's Spirit Hist., p. 274. "Some of the families of the Israelites worshiped Saturn under the name of Kiwan, which may have given rise to the religious observance of the Seventh day." (Bible for Learners, vol. i, p. 317.)

[393:5] Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 283.

[393:6] Mover's Phönizier, vol. i. p. 313. Quoted in Dunlap's Spirit Hist., p. 36.

[393:7] Assyrian Discoveries.

[393:8] Mallet's Northern Antiquities, p. 92.

[393:9] Old Norse, Odinsdagr; Swe. and Danish, Onsdag; Ang. Sax., Wodensdeg; Dutch, Woensdag; Eng., Wednesday.

[395:1] Rev. M. J. Savage.

[395:2] Acts, xv. 20.

[396:1] Bonwick: Egyptian Belief, p. 182.

[396:2] See Eusebius' Life of Constantine, lib. iv. chs. xviii. and xxiii.

[396:3] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 237.

[396:4] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 187, and Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. pp. 142, 143.

[396:5] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 236, and Gibbon's Rome, vol. iii. pp. 142, 143.

[396:6] Higgins' Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 137.

[396:7] Ibid. p. 307.

[397:1] Gruter's Inscriptions. Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 237.

[397:2] Boldonius' Epigraphs. Quoted in Ibid.

[397:3] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 237. Taylor's Diegesis, p. 48, and Middleton's Letters from Rome.

[397:4] Baring-Gould's Curious Myths, p. 428.

[398:1] Mosheim, Cent. ii. p. 202. Quoted in Taylor's Diegesis, p. 48.

[398:2] Draper: Religion and Science, pp. 48, 49.

[398:3] Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 84.

[399:1] See Higgins' Anacalypsis.

[399:2] Jones on the Canon, vol. i. p. 11. Diegesis, p. 49.