There are in this and other Christian countries more than one hundred thousand clergymen who spend a portion of each recurring sabbath in presenting the claims, and dilating upon the beauties and benefits (some real and some imaginary), of the religion of the Christian Bible. They claim that it is the religion for this age, and a religion that should be adopted by the whole human race; but they present but one side of the picture, and but one phase of the argument. A witness before a jury is required to "tell the truth, and the whole truth;" but the priesthood dare not do this with respect to the errors and defects of their religion. They would lose their congregations and their salaries also. But few clergymen possess the moral courage to turn state's evidence against their pockets or their "bread and butter." It is a sad reflection that they are hired, and required to conceal whatever errors may loom up before their moral vision in the investigation of the principles of their religion, or the Bible on which it is founded. They are placed in the position of an attorney who is sworn to be true to his client at any sacrifice of truth and moral manhood. Whatever may be their moral convictions with respect to the sinfulness or evil consequences or demoralizing effects of continuing to preach the intellectually dwarfing and morally poisoning doctrines originated in, and adapted only to, the dark and undeveloped ages of the past, when the race was under the dominion of the animal and blind propensities, yet they must do it. They must continue to preach these errors, to sustain these evils, and maintain their false positions, or lose their salaries and their popular standing in society. It is a very unfortunate position to be placed in; but, self-interest being the ruling principle of the age, we cannot reasonably expect the clergy will do any thing toward enlightening the people on the errors and immoral influences of their religious doctrines, or the substitution of a better system, until human nature has advanced to a higher moral plane. On the contrary, we must expect they will continue to blind the people, pervert the truth, magnify every imaginable good quality of their religious system; while, on the other hand, they will as sedulously attempt to hide every defect which either they or others may discover in their Bible. This state of things in the religious world imposes upon the moral reformer the solemn necessity of employing the most effectual lever, and of adopting every available moral means, to counteract this morally deleterious influence of the clergy, and arrest the tide of evil which follows in their wake as the legitimate fruits of a course of conduct dictated by policy instead of principle.
Some of our readers will doubtless be disposed to ask why we have not occupied a larger portion of this work in exhibiting the beauties and benefits of the religion and system of morals set forth in the Bible. The answer to the question is fully anticipated in the preceding remarks. It is simply because fifty thousand tongues and pens are almost constantly employed in this work. They do it and overdo it. This renders it a work of supererogation on our part; while, on the other hand, we find the errors and evils of the Bible and its religion, which they overlook or neglect to expose, so very numerous, that we can not exhibit them in a single volume, unless we allow but a limited space to a repetition of what is done by them every week. This is our reason for appearing to pursue a one-sided policy.
We hope we shall not be misunderstood or condemned by any reader for appearing to indulge frequently in a spirit of levity in attempting to expose the logical and moral absurdities of the Bible. We have assumed this license more from an apprehended moral necessity than from a natural disposition. Ridicule is now generally acknowledged by moralists to be a most potent weapon for the demolition of error. Moral and religions absurdities, according to Cicero, can be arrested and put down much sooner by "holding them up to the light of ridicule, than by any other means that can be employed." Let no one, then, oppose the use of such means simply because it may disturb a sensitive feeling in his own mind, derived from a false education. A critical investigation of religious history discloses the important fact, that the conviction established in the popular mind that it is wrong to indulge in a feeling of levity when writing or discoursing on religious subjects is the work of the clergy. Having discovered that many of the narrations of their Bible, and likewise many of the tenets of their creeds, are really ridiculous when examined in the light of science, reason, and sound sense, in order to prevent these ridiculous features of their systems from being exposed, they taught the people that ridicule is entirely out of place in matters of religion, and that such feelings, or language expressive of such feelings, should be entirely suppressed. And it is principally by the invention of this expedient, and the establishment of this conviction in the public mind, that the clergy have succeeded in keeping the ridiculous errors of their creeds concealed from age to age. And to continue this policy longer is only to yield to their interests, and prolong those evils still longer which have been perpetuated for centuries by the adoption of this expedient. No other argument or apology is necessary than this as a justification of the limited extent to which the language of ridicule has been employed in this work. It is an egregious error, which is the offspring of an erroneous education and habit, to suppose that ridicule is more out of place on religious subjects than on other subjects. O. S. Fowler has fully established this as a scientific fact on phrenological grounds. We should be quite sorry to wound the feelings of any sensitive mind by any language made use of in this work, and hope this explanation, will prevent such results.
As a critical examination of the Christian Bible discloses the fact that it contains several thousand moral and scientific errors, and as experience proves the tendency of such errors is to corrupt the moral feelings and check the intellectual growth of all who read and believe "the Hoty Book," we have, since arriving at this conviction, considered it to be our duty not only to expose these errors, but also to discourage the habitual reading of the Bible with any other view than to learn its real character. And more especially do we earnestly advise parents not to place the Bible in the hands of their children till they arrive at an age when a more mature judgment can enable them to discriminate between its truths and its errors. And we likewise entreat all moralists and philanthropists, and all lovers of truth and virtue, as they desire the moral growth and moral reformation of the world, to exert their influence to stop the shipment of the Christian Bible to foreign lands to be circulated among the uncultured and credulous heathen. Here is disclosed one of our principal reasons for writing this work. We wish to make it a voice of remonstrance against placing any of those morally defective books called Bibles in the hands of the ignorant and impressible heathen, or the children of Christian countries, until their minds become sufficiently fortified by age and experience to resist or withstand the demoralizing influence of their bad precepts and bad examples as exposed in this work.
The Quaker Church (of which the author was once a member) have a clause in their discipline forbidding their members to read pernicious books, which are defined by one of the founders of the Church (William Penn) to be "such books and publications as contain language which appears to sanction crime or wrong practices, or teach bad morals." And hundreds of cases cited in this work prove that the Christian Bible may be ranked with works of this character. If the advice of the Hindoo editor had been complied with many years ago,—to "revise all Bibles, and leave out their bad precepts and examples," and change their obscene language,—the Christian Bible might now be a very useful and instructive book. But we are willing to leave it to the conscience of every honest reader, who places truth and morality above Bibles and creeds, to decide, after reading this work, whether the Bible, with all its ennobling precepts, does not contain too strong an admixture of bad morality to make it a safe or suitable book to be relied on as a guide in morals and religion. According to Archbishop Tillotson, Bibles shape the morals and religion of the people in all religious countries,—they are derived from the examples and precepts of these "Holy Books." If this be true, we most solemnly and seriously put the question to every Bible reader, What must be the effect upon the morals and religion of Christian countries of such moral examples as Abraham, Moses, Noah, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, and nearly all the prophets, with their long string of crimes, as shown in this work? Let us not be guilty of the folly of suffering our inherited, stereotyped predilections, and exalted veneration for "the Holy Book," to rule our moral sense, and control our judgment in this matter, but muster the moral courage to look at the thing in its true light. Let us be independent moralists and philanthropists, rather than slaves to Bibles and creeds. "Every book," says a writer, "has a spirit which it breathes into the minds of its readers;" and, if it contains bad morals or bad language, the habitual reading of it will gradually reconcile the mind to those immoral lessons, and finally cause them to be looked upon as God-given truths. Such is the omnipotent force of habit. And we appeal to all Bible readers to testify if this has not been their experience. All Christian professors, when they first commenced reading the Bible, doubtless found many things in it which shocked their moral sense, did violence to their reasoning faculties, and mortified their love of decorum. But a perseverance in reading it, through the force of habit and education, has finally reconciled their minds to those immoral lessons, and blinded the judgment, so that they are not now conscious of their real character and deleterious influence upon the mind.
One of the strongest and most solemn lessons of human experience, and proofs of the blinding effect of a false religious education, may be found in the fact that the two thousand Bible errors brought to notice in this work have been overlooked from age to age by the great mass of Bible readers. So absolutely and deplorably blinded have they been in some cases, as to lead them to conclude, like Dr. Cheever of New York, that "the Bible does not contain the shadow of a shade of error from Genesis to Revelation." Such a perversion and stultification of the reasoning faculties was never excelled in any age or country. St. Augustine furnishes another striking illustration of the total wreck of mind and moral principle which an obstinate determination to accept the Bible with all its errors is capable of effecting. Having found a great many absurdities in the Bible which he could not reconcile with reason and sense, and hence discovering he must either give up his Bible or his reason, he chose the latter alternative, and declared in his "Book of Sermons" (p. 33), "I believe things in the Bible because they are absurd. I believe them because they are impossible" (as glaring an absurdity as ever issued from human lips). Such a desperate expedient to save his Bible and creed from going overboard shows that they had demoralized his mind, and made a complete wreck of his reason. This is the writer who declared he found and preached to a nation of people who had but one eye, and that situated in their foreheads, and another nation who had no heads, but eyes in their breasts. It seems a pity that this single-eyed nation became extinct; for Christ declared, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." Such an embodiment of light might have done much to enlighten the world. And this St. Augustine is the writer whom Eusebius pronounces "the great moral light of the Christian Church." And St. Irenaeus furnishes another deplorable example of the prostration or perversion of the moral faculties by accepting the Bible as a standard for morals when he justified the crime of incest by pointing to the example of "righteous Lot" and his daughters. The celebrated Albert Barnes was made a victim of great mental suffering for many years by his laborious but ineffectual attempts to reconcile the Bible with the dictates of reason. Hear what he says about the matter. We will present the case in his own language: "These difficulties (of reconciling the teachings of the Bible to reason) are probably felt by every mind that ever reflects on the subject; and they are unexplained, unmitigated, and unremoved. I confess, for one, that I feel them, and feel them more sensibly and powerfully the more I look at them, and the longer I live. I do not understand them, and I make no advance toward understanding them. I do not know that I have a ray of light upon this subject which I had not when the subject first flashed across my soul. I have read what wise and good men have written upon the subject; I have looked at their theories and explanations; I have endeavored to weigh their arguments,—for my whole soul pants for light and relief on these questions: but I get neither; and, in the anguish and distress of my soul, I confess I get no light whatever. I see not one ray to disclose to me the reason why sin came into the world, why the earth is strewn with the dying and the dead, and why man must suffer to all eternity. I have never seen a particle of light thrown on these subjects that has given a moment's ease to my tortured mind.... I trust that other men... have not the anguish of spirit which I have. But I confess, when I look on a world of sinners and sufferers, upon death-beds and graveyards, and upon a world of woe filled with hosts to suffer for ever; and when I see my friends, my parents, my family, my people, my fellow-citizens—when I look upon a whole race—all involved in this sin and danger; and when I see the great mass of them wholly unconcerned; and when I feel that God only can save them, and yet he does not do it,—I am struck dumb. It is all dark—dark—dark to my soul; and I cannot disguise it" (Practical Sermons, p. 124). There, reader, you have the candid confession of an honest-minded, orthodox, and one of the ablest and most talented writers that ever wielded the pen in defense of the Christian faith. And if such a talented and logical mind could find no reason, consistency, or moral principle in the dogmas of orthodoxy, we may readily ask, Who can? Thousands of other orthodox clergymen have doubtless been perplexed with the same difficulties, but have not had the honesty to confess it. Those who do not now perceive them can find the reason by putting their hands on their own heads. They will find their intellects or logical brains defective. Moral philosophers now find no difficulty in solving any of those problems which so much perplexed the mind of Mr. Barnes. They are all false and unfounded dogmas, except the prevalence of death and disease in the world. And these casualties are now known to be amongst the wisest and most useful dispensations of nature. (See chapter headed Natural and Moral Evil.) And had Mr. Barnes ascended to the plane of mental and moral science, instead of remaining down in the dark, orthodox, theological cellar, trying to squeeze truth out of old, dead, dried-up, dusty, theological dogmas, he would have readily found the solution to all his problems, and would have rejoiced in thus emerging into the glorious sunlight of truth.
We do not question but that Bibles served a useful purpose for those nations and tribes by whom and for whom they were written; but as they only represent the imperfect moral and religious conceptions of that age, and have always been sacredly guarded from improvement, to make them the rule of action for any subsequent age would be to stop all moral and religious improvement. It is strikingly evident that society can make no improvement while it follows a Bible which is interdicted from improvement. It must remain stationary, with respect to religion and morals, so far as it is tied to an unchangeable book. Bibles in this way become masters of human thought, and shackles for the soul, and thus inflict serious evils upon society by their tendency to stop all moral, and religious progress. Three thousand or ten thousand years may elapse, and no improvement can be made in the religion or morals of the people while the Bible from which they emanate is prohibited from improvement. Thus Bibles inflict a death-like torpor and stagnation upon the moral and intellectual progress of society so far as their precepts are lived up to; that is, so far as the assumption that there can be no improvement in the teachings of the Bible is practically observed. It is the source of a pleasing reflection, however, to know that most Bible believers habitually violate their own principles by trampling this assumption under foot. Otherwise we would have remained eternally in a state of barbarism.
Thebe is displayed in all Bibles a devout recognition of moral principles, and a strong manifestation of moral feeling. The disciples of all Bibles manifest an ardent aspiration for something higher, something nobler,—a mental struggle to reach a higher plane. This moral aspiration is displayed in almost every chapter; and there are in all Bibles veins of beautiful thought coursing through their pages. All of them contain moral precepts which are in their nature elevating and ennobling, and which, if practically recognized, would have done much to improve the morals and enhance the happiness of their disciples; and all Bibles are valuable as fragments of religious history, and as indicating the state of religion and morals of the people who originated them. Their numerous outbursts of religious feeling indicate the depth of their devotion; while their many noble moral aphorisms indicate an appreciation of, and a desire for, a higher moral life than they were able to practice because of the strength of their animal feelings. This is especially true of the Jews, and also of the early Christians. They had a partial perception of a true moral life, and a desire at times to practice it; but that desire was counteracted and held in check by their still stronger animal natures and animal propensities.
There can be no question, from the light derived from the twofold avenues of science and history, but that the great principle of universal progress, which is carrying every thing forward to a higher plane and state of perfection, has elevated the most advanced nations of the present age beyond and above the religion and morals prevalent in the world when the Jewish and Christian Bible was written, which makes it very unsuitable for the present advanced state of society. An investigation of the science of anthropology discloses the very significant and important fact, that the religious feelings of the founders and early representatives of the Jewish and Christian religions were under the control of their animal natures, which accounts for their frequent use of obscene language, and their frequent indulgence in the practice of every species of crime with the full sanction of the principles of their religion. And they cherished the conviction that those things had the divine sanction.
The moral and religions feelings of the early Jews and Christians co-operated with their animal propensities; and the latter held supreme sway over the former: while the moral and religions feelings of the most advanced minds of the present day co-operate, not with the animal, but with the intellectual. This makes a very important and very marked difference, and makes the semi-animal religion of the past very unsuitable for the present age. Please note this point, friendly reader.
It may readily be conceded that the writers and compilers of all Bibles were honest, and that all the errors which those Bibles embrace, and the crimes which they sanction, were honestly believed to be right, and in accordance with the will of God. For all sacred history teaches us, as an important lesson of human nature, that no errors are too gross, no crimes too enormous, no statements too false or absurd, no contradictions too glaring, and no stories too preposterous or too ridiculous, to receive the fullest indorsement of the most honest and pious minds, and to be even cherished by them as God-given or divinely revealed truths, when such has been their teaching every day of their lives, in connection with the habitual suppression of the voice of reason, and the inherited conviction of their truth deeply implanted in the mind, derived from a thou sand preceding generations. A strong and unyielding cord of religious conviction thus grows in the human mind, which no reason, no philosophy, and no science can ever sever or even shake. It becomes a moral canker, which no remedy can reach, or arrest in its progress. It seems to grow into the very heartstrings. Such is the strength of religious prejudice, such the weak side of human nature. Three hundred millions of people believe in the Hindoo religion, one hundred millions in the Chinese religion, two hundred millions in the Mahomedan religion, and one hundred and fifty millions in the Christian religion,—all for the same reasons, because their parents so believed, and taught them, and their neighbors still believe it; and surrounding influences have caused them to continue in their erroneous belief.
After the illuminating rays of the sun of science had to some extent dispelled the religious errors of our early education, the case was so plain, that we entered upon the work of trying to convince others, with sanguine hopes of success. But experience has established the conviction in our mind, that if every text of the Christian Bible were a falsehood, and every line of their creeds an absurdity, there are many devout admirers of the book who could never be made to see it, because they are ruled by their religious feelings, and not by their reasoning faculties; and hence they will live and die in their moral and religious errors. But we rejoice in the omnipotent power of truth, which will finally dispel all error from progressive minds.
More than twenty sacred books have been found in varions countries, which, if not in all cases denominated Bibles, have at least been venerated and used as such, and, properly speaking, are Bibles. Hence we shall call them Bibles. The list in this chapter comprises nearly all which recent research has brought to light. A brief synopsis of the character and contents of each will be presented, so far as a comparative view with the Christian Bible seems to make it requisite.
All of these Bibles possess some common characteristics:—
1. All of them were claimed to be inspired.
2. All were claimed to be an embodiment of wisdom and knowledge far transcending the ordinary attainments of man.
3. All were penned by inspired men, who were shielded from the possibility of erring while writing them.
4. Each Bible is a finality in religious knowledge.
5. Each one is an authority from which there is no appeal.
6. It is a sin to question or doubt the truth of any of them, or to suggest the possibility of their containing errors.
7. Some of them were written by God, some by angels, and others by inspired men.
8. Each one points out the only safe and certain road to heaven.
9. He who is a disbeliever in any one of these holy books is an infidel.
10. Each one is to effect the salvation of the whole human race.
The Veda is considered to be the oldest sacred book of the Hindoos, and is evidently the oldest Bible now extant. There is a vast amount of evidence to prove that it was written long before the time of Moses, which establishes the fact that it borrowed nothing from the Jews or Jewish writings. They purport to be the inspired utterances of very ancient and holy saints and prophets, known as Rishis, who received them directly from the mouth of the great God Brahma about nine thousand years ago, after they had existed in his mind from all eternity. These "holy men," by their devout piety and unreserved devotion to the cause of God and religion, it was believed, had attained to true holiness and heavenly sanctity. The Vedas treat of the attributes of God, and his dealings with the human race; his invisibility and spirituality; his unchangeableness, omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence; the nature and binding force of his laws; the doctrine of future rewards and punishments; frequent and wonderful display of divine power, called miracles, &c. It contains, likewise, many noble, lofty, and beautiful moral precepts. It also treats, to some extent, of astronomy, medicines, and government. The May number of "The New-York Tribune" for 1838 contains a very interesting account of the recent translation of the Vedas into the English language, from which we will make a few extracts: "The whole of the Veda is now being published for the first time by the East-India Company, by which the reader will learn that most of the odious things which have been charged to it are false. They are not found therein. They are Christian forgeries; such as the burning of widows on the funeral pile of their husbands, the marriage of children, the doctrine of caste, &c. None of these things are taught or countenanced by the Vedas. The man who believes in the Vedas approximates to a Christian." (Mark this statement, Christian reader!) Mr. Greeley further says: "The highest authority for the religion of the Brahmins is the Vedas. The most elaborate arguments have been framed by its devout believers to establish its divine origin and absolute authority. They constantly appeal to its authority, and, in controversy with Mahomedan and Christian missionaries" (Mahomedans have missionaries among them, observe), "they invariably fall back on the Vedas,—referring to it with great confidence in support of any thing they wish to establish as divine. There is no doctrine of Christianity which has not been anticipated by the Vedas." What is that you say, Mr. Greeley? "They have all the doctrines of Christianity!" Is that possible? All the holy and inspired doctrines of Jesus Christ, the great divine Lawgiver and Savior of the world, found in an old heathen Bible, written more than two thousand years before a single line of the doctrines of Christ was penned! Here is one of the most astounding announcements ever made to the world. The reader, perhaps, will suppose that Mr. Greeley was an infidel; but here, again, is something most astonishing: Mr. Greeley was up to this time a sound member of a Christian church, and withal a truthful writer. Such an announcement ought to have startled the whole Christian world, and set them to investigating the matter. But, like the disciples of all the heathen religions, they are immovably fixed in the errors of their faith, and turn a deaf ear to all criticism, and all honest inquiry relating to the truth of its claims. Such is the tenacity of their inherited convictions of being right, their assumption of infallibility, their aversion and opposition to investigation, that, if every line of their Bible was a falsehood, but few of them would find it out.
There are four works which come under the name of Vedas, known as the Rig Veda, Yojur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda.
Each of these Bibles is constituted of various books, probably the work of different writers. Each Veda is accompanied by psalms or hymns, known as the "Sanhita," and also by a sort of prose treatise or commentary, called the "Brahmana," which possesses a ritualistic or didactic character,—all of which were believed to be inspired. "Never has the theory of inspiration," says Mr. Amberly, "been pushed to such extremes as in the case of the Vedas. They were believed by some to be the direct creation of Brahma," while the hymns which accompany them were claimed to be the inspired productions of holy men and prophets (Rishis). The Vedas was the standard authority in all cases; and any doctrine, opinion, or statement at variance with the Vedas was to be rejected as false. "And as for a contradiction in the Holy Book," says Mr. Amberly, "the thought was not to be entertained for a moment as possible." Such a conclusion they ascribed to the reader's wrong interpretation of its language. Such was the extreme veneration in which the book was held, that every text, word, and even syllable, was counted. A Brahmin was not allowed to marry till after he had devoted several years to studying the Holy Book; And, to attain to complete holiness, the disciple must commit the Rig Veda to memory, or read it through on his bended knees. The Vedas represent God as being "one and indivisible," and "merciful to sinners." And Brahmins and Budhists, when they pray for sinners or for their enemies, manifest a spirit of kindness and forgiveness not equalled by Christians.
The Budhists had many churches and many priests, who taught the people to lead virtuous lives, and to avoid the commission of every species of crime, including the use of intoxicating drinks. And in no other system was ever benevolence and charity, and also chastity, more emphatically enjoined, or more consistently practiced. The Vedas teach that every good act has its reward, and every bad act its punishment. Its disciples are taught that many saviors (Avators) have appeared on earth at different periods to suffer and die for the people; the last of which was Salavahana, cotemporary with Christ. God Sakia is of great veneration amongst them, and prayers are often addressed to him. Many tales are told of his goodness, self-denial, suffering, and sacrifice for the people, which leads to the conclusion that he was a pure, holy, and unselfish being. He gave utterance to many noble and morally exalting precepts. His principal precepts were comprised in six commandments:
1. "Not to kill any living creature." 2. "Not to steal." 3. "Not to commit unchastity." 4. "Not to lie." 5. "Not to drink intoxicating drinks." 6. "Not to lay up treasures upon earth." These are a few of his leading precepts, and which he himself practiced. In the observance of the last precept, he and his followers have excelled almost every Christian on earth, as their Bible contains the same precept, but none of them try to practice it. Hence the Hindoos are in this respect much better Christians than the Christians themselves. Here it may be noted that the Hindoos, like the disciples of the Christian faith, have had various ecclesiastical councils to settle the canon of their Bible or some controverted doctrinal questions. One of the most noted of these councils was called under the reign of King Asoka in the year 246 B.C. It was constituted of seven hundred "learned and accomplished priests." But they could not stop the progress of infidelity, as they essayed to do. It continued to increase till another council was called under the reign of King Kanishka, and another revision of the sacred text took place. But, as in Christian and Mahomedan countries, it tended rather to unsettle than to settle the popular faith. Nothing can arrest the intelligence and growth of progressive minds. Skepticism and infidelity will continue to increase whenever the mind is unfettered by priestcraft, till the last credal institution is swept from the face of the earth, and ceases to curse the human family.
"The Code of Menu," or "Institutes of Menu," constitutes another sacred book of the Hindoos. The Rev. Mr. Allen says of it: "It is a code of religious and civil laws, and makes a part of the Hindoo Scriptures." It is in many respects similar to the Vedas, and is almost equal to it in age; and, like the Vedas, it is a standard of faith and a guide for moral action. Hindoos call it Menu Darma Shastra, "the ordinances of God." "As these ordinances, or divine laws," says Mr. Allen, "profess to be of divine origin, kings have no authority to change them. Their duty was to administer their governments according to their teachings." All classes of people were required to live up to them. "In these respects," says Mr. Allen (p. 366), "they resemble the laws given by Moses, and contained in the Old Testament." These Institutes treat on the subject of creation, the doctrine of future rewards and punishments, and also define many of the duties of life.
With respect to age, the Ramayana is generally ranked next to the Code of Menu, and is equally adored as a holy and inspired book, and "may be classed," says Mr. Allen, "with the Hindoo Scriptures." It treats of the war in Heaven, in which the dragon, or serpent-devil, was cast to the earth. To put an end to his ravages here, the Savior and incarnate God Chrishna was sent down. Christ, we are told, "came to destroy the devil and his works." Col. Sherman tells us, in his "Recollections of an Indian Official," that "the people (Hindoos) assured us this Bible was written, if not by the hand of the Deity himself, at least by his inspiration; and, if asked if any absurdity that may be pointed out in the book be true, they reply with great naivete, 'Is it not written in the Holy Book? and how could it be there, and not be true?'"—exactly the same defense that is often set up for the Christian Bible by its educationally warped admirers. It is believed the great Hindoo prophet, Vyas, wrote much of this Bible, or "Inspired Poem," as some call it.
The origin of this sacred book is considered to be very nearly co-eval with that of the Ramayana. It has an appendix, or epistle, called the "Bagkavat Gita." which, on account of its high tone of spirituality, has attracted much attention in Europe. The Hindoos believe the Mahabrat is highly inspired, and that every event noticed in it was recorded before it took place; thus making it in the highest degree prophetic. "Its author, they claim," says Mr. Allen, "is no other than the incarnate God Chrishna, of whose life it treats." That profound Oriental scholar, Mr. Wilkins, thinks this and the other sacred books of India are more than three thousand years old, as is evidenced by sculptures in solid rocks.
Some Hindoo Holy Scriptures, when arranged together in one book, are known as the Barta Skastra, of which the Poranas constitute a part. The last-named work treats of the creation of the world, and its final destruction and future renovation, the "great day of judgment," Divine Providence, &c.; also the ordinances and rules for worship, &c.
Brahminism and Judaism are each old forms of religion. Each was superseded by a new and improved form of religion. Each has a story of creation. Jehovah and Brahma both created the sun, moon, and stars (so believed by millions).
1. The spirit of both moved upon the face of the waters.
2. The world is spoken in to existence by both Jehovah and Brahma.
3. The Hindoos had an Adimo and Iva, the Hebrews an Adam and Eve.
4. In each case every thing is to produce after its kind.
5. Man is in each case the last and crowning work of the whole creation.
6. Both stories set man as a ruler over subordinate creation.
7. Light in each case was spoken into existence.
8. Jehovah and Brahma each occupied six days in the work of creation.
9. There is a primitive paradise and state of moral purity in each story.
10. A tree whose fruit produced immortality is noticed in each cosmogony.
11. A serpent figures in each, and outwits Brahma and Jehovah.
12. Man in each partakes of the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
13. The doctrine of the fall is found in each account. The means for man's restoration is provided in each case.
14. Each sacred legend has a story of a war in heaven.
15. The soul is the breath of life, or breath of God, in each cosmogony.
16. Labor is imposed as a curse in each case.
17. A moral code of ten commandments is found in each system. Not to kill is a command in each decalogue. Stealing is interdicted in each decalogue. Adultery is condemned in each. Bearing false witness is forbidden by each.
18. Both Brahmins and Jews lost their "Holy Law," or "Laws of God." One had a Hilkiah, and the other a Bisheu, to find the law.
19. Each had an established order of priesthood. The priesthood was hereditary in each case: a tribe or family furnished the priests in each case.
20. Both claimed to be God's pet and holy, or peculiar, people; and both styled other nations barbarians or aliens.
21. Both holy nations were forbidden to marry with others; and both were too holy to eat with barbarians.
22. Each had a ceremonial law prescribing numerous rites. The church ceremonies were performed by priests in each.
23. The priests were forbidden to eat meat in both cases.
24. Both Jews and Brahmins worshiped by bloody sacrifices. Both had their favorite sacred animals. Animal sacrifices were by each to arrest public calamities.
25. One interdicted beef, and the other pork, as food.
26. Both prescribed purification after touching dead bodies; and each religion had a law of purification. Bathing was a mode of purification in each religion.
27. Each has its "holy" places, times, days, cities, mountains, rivers, &c. India, as well as Judea, was considered a holy land.
28. Each had its holy ground. Both drew off their shoes on entering upon holy ground or holy places.
29. Both had their holy days, and the same in most cases.
30. Mount Mera was no less holy than Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb. Jordan was a sacred river in one case, and Ganges in the other. Jerusalem was a "holy" city with the Jews, and Benares with the Hindoos.
31. Holy fasts and feasts were a part of each religion. Both made u holy feast at full moon.
32. Each had its holy fires.
33. Both had their holy mysteries kept sacredly guarded.
34. Each prepared and kept holy water for ceremonial purposes.
35. Both anointed themselves with "holy ointment."
36. Each claimed to have the only true and "holy faith."
37. "Holy temples" were familiar terms to each. Their temples were constructed in a similar manner. Each had a "sanctum sanctorum," or "holy of holies." Only the holy priest of both entered the interior sanctum.
38. Both had their drink-offerings (called turpin by the Hindoos).
39. Both sprinkled their door-posts with blood.
40. One had a scape-goat, and the other a scape-horse.
41. Both taught that the sins of the father were visited upon the children.
42. Religious pilgrimages were practiced by each.
43. Both acknowledge and teach one supreme God. Inferior deities, or angels, are believed in by each. God's omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence are taught in both Bibles.
44. God is represented to be invisible by each. And "God is a spirit," and infinitely wise and good, is taught in each.
45. To love God supremely is recommended by each.
46. Both taught that God was a God of power, and assisted them in their battles.
47. Both taught that a knowledge of God is essential.
48. Silent meditation upon the Lord is recommended by each.
49. God was to each a refuge in danger and trouble.
50. The government of each was a theocracy, God the executive.
51. Both religions were constituted largely of external rites. In each the priest was the expounder of the holy books and laws. "Patriarchs" was one of the sacred orders of each system. Holy "prophets" figure conspicuously in each system. Both priests and people were in each case believed to be inspired.
52. And each had its witnesses to prove the truth and fulfillment of its prophecies.
53. Both held their Holy Bibles as an inspired guide of right and wrong.
54. One Bible was from Jehovah, and the other from Brahma.
55. Ezra was inspired to compile the Jewish Bible, and Vyas the Brahmin.
56. Each religious order had a holy ark containing something sacred.
57. A story of a deluge is found in the Bible of each.
58. The corruption or wickedness of society caused the flood in each case.
59. The Brahmins had their patriarch Satyavrata, answering to Noah.
60. Each was forewarned of the flood.
61. Eight persons were saved in each case.
62. In each story a large vessel is prepared. Animals were saved by pairs in each case. A rainbow is spoken of in each flood story.
63. For Shem, Ham, and Japhet, the Hindoos have a Sherma, Charma, and Jyapheta.
64. Charma was condemned to be "a servant of servants," like Ham.
65. Human life was in each traditionally spun out to nearly a thousand years.
66. One day a thousand years with God, in each system.
67. Both have stories of persons ascending to heaven.
68. Budha was cast into the fiery furnace like the three holy children.
69. Musavod was a giant in strength like Samson.
70. Rhambha was changed to a pillar of stone, like Lot's wife to salt.
71. Mahendra was carried through the air like Habakkuk.
72. A story of Budha answers to that of Darnel in the lions' den.
73. Idolatry is discouraged, but occasionally practiced by each
74. Witchcraft was believed in by each.
75. Here are presented eighty-eight striking analogies.
Having presented a long list of analogies between the Hindoo and Jewish religions, we will proceed to prove the prior existence of the Hindoo system, and leave the reader to deduce his own inferences. "In times coeval with the earliest authentic records," says a writer, "the Hindoos calculated eclipses, and were venerated for their attainments in some of the arts and sciences." According to the learned astronomer Baily, their calculations in astronomy extended back to the remote period of seventeen hundred years before Moses; and some of the ancient monuments and inscriptions of India bespeak for its religion a very remote antiquity. Some of our modern learned antiquarians have expressed the opinion that the Sanscrit language of the Brahmins is the oldest language that can be traced in the history of the human race. They also state that this language was extant before the Jews were known as a nation; and neither it nor their religion has ever been known to change. These facts are sufficient to establish the existence of the Brahmin and Budhist systems of religion long prior to the earliest records of the Jewish nation.
Note.—Here we desire to call the attention of the reader to the very remarkable statement of Col. Dow in his "History of India." He tells us that "the Hindoos give a very particular account of the origin of the Jewish religion" (pref. v.). They say that a pious Hindoo by the name of Rajah Tara apostatized from the faith, for which he was banished to the West, where he established a system of religion, which became afterwards known as the Jewish religion. Tura only needs a change of one letter to make Tera, the father of Abraham. Let the reader make a note of this.