Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Part 74

22-25.)

[268:5] "And behold there was a man _which had his hand withered_. . . .

Then said he unto the man, 'Stretch forth thine hand;' and he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole, like as the other." (Matt. xii.

10-13.)

[268:6] Tacitus: Hist., lib. iv. ch. lx.x.xi.

[269:1] See Chambers's Encyclo., art. "Tacitus."

[269:2] See The Bible of To-Day, pp. 273, 278.

[269:3] See Gibbon's Rome, vol. i. pp. 539-541.

[270:1] Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 102. See also, Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 16.

[270:2] Dionysius of Halicarna.s.sus, one of the most accurate historians of antiquity, says: "In the war with the Latins, Castor and Pollux appeared visibly on white horses, and fought on the side of the Romans, who by their a.s.sistance gained a complete victory. As a perpetual memorial of it, a temple was erected and a yearly festival inst.i.tuted in honor of these deities." (Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 323, and Middleton's Letters from Rome, p. 103.)

[271:1] See Prefatory Discourse to vol. iii. Middleton's Works, p. 54.

[271:2] See Origen: Contra Celsus, bk. 1, ch. lxviii.

[272:1] See Origen: Contra Celsus, bk. 1, ch. ix.

[272:2] Ibid. bk. iii. ch. xliv.

[272:3] Ibid.

[272:4] Ibid. bk. 1, ch. lxviii.

[272:5] Ibid.

[272:6] Ibid.

[272:7] Dial. c.u.m. Typho. ch. lxix.

[272:8] See Isis Unveiled, vol. ii. p. 148.

[272:9] See Baring-Gould's Lost and Hostile Gospels. A knowledge of magic had spread from Central Asia into Syria, by means of the return of the Jews from Babylon, and had afterwards extended widely, through the mixing of nations produced by Alexander's conquests.

[273:1] See King's Gnostics, p. 145. Monumental Christianity, pp. 100 and 402, and Jameson's Hist. of Our Lord in Art, vol. i. p. 16.

[273:2] See Monumental Christianity, p. 402, and Hist. of Our Lord, vol.

i. p. 16.

[273:3] Monumental Christianity, pp. 403-405.

[273:4] Middleton's Works, vol. i. p. 19.

[273:5] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 59.

[274:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. i. p. 588. An eminent heathen challenged his Christian friend Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, a champion of the Gospel, to show him but one person who had been raised from the dead, on the condition of turning Christian himself upon it. _The Christian bishop was unable to give him that satisfaction._ (See Gibbon's Rome, vol. i. p. 541, and Middleton's Works, vol. i. p. 60.)

[274:2] Middleton's Works, vol. i. pp. 20, 21.

[274:3] Ibid. p. 62. The Christian Fathers are noted for their frauds.

Their writings are full of falsehoods and deceit.

[275:1] Contra Celsus, bk. 1, ch. ix. x.

[275:2] See Middleton's Works, pp. 62, 63, 64.

[275:3] On The Flesh of Christ, ch. v.

[276:1] I. Corinthians, i. 22, 23.

[276:2] Matt. xii. 29.

[276:3] See for example, Joel, ii. 10, 31; iii. 15; Matt. xxiv. 29, 30; Acts, ii. 19, 20; Revelations, vi. 12, 13; xvi. 18, _et seq._

[277:1] The writers of the Gospels were "I know not what sort of _half_ Jews, not even agreeing with themselves." (Bishop Faustus.)

CHAPTER XXVIII.

CHRIST CRISHNA AND CHRIST JESUS COMPARED.

Believing and affirming, that the _mythological portion_ of the history of Jesus of Nazareth, contained in the books forming the Canon of the New Testament, is nothing more or less than a copy of the mythological histories of the Hindoo Saviour _Crishna_, and the Buddhist Saviour _Buddha_,[278:1] with a mixture of mythology borrowed from the Persians and other nations, we shall in this and the chapter following, compare the histories of these _Christs_, side by side with that of Christ Jesus, the Christian Saviour.

In comparing the history of Crishna with that of Jesus, we have the following remarkable parallels:

1. "Crishna was born of a chaste virgin, called Devaki, who was selected by the Lord for this purpose on account of her purity."[278:2]

1. Jesus was born of a chaste virgin, called Mary, who was selected by the Lord for this purpose, on account of her purity.[278:3]

2. A chorus of Devatas celebrated with song the praise of Devaki, exclaiming: "In the delivery of this favored woman all nature shall have cause to exult."[278:4]

2. The angel of the Lord saluted Mary, and said: "Hail Mary!

the Lord is with you, you are blessed above all women, . . .

for thou hast found favor with the Lord."[278:5]

3. The birth of Crishna was announced in the heavens by _his star_.[278:6]

3. The birth of Jesus was announced in the heavens by _his star_.[278:7]

4. On the morn of Crishna's birth, "the quarters of the horizon were irradiate with joy, as if moonlight was diffused over the whole earth;"

"the spirits and nymphs of heaven danced and sang," and "the clouds emitted low pleasing sounds."[279:1]