Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Part 83

"He in mercy left paradise, and came down to earth because he was filled with compa.s.sion for the sins and misery 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." (L. Maria Child.)

[289:3] Matt. ch. i.

[289:4] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, pp. 10, 25 and 44. Also, ch. xiii.

this work.

[290:1] "As a spirit in the fourth heaven he resolves to give up all that glory in order to be born in the world for the purpose of rescuing 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_." (Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 20.)

[290:2] See King's Gnostics, p. 168, and Hardy's Manual of Buddhism, p.

144.

[290:3] See chap. xii. _note_ 2, page 117.

"On a painted gla.s.s of the sixteenth century, found in the church of Jouy, a little village in France, the Virgin is represented standing, her hands clasped in prayer, and the naked body of the child in the same att.i.tude appears upon her stomach, apparently supposed to be seen through the garments and body of the mother. M. Drydon saw at Lyons a Salutation painted on shutters, in which the two infants (Jesus and John) likewise depicted on their mothers' stomachs, were also saluting each other. This precisely corresponds to Buddhist accounts of the Boddhisattvas ante-natal proceedings." (Viscount Amberly: a.n.a.lysis of Relig. Belief, p. 224, _note_.)

[290:4] See chap. xiii.

[290:5] Matt. ii. 1, 2.

[290:6] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. x.

[290:7] We show, in our chapter on "The Birth-Day of Christ Jesus," that this was not the case. This day was adopted by his followers long after his death.

[290:8] "_Devas_," _i. e._, angels.

[290:9] See chap. xiv.

[290:10] Luke, ii. 13, 14.

[290:11] See chap. xv.

[290:12] Matt. ii. 1-11.

[290:13] See chap. xi.

[290:14] Matt. ii. 11.

[290:15] See Hardy's Manual of Buddhism, pp. 145, 146.

[290:16] Gospel of Infancy, _Apoc._, i. 3. No sooner was _Apollo_ born than he spoke to his virgin-mother, declaring that he should teach to men the councils of his heavenly father Zeus. (See c.o.x: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 22.) _Hermes_ spoke to his mother as soon as he was born, and, according to Jewish tradition, so did _Moses_. (See Hardy's Manual of Buddhism, p. 145.)

[291:1] See Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 103, 104.

[291:2] See Matt. ii. 1.

[291:3] That is, provided he was the expected Messiah, who was to be a mighty prince and warrior, and who was to rule his people Israel.

[291:4] See Hardy's Manual of Buddhism; Bunsen's Angel-Messiah; Beal's Hist. Buddha, and other works on Buddhism.

This was a common myth. For instance: A Brahman called _Dashthaka_, a "_heaven descended mortal_," after his birth, _without any human instruction whatever_, was able thoroughly to explain the four _Vedas_, the collective body of the sacred writings of the Hindoos, which were considered as directly revealed by Brahma. (See Beal's Hist. Buddha, p.

48.)

_Confucius_, the miraculous-born Chinese sage, was a wonderful child. At the age of seven he went to a public school, the superior of which was a person of eminent wisdom and piety. The faculty with which Confucius imbibed the lessons of his master, the ascendency which he acquired amongst his fellow pupils, and the superiority of his genius and capacity, raised universal admiration. He appeared to acquire knowledge _intuitively_, and his mother found it superfluous to teach him what "heaven had already engraven upon his heart." (See Thornton's Hist.

China, vol. i. p. 153.)

[291:5] See Infancy, _Apoc._, xx. 11, and Luke, ii. 46, 47.

[291:6] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 37, and Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp.

67-69.

[291:7] See Infancy, _Apoc._, xxi. 1, 2, and Luke, ii. 41-48.

[291:8] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, p. 37, and Beal: Hist. Bud. 67-69.

[291:9] Nicodemus, _Apoc._, ch. i. 20.

[292:1] R. Spence Hardy, in Manual of Buddhism.

[292:2] See chap. xvii.

[292:3] "_Mara_" is the "Author of Evil," the "King of Death," the "G.o.d of the World of Pleasure," &c., _i. e._, the _Devil_. (See Beal: Hist.

Buddha, p. 36.)

[292:4] See ch. xix.

[292:5] Matt. iv. 1-18.

[292:6] See ch. xix.

[292:7] Matt. iv. 8-19.

[292:8] See ch. xix.

[292:9] Luke, iv. 8.

[292:10] See ch. xix.

[292:11] Matt. iv. 11.

[292:12] See ch. xix.

[292:13] Matt. iv. 2.

[292:14] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 45.

[292:15] Matt. iii. 13-17.

[292:16] Matt. xvii. 1, 2.