Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Part 94

And Arthur Murphy tells us that:

"The superst.i.tion and religious ceremonies of the _Egyptians_ were diffused over Asia, Greece, _and the rest of Europe_.

Brotier says, that inscriptions of Isis and Serapis (Horus?) have been frequently found in _Germany_. . . . The missionaries who went in the eighth and ninth centuries to propagate the Christian religion in those parts, _saw many images and statues of these G.o.ds_."[338:5]

These "many images and statues of these G.o.ds" were evidently baptized anew, given other names, and allowed to remain where they were.

In many parts of Italy are to be seen pictures of the Virgin with her infant in her arms, inscribed with the words: "Deo Soli." This betrays their Pagan origin.

FOOTNOTES:

[326:1] See Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 115, and Monumental Christianity, pp. 206 and 226.

[326:2] Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 159.

[326:3] See Williams' Hinduism.

[326:4] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 540.

[326:5] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 185.

[326:6] _St. Jerome_ says: "It is handed down as a tradition among the Gymnosophists of India, that _Buddha_, the founder of their system was brought forth by a virgin from her side." (_Contra Jovian_, bk. i.

Quoted in Rhys Davids' Buddhism, p. 183.)

[327:1] Plate 59.

[327:2] Monumental Christianity, p. 218.

Of the Virgin _Mary_ we read: "Her face was shining as snow, and its brightness could hardly be borne. Her conversation was with the angels, &c." (Nativity of Mary, _Apoc._)

[327:3] See Ancient Faiths, i. 401.

[327:4] Davis' China, vol. ii. p. 95.

[327:5] The Heathen Relig., p. 60.

[327:6] Barrows: Travels in China, p. 467.

[327:7] Gutzlaff's Voyages, p. 154.

[328:1] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 141.

[328:2] See The Lily of Israel, p. 14.

[328:3] Kenrick's Egypt, vol. i. p. 425.

[328:4] See Draper's Science and Religion, pp. 47, 48, and Higgins'

Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 804.

[328:5] Pagan and Christian Symbolism, p. 50.

[328:6] See Monumental Christianity, p. 307, and Dr. Inman's Ancient Faiths.

[328:7] See c.o.x's Aryan Mytho., vol. ii. p. 119, _note_.

[328:8] See Pagan and Christian Symbolism, pp. 13, 14.

[329:1] Pagan and Christian Symbolism, pp. 4, 5.

[329:2] See Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, pp. 45, 104, 105.

"We see, in pictures, that the Virgin and Child are a.s.sociated in modern times with the split apricot, the pomegranate, rimmon, and the Vine, just as was the ancient Venus." (Dr. Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p.

528.)

[329:3] Serpent Symbol, p. 39.

[329:4] Taylor's Diegesis, p. 185.

[330:1] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 143.

[330:2] Ibid. p. 115.

[330:3] Quoted in Ibid. p. 115.

[330:4] Ibid., and Kenrick's Egypt.

[330:5] Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 59.

[330:6] See Monumental Christianity, p. 211, and Ancient Faiths, vol.

ii. p. 350.

[330:7] Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 213.

[332:1] Jeremiah, xliv. 16-22.

[332:2] See Colenso's Lectures, p. 297, and Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 148.

[332:3] See the Pentateuch Examined, vol. vi. p. 115, App., and Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 148.

[332:4] See King's Gnostics, p. 91, and Monumental Christianity, p. 224.

[332:5] See Dupuis: Origin of Relig. Belief, p. 237.

[332:6] It would seem more than chance that so many of the virgin mothers and G.o.ddesses of antiquity should have the same name. The mother of _Bacchus_ was Myrrha: the mother of Mercury or Hermes was Myrrha or Maia (See Fergusson's Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 186, and Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 233); the mother of the Siamese Saviour--Sommona Cadom--was called Maya Maria, _i. e._, "the Great Mary;" the mother of Adonis was Myrrha (See Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 314, and Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 253); the mother of Buddha was Maya; now, all these names, whether Myrrha, Maia or Maria, are the same as _Mary_, the name of the mother of the Christian Saviour. (See Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. pp. 353 and 780. Also, Dunlap's Mysteries of Adoni, p. 124.) The month of _May_ was sacred to these G.o.ddesses, so likewise is it sacred to the Virgin Mary at the present day. _She_ was also called Myrrha and Maria, as well as Mary. (See Anacalypsis, vol. i.

p. 304, and Son of the Man, p. 26.)

[332:7] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. pp. 303, 304.

[332:8] Prof. Wilder, in "Evolution," June, '77. Isis Unveiled, vol. ii.