it is fair to infer that a hail which "brake every tree of the field"
was destructive enough to kill animals. This makes the second time
they were killed.

In the twelfth chapter of Exodus and twenty-ninth verse we read that
some of the same cattle were killed again, making three times that
they died: "And it came to pass that at midnight the Lord smote all
the first born of the land of Egypt, from the first born of Pharaoh
that sat upon the throne unto the first born of the captive in the
dungeon; and the first born of cattle." After these repeated deaths
of the cattle, we find Pharaoh and his horsemen in full pursuit of the
fleeing Hebrews, and Pharaoh and his horsemen and horses, were drowned
in the sea. Of course it is difficult for one who is carnally minded,
to understand how cattle can be killed so many times. Possibly the
"Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Dumb Animals" might have
done good service had it been in full working order in those days.

People Get Up in the morning Dead.

"And when they arose, behold they were all dead corpses." (Isaiah
37 : 36.)

Elisha Returns to Life.

"And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold,
they spied a band of men; and they cast the man unto the sepulcher
of Elisha: and when the man (the corpse) was let down, and touched
the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet." (2 Kings
13 : 21.)

It would have been a great consolation to us, if the writer had only
added a few lines more, and told us what Elisha did after he stood
up on his feet. Of course if he stood up, he could not stand on any
one else's feet than his own, but did he climb out of the sepulcher
and go on his way rejoicing? Execrable historian to leave us in the
dark when we so greatly need light! We fear the writer of Matthew
had this story in his mind, when speaking of the earthquake at the
crucifixion of Christ. He says, "And the graven were opened; and many
bodies of the saints which slept, arose, and came out of the graves
after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared
unto many."--"Came out of the graves after his resurrection"; but
they arose at the time of the earthquake, and the resurrection did
not take place until the third day afterward. What were they doing
all this time? Standing up in their graves, dressed in their funeral
wardrobe? If they appeared unto many there is no mention of the fact
made by either Jew or Gentile.

HEAVEN.

Elijah Went to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire.

"And it came to pass as they still went on, and talked, that behold,
there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted
them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." (2
Kings 2 : 11.)

The writer of Luke, has given us almost a literal copy of this story
in telling of Jesus' ascent to heaven:

"And he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands,
and blessed them; and it came to pass while he blessed them, he was
parted from them and carried up into heaven." (Luke 24 : 50, 51.)

"So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into
heaven, and sat on the right hand of God." (Mark 16 : 19.)

To these writers heaven was only a few miles away. They had not the
faintest conception of the distance of the nearest fixed star:

"And he (Jacob) dreamed and behold a ladder set up on the earth
and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God
ascending and descending on it." (Gen. 28 : 12.)

The tower of Babel was another method of reaching heaven. The writers
of the gospels have no better ideas than the ancient Jews had.

I give below, a few out of many passages which show that the writers
of the New Testament regarded heaven as only a few miles away.

"And, lo, the heavens were opened." (Mat. 3 : 16.)

"He saw the heavens opened." (Mark 1 : 10.)

"There came a voice from heaven saying." (Mark 1 : 11.)

"And lo, a voice from heaven saying." (Mat. 3 : 17.)

"For the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled
back the stone from the door, and sat on it." (Mat. 28 : 2.)

"And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven." (Luke 22 : 43.)

"Then came there a voice from heaven saying." (John 12 : 28.)

"I heard another voice from heaven saying." (John 18 : 4.)

All these and many more passages which might be cited go to show that
these writers supposed heaven to be but a short distance away. There
was a constant and familiar intercourse between the gods above and
men below.

The Christian idea of heaven is but another form of the Greek notion
of Mt. Olympus--it is not only borrowed, but vague and mythical
in the extreme--it is childish and has much of the flavor of Santa
Claus stories.

Deluge.

The great flood in which the waters piled up at the rate of about eight
hundred feet per day for forty days was another of the extraordinary
occurrences of Bible record. In these degenerate times a downfall of
three inches of rain, for one day is usually sufficient to satisfy
everybody. But think of about eight hundred feet per day!

A river turned into blood after it had just been transformed into
blood: "And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and he
lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the
sight of Pharaoh, and in sight of his servants, and all the waters
that were in the river were turned into blood. And the fish that
was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could
not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout
all the land of Egypt. And the magicians of Egypt did so with their
enchantments." (Ex. 7 : 20, 21, 22.) The magicians turned a river of
blood into blood, and killed dead fish, eh?

The Ass and the Calf.

"And he took the (golden) calf which they had made, and burnt it in
the fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the waters,
and made the children of Israel drink of it." (Ex. 32 : 20.)

But as gold does not burn in a fire, nor can it be ground to powder,
or strewed upon the waters, or drunk, we are forced to conclude that
the author of this little golden calf story, must have been an ass.

JESUS CHRIST.

The Genealogy of Jesus.

"Matthew (1 : 17) says, 'So all the generations from Abraham to David
are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon
are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon
unto Christ are fourteen generations.'

"Luke (3 : 23-38) relates Christ's genealogy, and gives forty-three
generations between David and Christ, these two persons being
included. Here then in the genealogy of the same person is an
utterly irreconcilable discrepancy of fifteen generations. This
is truly a bad beginning. Although these two accounts may both be
false they cannot possibly both be true. If 'all the generations,'
from David to Jesus, were only 'twenty-eight,' as given by Matthew,
there could not possibly have been at the same time, 'forty-three'
of them as given by Luke. The case becomes much worse, however, when
we discover that, with the exception of Jesus, Joseph, and David,
these two authors give entirely different sets of men. Since it is
utterly impossible for the same individual to have descended through
both of these lines of ancestors, it is equally impossible for both
of these accounts to be true." (J. R. Kelso's "Bible Analyzed.")

"On the first glance these genealogies, as given by Matthew and
Luke, are so evidently different that it has been the ordinary, if
not invariable practice of Christian harmonists and commentators to
represent the former Evangelist as recording the descent of Joseph,
while the latter Evangelist is said to have given the pedigree of
Mary. We will say nothing of the plausibility of this explanation,
which acknowledges the genealogies to be wholly different, and supposes
they belong to two persons. Our questions must rather effect the
truthfulness of this mode of explaining away the difficulty. Let the
reader bear in mind how Matthew states that 'Jacob begat Joseph the
husband of Mary,' and how Luke's words are 'Joseph which was the son
of Heli,' and then let the reader say whether it is truthful to allege
that these different genealogies belong to different individuals. Is
it not plain that each of them professes to trace the lineal descent
of one and the same man, Joseph? If we are still to be told that when
Matthew professes to give the descent of Joseph, he is to be understood
as giving the descent of Mary, then we simply rejoin that such an
explanation is nothing more nor less than an abandonment of the idea
of inspirational infallibility; for it represents the Bible as saying
one thing and meaning another." (McNaught, "Doctrine of Inspiration.")

When was Jesus Born?

As to the time when Jesus was born, we have no positive
information. Matthew says he was born in Herod's time, and that Herod
caused all the little children to be killed on account of him. Luke
says Jesus was born in the time of Cyrenius, when Augustus Cæsar gave
orders that all the people should be taxed. Now, Cyrenius succeeded
Archelaus, who reigned ten years after the death of Herod. Here is a
contradiction that cannot be explained away. The exact day of Herod's
death can be almost arrived at, as shown by Josephus, who says that
on the night preceding the death of Herod there was an eclipse of
the moon. In calculating back to the time of this eclipse, it is
found to have occurred on the fourth of March, four years before
Christ; another perplexing discrepancy. Matthew says he was born
in the days of Herod, and John says it was in the days of Cyrenius,
fourteen years afterward. Again, Mark and Luke say Jesus began to be
thirty years of age in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius,
the very day of whose accession is known; and by counting back, we
find that Jesus must have been born four years before the Christian
era, which disagrees entirely with the statement of Matthew.

Professor John Fiske remarks that while the Jesus of the dogma is
the best known, the Jesus of history is the least known of all the
eminent names in history. "Persons who had given much attention to
the subject affirmed that there were not less than one hundred and
thirty-two different opinions as to the year in which the Messiah
appeared." ("Conflict Between Religion and Science," p. 184.)

Dr. Adam Clarke, on observations of Luke 2 : 8, in his Commentary says:
"The nativity of Jesus in December should be given up. The Egyptians
placed it in January; Wagenseil in February; Bochart in March. Some
mentioned by Clemens Alexandrine in April; others in May. Epiphanius
speaks of some who placed it in June, and others supposed it to have
been in July. Wagenseil, who was not sure of February, fixed it as
probably in August; Lightfoot on the fifteenth of September. But the
Latin church [Catholic], supreme in power and infallible in judgment,
placed it on the twenty-fifth of December, the very day on which the
ancient Romans celebrated the feast of their goddess, Bruma. Pope
Julius I. (in the fourth century) made the first alteration, and
it appears to have been done for this reason." The Christians often
aim to make an argument that the chronology of the Christian era is
established by the confirmation that is given by the years being
numbered from the supposed birth of Jesus, but it is no proof at
all. The idea of counting the years from the advent of Jesus was not
thought of for several centuries after the time when the vague legends
said he was supposed to have lived. The plan of numbering the years
from that apocryphal event was first invented by a monk, Dionysius
Exiguus, about 530 after Christ. It was introduced into Italy not
long afterward, and was propagated by Bede, who died in 735. It was
ordered to be used by the bishops in the Council of Chalcedon in 816,
but it was not generally employed for several centuries afterward. It
was not legalized until the year 1000. Charles III. of Germany was the
first sovereign who added "In the year of our Lord" to his reign, in
879. (See Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, and Encyclopedia of Chronology.)

Now, in recapitulation, let us see how much, by the common sense
method of interpreting the gospels, we have been forced to reject
as incredible.

First, we have seen that Joseph's dream concerning the immaculate
conception was, after all, only a dream, and that wonderful dreams are
not uncommon; Samson's mother having had one which is so identical
with Joseph's, that we are persuaded that the dream of the latter
is but a copy of the dream of the former; that almost all men of
distinction in ancient times were reported to have had wonderful
prodigies attending their conception and birth,--and that there is no
evidence in the gospels of the resurrection of Jesus. Paul saw him in
a vision, that is, in his mind's eye, but does not claim to have seen
him in the flesh. And of the ascension, it is a self-evident fiction.

The miracles are not only incredible from their being incompatible with
and contrary to human experience, but the manner in which they are
related proves that they never were performed. (See "Miracles.") And
concerning the moral teachings of Jesus we find great imperfection. He
did not come to save all men, but only the lost sheep of the house of
Israel; he taught that the end of the world was nigh at hand, when a
great physical revolution should usher in the kingdom of heaven, but
it did not come. We find also that Jesus did not respect the rights
of property; that he despised this world; that he condemned the rich
because they were rich, and made great promises to the poor because
they were poor; that he professed to pardon sin, and on one occasion
pardoned a person's sins for washing his feet; that he exhibited an
imperfect sense of justice in a great many instances; and, lastly,
we find that there is no history of him excepting the gospels, and in
these there is no unquestionable record of the time when or the place
where he was born. We are forced to conclude that if ever there was
such a person as Jesus of Nazareth, we have no trustworthy sources
of positive knowledge concerning him.

Christianity Rests Upon a Dream.

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother
Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found
to be with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a
just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to
put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph
thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." (Mat. 1 : 18-20.)

"Before they came together, she was found to be with child of the
Holy Ghost."

1. How could any one but Mary say who the father of the child was?

2. If the conception was miraculous then neither Mary nor any one
else could know ought of the paternity of the child.

3. Mary says nothing about the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost.

4. Who found out that Joseph had had such a dream?

5. Was it duly reported and verified then and there?

6. The book that relates the dream is anonymous and does not appear
in history until A. D. 180-182.

7. The writers of the other three gospels know nothing of this dream.

8. There is no evidence that the writer of the first gospel ever
personally knew Mary.

9. Luke (1 : 30) says that it was to Mary that the angel of the
Lord appeared.

10. Only a dream! The corner-stone of Christianity rests upon a
dream! Take away this dream and Christianity has nothing left.

THE GOLDEN RULE.

The moral teachings of the Bible are not original. Back of the pyramids
in pre-historic times mothers taught their children to be kind to each
other. Not from heaven but out of the human heart came the golden
rule. A mother's love was sufficient to reveal this best rule of
life. Human inspiration is the only inspiration needed to call forth
the expression--"Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you."

Sixty years before the Christian era, Hellel, a Jewish rabbi wrote:
"Do not do to others, what you would not like others to do to you."

Two hundred and eighty years before Christ, Epicurus said: "It is
more blessed to give than to receive."

Three hundred and fifty years before Christ, Socrates said: "Act
toward others as you desire them to act toward you."

Three hundred and seventy years before Christ, Aristippus said:
"Cherish reciprocal benevolence, which will make you as anxious for
another's welfare as your own."

Three hundred and eighty-five years before Christ, Aristotle wrote:
"We should conduct ourselves toward others, as we would have them
act toward us."

Four hundred years before Christ, Sextus said: "What you wish your
neighbors to be to you, such be also to them."

Four hundred and twenty years before Christ, Plato wrote: "May I do
to others as I would have them do to me."

Five hundred years before Christ, Confucius taught: "Do unto another
what you would have him do to you, and do not to another what you
would not have him do unto you: it is the foundation principle of
all the rest." (24th Maxim Confucius.) Jesus concludes by saying,
"For this is the law and the prophets," and Confucius closes his rule
by observing, "Thou only needst this law alone; it is the foundation
and principle of all the rest."

And it should not be overlooked that Jesus, in thus attributing
the golden rule to "the law and the prophets," disclaims its
authorship. Confucius does the same.

Six hundred years before Christ, Thales said: "Avoid doing what you
would blame others for doing."

Six hundred and fifty years before Christ, Pittacus taught: "Do not
do to your neighbor what you would take ill from him."

"That the system of morals propounded in the New Testament contains
no maxim which had not been previously enunciated, and that some of
the most beautiful passages in the apostolic writings are quotations
from Pagan authors, are well known to every scholar; and so far from
supplying, as some suppose, an objection against Christianity, it is
a strong recommendation of it, as indicating the intimate relation
between the doctrines of Christ and the moral sympathies of mankind in
different ages. But to assert that Christianity communicated to man
moral truths previously unknown, argues on the part of the assertor,
either gross ignorance or else wilful fraud." (Buckle, "History of
Civilization," vol. 1, p. 129.)

"Did space admit, I could cite numerous passages from Enoch in close
correspondence with the New Testament scripture, in many cases almost
word for word. In that book, as in the Talmud, and as was held by
the Jews in general (saving the Sadducees), may be found the exact
doctrines taught by Jesus relative to the Son of Man coming in the
clouds of heaven, the resurrection of the dead, the day of judgment,
the punishment of the wicked in everlasting fire, and the reward
of the righteous in heaven. The eschatology of Jesus is borrowed
in toto from that prevalent in Judea during his lifetime. Not one
single new idea respecting the 'four final things,' death, judgment,
heaven, and hell, can be found in Jesus' teachings as embodied in
the gospels."--Wm. Emmette Coleman.

Jesus an Essene.

"Of the resemblance between the Essenes and the followers of Christ
in their principles and practices, I will let a Christian writer
speak--Christian D. Ginsburg, LL. D., who is a leading contributor to
Alexander's new edition of Kitto's Cyclopedia, the most orthodox of the
chief English Bible dictionaries. I will read a few extracts from an
essay entitled, 'The Essenes Their History and Doctrines.' Dr. Ginsburg
says: 'The identity of many of the precepts and practices of
Essenism and Christianity is unquestionable. Essenism urged on its
disciples to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness;
so did Christ. (Mat. 6 : 33, and Luke 12 : 31.) The Essenes forbade
the laying up of treasures upon earth; so did Christ. (Mat. 6 : 19,
21.) The Essenes demanded of those who wished to join them, to sell
all their possessions, and to divide it among the poor brethren;
so Christ. (Mat. 19 : 21, and Luke 12 : 33.) The Essenes had all
things in common, and appointed one of the brethren as steward to
manage the common bag; so the primitive Christians. (Acts 2 : 44,
45; 4 : 32, 34, and John 12 : 6; 13 : 29.) Essenism regarded all its
members on the same level, forbidding the exercise of authority of
one over the other, and enjoining mutual service; so Christ. (Mat.
20 : 25-28, and Mark 9 : 35, 37; 10 : 42, 45.) Essenism commanded its
disciples to call no man master upon the earth; so Christ. (Mat. 23 :
8, 9.) Essenism laid the greatest stress on being meek and lowly in
spirit; so Christ. (Mat. 5 : 5, 29.)

'Christ commended the poor in spirit, those who hunger after
righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart and the peacemakers;
so the Essenes.... Christ combined the healing of the body with that
of the soul; so the Essenes. Like the Essenes, Christ declared that
the power to cast out evil spirits, to perform miraculous cures, etc.,
should be possessed by his disciples as signs of their belief. (Mark
16 : 17; comp. also Mat. 10 : 8, and Luke 9 : 1, 2; 10 : 9.) Like
the Essenes, Christ commanded his disciples not to swear at all, but
to say yea, yea, and nay, nay. The manner in which Christ directed
his disciples to go on their journey (Mat. 10 : 9, 10) is the same
which the Essenes adopted when they started on a mission of mercy. The
Essenes, though repudiating offensive war, yet took weapons with them
when they went on a perilous journey: Christ enjoined his disciples
to do the same thing. (Luke 22 : 36.) Christ commended that elevated
spiritual life, which enables a man to abstain from marriage for the
kingdom of heaven's sake, and which cannot be attained by all men
save those to whom it is given (Mat. 19 : 10-12; comp. also 1 Cor. 8);
so the Essenes, who, as a body, in waiting for the kingdom of heaven,
abstained from connubial intercourse. The Essenes did not offer animal
sacrifices, but strove to present their bodies a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable, unto God, which they regarded as a reasonable
service; the apostle Paul exhorts the Romans to do the same. (Rom. 12 :
1.) It was the great aim of the Essenes to live such a life of
purity and holiness as to be the temples of the holy spirit and to be
able to prophesy; the apostle Paul urges the Corinthians to covet to
prophesy. (1 Cor. 14 : 1, 39.) When Christ pronounced John to be Elias
(Mat. 11 : 14), he declared that the Baptist had already attained
to that spirit and power which the Essenes strove to obtain in their
highest stage of purity. It will therefore hardly be doubted that our
Savior himself belonged to this holy brotherhood. This will especially
be apparent when we remember that the whole Jewish community, at the
advent of Christ, was divided into three parties, the Pharisees,
the Sadducees, and the Essenes, and that every Jew had to belong
to one of these sects. Jesus, who in all things conformed to Jewish
law, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners,
would naturally associate himself with that order of Judaism which
was most congenial to his holy nature. Moreover, the fact that
Christ, with the exception of once, was not heard of in public
till his thirtieth year, implying that he lived in seclusion with
this fraternity, and that though he frequently rebuked the Scribes,
Pharisees, and Sadducees, he never denounced the Essenes, strongly
confirms this conclusion.... The accounts given by Josephus first
mentioned their existence in the days of Jonathan the Maccabaean,
B. C. 166; and they most unquestionably show that the Essenes existed
at least two centuries before the Christian era, and that they at
first lived among the Jewish community at large. Their residence at
Jerusalem is also evident from the fact that there was a gate named
after them. When they ultimately withdrew themselves from the rest
of the Jewish nation, the majority of them settled on the northwest
shore of the Dead Sea, sufficiently distant to escape its noxious
exhalations, and the rest lived in scattered communities throughout
Palestine and Syria. Both Philo and Josephus estimated them to be
above four thousand in number. This must have been exclusive of women
and children. We hear very little of them after this period (that
is, 40 A. D.); and there can hardly be any doubt that, owing to the
great similarity which existed between their precepts and practices,
and those of the primitive Christians, the Essenes, as a body, must
have embraced Christianity.'"--Underwood, in Underwood-Marples Debate.

Jesus' Teachings Not up to the Moral Standard of To-day.

1. Jesus failed to explicitly teach any of the cardinal human
virtues. If he taught kindness and forgiveness it was usually at the
expense of justice.

2. He nowhere explains and inspires self-reliance and individual
liberty.

3. He nowhere condemns kingcraft, priestcraft and tyranny. He opposes
their abuses, but not the radical evils out of which they spring.

4. He has no just ideas of marriage and divorce.

5. He nowhere explains the nature of heaven and hell.

6. He does not teach the value of economy and thrift, but turns people
loose with the notion that they must take no thought for the morrow.

The following saying of Jesus exhibits the lack of a high moral
sense of justice, and also the fact that he does not pretend to be
the savior of the whole human race. He said to his own countrymen:
"Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but
unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables;
that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may
hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted,
and their sins be forgiven them. (Mark 4 : 11.)

From this we learn that Jesus did not desire to save the Gentiles;
the parabolical style was used in order to prevent them from becoming
converted and having their sins pardoned.

In addition to this imperfection of the moral sense, Jesus was
sometimes unforgiving in his spirit and practice. He says on one
occasion: "Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny
before my father which is in heaven." (Mat. 10 : 33.)

It is true that he taught his disciples to love their enemies, but it
is a precept he did not observe himself; he allowed himself to speak
of those who did not accept his teachings as, "fools," "hypocrites,"
"thieves," "serpents," "vipers," and many other abusive epithets,
which clearly exhibit on his part anger and hatred. We have another
instance of his unforgiving spirit in that myth of the dying thief on
the cross. It is there recorded that Jesus prayed for the forgiveness
of his enemies, but had he been consistent with that prayer, he would
not have pardoned one thief without also pardoning the other. When
he could ask God to forgive his enemies, it would have been demanded
by his own rule, that he also forgive them; but, on the contrary, he
only forgives the malefactor who spoke words in his praise. This spirit
is carried out in the doctrine of future rewards and punishments.

Jesus Exhibits an Imperfect Sense of Justice.

In failing to recognize the rights of property; in his denunciation of
the rich; in his teachings of submission to wrong; in his professing
to pardon sin, even before it is asked for, Jesus errs. This moral
sense is lacking in his teachings concerning God. Take this as an
illustration: "Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto
him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a
friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set
before him. And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not;
the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot
rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give
him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will
rise and give him as many as he needeth." (Luke 11 : 15.)

And so it is with God, he leads us to believe, for though he is our
friend he will not grant our requests; but if we annoy and tease
him, at last, worn out, he will answer our prayers to get rid of
us. Therefore, "Ask and it shall be given you; for every one that
asketh receiveth."

The parable of the unfortunate widow is another instance in point:
"There was in a city a judge who feared not God, neither regarded man
[same kind of judges in our cities now]. And there was a widow in that
city, and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And
he would not for a while; but afterwards he said within himself, Though
I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me,
I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me." (Luke
18 : 2-6.) It is just so in praying to God. He may not hear you or
heed you at first, yet by a "continual coming and troubling him,"
he must of necessity at last become weary and grant you the desires
of your heart, in order to escape being troubled.

At one time the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who
had been taken in the act of adultery, and asked for his judgment. He
said: "He that is without sin among you let him first cast a stone
at her." This was a well-directed rebuke, and they felt it, and
they "went out one by one, beginning at the eldest even unto the
last." Then Jesus, standing alone with the woman, asks, "Woman where
are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said,
No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee;
go and sin no more." (John 8 : 7-11.)

In all parts of the Bible adultery is condemned, and by all civil
laws it is now prohibited, and all religious teaching forbids it, and
there is no reason in this case why Jesus should not have condemned
the act, even while he showed mercy to the actor. Here as elsewhere
Jesus shows mercy at the expense of justice. Were these principles
carried out in life, the criminal would go untried and unpunished.

"Go into the village over against you, and straightway you shall
find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them and bring them unto
me. And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need
of them, and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the
daughter of Zion, Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting
upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass. And the disciples went
and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass, and the colt,
and put on their clothes, and set him thereon." (Mat. 21 : 2-7.)

The writer would have us believe that Jesus rode upon two asses at
once; but the prophet who could invent such a story must have been
an ass himself to suppose that Jesus could ride upon two donkeys
of such unequal size at one time. It was not the prophet, however,
who perpetrated this outrage upon common sense, but the writer of
Matthew, whoever he was. Mark, Luke, and John mentioned the affair,
and all agree in speaking of one ass only. Had the writer read the
prophet aright, he would have quoted it differently, "Behold thy King
cometh unto thee, ... lowly, and sitting upon an ass; even a colt,
the foal of an ass." (Zech. 9 : 9.)

Another instance of this disregard of the interests of others is
exhibited by Jesus where he casts the devils out of two men and permits
them to enter the swine, "and the swine ran down a steep place into
the sea and perished in the waters." Mark (5 : 12) says there were
about two thousand head, but there is not a word said about the equity
of the proceeding. In this case Jesus does not offer any compensation
for the destruction of property which had been caused by him.

He does not make even an apology or an explanation. No wonder, then,
that the people became alarmed at this and asked him to go on his
journey with as little delay as possible: "The whole city came out
to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would
depart out of their coasts." (Mat. 8 : 34.)

Another instance of this lack of the sense of justice is displayed
in the parable of Dives and Lazarus. The one goes to heaven, that
is, to Abraham's bosom, because he was poor, and the other to hell,
because he was rich. Say what we may our civilization is built upon
wealth. Civilization, the highest and noblest estate of man, is
achieved by the utter repudiation of poverty. The legitimate love of
money is the spur of all human progress. Civilization would speedily
degenerate into barbarism if this respect for property was removed.

His views of poverty are in harmony with his teachings on other
human interests: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth;"
"Take no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought
for the things of itself." How evident it is that one of the most
essential virtues of life is here repudiated.

Thoughtfulness about the future is a distinguishing trait of a wise
man. To take no thought for the morrow would be as foolish as for one
to bind himself hand and foot on the approach of his enemy. Science
inspires man with earnest inquiry about the morrow, and also enables
him by his perception of it how better to live to-day.

"Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee,
turn not thou away." (Mat. 5 : 42.) Society as it now exists would not
last a single day if his command were obeyed. Borrowing and lending
is poor business, even as it is now carried on, but what it would
become under the universal practice it would be impossible to guess.

"And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have
ye? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But
love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing
again." (Luke 6 : 34.) So impracticable a precept is this, that no
people have ever practiced it, nor could it be carried out without
the demoralization and overthrow of civilization.

Jesus Teaches the Duty of Submission to Wrong.

The general doctrines of resignation and contentment are incompatible
with strength of character and progress in life. The most worthy
members of society everywhere are just those people who have the least
resignation and contentment. Jesus does not seem to have cherished
these conditions himself. He was neither contented nor resigned to
the social status about him. "The powers that be" did not seem to
him to be from above, but from beneath, and he accordingly waged war
upon the existing social evils. But Jesus also teaches the duty of
submission to wrong: "And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek,
offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not
to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of
him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again." (Luke 6 : 29,
30.) Just think of it! "And of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them
not again." Society would be overthrown in a day if this command was
carried out. We should have no commerce, no law protecting our various
interests, no civilized society. Paul echoes the same notion when he
says, "Now, therefore, there is utterly a fault among you, because
ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why
do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?" (1 Cor. 6 : 7.)

Suffer yourselves to be defrauded! If human life has any virtue at all,
it surely consists in some degree in doing the very opposite, that is,
in not suffering ourselves to be defrauded. It is true that love seems
at first sight to be an all-important virtue, and one incapable of
abuse; but such love as induces us to submit to wrong is spurious. In
the world as it exists about us, we are culpable when we suffer
ourselves to be defrauded. The common virtues which are recognized by
all men are courage and resistance to wrong. Everywhere our eyes turn,
we look to see the hero who nobly resists the wrongs and frauds which
the powerful perpetrate upon the weak and helpless. "Resistance to
tyrants is the will of God" is the modern conception of duty. And in
accordance therewith we have laws prohibiting wrong and fraud. Besides
there is no manliness, self-reliance, or self-respect compatible with
such craven submission, which is spiritless and purposeless. John
Stuart Mill observes of Christianity: "Its ideal is negative rather
than positive; passive rather than active; innocence rather than
nobleness; abstinence from evil rather than energetic pursuit of
good. In its precepts (as has been well said), 'thou shalt not'
predominates over 'thou shalt.'"

Immoral Teachings of Jesus.

"Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you nay;
but rather division." (Luke 12 : 51.)

"For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and a
daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law." (Mat. 10 : 35.)

"I am come to send fire on earth; and what will I, that it be already
kindled." (Luke 12 : 49.)

"For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three
against two, and two against three.

"The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the
father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against
the mother; the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the
daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law." (Luke 12 : 52, 53.)

"If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife
and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also,
he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14 : 26.)

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I come not to send
peace, but a sword." (Mat. 10 : 34.)

"And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father
the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents,
and cause them to be put to death." (Mat. 10 : 21.)

"And they said unto him, Lord, behold here are two swords. And he
said unto them, It is enough." (Luke 22 : 38.)

"He that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one." (Luke
22 : 36.)

Bitter and Unreasonable Denunciations of Jesus.

"All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers." (John 10 : 8.)

"Ye are of your father, the Devil, and the lusts of your father ye
will do." (John 8 : 44.)

"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation
of hell?" (Mat. 23 : 33.)

"O, generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good
things?" (Mat. 12 : 34.)

"But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me,
Satan." (Mat. 16 : 23.)

"Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the
Devil and his angels." (Mat. 25 : 41.)

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16 : 16.)

Jesus a False Prophet.

"But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another:
for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of
Israel till the Son of man be come." (Mat. 10 : 23.)

"Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall
not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his
kingdom." (Mat. 16 : 28.)

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall
fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son
of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

"And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and
they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one
end of heaven to the other.

"Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender,
and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise
ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even
at the doors.

"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass till all these
things be fulfilled." (Mat. 24 : 29-34.)

"But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall
not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God." (Luke
9 : 27.)

"And he said unto them, Verily, I say unto you, That there be some
of them, that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they
have seen the kingdom of God come with power." (Mark 9 : 1.)

"Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When her branch is yet tender,
and putteth forth leaves, Ye know that the summer is near: So ye in
like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass know that
it is nigh, even at the doors. Verily, I say unto you, That this
generation shall not pass till all these things be done." (Mark
13 : 28-30.)

"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the
stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;
the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear,
and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:
for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see
the Son of man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory.

"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift
up your heads: for your redemption draweth nigh.

"And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the
trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your ownselves
that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these
things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of heaven is nigh at
hand." (Luke 21 : 25-31.)

"If I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee?" (John
21 : 23.)

It is unnecessary to call attention to the fact that the foregoing
passages imply that the end of the world was at hand. Jesus was a
false prophet.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree.

"The Jesus of the four gospels is alleged to have been God, all-wise;
being hungry, he went to a fig tree, when the season of figs was
not yet come. Of course there were no figs on the tree, and Jesus
then caused the tree to wither away. This is an interesting account
to a true orthodox trinitarian. Such a one will believe: first, that
Jesus was God, who made the tree and prevented it from bearing figs;
second, that, God the all-wise, who is not subject to human passions
being hungry went to the fig tree, on which he knew there were no
figs, expecting to find some there; third, that God the all-just then
punished the tree because it did not bear figs in opposition to God's
eternal ordination."--Charles Bradlaugh.

Contemporaneous Historians are Silent Concerning the Resurrection
of Jesus.

Philo, Josephus, Seneca, Pliny the elder, and Pliny the younger,
Diogenes, Socrates, Pausanias, Suetonius, Tacitus, Adrian, Marcus
Aurelius, Lucian, and others have not one word to say about it.

In answer to this a certain minister replies that: "Seneca, Diogenes,
Laertes, Pausanias, Tacitus, and Marcus Aurelius, were Pagans, who
certainly in works of stoic philosophy, travels, and geography would
not discourse of Jesus." In answer to this I maintain that it is
altogether probable, if not certain, that some of these writers would
have recorded the "darkness over all the earth," which lasted some
three hours (Luke 23 : 44) and the opening of the graves out of which
many of the dead came and went into the city and showed themselves
unto many: besides, there were several earthquakes. (Mat. 27 : 51,
and 28 : 2, also Acts 16 : 26.) Such marvels, especially the darkness
over all the earth, and the earthquakes could not have escaped the
pen of all such historians and philosophers.

"Each of these philosophers (Pliny the Second and Seneca) in a
laborious work, has recorded all the great phenomena of nature,
earthquakes, meteors, comets, and eclipses which his indefatigable
curiosity could collect; neither of them has mentioned or even alluded
to the miraculous darkness at the crucifixion."--Gibbon.

The Resurrection of Jesus.

Comparing now the several narratives of the resurrection with one
another, we find this general result:

In Mark Jesus is said to have appeared three times.

1. To Mary Magdalene.

2. To two disciples.

3. To the disciples at meat.

Two such appearances only are recorded in Matthew:

1. To the women.

2. To the eleven in Galilee.

In Luke he appears:

1. To Cleopas and his companion.

2. To Peter.

3. To the eleven and others.

In the last chapters of John the appearances amount to four:

1. To Mary Magdalene.

2. To the disciples without Thomas.

3. To the disciples with Thomas.

4. To several disciples on the Tiberias lake.

Paul extends them to six:

1. To Peter.

2. To the twelve.

3. To more than five hundred.

4. To James.

5. To all the apostles.

6. To Paul.

"Upon this most momentous question every one of the Christian writers
is at variance with every other." (Amberley's "Analysis of Religious
Belief," p. 273.)

They differ as to the number of women who visited the sepulcher. John
mentions only one; Matthew names two, Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary. Mark says there were three, the two Marys and Salome. Luke says
there were more than three, the two Marys, Joanna, and certain others
with them. They differ as to the number of persons in white seen
at the sepulcher. Mark mentions one, "a young man." Matthew speaks
of one, an angel. Luke says there were two men, and John that there
were two angels. They disagree us to what was said by the persons in
white. According to Matthew and Mark, they spoke of the resurrection
of Jesus and his departure into Galilee, and sent a message to his
disciples commanding them to follow him thither. In Luke they simply
said that he was risen, and referred to a former prediction of his to
this effect. In John they simply asked Mary, "Woman! why weepest thou?"

Discrepancies as to where Jesus went after his resurrection. Matthew,
dismissing Jesus from history with these words, "Go ye therefore and
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost" (28 : 19), seems to know nothing of the ascension; for
it in utterly incompatible with the assumption that he is an honest
and faithful historian. He could not possibly neglect recording so
important an event had he known it, and the plain inference--the
irresistible conclusion is that if he did not record it, it was
because no such thing had occurred.

See with what brevity Mark concludes the career of Jesus. Mark gives
these as the parting words of Jesus: "So then after the Lord had spoken
unto them he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand
of God." (16 : 19.)

How brief is the description of this wonderful scene! No writer that
had witnessed such a sight could possibly condense his thoughts and
feelings concerning it into one sentence. He would have had much to
say; namely, of his own thoughts and emotions on the occasion, and what
other witnesses said and did at the time the event occurred. Writers
who go into particulars on less marvelous affairs would not be
likely to dash off the most wonderful event that had ever happened
before human eyes in one sentence. The thing is utterly improbable and
incredible. "He was received up into heaven" reveals the credulity and
superstition of the times. How could the writer know where he had gone,
if he had once passed away from his sight? Moreover, he knew nothing
of a local heaven or of a personal God, yet he says that Jesus "sat
(down) on the right hand of God," as though the Infinite Power which
pervades the universe had two hands and was made in the image of man!

The only rational explanation we can put upon such language is to
suppose it written by one who was not present at the time referred to,
but had heard of it and had undertaken to give his version of what
he heard, perhaps in the attempt trying to reconcile two or three
different versions of the story, and at the same time weave in his own
opinion on the subject. At any rate, whoever wrote it, the writer does
not claim to have been an eye-witness, and the legendary character
of the account proves that the myth had been handed down to him.

Luke (24 : 50, 51) says: "And he led them out as far as to Bethany,
and he lifted up his hands and blessed them; and it came to pass
while he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into
heaven." This version leaves out the sitting on the right hand of
God--yet it has the same superstition of a local heaven--of which the
writer speaks as if he had as positive and distinct knowledge as he
claims to have of Jesus and his resurrection.

If Matthew closes without giving us anything of the after life and
death of Jesus--if he breaks off abruptly without giving us any
insight into the feelings of the disciples, Luke does not. He says
that after they had witnessed the departure of Jesus they worshiped
him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. (24 : 52.) But this
is totally unnatural. We cannot imagine disciples rejoicing in the
loss of their friend. It is not human nature to be glad on such
occasions. We always grieve in parting with friends. The father
grieves when he parts with his son, the mother weeps when she gives
the parting kiss to her daughter. It may be said in reply that the
disciples had faith that Jesus had gone to heaven. But this will not
meet the difficulty, for Christian mothers believe when they part with
their sweet, innocent babes that they go straight to heaven, but does
this belief dry their tears or soothe their anguished hearts? No,
those mothers are frequently tormented to frenzy and even madness
by the intense grief occasioned by loss of their dear ones. It is
human nature to grieve upon the loss of friends, but here we find
disciples who do not mourn when their dearest friend has departed
from them. They were glad of it, and so they "returned to Jerusalem
with great joy." Such a paragraph as this could have been inserted
in the story by some subsequent writer, but never could have been
written by one who had witnessed such an event. Another feature of
this description, as given by Luke, is that it seems to be a slightly
varied copy of the account given of Elijah. "And it came to pass,
as they still went on, and talked, that behold there appeared a
chariot of fire and horses of fire and parted them both asunder;
and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." (2 Kings 2 : 11.)

How closely Luke's account seems to resemble this! "And he led them
out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed
them. And it came to pass while he blessed them he was parted from
them and carried up into heaven." (Luke 24 : 50, 51.) "And when he
had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a
cloud received him out of their sight." (Acts 1 : 9.)

How suggestive is the fact that the writers do not undertake to
tell how he was translated! The writer of the book of Kings gives
us a "chariot of fire" and "a whirlwind" as the modus operandi of
translating Elijah from one world to the other (?), but here there are
no agencies mentioned, and so far as the writers are concerned, there
seems to be nothing incomplete or unreasonable in the statements that
he "was carried up into heaven," and "was taken up and a cloud received
him out of their sight." We must suppose that persons witnessing such
an extraordinary event would have some notions as to the means used
in translating Jesus above the clouds, and that they could not fail
to express them in giving an account of what they had seen. Their
silence on this point, and the utter incredibility of the story make
it apparent that the writer is merely recording myths.

The last chapters of John are silent concerning the ascension. Now,
as it is generally admitted by the best biblical critics that the
last twelve verses of the last chapter of Mark are spurious, we
have then only one of the four biographers of Jesus who mentions the
ascension. It is utterly improbable that these three other writers
should deliberately refuse to give an account of the greatest event
they had ever seen. We must consider the discrepancies of the writers
concerning the number of days that Jesus remained on earth after
his resurrection.

According to Luke's account, he did not remain on earth one
day. "To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 23 : 43)--that
is, in heaven; see 2 Cor. 12 : 4. In this same twenty-third chapter of
Luke, Jesus does not ascend until the third day after his crucifixion;
and in Acts 1 : 3, it is recorded that he was "seen of them forty
days."

Another slight discrepancy occurs in relation to the length of time
Jesus was in the grave. Matthew says (12 : 40), "For as Jonas was
three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth." But as Jesus was
only two nights and one day in the grave there is no analogy between
the two, hence the statement is radically erroneous.

An orthodox clergyman critic explains this seeming contradiction
in this way: "In regard to Jesus being only one day and two nights
in the grave, the very same quantity of time 'three days and three
nights,' and which according to our computation was one whole day,
parts of two others and two whole nights, is termed three days and
three nights in the book of Esther. There is no impropriety in this
interpretation." The word "interpretation" as here used is slightly
equivocal, as is also the phrase "according to our computation." It
is peculiar to mathematics that it does not change according to our
computation or any kind of interpretation. It is always true that
two and two make four whether the book of Esther acknowledges the
fact or not. And it not only damages the gospels to bring forth this
sort of evidence, but it seriously derogates from the inspiration of
the book of Esther, which thus attempts in defiance of arithmetic to
make one day and two nights into three days and three nights.

No one saw Jesus come from the grave. When Mary Magdalene came to the
sepulcher, "Behold there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the
Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from
the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning and his
raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers did shake and
become as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women,
Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He
is not here, for he is risen as he said. Come see the place where
the Lord lay." (Mat. 28 : 2-6.)

We have here the stone at the door of the sepulcher, and yet the body
of Jesus had risen and departed from the tomb. There would seem to be
no need in closing the grave after he had risen. But a more serious
criticism must be made upon the fact that it is not pretended that
there was any eye-witness of Jesus coming from the sepulcher. We
have only the word of an angel, but as a story abounding with
conversations of angels is legendary we are not permitted to take
their testimony. Besides, we have serious contradictions concerning
the number of angels seen. Matthew says there was one angel, and that
he rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. Mark says
that when Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome,
had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him; and
very early in the morning, etc. "And they said among themselves, Who
shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? And when
they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away, for it was very
great. And entering, they saw a young man sitting on the right side,
clothed in a long white garment, and they were affrighted." (16 : 1-3.)

Luke also says the stone was rolled away when the women came to the
sepulcher, and upon entering in, behold "two men" stood by them in
shining garments. John says Mary saw two angels in white sitting, the
one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had
lain. Besides, she sees the stone rolled away from the door. Matthew
records the descent of an angel from heaven; the other biographers of
Jesus know nothing of this starting point of the angel. Matthew here
says that the angel rolled away the stone from the door, but Mark,
Luke, and John say that the stone was rolled from the door of the
sepulcher when Mary Magdalene came to it. Matthew here relates that
Mary Magdalene saw an angel sitting upon the stone at the door outside
of the sepulcher, but Mark says she saw a young man sitting down inside
the sepulcher. Luke avers that she saw two men standing inside of it,
and John affirms that Mary Magdalene sees two men sitting, "one at
the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain;"
but they do not tell her that Jesus had risen, as did the angel in
Matthew, and the young man in Mark, and the two men in Luke.

According to John, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene. But
according to Luke Jesus did not first appear to Mary Magdalene, but
to two persons traveling from Jerusalem to Emmaus: the name of one
of them we are told was Cleopas. (Luke 24 : 13.) But this appearance
of Jesus to brethren who were not apostles is clearly legendary. The
other synoptics seem to know nothing of it. It is wholly improbable
that Jesus should, after his resurrection, appear first of all to
two unknown Christians after this manner and accompany them upon such
a journey.

Now all the attendant circumstances of this event are mysterious,
inexplicable, and improbable; and the closing paragraph removes
the account beyond sober history. "And it came to pass as he sat at
meat with them, he took bread and blessed it and broke and gave to
them. And their eyes were opened and they knew him, and he vanished
out of their sight." (Luke 24 : 30, 31.)

"Their eyes were holden," is superstitious, and as for his vanishing
out of sight, we have the most unmistakable traces of legend--the
fruit of ignorance and childish imagination.

We are called upon to believe that with feet, the bones of which were
broken and crushed with the spikes driven through them on the cross,
he traveled back to Jerusalem about as rapidly as did the two persons
with whom he journeyed to Emmaus. How could he walk upon feet thus
crippled? His hands were yet unhealed, although his fellow-travelers
did not perceive such wounds, nor did they notice that he stepped
haltingly.

He possessed the same material body which he had before his death. He
could be seen and touched. All of which shows that he not only
possessed a physical organization, but that it was the same body he
had before his death. And yet this body could vanish from the two
unknown brethren at Emmaus, it could travel rapidly, it could come in
through closed doors, it could ascend from earth out of sight contrary
to the laws of gravitation; he had flesh and bones, and could eat and
drink. "And when he had thus spoken he showed them his hands and his
feet, and while they believed not for joy and wondered, he said unto
them, Have ye any meat? And they took and gave him a piece of broiled
fish and honeycomb, and he took it and did eat before them." (Luke
24 : 41-43.)

It is useless to attempt any explanation of this difficulty by calling
his body a spiritual body. The disciples on this occasion, when Jesus
suddenly appeared among them, thought they had seen a spirit, but Jesus
wishing to disabuse their minds, said, "Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself; handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh
and bones, as ye see me have." (Luke 24 : 39.)

If we accept this plain declaration, then, we are forced to enquire
what became of this physical body. It surely must have died. It is
certain that if he ate and drank, he had a nutritive system--a human
organism--subject to death. And what became of this "corruptible
body?" Matthew and John do not pretend to know anything about the
matter. Mark has no knowledge of the final disposition of his body, for
the last twelve verses of Mark are generally regarded as spurious. Why
should not all these writers have possessed the same information that
Luke pretends to have? They do not write to complement and supplement
the writings of one another, but each claims to give the important
features of Jesus' biography independently. Is not the end of Jesus'
career on earth important, in order to understand his life and
character? Three of the four biographers by their silence say either
that there is no importance to be attached to the ascension of Jesus,
or that it was unknown to them; in other words, that it did not occur.

Passing this, we encounter irreconcilable contradictions between
different writers as to the locality where Jesus appeared to his
disciples after his resurrection. Matthew says the angel at the
sepulcher informed the woman to "go quickly and tell his disciple
that he is risen from the dead, and behold he goeth before you into
Galilee; there ye shall see him." (28 : 7.) "And as they went to
tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them and said, All hail!" (28 :
9.) But as the angel had instructed them to go into Galilee, so also
does Jesus give the same command, "Go tell my brethren that they go
into Galilee, and there shall they see me." (28 : 10.)

Mark gives a very similar account of the woman coming to the tomb
and seeing the "young man," who said, "Be not affrighted; ye seek
Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified; he is risen; he is not here;
behold the place where they laid him. But go your way and tell his
disciples that he goeth before you into Galilee, there ye shall see
him, as he said unto you." (16 : 6, 7.)

The writers of the third and fourth gospels know nothing of any command
to go into Galilee; but on the contrary, Luke relates the command of
Jesus to his disciples to remain where they were until they should
receive blessings from God. "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until
ye be endued with power from on high." (24 : 49.) Here is manifestly
an entire unconsciousness of any necessity of the disciples for going
into Galilee. For, after giving this command, Luke goes on to say,
"He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and
blessed them. And it came to pass while he blessed them, he was parted
from them, and carried up into heaven." (24 : 50, 51.)

The two gospels of Mark and Luke make no mention of any journey;
but on the contrary, the immediate ascension of Jesus precludes the
possibility of it. Matthew, who knows nothing of any ascension, gives
this very equivocal statement of the affair: "Then the eleven disciples
went away into Galilee into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them,
and when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted." (28 :
16, 17.) But this is too vague; the point which would most interest
us to know is what they doubted and who it was that doubted. Another
equally vague expression is found in the fourth gospel, where it
is related of Peter and John that they went into the sepulcher,
"Then went in also that other disciple which came first to the
sepulcher, and they saw and believed" (20 : 8); but what they saw
and believed is not made plain, except that they saw an empty tomb,
or at least one which contained only the "linen clothes;" but what
they believed concerning this empty grave we are not informed. If
their belief maintained any correspondence with what they saw, they
believed that they had seen an empty grave. But our difficulties do
not cease; we are surprised that these early visitors of sepulchers
do not see anything of the material in which Jesus was embalmed. It
is recorded that "there came also Nicodemus which at the first came
to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about
an hundred pound weight." (John 19 : 39.)

It is but natural to suppose that if the linen clothes were laid off,
the myrrh and aloes also would be found lying with them, for there
is no probability that Jesus would go abroad a la mummy. We might
ask where the clothes came from that he wore after coming out of the
sepulcher. His own garments had been taken by the soldiery when he
died, that the scripture might be fulfilled (?), but where is the
scripture fulfilled which informs us whence came his resurrection
garments? He did not go into society nude, and yet we have no evidence
that any provisions were made for a new suit of clothes. Some have
supposed that when Mary saw him and mistook him for the gardener
her mistake arose from the fact that he may have been clothed in the
garments of the gardener. But how did he get possession of them?

We must return to the contradictions in regard to the embalmment
of Jesus. Matthew's version excludes the myrrh and aloes. He says,
"And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen
cloth and laid it in his own new tomb." (27 : 59, 60.)

The fourth gospel, as we have seen, relates that when Joseph
of Arimathea and Nicodemus had received the body of Jesus, they
embalmed it in "a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound
weight." Mark knows nothing of this, and his account wholly excludes
it. Joseph "bought fine linen and took him down and wrapped him
in the linen and laid him in the sepulcher." (15 : 46.) "And when
the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James,
and Salome, had bought sweet spices that they might come and anoint
him." (16 : 1.) If the women came on the third day to embalm the
body, they certainly knew nothing of its embalmment on the day of
his death. Luke's version also excludes the version of the fourth
gospel. As in Mark, so in Luke, they came on the first day of the week
to perform this rite of embalmment. "And they [the women] returned and
prepared spices and ointments ... and upon the first day of the week,
very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing
the spices which they had prepared." (23 : 56, and 24 : 1.)

Some exegetes have interpreted this, by saying that "the women came
to embalm the body of Jesus, being wholly ignorant of what Joseph and
Nicodemus had done." This might be sufficient if it were not for the
fact that the women saw Jesus after he was put in the tomb. "And Mary
Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus beheld where he was laid." (Mark
15 : 47.) Matthew corroborates this: "And there was Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulcher" (27 : 61)
when Jesus was placed in it.

The obvious meaning of these texts is that they saw him wrapped in
"the fine linen" and laid away in the tomb. Here, then, are the
contradictory statements. The writer of the fourth gospel relates
how Jesus was embalmed on the day of his death; the writers of the
second and third gospels state that the women came on the third day
to perform this service, wholly unconscious of such embalmment having
taken place on the day of Jesus' death; while the writer of the first
gospel knows nothing of the embalmment on the day of his death, nor
of the intended embalmment on the third day. He speaks of the early
visit of the women as coming merely to see the grave. "In the end of
the Sabbath, as it began to dawn, toward the first day of the week,
came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher." (28 : 1.)

Further contradictions are found in the statements of the writers
as to the time when the women prepared the spices. Mark says (16 :
11), that when the "Sabbath was past" the women bought spices with
which to anoint the body of Jesus. Luke says they bought them before
the Sabbath; "And they returned and prepared spices and ointments,
and rested on the Sabbath day." (23 : 56.)

Jesus Foretells his Resurrection.

There are a number of passages in the gospels which show that Jesus
told his disciples over and over again that he should rise on the third
day, and there are other passages which as plainly show that they
had no thought of any such resurrection when the third day came. If
he repeatedly told his followers that he was to be put to death in
Jerusalem and rise again the third day, we must conclude that his
disciples would remember his sayings and that at least some of them
would wait for the third day to come, expecting to see the miracle
transpire. But we are astounded to read over and over again of this
"rising again the third day," and yet find no friend remembering or
expecting the event when the third day came. It is urged that Jesus'
followers did not understand his words, but this will not meet the
case. If several of these disciples were intelligent enough to write
the biography of their Master they could not have been so stupid as
not to understand such plain words; besides, we must remember that
his enemies understood him.

The Pharisee said to Pilate, "Sir, we remember that the deceiver said
while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again."

Pilate said, "Ye have a watch, go your way, make it sure as ye
can." The disciples could not have failed to understand him, because
it was a special effort on the part of Jesus to show that he must
die and rise again on the third day.

"But their eyes were holden that they should not know him." (Luke
24 : 16.)

This miraculous blindness is too irrational to discuss. It is certain
that if their eyesight was good enough to see what was in the tomb
"when it was yet dark" (John 20 : 1), they would surely recognize
an intimate friend if they journeyed with him in the highway in the
middle of the afternoon.

"From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how
that he must go up to Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders
and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and be raised again the
third day." (Mat. 16 : 21.)

"And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of
man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him,
and the third day he shall rise again." (Mat. 27 : 22, 23.)

"And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in
the way and said unto them, Behold we go up to Jerusalem and the
Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chiefs and priests and unto
the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver
him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him:
and the third day he shall rise again." (Mat. 20 : 17-19.)

"And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many
things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he spoke
that saying openly." (Mark 8 : 31.)

There is not a chance to refer this prediction to the esoteric
teachings of Jesus, for he "spake that saying openly."

"For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is
delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him, and after
that he is killed he shall rise the third day." (Mark 9 : 31.)

"And he took again the twelve and began to tell them what things should
happen unto him, saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of
man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and
they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles,
and they shall mock him, and shall scourge him; and shall spit upon
him; and the third day he shall rise again." (Mark 10 : 32, 33.)

"The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third
day." (Luke 9 : 22.)

"Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we
go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written concerning the
Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the
Gentiles, and shall be mocked and spitefully entreated and spitted
upon; and they shall scourge him, and put him to death, and the third
day he shall rise again." (Luke 18 : 31-33.)

These teaching are so plain and repeated so often that it is
inconceivable that his disciples should not comprehend his meaning. If
these passages had been as enigmatical as the following, there might
have been some grounds for the claim of ignorance or dullness on the
part of the disciples: "For as Jonas was three days and three nights
in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth." (Mat. 12 : 40.)

But the above predictions have nothing dark or obscure about them. The
time of his resurrection is always specified as the third day.

None of the Disciples Looking for a Resurrection.

With these numerous predictions of his resurrection before us, let us
see whether they can be made to harmonize with other statements on the
subject. When immediately after the transfiguration Jesus warns his
disciples not to reveal what they had seen until after he had risen
from the dead, we are told that they questioned among themselves
"what rising from the dead should mean." (Mark 9 : 2.)

How is it possible that such doubt and surprise could be expressed
by men who had first witnessed the resurrection of Moses and Elias,
and who had also seen the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus,
the son of the widow of Nain and Lazarus!

Now it is plain that if they had ever witnessed these miraculous
resurrections, they could not possibly have wondered "what the rising
from the dead should mean." Both statements cannot be true, for if
they thus wondered, it is proof enough that they had never seen the
dead raised to life; and if they did not so express themselves, then
the gospels are unhistorical. That they never queried in this manner
among themselves is evident from the fact that the resurrection from
the dead was at that time a doctrine generally accepted by the Jews. It
is evident that those who undertook the embalmment of Jesus had no
thought of his resurrection within forty-eight hours. But suppose it
conceded that Jesus was deserted by his immediate friends, and his body
handed over to Joseph and Nicodemus, who embalmed it in "a mixture of
myrrh and olives about one hundred pound," possibly being ignorant
of the repeated predictions of his resurrection on the third day,
which were made to the disciples; still this is unavailing, as the
disciples are also ignorant of any rising from the dead to take place
on the third day. The women undertook the task of embalming the body
of Jesus, but they seem not to have got fully prepared for the task
until the third day. When his body was taken down from the cross and
wrapped in linen and put in the sepulcher, "the women also which came
with him from Galilee followed after, and beheld the sepulcher and how
his body was laid, and they returned and prepared spices and ointments,
and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the
first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the
sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared." (Luke 23 :
55, 56, and 24 : 1.)

"In the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first
day of the week, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary to see the
sepulcher." (Mat. 27 : 61.)

These two writers, while not agreeing on the object of the women's
visiting the sepulcher, nevertheless do agree that they did not go
expecting to see the sepulcher empty.

This early visit was made ostensibly to anoint or embalm the body
of Jesus. Mary Magdalene and the other women did not even dream of a
resurrection--she did not come expecting to find the tomb empty, but
was concerned to know how they should remove the stone from the mouth
of the tomb. It is evident that if she had heard Jesus say repeatedly
that on the third day after his death he would rise again, she would
not have forgotten it; and if she had, she must have recollected his
predictions when she found the grave empty. In fact she never once
thinks of a resurrection, but when she sees the empty grave, exclaims,
"They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not
where they have laid him." (John 20 : 2.)

Luke says that, "As the women were much perplexed thereabout, behold
two men stood by them in shining garments, and as they were afraid,
and bowed themselves to the earth [people usually run away when they
are frightened] they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the
dead? He is not here, but is risen; remember how he spoke unto you
when he was yet in Galilee, saying: The Son of man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day
rise again. And they remembered his words." (Luke 24 : 5-8.)

This is evidently an afterthought, an effort to fill out an imperfect
record, but the patch is too perceptible; for had it been that
the women needed only to have their memory jogged to recollect the
prediction of Jesus concerning his rising from the dead on the third
day, we may infer that a similar reminder would refresh the memory
of the eleven, but on the contrary they scouted the idea of such
a thing. The women "returned from the sepulcher and told all these
things unto the eleven, and the rest ... And their words seemed to
them as idle tales, and they believed them not." (24 : 9, 11.)

Mark also says that the eleven did not believe the story of Mary
Magdalene: "She went out and told them that had been with him, as they
mourned and wept. And they, when they had heard that he was alive,
and had been seen of her, believed not." (16 : 10, 11.)

They also had not so much as a dream of the resurrection of Jesus. They
were not waiting and watching for the third day to come that they
might see the predictions of Jesus fulfilled and their hearts filled
to overflowing with joy at the sight. They were not at the sepulcher,
as we might naturally expect. True, it was not too early for the
women impelled by human love to be there with ointments and spices;
but the eleven who were baptized with heavenly love (John 20 : 22),
entertained not the first thought of visiting the grave. And even when
the marvelous scenes witnessed by the women are clearly stated to the
eleven who had heard him teach that he must go up to Jerusalem and be
killed and the third day rise again--who had heard this teaching and
prediction repeatedly and openly, and in the plainest language, and yet
did not believe anything in it or in the report of the women--all this
is simply incredible. We are forced to conclude that if they were not
at the tomb on the third day, and scouted the story of the women--for
"their words seemed to them as idle tales"--they had never once heard
Jesus say he would rise from the dead on the third day.

Luke says, that of the eleven only Peter went to the sepulcher, and
that stooping down "he saw the linen clothes laid by themselves, and
departed wondering in himself at that which had come to pass."
(24 : 12.)

He wonders, but expresses no thought of a resurrection. The writer
of the fourth gospel contradicts Luke in saying that there were two
persons who went to the sepulcher on that occasion. "Peter therefore
went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulcher.... Then
went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher,
and he saw and believed. For as yet they knew not the Scripture,
that he must rise again from the dead." (John 20 : 3, 9, 10.)

"He saw and believed," but we are not told what he believed. He did not
certainly believe in the resurrection of Jesus. "For as yet they knew
not the Scripture, that he must rise again." This passage is plainly
legendary. It belongs to a later age when the dogma began to control
the minds of Christians; for it is true that the early Christians
did not insist so much upon the evidence of miracles as they did
upon the prophecies. It must have been written long after that time,
for it is not the "scriptures" they needed to know to be informed
concerning his resurrection, but the plain language of Jesus which he
had with special effort, and in an open manner uttered in their ears
but a few days before. It was wholly needless for them to know the
scriptures in order to recollect these prophetic predictions. Regard
these statements as we may, they are certainly unhistorical. For if
Jesus so frequently spoke of his death and subsequent resurrection,
then it is certain that they would have remembered his words, and
if they had not cherished them with faith, yet when they had heard
from the women of the empty grave, they would without doubt, have
recalled his predictions, and claimed their fulfillment. But they
do no such thing. They said of the women's story what was probably
true, that "their words seemed to them as idle tales, and [therefore]
they believed them not."

The Evidence of Paul on the Resurrection of Jesus.

He gives his testimony in this form: "For I delivered unto you first
of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, and was buried, and that he rose again
the third day according to the Scriptures. And that he was seen by
Cephas, then by the twelve. After that he was seen of above five
hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this
present, but some are fallen asleep. After that he was seen by James,
then by all the Apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also,
as of one born out of due time." (1 Cor. 15 : 4-8.)

In this statement Paul does not pretend to have witnessed the event
himself, but preaches it as a doctrine which he had "received." He
speaks of it as a tradition, "that Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again
the third day according to the Scriptures."

This language betrays the influence of the dogma of a later date;
for the writer in speaking of the five hundred by whom Jesus was
said to have been seen says, "of whom the greater part remain unto
this present [day] but some are fallen asleep." "Unto this present"
[day] shows that the writer is making his record long after the event.

Paul wrote probably about twenty-five years after the date of the
events he records. And the writers of the gospels also wrote at a
late date. Matthew says, "And this saying is commonly reported among
the Jews until this day." (28 : 15.)

The phrase "until this day" points out the fact that the gospel records
were not completed until long after the time of their occurrence. In
addition to this, there were many gospels recording the life and
doings of Jesus. "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth
in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed
among us." (Luke 1 : 1.) "Believed among us"--he did not know, but
merely believed these things. Now suppose we had these other gospels,
what harmony could we expect to find among the imaginary five hundred
if they had left a record of what was "most surely believed."

"He was seen by Cephas." It is significant of Paul's independence,
that while the writers of the four gospels all explicitly declare that
Jesus first appeard to Mary Magdalene, Paul knows nothing of such an
appearance. That he makes no mention of this first appearance of Jesus
is evidence that he wrote independently of others, as he said he did,
and also that he wrote before the evangelists wrote. He had no honors
to bestow upon women, as his writings show, and if he had ever heard
of this appearance to Mary Magdalene, he concluded that it was "an
idle tale." (Luke 24 : 11.)

It is noticeable also that although this doctrine is "received" as
a prediction of the scriptures, yet no one is recorded in either of
the gospels or writings of Paul as having seen Jesus rise from the
sepulcher. Even though it is affirmed that Mary Magdalene and the
other Mary had seen the angel from heaven roll back the stone from
the mouth of the sepulcher, yet they did not witness any resurrection.

All that Paul "received" on this subject was the current traditions. As
a Pharisee, he believed in the doctrine of a general resurrection,
and it was most natural for him to accept such tradition into his
belief. That he wrote under the influence of a later age, when the
dogma began to assume character, is manifest in the recourse he has to
scripture evidences. "And that he rose again the third day according
to the Scriptures." (1 Cor. 15 : 4.) But the passages usually cited as
proof-predictions that Jesus should rise from the dead, when examined,
cannot be regarded as Messianic at all; for the idea of a suffering
Messiah was wholly foreign to the Jewish mind. The scriptures usually
cited are Isaiah 53; Psalms 22 and 69; Psalms 16 : 10; Hosea 6 : 2.

As illustrating the free use made of the scriptures, we have only to
compare Matthew 12 : 40 with parallel passages of Mark and Luke. Mark
(8 : 11), says, "And the Pharisees came forth and began to question
with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. And he
sighed deeply in his spirit and saith, Why doth this generation seek
after a sign? Verily I say unto you, there shall no sign be given
unto this generation."

Luke (11 : 29-31) states that "when the people were gathered thick
together, he began to say, This is an evil generation; they seek a
sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the
prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall the
Son of man be to this generation."

Matthew gives two versions of this incident, "A wicked and adulterous
generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall be no sign but the
sign of the prophet Jonas." (16 : 4.) "Certain of the scribes and
of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from
thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous
generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to
it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days
and three nights in the whale's belly so shall the Son of man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Mat. 12 : 38-41.)

Here it will be observed is an illustration of the growth of the
dogma and myth in adding this reference to Jonas. And it is highly
significant that the application of the myth of Jonas is wholly
fanciful, as the passage referred to (Jonah 1 : 17.) has not the
slightest character of prophecy. That the scriptures are evidently
tortured is obvious from the fact that Jesus was only one day and two
nights in the heart of the earth, and, as before said, the passage
is not prophetic; besides, its varied form in the gospels plainly
shows it to be a myth.

"He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve, and after that he was
seen by above five hundred brethren at once." But there were only
eleven Apostles until after the ascension, when Matthias was elected
to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Judas. "And they gave
forth their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered
with the eleven apostles." (Acts 1 : 26.)

This election of Matthias took place after the ascension. He could not
therefore have been seen by the "twelve" after his ascension (and there
were not twelve until after the ascension), only by the "eye of faith."

That Jesus was seen by above five hundred is nothing more than naked
statement. Paul does not claim to have been one of that number. This
episode, moreover, is not mentioned in any of the four gospels. It
is remarkable that so great an event should be passed over by other
writers also, for not a trace of it can be found elsewhere. It is
difficult for us to understand how this marvelous scene could so
completely perish out of sight of all writers except one who was not
present, but merely heard of it afterward. That Paul may have believed
the story we do not deny--and that he believed that the greater part of
the witnesses "remain unto this present" time. Now if these survivors
remained he does not mention the names of any of them. And besides,
they were not within reach of the Corinthians who might wish to hear
and investigate their testimony, for the Corinthians did not accept
the resurrection of Jesus as a matter of fact.

How could five hundred disciples come together immediately at one
time, when some time after the ascension the number of disciples at
Jerusalem was only one hundred and twenty? (Acts 1 : 15.)

We need to know something of the character of those who gave Paul
this information, and the sources of their knowledge. For it is
all-important to our inquiry to know from whom Paul received these
traditions and what evidences his informants had of the truth of the
story they told. To believe in the reality of these appearances simply
because Paul states that he has "received" his information from others
and believes it to be true, without inquiring as to the character
of his informers, is the blindest credulity. Who were the five
hundred? What did they think of the event? How did Paul or any other
person know what they thought, if there were no written statements
by them? Where and when did the five hundred see the risen Jesus?

"Last of all he was seen by me." In another place he says, "Have I
not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?" (1 Cor. 9 : 1.)

Elsewhere he relates: "But when he was pleased, God, who separated me
from my mother's womb, and called me through his grace to reveal his
son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen, immediately
I conferred not with flesh and blood, but I went into Arabia and
returned again to Damascus." (Gal. 1 : 15-17.)

"For neither did I receive it from men nor was taught it, but through
the revelation of Jesus Christ." (Gal. 1 : 11.) We shall find as we
proceed that Paul saw Jesus subjectively. It is quite natural to so
understand his words, "reveal his son in me." Especially does this
seem obvious when we remember that Paul was a man who firmly believed
in visions and revelations. In relating his own experience he states
this fact plainly. "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago
(whether in the body I cannot tell--God knoweth), such a one caught
up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man (whether in the body or
out of the body, I cannot tell--God knoweth) how that he was caught
up into paradise and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful
for man to utter. Of such an one will I glory." (2 Cor. 12 : 2-4.)

In Acts there are three contradictory accounts of his seeing
Jesus in a vision. "And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus:
and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And
he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the
Lord said I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee
to kick against the pricks. And he, trembling and astonished, said,
Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise,
and go into the city, and it will be told thee what thou must do. And
the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice,
but seeing no man." (Acts 9 : 3-7.)

A second version is in this form: "And it came to pass that as I made
my journey and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there
shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the
ground, and heard a voice saying unto me Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me,
I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were
with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not
the voice of him that spoke to me. And I said, Lord, what wilt thou
have me do? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus,
and there it shall be told thee of all the things which are appointed
for thee to do." (Acts 22 : 6-10.)

The third account of the affair is given thus: "Whereupon as I went
to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
at mid-day, O king, I saw in the way alight from heaven, above the
brightness of the sun, shining round about me. And when we were all
fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, saying, in the
Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for
thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And
he said, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.... Whereupon,
O king, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision." (Acts 26 :
9-19.)

According to the first account the companions of Paul "stood
speechless" (9 : 7); in the third they "all fall to the earth." (26 :
14.) Then again, in the first account it is said that the men "stood
speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one." In the second it
is stated that "they that were with me saw indeed the light, but they
heard not the voice." These contradictions do not seem to clothe the
vision of Paul with the acceptable form of harmony.

It will be observed that even in this vision Paul is not described
as seeing Jesus. He sees a light and falls to the ground, and when
he rises he is blind. "And they led him by the hand and brought him
to Damascus. And he was three days without sight." (9 : 8.)

In the continuation of this account Paul has another vision: "And it
came to pass that when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I
prayed in the temple, I was in a trance, and saw him saying unto me,
Make haste and get thee out of Jerusalem." (22 : 17, 18.)

In connection with these visions and revelations it is highly
significant that Paul never claims to have seen Jesus in the flesh, and
he never speaks of the resurrection as material, but as spiritual. "It
is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." (1 Cor. 15 :
44.) "Who shall change our vile bodies that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body," (Phil. 3 : 21.) Evidently there is no claim
for seeing Jesus in the body made by Paul in any of his writings. He
preaches the doctrine of the resurrection, but this doctrine he, as
a Pharisee, believed before he became a Christian. Paul claims that
in a vision he saw Jesus. Luke says that this was also the manner in
which Mary Magdalene and the other women saw Jesus. "And when they
found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a
vision of angels, which said that he was alive." (24 : 2, 3.)

This gives force to the claim of Paul, that his seeing or vision of
Jesus was of the same class as the visions of all the others who had
seen him.

Thus, after a careful examination of the writings attributed to the
immediate followers of Jesus, we find that not one of them says, "I
saw Jesus rise from the grave;" or "I saw Jesus in the flesh after his
resurrection." In legendary style it is frequently repeated that he
"appeared" first to this and then to that one, but there is not the
slightest evidence that any one saw him. And in this connection it
is worthy of remark that Jesus did not appear to any persons except
his friends. This gives better occasion for suspicion that the story
is mythical.

"Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly, not to all the
people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat
and drink with him." (Acts 10 : 41.) To appear to a few private friends
for one day does not seem much like bringing life and immortality to
light to the whole world. The method is too narrow and exclusive. And
even of these few friends not one has left the record for us of what
he saw. The writers who have recorded the current traditions of their
time, agree in saying that Mary Magdalene found the grave empty:
further than this the writers do not corroborate one another.

How soon the resurrection of the physical body became popular we
have no means of knowing. It was not certainly until some time after
the writings of Paul were given to the churches, for he, as we have
seen, speaks, of it as a spiritual resurrection. So also does Peter
(1 Peter 3 : 13), speak of Jesus "being slain in the flesh, but made
alive again in the spirit."

The legend became more and more marvelous as it spread
abroad. Enthusiasm inflamed the minds of the ignorant and superstitious
until the subjective visions of Paul became crystalized into objective
realities. His visions, and the visions, revelations and messages
of the angels of others were reduced in popular belief to historical
facts.

CHRISTIANITY WITHOUT HISTORICAL BASIS.

1. No one of the four gospels is mentioned in any other part of the
New Testament. [This assuredly would not have been the case had they
been the oldest, and the foundation on which the whole was built.]

2. No work of art of any kind has ever been discovered, no painting
or engraving, no sculpture or other relic of antiquity which may be
looked upon as furnishing additional evidence of the existence of
those gospels, and which was executed earlier than the latter part of
the second century. Even the explorations of the Christian catacombs
failed to bring to light any evidence of that character.

3. The four gospels were written in Greek, and there was no translation
of them into other languages earlier than the third century.

4. No manuscript of the gospels are in existence dating further back
than the fourth century. Of that century, or the next, there are three
or four, and some twenty or thirty, more than a thousand years old.

5. No autograph manuscript of any of the gospels has ever been known,
so far as there is any authentic record, nor has any credible witness
ever claimed to have seen such a manuscript. No one has ever claimed
to have seen such a manuscript of either of the four gospels in
the hand-writing of Luke, Mark, Matthew, or John. If the autograph
manuscripts had ever existed they would have been preserved among
the most sacred relics of the church.

6. During the first two centuries tradition was esteemed of more
value and better evidence of the gospel history, than any written
books or manuscripts.

7. The dialect in which the New Testament books were written,
a sort of Hebraistic Greek, has been considered evidence of their
antiquity. But this dialect prevailed three centuries after Christ,
and was in full use during the second century. The same or similar
Hebraisms abound in the apocryphal gospels of that age.

8. The canonical gospels were selected by the bishops from a large
number then in circulation.

In taking a general review of the first hundred and seventy
years of the Christian religion the first thing that strikes the
mind is the dearth of material from which to construct a reliable
history. It is seen at once how much must rest upon probability in
its different degrees--how much must be relegated to the province of
speculation. The works of the only church historian who wrote during
that period, lost or destroyed the few fragments that are left being
of comparatively no value--the writings of Porphyry and others who
wrote against Christianity, and those of the heretic Christians,
all destroyed--there remain only the works of some of the orthodox
fathers, and the text of those in a mutilated and corrupted condition.

Such is the material at the hands of the historian. Of course he cannot
rely implicitly upon the unsupported assertion of any such writer
for the truth of any historical fact whatever. In every instance
he is obliged to scrutinize carefully, and endeavor to ascertain
whether any ulterior motives may have prompted whatever statement
may be under consideration. If he can find none, and the fact stands
uncontradicted by other writers, it is cautiously accepted. Under
such circumstances progress is slow and uncertain. The most that any
writer can hope to accomplish is to place in proper shape what is
already known, and to establish here and there a landmark for the
benefit of subsequent historians.

In conclusion, as the result of this investigation, it may be repeated
that no evidence is found of the existence in the first century of
either of the following doctrines: the immaculate conception--the
miracles of Christ--the material resurrection. No one of these gospels
is found in the epistles of the New Testament, nor have we been able
to find them in other writings of the first century.

As to the four gospels, in coming to the conclusion that they
were not written in the first century, we have but recorded
the conviction of the most advanced scholars of the present day,
irrespective of their religious views in other respects; with whom
as now presented, is, How early in the second century were they
composed? Discarding as inventions of the second century, having no
historical foundation, the three doctrines above named, and much else
which must necessarily stand or fall with them, what remains of the
Christian religion? (C. B. Waite, "History of the Christian Religion
to the year 200.")

The Canon.

"The infancy of the canon was cradled in an uncritical age and rocked
with traditional ease. Conscientious care was not directed from the
first to the well authenticated testimony of eye-witnesses. Of the
three fathers who contributed most to its early growth, Irenæus was
credulous and blundering; Tertullian passionate and one-sided; and
Clement, of Alexandria, imbued with the treasures of Greek wisdom,
was mainly occupied with ecclesiastical ethics.

"Irenæus agrees that the gospels should be four in number, neither more
nor less, because there are four universal winds and four quarters
of the world. The Word or Architect of all things gave the gospel in
a four-fold shape. According to this father the apostles were fully
informed concerning all things, and had a perfect knowledge after
their Lord's ascension.

"He says, 'Matthew wrote his gospels while Peter and Paul were
preaching in Rome, and founding the church.' Such assertions show
both ignorance and exaggeration.

"Tertullian affirms that the tradition of the apostolic churches
guarantees the four gospels, and refers his readers to the churches
of Corinth, Philippi, Ephesus, etc., for the authentic epistles of
Paul. What is this but the rhetoric of an enthusiast?

"Clement contradicts himself in making Peter authorize Mark's gospel
to be read in the churches, while in another place he says the apostles
'neither forbade nor encouraged it.'

"The three fathers of whom we are speaking had neither the ability
nor inclination to examine the genesis of documents surrounded with an
apostolic halo. No analysis of their authenticity and genuineness was
seriously attempted. In its absence, custom, accident, taste, practical
needs, directed the tendency of tradition. All the rhetoric employed
to throw the value of their testimony as far back as possible, even up
to or very near to the apostle John, is of the vaguest sort. Appeals to
the continuity of tradition and of church doctrine, to the exceptional
veneration of these fathers for the gospels, to their opinions being
formed earlier than the composition of the works in which they are
expressed, possess no force.

"The ends which the fathers in question had in view, their polemic
motives, their uncritical, inconsistent assertions, their want of sure
data, detract from their testimony. Their decisions were much more
the result of pious feeling, biased by the theological speculations
of the times, than the conclusions of a sound judgment. The very
arguments they use to establish certain conclusions show weakness of
perception. What are the manifestations of spiritual feeling compared
with the result of logical reasoning?" (Davidson on the Canon.)

Thus we have the testimony of one of the ablest and clearest
minds that has ever written upon the canon which the fathers most
depended upon to establish the authenticity of the small books
forming it, were "ignorant," "credulous," "blundering," "passionate,"
"one-sided," "uncritical," "inconsistent," "possessed undue enthusiasm
with contradictions;" "not possessing ability or inclination to
examine;" "attempting no analysis of genuineness;" "an unreasonable
apostolic reverence." "Custom, accident, taste, and the tendency of
tradition taking the place of careful examination;" "a disposition
to misrepresent;" "exceptional veneration of the fathers for the
gospels older than the composition;" "want of data;" "their decisions
the result of pious feeling based upon [incorrect] theological
speculations;" "unsound judgment;" "weakness of perception;" "lack
of logical reasoning." These are the characteristics of the fathers
depended upon to establish the authenticity of a gospel story which
has no solid foundation to rest upon and which is clearly of an
apocryphal character. ("Answers to Christian Questions" pp. 69-70,
by D. M. Bennett.)

"One hundred and seventy years from the coming of Christ elapsed
before the collection assumed a form that carried with it the idea
of holy and inspired." (Davidson on the Canon, p. 106.)

"It is clear that the earliest church fathers did not use the books of
the New Testament as sacred documents clothed with divine authority,
but followed for the most part, at least till the middle of the second
century, apostolic tradition orally transmitted." (Ibid, p. 107.)

"Their decisions (the fathers) were much more the result of pious
feeling biased by the theological speculations of the times, than
the conclusions of a sound judgment. The very arguments they use to
establish certain conclusions show weakness of perception." (Ibid
p. 124.)

"The men who first canonized them (the gospels) had no certain
knowledge of their authors." (Ibid p. 127.)

"That Luke did not write the gospel of Luke." (Ibid 2, p. 25.)

"The canon was not the work of the Christian Church so much as of
the men who were striving to form the church." (Ibid p. 129.)

"Professor Davidson says that the Gospel of Matthew, as we have
it now could not have been written by Matthew. Intro. New Test. 1,
p. 484. He says that the present Gospel of Mark was not written by
Mark and that its author is unknown." (Ibid 2, p. 83, 84.)

Of John's Gospel he says:

"Its existence before 140 A. D. is incapable either of decision or
probable showing. The Johannine authorship has receded before the
tide of modern criticism, and though this tide is arbitrary at times,
it is here irresistible.

"No certain traces of the existence of the fourth gospel can be found
till after Justin Martyr, that is till after the middle of the second
century." (Ibid 2, p. 520.)

The Value of Papias' Testimony.

"Suppose Papias is referring to our present gospel of Mark, what
testimony have we to the authenticity of Jesus' words as contained
in it? Just this: Eusebius says that Papias said that John the
presbyter said that Mark said that Peter said that Jesus said thus
and so." (Keeler's "Short History of the Bible," p. 19.)

Ignorance and Dishonesty of the Early Fathers.

That the charge of ignorance justly attaches to many of the fathers
of the church, and that of dishonesty as well, there is abundant
evidence, but a small portion of this can be given here. Mosheim,
in part 2 chapter 3 of his "Ecclesiastical History," says:

"The interest of virtue and true religion suffered yet more
grievously by the monstrous errors that were universally adopted
in this century, and became a source of innumerable calamities and
mischiefs of succeeding ages. The first of these maxims was that it was
an act of virtue to deceive and lie when by that means the interest
of the church might be promoted; and the second, equally horrible,
though in another point of view, was "that errors in religion, when
maintained and adhered to after proper admonition were punishable with
civil penalties and corporal tortures." The former of these erroneous
maxims was now of long standing. It had been adopted for long ages
past, and had produced an incredible number of ridiculous fables,
fictitious prodigies, and pious frauds to the remarkable detriment to
that glorious cause in which they were employed. And it must be frankly
confessed that the greatest men and the most eminent saints of this
century [the fourth] were more or less tainted with the infection of
this corrupt principle, as will appear evident to such as look with an
attentive eye to their writings and actions. We would willingly except
from this charge Ambrose, and Hiliary Augustine, Gregory Nazianzen,
and Jerome; but truth, which is more respectable than these venerable
fathers, obliges us to involve them in the general accusation."

At another time he says, as translated by Vidal:

"At the time when he [Hermas] wrote, it was an established maxim
with many Christians to avail themselves of fraud and deception,
if it was likely they would conduce toward the attainment of any
considerable good."

He again says:

"It was considered that they who made it their business to deceive,
with a view of promoting the cause of truth, were deserving rather
of commendation than censure."

The French Protestant writer, Casaubon, talks in a similar way, thus:

"It mightily affects me to see how many there were in the earliest
times of the church who considered it a capital exploit to lend to
heavenly truth the help of their own inventions in order that the
new doctrine might be received by the wise among the Gentiles. These
officious lies, they said, were devised for a good end."

Le Clerc, corroborating these opinions, says:

"Dissemblers of truth are nowhere to be met with in such abundance
as among the writers of church history."

M. Daille, another learned and impartial French writer, in his
celebrated work, the "Use of the Fathers," says:

"We find them saying things which they did not themselves believe. They
are mutually witnesses against each other, that they are not to be
believed absolutely on their bare word."

In book 1, chapter 6, he states upon the authority of St. Jerome, that:

"Origin, Methodius, Eusebius, Apollonaris, have written largely against
Celsus and Porphyry. Do but observe their manner of arguing, and
what slippery problems they used. They alleged against the Gentiles,
not what they believed, but what they thought necessary."

Jerome himself adds:

"I forbear mentioning the Latin writers, as Tertullian, Cyprian,
Minutius, Victorinus, Lactantius, Hiliary, lest I should rather seem
to accuse others than defend myself."

Daille adds of the fathers:

"They made no scruple to forge whole books."

An able writer in the Eclectic Review of 1814, page 179, speaks of
the fathers in this way:

"When we consider the number of gospels, acts, epistles, revelations,
traditions, and constitutions which were put in circulation during
the first three centuries, and which are unquestionably spurious,
we find sufficient reason for examining with care and receiving
with extreme caution productions attributed to eminent men in the
primitive church. Some of the early Christians do not seem to have
possessed in some points a nice sense of moral obligation. The writing
of books under false names, and the circulating of fables, were not
accounted violations of duty; or, if the impropriety of such conduct
was felt, the end proposed--the promotion of the Christian cause--was
thought to justify the means employed for the accomplishment. (From
D. M. Bennett's "Answers to Christian Questions," p. 78-80.)

Jesus Not a Historical Character.

The following very pertinent argument is made use of by the
Rev. S. Baring-Gould in his "Lost and Hostile Gospels": "It is somewhat
remarkable that no contemporary, or even early account of the life of
our Lord exists, except from the pen of Christian writers. That we
have none by Greek or Roman writers is not, perhaps, to be wondered
at; but it is singular that neither Philo, Josephus, nor Justus
of Tiberius, should ever have alluded to Christ or to primitive
Christianity. Philo was born at Alexandria about twenty years before
Christ. In the year A. D. 40 he was sent by the Alexandrian Jews on
a mission to Caligula, to entreat the emperor not to put in force his
order that his statue should be erected in the temple of Jerusalem and
in all the synagogues of the Jews. Philo was a Pharisee. He traveled
in Palestine, and speaks of the Essenes he saw there; but he says
not a word about Jesus Christ or his followers. It is possible that
he may have heard of the new sect, but he probably concluded it was
but insignificant, and consisted merely of the disciples, poor and
ignorant, of a Galilean rabbi, whose doctrines he, perhaps did not
stay to inquire into, and supposed they did not differ fundamentally
from the traditional teaching of the rabbis of his day."

The Spurious Passage in Josephus.

"At this time lived Jesus, a wise man [if indeed he ought to be
called a man]; for he performed wonderful works [he was a teacher of
men who received the truth with gladness]; and he drew to him many
Jews and also many Greeks. [This was the Christ.] But when Pilate,
at the instigation of our chiefs, had condemned him to crucifixion,
they who at first loved him did not cease; [for he appeared to them
on the third day again; for the divine prophets had foretold this,
together with many other wonderful things concerning him], and even
to this time the community of Christians called after him, continues
to exist."

That this passage is spurious has been almost universally
acknowledged. One may be accused perhaps of killing dead birds, if
one again examines and discredits the passage; but as the silence of
Josephus on the subject which we are treating is a point on which it
will be necessary to insist, we cannot omit as brief a discussion as
possible of the celebrated passage.

The passage is first quoted by Eusebius (fl. A. D. 315) in two
places (Hist. Eccl. lib. 1. c. 11; Demonst. Evang. lib. 3.),
but it was unknown to Justin Martyr (fl. A. D. 140), Clement of
Alexandria (fl. A. D. 192), Tertullian (fl. A. D. 193), and Origen
(fl. A. D. 230). Such a testimony would certainly have been produced
by Justin in his apology, or in his controversy with Trypho the Jew,
had it existed in the copies of Josephus at his time. The silence
of Origen is still more significant. Celsus in his book against
Christianity introduces a Jew. Origen attacks the arguments of
Celsus and his Jew. He could not have failed to quote the words of
Josephus, whose writings he knew, had the passage existed in the
genuine text. He indeed distinctly affirms that Josephus did not
believe in Christ. (Contra. Celsus 1.)

Again the paragraph interrupts the chain of ideas in the original
text. Before this passage comes an account of how Pilate, seeing there
was a want of pure drinking water in Jerusalem, conducted a stream into
the city from a spring two hundred stadia distant, and ordered that
the cost should be defrayed out of the treasury of the Temple. This
occasioned a riot. Pilate disguised Roman soldiers as Jews, with
swords under their cloaks, and sent them among the rabble, with orders
to arrest the ringleaders. This was done. The Jews finding themselves
set upon by other Jews, fell into confusion; one Jew attacked another,
and the whole company of rioters melted away. "And in this manner,"
says Josephus, "was this insurrection suppressed." Then follows the
paragraph about Jesus, beginning, "At this time lived Jesus, a wise
man, if indeed one ought to call him a man," etc., and the passage is
immediately followed by, "About this time another misfortune threw the
Jews into disturbance; and in Rome an event happened in the temple of
Isis which produced great scandal." And then he tells an indelicate
story of religious deception which need not be repeated here. The
misfortune which befell the Jews was, as he afterward relates, that
Tiberius drove them out of Rome. The reason of this was, he says, that
a noble Roman lady who had become a proselyte, had sent gold and purple
to the temple at Jerusalem. But this reason is not sufficient. It is
clear from what precedes--a story of sacerdotal fraud--that there was
some connection between the incidents in the mind of Josephus. Probably
the Jews had been guilty of religious deceptions in Rome, and had made
a business of performing cures and expelling demons, with talismans,
and incantations, and for this had obtained rich payment.

From the connection that exists between the passage about the
"other misfortune which befell the Jews," and the former one about
the riot suppressed by Pilate, it appears evident that the whole of
the paragraph concerning our Lord is an interpolation. That Josephus
could not have written the passage as it stands, is clear enough, for
only a Christian would speak of Jesus in the terms employed. Josephus
was a Pharisee and a Jewish priest; he shows in all his writings that
he believes in Judaism.

It has been suggested that Josephus may have written about Christ
as in the passage quoted, but that the portions within brackets are
the interpolations of a Christian copyist. But when these portions
within brackets are removed, the passage loses all its interest
and is a dry statement utterly unlike the sort of notice Josephus
would have been likely to insert. He gives color to his narratives;
his incidents are always sketched with vigor; this account would be
meagre besides those of the riot of the Jews and the rascality of
the priests of Isis. Josephus asserts, moreover, that in his time
there were four sects among the Jews--the Pharisees, the Sadducees,
the Essenes, and the sect of Judas of Gamala. He gives tolerably
copious particulars about these sects, and their teachings, but of the
Christian sect he says not a word. Had he wished to write about it,
he would have given full details, likely to interest his readers,
and not have dismissed the subject in a couple of lines.

It was perhaps felt by the early Christians that the silence of
Josephus, so famous a historian and a Jew, on the life, miracles,
and death of the founder of Christianity was extremely inconvenient;
the fact could not fail to be noticed by their adversaries. Some
Christian transcriber may have argued, either Josephus knew nothing
of the miracles performed by Christ--in which case he is a weighty
testimony against them--or he must have heard of Jesus, but not
having deemed his acts, as they were related to him, of sufficient
importance to find a place in history. Arguing thus, the copyist took
the opportunity of rectifying the omission, written from the stand
point of a Pharisee, and therefore designated the Lord as merely a
wise man. (D. M. Bennett in "Jesus Christ.")

That this paragraph, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, is not
Josephus's but an interpolation, is argued from these several following
considerations:

1. It is not quoted or referred to by any Christian writer before
Eusebius, who flourished at the beginning of the fourth century,
and afterward.

2. This paragraph was wanting in the copies of Josephus which were
seen by Photius, in the ninth century.

3. It interrupts the course of the narration.

4. It is unsuitable to the general character of Josephus, who is
allowed not to have been a Christian.

5. If Josephus were the author of this paragraph, it would be
reasonable to expect in him frequent mention of Christ's miracles;
whereas he is everywhere else silent about them.

6. The word Christ or Messiah appears not in any place in all the works
of Josephus, excepting two; namely, the paragraph which we have been
considering, which is now in the eighteenth book of his Antiquities;
and another in the twentieth book of the name Antiquities where is
mention made of James, the brother Jesus who is called 'Christ.' (Works
of N. Lardner, vol. 7, pp. 14, 15.)

EUSEBIUS.

The Father of Church History.

In referring to his work of writing a history of the church up to
his own times, he says:

"We are attempting a kind of trackless and unbeaten path."

Again he says of Philo Judæus that he was a very "learned man." Among
many other things which contradict this estimate, is the fact that
Philo takes more than one hundred pages in showing how that dreams
are sent from God.

Again, Eusebius does not say that the last works of Hegesippus,
Papias and Dionysius of Corinth, contain anything concerning the
canonical gospels; therefore, they contained none.

We give the opinion of a few well-known writers upon this "father of
church history":

In Draper's Intellectual Development of Europe, p. 197, Bunsen and
Niebuhr are quoted--the one (Bunsen) as saying that he purposely
"perverted chronology for the sake of making synchronisms," and the
other (Niebuhr) declaring "he is a very dishonest writer."

"Eusebius had a peculiar faculty of diverging from the
truth." ("History of Christian Religion," p. 7.)

"The gravest of the ecclesiastical historians, Eusebius, himself,
indirectly confesses that he has related whatever might redound to
the glory, and has suppressed all that could tend to the disgrace of
religion." (Gibbon's "Rome," vol. 1, p. 493.)

"In one of the most learned and elaborate works that antiquity has left
us, the thirty-second chapter of the twelfth book of his evangelical
preparation, bears for its title this scandalous proposition: 'How it
may be lawful and fitting to use falsehood as a medicine and for the
benefit of those who want to be deceived.'" (Gibbon's "Vindication,"
p. 76.)

"But Eusebius, the father of church history, capped the climax by
fabricating the celebrated passage about "Jesus, a wise man, if it
be lawful to call him such." ("Anti-Christ," p. 28.)

"He (Eusebius) has frankly told us that his principle in writing
history was to conceal the facts that were injurious to the reputation
of the church." (Lecky's "European Morals," vol. 1, p. 492.)

"Eusebius, who would never lie or falsify except to promote the glory
of God." (Taylor's Diegesis, p. 345.)

Eusebius pronounces a panegyric upon Constantine. The following is
the list of Constantine's murders as given by Robert Taylor:

[**TODO: Verify table]
        Maximinian, his wife's father                A. D.   310
        Bassianus, his sister Anastacia's husband    A. D.   314
        Licinianus, his nephew by Constantina        A. D.   319
        Fausta, his wife                             A. D.   320
        Sopater, his former friend                   A. D.   321
        Licinius, his sister Constantina's husband   A. D.   325
        Crispus, his own son                         A. D.   326

And the church still continues to regard these two persons as holy
men of God, raised up for a wise purpose--the one an open, wholesale
murderer, and the other a cowardly, cunning and corrupt priest. The
vast injury they have done the human race can never be computed. They
poisoned the fountains of civilization, and all Christendom has been
drinking its poisoned waters ever since. If there are anywhere in
history two men who have done their fellow men more positive harm
and wrong, I do not know them. Their names should be held up to
eternal scorn.

Baronius, a sincere advocate of the Christian faith, calls Eusebius:
"the great falsifier of ecclesiastical history, a wily sychophant,
a consummate hypocrite, a time serving persecutor, who had nothing
in his known life or writings to support the belief that he himself
believed in the Christian system."

Eusebius is the source from whom all have drawn their material. Of
him Dean Milman in a note to Gibbon's Rome says: "It is deeply to
be regretted that the history of this period rests so much on the
loose, and, it must be admitted, by no means scrupulous authority of
Eusebius." (Page 85.)

Spurious Writings of the Early Church.

"Not long after Christ's ascension into heaven, several histories of
his life and doctrines, full of pious frauds and fabulous wonders,
were composed by persons whose intentions, perhaps, were not
bad, but whose writings discovered the greatest superstition and
ignorance." (Mosheim's "Ecclesiastical History.")

"Christian churches had scarcely been gathered and organized
when here and there men rose up who, not being contented with the
simplicity and purity of that religion which the apostles taught,
attempted innovations, and fashioned religion according to their own
liking." (Mosheim's "Ecclesiastical History," vol. 1, c. 5.)

"To avoid being imposed upon, we ought to treat tradition as we do a
notorious and known liar, to whom we give no credit, unless what he
says is confirmed to us by some person of undoubted veracity." (Extract
from Bower's "Lives of the Popes.")

"This opinion has always been in the world, that to settle a certain
and assured estimation upon that which is good and true, it is
necessary to remove out of the way whatever may be an hindrance
to it. Neither ought we to wonder that even those of the honest,
innocent, primitive times made use of these deceits, seeing for a
good end they made no scruple to forge whole books." (Daille on the
Use of the Fathers, b. 1, c. 3.)

The Bible Not an Inspired Revelation.

"What would be the characteristics of a revelation? 1st. A revelation
would be free from inherent contradictions. Does the New Testament
revelation stand this test? 2d. A revelation would not contradict
natural laws, for nature is the only undisputed revelation to
man. 3d. A revelation would be so authenticated that it would be more
reasonable to admit than to deny its claims. The history of thousands
of years proves that, so far, no revelation has been made that compels
the mind's assent, as thousands of thinking men reject the so-called
revelation of the New Testament. The New Testament does not claim
infallibility for itself; and proving that a book is infallible does
not prove that it was inspired, else we might claim inspiration for
the problems of Euclid." (Anon.)

"When Moses told the children of Israel that he received the two
tables of commandments from the hands of God, they were not obliged
to believe him, because they had no other authority for it, than his
telling them so; and I have no authority for it than some historian
telling me so. The commandments carry no internal evidence of divinity
with them; they contain some good moral precepts, such as any man
qualified to be a lawgiver or a legislator, could produce himself
without having recourse to supernatural intervention." (Thomas Paine's
"Age of Reason.")

"Revelation is a communication of something which the person, to whom
that thing is revealed, did not know before. For if I have done a
thing, or seen it done, it needs no revelation to tell me I have done
it, or seen it, nor to enable me to tell it, or to write it." (Thomas
Paine's "Age of Reason.")

"If it was worth God's while to make a revelation to man at all,
it was certainly worth his while to see to it that it was correctly
made. He would not have allowed the ideas and mistakes of pretended
prophets and designing priests to become so mingled with the original
text that it is impossible to tell where he ceased and where the
priests and prophets began. Neither will it do to say that God
adapted his revelation to the prejudices of mankind. Of course it
was necessary for an infinite being to adapt his revelation to the
intellectual capacity of man; but why should God confirm a barbarian
in his prejudices? Why should he fortify a heathen in his crimes? If a
revelation is of any importance whatever, it is to eradicate prejudices
from the human mind. It should be a lever with which to raise the human
race. Theologians have exhausted their ingenuity in finding excuses
for God. It seems to me that they would be better employed in finding
excuses for men. They tell us that the Jews were so cruel and ignorant
that God was compelled to justify, or nearly to justify, many of
their crimes, in order to have any influence with them whatever. They
tell us that if he had declared slavery and polygamy to be criminal,
the Jews would have refused to receive the ten commandments. They
insist that, under the circumstances, God did the best he could;
that his real intention was to lead them along slowly, step by step,
so that, in a few hundred years they would be induced to admit that
it was hardly fair to steal a babe from its mother's breast. It has
always seemed reasonable that an infinite God ought to have been able