T H E P L ER O M A

An Ess ay on the

Orig in of Christianity

B y

PA L A D R . U C RU S

“ R e s sa uae nunc r o C r st ana nuncu atur era t i p , q eligi h i i p , a ud ant ue s ne c defuit ab n t o n r s u a n uous ue p iq , i i i ge e i h m i , q q C r s tus venire t in ca rnem unde e a r o ua i am e a t h i v r eligi , q r , —S A u usti ne e ar C r st a na . t. coepit app ll i h i i g .

5 V THE OPEN COUR T fiUil ms mNe; comDAN

“ LbN qAs m. gs ’ 7 KEG AN PAUL T REN LH T U R N BQ Coi L15. . ; R . 3 Copyright by THE E C UR PUBLI HIN G COMPAN Y OP N O T S . 1909 N N CO TE TS .

A PAGE. CH PTER . CHRI STIAN ITY PREDETERMI NED BY THE N EED S AG E OF TH E . T H E A AC S A I . GENTILE CH R TER OF CHRI TI NITY I I T H E LD AGA S . O P NI M I AGA S I I . P NI M REDIVIVU S

- I TIA O I I OO PRE CHR S N GN ST C SM , THE BL M PRE I I A OF I IA I CED NG THE FRU T GE CHR ST N TY . T H E E A S IV. P RIOD OF TR N ITION T H V. E GNOSTIC MOVEMENT Z abi ans and M andzcans Ophit es or N aasxans Religi on O f Mani K C S A S A N D G P VI . INDRED SE T IN P LE TINE E Y T The on ans Sim i . . The Thera eutes the ssenes the a a enes p , E , N z r an the b on es d E i it . HOW THE GENTILE SAVIOUR CHANGED I NTO T HE I CH R ST . I I T H E A Z A V . PROCE SS OF IDE LI TION VII I T H E S A S A N D W S . PER I N THE JE IX T H . E S LA ST CHRI T OF THE REVE TION OF . JOHN

S A P E- X . CHRI TI N SENTIMENT IN R CHRI STIA N RE LIGI ON S XI WH Y S A . CHRI TI NITY CONQUERED HE ORIGI N OF JUDAI S M AN D IT S S IGN I FI CANCE FOR I IA I CHR ST N TY . II T H E AGA S- M A C S A X . P NI OF N IENT I R EL X III T H E P A . TEM LE REFORM OF JUD I S M X I T H E A A X V. B BYLONI N E ILE T H E SPE S XV. DI R ION I XV Ew N D . A . . J GENTILE XVII H E AI S S S . T JUD M OF JE U O I C NCLUS ON . XVI II A . SU M M RY XIX T H E R S A . FUTU E OF CHRI TI NITY

G A . . XX . RELI ION ETERN L A A A COLL TER L RE DING .

PREFACE .

e book is a HIS littl mere sketch . With concise brevity it treats a great theme —the origin Of Christianity which deserves the attention of the

thoughtful . The author concentrates his presentation

of the case upon the main features , treating them and

them only, with a considerable attention to detail ; but he hopes by this limitation to the most salient points to bring clearness into a subj ect which has never been fully understood on account of the many bewildering side issues that surround and often obscure the main

problem . The solution here offered contains some new points of view which the author has gradually gained through his Of study detached portions Of this large subject , yet in all his several inquiries the results have led to

the same conclusion which is here summarized .

Christianity is not the result O f accident , but of

h r f . necessity . T e e are definite causes and definite e fects

o its o c Its d ctrines , ceremonies , its ethics are the pr du t

Of given conditions and the result could not be different .

Yet we might say more . I f local conditions had f constitu been di ferent, some important details in the die rent tion of Christianity would also be , but the essential features would after all have remained the

a s me . A . vi . PREF CE

As there are remarkable parallels between Chris tianit no y and other religions , even where historical can be so connections traced, we may be assured that even on other planets where rational beings have devel

of oped , a religion universal love will be preached and

U of be he will hold p the ideal a divine Saviour, called

or or or the Christ , Buddha , the Prophet , manifestation G od O f ; and he , representing the eternal in the tran

be Of sient , will to many millions a source com fort in

f h r the tribulations O li fe and in the face of death . T e e

as - are, in all world religions , certain features i n Chris tianity which are rooted in the universal laws of cosmic existence . ’ a The uthor s method is purely scientific . He does not enter into controversies as to whether or not the course O f history should have been different . He has investigated the origin o f Christianity as a botanist not would study the growth Of a tree . He does say be f n that the tree should di fere t, and still less that it should be cut down . He only knows that the tree still stands today and that many enj oy the hospi tality Of its shade and live upon its fruit . ERRATA .

For ra a s and a so Cont nts and Inde . P 4 , 44 45 ( l e x ) The ge ” ” pe nte s re a d The rapeuts . a vos a ’ os a 2 not 2 . Fo r xn r a pxny P ge 9 , e p e d ’ ' ‘ ' ' a 2 not Fo r T eh a wfiei s d’yever o l a T eXELwOGZs ey ever o P ge 9 , e 3 e d 0 t9 o t$ Fo r r a . a 8 not 8 . ¢ ¢ P ge 3 , e e d ‘ ’ d a fioba t wv a a 00 5a f wv a not O . Fo r v u l a 7 fl P ge 39 , e I e d a not 1 F0 1 ur' os ec r u/ 77 r a 0 117 6 9 66 7 111 P ge 44 , e 7 O e d “ F r n s I s u st tut th e o o n : In his D e a . o P ge 45 li e I I , b i e f ll wi g ’ ’ w ta contem la tzva o t s us O th e The ra eut s in p , Phil ell f p t w ho a of o n ss r ous cont at on Egyp led life h li e , eligi em pl i and n o rs ant c at n so uc t at is com divi e w hi p, i i p i g m h h ou r ar as C r st an t at the at and aut or m ly eg ded h i i , h d e h s O f th e oo a n u st on G ra tz uc us hip b k h ve bee qe i ed by e , L i ’ n r u us scuss r r n t a d othe s . E sebi di e s Philo s epo t at le g h ccl H is t 1 and co s to the c n u n E . o c s o t at ( , II , 7) me l i h the The ra euts m ust a n r i C st ans . H s p h ve bee h i i view, ” o r r sts u on a a oun at on na c et . h weve , e p we k f d i , mely , ” “ ” F r li h r a 10 n t . D e tz c a z o o t sc . P ge 9 , e 9 e d Deli h

CHRI STIANITY PREDETERMIN ED

BY THE

N EED S OF THE AGE.

CHAPTER I .

I A I Y THE GENTILE CHARACTER OF CHR STI N T .

A . E RE D in the Epistle to the Galatians (iv , 4 ) W “ 1 a th t When the fulness Of the time was come , ” God sent forth his Son ; and in the Epistle to the

an 10 are Ephesi s (i . ) we told that In the dispensation 2 Of the fulness of times he might gather together in 3 in are one all things Christ , both which in heaven and ” which are on earth . Such is the impression which the

had n of n and early Christians of the origi Christia ity , they were not mistaken in the main point that Chris tianit or a a y was a fulfilment, , as it was c lled in Greek , “ ” a a pleroma , although we would add th t this plerom w as neither mystical nor mysterious as they were in clined to thi nk ; it was not supernatural in a dualistic

n Of se se, but the result natural conditions . We propose to discuss the origin o f Christianity and in n will point out , a conde sed and brief exposition , the i ' f ma n actors whi ch combined to produce it . Chris tianit y ushers in a new period , and its conception Of li fe

b f n a is so a solutely di fere t from the p st , that with the ’ t a a new da e Of Christ s birth m nkind beg n a chronology . Its origin was attributed by many to a personal inter l wk wua T OG dvov fip ‘ xp . z k w r a Ka t a w w . w w fip / p . “ t ra all t n s h a d co d Li e lly hi g me to a he a . 2 O A THE PLER M .

of God ff ference with the a airs of the world, and we W ish to explain how the new faith grew naturally from the preceding ages whose converging lines were gath ered into a head in the figure Of Christ and all that was thereby represented . Christianity might have borne a different name and

a Christ might have been worshiped under nother title , and yet the world - religion whi ch originated when the converging lines Of the several religious developments in the East as well as in the West were combined into a higher unity , would not and could not have become

a greatly different from wh t it actually turned out to be . Its character was i n the main predetermined according

o f n and in to the natural law Spiritual conditio s , this sense we say that Christianity w as indeed the fulfilment

f a o f o . the times , the pleroma the ges >l< >l<

Christianity is commonly regarded as the daughter

O f a w jud ism , and this vie is taught not only in

o . Sunday schools, but als i n profane history It is

a a deemed an established fact th t Christi nity , the relig ion prevailing all o- ver Europe and among the races that have sprung from the European continent IS the

f o Of lineal descendant o the religi n Moses , especially Of

o as its later f rm , judaism , and it is treated a foregone conclusion that this little nation Of Israel was by divine dispensation chosen to prepare the way for the appear is no ance of Christianity . But this view by means so ualifica or sa , n m q correct, , to y the least it eeds any I A A OF I IA I THE GENT LE CH R CTER CHR ST N TY . 3

tions that its restatement would amount to a radi cal

a reversal of the theory . The tr ditional View seems plausible only because we have become accustomed to

and a an a not it, yet we sh ll be compelled to gr t th t it is in a c f greement with the fa ts o history . A considera tion Of the actual development o f religious thought n n forces upon us co clusio s which are very different . Without denying the enormous influence whi ch Ju daism a a exercised on Christi nity from its very st rt , we make bold to say that Judaism did not bear or bri ng

is SO a forth Christianity , but that Christianity , to spe k, a c n a and o grandchild of an ie t p ganism , the m therhood of Judaism is by adoption , merely . At the time Of the

a birth of Christianity , the new f ith , while still in the m process O f formation, was groping for so e religion under whose guidance and authority it might pro ceed on its a historical career , and Jud ism appeared best fitted f - O f a o f or the purpose . A world religion the char cter Christianity would have originated in the same or quite

or a similar way, with the same quite similar doctrines , s with the ame tendencies and the same ethics , the same

or . . quite similar rituals , etc , etc , even i f Judaism had not existed or had not be en chosen as its mother . The spirit of Christianity was pagan from the start , not

un- a Jewish ; yea, Jewishly pag n , it was Gentile , and it continued to retain a very strongly pronounced hos ili t ty towards everything Jewish . The current view Of the origin of Christianity would h o as its is ave us look up n Jesus founder, and that true 4 TH E PLEROMA

a n not so as is in certain se se , but unconditionally true generally assumed . Christianity is a religion which originated during the middle Of the first century of the Christi an era through the missionary activity O f the n Apostle Paul . He fou ded the Gentile Church upon

O f c n a n he the ruins the an ie t p gan religio s , and took

a f his building materi ls , not from the storehouse O the

a o f faith of his f thers, but from the wreckage the f destroyed temples o the Gentiles . The Old creeds were no longer believed in and a new

n e n f religio was dev loping i n the mi ds O the people . The S i ngle myths had become discredited and the gods had ceased to be regarded as actual presences ; but the world - conception which had shaped the pagan mvths

a a rem ined unimpaired ; yea more, it had become m tured by philosophy , and it could still reproduce a new form ulation of them i n such a Shape as would be acceptable to the new generation . the a We know that in August n age, shortly before

a and after, there were sever l religions and religious Of w t philosophies . Almost every one them as kin o

o f its the spirit Christianity and contributed share ,

or O f new large small, to the constitution the faith that was forming itself in the Roman empire .

a of M an There was a great v riety gnostic sects ,

daeans Thera eutes a . , Ophites , p , Manich eans , etc , at this time . The main centers were Asia Minor, Syria and a Egypt . The gnostic doctrines are not Christi n here o on the sies , as Church historians w uld have it , but , I 5 THE GENTILE CHARACTER OF CHRI STIAN TY .

of e contrary , Christianity is a branch the gnostic mov

an Christianitv but n ment . Gnosticism tedates , whe

ot Christianity finally g the ascendancy, it claimed a monopoly Of the beliefs held in common with the g nos

c and all f tic se ts , repudiated di ferences as aberrations from Christi an truth .

o c The Gn sti s , however , were not the only ones in

o f the field . There were the Sethites , worshipers the Egyptian Seth who w as identified by the Jews with

son a . the Biblical Seth , the Of Ad m Further , there

- s n were the believers in Hermes Trismegisto , a Helle iz ed a n n form of the Egypti n Ptah , the i carnatio of the

a w as a bv divi ne Word . A purified p ganism t ught

c as and a c re re stoics su h Epictetus M r us Aurelius , p sentatives of which are Hypatia and Emperor Julian

a a w as the Apostate . Kin to this idealized p g nism the

neO- school Of Platonism as represented by Philo , Plo

tinus and Porphyry . Moreover , there were not a few who revered Apollonius of Tyana as the herald of the

a s new univers l religion that w a dawning on mankind .

an In the second century of the Christian era , still other faith grew rapidly into prominence and promised to become the established religion of the Roman Em

. a O f pire This was Mithr ism , the Romanized form the ancient faith o f Persia ; but at the moment when it seemed to have attained an unrivaled sway over the

R a oman army and its leaders , Christi nity, the religion

of the lowly , Of the broad masses , of the common

people , came to the front , and having found a powerful 6 THE PLEROMA.

leader in Constantine , wrongly surnamed the Great , it dislodged all its rivals and permanently established

a itself as the sole universal religion in the Rom n world . We will not investigate here the claims of these rival religions ; we are satisfied to state the fact that Chris tianity remained victor and survived alone in the strug

gle for existence , because it fulfilled best the demands o f the age . Whatever may be said in favor Of one or

h o f anot er the conquered creeds , Christianity satisfied

the needs Of the people be tter than either Mithraism O- r

n or a a an Of . g osticism , reformed p g ism any kind

on There is e point worth mentioning, however , whi ch is this : the better we become acquainted with

v a these se er l rival faiths, the more we are compelled

n a of to gra t , th t whatever the outcome their competition might have been i f Christianity had not carried Off the fi allv palm, the religion that in such a case would have n e becom recognized as the universal religion , would in

o e its ceremo all essential d ctrin s , in institutions and as the of nies , have been the same religion the Chris im tian Church . No doubt it would have differed in

o - p rtant details, but the underlying world conception ,

of its Of the philosophy creed , the theology its dogmas , and above all its moral standards together with its

c . ethi al principles , would have been almost identical These essentials were not made by one man ; certainly

so an not by Jesus , who does not even much as hint at y of them . They are the h oary ideas and convictions which had prevailed among nations since times imme

8 TH E PLEROMA. tianity many pagan traditions are fused together and on constitute, the background Of Judaism , a summary

Of the most essential , the noblest and finest traditions o f - pre Christian paganism , thus representing the ma t r u ed grain garnered at the time Of harvest . In modern times the word pagan has acquired the

o f - for secondary meaning a faith that i s non European , today when we Speak Of pagan we think first Of

Asiatics , Africans , Australians and South Sea Island ers . The reader must banish this secondary and mod ern sense o f the word and bear in mind that at the time of the beginning O f the Christian era o nly a few

O f the colored races had been heard o f. There is a tendency at the present time to extol the

a Asi tic at the expense of the European , and praise the savage for the sake of denouncing civilized man . Thus

iz to v . it has come pass that paganism in this sense, , V w n the ie Of the modern pagan, which means anythi g

or exotic outlandish , is shown up for the purpose of reviling our own inheritance . These tendencies are foreign to the present discourse and I hope that none of

The my readers will impute any such intent to me .

s o paganism to which reference i s made in thi b ok , i s

ur o f o intellectual ancestry . The predecessors Christian thought are men such as Socrates , Plato , Aristotle , and

o f in addition , the sages Egypt as well as Babylon , Z ar athushtra with incident echoes from the far East .

in a Further we ought to bear mind th t Christianity, in spreading over Northern Europe, incorporated not A THE GENTILE CHAR CTER OF CHRI STIANITY . 9

e c wo co * s of a little Of th Teutoni rld nception, and ome us would be astonished to find the kinship of the Saxon a belief in Thor with the early medi eval faith in Christ, as The H elia d it is for instance, represented in n . The Oriental of today is a good man who ought not o e to be underrated . We w him consideration and

o sometimes respect . We must not be t o proud to learn i n from him . But there s no reason to belittle our ow c or oo ivilization as materialistic , to l k up to the tur

o f baned fakir as the representative spirituality . Such extravagances will not be endorsed by the author Of

who O f this book , , when speaking pagans , here means

- the pre Christian gentiles , whose thoughts have become

o the constituent factors Of Western civilizati n .

of The nations Europe , and of America, too, are the

o f a and a children pag n antiquity, we claim th t they owe to it , not only their general culture, but also the essential tenets Of their religion .

It is often claimed that ancient paganism is monistic

a while Christi nity is dualistic ; but this is an error . Paganism appears monistic only to those modern sym pathiz ers who assume its naturalistic naivete to be an ’ indication Of the pagan s love of nature and of a repudi ation of supernaturalism ; but the ancient Greeks be lieved in supernaturalism as much as did the early * “ ” Co ar R on of Our nc stors in The O en Court mp e eligi A e p , o u I Pa e 177 V l me X , g . 10 THE PLEROMA.

s and neO- P Christian , latonism is as dualistic as any

. f Christian philosophy There is only this di ference ,

as so i that pagan dualism is not yet emphatic , nor s it so ascetic as Christian dualism . Judaism is less dualistic than either Greek paganism or Christianity ; and it is certain that Christi anity does not owe its dualism to the Jews, but adopted it because was f n f it the spirit o the age . A monistic co ception o religion would have had no chance of success whatever .

- defined Dualism in a well form was in the air, so to

c speak , sin e Plato , and prevailed absolutely in neo

era Platonism , but in the beginning Of the Christian

a a a it spre d everywhere . Re d Senec , Epictetus , Marcus

a n Aurelius or other p gan philosophers , and you can ot l he p being impressed not only with the dualism , but

Of even with the Christian character thei r thoughts . Students Of the history of religion find enough evi

o f Of dence the pagan origin Christian ceremonies . sacraments , rites and symbols . Baptism and a eucharist seem to have been practiced by several religions , and Epictetus quotes the litany Of pagan soothsayers to

K m? Eleis on have been y , which has been adopted by the Christian Church and is sung even to - day by both

Catholics and Protestants .

Monks existed in India and in Egypt , and the pagan priests Of these same countries Shaved their heads or

na o f wore the tonsure . The rosary i s unquestio bly n n paga origi , while none of these institutions are

Jewish . I A A F I IA I 11 THE GENT LE CH R CTER O CHR ST N TY .

Among the religious tendencies worked out in the

o f of o minds the Greek people since the days Plat , — there w as one which was most powerful the idea o f f n monotheism , and here we have the only point o co

c ta t . The Jews had become the representatives o f n f monotheism . In ack owledging the God o the Jews as n the o ly true God , the new faith adopted Judaism as c its mother, but Judaism refused to re ognize Chris

tianit so y as its child, and we think rightly . The

strangest thing about it is that the aversion is mutual .

l and The Jews ooked with disdain upon the Gentiles , the Gentiles held the Jews i n contempt . In Esdras the statement is made repeatedly that God created the 4 world for the sake of the Jews , and there are passages in the Talmud referring to the Christians which ex

a press the S me view in a most severe form , while the innumerable persecutions which the Jews had to suffer

from the hands O f the Christians are facts Of history . It is true that Judaism exercised an enormous influ

nc a e e upon Christi nity , for from the start its develop ment to ok pl ace with constant reference to the Old m o f Testa ent , but the attitude the Christian Church w as always Opposed to everything that was typically

Jewish . The Church selected from the Hebrew Scrip tures what appealed to her and interpreted their mean

ing in a way to suit her ow n purpose . as e The Christians worship Jesus the Christ , i . . , as

the saviour and as the son of the only true G od. The

‘ 2 s ra s 55 11 E d , vi . ; vii . . 12 A THE PLEROM . fact that Judaism was the religion Of Jesus rendered the connection between Judaism and Christianity indis f d of soluble . The God o Jesus has become the Go

has Christianity , and so his religion been regarded as the root from which Christi anity has sprung ; but we

see shall that this is an error . CHAPTER I I .

A A I TH E OLD P G N SM .

ET US first see what are the main features and

f a the mode Of growth O ancient p ganism .

o f of I n every little state Greece, in every province

in of a so Egypt , every district Asi , and far as we can see — a on and , also in Italy, yea even m g the Teutons

o f barbarians Of the North, we can trace stories a God

on . who walked earth unknown The stories of Thor, who as visits the humble as well the mighty, the rich and the poor, and watches them in their daily li fe, leavi ng behind him punishments for the wicked and blessings for the good , are paralleled in the tales of

and al Thousand One Nights, where Harun Rashid , the Sultan or omnipotent ruler, mixes with the people incognito so as to utilize his experiences for the dispen sation O f justice when these same individuals appeal to him as a j udge in court . Similar stories are known

a in I ndia and among the pagans of almost every l nd . The same ideas also underlie the legends of mytho f . O logical religion I n Egypt , Osiris , the god the Nile and o f fertility, agriculture and civilization lives as a mortal man among his people and bestows hl S blessings

. of on mankind He is the inventor Of religion , science and the arts , and of moral instruction, but his enemies conspire against him , they slay him malignantly, and 14 H A T E PLEROM .

has to ass o f a h he p down int the land o de th . T e Of powers evil seem to conquer the powers Of good , not is but Osiris does stay in the underworld . He the first one to break the bonds Of death and to reappear His i n the domain Of li fe . Slayers are punished and his is Hor his son kingdom restored in the Avenger, his and divine reincarnation .

o The three divinities, Osiris, Isis , and Horus , c nsti tute the trinity worshiped in most temples Of Egypt and we know that the Egyptian puts his hope of im in his transfi ured mortality faith in Osiris . The g dead follow Osiris in his passage through the land of death by identi fying themselves with their leader, and this identification finds expression in the custom of assign ing the name Osiris to each man at his death and com o n bining it with his w name . Like Osiris they die and with Osiris they rise agai n to renewed li fe . The scrolls o f religious writings which the Egyptians placed f of s in the co fins thei r dead , contain magic incantation

com for the preservation Of the soul . Scholars have bined the several chapters into a book which is com “ monly called The Book of the Dead but according to the Egyptian conception it ought to bear the title “ R eu mu ert mam hm Of Com p , which means Chapters ” ’ ing Forth by Day, implying th e soul s resurrection from death , which is accomplished in a similar way as

sun. the rise o f Osiris , symbolized by the morning It is touching to see in hymns and prayers the simple of so our ow n faith the Egyptians much like , and i n

16 H A T E PLEROM . the importance of which has been recognized even in 5 prehistoric ages . not I n order to lose ourselves in details, we Shall refer the reader to the mention of Tammuz in the Old Testament as being wept for by the women i n the temple , which indicates that even the Israelites cele brated on a kind Of Good Friday , a day Of lamentation which the death Of the god was commemorated before the day o f his resurrection which changed the gloom o f the ceremony into a j oyous holiday . Tammuz is the god O f vegetation who dies in winter and is restored to new li fe i n the spring.

r Simila customs prevailed in Syria , where the dying

o f god was worshiped under the name Adonis , in whose honor little gardens o f the quickly sprouting pepper - grass or cress were planted in small boxes and carried in processions . I n Tyre an analogous feast was celebrated in the “

M elkarth . e. name of , which means King, i , Patron ” M elkarth is o of the City . the Ph enician Samson , and

a or we can not doubt th t i n Israel , rather in the tribe Of

a Dan , Samson represented the s me idea and his death and resurrection were commemorated in religious fes 6 iv l t a s .

6 ’ See the aut or s art c in The M onis t u r h i le , The N mbe ” I 415 in C r st an ro c XV . h i i P phe y , , “ ’ For detail s s ee the auth or s The S tory of S ams on ( Chi cago : C n O ot s c a how it ust O n ourt u s C . pe P bli hi g , N e e pe i lly m ’ h ave h appe ned th at the s tory o f Samson s re surrecti on w as omitted f rom the Bibli cal report and the story left in the sh ape in c now a it a torso. whi h we h ve , I 17 THE OLD PAGAN S M .

The various reports o f the different countries in Asia Minor indicate that the same ceremonies prevailed

for everywhere , even also in the North , we must re member that the word Easter is a Teutonic word and that the festival of the goddess Ostara (compare ” Os tern has , the German Easter ) been identified with the Christian - Jewish passover on account Of the many resemblances which rendered the two synonym ous . Most conspicuous is the similarity between Mithras and Christ . Although nothing is known of the death

a and resurrection Of Mithras , there are otherwise m ny

for the striking parallels, , like Christ , Mithras is medi

God ator between (Ahura Mazda) and mankind , the vicegerent of G od on earth ; he is the judge on the day of resurrection ; he is born of a virgin and is called “ ” is o f Righteousness Incarnate . He the saviour man kind and he leads the good in their battle against the f o one. hosts Ahriman , the evil It i s certainly not an accident that the Mithraists celebrated a sacrament which Justin Martyr calls “ the same” as the Christian

’ Lord s Supper .

The Mithraist eucharist is apparently a pre - Christian

or a institution , and the same a very simil r ceremony

Of existed in the ancient Mazdaism Zoroaster, and we are told in the sacred books of Mazdaism that the holy

haoma m az da drink , , and the consecrated cake , y , were taken for the purpose Of nourishing the resurrection

“ ’ not body . It seems unlikely that the Christian Lord s 18 O A T HE PLER M .

Supper has originated under Persian influence and “ ” that the word m ass (Latin miss a) is the same as m az da b the Persian y , which corresponds to the He rew 7 ma a a . ga , the sacred unleavened bre d We will add one further comment upon a doctrine which has become very dear to Christians and is gen erall a Of y regarded as typic l the Christian faith , but which is nevertheless common to all Gentile religions , b eing glaringly absent in Judaism only . We refer to

o f as the doctrine the trinity. Although the idea w obliterated i n Greece and Rome during the classical period , it nevertheless existed . We know , for instance , that in ancient Rome a temple on the Capitoline Hill of o was devoted to the trinity Jupiter, Jun and nu Minerva , a triad worshiped everywhere in Etruria 8

M enrva . der the names O f Tinia, Thalna and Other

- as well known trinities were taught , in Egypt , Osiris ,

Isis and Horus in Babylon , Anu , Bel and Ea ; in

India , Brahma , Vishnu and Shiva ; and in Buddhism i n of the doctrine the Triratna, the three gems , the Bud dha , the Dharma and the Sangha . Similarities between Christianity and paganism are more frequent than is commonly supposed . Prof . Law rence H . Mills , the great authority in Zend literature ,

’ ’ “ See the wri te r s article The Food of Life and the S acra ” nt art I The M onis t X 343 M az da o r na si ni me , P I , , , . y igi lly g fies only the meat Of the conse crated cow pl aced on the w afe r ( draona ) but the name may e asily h ave been extended to the Of r n whole fe i g. ” l X Ro lo Brit Vo X 824 s 11. C ar Enc c . . o . mp e y p , , , me , h at Of t s t is r at whe re t e f e hi emple el ed . L A A I THE O D P G N SM . 19 has written an article entitled Our Own Religion i n ” l Ancient Persia , but other re igions as well contain ideas which have always been regarded as typically one f Christian . We will here mention only more o these because it is not limited to one religion but re peats itsel f almost everywhere . It is the doctrine o f God as the Word or the Logos which can be found in

China and India , i n Persia , in Greece where it is devel

‘

- Oped by neo Platonism , and in ancient Egypt . Plutarch calls Osiris the Word9 and mentions the existence O f the books of Hermes which became the sacred scrip

of T risme istos tures the worshipers of Hermes g , also “ Poimander called , which presumably means the shep ” Oi herd men, and which was a mythological figure f 10 very much like the Christ ideal o the Christians .

° I i i iri a LXI De s o s . O , Ch p. “ ’ “ See a so the aut or s nu s S t and C r st in The l h A bi , e h h i n ourt Ope C , XV, 6 5. A CH PTER I I I .

I I I U PAGAN S M RED VV S .

’ UGUSTIN E S saying that Christianity is not a

new - fangled thing but that it existed from the

o f not to beginning mankind, is be taken in a general

sense but must be understood literally . It reads in its original as follows “ ae nuncu atur Res ipsa , qu nunc religio Christiana p ,

anti uos defuit erat apud q , nec ab initio generis humani , veniret carnem quousque Christus i n , unde vera religio , i ” a coe t t . qu e iam erat , p appella i Christiana We translate literally : “ The very thing which now is called the Christian r was eligion existed among the ancients, nor it absent in the beginning of the human race before Christ came o S al int the flesh , ince when the true religion which ” ready existed began to be called Christian .

We must ask the question , What constitutes Chris ? tianity in the Opinion of a man like St . Augustine no St . Augustine would presumably find fault with the following answer Christianity means the belief in Christ as the son o f

G od od- , the g man , the sinless man , the saviour, the

mediator between God and men, the divine teacher, the king , the hero , the ideal man, the martyr Of the

who great cause of salvation , he struggles for mankind , A A I IVIV 21 P G N S M RED US .

to of yet succumbs the intrigues the enemies Of j ustice . t on Chris dies the cross and descends into hell , to the of o f place death and the powers evil, but hell can not

o f hold him . He breaks the gates hell and thereby

Opens the way to li fe for his brother men . He is there 11 firstlin ho fore regarded as the leader, the g , and he w clings to Christ in faith will follow him through death of to li fe and will partake hi s glorification and bliss . Christ i s now enthroned at the right hand Of God whence he will return to earth as a judge O f mankind at the end of the world . What Of all this is contained in Judaism ? Judaism knows nothing Of any of these doctrines ; on the con trary it repudiates them . The idea that God Should have a son would have been an unspeakable blasphemy to a Jewish r abbi of the time Of Christ .

The Jews expected a Messiah , not a saviour . Chris tians have identified the two terms, but they are as i ff o . . s heterogene us as, e g , a henchman di erent from

was a physician . The Messiah expected to restore the kingdom Of David and take revenge upon the Gentiles h that ad oppressed the Jews . An echo Of these hopes still rings through the Revelation Of St . John the R c w Divine ( evelations xii ) , whi h e shall quote fur ther on . It is said that the Jews did not understand the spir

11 “ t a t r éfl a firstlin t n a C r s n . e . ra s t The h i i e m pxfi i , g , l ed ” s r 20 soun s an c o o f r an first ru t in Co . a o f i I xv . , d like e h m e n ss on cie t pagan expre i . 22 O A THE PLER M . itual of meaning their prophecies . IS it not but a poor makeshi ft to explain to them that the kingdom of Judah does not mean either thei r country or their nationality, but the Church , not even the Jewish Church ? but the Gentile Church Bear i n mind that the con g regation O f Jewish Christians did not last long and that the Gentile Church was as hostile to the Jews as

or ever Assyrian , Babylonian, Syrian Roman conquer ors had been . We might as well say that the prophe cies for the restoration of Poland were fulfilled when the bulk of Poland was incorporated into Russia , and when the Czar added to his many other titles that O f l i R ex P o on ae.

The idea O f a saviour is purely pagan ; it was so little Jewish that even the very word was unknown to the

Jews . There is no Hebrew word to correspond to the ” rater s alt/ ator s oo Greek term , the Latin , the Zend sh ant H eiland s our/ our y , the German , the French , and 13 iour the English s av . I n the time O f Christ the inhabitants of the Roman Empire looked for a saviour who would bring back to them the blessings of the Golden Age , and when order was restored after the civil wars , Augustus was hailed ” o w-n ip. ’ Co ar the aut or s a rt c C r st and C r st ans an in mp e h i le h i h i i , qui ry i nto the o rigi nal me ani ng o f the te rm s in The Open Cour t 110 ff s c a 115 xvii , pp. . e pe i lly p. . r or s Yehos hua r r oel a n r The Heb ew w d ( delive e ) , g ( ve ge ) , r o ke a r or s c an and mes s ia h the anO inted one ) , p ( he le phy i i ) , ( O are not ex act equivalents and are neve r used i n the s ense o f s oter s a our the G reek vi .

24 A TH E PLEROM .

f is mystical act o transubstantiation . How it possible that the institution of these ceremonies can have been derived from the Jews ? W ’ e know that St . Paul celebrated the Lord s Sup er he p , and there is good reason to believe that insti

tuted . w as . it, and we may grant that St Paul a Jew w as But h e born i n Tarsus . He must have imbibed in hi s childhood and youth many pagan notions . How un- Jewish he was i n his convictions appears from the fact that he regarded the Mosaic law as O f mere tem r r T po a y value . o be sure he believed it to be ordained no by God , but having been fulfilled once he deemed it of of longer binding. Think the lack logic i n his argu ment that a law i f but once thoroughly obeyed, may thenceforth be set aside ! But his explanation suited his Gentile converts and it has been accepted without the slightest scruple by generation after generation not among the Jews but among the Gentiles . Parallels to the Christian conception of the eucharist can be pointed out i n the sacraments of many pagan

I of religions , but scarcely in the nstitutions the syna S of n gogue . The very pirit and the mode its celebratio

- are absolutely umJewish . PRE CHRI ST IAN G NO STI CI SM

THE BLOOM PRECEDIN G

F U AG F A THE R IT E O CHRISTI NITY.

A CH PTER IV .

HE I O OF A I I T PER D TR NS T ON .

E CALL Christi anity the grand child Of paganism because there is an i ntermedi ate li nk between Christianity and the ancient polytheistic paganism o f

r - nc a re re G aeco Roman mythology . A ient pag nism p sents a stage in the religious development O f mankind which has become typical for all religions characterized

— efin by being limited to well d ed boundaries . These

e in nn n boundaries wer very narrow the begi i g . There n in n were state religio s Athe s , in Sparta , in Ephesus ,

c in Syracuse , in Rome , in the several ities Of Egypt ,

a n in Tyre and Sidon , in the gre t ce ters of population in nd a o n a . a Babylonia , Assyri , Ph e ici , etc , the mass of people in each district came little in contact with their

. as c a neighbors But trade and commer e exp nded , people O f differe nt cities became acquainted with each other and with their several religious views . The dif ferent legends were retold in foreign countries and

so w as persisted there , far as it possible, side by Side

a c confu with the native religion . We know th t mu h

n a o f sion originated in this way ; e . g . , the ge e logies the

ff f c and gods were di erent in di ferent ities , so were the marriage relations between gods and goddesses . Thus in Greece when the different local traditions were com in a b ed and systematized , the conflicting tr ditions were A 26 THE PLEROM . adjusted as well as could be done in the haphazard w ay n a in whi ch the religious developme t took pl ce . It is in this sh ape that Greek mythology has been preserved in

- of and n o f the well known poem Hesiod , stude ts cl assic lore are sometimes puzzled by the many contra dictions . I t frequently h appened that the s ame g od or goddess

a na in f n a was c lled by different mes di fere t loc lities . In o ne one and in an country feature was developed , other, others ; and the legends told O f them were SO modified

a and a th t when they were retold comp red , the several devotees no longer recognized that these figures had

A hro a . SO n e once been the s me we k ow that Astart , p dite or Venus develops one feature of the great femal e divinity, while Hera, Athene and Artemis develop oth

a a n o f and ers . The B bylonian Isht r combi ed all them yet the Greek worshiper saw no resemblance between

an Artemis d Athene . The same is true Of such hero

a n a IO and . ines as D nae , A dromed , , others This state

f a a n c of a f irs n turally te ded to Obs ure the issues .

of c A similar state onfusion existed in Egypt , where we are u nable to present a perfe ctly consistent mythol

f a c ogy of the popula r gods . The o fici l priests in an ient

On , or as the Greeks called it, Heliopolis , made an attempt to settle all disputes and to systematize Egyp

a not all difficul ti n religion , but their creed does solve

us o ties , nor does it help to bring order int the chaos

Of previous times . It is Obvious that the religi ous development o f man I I 7 THE PERI OD OF TRAN S T ON . kind could not halt at this stage o f a unification of the

f a f mythologies o the several n tions . When the di fer ences Of nationality and language ceased to constitute n n dividi g lines , the problem o f adj ustme t presented itsel f in a renewed form, and this happened in the his tory of the antique world through the conquest Of Asia by Alexander th e Great . On the ruins of the Persian Empire a number of o Ol Greek kingd ms were established . The d barriers that had separated the East and the West had been

and a removed , a new period origin ted in which Eastern lore became known in the West , and Western views superseded and modified the traditions Of the hoary

a c f E stern ivilization . This Hellenistic period a fected religion more than is commonly known, and the period from Alexander ’ s overthrow Of the Persian Empire to the time of Christ was the preparatory stage for the formation of a new religion that was destined to be the

o f religion the Roman Empire . The exchange of thought that took place betw een the East and the West discredited the belief in the tradi tional its gods . The Old priesthood lost hold on the

a people, and complaints O f infidelity were he rd every where ; but the cause w as not (as it was then thought) h a decay , but rat er an expanse O f the religious spirit . Even before the conquest Of Alexander the Great we notice a strong influence O f Eastern religion upon ancient Hellas which found expression not only in re philosophy ( e . g . , Pythagoreanism ) but also in 28 O A THE PLER M .

li ious s as g institutions , mainly in the mysteries uch w ere celebrated at Eleusis and i n other cities . They

o fascinated the Greek mind , for they taught m re plainly than the ancient myths the eternal repetition o f the life

for im Of nature , deriving therefrom an evidence the

Of Of mortality the soul , the promise which was held out to the initiates in dramatic performances and sug

n of gested through allegories . We k ow that ears

and o f wheat, phallic symbols , other emblems regenera

tion played an important part i n the mysteries . There

or a were ablutions b ptisms , the lighting O f torches , the blindfolding o f the initi ated and the removal of

a n a the veil , exhibiting vision O f deep sig ific nce ; there were trials and tribulations finding their climax in a

d o re oi c escent int the underworld, and finally a great j of ing at the conquest life over death . The mysteries were celebrated in honor of Orpheus or o f or and Eurydice, Demeter and Persephone, of

or O f - Eros and Psyche, Dionysos , the liberator, enter

a on ass ing i n triumph l procession riding an , and all

a f O f them procl imed the doctrine O immortality .

In thei r later stages of development , the mysteries

incorporated more and more a great moral earnestness , for we find purity of li fe and freedom from guilt de manded as the most indispensable condition for par ticipation in the bliss that w as to be gained through i nitiation . The beginning of the Horatian Ode I nteg er vitae “ sceleris ue urus in q p , which means blameless li fe and

30 THE A PLEROM .

i n o f our n c a tian ty . Charity is the bo d co se r tion ( tes 4 “ 5 l tetos an our c l te eio . o . . , tr slated , of perfe tness ) ( C iii

All this infiltration o f Oriental customs and relig ions into Western countries took pla ce before the

an a a expedition Of Alex der the Gre t . It w ould h ve conti nued even i f Alexander had not crossed the Hel les ont in an a a ca a p , but here , as m y other c ses , t strophe hastened the historical process that w as slowly pre

p aring itself in the mi nds o f the people . The process of the formatio n Of modern England is

a and c ma a simil r , in this respe t we y compare Alex n ’ der s expedition to the invasi on O f Willi am the Con

u r r n n an an qe o i to Engla d . Norm words d Norman civiliz ation had invaded the S axon kingdom l ong be

an and c fore the Norm conquest , might have produ ed by a slow and peaceful process some ki nd Of modern

n a now . an E glish , such as we h ve it But the Norm conquest was a catastrophe in which the factors at work gai ned a free play by an overthrow of the retarding conservatism and thus hastened the pro cess th at w as

a n a not actually going on. The Old S xo Engl nd could have remained isolated and would have modified its institutions as well as its l angu age under the i nfluen ce

or a of conti nental Europe . With without the Norm n

n all a r co quest , its destiny was in main fe tures fo e ordained and the same law o f history holds good in

4 ‘ ‘ T T eAa Or r o fi9 n g . “ fl 2 Cor 6 . Co ar a so . . . mp e l Heb . xii ; I II THE PERIOD OF TRAN SITION . 31

other cases, especially in the formation Of the religion

Of Europe which we call Christianity . When the barriers of the different countries broke

a down in the time of Alex nder the Great, a religious movement spread during the Hellenistic period over the Mediterranean countries which received no definite

a but - c ma n me, , in its religio philosophi al form , y best

c a - c be haracterized s pre Christian gnosti ism . While gnosticism is generally treated as a phase in the devel

O ment n a p of Christia ity , we insist th t it existed before n Christianity . Its beginnings lie in the first ce tury before Christ and it reached its maturity before Paul wrote his Epistles . Biblical scholars h ave repeatedly called attention to

a the fact that the Epistles of St . Paul bound in the l most important terms o f gnostic philosophy . We wil mention here only such gnostic notions as the doctrine of three bodies , the corporeal body , the psychical body

a of and the spiritual body ; the ide s the pleroma , the

n o r n of a n fulfilme t the ful ess Of the time, eo s ; and there are some others all o f w hich are presupposed as known to the co ngregations whom the Apostle ad n dresses . He uses these terms freely as know quanti

c ties , and nowhere deems it ne essary to explain their n n mea i g . This proves that his Epistles represent the

c of n con lusion a prior movement , the developme t of

n c nn new one g osticism , as mu h as the begi ing of a , the formation Of the Church which is a definite indi vidualiz ation o f the precedi ng gnosticism . A 32 TH E PLEROM .

It was a natural consequence that the gnostic sect s o or which preserved some of the riginal and tentative,

s Of we may ay cruder types the movement, were repu diated as a and of heretic l , Church historians , ignorant the fact that they represent an Older phase than Chris

tianit . y, regarded them as degenerate rebels We may well a ssume that some of the later gnosti cs were

e . Christian heretics , i . , they were unorthodox members

c not all o O f the Chur h , but assuredly , and we have reas n to believe that not a few of the later gnostics such as the Manich aeans had developed on independent lines

a religious notions th t were not derived from , but were

a a par llel to , Christi nity .

is Christianitv One thing sure, that the appearance Of

a nc O cleared the situ tion at o e . S far the movement had developed among Jews and Gentiles around various n centers with general te dencies , all verging in the same l direction . The wor d was i n a state Of fermentation and the idea that the saviour had come acted like a

reagent which caused the turbid ingredients to settle .

T o use another allegory we may say that pre - Christian

n a g osticism was like liquid ready for crystallization , as for i nstance a cup Of w ater chilled much below the

n o f freezi g point . The walls the vessel being smooth .

a as w the w ter does not crystallize, but as soon a stra i s dipped into the W ater a point o f attachment is given around which the ice forms and the water of the whole

a . cup freezes with great r pidity . When St Paul

e preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ , a definit issue IO OF A I I THE PER D TR N S T ON . 33

was raised which could not be ignored , and forced all gnostics to take issue with it . The hazy and vague con ception of a Christ appeared here actualized in Jesus as a tangible personality which had either to be re jected or accepted . All minds o f a religious nature were full o f expect ancy and in the circles of Jewish gnostics the expected saviour had already been identified with the Messi ah and w as called Christ . The term occurs frequently in the Solomonic psalms which were sung as hymns in

an the synagogue of Alex dria in the first century B . C . SO we see that a vague notion as to the nature of the Christ existed long before Paul had come to the con

. n elusion that Jesus was he In the New Testame t ,

a mention is m de Of an Alexandrian Jew , by name Apol los, a gnostic teacher who was well versed in expound “ ” ing the scriptures and knew all about the Lord , but f he had not yet heard O Jesus . A few lines in the Acts

2 - 2 Of the Apostles (xviii , 4 5) throw a flood Of light : on the situati on . They read thus “ o a And a certain Jew named Apollos , b rn at Alex n

an and dria , eloquent man , mighty in the scriptures , w as came to Ephesus . This man instructed in the way n in of the Lord ; and being ferve t the spirit , he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord , knowing only the baptism of John . f to O . Apollos was converted the belief St Paul , as is “ stated i n verse 26 : And he began to speak boldly in

o : the synag gue whom , when Aquila and Priscilla had 34 O A TH E PLER M .

a n and he rd, they took him u to them , expounded unto ” a f n him the w y o God more perfectly . The co version o f at n Apollos consisted simply in this , th he ceforth ” when he expounded the way of the Lord he identified “ as a 2 8 : the Lord with Jesus , we re d in verse For he

n and c mightily convi ced the Jews , that publi kly , shew ” ing by the s criptures that Jesus w as Christ .

>i< >z< 1 k

a Of Gnostic sects we will mention the Zabi ns , the

a c are Ophites , and the Simoni ns , all Of whi h pre Christian although we know them mainly in later

o f n forms thei r developme t , or from the polemical

literature O f Christi an authors . A CH PTER V .

O I TH E GN ST C M OVEMENT .

E A Z A S M A ND N S A N D ABI N .

N OLD form of gnosticism whi ch had its home

and l o in Babylon is stil in existence, is the religi n Of the M andaeans who worship as their saviour a per sonification o f the gnosis under the name Manda ’ d Ha f é of . R o jj , the Enlightenment Li fe emnants this sect still exist in the swamp districts of Mesopotamia and a Khusistan Z ubba in Persi n . They claim to be , 6 “

. e . or i , Zabians , Baptizers , whereby they mean to establish an historical connection with the disciples of

a sus John the B ptist . Though this claim has been pected Of being invented to gain the respect and tolera

o f o tion the Mohammedan auth rities, it seems not improbable that the Z abian or Baptizer sect in Palestine i n the first century before the Christi an era must be regarded as a kindred movement among the poorer

of a classes the Jews , for the Zabi n creed bears many resemblances to the gnosticism of the educated people

Of Asia Minor and Alexandria . The great prophet of the Zabians in Palestine was “ or ow sa John , surnamed the Baptizer , as we n y , “ ”

. one a the Baptist He was of their leaders , perh ps 8522 36 O A TH E PLER M .

in o f n their chief leader, the times Christ , but we eed not for that reason a ssume that he w as the founder

c n a of the se t , for the Zabia s counted m ny adherents

o f a a as outside P lestine, in S maria as well Asia Minor , at the time when the apostles began to preach the Gos 7 e ca fre pel o f Jesus . Th y were lled disciples and were

quently referred to in the Acts o f the Apostles . They cel ebrated the first day of the week whi ch is dedicated

to sun and da the , is the same y which the Mithraists

c a da I nvin elebr ted as the y Of Mithras , the Lord , the

c One . ible , the Sun

are as I n another passage , the disciples mentioned

to coming together break bread i n common , which ,

without doing any violence to the words , is to be inter

reted A a e or - o ne p as a kind of g p love meal , Of the a forms in which the Eucharist w as celebr ted .

-m a Fro these sc ttered statements , we may assume that ” n a a the disciples of St . Joh the Baptist is New Test

n c ment name give to a sect , whi h existed at the time

and ba O f Christ pro bly long before John the Baptist , and had spread not o nly over Palestine but also over

a n a n Asia Minor , and th t its origi al home was not mo g n the Jews but amo ng the Babylo ians . The religion of these disciples w as one of the fore runners Of Christianity and it contained features which

as o one were preserved Christian instituti ns , the main

of them being the sacrament of baptism .

7 7 a f m977 .

O A 38 THE PLER M . a e g as it was imported into Mesopotamia from the east .

. e . i , Iran and India ; the extreme west , Hellas and also

and n Asia Minor ; from the southwest , Egypt , Palesti e

and Syria . The foundation remained the same, the

- of an a world conception cient B bylon , as modified by n Persian mo otheism , now commonly called Mazdaism

r o f ae re o Zoroastrianism . The prayers the Mand ans n tain the ring O f the ancient Babylo ian hymns . For all we know it is not impossible that the Man

= daean religion originated under I ndian influence and

manda n the word , which correspo ds to the Greek term

nos is . e. g , i , cognition , knowledge, or enlightenment ,

may be a translation o f the Buddhist bodhi.

N AA AEA OPH ITES OR S N S . One of the strangest gnostic sects are the snake 8 N aasaeans or worshipers , called , in Greek Ophites , — whose pre Christian existence can scar cely be doubted n and here , even the old Neander , when referri g to the probability that their founder Euphrates9 lived before

of the birth Christ , says “ We would thus be led to assume a pre - Christian gnosis which afterwards partly received Christi an ele ” ments , partly Opposed them with hostility .

n o f a Like the Zabia s , the Ophites are p gan origin 8 ro the r i o r the r w 12531 F m G eek ag ng Heb e 2. The te rm na khas i s th sn o th occu t s I i s the n h e ake f e l i ts . t s a l o ame of the const at on ca the r at s r nt or the ra on and the ell i lled g e e pe , d g , Piel o f the r nakhas h ans to ract c sorc r or to consu t an ve b me p i e e y, l ”

o rac to a or o n s or r c o ns . le ; h ve f eb di g , e eive me 9 ’ z ol. r en e. C 28 O . g , , vi . I OV 39 TH E GNOST C M EMENT . a nd o f n n a incorporated traces a cient Babylonia , Persi n,

a n Egypti n , and perhaps also of I dian notions . The s nake is originally the symbol of goodness and of

as re re wholesome li fe, the good demon , we find him p sented on the Abraxas gems . The snake was sacred to

o f a and Z Escula ius Hygeia, the goddess he lth , also to p ,

f n a the god o heali g . We can not doubt th t the brazen serpent which was erected by Moses for the heali ng of

s era him the people had a similar meaning , and p in the

n - original Hebrew means serpe t spirits . I n Christianity the snake O f Paradise is identified

o f with the principle evil , represented in Parseeism by the dragon ; and so the Christi ans were greatly offended at the idea of revering the s nake as the symbol Of divine wisdom . On the other hand the Ophites as also the n Zabia s regarded the Jewish God , whom they called

I aldabaoth as of o f , the prince this world , the creator

a a and and out m teri l existence Of evil , they pointed that the snake promised to Adam th e boon of the f e . o gnosis , i . , the knowledge of good and evil , which ith l the j ealous Ialdabaoth tried to w o d from man . The Ophites distinguish between a psychical Christ and a 11 w as spiritual Christ . The former present in Jesus at but his birth , it is the lower form of mind , the spiritual Christ descended upon Jesus in the shape o f a dove at

n a and a an the mome t of b ptism , b doned him when the

as . p sion began This , they claim , explains also that

’ w ‘ oi a floOa t t y p . ' U LK 6 m/ ev a n xo ¢ X § and y s . 40 A TH E PLEROM .

s Christ could no longer perform miracle and, there

c fore, became a helpless vi tim of his enemies .

The Ophites criticize the God of the Jews , whom

an c they regard as the demiurge , for his m y vices whi h

n c a indicate the low character of his divi ity , espe i lly his

o of an . pride , jeal usy , envy, wrath and love venge ce

G od of The highest God , the love and mercy , he whose

n is messe ger is the snake, and whose representative the

a nc and spiritual Christ , is bsolute benevole e , he com

municates n n to himsel f lovi gly to all thi gs , even the

na n a . sa i nimate thi gs o f n ture The Ophites y, as we

a n E i hanius contra Haeres . le r from p p ( , xxvi , c 9 ) “ of When we use the things nature as food , we draw into us the soul that is scattered in them and li ft it up ” again to its original source . In quoti ng this passage Neander comments on the n Ophites , that thus eati g and drinking became to them f ” an act o worship . Further we read in one of their gospels that the Deity thus addressed those who consecrate themselves “ to him : Thou art I and I am thou . Where thou art ll am in a . I am , and I things Thou canst gather me up

a wherever thou m yest desire , but when thou gatherest ” 12 me up , thou gatherest up thyself . The Ophite doctrines may also contain traces of

is I ndian i nfluence . Bodily existence regarded as evil

er s e or p ; and the gnosis enlightenment , like the Bud ’ dhist boahi is of , the means as well as the end salva 12 cd 6 5ee an r G r . . 24 . Ne de , e m , p. THE GNO STI C M OVEMENT 1

tion . We know their doctrines only as preserved by their Christian critics and must assume that the Ophites themselves were perhaps only superficially acqu ainted with the Hebrew scriptures ; and their identifications of the God of the Jews with the evil deity and of the snake with the pri nciple o f wisdom would appear in a differ

c ent, probably in a better light i f we could fall ba k upon statements of their belief as formul ated by them selves A T H E RELIGION OF M NI .

How powerful the non - Christi an gnosticism must

n a a a have bee ppears from the fact that M nich eism , a doctrine that in spite of its resemblance to Christi anity

- a originated from non Christi n sources , could spread so rapidly over the Roman empire in the third century D f . . o A , and remain a most powerful rival Christianity down to the time of Pope Leo the Great .

an of M i , the founder this sect , was born (according ” i 2 1 - 2 1 D . n 6 . son to Kessler ) the year 5 A , as the of 14 P F . utak , a ersian nobleman Of Ecbatana He was most carefully e ucated an raise in the faith o f the Zabi . d d d ans of an , but being intensely religious nature , he de voted himself to religious exercises and speculation and became a reformer . His efforts resulted in a re vival that gradually developed into a new religion on the basis of the traditions from which Mani had

a started , and this religion , called Manich eism , i s dis 1” ’ n i de M anichaezs chen R eli i ns s t ms G e es s s g o ys e . ' G r s ca Ha r ex o The eek ll him t s . 42 A TH E PLEROM . tinguished not only by devotion and earnestness but also by the most rigorous asceti cism whi ch is but the

a a a - c nc n mor l applic tion Of a du listic world o eptio .

us an c aea What interests here in the M i h n movement , is the great simil arity it bears to the dualisti c and a scetic tendencies O f Christianity whi ch continued to influence the Church down to the time of the Reforma

ti on . Though M ani ch aeism belongs to the Chri sti an

era a a c has a , it is not Christi n se t ; it cquired its simi larities to Christi anity from other sources ; it is a development o f impulses which started in ancient B aby lon and its relation to Christi anity is more an attitude o f hostility based mainly upon rivalry and intensified

by competition . 15 a a not H rnack says, Manich eism did originate ’ It a on Christi an ground . . i s Kessler s merit to h ve

n a n a shown that the ancie t B bylo i n religion , the origi

nal c n n a w as sour e of all the g osis of Wester Asi , the

basis o f the M ani ch aean system . I f Mani ch aeism had not come i n contact with Christianity it would in all mai n points have been the

so w e - n same religion, and are justified in looking upo the Manichaean movement as a strand o f religious ten dencies which represents a parallel formation to Chris tianity and which will therefore help us to understand

the general drift Of the age . “ “ 485. ol XV . See nc ri t v Man c a s V . E B s . . . , i h ei m , , p C A VI H PTER .

KI I A I T NDRED SECT S N P LEST NE A ND EGYP .

A S T H E SI M ONI N .

SAMARIA seems to have been a hot - bed of religious n for n a commotio , we k ow that sever l prophets rose there at the time o f Christ who cl aimed to be

a a and n f Messi hs Of Isr el i carnations o God . They are

D ositheus Cleobolus an Simon Magus, , , and Men der, 16 the first having been the most successful among them , for the sect which he fou nded spread beyond the boun darics o f S amaria and was still flourishi ng in the second century.

a Simon M gus was a gnostic who, as we learn from

a the Acts Of the Apostles , came in cont ct with the dis i l c es c a . p of Jesus , espe i lly Philip and Peter The very existence o f Simon M agus in the forties Of the first c n c a nosti e tury , his l ims and doctrines , prove that g i ’ c sm a for . anted tes Christianity , even before St Paul s c o o onversi n , it was a p werful movement while the

Christian Church was still in its infancy .

- 10 We read in Acts viii , 9 “ as c But there w a certain man , called Simon , whi h in and beforetime the same city used sorcery , be

c of a out wit hed the people Sam ria , giving that him sel f was some great one : To who- m they all gave 1" us us E 22 . S . N . E ebi . , . 44 O A THE PLER M .

n heed , from the least to the greatest, sayi g, This man ” i s the great power Of God .

o f The great power God, is a gnostic expres

and a ne sion the origin l reads literally, This o is the ” 17 SO- Power of God , the called Great One , which indi

cates that we have to deal here with a technical term . We know of the Simonians who worshiped Simon 18 as Magus God incarnate, through Justin Martyr

C ae H ol tus and lement , Iren us , ypp y Origen , also

as v through Celsus preser ed by Origen. Their doctri ne must h ave been very similar to the Christian faith and it is a strange fact that they taught a tri nity lo ng before the Christian Church adopted or even began to discuss this conception Of

nd to God . The fou er O f the Simonians continued live

of in Christian legend as a kind Antichrist , and the supernatural power with which the faith of his ad h ren w as o f e ts had endowed him, changed to a charge

sorcery and black magic .

A U T S ESSE E S AZ AR E ES A N D EB ES. T H ER PE E , N , N N , IONIT

There are other unquestionably pre - Christian relig ious movements which are inspired by the spirit

his D e vita contem lativa o f gnosticism . I n p , Philo

' ° ' ” / a o ue / M e ofh 0 57 0 s fo r a/ 1) Adi a pt; T o?) 96 0 5 K j i n y n. 18 J usti n M arty r wrote a b ook on Sim on Magus entitled Sy n ta ma w c un ortunat is ost ut r rs to i f re g , hi h , f ely , l , b he efe h m o u nt in his ot r r t n s and the mam cont nts of the S n qe ly he w i i g , e y s tag rna h ave been pre se rved by I renaeu .

46 A THE PLEROM .

Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader Of the s ect o f the Nazarenes . It is abs olutely excluded that Nazarenes can mean men born I n N azareth ; the word must be the name o f O f c a a c a sect whi h Jesus was member, sect whi h , a a head uar fter the destruction of Jerus lem , had its q

” ters at Pella and which i s mentioned by Epiphanius

P an m E is tle 2 s ( . xxx, 7) and Jero e ( p 7 , addre sed to n Augusti e) . The Essene communities constitute another un equivo cally pre - Christi an sect with tendencies similar

c ar to the Nazarenes . The two se ts e so mu ch alike that there is some reason to believe that thev are

a ffi c identic l , but it will be di ult to bring proof for this c n n n o te tio .

are n B l The Essenes me tioned by Josephus ( e l.

8 a A ud. d v J n nti . . I o ii , qx iii , by Phil (in his

u d ni i u li Ev a o n s rob s ber P r. Q p ) , by Eusebius ( . viii , ’ 11 a and ) who quotes from lost book of Philo s , by H i t. at. I . a ac Pliny (in his s N v . 7) They d te b k to

con . C . n the se d century B , and Josephus himself j oi ed their commu nity for a while . The meaning of the name is unknown and need n n t n not concer us now . Our mai purpose is o poi t out thei r kinship to the gnosti c movement whi ch i s

n a u a i dic ted by their religious serio sness , the simil rity of their views to Persian and Babylonian doctrines, and the ascetic tendency of their m oral teachings . KI I 47 NDRED SECTS IN PALEST NE AND EGYPT .

f . o The Ebionites , i e the sect the poor may

a a for have been n me for the Nazarenes, it is proba ble that Jesus referred to them whenever he spoke of ” a com the poor . We know th t the Nazarenes were munists who required those who j oined their ranks to deliver all their property to the auth orized leaders Of

c the se t . In the Acts we are told the grewsome story

n a O f Ananias and Sapphira who , havi g kept back p rt o f the money they had received for the sale o f their

a Of . . property , fell de d before the feet St Peter I f the Ebionites are indeed the Naz arenes we might inter f c pret the proposition o Jesus to the young ri h man , n as an Sell all thou hast and distribute u to the poor .

s invitation to j oin the co ngregation o f the Nazarene .

find a Wherever we turn, we th t tendencies and movements animated by the Spirit of gnosticism ex isted at a era and a the beginning of the Christi n , th t even the New Testament presupposes their existence i n a for a is ha P lestine , Christi nity itself stated to ve

c developed from the local gnostic se ts .

>l< >l<

Gnosticism therefore is older than Christianity .

It is a religio - phil osophical movement which origi nated through a fusion of the Eastern and Western civiliza tions duri ng the first century before the Christi an

a n n c era . E ster doctri es were studied in Gree e in the light o f Western conceptions having as a background the religious traditions of the Western nations , espe 8 A 4 THE PLEROM . ciall y the Greek , together with the impressions which the dramatic perform ances o f the initiations into the mysteries had left upon the people . Thus gnosticism , the produ ct Of a fusion Of all pagan religions of classical a a o f a ntiquity , is the re l mother Christi nity . Our proposition may seem strange to those into whose minds the idea that Judaism is the mother o f Christianity has been i nculcated since the days of child f o . hood , but the facts history speak for themselves G E NTIL E SAVIOUR

CHAN GED I NTO THE CH RI ST

HA C PTER VI I .

O OF I A IZ A I THE PR CES S DE L T ON . H OW much Christi anity has been prepared in Baby lon appears from our more matured knowledge f o the cunei form inscriptions . The subj ect is discussed by Schrader in D ie K eilinschriften und das Alte Tes ta t 1 ff men . f . n O a n , p 377 , where the poi ts identific tio

a and between M rduk, Yahveh Christ are thus enu

merated

’ — n I . Christ s pre existe ce as a divine bei ng and as f h creator o t e world .

’ 2 ac . Christ s mir ulous birth . Prototypes O f this

c n n n of a a do tri e are not yet k ow M rduk , but r ther Of

a a s c as n a B byloni n heroes u h Ki g S rgon I , King Gil 2 gamos and Assurbanipal .

3. Christ as the saviour , as the inaugurator of a f new a e o . n g , a time Of prosperity Under this headi g we must also mention the fact that in the i nscription “ ” on an ancient cylinder Cyrus is called Saviour - King “ just as I saiah calls him the Messiah of Yahveh 3 I I a o f s . . ( . xlv ) What I s iah says Cyrus is referred 4 directly to Jesus by John the Baptist .

as of 4 . Christ the pleroma , or fulfilment the

1 ut r ar 1903 3 t on B r n : R R c . d . . edi i e li e he ei h d , ” i is X I 1 Aelian A m H t I 2 . As r at n . el ed by , , , 8 2 f x1 4 rs c 3 . Ve e ; . , , ‘

2 . 4 o n . 3 3 Mar 3 u . Matt. . iii ; k i . ; L ke iii ; J h i A 50 T H E PLEROM .

is a times , which closely connected with the Babyloni n

a in notion Of cycles , involving the ide that the proper season Of a periodic round Of ages a certain consum mation is attained .

a 5. Christ as sent by the Father . In the s me

com way, God Marduk looks upon the world with passion whenever it is in a state of disorder and tribu

a to l tion , and sends a saviour rescue mankind from evil .

6 . . The passion Of Christ It is noteworthy that in Babylon the king assumes the part of the penitent for his people and takes the guilt and punishment upon

an himsel f . !The same idea prevails i n China d is

’ Lao referred to in Tse s Tao Teh King, chap . h e . f 7. T death of Christ The death o Marduk is n -m not directly k own, but can be derived fro the “ o Of name he bears as L rd the lamentation, and the f o . fact that i n the cult Marduk , his tomb is mentioned Other deities who must be named in this connection are

a Sham sh , Nergal , Tammuz , Sin and I shtar

’ a 8 . Christ s descent to hell . Here the s me names must be mentioned as above . ’ f ’ . o 9 . Christ s resurrection That the time Christ s soj ourn in hell is s aid to be three days is probably based upon the Old Babylonian conception . Three

days in spring, the moon is said to be invisible , which fact may be compared with the story of Jonah who

52 O A THE PLER M . ter ; the treasury of Babylon will be carried to Syria and Assyria ; the king of Babylon will have to sur render the possessions O f his palace and his treasury to the princes Of Assyria .

I . 3 Christ as a judge .

14 . The marriage Of Christ ; or rather the sym bolical marriage Of the Lamb in Revelati ons and the allusions to Christ as the bridegroom h ave their pro totype i n the marriage Of Marduk celebrated on the l ’ 6 Baby onian N ew Year s day .

>l< >l<

The pagan saviour idea has been gradually trans

c o f formed into the con eption Christ . We can trace the process i n different places and everywhere it follows the same law . I n primitive times the saviour

w res is simply a strong man ; unarmed and naked , he tles with the lion, but he is also brutal and gross . Such of Of is Samson the tribe Dan, and such is Heracles in the ancient myth .

As civilization advances, the hero acquires the gentler and nobler features which are now more high ly respected than superiority o f brawn . Moral stamina becomes an indispensable condition for respect and so

a it is unhesitatingly attributed to the nation l ideal . In this phase , Heracles is represented as choosing between the pleasures of vice and the practice o f virtue and he

6 ’ See the auth or s Bride of Chris t ( Chi cago : Open Court Pu s n Co an bli hi g mp y , O OF I A IZ A I O 53 THE PR CES S DE L T N .

prefers the latter, setting a noble example to all Greek youths . The Heracles of the classical period still has his faults , yet the philosophers claim that the real Heracles had of none, and that the stories his frolicking and rude exploits are inventions of myth mongers and should be regarded as perversions Of the truth . He w as a saviour and he labored for the best in mankind without any thought for himself . So the idealizing process goes on and reaches a climax at the beginning

Of of the Christian era, when Seneca speaks him with the same reverence as a Christian would speak of : Christ . He says “ Heracles never gained victories for himself. He of as wandered through the circle the earth , not a conqueror, but as a protector . What , indeed , should

o f of the enemy the wicked, the defender the good ,

- for on the peace bringer, conquer himself either land ” or sea !

This conception was not peculiar to Seneca but was at that time common to all pagan sages . Epictetus speaks of his sonship to Zeus and says : He knew

is that no man is an orphan , but that there a father n always and constantly for all of them . He had ot

was of only heard the words that Zeus the father men, but he regarded him as his father and called him such ; and looking up to him he did what Zeus did . There fore he could live happily everywhere . 54 THE PLEROMA .

The final conception of Heracles as the ideal

od- son is i hero , the g man, the Of Zeus, presented n ’ “ ” Schiller s great hymn The Ideal and Li fe in the two

concluding stanzas . And we may be sure that the

German poet, perhaps the best modern representative

o of is not con of the religi us spirit classical antiquity,

of the f scious similarity o the Greek hero to Christ . n Thei r resemblance , at any rate in this poem, is uni 7 ten i n t o al . Schiller says

“ H rac s in umi at on e le deep h li i , Fa t u to his st nat on i hf l de i i , ’ S r the co ar in s oot r at e ved w d life f so e p h . ’ Lab ors huge wrought he ; Z eus noble sci on ; H the ra s and u the on e hy d lew h gged li , ’ And to f ree his f riend s f aced Pl uto s wrath ’ Crossed the Styx in Charon s d oleful bark ; ’ n suf r ra s at Willi gly he fe ed He h e, Bor her ur ns r ous car and car e b de , g iev e k And in all s o r at he h wed him g e ,

’ his cours w as run til in fire Til e , he Str the art on the r ipped e hly py e , ’ a od r at r a a rs Til g he b e hed Empy e l i , Blithe he now in new g ot powe r of flight U ar soars ro o u t to t pw d f m j y f l heigh heigh , ’ And as an r a s n art s u car s ill d e m, i k e h d ll e ; Gl ory of Olympus him enfoldeth ; ’ Mon st the o s transfi ured stan t g g d g de h he, From the nectar cup whi ch Hebe h oldeth ” D ri nks he imm ortality .

7 For our ve rsi on we h ave utili z ed a translati on by the Rev. ie G ut r u s in The S e anee R ev w r 1908 . . . w W N h ie, p bli hed , Ap il, , p 05 2 . OF I A IZ A IO 55 THE PROCES S DE L T N .

Schiller touches on the same topic of Heracles as the divine saviour in one o f the Xenions where “ Zeus addresses his hero son in these words

Th ou hast n t son not acqu r d divi i y, , i e By d rinking my nectar ; ’ But thy divi nity tis h ctar for t Conquered t e ne hee .

This idea does not quite agree with the accepted Of view according to which Heracles , being the son i s was . Zeus, born immortal In the same way Jesus ’ as a of born Christ, but Schiller s ide Heracles cor responds to the doctrine held by a fraction of the early s Christians, which makes Je us acquire Christhood by his saintly li fe .

as The belief w quite common , especially among docetic Christians that Jesus became Christ at the of and w as moment his baptism in the Jordan , this the original meaning Of the descent of the Holy Ghost N ew upon him . The Cambridge Codex o f the Testa ment (6 th century ) still preserves the Old reading of which is a quotation Psalm ii , 7, and declares most positively that in this very moment Jesus becomes the

Christ and is to be considered the son of God . The

e 2 2 m passag (Luke iii , ) reads in the Ca bridge Codex And the Holy Ghost descended into him in a bo dily form as a dove ; and there was a voice out Of the heaven : Thou art my son ; this day I have begotten ” thee . ” ’ i l r io s G oethe and S ch l e s Xen n , p. 34. 56 O A THE PLER M .

When, with the growth in a literal belief i n dog

was t to mas , this version fel be in conflict with the “ of dogma the virgin birth, the words , this day I have ” begotten thee, were changed to , in thee I am well ” but pleased , in the epistle to the Hebrews (i . 5) the passage is still quoted in its original form . The ideas O f the acquisition of Christhood by

o f son Jesus and the birth God the from eternity, need

o not c ntradict each other, as we learn from Buddhism, “ ”

e. where the Bodhi (i , enlightenment ) is an eternal

- condition O f the world order, and Gautama acquires it by his virtues and his wisdom . The Bodhi is per so-nified as the Eternal Buddha , corresponding to the “ Christ who says Of himsel f, Before Abraham was , I ” f . o am In a later version , this Buddha Eternal Bliss lives in the Tusita heaven and decides to descend into of the womb Maya , for the purpose Of salvation , j ust

c . as , through Mary , Christ i s born as the hild Jesus

Buddha is not born as Buddha , but as Bodhisattva, viz . , a being that is destined to develop into a Buddha . He possesses the potentiality o f acquiring the bodhi and he then actually acquires enlightenment under the bodhi tree . The same story Of the incarnation of the Saviour

od . G , Of a supernatural fatherhood , o f great merits , etc ,

f n o f of is told o Krish a , Horus , o f Samson , Zeus , O f

- and of . Dionysos , every other hero and god man These stories are repeated everywhere and the figure A IZ A IO 57 THE PROCES S OF IDE L T N . of the saviour is more and more idealized and spiritual iz ed as civilization progresses . The same process of idealizing and spiritualizing the figure of a saviour went on in all pagan countries

As in the Orient as well as in the Occident . w e trace

so con the several steps in the Heracles myth , we are fronted with the same result in the Orient . In India

or was the process was indeed faster, may be it begun

e earlier. In the ancient Brahman religion w meet with the deified Krishna, the rollicking hero , the lover of sport and dance, the saviou r from oppression and the bringer of joy ; but his type is supplanted in the

. . a su fifth century B C by new and a higher ideal , g

for for gested by the respect wisdom, enlightenment ,

bodhi r n for o gnosis . The people ow looked forward for the incarnati on o f profound comprehension and perfect virtue . They expected a sage ; and the de velopment o f the thought reaches a climax in the

Buddha - conception which j ustly commands the ad

iration o f m Occidental students Of Orientalism . The li fe of G autama Siddhartha was shaped under the in

fluence of Faus l these conditions , and Professor , “ sa the great Danish Pali scholar, used to y, The more ”

o f . I know Buddha, the more I love him We need not ask in this connecti on whether Buddha is historical — or no just as little as we need care whether the de tails of the li fe of Jesus are historical . It is the ideal which exerted its influence in the history of mankind 58 A THE PLEROM . as s of the a formative presence in the heart people, and we know that this living ideal has been a most potent factor in history ; the transient figure o f the man in whom it was either supposedly or truly actu

liz f N r a ed i s o secondary importance . o do we care here to trace historical connections ; we are confronted f with a law in the history o religious thought . So for instance the Buddha ideal (or i f you prefer , the historical personality of the Buddha ) has been worked out on pagan ground in perfect independence of other

e id als , such as the Christ ideal o f the Christians and the spiritualized figure of a Heracles among the Graeco~

Romans.

60 O A THE PLER M .

G entiles and especially the Aryan nations . All our studies in the history O f the several pagan religions and the results O f comparative religion poi nt the same way and our scholars have frequently been puz z led by the facts . As a remarkable instance I will

. o quote Prof Lawrence H . Mills, the great Zend sch lar o f o Oxford , a the logian Of high standing belonging to the Church O f England . H e says in the introductory “ comments to his most recent essay entitled Our Own Religion in Ancient Persia” “ What i s here intended is to call attention to the

- n a t better known , though lo g since reported f ct, tha it pleased the Divine Power to reveal some Of the fundamental articles o f our Catholic creed first to the

e Zoroastrians , though thes ideas later arose spontane ” ou l s y and independently among the Jews . Pro fessor Mills insists on the independent origin

O f a a the s me ide s among the Jews Of the Exile who , as we may well assume, came into close contact with Persians and gained their confidence to such an ex

on tent that Cyrus , the Persian king, his accession to of re the sovereign power the Babylonian empire, established the exiled Jews i n their Old home at Jeru

on n salem . I will neither deny nor insist an indepe dent development of the same ideas ; there are enough in stances Of parallel formations in history to render it pos sible in the case Of the Jews . Professor Mills continues “ I wish to Show that the Persian system must IA THE PERS N S AND TH E JEVVS . 6 1

e have exercised a very pow rful, though supervening and secondary influence upon the growth o f these doctrines among the Exilic and post - Exilic Pharisaic

as as o f Jews, well upon the Christians the New Testa so ment , and eventually upon ourselves .

N ow is - a the truth , that the saviour ide developed more rapidly to a higher plane among the Gentiles than among the Jews . We noted (page 2 2 ) that the Hebrew language did not even possess the word a s viour . While the Persian Mithras is very much like the Christian Christ , a superpersonal presence Of n n preeminently moral sig ifica ce , the Jewish Messiah remained for a long time on the lower level o f primi

o o who tive paganism , a nati nal her was a ruthless H conqueror and gory avenger of his people . ow crude still i s the Messiah of the Book o f Henoch ! But even n nfl a here Ge tile i uence c n be traced . And it is notice able that the Jews O f the Dispersion developed a nobler ideal of the Messiah than the Jews of Judea . It cannot be denied that when they translated the

o b of word Messiah int Christ , the very su stance the

a idea imperceptibly changed and incorporated m ny . features o f the idealized saviour - conception o f the

Gentiles . Such was the Christ Of the first century f a o n . B . C . mong the Jews Alexa dria

Even orthodox Christi an s chol ars who still adhere to a literal belief not only in the dogmas but also 62 O A THE PLER M . in the historicity and uniqueness of a special revela

to as o tion, have recognize, s on as they know the facts, the similarity of the pagan saviours to the Christ of the

is Christians . Here a remarkable instance o f a recog nition of of this state things by a theologian , and it is interesting to note the explanation offered for the coin ciden es c between Christianity and paganism . Com

’ Radau s Bel t e hri t mentin on . h C s g Dr Hugo brochure ,

H k s r A t . h o ncien Tirnes . aw e w o t f , Rev Alan S , the 9 of D e I ncarnatione verbi D ei 1 author , says “ The general conclusion is by no means a startling one of hu , that the men ancient Babylon felt the very man need for comfort and hope amid the ever - present grim facts of suffering and death ; and thus created for e themselves in thei r own image, as they must needs hav done, a redeemer who should conquer death and hell and bring to weary souls redemption and immortality .

This, we say, i s both as it should be and as it must b e in all ages and among all races . The Egyptians

f . had Osiris , their su fering redeemer Greece and Rome had the Orphic and Eleusinian mysteries and Mithras .

The Aztecs , the I ncas , and the primitive American

Indians all had quite similar faiths . And were we to hereafter discover a hitherto unknown hyperborean race, we may be confident that whatever philosophy and religion they may have created , will be along these

- o inerad age old lines . For the ro ts of this ideal lie ,

’ ’ or h h M onis t XIX 09 wkesw t s r see t e 3 . M Ha . For r. eview , , p 63 THE PERS IAN S AND THE JEWS .

icabl n y, in the fundamental needs and aspiratio s of man . “ And it is a familiar commonplace of Catholic theol o gy, that it was this universal desire for and expecta

- G od tion of the Man Redeemer, that imperatively demanded and necessitated its fulfilment i n the Incar ‘ Of was nation Him , who the Light that lighteth every ’ ‘ man that cometh i nto the world and the Desire O f all ’ a n tions . So that here as in lesser cases , prophecy, ‘ ’ or a was whether heathen reve led, merely insight into what by dire necessity had to be . And Christianity,

not as therefore , is , Puritanism heretically conceived , ‘ ’ an artificial scheme of salvation foisted upon an un

is on o willing and utterly alien world , but , the c ntrary,

Catholic aith the f , which summarizes, completes , and makes secure all the various partial broken insights and

for a wavering desires good , i n the he then religions and philosophies which heathen faiths are indeed , by their very nature , nothing more than the i nstinctive gropings ‘ o f God men after truth and , i f haply they might find

i ’

. The o Him y had faults and defects unquesti nably, many and Obvious . But these, in nearly every case , were simply the defects of imperfect insight springing from the unavoidable limitations imposed by racial capabilities and environment . In short, they were ‘ ’

o . right in their assertions , but wrong in their negati ns

h not So that C ristianity comes , as the Catholic faith , to r to ulfil — not dest oy, but f , and to fulfil merely Juda A 6 4 THE PLEROM .

and ism , but all the other ethnic beliefs ; only super

so . sedes, because i t fulfils “ not Hence, only Bel , but all the gods Of the elder world were i n a very real sense the ‘Christs ’ Of their

o f several times . And, in each and every case , much thei r mythology and doctrines can be paralleled by

a something in Christi nity, indeed , must be paralleled , i f that is to be the final truth . “ But to turn this the wrong way about, as some may

to seek do , and claim that Christianity i s therefore

Bab lonianism nothing better than a revamped y , or

or Buddhism , Parseeism , as the case may be, is surely to woefully misread the story ! I t i s quite as i f some one claimed that the events in American history were

by no means new, but were word for word , and act

not for act , merely similar in some respects to , but identical repli cas Of the words and events i n Babylonia years ago !”

Ha k rth Mr . w esw o is a scholarly High Church Epis copalian ; who i n a private letter characterizes himself “ as Broad , Evangelical , High Churchman . B road , but not a Platitudina L titudinarian ; Evangelical , but not i . n rian ; and High , yet not Attitudinarian It is structive as well as interesting to know the opinion Of

of a man this type , with special reference to many curi ous similarities that obtain between ancient paganism

in his and Christianity . He says letter sa too I may y , , that my statements , i n my review ’ of Dr. Radau s o o bo k , concerning the heathen g ds and 5 THE PERS IANS AND THE JEWS . 6

not y . religions , were my individual opinions merel If on they were, they would have but little value such a subj ect . But they are rather the commonplaces of all ‘ ’ sa orthodox theologians . And when I y Orthodox, I , of not is course, do mean what frequently understood ‘ a by the term in America ; n mely, an ill assorted hodge ’ o f podge Presbyterian , Methodist , Baptist, and Re ‘ ’ vivalis t doctrine . “ all N ot only St . Augustine, but St . Athanasius , and ‘ ’ ‘ ’— and c . the Church Fathers , later Do tors like St — . a Thomas Aquinas , and St John Damascene t ught the doctrine I menti on . “ ‘ ’ of sub- The Hegelian pulse lation , in his logic, by which each category develops its latent contradictions, collapses ; and i s then restated in a revised , truer, and ‘ ’ so more ample form ; thus fulfilling , and by fulfilling, thereby abrogating the previous categories , is precisely the way that Christianity fulfils and abrogates all the partial ethnic faiths . “ ‘ ’ Thus , becoming possesses all the truth in , and rec ‘ ’ onciles its the contradiction in Pure Being, and ‘ ’ its t o a . w equally v lid opposite , Pure Nothing But, in ‘ ’ ‘ ’ of to be un fold form coming to be and ceasing , it Oi its in t rn folds contradictions own , which are, u , ‘ ’ D as e n ou no subsumed and sublated in y But , y k w the march of that wonderful dialectic . “ And furthermore ; even as each of the more perfect categories yet needs the previous incomplete and faulty ca a so to a tegories s a prerequisite underpinning ( spe k ) , 66 A THE PLEROM . so also does the Christian Catholic Faith imperatively

need , because it is Catholic , the preceding Jewish and

Heathen Faiths . St . Clemens Alexandrinus and the

sa all other Fathers y that , not merely the Jewish , but ‘ ’ the Heathen Faiths were schoolmasters to bring men to Christ . Preaching the Christian faith to a people who never had had any religious ideas , would surely be like talk ‘ ’ ing Calculus to savages ignorant of elementary arith metic ! Christianity presupp oses the inbred belief in i sin n . s , atoneme t , and redemption It inbred , because

or and be all religions have it , more less ; all have it , cause of the funda mental facts o f li fe . “ ‘ ’ ‘ ’ — Or an a anus After all , a heathen countrym , p g

a or is simply the natural man , and the Christi n is ,

‘ ’ man o f nth — ought to be , the natural the power , the

a ideal man . Even as the Christi n priest is all that the

a and a Christi n layman is , and more ; the bishop all th t the priest is ; and so on . “ I would like to put the argument i n a quasi - mathe matical : form , like this “ Many Christian doctrines Many Babylonian doc trines , say . “ Now this equation, as it stands , might have the orthodox interpretation that Christianity is perfected ‘ ’ Ba l i ni by on a sm. Or it might bear the interpreta tion

is Bab l i that Christianity merely a rehashed y onian sm. But the same equation holds even more truly for all

68 A THE PLEROM . themselves by their love of preserving historical con

nectio n.

It is true that the pagan saviours are prototypes o f Christ and the pagan religions are prophecies of Chris tianit as y . This is natural as the experience that the f bloom o a tree finds its fulfilment in the matured fruit .

not to n We do mean philosophize here , but we i sist on the necessity o f the historical law which is strictly

a ff and regul ted by the broader law Of cause and e ect , which renders it necessary that every new phase i n the development O f mankind should be prepared bv its

of is precedents . The continuity the process nowhere broken, and when a new era begins which seems to

a n o f n n change the entire ppeara ce ma ki d , it will be found to have been gradually prepared below the sur

O f face events . CHAPTER IX .

I OF A I V O OF T O . THE CHR ST TH E RE EL T N S . J HN A MOST important witness of the transitional phase through which the Christ ideal passed before it

of . a became the Christ St P ul , is found in the Revela

n a - f . o 6 2 1 . tion St John the Divi e , ch pters xii and xix , 10 Gunkel has pointed out that the author of this descrip

o f ca tion the appearance of Christ , though he lls him

’ esus s Jesus, knows nothing of J birth in Bethlehem , nor of n nor O f the Sermo on the Mount, his cruci fixi f hi n on o s . , nor resurrectio The Jesus Of St . John

is not a a . i s man , but god The report of his li fe not a human story but mythology ; it is not enacted on

mainl earth but in the universe, v in the heavens ; his

a a w ho a a antagonist is the gre t dr gon , with his t il , dr ws

of down the third part of the stars . The mother Jesus

is a a not M ry , the wi fe Of Joseph the c rpenter , but a superhuman personality clothed with the sun and hav

at and n a ing the moon her feet , wearing upo her he d

a o f constel crown twelve stars, emblems of the twelve

is n lations o f the zodiac . The dragon da gerous even

for has the Celestials , and the newly born Saviour to

be hidden from him and protected against his wrath .

is as But he overcome by the Lamb , or the Greek text

’ l oS un und chbpf g Chaos . 70 A TH E PLEROM .

11 s the read , by young ram , the sacrifice in which the — saviour g od offers himself in the form Of the animal sacred to him . We quote this remarkable chapter in

full ( Rev . xii ) And there appeared a great wonder in heaven ; a sun woman clothed with the , and the moon under her

and feet , and upon her head a crown of twelve stars , she being with child cried , travailing in birth , and pained to be delivered . “ And there appeared another wonder in heaven ; and

n and behold a great red dragon , havi g seven heads ten horns , and seven crowns upon his heads . “ And his tail drew the third part of the stars o f

a : n heaven , and did cast them to the e rth and the drago stood before the woman which w as ready to be deliv

as ered , for to devour her child soon as it was born . “ she man And brought forth a child , who was to rule all nations with a rod of i ron ; and her child was caught up unto God , and to his throne . “ she And the woman fled into the wilderness , where h ath a place prepared of God , that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days . “ And there was war in heaven : Michael and his angels fought against the dragon ; and the dragon

a fought and his ngels , and prevailed not ; neither was their place found any more in heaven . “ out ser And the great dragon was cast , that Old a e e pent , c lled the Devil , and Satan, which d ceiv th the “ tipv I T 71 O . TH E CHRI ST OF TH E REVELAT ON OF S . J HN

: was out and whole world he cast into the earth , his

angels were cast out with him . “ N ow And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven , is

and and our come salvation , strength , the kingdom of

of : a o f our God , and the power Christ for the ccuser

c our brethren is ast down, which accused them before

G od da y and night . “ o And they overcame him by the bl od of the Lamb . and by the word o f their testimony ; and they l oved not

their lives unto the death . “ Therefore rej oice , ye heavens , and ye that dwell in

a a them . Woe to the inh biters Of the e rth and of the

!for is a sea the devil come down unto you , having gre t

wrath , because he knoweth that he hath but a short

time . “ And when the dragon saw that he w as cast unto

the earth , he persecuted the woman which brought

forth the man child . “ And to the woman were given two wings o f a great

a she e gle, that might fly into the wilderness , into her

She place , where i s nourished for a time , and times ,

a a ac and h l f time, from the f e of the serpent . And the serpent cast out o f his m outh water as a

flood after the woman , that he might cause her to be carried away o f the flood . “ a And the earth helped the wom n , and the earth

o opened her m uth , and swallowed up the flood which

the dragon cast out of his mouth . 72 A THE PLEROM .

and And the dragon was wroth with the woman ,

w ar went to make with the remnant of her seed , which

n G od keep the comma dments of , and have the testi f ” mony o Jesus Christ . n The woma lives in the desert days , which i s

a three years and half , counting the year as a round

a n number o f 36 0 days . The s me umber three and a half is later on expressed in the mystic formula

I 2 In c V2 . both ases it is the number of the c or sa a a roxima ycle , as we now would y, primitive pp * 7r ti on of the number .

The subj ect of the saviour - god who dies in the shape o f a 6 a ram is continued in ch pter xix , verse , where he Vi ctoriously reappears from the underworld to cele brate his marriage and is greeted by a great multitude

f a O . n : worshipers We quote gai in full ( Rev . xix , “ And I heard as it were the voice of a great multi

and of an tude , as the voice m y waters , and as the voice o f n : mighty thunderings , sayi g, Alleluia for the Lord

G od omnipotent reigneth . “ us and Let be glad rej oice, and give honour to him

c for the marriage of the Lamb is ome , and his wi fe hath made herself ready . “ And to her it was granted that she should be ar

and : rayed in fine linen , clean white for the fine linen f is the righteousness o saints . “ o And he said unt me , Write, Blessed are they which

>“ n t 5 a 16 S o . ee e , p ge 3 A IO F ST O . 7 THE CH RI ST OF THE REVEL T N O . J H N

are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And

a G od. he saith unto me, These are the true s yings Of “ And I fell at his feet to worship him . And he said

: fellow servant unto me , See thou do it not I am thy , and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus worship God : for the testimony O f Jesus is the spirit of prophecy . “ n And I saw heave Opened , and behold a white horse ; and he that sat upon him w as called Faithful and True , and in righteousness he doth j udge and make war . “ on his a His eyes were as a flame of fire, and he d

no were many crowns ; and he had a name written , that man knew , but he himself . “ And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and his name i s called The Word o f God . And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses , clothed in fine linen, white and

a cle n . “ o And out of his mouth g eth a sharp sword , that with it he should smite the nations : and he shall rule them with a rod o f iron : and he treadeth the winepress

fi r of the e ceness and wrath of Almighty God . “ And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name

K OF K S A N D L R OF L R S . written , I NG I NG O D O D “ And I saw an angel standing in the sun ; and he

c flv cried with a loud voi e, saying to all the fowls that

of in the midst heaven , Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God ; that ye may 74 A TH E PLEROM .

fles of of ta eat the h kings, and the flesh cap ins , and

Of of o f the flesh mighty men , and the flesh horses, and

sit on them that them, and flesh of all men , both free and bond , both small and great .

sa and of And I w the beast, the kings the earth ,

w ar and their armies , gathered together to make against him that sat on the horse , and against his army . “ And the beast was taken, and with him the false

c prophet that wrought miracles before him , with whi h he deceived them that had received the mark o f the beast , and them that worshipped his image . These both were cast alive into a lake . o f fire burning with brimstone . “ And the remnant were slain with the sword of him sat o that upon the h rse , which sword proceeded out of his mouth : and all the fowls were filled with their ” flesh . This is not the meek Jesus ; this i s the Babylonian

of hero, a king kings, who crushes his enemies and re j oices at the horrors of the battlefield . The redactor of the story is a Jewish Christian but the body o f the legend has remained pagan and still bears all the symp

o f toms mythology . Obviously this fragment is the echo of a Christianity which was quite different from that of the Gospel as we know it and it is scarcely probable that the auth or of these passages had ever seen any of the three

or . synopti c Gospels, even their prototypes

HA C PTER X .

CHRI STIAN SENT I MENT IN PRE - CHR I ST IAN RE

LI GI ON S .

LI . TH E distinctions attributed to Christ and the strongest claims made for his divinity have been

his o f c asserted of predecessors , the Christs an ient times ; and the lofty ethics which we are in the habit o f calling pre - emi nently Christian are equally charac teristic o f f a the teachers o all n tions . Not only Bud dha but als o the Greek philos ophers have preached peace on earth and good will to men even including

r ou very enemies .

th Crito In the 49 chapter of , Plato says , We must

an to a neither return evil nor do y ill any one mong men , ” not even i f we have to suffer from them . When n n Socrates was co dem ed to drink the hemlock , he said , I do not bear the least grudge tow ard those who voted ” “ my death . And Pittacus taught this maxim , For g iveness is better than vengeance ; the former shows ” 12 culture, the latter is brutish . The Buddhist sacred books are full of injunctions of love and universal good will . We quote only one

I Z h incul A numbe r O f s imil ar quotati ons f rom G reek sage s w o in an cated the ethi cs o f returni ng good for evil are collected urt l n G r r on u s in The O en Co Vo . arti cle o eek eligi , p bli hed p , fl' 9 . XV, — I IA I I IA . 77 CHR ST N SENT MENT , PRE CHR ST N out of many and select the well - known li nes from the 13 S utta N ip ata :

“ DO not c do not s s de eive , de pi e

ac ot r an r . E h he , ywhe e D o not an r nor s ou be g y, h ld ye Secret re sentment be ar ; For as a m othe r ri sks her life ’ And watche s o er her child SO oun s s our o to all b dle be y l ve , d SO t n r n an . e de , ki d mild

“ Yea c r s oo — r t and t , he i h g d will igh lef , roun ar and at All d , e ly l e , And t out n ranc t out st nt wi h hi d e , wi h i , ro n r and at F m e vy f ee h e , stan n a n s tt n o n While di g, w lki g, i i g d w , ’ at e er ou a in n Wh y h ve mi d , ’ The rule o f life th at s always be st ” - n I s to be l ovi ng ki d .

n n Bel Merodach , the Christ o f a cient Babylo , de n scended i to the underworld , broke the gates thereof,

a and to n o f subdued de th returned the domai the living,

a I h h avi ng released the dead from c ptivity . n a vmn translated by Theophilus G . Pinches , he is called

Lor o f the o ncantat on r n n the a to The d H ly I i , b i gi g de d life ; He w ho had me rcy on the go d s w ho we re impri s oned ; oo O ff the o a on the o s who had n his n s T k y ke l id g d bee e emie , ” cr a n n T o redeem them he e ted ma ki d .

ac In the same text , Merod h is invoked in these words

t ro The D harma 14 - 15 For n n uo . a u e rsifi Q ed f m , pp . v ed rans at on see The S acred Books o the Eas t Vol r t f . X , a t II , l i , p 25 page . 78 A THE PLEROM .

rc u one t o is the n of The me if l , wi h wh m givi g life , Ma his or sta s and not or ott n y w d be e bli hed , f g e , “ In the mouth Of the bl ack - headed one s wh om his h and s h ave

made .

L e end o M erodach In his g f , Pinches says , He is

b a of descri ed as the cre tor vegetation , the light of the

a his f ther begetter , the li fe of the people , the pure

o r being, the pure holy crown , the pure incantation , ” ho a w . . he knoweth the he rt , etc , etc

’ T se o f a The Chinese sage, Lao , one the world s gre t

a one mor l teachers , who lived hundred years before

a his o The Canon Buddh , said in wonderful little b ok , “ o R eas on and Virtue f , Requite hatred with good ” ness (chapter and in a nother chapter (49 ) he “ : reasons thus The good , I meet with goodness ; the bad I also meet with goodness ; for thus I actualize

a a goodness . The faith ful I meet with f ith ; the f ith ” 15 l a a . ess I lso meet with faith , for thus I ctualize faith 1“ ” The bl ack - he aded one s is a common te rm denoti ng man

n Proceedin s o the S ocie t o Archaeolo ch 1908. ki d . g f y f gy, F , “ “ See a so 0 C 200 H ar on of the S r s . l . . XX , m y phe e CHAPTER XI .

HY I IA I O U W CHR ST N TY C NQ ERED .

E HAVE seen that Christianity was not the only religion which claimed to be a world f religion and struggled or supremacy . There were

- . neo R several others , viz , Platonism , eformed Pagan

a Mandaeanism a o ism , Mithr ism , , Manich eism , Sim nism , a nd a few others . We know that it had much in com

of n mon with all them , includi g those features which

out we now would point as typically Christian , espe cially the saviour idea and a belief in the immortality o f

the soul . We shall have to ask now what distinguishes Christianity from its rivals and we may point out a f number o features that helped to advance its cause . Of the several reasons which insured the final success o f Christi anity we will here enumerate the most im

portant ones .

‘

I . First in order in our opinion stands the human character of the Christian saviour which rendered the

story of salvation realistic and made it credible .

2 of o . Another point in favor the pers nality Of

Jesus was his passion and martyr death . Nothing s m sanctifies so much as suffering . Compassion and y

pathy are po werful emotions and make zealous con

verts . 80 THE PLEROMA.

3. Jesus was perhaps the only saviour who was not

an compromised by y relation to the Old pagan gods .

’

. 4 It appears that the narrative Of Christ s life ,

is especially in the form Of the Fourth Gospel , more

of a sober than the story any other s viour .

5. Christianity w as less dualistic and less asceti c

of a than any its rival creeds . We kno w th t most of

- a and a a them , especially neo Pl tonism M nich eism , were in very stern their psy chology and ethi cs .

6 . n a n w as a A other re so the democr tic , we might almost say the plebeian Spirit o f the primiti ve Church

of and the simplicity its ritual , which made religion

immediately accessible to the masses o f the people . The ancient mysteries communicated the revel ation o f

a O f a and their religious truths to a select cl ss initi tes , Mithraism has preserved thi s feature which made its congregations resemble Masonic lodges with their sev

eral degrees .

a o f 7. We believe also th t the cross Jesus appealed to the mystic in whose mi nd still lingered the significance

as c n f sun of crucifixion an an ie t o fering to the , and who contemplated with s atisfaction the contrast of the deepest humili ation O f a shameful death to the highest

glorification of the risen Christ . It will further be remembered that crucifixion w as the death penalty of slaves and so the slaves saw in Christ a representative of their ow n class ; but slaves and freedmen constituted an enormous part of the population of Rome and must

have been a formidable power i n the capital . The WHY I IA I O 81 CHR ST N TY C NQUERED .

Crucified was One an abomination to the Jew , an Object o f for contempt the few aristocrats , but he was the

S . brother Of the lowly , the downtrodden , the lave There may be many other reasons for the supremacy

a n one Of Christi nity , but we will me tion only more ,

f n has in which may appear to be quite indi fere t , but , our i f . s Opinion , been extremely e fective This the con n i ect on of Christi anity with Judaism . The Jews of the dispersion were ever present before

of and c the eyes the Gentile world , their very existen e served to call attention to Christianity and to support it a s cl ims . The theories and doctrines of the rival religions o f

a n to a a Christi nity appealed to thi gs distant , bstr ct ideas n and seemed to hang in the air , while Christia ity could produce living witnesses in the shape of the Jews . The Jews contested the conclusions which the Christi ans drew from their literature , but they did not deny the main facts in question and supported the proposition that the God of Israel was the only true God who had chosen the Jews as the vehicle o f his revel atio n. The history of Israel w as appropriated by the Chris tians , and at the very start the Jewish canon furnished them with a respectable literature which was both ven

rabl n e e by its antiquity, and imposing by the bewilderi g wealth of its contents . It took a man of uncommo n scholarship to understand the Hebrew scriptures , let a lone to refute the arguments based upon them . 82 H A T E PLEROM .

It seems strange that Judaism which had originated in contrast to paganism and consisted in a denial of

a o au its s lient d ctrines, Should be deemed the proper thorit redivivus y from which a paganism , which under the name o f Christianity was destined to become the

a st te religion Of the Roman empire , should claim to have descended after the extinction o f the old pagan i sm. But the very contrast in which Judaism stood to the ancient paganism rendered it fit to serve as a me i d um o f purification . Judaism repudiated the polytheistic mythology of

n c f ancient paga ism , which had be ome e fete among all

- G rmco o . classes O f the R man world But a new religion ,

o c a mon theisti paganism , a purified religion of the Gen

of tiles , rose from the ruins the old paganism , and when it sought for an authority that could worthily father the new movement and justi fy its condemnation

f c its O the obje tionable features of own past , none seemed better adapted to this purpose than Judaism

for the very reason of its hostility to the Old paganism .

A I CH PTER X I .

A A I OF A I I A TH E P G N SM NC ENT SR EL.

E HAVE so far spoken of Judaism as a known quantity and have used the terms “ Jews ” and ” Gentiles i n their traditional meaning to express a contrast which was w ell established at the beginning o f a has F r the Christi n era ; but Judaism a history . o the sake of understanding how the new faith , though

bec m it had to be Gentile in character , could profit by o f n ing a filiated with the Jews , we must first acquai t of ourselves with the nature this remarkable people .

a n is Jud ism is a unique phe omenon in history . It the product of contradi ctory tendencies which have been hardened in the furnace of national misfortune . The religion of the Jews combines the u niversalism of a monotheistic faith with the narrowness of a national ism which localizes God and regards the Jews as the

he . elect, t chosen people Judaism i s therefore charac teriz ed by a certain precocious maturity . At a time w hen monotheism w as an esoteric doctrine in countries

as a of of such Egypt and Babyloni , a kind philosophy as the educated classes , the Jews had adopted it their

o national religion . Yet the revelations of this ne and

G od of o f sole , the creator and ruler the universe, were

to thought have taken place in a very human way , and bloody sacrifices were still offered in the old pagan THE MA 84 PLERO .

at the a r of ic a one fashion lta Jerusalem , wh h l was

declared to be the legitimate spot to approach G od.

as Some antiquated and barbarous institutions , such

circumcision and other requirements Of the so- called of Mosaic law were enforced , and the purity Jewish

of w as blood, to the exclusion the Gentiles as impure ,

vigorously insisted on . The history o f Judaism i s a long story which is of n f great importance for the developme t o Christianity . We have reason to believe that the religion Of ancient I srael was quite similar in belief and moral principles

to the religions o f the surrounding Gentiles . Yahveh ,

or as the is e , name now erroneously pronounced . J

hovah , was worshiped by other nations before the I sraelites began to pray to him ; it was Moses w ho

his own a adopted the Yahveh cult , not from ncestors ,

a not from Abr ham or Jacob, the patriarchs of I srael ,

- in- but from Jethro , his Gentile father law , a Kenite priest in the district Of Mount Horeb in the Sinai

peninsula . ’ Israel s God Yahveh was not very different from

c as other gods . He demanded human sacrifi es they his did and was originally the protector of own people ,

a tribal deity . According to the Bible , the Children of Israel despoiled the Egyptians at the express com mand of Yahveh and slaughtered the inhabitants of conquered cities in his honor just as did the Moabites

in honor o f their god Khemosh . According to the

. e . the word ( i , the command) of Yahveh , did Hiel lay

A 86 THE PLEROM .

There are many passages in the historical books which imply that it is deemed quite proper for Gentiles

to worship their gods , but the I sraelite is expected to

o f . worship Yahveh alone, the national god the people Yahveh was worshiped in Israel under the form o f a n bull eve in the days of the prophet Elijah . The subject ’ is i ncidentally mentioned in Professor Co rnill s H is tory “ th l I 2 I o e Peo e o s rael . 1 n f p f , p 7, where he says this

n c is not con ection the fa t is highly noteworthy , and yet

n a c a n a generally give lear expl natio , th t we do not hear a Si ngle word o f rebuke on this subj ect from the

a prophet Elij h . When he denounces Baal in Samaria ‘ is and Israel , he simply advocating the calves o f D an ’ and m Bethel , the only custo ary form of worship in

n a and the ki gdom of Isr el , he himsel f did not attack

it . The view that this wh ole species of worship w as pure heathenism and the worship of God in an image

a a folly and bsurdity , is first found i n the prophet Hose f and is an outgrowth o prophetic literature . The t emple o f Solomon w as built according to the

an Phce nician o pl of the temples by Hiram , a Ph enician

c c w as a a ar hite t, and no obj ection r ised bec use a pagan

a built the temple of the God o f I sr el . This fact indi

t oe cates hat i n the times of Solomon, the Ph nicians

were not regarded as idolaters by the Israelites . Even

in o f . C . the days Manasseh, i n the seventh century B , the temple of Jerusalem w as still in possession O f all 2 I I the paraphernalia of solar worship ( Kings xxiii . 87 THE PAGANI SM OF ANCIENT I S RAEL .

— to In pre Exilic times , no Obj ection was ever raised intermarri age with foreigners . Moses married first the daughter o f a Kenite and then even an Ethiopian n a woman, which is commonly interpreted to mea

. as son negress Solomon w the of a Hittite woman , and a a out yet he became king of I sr el . Schr der points

now na that even David , considered the natio l hero of

a w as . a Isr el, not an Israelite but a Gentile It is a f ct

n a a a and commo ly greed on by Old Test ment schol rs , ’ Professor S ayce calls attention to David s appearance

e a 12 2 describ d in S muel (xvi , , and again in xvii , 4 ) 4 - as red haired and o f a fair complexion . Schrader thinks that he belonged to the tribes of the Cherithites

- and t o f . Pelethi es, whom his body guard was composed 5 The etymol ogy o f Cherethites has been brought into connection with the name o f the Cretans and it seem s probable that they, together with their kinsmen , the

Aryan Philistines, must have come from the Greek

a in a isl nds the Z Egean Se . This would prove David f to be an Aryan instead o a Semite . The hostility

a between Saul and D vid was not purely personal , and t he it is no eworthy that when David fled before Saul , sought refuge at the court of a Philisti ne king . The histori cal truth whi ch Old Testament scholars discover

‘ m n 42 ru and aut or z rs on trans at s Sa . xv The h i ed ve i l e , , ddy ” o f a a r count nanc But the r “ 1 f i e e . Heb ew word 257313 whi ch is al so used of Esau ( as al ready stated by G e senius ) can not ” s nat a ru co ion but ans red- a re de ig e ddy mplex me h i d . ' 2 Sam 18 . xv, . A 88 T HE PLEROM .

’ i r o of to n the cont adict ry stories David s life, points the fact that he was the founder of the tribe Of Judah which is mainly a conglomeration of southern clans o f

Z erakh. Schra Edom , among them Kaleb, Peresh and “

l . T 28 : A . . 2 K i i s hr. u. d e n c . der ( , p ) says That there f was no tribe o Judah belonging to Israel before David,

can be safely concluded from Biblical sources alone .

Further it follows , that in prehistoric times Judah did ” not stand in any relation to the other tribes . David

a . was first chieftain of Kaleb , his capit l being Hebron

o f con After a conflict with the kingdom Saul , David quered part of the territory of Benj amin incorporating

Z r k the tribes Peresh and e a h . They were formerly w regarded as belonging to Benj amin , but later ere

treated as Judeans . It was natural that later redactors with their tend ency to represent David as a Judean and the national

o of her Israel , tried to conceal his conflict with Benj a

. ibid. . 2 10 min Schrader says ( , p ) “ I f the development of the monotheistic doctrine

which was proclaimed i n Judah - Israel in the name of

be to o Yahveh , must assumed have had its ro ts in the

o f center civilization of Hither Asia , then the purpose of the patriarchal legend— if it pursues at all an his torical purpos e besides the general one o f inst ruction can have been only to lay bare the threads which could

be c tra ed back to them from Judah . It is not the

ethnological genesis o f a small pure - blooded nation

A R X CH PTE III .

I TH E TEMPLE REFORM AND JUDA S M .

ON OT HEISTIC tendenci e s mani fested them

and a o selves both i n Egypt in B byl n, but they

remained limited to the educated classes and had .not f a fected the polytheistic service in the temples . I n Egypt at the time when the Tel Amarna Tablets were

had written , the monotheistic reform tried to influence

of the religion the people, but had failed utterly . Con ditions were more favorable in Persi a ; there it w as a

success . We can not say how much I srael was influenced by

these movements , but we know that a purer and deeper co nception of God as a god of j ustice had been pre pared through the prophets who denounced social

as a o f on wrongs as well the buses religi , in opposition

to the established priesthood and aristocracy . The movement Spread among those who were zealous for a purification o f the offici al worship o f the country and at l ast exerted a strong hold on the more i ntelligent priest

f as hood O the capital . The result w the famous temple

be a 6 2 1 . C . reform of the year B , which may reg rded as the date o f the birth of Judaism . The temple reform w as a compromise between the

prophetic party and the Jerusalemitic priesthood . The

c propheti party denounced worship on the heights , but 91 TH E TEMPLE REFORM AND JUDAI S M .

as they looked up to the holy place on Mt . Zion the national sanctuary and the favorite place of Yahveh , and the priests o f Jerusalem were naturally pleased

c with this view , for it pro ured for them a religious monopoly . The prophetic party w as greatly respected in Jerusa lem on account o f a successful prophecy made by Isaiah

of about a quarter a century before the temple reform .

In the days of King Hezekiah , he had glorified Mount

as a Zion the holy pl ce o f Yahveh , and when the As syrians in thei r campaign o f 70 2 - 70 1 threatened Jeru “ c a o salem, he de l red that the L rd had founded Zion and o f I . 2 the poor his people shall trust in it s xiv , 3 ’ a 2 n 1 ff compare lso Ki gs xix , 3 ) . Isaiah s confidence w as n for justified by subsequent eve ts , it is reported “ that the angel o f the Lord smote an hundred four ” 6 c n and n a a s ore and five thousa d, Se n cherib r ised the siege and went home . It is true that Jerusalem w as spared the h orrors of pillage and it is possible that the appearance of a sud

d a a den epi emic caused the king to le d the rmy home , but the event was not quite so glorious as it is des cribed in the Bible and as it appeared i n later times to the

a n imagin tion of the Jews , for Ki g Hezekiah remained a vassal of Assyria and Sennacherib had carried into

an n a n o f a captivity two hundred thous d i h bita ts Jude . I t was merely the salvation of a remnant at whi ch the 6 I 6 3 . 2 K n s 35 co . s . i g xix , ; mp xxxvii , 92 A THE PLEROM .

e o c and prophet r j i ed, Hezekiah was thankful that he f did not su fer the terrible fate of Samaria . ’ of Sennacherib s account this same expedition , writ

a on c ten in cuneiform char cters a lay cylinder , is also preserved and the passage referri ng to Judea reads in an English transl ation thus : “ and Six forty of the fenced cities , and the fort resses n to , and the villages round about them , belo ging

Hezekiah the Jew , who had not submitted to my rule ,

a I besieged and stormed and captured . I carried aw y from them two hundred thousand and one hundred

and and fifty souls , great and small , male and female,

o c h rses , mules , asses , amels , oxen and sheep without number . I n his house in Jerusalem I shut up Hezekiah

o like a bird in a cage . I threw up mounds round ab ut

ac a the city from which to att k it, and I block ded hi s

a gates . The cities which I had c ptured from him I took away from his kingdom and I gave them to ” Mitinti , ki ng o f Ashdod . The preservation of Jerusalem is commonly Spoken o f by orthodox Christians as a mysterious event and n a wonderful occurrence, but the main thi g is that it w as believed to be a miracle by the Jews . This belief

a overconfi had fatal consequences . I t m de the Jews dent in their faith SO that they clung to their cause even when there was no hope of success ; but while they ruined thereby their national existence , they sunk their nationality in their religion and developed in this way into an international people .

94 THE L P EROMA . o f Pro it the religion of Judea was newly regulated . fessor Cornill continues “ Our first question must be : What is this book of o f 6 2 1 ? laws Josiah , which was discovered in the year

The youthful De Wette, in his thesis for a professor

n in 180 c ship at Je a the year 5, learly proved that this

w as o f book o f laws essentially the fifth book Moses ,

o known as Deuteronomy . The b ok is clearly and dis tinctly marked Off from the rest of the Pentateuch and its of legislation, whilst the reforms worship intro duced by Josiah correspond exactly to wh at it called f r o . The proofs adduced by De Wette have been gen erall c w y a cepted , and his vie has become a common ” n possessio n of Old Testame t research . The priests in the country who opposed the temple reform were treated with great cruelty ( See 2 Kings

2 0 a c of xiii , ) and the wiz rds and wit hes the land were a 2 2 : lso exterminated , as we read in Kings xxiii , 4 “ Moreover the workers with familiar spirits , and the

and wizards , the images , and the idols , and all the abominations that were spied in the land o f Judah and

a a i n Jerusalem , did Josiah put w y , that he might per form the words of the law whi ch were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the

Lord . CHAPTER XIV

I XI THE BABYLON AN E LE .

HE TEM PL E reform established the supremacy

of the priestly party, but the priests were poor

a n f statesmen . Believing th t Yahveh would ot su fer the

n an o f n temple to fall i to the h ds his e emies , they pur

a — c n a sued Short sighted poli y , Sidi g alw ys with the

and o a wrong party , this ended in a m st deplor ble de

as a n and c . w feat Jerusalem t ke , the aristocra y of the

a people together with all their leaders , the educ ted classes , the scribes and even the smiths who could work 7 in iron were deported i nto Babylon . f n This fate was su ficient to destroy any ation , but it

a did not ruin the Jews . H ving gained by the temple reform the conviction that they were the chosen people

God a of , the exile only served to h rden them in the furnace of tribulation , and so Judaism was prepared for the part which it w as going to play in the further development of religious ideas . W hen we bear in mi nd that the deported Jews be

u and longed to the pper more highly educated classes , we can easily understand that their idea s of monothe in ism , which those days constituted an advanced stage

o . of free thinking , soon became with them a m nomania They may have become acquainted with Babylonian

7 14- 1 S 2 K n s x 6 . ee i g xiv , 96 A T HE PLEROM .

monotheists , and whenever they had an opportunity to discuss religion may have claimed that their God w as the on ly true God and that he had ma ni fested himself

in a . their liter ture One thing is sure , they now inter preted the treasures of their literature in the spirit of

and redac this conviction, their priests prepared new

tions o f their old books in the light o f the new faith . While the Jewish conception of religion w as rigor

ousl a w as a y monotheistic , for Y hveh reg rded as the

G od a only true of the universe, the creator of he ven

at a a n and earth , it was the s me time n rrowed dow to

a a a and na most egotistic l n tionalism , this natio lism

n c w as made the qui tessen e of their religion . Every natio n passes through a phase in which it

a as a of a o reg rds itself the f vored people the e rth , lo k

or all ing with contempt pity on others . The Greeks

c non- b a b alled the Greeks arb rians , the Germanic tri es

non- a called the Germanic races Welsh , the Egypti ns

and n looked upon all foreigners as unclean , the Chi ese

are possessed of Similar notions up to this day . Among

a n n a c the Jews , this ide was i corporated i to the f bri

a a of their f ith , and thus we may say that while Jud ism

a o f m rked a progress in the history religion , it must at the same time be regarded as a contraction of the n religious sentiment ; i stead of broadening the people ,

it restricted and limited their horizon . While liber

ating themselves fr om some o f the grossest supersti

tions of paganism , the Jews cherished a mistaken and

98 A THE PLEROM .

remained Jews wherever they went , this very persist ence of the Jewish ra ce ensured ultimately the success

f a - o Christianity s a world religion . A X CH PTER V.

I I O THE D S PERS N .

O N E OF the most remarkable phenomena in the a and its history of m nkind, in way quite unique, f is the Dispersion o the Jews . The Jews are the only people o f antiquity which still exists and preserves

f all its type, but the Jewish people di fer from other

of a nations the world in this one p rticular point , that n they are a people without a country . Ancie t Judea

is no longer Jewish, the Jews live among the other

n a and o natio s ; they are sc ttered wherever we g , we

. or as w as a find Jews This Dispersion ( , it c lled i n

D ias ora o f aw e and Greek , p ) has been an Obj ect won der ; and though it gives the Jews a decided advantage

in the struggle for existence , it has been regarded as a f “ ” curse which rests upon this race o rovers . We are s o accustomed to the dispersion of the Jews

a our n that it sc rcely rouses curiosity any lo ger, and I can not discover the slightest s cientific attempt to ex

plain the phenomenon . The best authorities , both

an a ac Christi and Jewish , ccept the f ts in the traditional

interpretation as a kind of mysterious doom . So for

a instance Pro fessor S yce, when discussing the peculiar f of ities o the Jewish people , speaks the Babylonian

exile and the world - exile of the Jews as the two great

national calamities of the race . He says 00 O A 1 THE PLER M .

The Jews flourish everywhere except in the country of f which they held possession or so long a time . The

few Jewish colonies which exist there are mere exotics , i nfluencing the surrou nding population as little as the

n t a b German colo ies h t have een founded beside them . n That population is Ca aanite . I n physical features ,

n and in me tal moral characteristics, even in its folk

is n a o f a lore , it the desce d nt the popul tion which the

a a a Isr elitish inv ders v inly attempted to extirpate . It has or survived , while they have perished wandered

elsewhere . The Roman succeeded i n driving the Jew from the soil which his fathers had w on ; the Jew

os never succeeded in driving from it, its original p

sessor. When the Jew departed from it , whether for in exile in Babylonia , or for the longer exile the world

Of a later day , the older population sprang up again in

all its vigor and freshness , thus asserting its right to ” be indeed the child of the soil .

e a o n Professor Gra tz, the best Jewish uthority Jew

Ges chichte der ish history, expresses himself thus (

ude 6 1 - 6 20 I n I , 9 ) At the cradle o f the Jewish nati on w as sung the song of ceaseless wandering and dispersion such as no ' other nation has ever known , and this dread lullaby

came to fulfilment with terrible literalness . There was

n o f hardly a cor er in either the two dominant empires ,

the Roman and the Parthian , where Jews were not to

be found , where they had not formed a religious com

o f munity . The border the great Mediterranean basin

102 E A THE PL ROM .

ism , which means that the Jews had adopted mono theism before they were able to grasp its Significance . The Jews of the Exile believed that there was but one of a t and of God, the creator heaven and e r h ruler

and y the universe , that this onl true God was their ow n God Yahveh ; they identified him in their own history with the God - co nceptions whi ch their different

a ha ai tribes had held at different times . He w s the S dd

a a a of Abr h m , the Elohim of the patriarchs , the Zeb oth

a a was o f of Ephr im , and bove all , he Yahveh , the God

f n a David and o Moses . All these ames bec me designa n f tio s o the same deity .

I f the Jews had been ripe for monotheism, they would have abolished the barbarous and pagan institu

as tions of which their religion was still possessed , for i nstance the practice o f offering blo ody sacrifices to

a n n b God , repe tedly de ou ced y the prophets . Had the Jews been sufficiently matured to u nderstand the moral

a of in one a pplications a belief God , they would h ve seen that before God there is no difference between Jew and Gentile and th at the chos en people are those n i w ho actualize the divi e will in their lives . This ncon

a c c a sistency of the Jewish f ith , whi h ombined univer salistic breadth with an outspoken and almost n n unparalleled narrow ess , pampered by national va ity; rendered it possible for them to cling to some Old

c L aw fashioned institutions, alled the , or the Law of

Moses, which was kept with a remarkably punctilious I IO 103 THE D S PERS N .

piety that would have been worthy of a better cause .

But circumcision , abstinence from pork , certain rules of o f a butchering, a rigorous Observance the Sabb th , t . e no etc , would in themselves hav been harmless , had their religi on at the same time become a belief in the Jewish nationality which established a line of demarca tion between the Jews and the rest of the world . Here lies the root of the tenacity of Judaism which has produced that most remarkable historical phenomenon o f the preservation o f the Jews i n the midst of the

n on . other natio s , a phenomenon known as the Dispersi f All the nations scatter . The great capitals o the world contain representatives of any race that is suf fered or en admittance , but within the second third g erati n a ew o these strangers are being bsorbed . The J n alone resists absorption . He remai s a Jew . The

co- newcomer finds his religionist, and associates with him . The circle grows and a synagogue is built . How many nations have sent their sons into Ger m ! n o f any Thi k the innumerable French Huguenots ,

as . Italians such the Cottas, the Brentanos From Scot ’ a land c me Kant s father, and Keith , the famous gen f h f eral o Frederick the Great . W o now thinks o their ? foreign ancestry They have all become Germans . The same is true of the Germans who settle i n other countries , France, Italy, Spain , etc . The traveler comes across them here and there, but their children scarcely know whence their father of grandfather

came. A 104 THE PLEROM .

The truth is that the children of every nation are scattered among the other nations . Everywhere there are people who go abroad to seek their fortunes . There is everywhere a constant tendency to migrations of small fractions of the population to distant countries where they are attracted by the hope of improving

not as their condition . That the Jews are assimilated

is n o the others , due to thei r religion , the mai imp rt of

c of whi h , as we have seen, is the preservation the

a Jewish nation lity . Every man has the inborn tendency of being a H e “

. e . a brew , i , a rover All human life r diates . The

Jew is not an exception . He simply follows the gen

ow n eral rule, but he , at the same time, preserves his find kind . We Jews everywhere, and this gives the

impression that they are scattered all over the world .

n ow n a a Not having a cou try of their , the idea n tur ll y originated that the Jews have become s cattered because

no n a c o f they lo ger possess ountry their own , but the dispersion o f the Jews antedates the destruction o f Jerusalem and would be the same even i f Jerusal em

ha d never been destroyed . The Jewish dispersion is frequently regarded as a mysterious curse that has befallen the race because they have rej ected the Saviour and cru cified Christ ; and this romantic conception has found a poetic expressio n “ i n the grewsome legend o f Ahasuerus the Wandering ”

who . inter re Jew, the man can not die This occult p tation of the phenomenon casts a glamour of mystery

1 O A 06 THE PLER M .

i was . h s This work done by St Paul , and explanation was the more willingly accepted by the Gentiles as it explained also the Odium in which the Jews were held . t o . According St Paul , the Jews had been the chosen who people of God , but were now rej ected on account o f their stubborn attitude toward the Gospel which he preached . There existed for some time a few Jewish colonies which were not dominated by the spirit o f the post

n n r Exilic reform . We name the o e in Elepha tine ( o

and one a a Jeb) i n Upper Egypt the other in T hp nhes , in o n c Lower Egypt , both fl urishi g ommunities where, o f a n l te, interesting mo uments have been discovered ; f but it is noteworthy that none o the colonies survived . — Not bei ng so narrow minded as to condemn any approach to the li fe and habits of and i ntermarriage with the Gentiles, they disappeared in the long run . They lacked that preservative talisman without which the Jew would not essentially differ from other human beings . A XVI CH PTER .

I JEW AND GENT LE .

OW LET us ask what were the obj ecti ons of the N Jews to paganism ? We know that in all pagan religions a belief in the of o was immortality the s ul dearest to the pious , and “ ’ o c n j udging fr m an an ie t Babylonian poem , Ishtar s ” to Descent Hell , and from other indications , we must assume that the Babylonians and other Gentiles tried to communicate with the dead in some way after the fashion o f Spiritualist seances by pro fessional con j urors . These mediums oi ancient times are called i n the “ ” Bible wizards and witches , and their controls fa ” of miliar spirits . Against this class people the ire of

a o the exiled Jews seems to h ve blazed up m st furiously, for they are co ndemned in the strongest terms in Deu teronomy and the Deuteronomic insertions o f the

a priestly redactors . We are told gain and again that they were expelled from Israel and the penalty o f death

by stoning was impos ed upon them . And yet they a must have existed i n ancient times, for we have graphic accou nt O f the witch o f Endor whom Saul of visited . Those verses which mention the expulsion

- 1 . 10 the wizards and witches by Saul ( Sam . xxviii 9 ) are perhaps a later i nsertion of the priestly redactor 108 A THE PLEROM .

in e to how and , ord r explain Saul could consult a witch, i f witches were not tolerated in Israel , we are told that

of of Saul visited the witch Endor in the stealth night . The account itself seems to be complete without these lines, and it would then appear that the king made no secret of his intention to seek an interview with the ghost of Samuel . At any rate the custom of citing ghosts was a great abomination to the Exilic and post ew f Exilic J , and it almost seems as i f the leaders o the exiled Jews who gave a definite shape to Judaism by impressing their views upon the rest of the Jewish peo

o of ple, omitted , on acc unt their aversion to a ghost

of conception the dead , all references to a future life from their sacred literature and so gave the impression f that they did not believe i n immortality . It is di ficult to say what the I sraelites thought of the soul i n the

of times Saul , but it is probable that they then Shared — the views of their neighbors , while in post Exilic times ,

the Jews were Opposed to the immortality - conception

of the Gentiles .

ow a N , at the s me time we know that the Gentile be lief in immortality is closely connected with thei r le

ends - on g Of the God man who is born earth , becomes a

for t e hero and a saviour , struggles h cause of mankind ,

the . and is slain, to rise again from tomb All this was as much of an abomination to the Jew as was the wor

o f o f . ship the Queen Heaven To the Jew , God was a God and not a man , neither was he a woman . The ide

O A 110 THE PLER M .

O or ! m s ns are an r at are trans r ss ons L d y i m y, g e my g e i , O G od m G o ss t r no n or un no n to my , y dde , whe he k w k w me, Many a re my S ins and great are my transgre s s i ons s ou t aroun a out but no one too m an I gh d b , k y h d,

t but t r w as non ca n ar to co ort. I wep , he e e me e mf cr a ou but no one s ear I y l d , give me ,

Sorro u and o r can not oo u . wf l , ve whelmed , I l k p The venerable poets who sang hymns of this kind

c o might very well be onsidered believers in m notheism , for the gods pl ay the part o f angels and archangels

a : while one G od reigns supreme in heaven . We re d

— ? ! On e arth w ho is exalted Th ou al one a rt exalted

n o r o t ort in the a ns the a n osts Whe Thy w d g e h f h he ve , he ve ly h bow before Thee ;

n T or o s ort u on art the s r ts o f art Whe hy w d g e f h p e h , pi i e h r ki ss the g ound .

n u ar mounteth or a urr can oo and Whe pw d Thy w d like h i e , f d n un n d rink are in ple ty ab o di g .

R eso undeth o r in t rr str a ac s r n ro t the Thy w d e e i l pl e , g ee g we h ras s in he a o s g t me d w .

Th or a t fat the floc s and r s and ncr as t all y w d m ke h k he d , i e e h

r at - n o cr atur s b e h e d wed e e . We may be sure that the gods in the temples were

be not deemed to gods themselves , but only their

and can see no f representative images , we di fer

s a ence between pagan idolatry o c lled and . the

s u e of icons in Christian churches . But this is a side issue ; the main poi nt is that the Jews were opposed to the worship of idols including the maki ng of statues and images in any form ; they were further Opposed to

a - the ide of a God man, and to the belief in immortality A I 111 JEW N D GENT LE .

such as was held by all the Gentiles . These ideas , how

a in c ever , re sserted themselves the Apo rypha and thus prepared the w ay for the fou ndation o f gnostic views

es n n c o r embling Christia ity , amo g su h Jews as Phil ,

and n . . Apollos fi ally St Paul , the Apostle The contrast between Jew and Gentile is fundament ally based upon a temperamental difference . The Jew wants religion pure and simple ; he takes monotheism

a o f no seriously and brooks no medi tion intercessors ,

a and mysticism , no llegorizing , no pro found abstruse symbols . The Gentile sees the divine everywhere . His

a monotheism is no rigid Unitarianism . He is a du list whose conception o f the duality of thi ngs is expl ained by a higher u nion and thus he formulates his belief in

. and God as trinitarianism He loves art myth, and this makes him appea r in the eye o f the Jew as an

of a . idolator, a worshiper im ges He seeks God not only above the clouds but also in the livi ng examples o f

of heroes , of ideal men, of the great representatives n G od o earth . This same contrast of the two attitudes gave rise to

r n c the igorously mo otheisti I slam , but as there are n a Unitaria s among the Christi ns , so there are among

a a Sheites o who the Moslems , especi lly mong the , th se

o f believe in a second advent Mohammed , o f a Mahdi ,

of o Behaism re or a saviour s me kind ; and , the new li ion a in the g that origin ted Persia , proves that idea of a divine Mediator i s still alive in Mohammedan countries . A X CH PTER VI I .

AI OF THE JUD S M JESU S .

AI NT PAUL speaks of Christ as the Son of David S according to the flesh and follows in this the rab binical tradition whi ch w as commonly established at

the time of Jesus . David was the great hero in the history of Israel whose rule marks the period o f the ’ res nation s greatest glory . I n the times of their opp sion they longed for a hero who would reestablish the ki ngdom of David and so it w as but natural that the

as a expected Messiah w c lled the son of David . But

s o though the Messiah was called, there is no reason w h y he should actually belong to the house of David .

of and The house David had died out with Zerubbabel , i f there were any o f his family left they would have been able to trace their geneal ogy only indirectly to

the royal house . The genealogies of Joseph preserved i n the N ew Testament are positively impossible and obviously o f a

a l te date . Even i f they were tenable they would prove nothing of the descent o f Jesus on the orthodox as

w as his . sumption , because Joseph not deemed father

We ought to have had a genealogy of Mary .

a We must assume that in the d ys of Jesus, the claim o f his disciples that he w as the expected Messiah w as met with the obj ection that nothing good could come

14 HE E A 1 T PL ROM .

o of was c nstituted merely by descent, the aristocracy blood . The question here is not whether the Psalm was really written by David nor whether the point which to Christ makes is unanswerable . We have simply note that by this argument he S ilenced the claim of the scribes and Pharisees which they must have made ; for i f this is an answer to a point raised by his enemies , it can only have been the proposition that no one else but a descendant of David ought to be the Messiah . The answer presupposes that Jesus was not of the

of D a family avid , but , that while he did not cl im to be a descendant of the royal house , he yet held to the so claim o f Messiahship . I f he was called the n of David by his adherents and by the Sick who sought his w as e a help , it only b cause in popul r parlance the terms

Messiah and Son of David had been identified . For th ese reasons we must assume that Jesus w as

of and born a Galilean , a child the people , the story of b his royal descent was an afterthought . It was attri uted to him in the same w ay as five hundred years as was before him, it w claimed that Buddha the son of a king .

was While Jesus probably a Galilean , and as such , 10 of n Ge tile blood , though not purely Aryan , yet he 10 Ga ans r anat ca s accor n to t r r on The lile we e f i l Jew di g hei eligi , but they we re a mixed race and we will grant to P ro fe ssor u e l XXIII t G a has a S e O our 193 if . a t n C t Vo . t H p ( pe , . , p ) h lilee n o rant o f r an sc nt G rant n the bee pe pled by immig s A y de e . i g ar u nt are o r not r ar to sa t at sus was g me , we , h weve , p ep ed y h Je r an rst no h n rants re not an A y . Fi we k w that t e A rya immig we I U 115 THE JUDA SM OF JES S .

out was certainly a Jew by religion . H e sent his dis “ ” ci les of o p to the lost sheep the h use of Israel , and adds the special inj unction not to go to the S amaritans nor to the Gentiles (Matt . x, 5 How little tenable it is to interpret this as a temporary measure to be

o superseded afterwards by a world missi n , appears “ 2 sa from verse 3, where Christ declares , Verily I y

ou of unto y , ye shall not have gone over the cities ” son of Israel till the man be come, which can only

of for mean the second advent Christ in all his glory, in any other possible sense the first advent had taken

son o f as e place , since the man had come and w sp aking to them .

2 2 ff. . to . 2 ff According Matt xv , , and Mark vii , 5 , is Jesus refuses his help to a Gentile woman . She called a Canaanite in the former account and a Greek

- o f Se Phoenician nationality in the other . Jesus “ ’ to says her, it is not meet to take the children s bread ” and cast it to the dogs . She takes his harsh answer in

of o f full recognition the superiority the Jews , and taking up the same mode of expression which Jesus “ s e uses h answers, Yet the dogs eat the crumbs which ’ ” fall from their master s table . Only on account of

ur r ans but the P rs ans and n or t an t p e A y , , like e i eve m e h hey , cons ra t S t c oo for t r an cs we re ide bly mixed wi h emi i bl d , hei e tors had been living among Semite s for centurie s ; and in addi ti on we know th at m any Sy ri ans and Phoeni ci ans and rem nants u t o n G a an o f the aboriginal pop la i n we re living i lilee . All we c s ay is th at Je sus w as a Galil ean and the Galileans were a pe ople o oo f mixed bl d . 116 A T HE PLEROM . her e a e e her gr at f ith J sus yi lds and heals daughter .

Luke , who is a Gentile himself, omits the story . We must remember that the Jews called the Gentiles dogs ” and “ swine ” and we may very well interpret ’ ii “ ” . v i Christ s saying ( Matt , that that which s holy not S should be given to the dogs, and that pearls hould not be cast before the swine, in this same sense , that the blessings o f his Gospel do not belong to the Gen tiles . The most important passage in whi ch Jesus stand s up for Judaism is contained in the Sermon on the

Mount , where we read “ sa For verily I y unto you , Till heaven and earth

one ot or one pass , j tittle shall in no wise pass from ” the law , till all be fulfilled . “ ” The Greek words jot and tittle denote the dia a so sa critic l points used in the Hebrew text , and this y ing o f Jesus does not only insist On the law i n the letter but includes the most unessential parts Of the n se letter also . O e could not express himsel f more verely as i nsisting on the significance o f a literal presentation of the law than is done here i n a word

e w o-rd ascrib d to Jesus , and this stands i n strong con tradiction to the Spirit whi ch permeates the religion of

Jesus as it is commonly understood, and especially to the principles in which the Sermon on the Mount is

on written . In the Sermon the Mount , Jesus insists that the spirit is the main thing, and according to other passages he would abolish the l etter in order to pre

118 A THE PLEROM .

witnes s to an older tradition . The severity with which the preservation of the Mosaic law is insisted upon is “ ” modified , however, by the words Till all be fulfilled . I t is not impossible that this second clause in the “ n se tence, till all be fulfilled , is an addition made by

of a Gentile Christian scribe, with the intention soft ni e ng the meaning of this sentence . Paul claimed that in the law was fulfilled Christ, and for this reason it ’ need no longer be Observed by the Gentiles . Paul s arguments appealed to the Gentiles and they no longer

to o a so felt bound bey the Mos ic law , the scribe by “ ” adding the clause till all be fulfilled reminds his readers of the Pauline doctrine that in spite of the acknowledged divinity o f the Mosaic law it was no longer in force since it had been fulfilled in Christ ; “ ” a fi ll but in inserting this cl use, all be fulfilled , he forgot to cancel the other statement which it was “ intended to replace , till heaven and earth shall pass ” a a away ; and so we h ve here double condition . one

c a whi h reflects the origin l meaning, the other, the new interpretation put on it . Since it is not probable that these passages whi ch indicate the Jewish spirit of Jesus were later inven in tions , because the Gentile Church would not have vented these sayings and would not have superadded

to o them the sacred text , the Opp site must be assumed

n viz . to be earer the truth , , that the original Jesus was and actually remained a Jew in his religion but that later traditions tended more and more to obliterate his E AI F 119 TH JUD S M O JESUS .

Jewish convictio n and superadded to the traditi onal

of is text , sayings a more cosmopolitan character . It

a notice ble , for instance, that the only important passage in which Jesus shows the intention of founding a uni versal religion i s an utterance attributed to him after his death and before his ascension, when he says ( Mark “ G o all xvi , ye into the world and preach the ” Gospel to every creature . The personality o f Jesus must have been unusually

a c to o attractive and symp theti , especially the p or , the

w as c lowly , the oppressed ; but he a Jew in his onvie tions, and had he not been a Jew he would have been out a of h rmony with his surroundings, for cosmopoli tan ideas would scarcely have appealed to the poo r

- Galilean fisher folk . We do not accept the theory that the li fe o f Jesus

b a as w as a myth . We elieve th t he w a real person and

a are that ultim tely the Gospel accounts based upon fact . Nevertheless the Gospel story is not history ; it is

o f c strongly colored by the Christology the Chur h , and the modifications which the original story underwent

c na of are the ommu l work successive generations , until the Gospel assumed a sh ape that was general ly accept able to the majority o f Christians . N ew Testament scholars are fairly well agreed that Mark represents

n r the oldest accou t of the historical Jesus . It p esup

s an so- — po es earlier Gospel , the called Proto Mark , w hich served as a source for the three Synoptic Go spels and is cu , in its turn, based upon still Older do ments , 120 THE A PLEROM .

a s s of the Logi and other personal remini cence Jesus . Matthew is a Judaizing redaction and incorporates a b dditional material , while Luke, eing compiled from 11 o f other sources, was adapted for the use Gentiles .

The fourth Gospel , however , though it seems to have incorporated some new reliable information , probably

n genuine Johanni e traditions , is , upon the whole, the least historical , but it ranges highest in its philosoph ical conception . It represents the final stage in which

of son Jesus , the Messiah , the son David , the Of Man , has at last become the Christ, the Logos , the Saviour f o all mankind .

is of to- There a faction Christianity day, as there

has who always been , would discard the Christological a additions and go back to the historic l Jesus, but thei r procedure seems to me to be based upon an error . Re lig ion can never be founded upon historical facts or

c single oc urrences , nor upon individual characters , but

is must always rest upon eternal truths . It not the

o f of life Jesus that will be helpful , but what we make it ; mankind needs a Christ and thus each successive Christian generation has interpreted the story o f Jesus in the spirit of its highest conception of Christ . Scholarly investigations of Gospel documents to de of o f s termine the facts the li fe Jesu as to his actuality, of ae his views , his race, his character , etc may be arch

11 ” Th at Luke quotes Buddhi st texts as Scri pture s has been rt mun s in his Bu dhi t d hrist n Mr . d s an C ia proved by . Albe J Ed d

Gospels .

122 THE A PLEROM .

use the mystic and profound symbolism of dogmatic G od Christianity, the Son begotten in all eternity by th F r God e athe . L CONC USIO N .

124 A THE PLEROM .

sum the formation of the whole , and yet it was the total of their fusion . The alliance between Christianity and Judaism was as close as childhood by adoption can be . Christianity entered upon the i nheritance and claimed the history and o f traditions I srael as its own , but for all that , its inmost constitution remained different from Judaism . The nature o f an adopted child will not be that of its

o f its ow n foster father , but will keep true to the blood

a o f p rents . The spirit Christianity was Gentile from the start and has remained so in spite o f the great influ ence of the Old Testament Scriptures upon its further development . It is difficult to appreciate how closely the fate o f rivals is always interlinked . Judaism gave to Chris tianity its finishing touches and Christianity incorpo of rated into itself much Judaism , yet the two have

a a a most fan tic lly nathematized each other in the past . I n one sense Christianity supersedes the ancient pagan ism a , and in another sense the ancient pag nism reap in pears a new form in Christian doctrines . Yet the Church Fathers can not speak of the pagans without

a n n m lig i g them bitterly and unjustly . It may be liter ally true th at the bitterer the hostility between two

a riv ls , the more similar are they in spirit ; the more

a n a m rked the co trast is , the gre ter must be their kin ship . This statement almost appears like a corrobora tion of the pantheistic idea of the identity of Brahma A Y 125 SUMM R . in all things , which makes the red slayer the same as

his . victim , the one he slays When we speak of the pagan character of Christi anit to a a a y, we mean neither disp r ge Christi nity nor to deny the fact that its appearance represents a new f era in the history o the world . We use the term only to bring out forcibly the truth that (in spite of the important part played by Judaism ) Christianity is in all its essential doctrines the legitimate result of the

of — not o f religious development mankind , Judaism , but of the whole world , Jews and Gentiles , but mainly

o f . e . . of the Gentiles , i , the nations I nstead belittling

a a our o f our Christi nity, we must r ise estimate and

so respect for paganism , which was neither thought

nor so lessly idolatrous , immoral as it has been com mouly represented . The Jewish contribution to the development of re ligion is more negative than positive ; it is like the salt that gives the flavor, but the meat was furnished by the Gentiles . Christianity is like a big river which drains an enor

not one mous territory . It has source but innumerable

the of its sources , and character waters together with its course depends upon the geography of the whole it not c s . country , upon what is ommonly called source Yet people will insist on calling one Spring of the whole of system the source the river, as i f that alone had caused its existence and none of the others need be taken into consideration . 126 MA THE PLER O .

Sometimes it happens ( as for instance in the Mis sissippi - Missouri system ) that the largest stream which supplies most of the water and has the longest course

a does not bear the name of the m in river, and the

a is o f n s me true in the history Christia ity . The largest supply o f its substance and also the most essential

so is vi z . ingredients far as quality concerned, , that

a portion which determines the n ture Of its doctrines , is not furnished by Judaism to which its origin is com monl a and y traced , but by pag nism ; when we pass in

a n o f review the te chi gs Jesus himself, as recorded in the synoptic gospels, we can discover nothing that i s

a typic lly Christian . There is a joke told by Austrians on a Magyar who

of is said to have traveled to the source the Danube , where he stopped the water s o that for a little while it would not flow , and with a mischievous twinkle in “ his eye he exclaimed : What a surprise it will be to the people i n Vienna when the Danube suddenly runs ” dry ! This view of the origin o f rivers is not unlike the current interpretation of the history of Christianity which is supposed to have received all its momentum

o on or either fr m the Sermon the Mount , the death

“ of Jesus on the cross . The spread o f the Gospel of Jesus which we trace in its a to continuity in ecclesi stic history , is be comple mented by a consideration of innumerable other lines o f of thought which , like tributaries a stream, have

A 128 T HE PLEROM .

The generations Of the first three centuries molded and remolded the Christian do cuments until they ac quired a shape that would be in accord with the preva lent view o f the times . The subconscious ideal which i n dim outlines ani

Of n mated multitudes , consisted traditio al religious

a w as a views inherited from the ho ry past . It f shioned by the old religions and contained the ideas of a

o f - man and a o f saviour, the God , of his martyr de th ,

all his victory over ill and of his return to life, of

o f n of o f forgiveness Sins, of the restitutio the world ,

n n a n o f a golden age, a millen ium and the fou d tio a f kingdom of God on earth . Such was the demand o ’ and the age, Virgil s fourth eclogue is one instance only n i n which this se timent finds a poetical expression .

a o f At the same time, all the f bles mythology were

of and o f discredited . The tales Heracles , Adonis , of

Z Escula ius and o f o f all p , Osiris , the several ancient

saviours , were no longer believed ; they now appeared

a and n a a fant stical had become untrue and u s tisf ctory .

f as A real saviour o historical actuality w demanded . I t is natural that some people expected him to appear on the throne as the restorer o f peace and m any greeted

a n of Augustus s a divine i carnation , the representative u God on earth . But his successors did not come p to ’ the expectations of the people and Nero s example alone was sufficient to overthrow the belief i n the

of divinity o f the Emperor . The saviour could not be

o f this world , he had to be a man, and yet a God , not A SUMM RY . 129

secular power, but king of a spiritual empire, a king of so truth , and the personality of Jesus became more and c a more ac eptable as the true s viour . The ideal which constituted the demand was o f G en

a an in tile manuf cture, and Christi ity , its fulfilment , is

c too w as un- r o a . this respe t Gentile ; it Jewish , p gan

n a But bei g such , pagan means hum n ; it denotes what

a f i s typic l o mankind . The pagan world Offered some positive solutions of the old world - problem and Juda is n m criticized them . Judaism represe ts the spirit o f negation— albeit a much needed and wholesome nega tion . We grant that paganism contains many obj ectionable features and so the Jewish attitude o f negation is justi fi ed. o Paganism was weighed and f und wanting . Christianity then renewed the old issues but made them pass through the furnace of the Jewish condemnation of pagan mythology . The result w as that the same old beliefs were so thoroughly transfigured as to render them something quite new .

Christianity accepts the Old pagan world - conception et and y it is not a mere repetition of the old paganism . “ ” I f we call it paganism redivivus we do not mean to say that it rem ains on the same level of primitive ld . o superstitions It is the paganism, broadened into universalism and purified by a severe monotheism . The Old religion w as thereby liberated of its most obvious

of of a faults , of narrowness , crude literalism , n ive naturalism , and other childish notions . A 130 THE PLEROM .

The God o f evolution works by laws and the marvels of his dispensation can be traced in the natural develop ment of affairs . Just as the snowflake exhibits a design

a so denou of unfailing regularity and gre t beauty, the e ment of historical events takes place according to an

n n c c i trinsic e essity whi h gives it a definite direction, and when at the seasonable time definite aims are at — tained aims which have been prepared by preceding — events the result appears like the work o f a predeter It mi ned purpose . is an immanent teleology which ld domi nates the world . The o legends naturally appear like prophe cies which in Jesus Christ have found their

so o f as fulfilment , and we can truly speak Christianity the pleroma .

132 THE O A PLER M .

o as secular and purely human , in c ntrast with theolog ical truth as divine, but this conception is based upon

. of an error The truth science , i f it is genuine truth,

not is . i s made by man, it superhuman Scientific truths are not fashioned by scientists , they are discovered ,

a of and being the etern lities existence, they represent the divine thoughts that sway the world . Science is n a genui e revelation , and we may look upon it , to use theological language , as the revelation of the Holy

a Spirit . There is a gre t truth in the saying that all n si s may be forgiven , except the sin against the Holy f — . o a c or Spirit I f a portion mankind hurch a sect , — or individuals harden themselves against the light of

out science, i f they shut progress , i f they deny truth , they will necessarily stunt their individual and moral growth . Their souls will be crippled thereby, they will cut themselves off from the tree of li fe by refusing the ’ u a f g id nce o God s truth . But the question before us is whether it is an essen tial feature of Christianity to shut out the light o f

c nc s ie e , to repudiate progress , and refuse to learn from

’ the livi ng revelation of God s eternal truths . Christianity has adapted itself to new conditions again and again ; it has grown thereby and gradually

o developed into the religion that it is t day , and there

n so is no reaso to doubt that it will do again . The

an o f Christi ity the future will be broader, deeper, and more in accord with scientific truth . 133 THE FUTURE OF CHRI STIAN ITY .

It is true enough that the confessions of faith made

a in former centuries are antiqu ted , but they must be regarded as historical documents ; they were good for

w a their time, but must make y for a more scientific

a who comprehension . We grant the cl im of those cling

old o f n to the manner thi king, that a scientific compre hension is not Christi anity as it was originally under it n stood , that is somethi g entirely new which in many respects destroys the childlike spirit o f a literal belief . But did not the God o f Christi anity himself proclaim “ ” Lo , I make all things new

old We, who have passed from the to the new , some

c old b times be ome homesick for the , comfortable elief

so a when man was e sily satisfied with the symbol , with the a par ble, with a poetical figure and a pious senti

n r me t . Even the remembrance of those days has e

to . mained dear us Goethe , who experienced this change of mind himself , has repeatedly described this attitude in glowing terms . Faust , on hearing the

n o f Easter bells proclaimi g the resurrection Christ ,

of o f thinks the faith his childhood , and he regrets that the message has no longer a meaning for him since his belief is gone . Yet the vision of the faith of his f earlier days haunts him . He thinks o his unbounded ’ o- f n trust in God s eternal love, seeki g communion with Him in solitude and of the unspeakable rapture of fervent prayer

“ nd in t war brunsti er G nus s U e G ebe g e . TH E OMA 134 PLER .

I f the belief in the dogma is gone, shall we at the same time discard that religious sentiment which has been so important a guide to mankind in former cen turies ? I s that rapturous devotion that thrills the indi vidual and adj usts his relation to the cosmos really a

a fant stic illusion , of which we must rid ourselves in future ? Christianity has been the sacred vessel in which the noble sentiments of religion h ave been treasured ; and will not the contents be spilled i f the cup be broken ? Does the br eakdown of dogmatism really forebode the end of religion ?

n F . . Gu au A promine t rench scholar , M J y , has writ a a ten book which created sensation , and its tenets have been adopted by innumerable freethinkers the i “ I th world over . It s entitled The rreligion of e Fu ture n , and Guya claims in it that , in ages to come ,

a n for m nki d will be without any religion , science will have destroyed the strongholds o f the Old faith one after another until nothing is left and the formulae of natural law will rule supreme . H is views seem quite plausible to those who h ave grown up in a country where people have o nly the choice between the irrecon cilable - a n one contrast of ultra mont nism o the hand , a d l n ibres ens eurs . the p on the other I n France , people

“ w ho so hold a middle ground are rare , that during the last hal f century they have played no prominent part s in public li fe . In Protestant countries condition are ff di erent . The large majorities do not favor either

O A 136 THE PLER M .

o a spring fr m the very orthodox r nks , which , bye and

n a n o f sci bye , will u hesit tingly recog ize all the truth ence and reinterpret the old in the Spirit o f the new . They will retain all the good of their traditions without making the slightest concession to either hypocrisy or

o of equivocati n , and without sacrificing the upli ft gen n of ine devotion . In a word, the future religion will

o f a be a reinterpretation the old , and it i s n tural that all religions will convergingly tend towards the same goaL A XX CH PTER .

I IO A REL G N ETERN L.

T H E F R UTU E .

HE REL IGION o f the future will have to satisfy f the essential needs o the human heart . We dri ft

- on of tempest tossed the ocean li fe , and we need guid

an o f ance and comfort d encouragement . I n the face

a the unrest that surrounds us, we want to h ve the assurance o f a firm grou nd wherein our anchor can

ur in catch . We want to know o goal and the direction which we have to steer . All this must be supplied by

our f religion , and where knowledge is insu ficient, faith steps in . Religion is inborn in every soul in the same way as i gravity is an inal enable part of all matter . Every particle that exists is interlinked with the whole o f the cosmos . Its momentum is determined in the exact pro

o f of portion of its weight , its position , and generally

of its relation to the All . The innate energy every

y particle , ever molecule, every atom, presses forth i n one direction or another beyond its ow n limits as i f it

were yearning beyond itsel f . No piece of matter is an existence in itself ; its nature and its movements are conditioned by the rest o f the universe and it can find h f i t e fulfilment o its long ng only outside its ow n being . o In the same way, every sentient soul yearns bey nd 138 E O A THE PL R M . itself and becomes easily conscious of the fact that it is

of only a part an immeasurably great whole, of the All infinitudes that stretches forth into unknown , and that the significance o f its life lies outside the sphere o f its

- e o . of a g This All feeling the individu l , this panpathy , is religion , and religion is a natural presence in every human breast . Religion grows up in unconscious spontaneity and asserts itself first in sentiment . It is so strong that it may be counted as the deepest passion of which man is capable . It is possessed of a motive power that excels all other passions, even love not excepted , and

“ can , i f misdirected , lead to deeds that would otherwise

of to be impossible, such as sacrifice what is dearest

o f the heart , even the bodily sacrifice oneself or of ’ one s ow n children on the altar o f a deity who is believed to demand such Offerings .

But religion is not merely feeling . Religion enters ’ into every fibre of man s Spiritual existence, and throughout the development o f human actions it re mains the factor that adjusts the relation Oi the indi

a vidu l to the All . It grows and matures with the out o f growth and maturity of man . I t weaves his

experiences a world - conception in which it appoints

his his ce him to place , assigns duties and furnishes dir

for c -n tion his o duct. Religion teaches us that we are parts only of a great wh l N ot is o e . We are not alone in the world . only our bodily existence at every moment determined by its

E E MA 140 TH PL RO .

of . The function religion, however, goes deeper still

This entire world is the actualization of eternal types . It develops according to law and brings into existence

those possibilities which, in philosophy, are called Pla

. n man tonic Ideas Accordi gly , is not a mere congeries o f a o atoms , he is more th n a corp real conglomeration

is of of O f matter, he the actualization the type his personality ; his essential and characteristic be ing con

sists in the ideas he thinks, in the aims he pursues, and i n the significa nce which he possesses for the whole f movement o human li fe . I n every one of us there is something eternal that

has made its appearance in corporeal and visible Shape, and no thi nking man will identi fy himsel f with the dust of his body ; he will seek his real being in his — in volitions , his aims , his ideals all that constitutes

his spiritual nature . Religion reminds us of the eternal background against which the fleeting phenomena of the material ’ of world take shape . The eternal man s life is the essential part of his being transfiguring the transient l i n which it is actua ized .

M an is not born a philosopher . He grows up from primitive conditions and i s compelled to act and adj ust

his conduct even before he knows the world or himself .

so And religion , which , as we have seen , animates his entire being and unconsciously dominates all his senti

o o of his to ments from the very b tt m heart , comes him I I T A 141 REL G ON E ERN L.

in the shape of allegories and symbols . He feels relig it doctrines and ion before he formulates in , the first doctrines are naturally mere formulations o f the sym bols wherein truth first dawns upon him . But the

man higher rises, the better he understands how to n bo disti guish between sym l and truth, between letter

a a n . and spirit, between the p r ble and its meani g In

a l n the dogmatic st te we were ike childre , nursed with fairy tales and parables ; but in manhood we Shall s ee the truth face to face and Shall have a clear and une f quivocal comprehension o it . of c n That faith the future whi h we k ow must come , will certainly not be less religious than its former

o f phases . It will be simply the fulfilment the present which we then Shall regard as mere preparations for it, — as mere stations on the road to the goal the new

- to . pleroma, the pleroma expected day

>l< >l< = l<

We are aware that Christianity is not the only relig ion in its the world , and rivals , from their standpoint , have made honest endeavors to reach the truth in their f ow n ways . In every part o the world man has used hi the light at s disposal . In consideration of this fact we can no longer look upon one religion as possessing

as the absolute truth , and upon all others inventions

o f of Satan . We know that all them possess more or

not one less of the truth and that of them is perfect. We do not wish to be misunderstood ; we do not 142 O A THE PLER M . say that all religions are alike ; we only say that all travel toward the same goal ; they have reached differ

a ent stations and are more or less adv nced . The

nearer to truth , to the living truth that teaches the f o . right way living, the higher they are There is a stage of development in which we lose the desire to glori fy our ow n religion at the expense o f others ; and we look with a smile upon the anxiety o f the sectarian who magnifies the merit of his ow n sect n and delights in defami g others , although he does it in maiorem D ei g loriana i n the hope of thus pleasing

is the deity whom he serves . There a higher ideal f own . than our church a filiation It i s truth, and the

G od is our of truth higher than our God , higher than f limited conception o deity . We learn more and more to give honor to the truth

of wherever it may be found , and under the influence this sentiment a brotherly feeling has originated which

a 18 gave birth to the Religious P rliament in 93, in which i even the most orthodox churches took part . It s an actual instance wherein representatives of all the great faiths o f the world came together in tolerance and kind

. his to ness Every one came to explain own faith, not disparage that o f others ; nor was there any intention to break down or to replace the old traditions by a new r eligion .

The new, when it comes , will have to develop from the old , and it will practically have to be the old in a

A 144 THE PLEROM .

Let us all j oin in the work of extending true re u li ion. o r n g Let us greet , not only brethre , but also

a and those who , in sincerity , dis gree with us , let us thus prepare a home in our hearts for truth , love and c a a n of a n as h rity , so th t the ki gdom he ve , which is nea r at hand to - day as it was nineteen hu ndred years a o an n g , may m ifest itself withi us , and become more and more the reformatory power of our public and private li fe . LL A E AL EA NG CO T R R DI .

A G S A ARTICLE S ON SUBJ ECT S REL TIN G TO THE ORI IN OF CHRI TI NITY .

D R A A S BY . P UL C RU .

L I — O e ourt XXII 291 G S SI ES U S . n C AN ELU p , N D H R T —O en our t X V A S A C S C 65. NUBI , SETH , I p , A — O e our t 7 P C P A OLD EST M EN T . n C IX 4 00 A O RY H OF THE T p , , . — ASS YRI A N POEM S ON THE I H MORTALITY OF THE SOUL Open C ur t I X 7 o X 10 . , ,

EH AI ’ M CH CAGO — O en C ourt XX 755 A S : B S . B BI M IN I p , , ’ A A AN D W V W S A S A A A B BYLONI N HEBRE IE ON M N F TE FTER DE TH .

- n ur t X 346 e o V . Op C , ,

N — O en urt X A A O . S C o V 436 . B BYLONI N MYTH , PROF . TIELE p , ustrat d — O en our t XXI 44 D O S . I p C , 9 BRI E F CHRI T, THE ll e — ur t II 1 1 AA A T H E O en Co X V 5 . C B , p , A S A N D A C ORS H P — O en Cour t X VII 6 11 CH TITY PH LLI W I p , , . — O en our t XX II S AN D S A N C 110. CHRI T CHRI TI p , ST ID AL A N D OLD AGE T H E — O en C ourt XXII CHRI E THE G EN , p ,

328 .

S A C P A T H E — O en Cour t XI 752 CHRI TI N CON E TION OF DE TH , p , , .

' S A C OE S R C T H E — M oms ! X V 115 CHRI TI N DO TRINE RE UR E TION , , . P 7r —M oni t X S A O C U I N . s VI 415. CHRI TI N PR HE Y, THE N MBER , S A A T H E — O en Cour t XX 360 CHRI TI N SUND Y , p , S A R M —M ni X 120 A s LE O A . o s t IV CHRI TI NITY THE P , — A A TO. n our 7 S S S G S O e C t XX 55. CHRI TI NITY, ME E OF BUDDHI M p , CON CE PTION OF THE S OUL AN D BELIEF IN RES URRECTION A MONG YPT A — oni s X 409 G N S . M t V . THE E I , — n o 7 O e urt III 20 5. S A . C CREED, THE REVI ION OF p , — t A C S A H O en C our XII 40. D N E OF DE T p , A A N D S C N — O en Court XIII 495 DE TH RE URRE TIO p , . D A N D A K A P A F A S A S O . E TH THE DE D, THE S ELETON RE RE ENT TION M oni s t XXII 6 2 , 0.

AR — e u X 78 A G S E O n Co rt I 6 . DE TH IN RELI IOU p , A P S A OF —O en ourt XII 101 S . C DE TH , MODERN RE RE ENT TION p , . * R e publis h ed in book f orm . 146 O LA A A I C L TER L RE D NG.

C I S R C AN D ITS G N CA CE TH E N EW DO TR NE OF RE UR E TION , SI IFI N IN — S A TH E O e n C ourt I X 4738. CHRI TI NITY , p , , G A —O ) en ourt XI 8 . C 5. DO M OF THE TRINITY ! , ’ G A G S A G A C A N D GG DO M , THE CLER Y DUTY OF LLE I N E TO, THE STRU LE — ' W R - M ouzs t I 278 C P S . I . BET EEN WO LD CON E TION , AS — Oben our t X VI S A VC S . C E TER , THE FE TIV L OF LIFE I TORIOU , , , 193 . — I SC A G S A ARE O en C our t X 401. E H TOLO Y IN CHRI TI N p ,

' A - — m A TH E M o s t XI 405 500. F IRY T LE ELEMENT IN THE BIBLE, , , ' — ms t X 4 343 O A N D AC A TH E M o 2 6 . FO D OF LIFE THE S R MENT, , , — i I S C S I TS A S A . M 0 n 5t VII GNO TI I M IN REL TION TO CHRI TI NITY ,

' — m t X G OD S SA A N D . s I 6 SC SS M o 10 . , E Y ON , DI U ION ,

' K A —M oms t XI S S A PA A S . GREE MY TERIE , PRE R TION FOR CHRI TI NITY , 87 . — m K G AN D G A C S ON . O GREE RELI ION MYTHOLO Y , T HREE RTI LE p u t I 513 577 41 705 X V1 Co r X V 6 . , , , , , ; ,

' ’ — m t I 598 K M o s I . A C S S . H E EL MONI M , ’ I A OD N D ' A A C K S S A N D S G A I . H E EL MONI M , THE DE OF M MORT LITY — 7 n ourt V295 . Op e C ,

’ ' K A S C A A CE —M aw s t X VI 120 A C S S . H E EL S T HE E FOR MONI TI LLI N , —O en our XX 2 AR P R S . C t 2 0. H MONY OF THE S HE E p , ’ — ouis I 733 H . M t X H C K A G I V . OLY EDI T OF N , ' A —M oms I . X 6 7 W AN D AR S t 2 . JE GENTILE IN E LY CHRI TI NITY , ’ — S A THE O en C ourt X1] 491. LORD PR YER, p ,

AZ A S G A C S A S - O en M D I M , THE RELI ION OF THE N IENT PER I N p ourt XI 41 C , 1 . ’ P E — en ourt VII MES H A S C A A O I C O C X 6 62. DE L R TI N OF NDE ENDEN p , — MITHRA I S M A N D IT S I NFLUEN CE U PON CHRI STIA NITY Op en 4 ourt X VII 1 . C , 0

—M on X VII 75- 10 S C S I N . . . MY TI I M , TRUTH ,

— urt 39 - 2 A OF O eu C o III 20 040. S C S V . MY TI I M , LUE p , e ubl s e in omil es o c ence ( R p i h d H i f S i . ) ’ - — A A S O ert C ourt X VIII 563. N R N SIN STELE p , — n ur II 7 XI 6 A TH e o t X I 10 V4 . N E Op C , ; , TIVITY, Ox AN D ASS I S A S A TH E—O en THE IN LLU TR TION OF THE N TIVITY , p ourt 4 C XI V 6 . , , PAGA L S O S A AN D S G CA C OF N E —EMENT F CHRI TI NITY THE I NIFI N E S S M oun t X1] 416 . JE U ,

ND EX I .

A ella p t e e 105. A , h J w, A 111 pocrypha . ,

A erra on s e g ous 5. b ti , r li i , A of pollonius Tyana 5. ,

A 8 5. biram , A pollos 111. , A 84 braham , . A 8 . ristotle , A A S cts of the postles , imon A S 59 ryans , emitic , ; were David M agus , hili and eter in P p P , ? 87 114f and Jesus . 43 47 , the , . , A scension of Chr st 51 A a li z a ti on s i , . of eternal type , fig A of a sceticism , manich eism , ’ 42 E A to 39 ; Of the ssenes 46 . dam , snake s promise , , , A sia Minor , 38, 4 5. A donis , 16 , 29 , 128 . A s a , presen tendency to A 51. dvent Of Jesus , second , i tic t extol the , 8 . Z E s cul a p ius , and the serpent 39 di s cred A spirat ons spring rom past i n symbol of healing , ; i f i te d 128 139 as a saviour , . heritance , our noblest , . A A 17. 49 . hriman , ssurbanipal , A A ura. Ma da , 17 . ssyrians , defea Of t e 91 h z t h , .

A exander e rea and he a d A A e - l th G t t ugustan g , world conception 27 justment of state religions , ; of the 4 . W , illiam the Conqueror and , A S t. 29 ugustine , quoted on the . definition Christianity 20 O , f , A ll inter - rela on of the ndi , 4 ti i 6 . v dua and th e, 138ff . i l A us us al ed a savi our 22 f , , A s truth t c l , llegor e and symbo s , ug i l 8 . 140 dawns in , f , ’ A uthor s us e of th e erm All e el in true n a “ t s g ifi nce of , - g , i c pagan 7 8 . l ég A 62 ztecs , . A lliance between Christianity and Judaism , nature of the , 124 . A a 6 2 meric n Indians , primitive , .

An 47. anias , 86 Baal , . A ncestry , of Christian thought . Ba ylon Christian ty prepared 8 Of foreign nations 130 f of b , i ; , ; 49 in , ; monotheistic tendencies 112. Jesus , according to Paul , in , 83 9 0 . , A ncient ellas in fluen e of H , c 15 Babylonian , c a l e n d a r , ; E astern rel gion on 27. ‘ i , hymns , 38 heroes miraculous ; , n e A nointed O , t e , not by h Of , 49 51 birth ; inscriptions , ; 113 f . descent , but by grace , hero the Jesus O f the Reve , A S 74 immor ntichrist , imonian founder lation a , ; poem on

44 tality , 107. called . , of A ntiquated on ess ons of a th Basis he religion O Judea , c f i f i , t f 93f h storical value of 133. . i , e h i m A , 9 B a s new relig on of ers a ntiquity what w e owe to , ; , i P i

of 48 54 111. religions classical , , .

Ann 18 . B el h 18 6 4 77 , , the C rist , , , . I X 150 NDE .

i n G od n Belief the traditional Celestials , and the drago discredited after A lexander ’ s 6 9 of the Revelations . , 2 conquest , 7. Celsus 44 . ,

Benjam n erritory of 88 . i , t , Chauvinistic tribal patriotism of

6 9 . 9 7. Bethlehem , the Jews ,

Bi l cal sources and the istory C h eri th i tes 87. b i , h , 8 of Judah 8 . , Childlike faith and scientific Blasphemy ts ori i na l mean 132 , i g comprehension , f .

ing 21. , 83 y Chosen people , the , ; ever 38 ; 9 6 s i nifi Bodhi , the and Christhood , nation , ; moral g 56 57 of 102 and gnosis . . ; , cance the idea ; why o re ected y G d 106 . j b , Bodhisattva , potentiality Of the

Bodhi , 56 . 1 Or Christ , all things in , ; as p h e us 29 ; the psychical and B oo k o th e D ea d the 14 . , f , , t the S piri ual , 39 ; was a N aza Boo , the , Of enoch 6 1 ; f k H , O 45 49 rene , ; as the Pleroma , f ; 93 . Laws , f pagan saviours and 52 S t . , ; ' ra ma , 18 ; den t fied in all of 6 9 B h i i Paul s conception , ; pre things , l 24i . s s r d e c e o s of , 76 the risen 80 ; — ; , world mission of 115 the Breakdown Of dogmatism not , ; ogos the S aviour of man 134 . , the end Of religion , the , L ind 120 . 18 k , Buddha , ; Christian char 76 Christhood acquired by Jesus , acter Of , ; descent Of Jesus 55 eternal 56 . ; , and of , 114 .

- Christian eremonies pagan Budd a once ion e c imax c , h c pt , th l orig n of 10 doctr nes pre i , ; i Of orienta oug t , 57. l th h 41 E ra served by critics , ; , ten B i dh i s m no contrad tion in gg , ic , d en ci e s at the beginning o f the 47 6 1 typical features , , , ; 38 40 79 a o Buddhist , the bodhi , , ; ; documents remolded

7 6 . cz di n moral injunctions, g to prevalent ideas , l gg

Christianity , Biblical reports Of

its origin , 1; predetermined by existing spiritual condi s o - ca i l e d tions 2 traditional and cur Calamities two great , ; , f 2f 9 9f . rent views o its orig n , ; Jewish , i of 3 ; Calculus and C r st anity pre a grandchild paganism , h i i , or of ? f Paul , Jesus , founder requisites O 6 6 f . , 3f ; the religion of the lowly , ] Calves Of Dan and Bethe , 5- 6 ; pagan traditions fused on 86 the , of 8 the background Judaism , ; 20 23 S t. A ; Ca vin . defined by ugustine , l ’ A c on o n helped by lexander s Cambridge Codex , quoted quest of A sia 31; ascetic , 5. the Holy G host , 5 tendencies of 42 in fl uenced , ; e m Canaanit wo an , the , Z 45 by the abian movement , ; Jesus 115. , f 4 gnosticism the mother o , 8 ; r on o R ea s a n Vi tu e G f on d r prepared among th e entiles , qé 59f 6 3 came to fulfill ; not ; , a revamped paganism 6 4 ; in Catacombs of Rome contain , , i a n - the struggle for supremacy y pre Christian symbols , gg 79 ; connection of Judaism 81 and , ; due to Jewish per Categor es and re igion 6 5. i l , sistence 9 8 ; significance of Catholic theolo y and the man the dispe, rsion of the Jews for g , god redeemer 6 3 faith Jew 101 the historical Jesus and , ; , ; , in 120 ish and heathen faiths modern , ; like a composite

6 6 . 123 cluded in , photograph , ; pagan char

X 152 I NDE .

uso e L e Ecc es as a H s o y , E De Wette , Wilh lm Martin l i tic l i t r ’ b er ec h t 9 4 . n 45. , bi s , 18 T arma he . E 38 Dh , t gypt , ; Philo and the hera pentes in 4 5 monotheism in 6 5. , ; , Dialectic , 8 3 9 0 , . D i a s or a a misleading name, p , E 9 9 101 ) . gyptians prayers and hymns , ; ( see Dispersion , of the 14f despoiled y D i e K ei li ns ch r i ften und das a lte , ; b sraelites at the command of s e . T e ta m nt, 4 9 I 84 Yahveh , . 28 29 56 . Dionysos , , ,

E lephantine 106 . of , Dispersion the Jews , Mes

of 6 1 E G 28 . siah the , ; important to leusis , reek mysteries at ,

Christ anity 81, 9 9 rofs . i , ; E 86 P lijah and Yahveh , . S ayce and G raetz quoted on E 102 ) . f V ll er s lohim , ( see Yahveh the 9 9 K arl o quoted , , ;

10 1 o f 101 Ephesians Epistle to the 1. ; real problem , ; true , , 103 cause of , ; all nations scat E 85 phod , the , . ter 103ff . , E pictetus 5 10 53. , , ,

ivinity of the Mosaic law , 118 . D E i ha ni us 40 p p , , 46 . Doctrines , Persian and Baby E piscopal theologians 6 7f . lon i a n 46 , , . E pistle to the e rews the D H b , ocuments remolded , Chris Holy G host and Christhood tian 128 . ,

” 56 . D according to the , ogs and swine , Jewish E ra e b e G 116 . C ristian , manich ism epithets for entiles , , h longs to the 42 prepared b e , ; D os ith eu s , 43. low the surface o f events 6 8 ; , Dove , the . as the spiritual G entiles and Jews at th e b e Christ , 39 . f O 83. o f ginning the , Dragon , the , as the principle e m ] in P arseeism 39 of the E ros and syche , and he doc , ; P t

Revelat on of S t . John 6 9 . o f 28 i , trine immortality , ; and S G 29 . Dread lullaby at the cradle of the ood hepherd , 1 0 the Jewish nation 0 . E , sdras , 11. o f a Drift the age , Manich eism E soteric doctrine monotheism ,

and the 4 2. , as an 83. , D of ualism , in the beginning the E 44 46 ssenes . , ,

Christian era , 10 ; a necessary E of 143. 59 ssential parts religion , religious phase , . E ternal , the , Buddha and Christ 9 . Dualistic Christianity , as 56 ; C hrist as the type of uality resolved into a higher , , D 121; background of the ma unity , 59 . t e ri a l world 140 . , E f 2 o 13 . ternalities existence , E C thics , lofty hristian equally , characteristic of pagan phil

osophy 76 . ,

E thnic faiths 6 5. ,

E aster the Ba ylonian , 15 , b E th I O IOg i ca l genesis of Judah , customs in S yria and Tyre , SSI

16 a T eutonic word 17 . ; , E truria , 18 . 3 E aster ells and F aust, 13 . b E tymology , tracing kinship by , E ionites , 44 47 . , b 87. 1 E 4 . c atana , E - 17 b , ucharist pre Christian , ; E' cclesiastic history of the spirit and mode of its celebra - S G 126 . un 24 pread of the ospel , tion , absolutel y Jewish , . X 153 I NDE .

o f F uture the , C hristiani ty of E , , uphrates , founder of sect

the N a a s ae a ns , 38 . 132f ; i nh e r . ts the past , 143. E 28 urydice . , 3 45 46 E 4 . usebius , , ,

E vents elow the surface of , , b

6 8 .

Evolution of Christianity 130 . , G alatians 1. ,

Exaltation of C rist 51. G 114 h , alilean , Jesus a , ; fisher 19 E ol 1 . xegetics , altered texts a stum f k , l i 7f ling loc for , 123 b b k , Galton , . ' f Exue Jews o the 6 0 95. , , , G 56 autama and Christhood , , Existence originates through

59 . th e contrast Of dual y, o it G enealogy , f the gods 27 f , ; O

112. Jesus , Mary, and Joseph , 3 Gentile spirit of Christianity , ; P 4 Church founded by aul , ;

pagans i . e . . nations utside , O

F acts of history 11, 4 8 ; funda 7 , Judaism , ; hostility to the of 6 6 mental , life , . 22 i mmor Jews , ; Saviour and

F of tal ty l o8f . aith , kin and constitution i ,

ne w 4 . the , G eography and the source of Faithful and rue Revelations ) 12 f T ( , Christianity 5 . , 73 . G - host citing , an abomination F a ir , the tur aned , as a rep 108 k b to the exilic Jew , . r e nta ti s e ve of spir tuality 9 . i , i l a mos K 49 G ing , . g ,

Fa ls ifi ca ti on of history 45. , G 38 39 - 42 nosis , , ; pre Christian , , F atal elief in self - importance , b 45. w ’ the Je s 9 7. , G nostic sects in the A ug ustan Fatherhood supernatural pagan , , age , 4 . f types o 56 . , G nosticism antedates Chris ian l , t F a ns . Vi o - Prof , Michael g g , ity 5 43 non Christian 41 , , ; , ;

57. a fusion of pagan religions 47. ,

F aust and the Easter ells 133. , b G od , personal interference of, 2; F 1 8 i n co ni to 13 as he ogos 3 . g , ; , eeling , religion not merely , t L univ ersal doctr n e of 19 as F i , ; 45. elix , Paul accused before , the demiurge , 4 0 ; incarna “ F irstling t e Christ as lead , , I h tions in srael , 4 3, 4 4 ; con

er 20 . , c e p ti on of the Jews of the

- 1 F s exile , 0 2 ; as father , and as olk oul , the subconscious 22 7 son , 1 ; of E volution t e realms of , . , h , 130 ; is eternal love not H , F ormative presences Jesus and , lost in scientific truth 133f . ,

Buddha 57f . , G 133 oethe , , F ourt ospe narrative of h G l G olden A g e Roman 22 ho ed ’ , ; h 8 , p C ist s l e , 0 ; least bistor r if i for return of the 23. , cal , 120 . ood F iday , Ba ylon an 1 F ul 6 3 G r b i , fil , Chr s iani y comes to , . S 16 i t t . Israelitic and yrian , “ F b e 118 . ulfilled , Till all , G ood for evil , pagan sentiment of F returning 76 . undamental needs and aspira , 6 3 tions of man , . G oodness , requite hatred with .

F a 78 ( see ao tse . urnace of tribulation , Jud ism L ) h t e 95. in . G 74 ospel , as we know it , the

F ta 41. u 119 . k , based on facts , 154 I X NDE .

G rae co - R o m a n m y t o l o g y a o h Historic l c nnection , between olytheistic paganism of 25 G p , reek mysteries and Christian l i th r s 59 a and , repudiated , doctrine 29 E piscopal clergy , ; gg 6 8 ° men and the love of, in accounts of avid 8 7f G , , raetz , Dr . Leo , quoted on the D n 100 of Jesus a d Christolog y , 120 . Dispersion , . 47 Historicity o f spec al re e a Greece , doctrines studied in , . i v l tion 6 2. , Greek mysteries , doctrine of 28 History strongly colored by immortality in , ; Heracles 11 Christology 9 . an example to youths , 52f ; , Christian characters o f phil H i s t r o th e P e le o o y f op f I s ra e l,

os op h e r s , 7 6 . 8 6 . F ri r G un el , Joh . e d . Hermann , A 88 k Hither sia , .

6 9 . “ Hodge podge of orthodoxy , a , G ut r e Rev . . N . 54. h i , W , 6 5.

uyan, M a rie ean , 134 . of 5 4 . G J Holiness monks , the , H cly G host original meaning , ,

g5. H S 132 Holy pirit , sin against the , . H or A 14 , the venger , . of M az Haoma , e hol y drin 105 th k Horace , . i s m da 17. , o de I Horation , nteg e r vi ta e A Harnac , rof . dolph , quoted s c e ler zs k P que u rus 28 29 . p , , n f i h i s m o n the origi o M a n c m , orus 18 , 56 . H , 85 86 a l a nd Hosea , the prophet , , . Harun Rashid Thor , 13 Hostility , religious , based u on similar stories of, . p rivalry , 42; Of Judaism to a ves of our opes , the f u H r t h 82 paganism , ; between David ture is t e 139 . h , 8 and S aul 7. , Hatred wit goodness , requite , h Human need of comfor and ( ao Tse ) 7 8 . t L 6 2 hope universal . , , H a w k es w orth , Re . A lan S 6 2 v , 9 3 . 6 4 6 7 Hygeia , the snake sacred to , , .

ymns Ba ylonian 38 . e rew scriptures 41 81 every H , b , H b , , , ;

t 104 ypatia 5. man at hear a , ; lang uage H , f lacks the female form o the of Hyperborean race , religion a , G o d 109 word , . 6 2 .

88 . He ron , H b ol tus 44. y p p y ,

egelian logic 6 5. H , H e li a nd , th e, 9 .

Hellas 38 .

Hellenistic period , the prepara

I a lda ba oth 39 . tory stage of th e new r e , i n lig o , 27. I cons in Christian churches 110 . , 2 Heracles , and S amson , 5 ; an Ideals , Christ , Heracles , Bud ideal hero 54 ideal ed 57 ; , ; , d h a as l ving 58 relig ous iz , i , ; i f 2 discredited , tales o , 1 8 . traditions and subconscious , 1 T ri s m e i s tos 5 19 28 . ermes g , . H ,

deali ation process o 49 . of , Hero characteristics the I z , f

sav our 52. i , Ideas , typically Christian , pagan r K a of A s parallels fo 19 . Hezekiah , ing , a vass l ,

syria , 9 1. o Identification f Marduk , Yah

85. e and Christ , 49 . Hiel , v h ,

I X 156 NDE .

m Jonah and the resurrection idea , Ii l os h G od of , t e Moa ites gf h b ,

Joseph and Mary o the Reve K Of K 73 f ing ings , . i la t on s 6 9 . , K ing S argon I 49 . , Josephus mentions the E s K inship of elief in T hor and 46 b senes , , Chr st , 9 of gnostic s e cts 46 . i ; , 9 4 . Josiah , laws of , K 57 . f rishna the deified , Jot and tittle meanin g o , K r 11 y i e E lei s on , the litany of 6 .

pagan soothsayers 10 . - , Judah Israel . tribe Of David , the founders Of 88 ; witches ,

exte r minated in , 9 4 .

Judaism , less dual - stio than L either paganism or Christian 10 C ity . ; scarcely a hristian am the lood of 71; mar doctrine can be reconciled L b , , b , r i a f 73 e supper o . g , with , 23; the mother of Chris

t i a ni t 48 r 50 . y , supe seded y , b Lamentations, Lord of the , C t 6 3f hris ianity . ; its history , L a o tse 78 . , 8 3 ; the development Of Chris L avr i n istory 58 of Moses , i n i , ; t a ty and 84 ; date of irth , h , b i oz 9 0 ; a progress and a contra c

9 6 m onoth e 78 . tion , ; premature Legend of Merodach , ism 10 1 ; true root of its , L e o 4 1. the Great , Pope , tenacity , 103 ; supposed secret truths of 105 its aversion to teral elief in the do g ma o , ; Li b f

oly G host and virg n irth , ghosts and belief in i m m or g i b tality , 108 ; not the only i n flue nce in the moldi n g o f Living ideal is a potent factor 125f Christianity , represents 8 ; in history , a , 5 . 1 9 ne ation 2 . g , f 20 o 1 . Logia , Jesus , the , udaism and Christianity , tra J G od or 19 ; Logos , as the word , di ti ona l ‘ view of their relation . uncreate and witho ut end , 2ff ; mutual version 11 a , ; Christ as the 121. religion of Jesus the connect , ’ 12 ord s S upper , the , of pro a le ing link between , ; and th e L b b o P ersian or g n 18 an a om S o n M unt 116 i i , ; ermon the , ; b i na ti on closely interlinked yet the two to ancient Judaism , 23 ; supposed to have een i n anathematized each other , b P st tuted y S t . aul 24 Cal 124 , ; . i b vin and Luther ’ s interpreta Ju d ea ancient , c a tivitv of , , p tion 23f . 9 1 inevitable downfall of , - i h 9 3 9 9 . oving indness , uddh st , no longer Jewish , L k B i

S 77. 8 junction to how , Judea i s 8 . , 2 5 . Judge , Christ as ,

A 5. Julian the postate , M

Juno 18 . ,

Jupiter , 18 . ’ Magyar s o e the 126 . j k , , Justin Martyr 44. , o 111 Mahdi r saviour . , , 86 Manasseh , .

Manda 38 . ,

Mand aeans , 4 , 38 79 . ,

K al e 88 . of a b , Mani , founder manich eism , 41 K a th a Up a ni s h a d , th e 15. . 80 Man ch aeans 4 41 79 , . K 41. . , , essler Dr . Hans , i I X 157 NDE .

of o o s Mansions our souls , future , Monop ly, religi u , in Israel ,

139 . 9 1.

Marcus A urelius 5 10 . c on , , Monotheism only point of , 15 tact between Christians a nd Mardu as a saviour god , , k 11 of T r i r 4 9 50 Jews , ; doctrine the , . ity incompati le W ith Jewish , 23 b Martin Luther , . 23 38 ; Persian , ; and Yahveh .

Martyr death of Jesus , 79 . 88 ; monomania o f the Jews of the E xile 9 5 the Jews a fit , ; Mary of the Revelations , 6 9 ; f vessel o , 9 7 ; J udaism and , mother of Jesus , genealogy of , 112 l o1f ; the Jews represented a . 105 rigorous , ; venerable poets Mason c lodges and Mithraism , f i o 110 . ,

8 0 . Monotheist c paganism 8 2f m z da i , y a , Mass , the Persian the not 85 e ancient Israel , ; t nden H 18 . ebrew Mazza , and the , E 9 0 cies in gypt and Ba ylon , Maya the Buddh s irgin b , , i t V Mosaic law regarded y aul M , b P 56 . ary , as temporary 24 ar aric 84 , ; b b , ; 17 38 . ( S ee 117 Mazdaism , , Zoras . fulfilled ,

ti a n i s m . ) Moses , religion of 2 and the , ;

M ode s and ers ans, 59 . 84 P i Yahveh cult , ; a patriotic 85 of 87 sraelite marriage . Mediator idea of a divine , in , ; ; , I

f 102. 111. narrowness of the law o Mohammedan countries, , s 111 Moslem un tarian . M iums Biblical spiritualist , , i , , eg7 . Mount ore 84. H b , M elk a rth o S a m Z h e h enician . a , t P Mt ion , the national sanctu ry 16 son . 9 1. , of Yahveh , in Israel ,

Menander , 43. 9 5 . Multiplicity in unity ,

Mesopotamia 38 4 5. a z a , , M y d , the consecrated cake ,

the resurrection ody 17. not , Messiah , original meaning b 21 4 3 saviour , ; in srael , ; Mystic formula of the cycle and I , when translated into Christ , the Greek letter m 72; cross

6 1. of Jesus the 80 . , ,

Mess ahship by grace , not y si i b Mystery , the isper on misin ’ D

l 13f . descent , Jesus claim of , t er re t ed as a 99 f the Jews p , ; ’ i surrounded y 105. M h a l h ous e od , , and David s g , b goS Myth , the S amson and e racles H , 52f S t ; Jesus not a , 119 . Michael , . and the dragon , ,

7 1. ( S ee Revelation . ) Mythology , S imilar religious leg

6 0 ends Of , 13 ; O f the several P . H . 18 . Mills , rof Lawrence , , nations unified 27 of the rev , ; Minerva 18 . ( M enrva . ) , 6 9 o f elation of S t . John , 74 , ;

Mithras and C rist , 17 , 6 1, 6 2. h ancient paganism , 82; finally 2 M iracles psychical power o f discredited , 1 8 . , 9 Christ to perform , 3 f ; and the preservation of Jerusalem 9 2.

Mithraism , 5, 6 79 . , m h e 131 K h e os G od a vet religious . Moabites , , of the , N i , 4 8 . n th e e oti s Natio alism of Jews , g

a d tic 83 9 6 . Mohammed expected second , , ‘ ven 0 1 111. N 44ff azarenes . , Mon sm a solut on not an a o N i , i , b azareth as the birthplace of li i f 59 l 12i t on o . dualism Jesus . , ,

M a 10 45. 38 4 0 . onks , pag n , , Neander, . 158 I X NDE .

o our e - e g r , a eg o, 139 . O s ara t e goddess and Os te n N i hb lt r t , h , r N e O - 5 the G erman Easter 17 Platonism , ; as dualistic , h ri i a n h i los o p p , 10 ; Our ow n R e lig i on i n A n ci ent és as sfie L o os n hg a n v O g i , ; P e M 1113 w m ' 6 0 ti i ’ quoted, ’ c p a te d in ancien t. ran 59 I . ; gfi t eclec ic systems of , 6 7 ; in the struggl e for supremacy 79 , ;

psychology and ethics of 80 . , ’ P Nero s example overthrew b e li ef in the emperor ’ s divi nt y , ' a gan the author s use of the 1é , 8 . P n - term , as no Jewish 7 ; mod ew movement n rel g on will , N i i i ern use of the word 8ff ; spring from t e orthodox the , h , , saviours and Christian l 35f .

Christs . 52, 6 2 gods Jesus , ; , ew estament claim of Jesus n T , ot 80 N related to , ; mythology as th e son o f D avid 113 and , ; ns fi g ur ed in Christianity G g , he ospel of Mar 119 . Eg t k , N R e lig i on o th e utur e th e a n C f f , P ga ism , hristianity a grand ogi oi 3 ° child ancient , the teach of 5 7r ings stoics and idealized , ; Number , the notion of , in 15f no le trad tions o f pre - Chris antiquity , ; and the mystic b i m m s c r l tian 8 n ot o ti , 9 ts mu a , ; ; i of the Revelations , gg main features and mode of 13 growth , ; link between Christianity and 25 rise of a , ;

monistic , 8 2 ; Jewish obje c tion to 107 ; superseded y O , b Christianity in which it re 124 O appears , ; its claim to dium Of e uman race , th h 126 e 9 7 Christian sources , . Jews consider d the , .

P a a nus 6 6 . g , the natural man , Old Testament , utilized by

11 G F ri 38 . Christianity , ; ood Palestine , day Of the 16 octrine of the , ; D a1i s ho ar a ro . F a u sb ol ’ P c l , , P f , Lord s S upper con flicts with 57 23 the spirit of the , ; scholars ’ y anpath , prompt ngs of nat a gree regarding David s a h P i 138 . ce str 87 fl ural religion , y , ; its in uence on

124. arallel e ween Mi hras and Christianity , P b t t

Christ , 17 terms for saviour ; , p tes , 4 ; sna e wors ippers , O hi k h 22 B 38 ; t i ei r do trine of evil per ; conceptions of the uchar c 24 4é ist , ; between the snake , the se , rago n and the Brazen ser O 9 D riental the , of today , ; west o f 89 pent Moses , ; formations ern C ivil ation and customs iz in history 6 0 . ,

30 . Of . P arliament of Religions 142 . , f Orientalism , the Buddha con ’ P a r ous i a of 51. i f , Christ , t e , ce t on o 57 . h p a climax , P O O arseeism , the dragon symbol rient and ccident , idealizing

process in the 57 . , n C O 4 assio , of hr st , same dea in 4 . P i i rigen , Ba ylon and China , 50 ; of O 28 b rpheus , . i Jesus , 79 ; rel gion the deepest

O rphic and E le usinian mys human , 138 . 6 2 terles . - , P a s over , the Christian Jewish , 1% Orthodox Christian scholars . 6 1; meaning of the term in A mer 88 Patriarchal legend , 6 5. ica , a m i s s mna r a o Paul the postle , y 1 - i s 3 14 18 29 6 2 128 . tiv t of 4 . O iris , , , , , , y ,

16 I 0 NDEX .

ure eing and u e ot tru s , not u on s ng e e en s P " B P r N h th p i l v t

6 5. o r 120 137 ing, persons , ; inborn , ;

unct on of , 140 ; a hurc uni , of Puritanism its conception f i c h‘ versal of the future 143t . 6 3. , Christianity , P urpose in pointing kinship of Religious development by uni fi ca ti on 26 i h - of mythologies , pre Christian sects , 4 6 ; pre ; fi d e li ty of the priesthood 27 ; determined , 130 . , h 109 a ymns , ancient , ; Parli 27. Pythagoreanism , 18 9 3 14 2 ment in , ; Parlia ment E xtension of 19 0 3 sec , ’ r e ta ry s concluding words, 14 3i .

of Reminiscences Jesus , per 120 sonal . Quintessence of their religion , , Jewish nationalism the 9 6 ; , , Resurrection , symbolized by the ’ of the past , Christianity is 14 rising sun Chr st s 50 . , ; i ,

the , 127f . of t S . f Revelation , John th e Di Queen o Heaven , the orship ’ w 21 70 75 N e w vine , , , ; Year s (i f a n a omination to Jews , b (1 ! 3 and , 52; S cience t e new l 0sf , h 131

139 . Reverence for the past , “ Righteousness I n c a r n a t e , a s 17 Mithras . , t 8 Ringleader of the azaren es S . Ra e , 5. N , ch l P aul a 46 . 6 2 6 4 , Radau , Dr . Hugo , , . — Rituals , Christian , not any are Ram , e saviour god n he th i t Jewish origin 10 primitive , ; , of 72. shape a ,

of 133. Rapture fervent prayer , Rival faiths , principle involved Records of Jews ow to under , in their struggl e for existence h , 127 - stand the , . 5 6 ; manich aeism and Chris tia n i t 41 pre - Chr stian 79 n y , ; i , ; Redactor , the , of the Revelatio doctrines and theories of 8 1 4 f , ; of S t . 7 o John , ; tendency , fate of interlin ed 129 . 8 8 107 o f , , ; of Deuteronomy , ; k

t e G ospel o f M atthew 120 . h , River system , Christianity like ’ 1 di a , 25. R e mvus , is Christianity pagan ? sm 129 . R ma n i Catholic Church , the , ol 35 i h E . Reform gypt , monotheistic , 9 0 - 106 ; post exilic , . E A u Roman mpire , the , in the

gustan age 4 rival faiths of , 7 9 . , ; Reformed paganism , Bf ; expectation o f a s aviour to Re ormatory power of true re f e ring ac the G olden A g of . li i on 144 b b k g , . 22 ; new religion of , 27 ; spread

f - Regenera ion em lems o 28 . of r e 5 , b , D 4 . t Christian ideas in , Rein erpreta on o the past t e a t ti f , h Rosary , the , unquestionabl e p u ure of religion a 136 . of 10 f t , , gan origin , . " Rel gion th e new universal , 9 9 i , Rovers , Jews , ; a uni d a wn and disciples of 5 , ; al 104 vers tendency to be , . claims of Christianity and Mithraism to the only true 6 , ; A lexander ’ s conquest of Per f 27 y S sia greatly a fected , ; earl th e Christian . accessible to 80 masses , ; Jewish rigorous S acred oo s udd st , 76 ; ves 9 6 b k , B hi monotheistic , ; national ism , 134 . the quintessence of the Jew sel Christianity the , ’ 9 6 on S acr fice J e h th a h s 85. ish , ; based eternal i , p , I X 1 NDE . 6 1

h a dda S S i of A ra am 10 2. S ee amaria , a hot bed of religious b h , ( ahve . commotion 43. ) , Y h S h e i tes 111 S amson death and resurrection , . , of 16 and the pagan saviour S , ; 18 . hiva ,

idea 52 56 . , , S iege of Jerusalem by S enna f 1 Samuel ghost o 08 . c h eri b 9 1. , , , a n h a th e 1 S g , , & S imilar faiths in E gypt G reece , , A Rome and merica 6 2. S , apphira , an Ebionite , 47

( S e e A nanias . ) S imile between geography and 125 S of 141 religion , . atan , inventions . .

S imon Magus 43f . , S aul , and the house gods o f S 85 W imonism 79 . David , ; visits the itch of ,

E ndor 10 7. , S inai 84. ,

° Saviour , the , Jesus as , 11 S nake , originally a symbol of 22 equivalents for the word , , ood ne s s 39 messenger of th e , ; Ch rist as t h e inaugurator o f a i h e g s t G od 40 . ( S e e ser , new age 49 ; Cyrus and Mar , pent . ) 49f duk as the. ; the word not S ocra es , 7 8 76 . 6 1 of t , , in the Hebrew language , ; 7 2 Solar worship in t e em e of the Revelations , ; Chris h t pl 6 8 . tian human characte r of 79 Jerusalem , ,

istorical actuality of 128 . S for 139 . h , olicitude the future , A Sayce , Re . rc ibald Henry , S of 86 v h olomon , temple , ; mother

87, 9 9f . f o , 87. ’ cl i ller s S ymn , Heracles and , S K i e E lei s h oothsayers , y r on and si1 10 . pagan , S cholarly investigations , S orcery S imon Magus accused , value to religion of 120f . , of , 43. S O ld 87 c olars , estament . h T , S of piritual nature , attributes , S chrader, ro . tto quoted 4 9 P f O , , , 140 . S 8 8 7, . S 10 7. piritualists, Biblical , Scientific ru h discovered not t t , S made contrasted with theo pontaneity , and widespread , 6 0 138 l 31f religious ideas , , . logical truth . ,

S t . A 6 5 S 107 thanasius , . eances , Biblical , . S t . A ugus ne , 20 , 6 5. S eba s tos 28 . S ee A ti , ( ugustus . ) S t S e a b 8 . Paul , believed to have insti g , 5. ’ tut ed th e ord s S upper , 24 ; 0 L S eneca 1 53. , , and the G reek mystery plays S 29 F 45 ennacherib and the siege of ; accused before elix , , 9 1 Jerusalem , . born during the Dispersion , 10 5 ; explains the cause of th e S entiment , first expression o f ispersion 106 nostic views , ; g religious emotion 238 . D , of 111 ° the ancestry o f Jesus S , eraphim , original Hebrew accord ng to 112; and the i , meaning 39 . , Mosaic law 117. , S ermon on the Mount the 6 9 , , ; S t . A S a Peter , nanias and p Judaism in 116 f ; compared to , 4 7. phira before , of the origin a river system , A 5 S t . 6 . Thomas quinas , 126 . S tate re ig ons n ancient c t es S l i i i i , erpent , tru e meaning of the 25. 39 of the Revela brazen , ; Statues w y t ere are no e , 7 1. h h J w tions , the , sh 110 . S et the Egypt an and t e i , h , i h Bib S to cs ur fied aganism o 5. , , lica l 5. i p i p f , 162 I X NDE .

8 5. el A marn a a lets t e 9 0. S , tone Pillar , the , T T b h , T eleology dominates the or d S tory of Jesus reinterpreted by w l , an immanent 130 . 120 . , successive generations , emple of Jerusal em the 86 S a of T , , ; tubbornness , the re son reform in Jerusalem , the fam Jewish , 9 3. ous , 9 0ff .

S u conscious i deals 128 . b , T e rap hi m, 8 5. S uccess of Chris ian ty reasons t i , T G erminology , Indian , reek , f or the, 79 . 38 . and Buddhist , n i fi s 79 S uffer ng s a ct e . , i Terms used by S t . Paul in his s i n i fi S C ristian doctrines , g ummation , Christianity the , h f cant o G ree mysteries 29 . 6 7. k ,

- 9 . S Teutoni wor d conce tion , uperhuman personality , th e , c l p

of of S t. 18 . the Revelations Thalna , 6 John 9 . , Theologian , on the coincidences S G between paganism and Chris upernaturalism , reek belief i i t a n ty , views of , 6 2 ; a well in 9 . ,

in ormed , 6 7. S s f uperpersonal pre ences , Mith T h era eu tes p , 4 , 44. ras and Christ , 6 1, 121.

ings all in one 1. T , , S h , upremacy , struggl e of rival h u a n T o s d a nd One N i h ts 13. g , faiths for , 79 . 18 Tinia , . S utta N ip a ta , 7 7. f Tonsure , t e ract ce o pagan S ym ol of divine wisdom th e h p i b , 10 monks , . a s 39 . snake a , ’ Tradit ons reconstructed in the S S i ymbolical , the Lord s upper f Reve at on o S t. ohn 75. interpreted by Calvin and l i J , T ra ns fi g ur e d paganism Ch ris 23 , Zwingli as . , tia ni t of 129 y the fulfilment , . S ym olism of dogmatic Chris b r of 25 T ansition , period , ; phase tia ni ty , 122. of the Christ ideal 6 9 ,

S ynagogue , the modern center , ransu stantiation T b , mystical of 103f . Jewish nationalism , act of. 24. S G 74 ynoptic ospel s , ; based S Tribulation , and the aviour , on 119 . earlier documen s , 51 t ; Judaism in the furnace of ,

9 5. S 38 . yria , T E 14 th e rinity , the gyptian , ;

S imonian 44 . ,

r n tar an sm G en e 111. T T i i i i , til ,

- Trinities , well known , Roman , E E trurian , gyptian Ba ylon , Tacitus , his epithet for Jews, b ian Brahman , uddhist 18 . , 9 7 . , B of T ahpanhes Jew colony in L ow Triratna , Buddhis doctr n e , , t i 18 E 106 and the Trinity , . er gypt, . of Truth , scientific and theologi Talisman , preservative , the cal 131f superhuman 132; 106 , ; , Jews , . 14 . dawns in symbols , 1 11 Talmud , the , . T u si ta eaven o e erna bl ss, 16 29 h f t l i Tammu , , . z 56 . the ,

arsus au of 24. T , , P l Type , Jewish , how preserved 101f 23. under the spersion , . Tathagata , Di

E 16 . n 44. yre a s er us o s n , e s os T , m Technical t rm , g tic , t c t i