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The Faiths, Facts and Frauds of Religious History

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The Faiths, Facts and Frauds of Religious History OlLJ ~i~) /, 1_./ THF. FAITHS, FACTS, AND FRAUDS OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY A TREATISE IN TEN SECTIONS BY E::M::M.A HARDINGE BRITTEN .A.uflwr ().f- ...Vodn·n .Amrrican Spiritualism; The TJ'Udjire Club; The Elrrtdr Plty.~icimi; Six Lectuns on Thrology and Spi1 itualism; On the Road; /..;; Bpfrifuali.~m a Samg~ J~'upPrstition? and .Kumrrou.¥ Tracts and Pnmpldffs on Scientific and Religious Sul!}rcts. EX LIBRIS JOHN RA WSTHORN GEORGE ROBERTSON l\T:EI-BOURNE, SYDNEY, AND ADELAIDE )!DCCCLXXIX ' MELBOURNE: PRINTED BY WALKER, MAY, ANU CO•t 9 MACKILLOP STREET. N r14' 12 r(<<'f f'. 1 'J,C. ::4. -;zcc\ INDEX TO SECTIONS. PAGE INTRODUCTORY 1-2 SECTION I.-Natural and Revealed Religion 3-!J SECTION 2.-0f tho Sabean System, or the Astronomical Religion !l-14 SECTION 3.-Continuation of tho Sabean System, and Explanatory Details of the Astronomical Religion 14-2G SECTION 4. -Of the Heliocentric System, or the Ancient N eroses-The Secret of Cabalism and the Explana­ tion of the Sphinx, Apocalypse, and the Ancient Mysteries 27-3!) SECTION 5.-Review and Summary of previous Sections 39-53 SECTION u. -Origin of all Religions in India, lloudha 53-G!J SECTION 7.-0rigin of all Religions in India continue<!, Chrishna G!J-84 SECTION 8.-The Succession of Incarnate Gods derive<! from India, China, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Judea, &c. 84-102 SECTION !l.-Tho Pantheon of Incarnate Gods, throughout all Lands and Ages - 103-114 SECTION 10.-The Last of the Avatars ami his Relative Position in History - 114-128 CoNCLURIO:<.-Tho Religions of tho Past ::mel Futuro - 128-132 iv LIST OF AUTHORITIES. LIST OF AUTHORITIES QuoTED IN TIIIS VOLUME. 1\Ions. Dupuis, Father Kircher, Mr. Bryant, Godfrey Higgins, Gen. Hitchcock, J. F. Stewart, Count Volney, Rev. Robt. Taylor, Mons. Baillie, Sir Wm. Jones, Messrs. Vale, Cole­ brooke, Kersey Graves, Middleton, Revs. W. Maurice and Faber, Bishops Faustus and Fell, Ovid, Berosus, Manetho, Mrs. L. M. Child, Basnage, Grotius, Gibbon, M. l\L Dcnon, Dailee, Cassini, Col. 'Vilsfor•' Humboldt, and Forbes. 'YORKS OF UNCERTAIN AUTHORSHIP REFERRED TO. The Bible, Yu King, Creed of Bondha Sakia, Orphic Verses, Golden Verses of Pythagoras, Hindoo Vedas, Maxims of Confucius, Asiatic Researches. INTRODUCTORY. A FEW ,,ords will suffice to introduce the following pages to the attention of the reader. "\Vhen first their author came to Australia, some twelve months since, it was her intention to give a course of lectures solely on the facts and phenomena of the great new spiritualistic movement of the 19th century. After a certain number of opening addresses, based on the above-named plan, the audience -according to custom-were called upon to select their own subjects, when it became apparent that the majority of those present on each occasion were bent .on the discussion of theological problems, especially in relation to the enormous claims of Christian Hierarchies, and the fundamental prin­ ciples of truth involved in religions institutions. Prompted by the obvious tendency of popular feeling, the author's lectures have gradually been directed towards analytical researches into the origin of religious beliefs ; their nature and use to mankind; their authenticity, and the evidences which ecclesiasticism could, or could not bring, to prove its right to dominate over the human mind. The propositions thus called forth have necessarily involved many startling and revolutionary assertions, and as the limits of extemporaneous addresses scarcely permitted the quotation of 2 2 I~TTIODUCTOTIY. numerous authoritative witnesses, the autlwr has realized the duty of providing for her many trusting listeners, some compendious and accessible definitions of the chief points contained in her theological lectures, together with such a mass of corroborative testimony, and references to acknowledged authorities, as would place the means of verification at each reader's command.. The author is already in possession of an immense array of curious and recondite memoranda on this subject, furnished to her by the erudite author of "Art l\Iagic," but as this storehouse of information is not at present accessible, and its publication would require many months of leisure to prepare, it has been deemed best to put forth a small but thoroughly analytical digest of the subjects under consideration. 'Vhy the writer has so constantly given the words and opinions of. far more undeniable authorities than herself, is a fact that need scarcely be e9mmented upon. As far as possible, the most available means of referring to the authors quoted from, have been clearly pointed out, and although but a tithe of the matter worthy of the true Free­ thinker's study has been touched upon, the auth01' feels confident that the sum of what has already lJeen given, will suffice to point the wuy to the realization of purer FAITHS, and more enduring FACTS, than religious history can evet· furnish to mankind, under· the specious garb of clerical authority, and the tremendous shroud of that mystery which is the stronghold of priestly FRAUD and ecclesiastical imposture. SYDNEY, NEw Socnr "·-~LE~, February, ISi!J. THE FAITHS, FACTS, AND FRAUDS OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY. SECTION I. ~ATURAL A~D REVEALED RELIGION. " T!te truth against tlte world." TnE principal aim of the following pages, is to trace out the primal source from whence have been derived the various systems of theology which divide up mankind into votaries of many conflicting faiths. That all the diverging lines of religious opinion on earth have proceeded from a common centre there is ample testimony to show ; and when we remember the awful sacrifice of life, liberty, human happiness, and human brotherhood, which those divergencies have occasioned, and the enormous cost of wealth, time, and talent which their maintenance now involves, we can scarcely over-estimate the importance of any discoveries which might tend to pulverize the cruel lines of sectarian demarcation, or calculate the illimitable benefits which might accrue to the race, from building up a religious system whose only founda­ tion stones were divine truth and practical good. The first questions which naturally arise in this connection are-·what is religion 1 ·what is its special sphere of influence 1 4 THE FAITHS, FACTS, AND FRAUDS and from whence does its authority proceed 1 To these pre­ liminary queries we answer, that there is in humanity a natural, original, and indestructible sense of religion, which blos­ soms out into faitlt in Deity, immortality, and the laws of right, just as normally as affection, intellect, or any other of the soul's faculties. Natural religion then-or that original spiritual sense which antedates the existence of all credal faiths, and will pulsate through the life-currents ofhnmanitywhen sectarian beliefs are blotted out from remembrance-may be defined as the belief in a Supreme Being, the knowledge of the soul's immortality, and the recognition of human duties and responsibilities. Viewed from the standpoints of its origin in human nature, religion is, or should be, the crowning attribute and sum of all knowledge. The birth chamber a!Hl the death chamber are the two portals through which every human being must pass. 'Vhence and witherward l These are the inevitable queries which every thinking mind must propound, as it reflects upon the stupen­ dous mystery which ensln·ouds life's gates of entrance and exit. But besides these incentives to human speculation, all through the pilgrimage by which humanity wins its way between the two eternities, there is a viewless angel ever hovering at each one's side, whose voice, though differing in tone and intensity with the varieties which mark the race, is still heard and recog­ nized by all. l\Ien have agreed to call this unknown one CoNsCIENCE, and in accordance with the acute or blunted per­ ceptions of the listener, so does this angelic monitor remind each one of his departure from, or obedience to, the la,,.s of right. There is no need to inquire what these laws are. Con­ Bciousness is the handmaid of conscience, and she never fails to OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY. write such a decalogue of right and wrong, as time and place permit, upon those soul tablets, which all human beings carry within them. To explain the awful mysteries of the " whence and witherward," to stimulate human consciousness to a sense of right and wrong, and awake the soul to the monitions of con­ science, are the special functions of religious systems ; and no religion, or rather form of religious faith, can claim the right to dominate over the human soul, that does not exercise its influence in these special directions. Our affections, intellects, and appetites are all regulated and unfolded by appropriate methods of culture. Society enacts laws for the promotion of national interests, and courts of judi­ cature to protect the rights of individuals. It is essentially the function of religion then, to administer to man's spiritual nature, and promote all those stupendous interests which affect the soul here and hereafter. No other department of human thought can supersede the influence of true religion, or match the boundless range of its responsibilities. Religion is em­ phatically the science of life, and the only solution which life past, present, or future, can find of all its mighty problems. As religion is the highest element of life, and the highest form of civ-ilization should represent the noblest phase of religion, it is to Christianity, as the faith professed amongst the most advanced of earth's nationalities, that we should look, to find the most pe1fect results of religious influence upon human conduct. But, in addition to this, if we assume that religious progresl:l keeps pace with the march of mind in every other direction, and remember that the representative Christianity of to-day is the culmination of 1800 years of persistent experiment, we have the right to expect that it will manifest itself, as an THE FAITHS, FACTS, AND FTIAUDS example to the whole human fttmily, of all tl1at is most excellent in practice and most truthful in doctrine.
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