ARYAN SU N- MYTHS T H E O R I G I N O F R EL I G I O N S I WI T H AN I N T R OD U C T I ON BY C H AR LES M OR R I S AU T H OR OF A M N U L OF C L S S IC L LIT ER T U R E AN D T H E A A A A A , R ” AR Y AN AC E : IT s OR I GI N AN D IT S A C H I EVEM EN T S . T R Y N O , .Y . N I M S A N D KN I G H T 1 8 8 9 P R E F A C E. T H E attention of the writer h avi ng been called to the fact that all Indo - Germanic nations h ave wor n of th e shipped crucified Saviours , an investigatio sub f j c et was made . Overwhelming proo was obtained that the sun - myth s of the ancient Aryans were the origin of the religions in a ll of the countries which T h were peopled by the Aryans . e Saviours wor shipped in these lands are person ificati o n s of the S u n h f of . T , the c ie god the Aryans hat Pagan n m an ations worshipped a crucified , was admitted by T h e the Fathers of the early Christian Church . holy ' M i n uciu s Oda wu s Father Felix, in his , written as A . 2 1 1 u late as D , indignantly resents the s pposition that the sign of the cros s should be considered as exclusively a Christian symbol ; and represents his advocate of the Chri stian argument as retorting on “ an infid e l o pponent thus : As for th e adoration of I crosses , which you object to against us, must tell h you t at we n either ador e crosses n or desire th em . Y ou i s a it , ye P gans , who worship wooden gods , who 6 o are the most likely pe ple to adore wooden crosses , as bei ng p arts of the same substance with your dei an d ties . For what else are your ensigns, flags, an beau i ed st dards , but crosses gilt and t fi ? Your victorious trophies not only represent a simple cross , man . T e but a cross with a upon it rtullian , a of th e Christian Father second and third centuries , “ n s : T h e of writi g to the Pagan , says origin your f gods is derived rom figures moulded on a cross . All those rows of images o n your standards are the appendages of crosses those han gings on your ' ” stan dards a n d ban n ers are th e robes of crosses E ti a n Beli . Arri a n hi s E ver 0 ( gyp ef, p , in y ] Alexander h 0 0 of , states t at the tr ps Porus , in their n on h war with Alexa der the Great, carried t eir of . standards the figure a man Justin Martyr, in his u h T r h o Dialog e wit yp , says that there exist n ot C or - a people , ivilized semi civilized , who have n ot off ered up prayers in th e name of. a crucified of t Saviour to the Father an d Creator all hings . o Eusebius , the ecclesiastical hist rian , says that the names of Jesus and Christ were both known a nd Eeel. H em . honored among the ancients ( , lib i chap We find Saint Paul avowing that he was made of s a minister the go pel , which had been preached to every creature under heaven (C ol. i . For n f m s the of ce turies a ter the ti e as igned as birth Jesus , 7 . T he he was not represented as a man on a cross . earliest representation of him was as a lamb ( H i story o ou r Lor d i n A r t Vol. T f , his custom continued n until th e p on tifi cate of Agathon (A . D . duri g the reign of Constantine Pogon atu s . By the Sixth Synod o f Constantinople ( Canon it was ordained that instead of the ancient symbol which had been the of m an the lamb, figure a nailed to a cross should be represented . All this was confirmed by ’ ‘ u Pope Adrian I . (Dupuis s Or igi n of R eligi o s Be/i cy; ’ . 2 2 A n aea sis . p 5 also Higgins s iyp , Vol II p T h e writer makes no claim to originality, except ing in the arrangement of this work . T he e n deavor h as been simply to condense what has been obt ained f rom other works . T h e f e h original intention was to give a brie sk tc , with an appended list of works from which th e m ate rial was taken ; but on maki n g an addition to the d book it was eemed best to give references . T h e references for the o riginal sketch will be fou n d at f the end o the book . T h e writer h as been favored in having an I n troduc o n e f a h h tion by so amili r wit t e subject as Mr . Charles of T fi e A r n Morris, author ya R a ce. S T F u I S S BO ON, ebr ary, 9. T ABLE O F C O N T EN T S . PAGE IN T R ODU C T ION LI S T OF BOOKS C ONS U LT ED AR Y A N S U N -M Y T HS T H E O R I GIN R ELI GI ON S Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Appendix D Appendix E Appendix F Reference Note s Index IN T R O DU C T IO N . IT m fi m see s , at rst glance , re ark able with wh at readiness the T eutonic an d C eltic tribes dropp ed their ancestral faiths and accepted C n ow hristianity , thro u gh th e p ersu asions of a m h Bu t n ow . issionary, at th e bidding of a c ief a fuller stu d y of th e subje ct rend ers th e u nusu al m S e ase of this co nversion u ch less u rp risin g, by m akin g it ap p arent th at they rather added th e leadin g d o gm as of C hristianity to their O ld b faiths than rep l aced th e latter y the fo rm er . T hey cease d to w orship O din an d th e lesser w C V d eities , an d began to orship hrist , th e irgin , and th e saints ; but they invested the l atter with m any of th e attrib utes of th e form er , retained m ost of their old religio us dogm as and cere m C m onies , and converted p ri itive hristianity b quite as m u ch as they w ere converte d y it. T h e was conversio n , indeed , as m u ch a ch ange o f O f T h e O f na m es as beliefs . ho u gh t ethics C h ristianity sl owly leavened this swarm in g m ass O f b n ew arb aris m , the theolo gy of th e faith 1 2 becam e S O closely interwove n with that of the old that it is not easy to this d ay to sep arate the m . T h e nineteenth - centu ry critical study of reli gi o u s beliefs and th e p rogress of th e science of co m p a rative m ytholo gy h ave gone far towards O f clearing u p this m ystery the p ast , and are leading the way to a science O f co m p arative b k theology , as students rea throu gh th e artificial barrier of sacredness which h as b een r a ised O f around th is or that syste m belief, and dare to qu estion where older stu dents dee m ed it their d uty to adore . It is b ein g m ore and m ore widely held th at n o belief can b e sacred , that all faith m ust rest eith er u p on evidence o r blind acceptance , and th at th ey wh o base their belief u p on a stu dy O f facts are far sup erior intel le ctu all y , and certainly e qu al m orally , to those F wh o accept dog m as u p on au th ority . aith has been covered with a veil which it was d eclared x i m pious to lift , and th e very word e alted into a O f kind m agic form ula , which was dee m ed p ow e rfu l Bu t enou gh to m ove m ountains .