Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Part 51

Tertullian, a Christian Father of the second and third centuries, writing to the Pagans, says:

"The origin of _your_ G.o.ds is derived from _figures moulded on a cross_. All those rows of _images on your standards_ are the appendages of crosses; those hangings on your standards and banners are the robes of crosses."[198:4]

We have it then, on the authority of a Christian Father, as late as A.

D. 211, that the Christians "_neither adored crosses nor desired them_,"

but that the _Pagans_ "adored crosses," and not that alone, but "_a cross with a man upon it_." This we shall presently find to be the case.

Jesus, in those days, nor for centuries after, was _not_ represented as a _man on a cross_. He was represented as a _lamb_, and the adoration of the crucifix, by the Christians, was a later addition to their religion.

But this we shall treat of in its place.

We may now ask the question, who was this _crucified man_ whom the Pagans "_adored_" before and after the time of Jesus of Nazareth? Who did the crucifix represent? It was, undoubtedly, "the Saviour crucified for the salvation of mankind," long before the Christian Era, _whose effigies were to be seen in many places all over Italy_. These Pagan crucifixes were either destroyed, corrupted, or adopted; the latter was the case with many ancient paintings of the _Bambino_,[198:5] on which may be seen the words _Deo Soli_. Now, these two words can never apply to Christ Jesus. He was _not Deus Solus_, in any sense, according to the idiom of the Latin language, and the Romish faith. Whether we construe the words to "the only G.o.d," or "G.o.d alone," they are equally heretical.

No priest, in any age of the Church, would have thought of putting them there, _but finding them there_, they tolerated them.

In the "_Celtic Druids_," Mr. Higgins describes a _crucifix_, a _lamb_, and an _elephant_, which was cut upon the "fire tower"--so-called--at Brechin, a town of Forfars.h.i.+re, in Scotland. Although they appeared to be of very ancient date, he supposed, at that time, that they were modern, and belonged to Christianity, but some years afterwards, he wrote as follows:

"I now doubt (the modern date of the tower), for we have, over and over again, seen the crucified man before Christ. We have also found 'The Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world,'

among the Carnutes of Gaul, before the time of Christ; and when I contemplate these, and the _Elephant_ or _Ganesa_,[199:1] and the _Ring_[199:2] and its Cobra,[199:3]

_Linga_,[199:4] _Iona_,[199:5] and Nandies, found not far from the tower, on the estate of Lord Castles, with the Colidei, the island of Iona, and Ii, . . . I am induced to doubt my former conclusions. The Elephant, the Ganesa of India, is a very stubborn fellow to be found here. The Ring, too, when joined with other matters, I cannot get over. _All these superst.i.tions must have come from India._"[199:6]

On one of the Irish "round towers" is to be seen _a crucifix of unmistakable Asiatic origin_.[199:7]

If we turn to the New World, we shall find strange though it may appear, that the ancient _Mexicans_ and _Peruvians_ wors.h.i.+ped a _crucified Saviour_. This was the virgin-born _Quetzalcoatle_ whose crucifixion is represented in the paintings of the "_Codex Borgia.n.u.s_," and the "_Codex Vatica.n.u.s_."

These paintings ill.u.s.trate the religious opinions of the ancient Mexicans, and were copied from the hieroglyphics found in Mexico. The Spaniards destroyed nearly all the books, ancient monuments and paintings which they could find; had it not been for this, much more regarding the religion of the ancient Mexicans would have been handed down to us. Many chapters were also taken--by the Spanish authorities--from the writings of the first historians who wrote on ancient Mexico. _All ma.n.u.scripts had to be inspected previous to being published._ Anything found among these heathens resembling the religion of the Christians, was destroyed when possible.[199:8]

The first Spanish monks who went to Mexico were surprised to find the _crucifix_ among the heathen inhabitants, and upon inquiring what it meant, were told that it was a representation of _Bacob_ (Quetzalcoatle), the Son of G.o.d, who was put to death by _Eopuco_. They said that he was placed on a beam of wood, _with his arms stretched out_, and that he died there.[200:1]

Lord Kingsborough, from whose very learned and elaborate work we have taken the above, says:

"Being questioned as to the manner in which they became acquainted with these things, they replied that the lords instructed their sons in them, and that thus this doctrine descended from one to another."[200:2]

Sometimes Quetzalcoatle or Bacob is represented as _tied_ to the cross--just as we have seen that _Attys_ was represented by the Phrygians--and at other times he is represented "in the att.i.tude of a person crucified, with impressions of nail-holes in his hands and feet, but not actually upon a cross"--just as we have found the Hindoo _Crishna_, and as he is represented in Fig. No. 8. Beneath _this_ representation of Quetzalcoatle crucified, is an image of Death, which an angry serpent seems threatening to devour.[200:3]

On the 73d page of the Borgian MS., he is represented _crucified on a cross of the Greek form_. In this print there are also _impressions of nails_ to be seen on the _feet and hands_, and his body is strangely covered with _suns_.[200:4]

In vol. ii. plate 75, the G.o.d is crucified in a circle of nineteen figures, and a _serpent_ is depriving him of the organs of generation.

Lord Kingsborough, commenting on these paintings, says:

"It is remarkable that in these Mexican paintings the faces of many of the figures are _black_, and that the visage of Quetzalcoatle is frequently painted in a very deformed manner."[200:5]

His lords.h.i.+p further tells us that (according to the belief of the ancient Mexicans), "the death of Quetzalcoatle upon the cross" was "_an atonement for the sins of mankind_."[200:6]

Dr. Daniel Brinton, in his "_Myths of the New World_," tells us that the _Aztecs_ had a feast which they celebrated "_in the early spring_," when "_victims were nailed to a cross and shot with an arrow_."[200:7]

Alexander Von Humboldt, in his "_American Researches_," also speaks of this feast, when the Mexicans crucified a man, and pierced him with an arrow.[200:8]

The author of _Monumental Christianity_, speaking of this, says:

"Here is the old story of the _Prometheus crucified_ on the Caucasus, _and of all other Pagan crucifixions of the young incarnate divinities of India, Persia, Asia Minor and Egypt_."[201:1]

This we believe; _but how did this myth get there_? He does not say, but we shall attempt to show, in a future chapter, how _this_ and _other_ myths of Eastern origin became known in the New World.[201:2]

It must not be forgotten, in connection with what we have seen concerning the Mexican crucified G.o.d being sometimes represented as _black_, and the feast when the _crucified man_ was shot with an arrow, that effigies of a _black crucified man were found in Italy_; that Crishna, the crucified, is very often represented _black_; and that _Crishna_ was shot with an arrow.

Crosses were also found in _Yucatan_, as well as Mexico, _with a man upon them_.[201:3] Cogolludo, in his "History of Yucatan," speaking of a crucifix found there, says:

"Don Eugenio de Alcantara (one of the true teachers of the Gospel), told me, not only once, that I might safely write that the Indians of Cozumel possessed this holy cross in the time of their paganism; and that some years had elapsed since it was brought to Medira; for having heard from many persons what was reported of it, he had made particular inquiries of some very old Indians who resided there, who a.s.sured him that it was the fact."

He then speaks of the difficulty in accounting for this crucifix being found among the Indians of Cozumel, and ends by saying:

"But if it be considered that these Indians believed that the Son of G.o.d, whom they called Bacob, _had died upon a cross, with his arms stretched out upon it_, it cannot appear so difficult a matter to comprehend that they should have formed his image according to the religious creed which they possessed."[201:4]

We shall find, in another chapter, that these virgin-born "_Saviours_"

and "Slain Ones;" Crishna, Osiris, Horus, Attys, Adonis, Bacchus, &c.--whether torn in pieces, killed by a boar, or crucified--_will all melt into_ ONE.

We now come to a very important fact not generally known, namely: _There are no early representations of Christ Jesus suffering on the cross._

Rev. J. P. Lundy, speaking of this, says:

"Why should a fact so well known to the heathen as the crucifixion be concealed? _And yet its actual realistic representation never once occurs in the monuments of Christianity, for more than six or seven centuries._"[202:1]

Mrs. Jameson, in her "History of Our Lord in Art," says:

"The crucifixion is _not_ one of the subjects of early Christianity. The death of our Lord was represented by various _types_, but _never in its actual form_.

"The _earliest_ instances of the _crucifixion_ are found in ill.u.s.trated ma.n.u.scripts of various countries, and in those _ivory and enameled forms_ which are described in the Introduction. Some of these are ascertained, by historical or by internal evidence, to have been executed in the _ninth century_, there is one also, of an extraordinary rude and fantastic character, in a MS. in the ancient library of St.

Galle, which is ascertained to be of the _eighth century_. _At all events, there seems no just grounds at present for a.s.signing an earlier date._"[202:2]

"Early Christian art, such as it appears in the bas-reliefs on sarcophagi, gave but one solitary incident from the story of Our Lord's Pa.s.sion, _and that utterly divested of all circ.u.mstances of suffering_. Our Lord is represented as young and beautiful, free from bonds, with no '_accursed tree_' on his shoulders."[202:3]

The oldest representation of Christ Jesus was a figure of a _lamb_,[202:4] to which sometimes a vase was added, into which his blood flowed, and at other times couched at the foot of a cross. _This custom subsisted up to the year 680, and until the pontificate of Agathon, during the reign of Constantine Pogonat._ By the sixth synod of Constantinople (canon 82) it was ordained that instead of the ancient symbol, which had been the LAMB, _the figure of a man fastened to a cross_ (such as the _Pagans_ had adored), should be represented. All this was confirmed by Pope Adrian I.[202:5]

A simple cross, which was the symbol of eternal life, or of salvation, among the ancients, was sometimes, as we have seen, placed alongside of the _Lamb_. In the course of time, the _Lamb_ was put on the cross, as the ancient _Israelites_ had put the paschal lamb centuries before,[202:6] and then, as we have seen, they put a _man_ upon it.

Christ Jesus is also represented in early art as the "Good Shepherd,"

that is, as a young man with a lamb on his shoulders.[202:7]

This is just the manner in which the Pagan Apollo, Mercury and others were represented centuries before.[203:1]

Mrs. Jameson says:

"_Mercury_ attired as a _shepherd_, with a _ram_ on his shoulders, borne in the same manner as in many of the Christian representations, was no unfrequent object (in ancient art) and in some instances led to a difficulty in distinguis.h.i.+ng between the two,"[203:2] that is, between _Mercury_ and _Christ Jesus_.

M. Renan says:

"The Good Shepherd of the catacombs in Rome is a copy from the _Aristeus_, or from the _Apollo Nomius_, which figured in the same posture on the _Pagan_ sarcophagi; and still carries the flute of _Pan_, in the midst of the four half-naked seasons."[203:3]

The Egyptian Saviour _Horus_ was called the "Shepherd of the People."[203:4]