The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors Part 12

In Lempriere's "Cla.s.sical Dictionary," Higgins' "Anacalypsis," and other works, may be found the following particulars relative to the final exit of the G.o.d above named, viz.:--

1. That the whole frame of nature became convulsed.

2. The earth shook, the rocks were rent, the graves were opened, and in a storm, which seemed to threaten the dissolution of the universe, the solemn scene forever closed, and "Our Lord and Savior" Prometheus gave up the ghost.

"The cause for which he suffered," says Mr. Southwell, "was his love for the human race." Mr. Taylor makes the statement in his Syntagma (p. 95), that the whole story of Prometheus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection was acted in pantomime in Athens five hundred years before Christ, which proves its great antiquity. Minutius Felix, one of the most popular Christian writers of the second century (in his "Octavius," sect. 29), thus addresses the people of Rome: "Your victorious trophies not only represent a simple cross, but a cross with a man on it," and this man St. Jerome calls a G.o.d.

These coincidences furnish still further proof that the tradition of the crucifixion of G.o.ds has been very long prevalent among the heathen.

X.--CRUCIFIXION OF THULIS OF EGYPT, 1700 B. C.

Thulis of Egypt, whence comes "Ultima Thule," died the death of the cross about thirty-five hundred years ago.

Ultima Thule was the island which marked the ultimate bounds of the extensive empire of this legitimate descendant of the G.o.ds.

This Egyptian Savior appears also to have been known as Zulis, and with this name--Mr. Wilkison tells us--"his history is curiously ill.u.s.trated in the sculptures, made seventeen hundred years B. C., of a small, retired chamber lying nearly over the western adytum of the temple-" We are told twenty-eight lotus plants near his grave indicate the number of years he lived on the earth. After suffering a violent death, he was buried, but rose again, ascended into heaven, and there became "the judge of the dead," or of souls in a future state. Wilkison says he came down from heaven to benefit mankind, and that he was said to be "full of grace and truth."

XI.--CRUCIFIXION OF INDRA OF THIBET, 725 B. C.

The account of the crucifixion of the G.o.d and Savior Indra may be found in Georgius, Thibetinum Alphabetum, p. 230. A brief notice of the case is all we have s.p.a.ce for here. In the work just referred to may be found plates representing this Thibetan Savior as having been nailed to the cross. There are five wounds, representing the nailholes and the piercing of the side. The antiquity of the story is beyond dispute.

Marvelous stories are told of the birth of the Divine Redeemer. His mother was a virgin of black complexion, and hence his complexion was of the ebony hue, as in the case of Christ and some other sin-atoning Saviors. He descended from heaven on a mission of benevolence, and ascended back to the heavenly mansion after his crucifixion. He led a life of strict celibacy, which, he taught, was essential to true holiness. He inculcated great tenderness toward all living beings. He could walk upon the water or upon the air; he could foretell future events with great accuracy. He practiced the most devout contemplation, severe discipline of the body and mind, and acquired the most complete subjection of his pa.s.sions. He was wors.h.i.+ped as a G.o.d who had existed as a spirit from all eternity, and his followers were called "Heavenly Teachers."

XII.--ALCESTOS OF EURIPIDES CRUCIFIED, 600 B. C.

The "English Cla.s.sical Journal" (vol. x.x.xvii.) furnishes us with the story of another crucified G.o.d, known as Alcestos--a female G.o.d or G.o.ddess; and in this respect, it is a novelty in sacred history, being the first, if not the only example of a feminine G.o.d atoning for the sins of the world upon the cross. The doctrine of the trinity and atoning offering for sin was inculcated as a part of her religion.

XIII.--ATYS OF PHRYGIA CRUCIFIED, 1170 B. C.

Speaking of this crucified Messiah, the Anacalypsis informs us that several histories are given of him, but all concur in representing him as having been an atoning offering for sin. And the Latin phrase "suspensus lingo," found in his history, indicates the manner of his death. He was suspended on a tree, crucified, buried and rose again.

XIV.--CRITE OF CHALDEA CRUCIFIED, 1200 B. C.

The Chaldeans, as Mr. Higgins informs us, have noted in their sacred books the account of the crucifixion of a G.o.d with the above name. He was also known as "the Redeemer," and was styled "the Ever Blessed Son of G.o.d," "the Savior of the Race," "the Atoning Offering for an Angry G.o.d." And when he was offered up, both heaven and earth were shaken to their foundations.

XV.--BALI OF ORISSA CRUCIFIED, 725 B. C.

We learn by the oriental books, that in the district of country known as Orissa, in Asia, they have the story of a crucified G.o.d, known by several names, including the above, all of which, we are told, signify "Lord Second," having reference to him as the second person or second member of the trinity, as most of the crucified G.o.ds occupied that position in the trial of deities const.i.tuting the trinity, as indicated by the language "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," the Son, in all cases, being the atoning offering, "the crucified Redeemer," and the second person of the trinity. This G.o.d Bali was also called Baliu, and sometimes Bel. The Anacalypsis informs us (vol. i. 257) that monuments of this crucified G.o.d, bearing great age, may be found amid the ruins of the magnificent city of Mahabalipore, partially buried amongst the figures of the temple.

XVI.--MITHRA OF PERSIA CRUCIFIED, 600 B. C.

This Persian G.o.d, according to Mr. Higgins, was "slain upon the cross to make atonement for mankind, and to take away the sins of the world." He was reputedly born on the twenty-fifth day of December, and crucified on a tree. It is a remarkable circ.u.mstance that two Christian writers (Mr.

Faber and Mr. Bryant) both speak of his "being slain," and yet both omit to speak of the manner in which he was put to death. And the same policy has been pursued with respect to other crucified G.o.ds of the pagans, as we have shown elsewhere.

Our list is full, or we might note other cases of crucifixion. Devatat of Siam, Ixion of Rome, Apollonius of Tyana in Cappadocia, are all reported in history as having "died the death of the cross."

Ixion, 400 B. C., according to Nimrod, was crucified on a wheel, the rim representing the world, and the spokes const.i.tuting the cross. It is declared, "He bore the burden of the world" (that is, "the sins of the world") on his back while suspended on the cross. Hence, he was sometimes called "the crucified spirit of the world."

With respect to Apollonius, it is a remarkable, if not a suspicious circ.u.mstance that should not be pa.s.sed unnoticed, that several Christian writers, while they recount a long list of miracles and remarkable incidents in the life of this Cappadocian Savior, extending through his whole life, and forming a parallel to similar incidents of the Christian Savior, not a word is said about his crucifixion.

And a similar policy has been pursued with respect to Mithra and other sin-atoning G.o.ds, including Chrishna and Prometheus, as before noticed.

This important chapter in their history has been omitted by Christian writers for fear the relation of it would damage the credibility of the crucifixion of Christ, or lessen its spiritual force. For, like Paul, they were "determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified" (i Cor. ii. 2) i. e., to _know_ no other G.o.d had been crucified but _Jesus Christ_. They thus exalted the tradition of the crucifixion into the most important dogma of the Christian faith. Hence, their efforts to conceal from the public a knowledge of the fact that it is of pagan origin.

By reference to Mackey's "Lexicon of Freemasonry" (p. 35) we learn that Freemasons secretly taught the doctrine of the crucifixion, atonement and resurrection long anterior to the Christian era, and that similar doctrines were taught in "all the ancient mysteries," thus proving that the conception of these tenets of faith existed at a very early period of time.

And it may be noted here, that the doctrine of salvation by crucifixion had likewise, with most of the ancient forms of religious faith, an astronomical representation--i. e., a representation in astronomical symbols. According to the emblematical figures comprised in their astral wors.h.i.+p, people were saved by the sun's crucifixion or crossification, realized by _crossing_ over the equinoctial line into the season of spring, and thereby gave out a saving heat and light to the world and stimulated the generative organs of animal and vegetable life. It was from this conception that the ancients were in the habit of carving or painting the organs of generation upon the walls of their holy temples.

The blood of the grape, which was ripened by the heat of the sun, as he crossed over by resurrection into spring, (i. e., was crucified), was symbolically "the blood of the cross," or "the blood of the Lamb."

If we should be met here with the statement, that the stories of the ancient crucifixions of G.o.ds were mere myths or fables, unwarrantably saddled on to their histories as mere romance, and have no foundation in fact, we reply--there is as much ground for suspecting the same thing as being true of Jesus Christ.

One of the most celebrated and most frequently quoted Christian writers of the ancient bishops (Irenaeus) declares upon the authority of the martyr Polycarp, who claimed to have got it from St. John and all the elders of Asia, that Jesus Christ was not crucified, but lived to be about fifty years old.

We find there has always been a margin for doubt amongst his own followers as to the fact of his crucifixion.

Many of the early Christians and cotemporary Jews and Gentiles doubted it, and some openly disputed its ever having taken place. Others bestowed upon it a mere spiritual signification, and not a few considered it symbolical of a "holy life." One circ.u.mstance, calculated to lead to the entire discredit of the story of the crucifixion of Christ, is the relation, in connection with it, of a violent convulsion of nature, and the resurrection of the long-buried saints--events not supported by any authentic cotemporaneous history, sacred or profane.

(See Chap. XVII., Aphanasia).

And as these events must be set down as fabulous, they leave the mind in doubt with respect to the fact of the crucifixion itself, especially when the many absurdities involved in the doctrine of the crucifixion are brought to view, in connection with it, some of them so palpably erroneous that an unlettered savage could see and point them out.

The Indian chief Red Jacket is reported to have replied to the Christian missionaries, when they urged upon his attention the benefits of Christ's death by crucifixion, "Brethren, if you white men murdered the son of the Great Spirit, we Indians have nothing to do with it, and it is none of our affair. If he had come among us, we would not have killed him. We would have treated him well. You must make amends for that crime yourselves."

This view of the crucifixion suggested to the mind of an illiterate heathen we deem more sensible and rational than that of the orthodox Christians, which makes it a meritorious act and a moral necessity. For this would not only exonerate Judas from any criminality or guilt for the part he took in the affair, but would ent.i.tle him as well as Christ to the honorable t.i.tle of a "Savior" for performing an act without which the crucifixion and consequent salvation of the world could not have been effected. If it was necessary for Christ to suffer death upon the cross as an atonement for sin, then the act of crucifixion was right, and a monument should be erected to the memory of Judas for bringing it about. We challenge Christian logic to find a flaw in this argument.

And another important consideration arises here. If the inhabitants of this planet required the murderous death of a G.o.d as an atonement, we must presume that the eighty-five millions of inhabited worlds recently discovered by astronomers are, or have been, in equal need of a divine atonement. And this would require the crucifixion of eighty-five millions of G.o.ds. a.s.suming one of these G.o.ds to be crucified every minute, the whole would occupy a period of nearly twenty years. This would be killing off G.o.ds at rather a rapid rate, and would make the work of the atonement and salvation a very murderous and b.l.o.o.d.y affair--a conception which brings to the mind a series of very revolting reflections.

The conception of G.o.ds coming down from heaven, and being born of virgins, and dying a violent death for the moral blunders of the people, originated in an age of the world when man was a savage, and dwelt exclusively upon the animal plane, and blood was the requisition for every offense. And it was an age when no world was known to exist but the one we inhabit. The stars were then supposed to be mere blazing tapers set in the azure vault to light this pygmy planet, or peep-holes for G.o.ds to look out of heaven, to see and learn what is going on below.

Such conceptions are in perfect keeping with the doctrine of the atoning crucifixion of G.o.ds, which could never have originated or been entertained for a moment by an astronomer, with a knowledge of the existence of innumerable inhabited worlds. For as there is to the monotheistic Christian but one G.o.d, or Son of G.o.d, to be offered, he must be incarnated and crucified every day for a thousand years to make a sin-offering for each of these worlds--a conception too monstrous and preposterous to find a lodgment in a rational mind.

ORIGIN OF THE BELIEF OF THE CRUCIFIXION OF G.o.dS.

It has always been presumed that death, and especially death by crucifixion, involved the highest state of suffering possible to be endured by mortals. Hence, the G.o.ds must suffer in this way as an example of courage and fort.i.tude, and to show themselves willing to undergo all the affliction and misery incident to the lot, and unavoidable to the lives, of their devoted wors.h.i.+pers. They must not only be equal, but superior to their subjects in this respect Hence, they would not merely die, but choose, or at least uncomplainingly submit to the most ign.o.ble and ignominious mode of suffering death that could be devised, and that was crucifixion. This gave the highest finis.h.i.+ng touch to the drama.

And thus the legend of the crucifixion became the crowning chapter, the aggrandizing episode in the history of their lives. It was presumed that nothing less than a G.o.d could endure such excruciating tortures without complaining.

Hence, when the victim was reported to have submitted with such fort.i.tude that no murmur was heard to issue from his lips, this circ.u.mstance of itself was deemed sufficient evidence of his G.o.ds.h.i.+p.

The story of the crucifixion, therefore, whether true or false, deified or helped deify many great men and exalt them to the rank of G.o.ds.

Though some of the disciples of Budhism, and some of the primitive professors of Christianity also (including, according to Christian history, Peter and his brother Andrew), voluntarily chose this mode of dying in imitation of their crucified Lord, without experiencing, however, the desired promotion to divine honors. They failed of an exaltation to the deitys.h.i.+p, and hence are not now wors.h.i.+ped as G.o.ds.

Christian reader, what can you now make of the story of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ but a borrowed legend--at least the story of his being crucified _as a G.o.d!_