This is just the manner in which the Pagan Apollo, Mercury and others were represented centuries before.' 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 distinguishing between the two,' ‚” 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."3 The Egyptian Saviour Horus was called the "Shepherd of the People." The Hindoo Saviour Crishna was called the "Royal Good Shepherd."" 66 ear We have seen, then, on the authority of a Christian writer who has made the subject a special study, that, "there seems no just grounds at present for assigning an earlier date," for the liest instances of the crucifixion" of Christ Jesus, represented in art, than the eighth or ninth century. Now, a few words in regard to what these crucifixes looked like. If the reader imagines that the crucifixes which are familiar to us at the present day are similar to those early ones, we would inform him that such is not the The earliest artists of the crucifixion represent the Christian Saviour as young and beardless, always without the crown of thorns, alive, and erect, apparently elate; no signs of bodily suffering are there." On page 151, plate 181, of Jameson's "History of Our Lord in Art” (vol. ii.), he is represented standing on a foot-rest on the cross, alive, and eyes open. Again, on page 330, plate 253, he is represented standing "with body upright and arms extended straight, with no nails, no wounds, no crown of thorns-frequently clothed, and with a regal crown-a God, young and beautiful, hanging, as it were, without compulsion or pain." On page 167, plate 188, are to be seen "the thieves bound to their 1 See King's Gnostics, p. 178. Knight: Ancient Art and Mythology, p. xxii., and Jameson's History of Our Lom in Art, ii. 340. 2 Jameson: Hist. of Our Lord in Art, p. 840, vol. ii. • Quoted in Knight: Ancient Art and My thology, p. xxii. note. • Dunlap: Spirit Hist., p. 185. stan. See chapter xvii. and vol. ii. Hist. Hindo • See Jameson's Hist. of Our Lord in Art, vol. ii. p. 142. cross (which is simply an upright beam, without cross-bars), with the figure of the Lord standing between them." He is not bound nor nailed to a cross; no cross is there. He is simply standing erect in the form of a cross. This is a representation of what is styled, "Early crucifixion with thieves." On page 173, plate 190, we have a representation of the crucifixion, in which Jesus and the thieves are represented crucified on the Egyptian tau (see Fig. No. 12). The thieves are tied, but the man-god is nailed to the A similar representation may be seen on page 189, plate cross. 198. On page 155, plate 183, there is a representation of what is called " Virgin and St. John at foot of cross," but this cross is simply an upright beam (as Fig. No. 13). There are no cross-bars attached. On page 167, plate 188, the thieves are tied to an upright beam (as Fig. 13), and Jesus stands between them, with arms extended in the form of a cross, as the Hindoo Crishna is to be seen in Fig. No. 8. On page 157, plate 185, Jesus is represented crucified on the Egyptian cross (as No. 12). Some ancient crucifixes represent the Christian Saviour crucified on a cross similar in form to the Roman figure which stands for the number ten (see Fig. No. 14). Thus we see that there was no uniformity in representing the "cross of Christ," among the early Christians; even the cross which Constantine put on his "Labarum," or sacred banner, was nothing more than the monogram of the Pagan god Osiris (Fig. No. 15),' as we shall see in a subsequent chapter. TIXX The dogma of the vicarious atonement has met with no success whatever among the Jews. The reason for this is very evident. The idea of vicarious atonement, in any form, is contrary to Jew "It would be difficult to prove that the cross of Constantine was of the simple construction as now understood. As re gards the Labarum, the coins of the time, in which it is especially set forth, prove that the so-called cross upon it was nothing else than the same ever-recurring monogram of Christ" (that is, the XP). (History of Our Lord in Art, vol. ii. p. 316. See also, Smith's Bible Dictionary, art. "Labarum.") ish ethics, but it is in full accord with the Gentile. The law ordains that "every man shall be put to death for his own sin," and not for the sin or crime committed by any other person. No ransom should protect the murderer against the arm of justice.' The principle of equal rights and equal responsibilities is fundamental in the law. If the law of God-for as such it is received-denounces the vicarious atonement, viz., to slaughter an innocent person to atone for the crimes of others, then God must abhor it. What is more, Jesus is said to have sanctioned this law, for is he not made to say: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law." "Salvation is and can be nothing else than learning the laws of life and keeping them. There is, in the modern world, neither place nor need for any of the theological schemes of salvation' or theological 'Saviours.' No wrath of either God or devil stands in man's way; and therefore no 'sacrifice' is needed to get them out of the way. Jesus saves only as he helps men know and keep God's laws. Thousands of other men, in their degree, are Saviours in precisely the same way. As there has been no 'fall of man,' all the hundreds of theological devices for obviating its supposed effects are only imaginary cures for imaginary ills. What man does need is to be taught the necessary laws of life, and have brought to bear upon him adequate motives for obeying them. To know and keep God's laws is being reconciled to him. This is health; and out of health—that is, the perfect condition of the whole man, called holiness or wholeness-comes happiness, in this world and in all worlds." 1 Deut. xxiv. 16. Num. xxv. 81-84. Matt. v. 17, 18. CHAPTER XXI. THE DARKNESS AT THE CRUCIFIXION. THE Luke narrator informs us that at the time of the death of Christ Jesus, the sun was darkened, and there was darkness over the earth from the sixth until the ninth hour; also the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.' The Matthew narrator, in addition to this, tells us that: "The earth did quake, and the rocks were rent, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of their graves . and went into the holy city and appeared unto many.' "His star" having shone at the time of his birth, and his having been born in a miraculous manner, it was necessary that at the death of Christ Jesus, something miraculous should happen. Something of an unusual nature had happened at the time of the death of other supernatural beings, therefore something must happen at his death; the myth would not have been complete without it. In the words of Viscount Amberly: "The darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour, the rending of the temple veil, the earthquake, the rending of the rocks, are altogether like the prodigies attending the decease of other great men."" The Rev. Dr. Geikie, one of the most orthodox writers, says :* "It is impossible to explain the origin of this darkness. The passover moon was then at the full, so that it could not have been an eclipse. The early Fathers, relying on a notice of an eclipse that seemed to coincide in time, though it really did not, fancied that the darkness was caused by it, but incorrectly.” Perhaps "the origin of this darkness" may be explained from what we shall now see. At the time of the death of the Hindoo Saviour Crishna, there Luke, xxiii. 44, 45. Amberly: Analysis of Religious Belief, 4 Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 643. p. 268. came calamities and bad omens of every kind. A black circle surrounded the moon, and the sun was darkened at noon-day; the sky rained fire and ashes; flames burned dusky and livid; demons committed depredations on earth; at sunrise and sunset, thousands of figures were seen skirmishing in the air; spirits were to be seen on all sides.' When the conflict began between Buddha, the Saviour of the World, and the Prince of Evil, a thousand appalling meteors fell; clouds and darkness prevailed. Even this earth, with the oceans and mountains it contains, though it is unconscious, quaked like a conscious being-like a fond bride when forcibly torn from her bridegroom-like the festoons of a vine shaken under the blast of a whirlwind. The ocean rose under the vibration of this earthquake; rivers flowed back toward their sources; peaks of lofty mountains, where countless trees had grown for ages, rolled crumbling to the earth; a fierce storm howled all around; the roar of the concussion became territic; the very sun enveloped itself in awful darkness, and a host of headless spirits filled the air." When Prometheus was crucified on Mount Caucasus, the whole frame of nature became convulsed. The earth did quake, thunder roared, lightning flashed, the wild winds rent the vexed air, the boisterous billows rose, and the dissolution of the universe seemed to be threatened.' The ancient Greeks and Romans, says Canon Farrar, had always considered that the births and deaths of great men were announced by celestial signs. We therefore find that at the death of Romulus, the founder of Rome, the sun was darkened, and there was darkness over the face of the earth for the space of six hours." When Julius Caesar, who was the son of a god, was murdered, there was a darkness over the earth, the sun being eclipsed for the space of six hours." This is spoken of by Virgil, where he says: 66 'He (the Sun) covered his luminous head with a sooty darkness, It is also referred to by Tibullus, Ovid, and Lucian (poets), Pliny, Appian, Dion Cassius, and Julius Obsequenes (historians.)" |