Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions: Being a Comparison of the Old and New Testament Myths and Miracles with those of the Heathen Nations of Antiquity Considering also their Origin and MeaningDoane, T. W. (Thomas William)
Religion
Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions: Being a Comparison of the Old and New Testament Myths and Miracles with those of the Heathen Nations of Antiquity Considering also their Origin and Meaning
An Indian legend relates that the sun stood still to hear the pious
ejaculations of Arjouan after the death of Crishna.[91:6]
A holy Buddhist by the name of Mâtanga prevented the sun, at his
command, from rising, and bisected the moon.[91:7] Arresting the course
of the sun was a common thing among the disciples of Buddha.[91:8]
The _Chinese_ also, had a legend of the sun standing still,[91:9] and a
legend was found among the _Ancient Mexicans_ to the effect that one of
their holy persons commanded the sun to stand still, which command was
obeyed.[91:10]
We shall now endeavor to answer the question which must naturally arise
in the minds of all who see, for the first time, the similarity in the
legends of the Hebrews and those of other nations, namely: have the
Hebrews copied from other nations, or, have other nations copied from
the Hebrews? To answer this question we shall; _first_, give a brief
account or history of the Pentateuch and other books of the Old
Testament from which we have taken legends, and show about what time
they were written; and, _second_, show that other nations were possessed
of these legends long before that time, _and that the Jews copied from
them_.
The Pentateuch is ascribed, in our _modern_ translations, to _Moses_,
and he is generally supposed to be the author. This is altogether
erroneous, as Moses had _nothing whatever_ to do with these five books.
Bishop Colenso, speaking of this, says:
"The books of the Pentateuch _are never ascribed to Moses in
the inscriptions of Hebrew manuscripts, or in printed copies
of the Hebrew Bible_. Nor are they styled the '_Books of
Moses_' in the Septuagint[92:1] or Vulgate,[92:2] _but only in
our modern translations_, after the example of many eminent
Fathers of the Church, who, with the exception of Jerome, and,
perhaps, Origen, were, one and all of them, very little
acquainted with the Hebrew language, and still less with its
criticism."[92:3]
The author of "The Religion of Israel," referring to this subject, says:
"The Jews who lived _after_ the Babylonish Captivity, and the
Christians following their examples, ascribed these books (the
Pentateuch) to Moses; and for many centuries the _notion_ was
cherished that he had really written them. _But strict and
impartial investigation has shown that this opinion must be
given up_; and that _nothing_ in the whole Law really comes
from Moses himself except the Ten Commandments. _And even
these were not delivered by him in the same form as we find
them now._ If we still call these books by his name, it is
only because the Israelites always thought of him as their
first and greatest law-giver, _and the actual authors grouped
all their narratives and laws around his figure, and
associated them with his name_."[92:4]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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