The belief of redemption from sin by the sufferings of a _Divine Incarnation_, whether by death on the cross or otherwise, was general and popular among the heathen, centuries before the time of Jesus of Nazareth, and this dogma, no matter how sacred it may have become, or how _consoling_ it may be, must fall along with the rest of the material of which the Christian church is built. Julius Firmicius, referring to this popular belief among the _Pagans_, says: "The _devil_ has _his Christs_."[183:3] This was the general off-hand manner in which the Christian Fathers disposed of such matters. Everything in the religion of the Pagans which corresponded to their religion was of the devil. Most Protestant divines have resorted to the _type_ theory, of which we shall speak anon. As we have done heretofore in our inquiries, we will first turn to _India_, where we shall find, in the words of M. l'Abbé Huc, that "_the idea of redemption by a divine incarnation_," who came into the world for the express purpose of redeeming mankind, was "general and popular."[183:4] "A sense of _original corruption_," says Prof. Monier Williams, seems to be felt by all classes of Hindoos, as indicated by the following prayer used after the _Gāyatrī_ by some Vaishnavas: "'I am sinful, I commit sin, my nature is sinful, _I am conceived in sin_. Save me, O thou lotus-eyed Heri (Saviour), the remover of sin.'"[184:1] Moreover, the doctrine of _bhakti_ (_salvation by faith_) existed among the Hindoos from the earliest times.[184:2] Crishna, the virgin-born, "the Divine Vishnu himself,"[184:3] "he who is without beginning, middle or end,"[184:4] being moved "to relieve the earth of her load,"[184:5] came upon earth and redeemed man by his _sufferings_--to _save_ him. The accounts of the deaths of most all the virgin-born Saviours of whom we shall speak, are conflicting. It is stated in one place that such an one died in such a manner, and in another place we may find it stated altogether differently. Even the accounts of the death of Jesus, as we shall hereafter see, are conflicting; therefore, until the chapter on "_Explanation_" is read, these myths cannot really be thoroughly understood. As the Rev. Geo. W. Cox remarks, in his _Aryan Mythology_, Crishna is described, in one of his aspects, as a self-sacrificing and unselfish hero, a being who is filled with divine wisdom and love, who offers up a sacrifice which he alone can make.[184:6] The _Vishnu Purana_[184:7] speaks of _Crishna_ being shot in the _foot_ with an arrow, and states that _this_ was the cause of his death. Other accounts, however, state that he was suspended on a tree, or in other words, _crucified_. Mons. Guigniaut, in his "_Religion de l'Antiquité_" says: "The death of Crishna is very differently related. One remarkable and convincing tradition makes him perish on a _tree_, to which he was _nailed_ by the stroke of an arrow."[184:8]