The Christ: A Critical Review and Analysis of the Evidences of His ExistenceRemsburg, John E. (John Eleazer)
Religion
The Christ: A Critical Review and Analysis of the Evidences of His Existence
Remsburg, John E. (John Eleazer)
Jesus Christ -- Historicity; Jesus Christ -- Rationalistic interpretations; Rationalism
Justin Martyr recognized the analogies between Christianity and
Paganism. Addressing the Pagans, he writes: "When we say that the
Word, who is the first born of God, was produced without sexual union,
and that he, Jesus Christ, our teacher, was crucified and died, and
rose again, and ascended into heaven; we propound nothing different
from what you believe regarding those whom you esteem sons of Jupiter
(Zeus)" (First Apology, ch. xxi).
Festivals, called Lenaea and the Greater Dionysia, corresponding in
a measure to the Christmas and Easter of Christians, were celebrated
in honor of this god. Prof. Gulick, professor of Greek in Harvard
University, describing these festivals, says: "In the winter came
various celebrations in honor of Dionysos, god of nature and the vine,
the object of which was to wake the sleeping spirit of generation
and render him propitious for the coming of spring and the sowing
of crops * * * The wine-casks were opened, and all, even slaves,
were allowed perfect holiday and liberty to drink in honor of the
god. The last day of the festival was a sort of All Souls' Day, being
devoted to the gods of the underworld and the spirits of the dead"
(Life of the Ancient Greeks, pp. 274, 275). "The Great Dionysia,"
says Prof. Gulick, "held in the spring, was the occasion of display
and magnificence" (Ibid, p. 113).
So-called Christian burial is identical with Greek burial. Ancient
Greek sepulture is thus described by Ridpath: "To the dead were due
the sacred rites of sepulture * * * When a Greek fell into his last
slumber, the friends immediately composed the body * * * The corse
was clad in white and laid upon a bier. Flowers were brought by the
mourning friends, who put on badges of sorrow * * * Cemeteries were
arranged outside the city walls * * * Over each [grave] was raised
a mound of earth, and on this were planted ivy and roses. * * * Over
the grave was erected a memorial stone or monument, and on this was
an inscription giving the name of the dead, an effigy perhaps of his
person, a word of praise for his virtues, and an epigram composed
for his memory" (History of the Word, Vol. II, p. 497).
Prometheus.
The Titan god, Prometheus, was the son of Iapetus and Asia. He is one
of the most sublime creations of the human imagination. When Zeus,
like Jehovah, became enraged at mankind and sought to destroy it,
Prometheus, like Christ, came on earth to intercede and suffer for
the race. Hurled to Tartarus by the thunderbolts of Zeus he came
again to endure, if need be, eternal agony for man.
For centuries Greeks and Romans believed the story of this vicarious
god to be historical. Grote, the historian, says: "So long and
so firmly did this belief continue, that the Roman general Pompey,
when in command of an army in Kolchis, made with his companion, the
literary Greek Theophanes, a special march to view the spot in Caucasus
where Prometheus had been transfixed" (Greek Mythology, pp. 92, 93).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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