The Christian MythologyLeatherbee, E. B. (Ethel Brigham)
Religion
The Christian Mythology
Leatherbee, E. B. (Ethel Brigham)
Christianity and other religions; Mythology
Having descended into hell, resurrection was necessary, for it was
unreasonable that the savior of mankind, the son of the supreme god,
should remain perpetually in the place of punishment; and, as his life
on earth was over, he could no longer abide there, and so the only
plausible sequence was an ascension to heaven. Krishna, the crucified
Hindu savior, rose from the dead and ascended bodily into the celestial
regions, as did Rama, another avatar of Vishnu. Buddha also ascended
bodily into heaven when his mission on earth was fulfilled, and marks
on the rocks of a high mountain are shown as the last impressions of
his footsteps on earth. Zoroaster and Æsculapius also had similar
experiences, as did Elijah and Adonis. Osiris rose from the dead
and bore the title of "The Resurrected One," his ascension being
celebrated in Egypt at the vernal equinox, as is the Christ's and
as was Adonis'. Other saviors who rose from the dead were Dionysius,
Herakles, Memnon, Baldur and Quetzalcoatl.
Modern Catholics are still taught the fables of the bodily ascension
of Jesus, Mary the Virgin, and Mary the Magdalene and many other holy
persons, as actual miraculous truths, not to be questioned nor denied.
Very good, but how can educated Catholics of today reconcile such
truths with their actual scientific knowledge? They know that the
earth is spherical, that the stars and planets are members of solar
systems, that outside the terrestrial atmosphere is nothing but
vast space. There is no such place as a heaven anywhere in these
celestial regions, and the zenith of any geographical situation
changes every moment. Clouds are mere masses of vapor, not furniture
for the repose of the glorified dead. Then whither did these adored
beings ascend? Certainly, God in his love for them never flung them
far into space to whirl about for eternity.
These Catholics also know the law of gravitation, which would not allow
of such a method of transportation. But why ask these questions? No
religious person is capable of thinking sensibly on the teachings
of his faith, no matter how ridiculous. He accepts, as an adult,
what he questions as a child.
While the idea of bodily ascension of the Christ was probably copied
into his biography from that of Enoch (Gen. v, 24) and Elijah (2 Kings
ii, 11), such stories form a large part of the annals of classical
mythology, almost every hero of antiquity having been translated to
the heavens when his earthly life was spent. The custom of converting
the tombs of prominent Christians into shrines likewise aided this
belief, as, it being impossible to discover the burial places of
the most conspicuous, the idea arose that they had been physically
removed to heaven.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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