The Churches and Modern Thought: An inquiry into the grounds of unbelief and an appeal for candourPhelips, Vivian
Religion
The Churches and Modern Thought: An inquiry into the grounds of unbelief and an appeal for candour
Phelips, Vivian
Rationalism
The Atonement.--In China the Holy One (Tien) dies to save the
world. "The sufferings and death of Osiris were the great mystery of
the Egyptian religion. His being the divine goodness, and the abstract
idea of 'good,' his manifestation upon earth (like an Indian god),
his death and resurrection, and his office as judge of the dead in a
future life, look like the early revelation of a future manifestation
of the deity converted into a mythological fable." [101] While Osiris
is the judge, Horus, his son, is the mediator. In the Judgment scene
in the Book of the Dead, Horus, the son of Isis, leads the deceased,
after his heart has been weighed, into the presence of Osiris (see
Papyrus of Ani, plates 3 & 4). Mithras, the sun-god of the Persians,
was a "Mediator" between God and men--the "Saviour," who, by his
laborious conflicts, worked their salvation. He was also called the
"Word." Attys, called the "Only Begotten Son" and the "Saviour," was
worshipped by the Phrygians, and represented by them as a man tied or
nailed to a tree. Adonis was another virgin-born "Saviour" who suffered
for mankind. The yearly festival of Adonis in the spring was a special
favourite with women. In the Old Testament reference is made to the
weeping of the women over Tammuz, the Babylonian equivalent of Adonis
(Ezekiel viii. 14). According to the Rev. Sir G. W. Cox, [102] he was
the crucified Tao (divine love personified). The Rev. Dr. Parkhurst,
in the chapter on the Resurrection in his Hebrew lexicon, says:
"I find myself obliged to refer Tammuz to that class of idols which
were originally designed to represent the promised Saviour, the
desire of all nations." Prometheus was a Saviour who suffered the
most fearful tortures as the friend of the human race. Æschylus's
tragedy, Prometheus Vinctus, was acted in Athens five hundred years
before the Christian era. Even Bacchus, whom most of us think of as
the rollicking wine-god of classical mythology, was a slain Saviour.
When we turn to the New World we find the worship of a crucified
Saviour among the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians. Lord Kingsborough
tells us that, according to the belief of the ancient Mexicans, "the
death of Quetzalcoatl upon the cross" was "an atonement for the sins of
mankind." [103] Dr. Daniel Brinton relates how the Aztecs had a feast
which they celebrated in the early spring, when "victims were nailed
to a cross and shot with an arrow." [104] Alexander von Humboldt, in
his American Researches, also speaks of a feast, at which the Mexicans
crucified a man and pierced him with an arrow. The Rev. J. P. Lundy,
speaking of this, says: "Here is the old story of Prometheus crucified
on the Caucasus, and of all other pagan crucifixions of the young
incarnate divinities of India, Persia, Asia Minor, and Egypt." [105]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account