If the credibility of the relation of these incidents going to prove
an astonishing coincidence in the sacred histories of the Hindoo and
Christian Saviors, and demonstrating the doctrine of the crucifixion
as having been practically realized, and preached to the world long
anterior to the offering of a God "once for all" on Mount Calvary;
if its credibility rested on mere _ex parte_ testimony, mere pagan
tradition, or even upon the best digested and most authentic annals of
the past that have escaped the ravages of time, there might still be a
forlorn hope for the stickler for the Christian faith now struggling
in the agonies of a credal skepticism, that the whole thing has been
plagiarized from the Christian Gospels. For paper and parchment history
can be--and has been--mutilated. But the verity of this account rests
upon no such a precarious basis. Its antiquity, reaching far beyond
the Christian era, is corroborated and demonstrated by imperishable
monuments, deep-chiseled indentures burrowed into the granite rock,
which bid defiance to the fingers of time, and even the hands of the
frenzied iconoclast, to destroy or deface, though impelled and spurred
on to the effort by the long-cherished conviction burning in his soul,
that the salvation of the human race depends upon believing that "there
is no other name given under heaven whereby men can be saved" than his
own crucified God, and that all others are but thieves, robbers and
antichrists. Some of the disciples of the oriental systems cherished
this conviction, and Christians and Mahommedans seem to have inherited
it in magnified proportions.
Hence, we are credibly informed that some of the earlier Christian
saints, having determined, like Paul, "to know only Jesus Christ and him
crucified," made repeated efforts to obliterate these sacred facts (so
fatally damaging to their one-sided creeds) from the page of history.
Mr. Higgins suggests that if we could have persons less under the
influence of sectarian prejudice to visit, examine, and report on
the sculptures and monuments of India, covered over as they are with
antiquated and significant figures appertaining to and illustrating
their religious history, we might accumulate still more light bearing
upon the history of the crucifixion of the Savior and sin-atoning
Chrishna. "Most of our reports," he declares, "are fragmentary, if not
one-sided, having come through the hands of Christian missionaries,
bishops and priests."
He informs us that a report on the Hindoo religion, made out by a
deputation from the British Parliament, sent to India for the purpose of
examining their sacred books and monuments, being left in the hands of
a Christian bishop at Calcutta, and with instructions to forward it
to England, was found, on its arrival in London, to be so horribly
mutilated and eviscerated as to be scarcely cognizable. The account of
the crucifixion was gone---cancelled out. The inference is patent.
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