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diff --git a/39052.txt b/39052.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3efbc21 --- /dev/null +++ b/39052.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7248 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Ecce Homo!, by Paul Henry Thiry Baron d' Holbach + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: Ecce Homo! + A Critical Inquiry into the History of Jesus of Nazareth: + Being a Rational Analysis of the Gospels + +Author: Paul Henry Thiry Baron d' Holbach + +Release Date: March 4, 2012 [EBook #39052] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ECCE HOMO! *** + + + + +Produced by the Freethought Archives (www.ftarchives.net) +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: archaic spellings such as "desart" for "desert" +have been retained, as have inconsistent spellings such as +"Galilee"--"Gallilee", etc.] + + + + +ECCE HOMO! + +OR, + +A CRITICAL INQUIRY INTO + +THE HISTORY OF JESUS OF NAZARETH: + +BEING A RATIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE GOSPELS + +by BARON d'HOLBACH + +(Paul Henri Thiry Holbach) + +The Cross was the banner, under which madmen assembled to glut the earth +with blood.--_Vide Chap._ 18. + +GORDON PRESS + +NEW YORK + +1977 + + + GORDON PRESS-Publishers + P.O. Box 459 + Bowling Green Station + New York, N.Y. 10004 + + =Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data= + + [Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'] 1723-1789. + Ecce homo! + + Translation of Histoire critique de Jesus Christ. + + Reprint of the 1st American ed., rev. and corr., of + 1827, printed for the proprietors of the Philosophical + library, New York, which was issued as no. 1 of the + Philosophical library. + + 1. Jesus Christ--Biography--Early works to 1800. + I. Title. II. Series: The Philosophical library; + no. 1. + BT30O.H74 1976 232.9'01 73-8281 + ISBN 0-87968-077-6 + + Printed in the United States of America + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Although the writings of the New Testament are in the hands of every +one, nothing is more uncommon than to find the professors of +Christianity acquainted with the history or the founder of their +religion; and even among those who have perused that history, it is +still more rare to find any who have ventured seriously to examine it. +It must, indeed, be acknowledged, that the ignorance of the one, and the +want of reflection in the other, on a subject which they, nevertheless, +regard as of infinite importance, may arise from the dislike naturally +occasioned by the perusal of the New Testament. In that work there is a +confusion, an obscurity and a barbarity of stile, well adapted to +confound the ignorant, and to disgust enlightened minds. Scarcely is +there a history, ancient or modern, which does not possess more method +and clearness than that of Jesus; neither do we perceive that the Holy +Spirit, its reputed author, has surpassed, or even equalled many profane +historians, whose writings are not so important to mankind. The clergy +confess, that the apostles were illiterate men, and of rough manners; +and it does not appear that the Spirit which inspired them, troubled +itself with correcting their defects. On the contrary, it seems to have +adopted them; to have accommodated itself to the weak understandings of +its instruments; and to have inspired them with works in which we do not +find the judgment, order, or precision, that prevail in many human +compositions. Hence, the gospels exhibit a confused assemblage of +prodigies, anachronisms, and contradictions, in which criticism loses +itself, and which would make any other book be rejected with contempt. + +It is by _mysteries_ the mind is prepared to respect religion and its +teachers. We are therefore warranted to suspect, that an obscurity was +designedly given to these writings. In matters of religion it is prudent +never to speak very distinctly. Truths simple and easily understood, do +not strike the imagination in so lively a manner as ambiguous oracles, +and impenetrable mysteries. Jesus, although come on purpose to enlighten +the world, was to be a _stumbling block_ to many nations. The small +number of the elect, the difficulty of salvation, and the danger of +exercising reason, are repeatedly announced in the gospels. Every thing +seems indeed to demonstrate, that God sent his Son to the nations, on +purpose to ensnare them, and that they should not comprehend any part of +the religion which he meant to promulgate. In this the Eternal appears +to have intended to throw mortals into darkness, perplexity, a +diffidence of themselves, and a continual embarrassment, obliging them +to have recourse to those infallible luminaries, their priests, and to +remain forever under the tutelage of the church. Her ministers, we know, +claim the exclusive privilege of understanding and explaining the +scriptures; and no mortal can expect to obtain future felicity if he +does not pay due submission to their decisions. + +Thus, it belongs not to the laity to examine religion. On mere +inspection of the gospels, every person must be convinced that the book +is divine; that every word contained in it is inspired by the Holy +Spirit; and that the explanations given by the church of that celestial +work, in like manner emanate from the Most High. In the first ages of +Christianity, those who embraced the religion of Jesus were only the +dregs of the people; consequently very simple, unacquainted with +letters, and disposed to believe all the wonders any one chose to +announce. Jesus, in his sermons, addressed himself to the vulgar only; +he would have intercourse with none but persons of that description; he +constantly refused to work miracles in presence of the most +clear-sighted of the nation; he declaimed unceasingly against the +learned, the doctors, and the rich; against all in whom he could not +find the pliability necessary for adopting his maxims. We see him +continually extolling poorness of spirit, simplicity, and faith. + +His disciples, and after them the ministers of the church, have +faithfully followed his footsteps; they have always represented faith, +or blind submission, as the first of virtues; as the disposition most +agreeable to God, and most necessary to salvation. This principle serves +for a basis to the Christian religion, and, above all, to the +usurpations of the clergy. The preachers, therefore, who succeeded the +apostles, employed the greatest care in secreting the gospels from the +inspection of all who were not initiated in the mysteries of religion. +They exhibited these books to those only whose faith they had tried, and +whom they found already disposed to regard them as divine. This +mysterious spirit has been transmitted down to our days. In several +countries, the laity are interdicted from perusing the scriptures, +especially in the Romish communion, whose clergy are best acquainted +with governing mankind. The council of Trent has decreed, that "it +belongs to the church alone to decide on the true meaning of the +scriptures, and give their interpretation." + +It is true, the _reading_ of the sacred books is permitted, and even +recommended to protestants, who are also enjoined to _examine_ their +religion. But faith must always precede that reading, and follow that +examination; so that before reading, a protestant is bound to believe +the gospel to be divine: and the examination of it is permitted only, +while he finds there what the ministers of his sect have resolved that +he shall find. Beyond this, he is regarded as an ungodly man, and often +punished for the weakness of his intellect. + +The salvation of Christians thus depends neither on the reading nor on +the understanding of the sacred books, but on the belief that these +books are divine. If, unfortunately, the reading or examination of any +one, does not coincide with the decisions, interpretations, and +commentaries of the church, he is in danger of being ruined, and of +incurring eternal damnation. To _read_ the gospel, he must commence with +being disposed blindly to believe all which that book contains; to +_examine_ the gospel, he must be previously resolved to find nothing +there but the holy and the adorable; in fine, to _understand_ the +gospel, he must entertain a fixed persuasion, that the priests can never +be themselves deceived, or wish to deceive others in the manner they +explain it. "Believe, (say they,) believe on our words that this book is +the work of God himself; if you dare to doubt it, you shall be damned. +Are you unable to comprehend any thing which God reveals to you there? +Believe evermore: God has revealed himself that he may not be +understood.--"The glory of God is to conceal his word;"--(Prov. xxv. 2.) +or rather, by speaking, in a mysterious manner, does not God intimate +that he wishes every one to refer it to us, to whom he has confided his +important secrets? A truth, of which you must not doubt, seeing that we +persecute in this world, and damn in the other, whoever dares to +question the testimony which we bear to ourselves." + +However erroneous this reasoning may appear to those accustomed to +think, it is sufficient for the greater part of believers. Where, +therefore, they do not read the gospel, or where they do read it, they +do not examine it; where they do examine it, it is with prejudiced eyes, +and with a determination to find there only what can be conformable to +these prejudices, and to the interests of their guides.--In consistency +with his fears and prepossessions, a Christian conceives himself lost, +should he find in the sacred books reason to doubt the veracity of his +priests. + +With such dispositions, it is no way surprising to see men persisting in +their ignorance, and making a merit of rejecting the lights which reason +offers them. It is thus, that error is perpetuated, and that nations, in +concert with those who deceive them, confer on interested cheats an +unbounded confidence in what they regard as of the greatest importance +to their own felicity. But the darkness which for so many ages has +enveloped the human mind, begins to dissipate. In spite of the tyrannic +cares of their jealous guides, mankind seem desirous to burst from the +pupilage, wherein so many causes combine to retain them. The ignorance +in which the priesthood fostered the credulous, has vanished from among +many nations; the despotism of priests is enfeebled in several +flourishing states; science has rendered the mind more liberal; and +mankind begin to blush at the ignominious fetters, under which the +clergy have so long made both kings and people groan. The human mind is +struggling in every country to break in pieces its chains. + +Having premised this, we proceed to examine, without any prejudice, the +life of Jesus. We shall deduce our facts from the gospels +only--memorials reverenced and acknowledged by the doctors of the +Christian religion. To illustrate these facts, we shall employ the aid +of criticism. We shall exhibit, in the plainest manner, the conduct, +maxims, and policy of an obscure legislator, who, after his death, +acquired a celebrity to which he had no pretensions while alive. We +shall contemplate in its cradle a religion which, at first, intended for +the vilest populace of a nation, the most abject, the most credulous, +and the most stupid on earth, became, by little and little, mistress of +the Romans, the firebrand of nations, the absolute sovereign of European +monarchs; arbiter of the destiny of kingdoms; the cause of their +friendship, and of their hate; the cement which serves to strengthen +their alliance or their discord; and the leaven always ready to put +minds in fermentation. In fine, we shall behold an artizan, a melancholy +enthusiast and unskilful juggler, abandoning his profession of a +carpenter to preach to men of his own cast; miscarrying in all his +projects; himself punished as a public incendiary; dying on a cross; and +yet after his death becoming the legislator and the god of many nations, +and an object of adoration to beings who pretend to common sense! + +If the Holy Spirit had anticipated the transcendant fortune which the +religion of Jesus was one day to attain; if he had foreseen that this +religion would be received by kings, civilized nations, scholars, and +persons in the higher circles of life; if he had suspected that it would +be examined, analyzed, discussed and criticised by logicians; there is +reason to believe that he would have left us memoirs less shapeless, +facts more circumstantial, proofs more authentic, and materials better +digested than those we possess on the life and doctrine of its founder. +He would have chosen writers better qualified than those he has +inspired, to transmit to nations the speeches and actions of the saviour +of the world; he would have made him act and speak on the most trifling +point, in a manner more worthy of a god; he would have put in his mouth +a language more noble, more perspicuous, and more persuasive; and he +would have employed means more certain to convince rebellious reason, +and abash incredulity. + +Nothing of all this has occurred: the gospel is merely an eastern +romance, disgusting to men of common sense, and obviously addressed to +the ignorant, the stupid, and the vulgar; the only persons whom it can +mislead. Criticism finds there no connection of facts, no agreement of +circumstances, no illustration of principles, and no uniformity of +relation. Four men, unpolished and unlettered, pass for the faithful +authors of memoirs containing the life of Jesus; and it is on their +testimony that Christians believe themselves bound to receive the +religion they profess; and adopt, without examination, the most +contradictory facts, the most incredible actions, the most amazing +prodigies, the most unconnected system, the most unintelligible +doctrines, and the most revolting mysteries! + +Victor of Tunis informs us, that, in the sixth century, the Emperor +Anastasius "caused the gospels to be corrected, as works composed by +_fools_." The Elements of Euclid are intelligible to all who endeavor to +understand them; they excite no dispute among geometricians. Is it so +with the Bible? and do its _revealed_ truths occasion no disputes among +divines? By what fatality have writings revealed by God himself still +need of commentaries? and why do they demand additional lights from on +high, before they can be believed or understood? Is it not astonishing, +that what was intended as a _guide_ to mankind, should be wholly above +their comprehension? Is it not cruel, that what is of most importance to +them, should be least known? All is mystery, darkness, uncertainty, and +matter of dispute, in a religion intended by the Most High to enlighten +the human race. In fact, God is every where represented in the bible as +a _seducer_. He permitted Eve to be _seduced_ by a serpent. He hardened +the heart of Pharaoh; and the prophet Jeremiah distinctly accuses him of +being a deceiver. + +Supposing, however, that the gospels were in reality written by apostles +or disciples of apostles, should it not follow from this alone, that +their testimony ought to be suspected? Could not men who are described +as illiterate, and destitute of talents, be themselves deceived? Could +not enthusiasts and credulous fanatics imagine, that they had seen many +things which never existed, and thus become the dupes of deception? +Whoever has perused the ancient historians, particularly Herodotus, +Plutarch, Livy, and Josephus, must admit the force of this reasoning. +These writers, with a pious credulity similar to that of Christians, +relate prodigies pregnant with absurdities, which they themselves +pretended to have witnessed, or were witnessed by others. Among the +wonders that appeared at Rome, some time before the triumvirate, many +statues of the Gods sweat blood and water; and there was an Ox which +spoke. Under the empire of Caligula, the statue of Jupiter Olympus burst +forth into such loud fits of laughter, that those who were taking it +down to carry to Rome, abandoned their work and fled in terror. A crow +prognosticated misfortune to Domitian, and an Owl paid the same +compliment to Herod. + +Moreover, could not impostors, strongly attached to a sect by which they +subsisted, and which, therefore, they had an interest to support, attest +miracles, and publish statements with the falsehood of which they were +well acquainted? and could not the first christians, by a _pious fraud_, +afterwards add or retrench things essential to the works ascribed to the +apostles? We know that Origen, so early as the third century, complained +loudly of the corruption of manuscripts. "What shall we say (exclaims +he) of the errors of transcribers, and of the impious temerity with +which they have corrupted the text? What shall we say of the licence of +those, who promiscuously interpolate or erase at their pleasure?" These +questions form warrantable prejudices against the persons to whom the +gospels have been ascribed, and against the purity of their text. + +It is also extremely difficult to ascertain whether those books belong +to the authors whose names they bear. In the first ages of Christianity +there was a great number of gospels, different from one another, and +composed for the use of different churches and different sects of +Christians. The truth of this has been confessed by ecclesiastical +historians of the greatest credit. (Tillemont, tom. ii. 47, etc. +Epiphan. Homil. 84. Dodwell's Disser. on Irenaeus, p. 66. Freret's +Examin. Critique. Codex Apocryphus, &c.) There is, therefore, reason to +suspect, that the persons who composed the acknowledged gospels might, +with the view of giving them more weight, have attributed them to +apostles, or disciples, who actually had no share in them. That idea, +once adopted by ignorant and credulous christians, might be transmitted +from age to age, and pass at last for certainty, in times when it was no +longer possible to ascertain the authors or the facts related. + +Among some fifty gospels, with which Christianity in its commencement +was inundated, the church, assembled in council at Nice, chose four of +them, and rejected the rest as apocryphal, although the latter had +nothing more ridiculous in them than those which were admitted. Thus, at +the end of three centuries, (_i.e._ in the three hundred and +twenty-fifth year of the Christian era,) some bishops decided, that +these four gospels were the only ones which ought to be adopted, or +which had been inspired by the Holy Spirit. A miracle enabled them to +discover this important truth, so difficult to be discerned at a time +even then not very remote from that of the apostles. They placed, it is +said, promiscuously, books apocryphal and authentic under an altar:--the +Fathers of the Council betook themselves to prayer, in order to induce +the Lord to permit the false or doubtful books to remain _under_ the +altar, whilst those which were truly inspired should place themselves +above it--a circumstance which did not fail to occur. It is then on this +miracle that the faith of Christians depends! It is to it that they owe +the assurance of possessing the true gospels, or faithful memoirs of the +life of Jesus! It is from these only they are, permitted to deduce the +principles of their belief, and the rule of conduct which they ought to +observe in order to obtain eternal salvation! + +Thus, the authenticity of the books which are the basis of the Christian +religion, is founded solely on the authority of a council composed of +priests and bishops. But these bishops and priests, judges and parties +in an affair wherein they were obviously interested, could they not be +themselves deceived? Independently of the pretended miracle which +enabled them to distinguish the true gospels from the false, had they +any sign by which they could clearly distinguish the writings they ought +to receive from those which they ought to reject? Some will tell us, +that the church assembled in a general council is _infallible_; that +then the Holy Spirit inspires it, and that its decisions ought to be +regarded as those of God himself. If we demand, where is the proof of +this infallibility? it will be answered, that the gospel assures it, and +that Jesus has promised to assist and enlighten his church until the +consummation of ages. Here the incredulous reply, that the church, or +its ministers, create rights to themselves; for it is their own +authority which establishes the authenticity of books whereby that +authority is established. This is obviously a circle of errors. In +short, an assembly of bishops and priests has decided, that the books +which attribute to themselves an infallible authority, have been +divinely inspired! + +Notwithstanding this decision, there still remain some difficulties on +the authenticity of the gospels. In the _first_ place, it may be asked +whether the decision of the Council of Nice, composed of three hundred +and eighteen bishops, ought to be regarded as that of the universal +church? Were all who formed that assembly entirely of the same opinion? +Were, there no disputes among these men inspired by the Holy Spirit? Was +their decision unanimously accepted? Had not the authority of +Constantine a chief share in the adoption of the decrees of that +celebrated council? In this case, was it not the imperial power, rather +than the spiritual authority, which decided the authenticity of the +gospels? + +In the _second_ place, many theologists agree, that the universal +church, although infallible in doctrine, may err in _facts_. Now it is +evident, that in the case alluded to, the doctrine depends on fact. +Indeed, before deciding whether the doctrines contained in the gospels +were divine, it was necessary to know, whether the gospels themselves +were written by the inspired authors to whom they are ascribed. This is +obviously a _fact_. It was further necessary to know, whether the +gospels had never been altered, mutilated, augmented, interpolated, or +falsified, by the different hands through which they had passed in the +course of three centuries. This is likewise a _fact_. Can the fathers of +the church guarantee the probity of all the depositaries of those +writings, and the exactness of all the transcribers? Can they decide +definitively, that, during so long a period, none could insert in these +memoirs, marvelous relations or dogmas, unknown to those who are their +supposed authors? Does not ecclesiastical history inform us, that, in +the origin of Christianity, there were schisms, disputes, heresies, and +sects without number; and that each of the disputants founded his +opinion on the gospels? Even in the time of the Council of Nice, do we +not find that the whole church was divided on the fundamental article of +the Christian religion--the divinity of Jesus? + +Thus it is seen that the council of Nice was the true founder of +Christianity, which, till then, wandered at random; did not acknowledge +Jesus to be God; had no authentic gospels; was without a fixed law; and +had no code of doctrine whereon to rely. A number of bishops and +priests, very few in comparison of those who composed the whole +Christian church, and these bishops no way unanimous, decided on the +points most essential to the salvation of nations. They decided on the +divinity of Jesus; on the authenticity of the gospels; that, according +to these, their own authority ought to be deemed infallible. In a word, +they decided on the sum total of faith! Nevertheless their decisions +might have remained without force, if they had not been supported by the +authority of Constantine. This prince gave prevalence to the opinion of +the fathers of the council, who knew how to draw him, for a time, to +their own side; and who, amidst this multitude of gospels and writings, +did not fail to declare those divine which they judged most comformable +to their own opinions, or to the ruling faction. In religion as in other +things, the reasoning of the _strongest_ party is always the best. + +Behold, then, the authority of an emperor, who determines the chief +points of the Christian religion! This emperor, unsettled in his own +faith, decides that Jesus is consubtantial with the Father, and compels +his subjects to receive, as inspired, the four gospels we have in our +hands.--It is in these memoirs, adopted by a few bishops in the council +of Nice; by them attributed to apostles, or unexceptionable persons +inspired by the Holy Spirit; by them proposed to serve as an +indispensable rule to Christians; that we are to seek for the materials +of our history. We shall state them with fidelity; we shall compare and +connect their discordant relations; we shall see if the facts which they +detail are worthy of God, and calculated to procure to mankind the +advantages which they expect. This inquiry will enable us to judge +rightly of the Christian religion; of the degree of confidence we ought +to place in it; of the esteem we ought to entertain for its lessons and +doctrines; and of the idea we should form of Jesus its founder. + +Though, in composing this history, we have laid it down as a rule to +employ the gospels only, we presume not to flatter ourselves that it +will please every body, or that the clergy will adopt our labors. The +connections we shall form; the interpretations we shall give; the +animadversions we shall present to our readers, will not always be +entirely agreeable to the views of our spiritual guides, the greater +part of whom are enemies to all inquiry. To such men we would state, +that criticism gives a lustre to truth; that to reject all examination +is to acknowledge the weakness of their cause; and that not to wish for +discussion is to avow it to be incapable of sustaining a trial. + +If they tell us, that our ideas are repugnant to the decisions of +councils, of the fathers, and of the universal church; to this we shall +answer, that, according to their own books, _opposition_ is not always a +crime; we shall plead the example of an apostle, to whom the Christian +religion is under the greatest obligations--what do we say!--to whom +alone, perhaps, it owes its existence. Now this apostle boasts of having +_withstood_ the great St. Peter to his face, that visible head of the +church, appointed by Jesus himself to feed his flock; and whose +infallibility is at least as probable as that of his successors. + +If they charge us with _innovation_, we shall plead the example of Jesus +himself, who was regarded as an _innovator_ by the Jews, and who was a +martyr for the reform he intended to introduce. If the opinions be +unacceptable, the author, as he has no pretensions to divine +inspiration, leaves to every one the liberty of rejecting or receiving +his interpretations, and method of investigation. He does not threaten +with eternal torments those who resist his arguments; he has not credit +enough to promise heaven to such as yield to them; he pretends neither +to constrain, nor to seduce those who do not think as he does. He is +desirous only to calm the mind; allay animosity; and sooth the passions +of those zealots, who are ever ready to harass and destroy their fellow +creatures on account of opinions which may not appear equally convincing +to all the world. He promises to point out the ridiculous cruelty of +those men of blood, who persecute for dogmas which they themselves do +not understand. He ventures to flatter himself, that such as peruse this +inquiry with coolness, will acknowledge, that it is very possible to +doubt of the inspiration of the gospels, and of the divine mission of +Jesus, without ceasing to be a rational and honest man. + +Such as are exasperated against this work are entreated to remember, +that faith is a gift of heaven; that the want of it is not a vice; that +if the Jews, who were eye witnesses of the wonders of Jesus, did not +believe them, it is very pardonable to doubt them at the beginning of +the nineteenth century, especially on finding that the accounts of these +marvels, though said to have been inspired by the Holy Spirit, are not +uniform nor in harmony with each other. In fine, fiery devotees are +earnestly entreated to moderate their holy rage, and suffer the +meekness, so often recommended by their "divine Saviour" to occupy the +place of that bitter zeal, and persecuting spirit which creates so many +enemies to the Christian religion. Let them remember, that if it was to +patience and forbearance Jesus promised the possession of the earth, it +is much to be feared that pride, intolerance and inhumanity, will render +the ministers of the church detestable, and make them lose that empire +over minds, which to them is so agreeable. If they wish to reign over +rational men, they must display reason, knowledge, and, above all, +virtues more useful than those wherewith the teachers of the gospel have +so long infested society. Jesus has said, "_Happy are the meek, for they +shall inherit the earth_;" unless indeed interpreters should pretend, +that this only signifies the necessity of persecuting, exterminating, +and cutting the throats of those whose affections they wish to gain. + +If it were permitted to cite the maxims of a profane person by that of +the Son of God, we would quote here the apophthegm of the profound +Machiavel, that "empires are preserved by the same means whereby they +are established." It was by meekness, patience, and precaution, that the +disciples of Jesus are said to have at first established Christianity. +Their successors employed violence; but not until they found themselves +supported by devout tyrants. Since then, the gospel of peace has been +the signal of war; the pacific disciples of Jesus have become implacable +warriors; have treated each other as ferocious beasts; and the church +has been perpetually torn by dissentions, schisms, and factions. If the +primitive spirit of patience and meekness does not quickly return to the +aid of religion, it will soon become the object of the hatred of +nations, who begin to feel that morality is preferable to obscure +dogmas, and that peace is of greater value than the holy frenzy of the +ministers of the gospel. + +We cannot, therefore, with too much earnestness exhort them, for their +own sakes, to moderation. Let them imitate their divine Master, who +never employed his Father's power to exterminate the Jews, of whom he +had so much to complain. He did not make the armies of heaven descend, +in order to establish his doctrine. He chose rather to surrender to the +secular power than give up the infidels, whom his prodigies and +transcendent reasoning could not convince. Though he is represented as +being the depositary of the power of the Most High; though he was +inspired by the Holy Spirit; though he had at his command all the angels +of paradise, we do not find that he performed any miracles on the +understandings of his auditory. He suffered them to remain in their +blindness, though he had come on purpose to enlighten them. We cannot +doubt, that a conduct, so wise, was intended to make the pastors of his +church (who are not possessed of more persuasive powers than their +master) sensible that it is not by violence they can reconcile the mind +to incredible things; and that it would be unjust to force others to +comprehend what, without favor from above; it would be impossible for +themselves to comprehend; or what, even with such favor, they but very +imperfectly understand. + +But it is time to conclude an introduction, perhaps, already too long to +a work which, even without preamble, may be tiresome to the clergy, and +irritate the temper of the devout. The author does himself the justice +to believe, that he has written enough to be attacked by a host of +writers, obliged, by situation to repel his blows, and to defend, right +or wrong, a cause wherein they are so deeply interested. He calculates +that, on his death, his book will be calumniated, as well as his +reputation, and his arguments misrepresented, or mutilated. He expects +to be treated as impious--a blasphemer--an atheist, and to be loaded +with all the epithets which the pious are in use to lavish on those who +disquiet them. He will not, however, sleep the less tranquil for that; +but as his sleep may prevent him from replying, he thinks it his duty to +inform his antagonists before hand, that _injuries are not reasons_. He +does more--he bequeaths them charitable advice, to which the defenders +of religion do not usually pay sufficient attention. They are then +apprised, that if, in their learned refutations, they do not resolve +completely _all_ the objections brought against them, they will have +done nothing for their cause. The defenders of a religion, in which it +is affirmed that every thing is divinely inspired, are bound not to +leave a single argument behind, and ought to be convinced that +_answering_ to an argument is not always refuting it. They should please +also to keep in remembrance, that a single falsehood, a single +absurdity, a single contradiction, or a single blunder, fairly pointed +out in the gospels, is sufficient to render suspected, and even to +overturn the authority of a book which ought to be perfect in all its +parts, if it be true that it is the work of an infinitely perfect Being. +An incredulous person, being but a man, may reason wrong; but it is +never permitted to a God, or his instruments, either to contradict +themselves, or to talk nonsense. + + + + +ECCE HOMO! + +CHAP. I. + +ACCOUNT OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND THEIR PROPHETS.--INQUIRY INTO THE +PROPHECIES RELATING TO JESUS. + + +However slightly we cast our eyes over the history of the Jews, as +contained in their sacred books, we are forced to acknowledge, that +these people were at all times the blindest, the most stupid, the most +credulous, the most superstitious, and the silliest that ever appeared +on earth. Moses, by dint of miracles, or delusions, succeeded in +subjugating the Israelites. After having liberated them from the iron +rod of the Egyptians, he put them under his own. This celebrated +legislator had evidently the intention to subject the Hebrews for ever +to his purposes, and, after himself, to render them the slaves of his +family and tribe. It is obvious, that the mosaical economy had no other +object than to deliver up the people of Israel to the tyranny and +extortions of priests and Levites. These the law, which was promulgated +in name of the Eternal, authorised to devour the rest of the nation, and +to crush them under an insupportable yoke. The chosen people of God were +destined solely to be the prey of the priesthood; to satiate their +avarice and ambition; and to become the instrument and victim of their +passions. + +Hence, by the law, and by the policy of the priests, the people of God +were kept in a profound ignorance, in an abject superstition, in an +unsocial and savage aversion for the rest of mankind; in an inveterate +hatred of other forms of worship, and in a barbarous and sanguinary +intolerance towards every foreign religion. All the neighbors of the +Hebrews, were, therefore, their enemies. If the holy nation was the +object of the love of the most high, it was an object of contempt and +horror to all who had occasion to know it--a fact admitted by their own +historian, Josephus. For this it was indebted to its religious +institutions, to the labors of its priests, to its diviners, and its +prophets, who continually profitted by its credulity, in displaying +wonders and kindling its delirium. + +Under the guidance of Moses, and of generals or judges who governed them +afterwards, the Jewish people distinguished themselves only by +massacres, unjust wars, cruelties, usurpations, and infamies, which were +enjoined them in the name of the Eternal. Weary of the government of +their priests, which drew on them misfortunes and bloody defeats, the +descendants of Abraham demanded kings; but, under these, the state was +perpetually torn with disputes between the priesthood and the +government. Superstition aimed at ruling over policy. Prophets and +priests pretended to reign over kings, of whom such as were not +sufficiently submissive to the interpreters of heaven, were renounced by +the Lord, and, from that moment, unacknowledged and opposed by their own +subjects. Fanatics and impostors, absolute masters of the understandings +of the nation, were continually ready to rouse it, and excite in its +bosom the most terrible revolutions. It was the intrigues of the +prophets that deprived Saul of his crown, and bestowed it on David, _the +man according to God's own heart_--that is to say, devoted to the will +of the priests. It was the prophets, who, to punish the defection of +Solomon in the person of his son, occasioned the separation of the +kingdoms of Judea and Israel. It was the prophets who kept these two +kingdoms continually at variance; weakened them by means of each other, +desolated them by religious and fatal wars, conducted them to complete +ruin, a total dispersion of their inhabitants, and a long captivity +among the Assyrians. + +So many calamities did not open the eyes of the Jews, who continued +obstinate in refusing to acknowledge the true source of their +misfortunes. Restored to their homes by the bounty of Cyrus, they were +again governed by priests and prophets, whose maxims rendered them +turbulent, and drew on them the hatred of sovereigns who subdued them. +The Greek princes treated with the greatest severity a people whom the +oracles and promises of their prophets rendered always rebellious, and +ungovernable. The Jews, in fine, became the prey of the Romans, whose +yoke they bore with fear, against whom impostors often incited them to +revolt, and who, at last, tired of their frequent rebellions, entirely +destroyed them as a nation. + +Such, in a few words, is the history of the Jewish people. It presents +the most memorable examples of the evils which fanaticism and +superstition produce; for it is evident that the continual revolutions, +bloody wars, and total destruction of that nation, had no other cause +than its unwearied credulity, its submission to priests, its enthusiasm, +and its furious zeal, excited by the inspired. On reading the Old +Testament, we are forced to confess, that the people of God (thanks to +the roguery of their spiritual guides) were, beyond contradiction, the +most unfortunate people that ever existed. Yet the most solemn promises +of Jehovah seemed to assure to that people a flourishing and puissant +empire. God had made an eternal alliance with Abraham and his posterity; +but the Jews, far from reaping the fruits of this alliance, and far from +enjoying the prosperity they had been led to expect, lived continually +in the midst of calamities, and were, more than all other nations, the +sport of frightful revolutions. So many disasters, however, were +incapable of rendering them more considerate; the experience of so many +ages did not hinder them from relying on oracles so often contradicted; +and the more unfortunate they found themselves, the more rooted were +they in their credulity. The destruction of their nation could not bring +them to doubt of the excellence of their law, of the wisdom of their +institutions, or of the veracity of their prophets, who successively +relieved each other, either in menacing them in the name of the Lord, or +in re-animating their frivolous hopes. + +Strongly convinced that they were the sacred and chosen people of the +Most High, alone worthy of his favors, the Jews, in spite of all their +miseries, were continually persuaded that their God could not have +abandoned them.--They, therefore, constantly looked for an end to their +afflictions, and promised themselves a deliverance, which obscure +oracles had led them to expect. Building on these fanatical notions, +they were at all times disposed to listen with avidity to every man who +announced himself as inspired by heaven; they eagerly ran after every +singular personage who could feed their expectations; they followed +whoever had the secret of astonishing them by impostures, which their +stupidity made them consider supernatural works, and unquestionable +signs of divine power. Disposed to see the marvellous in the most +trifling events, every adroit impostor was on the watch to deceive them, +and was certain of making more or less adherents, especially among the +populace, who are every where destitute of experience and knowledge. + +It was in the midst of a people of this disposition that the personage +appeared whose history we write. He very soon found followers in the +most despicable of the rabble. Seconded by these, he preached, as usual, +_reformation_ to his fellow citizens, he wrought wonders; he styled +himself the envoy of the Divinity. He particularly founded his mission +on vague, obscure, and ambiguous predictions, contained in the sacred +books of the Jews, which he applied to himself. He announced himself as +the messiah or messenger, the deliverer of Israel, who for so many ages +was the object of the nation's hope. His disciples, his apostles, and +afterwards their successors, found means to apply to their master the +ancient prophecies, wherein he seemed the least perceptibly designed. +The Christians, docile and full of faith, have had the good fortune to +see the founder of their religion predicted in the clearest manner +throughout the whole Old Testament. By dint of allegories, figures, +interpretations, and commentaries, their doctors have brought them to +see, in this shapeless compilation, all that they had an interest in +pointing out to them. When passages taken literally did not countenance +deceit agreeably to their views, they contrived for them a two-fold +sense: they pretended that it was not necessary to understand them +literally, but to give them a mystical, allegorical, and spiritual +meaning. To explain these pretended predictions, they continually +substituted one name for another; they rejected the literal meaning, in +order to adopt a figurative one; they changed the most natural +signification of words they applied the same passages to events quite +opposite; they retrenched the names of some personages plainly designed, +in order to introduce that of Jesus; and, in all this, they did not +blush to make the most crying abuse of the principles of language. + +The third chapter of Genesis furnishes a striking example of the manner +in which the doctors of the Christian religion have allegorized passages +of scripture, in order to apply then to Jesus. In this chapter, God says +to the serpent, convicted of having seduced the woman, _the seed of the +woman shall bruise thy head_. This prophesy appears with so much the +more difficulty to apply to Jesus, that these words follow--_and thou +shalt bruise his heel_. We do not comprehend, why the _seed of the +woman_ must be understood of Jesus. If he was the Son of God, or God +himself, he could not be produced from the _seed of the woman_. If he +was man, he is not pointed out in a particular manner by these words, +for all men, without exception, are produced from the _seed of women_. +According to our interpreters, the serpent is sin, and the seed of the +woman that bruises it is Jesus incarnate in the womb of Mary. Since the +coming of Jesus, however, sin, typified by the serpent, has at all times +existed; from which we are led to conclude, that Jesus has not destroyed +it, and that the prediction is neither literally nor allegorically +accomplished. + +In the twenty-second chapter of Genesis, God promises to Abraham, that +in his seed _all the nations of the earth shall be blessed_. What we +style prosperity, the Hebrews termed blessings. If Abraham and his race +enjoyed prosperity, it was only for a short period; the Hebrews became +afterwards the slaves of the Egyptians, and were, as has been seen, the +most unfortunate people on earth. Christians have also given a mystic +sense to this prophecy:--they substitute the name of Jesus for that of +Abraham, and it is in him that all the nations shall be blessed. The +advantages they shall enjoy will be persecutions, calamities, and +misfortunes of every kind; and his disciples, like himself, shall +undergo the most painful punishments. Hence we see, that, following our +interpreters, the word _blessing_ has changed its meaning; it no longer +implies prosperity; it signifies what, in ordinary language, is termed +curses, disasters, afflictions, troubles, divisions, and religious +wars--calamities with which the Christian nations have been continually +_blessed_ since the establishment of the church. + +Christians believe that they see Jesus announced in the 49th chapter of +Genesis. The patriarch Jacob there promises sovereign power to Judah. +"The sceptre (says he) shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from +between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of +the people be." It is thus that several interpreters translate the tenth +verse of the 49th chapter of Genesis. Others have translated it thus, +"the authority shall forever be in Judah, when the Messiah shall have +come." Others read, "the authority shall be in Judah, till the messenger +receive in Shiloh the sovereign power." Others again render the passage +in this manner, "the people of Judah shall be in affliction, till the +messenger of the Lord comes to put an end to it;" and according to +others, "till the city of Shiloh be destroyed." + +This diversity in the translation of the same passage ought, +unquestionably, to render the prophecy very suspicious. First, we see +that it is impossible to determine the signification of the word +_Shiloh_, or to ascertain, whether it be the name of a man or a city? +Secondly, it is proved by the sacred books, received equally by Jew and +Christians, that the sovereign power is gone from Judah; was wholly +annihilated during the Babylonish captivity, and has not been +re-established since. If it is pretended, that Jesus came to restore the +power of Judah, we assert, on the contrary, that, in the time of Jesus, +Judah was without authority, for Judah had submitted to the Romans. But +our doctors have again recourse to allegory:--according to them, the +power of Judah was the spiritual power of Jesus over Christians, +designated by Judah. + +They, in like manner, see Jesus foretold by Balaam, who, by the bye, was +a false prophet. He thus expresses himself: (Numbers xxiv. 16,)--"He +hath said, who heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the +Most High, who saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, +but having his eyes open: I shall see him but not now; I shall behold +him but not nigh; there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre +shall rise out of Israel," &c. In this unintelligible jargon, they +pretend to shew Christians a clear prediction of the founder of their +religion. It is he who is the star, because his luminous doctrine +enlightens all minds. _This sceptre, which shall rise out of Israel_, is +the cross of Jesus, by the aid of which he has triumphed over the Devil, +who, in spite of this victory, ceases not to reign on earth, and to +render useless the triumph of the Son of God. + +But of all the prophecies contained in the Old Testament, there is not +one to which the Christian doctors have attached more importance than +that found in Isaiah, chap. vii. 14 A young woman _shall conceive, and +bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel_. To find out Jesus in this +prediction, it is, first of all, necessary to be convinced, that this +woman is _Mary_; next, it is necessary to ascertain that _Immanuel_ is +the same with Jesus. It will always be objected against this pretended +prophecy, that it is sufficient to read the chapter of Isaiah whence the +passage is taken, to be satisfied that the prophet had in view Ahaz king +of Judah. This prince is there represented as in consternation, on +account of the arrival of Rezin and Pekah, kings of Syria and Israel, +who, with their united armies, threatened his dominions. Isaiah +encouraged him, by representing that he still had forces sufficient, and +promised him the assistance of the Lord, whom every prophet made to be +of his own party. To guarantee his promises, Isaiah told his sovereign, +that he had only to ask of him a sign. The dispirited prince replied, +that he did not wish to tempt the Lord. The prophet, however, wishing to +convince him, announced a sign--"A young woman shall conceive, and bring +forth a son, who shall be called Immanuel." Now the following chapter +informs us who this young woman was: she was the wife of Isaiah +himself.--"I took unto me (says he) faithful witnesses; and I went unto +the _prophetess_, and she conceived and bare a son." The simple +inspection of this text, evidently shows that it is in no respect +applicable to Jesus. If what is recorded in 2d Chron. c. v. be true, the +prophecy was not even accomplished, but the reverse of its fulfilment +took place. Instead of Ahaz defeating his enemies, as Isaiah promised he +would, his whole army was routed, 120,000 killed, and 200,000 carried +into captivity by the kings of Syria and Israel. It is evident, then, +that this famous sign of "a young woman shall conceive," &c. served only +in the first instance to _deceive_ the king of Judah, and has since been +employed to _mislead_ those who, like that king, relied on the +professions of priests and prophets. + +Proceeding forward in the perusal of Isaiah (chap. ix. 6,) we find the +following passage:--"Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: +and the government shall be upon his shoulder." If the child foretold by +Isaiah was born in his time, it can no longer be said, that the prophet +meant to speak of Jesus, who was born several centuries after him; for +the birth of that person being so distant, could not be a sign of +deliverance to Ahaz, as his enemies pressed so closely upon him. To this +it is answered, that the prophets spoke of future events as if they were +past or present; but this answer requires to be established by proof. It +is likewise said, that the birth of Isaiah's son was only a type of that +of Jesus; for to him, it is affirmed, is applicable "the government on +the shoulder," in which our doctors perceive distinctly pointed out the +cross that Jesus carried on his shoulders when going to Calvary. Our +interpreters have thus the happiness of seeing the sign of dominion, or +empire, in what appears to eyes less enlightened, the sign of +punishment, weakness, and slavery. + +It is proper also to inquire why it is said, in the Christian system, +that it is not necessary a prophecy have relation, in all its parts, to +the subject or fact to which it is applied. The sacred writers do not +mean to cite a whole prophecy, but only a passage, a detached phrase, or +often a single word, apposite to the subject they treat of, without +troubling themselves whether what precedes, or what follows their +quotation has connexion or not with what they are speaking of. In the +example under discussion, Matthew, wishing to quote Isaiah and apply a +prophecy to Jesus, takes of this prophecy these detached words only, _A +young woman shall conceive_, &c.--he stood in need of no more of it. +According to that Evangelist, Mary had conceived:--Isaiah had said, that +a girl, or woman, should conceive. Matthew therefore concluded, that the +conception of Jesus was foretold by Isaiah. This vague connection is +sufficient for all Christians, who, like Matthew, believe they see their +founder pointed out in prophecy. + +Following this strange method, they have referred to Isaiah to prove +that Jesus was the messiah promised to the Jews. In the 53d chapter, +this prophet describes in a very pathetic manner the misfortunes and +sufferings of his brother Jeremiah. The clergy have long labored to +apply that prophecy to Jesus: they have distinctly seen him pointed out +in the "man of sorrows;" so that it is regarded rather as a faithful and +circumstantial narrative of the passion of Jesus, than as a prediction. +But, agreeably to sound criticism, this history relates only to +Jeremiah. Not to deprive themselves, however, of the resources so useful +a passage might furnish, they have decided, that, in the case of +prophecies, the indirect relation should have place. By this means, in +admitting that the narrative of Isaiah had Jeremiah for its object, they +maintained that Jeremiah was a figure or type of Jesus. It is not that +their lives were strictly consentaneous; but, in the Christian religion, +conformity followed by affinities, is not absolutely requisite to the +justice of the comparison. + +This manner of reasoning, peculiar to the Christian religion, has been +very convenient for it. Paul especially, like most of the first +preachers of Christianity, and after them the fathers and doctors of the +church, employed this curious method of proving their system. According +to them, all under the ancient law was the image of the new; and the +most celebrated personages in the Old Testament, typified Jesus and his +church. Abel, assassinated by his brother, was a prophetic figure of +Jesus put to death by the Jews. The sacrifice of Isaac, which was not +accomplished, was the image of that accomplished on the cross. The +relations or predictions which had for their object Abraham, Isaac, +Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, Jeremiah, Zorobabel, or +other ancient personages, were applied to Jesus. His death was +represented by the blood of he-goats and of bulls. By aid of these +allegories, the books of the Jews served only to announce the events in +the life of Jesus, and the history of the establishment of his religion. +In this manner it is easy to find in the scriptures whatever we desire. + +It would be useless to investigate the famous prophecy of the seventy +weeks of Daniel, in which the Christian doctors believe they see the +coming of Jesus clearly announced. It is true, that if Daniel, or his +editors, had specified the nature of these _weeks_, they would have +prevented much trouble to interpreters: this prediction might then have +been a great resource to Christianity. The ablest critics, however, +declare that they are greatly embarrassed when attempting to fix the +commencement and the end of these weeks. On this they are never +unanimous, nor can they agree on a precise date, which hitherto is +wanting to the great event of the coming of the messiah. We know the +Jews made use of weeks of days, weeks of weeks, and weeks of years. It +is by a conjecture, merely hazarded, they advance in the bible of +Louvain, that the weeks mentioned in Daniel are weeks of years. Yet that +supposition throws light on nothing, for the chronological table, which +the doctors of Louvain have published, gives only three hundred and +forty-three years intervening between the time when they make the weeks +to commence and the death of Jesus. Many have believed that this +prediction was subsequently added to the text of Daniel, in favor of +Jonathan Maccabeus. We may judge of the little credit that can be given +to this prophecy, from the prodigious number of commentaries that have +been made on it. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE BIRTH OF JESUS + + +All the prophecies contained in the sacred books of the Jews, coincide +in making them hope for the return of the favor of the Almighty. God had +promised them a deliverer, a messenger, a messiah, who should restore +the power of Israel. That deliverer was to be of the seed of David, the +prince _according to God's own heart_; so submissive to the priests, and +so zealous for religion. It was to recompense the devotion and docility +of this holy usurper, that the prophets and the priests, loaded with +kindness, promised him in the name of heaven, that his family should +reign forever. If that famous prediction was belied during the +Babylonish captivity, and at subsequent periods, the Jews, at this time +no less credulous than their ancestors, persuaded themselves that it was +impossible for their prophets and diviners to deceive them. They +imagined that their oracles sooner or later would be accomplished, and +that they should see a descendant of David restore the honor of their +nation. + +It was in conformity to these predictions and popular notions, that the +writers of the Gospels gave Jesus a genealogy; by which they pretended +to prove that he was descended in a direct line from David, and +consequently, had a right to arrogate the character of messiah. +Nevertheless, criticism has exhausted itself on this genealogy. Such as +are not possessed of faith, have been surprised to find, that the Holy +Spirit has dictated it differently to the two evangelists who have +detailed it: for, as has been frequently remarked, the genealogy given +by Matthew is not the same with that of Luke: a disparity which has +thrown Christian interpreters into embarrassments, from which all their +subtilty has hitherto been unable to rescue them. They tell us, that one +of these genealogies is that of Joseph; but, supposing Joseph to be of +the race of David, a Christian cannot believe that he was the real +father of Jesus, because his religion enjoins him to believe +steadfastly, that he is the Son of God. Supposing the two genealogies to +be Mary's, in that case the Holy Spirit has blundered in one of them. +Even Matthew's account is contradictory of itself. He says (c. i. v. 17) +"To all the generations from Abraham to David are _fourteen_ +generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are +_fourteen_ generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto +Christ are _fourteen_ generations." On enumerating the names given in +the last division of time, we find only _twelve_ generations, even +including Joseph. In whatever way we consider them, one of the +genealogies will always appear faulty and incomplete, and the extraction +of Jesus very weakly established. + +Let us now examine the occurrences which preceded and accompanied the +birth of Jesus. Only one evangelist has particularly narrated them; all +the others have superficially passed over circumstances as marvellous as +they are important. Matthew, content with his genealogy, speaks but in +few words of the preternatural manner wherein Jesus was formed in the +womb of his mother. The speech of an angel, seen in a dream, suffices to +convince Joseph of the virtue of his wife, and he adopts her child +without hesitation. Mark makes no mention of this memorable incident. +John, who, by the assistance of his mystic and Platonic theology, could +embellish the story, or rather confound it, has not said one word on the +subject. We are, therefore, constrained to satisfy ourselves with the +materials Luke has transmitted us. + +According to this evangelist, Elizabeth, kinswoman of Mary, and wife of +a priest named Zachariah, was in the sixth month of her pregnancy, "when +the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city called Nazareth, to a +virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, +and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and +said, Hail thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee; blessed +art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his +saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. +And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favor +with God. And behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a +son, and shalt call his name Jesus. Then said Mary to the angel, How +shall this be, for I know not a man? And the angel answered and said +unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the +Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore, also that holy thing which +shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. And Mary said, +Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. +Thereafter (adds the text) the angel departed from her." + +Now what is there in all this that is any way marvellous? Nothing indeed +is more simple than this narrative. If the least reflection is employed +on it, the wonderful will vanish; and we shall find the greatest care +has been taken to spare the modesty of the young persons who might read +the story. An angel entered the house of Mary, _whose husband was +absent_. He salutes her; that is, pays her a compliment, which may be +translated as follows:--"Good day, my dear Mary! you are indeed +adorable--What attractions! what graces! of all women, you are the most +lovely in my eyes. Your charms are pledges to you of my sincerity. Crown +then my passion. Fear not the consequences of your complaisance; your +husband is a simpleton; by visions and dreams we can make him believe +whatever we desire. The good man will regard your pregnancy as the +effect of a miracle of the Most High; he will adopt your child with joy, +and all will go on in the best manner possible." Mary, charmed with +these words, and little accustomed to receive the like compliments from +her husband, replied, "Well!--I yield--I rely on your word and address; +do with me as you please." + +Nothing is more easy than to separate the relation of Luke from the +marvellous. The event of Mary's pregnancy follows in the order of +nature; and if we substitute a young man in the place of the angel, the +passage of the evangelist will have nothing incredible in it. In fact, +many have thought that the angel Gabriel was no other than a gallant, +who, profiting by the absence of Joseph, found the secret to declare and +gratify his passion. + +We shall not stop to form conjectures on the true name and station of +Mary's lover. The Jews, whose testimony on this subject may appear +suspicious, assert, as we shall afterwards relate, that this favorite +lover was a soldier:--the military have always claims on the hearts of +the ladies. They add, that from his commerce with the wife of Joseph, +the messiah of the Christians sprung; that the discontented husband left +his faithless wife, in order to retire to Babylon, and that Jesus with +his mother went to Egypt, where he learned the trade of a conjurer, and +afterwards returned to practise in Judea. + +The _proto-gospel_, ascribed to James, relates some curious and +ridiculous circumstances, altogether omitted in the four canonical +evangelists; yet they have nothing revolting to persons who possess +faith. This gospel informs us of the ill humor of Joseph on seeing his +wife pregnant, and the reproaches he loaded her with on account of her +lewdness, unworthy of a virgin reared under the eyes of priests. Mary +excuses herself with tears; she protests her innocence, and "swears in +the name of the living God, that she is ignorant whence the child has +come to her." It appears, that in her distress she had forgot the +adventure of Gabriel:--that angel came the night following to encourage +poor Joseph, then on the point of having an affair with the priests, who +accused him of having begot this child to the prejudice of Mary's vow of +virginity. On this the priests made the two spouses drink _of the waters +of jealousy_; that is, of a potion, which, by a miracle, did them no +injury; the high priest, therefore, declared them innocent. It is +related in the same gospel, that after Mary had been delivered, +_Salome_, refusing to credit the midwife who assured her that the +delivered was still a virgin, laid her hand on Mary in order to satisfy +herself of the fact. Immediately this rash hand felt itself on fire; but +she was cured on taking the little Jesus in her arms. + +Whether these histories, or Rabbinical narratives be true or false, it +is certain that the narrative of Luke, if not divested of the +marvellous, will always present difficulties to the minds of the +incredulous. They will ask, how God, being a pure spirit, could +_overshadow a woman_, and excite in her the movements necessary to the +production of a child? They will ask, how the divine nature could unite +with the nature of a woman? They will maintain, that the narrative is +unworthy of the power and majesty of the Supreme Being, who did not +stand in need of employing ridiculous and indecent instruments to +operate the salvation of mankind. It will be thought, that the Almighty +should have employed other means for conveying Jesus into the womb of +his mother; he might have made him appear on the earth without being +incarnate in the belly of a woman; but there must be wonders in +romances, especially if they are religious. It was in all ages supposed +that great men were born in an extraordinary manner. Among the Heathen, +Minerva sprung out of the brain of Jupiter; Bacchus was preserved in the +thigh of the same god. Among the Chinese, the god Fo was generated by a +virgin rendered prolific by a ray of the sun. With Christians, Jesus is +born of a virgin, impregnated by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and +she remains a virgin after that operation! Incapable of elevating +themselves to God, men have made him descend to their own nature. Such +is the origin of all incarnations, the belief of which is spread +throughout the world. + +Theologists have agitated the question, whether in the conception of +Jesus, the Virgin Mary _emiserit semen_? According to _Tillemont_, the +Gnostics, who lived in the time of the apostles, denied that the Word +was incarnate in the womb of the woman, and averred that it had taken a +body only _in appearance_--a circumstance which must destroy the miracle +of the resurrection. Basilides also maintains that Jesus was not +incarnate. Lactantius, in order to establish that the spirit of God +could impregnate a virgin, cites the example of the Thracian Mares, and +other females, rendered prolific by the wind. Nothing is more indecent +and ridiculous than the theological questions to which the birth of +Jesus has given rise. Some doctors, to preserve Mary's virginity, have +maintained, that Jesus did not come into the world, like other men, +_aperta vulva_, but rather _per vulvam clausam_. The celebrated John +Scotus regarded that opinion as very dangerous, as it would follow, that +"Jesus could not be born of the virgin, but merely had come out of her." +A monk of Citeaux, called Ptolemy de Luques, affirmed that Jesus was +engendered near the virgin's heart, from three drops of her blood. The +great St. Thomas Aquinas has examined, whether Jesus could not have been +an _hermaphrodite_? and whether he could not have been of the _feminine +gender_? Others have agitated the question, "Whether Jesus could have +been incarnate in a cow?" We may therefore see, how one absurdity may +engender others, in the prolific minds of theologists. + +All the wonders which precede the birth of Jesus, are terminated by a +very natural occurrence. At the end of nine months his mother is +delivered like other women; and after so many incredible and +supernatural events, the Son of God comes into the world like all others +people's children. This conformity in birth, will ever occasion the +surmise of a conformity in the physical causes which produced the son of +Mary. Indeed, the supernatural only can produce the supernatural; from +material agents result physical effects; and they maintain in the +schools, that there must always be a parity of nature between cause and +effect. + +Though, according to Christians, Jesus was at the same time man and god, +some will say, it was necessary that the divine germ brought from heaven +to be deposited in the womb of Mary, should contain at the same time +divinity and humanity to become Son of God. To use the language of +theologists, the _hypostatic union_ of the two natures must have taken +place before his birth, and immixed in the womb of his mother. In that +case, we cannot conceive how it could happen, that the divine nature +should continue torpid during the whole of Mary's pregnancy, in so much +that she herself was ignorant of the time of her in-lying. The proof of +this we find in Luke, chap. ii.--"In those days (says he) there went out +a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. And +as all went to be taxed, every one out of his own city, Joseph also went +out of Nazareth and came to Bethlehem, to be taxed with Mary, who was +great with child. And so it was, that while they were there, the days +were accomplished that she should be delivered, and she brought forth +her first born son, and wrapt him in swadling clothes and laid him in a +manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." + +This narrative proves that Mary was taken unprovided, and that the Holy +Spirit, who had done so many things for her, had neglected to warn her +of an event so likely to interest him, and so important to all mankind. +The humanity of Jesus, being subject to every casuality in our nature, +might have perished in this journey, undertaken at a time very critical +to his mother. Nor do we understand how the mother could remain in +complete ignorance of the proximity of her time, or how the Eternal +could so abandon the precious child he had deposited in her womb. + +Some other circumstances of the relation of Luke presents new +difficulties. He speaks of a _taxing_ (enumeration) by order of Caesar +Augustus:--a fact of which no mention is made by any historian, Jewish +or profane. We are also astonished to find the son of God born in +poverty, having no other asylum than a stable, and no other cradle than +a manger; and at the tenderest age, in a rigorous season, exposed to +miseries without number. + +It is true, our theologists have found a way to answer all these +difficulties. They maintain, that a just God wishing to appease himself, +destined his innocent son to afflictions, in order to have a motive for +pardoning the guilty human race, which had become hateful to him through +Adam's transgression, in which, however, his decendants had no share. By +an act of justice, whereof the mind of man can form no idea, a God whose +essence renders him incapable of committing sin, is loaded with the +iniquities of man, and must expiate them in order to disarm the +indignation of a father he has not offended! Such are the inconceivable +principles which serve for the basis of the Christian theology. + +Our doctors add--It was the will of God that the birth of his son should +be accompanied with the same accidents as that of other men, to console +the latter for the misfortunes attendent on their existence. Man, say +they, is guilty before he is born, because all children are bound to pay +the debts of their fathers: thus man suffers justly as a sinner himself, +and as charged with the sin of his first father.--Granting this, what +more consolatory than seeing a God, innocence and holiness itself, +suffering in a stable all the evils attached to indigence! That +consolation would have been wanting, if God had ordained that his son +should be born in splendor, and with an abundance of the comforts of +life. If the innocent Jesus had not suffered, mankind, incapable of +extinguishing a debt contracted by Adam, would have been forever +excluded from paradise. The painful journey Mary was obliged to +undertake in such critical circumstances, had been foreseen by Eternal +wisdom, which had resolved that Jesus should be born at Bethlehem and +not at Nazareth. It was necessary--having been foretold, it behoved to +be accomplished. + +However solid these answers may appear to the faithful, they are not +capable of convincing the incredulous, who exclaim against the injustice +of making an innocent God suffer, and loading him with the iniquities of +the earth. Neither can they conceive by what principle of equity the +Supreme Being could make the human race responsible for a fault +committed by their first parents, without their knowledge and +participation. Finally, they contend that it would have been wiser to +have prevented man from committing sin, than to permit him to sin, and +make his own son die to expiate man's iniquity. + +With respect to the journey to Bethlehem, we cannot discover the +necessity of it. The place where the saviour of the world was to be +born, seems a circumstance perfectly indifferent to the salvation of +mankind. + +As for the prophecy announcing the glory of Bethlehem, in having given +existence to the "Leader of Israel"--it does not appear to agree with +Jesus, who was born in a stable, and who was rejected by the people +whose leader he was to be. It is only a pious straining that can make +this prediction apply to Jesus. We are assured, that it had been +foretold Jesus was to be born in poverty; while, on the other hand the +messiah of the Jews is generally announced by the prophets as a prince, +a hero, and a conqueror.--It is necessary to know then which of these +prophecies we ought to adopt. Our doctors tell us "the predictions +announcing that Jesus would be born and live in indigence and meanness, +ought to be taken _literally_, and those which announce his power and +glory ought to be taken _allegorically_." But this solution will not +satisfy the incredulous; they will affirm, that by this manner of +explanation, we may always find in the sacred writings whatever we may +think we stand in need of. They will conclude that the scripture is to +Christians, what the clouds are to the man who imagines he perceives in +them whatever figures he pleases. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ADORATION OF THE MAGI AND SHEPHERDS--MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS;--AND +OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES, WHICH FOLLOWED THE BIRTH OF JESUS. + + +Of the four historians of Jesus adopted by the church, two are wholly +silent on the facts we are to relate in this chapter; and Matthew and +Luke, who have recorded them, are not at all unanimous in particulars. +So discordant are their relations, that the ablest commentators do not +know how to reconcile them. These differences, it is true, are less +perceptible when the evangelists are read the one after the other, or +without reflection; but they become particularly striking when we take +the trouble of comparing them. This is, undoubtedly, the reason why we +have hitherto had no concordance of the gospels which received the +general approbation of the church. Even those which have been printed +have not been universally adopted, though it must be acknowledged that +they contain nothing contrary to faith. It is, perhaps, from judicious +policy that the heads of the church have not approved of any system on +this point. They have, probably, felt the impossibility of reconciling +narratives so discordant as those of the four Evangelists; for the Holy +Spirit, doubtless with a view to exercise the faith of the saints, has +inspired them very differently. Besides, an able concordance of the +gospels would prove a dangerous work:--it would bring together facts +related by authors, who, far from supporting, would reciprocally weaken +each other--a circumstance which could not fail to stagger at least the +faith of the compiler. + +Matthew, who, according to common opinion, (though a very erroneous +one,) wrote the first history of Jesus, asserts, that as soon as he was +born, and still in the stable at Bethlehem, Magi came from the East to +Jerusalem, and inquired where the king of the Jews was, whose star they +had observed in their own country. Herod, who then reigned in Judea, +being informed of the motive of their journey, consulted the people of +the law; and having learned that the Christ was to be born at Bethlehem, +he permitted the Magi to go there, recommending to them to inform +themselves of this child, that he himself might do him homage. (Matt. +ii. 1.) + +It appears, from the narrative of Matthew, that as soon as the Magi left +Herod, they took the road to Bethlehem, a place not far from Jerusalem. +It is surprising that this prince, alarmed at the arrival of the Magi, +who had thus announced the birth of a king of the Jews, did not use more +precaution to allay his own uneasiness, and that of the capital, which +the gospel represents as in a state of consternation at this grand +event. It would have been very easy for him to have satisfied himself of +the fact without being under the necessity of relying on strangers, who +did not execute his commission. The Magi did not return; Joseph had time +to save himself and his little family by flight; and Herod remained +tranquil in spite of his suspicions and fears. It was not till after a +considerable interval that he got into a passion on finding himself +deceived; and then, to preserve his crown in safety, he ordered a +general massacre of the children of Bethlehem and the neighboring +villages! But why suppose such conduct in this sovereign? He had +assembled the doctors of the law and principal men of the nation; their +advice had confirmed the rumor spread by the wise men; they said it was +at Bethlehem that Christ was to be born, and yet Herod did nothing for +his own tranquility! Either Herod had faith in the prophecies of the +Jews, or he had not. In the first case, and instead of relying on +strangers, he ought himself to have gone with all his court to +Bethlehem, and paid homage to the Saviour of the nation. In the second +case, it is absurd to make Herod order a general massacre of infants, on +account of a suspicion founded on a prophecy which he did not believe. + +This prince's indignation is said not to have been roused till after the +lapse of several days, and after he perceived that the Magi derided him, +and took another road. Why did he not learn by the same means the flight +of Jesus, of Joseph, and of his mother? Their retreat must certainly +have been observed in a place so small as Bethlehem. It will perhaps be +said, that God on this occasion, permitted Herod to be blinded; but God +should not have permitted the inhabitants of Bethlehem and its environs +to be so obstinate in preserving a secret that was to cost the lives of +all their children. Possessed of the power of working miracles, could +not God have saved his son by more gentle means than the useless +massacre of a great number of innocents?--On the other hand, Herod was +not absolute master in Judea. The Romans would not have permitted him to +exercise such cruelties; and the Jewish nation, persuaded of the birth +of the Christ, would not have been accessary to them. A king of England, +more absolute than a petty sovereign of Judea, dependent on the Romans, +would not be obeyed, were he to order his guards to go and cut the +throats of all the children in a neighboring village, because three +strangers, in passing through London, had said to him, that among the +infants born in that village there was one, who, according to the rules +of astrology, was destined to be one day king of Great Britain. At the +time when astrology was in vogue, they would have contented themselves +with causing search to be made for the suspected infant; they would have +kept it in solitary confinement, or perhaps put it to death; but without +comprehending other innocent children in its proscription. + +We might oppose to the relation of Matthew the silence of the other +evangelists, and especially that of the historian Josephus, who, having +reasons to hate Herod, would not have failed to relate a fact so likely +to render him odious as the massacre of the innocents. Philo is likewise +silent on the subject; and no reason can be assigned why these two +celebrated historians should have agreed in concealing a circumstance so +horrible. We cannot suppose it has proceeded from hatred to the +Christian religion; for that detached fact would prove neither for or +against it. We are, therefore, warranted to conclude that this massacre +is a fable; and that Matthew seems to have invented it merely to have +the opportunity of applying as ancient prophecy, which was his +predominant taste. But in this instance he has deceived himself. The +prophecy which he applied to the massacre of the innocents, is taken +from Jeremiah, (xxxi. v. 15 and 16.) All the Jews understood it as +relating to the Babylonish captivity. It is as follows: "Thus saith the +Lord; a voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping: Rachel +weeping for her children refused to be comforted because they were not." +The following verse is so plain, that it is inconceivable why Matthew +ventured to apply it to the pretended massacre at Bethlehem: "Thus saith +the Lord, refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for +thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord, and thy children shall come +again from the land of the enemy." Their return from the captivity is +here clearly pointed out, when the Israelites should again plant vines +after obtaining possession of their own country. + +It is also to accomplish a prophecy, that Matthew makes Jesus travel +into Egypt. This journey, or rather Jesus' return, had, according to +him, been predicted by Hosea in these words: "Out of Egypt have I called +my son." But it is evident, that this passage is to be considered only +as relating to the deliverance of the Israelites from bondage, through +the ministry of Moses. Besides, the journey and abode of Jesus in Egypt, +do not agree with some circumstances which happened in his infancy, as +related by Luke, who informs us, that at the end of eight days Jesus was +circumcised. The time of Mary's purification being accomplished +according to the law of Moses, Joseph and his mother carried Jesus to +Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord agreeably to the law, which +ordained the consecrating the first born (first fruits), and offering a +sacrifice for them. On this occasion, Luke tells us that Simeon took the +infant in his arms, and declared in the presence of those assisting at +the ceremony, that the child was the Saviour of Israel. An old +prophetess, called Anna, bore the same testimony, and spoke of him to +all who looked for the redemption of the Jews. But why were speeches, +thus publicly made in the temple of Jerusalem, in which city Herod +resided, unknown to a prince so suspicious? They were much better +calculated to excite his uneasiness, and awaken his jealousy than the +arrival of astrologers from the East. + +Did Joseph and Mary, who came to Jerusalem for the presentation of +Jesus, and purification of his mother, return to Bethlehem? and went +they thence into Egypt in place of going to Nazareth? Luke says, that +when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, +they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. But in what time +did the parents of Jesus accomplish all that the law ordained? Was it +before going into Egypt, or after their return from that country, where, +according to Matthew, they had taken refuge to shelter themselves from +the cruelty of Herod? Did the purification of the virgin, and the +presentation of her son in the temple, take place before or after the +death of that wicked prince? According to Leviticus, the purification of +a mother who had brought a son into the world, was to be made at the end +of thirty days. Hence we see how very difficult it is to reconcile the +flight into Egypt, and the massacre of the innocents, which Matthew +relates, with the narrative of Luke, who says, that, "after having +performed the ordinances of the law, Joseph and Mary returned into +Galilee, to their own city Nazareth;" and then adds, "they went to +Jerusalem every year to celebrate the passover." If we could adopt the +relation of the two evangelists, at what time are we to place the coming +of the Magi from the East in order to adore Jesus; the anger of Herod; +the flight into Egypt; and the massacre of the innocents? Either the +relation of Luke is defective, or Matthew wished to deceive his readers +with improbable tales. In whatever way we consider the matter, the Holy +Spirit, who inspired these apostles, will be found to have committed a +mistake. + +There is another fact on which our two evangelists do not better agree. +Matthew, as we have seen, makes the Magi come, guided by a star, to +Bethlehem, from the extremity of the East, to adore the child Jesus, and +offer him presents. Luke, less taken with the marvellous, makes this +child adored by simple shepherds, who watched their flocks during night, +and to whom an angel announced the great event of the birth of the +Saviour of Israel. The latter evangelist speaks neither of the +appearance of the star, of the coming of the Magi, nor of the cruelty of +Herod--circumstances, however, which ought to have been recorded by +Luke, who informs us that he was so exactly informed of every thing +concerning Jesus. + +The parents of Jesus, either after their return from Egypt, or after his +presentation in the temple, went to reside at Nazareth. Matthew, as +usual, perceives in this the accomplishment of the prediction, _he shall +be called a Nazarene_; but unfortunately for his purpose, this prophecy +is not to be found in the Bible, nor can it be imagined by whom it was +uttered. It is however certain, that _Nazarene_ among the Jews signified +a _vagabond_, a person excluded from the rest of the world; that +Nazareth was a pitiful town, inhabited by beings so wretched that their +poverty had become proverbial; and that beggars, vagrants, and people +whom nobody would own, were called _Nazarenes_. + +The first Christians were so styled. We find them also called +_Ebionites_, derived from a Hebrew word which signifies a _mendicant_, a +_wretch_, and a _pauper_. St. Francis and St. Dominic, who, in the 13th +century, proposed to revive primitive Christianity, founded orders of +mendicant monks, destined to live solely on alms, to be true +_Nazarenes_, and to levy contributions on the community, which these +vagabonds have never ceased to oppress. Salmeron, in order to encourage +these mendicant monks, has maintained that Jesus himself was a beggar. +The name Nazarene was given to the apostles and Jews, who were first +converted. The other Jews regarded them as heretics and excommunicated +persons; and, according to Jerome, anathematised them in all their +synagogues under the name of Nazarenes. The Jews even at present give +the name of Nazarenes (Nozerim) to the Christians whom the Arabs and +Persians call Nazari. The first converts of Jesus and his apostles, were +only some reformed Jews: they preserved circumcision and other usages +appointed by the law of Moses. In this they followed the example of +Jesus, who being circumcised, and a Jew during his whole life, had often +taught, that it was necessary to respect and observe the law. It is, +therefore, surprising to see them afterwards treated as heretics. But we +shall (in chap. 17) see the true cause of this change. It was owing to +Paul, whose party prevailed over Peter's, the other apostles', and the +Nazarenes or Judaising Christians. Paul corrected and reformed the +system of Jesus, who had preached only a Judaism reformed. The apostle +of the Gentiles succeeded in making his master, and his old comrades, be +rewarded as heretics, or bad Christians. Thus it is that theologists +take the liberty of rectifying the religion of the Saviour they adore! + +We have seen, in the course of this chapter, how little harmony exists +between the two evangelists respecting the circumstances attending the +birth of Jesus. Let us now examine what could have been the views of +these two writers in relating these facts so differently. It is +impossible that Jesus, as Luke relates, could constantly reside at +Nazareth till he was twelve years of age if it be true that he was +carried soon after his birth into Egypt, where Matthew makes him remain +until the death of Herod. Even in the time that Jesus lived, he was +upbraided with his stay in Egypt. His enemies asserted that he there +learned magic, to which they attributed the wonders, or cunning tricks, +they saw him perform. Luke is silent as to the journey to Egypt, which +made his hero suspected. He fixes him, therefore, at Nazareth, and makes +him go every year with his parents to Jerusalem. But the precaution of +that evangelist seems to have been useless. Matthew, who wrote before +him, had established the journey and abode of Jesus in Egypt. Origen, in +his dispute with Celsus, does not deny it. Hence we see, that the +Christian doctors did not doubt that Jesus had been in that country, +notwithstanding the silence of Luke. Let us endeavor then to develope +the motives of these two writers. + +The Jews were agreed in the expectation of a messiah; but as the +different orders of the state had their prophets, they also possessed +different signs by which they were to know the deliverer. The great, the +rich, and well informed persons, did not surely expect that the +deliverer of Israel would be born in a stable, and spring from the dregs +of the people. They, undoubtedly, anticipated their deliverance by a +prince, a warrior, a man of power, able to make himself respected by the +nations inimical to Judea, and to break in pieces their chains. The +poor, on the contrary, who, as well as the great and the rich, have +their portion of self-love, thought they might flatter themselves that +the messiah would be born in their class. Their nation and their +neighbors presented many examples of great men sprung from the bosom of +poverty; and the oracles with which this nation was fed, were of such a +nature that every family believed itself entitled to aspire to the honor +of giving birth to a messiah; though the most general opinion was, that +he was to come of the race of David. Shepherds, and people of the lowest +order might readily believe that a woman, delivered in a stable at +Bethlehem, had brought Jesus into the world. It may likewise be presumed +that Mary, with a view to render herself interesting, said to those who +visited her that she was descended from the blood of kings; a pretension +well adapted to excite the commiseration and wonderment of the people. +This secret, and the confused remembrance of some prophecies about +Bethlehem, the native country of David, were sufficient to operate on +the imaginations of these silly people, little scrupulous about proofs +of what was told them. + +Matthew, who reckoned on the credulity of his readers, had his head full +of prophecies and popular notions. To fill up a blank of thirty years in +his history of Jesus, he contrived to make him travel into Egypt, +without foreseeing the objections that might be made on account of the +neglect of the holy family to fulfil the ordinances of the law; such as +the circumcision of the child, his presentation in the temple, the +purification of his mother, and the celebration of the passover; +ceremonies which only could be performed at Jerusalem. Perhaps it is to +justify the journey to Egypt, and those negligences, that Matthew +introduces the prophecy of Hosea relative to the return from that place. +It seems also to countenance the duration of Jesus's abode there that he +relates the wrath of Herod, and the fable of the massacre of the +innocents, which he makes that prince order, though his crimes had, in +other respects, rendered him sufficiently odious to the Jews as well as +to strangers. Mankind in general are disposed to believe every thing of +a man who has become famous by his wickedness. + +Luke, to elude the reproaches which might be thrown on Jesus on account +of his residence and journey in Egypt, has not mentioned it at all; but +his silence does not destroy its reality. It was necessary to free Jesus +from the suspicion of magic, but he has not cleared him of accusations +brought against his birth, which are quite as weighty. + +Celsus, a celebrated physician, who lived in the second century of +Christianity, and who had carefully collected all which had been +published against Jesus, asserts that he was the fruit of an illicit +intercourse. Origen, in his works against Celsus, has preserved this +accusation, but he has not transmitted the proofs on which it was +founded. The incredulous, however, have endeavoured to supply them, and +found the opinion of Celsus on what follows: + +_First._ From the testimony of Matthew himself, it is most certain that +Joseph was very much dissatisfied with the pregnancy of his wife, in +which he had no part. He formed the design of quitting her secretly; a +resolution from which he was diverted by an angel, or dream, or perhaps +reflection, which always passes among Jews for the effect of an +inspiration from on high. It appears, however, that this design of +Joseph had transpired, and was afterwards turned into a matter of +reproach against Jesus. But Luke, more prudent than Matthew, has not +ventured to mention either the ill humor of Joseph, or the good-natured +conduct he followed. Neither do we find, though he formed this +resolution as to Mary, that this easy man again appeared on the stage +from the time Jesus entered on it. We are no where informed of his +death, and it is obvious that he never afterwards beheld his putative +son with an eye of kindness.--When, at thirty years of age, Jesus and +his mother went to the wedding at Cana, there is no mention of Joseph. +If we admit with Luke, the history of Jesus's dispute with the doctors +in the temple of Jerusalem, we shall find a new proof of the +indifference which subsisted between the pretended father and supposed +son: they met at the end of three days, and deigned not to interchange a +word. Epiphanius (lib. i. 10.) assures us that Joseph was very old at +the time of his marriage with the virgin, and adds that he was a widower +and father of six children by his first wife.--According to the +_proto-gospel_, the good man had much difficulty in prevailing on +himself to espouse Mary, whose age intimidated him; but the high-priest, +finding that Joseph was the man most conformable to his own views, +succeeded in removing his scruples. + +_Secondly._ If to these presumptions are joined testimonies more +positive, and a high antiquity, which confirm the suspicions entertained +concerning the birth of Jesus, we shall obtain proofs that must convince +every unprejudiced person. The Emperor Julian, as well as Celsus, who +both had carefully examined all the writings existing in their time for +and against the Christian religion and its author, represent the mother +of Jesus in a very unfavorable light. + +In the works of the Jews, he is treated as an illegitimate child; and, +almost in our days, Helvidius, a learned Protestant critic, as well as +several others, have maintained, not only that Jesus was the fruit of a +criminal intercourse, but also that Mary, repudiated by Joseph, had +other children by different husbands. Besides, this supposed virgin did +not want a reason for forsaking Joseph, and flying into Egypt with her +son. A prevailing tradition among the Jews states, that she made this +journey to shelter herself from the pursuits of her spouse, who, in +spite of the nocturnal visions which had been employed to pacify him, +might have delivered her up to the rigor of the laws. We know that the +Hebrews did not understand jesting on this subject. + +We also find in the _Talmud_, the name of Panther, surnamed +_Bar-Panther_, whom they reckon in the number of the husbands of the +Virgin. From this it would appear, that Mary, repudiated by Joseph, or +after her flight, espoused Panther, an Egyptian soldier, her favorite +lover, and the real father of Jesus. John Damascene thought to repair +the injury which this anecdote might do to Mary's reputation, by saying +that the name of _Bar-Panther_ was hereditary in the family of Mary, and +consequently in that of Joseph. But, _1st_, either Mary was not the +kinswoman of Joseph, or she was not the cousin of Elizabeth, who was +married to a priest, and therefore of the tribe of Levi.--2dly, we no +where find in the Bible the name of _Panther_ among the descendants of +David. If this had been an hereditary surname in that family, it would +be found somewhere, unless we suppose that John Damascene learned it by +a particular revelation. 3dly, The name of _Panther_ is by no means +Hebrew. + +It will perhaps be said, that these rumours, so injurious to Jesus and +his mother, are calumnies invented by the enemies of the Christian +religion. But why decide if the pleas of both parties are not +investigated? The imputations are very ancient; they have been advanced +against Christianity ever since its origin, and they have never been +satisfactorily refuted. In the time of Jesus, we find that his +cotemporaries regarded his wonders as the effects of magic, the +delusions of the devil, the consequences of the power of Belzebub.--The +relations of Jesus were also of that opinion, and regarded him as an +imposter--a circumstance stated in the gospel itself, where we shall +afterwards find that they wanted to arrest him. On the other hand, Jesus +never speaks of his infancy, nor of the time that had preceded his +preaching:--he did not wish to recur to circumstances dishonorable to +his mother, towards whom, indeed, we shall very soon find him failing in +filial respect. + +The evangelists, in like manner, pass very slightly over the first years +of their hero's life. Matthew makes him return from Egypt on the death +of Herod, without mentioning in what year that happened. He thus leaves +his commentators in doubt whether Jesus was then two or ten years old. +We find that the term of ten years is, through complaisance, invented on +account of the dispute between him and the doctors of Jerusalem, which +Luke places in his twelfth year. This excepted, Jesus disappeared from +the scene not to shew himself again till thirty years of age. + +It is difficult to discover what he did until that age. If we credit +Luke, he remained at Nazareth. Yet it is clear that he was somewhere +else, for the purpose of learning the part which he was afterwards to +play. It has been supposed, not without reason, that Jesus passed a +considerable part of his life among the contemplative _Essenians_, or +_Therapeutes_, who were a kind of enthusiastic Jewish monks, living in +the vicinity of Alexandria, in Egypt, where it appears he drew up his +severe and monastic doctrine. If he had always resided at Nazareth, the +inhabitants of that small town would have known him perfectly. Very far +from this;--they were surprised at seeing him when thirty years of age. +They only conjectured that they knew him; and asked each other, "Is not +this the son of Joseph?"--a question very ridiculous in the mouths of +persons who must have been in the constant habit of seeing Jesus in the +narrow compass of their town. This does not prevent Justin from telling +us, that he became a carpenter in the workshop of his pretended father, +and that he wrought at buildings or instruments of husbandry. But such a +profession could not long agree with a man in whom we find an ambitious +and restless mind. The _Gospel_ of the _Infancy_ informs us, that Jesus, +when young, amused himself with forming small birds of clay, which he +afterwards animated, and then they flew into the air. The same book +says, that he knew more than his schoolmaster, whom he killed for having +struck him, because Jesus refused to read the letters of the alphabet. +We find also, that Jesus assisted Joseph in his labors, and by a miracle +lengthened the pieces of wood, when cut too short or too narrow. All +these extravagancies are not more difficult to believe than many other +wonders related in the acknowledged gospels. + +We shall here quit Luke in order to follow Matthew, who places the +baptism of John after the return from Egypt, and makes Jesus forthwith +commence his mission. It is at this epoch, perhaps, that we ought to +begin the life of Jesus.--Yet, to let nothing be lost to the reader of +the evangelical memoirs, we thought it our duty not to pass over in +silence the circumstances which have been noticed, as these +preliminaries are calculated to throw much light on the person and +actions of Jesus. Besides, the interval between his birth and preaching +has not been the part of his history least exposed to the darts of +criticism. Matthew, as we have seen, to account for his master's absence +during the thirty years, makes him go into Egypt, and return in an +unlimited time. Luke, who digested his memoirs after Matthew, perceiving +that the abode in Egypt cast a suspicion of magic on the miracles of +Jesus, makes him remain in Galilee, going and coming every year to +Jerusalem; and making him appear, at the age of twelve, in the capital, +in the midst of the doctors, and debating with them. But Mark and John, +profiting by the criticism which these different arrangements had +experienced, make the messiah drop as it were from the clouds, and put +him instantly to labor at the great work of man's salvation. + +It is thus that, on combining and comparing the several relations, we +are enabled to discover the true system of the Gospels, in which, +without adopting any alterations, we shall find materials for composing +the life of Jesus by merely reducing the marvellous to its proper value. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +BAPTISM OF JESUS--HIS ABODE IN THE DESERT--COMMENCEMENT OF HIS PREACHING +AND MIRACLES--MARRIAGE AT CANA. + + +From the time the Romans subdued Judea, the superstitious inhabitants of +that country, impatient to see the arrival of the messiah so often +promised to their fathers, seemed inclined to quicken the slowness of +the Eternal by the ardor of their desires. This disposition of mind gave +birth to impostures, revolts, and disturbances; the authors of which the +Roman power punished in such a manner as to discourage their adherents, +or quickly to disperse them. Down to the era we are about to speak of, +(which the gospel of Luke fixes at the fifteenth year of the reign of +Tiberius,) none of those who had attempted to pass for the messiah had +been able to succeed. To have acted that part well required forces more +considerable than those which all Judea could oppose to the conquerors +of the world. It was, therefore, necessary to have recourse to craft, +and to employ delusions and trick instead of force. For this purpose, it +was of importance to be fully acquainted with the disposition of the +Jewish nation; to affect a great respect for its laws and usages, for +which it entertained the most profound veneration; to profit ingeniously +by the predictions with which the were imbued; to move the passions, and +warm the imaginations of that fanatical and credulous people. But all +this behoved to be silently effected; it was necessary for him who +attempted it, to avoid rendering himself suspected by the Romans; it was +necessary to be on his guard against the priests, doctors, and persons +of education, capable of penetrating and thwarting his designs. It was +essential to commence with gaining adherents and co-operators, and +thereafter a party among the people, to support him against the grandees +of the nation. Policy required that he should shew himself rarely in the +capital, to preach in the country, and render odious to the populace, +priests who devoured the nation, nobles who oppressed it, and rich +people of whom it ought to be naturally jealous. Not to alarm too much, +prudence demanded that he should speak in ambiguous language and in +parables. Neither could he dispense with working miracles, which, much +more than all the harangues in the world, were calculated to seduce +ignorant devotees, disposed to see the finger of God in every act the +true cause of which they were unable to comprehend. + +Such was the conduct of the personage whose life we examine. Whether we +suppose that he had been in Egypt for the purpose of acquiring the +talents necessary to his views, or that he had always resided at +Nazareth, Jesus was not ignorant of the dispositions of his countrymen. +As he knew how much predictions were requisite to work on the minds of +the Jews, he made choice of a prophet and a forerunner in the person of +his cousin John Baptist. The latter, evidently in concert with Jesus, +preached repentance, baptized on the banks of Jordan, and announced the +coming of a personage greater than himself. He said to those who gave +ear to him, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he +that cometh after me is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoe I am +not worthy to loose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with +fire." Jesus accordingly repaired to John on purpose to arrange matters +with him, and to receive baptism from his hands. According to the report +of Matthew, John, at first, evinced some difficulty; affirming, that, so +far from being worthy to baptize Jesus, it was from him that he himself +ought to receive baptism. At last, however, he yielded to the orders of +Jesus, and administered to him the sacrament of which the innocent son +of God could not stand in need. + +In this interview, the two kinsmen evidently settled their plans, and +took the necessary measures for insuring success. They both had +ambition, and shared the mission between them. John yielded the first +character to Jesus, whom he judged better qualified to play it with +success, and contented himself with being his precursor, preaching in +the desert, beating up for followers, and preparing the ways for +him--all in consequence of a prophecy of Isaiah, who had said, "Prepare +ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our +God"--an obscure and vague prediction, in which, however, Christians +believe they see clearly designated the messiah and his holy precursor. + +The arrangements being once settled by our two missionaries, John took +care to tell those who came to hear him, that, to pacify Heaven, it was +time to repent; that the arrival of the messiah was not far off; and +that he had seen him. The sermons of John having made considerable +noise, the priests of Jerusalem, vigilant as to what might interest +religion, and wishing to be informed of his views, dispatched emissaries +after him. These men asked if he was the Christ, or Elias, or a prophet. +John answered, that he was neither of these. But when he was questioned +by what authority he baptized and preached, he declared, that he was the +forerunner of the messiah. This proceeding of the priests only tended to +give greater weight to John's assertions, and naturally excited the +curiosity of the people assembled to hear him. The next day they went in +a crowd to the place where the preacher baptized, when, profiting +skilfully by the circumstance, and perceiving Jesus approaching, he +exclaimed, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the +world. This is he of whom I said, after me cometh a man who is preferred +before me." + +The author of the gospel ascribed to John, perceiving that it was +important to remove the suspicion of collusion between Jesus and his +forerunner, makes the Baptist declare twice, that he knew him not before +baptizing him: but that it had been revealed to him by the Deity, that +the person on whom he should see the Holy Spirit descending during his +baptism, was the son of God. Whence we see that, according to this +evangelist, John did not know Jesus, who was, however, his kinsman, +according to Luke. + +John was much esteemed by the people, whom an austere and extraordinary +life is always certain of seducing.--They did not suspect that a +missionary so detached from the things of this world, could ever deceive +them. They believed on his word, that the Holy Spirit, under the form of +a dove, had descended on Jesus, and that he was the Christ or messiah +promised by the prophets. On another occasion we shall also find John +affecting not to know his cousin Jesus: he deputed some of his disciples +to learn _who he was_? Jesus replied, that they had only to relate to +John the miracles he performed, and by that sign their master would +recognize him. We shall afterwards speak of this embassy. + +Jesus had associated with him a confident, then called Simon, and +afterwards Cephas or Peter, who had been the disciple of John. Scarcely +had Simon taken his arrangements with the messiah, when he drew over his +brother Andrew to the new sect. These two brothers were fishermen. We +readily presume that Jesus would not choose his followers among the +grandees of the country. + +The progress of John Baptist, and the attachment of the people to him, +alarmed the priests; they complained loudly, and John was arrested by +order of the tetrarch Herod, who, according to Matthew, caused him to be +beheaded to please Herodias his sister-in-law. Yet we do not find the +historians of this prince reproaching him with the punishment of the +forerunner. After John's death, his disciples attached themselves to +Jesus, whose coming John had announced, and who, in his turn, had +rendered in behalf of John the most public testimonies in presence of +the people: for Jesus had openly declared, that John was "greater than a +prophet, and greater than an angel, and that he was not born of woman +who was greater than him." Nevertheless, the messiah, dreading to be +involved in the affair of his forerunner, left his two disciples at +Jerusalem, and withdrew into the desert, where he continued forty days. +It has been remarked, that during the imprisonment of John, Jesus did +not think of delivering him; he performed no miracle in his behalf; +after his death he spoke but little of him, and forebore pronouncing his +eulogy. He was no longer in need of him, and, perhaps, he wished by this +conduct to teach those who serve the views of the ambitious in a +subordinate capacity, that they ought not to reckon too much on +gratitude. + +It would have been a bad exordium to assign fear as the motive of the +messiah's retreat. We are told that he was _carried up by the Spirit_, +which transported him to the desert. It was necessary that Jesus should +surpass his forerunner. The latter had led a very austere life, his only +nourishment being locust and wild honey; but the gospel affirms, that +Jesus ate _nothing at all_ during his retreat, and that on the last day, +having _felt himself hungry_, angels came and ministered to him. The +fasting of Jesus for forty days, is considered by his followers as a +proof of his divinity. But this abstinence falls far short of that +practised by a Talapoin at Siam, who, according to La Loubere, "lived +satisfactorily without food for _one hundred and seven days_!" + +To evince the importance of his mission, the prejudice which it was to +occasion to the empire of the devil, and the infinite advantages which +were to result from it to his followers, Jesus, on his return from the +desert, pretended that Satan had tempted him; made the most flattering +offers to engage him to desist from his enterprise; and proffered him +the monarchy of the universe, if he would renounce his project of +redeeming the human race. The refusal he gave to these propositions, +evinced a supernatural desire to labor for the salvation of the world. +Such as heard these details must have been filled with astonishment, +penetrated with gratitude, and burning with zeal for the preacher. Of +consequence, the number of his adherents increased. + +John the Evangelist, or the person who has written, under his name, +whose object appears to have been to establish the divinity of Jesus, +has not mentioned his carrying away, abode in the desert, and +temptation. These transactions must have been considered by him +prejudicial to the doctrine he wished to introduce. Matthew, Mark, and +Luke, relate the carrying away, and the temptations in a different +manner, but calculated to show the power of Satan over the messiah. He +transported him, no doubt in spite of himself, to the pinnacle of the +temple; and by a miracle, made Jesus contemplate, from the summit of a +mountain, all the kingdoms of the universe, without even excepting those +whose inhabitants were _antipodes_ of Judea. According to the gospels, +the devil worked marvels, which far surpassed those of Jesus. + +The absence of Jesus made him lose for a time, his two disciples Peter +and Andrew. The necessity of providing for their subsistence, +constrained them to resume their former trade. As their master durst not +then reside in Jerusalem, he retired towards the banks of the sea of +Galilee, where they joined him. "Follow me, (said he to them,) leave +your nets; of catchers of fish I will make you fishers of men." He, +probably, made them understand, that the arrangements he had made during +his retirement, furnished him with the means of subsisting, without +toil, by the credulity of the vulgar. The two brothers immediately +followed him. + +Whether Jesus had been expelled from Nazareth by his fellow citizens, or +quitted it of his own accord, he fixed his residence at Capernaum, a +maritime city, on the confines of the tribes of Zabulon and Naphtali. +His mother, a widow, or separated from her husband, followed him: she +could be useful to Jesus and the little troop of adherents who lived +with him. + +It was at this time that our hero, seconded by his disciples, opened his +mission. His sermon, like that of the Baptist, consisted in saying, +_Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand_. John, we have seen, +commenced preaching in the fifteenth year of Tiberius. It was in the +same year that his interview with Jesus took place, when he was baptized +by John. Towards the end of this year John disappeared: after which +Jesus was in the desert, whence he returned to reside with his mother in +the city of Capernaum. There he remained a short time only on account of +the approach of the festival of the passover, to celebrate which he +repaired to Jerusalem. We may, therefore, fix the commencement of his +preaching in the sixteenth year of Tiberius. He celebrated the passover +three times before his death; and the common opinion is, that his +preaching lasted three years, or until the nineteenth year of Tiberius. + +The rumours excited by the baptism and preaching of John, and the +testimonies he bore in behalf of Jesus, having died away on the +imprisonment and death of the forerunner, and flight of the messiah, the +latter resumed courage, and thought that, with the assistance of his +disciples, he ought to make a new attempt. Too well known at Nazareth, +and slighted by his relations, who, on all occasions, seemed to think +but little of him, he quitted that ungrateful city to establish himself, +as we have remarked, at Capernaum, in the sixteenth year of Tiberius. It +was there that he commenced preaching his new system to some poor +fishermen, and other low people. He soon found, however, that his +mission was too circumscribed in that place: but to acquire some eclat, +he judged it necessary to perform a miracle; that is, in the language of +the Jews, some trick capable of exciting the wonder of the vulgar. An +opportunity occurred for this: some inhabitants of Cana, a small village +Of Galilee Superior, at the distance of about fifteen leagues from +Capernaum, invited Jesus and his mother to a wedding. The married +persons were poor, though John, who alone relates this story, gives them +a steward; yet he tells us that their wine failed at the moment the +guests were half intoxicated, or gay. On this Mary, who knew the power +or the dexterity of her son, said to him: _They have no wine._ Jesus +answered her very roughly, and in a manner which evidently denoted a man +warmed with wine: _Woman, what have I to do with thee?_ It may, however, +be supposed, that Jesus had not totally lost the use of his reason, as +he still possessed presence of mind to transmute water into wine, so +that the miraculous wine was found better than the natural wine they had +drank at the beginning. + +This first miracle of Jesus was performed in presence of a great number +of persons, already half intoxicated; but the text does not inform us, +whether they were equally astonished the day following, when the fumes +of the wine were dissipated. Perhaps this miracle was witnessed by the +steward only, with whom Jesus had secret intelligence. The incredulous, +less easily persuaded than the poor inebriated villagers, do not observe +in this transmutation of water into wine, a motive for being convinced +of the divine power of Jesus. They remark, that in the operation, he +employed water in order to make his wine; a circumstance which may give +room to suspect, that he made only a composition, of which be, like many +others, might have the secret. There was in fact, no more power +necessary to create wine, and fill the pitchers without putting water +into them, than to make an actual transmutation or water into wine. At +least, by acting in this manner, he would have removed the suspicion of +having made only a mixture. + +In whatever manner the miracle was performed, it appears to have made +some impression on those who saw it, or who heard it related. It is +certain Jesus profited by it to extend his mission even to the capital +of Judea; only giving time for his miracle to spread, in order to +produce its effect. In expectation of this, he withdrew with his mother, +brothers, and disciples, to Capernaum, where he remained till the +festival of the passover (the time of which was near) should collect at +Jerusalem a multitude of people, before whom he flattered himself with +being able to operate a great number of marvels. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +JOURNEY OF JESUS TO JERUSALEM.--THE SELLERS DRIVEN OUT OF THE +TEMPLE.--CONFERENCE WITH NICODEMUS. + + +The noise of the miracle at Cana having reached Jerusalem, by means of +those who repaired to that city from Galilee, Jesus went there, +accompanied by some of his disciples; but of the number of the latter we +are ignorant. It was, as has been mentioned, the time of the passover, +and consequently, a moment when almost the whole nation were assembled +in the capital. Such an occasion was favorable for working miracles. +John accordingly affirms that Jesus performed a great number, without, +however, detailing any of them. Several of the witnesses of Jesus' power +believed in him, according to our historian; but he did not place much +confidence in them. The reason given for this by John, is, "Because he +knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man; for he knew +what was in man." In short, he knew every thing except the means of +giving to those who saw his miracles the dispositions he desired. + +But, how reconcile faith in these new converts, in the wonders performed +by Jesus, with the bad dispositions they were known to possess? If he +knew the state of mind of these witnesses of his miracles, why perform +them with certain loss? In this there is a want of just inference in the +writer, which must not, however, be imputed to Jesus. It is perhaps +better not to refer to John in this matter, than to believe that his +sagacious master would perform miracles without design, or for the sole +pleasure of working them. + +In the same journey to Jerusalem, Jesus performed an exploit which is as +great as a miracle, and evinces a powerful arm. According to an ancient +usage, merchants had established themselves, especially during the +solemn festivals, under the porticos which environed the temple. They +furnished victims and offerings to the devout, which they were to +present to the Lord, in order to accomplish the ordinances of the law; +and, for the accommodation of the Jews who repaired thither from +different countries, and for their own interest, the priests had +permitted the money changers to fix their stalls in this place. Jesus, +who on every occasion shewed himself but little favorable to the clergy, +was shocked at this usage, which, far from being criminal, tended to +facilitate the accomplishment of the Mosaical law. He made a scourge of +ropes, and, displaying a vigorous arm on those merchants, drove them +into the streets, frightened their cattle, and overturned the counters, +without their being able to oppose his enterprise. It may be +conjectured, that the people had no reason to be displeased with the +disturbance, but profited by the money and effects which Jesus +overturned in the paroxysm of his zeal. No doubt his disciples did not +forget themselves: their master could by this exploit make provision for +them, especially if they had been in the secret, and enable them to +defray all expenses during their residence in the capital. Besides, they +saw in this event the accomplishment of a prophecy of the Psalmist, who +foretold, that the Messiah would be "eaten up with the zeal of the house +of the Lord"--a prophecy that was clearly verified by the uproar which +Jesus had occasioned. It would appear that the brokers had not +comprehended the mystic sense of this prediction; at least they did not +expect to see it verified at their expense. In their first surprise, +they neglected to oppose the unexpected attacks of a man who must have +appeared to them a maniac; but, on recovering from their astonishment, +they complained to the magistrates of the loss they had sustained. The +magistrates, afraid, perhaps, of weakening their authority by punishing +a man of whom the people had become the accomplice, or a fanatic whose +zeal might be approved by the devotees, did not wish to use rigor for +this time; they contented themselves with sending to Jesus to know from +himself by what authority he acted--"What sign (said they) shewest thou +unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?" On which Jesus answered, +"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." But the +Jews were not tempted to make the trial;--they took him for a fool, and +returned, shrugging their shoulders. If they had taken Jesus at his +word, they would have experienced great embarrassment; for the gospel +informs us, that it was not of the temple of Jerusalem he spoke, but of +his own body. He meant his resurrection, says John, which was to happen +three days after his death. The Jews had not discernment to divine this +enigma, and the disciples did not penetrate its true meaning till a long +time after, when they pretended their master had risen from the dead. We +cannot forbear admiring that Providence, which, wishing to instruct, +enlighten, and convert the Jewish people by the mouth of Jesus, employed +only figures, allegories, and enigmatical symbols, totally inexplicable +by persons the most ingenious and most experienced. + +Though Jesus had the power of raising himself from the dead, he did not +wish to employ it when in the hands of the Jews, who were ready to +arrest and punish him as a disturber of the public repose. He thought it +more prudent to decamp without noise, and shelter himself from the +pursuit of those whom his brilliant exhibitions might have displeased. +He intended to withdraw from Jerusalem during night, when a devout +Pharisee, wishing to be instructed, came to see him. He was called +Nicodemus, and held the place of senator--a rank which does not always +exempt from credulity. "Rabbi, (said he to Jesus,) we know that thou art +a teacher sent from God; for no man can do these miracles that thou +doest, except God be with him." + +This opportunity was favorable for Jesus to declare himself: by a single +word he could have decided on his divinity, and acknowledged, before +this senator so kindly disposed, that he was God. Yet he evaded a direct +answer; contenting himself with saying to Nicodemus, that nobody can +share in the kingdom of God unless he be born again. The astonished +proselyte exclaimed, that it was impossible for a man already old to be +born again, or enter anew into his mother's womb. On which Jesus +replied: "I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the +spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." It appears, that +Nicodemus was no better satisfied than before. Jesus, to make himself +more perspicuous, added, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and +that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not, that I said unto +thee, ye must be born again--The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou +hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor +whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the spirit." + +Notwithstanding the precision and plainness of these instructions, +(resembling the reasoning of our theologians,) Nicodemus, whose +understanding was doubtless shut up, did not comprehend any part of +them. "How (asks he) can these things be?" Here Jesus, pushed to +extremity, grew warm:--"Art thou (says he) a master of Israel, and +knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that +we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our +witness. If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall +ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up +to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man which +is in heaven." (John iii. 1-13.) + +We thought it our duty to relate this curious dialogue, as a specimen of +the logic of Jesus; the more so as it seems to have served as a model +for the fashion of reasoning observed by Christian doctors, who are in +the use of explaining obscure things by things still more obscure and +unintelligible. They terminate all disputes by referring the decision to +their own testimony; that is, to the authority or the church or clergy, +entrusted by God himself with regulating what the faithful ought to +believe. + +The rest of the conversation of Jesus with Nicodemus is equally +perspicuous, and in the same style:--The former alone speaks, and +appears by the dint of his reasons to have silenced the docile senator, +who, it seems, retired fully convinced. Thus it is, that _faith_ +disposes the elect to yield to the lessons, dogmas, and mysteries of +religion even when it is impossible to attach any meaning to the words +they hear pronounced. + +There is no further mention of Nicodemus--We know not whether he +resigned his office of Senator to enrol himself among the disciples of +Jesus. Perhaps he was contented with secretly furnishing necessaries to +his adherents, in gratitude for the luminous instructions he had +received. He evidently knew how to profit by them, for John makes him +return after the death of Jesus, bringing a hundred pounds of aloes and +myrrh, for the purpose of embalming his body, and then interring it, +with the assistance of Joseph of Arimathea. This proves that he had come +from his conversation with Jesus a more able theologist than he had +begun it. On this occasion, Jesus must have granted him saving grace, +without which it would have been impossible to comprehend any of his +sublime dogmas. + +According to theology, men have occasion for _supernatural grace_ to do +good. This doctrine is injurious to sound morality. Men always wait for +the call from above to do good, and those who direct them, never employ +the _calls from below_; that is the natural motives to excite them to +virtue. But the clergy cannot give a correct definition of virtue. They +say it is an effect of grace that disposes men to do that which is +agreeable to the Divinity. But what is grace? How does it act on man? +What is it that is agreeable to God? Wherefore doth not God give to all +men the grace to do that which is agreeable in his eyes? We are +unceasingly told to do good, _because God requires_ it; but no one has +been able to teach us what that good is which is acceptable to the +Almighty, and by the performance of which we shall obtain his +approbation. + +It must be acknowledged, that the impossibility of comprehending the +doctrine of Jesus furnishes a good reason for denying that it can be +divine. It cannot be conceived why a God, sent to instruct men, should +never distinctly explain himself. No Pagan oracle employed terms more +ambiguous, than the divine missionary chosen by Providence to enlighten +nations. In this the Deity appears to have made it his study to create +obstacles to his projects, and to have laid a snare not only for the +Jews, but for all those who must read the gospel to obtain salvation; a +conduct equally unworthy of a good and just God, endowed with prescience +and wisdom; yet by faith we may succeed in reconciling every thing, and +readily comprehend why God should speak without wishing to be +understood. + +As soon as Jesus had quitted Nicodemus, he left Jerusalem, his abode in +which had become very dangerous, and wandered through the country of +Judea, where he enjoyed greater safety. The uproar he had occasioned in +the capital, where so great a multitude were assembled, had not failed +to make him known to many; but it was at a distance that he gained the +greatest number of partisans. John informs us, in chapter third, that +during this period he baptized; thereafter he tells us, in chapter +fourth, that he did _not_ baptize, but that his disciples baptized for +him. + +One thing is certain, that, after this, he quitted Judea to go into +Galilee. It was, perhaps, to be more private, or to prevent the schism, +which, according to the gospel, was ready to take place between the Jews +baptized by John, and those whom Jesus and his disciples had baptized. +Jesus conceived that prudence required him to remain at a distance, and +to leave the field open to a man who was useful to him, and who +contented himself with playing the second part under him. It very soon +appeared that Jesus made a greater number of proselytes than his cousin; +a circumstance which, in the end, might have created a misunderstanding +between them. Jesus therefore directed his march towards Samaria, +whither we are to follow him, and thence he passed into Galilee. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ADVENTURE OF JESUS WITH THE FEMALE SAMARITAN--HIS JOURNEY AND MIRACLES +IN THE COUNTRY OF THE GERASENES. + + +It may be observed that in this examination of the history of Jesus, we +follow the most generally received arrangement of facts, without meaning +to guarantee that they occurred precisely in that order. Chronological +mistakes are not of much importance when they do not influence the +nature of events. Besides, the evangelists, without fixing any eras, +content themselves with saying _at that time_, which precludes our +giving an exact chronology of the following transactions. Precision +would require a labor as immense as superfluous, and tend only to shew +that the history of Jesus, dictated by the Holy Spirit, is more +incorrect than that of celebrated Pagans of an antiquity more remote. It +would also prove that the inspired writers contradict themselves every +instant, by making their hero act at the same time in different places, +and often remote from each other. On the other hand, this great labor +would not inform us which of the evangelists we ought to prefer, seeing +all in the eyes of faith have truth on their side. Time and place do not +change the nature of facts; and it is from these facts we must form our +ideas of the legislator of the Christians. + +Jesus having commenced his journey in the summer season, felt oppressed +with thirst near Sichar, in the country of Samaria, which gave rise to a +singular adventure. Near this city there was a well, known by the name +of Jacob's fountain. Fatigued with his journey, Jesus sat down on the +brink of the well, waiting the return of his disciples, who had gone to +the city for provisions. It was about noon, when a female came to draw +water. Jesus asked her to let him drink out of the vessel she held; but +the Samaritan, who knew from his countenance that he was a Jew, was +astonished at his request, as there was no intercourse between the +orthodox Jews and the Samaritans. According to the custom of partisans +of different sects, they detested each other most cordially. The +messiah, who was not so fastidious as the ordinary Jews, undertook the +conversion of the female heretic, for whose sex we find in him a strong +attachment through the whole course of his history. "If thou knewest," +said he to her, "the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, give +me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given +thee living water." The Samaritan woman, who did not observe Jesus to +have any vessel in his hand, asked whence he could draw the living water +of which he spoke? On this the messiah, assuming a mysterious tone, +answered, "Whoso drinketh of this well shall thirst again, but whosoever +drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; It +shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." The +female, who was a dame of easy virtue, asked some of that marvellous +water; and Jesus, from this discourse having discovered the profession +of the woman, ingeniously got off by telling her to go and seek her +husband; calculating, perhaps, on being able to steal away when she was +gone. But the lady related to him her life; gave some details of her +conduct; and thereby enabled him to conjecture enough of it to speak as +a conjuror. Accordingly, he told her that she had had five husbands; +that she had none at that time, and that the man with whom she lived was +only a gallant. The Samaritan woman took Jesus for a sorcerer or a +prophet; he did not deny it; and as he was not then afraid of being +stoned or punished, he made bold for the first time to confess that he +was the messiah. + +They were at this part of their dialogue, when the return of Jesus' +disciples put an end to it. The latter, whether they knew the profession +of the loquacious dame, or were more intolerant than their master, were +surprised at the tete-a-tete; yet none of them ventured to criticise the +conduct of Jesus; while the Samaritan woman seeing his retinue believed +in reality that he was a prophet or the messiah. Leaving her pitcher, +she went directly to Sichar, "Come and see," said she to the +inhabitants, "a man who told me all things that ever I did; is not this +the Christ?"--The astonished inhabitants went and met Jesus; and charmed +with hearing him preach, without comprehending one word of his +discourse, they invited him to come and reside with them. He yielded to +their request for two days only: the provisions purchased were put up in +reserve, and the troop lived during that time at the cost of these +heretics, delighted no doubt with defraying the expenses of the Saviour +and his followers. + +All the marvellous in this adventure turns on Jesus having divined that +the Samaritan lady had had five husbands, and lived at that time in +criminal intercourse with a favorite. Yet it is easy to perceive that +Jesus could learn this anecdote either in his conversation with the +prating dame, or by public rumor, or in some other very easy way. + +But unbelievers find another reason for criticising this relation of +John. Laying aside the marvellous, they attack the _truth_ of the +transaction. All history attests, that in the time of Jesus, Samaria was +peopled by colonies of different nations, which the Assyrians had +transported thither after the destruction of the kingdom of Israel. This +would seem to exclude the expectation of the messiah, in which, +according to John, the Samaritans lived. Pagans and Idolators could not +have very distinct notions of an event peculiar to Judea. If the +Samaritans were the descendants of Jacob, it was not necessary to put +into the mouth of the Samaritan woman these words, "Our fathers +worshipped in this mountain, and ye say, Jerusalem is the place where +men ought to worship." It was also absurd to make Jesus say, "ye shall +no more worship the Father, either in this mountain or at Jerusalem; ye +worship ye know not what;" for the law of Moses does not forbid the +worshipping God in whatever place we may find ourselves. In the time of +Jesus, the laws or usages of the Jews required, that none should offer +sacrifice any where, except in the temple of the capital; but the places +of prayer depended on every man's own will and pleasure. It is, besides, +absurd to say, that the descendants of Jacob did not know the God whom +they adored to be Jehovah, the God of Moses and of the Jews; unless it +is pretended, that they did not know whom they worshipped. Since the +mission of Jesus, Christians have undoubtedly nothing to reproach them +with on this head. Moreover the words of Jesus seem to insinuate, that +he wished to abolish the worship of the Father. It is certain that +Christians share their homage between him and his Son, which, faith a +part, annihilates the dogma of the unity of God. Finally, Jesus did not +conjecture right in saying, that the Father would be no longer +worshipped at Jerusalem, or on the mountain; for this Father has not +ceased one instant to be worshipped there for these eighteen centuries, +by Jews, by Christians, and by Mahometans. + +If it is maintained, that the Samaritan woman was a heathen, it is not +likely that she would have regarded Jesus as the messiah, whom she +neither knew nor expected. Add to this, that the Samaritans believed in +Jesus on the word of a courtezan; a credulity of which Jews and +Christians only could be susceptible. Jesus and his disciples were Jews, +and in that character excluded from Samaria. It is of no import, +therefore, by whom the country was inhabited. + +Two days having elapsed, and the people of Sichar being, in all +appearance, sufficiently instructed, Jesus quitted their city, and with +his disciples took the road of Upper Galilee. In this journey, Jesus +considering the hostile disposition of his countrymen, thought proper +not to enter Nazareth, the place of his nativity. He applied to himself +the famous proverb, _a prophet has no honor in his own country_. It was +otherwise in the rest of the province:--as soon as the people knew of +his arrival, they gave him welcome. Luke assures us that he was esteemed +and honored by every body. These good people had beheld the wonders +which he had operated in Jerusalem, during the festival of the passover. +In gratitude for these favorable dispositions, and for the faith he +found among the Galileans, Jesus did not content himself with +instructing them, but confirmed his mission, and testified his love by a +crowd of prodigies. The number was, doubtless, very great, as Matthew is +constrained to say generally, that he healed all manner of sickness, and +all manner of disease among the people; and that it was sufficient to +obtain a cure, to present to him the sick, whatever might be their +disease. Lunatics, whose number was great in that country; idiots, +hypochondriacs, and persons possessed with devils, had but to fly to him +for relief, and their cure was certain. + +This multitude of miracles, for so they style the cures operated by +Jesus, drew after him a crowd of idlers and vagabonds from Galilee, +Jerusalem, Decapolis, Judea, and the country beyond Jordan. It was in +this journey he obtained two famous disciples: they were brothers, sons +of a fisherman of the name of Zebedee, and called James and John. The +first, though, probably, he could not read, afterwards composed mystical +works, which are at this day revered by Christians. With respect to +John, he was the favorite of his master, and received from him marks of +distinguished attention. He afterwards became a sublime Platonist, and, +through gratitude, deified Jesus in the gospels and epistles published +in his name. + +The reputation and resources of Jesus were so great in Galilee, that, to +increase the number of his followers, it was only necessary for him to +open his mouth and speak. The two disciples already mentioned, he called +with an intention to keep near his person. Wishing, however, to repose +after the fatigues of preaching and performing miracles, he resolved to +quit the cities and retire to the sea coast. He conjectured, that to +make himself desirable, and not exhaust his credit, it was prudent not +to suffer himself to be seen too long or too near. The people, fond of +hearing the wonderful sermons of Jesus, followed him. Pressed by the +crowd, he happily perceived two vessels; and stepping into the one +belonging to Simon Peter, he harangued the eager multitude from it. Thus +the boat of a fisherman became a pulpit, whence the Deity uttered his +oracles. + +The Galileans were not rich, and, accordingly, the troop of Jesus' +adherents augmented. We find his four first apostles laboring in their +trade of fishermen during the abode of the messiah in the province. The +day on which he preached in the vessel had not been fortunate for them; +and the night preceding was not more favorable. Jesus, who knew more +than one profession, thought that it behoved him to do something for +people who shewed so much zeal. When, therefore, he had finished his +harangue and the crowd had retired, he bade Simon advance into the +middle of the water and cast his net; the latter excused himself, +saying, that he had already thrown several times without success. But +Jesus insisted:--then said Simon, _I will cast it on thy word_: on +which, by an astonishing miracle, the net broke on all sides. Simon and +Andrew were unable to drag it out, they called their comrades, and drew +out of it fishes enough to fill two ships. Our fishermen were so +surprised, that Peter took his master for a wizard, and prayed him to +depart. But Jesus encouraged him, and promised not to alarm them again, +seeing that henceforth he, Peter, should no longer occupy himself with +catching fish, but men. + +The messiah finding himself near Cana, judged it proper, as he had once +performed a miracle there, to enter that place. An officer of Capernaum, +whose son was sick of a fever, repaired to this village on purpose to +try the remedies of Jesus, of whose powers so many persons boasted. He +entreated the physician to come to his house and cure his son; but our +Esculapius, who did not chuse to operate before eyes too clear-sighted, +got rid of this importunate person in such a way as not to incur any +risk, in case he should not succeed: Go, said he to the officer, _thy +son liveth_. The officer, while approaching his own habitation, learned +that the fever, which perhaps was intermittent, had left his son. No +more was necessary to cry up the miracle, and convert all the family. + +After having traversed the sea coast, and made some stay at Cana, Jesus +repaired to Capernaum, where, as has been related, he fixed his +residence. The family of Simon Peter was established in that city; and +it was no doubt this reason, joined with the bad treatment he had +received from the inhabitants of Nazareth, that determined Jesus to make +choice of this residence. It appears he was abhorred in the city where +he had been educated; for as soon as he attempted to preach there, the +people wanted to throw him headlong. At Capernaum they listened to and +admired him; he harangued in the synagogue, explained the scripture, and +showed that he himself was foretold in it. In the midst of his sermon, +one Sabbath day, they brought him a person possessed, who perhaps in +concert with him, began to cry out with all his might; "Let us alone: +what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to +destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the holy one of God." The people +waited in terror for the issue of this adventure, when Jesus, certain of +his ground, addressed himself not to the man, but to the devil +possessing him: "Hold thy peace," said he, "and come out of him." +Immediately the malign spirit overturned the possessed, threw him into +horrible convulsions, and disappeared without any person seeing him. + +Physicians, especially those acquainted with the eastern countries, do +not admit miracles of the nature of this one. They know that the +diseases considered _possessions_, were owing solely to disorders +produced in the brain by excessive heat. These maladies were frequent in +Judea, where superstition and ignorance impeded the progress of medicine +and all useful knowledge. Out of that country we find but few possessed +with devils. This incredulity strips Jesus of a great number of his +miracles; yet taking away the _possessions_, there still remain enough. +Most of the possessed among us are hypochondriacs, maniacs, hysterical +women, melancholy persons, and those tormented with the vapors or +spasms; or they are impostors, who, to gain money, to interest the +simple and to display the power of the priests, consent to receive the +devil, that the clergy may have the glory of expelling him. There is +scarcely a possession now-a-days which could resist a flogging. + +Miracles are food for the imagination, but the body requires more +substantial aliments: the adventure which has been related had led to +the hour of dinner. On leaving the synagogue, Jesus was invited to the +house of Peter, where every thing appears to have been prepared for +performing a second miracle. The mother-in-law of Simon felt sick at the +moment they had need of her in managing the kitchen. Jesus, who +possessed the talent of readily curing the relatives of his disciples, +took her by the hand, and made her rise from her bed: she arose +completely cured, cooked the victuals, and was in a condition to serve +the guests. + +In the evening of the same day, they brought Jesus all the sick in +Capernaum, and all the possessed, whom, according to Matthew, he cured +by some words; but, according to Luke, by laying hands on them. Several +devils, on coming out of the possessed, had the impudence to betray the +secret of the physician, and openly declare, that he was "Christ the Son +of God." This indiscretion displeased Jesus, who wished, or feigned to +wish, to keep private. Luke tells us that "he rebuked them, and suffered +them not to speak, for they knew that he was Christ." + +According to theologists, the Son of God, in all his conduct, had in +view only to lead the devil astray, and conceal from him the mystery of +redemption: Yet we see, that Jesus was never able to deceive his cunning +enemy. In the whole gospel system, the devil is more sly and powerful +than both God the Father and God the Son: he is always successful in +thwarting their designs, and succeeds in reducing God the Father to the +dire necessity of making his dear Son die in order to repair the evil +which Satan had done to mankind. Christianity is real manichaeism, +wherein every advantage is on the side of the bad principle, who, by the +great number of his adherents renders nugatory all the purposes of the +Deity. If the devil knew that Jesus was "the Christ," such knowledge +must have been posterior to his retirement into the desert, for he then +spoke to him in a style which intimated that he knew him not. It is +superfluous to examine at what time the devil acquired this knowledge; +but it is manifest that he had it only by divine permission. Now God, by +granting to the devil the knowledge of his Son, either wished, or did +not wish, that he should speak of it. If he wished it, Jesus did wrong +in opposing it: if he did not wish it, how was the devil able to act +contrary to the divine will? Jesus carefully concealed his quality, the +knowledge of which could alone operate salvation. But, in this case, the +devil had the greatest interest to conceal it; yet in opposition to this +interest, and the will of the Almighty, the devil made known the quality +of Jesus. Besides, if Jesus did not wish that the devil should discover +him, why delay imposing silence on him until after he had spoken? + +The conduct of the Messiah in these particulars has made it to be +believed, that not daring to endanger himself by publicly assuming the +quality of Christ, or Son of God, he was not displeased with the devils +for divulging his secret, and sparing him the trouble of speaking. It +was, moreover, eliciting a very important confession out of the mouth of +an enemy. + +Jesus was not ignorant, that to retain his influence over the minds of +men, it was necessary to prevent satiety. Accordingly, on the day +following that on which so many miracles had been wrought in Capernaum, +he departed before day-break, and withdrew into a desert. All +legislators have loved retirement. It is there they have had divine +inspirations, and it is on emerging from these mysterious asylums, they +have performed miracles calculated to deceive the vulgar. Solitary +reflection is at times necessary to ascertain the state of our affairs. + +Meanwhile the disciples of Jesus, notwithstanding his flight, did not +lose sight of him; they repaired to him at the moment he wished to be +alone, and informed him that they had been every where in search of him. +In fact, there were still many sick and possessed in the country; yet +this consideration did not induce Jesus to return to Capernaum; on which +account many resorted to him in his retreat. To get rid of them, he +again traversed Galilee, where he cured the sick and cast out devils. +This is all the gospel mentions. It appears he tarried little on his +road, while he preached as he went along; for in a short time he had +advanced a considerable way on the shore of the sea of Galilee. As the +multitude augmented by idle and curious people from the villages, our +preacher, finding himself pressed by the crowd, gave orders to his +disciples to convey him to the other side, on the territory of the +Gerasenes. + +When he had landed, a doctor of the law offered to become his follower: +but Jesus readily conceived that a _doctor_ would not suit him. He would +have cut a poor figure in a company composed of fishermen and clowns, +such as those of whom the messiah had formed his court. He gave the +doctor to understand, that he would repent of this step; that this kind +of life would not agree with him: "the son of man," said he to the +doctor, "hath no where to lay his head." + +Jesus would not permit his disciples to ramble too far in the territory +of the Gerasenes; for amongst them were some of that country. One asked +permission to go and perform the last duties to his father;--another, to +embrace his family; but Jesus harshly refused their requests. The first +received for answer, "let the dead bury their dead." The other, "whoever +having put his hand to the plough, and looketh back, is not fit for the +kingdom of heaven." The incredulous think they perceive in these answers +a proof of the rough habits, and repulsive and despotic spirit of Jesus, +who, for the kingdom of heaven, obliged his disciples to neglect the +most sacred duties of morality. But Christians, docile to the lessons of +their divine master, which they dare not examine, have made perfection +consist in a total abandonment of those objects which nature has +rendered dearest to man. Christianity seems intended only to create +discord, detach men from every thing on earth, and break the ties which +ought to unite them. There is, according to Jesus, but one thing +needful; namely, to be attached to him exclusively: a maxim very useful +in meriting heaven, but calculated to destroy every society on the +earth. + +After our missionary had spent some time in the country of the +Gerasenes, one day towards the evening he passed over to the other side +of the lake, having previously dismissed the people, who had come that +day on purpose to hear him; but he did not preach. Fatigued, he fell +asleep on the passage, whilst a furious tempest overtook the ship. His +affrighted disciples, impressed with the idea of their master being more +powerful when awake than when asleep, acquainted him with the danger. +This drew on them reproaches for their want of faith, which, probably, +gave time for the tempest to subside. Then Jesus, in a tone of +authority, commanded the sea to be still, and immediately the order was +obeyed. In spite of this prodigy, the faith of the disciples was for a +long time wavering. Jesus after this returned to the country of the +Gerasenes, without having either preached or performed miracles on the +other side. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +JESUS CURES TWO PERSONS POSSESSED WITH DEVILS--MIRACLE OF THE +SWINE--WONDERS PERFORMED BY JESUS TILL THE END OF THE FIRST YEAR OF HIS +MISSION. + + +Landed again in the country of the Gerasenes, Jesus took a route by +which no person had for some time passed. Two demoniacs, inhabiting the +tombs in the neighborhood, rendered this passage dangerous. Scarcely had +Jesus shown himself, when these madmen ran to meet him. As he was a +connoisseur in matters of possession, he no sooner perceived them than +he began to exorcise, to make the unclean spirits come out of them. +Notwithstanding his divine skill, he acquitted himself very imperfectly +on this occasion. It was not with _one_ devil, but with a legion of +devils he had to deal. One of them, amused at the mistake of the son of +God who asked him his name, answered, _I am called Legion_. On this +Jesus changed his batteries, and was proceeding to dislodge them, when +the devils, obstinate in continuing in the country, or very little +desirous of returning to hell, proposed a capitulation. One of the +articles stipulated, that on leaving the body of the possessed, they +should enter into a herd of swine, which fed close by on the declivity +of a hill. Jesus readily agreed, for once, to grant something on the +prayer of the devils, and not to use his authority rigorously. Neither +he nor his disciples, as good Jews, ate pork: he supposed, therefore, +that swine, prohibited by the law, might well serve for a retreat to +devils. He consented to the treaty; the demons came out of their former +residence to enter into the swine, who, feeling Satan within them, were +thrown into commotion, or, perhaps, were terrified--a very natural +thing; and having precipitated themselves into the sea, were drowned to +the number of about two thousand. If a legion of devils is composed of +the same number as a Roman legion, we must believe that there were six +thousand devils. This evidently makes three devils for each hog, a +sufficient number to induce them to commit suicide. + +Some grave authors assure us, that Jesus never laughed, nor even smiled; +yet it is very difficult to believe, that the "son of God" could +preserve his gravity after performing such a trick. But it did not +appear so humorous to the herdsmen, who found this fine miracle so +little pleasant that they complained of it to their employers, and ran +to the city; where the affair was no sooner known than the proprietors +of the swine, far from being converted, bewailed a prodigy so ruinous to +them, and maintained that it was a matter of public concern. The +Gerasenes went in a body to oppose the entry of Jesus into their city, +and, from inability to punish, besought him to leave their territory as +soon as possible. Such was the effect which the miracle of sending +devils into the swine produced. + +This memorable transaction must be true, for it is attested by three +evangelists, who, however, vary in some circumstances. Matthew informs +us, that the possessed were _two_ in number; Mark and Luke maintain that +there was only _one_; but so furious, according to Mark, that they could +not bind him _even with fetters_. Luke is certain that the devil +frequently carried him into the deserts; Mark affirms that he spent his +days and nights in the tombs, and on the neighboring mountains. On this +occasion Jesus was also proclaimed _Christ_ by the devil. As he was +among his friends, or disciples, he did not enjoin silence to Satan. The +acknowledgement was useful when given in private, and could not hurt +him; but there were occasions on which it might do harm if made in +public. It was necessary, therefore, our puissant miracle-worker should +be circumspect, especially when he did not perceive himself sufficiently +supported. + +Unbelievers discover important errors, and evident marks of falsehood in +the narrative, which also appears ridiculous, 1st, They are surprised to +see devils, who, according to Christians, are condemned to eternal +torments in hell, leaving it to take possession of the inhabitants of +this earth. 2dly, They are astonished at seeing the devils address +prayers to the son of God. It is an article of Christian faith, that to +pray, grace is requisite; that the damned cannot pray; and much more, +that this grace must be denied to the chief of the damned. 3dly, The +incredulous are offended at a miracle by which Jesus benefitted two +persons possessed with devils, at the expense of the proprietors of two +thousand swine, to whom this miracle cost at least eighteen thousand +dollars;--a transaction not quite agreeable to the rules of equity. +4thly, It cannot be conceived how Jews, whom their law inspired with +horror towards swine, could have herds of these animals among them, and +which they could not even touch without being defiled; and, 5thly, It is +indecorous to make the "son of God" enter into a compromise with devils; +ridiculous to make them enter into swine; and unjust to make them enter +into and destroy other people's property. + +We are not informed what became of these devils after being precipitated +into the sea. It is not unreasonable to believe, that, in coming out of +the swine, they entered into the Jews, to procure the saviour the +pleasure of casting them out again; for the curing of people possessed +was, of all miracles, that in which he was most expert. + +The possessed person cured by Jesus, penetrated with gratitude to his +physician, with whom he was perhaps previously acquainted, wanted to +follow Jesus, according to Mark; but it was foreseen that his testimony +might become suspicious if he put himself in the train of the messiah, +who, therefore, chose rather that he should repair to his family, and +announce the mercies he had received from the Lord. He was a native of +Decapolis, a country, as we have seen, very much disposed to credulity. +Accordingly, as soon as the man had there recounted this adventure, +every body was transported with admiration. We are, however, astonished +at the difference between these folks, so remarkable for a docile faith, +and the Gerasenes:--the inhabitants of Decapolis believe all without +seeing any thing, whilst the Gerasenes, eye witnesses of the prodigy, +are not moved by it, and uncivilly refuse Jesus admittance into their +city. We commonly find in the gospel, that to witness a miracle is a +very strong reason for not believing it. + +The hardness of heart and unbelief of the Gerasenes, and particularly +the request they made to the messiah not to come among them, obliged him +to re-embark with his disciples and return to Galilee, where he was very +kindly received. It is not, however, related whether he preached and +performed miracles; even the time he continued there is not accurately +known.--The friends of Jesus, and the relations of his disciples and +mother, received, it appears, from time to time, intelligence of his +wonders, which they took care to circulate; and, on learning that they +wanted him, he returned to Capernaum. Scarcely was his arrival known, +when the people, always fond of sermons and miracles, resorted to him in +crowds. Neither his house nor the space before the door could contain +the multitude; he required the voice of a Stentor to make himself heard +at the extremities of the crowd; but the idlers, content with following +him without knowing why, were very little troubled about understanding +his orations. + +The Pharisees, to whom Jesus' success began to give umbrage, resolved to +satisfy themselves, if there was any reality in what was reported of +him. Some doctors of Gallilee, who were not of the number of our +missionary's admirers, repaired to him. They heard him preach, and came +from his sermons more possessed against him: even his miracles could not +convert them, though, according to Luke, the power of the Lord was +displayed in their presence in the cure of the sick. But, as has been +remarked, the miracles of the messiah were calculated to convince those +only who did not see them. Thus it is, that these miracles are believed +at present by people who would not credit those performed in their +presence. + +Four men who carried a paralytic on his bed, unable to penetrate through +the crowd, were advised to ascend with the burden to the roof of the +house, and, making an opening there, to let down the sick man in his +bed, and lay him at the physician's feet. The idea appeared ingenious +and new to the latter, and indicated first rate faith; accordingly, +addressing the sick man, he said, "My son, be of good courage, thy sins +are forgiven thee." This absolution or remission, was pronounced so as +to be heard by the emissary doctors, who were highly offended at it. +Jesus, divining their dispositions, addressed his discourse to +them--"Why do you suffer wicked thoughts to enter into your hearts? +which is easier to say to this paralytic, thy sins are forgiven thee; or +to say to him, Arise, take up thy bed and walk." This question, boldly +proposed in the midst of a fanatical people, the sport of prejudice, +embarrassed the doctors, who did not think proper to reply. Jesus, +profiting by their embarrassment, said to the paralytic, _Arise, take up +thy bed, and go into thine house_. This prodigy impressed their minds +with terror: it especially made our doctors, the spies, tremble, while +the people exclaimed, "Never have we seen before anything so wonderful." +But if the doctors were afraid, they were not converted; and +notwithstanding the cure of the paralytic, they had no faith in the +absolution granted by Jesus. It may, therefore, be supposed, that this +miracle was attended with circumstances which rendered it suspicious: +perhaps the gospel will enable us to discover them. + +When the same fact is differently related by different historians equal +in authority, we are constrained to doubt it; or, at least, are entitled +to deny that it happened in the manner supposed. This principle of +criticism must apply to the narratives of the gospel writers, as well as +to those of others. Now, Matthew merely tells us, that a paralytic was +presented to Jesus, who cured him, without relating the wonderful +circumstance of the roof being perforated, and the other ornaments with +which Mark and Luke embellished their narratives. Thus, either we are in +the right in suspending our belief as to this fact, or we may believe +that it has not occurred in the manner related by the two last +evangelists. Again, Mark and Luke, who say that the sick man was +elevated on his bed to the top of the house, having previously informed +us the crowd was so great that the bearers of the diseased were unable +to force their way, suppose, without expressing it in words, another +very great miracle. They make the carriers penetrate through the crowd. +Arrived, we know not how, at the foot of the wall, they could not +singly, and far less loaded with the sick man, climb up to the roof of +the house. Luke says they made an opening through it. In that case the +people must have perceived them, particularly, those in the inside of +the house. During the silent attention they gave to the discourse of +Jesus, they must have heard the noise made by the men in raising up a +bed to the roof, and afterwards uncovering, or making a hole in it, +through which to convey the sick man. This operation became more +difficult if the roof, instead of being covered with tiles, was flat. +Now, all the houses of the Jews and orientals were, and still are, +constructed in this manner. These difficulties furnish sufficient +motives for doubting this grand miracle. But it will become more +probable, if we suppose that the sick man was already in the house with +Jesus; or that things being previously arranged, they let down by a +trap-door made on purpose, a paralytic most certain of being cured on +command of the messiah. This transaction might appear marvellous to a +populace disposed to see prodigies every where; but it made less +impression on the doctors, who had come purposely to scrutinize the +conduct of our adventurer. They conjectured, that it was dangerous to +contradict weak fanatics, though they did not credit the miracle they +had witnessed. + +Some days thereafter Jesus preached along the sea coast, and passing +near the custom-house, perceived Matthew, one of the officers, who sat +there. His mien pleased the messiah, on whose invitation the subaltern +financier quitted his post, and followed him, after having given a great +entertainment to Jesus and his party. Matthew introduced his new master +to publicans, and toll collectors, his brethren in trade, and others of +similar repute. The Pharisees and doctors, who watched our missionary, +came to Matthew's house to be assured of the fact. Jesus, occupied with +gratifying his appetite, did not at first observe that he was watched. +Some words, however, spoken rather loudly, attracted his attention: it +was the doctors who reproached the disciples with eating and drinking +with persons of doubtful reputation. "How," probably said they to them, +"how dares your master, who constantly preaches up virtue, sobriety, and +repentance, show himself publicly in such bad company? How can he +associate with knaves, monopolizers, and men whom their extortions +render odious to the nation? Why does he have in his train women of bad +lives, such as Susan and Jane, who accompany him continually?" The +disciples, attacked in this manner, knew not how to reply; but Jesus, +without being disconcerted, answered with a proverb:--"It is not the +whole," said he, "but the sick who have need of a physician." After this +he cited a passage of scripture, which cannot now be found--"Learn," +said he, "the truth of this saying, _I love mercy better than +sacrifice_." It appears the doctors did not consider themselves +defeated, and Jesus was so transported with zeal as to say, that he +"came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." In that +case, why did he reject the Pharisees and doctors, whom he called +_whitened sepulchres_? If the adversaries of Jesus were not righteous, +they were sinners, whom he was come to call to repentance; consequently +he ought not to have renounced them. + +Whatever reason Jesus might have to palliate or justify his conduct, it +was very soon published abroad. John Baptist's disciples who heard it, +and whom, perhaps, jealously excited, came in search of him, and asked +the reason of the difference in the life he and his disciples led, and +that which they themselves followed. We fast, (said they) continually, +whilst you and your followers enjoy good cheer. We practise austerities, +and live in retirement, whilst you run about and frequently keep company +with persons of evil repute, &c. The reproach was embarrassing, but +Jesus contrived to evade it. "The friends of the bridegroom, (replied +he,) ought neither to fast, nor live in sorrow whilst they have the +bridegroom with them; a time will come when the bridegroom shall be +taken away from them; and then they shall fast. No man putteth a piece +of new cloth on an old garment--neither do men put new wine into old +bottles: and no person asks for new wine when he can get old, for he +finds the old better." John's disciples had no reply to reasons so +sublime and convincing. The enigmatical symbol, or pompous bombast, by +which Jesus got out of this affair, is closely imitated by our modern +preachers, who find it very proper argument to shut the mouths of those +who are not inclined to dispute eternally about what they do not +understand. + +This incident demonstrates, that the Pharisees and doctors were not the +only persons who were offended with Jesus, and the company he kept. In +the epistles, ascribed to Barnabas, that apostle says expressly, that +the "apostles, whom the Lord chose, were very wicked men, and above all +sinners iniquitous." The fact is also confirmed in Matthew ix., Mark ii. +and Luke v. This evidently decides the cause in favour of the partizans +of lax morality, and furnishes them with victorious arms against the +modern puritans. We may also remark, that the actions and expressions of +Jesus on this occasion, authorise the conduct and language of our holy +guides, our lords the bishops, who when reproached with their iniquitous +behaviour, shut our mouths by averring, that _we ought to do as they +tell us, and not what they do_! + +It cannot be denied, that the discrepancy which existed between the +conduct of Jesus and the principles of the Jews, or even in his own +doctrine, required extraordinary miracles to prove his mission. He was +not ignorant of this; prodigies, therefore, were commonly the strongest +of his arguments; these were well calculated to gain the vulgar, who +never value themselves on reasoning, but are ready to applaud the man +who exhibits wonders, and acquires the secret of pleasing their fancy. + +After Jesus had silenced John's disciples, the chief of a synagogue +waited on him, and besought him to come and lay hands on his daughter, +twelve years old, _who was dead_, according to Matthew, but who was only +_very sick_, according to Mark and Luke; a difference which seems to +merit some attention. Jesus complied with the invitation; and whilst +proceeding to the house overheated himself so much that a virtue went +out of him sufficient to cure all who were in its atmosphere. We shall +not form conjectures on the nature of this virtue or divine +transpiration. We shall only remark, that it was so potent as +instantaneously to cure a woman afflicted for twelve years with an issue +of blood; a disease which, probably, the spectators had not better +verified than its cure. On this occasion, Jesus perceiving that there +had gone out of him a considerable portion of virtue, turned towards the +afflicted female, whom his disciples had rudely pushed back, and seeing +her prostrate at his feet, "Daughter, (said he) be of good cheer, thy +faith hath made thee whole." The poor woman, whom the disciples had +intimidated, charmed with being relieved from her fright in so easy a +manner, confessed openly she was cured. + +When our miracle performer was arrived at the house of Jairus, the chief +of the synagogue, it was announced to the latter that his daughter had +expired, and that the house was full of minstrels, who were performing a +dirge or mournful concert according to the custom of the country. Jesus, +who on the way had got the father of the girl to prattle, was not +disconcerted at the news. He began with making every body retire, and +then by virtue of some words raised her from the dead. + +In historical matters we must prefer two writers who agree, to a third +who contradicts them. Luke and Mark affirm that the damsel was dead; but +here unfortunately it is the hero himself who weakens his victory. On +their saying that she was dead, he affirmed that she was only _asleep_. +There are girls who at twelve years of age are subject to such swoons. +On the other hand, the father of the damsel appears to have acquainted +the physician with the condition of his child; and he, more in the +secret than others, did not believe the intelligence of her death. He +entered alone into her chamber, well assured of her recovery if she was +only in a swoon: if he had found her dead, there is every reason to +believe, he would have returned, and told the father that he had been +called too late, and regreted the accident. + +Jesus did not wish that this miracle should be published; he forbade the +father and mother of the damsel to tell what had happened. Our charlatan +was not solicitous to divulge an affair which might increase the +indignation of the Jews of Jerusalem, whither he was soon to repair to +celebrate the passover. The account of this miracle seems to evince that +the Son of God had acquired some smattering of medicine in Egypt. It +appears that he was versant in the spasmodic diseases of women; and no +more was wanting to induce the vulgar to regard him as a sorcerer, or +performer of miracles. + +Once in the way of performing wonders, Jesus did not rest satisfied with +one merely. According to Matthew, (who alone relates the facts we are +now to notice,) two blind men who followed him began to exclaim, _Son of +David, have mercy on us_. Though Jesus, in his quality of God, knew the +most secret thoughts of men, he chose to be _viva voce_ assured of the +disposition of the sick with whom he had intercourse. He asked, if they +had much faith, or if they sincerely believed that he was able to do +what they requested of him. Our blind folks answered in the affirmative; +then touching their eyes, "Be it unto you," said he, "according to your +faith," and instantly they received their sight. + +We know not how to reconcile such lively faith in two blind men, with +their disobedience. Their physician, who might have good reasons for not +being known, expressly forbade them to speak of their cure; they, +however, spread it instantly through the country. The silence of those +who were witnesses of this great miracle, is not more astonishing than +the indiscretion of the blind men who were the objects of it. A fact +still more miraculous is the obduracy of the Jews, who were so stubborn, +that the many wonders performed one after another and on the same day, +were not able to convince them. Jesus, far from being discouraged, +determined still to exhibit specimens of his power. A dumb man, +possessed with a devil, being presented to him, he expelled the demon +and the dumb began to speak. At sight of this miracle, the people, as +usual, were in extasy, whilst the pharisees and doctors, who had also +exorcists among them, saw nothing surprising in it: they pretended that +their exorcists performed their conjurations in the name of God, whilst +Jesus operated in the name of the devil. Thus they accused Jesus of +casting out the devil by the devil, which was indeed a contradiction. +But this did not prove the divinity of Jesus; it proved only that the +Pharisees were capable of talking nonsense and contradicting themselves, +like all superstitious and credulous people. When theologists dispute, +we soon discover that the wranglers on both sides speak nonsense; and, +by contradicting themselves, impugn their own authority. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +OF WHAT JESUS DID AT JERUSALEM DURING THE SECOND PASSOVER IN HIS +MISSION. + + +Our doctor having closed the first year of his mission in a glorious +manner, he proceeded to Jerusalem, to try his fortune, and gather the +fruits of his labour, or form a party in the capital, after having +acquired adherents in the country. There was reason to expect that the +wonders which he had performed the year preceding in Galilee, would have +a powerful effect on the populace of Jerusalem; but they produced +consequences opposite to those which Jesus had hoped for. It might be +said that the infernal legion which he had sent into the swine of the +Gerasenes, had returned and fixed their abode in the heads of the +inhabitants of the country. The gospel shows in the former an incredible +hardness of heart. In vain Jesus wrought before their eyes a multitude +of prodigies, calculated to confirm the wonders related to them; in vain +did he employ his divine rhetoric to demonstrate the divinity of his +mission. His efforts served only to increase the anger of his enemies, +and induce them to devise means to punish him whom they persisted in +regarding as a juggler, a charlatan, and a dangerous impostor. + +It is true, the adversaries of Jesus surprised him sometimes at +fault--They reproached him with violating the ordinances of a law +venerated by them as sacred, and from which he had promised never to +depart. They regarded these violations as a proof of heresy, and it did +not enter their heads that a God could raise himself above ordinary +rules, and possess the right of changing every thing. They were Jews, +and therefore obstinately attached to their ordinances; and they did not +conceive how a true messenger of God could allow himself to trample +under foot, what they were accustomed to regard as sacred and agreeable +to Deity. + +So many obstacles did not discourage Jesus. He determined to succeed at +any price; and though he might have foreseen what would be the issue of +his enterprise, he was sensible he must conquer or die; that fortune +favours only the brave; and that it was necessary to play an illustrious +part, or tamely consent to languish in misery in the solitude of some +obscure village in Galilee. + +On arriving at Jerusalem, he devoted his attention to sick paupers--the +rich had their own physicians. At this time there was in the city, and +near the sheep port, a fountain, or pool, of which, with the exception +of the gospel, no historian has ever spoken, though, it well deserved to +be transmitted to posterity. It was a vast edifice, surrounded with five +magnificent galleries, in the centre of which was a sheet of water, that +possessed admirable properties; but these were known only to indigent +people and mendicants; and they knew them, doubtless, by a particular +revelation. Under these galleries were soon languishing a great number +of sick persons, who patiently waited for a miracle. God, on giving to +the water of this pool the faculty of curing all diseases, had annexed a +condition to it--The first who could plunge therein after an angel had +troubled it, which happened only at a certain time, could alone obtain +the benefit of a cure. The chief magistrate of Jerusalem, who probably +knew nothing of the existence of this extraordinary fountain, had not +established any regulation respecting it. The most forward and agile, +and such as had friends always in readiness to lead them to the water +when it was troubled, succeeded often in obtaining deliverance from +their diseases. + +A paralytic had been there for thirty-eight years, without any one +having had the charity to lend him a helping hand in descending to the +fountain. Jesus, who beheld him lying, asked him if he wanted to be +cured? "Yes," answered the sick man, "but I have nobody to put me into +the water when it is troubled." "That signifies nothing, (replied +Jesus,) Arise, take up thy bed and walk." This wretched man, perhaps not +unlike many of our beggars, who, to soften the public, feigned diseases, +and who on this occasion might be gained over by some trifle to be +accessary to the farce; this miserable, we say, did not leave him to +speak twice--on the order of Jesus he took up his couch and departed. + +This cure was performed on the Sabbath. Our paralytic having been met by +a man of the law, the latter reprimanded him for violating the +ordinances of religion by carrying his bed. The transgressor had no +other excuse to give, but, that he who had cured him had commanded him +so to do. He was then questioned about the person who had given this +order, but he knew nothing of him. Jesus had not said who he was; and, +as if the act had been very trifling, the person on whom the miracle was +performed had not informed himself of the author of it. Here the matter +ended; but Jesus having some time after met the paralytic, made himself +known to him, and then the latter informed the Jews of the name of his +physician. The priests were so irritated, that from this instant they +formed the design of putting Jesus to death, because, according to John, +_he had done these things on the Sabbath day_. + +It is not probable that this was the true cause of the rage of the Jews. +However scrupulous we suppose them, it is presumed that their physicians +did not think themselves obliged to refuse medicines to the sick on the +Sabbath. Jesus, not content with curing, also authorised those he cured +to violate the Sabbath by carrying their bed, which was a servile work; +or rather these unbelievers regarded the miracles of the saviour as mere +delusions, impostures, tricks of dexterity, and himself as a cheat who +might excite disturbances. + +Jesus having learned that the Jews were ill disposed towards him, +attempted to justify himself. He made a speech to prove that he was the +Son of God, and that his Father authorised him not to observe the +Sabbath. But he took care not to explain himself very distinctly on this +_filiation_; and by his ambiguous language, insinuated the eternity of +his father, though he did not call him God. Yet the Jews perceiving his +object, were very much offended at this pretension. He changed, +therefore, his ground, and threw himself on the necessity by which he +acted. "Verily," said he to them, "the Son does nothing of himself, but +what he seeth the Father do. The Father, who loves him, sheweth him all +things that he himself doeth, and he will show him greater works than +these." By these expressions, Jesus seems to overthrow his own eternity +and infinite knowledge; for he announces himself as susceptible of +learning something, or as the pupil of the Divinity. + +To impress the minds of these unbelievers, whom his enigmatical language +could not convince, he declared that henceforth the Father would no +longer interfere in judging men, but had devolved that care on his Son. +This, however, had no effect; as the Jews expected a great judge, they +were not yet staggered. Jesus, like our modern teachers, for want of +better arguments proceeded to intimidate his audience, knowing well that +fear prevents the exercise of reason. He gave them to understand, that +the end of the world was near, which ought to make them tremble. + +The testimony of John Baptist, had facilitated the first successes of +Jesus; but the difference remarked between his conduct and that of the +forerunner, destroyed the force of this testimony. Our orator pretended +to have no need of it and endeavored to weaken its value. "_He was a +burning and a shining light_" to them; "_you were willing for a season +to rejoice in his light; I have a greater witness than his_." Here he +appealed to his own works, which he maintained to be infallible proofs +of his divine mission. He undoubtedly forgot at this moment, that he +spoke to people who regarded his marvellous deeds as delusions and +impostures. His works were precisely the thing which it was necessary to +prove even to the Jews, who saw them performed! This manner of reasoning +has been since adopted with success by Christian doctors, who, when +doubts or objections are advanced against the mission of Jesus, appeal +to his miraculous works, which were at all times incapable of convincing +the very persons whom they tell us had been witnesses of them. + +Among the proofs employed by Jesus to exalt his mission, he advanced +one, the tendency of which is to destroy the mission of Moses, and cause +him to be regarded as an impostor. He told them, _You have never heard +the voice of my Father_; whilst it was on the voice of this Father, of +whom Moses was the interpreter, that the law of the Jews was founded. +After having annihilated the authority of scripture, our orator wished +to prop his mission on the same scriptures, by which he pretended he was +announced. "Fear" says he, "the Father; I will not be the person who +will accuse you before him; it will be Moses, in whom you trust, because +you believe not in him; for if you believed in him, you would also +believe in me. I am come in the name of the Father, and you pay no +attention to it; another will come in his own name, and you will believe +in him." + +The hearers of this sermon were not moved by it: they considered it +unconnected, contradictory, and blasphemous; the fear of seeing the end +of the world arrive, did not hinder them from perceiving the want of +just inference in the orator, who took away from his Father, and +restored to him the quality of judge of men, which he had at first +appropriated to himself. Besides, it would appear the Jews were of good +courage as to this end of the world, which events had so often belied. +Their posterity, who beheld the world subsisting after this, +notwithstanding the express prediction of Jesus and his disciples, have +founded their repugnance for his doctrine, among other things, on this +want of accomplishment. From his sublime discourse the incredulous +conclude, that it is very difficult for an imposter to speak long +without contradicting and exposing himself. + +The inefficacy of this harangue convinced Jesus that it was in vain to +rely on miracles, in order to draw over the Jews of Jerusalem. He +forbore to perform them, though the festival of the passover might +furnish him with a favourable opportunity. It appears he was completely +disgusted with the incredulity of these wretches, who showed themselves +no way disposed to witness the great things which he had exhibited with +success to the inhabitants of Galilee. To make miracles pass in a +capital, there must be a greater share of credulity than in the country. +Besides, if the populace are well disposed even in large cities, the +magistrates and better informed oppose a bulwark to imposition. The same +thing happened to Jesus in Jerusalem. Perhaps he despaired of the +salvation of these infidels, for during the short time he sojourned in +that city, he kept no measures with them, but loaded them with abusive +language. It does not appear, however, that this plan gained proselytes, +though since that time his disciples and the priests have frequently +endeavored to succeed by similar means, and even by coercion. + +In this journey, Jesus had no success--his disciples did not meet with +good cheer; to sustain life they were reduced to the necessity of taking +a little corn in the environs of the city; and were caught in this +occupation on the Sabbath day. Complaint was made to their master; but +no satisfaction could be obtained. He replied to the Pharisees, by +comparing what his disciples had done with the conduct of David, who, on +an emergency, ate, and also made his followers eat, the shew bread, the +use of which was reserved for the priests, adding, that "the Sabbath was +made for man, and not man for the Sabbath;" therefore, he concluded, +"the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath." + +Critics have remarked in several circumstances of the life of Jesus, +that he was frequently liable to commit mistakes. For example, on the +occasion we speak of, he gave the name of _Abiathar_ to the high priest +who permitted David to eat the shew bread. The Holy Spirit, however, +informs us, in the first book of Kings, that this high priest was called +_Achimelech_. The error would be nothing if an ordinary man had fallen +into it, but it becomes embarrassing in a man-God, or in God made man, +whom we ought to suppose incapable of blunders. + +On the same occasion, Jesus maintained that the priests themselves +violated the Sabbath, by serving God in the temple on that day; and, +this, according to the principles of theology, is confounding _servile_ +works with _spiritual_. But this is to have the same idea of a robbery +and of an oblation; it is to tax God with being ignorant of what he did, +by ordaining, at one and the same time, the observance and the violation +of a day which he had consecrated to repose. + +Our doctors further justify Jesus by saying, that, as God, he was +absolute master of all things. But in that case he ought to have +procured better fare for his disciples. It would not have cost him more +to have permitted them to encroach on the table of some rich financier +of Jerusalem, or even that of the high priest, who lived at the expense +of God his Father, than to permit his followers to forage in the fields +of the poor inhabitants of the country. At least it was previously +necessary to verify such sovereignty over all things in the eyes of the +Jews, who, from not knowing this truth, were offended at the conduct +which the Son of God seemed to authorise. It is apparently on this +principle several Christian doctors have pretended, that _all things +appertain to the just_; that it is permitted them to seize on the +property of infidels and the unholy; that the clergy have a right to +levy contributions on the people; and that the pope may dispose of +crowns at his pleasure. It is on the same principle that actions are +defended, which unbelievers regard as usurpations and violence, +exercised by the Christians on the inhabitants of the new world. Hence +it is of the utmost importance to Christians not to depart from the +example which Jesus has given them in this passage of the gospel; it +appears especially to concern the rights of the clergy. + +Pretensions, so well founded, did not, however, strike the carnal minds +of the Jews; they persisted in believing that it was not permitted to +rob, particularly on the Sabbath; and not knowing the extent of the +rights of Jesus, they considered him an impostor, and his disciples +knaves. They believed him to be a dangerous man, who, under pretence of +reformation, sought to subvert their laws, trample on their ordinances, +and overturn their religion. They agreed, therefore, to collect the +proofs they had against him, accuse, and cause him to be arrested. But +our hero, who had information of their designs, frustrated them by +leaving Jerusalem. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +JESUS WORKS NEW MIRACLES--ELECTION OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. + + +As soon as Jesus was safe from the malice of his enemies, and found that +he was among persons of more favourable dispositions than the +inhabitants of Jerusalem, he again commenced working miracles. His +experience convinced him, that to gain the capital, it was necessary to +augment his forces in the environs, and procure, in the country, a great +number of adherents, who might, in due time and place, aid him in +overcoming the incredulity of priests, doctors, and magistrates; and put +him in possession of the holy city, the object of his eager desires. + +These new prodigies, however, produced no remarkable effect. The Jews, +who had been at Jerusalem during the passover, on returning home, +prepossessed their fellow-citizens against our missionary. If he found +the secret of gaining the admiration of the people in the places he +passed through on leaving the capital, he had the chagrin to find +opponents in the Pharisees and doctors. The following fact shows to what +a degree the people were influenced:--On a Sabbath, Jesus entered the +synagogue of a place, the name of which has not been preserved. He there +found a man who had, or said he had, a withered hand. The sight of the +diseased, who was, probably, some noted mendicant and knave, and the +presence of the physician, excited the attention of the doctors. They +watched Jesus closely--"Let us see, (said they, one to another) if he +will dare to heal this man on the Sabbath day." But observing that Jesus +remained inactive, they questioned him as to the Sabbath, for which he +had, on so many occasions, shown but little respect. It was apparently +one of the principal points of his reform, to abrogate a number of +festivals. The doctors asked him, "Master, is it lawful to heal on this +day?" He was frequently in the habit of answering one question by +another: Logic was not the science in which the Jews were most +conversant. Jesus replied, "Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath day, +or to do evil--to save life, or to take it away?" This question, +according to Mark, confounded the doctors. Nevertheless, there is reason +to believe, unless we suppose the Jews to have been a hundred times more +stupid than they really were, that this question was ill timed. They +were prohibited from applying to servile occupations only, but must have +been permitted to discharge the most urgent duties of morality even on +the Sabbath day. It is to be presumed, that a midwife, for example, lent +her ministry on that day, as on any other. It is stated in the Talmud, +that it was permitted to annoint the sick with oil on the Sabbath. The +Essenians observed the Sabbath with so much rigor, that they did not +allow themselves to satisfy the most pressing wants of life. This, +perhaps, gave occasion to the reproaches with which this sect loaded +Jesus, who had by his own authority reformed this ridiculous custom. + +Jesus continued his questions, and asked them, if when a sheep fell into +a ditch on the Sabbath, they would not draw it out? Hence, without +waiting for an answer, he very justly concluded that it was permitted to +do good on that day. To prove it, he said to the sick, whom he had, +perhaps, suborned to play this part in the synagogue, "Arise, stand up, +and stretch forth thy hand;" and immediately his hand became as the +other. But Jesus, finding this prodigy produced no change in their +minds, darted a furious look on the assembly, and, boiling with a holy +choler, instantly forsook the detestable place. Matt. xii. Mark xii. 6. + +Jesus acted wisely; for these naughty doctors immediately took counsel +with the officers of Herod, "how they might destroy him." Informed of +every thing by his adherents, he gained the sea shore, where it was +always easy for him to effect his escape. His disciples, several of whom +understood navigation, followed him. A number of people, more credulous +than the doctors, resorted to him on the noise of his marvels. There +came hearers from Galilee, from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from the other +side of Jordan, and even from Tyre and Sidon. This multitude furnished +him with a pretext for ordering his disciples to hold a boat in +readiness, that he might not be too much thronged, but, in truth, to +escape, in case it should be attempted to pursue him. + +On this shore, favorable to his designs, Jesus performed a great number +of miracles, and cured an infinity of people. We must piously believe it +on the word of Matthew and Mark. These wonders were performed on the +sick, and especially on the possessed. The latter, at whatever distance +they perceived the Saviour, prostrated themselves before him, rendered +homage to his glory, and proclaimed him the "Christ;" whilst he, always +full of modesty, commanded them with threats not to reveal him; the +whole to accomplish a prophecy, which said of him, _He shall not +dispute, nor cry, nor make his voice be heard in the streets_; a +prophecy, which, however, was frequently contradicted by his continual +disputes with the doctors and Pharisees, and by the uproar he occasioned +in the temple, in the streets of Jerusalem, and in the synagogues. + +Nothing is more astonishing than the obstinacy of the devil in +acknowledging Jesus, and confessing his divinity, and the stubbornness +of the doctors in not recognizing him, in spite of his cares to make the +one silent to convince the others. It is evident, that the son of God +has come with the sole intent of preventing the Jews from profiting by +his coming, and acknowledging his mission. It may be said that he has +shown himself merely to receive the homage of satan; at least we +perceive only the devil and his disciples proclaiming the character of +Jesus. + +When he had preached much, cured much, and exorcised much, our +missionary wished to be alone to reflect on the situation of his +affairs. With a view to enjoy more liberty, he ascended a mountain, +where he spent the whole night. The result of his solitary reflections +was, that although he required assistants, he could no longer, without +giving umbrage to the government, continue marching up and down with a +company so numerous as that of the idlers who composed his suite. + +When day appeared, he called those of his disciples whom he judged most +worthy of confidence, and selected twelve to remain near his person. +This is what Luke says; but Mark insinuates that he chose his twelve +apostles on purpose to send them on a mission. As Jesus, however, +assures us, that he chose them _to be near him_, and as the apostles, +content with begging and making provision for themselves and their +master, did not perform any mission during his life, at least out of +Judea, we shall adhere to the first opinion. The names of these apostles +were Simon Peter, Andrew, Matthew, Simon-Zelotes, James, Philip, Thomas, +Jude, John, Bartholomew, another James, and Judas Iscariot, the +treasurer. + +As Jesus had no money to give his disciples, he told them no doubt to go +and push their fortune. He, however, took care to impart to them his +secret; to teach them the art of miracles, to cure diseases, and to cast +out devils. He also gave them the power of remitting sins, and to bind +and unbind in the name of Heaven; prerogatives, which, if they did not +enrich the apostles, have been worth immense treasures to their +successors. To them the roughest staff has become a _crosier_, a staff +of command, making its power felt by the mightiest sovereigns of the +earth. The _bag_ or _wallet_ of the apostles has been converted into +treasures, benefices, principalities and revenues. Permission to beg has +become a right to exact tithes, devour nations, fatten on the substance +of the wretched, and enjoy, by _divine right_, the privilege of +pillaging society, and disturbing it with impunity. The successors of +the first missionaries of Jesus, though professing to be mendicants, +enjoyed the prerogative of coercing all who refused to bestow charities +on them, or to obey their commands. Many have imagined, that Jesus never +concerned himself about the subsistence of the ministers of the church; +but if we examine attentively the gospel, especially the Acts of the +Apostles, we shall find the basis of the riches, grandeur, and even +despotism of the clergy. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +SERMON ON THE MOUNT--SUMMARY OF THE MORALITY OF JESUS--OBSERVATIONS ON +THAT MORALITY. + + +The dread of being arrested having constrained Jesus to abandon the +cities, where he had many enemies, the country became his ordinary +residence. The people, or at least some male and female devotees whom he +had converted, furnished provisions to the divine man and his followers. +Obliged to wander about, bury themselves in mountains and in deserts, +and sleep in the open air, our apostles became discontented with their +lot. In spite of the spiritual graces, which they received in the +society of the messiah, these carnal men expected something more +substantial on devoting themselves to his service. They were doubtless +promised important posts, riches, and power in the kingdom he was about +to establish. Jesus on this account frequently experienced as much +difficulty in retaining them, as in convincing the rebellious Jews by +his miracles and conclusive arguments. The measure of their appetite, +and well being, was at this time, the only rule of their faith. To +prevent their murmurs, and familiarize them with a frugal life, which +our missionary saw he would be obliged, perhaps for a long time, to make +them lead, he pronounced an oration on true happiness: it is the one +known by the name of the Sermon on the Mount, and related by Matthew, +chap v. + +According to our orator, true happiness consists in _poverty of Spirit_; +that is, in ignorance, and contempt of knowledge, which bids us exercise +our reason, and strips man of the blind submission that is necessary to +induce him to submit to a guide. Jesus preached a pious docility, which +implicitly credits every thing without examination; and to tell them, +that the kingdom of heaven would be the reward of this happy +disposition. Such is the sense which the church has given to the words +of Jesus, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of +heaven." + +Among the apostles, there were some whose passionate dispositions might +have been prejudicial to the progress of the sect. It may in general be +presumed, that rough men, devoid of education, have repulsive manners. +Jesus demonstrated the necessity of meekness, civility, and patience, in +order to gain proselytes; he recommended moderation and toleration, as +the certain means of insinuating themselves into the minds of men, of +thriving in the world, and as the surest way of making conquests. This +is the true sense of these words, "Happy are the meek, for they shall +inherit the earth." + +Wishing to inspire them with courage, and console them for their +miserable situation, he told them, that to live in tears is felicity, +and an infallible method of expiating iniquity. He promised that their +vexations should not endure forever; that their tears should be dried +up; that their misery should terminate; and that their hunger should be +appeased. These consolations and promises, were indispensably necessary +to fortify the apostles against every accident which, in the course of +their enterprises, might befal them in the retinue of a chief destitute +of riches and power, and incapable of procuring to himself or others the +comforts of existence. + +Jesus, with a view, no doubt, of sweetening the lot of his apostles, +recommended compassion to the listening multitude, of which he, as well +as his party, stood in the greatest need. It is readily perceived, that +the messiah felt the most imperious necessity to preach charity to his +auditors; for he lived on alms, and his success depended on the +generosity of the public, and the benefactions of the good souls who +hearkened to his lessons. + +The preacher recommended peace and concord; dispositions necessary to a +new born, weak, and persecuted sect; but this necessity ceased when this +sect had attained strength enough to dictate the law. + +He afterwards fortified his disciples against the persecutions which +they were to experience; he addressed their self love--spurring them on +by motives of honor: "Ye are (says he) the salt of the earth, the light +of the world." He gave them to understand that they were the "successors +of the prophets," men so much respected by the Jews: and, to share in +whose glory, they ought to expect the same crosses which their +illustrious predecessors experienced. He told them to regard hatred, +persecution, contempt, and the deprivation of every thing that +constitutes the well being and happiness of man, as true felicity, and +most worthy of heavenly rewards. + +After haranguing his disciples, he addressed himself to the people. He +presented to them a new morality, which, far from being repugnant to +that of the Jews, could easily be reconciled with it. Things were not as +yet sufficiently matured for abrogating the law of Moses: too great +changes alarm mankind. A feeble missionary must at first confine himself +to reforming abuses, without seeking to probe to the bottom. Jesus +wisely contented himself with showing, that the law was faulty in some +particulars, and that he proposed to perfect it. Such is the language, +of all reformers. + +Jesus expressly declared, that he was not come to destroy, but to fulfil +the law: and he affirmed that, in heaven, ranks would be fixed according +to the rigorous observance of all its articles. He insinuated, however, +to his audience, that neither they, nor their doctors, understood any +part of that law which, they believed, they faithfully practised. He +undertook, therefore, to explain it; and as all reformers pretend to +puritanical austerity, and to a supernatural and more than human +perfection, he went beyond the law. The following is the substance of +his marvellous instructions: + +You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not +kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be punished with death; but I say +unto you, that it is necessary to extend this prohibition and punishment +even to wrath, seeing it is wrath which urges one on to put his fellow +creature to death. You would punish adultery only when it is committed; +but I tell you, that desire alone renders one as culpable as fact. You, +perhaps, will answer, that man is not the master of his passions and +desires, and that he can hardly resist them: I agree with you in this; +you have not any power, even on the hairs of your head. The penances, +sacrifices, and expiations which your priests impose, are not capable of +procuring the remission of your sins; behold, then, the only means of +preventing them, or making reparation: has your eye, or any of your +members solicited you to commit iniquity? Cut off that member, or pull +out that eye, and cast it from you; for it is more expedient that one of +your members should perish, than that the whole body be thrown into hell +fire. If Moses, inspired by the divinity, had known this hell, destined +for your suffering eternal punishment, he would not have failed to +menace you with it; but he was ignorant of the dogma of another life; he +spoke only of the present, to which he has limited your misfortunes, or +your felicity. Had it not been for this, he would not have neglected to +acquaint you with a fact so well calculated to inspire you with fear, +and render life insupportable. + +We are quite surprised at finding, that Moses and the ancient Hebrew +writers have no where mentioned the dogma of a future life, which +now-a-days forms one of the most important articles of the Christian +religion. Solomon speaks of the death of men by comparing it with that +of brutes. Some of the prophets, it is true, have spoken of a place +called _Cheol_, which has been translated _Hell (Enfer)_; yet it is +evident, that this word implies merely sepulchre or tomb. They have also +translated the Hebrew word _Topheth_ into _Hell_: but on examining the +word, we find that it designates a place of punishment near Jerusalem, +where malefactors were punished, and their carcases burned. It was after +the Babylonish captivity that the Jews knew the dogma of another life, +and the resurrection, which they learned of the Persian disciples of +Zoroaster. In the time of Jesus, that dogma was not even generally +received. The Pharisees admitted it, and the Sadducees rejected it. + +You use too freely (proceeded our missionary) the permission of divorce; +the least disgust makes you repudiate your wives; but I tell you, that +you ought to repudiate them only when you have surprised them in +adultery. It is cruel to stone one for this fault; we ought to have +respect for the weakness of the sex. Jesus, whose birth was very +equivocal, had particular reasons for wishing that adultery should be +treated with indulgence. Independently of Mary his mother, from whom +Joseph was probably separated, our preacher had in his train dames, +whose conduct had not been irreproachable anterior to their conversion. +Besides Mary Magdalene, who was a noted courtesan, Jesus had in his +suite Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, who, according to the +tradition, robbed and forsook her husband to follow the messiah, and +assist him with her property. Moreover, the indulgence which he preached +must have gained him the hearts of all the ladies in his auditory. + +The messiah continued nearly in these terms:--God has of old promised +you blessings, prosperity, and glory; but he has changed his intention, +and revoked these promises. As you were almost always, and still are the +most unhappy, the most foolish, and most despised people on earth, you +ought to suspect that these pompous promises were mere allegories. You +ought, therefore, to have an abject and mortifying morality, conformable +to your genius, your situation, and your misery. If it does not procure +you welfare in this world, you should hope that it will render you more +happy in the next. Your humiliations are the certain means of attaining +one day that glory, which hitherto neither you nor your fathers have +ever been able to acquire. When therefore a person shall give you a blow +on one cheek, offer him the other. Do not go to law--lawyers will ruin +you; and, besides, the poor are always in the wrong when opposed to the +rich. Give to whoever asks of you, and refuse nothing you possess; it is +by relying on the punctual practice of this important precept, that I +send my disciples into the world without money or provisions. + +I do not give you any description of paradise--it is sufficient to know +that you will be perfectly happy there. But to get there, it is +necessary to be more than men--it is necessary to love your enemies; to +render good for evil; to preserve no remembrance of cruel outrages; to +bless the hand that strikes you; and not to speak one silly word; for +one only will precipitate you into hell. Have a pleasant aspect when you +fast; but especially live without foresight. Accumulate nothing, lest +you excite the wrath of my father. Think not of to-morrow--live at +random, like the birds that never think of sowing, gathering, or +accumulating provisions. Detach yourselves from all things below--seek +the kingdom of God, which I and my disciples will give you for your +charities. This conduct cannot fail to plunge you into misery; but then +you shall beg in your turn. God will provide for your wants--ask and it +shall be given you. Do not beggars find, agreeably to our divine +precepts, wherewith to live at the expense of the simpletons who labor? +My disciples and I, are a proof that without toil, one may avoid +difficulties, and not perish by hunger? If our manner of living appears +not to agree with my language, I charge you not judge my actions, nor +condemn your masters and doctors. Do not intermeddle with state +affairs;--that care is reserved for me, and those in whom I confide. The +master is superior to the disciple--it is to me in particular you ought +to listen. If you call me master, it is necessary to do what I desire +you. The practice of my morality is difficult, and even impossible to +many persons; but the broad and easy way conducts to perdition; and to +enter heaven, it is necessary to be as perfect as my heavenly father. I +must caution you against my enemies, or those who shall preach a +contrary doctrine. Treat them as wolves; they are false prophets--show +them no indulgence: for it is not to them that you ought to be humane, +tolerant, and pacific. + +In the course of his sermon Jesus taught them a short form of prayer, +known by the name of _the Lord's prayer_. Though the Son of God may have +shewn himself on this occasion the enemy of long prayers, the Christian +church is full of pious sluggards, who, in spite of his decision, +believe they cannot perform any thing more agreeable to God, than +spending their whole time in mumbling prayers in a very low tone, +singing them in a high one, and frequently in a language they do not +understand. It appears, that in this, as in many other things, the +church has rectified the practice of its divine founder. + +Matthew informs us, that the discourse, of which we have given the +substance, transported the people with admiration, for Jesus instructed +them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.--The latter, +perhaps, spoke in a more simple manner, and consequently less admired by +the vulgar, whose wonder is excited in proportion to their inability to +comprehend, or practise the precepts given them. Thus the sermon of +Jesus had not, at that time, any contradictors. It has however, +furnished ample scope for dispute to our casuists and theologians. They +have subtlely distinguished between things which were merely of +_counsel_, and those of _precept_ which ought rigorously to be observed. +It was soon felt, that the sublime morality of the Son of God did not +suit mankind, and its literal observance was destructive to society. It +was, therefore, requisite to moderate it, and recur to that marvellous +distinction, in order to shelter the honour of the divine legislator, +and reconcile his fanatical morality with the wants of the human race. + +Moreover, this discourse presents difficulties, which will always appear +embarrassing to persons accustomed to reflect on what they read. They +find, that it is ridiculous and false to say, a law is accomplished, +when it is proposed and permitted to violate it, and add or retrench the +most essential points. Since the time of Jesus, why has the Jewish law +been completely abrogated by Paul and his adherents, who, as we have +seen, ceceded from the Christian partizans of Judaism? Why do Christians +entertain at present so much horror at that same Judaism, except indeed +when the privileges and pretensions of the clergy are in +question--articles on which our Christian priests are very judaical, and +which they have prudently borrowed from Leviticus; all to supply the +neglect of Jesus, who was not sufficiently attentive either to their +temporal interests, _divine rights_, or sacred hierarchy? By what law do +the inquisitors (if Christians) in Portugal and Spain burn those who are +accused, or convicted, of having observed the usages of a law, which +Jesus has declared he did not wish to _abolish_, but to _fulfil_? By +what law have Christians, dispensed with circumcision, and permit them +selves to eat pork, bacon, pudding, hare, &c? Why has sunday, or the day +of the sun among Pagans been substituted for Sabbath or Saturday? + +2dly, It is held unjust to punish in the same manner a man in a passion +and a murderer. One may be in a passion and restrain himself, or +afterwards repair the injury; but he cannot restore life to a man whom +he has deprived of it. + +3dly, The restriction of divorce to the single case of adultery is a law +very hard, and very prejudicial to the happiness of married persons. +This precept compels a man to live with a woman who in other respects +may be odious to him. Besides, it is generally difficult to convict a +female of adultery; she usually takes precaution to avoid this. Is it +not very grievous, and even dangerous to live with a person who +occasions continual suspicions? + +4thly, It is absurd to make a crime of _desire_, especially without +supposing the _liberty_ of man; but Jesus is not explicit on that +important article. On the contrary, from the train of his discourse he +appears to recognize the _necessity_ of man, who has no authority over a +single hair of his head. Paul, his apostle, declares in many places +against the liberty of man, whom he compares with a vessel in the hands +of a potter. But if there be no proportion between the workman and his +work; if the latter has no right to say to the former, _why have you +fashioned me thus_? if there be no analogy between them, how can they +bear any relation to each other? If God is incorporeal, how does he act +upon bodies? or how can these bodies disturb his repose, or excite in +him emotions of anger? If man is relatively to God as an _earthen vase_, +this vase owes neither thanks nor adoration to the potter who gave him +so insignificant a form. If this power is displeased with his own vessel +because he formed it badly, or because it is not fit for the uses he +intended, the potter, if he is not an irrational being, can only blame +himself for the defects which appear. He no doubt can break it in +pieces, and the vase cannot prevent him; but if instead of forming it +anew, and giving it a figure more suitable to his designs, he punishes +the vase for the bad qualities he has conferred upon it, he would show +himself to be completely deprived of reason. This, in fact, is the view +which Christianity gives of its God. It represents mankind as having no +more relation with the divinity than stones. But if God owes nothing to +man; if he is not bound to show him either justice or goodness, man on +his part can owe nothing to God. We have no idea of any relation between +beings which are not reciprocal. The duties of men amongst themselves +are founded on their mutual wants. If God has no occasion for these +services, they cannot owe him any thing; neither can they possibly +offend him by their actions. + +5thly, It is a strange remedy to cut off or pluck out a member every +time it is the occasion of sin; it contradicts the precept not to make +an attempt on one's life. Origen is blamed by the Christians for having +performed an operation, which he no doubt judged necessary for +preserving his chastity. It is not through the members, but the +inclination, that a person sins: it is therefore absurd to say that one +shall escape damnation of the body by depriving himself of a member. +What would become of so many ecclesiastical libertines, if to appease +the lusts of the flesh, and make reparation for scandal, they should +take it into their heads to follow the counsel of Jesus? + +6thly, The suppression of a just defence of one's person and rights +against an aggressor or unjust litigant, is to overturn the laws of +society. It is to open a door to iniquities and crimes, and render +useless the exercise of justice. By such maxims a people could not exist +ten years. To _love_ our enemies is impossible. We may _abstain_ from +retaliating on the person by whom we are injured; but love is an +affection which can only be excited in the heart by a friendly object. + +7thly, The counsel or precept, to possess nothing, amass nothing, and +think not of the morrow, would be very prejudicial to families:--a +father ought to provide a subsistence for his children. These maxims can +suit sluggards only, such as priests and monks, who hold labor in +horror, and calculate on living at the expense of the public. + +8thly, It is now easy to perceive, that the promises made the Jews by +the mouth of Moses, inspired by the divinity, have not been verified +literally, and are only allegorical. But it was not from the Son of God +that the Jews should have learned this fatal truth. Once imposed on, +they ought to have dreaded being again deceived by another envoy. Like +Jesus, Moses had made promises; like Jesus, Moses had confirmed his +promises and mission by miracles; yet these promises have been found +deceptive, and merely allegorical. This idea ought to have created +presumptions against the promises of Jesus. + +9thly, To say, that it is necessary to be _poor in spirit_, and to say +afterwards that to attain heaven it is necessary to be perfect as the +heavenly father is perfect, is to make God a stupid being; to afford to +atheists a solution for all the evil they perceive in nature; and to +assert that to enter paradise one must be a fool. But has man the power +of being spiritual or poor in spirit, reasonable or foolish, believing +or unbelieving? Is not the holy stupidity of faith a gift which God +grants only to whom he will? Is it not unjust to damn people of +understanding? + +Lastly, In this sermon Jesus recommends to beware of _false prophets_, +and says, that it is by their works we shall know them. Yet, the priests +tell us, "we ought to do as they say, without imitating what they do," +when we find their conduct opposed to the maxims they preach. Another +sign, therefore, than works ought to have been given whereby to +recognize false prophets; otherwise the faithful will be reduced to +believe that the clergy are provided only with lying prophets. + +In this manner unbelievers argue; that is all those who have not +received from heaven _poorness of spirit_, so necessary for not +perceiving the want of inference, false principles, and numberless +inconsistencies, which result from the morality of Jesus. This morality +appears a divine _chef d'oeuvre_ to docile Christians illuminated by +faith; and it was much admired by those who heard it. We know not, +however, if the auditors were so affected by it as to follow it +literally. To admire a doctrine, and believe it true and divine, is a +thing much more easy than to practice it. Many persons set a higher +value on evangelical virtues, which are sublime in theory, than on moral +virtues, which reason commands us to practice. It is not then surprising +that the supernatural and marvellous morality of Jesus was applauded by +those who heard it. It was addressed to paupers, the dregs of the +people, and the miserable. An austere stoical morality must please the +wretched; it transforms their situation into virtue; it flatters their +vanity; makes them proud of their misery; hardens them against the +strokes of fortune; and persuades them that they are more valuable than +the rich, who maltreat them; and that Deity, which delights in seeing +men suffer, prefers the wretched to those who enjoy felicity. + +On the other hand, the vulgar imagine that those who can restrain their +passions, and deprive themselves of what excites the desires of others, +are extraordinary beings, agreeable to God, and endowed with +preternatural grace, without which they would be incapable of these +exertions. Thus a harsh morality, which seems to proceed from +insensibility, pleases the rabble, imposes on the ignorant, and is +sufficient to excite the admiration of the simple. It is not even +displeasing to persons placed in happier situations, who admire the +doctrine, well assured of finding the secret to elude the practice of it +by the assistance of their indulgent guides. There is only a small +number of fanatics who follow it literally. + +Such were the dispositions which must have induced so many people to +receive the instructions of Jesus. His maxims produced a multitude of +obstinate martyrs, who, in the hope of opening a road to heaven, set +torments and afflictions at defiance. The same maxims produced penitents +of every kind, solitaries, anchorites, cenobites, and monks, who, in +emulation of each other, rendered themselves illustrious in the eyes of +nations by their austerities, voluntary poverty, a total renunciation of +the comforts of nature, and a continual struggle against the gentlest +and most lawful inclinations. The counsels and precepts of the gospel +inundated nations with a vast number of madmen, enemies of themselves, +and perfectly useless to others. These wonderful men were admired, +respected, and revered as saints by their fellow-citizens, who, +themselves deficient in grace or enthusiasm necessary for imitating +them, or following faithfully the counsels of the Son of God, had +recourse to their intercession, in order to obtain pardon for their +sins, and indulgence from the Almighty, whom they supposed irritated at +the impossibility in which they found themselves of following literally +the precepts of Jesus. In fine, it is easy to perceive that these +precepts, rigorously observed, would drag society into total ruin; for +society is supported only because that most Christians, admiring the +doctrine of the Son of God as divine, dispense with practicing it, and +follow the propensity of nature, even at the risk of being damned. + +In the gospel, Jesus threatens with eternal punishment those who shall +not fulfil his precepts. This frightful doctrine was not contradicted in +the assembly; the superstitious love to tremble; those who frighten them +most, are the most eagerly listened to. This was undoubtedly the time +for establishing firmly the dogma of the _spirituality_ and +_immortality_ of the soul. The Son of God ought to have explained to +those Jews, but little acquainted with this matter, how a part of man +could suffer in hell, whilst another part was rotting in the earth. But +our preacher was not acquainted with any of the dogmas which this church +has since taught. He had not clear ideas of spirituality; he spoke of it +only in a very obscure manner: "Fear, (said he, in one place,) him who +can throw both body and soul into hell"--words which must have appeared +unintelligible in a language in which the soul was taken for the blood +or animating principle. It was not till a long time after Jesus, and +when some Platonists had been initiated in Christianity, that the +spirituality and immortality of the soul were converted into dogmas. +Before their time, the Jews and Christians had only vague notions on +that important subject. We find doctors in the first ages speaking to us +of God and the soul as _material_ substances, more subtile indeed than +ordinary bodies. It was reserved for latter metaphysicians to give such +sublime ideas of mind, that our understandings are bewildered when +employed on them. + + + + +CHAP. XI. + +ACTIONS AND PARABLES OF JESUS--ENTERPRIZE OF HIS RELATIONS AGAINST +HIM--JOURNEY TO NAZARETH, AND THE SUCCESS JESUS HAD THERE. + + +Though the obstinacy of the doctors of the law and principal men among +the Jews, created continual obstacles to the success of Jesus, he did +not lose courage; he again had recourse to prodigies, the certain means +of captivating the populace, on whom he perceived it was necessary to +found his hopes. This people were subject to diseases of the skin, such +as leprosy and similar cutaneous disorders. No doubt can be entertained +on this point when we consider the precaution which the law of Moses +ordains against these infirmities. To establish his reputation, Jesus +resolved to undertake the cure of this disgusting disease with which his +countrymen were so much infected. + +According to Luke, a leper prostrated himself at the feet of Jesus, and +adored him, saying, that he had heard him spoken of as a very able man, +and that, if he was inclined, he could cure him. On this, Jesus merely +stretched forth his hand, and the leprosy disappeared. Hitherto, the +messiah had only recommended it to those he cured to present themselves +to the priests and to offer them the gift prescribed in such cases; but +on this occasion he thought that he would reconcile them by strictly +enjoining this mark of deference. He, therefore, exacted of the cured +leper, that he would satisfy the ordinance of the law; but at the same +time recommended secrecy as to the physician's name--a secret which was +no better preserved by him than by others. Jesus forgot that it was not +sufficient to impose silence on the persons he cured, but that it was +likewise necessary to lay a restraint on all the tongues of the +spectators; unless indeed it is supposed that these miracles were +performed with shut doors, and witnessed by the Saviour's disciples +only; or, rather, that they were not performed at all. + +Meanwhile, the leper's indiscretion was the cause why Jesus, according +to Mark, no longer ventured to appear in the city. The priests seem to +have taken in ill mood the cure he had performed: He therefore withdrew +into the desart, where the more he was followed the more he buried +himself in concealment. It was in vain that the people desired to hear +him; it was in vain that the sick, who ran after him, requested their +cure. He no longer suffered that marvellous virtue, calculated to cure +every disorder, to exhale from him. + +After having wandered for some time in the desart, ruminating on his +affairs, he re-appeared at Capernaum. The domestic of a Roman centurion, +much beloved by his master, was at the point of death from an attack of +the palsy. This Pagan believed that Jesus could easily cure his slave; +but, instead of presenting him to the physician as he ought to have +done, he deputed some Jewish senators to wait on him. However +disagreeable this commission might be to persons whom the centurion had +no right to command, and who by that step seemed to acknowledge the +mission of Jesus, these senators performed it. Flattered with seeing an +idolator apply to him, our miracle-worker set out immediately; but the +centurion sent some of his people to inform Jesus that he was not worthy +of the honour thus intended him by entering his house; and that to cure +his servant it was sufficient to speak only one word. Jesus was +delighted with this; he declared, that _he had not found so much faith +in Israel_; and with one word, if the gospel may be believed, he +performed the cure. He afterwards told the Jews, that if they persisted +in their hardness of heart, (the only disease which the Son of God could +never cure, though he had come for that purpose,) the idolatrous nations +would be substituted in their stead, and that God, notwithstanding his +promises, would forever abandon his ancient friends. The gospel, +however, does not tell us, whether this centurion, so full of faith, was +himself converted. + +The day after this cure, Jesus having left Capernaum, arrived at Nain, a +small town in Galilee, about twenty leagues distant, which proves that +the messiah was a great walker. Fortunately he got there in time to +perform a splendid miracle. A poor widow had lost her son; they were +already carrying him to be burried, and the disconsolate mother, +accompanied by a great multitude, followed the funeral procession. +Jesus, moved with compassion, approached the bier and laid his hand on +it. Immediately those who carried it stopped. _Young man!_ said he, +addressing the deceased, _I say to thee, arise_. Forthwith, he who was +dead sat up. This miracle terrified all the attendants, but converted +nobody. The transaction is related by Luke alone; but even were it +better verified, we might justly suspect that the disconsolate mother +held secret intelligence with the performer. + +Some historians have made John Baptist live to this period; others made +him die much earlier. Here Matthew and Luke introduce the disciples or +the precursor, on purpose to question Jesus on the part of their master. +"Art thou he that was to come, or look we for another?" The messiah in +reply worked miracles in their presence, cured the sick, cast out +devils, and gave sight to the blind; after which he said to John's +deputies, "Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen." It was +on this occasion that Jesus pronounced the eulogy of John. He had, as we +have seen in chapter fourth of this history, his reasons for so doing. +"Amongst all those," said he, "that are born of women, verily I say unto +you there is not a greater than John Baptist." Our panegyrist profited +afterwards by this circumstance to abuse the pharisees and doctors, who +rejected both his baptism and John's. He compared these unbelievers to +"Children sitting in the market place, and calling to one another: We +have piped to you, and you have not danced; we have chaunted funeral +airs, and ye have not weeped." But we are not informed that this jargon +converted the doctors. + +After this our speech-maker compared his own conduct with that of the +precursor. "John," said he, "came neither eating bread nor drinking +wine, and you say he hath a devil. I eat, drink, and love good cheer, +yet you reject me also, under pretence that I keep company with men and +women of bad reputation." He gave the populace, however, to understand, +that their suffrage was sufficient for him; as if he had told them, "I +am certain of you--you are too _poor in spirit_ to perceive the +irregularity of my conduct--my wonders pass with you; you should not +reflect; you are the true _children Of wisdom, which will be justified +by you_." + +After this harangue, a Pharisee, who to judge of him by his conduct had +been noways moved by Jesus, invited the orator to dinner; but he used +him in the most unpolite manner. He did not cause his feet to be bathed, +nor did he present perfumes according to the established custom of the +Jews. Though Jesus might be offended at this omission, he did not +decline sitting down at table; but while he was eating, a woman of bad +fame bathed his feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, and +thereafter anointed them with a precious ointment. The pharisee did not +comprehend the mystery. Stupid and incredulous, he conjectured that +Jesus did not know the profession of the female; but he was mistaken: +the courtezan in question and all her family were intimately connected +with the messiah. John informs us, that she was called Mary Magdalane, +and that she was the sister of Martha and Lazarus, people well known to +Jesus, and who held a regular correspondence with him. In particular it +appears, that Magdalane entertained the most tender sentiments for +Jesus. + +This action of the courtezan did not disconcert the Saviour; he +explained her love, the attention paid him, and the kisses with which +she loaded him, in a mystical and spiritual sense; and assuming the tone +of one inspired, he assured her that her sins were forgiven on account +of the love she had displayed. Luke informs us in the following chapter, +that Jesus had delivered this lady of _seven devils_--a service which +well merited her gratitude. Be that as it may, Jesus employed this +indirect way of shewing the pharisee the incivility of his behaviour to +a man of his consequence. + +The relations of Jesus, informed of the noise he made, and suspecting +that he could not lead a very pure life among the gentry with whom he +associated; or fearing that his conduct in the end would draw him into +scrapes, went from Nazareth to Capernaum to seize him, and cause him to +be confined. They were afraid of being involved in his disgrace, and +chose rather to charge themselves with his correction, than to see him +delivered up to justice; an event which they perceived was likely soon +to happen. They therefore circulated a rumor, that he was a fool, whose +brain was disordered. Jesus, informed of the motive of their journey, +kept close, and had a prodigy in reserve the moment they should appear. +The people, who had a hint of this, or were told of it by the emissaries +of the messiah, repaired thither. As soon as the relations appeared, a +blind and dumb man possessed with a devil was brought forth. Jesus +exorcised him, the possessed was delivered, and the people were in +extacies. + +The doctors beheld with pain the credulity of the rabble, and foresaw +the consequences of it. The kinsmen of Jesus, little affected by this +miracle, promised to the doctors to use all their efforts to deliver him +up to them. He is a sorcerer, said some; he is a prophet, said others; +he must prove it, said a third; and, notwithstanding the great miracle +he had performed, others added, _Let us ask of him a sign in the air_. +"Good God!" said the Nazarenes, "he is neither sorcerer nor prophet; he +is a poor lad whose brain is disordered." + +These speeches being related to Jesus, he answered them by parables and +invectives, and defended himself from the charge of being a wizard, by +maintaining that it was absurd to suppose he cast out devils by the +power of the devil. As to the imputation of folly, he repelled it with +affirming that whoever should question his intellect, could not expect +the remission of his sins either in this or in the other world. This +undoubtedly is what must be understood by _the Sin against the Holy +Ghost_. + +Nevertheless the midway course of demanding a sign was followed; for +this purpose a deputation was sent to Jesus; but instead of a sign in +the air, he gave them one in the water. He referred our inquisitive +folks to Jonas, and told them they should have no other sign; for, added +he, "As Jonas was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, +so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of +the earth." These Jews who were neither wizards nor prophets, could not +comprehend this language. Jesus, to whom miracles cost nothing when +every thing was arranged for performing them, did not risk himself by +working them _impromptu_, or in the presence of those he judged acute +enough to examine them. On this occasion he put off these poor Jews, +whom he calculated on converting to himself for ever, with an +unintelligible answer. + +Having refused to perform a prodigy in the air, he began to rail at +them. He got into a passion, and launched out in prophetical invectives +against the Jews. He compared the conduct of the queen of Sheba with +theirs; boasted of _his_ being greater and wiser than Solomon; and +threatened to deprive them of the light which he shed in their country. +We are of opinion, however, that, if he had deigned to give the sign +demanded, he would have spread this light much further. But the messiah +felt that a sign in the air was much more difficult than those he had +given on the earth, where he was better able to arrange matters than +aloft in the atmosphere, a region in which there was nobody to concert +with. + +Meanwhile Jesus' mother had joined her other children and relations in +order to induce them to desist from their pursuit, but she could not +prevail on them. They persisted in the design of apprehending our +adventurer. As however, they could not penetrate through the multitude +and get close up to him, they sent notice they were there. "Behold," +said some one to Jesus, "thy mother and thy brethren who seek +thee."--Jesus knowing the object of their visit which he was no ways +eager to receive, abjured such froward relations; "Who is my mother, and +who are my brethren?" said he; after which, stretching forth his hand +towards the people, "_Behold_," added he, "_my mother and brethren_; I +know no other kinsmen than those who hearken to my word, and put it in +practice." The people, flattered with the preference, took Jesus under +their protection, and the attempt of his family was thus turned to their +confusion. + +Escaped from this perilous adventure, afraid of being ensnared or +mistrusting the constancy of the populace, who, notwithstanding the +pleasure they found in seeing him perform his juggles, might desert him +at last, Jesus thought proper to provide for his safety by leaving the +town. He accordingly departed with his twelve apostles, the ladies of +his train, Mary his mother, Jane and Magdalane, _who assisted the +company with their property_. No doubt the last, who before she was with +the messiah had made gain of her charms, was rich in jewels and ready +money. This rendered her conversion of great importance to the sect, and +especially to Jesus, who could not, without cruelty, refuse to repay so +much love with a little return. + +The persecution which Jesus experienced excited an interest in his +behalf, and it would seem procured him greater countenance. A multitude +of people impelled by curiosity, as soon as they knew the road he had +taken, went out of the towns and hamlets in the environs to see him. To +avoid being incommoded by the crowd, he again resolved to go on board a +vessel, from which he preached to those on shore; but recollecting the +trouble, which his former sermons had brought him into, he did not think +it prudent to explain himself so clearly. He, therefore, preferred +speaking in parables, which are always susceptible of a double meaning. + +One day chagrined at his little success, he distinctly avowed that he +had changed his resolution as to the jews, and meant to abandon their +conversion. The reason for doing, so he expressed to them in parables; +"that seeing, they may not perceive, and hearing they may not +understand, lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins +should be forgiven them." + +It must be owned that it is very difficult to reconcile this conduct of +God. Were we not afraid of committing sacrilege by hazarding objections +on the mission of Jesus, might it not be presumed that at first he had +the design of giving laws to the Jews; but perceiving afterwards his +little success, he resolved to seek his fortune elsewhere, and gain +other subjects? What he communicated to his disciples in this secret +view, appears to have been for the purpose of preparing them for this +change; but his punishment prevented all his designs, which were not +executed till a long time after by his apostles, who no doubt carefully +treasured up this conference. + +We shall not enter into a detail of all the parables which Jesus +employed in communicating his marvellous doctrine to the Jews, or +preaching without being understood. Such a discussion would become very +tiresome; we therefore advise those who may have a taste for such kind +of apologues rather to read those of Esop or La Fontaine, which they +will find more amusing and more instructive than the fables of Jesus. +Those, however, who wish to consult the parables of the gospel, will +find them in the following places:--The parable of the _sower_, Luke, +viii. 5--of the _concealed lamp_, ib. viii. 16--of the _tares_, Matt. +xiii. 24--of the _seed_, Mark iv. 26--of the _grain of mustard_, Matt. +xiii. 31--of the _leaven_, ib. xiii. 33--of the _hidden treasure_, ib. +xiii. 44--of the _pearl_, ib. xiii. 45--of the _net cast into the sea_, +ib. 47--and of the _father of the family_, ib. 52. + +Jesus informed that his brothers and cousins were from home, went to +Nazareth accompanied with his apostles. He perhaps wanted to convince +his countrymen that he was not such a fool as was reported. Probably he +hoped to confer with his family, and gain them over to his party. He +arrived on the Sabbath, and repaired to the synagogue: immediately the +priest very politely presented him with a book; he opened it, and +stumbled precisely on this passage of Isaiah: "The spirit of the Lord +has rested upon me, and therefore I am anointed to preach." Having shut +the book, he delivered it to the priest and sat down; but he did not +neglect to apply to himself this passage of the prophet, where also +mention is made of miracles and prodigies. There were present, either by +chance or design, several Gallileans, who having been witnesses of the +marvels Jesus had previously performed, did not hesitate to bear +testimony in his favour. But the Nazarenes, who knew what to think of +him, were shocked at his magisterial tone. "Is not this," said they to +one another, "the carpenter, the son of Joseph the carpenter? Is not his +mother called Mary? Are not his brethren and sisters with us? Whence +then has he so much skill? How, and by what means does he work +miracles?" + +Jesus, hearing these remarks, saw plainly that this was not the proper +place for performing prodigies. But he wished that his inaction might be +attributed to the evil dispositions of his countrymen, who were +surprised to hear the sagacity and power of a man extolled whose conduct +appeared to them very equivocal. "I perceive," said Jesus to them, "that +you apply to me the proverb, Physician cure thyself; and that, to prove +the truth of what you have heard of me, you wish me to perform some of +those miracles which I have elsewhere exhibited; but I know I shall +labour in vain in this city: I am too well convinced of the truth of the +proverb, No man is a prophet in his own country." To justify himself he +quoted examples which would seem to throw a suspicion on the miracles of +the prophets of the Old Testament, whom this proverb, even by itself, +was calculated to make pass for knaves. Whatever opinion we may form of +this, he cited the example of Elias, who, among all the widows of +Israel, did not find one more deserving of a miracle than her of +Sarepta, a woman of the country of the Sidonians. In the days of Elias, +Judea was overrun with lepers; and yet the prophet cured Naaman, who was +a Syrian and an idolater, in preference to his countrymen. + +This harangue, which insinuated the reprobation and perversity of the +audience, excited their rage so much that they dragged the orator out of +the synagogue, and led him to the top of a mountain with an intention to +throw him down headlong; but he had the good fortune to escape, and thus +avoid the fate which was intended him in the place of his nativity. +Matthew, speaking of this journey to Nazareth, says that his master did +not perform many miracles there on account of the unbelief of the +inhabitants. But Mark says positively, that he could not do any, which +is still more probable. + +Our luminous interpreters and commentators believe, that Jesus escaped +only by a miracle out of the hands of the Nazarenes. But would it have +cost him more to perform a miracle in order to convert them, and thereby +prevent their mischievous designs? This was all that was required of +him, in order to save himself and place his person in security. Jesus +never performed miracles but with certain loss; he always dispensed with +working any when they would have been decisive, and beneficial. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MISSION OF THE APOSTLES.--THE INSTRUCTIONS JESUS GAVE THEM.--MIRACLES +WROUGHT UNTIL THE END OF THE SECOND YEAR OF HIS OWN MISSION. + + +Dissatisfied with his expedition to Nazareth, Jesus went to Upper +Gallilee, which had already been the theatre of his wonders. He found +the disposition of the inhabitants of that country better adapted to his +purpose. He perceived, however, that the necessity they were under of +suspending their labor to come and hear him, kept a great number at +home. This consideration obliged him to disperse his apostles by two and +two in the province. It is probable he resolved on this dispersion +because he found his own sermons and prodigies did not gain many +proselytes. The continual enterprizes of his enemies made him feel the +necessity of increasing his party. + +It appears that Jesus had already sent several of his disciples on +missions, retaining near himself his twelve apostles only. It may, +however, be presumed, that these preachers were as yet mere novices, as +their labors were unsuccessful, the devils obstinately resisting their +exorcisms. Yet this want of success was owing solely to the weakness of +their faith, and would seem to throw a shade on the foresight and +penetration of their divine master. Why did he send missionaries whose +dispositions were not sufficiently known to him? Besides, it belonged to +him alone to bestow on them a necessary stock of faith for their +journey. + +Whatever opinion way be formed of this, those of the apostles, who never +quitted their master, who saw him continually operating, who enjoyed his +confidence, and had faith from the first hand--were better qualified +than the others to labor to the satisfaction of the public. Fully +resolved to make a desperate effort, Jesus renewed all their powers, and +gave them his instructions, of which the following is the substance: +"Every thing being well considered, do not go among the Gentiles, for +our Jews will charge it as a crime against you, and as a reproach +against me. It is true, I have already threatened to renounce them, but +it is still necessary to make one attempt more; you will therefore +preach to the Jews only. Repentance supposes sobriety and few wants; +hence the inutility of riches. I have no money to give you, but strive +to pick up for yourselves what you can. Providence will provide for you; +if he takes care of the sparrows, he will take care of you. Moreover +expect to be ill received, reviled, and persecuted; but be of good +courage; all is for the best. Silence is no longer requisite; preach +openly and on the house tops what I have spoken to you in secret. Inform +the world that I am the messiah, the son of David and the Son of God. We +have no longer to observe discretion; we must either conquer or die; +away then with pusillanimity. + +"Though I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, explain to the +good people that you are under the safeguard of the Most High, who will +take a terrible revenge for the outrages offered you, and liberally +reward those who welcome you. You do not require to concert measures for +supplying your wants; it belongs to those whose souls you are going to +save to provide you in necessaries for the body. Carry not therefore +either gold, or silver, or provision, or two suits of raiment; take a +good cudgel, and depart in the name of the Lord. + +"Take care in your way always to preach that _the kingdom of heaven is +at hand_. Speak of the end of the world: this will intimidate women and +poltroons. On entering cities and villages, inform yourself of such +credulous people as are very charitable and prepossessed in our favor. +You will salute them civilly; saying _Peace be to this house_. But the +peace you bring must be _allegorical_; for my doctrine is calculated to +create trouble, discord, and division every where. Whoever would follow +me, must abandon father, mother, kinsmen, and family; we want only +fanatics and enthusiasts, who attaching themselves wholly to us, trample +every human consideration under foot. _I came not to send peace, but a +sword._ As a like conduct might embroil you with your hosts, you will +change your abode from time to time. Do not rely on the power I have of +raising the dead the safest way for you is not to risk your being +killed; shun therefore places where you may be menaced with persecution. +Abandon disobedient cities and houses, _shaking the dust from off your +feet_. Tell them, that they have incurred the punishment of Sodom and +Gomorrah. Declare, in my name, that the divine vengeance is ready to +make them sensible of their guilt, and that the inhabitants of these +cities will be less rigorously punished than those who shall have the +audacity to resist your lessons. The great and last day is at hand. I +assure you that you will not have finished your tour through all the +cities of Israel before the son of man shall arrive." + +Such is the sense and spirit of the instructions which Jesus gave to his +apostles. In charging them to divulge his secret, he gave them a +commission, which, notwithstanding his omnipotence, he himself dared not +execute. But it was a grand policy to have instruments to act without +exposing himself to personal injury. + +These trifles, however, scarcely merit notice:--We are more surprised to +find the Son of God proclaiming peace and charity, and at the same time +asserting that he brings war and hatred. It is without doubt a God only +who can reconcile these contradictions. It is besides unquestionable, +that the apostles, and especially their successors in the sacred +ministry have, in preaching their gospel, brought on the world troubles +and divisions unknown in all other preceding religions. The incredulous, +who by the way refer to the history of the church, find, that the _glad +tidings_ which a God came on purpose to announce, have plunged the human +race into tears and blood. + +It is obvious from this language, that Jesus charged people of property +with the maintenance of his apostles. Their successors have taken +sufficient advantage of this, and through it assumed an authority to +exercise the most cruel extortions on impoverished nations. Would not +the Almighty have rendered his apostles more respectable by rendering +them incapable of suffering, and exempting them from the wants of +nature? This would have given more weight to their sublime sermons and +those of their infallible successors. + +Critics maintain also, that it was false to say eighteen hundred years +ago that _the end of the world was near_, and still more false to affirm +that the great Judge would arrive before the apostles could make the +tour of the cities of Israel. It is true, theologists understand that +the end of the world shall happen when all the Jewish cities, that is, +when all the Jews shall be converted. Time will demonstrate whether it +be in that sense we ought to understand the words of Jesus: meanwhile +the world still remains, and does not appear to threaten speedy ruin. + +It is probable that, besides these public instructions, Jesus gave more +particular ones to his apostles. They departed in the hope of charities +which they were to receive from Jews, of whom the greatest number were +already in a state of reprobation. Jesus altered his orders in part; he +reserved for himself the cities, and left the villages to his apostles. +Accordingly they went here and there, calling out, _Hearken to the glad +tidings; the world is near its end. Repent therefore, pray, fast, and +give us money and provisions, for having acquainted you with this +interesting secret._ We are assured that they cured several diseases by +the application of a certain oil. They had doubtless done more excellent +things, but the _paraclete_ (the comforter) was not yet come: maugre the +instructions of the Son of God, the understandings of the apostles were +not yet sufficiently brightened; for we do not find that the +missionaries, with their balsam and fine speeches, made any converts. +The incredulous are still much surprised to find in the instructions of +Jesus to his apostles, an explicit order to labor only for the +conversion of the Jews, and an express prohibition against preaching to +the Gentiles. They maintain, that a righteous God could make no +distinction of persons; that the common father of mankind must show an +equal love to all his children: that it cost no more to the Almighty to +convert and save all nations; that a God, who is friendly to one country +only, is a God purely local, and cannot be the God of the universe; and +that a God partial, exclusive, and unjust, who follows caprice alone in +his choice, can neither be perfect nor the model of perfection. In +short, those who have not the happiness of being _sacredly_ blinded by +faith, cannot comprehend how the equitable and wise Lord of all the +nations of the earth could cherish exclusively the Jewish people; his +infinite prescience ought to have shown him that his love and favors +would be completely lost on this untractable people. + +Unbelievers remark, that it does not become the Son of God to exclaim, +"Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty +works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would +have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes." Would it not have been +wiser to have gone and preached to cities so docile, where Jesus was +certain of success, than to persist in preaching to the Jews, of whom he +was not certain of making converts? + +Jesus went about preaching through many cities of Gallilee; but deprived +of the assistance of his confidents, he did not work any wonders. We +have seen the magistrates and the great paying little attention to his +conduct. They despised one whom they regarded a vagrant, or a fool +little to be feared. 'Tis true, that some of Herod's officers are said +to have been on the watch, with the pharisees, to destroy him; but this +combination had no success. After all, he gave umbrage only to the +priests and the doctors of the law, against whom he declaimed with the +greatest indecorum. By this conduct he rendered himself agreeable to the +people, weary of the extortions of these bloodsuckers, who, without +pity, drained the nation, treated the poor with disdain, and, as the +parable of the priest and the Samaritan evinces, were destitute of +charity. The priests and doctors were very numerous in Jerusalem; on +which account the people in the capital were less disposed than +elsewhere to listen to our preacher, and the influence of the priests +was the cause of the hatred and contempt entertained against him in this +great city. + +By a singular contrariety, the most obscure interval in our hero's life +was that wherein he acquired the greatest renown. Jesus was wholly +unknown at the court of Herod; while at the head of his troop, and +surrounded by multitudes, he chased away devils, gave sight to the blind +and speech to the mute, expelled the sellers from the temple, and raised +the dead. But while he led a private life in Gallilee; when, during the +mission of his apostles, he found himself alone and without followers, +and content with preaching repentance, it was then that his fame, +penetrating even to the throne, excited in the monarch a desire to see +him. According to Luke, a ray of light struck the heart of Herod; doubt +filled his mind; "John," said he, "I have caused to be beheaded, but he +must have risen from the dead, and, therefore, it is that so many +miracles are performed by him; but who should this be of whom I hear +such great things?" Herod wished to see Jesus to explain these matters, +and for this purpose he sent for him. + +If nature had given Jesus a right to the throne of Judea, we might judge +his motives for not putting himself in the power of a prince, the +usurper of his crown. But Jesus could not dissemble that his pretensions +were not well established; he knew that for a long time the family of +David had lost the sovereign power. We must, therefore, search for +another motive for his refusing to see Herod, as the interview with the +Son of God would not only have contributed to the conversion of this +prince and his court, but of all Judea, and perhaps of the whole Roman +empire. A single miracle of consequence, performed before a court, and +acknowledged and attested by persons of high authority, would have been +more effectual than the suspected testimony of all the peasantry and +vagabonds in Gallilee. Far from complying with the request of Herod, and +conferring so eminent a benefit, Jesus withdrew into a desert as soon as +he learned the prince's intention. He, who often uttered the most +terrible curses against such as rejected him, scorned the invitation of +a sovereign, and fled into a desert, instead of laboring for his +conversion. The messiah, who made no difficulty in entering the house of +a centurion to heal his slave, refused to visit a monarch in order to +cure his blindness, and bring back to himself all his subjects, for +whom, he affirmed, that he was specially sent! + +Our theologians explain these contradictions by referring to the +inexplicable decrees of Providence. But the incredulous maintain, that +Jesus, who well knew how to work wonders in the eyes of a simple +populace, dared not to expose himself before an enlightened court; and +it must be owned, that the manner in which he comported himself before +his judges, strengthens this opinion. + +Meanwhile, the mission of the apostles expired. In a short time they had +traversed Gallilee; and it appears from the repast which Jesus soon +after gave to a crowd of people, that the preaching of his missionaries +had procured an abundant harvest. Loaded with the alms of the +Gallileans, the apostles returned to their master, who again found +himself incommoded by the multitude which flocked to see him. To enjoy +more liberty, the party embarked on board a small vessel, which conveyed +them across the sea of Gallilee. There, in a retired spot, the apostles +gave an account of the success of their mission; they made arrangements +for the future, and especially secured their provisions in a place of +safety. + +Those who had seen Jesus embark, thought, perhaps, they were forever to +be deprived of the pleasure of seeing him perform wonders. They made the +tour of the lake, and though on foot, reached the other side before +Jesus arrived there in his vessel. He preached, wrought miracles, and +cured the diseased; and these labors lasted until the evening. His +disciples then advised him to send the people in search of lodging and +victuals in the neighboring villages. He made no reply on the article of +lodging;--there were doubtless few persons in this multitude who were +accustomed to sleep on down.--Besides, the nights were likely not cold +in that season and climate. But, wishing to amuse himself with the +embarrassment of those who made the proposal, and who might not know the +resources which the collections of his apostles had procured, "it is not +necessary," said he, "that they should go into the villages; give them +yourselves wherewith to eat." "Think you so?" replied they,--"shall we +go and buy two hundred penny-worth of bread, and give them to +eat?"--Philip, who perhaps was not in the secret, represented the +impossibility of finding bread to feed this multitude. On which Jesus +said to Peter, "See how many loaves you have." He found none--a +circumstance the more surprising, as, according to Mark, they had +withdrawn to this place "on purpose to eat." Peter, without answering +the question, said to his master, "There is a young lad here, who has +five barley loaves and two small fishes." Jesus ordered them to be +brought, and made the multitude range themselves in companies of +hundreds and of fifties. From this arrangement it appeared that there +were five thousand men, besides women and children. When every one had +taken his place on the grass, Jesus, according to the usage of the Jews, +blessed the loaves and fishes, broke, and distributing them among the +apostles, who gave thereof to the people as much as they desired. They +likewise filled twelve baskets with the fragments of this celebrated +entertainment. The guests, penetrated with admiration, exclaimed, "This +is of a truth a prophet, and that prophet who should come into the +world;" which, translated into ordinary language, means, the true +Amphitrion is he who gives us our dinner. The apostles spoke not a word. + +Some critics, perceiving the impossibilities this miracle presents, have +ventured to doubt the truth of it, as if the _impossibility_ of things +could prejudice the reality of a miracle, the essence of which is to +produce things impossible. Yet if attention is given to the account of +the evangelists, who are not, however, very unanimous on particulars, we +shall find, that this miracle presents nothing impossible if we are +inclined to give any credit to the prudence of the Son of God; who, on +this occasion, found that he could not make a better use of the +provisions amassed by his apostles, than to distribute them to a hungry +multitude. By this act, he saw himself certain of gaining their favor. +It may be the crowd was not quite so numerous as is related. Besides, +our apostles, in passing to the opposite shore, might have thrown their +nets with sufficient success to furnish fish for the whole company. This +meal must have appeared miraculous to persons who knew that Jesus had no +fortune, and lived on alms. We accordingly find, that the people wanted +to proclaim king the person who had so sumptuously regaled them. The +entertainment no doubt recalled to their mind the idea of a messiah, +under whose government abundance was to reign. No more was requisite to +induce a handful of miserables to believe, that the preacher, who by a +miracle fed them so liberally, must be the extraordinary man the nation +expected. + +This great miracle then will become very probable, by supposing that the +apostles in their collection had received a large quantity of bread. +They amused themselves, as has been observed, with fishing while they +crossed the lake; Jesus gave them the hint:--when evening was come, +things were disposed without the observation of the people, who were +thus fed with provisions amassed by very natural means. + +Though the Gallileans wished to proclaim Jesus king, he did not think +proper to accept an honor which he found himself for the present +incapable of supporting. His exhausted provisions did not suffer him to +undertake the frequent entertaining of so many guests at his own +expense; and though this conduct, much more than all his other miracles, +would have gained him the affections of the beggars, idlers, and +vagabonds of the country, the necessity of his affairs prevented him +from recurring to it. + +Thus Jesus crowned the second year of his mission with an action well +adapted to conciliate the love of the people, and at the same time give +uneasiness to the magistrates. This stroke of eclat must doubtless have +alarmed those in power, who perceived that the affair might become very +serious, especially considering the intention of the Gallileans to +proclaim our adventurer king. The priests probably profitted by these +dispositions in order to destroy Jesus, who at all times appeared +anxious to gain the populace, in order to aid him in subduing the great. +This project might have succeeded if Judea, as in times past, had been +governed by kings of its own nation, who, as the Bible shows, depended +continually on the caprice of priests, of prophets, or of the first +comer, who by predictions, declamations, and wonders, could, at will, +stir up the Hebrew nation, and dispose of the crown: whereas in the time +of Jesus the Roman government had nothing to fear from the efforts of +superstition. + + + + +[CHAPTER XIII.] + +JESUS REPASSES INTO GALLILEE ABOUT THE TIME OF THE THIRD PASSOVER IN HIS +MISSION--WHAT HE DID UNTIL THE TIME HE LEFT IT. + + +The expression of John, who tells us, that _Jesus knowing_ the guests he +had entertained _would come and take him by force on purpose to make him +their king_, demonstrates that these guests had withdrawn at the end of +the entertainment. This observation enabled us to fix pretty correctly +the route of Jesus, and affords a reason for his conduct. + +It was already late when the disciples said to their master, that it was +time to send away the people. The preparations for the repast must have +consumed time: the distribution of the victuals required also some +hours; so that daylight could not have been far off when the meal was +finished, and when Jesus dismissed his guests. It was about the evening +he learned the design they had of carrying him off to make him king; and +it was not until after having received this intelligence, that he +resolved to conceal himself in a mountain, after having dispatched his +disciples to Capernaum. To reach the place, the latter were obliged to +make several tacks; when Jesus, observing this, changed his resolution, +and set out for Gennesaret, on the north side of the lake. Seeing him +approach at the moment they thought him far off in the recesses of the +mountain, his disciples were terrified; _they took him for a spirit_, +for spirits were very common in Judea. They were confirmed in their +opinion when they perceived his shadow near the vessel. Simon Peter +observing him advance, did not doubt but he was walking on the waters. +In attempting to go and meet his master, he felt himself sinking; but +Jesus took him by the hand, and saved him from the danger. After +reprimanding him for his cowardice, he went with him on board the ship. +The apostles, who had not been much struck with the miracle of the five +loaves, were astonished at this. They had been in great fear, and fear +disposes to believe; in their distress they confessed unanimously, _that +he was the Son of God_. + +Jesus reached Gennesaret at noon. There several of his guests recognized +him, and announced his arrival to others. They presented him the +diseased, and he performed a great number of cures. We cannot too much +admire the faith of the Gallileans, who exposed at all seasons their +sick in the streets, and the complaisance of Jesus, who indefatigably +cured them. + +The guests at the miraculous supper, whom their affairs called home, had +returned; but the greatest number, that is, all the laboring people, +having seen Jesus' ship steer for Capernaum, had set out by land for +that city. Some vessels from Tiberias arrived there at the same time, +but none carried Jesus, and nobody had seen him; for he had made his +passage during night. The crowd, however, remained, in hopes of being +again entertained _gratis_, when they learned at Capernaum that Jesus +was on the opposite shore. Immediately, all our idle folks set out, +either by land or by water, to visit him. But these parasites, instead +of finding a repast served out on the grass, were entertained with a +sermon. Jesus, who had not always wherewith to defray the expenses of so +numerous a court, held forth to them this language: "Verily, verily, I +say unto you, ye seek me, not because you saw the miracles, but because +ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled." "Labour," added he, "for +life everlasting.----" His hearers, whose ideas extended not beyond the +present life, did not comprehend what Jesus meant; they therefore asked +him what it was requisite they should do; on which he told them that it +was necessary they should become his disciples, as he was the messiah. +Here we are surprised to find them asking of Jesus, What sign showest +thou then that we may believe? What extraordinary thing do you perform +for that purpose? You will perhaps instance the supper you gave us; but +did not our fathers eat manna in the desert for forty years? And after +all, what is your supper in comparison with that wonder? + +From this we may perceive that Jesus labored in vain to draw over these +Gallileans to his party. The continuation of the miraculous repast was +alone capable of moving them. It was to no purpose Jesus maintained, +that the bread with which Moses had fed their fathers, was not the bread +of heaven, which alone could properly nourish. _An empty belly has no +ears_; so they suffered him to preach on. After he had spoken a great +deal--Well, said they, give us this bread which alone nourishes, for it +signifies little to us what kind of bread we eat; but some we must have. +Promise to furnish us with it at all times, and at this price we shall +be at your devotion. + +If Jesus at this moment had possessed the same resources as formerly, he +would have been able, at little expense, to form a small army, which the +assurance of having food without toil would have soon increased; but all +failed. These people offered themselves providing he would always +furnish them with bread. The proposition was urgent, and Jesus got off +with so bad a grace, that his disciples themselves were shocked at it. +He said to them, that he himself was bread, that his flesh was meat, and +his blood wine; and that those only who eat it would be raised up, and +conducted to everlasting banquets. Our dull folks comprehended none of +this mysterious jargon, contrived on purpose to puzzle them. Perceiving +that they were not moved by it, he informed them that in order to follow +him, a particular _call_ was necessary, and that as they were not +disposed to do this, they were, therefore, not called. + +The adherents Jesus obtained on this occasion were but few. The Jews +were indignant that he should pretend to have descended from heaven. We +_know_, said they, his _father and mother_, and we _know where he was +born_. These rumors, spreading as far as Jerusalem, so irritated the +priests that they resolved on his death; but the son of God, by skilful +marches and countermarches, disconcerted their vigilance. It was +especially in the capital that they wished to ensnare him; but Jesus had +not been lately there. His distance from the metropolis did not, +however, prevent them from knowing his most secret proceedings; and from +this he concluded there were some false brethren among his disciples. He +was not deceived; but the fear of being betrayed in a country where his +resources began to fail, induced him to dissemble till he should arrive +in a place of safety. He set out, therefore, for Capernaum. At this +place he recited nearly the same sermon he had in vain preached to the +Gallileans. But no one would consent to receive as food his flesh and +blood. Those who enjoyed his confidence knew that he gave better cheer; +but his other disciples asserted that they could not subsist on this +mysterious mess, and took their leave of him. Unable to do better, Jesus +was obliged to let them depart. + +Observing the defection of a part of his followers, our adventurer was +vexed at it; and, in sorrow for the injuries it would occasion, he asked +the twelve, "And will you also leave me?" On which Simon Peter answered, +"Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we +believe, and are sure, that thou art the Christ, the son of the living +God." Thus Jesus was assured, in the best way he could, of the fidelity +of his apostles; yet we see, in spite of his infinite knowledge, that he +always kept the traitor Judas in his company, though he must have +foreseen that he would deliver him up to his enemies. + +Meanwhile, Jesus set out for Gallilee, whither his apostles followed +him, though his last preaching, and particularly the refusal of +victuals, had dissatisfied the Gallileans. They did not, indeed, give +him a welcome reception. The arrival of some pharisees and doctors from +Jerusalem completely marred everything. They were deputed by the chiefs +in the capital to watch the conduct of Jesus, and to put the people on +their guard. Every one knows how strictly the Jews adhere to the +ceremonies of their law; and, in spite of his protestations of +attachment to it, Jesus, like his trusty friends, observed none of its +ordinances. It was particularly offensive that they ate without washing +their hands. But he defended himself with saying, that it was better to +violate traditions and neglect ceremonies, than to infringe the +commandments of God, as the doctors did. He advanced, contrary to +express law, _that nothing which enters the body defiles it, and that it +is what comes out of it that renders it impure_. This seems to +establish, that Jesus and his party were not scrupulous as to their +victuals. Thereafter he launched out in invectives against the doctors, +whom he called hypocrites, ignorant and blind, who directed others that +were also blind. In his anger he did not perceive that the compliment +was not less offensive to the people than to their guides. On this +account the latter entertained a deep resentment, but the populace did +not regard it. Besides, Jesus did not allow them time for reflection: he +engaged their attention by a fine discourse, to prove that lawyers and +priests were the worst of men and the least charitable, and, that none +could be happy, either in this world or in the other, without becoming +his disciples. + +He was now informed that there was no safety for him in this place. He +therefore left it in great haste, intending to go towards the frontiers +of Tyre and Sidon. His design was to live concealed in the country; but +with such great renown as that of our hero it was difficult to continue +long unknown. The secret of his retreat was divulged; and, as misfortune +sometimes turns to good, this trifling duplicity gave him an opportunity +of performing a miracle among the Gentiles. A woman of Canaan besought +him to deliver her daughter from a devil that tormented her. Jesus at +first made her no answer. She insisted; the apostles interceded, and +pressed their master to grant her request, merely to silence her; for +she was clamorous, and might have disclosed that he was the messiah. He +defended himself on the plea of being sent to the Jews only, and not to +the Heathen. They again besought him, and answered his comparison by +another. He at length yielded; and the girl was delivered from her +devil, or her vapors. + +The success of Jesus in this country terminated with this miracle. He +passed into Decapolis, and there acquired some consequence from the cure +of a dumb and deaf man on pronouncing the word _Epheta_, and then +putting his finger into his ears and spittle on his tongue. Our +missionary on this occasion made a sufficiently abundant harvest of +alms. He moreover wrought a number of miracles on the sick, the cripple, +and the maimed. But it was his custom to steal away when his miraculous +power began to make a noise; he accordingly withdrew to a mountain at +the distance of three days journey from the place where he had performed +so many miracles. The people followed him in his retreat, and it appears +that they did so without eating. Loaded with provisions or money +procured by his miracles, Jesus again saw himself in a situation to lay +the table cloth. As if he knew nothing of this, he asked one of his +apostles how many loaves they had: seven was the answer. He then ordered +the multitude to sit down on the ground; and taking the loaves, blessed +them, together with some small fishes. These were distributed to four +thousand men, besides women and children, who were all satisfied; and +with the remains of the repast, they afterwards filled seven baskets. + +This prodigy appears to be a mere repetition of what we have related +before; yet St. Chrysostom maintains, that the difference of the number +of baskets proves irrefragably they must not be confounded. Admitting +this, it would appear that Jesus once more sacrificed the money and +provisions his prodigies had enabled him to amass. It was necessary to +gain the people, and he at that time felt he had very great need of +them; he was generous when he had the means to be so, and he had not +forgotten that they had promised to follow him, provided he would give +them food. + +The evangelists, however, overheated with the idea of this miracle, +forgot another equally deserving their notice. It was indeed a prodigy +to see four thousand men, without reckoning, women and little children, +following Jesus during three days without eating or drinking; or else we +must believe, that, prepared to travel, these people had provided +themselves with provisions, which suddenly failed. But, in a desert, +whence came the baskets they made use of in gathering up the remains of +the entertainment? It is to be presumed, that they dropt down from +heaven. But why not make loaves and fishes drop down also? It was +undoubtedly requisite to feed this multitude during the three days march +necessary for their return. But would it not have been a short way to +have made the people feel neither hunger nor thirst? Would it not have +been easier, by an effort of mercy, to have converted at once all the +inhabitants of Judea, and spared Jesus the trouble of so many +entertainments, flights, marches, and countermarches, which at last +terminated in a manner so tragical to this hero of the romance? + +The pharisees and sadducees did not lose sight of Jesus: on learning +that he had returned to the interior of the kingdom, they went in search +of him. The evangelists, it is suspected, made them much worse than they +were in reality, by representing them as eager to ruin them. Was it then +so difficult to arrest thirteen men? Be that as it may, the Pharisees at +this time accosted Jesus very politely, and demanded of him a miracle. +"You perform them," said they, "by dozens, in presence of a thousand +people, who by your own confession, do not believe in you; give us then +a specimen of your skill, and we shall be less opiniative than those of +whom you complain. Do then show us this condescension." Jesus was +inexorable, and perpetually referred them to Jonas. This refusal +offended them: he, in turn, inveighed against them; and as the presence +of these inconvenient spectators rendered his power useless, he quitted +them in order to go to Bethsaida. + +On the way, his apostles asked him the reason of his refusal to work a +miracle in presence of persons who entreated him in so handsome a +manner; on which Jesus, by a figure, gave them to understand, that he +could not operate before people so clear-sighted; "Beware," said he, "of +the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod." Our silly +folks, who had not time to provide bread, thought their master meant to +reprove them for their negligence. Any other but Jesus would have +laughed at the mistake, but the state of his affairs chagrined him, and +he treated them very harshly. + +On entering Bethsaida, they brought him a blind man whom he cured by +applying spittle to his eyes. This remedy at first produced a pleasant +effect: the man saw other men, like trees, walking; Jesus then laid his +hands on him, and immediately he saw quite otherwise. + +But this miracle gained no conquest to the messiah. He, therefore, went +to try his fortune in the villages in the environs of Caesarea-Philippi. +It is in this journey that asking his apostles what they thought of him, +some said, that he passed for Elias, others for Jeremiah, &c.; but Peter +openly confessed that he acknowledged him for the Christ: a confession +which has since gained him the honor of supremacy in the sacred college, +and of being declared the head of the church. + +Though sovereign in heaven, Jesus possessed nothing on earth, and of +course could confer no temporal gifts. Instead of these, he gave his +disciples the spiritual privilege of damning and saving the rest of +mankind at their pleasure. He promised to Peter the place of +_door-keeper of Paradise_, since become so lucrative an office to his +successors and assigns. Meanwhile Jesus recommended silence to the party +on this promotion; but perhaps the traitor Judas, not satisfied with the +office of treasurer, did not preserve the secret. + +Notwithstanding the suffrage of Peter, the consequences which might +result from the choler of the priests were always present to the mind of +Jesus. Cried down and rejected, he presumed, with good sense, that, +being once excluded from all the provinces, and the Gentiles not much +inclined to receive for legislator a Jew, expelled his own country, he +would be constrained sooner or later, to return to Jerusalem, where he +must expect to meet with perilous adventures. On the other hand, the +Romans, masters of the forces over whom the Jews could arrogate no +authority, would very quickly have put an end to the mission of a man +whom they must have regarded either as a fool or as a disturber of the +public peace, if he should have dared to declare against them. It is +evident, indeed, that the mission of Jesus existed in Judea merely +because the Romans were not much displeased that a restless and +turbulent people should amuse themselves with following a man of his +character--a pretended messiah, to whose appearance the prepossessions +of the nation gave rise. Always certain of being able to crush those who +dared to undertake the boldest enterprises, they troubled themselves +little about what might be done in the country by a party no way +formidable to an authority seconded by disciplined legions. + +The situation of the Son of God must have alarmed his companions, +however dull we may suppose them to have been. It was, therefore, +necessary to devise means to encourage those at least who were the +honest dupes of his vain promises. He did not dissemble the bad state of +his affairs, the fate he had to dread, and the death with which he was +menaced. He anticipated them on this subject, and declared that even if +he should suffer death, they must not be discouraged, for at the end of +three days he would rise triumphant from the tomb. We shall afterwards +see the use the apostles made of this prediction, which must at the time +have appeared to them as foolish as incredible. + +To retain them as his followers, and revive their zeal, Jesus +entertained them incessantly with the beauty of his Father's kingdom; +but he told them that to arrive there, they must have courage, love him +sincerely, and consent to suffer with him. These melancholy sermons +demonstrated the situation of the orator, and tended rather to depress +than incite the courage of his auditory. He, therefore, thought it +seasonable to present to his disciples a specimen of the glory which he +had so often vaunted. For this purpose he exhibited the brilliant +spectacle of the _transfiguration_. All the apostles were not witnesses +of it: he granted this favor to three only, Peter, James, and John, his +most intimate confidents, to whom he recommended silence. This scene +took place, it is said, on mount Thabor. There Jesus appeared irradiated +with glory, accompanied with two others, whom the apostles took for +Moses and Elias, and whom, as far as we can discover, they had never +seen before. A cloud unexpectedly enveloped the three luminous bodies; +and when they no longer beheld any person, a voice was heard pronouncing +these words, _This is my beloved Son_. The disciples were asleep while +the spectacle was displayed--a circumstance which has occasioned a +suspicion, that the whole was only a dream. + +The apostles, who remained at the foot of the mountain, and had been +deprived of this spectacle, wished to try their spiritual powers on a +lunatic, or one possessed; but the devil disregarded their exorcisms. +The father of the disordered person, perceiving their master descending +from the mountain, immediately presented his son to him, whom Jesus +cured; he then gave a strong reprimand to those _fumblers_; told them +that their want of success was owing to want of faith, a grain of which +was sufficient to remove mountains; and recommended to them fasting and +prayer, as the surest means of expelling certain demons more rebellious +than others. + +The people, however, withstood all these wonders: the devils, with whom +_they_ were possessed, could not be expelled by any thing which Jesus +had not contrived. Expecting, therefore, to draw over some of the +strangers whom the solemnities always brought in great numbers to the +capital, he resolved, as the feast of the tabernacles was approaching, +secretly to repair thither. But, agitated by the most troublesome +misgivings, he traversed Gallilee; he explained himself on his fears in +an enigmatical manner to his apostles, who could not comprehend what he +said; but who, on observing their master grieved, conformed themselves +to his humor. + +On arriving at Capernaum, the place of his usual residence, the officers +charged with collecting the customs taking him for a stranger, and not +even recognising Matthew, their old companion exacted tribute from them. +Jesus being a Jew, was offended at their demand; but whether they did +not hearken to his reasons, or that he did not wish to be known, he +dispatched Peter in search of a piece of thirty-pence in the mouth of a +fish; or rather desired him go and catch a fish, which being sold for +that sum, served to pay the custom. + +The apostles having understood from the Saviour's discourses, that his +kingdom was still very distant, occupied themselves with disputing on +the pre-eminence and ranks they should enjoy in the empire which had +been obscurely announced to them. In this they have been since +faithfully imitated by their successors. In the mean time Jesus took +occasion from this dispute to deliver a sermon on humility. He called +for a child, placed it in the midst of them, and declared that this +child was the greatest among them. This sermon, by which our clergy have +profitted so well, contains fine parables, and points out excellent +means whereby to attain heaven, but not to thrive on earth. As all +these, however, are only repetitions of what is taught in the sermon on +the mount, we refer the reader to it. + +Jesus wrought no miracles during his abode at Capernaum, where he had an +interest not to be too much spoken of. His brethren or his parents, who +were of the same mind as the priests, proceeded to that place on purpose +to persuade him to leave his asylum and go into Judea, where he might +exhibit his skill. They reminded him that the feast should draw him to +Jerusalem, where he could not fail to find an opportunity of signalising +himself. + +This ironical tone enabled Jesus to foresee that they were plotting +against him. Here eternal truth extricated itself from these +importunities by means of falsehood. The Son of God told his brethren to +go to the feast, but assured them that for himself he would _not_ go. +(John vii. 8.) This, however, did not hinder him from taking the road to +Jerusalem, but with the greatest secresy. In his way he cured ten +lepers, among whom one only, who was a Samaritan, shewed any gratitude +to his physician; and from courtesy to his faith his sins were remitted. +Notwithstanding this miracle and absolution, the incredulous do not +admit that Jesus can be acquitted of having prevaricated. It seems very +strange, that the Son of God, to whom his omnipotence furnished so many +honorable means of acting openly, had recourse to subtlety and deception +in order to elude the snares of his enemies. This conduct can be +explained only by supposing that what seems falsehood to carnal eyes is +truth in the gospel. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +JESUS SHEWS HIMSELF AT JERUSALEM.--HE IS FORCED TO LEAVE +IT.--RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS.--TRIUMPHANT ENTRY OF JESUS.--HIS RETREAT +TO THE GARDEN OF OLIVES.--THE LORD'S SUPPER.--HE IS ARRESTED. + + +It is probable that our hero changed his intention of showing himself +publicly at Jerusalem on learning the diversity of opinions which +divided the capital on his account. He imagined that his presence and +discourses would remedy the inconstancy of the people, and remove the +perplexity of disputants; but he deceived himself. He who so often +recommended the _cunning of serpents_, failed on this occasion. But how +revoke an immutable decree? The world had been created solely on purpose +that man might sin, and man had sinned in order that Jesus by his death +might have the glory of making atonement for sinners. + +If they spoke much evil of Jesus in Jerusalem, they spoke also much +good. Praise is a snare, wherein the Son of God himself was caught. +Flattering himself with being able to reconcile the suffrages, he went +to the temple and preached. But what must have been his surprise when on +beginning to speak he heard the cries of rage, and the multitude +accusing him of being possessed with a devil. In spite of the noise that +prevailed among the audience, Jesus continued to harangue. Perhaps he +might have succeeded in conquering the bad disposition of the assembly, +if a company of soldiers had not arrived, and interrupted him precisely +in the most pathetic part of his sermon. He was speaking of his heavenly +Father; and this occurrence has undoubtedly made us lose a sublime +treatise on the nature of the divinity. The soldiers, however, had no +design to seize him; they wished only to impose silence on him; it was, +therefore, easy for him to steal away. + +Jesus, whose temper appears to have been vindictive and restless, was +piqued at the insult, and continued his invectives against the priests, +doctors, and principal men among the Jews, who taking counsel on the +subject, agreed to issue a decree against him and try him for contumacy; +but Nicodemus, whom we mentioned before, undertook his defence, and +proposed to his brethren to go and hear him before condemning him. They, +however, insisted that no _good ever came out of Nazareth_, i.e. that +his protegee could be no other than a vagabond. + +In his retreat on the mount of Olives, Jesus learned that they had +postponed proceedings against him. He therefore appeared next day in the +temple by day break. The doctors and senators came a little later, and +brought him a female accused of adultery--a crime for which, according +to the law, she ought to suffer death. The doctors, perhaps acquainted +with her conduct, and informed of Jesus' having women of wicked lives in +his train, wanted to ensnare him. He might have got off by merely +saying, that it was not for him to judge; but he wished to argue. He +wrote on the ground; and concluded, very prudently, that for one to +judge it is necessary to be himself exempted from all sin. Then +addressing himself to the doctors, "let him among you who is without +sin, cast the first stone at her." At these words they departed, +shrugging their shoulders. Jesus remained alone with the adulteress, +whom the Jews would not have treated so tenderly if she had been really +culpable. On this he said to her, "Since no man hath accused thee, +neither will I condemn thee: Go then, and sin no more." + +Having happily escaped from this danger, Jesus thought himself in +safety; but, induced by his natural petulence, he again hazarded a +sermon in the temple: he spoke only of himself; and what follows was +nearly his strongest argument: "You ask," said he, "a full proof by two +witnesses. Now I bear witness of my Father, and my Father bears witness +of me; you therefore ought to believe in me;" which amounts to this; _my +Father proves me, and I prove my Father_. The doctors, but little +surprised with this circuitous and erroneous reasoning, and with a view +to come directly to the point, asked him, "Who art thou?" "I am," +replied Jesus, "from the beginning, and I have many things to say to +you; but I speak to the world those things only which I have heard of my +Father." The audience were no doubt impatient at these ambiguous +answers: Jesus, who wished to increase their embarrassment, then added +that they would know him much better after they had put him to death. + +The messiah did not omit to display great views in this conference: he +informed his hearers in dark language, that it would not perhaps be +impossible to shake off the Roman yoke. But either through fear, or that +they did not believe such a man in a condition to effect so great a +revolution, they affected not to comprehend him. Piqued at finding the +doctors and pharisees so dull and opiniative, he called them _children +of the devil_; he affirmed that he was _older than Abraham_. In short, +he broke out in a manner so unreasonable that the people, declaring +against him, were about to stone him. Jesus, perceiving his folly when +too late, concealed himself until an opportunity offered to escape. + +From this time his miracles became more rare, and the zeal of the people +subsided. It was therefore necessary to rekindle it: Jesus accordingly +performed a miracle by curing a man born blind with a little earth +moistened with spittle. This man was a well known mendicant, whom they +could not suspect of any artifice. Yet they would no longer tolerate him +after he had received his sight; an incident which no doubt diminished +the alms he was in use to receive. But, perhaps, he was made a disciple. +Some legends, indeed, assert, that after the death of Jesus he came into +Gaul, where he became a bishop or inspector; which at least presupposes +good organs of vision. + +This prodigy coming to the knowledge of the Pharisees, the beggar +underwent an examination; he openly confessed that one called Jesus had +cured him with a clay of his composition and some bathings in Siloam. On +this occasion, the bad humor of the pharisees went a little too far. +They made it a crime for the physician to have composed his ointment on +the Sabbath, and formed the project of excommunicating whoever should +countenance him. + +This resolution made Jesus tremble. He knew the power of excommunication +among the Jews; he found himself crossed in all his designs; and dared +not venture to preach in Jerusalem, or show himself in any other place. +Every thing, even his miracles, turned against him, and it was not +without some difficulty that he had escaped from the capital. At a +little distance he knew of an asylum in Bethany, where his friend +Lazarus possessed a house. He accordingly took the resolution of +retiring thither; but though it was a large house, the party that +accompanied him might have incommoded their host. This determined Jesus +to send seventy of his disciples on a mission to Judea, to whom it +appears he now gave very able powers; for on their return we find them +applauding themselves, and overjoyed at the facility with which they +expelled the devils. + +Scarcely had Jesus arrived at Bethany, when in order to receive him in a +becoming manner, they prepared a banquet. But the voluptuous Magdalane, +content to devour with her eyes her dear Saviour, left Martha her sister +to superintend the arrangements in the kitchen while she herself +continued at his feet. Peevishness, and perhaps jealousy, got the better +of Martha; she came and scolded Magdalane; but the tender messiah +undertook the defence of his penitent, and asserted that she had chosen +the better part. Brother Lazarus, who came in unexpectedly, terminated +the squabble by ordering them to their work. + +This little altercation was the cause why Jesus did not tarry long at +Bethany. When about leaving it, a pharisee through pure curiosity +invited him to dinner. The messiah accepted his invitation; but our +unpolished Jew had not the civility to give his guest water to wash +with. This occasioned him a fine lecture on charity and filled with +marvellous comparisons, which, however, we shall omit, as our orator so +frequently conned over the same lesson, and as this dinner appears to be +a repetition of one we have already mentioned. + +From this period till the feast of the dedication of the temple, our +hero wandered in the environs of Jerusalem with his disciples, whom he +incessantly entertained with the grandeur of his aerial kingdom, and +what it was necessary to do in order to enter it. It was, according to +Luke, on this occasion, and according to Matthew in the sermon on the +mount, that he taught the apostles, who could not read, a short prayer +called since that time the Lord's prayer, which (injurious as it is to +the Divinity, whom it seems to accuse of leading us into temptation,) +Christians still continue to repeat. + +Meanwhile time passed away without any advantage. The cessation of +prodigies and preaching occasioned that of alms. Jesus again hazarded a +sermon in a village; but although it attracted the admiration of the +people, it produced no effect. Towards the end of our hero's mission we +see the crowd no longer running after him. If he wished to perform a +miracle, he was under the necessity of calling those he wished to cure. +For eighteen years an old woman of this village had been quite bent. It +was, according to the language of the country, the devil who had kept +her in this inconvenient posture. Jesus called her and exclaimed; +"Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity." The old woman made +efforts to become straight; she approached the feet of the messiah with +the pace of a tortoise; he laid his hands on her and immediately she +walked upright like a girl of fifteen. At this time the devil spoke not +a word; on which it has been remarked, that Satan always followed the +opinion of the spectators of the Saviour's miracles, and marvellously +coincided with them in acknowledging or rejecting him. This analogous +conduct of the spectators and Satan was perhaps the result of the +excommunication fulminated against all who regarded Jesus as the +messiah. + +The reputation of John Baptist still subsisted on the banks of the +Jordan. To excite the primitive zeal, or, perhaps, with an intention to +induce the disciples of John, who had borne him such flattering +testimony, to follow him, Jesus turned towards that quarter. But the +attempt was fruitless: he succeeded no better in curing a dropsical +person that chanced to be in the house of a pharisee who gave the +Saviour a dinner. His cures were admired, but he spoiled all by his +extravagant arguments, so offensive were they to the greatest part of +his hearers. As a last resource, he endeavored to attach publicans, +officers, and such like disreputable persons to his party; but these +were only feeble props, and their familiarity made him lose the little +esteem which others still entertained for him. + +The sight of punishment has often occasioned the loss of courage even to +the most determined hero. Ours, agitated by a crowd of untoward events, +imagined that nothing being dearer to men than life, and nothing more +difficult than to come back after leaving it, the people of Jerusalem, +notwithstanding the clamors of the priests, would declare in his favor +if he could succeed in making them believe that he had the power of +raising the dead. Lazarus the intimate friend of Jesus appeared to him +the fittest person for presenting to the public the spectacle of a dead +man brought to life. When every thing was properly concerted, Jesus set +out for Bethany. Learning this, Martha and Magdalane went to meet him, +and publicly informed him that their brother was very sick. Jesus made +them no answer, but speaking loud so as to be heard, "This sickness," +said he, "is not unto death, but for the glory of God." This was already +telling too much. + +Instead of going to Bethany, Jesus remained two days in the village +without doing any thing; thereafter he told his apostles that it was +necessary to return into Judea. He was there at the time he spoke, but +he meant, no doubt, the capital. They represented that it would be a +very imprudent journey as the populace had recently wanted to stone him. +We see that Jesus said this on purpose to give room to his friends to +invite him not to neglect brother Lazarus in his sickness. Besides, the +following words evince that he had no intention of going to Jerusalem. +"Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of +sleep." On hearing this, the apostles thought Lazarus had recovered. +Jesus declared that he was dead, and that he was highly pleased with not +having been present at his decease, as it would afford means to confirm +them in the faith. + +The two days which Jesus passed in the village, joined to the time he +took in going about half a league, were immediately converted into four +days from the period he pretended Lazarus was dead. At last he arrived +at the abode of the defunct, whom they had deposited in a vault +adjoining to his house, and not, according to the custom of those days, +in a sepulchre out of the city. After some questions put to Martha on +her belief, he assured her that her brother would rise again. "Yes," +said she, "but it will be at the last day." Here our Thaumaturge +affected to be very sensibly touched; he trembled, he wept, invoked the +aid of heaven, advanced to the vault, made it be opened, called on +Lazarus with a loud voice, and commanded him to come forth. The dead +man, though wrapped up in his grave clothes, arose and was unloosed +before witnesses at the entrance of the vault. + +This prodigy was conducted with very little dexterity. John, the only +Evangelist who relates this striking miracle, in vain supports his +relation with the presence of the Jews: he destroys his own work by not +making them come till after the death of Lazarus to console his sisters. +It was necessary that the Jews should have seen him die, dead, and +embalmed; that they should have felt the smell of his corruption; and +that they should have conversed with him after his coming out of the +tomb. Unbelievers have exhausted all the darts of criticism on this +miracle. To investigate it would be only repeating what they have said. +The Jews found in it such strong marks of knavery, that far from being +converted, they took more serious measures against Jesus, who having +intimation of this, withdrew towards the desert to a city called +_Ephrem_, where he abode with his disciples. In the mean time the cities +and villages were ordered to refuse him an asylum, and the inhabitants +to deliver him up to the magistrates. In fact this miracle occasioned a +general proscription of the messiah. On presenting himself at the gates +of a town in Samaria, they at first refused to let him pass; he was not +permitted to stop at Jericho, though he gave sight to a blind man, whom +Matthew magnifies into two. Jesus returned to Bethany, where he was +received, not by Lazarus, who had, perhaps, been obliged to save himself +on account of his being concerned in such an imposture; but, as Matthew +affirms, by Simon the leper. Lazarus after his resurrection appeared no +longer on the stage. + +A legend, according to Baronius, affirms that Lazarus went afterwards to +preach the faith to the Provencals, and was the first bishop of +Marseilles. As for Magdalane, she went to bewail her sins and the death +of her lover in a desart of Province, called _la Sainte Baume_ (the Holy +Balm.) Martha, as every body knows, lies interred at Tarascon. + +This rejection and desertion of Jesus threw the apostles into +consternation. To reanimate their confidence, Jesus caused a fig-tree to +die in twenty-four hours to punish it for not producing figs at a season +when it was physically impossible for it to bear any; that is about the +month of March. As all the actions of the messiah, even when they appear +foolish to ordinary men, have an important signification in the eyes of +devotees illuminated by faith, we ought to perceive in the miracle of +this fig-tree one of the fundamental dogmas of the Christian religion +symbolically represented. The fig-tree cursed is the mass of mankind, +whom, according to our theologists, the God of mercy curses, and +condemns to eternal flames, for having neither faith nor grace, which +they could not possibly acquire of themselves, and which God does not +seem to have been willing to give them. Thus we find that the ridiculous +passage of the fig-tree in the gospel, is intended to typify one of the +most profound dogmas of the Christian religion. + +Whilst Jesus in this manner instructed his apostles by figures and +ingenious parables, his enemies were laboring hard against him at +Jerusalem. It appears that the Sanhedrim was divided on his account. +They perhaps wished to punish him, but not to put him to death. All were +of opinion that he should be arrested without noise, and that they +should afterwards consider on the punishment to be inflicted. The most +fiery of the priests wished that he should be seized in the capital, and +assassinated during the hurry of the festival. This shows they did not +consider themselves certain that the people would not interest +themselves in his behalf. Perhaps they had some reason: what a part of +the populace did in his favor when he approached Jerusalem, evinced that +it would have been very dangerous to act openly. In pursuance of this +plan, they secretly promised a reward to whoever should deliver up +Jesus; and we shall soon find one of his apostles betraying his master +for a very trifling sum. + +Before entering Jerusalem, Jesus evidently caused his approach to be +announced by his friends in that city. His adherents labored to render +his entry into the capital somewhat brilliant. Affecting to display +modesty in the midst of his triumph, or unable to do better, Jesus chose +for his steed a young ass that had never been rode on, which his +disciples, by his order, had seized with its mother. In place of a +saddle, some of the disciples laid their clothes on the back of the ass. +The company advanced in good order. The people, ever fond of a +spectacle, ran to see this; and we may believe that if some at this time +paid sincere homage to the triumpher, the greatest number laughed at him +and shouted at the ridiculous farce. The chief magistrate fearing an +uproar, endeavored to quiet the populace, to whom the disciples had set +the example. He accordingly addressed Jesus himself, who answered that +"the stones would speak, rather than his friends would be silent." This +seemed to insinuate an insurrection in case they should attempt force; +and the magistrate understood very well that this was not the moment to +provoke Jesus. + +As soon as the Messiah had entered Jerusalem, he betook himself to +weeping and predicting its ruin. The announcing calamities was, and will +ever be, a sure method to excite the attention of the vulgar. Some +persons of consequence who knew not the cause of the riotous assemblies +of the people around Jesus, on enquiry were answered, it is Jesus of +Nazareth--it is a prophet of Galilee. Mark assures us, that in this +transaction, decisive in behalf of the Son of God, Jesus once more gave +to the people the pillage of the merchandise exposed to sale in the +court before the porch of the temple. This is very credible: it was +indeed more necessary at present than at the former period. + +Profitting by the tumult, Jesus cured a great many blind and lame +people. Whilst these wonders were performing on one side, they exclaimed +Hosannah on the other. Some besought the author of these exclamations +and tumult to stop them; but the messiah had no longer measures to +observe, he perceived it was necessary to engage the popular enthusiasm, +and that it would be silly to appease it. Besides, the uncertainty of +success had thrown him into distress, which hindered him from seeing or +understanding any thing. A child, frightened, or too much pressed in the +crowd, began to cry while Jesus was speaking, "Father, save me from this +hour." They took the child's voice for a voice from heaven. John, +moreover, informs us, that the disciples had palmed on the people the +famous miracle of Lazarus' resurrection, which, attested by +eye-witnesses, must have made a great impression on the astonished +vulgar. They did not entertain a doubt that the voice from heaven which +they had heard, was that of an angel who bore testimony to Jesus; and +the latter, profitting dexterously of the occasion, said to them, "This +voice came not because of me, but for your sakes." He afterwards +harangued the people, and announced himself as "the Christ;" but he +spoiled his sermon by timid expressions, and not knowing how to draw +from the circumstance all the advantage it seemed to promise, he left +the city and retired to Bethany, where he passed the night with his +disciples. + +In general our hero was subject to low spirits:--we constantly find in +him a mixture of audacity and pusillanimity. Accustomed to operate in +the country, and among rude and ignorant people, he did not know how to +conduct himself in a city, or to succeed among vigilant and intelligent +enemies. Thus he lost the fruit of his memorable journey, which had been +so long before projected. We do not indeed find that after this he +returned to Jerusalem, except to be tried. Melancholy and fear had +deprived him of all presence of mind, and his disciples were under the +necessity of reminding him that it was time to take the passover. They +asked him where he wished them to go and prepare the entertainment: He +bade them take the first house they met with, which they did. A chamber +was provided for them where they assembled with their master, who, ever +occupied with his sorrowful thoughts, gave them to understand that this +passover would likely be the last which he should celebrate. His +language was mournful; he bathed their feet in order to teach them that +humility was essentially necessary when they were weakest. Having +afterwards set down to table, he told them that he was afraid of being +betrayed by one of themselves. His suspicions fell on Judas, whose +frequent visits to the houses of the priests might be known to his +master. As Judas was treasurer to the party, and charged with paying for +the entertainment, Jesus wished it to be understood that they were then +regaled at the expense of his life and his blood. "Take," said he to +them in a figurative style, "for this is my body." Thereafter he gave +them the cup, saying that it was "his blood which was to be shed for +them." Judas readily comprehending the meaning of his enigma, arose from +table, and immediately withdrew: but the other apostles did not +understand it.--It is, however, on this emblem that some doctors have +since built the famous dogma of _transubstantiation_: they enjoin +rational beings to believe, that _at the word of a priest bread is +changed into the real body, and wine into the real blood of Jesus_! They +have taken the figurative words of our missionary literally, and have +employed them in forming a _mystery_, or rather the most curious juggle +that ever has been devised by priests in order to deceive mankind. + +After supper our guests retired with their master to the mount of +Olives, where they thought themselves in safety; but our hero did not +entertain the same opinion. Scarcely had the Man-God entered the garden +of Olives when a mortal terror seized him; he wept like a child and +anticipated the pangs of death. His apostles, more tranquil, yielded to +sleep, and Jesus, who was afraid of being surprised, mildly reproached +them. "Could you not," said he, "watch with me one hour?" Judas, whom we +have seen depart suddenly and who had not rejoined the party, gave +extreme uneasiness to Jesus and every moment redoubled his terror. It is +affirmed that an angel came to strengthen him in his situation: Yet he +was afterwards seized with a bloody sweat, which can only denote a very +great weakness. + +The agitated condition of the Saviour appears very surprising to persons +in whose minds faith has not removed every difficulty the gospel +presents. They are much astonished to find such weakness in a God who +knew from all eternity that he was destined to die for the redemption of +the human race. They aver, that God his father, without exposing his son +to such cruel torments, might by one word have pardoned guilty men, and +conformed them to his views. They think that the conduct of God would +have been more generous in appeasing his wrath at less expense on +account of an apple eat four thousand years ago. But the ways of God are +not as those of men. The Deity ought never to act in a _natural_ way, or +be easily understood. It is the essence of religion that men should not +comprehend any part of the divine conduct. This furnishes to their +spiritual guides the pleasure of explaining it to them for their money. + +On the near approach of death the Man-God showed a weakness which many +ordinary men would blush to display in a similar situation. The traitor +Judas, at the head of a company of archers or soldiers, proceeded +towards Jesus whose retreats he know. A kiss was the signal by which the +guards were to recognise the person whom they had orders to seize. +Already Jesus beheld the lanthorns advancing which lighted the march of +these sbirri; and perceiving the impossibility of escaping, he made a +virtue of necessity. Like a coward become desperate, he resolutely +presented himself to the party: "_whom seek ye?_" said he, with a firm +tone:--"Jesus," answered they. "_I am he._" Here Judas confirmed with a +kiss this heroical confession. The apostles, awakened by the noise, came +to the succour of their master. Peter, the most zealous among them, cut +off with a stroke of his sabre the ear of Malchus, servant of the High +Priest. Jesus, convinced of the folly of resistance, commanded him to +put up his sword, set in order the ear of Malchus, (who escaped at the +expense of being frightened,) and then surrendered himself. + +It is said that the party who came to apprehend Jesus, were forced at +first to give way. The fact is very probable: it was dark, and the +archers perceiving the apostles but very indistinctly, might believe +that their enemies were more numerous than they were; but plucking up +courage they fulfilled their commission. Whilst they bound the Son of +God with cords, he besought the chief of the detachment not to molest +his apostles, and as they wanted him only, he easily obtained his +request. John believes that Jesus made this entreaty in order to fulfil +a prophecy; but it appears our hero thought it was neither useful nor +just to involve men in his ruin, whose assistance might still be +necessary, or who, being at large, would have a better opportunity to +act in his favor. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +TRIAL AND CONDEMNATION OF JESUS.--HIS PUNISHMENT AND DEATH. + + +When the enemies of Jesus saw him in their hands, they were not less +embarrassed than before. From the time the Romans had subdued the Jewish +nation, they had no longer the power of the sword. To punish those who +had sinned against religion, it was sufficient at any former period, +that the high priest pronounced sentence on the culprit. The Romans, +more tolerant, rarely punished with death; and, besides, to take away +life, they required decisive proofs against the accused. Annanias, +father-in-law of the high priest Caiphas, was known among the Jews for a +very subtle man. It was to Annanias' house, therefore, that they first +conducted Jesus. We are ignorant of what passed in this first scene of +the bloody tragedy. It is to be presumed, that the prisoner underwent an +examination which proved no way favorable to him. + +From the house of Annanias they conducted Jesus to that of Caiphas. He +was the man most interested by his office in the ruin of every innovator +in matters of religion; yet we do not find this pontiff speaking with +anger: he conducted himself according to law, and as a man who +understood his profession. "Who," said he to Jesus, "are your disciples, +their number and names?" Jesus made no answer. "But at least," continued +Caiphas, "explain to me your doctrine. What end does it propose? You +must have a system. Tell us then what it is." At last the messiah +condescended to say, "I spoke openly to the world; it is not I, but +those who have heard me, that ought to be interrogated." Here one of the +officers of the high priest gave Jesus a blow on the ear, saying, +"Answerest thou the high priest so!" The reprimand was harsh, but it +must be owned, that the answer of Jesus was disrespectful to a man +invested with authority, and with the right of putting questions, in +order to discover the truth from the mouth of the accused. Jesus ought +to have been better acquainted with his own doctrine than the peasants +of Galilee or Judea, before whom he had through preference affected to +preach in an unintelligible manner. It was therefore just and natural to +suppose, that Jesus could give a better account of his sentiments and +parables, than an ignorant multitude who had listened without being able +to comprehend him. He alone could be supposed to possess the secret of +forming into a system the scattered and unconnected principles of his +heavenly doctrine. + +Caiphas, unable to draw any thing from the accused, waited till next +morning, when the council would assemble in order to continue the +inquest. Jesus appeared before the Sanhedrim, the most respectable +tribunal in the nation. The gospel represents the priests and chiefs of +the Jews occupied during the whole night that Jesus was arrested, in +searching for and suborning _false witnesses_ against him. They produced +two persons, on whom they very unjustly bestowed this epithet. These +witnesses deposed to a fact verified by the gospel itself.--"We heard +him say that he would destroy the temple, and rebuild it in three days." +It is certain that Jesus had uttered these words, "Destroy this temple, +and in three days I will raise it up." But the poor witnesses knew not +that he then spoke in his figurative style. Their mistake was +pardonable, for, according to the gospel, the apostles themselves did +not discover the true sense of these words till after the resurrection +of their master. + +This evidence was not sufficient to condemn Jesus. The Jews, however +iniquitous we may suppose them to have been, did not sentence fools to +die; and these words of their prisoner must have appeared to them the +effect of delirium. Accordingly the high priest contented himself with +asking what he had to answer? and as the accused refused to speak, he +did not further insist on that point. He proceeded to questions more +serious: "Are you the Christ?" said he to Jesus. How did the messiah +answer this question? "If I tell it, you will not believe me, nor suffer +me to depart. But hereafter the Son of man shall sit on the right hand +of God." "You are then the Son of God?" continued the priest.--"You have +said it," replied the accused. "But it is not sufficient that we should +say it; it is you who are to answer: once more, are you the Christ? I +conjure you by the living God tell us if you are his Son?"--"You have +said it," answered Jesus: "the Son of man shall one day come in the +clouds of heaven." Notwithstanding these perplexing answers, the judges +imagined they understood the meaning of his words: they plainly +perceived that he wished to give himself out for _the Son of God_. "He +hath spoken blasphemy," said they; and immediately concluded that he +deserved death--a judgment which was valid according to the law of the +Jews, and which must also appear so to Christians whose sanguinary laws +punish capitally those whom the clergy accuse of blasphemy. They have, +therefore, no right to blame the conduct of the Jews, so often imitated +by ecclesiastical and secular tribunals. + +On the other hand, if it was necessary that Jesus should die; if he +wished it; if the reprobation of the Jews was resolved on, he acted very +properly in keeping them in error. But if this was the intention of +providence, why preach to them? Why perform miracles before a whole +people whilst a small number were only to profit by it? Did Jesus wish +to save them? In that case why not convince the whole Sanhedrim of his +power? Why did he not burst his bonds? Why did he not by a single word +change their obstinate hearts? Did he wish to destroy them? Why not then +strike them dead? Why not instantly precipitate them into hell? + +The judges could not comprehend why the accused, who could not extricate +himself from their hands, could be the Son of God. They accordingly +declared him worthy of death; but not definitely, as it was requisite +that the sentence should be approved of and executed by the Romans, +sovereigns of the nation. During these transactions, Jesus was treated +in the cruelest manner by the Jews, whom, as well as Christians, their +zeal permitted, or rather enjoined, to be savage. + +It is during this night, and the morning of the following day, so fatal +to the Saviour of the world, that we must place the three denials of +Peter, the chief of the apostles. His master had prayed for him. His +comrades, seized with dismay, had dispersed themselves in Jerusalem and +its neighborhood. Several among them would have acted like Peter if they +had found themselves in a similar situation. He had at least the merit +of keeping near his master; he abjured him, it is true; but would it +have been of more avail if, by acknowledging him openly, he should have +entangled himself in a very awkward affair, without being able to +relieve the Saviour. + +The Sanhedrim repaired to the palace of Pilate the Roman governor, in +order to get the sentence confirmed. Jesus was conducted thither. Pilate +instantly perceived that it was an affair in which fanaticism and folly +had the greatest share. Filled with contempt for so ridiculous a motive, +he was at first unwilling to interfere. _Judge him yourselves_, said he +to the magistrates. On this the latter became false witnesses. Zeal, no +doubt, made them imagine that every thing was allowable against an enemy +of religion. They interested the sovereign power in their quarrel--They +accused Jesus of wishing "to make himself king of the Jews," and of +having maintained, that "they ought not to pay tribute to Casar." We +recognize here the genius of the clergy, who, to ruin their enemies, are +never very fastidious in the choice of means. They especially strive to +render the latter suspected by the temporal power, in order to engage +it, through motives of self-interest, to satiate their revenge. + +Pilate could not avoid paying attention to accusations of so serious a +nature. Unable to persuade himself that the man he beheld could have +conceived projects so ridiculous, he interrogated him:--"Are you the +king of the Jews?" On which Jesus demanded of Pilate--"Say you this of +yourself, or have others told it you?"--"Of what consequence is it to +me," returned Pilate, "that you pretend to be the king of the Jews? You +do not appear a man much to be dreaded by the Emperor my master--I am +not of your nation; I concern myself very little with your silly +quarrels. Your priests are your accusers--I have my own opinion of +them--but they accuse you; they deliver you into my hands--Tell me then, +what have you done?" Jesus might very easily have got off; but in his +distress his judgment failed; and, far from penetrating the favorable +disposition of Pilate, who wished to save him, he replied, "that his +kingdom was not of this world--that he was the truth," &c. On this the +Governor asked him "What is the truth?" But the Saviour made no reply, +though the question well deserved a categorical answer. + +Pilate, a little alarmed on account of Jesus, declared, that he "found +nothing in him worthy of death." But this redoubled the cries of his +enemies. Having learned that the accused was a Galilean, he, to get quit +of the ridiculous business, seized the opportunity to send him to Herod, +to whose tetrarchate Jesus originally belonged. We have said elsewhere, +that this prince had desired to see our hero, and his desire was now +gratified. But on perceiving his obstinacy and constant refusal to +answer the questions put to him, he conceived a sovereign contempt for +him. To Pilate therefore he sent him back clothed in a white robe by way +of derision. The governor, however, saw no capital crime in Jesus, and +wished to save him; besides, his superstitious wife had a dream, that +interested her in favor of our missionary. Pilate then said to the Jews, +that he could find nothing in the man which rendered him worthy of +death. But the people misled, and wishing him to be crucified, cried out +_Tolle, Tolle_; away, away with him. The Governor now devised another +plan to save him. "I release," said he, "every year a criminal; +supposing that Jesus may be culpable, I am going to set him free." The +cries were redoubled, and the Jews demanded, that a robber called +Barabbas should profit of this mercy in preference to Jesus, whose +punishment they persisted to urge. + +The Romans, desirous to calm the rage of a fanatical people, caused +Jesus to be whipped; dressed him in a ridiculous manner, crowned him +with thorns, and made him hold a reed instead of a sceptre. Thus +decorated, Pilate showed him to the people, saying, "Behold your king! +are you not yet satisfied? See how to please you I have bedecked him. Be +then less cruel: do not carry your indignation further; he ought no +longer to give you umbrage." + +The priests, whose maxim it is "never to forgive," were not moved by +this spectacle; nothing short of the death of their enemy could satisfy +them. They changed their ground, and, to intimidate the governor, told +him that by suffering the accused to live he betrayed the interests of +his master. It was then that Pilate, fearing the effects of the malice +of the clergy, consigned Jesus to the Jews, that they might satiate +their rage on him; declaring, however, that "he washed his hands of it," +and that it was against his opinion if they put him to death. We cannot +well conceive how a Roman governor, who exercised sovereign power in +Judea, could yield so easily to the wishes of the Jews: but we cannot +more easily conceive how God permitted this honest governor to become an +accomplice in the death of his dear Son. + +Jesus, abandoned to the rage of devotees, again suffered the cruellest +treatment. Pilate, to humble those barbarians, wished the label affixed +to the upper part of the cross to bear, that he was their king; and +nothing could induce him to recede from this resolution. "What is +written is written," said he to those who requested him to alter an +inscription dishonorable to their nation. It is also proper to observe, +that this inscription is differently expressed by the four evangelists. + +The Jews treated Jesus as a dethroned king, and made him experience the +most bloody outrages. Though he had said that he could make _legions of +angels_ come to his protection, yet the Jews, notwithstanding their +natural credulity, paid no credit to his assertion, and nothing could +stop their religious cruelty, excited by the priests. They made him take +the road to Calvary. He sunk under the weight of his cross, but they +loaded Simon with it, who was more vigorous. The unfortunate Jesus must +have been indeed much enfeebled by what he had suffered during both the +night and the morning. At last he was placed on the cross, the usual +punishment of slaves. He did not suffer long under the agonies of +crucifixion: after invoking his Father, and lamenting his being so +shamefully abandoned, he expired, it is said, between two thieves. It is +said that Jesus when dying exclaimed, "_Eli! Eli! lamma sabbactani!_" +(My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me!) This complaint was very +ridiculous in the mouth of Jesus, if, as is pretended, the part he acted +was agreed on with his father from all eternity. Matthew and Mark tells +us, that _both_ the thieves insulted him with abusive language; while +Luke assures us, that _one_ only of the two abused the Saviour, and that +the other reprimanded his comrade for his insolence, and besought Jesus +"to remember him when he should come to his kingdom." But our +interpreters have a thousand ways of proving that the Holy Spirit never +contradicts himself, even when he speaks in the most contradictory +manner. Those who have faith are satisfied with their arguments, but +they do not so powerfully impress freethinkers, who have the misfortune +to reason. + +The remorse of Judas soon revenged Jesus on this traitor. He restored to +the priests the thirty pieces he had received from them, and went +forthwith to _hang_ himself. This is what Matthew says, in opposition to +the writer of the Acts of the Apostles, (Luke) who tells us, that Judas +"purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong he +burst asunder in the midst." Mark and John are silent respecting this +memorable event. According to Matthew, the selling of Jesus for thirty +pieces had been foretold by Jeremiah. The prediction, however, does not +appear in the writings of this prophet, which would create a suspicion +that the evangelists, little satisfied with applying to Jesus some +prophecies, such as are extant in the Old Testament, have drawn from +their own store, or forged them when in need. But our able interpreters +are not at all embarrassed with this; and a holy blindness will always +prevent these trifles from being perceived. + +The gospel informs us, that at the death of Jesus all Nature seemed to +take part in the grand event. At the moment he expired there was a total +eclipse; a frightful shaking of the earth was felt, and several holy +personages came out of their tombs to take a walk on the streets of +Jerusalem. The Jews alone had the misfortune to see nothing of all this; +it appears, that these wonders were performed only in the fancy of the +disciples of Jesus. As for the eclipse, it was, doubtless, an +inconceivable prodigy which could not have taken place without a total +derangement in the machine of the world. A total eclipse of the sun +during full moon, the time at which the celebration of the passover was +fixed by the Jews, is of all miracles the most impossible. No +contemporary author has mentioned it, though this phenomenon well +merited to be transmitted to posterity. The incredulous therefore +maintain, that there was no other eclipse on this occasion but of the +common sense of those who saw all these marvels, or of the good faith of +the writers who have attested them. With respect to the shaking of the +earth, they suspect that the apostles of Jesus, agitated with fear at +the sight of their divine master's fate, were the only persons who felt +it. In this way indeed the thing becomes very probable. If the +punishment of Jesus is proved by the gospel, some circumstances may +create a doubt whether he died immediately. We are told, that they did +not, according to custom, break his legs. His friends had the liberty of +taking away his body, and they might dress his wounds on finding that he +was not dead, and in this manner bring him back to life, at least for +some time. + +When Jesus was dead, or believed to be so after an incision had been +made in his side, from which came blood and a whitish fluid, which they +took for water, his body was embalmed and deposited in a new tomb. This +was done on Friday evening. He had several times intimated that he would +rise again the third day; that is, at the end of three days and three +nights. Yet on the Sunday following, early in the morning, the tomb +wherein he had been laid was found empty. The Jews, always opiniative, +did not admit that he was risen again. They held it more natural to +believe that he had failed in his word; or to suppose that his disciples +had carried him off. This could easily have been executed by force; by +bribing the guards, whom the priests and Pharisees had placed around his +sepulchre; or by cunning. As Pilate felt but little interest in the +matter, he appears not to have punished the guards for neglecting to +take care of what he had confided to them. The idolatrous governor, +little acquainted with the resources or designs of the apostles, never +suspected they could persuade any person, that a man, whose death was +well attested, could return to life. It is not surprising that a Pagan +should doubt the resurrection of Jesus; from the first day of the +church, several Christians have not believed it, perceiving the +incongruity of supposing that the Son of God could die. They have +therefore denied the death of their divine master. The followers of +Basilides affirmed that Jesus at the time of his passion assumed the +appearance of Simon the Cyrenean, and transferred to him his own, under +which the said Simon was crucified in his stead, while Jesus, who beheld +this without being himself seen, laughed at their mistake. The +Cerinthians, or disciples of Cerinthus, who was contemporary with the +apostles; and the Carpocratians likewise denied that Jesus could have +been actually crucified. Some have maintained, that the traitor Judas +was punished in place of his master. These sectaries regarded Jesus as a +mere man, and not as a god. Thus we find Christians contemporary with +the apostles believing in Jesus and yet doubting his death. It was, +however, on this marvellous notion, as we shall see, that a sect was +afterwards founded, powerful enough to subject by degrees the Roman +empire and a considerable portion of the globe. + +The punishment of our hero must have produced very little sensation in +the world, and his adventures must have been strangely unknown, since we +do not find that any historian, with the exception of the evangelists, +makes mention of them. In the year 1263, a conference was held in +presence of Don Jaques king of Arragon, and the queen his wife, between +the Rabbin Zechial, and the Dominician, Friar Paul, called Cyraic. This +conference is very memorable. The two champions were well versed in the +Hebrew and in antiquity. The _Talmud_, the _Targum_, the archives of the +Sanhedrim were on the table. The contested passages were explained into +Spanish. Zechiel maintained, that Jesus had been condemned under the +king Alexander Jannaeus, (and not under Herod the Tetrarch,) agreeably +to what is related in the _Toldos Jaschut_, and in the _Talmud_. "Your +gospels," said he, "were not written till towards the beginning of your +second century, and are not authentic like our _Talmud_. We could not +crucify him you speak of in the time of Herod the Tetrarch, since we had +not the power of life and death in our hands. We could not have +crucified him, because that manner of punishment was not in use among +us. Our _Talmud_ has it, that he who perished in the time of Jannaeus +was condemned to be _stoned_ to death. We can no more believe your +gospels than those pretended _Letters of Pilate_, which you have +forged."--_Letters on Eminent Writers_, p. 123. The illustrious and +profound _Freret_, perpetual Secretary to the Academy of Belles Lettres +at Paris, had no hesitation in avowing, that, after the closest +investigation he was clearly of opinion, the account given in the +_Talmud_ respecting Jesus, was the correct one. This opinion he +supported by showing, that the gospels were not written till upwards of +40 years after the period fixed for the death of Jesus; that they were +composed in foreign languages, at places distant from Jerusalem, which +were full of the disciples of John, called Therapeutae; of Judaites, and +of Galileans, all of whom had their gospels differing from each other, +which they insisted were genuine; that the four gospels now held +canonical, were the last written; that there is incontestible proof of +this fact arising from the circumstance, that the first fathers of the +church often quote passages which are to be found only in the gospel of +the Egyptians or in that of St. James; and that Justin is the first who +expressly quoted the received gospels. Justin was not born till a +century after the commencement of our vulgar era. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +RESURRECTION OF JESUS--HIS CONDUCT UNTIL HIS ASCENSION--EXAMINATION OF +THE PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. + + +The history of the life of an ordinary man terminates commonly, with his +death; but it is different with a Man-God who has the power of raising +himself from the dead, or whom his adherents have the faculty of making +rise at will. This happened to Jesus: thanks to his apostles or +evangelists, we see him still playing a considerable part even after his +decease. The moment he was arrested, the disciples of Jesus, as we have +seen, dispersed themselves into Jerusalem and the neighborhood, with the +exception or Simon Peter, who did not lose sight of him during his +examination at the house of the high priest. This apostle was anxious, +for his own sake, to know the result of it. Encouraging themselves on +finding that Jesus had not criminated them in his examinations, the +disciples reassembled, concerted measures, and determined, as their +master was dead, or reputed so, to take advantage of the notions which +he had diffused during his mission. Accustomed for so long a period to +lead a wandering life under his command, and subsist at the expence of +the public by preaching, exorcisms, and miracles, they resolved to +continue a profession more easily exercised, and incomparably more +lucrative than their original occupations. They had enjoyed an +opportunity of observing that it was better to catch men than fish. But +how could the disciples of a man who was punished as an impostor, make +themselves be listened to? It was necessary to give out that their +master during his life having raised others from the dead, had, after +his own death, raised himself in virtue of his omnipotence. Jesus had +predicted it; it was therefore necessary to accomplish the prediction. +The honor of the master and his disciples thereby acquired a new lustre; +and the sect, far from seeing itself annihilated or disgraced, was +enabled to acquire new partizans in this credulous nation. + +In consequence of this reasoning, the apostles had only to make the body +of their master, dead or alive, to disappear; whereas if it had remained +in the tomb, it would have borne evidence against them. They did not +even wait till the three days and three nights in the pretended prophecy +were expired. The dead body disappeared on the second day; and thus the +second day after his decease, our hero, triumphing over hell and the +grave, found himself revivified. + +If Jesus did not die of his punishment, his resurrection had nothing +surprising in it. If he was actually dead, the cave where his body was +deposited, might have secret passages, through which they could enter +and return without being observed, or stopt by the enormous stone with +which they had affected to block up its entrance, and near which the +guards had been placed. Thus the dead body might have been carried off +either by force or by stratagem; and, perhaps, it had never been +deposited in the tomb at all. In whatever manner the affair was +transacted, a report was circulated that Jesus was risen and his body +not to be found. + +Nothing is of more importance to a Christian, than to ascertain +satisfactorily the resurrection of Jesus. Paul tells us, that "if Jesus +be not risen, our hope is vain." Indeed without this miracle of +Omnipotence, intended to manifest the superiority of Jesus over other +men, and the interest Deity took in his success, he must appear only as +an adventurer, or weak fanatic, punished for having given umbrage to the +priests of his country. It is therefore requisite to examine seriously a +fact on which alone the belief of every Christian is founded. In doing +this it is necessary to satisfy ourselves of the quality of the +witnesses who attest the fact; whether they were acute, disinterested, +intelligent persons; and if they agree in their narratives. These +precautions are the more necessary, when it is intended to examine +_supernatural_ facts, which, to be believed, require much stronger +proofs than ordinary facts. On the unanimous testimony of some +historians, we readily believe that Casar made himself master of Gaul. +The circumstances of his conquest would be less established were we to +find them related by himself only, or his adherents; but they would +appear incredible, if we found in them prodigies or facts contrary to +the order of nature. We should then have reason to believe that it was +intended to impose on us; or, if we judged more favorably of the +authors, we would regard them as enthusiasts and fools. + +Agreeably to these principles of sound criticism, let us consider who +are the witnesses that attest the marvellous, and, consequently, the +least probable fact which history can produce. They are apostles--But +who are these apostles? they are adherents of Jesus. Were these apostles +_enlightened_ men? Every thing proves that they were ignorant and rude, +and that an indefatigable credulity was the most prominent trait in +their character. Did they behold Jesus rising from the dead?--No:--no +one beheld this great miracle. The apostles themselves did not see their +master coming out of the grave; they merely found that his tomb was +empty; which by no means proves that he had risen. It will, however, be +said, that the apostles saw him afterwards and conversed with him, and +that he showed himself to some women who knew him very well. But these +apostles and these women, did they see distinctly? Did not their +prepossessed imaginations make them see what did not exist? Is it +absolutely certain that their master was dead before they laid him in +the tomb? + +In the _second_ place, were these witnesses _disinterested_? The +apostles and disciples of Jesus were, doubtless interested in the glory +of their master. Their interests were closely connected with those of a +man who enabled them to subsist without toil. Several among them +expected to be recompensed for their attachment, by the favors which he +promised to bestow on them in the kingdom he was about to establish. +Finding these hopes destroyed by the death, real or supposed, of their +chief, most of the apostles, persuaded that all was over, lost courage; +but, others, less daunted, conceived that it was not necessary to give +up all hope, but that they might still profit by the impressions which +the preaching and wonders of Jesus had made on the people. They believed +that their master might again return, or, if they supposed him dead, +they could assert that he had foretold he would rise again. They +therefore agreed to circulate the report of his resurrection, and to say +that they had seen him after he had triumphantly come out of the tomb. +This would appear very credible in the case of a personage who had +proved himself capable of raising others from the dead. Knowing the +imbecility of those they had to deal with, they presumed that the people +were prepared long beforehand to believe the marvellous wonder which +they intended to announce. They conceived that it was necessary in order +to subsist, to continue preaching doctrines which would not attract an +audience if it had not been taken for granted that their author was +risen again. They felt that it was necessary to preach the resurrection +of Jesus, or perish with hunger. They foresaw, moreover, that it was +requisite to brave chastisement and even death, rather than renounce an +opinion on which their daily subsistence and welfare absolutely +depended. Hence unbelievers conclude, that the witnesses of the +resurrection were any thing but disinterested, and were spurred on by +the principle, that _he who risks nothing, gains nothing_. + +In the _third_ place, are the witnesses of the resurrection unanimous in +their evidence? Much more, are they consistent with themselves in their +narratives? We find neither the one nor the other. Though Jesus, +according to some of the evangelists, had foretold in the most positive +manner, that he would rise again, John makes no mention of this +prediction, but expressly declares, that the disciples of Jesus knew not +that he must rise again from the dead. This denotes in them a total +ignorance of that great event, said, however, to have been announced by +their master; and creates a suspicion that these predictions were +piously invented afterwards. Yet nothing can be more positive than the +manner in which Matthew speaks of the prediction: he supposes it so well +known to the public, that he affirms the priests and pharisees went to +Pilate and told him, "We remember this deceiver said while he was yet +alive, that after three days he would rise again." We do not, however, +find in any of the evangelists a passage where this resurrection is +foretold in so public and decided a manner. Matthew himself relates only +the answer of Jesus to those who demanded a sign; it consisted, as we +have elsewhere remarked, in referring them to "Jonas, who was three days +and three nights in the belly of the whale; so," said he, "shall the Son +of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Now +Jesus, having died on Friday, at the ninth hour, or three o'clock in the +afternoon, and risen again the second day early in the morning, was not +"three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Besides, the +obscure manner in which Jesus expressed himself in this pretended +prediction, could not enable the priests and pharisees to conclude that +he must die and rise again, or excite their alarm; unless it is +pretended, that on this occasion these enemies of Jesus received the +interpretation of the mysterious prediction by a particular revelation. + +John tells us, that when Jesus was taken down from the cross by Joseph +of Arimathea, Nicodemus brought a mixture of aloes and myrrh, weighing +about a hundred pounds, to embalm him, and that he afterwards took the +body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, applied the spices according to +the practice of the Jews in their funeral ceremonies, and laid it in the +tomb. Thus was Jesus embalmed, carried away, and buried. On the other +hand, Matthew and Luke tell us that this sepulchre and embalming were +performed in presence of Mary Magdalane and Mary the mother of Jesus, +who consequently must have known what Nicodemus had done; yet Mark, +forgetting all this, tells us that these same women brought sweet spices +(aromatics) in order to embalm his body, and came for that purpose early +in the morning of the day subsequent to the Sabbath. Luke has no better +memory: he informs us that these ladies came also to embalm a dead body, +which, according to John, had already received a hundred pounds weight +of aromatics, and was inclosed in a sepulchre, the entrance of which was +blocked up by a massy stone that embarrassed the women as much at +finding it as the incredulous are with these contradictions of our +evangelists. + +The ladies, however, who felt interrupted by the stone, had no dread of +the guard which Matthew placed at the entrance of the tomb. But if these +women knew that Jesus was to rise again at the end of three days, why +were they so careful in embalming his body?--unless indeed we suppose +that Jesus made a secret to his mother and the tender Magdalane, of an +event, which, it is asserted, was publicly predicted, and perfectly well +known not only to his disciples, but to the priests and pharisees. +According to Matthew, the precautions used were founded on the fear the +priests entertained that the disciples should come and carry away the +body, and afterwards say unto the people, that Jesus had risen from the +dead; an error, which, in their opinion, would be more dangerous than +the first. Nevertheless, we find several women and disciples continually +roaming about the tomb, going and coming freely, and offering to embalm +the same dead body twice. It must be acknowledged, that all this +surpasses human understanding. + +It is not more easy to conceive the conduct of the guards placed near +the tomb at the solicitation of the priests, or that of the priests +themselves. According to Matthew, these guards, terrified at the +resurrection of Jesus, ran to Jerusalem to tell the priests, "that the +angel of the Lord had descended from heaven, and taken away the stone +which blocked up the tomb; and that at the sight of him they had nearly +expired through fear." On this the priests, not at all doubting the +truth of the relation of the guards, enjoined them to say publicly that +the disciples of Jesus had carried away his body during the night, and +while they were asleep. They also gave the soldiers money to speak in +this manner, and promised to pacify the governor if he intended to +punish them for their negligence. + +The guards, it will be observed, did not say they had seen Jesus rise; +they pretended merely to have seen "the angel of the Lord descending +from heaven, and rolling away the stone which was at the entrance of the +tomb." Thus this history announces _an apparition_ only, and not _a +resurrection_. We might explain it in a manner natural enough by +supposing that during the night, while the guards were asleep, the +adherents of Jesus came by the light of flambeaus, with an armed force +to open the tomb and intimidate the soldiers, who, in the alarm imagined +they had seen their prey taken out of their hands by a supernatural +power; and that they afterwards affirmed all this in order to justify +themselves. + +The most singular circumstance is the conduct of the priests, who +believed the story of the guards, and consequently gave credit to a +miracle strong enough to convince them of the power of Jesus. But far +from being convinced by the prodigy which they thus believed, they gave +money to the soldiers to engage them to tell, not the incident as it +occurred, but that the disciples of Jesus came by night to take away the +body of their master. On the other hand, the guards, who must have been +more dead than alive through terror at the spectacle they had witnessed, +accepted money for publishing a falsehood; a conduct for which the angel +of the Lord might very properly have punished them. Far, however, from +dreading punishment, these soldiers for a sum of money consented to +betray their consciences. But could the Jewish priests, however base we +may suppose them, be silly enough to imagine that these men, after +having witnessed so striking a miracle, would be very faithful in +preserving the secret? It must have been an insignificant miracle indeed +which could make no impression either on the soldiers who had seen it, +or on the priests who believed it on the relation of these soldiers. If +the priests were convinced of the reality of the miracle, was it not +natural that they should recognize Jesus for the messiah, and that they +should unite with him in laboring to deliver their country from the yoke +of idolaters? + +On this occasion, indeed, the angel of the Lord seems to have bungled +the affair, by so terrifying the soldiers that they fled without having +time to see Jesus rising from the dead; whose resurrection, however, was +the object of all this pompous preparation. Very far from allowing it to +be seen by any one, this awkward angel chased away the guards who ought +to have been the witnesses of the mighty wonder. It appears, in fact, +that the transaction or Jesus' resurrection was seen by nobody. His +disciples did not see it; the soldiers, who guarded his tomb, did not +see it; and the priests and Jews did not hold this fact to be so +memorable as some persons who beheld no part of it. It was only after +his resurrection that Jesus showed himself. But to whom did he show +himself? To disciples, interested in saying that he was risen again; to +women, who to the same interest joined also weak minds and ardent +imaginations, disposed to form phantoms and chimeras. + +These remarks will enable us to judge of all the pretended appearances +of Jesus after his resurrection. Besides, the evangelists are not +unanimous as to these appearances. Matthew relates, that Jesus showed +himself to Mary Magdalane and the other Mary; John makes mention of Mary +Magdalane singly. Matthew tells us, that Jesus showed himself to the two +Marys on the road whilst returning from the sepulchre on purpose to +apprize the disciples of what they had seen. John informs us, that Mary +Magdalane, after visiting the sepulchre, carried the news to the +disciples, and thereafter returned to this same sepulchre, where she +beheld Jesus in the company of angels. Matthew affirms, that the two +Marys embraced the feet of Jesus. John says, Jesus forbade Mary +Magdalane to touch him. Matthew informs us, that Jesus bade the two +Marys tell his disciples _that he was going into Galilee_. John says, +Jesus ordered Mary to acquaint his disciples, _that he was going to his +Father_; that is, to heaven. But it is more singular still, that, +according to Mark, the disciples themselves were not inclined to credit +the apparition of Jesus to Magdalane. Agreeably to Luke, they treated +all that she told them of angels, as reveries. According to John, +Magdalane herself did not at first believe that she had seen her +adorable lover, whom she took for the gardener. + +There is no greater certainty in the apparition of Jesus to Peter and +John. These two apostles went to the sepulchre, but they did not find +their dear master. According to John, he himself saw neither Jesus nor +his angels. From Luke it appears, that these apostles arrived _after_ +the angels were gone; and from John, _before_ the angels had arrived. +The witnesses are, indeed, very little unanimous as to these angels, who +seem to have been seen only by the good ladies, whom they charged to +announce to the disciples the resurrection of Jesus. Matthew makes +mention of _one angel_ only, whom Mark calls _a young man_. + +John affirms that there were _two_. + +It is said that Jesus showed himself again to two disciples of Emaus, +called _Simon_ and _Cleophas_; but they did not recognize him, though +they had lived familiarly with him. They proceeded a long while in his +company without suspecting who he was--a circumstance which, +undoubtedly, evinced a very strange failure of memory. It is true, Luke +tells us that their _eyes were as if shut_. Is it not very singular that +Jesus should show himself in order not to be known again? They, however, +recognized him afterwards; but immediately dreading, as it would seem, +to be seen too nearly, the phantom disappeared. The two disciples went +immediately and announced the news to their brethren assembled at +Jerusalem, where Jesus arrived fully as soon as they. + +Matthew, Mark, and Luke, agree in telling us, that when the disciples +were informed of the resurrection of Jesus, they saw him for the first +and last time. But the author of the Acts of the Apostles, John and Paul +contradict this assertion, for they speak of several other appearances +which afterwards occurred. Matthew and Mark inform us, that the +disciples received orders to go and join Jesus _in Galilee_; but Luke +and the author of the Acts (i.e. the same Luke) says, that the disciples +were ordered _not to go out of Jerusalem_. As to this last apparition, +Matthew places it on a _mountain in Galilee_, where Jesus had fixed the +rendezvous for the evening of the day of his resurrection; whilst Luke +informs us that it was at Jerusalem, and tells us that immediately +thereafter Jesus ascended into heaven, and disappeared forever. Yet the +author of the Acts of the Apostles is not of this opinion: he maintains, +_against himself_, that Jesus tarried still forty days with his +disciples in order to instruct them. + +There still remain to be considered two appearances of Jesus to his +apostles, the one at which Thomas was not present, and refused to +believe those who assured him of their having seen their master, and the +other when Thomas recognized his master, who shewed him his wounds. To +render one of these apparitions more marvellous, they assure us that +Jesus was seen in the midst of his disciples whilst the doors were shut. +But this will not appear surprizing to those who know that Jesus after +his resurrection, had an immaterial or incorporeal body, which could +make itself a passage through the smallest orifices. His disciples took +him for a _spirit_: yet this _spirit_ had wounds, was palpable, and took +food. But, perhaps, all this was only chimerical, and those apparitions +mere illusions. Indeed, how could the apostles be assured of the reality +of what they saw? A being who has the power of changing the course of +nature, can destroy all the rules by which we judge of certainty: how +then could they ever be certain of having seen Jesus after his +resurrection? + +John speaks of several appearances of Jesus to his disciples, of which +no mention is made by the other evangelists: hence we see that his +testimony destroys theirs, or that theirs destroy his. As to the +apparitions of Jesus which Paul mentions, he was not a witness of them, +and knew them only by hearsay; we find him accordingly speaking of them +in a manner not very exact. He says that Jesus showed himself "to the +twelve," while it is evident that, by the death of Judas, the apostolic +college was reduced to eleven. We are surprized to see these +inaccuracies in an inspired author; they may render suspicious what he +likewise says of the apparition of Jesus to five hundred of the brethren +at once. As to himself we know, that he never saw his master but in a +_vision_; and considering the testimonies on which the resurrection of +Jesus is founded, perhaps we may say as much of the other apostles and +disciples. They were Jews, enthusiasts, and prophets; and consequently +subject to dreaming even while awake. The incredulous consider this to +be the most favorable opinion they can form of witnesses who attest the +resurrection of the Saviour, on which however the Christian religion is +solely established. + +It appears, indeed, most certain from the nature of the testimonies we +have examined, that providence has in a singular manner neglected to +give to an event so memorable and of such great importance, the +authenticity it seemed to require. Laying aside faith, which never +experiences any difficulty about proofs, no man can believe facts, even +the most natural, from vouchers so faulty, proofs so weak, relations so +contradictory, and testimonies so suspicious as those which the +evangelists furnish us on the most incredible and marvellous occurrence +that was ever related. Independent of the visible interest these +historians had in establishing the belief of the resurrection of their +master, and which ought to put us on our guard against them, they seem +to have written merely to contradict one another, and reciprocally +weaken their evidence. To adopt relations in which we have only a tissue +of contradictions, improbable facts, and absurdities, calculated to +destroy all confidence in history, requires indeed grace from above. Yet +Christians do not for a moment doubt the resurrection; and their belief +in this respect is founded on a _rock_; that is on prejudices they have +never examined, and to which from early infancy their spiritual guides +have prudently attached the greatest importance. They teach them to +immolate reason, judgment, and good sense, on the altar of faith. After +this sacrifice, it is no longer difficult to make them acknowledge, +without enquiry, the most palpable absurdities for truths, on which it +is not permitted even to be sceptical. + +It is in vain that people of sense demonstrate the falsity of these +pretended truths; it is in vain that an intelligent critic stands up +against interested testimonies, visibly suggested by enthusiasm and +imposture; it is in vain, that humanity exclaims against wars, +massacres, and horrors without number, which absurd disputes on absurd +dogmas have occasioned. They silence the credulous by saying, that "it +is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to +nought the understanding of the prudent.--Where is the wise? Where are +the scribes? (the doctors of the law). Hath not God made foolish the +wisdom of this world by causing the foolishness of the gospel to be +preached?" It is by such declamations against reason and wisdom that +fanatics and impostors have almost banished good sense from the earth, +and formed slaves who make a merit of rejecting reason, of extinguishing +a sacred torch which would conduct them with certainty, on purpose to +lead them astray in the darkness which these interested guides know how +to infuse into minds. + +The dogma of the resurrection of Jesus is only attested by men whose +subsistence depended on that absurd romance; and as roguery continually +belies itself, these witnesses could not agree among themselves in their +evidence. They tell us, that Jesus had publicly predicted his own +resurrection. He ought therefore to have risen publicly; he ought to +have shewn himself, not in secret to his disciples, but openly to +priests, pharisees, doctors, and men of understanding, especially after +having intimated, that it was the _only sign which would be given them_. +Was it not acknowledging the falsehood of his mission, to refuse the +sign by which he had solemnly promised to prove the truth of that +mission? Was it reasonable to require the Jews to believe, on the word +of his disciples, a fact which he could have demonstrated before their +own eyes? How is it possible for rational persons of the present age to +believe, after the lapse of eighteen hundred years, on the discordant +testimonies of four interested evangelists, fanatics, or fabulists, a +story which they could not make be believed in their own time; except by +a small number of imbecile people, incapable of reasoning, fond of the +marvellous, and of too limited understandings to escape the snares laid +for their simplicity. A Roman governor, a tetrarch, a Jewish high +priest, converted by the apparition of Jesus, would have made a greater +impression on a man of sense than a hundred secret apparitions to his +chosen disciples. The conversion of the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem to the +faith, would have been of greater weight than all the obscure rabble +which the apostles prevailed on to believe their improbable marvels, and +persuaded that they had seen Jesus alive after his death. + +If the apparitions of Jesus to his apostles were not obviously fables +invented by roguery, or adopted through enthusiasm and ignorance, the +motive of these clandestine visits cannot be divined. Become incapable +of suffering, and re-established in his divine omnipotence, was he still +afraid of the Jews? Could he dread being put to death a second time? By +again showing himself, had he not better reason to calculate on +converting them than he derived from all his sermons and miracles? + +But it is said that the Jews by their opposition deserved to be +rejected; that the views of providence were changed; and that God no +longer wished his chosen people should be converted. These answers are +so many insults to the Divinity. How is it possible for men to withstand +God? Is it not to deny the Divine Omnipotence to pretend that man can +oppose its will? Man, it is asserted, is free; but must not a God who +knew every thing, have foreseen that the Jews would abuse their liberty +by resisting his will? In that case why send them his Son? Why make him +suffer to no purpose an infamous and cruel death? Why not send him at +once to creatures disposed to hear him, and render him homage? To +pretend that the views of providence were changed, is it not to attack +the divine immutability? Unless indeed it be said, that Deity had from +all eternity resolved on this change; which, however, will not shelter +that immutability. + +Thus, in whatever point of view we contemplate the matter, it will +remain a decided fact, that the resurrection of Jesus, far from being +founded on solid proofs, unexceptionable testimony, and respectable +authority, is obviously established on falsehood and knavery, which +pervade every page of the discordant relations of those who have +pretended to vouch it. + +After having made their hero revive and show himself, we know not how +often, to his trusty disciples, it was necessary in the end to make him +disappear altogether--to send him back to heaven, in order to conclude +the romance. But our story-tellers are not more in union on his +disappearance than on other things. They agree neither as to the time +nor the place of Jesus' ascension. Mark and Luke inform us, that Jesus +after having shown himself to the eleven apostles while they were at +table, and spoken to them, ascended into heaven. Luke adds, that he +conducted them as far as Bethany; lifted up his hands and blessed them, +and was afterwards carried up to heaven. Mark contradicts Luke, and +makes Jesus ascend to heaven from Galilee: and as if he had seen what +passed on high, places him on the right hand of God, who on this +occasion yielded to him the place of honor. Matthew and John do not +speak of this ascension. If we leave it to them, we must say, that Jesus +is still on earth according to the first of these evangelists, his last +words to his disciples gave them to understand, that he would "remain +with them until the end of the world." To fix our ideas on this subject, +Luke tells us, as we have seen, that Jesus ascended into heaven the very +evening of the day of the resurrection. But he afterwards informs us, +that Jesus tarried _forty days after his resurrection_ with his +disciples. Faith only can extricate us from this embarrassment. John +advances nothing in the matter; but leaves us in uncertainty as to the +time which Jesus passed on earth after his resurrection. Some +unbelievers on observing the romantic style of the gospel of this +apostle, have concluded from the manner in which he finishes his +history, that he meant to give free course to the fables which might +afterwards be published about Jesus. He terminates his narrative with +these words; "Jesus did also many other things, and if they should be +written every one, I suppose, that even the world itself could not +contain the books that should be written:" and with this hyperbole, the +well-beloved apostle finishes the Platonic romance which he made about +his master. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +GENERAL REFLECTIONS ON THE LIFE OF JESUS.--PREACHING OF THE +APOSTLES.--CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. ESTABLISHMENT OF +CHRISTIANITY.--PERSECUTIONS IT SUFFERS.--CAUSES OF ITS PROGRESS. + + +The mere reading of the life of Jesus, as we have represented it +according to documents which Christians consider inspired, must be +sufficient to undeceive every thinking being. But it is the property of +superstition to prevent thinking: it benumbs the soul, confounds the +reason, perverts the judgment, renders doubtful the most obvious truths, +and makes a merit with its slaves of despising inquiry, and of relying +on the word of those who govern them. It is not unseasonable, therefore, +to offer some reflections which may be useful to those who have not +courage to draw out of the preceding inquiry, the consequences which +naturally result from it; and thus aid them in forming rational ideas of +the Jesus they adore, of his disciples whom they revere, and of books +which they are accustomed to regard as sacred. + +Our examination of the birth of Jesus ought to render it very +suspicious. We have found the Holy Spirit mistaken on that important +article of Jesus' life; for he inspired two evangelists with two very +different genealogies. Notwithstanding so striking a blunder, and the +consanguinity of Mary and Elizabeth wife of the priest Zacharias, we +shall not cavil on these points. We shall grant that Mary might really +be of the race of David: many examples demonstrate that the branches of +races more illustrious have fallen into misery. Departing also from the +supposition, that Mary, the _immaculate_ wife of Joseph, may have +willingly yielded to the angel; or, simple and devout, may have been +deceived by the angel, there is every reason to believe that she +afterwards taught her son his descent from David, and perhaps, some +marvellous circumstances which, by justifying the mother, might kindle +the enthusiasm of the child. Thus Jesus, at a very early age, might be +really persuaded of his royal extraction, and of the wonders which had +accompanied his birth. These ideas might afterwards inflame his +ambition, and lead him to think that he was destined to play a grand +part in his native country. Prepossessed with these notions, and +intoxicating himself more and more by the perusal of obscure prophecies +and traditions, it is very possible, that our adventurer might believe +himself actually called by the Divinity, and pointed out by the prophets +to be the reformer, the chief, and the messiah of Israel. He was indeed +a visionary, and found people silly enough to be caught by his reveries. + +Another cause might likewise contribute to heat the brain of our +missionary. Some learned men have conjectured with much appearance of +truth, that Jesus acquired his morality among a kind of monks or Jewish +Coenobites (friars) called Therapeutes or Essenians. We certainly find a +striking conformity between what Philo tells us of these pious +enthusiasts, and the sublime precepts of Jesus. The Therapeutes +abandoned father and mother, wife, children, and property, in order to +devote themselves to contemplation. They explained the scripture in a +manner purely allegorical; abstained from oaths; lived in common; +suffered with resolution the misfortunes of life, and died with joy. It +is certain, that, in the time of the historian Josephus, three sects +were reckoned in Judea, the pharisees, sadducees, and the Essenians, or +Essenes. From the time of that writer, there is no longer any mention +made of the latter; hence some have concluded that these Essenians, or +Therapeutes, were afterwards confounded or incorporated with the first +Christians, who, according to every evidence, led a manner of life +perfectly similar to theirs. From all which it may be concluded, either +that Jesus had been a Therapeute before his preaching, or that he had +borrowed their doctrines. + +Whatever may be in this, in the midst of an ignorant and superstitious +nation, perpetually fed with oracles and pompous promises; miserable at +that time and discontented with the Roman yoke; continually cajoled with +the expectation of a deliverer, who was to restore them with honor, our +enthusiast without difficulty found an audience, and, by degrees, +adherents. Men are naturally disposed to listen to, and believe those +who make them hope for an end to their miseries. Misfortunes render them +timorous and credulous, and lead them to superstition. A fanatic easily +makes conquests among a wretched people. It is not then wonderful that +Jesus should soon acquire partizans, especially among the populace who +in every country are easily seduced. + +Our hero knew the weakness of his fellow-citizens. They wanted +prodigies, and he, in their eyes, performed them. A stupid people, +totally strangers to the natural sciences, to medicine, or to the +resources of artifice, easily mistook very simple operations for +miracles, and attributed effects to the finger of God which might be +owing to the knowledge Jesus had acquired during the long interval that +preceded his mission. Nothing is more common than the combination of +enthusiasm and imposture; the most sincere devotees, when they intend to +advance what they believe to be the word of God, often countenance +frauds which they style _pious_. There are but few zealots who do not +even think crimes allowable when the interests of religion are +concerned. In religion, as at play, _one begins with being dupe, and +ends with being knave_. + +Thus on considering things attentively, and comparing the different +accounts of the life of Jesus, we must be persuaded that he was a +fanatic, who really thought himself inspired, favored by Heaven, sent to +his nation; in short, that he was the messiah, who, to support his +divine mission, felt no difficulty to employ such deceptions as were +best calculated for a people to whom miracles were absolutely necessary; +and whom, without miracles, the most eloquent harangues, the wisest +precepts, the most intelligent counsels, and the truest principles could +never have convinced. A medley of enthusiasm and juggling constitute the +character of Jesus, and it is that of all spiritual adventurers who +assume the name of Reformers, or become the chiefs of a sect. + +We always find Jesus, during his whole mission, preaching the kingdom of +his Father, and supporting his preaching with wonders. At first he spoke +in a very reserved manner of his quality of messiah, son of God, and son +of David. There was prudence in not giving himself out for such. But he +suffered the secret to be revealed by the mouth of the devil, to impose +silence on whom he commonly took great care; not, however, until after +the devil had spoken in a manner sufficiently intelligible to make an +impression on the spectators. So that with the assistance of his +possessed, his proselytes, or his convulsionaries, he procured +testimonies, which from his own mouth would have been very suspicious, +and might have rendered him odious. + +Our operator also took care to choose his ground for performing +miracles; he constantly refused to operate before those whom he supposed +inclined to criticise his wonders. If he sometimes performed them in the +synagogues, and in presence of the doctors, it was in the certainty that +the less fastidious populace, who believed in his miracles, would take +his part, and defend him against the evil designs of the more acute +spectators. + +The apostles of Jesus appear to have been men of their master's +temper--credulous or misled enthusiasts, dexterous cheats, or often both +together. Jesus, who had skill in men, admitted into his intimate +confidence those only in whom he remarked the most submissive credulity +or the greatest address. On important occasions, such as the miracle of +multiplying the loaves, the transfiguration, &c. we find, as already +noticed, that he used always the ministry of Peter, James, and John. + +It is easy to conceive that his disciples were attached to him from +interest or credulity. The most crafty perceived that their fortune +could only be ameliorated under the conduct of a man who knew how to +impose on the vulgar, and to make his followers live at the expence of +charitable devotees. Fishermen, formerly obliged to subsist by painful +and often unsuccessful labour, conceived that it was more advantageous +to attach themselves to one who without trouble made them live +comfortably. The most credulous expected to make a brilliant fortune, +and to fill posts of eminence in the new kingdom their chief intended to +establish. It was evidently from _earthly_ or interested motives, and +not heavenly, that the apostles attached themselves to Jesus. At the +last supper there was a strife amongst them _who should be accounted the +greatest_. "The meanest," as Bishop Parker expressed it, "hoped at least +to have been made lord mayor of Capernaum." And even at his ascension +the only question his disciples asked, was, _Lord, wilt thou at this +time restore again the kingdom of Israel_? + +The hopes and comforts of both vanished on the death of Jesus. The +pusillanimous lost courage, but the most able and subtle did not think +it necessary to abandon the party. They therefore contrived, as we have +seen, the tale of the resurrection, by the aid of which the reputation +of their master and their own fortune were secured. It also appears, +that the apostles never sincerely believed their master was a _God_. The +Acts incontestibly demonstrate the contrary. The same Simon Peter, who +had recognized Jesus for the Son of the living God, declared in his +first sermon, that he was man. "Ye know," says he, "that Jesus of +Nazareth was a <sc>MAN</sc> whom God hath rendered famous among you--Yet ye have +crucified him--but God hath raised him up again," &c. This passage +proves clearly that the chief of the apostles dared not yet hazard, or +was wholly ignorant of the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus, which was +afterwards contrived by the self-interest of the clergy and adopted by +the foolishness of Christians, whose credulity was never startled by the +greatest absurdities. Self-interest and folly have perpetuated this +doctrine until our time. By dint of repeating the same tales for so long +a period, they have succeeded in making people believe the most +ridiculous fables. The religion of the children is always regulated by +the fancy of their fathers. + +It appears however, that the apostles of Jesus, deprived of the counsels +of their master, could not have succeeded if they had not received +powerful aid after his death, and selected associates, men more active +than themselves, and better calculated for the business. They +deliberated together on their common interests; it was then the Holy +Spirit descended on them; that is, they considered on the means of +earning a subsistence, gaining proselytes, and increasing the number of +their adherents, in order to secure themselves against the enterprizes +of the priests and grandees of the nation, whom the new sect might have +very much displeased. Not satisfied with having put Jesus to death, they +had the impudence to persecute his disciples. They engaged Herod to +destroy James the brother of Jesus; finally they caused Stephen to be +stoned. These priests and doctors did not perceive that persecution is +the surest method of spreading fanaticism, and that it always gives +importance to the party persecuted. + +Accordingly this persecuting spirit, inherent in the clergy, created new +partisans to the persecuted sect. Hard treatment, and imprisonment +always render sectaries more obstinate, and interesting objects to those +who witness their sufferings. Tortures excite our pity in behalf of the +person who endures them. Every fanatic that is punished is certain of +finding credulous friends to aid him, because they persuade themselves +it is for truth he is persecuted. + +The proceedings instigated by the priests, convinced the new sectaries +that it was of the utmost importance to unite their interests. They felt +it necessary to avoid quarrels, and every thing which could create +division; they in consequence lived in concord and peace. + +The apostles, now become heads of the sect, did not neglect their own +interests. One of the first faculties with which the Holy Spirit +inspired them, was to profit by devout souls, and engage them to place +all their property in common. The apostles were the depositaries of +these goods, and had under their orders ministers or servants, known by +the name of deacons, charged with the distribution of alms. These great +saints, it is to be presumed, did not forget themselves in these +distributions. It appears also, that the law for this communion of +goods, was observed with rigor, as we find, in the Acts of the Apostles, +Ananias and Saphira struck dead, on the prayer of Peter, for having had +the temerity to retain a portion of their own property: a conduct which +would appear as unjust, as barbarous in any other person but an apostle +of Jesus. It must however be acknowledged, that the law, which obliged +the rich to place their property in common, was very important, not only +to the apostles, but for increasing the sect. The poor undoubtedly must +have been eager to join a party where the rich engaged to _lay the +cloth_. Hence it is easy to perceive, how this institution might augment +the number of the faithful without a miracle. + +Of all the adherents the new-born sect acquired, there was none superior +to Saul, afterwards known by the name of Paul. The actions and writings +ascribed to this Apostle exhibit him as an ambitious, active, intrepid, +and opiniative man, full of enthusiasm, and capable of inspiring others +with it. Engaged at first in the profession of a tent-maker, he +afterwards attached himself to Gamaliel, a doctor of the law and +rendered services to the priests in their persecutions against +Christians. Perceiving the utility which a man of Saul's character might +be of to the party, the apostles profited by some disgust he had taken +to draw him over to their sect. He consented readily conceiving that by +his superior talents he might easily succeed in making himself the head +of a party, to which he also knew the means of rendering himself +necessary. He pretended, therefore, that his conversion was the effect +of a miracle, and that God himself had called him. He was baptised at +Damascus, joined the apostles at Jerusalem, was admitted a member of +their college, and soon gave them proofs of his talents. He commenced +preaching Jesus and his resurrection, and labored in gaining souls. His +vehement zeal hurried him, without fear or hesitation, into quarrels +with the priests, always indignant at the conduct of the apostles; but +his persecutions rendered him dearer to his party, of which he became +from that time the prime mover. + +Often maltreated by the Jews, Paul conjectured that it would be +beneficial not to confine himself to them, but that conquests might be +made among the heathen. He no doubt knew that mankind resemble each +other in all superstitions; that they are every where curious about the +marvellous; susceptible of fanaticism, lovers of novelties, and easily +deceived. He therefore, sometimes preached to Jews, and sometimes to +Gentiles, among whom he succeeded in enlisting a considerable number of +recruits. + +Jesus, born in the bosom of Judaism, and knowing the attachment of his +fellow-citizens to the law of Moses, had always openly declared, that he +was come to "accomplish, and not to destroy it." His first apostles were +Jews, and showed much attachment to the rites of their religion. They +were displeased that Paul their brother would not subject his Gentile +proselytes to Judaical usuages. Filled with views more vast than those +entertained by the other apostles, he did not wish to disgust his new +converts with inconvenient ceremonies, such as circumcision and +abstinence from certain meats. The better to attain his ends, he +neglected these usuages, which he considered as trifles, while his +brethren regarded them as most essential. The first proselytes or the +apostles as we have said, were called _Nazarenes_ or Ebionites, who +believed in Jesus without forsaking the law of Moses. They of course +regarded Paul as an heretic or apostate. This fact, attested by Origen, +Eusebius, and Epiphanius, is important in giving us a distinct idea of +primitive Christianity, which we see divided into two sects almost as +soon as Paul had embraced it. This new apostle very soon indeed +separated from his brethren to preach a doctrine different from theirs, +and openly undermined the Judaism which Peter, James, and the other +heads of the church persisted in respecting. But as Paul was successful +among the Gentiles, his party prevailed: Judaism was entirely +proscribed, and Christianity became quite a new religion, of which +Judaism had been only the figure. Thus Paul wholly changed the religious +system of Jesus, who had merely proposed to reform Judaism. The +principal apostles followed the conduct of their master, and showed +themselves much attached to the law and usages of their fathers. Paul +notwithstanding their protestations, took a different course; he +displayed a contempt or indifference for the legal ordinances, to which +through policy, however, he sometimes subjected himself. Thus we find he +circumcised Timothy, and performed Jewish ceremonies in the temple of +Jerusalem. + +Not content with decrying the law of Moses, Paul, by his own confession, +preached a gospel of his own. He says positively, in his epistle to the +Galatians, "That the gospel which I preach is not after men," and that +he had received it by a particular revelation of Jesus. He speaks +likewise of his quarrels with the other heads of the sect; but his +disciple Luke passes over these very slightly in the Acts, which are +much more the _Acts of Paul_ than the Acts of the Apostles. It appears +evident, that he embroiled himself with his brethren, the partisans of +the circumcision, and the founders of the Nazarenes or Ebionites, who +had a gospel different from that of Paul, as they combined the law of +Jesus with that of Moses. Irenaeus, Justin, Epiphanius, Eusebius, +Theodoret, and Augustine, agree in telling us, that these Ebionites, or +converted Jews, regarded Jesus as a "mere man, son of Joseph and Mary, +to whom they gave the name of _Son of God_ only on account of his +virtues." From this it is evident, that it was Paul who _deified_ Jesus +and abolished Judaism. The Paulites, become the strongest, prevailed +over the Ebionites, or disciples of the apostles, and regarded them as +heretics. Hence we see that it is the religion of Paul, and not of +Jesus, which at present subsists. + +This altercation of Paul and the apostles of Jesus produced a real +schism. Paul left the preaching of the Judaical gospel or circumcision +to his brethren whilst he preached his own in Asia Minor and in Greece, +sometimes to the Hellenistic Jews, whom he found established there, and +sometimes to the idolatrous Greeks, whose language, though unknown to +the other apostles, Paul was acquainted with. The success of his mission +far surpassed that of his brethren; and if we refer to the Acts of the +Apostles, we shall perceive in this new preacher an activity, a warmth, +a vehemence, and an enthusiasm well adapted to communicate itself. The +missionaries he formed, spread his doctrine to a great distance. The +gospel of the apostle of the gentiles prevailed over the gospel of the +Judaizing apostles; and in a short time there were a great number of +Christians in all the provinces of the Roman empire. + +To a miserable people, crushed by tyrants and oppressors of every kind, +the principles of the new sect had powerful attractions. Its maxims, +which tended to introduce equality and a community of goods, were +calculated to entice the unfortunate. Its promises flattered miserable +fanatics, to whom was announced the end of a perverse world, the +approaching arrival of Jesus, and a kingdom wherein abundance and +happiness would reign. To be admitted there, they merely required of the +proselytes "to believe in Jesus and be baptized." As for the austere +maxims of the sect, they were not of a nature to disgust miserables, +accustomed to suffering, and the want of the conveniences of life. Its +dogmas, few in the beginning, were readily adopted by ignorant men, fond +of wonders, whom their own mythology disposed to receive the fables of +Christians. Besides, their own priests wrought miracles, which rendered +those said to have been performed by Jesus no way improbable in their +estimation. Different missionaries, in emulation of one another composed +romances or histories of Jesus in which they related a number of +prodigies calculated to make their hero be revered, and to interest the +veneration of the faithful. In this manner the different collections, +known by the name of Gospels, were framed, wherein, along with very +simple facts which might have really occurred, we find numerous +statements that appear credible only to enthusiasts and fools. These +histories, composed from traditions by different hands, and by authors +of very different characters, are not in harmony. Hence the want of +conformity in the relations of our evangelists, which has been +frequently noticed in the course of this work. There were, as we have +before remarked, a vast number of gospels in the first ages of the +church; and out of these the council of Nice chose only four, to which +they gave the divine sanction. + +We shall not here examine whether these gospels really belong to the +authors to whom they are ascribed. The opinion which attributes them to +to their putative writers, might have been founded at first on some +tradition, true or false, which existed in the time of the council of +Nice, or which the fathers of that council had an interest in +sanctioning. It is difficult to persuade ourselves without faith, that +the gospel of John, filled with Platonic notions could be composed by +the son of Zebedee; by a poor fisherman, who, perhaps, incapable of +writing, and even reading, could not be acquainted with the philosophy +of Plato. From the commencement of christianity there have been many who +have denied the authenticity of the gospels. _Marcias_ accused them of +being filled with falsehoods. The Alloges and Theodocians rejected the +gospel of John, which they regarded as a tissue of lies. Augustin says, +that he found in the Platonists the whole beginning of the gospel of +John. Origen below informs us, that Celsus reproached Jesus with having +taken from Plato his finest maxims, and among others the one which says, +that "it is more easy for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, +than for a rich man to be saved." + +Whatever opinion may be formed as to this, we find the mystical and +marvellous philosophy of Plato introduced very early into Christianity, +which agreed in several respects with the tenets held by the followers +of that eminent philosopher; while his perplexed philosophy must also +have easily amalgamated with the principles of the new sect. This was +the source of _Spirituality_, _Trinity_, and the _Logos_, or _Word_, +besides a multitude of magical and theurgical ceremonies, which in the +hands of the priests of Christianity have become _mysteries_ or +_sacraments_. On reading Porphyry, Jamblichus, and particularly +Plotinus, we are surprised to hear them speaking so frequently in the +same style as our theologists. These marks of resemblance drew several +Platonists over to the faith, who figured among the doctors of the +church. Of this number were Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, Justin +Martyr, Origen, &c. Platonism may indeed be regarded as the source of +the principal dogmas and mysteries of the Christian religion. + +Those who doubt the truth of this assertion have only to read the works +of the disciples of Plato, who were all superstitious persons and +Theurgists, whose ideas were analogous to those of Christians. We find, +indeed, these writings filled with receipts to make the gods and good +genii descend, and to drive away the bad. Tertullian reproaches the +heretics of his time with having wandered astray in order to introduce +Platonism, Stoicism, and Dialects into Christianity. It was evidently +the mixture of the unintelligible doctrine of Plato, with the Dialectics +of Aristotle, which rendered theology so senseless, disputable, and +fraught with subtleties. The cardinal Pallavicini acknowledges, that +"without Aristotle the Christians would have wanted a great number of +articles of faith." + +The austere and fanatical lives of Christians must also have favorably +disposed a great number of Stoics, who were accustomed to make a merit +of despising objects desirable to other men, depriving themselves of the +comforts of life, and braving affliction and death. We accordingly find +among the early Christians a great number of enthusiasts tinctured with +these maxims. This fanatical way of thinking was necessary to console +the first Christians in the midst of persecutions which they suffered at +first from the Jews, and thereafter from the emperors and grandees, +incited by the heathen priests. The latter, according to the custom of +the priesthood in all countries, made war on a sect which attacked their +Gods, and menaced their temples with a general desertion. The universe +was weary of the impostures and exactions of these priests, their costly +sacrifices and lying oracles. Their knaveries had been frequently +unveiled, and the new religion tendered to mankind a worship less +expensive and, which, without being addressed so much to the eyes as the +worship of idols, was better adapted than its rival to seize the +imagination, and to excite enthusiasm. + +Christianity was moreover flattering and consolatory to the wretched, +while it placed all men on the same level, and thus humbled the rich, it +was announced as destined for the poor through preference. Among the +Romans, slaves were in some measure excluded from religion; and it might +have been said that the gods did not concern themselves with the homage +of these degraded beings. The poor, besides, had not wherewith to +satisfy the rapacity of Pagan priests, who, like ours, did nothing +without money. Thus slaves and miserable persons must have been strongly +attached to a system, which taught that all men are equal in the eyes of +the Divinity, and that the wretched have better right to the favors of a +suffering and contemned God than those who are temporally happy. The +priests of Paganism became uneasy at the rapid progress of the sect. The +government was alarmed at the clandestine assemblies which the +Christians held. They were believed to be the enemies of the emperors, +because they refused to offer sacrifices to the gods of the country for +their prosperity. Even the people, ever zealous, believed them enemies +of their gods because they would not join in their worship. They treated +the Christians as Atheists and impious persons, because they did not +conceive what could be the objects of their adoration; and because they +took offence at the mysteries, which they saw them celebrating in the +greatest secrecy. The Christians, thus loaded with the public hatred, +very soon became its victims; they were persecuted; and persecution, as +it always happens, rendered them more opiniative. Enthusiasm inflamed +their souls; they considered it a glory to resist the efforts of +tyrants; they even went so far as to brave their punishments, and +concluded with believing that the greatest happiness was to perish under +their severities. In this they flattered themselves with resembling the +Son of God, and were persuaded, that by dying for his cause they were +certain of reigning with him in heaven. + +In consequence of these fanatical ideas, so flattering to vanity, +martyrdom became an object of ambition to Christians. Independent of the +heavenly rewards, which they believed assured to those who suffered with +constancy, and perished for religion, they saw them esteemed, revered, +and carefully attended to during their lives, while honors almost divine +were decreed them after death. On the contrary, those of the Christian +community who had the weakness to shrink from tortures, and renounce +their religion, were scoffed at, despised, and regarded as infamous. So +many circumstances combined contributed to warm the imaginations of the +faithful, already sufficiently agitated by notions of the approaching +end of the world, the coming of Jesus, and his happy reign. They +submitted cheerfully to punishment, and gloried in their chains: they +courted martyrdom as a favor, and often, through a blind zeal, provoked +the rage of their persecutors. The magistrates, by their proscriptions +and tortures, caused the enthusiasm of the Christians to kindle more and +more. Their courage was besides supported by the heads of their sect, +who constantly displayed the heavens opening to the heroes who consented +to suffer and perish for their cause, which they took care to make the +poor fanatics regard as the cause of God himself. A martyr, at all +times, is merely the victim of the enthusiastic or knavish priest who +has been able to seduce him. + +Men are always disgusted with those who use violence; they conclude that +they are wrong, and that those against whom they commit violence have +reason on their side. Persecution will always make partisans to the +cause persecuted; and those to which we allude, tended the more to +confirm Christians in their religion. The spectators of their sufferings +were interested for them. They were curious to know the principles of a +sect which drew on itself such cruel treatment, and infused into its +adherents a courage believed to be supernatural. They imagined that such +a religion could be no other than the work of God; its partisans +appeared extraordinary men, and their enthusiasm became contagious. +Violence served only to spread it the more, and, according to the +language of a Christian doctor, "the blood of the martyrs became the +seed of the church." + +The clergy would fain make the propagation of Christianity pass for a +miracle of divine omnipotence; while it was owing solely to natural +causes inherent in the human mind, which always adheres strenuously to +its own way of thinking; hardens itself against violence; applauds +itself for its pertinacity; admires courage in others; feels an interest +for those who display it; and suffers itself to be gained by their +enthusiasm. The learned Dodwell has written two copious dissertations on +the martyrs: the one to prove that they were not so numerous as is +commonly imagined; and the other to demonstrate that their constancy +originated in natural causes. The frenzy of martyrdom was in fact an +epidemical disease among the first Christians, to which their spiritual +physicians were obliged to apply remedies, as these wretched beings were +guilty of suicide. Many of the primitive Christians, says Fleury, +instead of _flying_ as the gospel directs, not only ran voluntarily to +execution, but provoked their judges to do them that favor. Under +Trajan, all the Christians in a city of Asia came in a body to the +proconsul, and offered themselves to the slaughter, which made him cry, +"O! ye unhappy people, if ye have a mind to die, have ye not halters and +precipices enough to end your lives, but ye must come here for +executioners." Marcus Antoninus severely reflected on the obstinacy of +the Christians in thus running headlong to death; and Cyprian labored +hard to comfort those who were so unhappy as to _escape_ the crown of +martyrdom. Even the enemies of Julian, called the apostate by fanatics, +admit that the Christians of his time did every thing they could to +provoke that emperor to put them to death. Dr. Hickes, a celebrated +protestant divine, says that the Christians "were _not_ illegally +persecuted by Julian." Pride, vanity, prejudice, love, patriotism, and +even vice itself, produce martyrs--a contempt of every kind of danger. +Is it then surprising that enthusiasm and fanaticism, the strongest of +passions, have so often enabled men to face the greatest dangers and +despise death? Besides, if Christians can boast a catalogue of martyrs, +Jews can do the same. The unfortunate Jews, condemned to the flames by +the inquisition, were martyrs to their religion; and their fortitude +proves as much in their favor as that of the Christians. If martyrs +demonstrate the truth of a religion or sect, where are we to look for +the true one? + +It is thus obvious that the obstinacy of the martyrs, far from being a +sign of the divine protection or of the goodness of their cause, was the +effect of blindness, occasioned by the reiterated lessons of their +fanatical or deceitful priests. What conduct more extravagant than that +of a sovereign able and without effusion of blood to extend his power, +who should prefer to do it by the massacre of the most faithful of his +subjects? Is it not annihilating the divine wisdom and goodness to +assert, that a God to whom every thing is possible, among so many ways +which he could have chosen to establish his religion, wished to follow +that only of making its dearest friends fall a sacrifice to the fury of +its cruellest enemies? Such are the notions which Christianity presents; +and it is easy to perceive that they are the necessary consequences of a +fundamental absurdity on which that religion is established. It +maintains, that a just God had no wish to redeem guilty men, than by +making his dear innocent son be put to death. According to such +principles, it can excite no surprise that so unreasonable a God should +wish to convert the heathen, his enemies, by the murder of Christians, +his children. Though these absurdities are believed, such as do not +possess the holy blindness of faith cannot comprehend why the Son of +God, having already shed his blood for the redemption of men, was not a +sufficient sacrifice? and why, to effect the conversion of the world, +there was still a necessity for the blood of an immense number of +martyrs, whose merits must have been undoubtedly much less than those of +Jesus? To resolve these difficulties, theologians refer us to the +eternal decrees, the wisdom of which we are not permitted to criticise. +This is sending us far back indeed; yet notwithstanding the solidity of +the answer, the incredulous persist in saying, that their limited +understandings can neither find justice, nor wisdom, nor goodness, in +eternal decrees which could in so preposterous a manner effect the +salvation of the human race. + +Persecutions were not the only means by which Christianity was +propagated. The preachers, zealous for the salvation of souls, or rather +desirous to extend their own power over the minds of men, and strengthen +their party, inherited from the Jews the passion of making proselytes. +This passion suited presumptuous fanatics, who were persuaded, that they +alone possessed the divine favor. It was unknown to the heathen, who +permitted every one to adore his gods, providing that his worship did +not disturb the public tranquillity. Prompted by zeal, the Christian +missionaries, notwithstanding persecutions and dangers, spread +themselves with an ardour unparalleled wherever they could penetrate, in +order to convert idolators and bring back strayed sheep to the fold of +Jesus. This activity merited the recompense of great success. Men, whom +their idolatrous priests neglected, were flattered at being courted, and +becoming the objects of the cares of those who, through pure +disinterestedness, came from afar, and through the greatest perils to +bring them consolation. They listened favourably to them; they shewed +kindness to men so obliging, and were enchanted with their doctrine. +Many adopted their lessons; placed themselves under their guidance, and +soon became persuaded that their God and dogmas were superior to those +which had preceded them. + +Thus by degrees, and without a miracle, Christianity planted colonies, +more or less considerable, in every part of the Roman empire. They were +directed, and governed by _inspectors_, _overseers_, or _bishops_, who, +in spite of the dangers with which they were menaced, labored +obstinately, and without intermission in augmenting the number of their +disciples that is, of slaves devoted to their holy will. Empire over +opinions was always the most unbounded. As nothing has greater power +over the minds of the vulgar than religion, Christians every where +displayed an unlimited submission to their spiritual sovereign, on whose +laws they believed their eternal happiness depended. Thus our +missionaries, converted into bishops, exercised a spiritual magistracy +and sacred jurisdiction, which in the end placed them not only above +other priests, but made them respected by, and necessary to, the +temporal power. Princes have always employed religion and its ministers +in crushing the people, and keeping them under the yoke. Impostures and +delusions are of no use to sovereigns who govern, but they are very +useful to those who _tyrannize_. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +ACCOUNT OF CHRISTIANITY FROM CONSTANTINE TO THE PRESENT TIME. + + +At the end of three centuries we find Christianity, advanced by all +these means, become a formidable party in the Roman empire. The +sovereign power acknowledged the impossibility of stifling it; and +Christians, scattered in great numbers through all the provinces, formed +an imposing combination. Ambitious chiefs incessantly wrested from one +another the right of reigning over the wrecks of an enslaved republic: +each sought to encrease his own strength, and acquire an advantage over +his rivals. It was in these circumstances that Constantine, to +strengthen himself first against Maxentius, and thereafter against +Licinius, thought it his interest, by a stroke of policy, to draw over +all the Christians to his party. For this purpose he openly favored +them, and thereby reinforced his army with all the soldiers of that +numerous sect. In gratitude for the advantages they procured him, he +concluded with embracing their religion, now become so powerful. He +honored, distinguished, and enriched the Christian bishops, well assured +of attaching them to himself by his liberality to their pastors and the +favor he shewed them. Aided by their succors, he flattered himself with +the disposal of the flock. + +By this political revolution, so favorable to the clergy, the bashful +chiefs of the Christians, who hitherto had reigned only in secret and +without eclat, sprung out of the dust, and became men of importance. +Seconded by a despotical emperor, whose interests were linked with +theirs, they soon used their influence to avenge their injuries, and +return to their enemies, with usury, the evils which they had received. +The unexpected change in the fortune of the Christians made them forget +the mild and tolerating maxims of their legislator. They conceived, that +these maxims, made for wretches destitute of power, could no longer suit +men supported by sovereigns; they attacked the temples and gods of +paganism; their worshipers were excluded from places of trust, and the +master lavished his favors on those only who consented to think like +him, and justify his change by imitating it. Thus, without any miracle, +the court became Christian, or at least feigned to be so, and the +descendants of hypocritical courtiers were Christians in reality. + +Even before the time of Constantine, Christianity had been rent by +disputes, heresies, schisms, and animosities between the Christian +chiefs. The adherents of the different doctors had reviled, +anathematised, and maltreated each other without their quarrels making +any noise. The subtleties of Grecian metaphysics introduced into the +Christian religion, had hatched an infinity of disputes, which had not +hitherto been attended with any remarkable occurrence. All these +quarrels burst forth in the reign of Constantine. The bishops and +champions of different parties caballed to draw over the emperor to +their side, and thus aid them in crushing their adversaries. At the same +time a considerable party under the priest _Arius_, denied the divinity +of Jesus. Little versed in the principles of the religion that party had +embraced, but wishing to decide the question, Constantine referred it to +the judgment of the bishops. He convened them in the city of Nice, and +the plurality of suffrages regulated definitively the symbol of +faith--Jesus became a God _consubstantial_ with his father; the Holy +Ghost was likewise a God, _proceeding_ from the two others; finally, +these _three_ Gods combined made only _one_ God! + +Tumultuous clamors carried this unintelligible decision, and converted +it into a sacred dogma notwithstanding the reclamations of opponents, +who were silenced by denouncing them blasphemers and heretics. The +priests who had the strongest lungs, declared themselves _orthodox_. The +emperor, little acquainted with the nature of the quarrel, ranged +himself for the time on their side, and quitted it afterwards according +as he thought proper to lend an ear sometimes to the bishops of one +party, and sometimes to those of another. The history of the church +informs us, that Constantine, whom we here see adhering to the decision +of the council of Nice, made the orthodox and the heretics alternately +experience his severities. + +After many years, and even ages of disputes, the bishops of Christendom +have agreed in regarding Jesus as a true God. They felt that it was +important for them to have a God for their founder, as this could not +fail to render their own claims more respected. They maintained, that +their authority was derived from the apostles, who held theirs directly +from Christ; that is, from God himself. It would now-a-days be criminal +to doubt the truth of this opinion, though many Christians are not yet +convinced of it, and venture to appeal to the decision of the universal +church. Except the English, all Protestant Christians reject Episcopacy, +and regard it as an usurped power. Among the Catholics, the Jansenists +think the same, which is the true cause of the enmity the Pope and +Bishops display against them. It appears St. Jerome was, on this point, +of the opinion of the Jansenists. Yet we see Paul at first much occupied +in advancing the Episcopal dignity. Ignatius of Antioch, disciple of the +apostles, insinuates in his epistles, the high opinion which the +Christians ought to have of a bishop; and the very ancient author of the +Apostolic Constitutions, openly declares, that a _bishop is a God on +earth, destined to rule over all men, priests, kings, and magistrates_. +Though these Constitutions are reputed Apocryphal, the bishops have +conformed their conduct to them more than to the canonical gospel, +wherein Jesus, far from assigning prerogatives to bishops, declares, +that in his kingdom there will be _neither first nor last_. + +The bishops assembled at Nice, decided also, as we have related, on the +authenticity of the gospels and books ordained to serve as a rule to +Christians. It is then to these doctors, as has been already remarked, +that Christians owe their faith; which, however, was afterwards +frequently shaken by disputes, heresies, and wars, and even by +assemblies of bishops, who often annulled what other assemblies of +bishops had decreed in the most solemn manner. From Constantine to our +time, the interest of the heads of the church dictated every decree, and +established doctrines wholly unknown to the founders of their religion. +The universe became the arena of the passions, the disputes, intrigues, +and cruelties of these holy gladiators, who treated each other with the +utmost barbarity. Kings, united in interest with spiritual chiefs, or +blinded by them, thought themselves at all times obliged to partake of +their fury. Princes seemed to hold the sword for the sole purpose of +cutting the throats of victims pointed out by the priests. These blinded +rulers believed they served God, or promote the welfare of their +kingdoms by espousing all the passions of the priests who were become +the most arrogant, the most vindictive, the most covetous, and the most +flagitious of men. + +We shall not enter into a detail of all the quarrels which the Christian +religion has produced. We shall merely observe, that they were +continual, and have frequently been attended with consequences so +deplorable that nations have had reason more than a hundred times every +century to regret the peaceful paganism, and tolerating idolatry of +their ancestors. The gospel, or _the glad tidings_, constantly gave the +signal for the commission of crimes. _The Cross was the Banner under +which madmen assembled to glut the earth with blood._ The will of heaven +was understood by nobody: and the clergy disputed without end on the +manner of explaining oracles, which the Deity had himself come to reveal +to mortals. It was always indispensable to take a side in the most +unintelligible quarrels: neutrality was regarded as impiety. The party +for which the prince declared, was always _orthodox_, and on that +account, believed it had a right to exterminate all others: the orthodox +in the church were those who had the power to exile, imprison, and +destroy their adversaries. Lucifer Calaritanus, a most orthodox bishop, +in several discourses addressed to the son of Constantine, did not +scruple to tell the emperor himself that it was the duty of the orthodox +to kill Constantius on account of his Arianism, which he called +Idolatry; and for this he quoted Deut. xiii. 6., and I Maccab. i. 43, to +v. 29 of c. ii. + +The bishops, whom the puissance of an emperor had raised from the dust, +soon became rebellious subjects; and, under pretence of maintaining +their spiritual power, laboured to be independent of the sovereign, and +even the laws of society. They maintained that princes themselves, +"being subjects of Christ," ought to be subjected to the jurisdiction of +his representatives on earth. Thus the pretended successors of some +fishermen of Judea, whom Constantine had raised from obscurity arrogated +to themselves the right of reigning over kings; and in this way the +kingdom of heaven served to conquer the kingdoms of the earth. + +Hitherto the Christians had been governed by bishops or chiefs +independent of each other, and perfectly equal as to jurisdiction. This +made the church an aristocratical republic; but its government soon +became monarchial, and even despotical. The respect which was always +entertained for Rome the capital of the world, seemed to give a kind of +superiority to the bishop or spiritual head of the Christians +established there. His brethren, therefore frequently showed a deference +to him, and occasionally consulted him. Nothing more was wanting to the +ambition of the bishops of Rome, to advance the right they arrogated of +dictating to their brethren, and to declare themselves the monarchs of +the Christian church. A very apocryphal tradition had made Peter travel +to Rome, and had also made this chief of the apostles establish his see +in that city. The Roman bishop therefore, pretended to have succeeded to +the rights of Simon Peter, to whom Jesus in the gospel had entrusted +more particularly the care of feeding his sheep. He accordingly assumed +the pompous titles of "Successor of St. Peter, Universal Bishop, and +Vicar of Jesus Christ." It is true, these titles were often contested +with him by the oriental bishops, too proud to bow under the yoke of +their brother. But by degrees, through artifice, intrigue, and +frequently violence, those who enjoyed the See of Rome, and prosecuting +their project with ardor, succeeded in getting themselves acknowledged +in the west as the heads of the Christian church. + +Pliant and submissive at first to sovereigns, whose power they dreaded, +they soon mounted on their shoulders; and trampled them under their feet +when they were certain of their power over the minds of devotees +rendered frantic by superstition. Then indeed they threw off the mask, +gave to nations the signal of revolt, incited Christians to their mutual +destruction, and precipitated kings from their thrones. To support their +pride, they shed oceans of blood: they made weak princes the vile sport +of their passions, sometimes their victims and sometimes their +executioners. Sovereigns, become their vassals, executed with fear and +trembling the decrees Heaven pronounced against the enemies of the holy +see which had created itself the arbiter of faith. In fact, these +inhuman pontiffs immolated to their God a thousand times more human +victims than paganism had sacrificed to all its divinities. + +After having succeeded in subduing the bishops, the head of the church, +with a view to establish and preserve his empire inundated the states of +the princes attached to the sect with a multitude of sabaltern priests +and monks, who acted as his spies, his emissaries, and the organs which +he employed in making known his will at a distance. Thus nations were +deluged with men useless or dangerous. Some, under pretext of attaining +Christian perfection, astonished the vulgar with a frantic life, denied +themselves the pleasures of existence, renounced the world, and +languished in the recesses of a cloister awaiting the death which their +disagreeable pursuits must have rendered desirable. They imagined to +please God by occupying themselves solely with prayers, and sterile and +extravagant meditations; thus rendering themselves the victims of a +destructive fanaticism. These, fools, whom Christianity esteems, may be +considered as the victims and martyrs of the higher clergy, who take +care never to imitate them. + +Few however felt themselves inclined to aspire to this sublime +perfection. Most of the monks, more indulgent, were content with +renouncing the world, vegetating in solitude, languishing in sloth, and +living in absolute idleness at the expence of nations who toil. If some +among them were devoted to study, it was only with the vain subtleties +of an unintelligible theology calculated to incite disturbances in +society. Others more active spread themselves over the globe; and, under +pretence of preaching the gospel, preached up themselves, the interests +of the clergy, and especially the submission due to the Roman pontiff, +who was always their true sovereign. These emissaries, indeed, never had +any other country than the church, any other master than its head, or +any other interest than that of disturbing the state, in order to +advance _the divine rights_ of the clergy. Faithful in following the +example of Jesus, they brought _the sword_, sowed discord, and kindled +wars, seditions, persecutions, and crusades. They sounded the tocsin of +revolt against all princes who were disagreeable or rebellious to the +haughty tyrant of the church; they frequently employed the sacrificing +knife of fanaticism, and plunged it in the hearts of kings; and, to make +the _cause of God_ prosper, they justified the most horrible crimes, and +threw the whole earth into consternation. + +Such, especially in latter times, were the maxims and conduct of an +order of monks, who, pretending to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, +assumed the name of his _Society_. Solely and blindly devoted to the +interests of the Roman pontiff, they seemed to have come into the world +for the purpose of bringing the universe under his chains. They +corrupted the youth, the education of whom they wished exclusively to +engross; they strove to restore barbarism, knowing well that want of +knowledge is the greatest prop of superstition; they extolled ignorance +and blind submission; they depraved morals for which they substituted +vain usages and superstitions, compatible with every vice, and +calculated to suppress the remorse which crime occasions. They preached +up slavery and unbounded submission to princes, who themselves were +their slaves, and who consented to become the instruments of their +vengeance. They preached rebellion and regicide against the princes who +refused to bend under the odious yoke of the successor of St. Peter, +whom they had the effrontery to declare _infallible_, and whose +decisions they preferred above those of the universal church. By their +assistance the pope became not only the despot, but even the true God of +the Christians. + +There were some however, who ventured to protest against the violences, +extortions, and usurpations of this spiritual tyrant. There were +sovereigns who ventured to struggle with him; but in times of ignorance, +the contest is always unequal between the temporal and spiritual power. +At last preachers discontented with the Roman pontiff, opened the eyes +of many; they preached _reformation_, and destroyed some abuses and +dogmas which appeared to them that the most disgusting. Some princes +seized this opportunity to break the chains wherewith they had been so +long oppressed. Without renouncing Christianity, which they always +regarded as a divine religion, they renounced Romish Christianity, which +they considered a superstition corrupted through the avarice, influence, +and passions of the clergy. Content with merely loping off some branches +of a poisoned tree, which its bitter fruits should have discovered, our +_reformers_ did not perceive that even the principles of a religion, +founded on fanaticism and imposture, must of necessity produce fanatics +and knaves. They did not observe, that religion, which pretends to enjoy +exclusively the approbation of the Most High, must be from its essence +arrogant and proud, and become at last tyrannical, intolerant, and +sanguinary. They did not perceive that the mania of proselytism, the +pretended zeal for the salvation of souls, the passion of the priests +for dominion over consciences, must, sooner or later, create +devastation. Christianity _reformed_, pretending to resemble the pure +Christianity of the first days of the church, produced fiery preachers, +persons illuminated, and public incendiaries, who under pretence of +_establishing the kingdom of Christ_ excited endless troubles, +massacres, and revolts. Christian Princes of every sect thought +themselves obliged to support the decisions of their doctors. They +regarded as infallible opinions which they themselves had adopted; they +enforced them by fire and sword; and were every where in confederacy +with their priests to make war on all who did not think like them. + +We see, especially, the intolerant and persecuting spirit reigning in +countries which continue subject to the Roman pontiff. It was there that +priests, nurtured in the maxims of a spiritual despotism, dared with +most insolence to tyrannize over minds. They had the effrontery to +maintain, that the prince could not without impiety dispense with +entering into their quarrels, share their frenzy, and shed the blood of +their enemies. Contrary to the express orders of Jesus, the emissaries +of his vicar preached openly in his name persecution, revenge, hatred, +and massacre. Their clamors imposed on sovereigns; and the least +credulous trembled at sight of their power, which they dared not curb. A +superstitious and cowardly policy made them believe, that it was the +interest of the throne to unite itself for ever with these inhuman and +boisterous madmen. Thus princes, submissive to the clergy, and making +common cause with them, became the ministers of their vengeance, and the +executors of their will. These blind rulers were obliged to support a +power the rival of their own; but they did not perceive, that they +injured their own authority by delivering up their subjects to the +tyranny and extortions of a swarm of men, whose interest it was to +plunge them into ignorance, incite their fanaticism, control their +minds, domineer over their consciences, make them fit instruments to +serve their pride, avarice, and revenge. By this worthless policy, the +liberty of thinking was proscribed with fury, activity was repressed, +science was punished, and industry crushed, while morals were neglected, +and their place supplied by traditional observances. Nations vegetated +in inactivity; men cultivated only monastic virtues, grievous to +themselves and useless to society. They had no other impulse than what +their fanaticism afforded, and no other science than an obscure jargon +of theology. Their understandings were constantly occupied with puerile +disputes on mysterious subtleties, unworthy of rational beings. Those +futile occupations engrossed the attention of the most profound genius, +whose labors would have been useful if they had been directed to objects +really interesting. + +Under the despotism of priestcraft, nations were impoverished to foster, +in abundance, in luxury, and often in drunkenness, legions of monks, +priests, and pontiffs, from whom they derived no real benefit. Under +pretence of supporting the intercessors with God, they richly endowed a +multitude of drones, whose prayers and reveries procured only misery and +dissensions. Education, entrusted throughout Christendom, to base or +ignorant priests, formed superstitious persons only, destitute of the +qualities necessary to make useful citizens. The instructions they gave +to Christians were confined to dogmas and mysteries which they could +never comprehend; they incessantly preached evangelical morality; but +that sublime morality which all the world applauds, and which so few +practise, because it is compatible with the nature and wants of man, did +not restrain the passions, or check their irregularities. When that +Stoical morality was attempted to be practised, it was only by imbecile +fanatics or fiery enthusiasts, whom the ardour of their zeal rendered +dangerous to society. The saints of Christianity were either the most +useless or most flagitious of men. + +Princes, the great, the rich, and even the heads of the church, +considered themselves excused from the literal practice of precepts and +counsels, which a God himself had come to communicate. They left +Christian perfection to some miserable monks, for whom alone it seemed +originally destined. Complaisant guides smoothed for others the to +Paradise, and, without bridling the passions, persuaded their votaries +that it was sufficient to come at stated times _to confess_ their faults +to them, humble themselves at their feet, undergo the penances and +ceremonies which they should impose, and especially make donations to +the church, in order to obtain from God remission of the outrages they +committed on his creatures. By these means, in most Christian countries, +people and princes openly united devotion with the most hideous +depravity of manners, and often with the blackest crimes. There were +devout tyrants and adulterers, oppressors and iniquitous ministers, +courtiers without morals, and public depredators--all very devout. There +were knaves of every kind displaying the greatest zeal for a religion, +the ministers of which imposed easy expiations even on those who +violated its most express precepts. Thus, by the cares of the spiritual +guides of Christians, concord was banished from states; princes sunk +into bondage; the people were blinded; science was stifled; nations were +impoverished; true morality was unknown; and the most devout Christians +were devoid of those talents and virtues which are indispensably +necessary for the support of society. + +Such are the immense advantages which the religion of Jesus has procured +to the world! Such are the effects we see resulting from the gospel, or +the _glad tidings_ which the Son of God came in person to announce! To +judge of it by its fruits; that is, according to the rule which the +messiah himself has given, the incredulous find that Christianity was +allegorically represented by the fig tree accursed. But those who have +faith assure us, that in the other world this tree will produce +delicious fruits. We must therefore wait for them in patience, for every +thing evinces that the great benefits promised by this religion are very +little perceptible in the present world. + +There are, however, some who carry incredulity so far as to think, that +if there exists a God really jealous of his rights, he will confer no +reward on those who are so impious as to associate with him a man, a +Jew, and a Charlatan; and to pay him honors which are due only to the +divinity. Indeed, in supposing that God is offended with the actions of +his creatures, and concerns himself with their behaviour, he must be +irritated at the odious conduct of many Christians, who, under pretence +of devotion and zeal, believe themselves permitted to violate the most +sacred duties of nature of which they make the Deity the author. + +It is, add our unbelievers, very difficult to calculate the duration of +human extravagancies; but they flatter themselves that the reign of +falsehood and error will terminate at some period, and give place to +reason and truth. They hope, the nations and their chiefs will one day +perceive the danger resulting from their prejudices; that they will +blush at having prostituted their praises on objects deserving sovereign +contempt; that they will regret the blood and treasure which baneful +fables and reveries have cost them; and that they will be at last +ashamed of having been the dupes and victims of a mass of romances, +destitute of probability, at never possessing a more solid foundation +than the astonishing credulity of men, and the astonishing impudence of +those who preach them. These unbelievers venture at least a glimpse at a +time when men, become more sensible of their own interest, will +acknowledge the truly barbarous folly of hating and tormenting +themselves, and cutting one another's throats for obscure dogmas, +puerile opinions, and ceremonially unworthy of rational beings, and on +which it is impossible to be ever unanimous. They even have the temerity +to maintain, that it is very possible sovereigns and subjects may one +day loathe a religion burdensome to the people, and producing real +advantages only to the priests of a beggarly and crucified God. They +think, that the profane laity, if undeceived, could easily bring their +priests back to the frugal life of the apostles or of Jesus whom they +ought to regard as a model at least, these unbelievers imagine that the +ministers of the God of peace would be obliged to live more peaceably, +and follow some occupation more honest than that of deceiving, and +tearing to pieces the society which fosters them. + +If it is demanded of us what can be substituted for a religion which at +all times has produced effects pernicious to the happiness of the human +race, we will bid men cultivate the reason, which, much better than +absurd and deceptive systems, will advance their welfare, and make them +sensible to the value of virtue. Finally, we will tell them with +Tertullian, _Why pain yourselves in seeking for a divine law, when you +have that which is common to mankind, and engraven on the tablets of +NATURE_. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Ecce Homo!, by Paul Henry Thiry Baron d' Holbach + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ECCE HOMO! *** + +***** This file should be named 39052.txt or 39052.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/0/5/39052/ + +Produced by the Freethought Archives (www.ftarchives.net) +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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