MASSEY'S LECTURES
NOTES
Notes to Massey's First Lecture
[1] [The pagination of this lecture, and the
others to follow, is based on the Weiser reprint of 1975. Massey quotes from both
the Authorised Version of the Bible and the Revised Version of
1881. I have preferred to follow the AV, and all biblical quotes are
based on this, unless otherwise stated.
This lecture is probably the one for which Massey has received much
consternation as well as approbation and follows on from the last two sections
of The Natural Genesis. That
there is good argumentative support for what Massey says here only adds to the
erudition to which he so ardently bestowed on the foundation of his thinking. An
historical Christ can never be proven, not even in this day and age, let alone
over a hundred years ago when anybody born in the western world could so easily
be condemned as a blasphemer for questioning his existence at all. Massey here
displays his inner hatred for Christianity which makes him independent from
other Victorian thinkers, but in no way outwardly condemns it, using scholarly
research rather than jibes to support his theory. He denies the historical
validity of Christ, but not the spiritual validity of a symbolic Christ, for
that type would have had its earliest foundations in a primordial tradition. When modern theologists and
researches in the fields of archaeology are still looking for Christ's supposed
burial site, or trying to prove his existence through a piece of cloth indelibly
imprinted with his supposed image, it is no wonder that Massey should still be
so largely ignored on this point. He would later re-adumbrate his conclusions
more forcefully in the last sections of
Ancient Egypt, which of course should be read after this lecture.]
[2] [Champollion deciphered the hieroglyphs in 1822 after matching the cartouches in the Rosetta Stone to their Greek counterparts; since the pharaonic names were widely known and recognised, he was easily able to decipher the text. Thomas Young, an Englishman, almost beat him to the race to decipher the Egyptian writing which had been clouded in mystery for over a thousand years. Only Coptic is its closest equivalent and is still spoken today in some churches of Ethiopia.]
[3] [Source.]
[4] [Unable to trace.]
[5] [Acts 2:23. 'Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.']
[6] [Source.]
[7] [Source.]
[8] [The existence of a real personal and
historical Christ has been discussed by many authorities, including Massey
himself. See AE 12,
NG 13. See also my
essay which discusses the value of
this evidence, and the Josephus testimony (Flavium Testamentum). The
latter I postulate in my essay as being by Eusebius, a notorious liar and
forger, anything to further his own personal worth, duping all and sundry with
his very narrow-minded beliefs. Others are of the same opinion, although a
so-called scholar (Middle East correspondent Jeremy Bowen) recently said on TV that we know Christ existed because
Josephus mentions him! That many authors around the time of
Christ neglect to mention his existence seriously undermines any belief in such
an historical figure.
See also such sites as
www.jesusneverexisted.com and the
film Zeitgeist, online at
www.zeitgeistthemovie.com, which quotes Massey and uses his theory of an
allegorical Christ to describe astronomical phenomena. See also Achary's works,
especially Who is Jesus? and Christ in Egypt,
and her website www.truthbeknown.com.
I am of the opinion that most of her research and conclusions can be traced back
to Massey. Her work has also been heavily criticised by Christians and Christian
apologists who attempt to undermine her theories by tenaciously clinging to
their own biblical beliefs and quote some classical authors who supposedly refer
to a Christ or Chrestus, yet cannot produce any other evidence to
substantiate his existence outside the biblical narrative. One in particular
also condemns Acharys's citations of Massey, dismissing him as a charlatan who
did not know what he was talking about.
These discussions and others can be found on
www.youtube.com. Search for and watch the
following films/videos:
1. Exposing the Satanic Empire
2. The Evidence for the Existence of Jesus
3. Zeitgeist Challenge
4. Zeitgeist Debunked
Needless to say, the researches behind these films have read little or none of
Massey's works. An article on Massey at Wikepedia discussing his work and the
theory he evolved concerning the correlations between Christ and Horus can also
be rightly rejected as again it does not focus on Massey's work per se
but rather settles for comfortable opinions of his work by others who clearly
have not read his works either.]
[9] [Unable to trace.]
[10] [This lost work attributed to Celsus survives in fragments only in the work Against Celsus by Origen who quotes from it extensively.]
[11] [Against Celsus, 2. 3. 'But since it is a Jew who makes these assertions in the treatise of Celsus, we would say to him: Pray, friend, why do you believe the works which are recorded in your writings as having been performed by God through the instrumentality of Moses to be really divine, and endeavour to refute those who slanderously assert that they were wrought by sorcery, like those of the Egyptian magicians; while, in imitation of your Egyptian opponents, you charge those which were done by Jesus, and which, you admit, were actually performed, with not being divine.' ANCL, 23, 55.]
[12] [Clementine Recognitions, bk. 1, ch. 42. 'Meantime, when He had suffered, and darkness had overwhelmed the world from the sixth even to the ninth hour, as soon as the sun shone out again, and things were returned to their usual course, even wicked men returned to themselves and their former practices, their fear having abated. For some of them, watching the place with all care, when they could not prevent His rising again, said that He was a magician; others pretended that He was stolen away.' ANCL, 3. The other magician mentioned throughout this text and the Homilies is, of course, Simon, the magus, who attempted to buy his way into heaven, hence the term Simonism. See Mead on Simon Magus.]
[13] [Against Heresies, or Panarion.]
[14] [Irenaeus' Against all Heresies appears in ANCL, 5.]
[16] [Unable to trace.]
[17] [Ăbōdā Zārā.]
[18] [See NG 2:398
and AE 2:757. The
illustration is taken from Sharpe, History of Egypt, vol. 1, p. 68, fig.
61. 'On the walls of the
palace at Luxor we have a sculpture representing the miraculous birth of this
son (see Fig. 61). In the first place, Queen Mautmes is receiving a message from
heaven through the god Thoth, that she is to give birth to a child. Then the god
Kneph, takes her by the hand, and with the goddess Athor puts into her, through
her mouth, life for the child that is to be born. She is then placed upon a
stool, after the custom of the Egyptian mothers, as mentioned in the book of
Exodus. While seated there, two nurses chafe her hands to support her against
the pains of child-birth; and the new-born child is held up beside her by a
third nurse. In another place the priests and nobles are saluting their future
king. In this way the sculpture declares that the young king had no earthly
father; and it explains what was meant by the royal title of Son of Amun-Ra, and
also how the Greeks came to be afterwards told that the Egyptian queens were
Jupiter's concubines.'
This is also discussed in his Egyptian Mythology, pp. 18-9. 'This
opinion of the miraculous birth of the kings is well explained in a series of
sculptures on the wall of the temple of Luxor (see Fig.
28). First, the god Thoth,
with the head of an ibis, and with his ink and pen-case in his left hand, as the
messenger of the gods, like the Mercury of the Greeks, tells the maiden queen
Mautmes that she is to give birth to a son, who is to be king Amunothph III.
Secondly, the god Kneph, the spirit, with a ram's head, and the goddess
Athor, with the sun and cow's horns upon her head, both take hold of the queen
by her hands, and put into her mouth the character for life, which is to be the
life of the coming child. Thirdly, the queen, when the child is to be born, is
seated on the midwife's stool, as described in Exodus i. 16; two of the
attending nurses rub her hands to ease the pains of childbirth, while another of
the nurses holds up the baby, over which is written the name of king Amunothph
III. He holds his finger to his mouth to mark his infancy; he has not yet
learned to speak. Lastly, the several gods or priests attend in adoration upon
their knees to present their gifts to this wonderful child, who is seated in the
midst of them, and is receiving their homage. In this picture we have the
Annunciation, the Conception, the Birth, and the Adoration, as described in the
First and Second Chapters of Luke's Gospel; and as we have historical assurance
that the chapters in Matthew's Gospel, which contain the Miraculous Birth of
Jesus, are an after addition not in the earliest manuscripts, it seems probable
that these two poetical chapters in Luke may also be unhistorical, and be
borrowed from the Egyptian accounts of the miraculous birth of their kings.'
See also D.M. Murdock's Christ in Egypt, where she discusses this
illustration and gives the different renderings of its depiction by several
authorities.]
[19] [Book of Common Prayer, p. 26. 'The 'Epact': the number of days which must be added to a period of 12 complete lunations (or a lunar year) to bring this up to a solar year.']
[20] [See BB 1:46 & NG 2:401.]
[21] [Source. But see also the book by D. M. Murdock (aka Acharya S.), Christ in Egypt, the preliminary chapters, where she discusses the date of Christ's nativity, 25th December, and its relation to the winter solstice.]
[22] [Source.]
[23] [Of Isis and Osiris, ch. 65.]
[24] [There is no date of the crucifixion given in any of the synoptic gospels, nor in John. See for example, Matt. 27:31, Mark 15:24, etc.]
[25] [Of Isis and Osiris, ch.
45. This is the only ref Plutarch
makes mention of Mithras in this work, unless another one is implied. For a
representation of the Mithriac cave, see
illustration.
See also NG 2:499.]
[26] [Unable to trace.]
[27] [Unable to trace.]
[28] [Talmud.]
[29] [2 Esd. 13:26. And NEB version.]
[30] [Cory, Ancient Fragments, p. 57.]
[31] [2 Esd.
13:52.
Ibid. '"It is beyond
the power of any man to explore the deep sea and discover what is in it; in the
same way no one on earth can see my son and his company until the appointed
day."' NEB version.]
[32] [Mark 6:48. 'And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them.']
[33] [Cory, Ancient Fragments, p. 57.]
[34] [John 4:32-34. 'But he said unto
them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to
eat?
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to
finish his work.']
[35] [Luke 11:29-30. 'And when the
people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil
generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign
of Jonas the prophet.
For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to
this generation.']
[37] [Matt. 11:29. 'Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.']
[38] [Hieroglyphica, bk. 1. 10. 'To denote an only
begotten, or generation, or a father, or the world, or a man, they delineate a SCARABÆUS. And they symbolise by this an only begotten, because the
scarabæus is a creature self-produced, being unconceived by a female; for the
propagation of it is unique after this manner:—when the male is desirous of
procreating, he takes dung of an ox, and shapes it into a spherical form like
the world; he then rolls it from the hinder parts from east to west, looking
himself towards the east, that he may impart to it the figure of the world, (for
that is borne from east to west, while the course of the stars is from west to
east): then, having dug a hole, the scarabæus deposits this ball in the earth
for the space of twenty-eight days, (for in so many days the moon passes through
the twelve signs of the zodiac). By thus remaining under the moon, the race of
scarabæi is endued with life; and upon the nine and twentieth day after having
opened the ball, it casts it into water, for it is aware that upon that day the
conjunction of the moon and sun takes place, as well as the generation of the
world. From the ball thus opened in the water, the animals, that is the scarabæi,
issue forth. The scarabæus also symbolizes generation, for the reason
before mentioned—and a father, because the scarabæus is engendered by a
father only—and the world, because in its generation it is fashioned
in the form of the world—and a man, because there is no female race among
them. Moreover there are three species of scarabæi, the first like a cat, and
irradiated, which species they have consecrated to the sun from this similarity:
for they say that the male cat changes the shape of the pupils of his eyes
according to the course of the sun: for in the morning
at the rising of the god, they are dilated, and in the middle of the
day become round, and about sunset appear less brilliant: whence, also, the
statue of the god in the city of the sun is of the form of a cat. Every
scarabæus also has thirty toes, corresponding with the thirty days duration of
the month, during which the rising sun [moon?] performs his course. The second
species is the two horned and bull formed, which is consecrated to the moon;
whence the children of the Egyptians say, that the bull in the heavens is the
exaltation of this goddess. The third species is the one horned and Ibis
formed, which they regard as
consecrated to Hermes [Thoth], in like manner as the bird Ibis.'
See
also BB 1:6 for another ref. to this chapter.]
[39] [Ambrose, Works,
Paris, 1686, vol. 1, col. 1528. 'After the Christian era the influence of the
scarab was still felt. St Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, calls Jesus: "The good
Scarabaeus, who rolled up before him the hitherto unshapen mud of our bodies."'
See Myers, Scarabs, p. 63.
See also BB
1:233, BB
2:317,
NG 2:408. See AE
2:732 where both this quote and the above are cited
on the same page.]
[41] [Matt. 10:34. 'Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.']
[42] [Source.]
[43] [Luke 8:27. 'And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.']
[44] [Source.]
[45] [Birch, 'Possessed Princess,' RP, 4, 53.]
[46] [Rit. ch. 92. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[47] [Luke 8:30-35. 'And Jesus asked him,
saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered
into him.
And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.
And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they
besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them.
Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd
ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.
When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in
the city and in the country.
Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man,
out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and
in his right mind: and they were afraid.']
[48] [John 10:30. 'I and my Father are one.']
[49] [John 14:7. 'If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.']
[50] [Mark 16:17-18. 'And these signs
shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they
shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not
hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.']
[51] [John 11:43. 'And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.']
[52] [Luke 12:49. 'I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?']
[53] [Mark 9:2-3. 'And after six days
Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an
high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.
And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on
earth can white them.']
[54] [2 Peter 1:17. 'For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.']
[55] [Rit. ch. 146. Cf. Renouf's tr. Note here the way in which Massey takes liberties with the wording in this chapter. Far better would it have been if he used square brackets for his own interpretations of particular words or names, like Seth [Satan], etc.]
[56] [Rit. ch. 117. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[57] [John 4:14. 'But whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into
everlasting life.'
John 14:6. 'Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no
man cometh unto the Father, but by me.']
[58] [John 4:21. 'Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.']
[59] [Rit. ch. 78. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[60] [Rit. ch. 97. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[61] [Rit. ch. 125. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[62] [Rit. ch.
47. Cf.
Renouf's tr.
John 11:2. '(It
was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her
hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)']
[63] [Rit. ch. 97. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[64] [John 4:35. 'Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.']
[65] [Luke 10:2. 'Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.']
[66] [Lefebure, 'Book of Hades,' RP, 10, 79. See p. 119.]
[67] [Rit. ch. 52. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[68] [Rit. ch. 53. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[69] [John 18:2. 'And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples.']
[70] [Rit. ch. 35. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[71] [John 13:27. 'And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.']
[72] [Rit. ch. 64. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[73] [Matt. 26:62-63. 'And the high
priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these
witness against thee?
But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I
adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the
Son of God.']
[74] [Matt. 27:45. 'Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.']
[75] [Matt. 27:52. 'And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose.']
[76] [Rit. ch. 147. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[77] [De Errore Profanarum Religionum,
p. 18. 'Over and above the scourgings, there were also slashings and
cuttings of the flesh required as propitiatory rites on the part of his
worshippers. "In the solemn celebration of the Mysteries," says Julius Firmicus,
"all things in order had to be done, which the youth either did or suffered at
his death."' From Hislop, The Two Babylons, p. 152.
See also NG 2:432.]
[78] [The Library, bk. 1. 'And they bring arguments from every trade that is used, to prove that every thing wherein the Grecians excel, and for which they are admired, was brought over from Egypt into Greece. For they say, that Orpheus brought over most of the religious rites and ceremonies, both as to what concerns the celebration of the Orgia, and relating to his wandering up and down, and the whole entire fable of hell; for that the ceremonies and rites of Osiris agree in every thing with those of Bacchus, and that those of Isis and Ceres are one and the same, differing in nothing but the name. And whereas he introduces the wicked tormented in hell, the Elysian fields for the pious and just, and the fictitious appearances of ghosts, (commonly noised abroad), they say he has done nothing but imitated the Egyptian funerals.' Booth's tr., vol. 1, p. 95.]
[79] [Luke 22:44. 'And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.']
[80] [Alexandra, lines 31 on. See also Jonathan Edwards' Evidence and Facts Concerning Christianity (www.apuritansmind.com) where Edwards uses this same passage by Lycophron as proof of Christ's reality!]
[81] [Luke 23:11. 'And Herod with his
men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous
robe, and sent him again to Pilate.'
Mark 15:17. 'And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of
thorns, and put it about his head.'
Matt. 27:28. 'And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.'
John 19:2. 'And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his
head, and they put on him a purple robe.']
[82] [Rit. ch. 19. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[83] [Rit. ch. 28. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[84] [John 20:11-12. 'But Mary stood
without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked
into the sepulchre,
And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the
feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.']
[85] [Rit. ch. 46. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[86] [John 20:17. 'Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.']
[87] [Rit. ch. 42. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[88] [Luke 24:39. 'Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.']
[89] [See above note.
John 20:27.
'Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and
reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but
believing.']
[90] ['In it he also inserts a testimony about the person of Christ, from the Gospel which was lately translated by me; his words are: But I both saw him (this is wrongly quoted) in the flesh after the resurrection, and believe that he is in the flesh: and when he came to Peter and those who were with Peter, he said to them: Lo, feel me and see that I am not a bodiless spirit (demon). And forthwith they touched him and believed.' Quoted in Jerome, Of Illustrious Men, 16.]
[91] [Matt. 11:5. 'The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.']
[92] [Rev. 11:8. 'And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.']
[93] [Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians. The Second Series, vol. 1, p. 327. 'The existence of Osiris on earth was, of course, a speculative theory,—an allegory, not altogether unlike the avatars of the Indian Vishnoo; and some may be disposed to think that the Egyptians, being aware of the promises of the real Saviour, had anticipated that event, recording it as though it had already happened, and introducing that mystery into their religious system.']
Notes to Massey's Second Lecture
[94] [Elaine Pagels refers to Paul as a Gnostic in her book, The Gnostic Paul: Exegesis of the Pauline Letters, Fortress Press; Philadelphia, 1975, where strangely she takes Massey's stance in that Paul, rather than remonstrating against the Gnostics, like the Valentinians, in his epistles, is demonstrating gnostic biases. I say 'strangely' because she too, like all other scholars, ignores Massey and particularly this lecture of his.]
[95] [Acts 9:17-22. 'And Ananias went
his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother
Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest,
hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy
Ghost.
And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received
sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.
And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days
with the disciples which were at Damascus.
And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.
But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them
which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he
might bring them bound unto the chief priests?
But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at
Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.']
[96] [See note below.]
[97] [Gal. 1:16. 'To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.']
[98] [See The Gospel of Marcion.]
[99] [Against Heresies, bk. 1, ch. 27. 'In like manner, too, he dismembered the epistles of Paul, removing all that is said by the apostle respecting that God who made the world, to the effect that He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also those passages from the prophetical writings which the apostle quotes, in order to teach us that they announced beforehand the coming of the Lord.' ANCL, 5, 98.]
[100] [Ibid., bk. 3, ch. 12. 'Paul himself also—after that the Lord spoke to him out of heaven, and showed him that, in persecuting His disciples, he persecuted his own Lord, and sent Ananias to him, that he might recover his sight, and be baptized—"preached," it is said, "Jesus in the synagogues at Damascus, with all freedom of speech, that this is the Son of God, the Christ." This is the mystery which he says was made known to him by revelation, that He who suffered under Pontius Pilate, the same is Lord of all, and King, and God, and Judge, receiving power from Him who is the God of all, because He became "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."' ANCL, 5.]
[101] [Ibid., bk. 3, ch. 5. 'Since, therefore, the tradition from the apostles does thus exist in the church, and is permanent among us, let us revert to the scriptural proof furnished by those apostles who did also write the Gospel, in which they recorded the doctrine regarding God, pointing out that our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth, and that no lie is in Him. As also David says, prophesying His birth from a virgin, and the resurrection from the dead, "Truth has sprung out of the earth." The apostles, likewise, being disciples of the truth, are above all falsehood; for a lie has no fellowship with the truth, just as darkness has none with light, but the presence of the one shuts out that of the other. Our Lord, therefore, being the truth, did not speak lies; and whom He knew to have taken origin from a defect, He never would have acknowledged as God, even the God of all, the Supreme King, too, and His own Father, an imperfect being as a perfect one, an animal one as a spiritual. Him who was without the Pleroma as Him who was within it. Neither did His disciples make mention of any other God, or term any other Lord, except Him, who was truly the God and Lord of all, as these most vain sophists affirm that the apostles did with hypocrisy frame their doctrine according to the capacity of their hearers, and gave answers after the opinions of their questioners,—fabling blind things for the blind, according to their blindness; for the dull according to their dulness; for those in error according to their error.' ANCL, 5.]
[102] [Stromata, bk. 7, ch. 3. 'The
Son the Ruler and Saviour of All.
To know God is, then, the first step of faith; then, through confidence in the
teaching of the Saviour, to consider the doing of wrong in any way as not
suitable to the knowledge of God.
So the best thing on earth is the most pious man; and the best thing in heaven,
the nearer in place and purer, is an angel, the partaker of the eternal and
blessed life. But the nature of the Son, which is nearest to Him who is alone
the Almighty One, is the most perfect, and most holy, and most potent, and most
princely, and most kingly, and most beneficent. This is the highest excellence,
which orders all things in accordance with the Father's will, and holds the helm
of the universe in the best way, with unwearied and tireless power, working all
things in which it operates, keeping in view its hidden designs. For from His
own point of view the Son of God is never displaced; not being divided, not
severed, not passing from place to place; being always everywhere, and being
contained nowhere; complete mind, the complete paternal light; all eyes, seeing
all things, hearing all things, knowing all things, by His power scrutinizing
the powers. To Him is placed in subjection all the host of angels and gods; He,
the paternal Word, exhibiting a the holy administration for Him who put
[all] in subjection to Him.
Wherefore also all men are His; some through knowledge, and others not yet so;
and some as friends, some as faithful servants, some as servants merely. This is
the Teacher, who trains the Gnostic by mysteries, and the believer by good
hopes, and the hard of heart by corrective discipline through sensible
operation.' ANCL.]
[103] [History of the Origins
of Christianity, vol. 2, p. xi. 'The three accounts of the conversion of
Paul in the Acts present also little differences, which prove simply that
the author did not trouble himself much about the exactness of the details.
It appears then that we shall be very near the truth in supposing that the Acts
were written about the year 80. The spirit of the book, in fact, corresponds
completely with the age of the first Flavians.']
[104] [Gal. 1:16-7. 'To reveal his Son
in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not
with flesh and blood:
Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went
into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.']
[105] [Gal. 1:9. 'As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.']
[106] [Gal. 3:1-3. 'O foolish
Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before
whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law,
or by the hearing of faith?
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the
flesh?']
[107] [Gal. 1:11-12. 'But I certify
you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ.']
[108] [The Epistles to the Hebrews' authorship has often been contested with many scholars debating its authority as a work of Paul's.]
[109] [Heb. 7:3. 'Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.']
[110] [Tit. 3:9. 'But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.']
[111] [1 Tim. 1:4. 'Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.']
[112] [Poss. in Irenaeus' Against Heresies, but unable to trace.]
[113] [Panarion.]
[114] [Unable to trace. But see ANCL, 3, 48. 'Tatian, the patriarch of the Encratites, who himself rejected some of Paul's epistles, believed this especially, that is [addressed] to Titus, ought to be declared to be the apostle's, thinking little of the assertion of Marcion and others, who agree with him on this point.']
[115] [Rom. 1:3. 'Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.']
[116] [Barn. 12:10. 'Behold again it is Jesus, not a son of man, but the Son of God, and He was revealed in the flesh in a figure. Since then men will say that Christ is the son of David, David himself prophesieth being afraid and understanding the error of sinners; The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on My right hand until I set thine enemies for a footstool under Thy feet.']
[117] [1 Cor. 12:3. 'Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.']
[118] [See The Gospel of Marcion.]
[119] [2 Tim. 2:8. 'Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel.']
[120] [Rom. 2:16. 'In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.']
[121] [The Revised Version of the Bible was published in 1881, complete with marginalia, demonstrating differences in the translations and recensions.]
[122] [1 Tim. 6:13. 'I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession.']
[123] [1 Tim. 6:15-16. 'Which in his
times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings,
and Lord of lords;
Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto;
whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting.
Amen.']
[124] [1 Cor. 15:51-52. 'Behold, I
show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed.']
[125] [See above note.]
[126] [Heb. 2:3. 'How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.']
[127] [1 Cor. 15:3-9. 'For I
delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures.
And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the
greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.']
[128] [2 Cor. 11:5. 'For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.']
[129] [Col. 1:16. 'For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.']
[130] [Col. 1:18. 'And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.']
[131] [1 Cor. 15:20. 'But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.']
[132] [Rit. ch. 133. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[133] [On the Confusion of Languages, ch. 14. 'I have also heard of one of the companions of Moses having uttered such a speech as this: "Behold, a man whose name is the East!" A very novel appellation indeed, if you consider it as spoken of a man who is compounded of body and soul; but if you look upon it as applied to that incorporeal being who in no respect differs from the divine image, you will then agree that the name of the east has been given to him with great felicity.' Works, vol. 2, p. 14. Yonge's tr.]
[134] [Eph. 4:12-13. 'For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of
Christ.']
[135] [Irenaeus, Against Heresies, bk. 1, ch. 2. 'Then, out of gratitude for the great benefit which had been conferred on them, the whole Pleroma of the Æons, with one design and desire, and with the concurrence of Christ and the Holy Spirit, their Father also setting the seal of his approval on their conduct, brought together whatever each one had in himself of the greatest beauty and preciousness; and uniting all these contributions so as skilfully to blend the whole, they produced, to the honour and glory of Bythus, a being of most perfect beauty, the very star of the Pleroma, and the perfect fruit [of it], namely Jesus.' ANCL, 5, 11.]
[136] [Eph. 1:10. 'That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.']
[137] [Rom. 11:36. 'For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.']
[138] [Col. 2:9. 'For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.']
[139] [Col. 2:8. 'Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.']
[140] [Col. 1:19. 'For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.']
[141] [2 Peter 1:17. 'For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.']
[142] [Constitutions of the Holy
Apostles, bk. 7, ch. 41. 'The renunciation of the adversary, and the
dedication to the Christ of God.
I renounce Satan, and his works, and his pomps, and his worship, and his angels,
and his inventions, and all things that are under him.
And, after this renunciation, let him, in his dedication, say, And I associate
myself with Christ, and believe in and am baptized into one unbegotten Being,
the only true God Almighty, the Father of Christ, the Creator and Maker of all
things, from whom are all things; and into the Lord Jesus Christ, his
only-begotten Son, the First-born of the whole creation, who, before the ages,
was, by the good pleasure of the Father, begotten, not created; through whom
all things were made, both those in heaven and those on earth, visible and
invisible; who, in the last days, descended from heaven, and took flesh, and
was born of the holy virgin Mary, and lived a holy life, according to the laws
of his God and Father, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died for us;
and rose again from the dead, after his Passion, the third day, and ascended
into the heavens, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; and again is to
come at the end of the world, with glory, to judge the living and the dead; of
whose kingdom there shall be no end. I am baptized also into the Holy Ghost,
that is, the Comforter, who wrought in all the saints from the beginning of the
world, but was afterwards sent to the apostles by the Father, according to the
promise of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, and, after the apostles, to all
who believe, in the holy Catholic church; into the resurrection of the flesh,
and into the remission of sins, and into the kingdom of heaven, and into the
life of the world to come.
And, after this declaration, he cometh in order to the anointing with oil.'
Chase, The Work Claiming to be the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles,
including the Canons,
p. 191. 'I renounce Satan, and his works, and his pomps, and his worship, and
his angels, and his inventions, and all things that are under him.
And, after this renunciation, let him, in his dedication,
say, And I associate myself with Christ, and believe in and am baptized into one
unbegotten Being, the only true God Almighty, the Father of Christ, the Creator
and Maker of all things, from whom are all things; and into the Lord Jesus
Christ, his only-begotten Son, the First-born of the whole creation, who, before
the ages, was, by the good pleasure of the Father, begotten, not created;
through whom all things were made, both those in heaven and those on earth,
visible and invisible; who, in the last days, descended from heaven, and took
flesh, and was born of the holy virgin Mary, and lived a holy life, according to
the laws of his God and Father, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died
for us; and rose again from the dead, after his Passion, the third day, and
ascended into the heavens, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; and
again is to come at the end of the world, with glory, to judge the living and
the dead; of whose kingdom there shall be no end. I am baptized also into the
Holy Ghost, that is, the Comforter, who wrought in all the saints from the
beginning of the world, but was afterwards sent to the apostles by the Father,
according to the promise of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, and, after the
apostles, to all who believe, in the holy Catholic church; into the resurrection
of the flesh, and into the remission of sins, and into the kingdom of heaven,
and into the life of the world to come.
And, after this declaration, he cometh in order to the
anointing with oil.'
The official and the unofficial texts are, needless to say, identical.]
[143] [2 Tim. 2:14-19. 'Of these
things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive
not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more
ungodliness.
And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past
already; and overthrow the faith of some.
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord
knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ
depart from iniquity.']
[144] [2 Tim. 2:17-18. 'And their
word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past
already; and overthrow the faith of some.']
[145] [Philip. 3:11-12. 'If by any
means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus.']
[146] [Heb. 9:22. 'And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.']
[147] [Col. 1:20. 'And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.']
[148] [Eph. 1:7. 'In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.']
[149] [Heb. 6:1-3. 'Therefore
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection;
not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith
toward God,
Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of
the dead, and of eternal judgment.
And this will we do, if God permit.']
[150] [Heb. 6:4-6. 'For it is
impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they
crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.']
[151] [1 Cor. 2:7. 'But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.']
[152] [Eph. 3:4-5. 'Whereby, when ye
read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ,
Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now
revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.']
[153] [Col. 1:27. 'To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.']
[154] [Rom. 16:25. 'Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.']
[155] [Origen, Against Celsus, bk. 6, ch. 42. 'After these matters, Celsus brings the following charges against us from another quarter: "Certain most impious errors," he says, "are committed by them, due to their extreme ignorance, in which they have wandered away from the meaning of the divine enigmas, creating an adversary to God, the devil, and naming him in the Hebrew tongue, Satan. Now, of a truth, such statements are altogether of mortal invention, and not even proper to be repeated, viz. that the mighty God, in His desire to confer good upon men, has yet one counterworking Him, and is helpless. The Son of God, it follows, is vanquished by the devil; and being punished by him, teaches us also to despise the punishments which he inflicts, telling us beforehand that Satan, after appearing to men as He Himself had done, will exhibit great and marvellous works, claiming for himself the glory of God, but that those who wish to keep him at a distance ought to pay no attention to these works of Satan, but to place their faith in Him alone. Such statements are manifestly the words of a deluder, planning and manoeuvring against those who are opposed to his views, and who rank themselves against them." In the next place, desiring to point out the "enigmas," our mistakes regarding which lead to the introduction of our views concerning Satan, he continues: "The ancients allude obscurely to a certain war among the gods, Heraclitus speaking thus of it: 'If one must say that there is a general war and discord, and that all things are done and administered in strife.' Pherecydes, again, who is much older than Heraclitus, relates a myth of one army drawn up in hostile array against another, and names Kronos as the leader of the one, and Ophioneus of the other, and recounts their challenges and struggles, and mentions that agreements were entered into between them, to the end that whichever party should fall into the Ocean, should be held as vanquished, while those who had expelled and conquered them should have possession of heaven. The mysteries relating to the Titans and Giants also had some such [symbolical] meaning, as well as the Egyptian mysteries of Typhon, and Horus, and Osiris."' ANCL, 23, 581.]
[156] [Unable to trace. Not in his letter to Anebo in Iamblichus' On the Mysteries, nor his Cave of the Nymphs, nor his anti-Christian writings. See also NG 2:485.]
[157] [Charles, Apocrypha and
Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1, p. 306. 'The personification of Wisdom is
illustrated in another way when it is said that she takes up her abode among
men, and invites them to come and dwell with her:
With faithful men is she, and she hath been established from eternity
And with their seed shall she continue
Come unto me, ye that desire me,
And be ye filled with my produce;
For my memorial is sweeter than honey.
And the possession of me than the honey-comb.'
Sirach, 24, 17-22. 'I as a vine put forth grace,
And my flowers are the fruit of glory and wealth.
Come unto me, ye that desire me,
And be ye filled with my produce;
For my memorial is sweeter than honey,
And the possession of me than the honey-comb.' Revised Version.]
[158] [Irenaeus, Against Heresies, bk, 1, ch. 13.2. 'Pretending to consecrate cups mixed with wine, and protracting to great length the word of invocation, he contrives to give them a purple and reddish colour, so that Charis, who is one of those that are superior to all things, should be thought to drop her own blood into that cup through means of his invocation, and that thus those who are present should be led to rejoice to taste of that cup, in order that, by so doing, the Charis, who is set forth by this magician, may also flow into them.' ANCL, 5, 52.]
[159] [Ibid., bk. 1, ch. 13.3. '"Adorn thyself as a bride who is expecting her bridegroom, that thou mayest be what I am, and I what thou art. Establish the germ of light in thy nuptial chamber. Receive from me a spouse, and become receptive of him, while thou art received by him. Behold Charis has descended upon thee; open thy mouth and prophesy."' ANCL, 5, 53.]
[160] [See Gospel of the Egyptians.]
[161] [See Shepherd of Hermas.]
[162] [1 Cor. 1:21. 'For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.']
[163] [1 Cor. 1:24. 'But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.']
[164] [1 Cor. 1:30. 'But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.']
[165] [2 Cor. 1:12. 'For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.']
[166] [2 Cor. 5:16. 'Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.']
[167] [Gal. 4:24. 'Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.']
[168] [Ecc. 24:17. 'I put forth lovely shoots like the vine.' NEB version. See also note 157 above.]
[169] [Prov. 9:5. 'Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.']
[170] [Wis. 7:26. 'She is the brightness that streams from everlasting light, the flawless mirror of the active power of God and the image of his goodness.' NEB version.]
[171] [Heb. 1:3. 'Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.']
[172]
[2 Cor. 12:1-2. 'It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will
come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot
tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one
caught up to the third heaven.']
[173] [2 Cor. 12:7. 'And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.']
[174] [2 Cor. 12:2. 'I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.']
[175] [Gal. 4:13-14. 'Ye know how
through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but
received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.']
[176] [1 Cor. 2:13. 'Which things
also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.'
1 Cor. 14:2. 'For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto
men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he
speaketh mysteries.']
[177] [1 Cor. 12:8-10. 'For to one
is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by
the same Spirit;
To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same
Spirit;
To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning
of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of
tongues.']
[178] [Jam. 5:8. 'Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.']
[179] [2 Pet. 3:4. 'And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.']
[180] [2 Pet. 3:16. 'As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.']
[181]
[1 Thess. 5:4-5. 'But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day
should overtake you as a thief.
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the
night, nor of darkness.']
[182] [2 Thess. 2:1-3. 'Now we
beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our
gathering together unto him,
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by
word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there
come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition.']
[183] [2 Thess. 2:4. 'Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.']
[184] [2 Thess. 2:5-11. 'Remember ye not,
that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let,
until he be taken out of the way.
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the
spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs
and lying wonders,
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe
a lie.']
[185] [Clementine Homilies, Homily
XVII, ch. 19.'Opposition to Peter Unreasonable.
"If, then, our Jesus appeared to you in a vision, made Himself known to you, and
spoke to you, it was as one who is enraged with an adversary; and this is the
reason why it was through visions and dreams, or through revelations that were
from without, that He spoke to you. But can any one be rendered fit for
instruction through apparitions? And if you will say, 'It is possible,' then I
ask, 'Why did our teacher abide and discourse a whole year to those who were
awake?' And how are we to believe your word, when you tell us that He appeared
to you? And how did He appear to you, when you entertain opinions contrary to
His teaching? But if you were seen and taught by Him, and became His apostle for
a single hour, proclaim His utterances, interpret His sayings, love His
apostles, contend not with me who companied with Him. For in direct opposition
to me, who am a firm rock, the foundation of the Church, you now stand. If you
were not opposed to me, you would not accuse me, and revile the truth proclaimed
by me, in order that I may not be believed when I state what I myself have heard
with my own ears from the Lord, as if I were evidently a person that was
condemned and in bad repute. But if you say that I am condemned, you bring an
accusation against God, who revealed the Christ to me, and you inveigh against
Him who pronounced me blessed on account of the revelation. But if, indeed, you
really wish to work in the cause of truth, learn first of all from us what we
have learned from Him, and, becoming a disciple of the truth, become a
fellow-worker with us."' Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 8.]
[186] [Massey errs here; the wording is slightly different in the text. Ibid., 2, ch. 17. 'Wherefore, also, he who was among those born of woman came first; then he who was among the sons of men came second. It were possible, following this order, to perceive to what series Simon belongs, who came before me to the Gentiles, and to which I belong who have come after him, and have come in upon him as light upon darkness, as knowledge upon ignorance, as healing upon disease. And thus, as the true Prophet has told us, a false prophet must first come from some deceiver; and then, in like manner, after the removal of the holy place, the true Gospel must be secretly sent abroad for the rectification of the heresies that shall be. After this, also, towards the end, Antichrist must first come, and then our Jesus must be revealed to be indeed the Christ; and after this, the eternal light having sprung up, all the things of darkness must disappear.' Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 8.]
[187] [John 1:14. 'And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.']
[188] [Cyprian, Praedicatio Petri. This treatise has nothing to do with Cyprian; the real author is anonymous. Neither is the Preaching of Peter considered canonical by Eusebius (see H. E. 3.3.1-5) or other Church fathers, although Clement, for example, cites it. See full text.]
Notes to Massey's Third Lecture
[189] [It is unfortunate, as I have stated elsewhere, that Massey never lived into the nineteen-forties when some of the greatest discoveries of ancient texts were being made in Quamran and in the caves adjacent to the Dead Sea. But fortunately he was around in 1904 still when Grenfell and Hunt published some of their findings based on the papyri found at Oxyrhynchus, some of which supposedly contained the sayings of Jesus Christ drawn from direct testimony. See the latter part of Ancient Egypt, and The Natural Genesis. See also the Bibliography.]
[190] [The Interpretation of Scripture
and other Essays, p. 91. 'This is what the law and the prophets seem to them
to have meant when they spoke of God's judgment on His enemies, of the Lord
coming with ten thousand of His saints. And the signs which were to accompany
these things are already seen among them, "not in word only, but in power, and
in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance."
To us the preaching of the Gospel is a new beginning, from which we date all
things, beyond which we neither desire nor are able to inquire. To the first
believers it was otherwise: not the beginning of a new world, but the end of a
former one.']
[191] [Unable to trace.]
[192] [2 Esd. 7:28-29. 'My son the Messiah shall appear with his companions and bring four hundred years of happiness to all who survive. At the end of that time, my son the Messiah shall die, and so shall all mankind who draw breath.' NEB version. See Revised version.]
[193] [The figure of Christ as Saint Sophia does not appear to have paps as the biune being. It appears on page 179 of the first vol. The biune being, however, which does possess paps, originally appeared in NG 1:516 and comes from Guigniaut's work.]
[194] [Natural History, bk. 5, 15. 'On the west side of the Dead Sea, but out of range of the noxious exhalations of the coast, is the solitary tribe of the Essenes, which is remarkable beyond all the other tribes in the whole world, as it has no women and has renounced all sexual desire, has no money, and has only palm-trees for company. Day by day the throng of refugees is recruited to an equal number by numerous accessions of persons tired of life and driven thither by the waves of fortune to adopt their manners.']
[195] [Panarion.]
[196] [Ibid.]
[197] [Unable to trace. Poss. The Instructor, bk. 2, ch. 11. 'The Lord Himself, therefore, dividing His precepts into what relates to the body, the soul, and thirdly, external things, counsels us to provide external things on account of the body; and manages the body by the soul, and disciplines the soul, saying, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on; for the life is more than meat, and the body more than raiment." And He adds a plain example of instruction: "Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them." "Are ye not better than the fowls?" Thus far as to food.' See ANCL, 4, 255.]
[198] [I.e., from the time Irenaeus wrote his diatribe against the Gnostics (ca. 190 AD) to Mansel writing Gnostic Heresies of the First and Second Centuries in 1875.]
[199] [Against Heresies, preface.
'Inasmuch as certain men have set the truth aside, and bring in lying words and
vain genealogies, which, as the apostle says "minister questions rather than
godly edifying which is in faith," and by means of their craftily-constructed
plausibilities draw away the minds of the inexperienced and take them captive,
[I have felt constrained,, my dear friend, to compose the following treatise in
order to expose and counteract their machinations.] These men falsify the
oracles of God, and prove themselves evil interpreters of the good word of
revelation.'
Also, ibid., bk. 1, ch. 7, 1. 'Their manner of acting is just as if one,
when a beautiful image of a king has been constructed by some skilful artist out
of precious jewels, should then take this likeness of the man all to pieces,
should re-arrange the gems, and so fit them together as to make them into the
form of a dog or of a fox, and even that but poorly executed; and should then
maintain and declare that this was that beautiful image of the king which the
skilful artist constructed, pointing to the jewels which had been admirably
fitted together by the first artist to form the image of the king, but have been
with bad effect transferred by the later one to the shape of a dog, and by thus
exhibiting the jewels, should deceive the ignorant who had no conception what a
king's form was like, and persuade them that that miserable likeness of the fox
was, in fact, the beautiful image of the king. In like manner do these persons
patch together old wives' fables, and then endeavour, by violently drawing away
from their proper connection, words, expressions, and parables whenever found,
to adapt the oracles of God to their baseless fictions. We have already stated
how far they proceed in this way with respect to the interior of the Pleroma.'
ANCL, 4.]
[200] [Unable to trace.]
[201] [Source.]
[202] [Refutation of all Heresies, bk. 5. 'But if any one, he says, is blind from birth, and has never beheld the true light, "which lighteneth every man that Cometh into the world," by us let him recover his sight, and behold, as it were, through some paradise planted with every description of tree, and supplied with abundance of fruits, water coursing its way through all the trees and fruits; and he will see that from one and the same water the olive chooses for itself and draws the oil, and the vine the wine; and [so is it with] the rest of plants, according to each genus.' ANCL, 6, 152.]
[203] [Poss. in his long lost work,
Against the Christians, which exists in fragments in Cyril's Reply.
But see G. H. Rendall, The Emperor Julian, Paganism and Christianity,
(1879), p. 235. 'Passing to the New Testament, we find Julian persistently
endeavouring to depreciate the character of the witnesses. He speaks scoffingly
of Matthew and Luke, and in more general terms of the fraudulent machinations of
the Evangelists. While the Jewish prophets are in his eyes foolish babblers, who
but chattered to old women, in S. John he discerns a scheming and audacious
impostor, who ventured to intrude upon the credulity of Christians and
blasphemous beliefs as to the divinity of Christ, his person, and his relation
to God the Father. S. Peter is a hypocrite, and the differences between him and
S. Paul are enlarged upon, while the latter, the arch-impostor and magician, is
said, "as occasion suits, like a polypus on the rocks, to shift his doctrines
about God."
Of our Lord himself Julian speaks in a slighting rather
Julian's than bitter or blasphemous tone. He recognises neither novelty, nor
beauty, nor force in his teaching, comments on his ill success in converting his
own kindred and nation, and concludes that he did nothing worthy of mention,
except perhaps a few miracles of healing or exorcism in out-of-the-way villages
of Palestine. He looked upon the 'carpenter's son' with an aristocratic disdain,
that must for ever discredit his power of moral insight. Christ's teaching
appeared to him weak, unpractical, and subversive of society. He did not think
him a bad man, or a scheming man, or a deluded man, but just an unlettered
peasant, who had lived some three hundred years ago, when Augustus and Tiberius
were great. There are times when a peevish jealousy breaks out as though Christ
were pitted in a personal rivalry against Caesar, and defrauding him of the
tribute due; but ebullitions of that kind are casual and kept out of Julian's
set polemics against Christianity.']
[204] [Unable to trace.]
[205] [I can find no mention of this agreement by any of the Church Fathers.]
[208] [See NG
2:469.
Eusebius,
Ecclesiastical History, bk. 4. 24. 'Matthew also having first proclaimed the
gospel in Hebrew, when on the point of going also to other nations, committed it
to writing in his native tongue, and thus supplied the want of his presence to
them, by his writings.'
Ibid., bk. 4. 50. 'Such is the account of Papias, respecting Mark. Of Matthew
he has stated as follows: "Matthew composed his history in the Hebrew dialect,
and every one translated it as he was able." The same author (Papias) made use
of testimonies from the first epistle of John, and likewise from that of Peter.
He also gives another history of a woman, who had been accused of many sins
before the Lord, which is also contained in the gospel according to the Hebrews.
And this may be noted as a necessary addition to what we have before stated.'
Ibid., bk. 5. 10. 'Of Pantaenus the philosopher. About the same time, the
school of the faithful was governed by a man most distinguished for his
learning, whose name was Pantaenus. As there had been a school of sacred
learning established there from ancient times, which has continued down to our
own times, and which we have understood was held by men able in eloquence, and
the study of divine things. For the tradition is, that this philosopher was then
in great eminence, as he had been first disciplined in the philosophical
principles of those called stoics. But he is said to have displayed such ardour,
and so zealous a disposition, respecting the divine word, that he was
constituted a herald of the gospel of Christ to the nations of the east, and
advanced even as far as India. There were even there yet many evangelists of the
word, who were ardently striving to employ their inspired zeal after the
apostolic example, to increase and build up the divine word. Of these Pantaenus
is said to have been one, and to have come as far as the Indies. And the re port
is, that he there found his own arrival anticipated by some who there were
acquainted with the gospel of Matthew, to whom Bartholomew, one of the apostles,
had preached, and had left them the gospel of Matthew in the Hebrew, which was
also preserved until this time. Pantaenus, after many praiseworthy deeds, was
finally at the head of the Alexandrian school, commenting on the treasures of
divine truth, both orally and in his writings.'
Ibid., bk. 5. 25. 'But in the first book of his Commentaries on the gospel of
Matthew, following the Ecclesiastical Canon, he attests that he knows of only
four gospels, as follows: "As I have understood from tradition, respecting the
four gospels, which are the only undisputed ones in the whole church of God
throughout the world. The first is written according to Matthew, the same that
was once a publican, but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, who having
published it for the Jewish converts, wrote it in the Hebrew."']
[209] [Matt. 7:28. 'And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine.']
[210] [Matt. 6:15. 'But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.']
[211] [Eccl.
29:11.
Eccl. 28:2.]
[212] [Luke 11:49-50. 'Therefore
also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of
them they shall slay and persecute:
That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the
world, may be required of this generation.']
[213] [2 Esd.
1:32-33.
Ibid. 'I sent to
you my servants the prophets, but you have taken and slain them and torn their
bodies in pieces; their blood I will require of you, says the Lord.
"Thus says the Lord Almighty: Your house is desolate; I will drive you out as
the wind drives straw."' NEB version.]
[214] [See above note.]
[215] [2 Esd.
1:28-31.
Ibid. '"Thus says
the Lord Almighty: Have I not entreated you as a father entreats his sons or a
mother her daughters or a nurse her children,
that you should be my people and I should be your God, and that you should be my
sons and I should be your father?
I gathered you as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. But now, what shall I
do to you? I will cast you out from my presence.
When you offer oblations to me, I will turn my face from you; for I have
rejected your feast days, and new moons, and circumcisions of the flesh."'
NEB version.]
[216] [Matt. 23:37. 'O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto
thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!'
Unable to trace the same in Luke.]
[217] [2 Cor. 6:17-18. 'Wherefore
come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will receive you,
And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.']
[218] [1 Tim. 1:15. 'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.']
[219] [Ps. 78:2. 'I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old.']
[220] [Rom. 13:9. 'For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.']
[221] [Clem. bk. 2. ch. 1. 'As the
evening light was still lasting, we all sat down; and Peter, seeing that we were
awake, and that we were giving attention to him, having saluted us, immediately
began to speak, as follows:
"I confess, brethren, that I wonder at the power of human nature, which I see to
be fit and suited to every call upon it. This, however, it occurs to me to say
of what I have found by experience, that when the middle of the night is passed,
I awake of my own accord, and sleep does not come to me again. This happens to
me for this reason, that I have formed the habit of recalling to memory the
words of my Lord, which I heard from Himself; and for the longing I have towards
them, I constrain my mind and my thoughts to be roused, that, awaking to them,
and recalling and arranging them one by one, I may retain them in my memory.
From this, therefore, whilst I desire to cherish the sayings of the Lord with
all delight in my heart, the habit of waking has come upon me, even if there be
nothing that I wish to think of.'
Also, ibid., bk. 2. ch. 24. 'Then says Peter: ''But if I first show Him
to be a prophet, it will follow that what seems to be inconsistency is not such.
For no one can be proved to be a prophet merely by consistency, because it is
possible for many to attain this; but if consistency does not make a prophet,
much more inconsistency does not. Because, therefore, there are many things
which to some seem inconsistent, which yet have consistency in them on a more
profound investigation; as also other things which seem to have consistency, but
which, being more carefully discussed, are found to be inconsistent; for this
reason I do not think that there is any better way to judge of these things than
to ascertain in the first instance whether He be a prophet who has spoken those
things which appear to be inconsistent. For it is evident that, if He be found
to be a prophet, those things which seem to be contradictory must have
consistency, but are misunderstood. Concerning these things, therefore, proofs
will be properly demanded. For we apostles are sent to ex- pound the sayings and
affirm the judgments of Him who has sent us; but we are not commissioned to say
anything of our own, but to unfold the truth, as I have said, of His words."']
[222] [See NG 2:469. See also Mead on Simon Magus.]
[223] [Phaedo, (Plato's Crito and Phaedo, p. 70 of the London, 1888 ed). 'For, as the dispensers of these expiations say, There are many who bear the Thyrsus, but few that are possessed by the spirit of God. Now those who are thus possessed, as I take it, are the true philosophers.']
[224] [Matt. 22:14. 'For many are called, but few are chosen.']
[225] [Acts 20:35. 'I have showed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.']
[226] ['The Essenes,' in Historical and Critical Essays, p. 44. See also note 325 below.]
[227] [John 13:34. 'A new
commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that
ye also love one another.'
See also 2 John 1:5. 'And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote
a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we
love one another.']
[228] [Luke 6:31. 'And as ye would
that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.'
Rom. 13:9. 'For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill,
Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet;
and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this
saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.'
Mark 4:24. 'And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more
be given.'
Matt. 5:28. 'But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to
lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.']
[229] [Literary Remains, p. 55, footnote. 'We need not urge the priority of the Talmud to the New Testament, although the former was redacted at a later period. To assume that the Talmud has borrowed from the New Testament would be like assuming that Sanskrit sprang from Latin, or that French was developed from the Norman words found in English.']
[230] [Against Heresies, bk. 3. 4. 'Some, however, make the assertion, that this dispensational Jesus did become incarnate, and suffered, whom they represent as having passed through Mary just as water through a tube; but others allege him to be the Son of the Demiurge, upon whom the dispensational Jesus descended; while others, again, say that Jesus was born from Joseph and Mary, and that the Christ from above descended upon him, being without flesh, and impassible. But according to the opinion of no one of the heretics was the word of God made flesh.' ANCL, 5, 289.]
[231] [Massey errs here. The quote is from Matt. 11:27 ('All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him,') and see Marcion's Gospel.]
[232] [I can find no mention of old
proverbs in Prescott's History of Conquest of Mexico, or any of his other
works.
Monier-Williams, Buddhism in its connexion with Brahmanism and Hinduism,
p. 126. 'The five fundamental rules of moral conduct (sila), or rather,
prohibitions, were promulgated very early:
1. Kill not any living thing. 2. Steal not. 3. Commit not adultery. 4. Lie not.
5. Drink not strong drink. These five, having reference chiefly to one's
neighbour, were called the fivefold law for all classes, including laymen.']
[233] [See Beal's The Romantic History
of Buddha, p. 138. 'You may remove from their base the Snowy Mountains,
You may exhaust the waters of the Ocean,
The firmament may fall to earth,
But my words in the end will be accomplished.']
[234] [The closest I can find to this
statement from Krishna is verse 21 of the Bhagavita. 'The Blessed Lord
further enlightens Arjuna and says, "O Dhananjaya, I am the source of the whole
universe. There is nothing else besides Me, Arjuna. All this is strung on Me, as
clusters of gems on a string. I am the sapidity in water, O son of Kunti. I am
the light in the moon and the sun. I am the syllable OM in all the Vedas, sound
in ether and the manliness in men. I am the sweet fragrance in earth and the
brilliance in fire. I am the life in all beings. I am austerity in men of
ascetics. Know Me, O Partha, as the eternal seed of all beings. I am the
intelligence of the intelligent; the glory of the glorious am I. Arjuna, of the
mighty I am the might free from passion and desire; in beings I am the sexual
desire not conflicting with virtue or scriptural injunctions."'
See also Hooper's Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Lao Tzu, The Parallel Sayings,
p. 16, online from www.googlebooks.com.]
[235] [Unable to trace.]
[236] [Unable to trace.]
[238] [Mic. 5:2. 'But thou,
Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out
of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings
forth have been from of old, from everlasting.'
First Apology, ch. 34. 'Place of Christ's birth foretold.
And hear what part of earth He was to be born in, as another prophet, Micah,
foretold. He spoke thus: "And thou, Bethlehem, the land of Judah, art not the
least among the princes of Judah; for out of thee shall come forth a Governor,
who shall feed my people."' ANCL, 3, 37.]
[239] [John 12:38. 'That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?']
[240] [John 13:18. 'I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.']
[241] [Ps. 22:1. 'To the chief
Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my
roaring?'
Ps. 22:18. 'They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my
vesture.'
See also Matt. 27:46. 'And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud
voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?'
Matt. 27:35. 'And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting
lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my
garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.']
[242] [Ps. 69:21. 'They gave me also
gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.'
See also Matt. 27:34. 'They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall:
and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.']
[243] [John 19:28. 'After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.']
[244] [John 19:24. 'They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.']
[245] [Matt. 27:35. 'And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.']
[246] [Against Heresies, bk. 2, ch. 17. 'They also maintain that the Saviour exhibited an emblem of this mystery in the case of that man who was blind from his birth, since the Æon was in this manner produced by Monogenes blind, that is, in ignorance, thus falsely ascribing ignorance and blindness to the Word of God, who, according to their own theory, holds the second [place of] production from the Propator.' ANCL, 5, 177.]
[247] [Ibid., bk. 1, ch. 4. 'Moreover, that Achamoth wandered beyond the Pleroma, and received form from Christ, and was sought after by the Saviour, they declare that He indicated when He said, that He had come after that sheep which was gone astray. For they explain the wandering sheep to mean their mother, by whom they represent the church as having been sown. The wandering itself denotes her stay outside of the Pleroma in a state of varied passion, from which they maintain that matter derived its origin. The woman, again, who sweeps the house and finds the piece of money, they declare to denote the Sophia above, who, having lost her enthymesis, afterwards recovered it, on all things being purified by the advent of the Saviour.' ANCL, 5, 35.]
[248] [John 3:13. 'And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.']
[249] [John 15:27. 'And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.' ]
[250] [Against Heresies, bk. 1, ch. 2. 'Such also is the account of the generation of the later Æons, namely of the first Christ and of the Holy Spirit, both of whom were produced by the Father after the repentance [of Sophia], and of the second Christ (whom they also style Saviour), who owed his being to the joint contributions [of the Æons]. They tell us, however, that this knowledge has not been openly divulged, because all are not capable of receiving it, but has been mystically revealed by the Saviour through means of parables to those qualified for understanding it.' ANCL, 5, 12.]
[251] [Mark 4:34. 'But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.']
[252] [Matt. 13:35. 'That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.']
[253] [Matt. 15:10. 'And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand.']
[254] [Mark 13:14-15. 'But when ye
shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them
that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter
therein, to take any thing out of his house.']
[255] [Luke 4:8. 'And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.']
[256] [Mark 9:2-3. 'And after six
days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into
an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.
And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on
earth can white them.']
[257] [John 3:30. 'He must increase, but I must decrease.']
[258] [Source.]
[259] [Mark 3:14-15. 'And he
ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth
to preach,
And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils.']
[260] [Luke 10:2. 'Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.']
[261] [Luke 10:17. 'And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.']
[262] [Divine Pymander. See bk. 7, 58.]
[267] [Mark 9:9. 'And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.']
[268] [Most printed copies of this lecture have Massey's misspelling of 'Peiquot'. This has now been silently corrected. Peignot was the well-known bibliographer who, like a good respecting bookworm himself, complained of the pernicious damage the bookworm larvae does to precious volumes in libraries throughout the world. It is now, fortunately, quite extinct. See William Blade's Enemies of Books, London, 1888 (second edition), particularly chapter 6, 'The Bookworm' at www.djmcadam.com/bookworm. I think this is where Massey got his reference from. The entire book can be viewed at www.worldwideschool.org and elsewhere.]
[269] [Kadish. In A Critical Examination of the Gospel History?]
[270] [Irenaeus, Against Heresies, bk. 1, ch. 5. 'After this substance had been placed outside of the Pleroma of the Æons, and its mother restored to her proper conjunction, they tell us that Monogenes, acting in accordance with the prudent forethought of the Father, gave origin to another conjugal pair, namely Christ and the Holy Spirit (lest any of the Æons should fall into a calamity similar to that of Sophia), for the purpose of fortifying and strengthening the Pleroma, and who at the same time completed the number of the Æons. Christ then instructed them as to the nature of their conjunction, and taught them that those who possessed a comprehension of the Unbegotten were sufficient for themselves. He also announced among them w^hat related to the knowledge of the Father,—namely, that he cannot be understood or comprehended, nor so much as seen or heard, except in so far as he is known by Monogenes only.' ANCL, 5, 9.]
[271] [Ibid., bk. 1, ch. 12. 'Others, again, affirm that he had his being from those twelve Æons who were the offspring of Antliropos and Ecclesia; and on this account he acknowledges himself the Son of man, as being a descendant of Anthropos. Others still, assert that he was produced by Christ and the Holy Spirit, who were brought forth for the security of the Pleroma; and that on this account he was called Christ, thus preserving the appellation of the Father, by whom he was produced. And there are yet others among them who declare that the Propator of the whole, Proarche, and Proanennoetos is called Anthropos; and that this is the great and abstruse mystery, namely, that the Power which is above all others, and contains all in his embrace, is termed Anthropos; hence does the Saviour style himself the "Son of man."' ANCL, 5, 51.]
[272] [John 3:13. 'And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.']
[273] [Unable to trace in the Ritual.]
[274] [Rit. ch. 30. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[275] [John 14:2. 'In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.']
[276] [Abodazurah.]
[277] [Brett, Indian Missions in Guiana, p. 111. 'The creation, and the fall of man, the deluge, and the giving of the law on Sinai, were those parts of Old Testament history which most interested them but they seemed to regard them, in a great measure, as mere historical facts; and one of them observed, after I had been carefully explaining to them the Ten Commandments: "This word is good, but we knew most of it before." Nothing seemed to have a permanent effect on their hearts but the narrative of the passion of our Lord. Some of them did not even care for this, but its effect was perceptible on most, even when it led to no real conversion.']
[278] [Mark 9:47. 'And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.']
[279] [John 20:29. 'Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.']
[280] [Matt. 5:3. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.']
[281] [John 2:4. 'Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.']
[282] [Massey's own words.]
Notes to Massey's Fourth Lecture
[283] [In this lecture Massey further outlines the parallels between the gnostic Christianity, as put forth by the Gnostics like Valentinus, Marcion, Basilides, etc., and the Christianity of the Bible, and that the former preceded the latter which in turn was a corruption of the original or primordial gnosis that can be fathomed and identified in the Egyptian mythos.]
[284] [Lucian, Syrian Goddess, p. 36. Garstang's tr.]
[285] [Arthur Lillie, Buddhism in Christendom, or Jesus the Essene, London, Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1887.]
[286] [In fact Matthew mentions 'my Father'
16 times, as in the following passages:
Matt. 7:21. 'Not every one that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.'
Matt. 8:21. 'And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me
first to go and bury my father.'
Matt. 10:32. 'Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I
confess also before my Father which is in heaven.'
Matt. 10:33. 'But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also
deny before my Father which is in heaven.'
Matt. 11:27. 'All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and
no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save
the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.'
Matt. 12:50. 'For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in
heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.'
Matt. 16:17 'And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou,
Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my
Father which is in heaven.'
Matt. 18:10. 'Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for
I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my
Father which is in heaven.'
Matt. 18:19. 'Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on
earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of
my Father which is in heaven.'
Matt. 20:23. 'And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup,
and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right
hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for
whom it is prepared of my Father.'
Matt. 24:36. 'But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels
of heaven, but my Father only.'
Matt. 25:34. 'Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world:'
Matt. 26:29. 'But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this
fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's
kingdom.'
Matt. 26:39. 'And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and
prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.'
Matt. 26:42. 'He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O
my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy
will be done.'
Matt. 26:53. 'Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father,
and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?']
[287] [John 2:16. 'And said unto
them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an
house of merchandise.'
John 5:17. 'But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I
work.'
John 5:43. 'I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if
another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.'
John 6:32. 'Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true
bread from heaven.'
John 6:65. 'And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come
unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.'
John 8:19. 'Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered,
Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known
my
Father also.'
John 8:28. 'Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of
man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my
Father hath taught me, I speak these things.'
John 8:38. 'I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that
which ye have seen with your father.'
John 8:49. 'Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father,
and ye do dishonour me.'
John 8:54. 'Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it
is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:'
John 10:17. 'Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my
life, that I might take it again.'
John 10:18. 'No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I
have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received of my Father.'
John 10:25. 'Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the
works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.'
John 10:29. 'My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no
man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.'
John 10:30. 'I and my Father are one.' Etc.]
[288] [John 4:46. 'So Jesus came
again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a
certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.'
John 2:9. 'When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made
wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;)
the governor of the feast called the bridegroom.']
[289] [See Norberg's Codex Nasaraeus.]
[290] [Book of Adam. Unable to trace. Poss. in the above.]
[291] [Cook, 'Hymn to the Nile,' RP, 4, 105. See p. 109.]
[292] [Maxims of Ani. I am unable to identify this work. No such phrasing can be found in the Papyrus of Ani, nor in the Precepts (or Maxims) of Ptah-Hotep.]
[293] [Matt. 6:2-7. 'Therefore when
thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do
in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I
say unto you, They have their reward.
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself
shall reward thee openly.
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to
pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may
be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy
door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly.
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think
that they shall be heard for their much speaking.']
[294] [Matt. 5:6. 'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.']
[295] [Luke 6:21. 'Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.']
[296] [Matt. 5:3. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.']
[297] [Luke 6:20-24. 'And he lifted
up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the
kingdom of God.
Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep
now: for ye shall laugh.
Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from
their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the
Son of man's sake.
Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in
heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.']
[298] [John 6:39-40. 'And this is
the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I
should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son,
and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the
last day.'
John 11:24. 'Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in
the resurrection at the last day.']
[299] [2 Esd.
7:28-32.
Ibid. 'For my son
the Messiah shall be revealed with those who are with him, and those who remain
shall rejoice four hundred years.
And after these years my son the Messiah shall die, and all who draw human
breath.
And the world shall be turned back to primeval silence for seven days, as it was
at the first beginnings; so that no one shall be left.
And after seven days the world, which is not yet awake, shall be roused, and
that which is corruptible shall perish.
And the earth shall give up those who are asleep in it, and the dust those who
dwell silently in it; and the chambers shall give up the souls which have been
committed to them.' NEB Version.]
[301] [On the Virtuous Being also Free,
ch. 12. 'There is a portion of those people called Essenes, in number something more
than four thousand in my opinion, who derive their name from their piety, though
not according to any accurate form of the Grecian dialect, because they are
above all men devoted to the service of God, not sacrificing living animals, but
studying rather to preserve their own minds in a state of holiness and purity.
These men, in the first place, live in villages, avoiding all cities on account
of the habitual lawlessness of those who inhabit them, well knowing that such a
moral disease is contracted from associations with wicked men, just as a real
disease might be from an impure atmosphere, and that this would stamp an
incurable evil on their souls. Of these men, some cultivating the earth, and
others devoting themselves to those arts which are the result of peace, benefit
both themselves and all those who come in contact with them, not storing up
treasures of silver and of gold, nor acquiring vast sections of the earth out of
a desire for ample revenues, but providing all things which are requisite for
the natural purposes of life; for they alone of almost all men having been
originally poor and destitute, and that too rather from their own habits and
ways of life than from any real deficiency of good fortune, are nevertheless
accounted very rich, judging contentment and frugality to be great abundance, as
in truth they are.'
Works, vol. 3, p. 524. Yonge's tr.
On the Contemplative Life, ch. 1. 'Nevertheless we must make the endeavour
and labour to attain to this virtue; for it is not right that the greatness of
the virtue of the men should be a cause of silence to those who do not think it
right that anything which is creditable should be suppressed in silence; but the
deliberate intention of the philosopher is at once displayed from the
appellation given to them; for with strict regard to etymology, they are called
therapeutas and therapeutrides, either because they profess an art of medicine
more excellent than that in general use in cities (for that only heals bodies,
but the other heals souls which are under the mastery of terrible and almost
incurable diseases, which pleasures and appetites, fears and griefs, and
covetousness, and follies, and injustice, and all the rest of the innumerable
multitude of other passions and vices, have inflicted upon them), or else
because they have been instructed by nature and the sacred laws to serve the
living God, who is superior to the good, and more simple than the one, and more
ancient than the unit ; with whom, however, who is there of those who profess
piety that we can possibly compare?' Yonge's tr.]
[302] ['Fragments,' ch. 8. 'But our lawgiver trained an innumerable body of his pupils to partake in those things, who are called Essenes, being, as I imagine, honoured with this appellation because of their exceeding holiness.' Works, vol. 4, p. 219. Yonge's tr.]
[303] [Ibid. 'And they dwell in many cities of Judaea, and in many villages, and in great and populous communities. And this sect of them is not an hereditary or family connexion; for family ties are not spoken of with reference to acts voluntarily performed; but it is adopted because of their admiration for virtue and love of gentleness and humanity. At all events, there are no children among the Essenes, no, nor any youths or persons only just entering upon manhood; since the dispositions of all such persons are unstable and liable to change, from the imperfections incident to their age, but they are all full-grown men, and even already declining towards old age, such as are no longer carried away by the impetuosity of their bodily passions, and are not under the influence of the appetites, but such as enjoy a genuine freedom, the only true and real liberty.' Works, vol. 4, p. 219. Yonge's tr.]
[304] [Unable to trace.]
[305] [Poss. from a citation by Socrates.]
[306] [Source.]
[307] [The Apostles, p. 318. 'Observe that the Christian-hermit life was first commenced in Egypt.']
[308] ['On the Contemplative Life,' Works, vol. 4, p. 6. '.... and there is the greatest number of such men in Egypt, in every one of the districts, or nomi as they are called, and especially around Alexandria; and from all quarters those who are the best of these therapeutae proceed on their pilgrimage to some most suitable place as if it were their country, which is beyond the Mareotic lake, lying in a somewhat level plain a little raised above the rest, being suitable for their purpose by reason of its safety and also of the fine temperature of the air.' Yonge's tr.]
[309] [Natural History, bk. 5, 15. 'On the west side of the Dead Sea, but out of range of the noxious exhalations of the coast, is the sohtary tribe of the Essenes, which is remarkable beyond all the other tribes in the whole world, as it has no women and has renounced all sexual desire, has no money, and has only palm-trees for company. Day by day the throng of refugees is recruited to an equal number by numerous accessions of persons tired of hfe and driven thither by the waves of fortune to adopt their manners. Thus through thousands of ages (incredible to relate) a race in which no one is born lives on for ever: so prolific for their advantage is other men’s weariness of life!']
[310] [Source.]
[311] [Source.]
[312] [Dionysius the Aeropagite, Works,
vol. 2, p. 140. '... according to its capacity, and elevated by their sacred
science, to the most perfecting perfection of which it is capable. Hence our
Divine leaders have deemed them worthy of sacred appellations, some, indeed,
calling them "Therapeutae," and others "Monks," from the pure service and fervid
devotion to the true God, and from the undivided and single life, as it were
unifying them, in the sacred enfoldings of things divided, into a God-like
Monad, and God-loving perfection.'
Ecclesiastical History, p. 67 of 9th ed. 'In the book that he wrote, "On a Contemplative Life, or those who lead a Life of Prayer," he avers indeed,
that he would add nothing contrary to the truth, or of his own invention, in the
history that he was about to write, where he says, that these persons are called Therapeutae, and the women Therapeutrides.
Subjoining the reasons of such an appellation, he refers its origin either to
the fact, that like physicians, by removing the evil affections, they healed and
cured the minds of those that joined them, or to their pure and sincere mode of
serving and worshipping the Deity. Whether Philo himself attached this name to
them of his own accord, giving an epithet well suited to the manners of the
people, or whether the founders really called themselves so from the beginning,
as the name of Christians was not yet spread to every place, are points that
need not be so accurately determined. He bears witness, however, that they
renounced their property, saying, that "as soon as they commenced a
philosophical life, they divested themselves of their property, giving it up to
their relatives; then laying aside all the cares of life, they abandon the city
and take up their abode in solitary fields and gardens, well knowing that the
intercourse with persons of a different character is not only unprofitable but
injurious."
There were at this time, in all probability, persons who, under the influence of
an inspired and ardent faith, instituted this mode of life in imitation of the
ancient prophets. Wherefore, as it is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, a
book well authenticated, that all the associates of the apostles, after selling
their possessions and substance distributed to all according to the necessity of
each one, so that there was none in want among them. "For as many as had lands
and houses, as this account says, selling them, brought the value of the
property sold, and laid it at the apostles feet, so as to distribute to each one
according to his necessity." Philo giving his testimony to facts very much like
these, in the same description superadds the following statement. "This kind of
men is every where scattered over the world, for both Greeks and barbarians
should share in so permanent a benefit. They abound, however, in Egypt, in each
of its districts, and particularly about Alexandria.
"But the principal men among them from every quarter emigrate to a place
situated on a moderate elevation of land beyond the lake Maria, very
advantageously located both for safety and temperature of the air, as if it were
the native country of the Therapeutae."' Cruse's tr.]
[313] [Unable to trace.]
[314] [Luke 14:26. 'If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.']
[315] [Wars of the Jews, ch. 8.4. 'They have no certain city, hut many of them dwell in every city; and if any of their sect come from other places, what they have lies open for them, just as if it were their own; and they go into such. as they never knew before, as if they had been ever so long acquainted with them. For which reason they tarry nothing with them when they travel unto remote parts, though still they take their weapons with them, for fear of thieves. Accordingly there is, in every city where they five, one appointed particularly to take care of strangers, and to provide garments and other necessaries for them. But the habit and management of their bodies is such as children use who are in fear of their masters. Nor do they allow of the change of garments, or of shoes, till they be first entirely torn to Pieces, or worn out by time. Nor do they either buy or sell any thing to one another: but every one of them gives what he hath to him that wanteth it, arid receives from him again in lieu of it what may be convenient for himself; and although there be no requital made, they are fully allowed to take what they want of whomsoever they please.' Whiston's tr.]
[316] [The Apostles, p. 230. 'We
have already encountered him [Simon] in communication with the apostles on the
first mission of Philip to Samaria. He attained his celebrity during the reign
of the Emperor Claudius. His miracles were unquestioned, and all Samaria
regarded him as a supernatural being.
Miracles were not, however, the only basis of his renown. He taught a doctrine,
it seems, of which it is difficult for us to acquire a definite knowledge, in a
treatise entitled "The Great Exposition," which is ascribed to him, and a few
extracts from which have come down to us, being probably only a modified
expression of his ideas. During his sojourn at Alexandria, where he studied the
Grecian philosophy, he appears to have framed a system of syncretic theology and
allegorical exegesis, in many respects analogous to that of Philo. His system is
not without sublimity. Sometimes it reminds us of the Jewish Kabala, some times
of the pantheistic theories of Indian philosophy; and in other respects it
resembles that of the Buddhists and the Parsees.']
[317] [Unable to trace.]
[318] ['The
Essenes,' in Historical and Critical Essays.
See also his 'Historico-Critical Inquiry into the
Origin of the Rosicrucians and Free-Masons,' Essays, p. 365. 'A little
before and after the birth of Christ there arose in Egypt and Palestine a Jewish
religious sect, which split into two divisions the ESSENES and the THERAPEUTAE.
Their history and an account of their principles may be found in Josephus, and
more fully in Philo, who probably himself belonged to the Therapeutae. The
difference between the two sects consisted in this that the Essenes looked upon
practical morality and religion as the main business of life, whereas the
Therapeutae attached themselves more to philosophic speculations, and placed the
essence of religion in the contemplation and reverence of the deity. They dwelt
in hermitages, gardens, villages, and cottages, shunning the uproar of crowds
and cities. With them arose the idea of monkish life, which has subsisted to
this day, though it has received a mortal shock in our revolutionary times. To
these two systems have been traced the Rosicrucians and Free-masons.']
[319] [Massey errs here. It is from Luke 9:49. 'And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.']
[320] [Luke 10:5. 'And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.']
[321] [Clementine Homilies 3, 19.
'Reign of Christ.
"On this account, I say, He Himself, rising from His seat as a father for his
children, proclaiming the things which from the beginning were delivered in
secret to the worthy, extending mercy even to the Gentiles, and compassionate,
the souls of all, neglected His own kindred. For He, being the most worthy to be
King of the world to come, [fights against] him who, by predestination, has
usurped the kingdom that now is. And the thing which exceedingly grieved Him is
this, that by those very persons for whom, as for sons, he did battle, He was
assailed, on account of their ignorance. And yet He loved even those who hated
Him, and wept over the unbelieving, and blessed those who slandered Him, and
prayed for those who were in enmity against Him." And not only did He do this as
a father, but also taught His disciples to do the like, bearing themselves as
towards brethren. This did our Father, this did our Prophet. This is reasonable,
that He should be King over His children; that by the affection of a father
towards his children, and the engrafted respect of children towards their
father, eternal peace might be produced. For when the good man reigneth, there
is true joy among those who are ruled over, on account of him who rules.'
ANCL, 17, 65.]
[322] [Luke 20:35-36. 'But they
which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from
the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage.
Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the
children of God, being the children of the resurrection.']
[323] [Luke 10:4. 'Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.']
[324] [John 13:34. 'A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.']
[325] [De Quincy, 'The Essenes,' in Historical and Critical Essays, p. 44.]
[326] [Massey errs here as this does not appear in the Homilies, but in the Apostolic Constitutions, bk. 6: ' ... out of contempt, will not be baptized, shall be condemned as an unbeliever, and shall be reproached as ungrateful and foolish. For the Lord says: ''Except a man be baptized of water and of the Spirit, he shall by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven." And again: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." But he that says, When I am dying I will be baptized, lest I should sin and defile my baptism, is ignorant of God, and forgetful of his own nature.' ANCL, 17, 159.]
[327] [Luke 8:10. 'And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.']
[328] [Luke 11:2. 'And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.']
[329] [Against Heresies, bk. 2, 11, 9. 'But those who are from Valentinus, being, on the other hand, altogether reckless, while they put forth their own compositions, boast that they possess more Gospels than there really are. Indeed, they have arrived at such a pitch of audacity, as to entitle their comparatively recent writing "the Gospel of Truth," though it agrees in nothing with the Gospels of the Apostles, so that they have really no gospel which is not full of blasphemy. For if what they have published is the Gospel of truth, and yet is totally unlike those which have been handed down to us from the apostles, any who please may learn, as is shown from the Scriptures themselves, that that which has been handed down from the apostles can no longer be reckoned the Gospel of truth. But that these Gospels alone are true and reliable, and admit neither an increase nor diminution of the aforesaid number, I have proved by so many and such [arguments].' ANCL, 5, 296.]
[330] [I can find no ref. to the name of the Christiani beginning in Antioch in the Book of Acts.]
[331] [Acts 8:9-10. 'But there was a
certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and
bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is
the great power of God.']
[332] [Against Heresies, bk. 3, ch. 4, 3.
'For, prior to Valentinus, those who follow Valentinus had no existence; nor did
those from Marcion exist before Marcion; nor, in short, had any of those
malignant-minded people, whom I have above enumerated, any being previous to the
initiators and inventors of their perversity. For Valentinus came to Rome in the
time of Hyginus, flourished under Pius, and remained until Anicetus. Cerdon,
too, Marcion's predecessor, himself arrived in the time of Hyginus, who was the
ninth bishop. Coming frequently into the church, and making public confession,
he thus remained, one time teaching in secret, and then again making public
confession; but at last, having been denounced for corrupt teaching, he was
excommunicated from the assembly of the brethren. Marcion, then, succeeding him,
flourished under Anicetus, who held the tenth place of the episcopate. But the
rest, who are called Gnostics, take rise from Menander, Simon's disciple, as I
have shown; and each one of them appeared to be both the father and the high
priest of that doctrine into which he has been initiated. But all these (the
Marcosians) broke out into their apostasy much later, even during the
intermediate period of the church.'
See also Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, 489. 'He [Peter] had
confronted the leaders of the Jewish hierarchy (iv. 18 sq, V. 28 sq); and he was
now brought face to face with Gnosticism in the person of Simon Magus, 'the
father of the Gnostics.']
[333] [Panarion?]
[334] [Lillie, Buddhism in Christendom, or Jesus, the Essene, p. 257. 'Dr Lightfoot, in his work "Epistles to the Galatians," has given a vivid picture of the Church of Jerusalem, He admits they were Essenes and Ebionites, water-drinking ascetics, who rejected flesh meat. They were pure Gnostics like the other Essenes.']
[335] [James 1:13. 'Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.']
[336]
[Ecclesiastical History, ch. 17. 'The account given by Philo respecting
the Ascetics of Egypt.
The same author, in the reign of Claudius, is also said to have had familiar
conversation with Peter at Rome, whilst he was proclaiming the gospel to the
inhabitants of that city. Nor is this at all improbable; since the work of which
we now speak, and which was subsequently composed by him at a late period,
evidently comprehends the regulations that are still observed in our churches,
even to the present time; but at the same time that he describes with the
greatest accuracy, the lives of our ascetics, he evidently shows that he not
only knew, but approved, whilst he extolled and revered the apostolic men of his
day, who were sprung probably from the Hebrews; and hence, still continuing to
observe their most ancient customs, rather after the Jewish manner. In the book
that he wrote, "On a Contemplative Life, or those who lead a Life of Prayer," he
avers indeed, that he would add nothing contrary to the truth, or of his own
invention, in the history that he was about to write, where he says, that these
persons are called Therapeutae, and the women Therapeutrides.
Subjoining the reasons of such an appellation, he refers its origin either to
the fact, that like physicians, by removing the evil affections, they healed and
cured the minds of those that joined them, or to their pure and sincere mode of
serving and worshipping the Deity. Whether Philo himself attached this name to
them of his own accord,, giving an epithet well suited to the manners of the
people, or whether the founders really called themselves so from the beginning,
as the name of Christians was not yet spread to every place, are points that
need not be so accurately determined. He bears witness, however, that they
renounced their property, saying, that "as soon as they commenced a
philosophical life, they divested themselves of their property, giving it up to
their relatives; then laying aside all the cares of life, they abandon the city
and take up their abode in solitary fields and gardens, well knowing that the
intercourse with persons of a different character is not only unprofitable but
injurious." There were at this time, in all probability, persons who, under the
influence of an inspired and ardent faith, instituted this mode of life in
imitation of the ancient prophets. Wherefore, as it is recorded in the Acts of
the Apostles, a book well authenticated, that all the associates of the
apostles, after selling their possessions and substance distributed to all
according to the necessity of each one, so that there was none in want among
them. "For as many as had lands and houses, as this account says, selling them,
brought the value of the property sold, and laid it at the apostles feet, so as
to distribute to each one according to his necessity." Philo giving his
testimony to facts very much like these, in the same description superadds the
following statement. "This kind of men is every where scattered over the world,
for both Greeks and barbarians should share in so permanent a benefit. They
abound, however, in Egypt, in each of its districts, and particularly about
Alexandria.
"But the principal men among them from every quarter emigrate to a place
situated on a moderate elevation of land beyond the lake Maria, very
advantageously located both for safety and temperature of the air, as if it were
the native country of the Therapeutae." After thus describing what kind of
habitations they have, he speaks thus of the churches in the place. "In every
house there is a sacred apartment which they call the Semnaeum, or Monasterium,
where, retired from men, they perform the mysteries of a pious life. Hither they
bring nothing with them, neither drink nor food, nor anything else requisite to
the necessities of the body; they only bring the law and the inspired
declarations of the prophets, and hymns, and such things by which knowledge and
piety may be augmented and perfect ed." After other matters, he adds: "The whole
time between the morning and evening, is a constant exercise; for as they are
engaged with the sacred Scriptures, they reason and comment upon them,
explaining the philosophy of their country in an allegorical manner. For they
consider the verbal interpretation as signs indicative of a secret sense
communicated in obscure intimations. They have also commentaries of ancient men,
who, as the founders of the sect, have left many monuments of their doctrine in
allegorical representations, which they use as certain models, imitating the
manner of the original institution." These facts appear to have been stated by a
man who, at least, has paid attention to those that have expounded the sacred
writings. But it is highly probable, that the ancient commentaries which he says
they have, are the very gospels and writings of the apostles, and probably some
expositions of the ancient prophets, such as are contained in the epistle to the
Hebrews and many others of St. Paul's epistles. Afterwards again, concerning the
new psalms which they composed, he thus writes, "Thus they not only pass their
time in meditation, but compose songs and hymns unto God, noting them of
necessity with measure uncommonly serious, through every variety of metres and
tunes." Many other things concerning these persons he writes in the same book.
But these it appeared necessary to select, in order to present the peculiarities
of their ecclesiastical discipline. But, if what has been said does not appear
to any one to belong to the discipline of the gospel, but that it can also be
applied to others besides those mentioned, let him at least be convinced by the
subsequent declarations of the author, in which, if he is at all impartial, he
adduces an irrefragable testimony on the same subject. For thus he writes: "But
laying down temperance first as a kind of foundation in their minds, upon this
they build the other virtues. For none of them is to bring food or drink before
the setting of the sun, since they judge that philosophical exercises should be
prosecuted in the light, but the necessities of the body in the dark Whence they
assign the one to the day, and to the other a small portion of the night. But
some of them do not remember their food for three days, when influenced by an
uncommon desire of knowledge. And some are so delighted, and feast so
luxuriously on the doctrines so richly and profusely furnished by wisdom, that
they forbear even twice this time, and are scarcely induced to take necessary
food even for six days." These declarations of Philo respecting those of our
communion, we deem obvious and indisputable. But, should any one still be so
hardy as to contradict, let him at least abandon his incredulity, by yielding to
the more powerful demonstrations, which is to be found among none but in the
religion of Christians, according to the gospel. Our author also says, that
there were also females that meet with those of whom we speak, of whom the most
are aged maidens, preserving their purity, not by necessity, as some of the
priestesses among the Greeks, but rather by a voluntary determination, in
consequence of that zealous desire of wisdom, in the earnest prosecution of
which, they disregard the pleasures of the body ; as they are desirous not of a
mortal progeny but an immortal, which the heavenly mind alone is able to produce
of itself." After a little, he also adds the following, with still greater
stress. "But they expound the sacred writings by obscure, allegorical, and
figurative expressions. For the whole law appears to these persons like an
animal, of which the literal expressions are the body, but the invisible sense
that lies enveloped in the expressions, the soul. This sense was first
pre-eminently studied by this sect, discerning as through a mirror of names, the
admirable beauties of the thoughts reflected." Why should we add to these their
meetings, and the separate abodes of the men and the women in these meetings,
and the exercises performed by them, which are still in vogue among us at the
present day, and which, especially at the festival of our Saviour's passion, we
are accustomed to pass in fasting and watching, and in the study of the divine
word? All these the abovementioned author has accurately described and stated in
his writings, and are the same customs that are observed by us alone, at the
present day, particularly the vigils of the great festival, and the exercises in
them, and the hymns that are commonly recited among us.']
[337] [See above note.]
[338] [Ecclesiastical History, intro., p. 19. 'But in his Chronicle, at the fifteenth year of Constantine, we read that "Alexander is ordained the nineteenth bishop of the Alexandrian church, by whom Arius the presbyter being expelled, joins many to his own impiety. A synod, therefore, of three hundred and eighteen bishops, is convened at Nice, a city of Bithynia, who by their agreement on the term 0^00^105, (consubstantial, or co-essential) suppressed all the devices of the heretics." It is sufficiently evident that these words were not written by Eusebius, but by St. Jerome, who in Eusebius's Chronicle inserted many passages of his own.' Boyle's tr.]
[339] [Of Isis and Osiris, ch. 68.]
[340] [In the Ritual. See, for example, ch. 17.]
[341] [Source.]
[342] [The canonicity of the epistle by
James has always been a contentious issue. It was never accepted wholly as
canonical until after a long dispute which was finally settled. Luther, back in
1519, raised serious objections to it. He does not credit it as being the best
of the NT texts, and considers it to be written by 'some good pious man who had
taken some sayings from the apostles' (Werke, Erlangen ed., vol. 63, p.
157), quoted in Ropes' Critical and Exegetical Commentary on James,
(1916), p. 46.
Further in this book, p. 106. 'At the same time a new criterion of canonicity
was introduced by Luther, who classified the books of the traditional canon
according as they showed fidelity to the Gospel of Christ ("Christum predigen
und treyten") as he understood it, that is, to the doctrine of salvation by
faith, most dearly expressed in John, Romans, and 1 Peter (these "the true
kernel and marrow among all the books"). Luther's objection to James is found as
early as 1519, but his judgments were most clearly expressed in the first
edition of his German N. T. (Wittenberg, September, 1522). In the Introduction
to this he says: "In fine, Saint John's Gospel and his first epistle, Saint
Paul's epistles, especially those to the Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and Saint
Peter's first epistle, these are the books which show thee Christ, and teach
thee everything that is needful and blessed for thee to know even though thou
never see or hear any other book or doctrine. Therefore is Saint James's epistle
a right strawy epistle ('eyn rechte stroern Epistd') in comparison with them,
for it has no gospel character to it."'
Massey later says there are seven chapters to the Epistle of James. There are, in fact, only 5. And Christ is
mentioned in the opening salutation to ch. 2 as well as 1.]
[343] [James 1:18-21. 'Of his own
will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits
of his creatures.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak,
slow to wrath:
For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive
with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.']
[344] [Cf. Deut. 30:12-14 ('It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.'), with Romans 10:6-7 ('But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)']
[345] [Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History,
bk. 3, ch. 39. 'The writings of Papias.
There are said to be five books of Papias, which bear the title "Interpretation
of our Lord's Declarations." Irenaeus also, makes mention of these as the only
works written by him, in the following terms: "These things are attested by
Papias, who was John s hearer and the associate of Polycarp, an ancient writer,
who mentions them in the fourth book of his works. For he has written a work in
five books." So far Irenaeus. But Papias himself, in the preface to his
discourses, by no means asserts that he was a hearer and an eye-witness of the
holy apostles, but informs us that he received the doctrines of faith from their
intimate friends, which he states in the following words: "But I shall not
regret to subjoin to my interpretations, also for your benefit, whatsoever I
have at any time accurately ascertained and treasured up in my memory, as I have
received it from the elders, and have recorded it in order to give additional
confirmation to the truth, by my testimony. For I have never, like many,
delighted to hear those that tell many things, but those that teach the truth,
neither those that record foreign precepts, but those that are given from the
Lord, to our faith, and that came from
the truth itself. But if I met with any one who had been a follower of the
elders any where, I made it a point to inquire what were the declarations of the
elders. What was said by Andrew, Peter or Philip. What by Thomas, James, John,
Matthew, or any other of the disciples of our Lord. What was said by Aristion,
and the presbyter John, disciples of the Lord; for I do not think that I derived
so much benefit from books as from the living voice of those that are still
surviving." Where it is also proper to observe the name of John is twice
mentioned. The former of which he mentions with Peter and James and Matthew, and
the other apostles; evidently meaning the evangelist. But in a separate point of
his discourse he ranks the other John, with the rest not included in the number
of apostles, placing Aristion before him. He distinguishes him plainly by the
name of presbyter. So that it is here proved that the statement of those is
true, who assert there were two of the same name in Asia, that there. were also
two tombs in Ephesus,
and that both are called John's even to this day; which it is particularly
necessary to observe. For it is probable that the second, if it be not allowed
that it was the first, saw the revelation ascribed to John. And the same Papias,
of whom we now speak, professes to have received the declarations of the
apostles from those that were in company with them, and says also that he was a
hearer of Aristion and the presbyter John. For as he has often mentioned them by
name, he also gives their statements in his own works. These matters, I trust,
have not been uselessly adduced. But it may be important also to subjoin other
declarations to these passages from Papias, in which he gives certain wonderful
accounts, together with other matters that he seems to have received by
tradition. That the apostle Philip continued at Hierapolis, with his daughters,
has been already stated above. But we must now show how Papias, coming to them,
received a wonderful account from the daughters of Philip, For he writes that in
his time there was one raised from the dead. Another wonderful event happened
respecting Justus, surnamed Barsabas, who, though he drank a deadly poison,
experienced nothing injurious through the grace of the Lord. This same Justus is
mentioned in the book of Acts, after the resurrection, as the one over whom,
together with Matthew, the holy apostles prayed, in order to fill up their
number, by casting lots, to supply the place of Judas the traitor. The passage
is as follows; "And they placed two, Joseph, called Barsabas, who was surnamed
Justus and Matthias. And having prayed, they said." The same historian also
gives other accounts, which he says he adds as received by him from unwritten
tradition, likewise certain strange parables of our Lord, and of his doctrine
and some other matters rather too fabulous. In these he says there would be a
certain millennium after the resurrection, and that there would be a corporeal
reign of Christ on this very earth; which things he appears to have imagined, as
if they were authorized by the apostolic narrations, not understanding correctly
those matters which they propounded mystically in their representations. For he
was very limited in his comprehension, as is evident from his discourses; yet he
was the cause why most of the ecclesiastical writers, urging the antiquity of
the man, were carried away by a similar opinion ; as, for instance, Irenaeus, or
any other that adopted such sentiments. He has also inserted in his work other
accounts given by the abovementioned Aristion, respecting our Lord, as also the
traditions of the Presbyter John, to which referring those that are desirous of
learning them, we shall now subjoin to the extracts from him. already given, a
tradition which he sets forth concerning Mark, who wrote the gospel in the
following words: "And John the Presbyter also said this, Mark being the
interpeter of Peter whatsoever he recorded he wrote with great accuracy but not
however, in the order in which it was spoken or done by our Lord, for he neither
heard nor followed our Lord, but as before said, he was in company with Peter,
who gave him such instruction as was necessary, but not to give a history of our
Lord's discourses: wherefore Mark has not erred in any thing, by writing some
things as he has recorded them ; for he was carefully attentive to one thing,
not to pass by any thing that he heard, or to state any thing falsely in these
accounts." Such is the account of Papias, respecting Mark. Of Matthew he has
stated as follows: "Matthew composed his history in the Hebrew dialect*, and
every one translated it as he was able." The same author (Papias) made use of
testimonies from the first epistle of John, and likewise from that of Peter.
He also gives another history of a woman, who had been accused of many sins
before the Lord, which is also contained in the gospel according to the Hebrews.
And this may be noted as a necessary addition to what we have before stated.
* The author here, doubtless, means the Syro-Chaldaic, which is sometimes in
Scripture, and primitive writers, called Hebrew.']
[346] [The Epistle to Diognetus is now assigned to Mathetes, and not Marcion. See also NG 2:155.]
[347] [Epistle to Diognetus, ch. 5.]
[348] [Ibid., ch. 7.]
[349] [Gospel of Marcion.]
[350] [Unable to trace.]
[351] [Unable to trace.]
[352] [Against Heresies, bk. 3, ch. 11, 8. 'So firm is the ground upon which these Gospels rest, that the very heretics themselves bear witness to them, and, starting from these [documents], each one of them endeavours to establish his own peculiar doctrine. For the Ebionites, who use Matthew's Gospel only, are confuted out of this very same, making false suppositions with regard to the Lord. But Marcion, mutilating that according to Luke, is proved to be a blasphemer of the only existing God, from those [passages] which he still retains. Those, again, who separate Jesus from Christ, alleging that Christ remained impassible, but that it was Jesus who suffered, preferring the Gospel by Mark, if they read it with a love of truth, may have their errors rectified.' ANCL, 5, 292.]
[353] [Gospel of Marcion.]
[354] [Against Marcion, ch. 7. 'In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius (for such is Marcion's proposition) he "came down to the Galilean city of Capernaum," of course meaning from the heaven of the Creator, to which he had previously descended from his own. What then had been his course, for him to be described as first descending; from his own heaven to the Creator's? For why should I abstain from censuring those parts of the statement which do not satisfy the requirement of an ordinary narrative, but always end in a falsehood?' ANCL, 7.]
[355] [Source.]
[356] [Luke 8:19. 'Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press.']
[357] [Luke 13:29-35. 'And they
shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the
south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which
shall be last.
The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out,
and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.
And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and
I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.
Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it
cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are
sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen
doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye
shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord.']
[358] [2 Esd.
1:28-33.
Ibid. '"Thus says
the Lord Almighty: Have I not entreated you as a father entreats his sons or a
mother her daughters or a nurse her children,
that you should be my people and I should be your God, and that you should be my
sons and I should be your father?
I gathered you as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. But now, what shall I
do to you? I will cast you out from my presence.
When you offer oblations to me, I will turn my face from you; for I have
rejected your feast days, and new moons, and circumcisions of the flesh.
I sent to you my servants the prophets, but you have taken and slain them and
torn their bodies in pieces; their blood I will require of you, says the Lord.
Thus says the Lord Almighty: Your house is desolate; I will drive you out as the
wind drives straw."' NEB Version.]
[359] [Luke 13:1. 'There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.']
[360] [Luke 9:31. 'Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.']
[361] [Luke 18:31-34. 'Then he took
unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all
things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be
accomplished.
For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully
entreated, and spitted on:
And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall
rise again.
And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them,
neither knew they the things which were spoken.']
[362] [Lillie, Buddhism in Christendom, or Jesus, the Essene, p. 269. 'He talks of "a shadowy mysticism which loses itself in the contemplation of an unseen world," as part of the "false teaching" of the Colossians; also of the "monstrous developements" and "heresy" of Gnosticism.']
[363] [Unable to trace.]
[364] [De Principis, bk. 1, ch. 7,
3. 'But to arrive at a clearer understanding on these matters, we ought first to
inquire after this point, whether it is allowable to suppose that they are
living and rational beings ; then, in the next place, whether their souls came
into existence at the same time with their bodies, or seem to be anterior to
them; and also whether, after the end of the world, we are to understand that
they are to be released from their bodies; and whether, as we cease to live, so
they also will cease from illuminating the world. Although this inquiry may seem
to be somewhat bold, yet, as we are incited by the desire of ascertaining the
truth as far as possible, there seems no absurdity in attempting an
investigation of the subject agreeably to the grace of the Holy Spirit.
We think, then, that they may be designated as living beings, for this reason,
that they are said to receive commandments from God, which is ordinarily the
case only with rational beings. "I have given a commandment to all the stars,"
says the Lord. What, now, are these commandments? Those, namely, that each star,
in its order and course, should bestow upon the world the amount of splendour
which has been entrusted to it. For those which are called "planets" move in
orbits of one kind, and those which are termed aifkavet are different.
Now it manifestly follows from this, that neither can the movement of that body
take place without a soul, nor can living things be at any time without motion.
And seeing that the stars move with such order and regularity, that their
movements never appear to be at any time subject to derangement, would it not be
the height of folly to say that so orderly an observance of method and plan
could be carried out or accomplished by irrational beings?' ANCL, 10, 62.]
[365] [The Apostles, p. 102. 'Thus that which they called "godly sorrow" all passed for a heavenly gift. All the teachings of the Fathers respecting the spiritual life, such as John Chinaticus, as Basil, as Nilus, as Arsenius all the secrets of the grand art of the inward life, one of the most glorious creations of Christianity were germinating in that strange state of mind which possessed, in their months of ecstatic watchfulness, those illustrious ancestors of all "the men of longings."']
[366] [Against Heresies, bk. 1, 30, 13. 'And they assert that this very great error prevailed among his disciples, that they imagined he had risen in a mundane body, not knowing that "flesh and blood do not attain to the kingdom of God."' ANCL, 5, 111.]
[367] [The Apostles, p. 310, note 45. 'In an island opposite Rotterdam, where the people have remained attached to the most austere Calvinism, the peasants are persuaded that Jesus comes to their death-beds to assure the elect of their justification; many, in fact, see Him.']
[368] [Against Heresies, bk. 2, ch. 32. 4. 'Others have foreknowledge of things to come: they see visions, and utter prophetic expressions. Others still, heal the sick by laying their hands upon them, and they are made whole. Yea, moreover, as I have said, the dead even have been raised up, and remained among us for many years. And what shall I more say? It is not possible to name the number of the gifts which the church, [scattered] throughout the whole world, has received from God, in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and which she exerts day by day for the benefit of the Gentiles, neither practising deception upon any, nor taking any reward from them [on account of such miraculous interpositions].' ANCL, 5, 216.]
[369] [First Apology, ch. 40. 'And we have thought it right and relevant to mention some other prophetic utterances of David besides these; from which you may learn how the Spirit of prophecy exhorts men to live, and how He foretold the conspiracy which was formed against Christ by Herod the king of the Jews, and the Jews themselves, and Pilate, who was your governor among them, with his soldiers; and how He should be believed on by men of every race; and how God calls Him His Son, and has declared that He will subdue all His enemies under Him; and how the devils, as much as they can, strive to escape the power of God the Father and Lord of all, and the power of Christ Himself; and how God calls all to repentance before the day of judgment comes.' ANCL, 2, 41.]
[370] [The Didache. See ch. 11.]
[371] [Ibid., ch. 2.]
[372] [Ibid., ch. 11.]
[373] [2 John 1:7. 'For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.']
[374] [1 John 4:3. 'And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.']
[375] [The City of God, 7, 24. 'These are the famous mysteries of Tellus and the Great Mother, all of which are shown to have reference to mortal seeds and to agriculture. Do these things, then,-namely, the tympanum, the towers, the Galli, the tossing to and fro of limbs, the noise of cymbals, the images of lions, do these things, having this reference and this end, promise eternal life? Do the mutilated Galli, then, serve this Great Mother in order to signify that they who are in need of seed should follow the earth, as though it were not rather the case that this very service caused them to want seed? For whether do they, by following this goddess, acquire seed, being in want of it, or, by following her, lose seed when they have it? Is this to interpret or to deprecate? Nor is it considered to what a degree malign demons have gained the upper hand, inasmuch as they have been able to exact such cruel rites without having dared to promise any great things in return for them.' I am not convinced this is the right passage, but it is the ref. Massey gives. See Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 1st series, vol. 2.]
[376] [Poss. in his Apologies, but unable to trace.]
[377] [Epistle to the Smyrneans, ch. 3. 'For I know and believe that He was in the flesh even after the resurrection. And when He came to Peter and those who were with him, He said to them, "Take, handle me and see that I am not a spirit without body." And straightway they touched Him and believed, being united with His flesh and spirit. Therefore also they despised death, and were found to rise above death. Moreover after His resurrection He ate with them and drank with them, as living in the flesh, although spiritually united with the Father.']
[378] [Lost Works of Tatian, ch. 10. 'But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying. Prophesy not." On this, perhaps, Tatian the chief of the Encratites endeavours to build his heresy, asserting that wine is not to be drunk, since it was commanded in the law that the Nazarites were not to drink wine, and now those who give the Nazarite wine are accused by the prophet.' ANCL, 3, 48.]
[379] [Against Marcion, bk. 4, ch. 8. 'The Christ of the Creator had to be called a Nazarene, according to prophecy; whence the Jews also designate us, on that very account, Nazarenes after Him. For we are they of whom it is written, "Their Nazarites were whiter than snow;" even they who were once defiled with the stains of sin, and darkened with the clouds of ignorance.' ANCL, 7, 107.]
[380] [The Spectator, August 13, 1887.]
[381] [Massey's own words.]
[382] [Apostolic Constitutions, bk. 5, 15. 'But He commanded us to fast on the fourth and sixth days of the week; the former on account of His being betrayed, and the latter on account of His passion. But He appointed us to break our fast on the seventh day at the cock-crowing, but to fast on the Sabbath-day. Not that the Sabbath-day is a day of fasting, being the rest from the creation, but because we ought to fast on this one Sabbath only, while on this day the Creator w^as under the earth. For on their very feast-day they apprehended the Lord, that that oracle might be fulfilled which says: "They placed their signs in the middle of their feast, and knew them not."' ANCL, 17, 165.]
Notes to Massey's Fifth Lecture
[383] [In this lecture Massey discusses the possible origins of Hebrew creation myths as preserved in the ancient texts and translated in various volumes of Records of the Past, as well as in the works of the Assyriologists George Smith, Archibald Sayce, etc., pointing to the fact that they all have their origins in the remote past of ancient Egypt.]
[384] ['Eloquence,' in Works, vol. 7, p. 94. 'If you would lift me you must be on higher ground. If you would liberate me you must be free. If you would correct my false view of facts, hold up to me the same facts in the true order of thought, and I cannot go back from the new conviction.']
[385] [Allegories, bk. 2, 7. '"And God cast a deep trance upon Adam, and sent him to sleep; and he took one of his ribs," and so on. The literal statement conveyed in these words is a fabulous one; for how can any one believe that a woman was made of a rib of a man, or, in short, that any human being was made out of another? And what hindered God, as he had made man out of the earth, from making woman in the same manner? For the Creator was the same, and the material was almost interminable, from which every distinctive quality whatever was made.' Works, vol. 1, p. 86. See also BB 2:182.]
[386] [On the Creation of the World, bk. 56. 'And these things are not mere fabulous inventions, in which the race of poets and sophists delights, but are rather types shadowing forth some allegorical truth, according to some mystical explanation. And any one who follows a reasonable train of conjecture, will say with great propriety, that the aforesaid serpent is the symbol of pleasure, because in the first place he is destitute of feet, and crawls on his belly with his face downwards. In the second place, because he uses lumps of clay for food. Thirdly, because he bears poison in his teeth, by which it is his nature to kill those who are bitten by him.' Works, vol. 1, p. 47.]
[387] [This statement by Massey forms the cornerstone of his philosophy; it subsumes everything he has written in BB, NG, and AE, and in fact reaches it fulfilment in the latter.]
[388] [See Hahn, Tsuni-Goam, p. 61.
'While Gaunab was expiring he gave his enemy a blow on the knee. Since that day
the conqueror of Gaunab received the name Tsuillgoab, "sore hue," or "wounded
knee." Henceforth he could not walk properly, because he was lame.'
See also NG.]
[389] ['Doctrine Concerning Holy Scripture,' n. 20 in Four Doctrines. 'Hitherto the spiritual sense of the Word has been unknown. It has been shown in the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 87-105) that all things of nature, and likewise of the human body; and also every single particular in them, correspond to spiritual things. Hitherto, however, it has not been known what correspondence is, although in the most ancient times this was very well known'; for the science of correspondences was then the science of sciences, and was so universal that all the writings and books were written by means of correspondences. The book of Job, which is an ancient book, is full of correspondences. The hieroglyphics of the Egyptians, and also the fabulous stories of highest antiquity, were nothing but correspondences. All the ancient churches were churches representative of heavenly things; their rites, and also the ordinances according to which their worship was instituted, consisted exclusively of correspondences. So did all things of the church among the sons of Jacob; their burnt-offerings and sacrifices, with each and every thing thereto pertaining, were correspondences; so was the tabernacle with all its contents; so with their feasts, the feast of unleavened things, the feast of tabernacles, and the feast of first-fruits; so was the priesthood of Aaron and the Levites, and also the holy garments of Aaron and his sons; besides all the ordinances and judgments that concerned their worship and their life. And as Divine things present themselves in the world by correspondences, the Word has been written exclusively by means of them. And therefore the Lord spoke by correspondences, because He spoke from His Divine, for that which is from the Divine, descending into nature, is turned into such things as correspond to Divine things, and which then store up and conceal in their bosom the Divine things that are called celestial and spiritual.']
[390] [See above note.]
[391] [2 Pet. 1:5. 'And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge.']
[392] [Source.]
[393] [Sayce, 'Assyrian Story of the Creation,' RPNS, 1, 122. See p. 132.]
[394] [Gen. 2:4. 'These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.']
[395] [Sayce, 'Assyrian Story of the Creation,' RPNS, 1, 122. See p. 143.]
[396] [Divine Pymander, bk. 3, 5-7.]
[397] [See note below.]
[398] [Later Gleanings, p. 21. 'Then, I ask, how came Moses, or, not to cavil on the word, how came the author of the first Chapter of Genesis, to know that order, to possess knowledge which natural science has only within the present century for the first time dug out of the bowels of the earth? It is surely impossible to avoid the conclusion, first, that either this writer was gifted with faculties passing all human experience, or else his knowledge was divine. The first branch of the alternative is truly nominal and unreal.']
[399] [Ibid., p. 21. '... before
physical science existed as a pursuit, went forth into all lands. First, looking
largely at the latter portion of the narrative, which describes the creation of
living organisms, and waiving details, on some of which (as in ver. 24) the
Septuagint seems to vary from the Hebrew, there is a grand fourfold division,
set forth in an orderly succession of times as follows: on the fifth day
1. The water-population;
2. The air-population;
and, on the sixth day,
3. The land-population of animals;
4. The land-population consummated in mall.
Now, this same fourfold order is understood to have been so affirmed in our time
by natural science, that it may be taken as a demonstrated conclusion and
established fact.']
[400] [Gen. 2:3. 'And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.']
[401] [Later Gleanings, pp. 20-1. 'But the question is not here of a lofty poem, or a skilfully constructed narrative: it is whether natural science, in the patient exercise of its high calling to examine facts, finds that the works of God cry out against what we have fondly believed to be His Word, and tell another tale; or whether, in this nineteenth century of Christian progress, it substantially echoes back the majestic sound which, before physical science existed as a pursuit, went forth into all lands.']
[402] [Aesop's Fables, fable 39. 'A
NURSE, who was endeavouring to quiet a froward bawling child, among other
attempts, threatened to throw it out of doors to the Wolf, if it did not leave
off crying. A Wolf, who chanced to be prowling near the door just at that time,
heard the expression, and believing the woman to be in earnest, waited a long
while about the house in expectation of seeing her words made good. But at last
the child, wearied with its own importunities, fell asleep, and the poor Wolf
was forced to return back to the woods empty and supperless. The Fox meeting
him, and surprised to see him going home so thin and disconsolate, asked him
what the matter was, and how he came to speed no better that night ? Ah! do not
ask me, says he, I was so silly as to believe what the Nurse said, and have been
disappointed.
THE APPLICATION.
All the moralists have agreed to interpret this fable as a caution to us never
to trust a woman. What reasons they could have for giving so rough and uncourtly
a precept, is not easy to be imagined: for however fickle and unstable some
women may be, it is well known there are several who have a greater regard for
truth in what they assert or promise, than most men. There is not room in so
short a compass to express a due concern for the honour of the ladies upon this
occasion, nor to show how much one is disposed to vindicate them: and though
there is nothing bad which can be said of them, but may, with equal justice, be
averred of the other sex; yet one would not venture to give them quite so
absolute a precaution as the old mythologists have affixed to this fable, but
only to advise them to consider well and thoroughly of the matter, before they
trust any man living.' Fables of Aesop and Others, trans., Samuel Croxall,
pp. 91-3.]
[403] [Later Gleanings, pp. 17-8. 'Upon the presumable age of the book and its compilation I do not enter—not even to contest the opinion which brings it down below the age of Solomon—beyond observing that in every page it appears from internal evidence to belong to a remote antiquity. There is here no question of the chronology, or of the date of man, or of knowledge or ignorance in the primitive man; or whether the element of parable enters into any portion of the narrative; or whether every statement of fact contained in the text of the Book, can now be made good. It is enough for my present purpose to point to the cosmogony, and the fourfold succession of the living organisms, as entirely harmonising, according to present knowledge, with belief in a revelation, and as presenting to the rejector of that belief a problem, which demands solution at his hands, and which he has not yet been able to solve. Whether this revelation was conveyed to the ancestors of the whole human race who have at the time or since existed, I do not know, and the Scripture does not appear to me to make the affirmation, even if they do not convey certain indications which favour a contrary opinion.']
[404] [Ibid., pp. 67-8. 'How came they to be, not among Accadians, or Assyrians, or Egyptians, who monopolised the stores of human knowledge when this wonderful tradition was born; but among the obscure records of a people who, duelling in Palestine for twelve hundred years from their sojourn in the valley of the Nile, hardly had force to stamp even so much as their name upon the history of the world at large, and only then began to be admitted to the general communion of mankind when their Scriptures assumed the dress which a Gentile tongue was needed to supply It is more rational, I contend, to say that these astonishing anticipations were a God-given supply, than to suppose that a race, who fell uniformly and entirely short of the great intellectual development of antiquity, should here not only have equalled and outstripped it, but have entirely transcended, in kind even more than in degree, all known exercise of human faculties.']
[405] [History of Egypt, vol. 1, p. 126. 'The whole history of the fall of man is of Egyptian origin. The temptation of woman by the serpent and of man by the woman declares the Egyptian opinion that celibacy is more holy than marriage. The sacred tree of knowledge, the cherubs guarding with flaming swords the door of the garden, the warfare between the woman and the serpent, may all be seen upon the Egyptian sculptured monuments. The Mosaic laws are largely coloured by the Egyptian customs, some which they carefully forbid as being superstitious and idolatrous, and some which they copy as being innocent.']
[406] ['Le Cham et l'Adam Egyptiens,' TSBA, 9, 167-81.]
[408] ['Le Cham et l'Adam Egyptiens,' TSBA, 9, 178. 'Sur les hypocéphales le serpent est très-visiblement male; au sarcophage saite, il a les bras peints en jaime, couleur féminine, et les jambes peintes eu rouge, couleur masculine, ce qui laisse indécise la question de savoir si le sexe du serpent a varié ou non dans cette allegorie. L'arbre de vie et l'arbre de science étaient d'ailleurs bien connus en Egypte.']
[409] [Ibid., 9, 180. 'Que la scène du Neb-t'efa puisse ou non être rattachée a l'histoire d'Adam, on voit dans tous les cas que le plus grand nombre des particularités de cette histoire existaient en Egypte: l'arbre de vie et de science, le serpent du paradis, l'Eve songeant a s'approprier la divinité, et enfin, Adam lui-même.']
[410] [HL, p. 243. 'The short time which is now left will not allow me to enter at length into a discussion of certain questions which have naturally arisen as to the influence of Egyptian upon foreign thought, as, for instance, on the Hebrew or Greek religions and philosophies. It may be confidently asserted that neither Hebrews nor Greeks borrowed any of their ideas from Egypt. It ought, I think, to be a matter of wonder that, after a long time of bondage, the Israelites left Egypt without having even learnt the length of the year.']
[411] [HL, p. 136. 'Apart from those general analogies which we find in all early civilisations, the script, the theology and the astronomy of Egypt and Babylonia show no vestiges of a common source. Nevertheless, there is now sufficient evidence to prove that at the very dawn of the historic period in Babylonia, maritime intercourse was being carried on between this country on the one hand and the Sinaitic Peninsula and India on the other. The evidence is as startling as it is curious.']
[412] [Ibid., p. 395. 'It is said of the seven evil spirits; "the woman from the loins of the man they bring forth," in conformity with the Semitic belief which derived the woman from the man.']
[413] [Not in Birch's Ritual.]
[414] [HL, p. 395. 'However this may be, the fourth tablet recorded the great struggle between Merodach and Tiamat, of which no trace appears in the book of Genesis, though, we seem to have allusions to a similar conflict in the spiritual world in other parts of the Bible.']
[415] [Gen. 3:15. 'And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.']
[418] [HL, p. 376. 'An allusion to the creation of the heavens out of the watery abyss, and the subsequent formation of the earth, is found in a mythological document, where we read: "The heaven was made from the waters; the god and the goddess create the earth."']
[419] [Read and Bryant, 'A Mythological Text from Memphis,' PSBA, 23, 174. See full text.]
[420] [Gen. 1:25. 'And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.']
[421] [Gen. 2:3. 'And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.']
[422] [Sepher-Yetzirah.]
[423] [Cf. Fuerst, Hebräisches und Chaldäisches Handwörtenbuch über das Alte Testament, p. 1166.]
[424] [See West's tr. of Bundahish.]
[425] [Gen. 1:5. 'And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.']
[427] [Gen. 1:10. 'And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.']
[429] [Later Gleanings, p. 12. 'Does it not seem allowable to suppose that in the "heavens": (v. 1), of which after the first outset we hear no more, were included the planetary bodies? In any case what is afterwards conveyed is not the calling into existence of the sun and moon, but the assignment to them of a certain place and orbit respectively, with a light-giving power. Is there the smallest inconsistency in a statement which places the emergence of our land, and its separation from the sea, and the commencement of vegetable life, before the more full and gathered concentration of light in the sun, and its reflection on the moon and the planets ? In the gradual severance of other elements, would not the severance of the luminous body, or force, be gradual also?']
[430] [Source.]
[431] [Chaldean Account of Genesis, p. 75. 'The Babylonian account of the Creation gives the creation of the moon before that of the sun, in reverse order to that in Genesis, and evidently the Babylonians considered the moon the principal body, while the Book of Genesis makes the sun the greater light. Here it is evident that Genesis is truer to nature than the Chaldean text.']
[432] [HL, p. 165. 'The moon existed before the sun. This is the idea which underlay the religious belief of Accad, exact converse, as it was, of the central idea of the religion of the Semites. It was only where Accadian influence was strong that the Semite could be brought in any way to accept it.']
[433] [Berosus, in Cory, Ancient Fragments, p. 55.]
[435] [Targum of Palestine, sect. 1. 'And the Lord said to the angels who ministered before Him, who had been created in the second day of the creation of the world, Let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl which are in the atmosphere of heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every reptile creeping upon the earth. And the Lord created man in His Likeness: [JERUSALEM. And the Word of the Lord created man in His likeness, in the likeness of the presence of the Lord He created him, the male and his yoke-fellow He created them.] In the image of the Lord He created him, with two hundred and forty and eight members, with three hundred and sixty and five nerves, and overlaid them with skin, and filled it with flesh and blood.']
[436] [See note 434 above.]
[437] [Ditto.]
[439] [Against Heresies, bk. 1, ch. 18, 2. 'They affirm that man was formed on the eighth day, for sometimes they will have him to have been made on the sixth day, and sometimes on the eighth, unless, perchance, they mean that his earthly part was formed on the sixth day, but his fleshly part on the eighth, for these two things are distinguished by them.']
[440] [Ibid., bk. 1, ch. 18. 1. 'And while they affirm such things as these concerning the creation, every one of them generates something new, day by day, according to his ability: for no one is deemed "perfect," who does not develop among them some mighty fictions. It is thus necessary, first, to indicate what things they metamorphose [to their own use] out of the prophetical writings, and next, to refute them. Moses, then, they declare, by his mode of beginning the account of the creation, has at the commencement pointed out the mother of all things when he says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth;" for, as they maintain, by naming these four—God, beginning, heaven, and earth,—he set forth their Tetrad. Indicating also its invisible and hidden nature, he said, "Now the earth was invisible and unformed." They will have it, moreover, that he spoke of the second Tetrad, the offspring of the first, in this way—by naming an abyss and darkness, in which were also water, and the Spirit moving upon the water. Then, proceeding to mention the Decad, he names light, day, night, the firmament, the evening, the morning, dry land, sea, plants, and, in the tenth place, trees. Thus, by means of these ten names, he indicated the ten Æons. The power of the Duodecad, again, was shadowed forth by him thus:—He names the sun, moon, stars, seasons, years, whales, fishes, reptiles, birds, quadrupeds, wild beasts, and after all these, in the twelfth place, man. Thus they teach that the Triacontad was spoken of through Moses by the Spirit. Moreover, man also, being formed after the image of the power above, had in himself that ability which flows from the one source. This ability was seated in the region of the brain, from which four faculties proceed, after the image of the Tetrad above, and these are called: the first, sight, the second, hearing, the third, smell, and the fourth, taste. And they say that the Ogdoad is indicated by man in this way: that he possesses two ears, the like number of eyes, also two nostrils, and a twofold taste, namely, of bitter and sweet. Moreover, they teach that the whole man contains the entire image of the Triacontad as follows: In his hands, by means of his fingers, he bears the Decad; and in his whole body the Duodecad, inasmuch as his body is divided into twelve members; for they portion that out, as the body of Truth is divided by them—a point of which we have already spoken. Bat the Ogdoad, as being unspeakable and invisible, is understood as hidden in the viscera.']
[441] [Rev. 17:10. 'And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.']
[442] [Unable to trace in Gen.]
[443] [Book of Enoch, ch. 18.]
[444] [Rev. 17:9. 'And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.']
[445] [Evolution of Theology.]
[446] [Irenaeus, Against Heresies, bk. 1, 30, 5. 'They have also given names to [the several persons] in their system of falsehood, such as the following: he who was the first descendant of the mother is called Ialdabaoth; he, again, descended from him, is named Iao; he, from this one, is called Sabaoth; the fourth is named Adoneus; the fifth, Eloeus; the sixth, Oreus; and the seventh and last of all, Astanphseus. Moreover, they represent these heavens, potentates, powers, angels, and creators, as sitting in their proper order in heaven, according to their generation, and as invisibly ruling over things celestial and terrestrial. The first of them, namely Ialdabaoth, holds his mother in contempt, inasmuch as he produced sons and grandsons without the permission of any one, yea, even angels, archangels, powders, potentates, and dominions. After these things had been done, his sons turned to strive and quarrel with him about the supreme power,—conduct which deeply grieved Ialdabaoth, and drove him to despair. In these circumstances, he cast his eyes upon the subjacent dregs of matter, and fixed his desire upon it, to which they declare his son owes his origin. This son is Nous himself, twisted into the form of a serpent; and hence were derived the spirit, the soul, and all mundane things: from this too were generated all oblivion, wickedness, emulation, envy, and death. They declare that the father imparted still greater crookedness to this serpent-like and contorted Nous of theirs, when he was with their father in heaven and Paradise.' ANCL, 5, 106.]
[447] [Cory, Ancient Fragments, p. 14.]
[448] [Ibid., p. 92.]
[449] [Rev. 12:3. 'And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.']
[450] [Of Isis and Osiris, ch. 75.]
[451] [Rev. 17:11. 'And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.']
[452] [Rev. 17:4. 'And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.']
[453] [Book of Enoch, ch. 58.]
[454] [Sayce, HL, p. 140. 'Thus he is invoked as "the god of pure life" "who stretches out the bright firmament, the god of good winds, the lord of hearing and obedience, creator of the pure and the impure, establisher of fertility, who brings to greatness him that is of small estate. In places difficult of access we have smelt his good wind. May he command, may he glorify, may he hearken to his worshippers. god of the pure crown, moreover, may all creatures that have wings and fins be strong. Lord of the pure oracle who giveth life to the dead, who hath granted forgiveness to the conspiring gods, hath laid homage and submission upon the gods his foes. For their redemption did he create mankind, even he the merciful one with whom is life. May he establish and never may his word be forgotten in the mouth of the black-headed race (of Sumir) whom his hands created. As god of the pure incantation may he further be invoked, before whose pure approach may the evil trouble be overthrown, by whose pure spell the siege of the foe is removed god who knowest the heart, who knowest the hearts of the gods that move his compassion, so that they let not the doing of evil come forth against him, he who establishes the assembly of the gods (and knows) their hearts, who subdues the disobedient. ... May he (determine) the courses of the stars of heaven; like a flock may he order all the gods.']
[455] [Gen. 1:26. 'And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.']
[456] [Irenaeus, Against Heresies, bk. 1, 30, 6. 'On this account, Ialdabaoth, becoming uplifted in spirit, boasted himself over all those things that were below him, and exclaimed, "I am father, and God, and above me there is no one." But his mother, hearing him speak thus, cried out against him, "Do not lie, Ialdabaoth: for the father of all, the first Anthropos (man), is above thee; and so is Anthropos the son of Anthropos." Then, as all were disturbed by this new voice, and by the unexpected proclamation, and as they were inquiring whence the noise proceeded, in order to lead them away and attract them to himself, they affirm that Ialdabaoth exclaimed, "Come, let us make man after our image." The six powers, on hearing this, and their mother furnishing them with the idea of a man (in order that by means of him she might empty them of their original power), jointly formed a man of immense size, both in regard to breadth and length. But as he could merely writhe along the ground, they carried him to their father; Sophia so labouring in this matter, that she might empty him (Ialdabaoth) of the light with which he had been sprinkled, so that he might no longer, though still powerful, be able to lift up himself against the powers above. They declare, then, that by breathing into man the spirit of life, he was secretly emptied of his power; that hence man became a possessor of nous (intelligence) and enthymesis (thought); and they affirm that these are the faculties which partake in salvation. He [they further assert] at once gave thanks to the first Anthropos (man), forsaking those who had created him.' ANCL, 5, 107.]
[457]
[2 Esd. 6:56.
Ibid. 'As for the other nations which have descended from Adam,
thou hast said that they are nothing, and that they are like spittle, and thou
hast compared their abundance to a drop from a bucket.' NEB version.]
[458] [Ex. 6:3. 'And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.']
[459] [Hierozoicon. See also BB 2:153.]
[461] [Later Gleanings, p. 20. '"God created man in His own image," and once more He gave benediction to this the final work of His hands, and endowed our race with its high dominion over what lived and what did not live. I do not dwell on the cessation of the Almighty from the creating and "finishing" work, which is the "rest" and marks the seventh "day," because it introduces another order of considerations. But glancing back at the narrative which now forms the first Chapter, I offer perhaps a prejudiced, and in any case no more than a passing, remark. If we view it as popular narrative, it is singularly vivid, forcible, and effective; if we take it as poem, it is indeed sublime. No wonder if it became classical and reappeared it is the glorious devotions of the Hebrew people, pursuing, in a great degree, the same order of topics as in the Book of Genesis.']
[462] [Matt. 19:12. 'For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.']
[463] [Modern Painters, vol. 4, p. 72. 'To be content in utter darkness and ignorance is indeed unmanly, and therefore we .think that to love light and seek knowledge must always be right. Yet (as in all matters before observed), wherever pride has any share in the work, even knowledge and light may be ill pursued. Knowledge is good, and light is good, yet man perished in seeking know ledge, and moths perish in seeking light; and if we, who are crushed before the moth, will not accept such mystery as is needful for us, we shall perish in like manner.']
[464] [Massey's own words.]
Footnotes to Massey's Fifth Lecture (continued)
[fn1] [HL, p. 136. 'Apart from those
general analogies which we find in all early civilisations, the script, the
theology and the astronomy of Egypt and Babylonia show no vestiges of a common
source.
Nevertheless, there is now sufficient evidence to prove that at the very dawn of
the historic period in Babylonia, maritime intercourse was being carried on
between this country on the one hand and the Sinaitic Peninsula and India on the
other. The evidence is as startling as it is curious.']
[fn2] [Ibid., p. 435. 'If Lepsius were right, the primitive hieroglyphs out of which the cuneiform characters were evolved would offer resemblances to the hieroglyphs of Egypt. But this is not the case. With the exception of such obvious symbols as a circle to denote the sun, which occur in every pictorial system of writing, the ideographs of Chaldaea and Egypt have nothing in common. Even the idea of divinity is represented differently in them. In Chaldaea it is expressed by an eight-rayed star; in Egypt, by a stone-headed axe. The existence of the famous "Cushite race," in fact, depends on a misinterpretation of a verse of the Old Testament, eked out by the loose terminology of Greek writers who spoke of "Ethiopians" in the east as well as in the west.']
[fn3] [Burton, Excerpta Hieroglyphica, p. 34.]
[fn4] [HL, p. 138. 'This intercourse with other countries, and the influence which a school of sculpture in the Sinaitic Peninsula appears to have exercised upon the Babylonians, must necessarily have had much to do with the early development of Chaldaean culture, even though it were indigenous in its origin. It therefore becomes possible that Ea, the deity with whom the introduction of such a culture is associated, may also have come from abroad. At present, however, there is no proof of this, though it is quite possible that some of his features are foreign; and it is even possible that the primitive Shamanistic worship of spirits, which, as we shall see hereafter, originally characterised the religion of the Accadians, first became a worship of the god Ea through foreign influence, other spirits afterwards passing into gods when the example had once been set.']
[fn5] [Rit. ch. 17. Cf. Renouf's tr.]
[fn6] [HL, p. 267. 'From Syria, the
cult, with all its rites, made its way, like that of Attys-Adonis, to the
populations beyond the Taurus. At Komana in Kappadokia, the goddess Ma was
ministered to by 6000 eunuch-priests, and the Galli of Phrygia rivalled the
priests of Baal and Ashtoreth in cutting their arms with, knives, in scourging
their backs, and in piercing their flesh with darts. The worship of the fierce
powers of nature, at once life-giving and death-dealing, which required from the
believer a sympathetic participation in the sufferings and pleasures of his
deities, produced alternate outbursts of frenzied self-torture and frenzied
lust.
There was, however, a gentler side to the worship of Istar. The cult of a
goddess who watched over the family bond and whose help was ever assured to the
faithful in his trouble, could not but exercise a humanising influence, however
much that influence may have been sullied by the excesses of the popular
religion. But there were many whose higher and finer natures were affected only
by the humanising influence and not by the popular faith. Babylonia does not
seem to have produced any class of men like the Israelitish prophets; but it
produced cultivated scribes and thinkers, who sought and found beneath the
superstitions of their countrymen a purer religion and a more abiding form of
faith. Istar was to them a divine "mother," the goddess who had begotten
mankind, and who cared for their welfare with a mother's love.']
[fn7] [Lepsius, Denkmäler 3, 46 C.]
[fn8] [HL, p. 256. 'In the second place, there is a very important difference between the Istar of Babylonia and the Ashtoreth of Phoenicia. Ashtoreth was the goddess of the moon; Istar was not. It was in the west alone that Astarte was "Queen of heaven with crescent horns; To whose bright image nightly by the moon Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs."']
[fn9] [HL, p. 257. 'Istar sank to the
level and took the place of the older goddesses of the Canaanitish faith.
Perhaps you will ask me what is the meaning of the name of Istar? This, however,
is a question which I cannot answer. The Babylonians of the historical age do
not seem to have known what was its origin, and it is therefore quite useless
for us to speculate on the subject.']
[fn10] [Champollion, Grammaire Egyptien, 1292.]
[fn11] [Macrobius, Saturnalia, 121.]
[fn12] [Maspero, 'Stele of Excommunication,' RP, 4, 95.]
[fn13] [Sayce, HL, p. 233. 'How early the designation must be, is shown by the fact that Ea appears in it as not yet a god, but as a spirit only. We are carried back to the first dawn of Chaldaean religious belief. The name was translated by the Semites "Timmuz (or Dimmuz) of the flood" (W.A.I, ii. 47, 29), and the solar character of the deity was indicated by writing his name with ideographs that signified "the maker of fire."']
[fn14] [Ibid., pp. 227-9. 'The poem
throws light upon certain passages both in the Old Testament and in classical
authors, and in turn receives light from them. On the one hand, we now know who
was that Tammuz in whose honour Ezekiel saw the women of Jerusalem weeping at
the gate of "the Lord's house." On the other hand, it is clear that the Tammuz
and Istar of the Babylonian legend are the Adonis and Aphrodite of Greek
mythology. Like Tammuz, Adonis, the beloved one of Aphrodite, is slain by the
boar's tusk of winter, but eventually ransomed from Hades by the prayers of the
goddess. It has long been recognised that Aphrodite, the Kyprian goddess of love
and war, came to Hellas from Phoenicia, whether or not we agree with Dr. Hommel
in seeing in her name a mere etymological perversion of the Phoenician
Ashtoreth. Adonis is the Phoenician Adoni, "my lord," the cry with which the
worshippers of the stricken Sun-god mourned his untimely descent into the lower
world.
The cry was familiar throughout the land of Palestine. In the valley of Megiddo,
by the plain of Jezreel, each year witnessed "the mourning for Hadad-Bimmon" (Zech.
xii. 11), while hard by Amos heard the men of Israel mourning for "the only son"
(Am. viii. 10), and the prophet of Judah gives the very words of the
refrain: "Ah me, my brother, and ah me, my sister! Ah me, Adonis, and ah me, his
lady!" (Jer. xxii. 18). The words were carried across the western sea to
men of an alien race and language. "Cry ailinon, ailinon! woe, woe!" says the
Greek poet of Athens, and already in Homeric days the dirge was attributed to a
mythic Linos whose magic fate was commemorated in its opening words: "O Linos,
Linos!" Linos, however, had no existence except in a popular etymology; the
Greek ailinos is in reality the Phoenician ai-lenu, "alas for us!" with which
the lamentations for the death of the divine Adonis were wont to begin. Like the
refrain quoted by Jeremiah, the words eventually go back to Babylonia,
and find their counterpart in the closing lines of the old Babylonian poem I
have translated above. When Tillili commences her wail over the dead Tammuz, she
cries, like the women of Judah and Phoenicia, "my brother, the only one!" It
was, above all, in the Phoenician town of Gebal or Byblos that the death of
Adonis was commemorated. Here, eight miles to the north of Beyrut, the ancient
military road led from eastern Asia to the shores of the Mediterranean, and
brought from early days the invading armies of Babylonia and Assyria to the
coasts and cities of Canaan. Hard by was the river of Adonis, the Nahr Ibrahim
of to-day, which rolled through a rocky gorge into the sea. Each year, when the
rains and melting snows of spring stained its waters with the red marl of the
mountains, the people of Gebai beheld in it the blood of the slaughtered
Sun-god. It was then, in the month of Tammuz or June, that the funeral-festival
of the god was held. For seven days it lasted. "Gardens of Adonis," as they were
called, were planted, pots filled with earth and cut herbs, which soon withered
away in the fierce heat of the summer sun fitting emblems of the lost Adonis
himself. Meanwhile, the streets and gates of the temples were filled with
throngs of wailing women. They tore their hair, they disfigured the face, they
cut the breast with sharp knives, in token of the agony of their grief. Their
cry of lamentation went up to Heaven mingled with that of the Galli, the
emasculated priests of Ashtoreth, who shared with them their festival of woe
over her murdered bridegroom.']
[fn15] [Plutarch, Of Isis and Osiris, ch. 14.]
[fn16] [HL, p. 392. 'So far,
moreover, from the composite animals of mythology being subjects of abhorrence,
Oannes, the god of culture, the god of pure life, as the inscriptions term him,
was actually one of them. It was he who is described in the fragment of Berossos
as half-human, with the tail of a fish.
These composite creatures were really the offspring of totemism and the attempts
of a later age to explain the figures which totemism had bequeathed to art and
mythology. A place had to be found for the colossal bulls with human heads and
eagles wings, for the hawk-headed cherubs who guarded the tree of life, for "the
scorpion-men" who watched the sun at his rising and setting, or for the
centaurs, half-man and half -horse, whose forms are engraved on Babylonian
boundary-stones, and who passed over to the Greeks through Phoenician hands.']
[fn17] [Ibid., p. 358. 'But I can find no traces of ancestor-worship in the early literature of Chaldaea which has survived to us. Whatever views the Chaldsean may have entertained about the ghost- world, they were vague and shadowy; it was a subterranean region, inhabited for the most part by spirits who were not the spirits of the dead, but of the objects of nature.']