CHAPTER XXXI
. CHRISTIANITY DERIVED FROM HEATHEN AND ORIENTAL SYSTEMS
MORE than twenty thousand sermons are preached in the Christian pulpits, on every recurring Sabbath, to convince the people that the religion and morality taught and practiced by Jesus Christ was of divine emanation, and was never before taught in the world,--that his system of morality was without a parallel, and his practical life without a precedent,--that the doctrine of self-denial, humility, unselfishness, benevolence, and charity,--also devout piety, kind treatment of enemies, and love for the human race, which he preached and practiced, had never before been exemplified in the life and teachings of any individual or nation. But a thorough acquaintance with the history and moral systems of some of the oriental nations, and the practical lives of piety and self-denial exemplified in their leading men long anterior to the birth of Christ, and long before the name of Christianity was anywhere known, must convince any unprejudiced mind that such a claim is without foundation. And to prove it, we will here institute a critical comparison between Christianity and some of the older systems with respect to the essential spirit of their teachings, and observe how utterly untenable and groundless is the dogmatic assumption which claims for the Christian religion either any originality or any superiority. Of course if their is nothing new or original, there is nothing superior.
We will first arrange Christianity side by side with the ancient system known as Essenism--a religion whose origin has never been discovered, though it is known that the Essenes existed in the days of Jonathan Maccabeus, B. C. 150, and that they were of Jewish origin, and constituted one of the three Jewish sects (the other two being Pharisees and Sadducees). We have but fragments of their history as furnished by Philo, Josephus, Pliny, and their copyists, Eusebius, Dr. Ginsburg, and others, on whose authority we will proceed to show that Alexandrian and Judean Essenism was identically the same system in spirit and essence as its successor Judean Christianity; in other words, Judean Christianity teaches the same doctrines and moral precepts which had been previously inculcated by the disciples of the Essenian religion.
A PARALLEL EXHIBITION OF THE PRECEPTS AND PRACTICAL LIVES OF CHRIST AND THE ESSENES.
We will condense from Philo, Josephus, and other authors.
1. Philo says, "It is our first duty to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness so the Essenes believed and taught."
_Scripture parallel._ "Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all else shall be added." (Matt. vi. 33; Luke xii. 31.)
2. Philo says, "They abjured all amusements, all elegances, and all pleasures of the senses."
_Scripture parallel._ "Forsake the world and the things thereof."
3. The Essenes say, "Lay up nothing on earth, but fix your mind solely on heaven."
_Scripture parallel._ "Lay not up treasures on earth," &c.
4. "The Essenes, having laid aside all the anxieties of life," says Philo, "and leaving society, they make their residence in solitary wilds and in gardens."
_Scripture parallel._ "They wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and in caves of the earth." (Heb. xi. 38.)
5. Josephus says, "They neither buy nor sell among themselves, but give of what they have to him that wanteth."
_Scripture parallel._ "And parted them (their goods) to all men as every man had need." (Acts ii. 45.)
6. Eusebius says, "Even as it is related in the Acts of the Apostles, all (the Esseues)... were wont to sell their possessions and their substance, and divide among all according as any one had need, so that there was not one among them in want."
_Scripture parallel_. "Neither was their any among them that lacked, for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the price of the things that were sold, &c." (Acts iv. 34.)
7. Eusebius says, "For whoever, of Christ's disciples, were owners of estates or houses, sold them, and brought the price thereof, and laid them at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made as every one had need. So Philo relates things exactly similar of the Essenes."
_Scripture parallel._ (The text above quoted.)
8. "Philo tells us (says Eusebius) that the Essenes forsook father, mother, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, for their religion."
_Scripture parallel._ "Whosoever forsaketh not father and mother, houses and lands, &c. cannot be my disciples."
9. "Their being sometimes called _monks_ was owing to their abstraction from the world," says Eusebius.
_Scripture parallel._ "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." (John xvii. 16.)
10. "And the name Ascetics was applied to them on account of their rigid discipline, their prayers, fasting, self-mortification, &c., as they made themselves eunuchs."
_Scripture parallel._ "There be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake."
11. "They maintained a perfect community of goods, and an equality of external rank." (Mich. vol. iv. p. 83.)
_Scripture parallel._ "Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." (Matt. xx. 27.)
12. "The Essenes had all things in common, and appointed one of their number to manage the common bag." (Dr. Ginsburg.)
_Scripture parallel_ "And had all things in common." (Acts ii. 44; see also Acts iv. 32.)
13. "All ornamental dress they (Essenes) detested." (Mich. vol. iv. p. 83.)
_Scripture parallel_. "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, and putting on of apparel." (1 Peter iii. 3.)
14. "They would call no man master." (Mich.)
_Scripture parallel._ "Be not called Rabbi, for one is your Master." (Matt, xxiii. 8.)
15. "They said the Creator made all mankind equal." (Mich.)
_Scripture parallel._ "God hath made of one blood all them that dwell upon the earth."
16. "They renounced oaths, saying, He who cannot be believed without swearing is condemned already." (Mich.)
_Scripture parallel._ "Swear not at all."
17. "They would not eat anything which had blood in it, or meat which had been offered to idols. Their food was hyssop, and bread, and salt; and water their only drink." (Mich.)
_Scripture parallel_. "That ye abstain from meat offered to idols, and from blood." (Acts xv. 29.)
18. "Take nothing with them, neither meat or drink, nor anything necessary for the wants of the body."
_Scripture parallel._ "Take nothing for your journey; neither staves nor script; neither bread, neither money, neither have two coats apiece."
19. "They expounded the literal sense of the Holy Scriptures by allegory."
_Scripture parallel._ "Which things are an allegory." (Gal. iv. 24.)
20. "They abjured the pleasures of the body, not desiring mortal offspring, and they renounced marriage, believing it to be detrimental to a holy life." (Mich.)
_Scripture parallel._ It will be recollected that neither Jesus nor Paul ever married, and that they discouraged the marriage relation. Christ says, "They that shall be counted worthy of that world and the resurrection neither marry nor are given in marriage." And Paul says, "The unmarried careth for the things of the Lord." (i Cor. vii. 32.)
21. "They strove to disengage their minds entirely from the world."
_Scripture parallel_. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
22. "Devoting themselves to the Lord, they provide not for future subsistence."
_Scripture parallel._ "Take no thought for the morrow, what ye shall eat and drink," &c.
23. "Regarding the body as a prison, they were ashamed to give it sustenance." (c. ii. 71.)
_Scripture parallel._ "Who shall change our _vile_ bodies?" (Phil. iii. 21.)
24. "They spent nearly all their time in silent meditation and inward prayer." (c. ii. 71.)
_Scripture parallel._ "Men ought always to pray." (Luke xviii. 1.) "Pray without ceasing." (1 Thess. v. 17.)
25. "Believing the poor were the Lord's favorites, they vowed perpetual chastity and poverty." (c. ii. 71.)
_Scripture parallel_. "Blessed be ye poor." (Luke vi. 20.) "Hath not God chosen the poor?" (James ii. 5.)
26. "They devoted themselves entirely to contemplation in divine things." (c. ii. 71.)
_Scripture parallel_. "Mediate upon these (divine) things; give thyself wholly to them." (1 Tim. iv. 15.)
27. "They fasted often, sometimes tasting food but once in three or even six days."
_Scripture parallel._ Christ's disciples were "in fastings often." (2 Cor. xi. 27; see also v. 34.)
28. "They offered no sacrifices, believing that a serious and devout soul was most acceptable." (c. ii. 71.)
_Scripture parallel._ "There is no more offering for sin." (Heb. x. 18.)
29. "They believed in and practiced baptizing the dead." (c. ii. 71.)
_Scripture parallel._ "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead." (1 Cor. xv. 29.)
30. "They gave a mystical sense to the Scriptures, disregarding the letter."
_Scripture parallel._ "The letter killeth, but the spirit maketh alive." (1 Cor. iii. 6.)
31. "They taught by metaphors, symbols, and parables."
_Scripture parallel._ "Without a parable spake he not unto them." (Matt. xiii. 34.)
32. "They had many mysteries in their religion which they were sworn to keep secret."
_Scripture parallel._ "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom; to them it is not given." (Matt xiii. 11.) "Great is the mystery of godliness."
33. "They had in their churches, bishops, elders, deacons, and priests."
_Scripture parallel._ "Ordained elders in every church." (Acts xiv. 23.) For "deacons," see 1 Tim. iii. 1.
34. "When assembled together they would often sing psalms."
_Scripture parallel._ "Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms." (Col. iii. 16.)
35. "They healed and cured the minds and bodies of those who joined them."
_Scripture parallel_ "Healing all manner of sickness," &c. (Matt iv. 23.)
36. "They practiced certain ceremonial purifications by water."
_Scripture parallel_. "The accomplishment of the days of purification." (Acts xxi. 26.)
37. "They assembled at the Sabbath festivals clothed in white garments."
_Scripture parallel_ "Shall be clothed in white garments." (Rev. iii. 4.)
38. "They disbelieved in the resurrection of the external body."
_Scripture parallel_ "It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." (1 Cor. xv. 44.)
39. Pliny says, "They were the only sort of men who lived without money and without women."
_Scripture parallel_\ "The love of money is the root of all evil." (1 Tim. vi. 10.) Christ's disciples travelled without money and without scrip, and "eschew the lusts of the flesh."
40. "They practiced the extremest charity to the poor." (c. ii. 71.)
_Scripture parallel_ "Bestow all thy goods to feed the poor." (1 Cor. xiii. 3.)
41. "They were skillful in interpreting dreams, and in foretelling future events."
_Scripture parallel_ "Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams." (Acts ii. 17.)
42. "They believed in a paradise,... and in a place of never-ending lamentations."
_Scripture parallel_ "Life everlasting." (Gal. viii. 8.) "Weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth." (Matt. xiii. 42.)
43. "They affirmed," says Josephus, "that God foreordained all the events of human life."
_Scripture parallel_' "Foreordained before the foundation of the world." (1 Peter.)
44. "They believed in Mediators between God and the souls of men."
_Scripture parallel_. "One Mediator between God and men." (1 Tim. ii. 5.)
45. "They practiced the pantomimic representation of the death, burial, and resurrection of God"--Christ the Spirit.
_Scripture parallel_. With respect to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, see 1 Cor. xv. 4.
46. "They inculcated the forgiveness of injuries."
_Scripture parallel_. "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke xxiii. 34.)
47. "They totally disapproved of all war."
_Scripture parallel_ "If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight." (John xviii. 36.)
48. "They inculcated obedience to magistrates, and to the civil authorities."
_Scripture parallel_. "Obey them which have the rule over you." (Heb. xiii. 17; xxvi. 65.)
49. "They retired within themselves to receive interior revelations of divine truth." (c. ii. 71.)
_Scripture parallel_. "Every one of you hath a revelation." (1 Cor. xiv. 26.)
50. "They were scrupulous in speaking the truth."
_Scripture parallel_ "Speaking all things in truth." (2 Cor. vii. 14.)
51. "They perform many wonderful miracles."
_Scripture parallel_ Many texts teach us that Christ and his apostles did the same.
52. "Essenism put all its members upon the same level, forbidding the exercise of authority of one over another." (Dr. Ginsburg.)
_Scripture parallel_. Christ did the same. For proof, see Matt. xx. 25; Mark ix. 35.
53. "Essenism laid the greatest stress on being meek and lowly in spirit." (Dr. Ginsburg.)
_Scripture parallel_. See Matt. v. 5; ix. 28.
54. "The Essenes commended the poor in spirit, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and the merciful, and the pure in heart." (Dr Ginsburg.)
_Scripture parallel_. For proof that Christ did the same, see Matt.
55. "The Essenes commended the peacemakers." (Dr. Ginsburg.)
_Scripture parallel_. "Blessed are the peacemakers."
56. "The Essenes declared their disciples must cast out evil spirits, and perform miraculous cures, as signs and proof of their faith." (Dr. Ginsburg.)
_Scripture parallel_. Christ's disciples were to cast out devils, heal the sick, and raise the dead, &c., as signs and proof of their faith. (Mark xvi. 17.)
57. "They sacrificed the lusts of the flesh to gain spiritual happiness."
_Scripture parallel_. "You abstain from fleshly lusts." (1 Peter ii. 11.)
58. "The breaking of bread was a veritable ordinance among the Essenes."
_Scripture parallel_. "He (Jesus) took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it." (Luke xxii. 19.)
59. "The Essenes enjoined the loving of enemies." (Philo.)
_Scripture parallel_. So did Christ say, "Love your enemies," &c.
60. The Essenes enjoined, "Doing unto others as you would have them do unto you."
_Scripture parallel_' The Confucian golden rule, as taught by Christ.
This parallel might be extended much further, but we will proceed to present the reader with a general description of Essenism, as furnished us by Philo, Josephus, and some Christian writers. Philo, who was born in Alexandria 20 B. C., and lived to 60 A. D., and who was himself an Essenian Jew, in his account of them, says, "They do not lay up treasures of gold or silver,... but provide themselves only with the necessities of life." Paul afterwards, having caught the same spirit, advises the same course of life. "Having food and raiment, therewith be content." Contentment of mind they regarded as the greatest of riches. They make no instruments of war. They repudiate every inducement to covetousness. None are held as slaves, but all are free, and serve each other. They are instructed in piety and holiness, righteousness, economy, &c. They are guided by a threefold rule: love of God, love of virtue, and love of mankind. Of their love of God they give innumerable demonstrations, which is found in their constant and unalterable holiness throughout the whole of their lives, their avoidance of oaths and falsehoods, and their firm belief that God is the source of all good, but of nothing evil. "Of their love of virtue they give proof in their contempt for money, fame, and pleasures, their continence, easy satisfying of their wants, their simplicity, modesty," &c. Their love of man is proved by their benevolence and equality, and their having all things in common, which is beyond all deception. They reverence and take care of the aged, as children do their parents. (Condensed from Philo's treatise, "Every Virtuous Man is Free.")
Josephus, 37 A. D., and who was also at one time a member of the Essenian Brotherhood, furnishes another fragmentary account of the Essenes in his "Jewish Wars," of which the following is the substance:--
"They love each other more than others (that is, are "partial to the household of faith"); they despise riches, and have all things in common, so that there is neither abjectness of poverty nor distinction of riches among them; they change neither garments nor shoes till they are worn out or become unfit for use; they neither buy nor sell among themselves; their piety is extraordinary; they never speak about wordly matters before sunrise; they are girt about with a linen apron, and have a baptism of cold water; they eat but one kind of a food at a time, and commence with a prayer, and the priest must say grace before any one eats (that is, breaks and blesses as Christ did); they also return thanks after eating, and then put off their white garments; strangers were made welcome at their tables without money and without price; they give food to the hungry and the needy and show mercy to all; they curb their passions, restrain their anger, and claim to be ministers of peace; an oath they regard as worse than perjury; they excommunicate offenders ('Go tell it to the churches, says Christ); they condemn finery in dress; though condemning in most solemn terms oaths, members were admitted to the secret brotherhood by an oath ('See thou tell no man,' said Christ); they endured pain with heroic fortitude, and regarded an honorable death as better than long life; they read and study their Holy Scriptures from youth, often prophesy, and it was very seldom they failed in their predictions."
Dr. Ginburg's testimony, abridged, is as follows:--
"The Essenes had a high appreciations of the inspired law of God. The highest aim of their lives was to become fit temples of the Holy Ghost (see i Cor. vi. 19); also to perform miraculous cures, and to be spiritually qualified for forerunners of the Messiah. They taught the duty of mortifying the flesh and the lusts thereof, and to become meek and lowly in spirit; they answered by yea, yea, and nay, nay (see Matt.), scrupulously avoiding oaths; they avoided impure contact with the heathen and the world's people, and lived retired from the world, being in numbers about four thousand; they strove to be like the angels of heaven; there were no rich and poor, or masters and servants, amongst them; they lived peaceably with all men; a mysterious silence was observed while eating; a solemn oath was required on becoming a member of the secret order, which required three things:
1. Love of God;
2. Merciful justice to all men, and to avoid the wicked, and help the righteous;
3. Purity of character, which implied love of truth, hatred of falsehood, and strict observance of 'the mysteries of godliness' to outsiders--that is, 'heathen and publicans;' they endured suffering for righteousness' sake, with rejoicings, and even _sought_ it; regarding the body as a prison for the soul, they desired the time to come to escape from it; they recognized eight different stages of spiritual growth and perfection: 1. Bodily purity; 2. Celibacy; 3. Spiritual purity; 4. The suppression of anger and malice, and the cultivation of a meek, lowly spirit; 5. The attainment of true holiness; 6. Becoming fit temples for the Holy Ghost; 7. The ability to perform miraculous cures, and raise the dead; 8. Becoming forerunners of the Messiah; and finally they took a solemn vow to exercise, piety toward God and justice toward all men, to hate the wicked, assist the good to keep clear of theft and unrighteous gains, to conceal none of their 'mysteries of godliness' from each other, or disclose them to others. 'Great is the mystery of godliness' ('See thou tell no man'); they were to walk humbly with God, shun bad society, forgive their enemies, sacrifice their passions, and crucify the lusts of the flesh; they disregarded bodily suffering, and even gloried in martyrdom, preaching and singing to God amid their sufferings; but in their domestic habits they were extremely filthy; they wore their clothes until they became ragged, filthy, and offensive, never changing them till they were wore out; their food consisted of bread and water, and wild roots and fruits of the palm tree; they enjoined their duty, not only of forgiving their enemies, but of seeking to benefit them, and of even blessing the destroyer who took life and property. Such was the religion, such the moral system, such the devout piety, and such the practical lives of the Essenian Jews, a religious sect which flourished in Alexandria and Judea several hundred years before the birth of Christ, and went out of history the hour Christianity came in.
Now, as the foregoing exposition shows that Essenism and Christianity are most strikingly alike in all their essential features, that the former system contains nearly every important doctrine and precept of the Christian religion, the question occurs here as one of momentous import, how is this striking resemblance, this identity of character of the two religions, to be accounted for? Does it not go far toward proving that Christianity is an outgrowth, a legitimate offspring, of Judean Essenism? Indeed, are we not absolutely driven to such a conclusion? Let us briefly recite some of the important facts brought to light by the investigation of the character and history of these two religions, and see if those facts do not bring them together and weld them as one system--as one and the same religion.
1. Both are alike, and Essenism is much the older system.
2. Both religions are an outgrowth of Judaism.
3. Both were known and taught in Judea and in Alexandria.
4. Josephus living in Judea, and Philo in Alexandria, neither of them speaks of Christianity, or refers to any such religion by that name, and yet both describe a religion inculcating the same doctrines and moral precepts, which they call Essenism.
Is not this very nearly conclusive proof that Essenism was only another name for Christianity--that it had not yet changed its name to Christianity? That famous standard author, Mr. Gibbon, was evidently of this opinion when he said, "Whether, indeed, the first of that sect (the Essenes) took the name of Christian when the appellation of Christian had as yet been nowhere announced, it is by no means necessary to discuss." (Book II. chap. xvi.) Here is evidence that Gibbon believed that the Essenes, after having borne that name for centuries, changed the appellation to Christian. And we find still stronger language than this in the writings of the same author expressive of this opinion. In a note to