The Christ Of Paul Part 11

(_Joel_ ii. 30, 31.) There could not be a state of universal joy among the people, such as is described, as long as the "great and terrible day of the Lord" might overtake them any moment. There could be no happiness where there was constant fear. The Lord promised that a timely warning should be given. Now what has this beautiful and sublime poem to do with the miracle of the cloven tongues?

CHAPTER XXIV.

Miracles.

It is in vain to deny the truth of a miracle on the ground that it is impossible, and contravenes the well-established laws of the universe.

The power to create, implies the power to suspend; and as the performance of a miracle is the exercise of creative energy, it is just as easy to exercise it in one case as another. All efforts to demonstrate the impossibility of miracles have failed even in the hands of such men as Hume, because men reason on such subjects in a circle.

Still it would be strange if there was no way to expose a false miracle, especially where the results claimed from it are calculated to lead men into error. When some unusual and extraordinary event which amounts to a miracle is said to have occurred one hundred years ago, at a time when intelligent and inquisitive minds were around, and no notice is taken of it by them in giving an account of their own times, nor by any one else, it is safe to conclude that it never did take place, and that those who a.s.sert it for the first time at the end of the hundred years are engaged in an attempt to impose some fraud on their fellow-men.

From the death of Christ, A.D. 33, to some time near A.D. 140, we claim that no writer of profane or church history makes mention or speaks of the miracles described in the first three Gospels, and not those of the fourth until long afterwards. It is by negative testimony alone that we can arrive at the truth. In the first place, did the great Apostle of the Gentiles perform the miracles that are ascribed to him in the Acts?

It is stated that at Lystra he cured a man who had been crippled from his birth by his simple word; he exorcised the evil spirit that was in Lydia; he raised Eutychus, who had fallen from a window; cast from his hand, unhurt, the deadly viper; and such miraculous powers did he possess, "that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or ap.r.o.ns, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them." (_Acts_ xix. 12.)

Paul, in his epistles, does not mention or refer to any of these wonderful things, and does any man suppose, if true, he would fail to make some allusion to them? He neither mentions the miracles ascribed to himself, nor those described in the four Gospels. Perhaps he did not disbelieve in the possibility of miracles, for such belief was common to the age; but to believe them possible, and believe that one has been performed, is another thing. "Truly the signs of an Apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs and wonders, and mighty deeds."

(2 _Cor_. xii. 12.) The signs and wonders here spoken of were made to appear to the Corinthians alone, and have no reference to miracles described in the New Testament, nor do we know what they were, for no notice of them is taken in the Acts. In the 18th chapter and 9th verse, he says that he had a vision which told him not to be afraid to speak, and not hold his peace. The "mighty deeds" refers to his works as an Apostle, and the "signs and wonders" rather to the fruits of his preaching than to any display of miraculous power.

Had Paul possessed the power attributed to him in the Acts, it would have been easier for him to have converted the world than to make the few converts he made after the labor of a life. There were those living who in the course of nature might have seen Lazarus, or heard of his resurrection, and had it been in the power of Paul to have cited his case, or any of the miraculous cures claimed for Christ or any of his disciples, the conversion of mankind would have been as rapid as the movements of the earth. Every pagan temple and altar would have been deserted, and their priests have fallen prostrate at the feet of Paul.

A few pretended miracles and revelations on the part of Mahomet established his claim to be the prophet of G.o.d, and were the means, backed by the scimitar, of fixing the faith of millions. Paul is silent on the subject of the miracles. Barnabas was a companion and fellow-preacher with Paul.

No doc.u.ment extant to-day which relates to the Apostolic age is ent.i.tled to more, if as much confidence and credit, as the epistle which bears his name. For some reason, it bears less evidence on its face of fraudulent manipulation than any other writing of that time, and it is this evidence of its purity which excludes it from the list of canonical Gospels this day. It has been referred to by a long list of fathers, commencing with Origen, and coming down to writers of our day, as the genuine production of the companion of the great Apostle. No one, not even the Apostles themselves, had more faith in Christ than he, and it seems to be the burden of his epistle to prove that he was the Saviour who had been foretold by the prophets, and whom the Jews were anxiously expecting. Had Christ, in his ministry among men, done or performed any act out of the course of nature which proved him superior to other men in his power over the laws of nature--anything like command over diseases, sickness, to say nothing of death--Barnabas would not have failed to dwell upon everything of the kind with energy and zeal, because such powers would establish what he aimed to prove: that is, that Christ was the one spoken of by the prophets. But, while he makes the most labored application of the prophecies to Christ, he makes no allusion to any wonderful work he performed while he was on the earth.

He has not one word to say on the subject of the miracles ascribed to Christ in the Gospels.

Much may be inferred from the silence of Apollos on the subject of miracles. The intercourse between the Jews at Alexandria and Judea was constant. Nothing of importance could occur in Jerusalem without its being known in a short time on the banks of the Nile. The history of John the Baptist, the works he did at the Jordan, and the manner of his death, were all known to Apollos from some source, before Josephus wrote his history of the Jews; but it seems he had never heard of Christ or any of his wonderful works. (_Acts_ xviii.) After his conversion he taught that Christ was the one expected by the Jews, and he undertook to prove it by the prophecies in the Old Testament. It would have been far easier to establish this by the mention of the one-half the miracles ascribed to Christ in the Gospels than by arguments drawn from prophecy, which were vague, obscure, and doubtful. But he had never heard of the resurrection of Lazarus, nor of the miracles of the loaves and fishes, nor of the wonderful things that happened to the swine in the country of the Gadarenes.

There are now extant, writings which learned men refer to the Apostolic age, which have no value except as they may throw some light on the age in which they were written. We may mention the epistle of Paul to the Laodiceans; the epistles of Paul to Seneca, with Seneca's to Paul, and the Acts Paul and Thecla. In none of these writings is any mention made of the miracles of Paul, or those of the New Testament, and the silence of such works is only of consequence as it shows the universal ignorance of antiquity, or the Apostolic age, on the subject; for it is not to be supposed that those things which were standing themes for discourses and books in the second century, would be unnoticed in the first, if they did exist, as well at one time as the other. How can we account for the silence of the fathers of the church on this subject? Ignatius and Polycarp were so near to the time of Paul and the disciples, and even Christ, that nothing which concerned any one of them was unknown, and if the miracles ascribed to them had been real occurrences, nothing could be more effective in the hands of these fathers for the spread of the religion of Christianity.

But there is not only no mention by any one of them of the miracles, but the Gospels have not yet appeared. Up to the beginning of the first century, there is no mention or reference made in any writing, either to the Gospels, or the miracles they describe. Allusions are made in some cases to the Scriptures, in the most general terms; and as the Old Testament writings were called Scriptures, and there was the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, and the epistles of Barnabas, James, Peter, and Paul, to which the term Scripture might apply, the reference is of no value in fixing the date of the Gospels. The first distinct and unequivocal notice of the first three Gospels is found in Justin Martyrs _Apology_; and he, who speaks of them for the first time, dilates on their contents, and refers to Matthew, Mark, and Luke each by name: to Matthew nineteen, to Mark four, and to Luke fourteen times. From this time to the present hour, every book abounds in references to these Gospels.

As yet the Gospel of John had not appeared. What is remarkable in the Gospels, referred to by Justin, who makes a most elaborate disquisition on the prophecies, citing many pa.s.sages to prove that Christ was a divine person, whose advent had been predicted, he does not make mention of any of his miracles, or of those of any of his disciples. He speaks of Christ's birth from the Virgin Mary, his miraculous conception, and all the leading acts of his life, as described in Matthew and others, but seems to have had no knowledge of the miraculous works he performed.

The silence of Justin on the subject of miracles, and his extended notice of the prophecies, can only be explained by the fact that there was nothing said about them in the Gospels, and that they were inserted at a later day. As the quarrels among Christians in the second century intensified, and as the authority of the church grew to be paramount as we approach the dark ages, no doubt the Gospels underwent a revision, and the miracles were added as a means to excite the awe and command the belief of the Pagan world. The spirit for the creation of miracles commenced in the church before the end of the second century--was encouraged by it, and has been continued down to our own times, and formed the most effective weapon for the conversion of the hordes of the North, and for the final overthrow of the followers of Arius. Each age had its own miracles, in each of which was apportioned the amount of divine energy required to subdue the obstinacy and unbelief to be overcome.

The silence of what are called profane writers on the subject of the miracles is equally unaccountable--if they are to be regarded as real occurrences in history--and none as much so as that of the Jewish historian, Josephus. Of sacerdotal extraction, and of royal descent, Flavius Josephus was born A.D. 37. He was alive in A.D. 96, but the time and manner of his death is unknown. His works comprise a complete history of the Jews, and omit nothing that was worthy of notice. He was a youth of great ability and promise, and says of himself, "When I was a child, and about fourteen years of age, I was commended by all for the love I had for learning, on which account the high priest and princ.i.p.al men of the city came frequently to me together, in order to know my opinion about the accurate understanding of points of law." (_Life of Josephus_, sec. I.)

Here we have a historian of the right kind, living so near the time that he must have seen and conversed with those who had seen and known Christ and his disciples. How are we to regard his silence? Had Christ been the character which many suppose he was, a teacher endowed beyond all other men, with a divine genius to declare the doctrines which are to govern man in his relations towards the Creator and towards each other, we can well understand why, in A.D. 93, when Josephus wrote the history of the Jews, he failed to notice him. His ministry extended through a period of only one year, at a time when the Jewish people were chafing under the yoke of the Romans, and were preparing for a final struggle with the conquerors. At such a time, the presence of such a person as Christ, who taught men to forgive their enemies, to love their neighbors as themselves, and to cultivate feelings which dispose mankind to peace and charity, would most likely pa.s.s unnoticed. If Christ was more than a great teacher--if he were the second person in the G.o.dhead, who condescended to visit the earth to instruct mankind, and while here performed the wonderful works spoken of in the Gospels, then there is no way in which we can account for the silence of the Jewish historian. We are forced to admit that the Son of G.o.d, who took up his abode among men to convince and instruct them, failed to make his presence known and felt so as to attract the notice of him who undertook to give a minute account of what happened at the time, and in the country where he preached and taught.

The attempt in the fourth century to force into history, between the regular course of events, a pa.s.sage intended to break the force of total unconsciousness on the part of Josephus that there was such a person as Christ, to the eye of the critic is infinitely more damaging than complete silence. A quarrel, which led to a sedition, sprang up in Jerusalem, about the use made by Pilate of sacred money, to bring water into the city. "_About the same time, also, another_ sad calamity happened, which put the Jews into disorder." A Roman woman called Paulina, through the connivance of some of the G.o.ds of Isis, was seduced by a person of the name of Mundus. (_Antiq_., book xviii. chap. 3.) Between these two events, is wedged, or forced in, a paragraph which contains all the great historian has to say of Christ, and the events of his life. Twenty-nine lines are taken to tell about the troubles growing out of the misapplication of the sacred money; one hundred and thirty-one about Paulina and her misfortunes, and _sixteen_ are all that the historian requires to inform us of all he knows about Christ. Much better had he said nothing.

If Josephus makes no mention of Christ and his miracles, where must we look? It is in vain to search among the writers of Greece and Rome. Out of the nine reasons given by Dr. Lardner for believing the pa.s.sage from Josephus in relation to Christ spurious, the first is sufficient: it was never quoted, or referred to, by any writer previous to _Eusebius_, who wrote in the fourth century.

CHAPTER XXV.

Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews.

THIS epistle has been the source of more controversy than any other book of the New Testament. It has been the cause of much useless labor and unprofitable research. In the first place, was Paul the author?

Tertullian ascribes it to Barnabas; Grotius to St. Luke, and Luther the reformer thought it was written by Apollos, mentioned in the Acts; but the testimony of ecclesiastical antiquity is all in favor of Paul as the author. Allusions are made to it in the epistles of Ignatius about A. D.

107. It is also referred to by Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna in the year A.

D. 108.

Internal evidence, supplied by the epistle itself, is conclusive that Paul was the writer. No one better than he understood the veneration in which the Levitical law was held by the Jewish people, and the tenacity with which they adhered to it. As he believed that this law had pa.s.sed away, and that the Lord had made a new covenant with the Jewish nation, it was natural for him to labor to open the eyes of his countrymen, and bring them under the light of the new dispensation. It was for this reason, when he entered into a place for the first time, that he always began to teach in the synagogue. If Paul wrote to the Hebrews at all, it would be just such an epistle as the one ascribed to him, except certain portions, which were clearly written after the Pauline period of Christianity had pa.s.sed away.

Again, it has been a question as to the language in which this epistle was first written. At the time of Paul, the original Hebrew was understood by few, and had ceased to be the language of the Jews. The original Hebrew was broken in upon by several dialects--such as the East Aramaean, or Chaldee, and the West Aramaean, or Syriac. The universal language of the day was Greek, and no doubt Paul adopted it in writing to the Hebrews, who were dispersed over Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa.

As the initiatory formula usual in the epistles of Paul is wanting in this, it has been questioned whether it was really an epistle, or only a discourse intended for the general reader. The want of the usual formula can be easily accounted for, when the mind becomes convinced that the first chapter is not the production of Paul. That it was written as it now stands by the forgers of the second century admits of no doubt. The design of the writer is exposed in the very first and second verses of the first chapter. "G.o.d, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, _by whom also he made the worlds_."

Here Christ is made the Creator by whom the worlds were made. Again: "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; being made so much _better than the angels_, as he hath by _inheritance_ obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of G.o.d wors.h.i.+p him." (_Heb_. i.

3-6.)

Here we find condensed into a few verses, and declared in the most pointed language, the _G.o.ds.h.i.+p_ of Christ, first proclaimed by the men of the second century, and which is in direct conflict with the remainder of the Epistle, and with what Paul taught during his whole life.

Commencing at the ninth verse of the second chapter, Paul says: "But we see Jesus, who was made a little _lower_ than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of G.o.d should taste death for every man." "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham." (Chap.

ii. 16.) "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and _High Priest_ of our profession, Christ Jesus; who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For _this man_ was accounted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house. For every house is builded by some man; _but he that built all things is G.o.d_." (Chap. iii. 1-5.)

On the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth verses of the second chapter, Paul declares that to angels "is given the government of the world to come;" and to man, who was made but _little lower than the angels_, was consigned the government of the earth. All men, according to Paul, like Jesus, were born but little lower than the angels--and Christ by him is put on a level with all humanity. It is evident that the first chapter, as written by Paul, has been suppressed, and the one which has descended to us is made to take its place. It is not possible that Paul wrote the first and second chapters as they now stand. In the one case Christ is made _more_ than the angels; and in the other case he is made _less_. In the one case he is the Creator of the world, "_upholding all things by the word of his power_;" in the other he is a High Priest of the order of Melchisedec, and one of the descendants of Abraham. In the first chapter he formed the world, and in the third chapter it is said, "He who built all things is G.o.d." The doctrines here declared are unreconcilable, but it is not difficult to distinguish between those of Paul and those of the men of the second century.

Paul speaks of three orders of the priesthood: that of Melchisedec, that under the Levitical law, and that under the new covenant, with Christ at the head. What was the character of the priesthood of the order of Melchisedec, Paul does not say--nor do we know where to look for information on the subject. He was "without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like _unto the Son of G.o.d_: abideth a priest continually." (Chap.

vii. 3.) When we are informed in the same chapter that Christ is a priest after the order of Melchisedec, "who is made, not after the _law of a carnal commandment_, but after the power of an endless life" (ver.

16), we detect the insidious and subtle poison of the Johannian school.

Here we have a Logos, who was in the beginning, and who would continue through all time, which could never be true of any of the descendants of Abraham. The priesthood under the Levitical law, Paul claimed, had pa.s.sed away, and was succeeded by a much better one with Christ as its head. The last was superior to the old because it would "continue forever, an unchangeable priesthood." (Chap. vii. 24.) In this new and better dispensation, Christ is as superior to Moses and Aaron, as the new covenant is superior to the old. Christ is called a High Priest, "a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." (Chap. viii. 2.)

If Christ was the Son of G.o.d, born of a virgin, when Paul was instructing his countrymen in the mysteries of the new covenant, and was pointing out to them the relation which Christ bore to the same, as compared with Moses under the old, how happened it that he fails to make mention of this important fact altogether? How can we account for the silence of Paul at such a time on a subject of such vital importance?

He was a man of learning, and well versed in all that was written by the Hebrew prophets; and if the fourteenth verse of the seventh chapter of Isaiah had any application to Christ, or any other prophecy in the Old Testament, why did he not point them out to his countrymen, and in this way prove that Christ was not only superior to Moses, but to the angels?

Why call him a High Priest, and admit his Jewish descent, from the father of the Hebrew nation? Who so well as Paul could define the _status_ of Christ under the new covenant? His numerous visits to Jerusalem, not long after Christ's death, his intimacy with all the disciples, gave him every and ample means for information; and the deep interest he took in every particular which related to Christ stimulated inquiry; and whatever he found that was important to be known as a part of the new faith, he would not fail to proclaim in tones of thunder, from the Euphrates to the Tiber.

We can well imagine his astonishment when the doctrines of the Greek school first began to make headway in his little churches. We can form some idea of his feelings by reading the eleventh and twelfth chapters in the second epistle to the Corinthians: "Would to G.o.d ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with G.o.dly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth _another Jesus whom we have not preached_, or if ye received another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." (2 Cor. xi. 1-4.) Rendered into plain language, he says: Would to G.o.d you would pardon my zeal and anxiety on your account. Having instructed you in the religion of Christ, I am jealous and over-anxious that you should stand as examples of pure Christianity, and not surrender your pure and virgin faith in Christ, carried away by the subtle doctrines of cunning men. If any one speaks of Christ, and claims that he is anything different from what I have taught you--or if any one has preached to you a different religion or a different gospel, from that which you learned of me, you show your forbearance if you do not visit your anger upon them, who thus labor to mislead and deceive you.

Throughout these two chapters Paul shows deep sorrow on account of the progress of the new faith, and with his expressions of regret, he mingles words of reproof. The troubles growing out of it followed him through life. They hara.s.sed him in his prison. He lived to see all Asia turned away from him. With an aching heart he makes one last request of Timothy: "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." (2 _Tim_. ii. 2.)

CHAPTER XXVI.

The controversy between Ptolemaeus and Irenaeus as to the length of Christ's ministry.--Christ was in Jerusalem but once after he began to preach, according to the first three Gospels, but three times according to John.--If the statements made in the first three are true, everything stated in the fourth could only happen after the death of Christ.

It will be remembered that Ptolemaeus a.s.serted that the time of Christ's ministry did not exceed the period of one year. This drove Irenaeus to claim that it continued for the s.p.a.ce of ten years, on the authority of a tradition derived from John. The precise time when, and what, Ptolemaeus wrote, we have no means in our day of finding out; for his writings, like all those of the Gnostics, doubtless perished under the destructive edict of the Emperor Constantine. We are at liberty to conclude that he wrote before the fourth Gospel appeared, as he limits the time to one year, which agrees in that respect with the Synoptics.

Had he had any knowledge of the fourth Gospel, he might, by adopting the mode of reasoning on this subject used by the orthodox, have made the time three years instead of one. It will be noted that Irenaeus, in his controversy with Ptolemaeus, makes no mention of the fourth Gospel, but falls back on a tradition. In a dispute with a sharp-witted adversary, he found it safer to rely on a tradition, as evasive as the mirage of the desert, than the authority of the fourth book of John. The reason for this preference will be readily seen when the subject is understood.

According to Matthew, after the temptation in the wilderness, Christ returned to Nazareth, in Galilee. He left Nazareth and came and dwelt in Capernaum, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim, as spoken by Esaias: "The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. _From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand_." (Chapter iv. 15, 16, 17.)

Here the place where Christ commenced to preach is clearly defined; and as the spot had been pointed out by Isaiah seven hundred years before, there could be no mistake, unless the inspiration of the great Hebrew prophet was at fault. Mark and Luke substantially agree with Matthew; so, according to all three, Christ began his labors at Capernaum. The precise time in the year we cannot tell, but it must have been shortly after the fourteenth of March (Nisan), when the celebration of the Pa.s.sover commenced. At the following festival, as we will show, Christ was put to death. In the meantime he had performed the greater part of his work, which would require not much less than a year. That Christ should go to Jerusalem to celebrate the first Pa.s.sover after he began to preach is not only probable but almost certain. Everything shows that he did. The laws of Moses commanded every Jew to observe this feast; and although no place is specified, all deemed it the highest religious duty to go to Jerusalem for that purpose. On such occasions "an innumerable mult.i.tude came hither out of the country--many beyond its limits,"

according to Josephus. Hence the great destruction of the Jewish people, who had come up to the holy city to celebrate, when it was destroyed by t.i.tus. Christ could hardly fail to be present at the first celebration after he began to preach, especially as he was accustomed to go every year from childhood with his parents, according to Luke. If Christ attended the first festival after he began his work, his ministry continued for less than one year, for he went there but once after he began to preach. The early part of his career was solely pa.s.sed in Galilee, according to Matthew, Mark and Luke. His labors were confined to his own country, mostly in the neighborhood of the sea of Tiberias.

At length, as the time for the celebration of the Pa.s.sover approached, his thoughts were directed toward the city of David. At Caesarea Philippi he concluded _at last_ to go to Jerusalem. "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day." (_Matt_. xvi. 21.) At length he "departed from Galilee and came into the coasts of Judea beyond Jordan." (Chap. xix. I.) "And when he was come into Jerusalem all the city was moved, saying, _Who is this?_" (Chap. xxi. 10.) Would that question have been asked if he had been there the year before? That this was Christ's first visit to Jerusalem, according to the first three Gospels, will not admit of a doubt. Here he taught and preached until he was handed over bound into the hands of Pilate. He never after this left the city until his immortal spirit took its flight from Calvary. The itinary of Christ, as we have it in the first three Gospels, renders it impossible that he made any visit to Jerusalem except the one above mentioned. We can trace him, step by step, from the beginning to the end of his career. He began to preach at Capernaum, and from there he traveled all over Galilee. In the meantime he delivered his divine Sermon on the Mount. From the Mount he returned to Capernaum. From here he entered a s.h.i.+p and rebuked the sea. He next crossed over to the country of the Gadarines. From there he recrossed the sea and went into his own city.