Martian Visitor V

A MARTIAN EXAMINES CHRISTIANITY by Arthur Levett, Page 30
Chapter V The Martian Inquires As To GOD’S WORD The Martian again paused in thought. Then he inquired: “ Have your earthly fellow-men ever worshipped others whom they called ‘ God’ ? ” “ Many false gods have been believed in and worshipped in the past,” replied the Priest, “ and many of these are still believed in and worshipped. But those who worship other than God worship worship a myth, something that does not exist. They are idolators and pagans.” “ How then can you be certain that your god ¹ is the only true god? ” asked the Martian. ¹ The reader will note that up to this time the Martian has assumed that God is the name of a particular being, and therefore uses the capital “ G.” He now finds that the term “ god” is a generic term, that there are many “ gods,” and henceforth, in order to distinguish which god he means when talking to the clerics he uses the term “ your god” and no longer capitalizes. The clerics not only treat “ God” as a proper name, but in order to show their reverence they capitalize the pronoun relating to their God and also his “ word,” his “ works,” etc. The same distinction applies to the word “ saviour.” “ I will answer that,” said the Fundamentalist. “ God has revealed Himself to us in a book written many years ago. It is called the Bible, and in this Book are set down His commands, His laws, and an account of the creation of the earth, your world, and the entire cosmos.” “ Ah,” said the Martian. “ You have his actual word, in writing? You have his book? ” “ Yes,” said the Priest, “ we have His Book. God, after descending to this earth and offering Himself as a sacrifice, designated one of His disciples to found His Church to administer His word. This disciple in turn transmitted this authority to a succession of holy men elected by an inspired vote. To these men He entrusted His written Word, so that all might receive His message as He gave it.” Page 31 “ That is not true,” said the Fundamentalist. “ His Church never had such authority, and but for the efforts of noble God-fearing men, God’s blessed Word would have been destroyed or hidden away. The Book itself is His Word as He inspired it and needs no interpreter. “ Ambitious men,” went on the Priest, “ representing themselves to be the servants of God, have attempted to usurp the holy office of those whom God Himself appointed, and have themselves assumed to interpret His Word. It is because of this that the confusion has arisen and many honest worshippers have been drawn away from His Holy Catholic Church and into sin.” “ I deny that any part of that Book is inspired except the first part,” said the Rabbi. “ And I maintain,” said the Modernist, “ that none of it is inspired; that many of its tales are allegories, and oftentimes pure myths borrowed from other religions; but we revere it for its lofty moral teaching and as a guide for right living.” “ You appear to disagree,” said the Martian, “ not only as to its inspiration, but also as to how this book is to be interpreted. Does the book itself or any part of it disclose that it was inspired by your God? ” “ God appeared many times to the holy men that wrote the various parts of the Book,” answered the Priest. “ But is there anything in the book itself,” asked the Martian, “ to indicate that it was inspired by your god? ” Page 32 “ Not in the Book itself,” replied the Priest; “ but our records show that the men who fixed the canon and decided what was and what was not God’s Word were guided by God Himself.” “ I would like to hear about that,” said the Martian; “ but as you all appear to disagree as to how much of it is to be accepted, may I not see the book myself? Perhaps I might be able to form some judgement on that point? ” “ It is open to various interpretations,” said the Priest. “ We who have studied this book for centuries should interpret it for you; otherwise you might not correctly grasp its meaning. Its interpretation, according to God’s will, is left to his appointed representatives to the end that its true meaning may be imparted to all, and misunderstanding and confusion avoided.” “ Do I understand,” asked the Martian, “ that when your god wrote this book he used language that needed interpretation? ” “ God did not write the Book Himself,” answered the Priest. “ He inspired certain holy men to write it. Of course all language might be more or less ambiguous to minds not specially trained, and that is why we, to whom this task has been delegated by God Himself, prepare ourselves by intensive study to impart its true meaning to the world.” “ That may be so,” said the Martian, “ but nevertheless if you have no objection I would much prefer to see this book for myself.” “ Of course you should see it,” said the Fundamentalist. “ Here is a copy; read it for yourself.” “ But that is not a true copy,” said the Priest. “ There are several portions left out.” ² ² The Apocrypha. Page 33 “ My friends, you confuse me,” said the Martian. “ You give me to understand that your religion is founded upon this book, and most of you agree that it was inspired by your god; then one of you says that the copy which the other follows is not complete, and that some of the parts are missing.” “ But I insist,” said the Fundamentalist, “ that what he calls the missing parts are not the Word of God.” “ I say they are both wrong,” said the Rabbi; “ only the first part of the book is of any authority. It is the only inspired account, and my copy is in the original language.” “ Oh, then,” said the Martian to the Rabbi, “ yours is not the original book, even though it is in the original language, and your copies,” turning to the Priest and the Fundamentalist, “ are translations.” “ That is true,” answered the Priest. “ The original Book was in different languages, but was translated into our language by holy and inspired men.” “ I am more than ever confounded,” said the Martian. “ May I not examine the original book? It seems to me that would avoid all dispute.” “ That is unfortunately lost,” answered the Priest, “ but my copy was translated nearly sixteen hundred years ago from a copy of the original book. ³ His book,” pointing to the Fundamentalist, “ was translated only about three hundred years ago, and not from the original, and it contains many errors of translation.” ⁴ “ It seems amazing,” said the Martian, “ that your god should have permitted his original word to become lost. But were there other accounts of your god besides those that appear in the several versions you now possess? ” “ There were many accounts, but they were spurious, and we do not include them,” said the Priest. ⁵ ³ The Vulgate, translated by Jerome into latin. ⁴ King James’s Version. ⁵ Apocrypha of the New Testament. Page 34 “ How do you know that they were spurious? ” “ Because God told us which were spurious and which were not.” “ Ah, that is important,” said the Martian; “ and when and how was that, may I ask? “ Why, you see,” answered the Priest, “ we hold various councils of holy men, and these holy men, under the guidance of God, decide questions that arise from time to time. In the early days of our religion it was necessary to reject those accounts that were not genuine, and to fix the canon. This was especially the case in connection with the story of our Saviour. The holy men of the council received inspiration from God that but four accounts were genuine, and so they now appear in our Bible. God spoke to us in that way.” “ Oh,” broke in the Modernist petulantly, “ why not be honest about it? We know those four gospels were selected because they were the ones respectively used by the four leading Churches of that day - Matthew at Jerusalem, Mark at Rome, Luke at Antioch, abd John at Ephesus. ⁶ None of these Churches was willing to give up its particular gospel account, and so the council canonized them all. That’s why the accounts disagree.” The Priest ignored the interruption, and continued; “ Later, when the inclusion of other parts of the Book was in question, the holy men of the council were again guided by God and dicided which were true and which were not, and so we got our Bible.” “ I deny that the men of this council were inspired,” said the Fundamentalist, “ for, as I have said before, there are included in his Bible certain parts that we know were not inspired. ⁶ A short History of Christianity (Reinach), p.5, translated by Florence Simmonds (Putnam, 1922). Page 35 The holy men that fixed the canon of our Bible were inspired and they rejected those unauthorized parts.” “ I repeat,” said the Modernist, “ that they are both wrong; that none of it is inspired, for not only did St. Augustine and Eusebius, two of the fathers of the Church represented by our friend the Priest, reject certain parts which are now included in his Bible, but Martin Luther, who founded the Church of our friend the Fundamentalist, also rejected portions which are now found in the Fundamentalist’s Bible.” ⁷ “ Well,” said the Martian, “ at any rate you all appear to agree that this book, or at least part of it, is the foundation of the religion of all of you and relates to the same god. Your main difference of opinion appears to be as to the inclusion of certain passages.” “ Yes,” said the Rabbi, “ the whole of the second part of the Book should be rejected and have no place in describing the character or actions of God.” “ Since you cannot agree as to the entire book,” said the Martian, “ suppose we continue our discussion at present to that part as to which the majority of you are in accord.” “ It is well,” said the Priest. “ Then,” said the Martian to the Rabbi, “ may I have your copy as being in the original language? ” ⁷ Revelation, Hebrews, James, Jude. Chapter VI The Martian Examines The OLD TESTAMENT Chapter IV The Martian Inquires As To SIN Home: Chapter I The Martian Visits The Earth

A MARTIAN EXAMINES CHRISTIANITY by Arthur Levett, Page 30

Chapter V
The Martian Inquires As To GOD’S WORD
The Martian again paused in thought. Then he inquired:
“ Have your earthly fellow-men ever worshipped others whom they called ‘ God’ ? ”
“ Many false gods have been believed in and worshipped in the past,” replied the Priest, “ and many of these are still believed in and worshipped. But those who worship other than God worship worship a myth, something that does not exist. They are idolators and pagans.”
“ How then can you be certain that your god ¹ is the only true god? ” asked the Martian.

¹ The reader will note that up to this time the Martian has assumed that God is the name of a particular being, and therefore uses the capital “ G.” He now finds that the term “ god” is a generic term, that there are many “ gods,” and henceforth, in order to distinguish which god he means when talking to the clerics he uses the term “ your god” and no longer capitalizes. The clerics not only treat “ God” as a proper name, but in order to show their reverence they capitalize the pronoun relating to their God and also his “ word,” his “ works,” etc. The same distinction applies to the word “ saviour.”

“ I will answer that,” said the Fundamentalist. “ God has revealed Himself to us in a book written many years ago. It is called the Bible, and in this Book are set down His commands, His laws, and an account of the creation of the earth, your world, and the entire cosmos.”
“ Ah,” said the Martian. “ You have his actual word, in writing? You have his book? ”
“ Yes,” said the Priest, “ we have His Book. God, after descending to this earth and offering Himself as a sacrifice, designated one of His disciples to found His Church to administer His word. This disciple in turn transmitted this authority to a succession of holy men elected by an inspired vote. To these men He entrusted His written Word, so that all might receive His message as He gave it.”

Page 31
“ That is not true,” said the Fundamentalist. “ His Church never had such authority, and but for the efforts of noble God-fearing men, God’s blessed Word would have been destroyed or hidden away. The Book itself is His Word as He inspired it and needs no interpreter.
“ Ambitious men,” went on the Priest, “ representing themselves to be the servants of God, have attempted to usurp the holy office of those whom God Himself appointed, and have themselves assumed to interpret His Word. It is because of this that the confusion has arisen and many honest worshippers have been drawn away from His Holy Catholic Church and into sin.”
“ I deny that any part of that Book is inspired except the first part,” said the Rabbi.
“ And I maintain,” said the Modernist, “ that none of it is inspired; that many of its tales are allegories, and oftentimes pure myths borrowed from other religions; but we revere it for its lofty moral teaching and as a guide for right living.”
“ You appear to disagree,” said the Martian, “ not only as to its inspiration, but also as to how this book is to be interpreted. Does the book itself or any part of it disclose that it was inspired by your God? ”
“ God appeared many times to the holy men that wrote the various parts of the Book,” answered the Priest.
“ But is there anything in the book itself,” asked the Martian, “ to indicate that it was inspired by your god? ”

Page 32
“ Not in the Book itself,” replied the Priest; “ but our records show that the men who fixed the canon and decided what was and what was not God’s Word were guided by God Himself.”
“ I would like to hear about that,” said the Martian; “ but as you all appear to disagree as to how much of it is to be accepted, may I not see the book myself? Perhaps I might be able to form some judgement on that point? ”
“ It is open to various interpretations,” said the Priest. “ We who have studied this book for centuries should interpret it for you; otherwise you might not correctly grasp its meaning. Its interpretation, according to God’s will, is left to his appointed representatives to the end that its true meaning may be imparted to all, and misunderstanding and confusion avoided.”
“ Do I understand,” asked the Martian, “ that when your god wrote this book he used language that needed interpretation? ”
“ God did not write the Book Himself,” answered the Priest. “ He inspired certain holy men to write it. Of course all language might be more or less ambiguous to minds not specially trained, and that is why we, to whom this task has been delegated by God Himself, prepare ourselves by intensive study to impart its true meaning to the world.”
“ That may be so,” said the Martian, “ but nevertheless if you have no objection I would much prefer to see this book for myself.”
“ Of course you should see it,” said the Fundamentalist. “ Here is a copy; read it for yourself.”
“ But that is not a true copy,” said the Priest. “ There are several portions left out.” ²

² The Apocrypha.

Page 33
“ My friends, you confuse me,” said the Martian. “ You give me to understand that your religion is founded upon this book, and most of you agree that it was inspired by your god; then one of you says that the copy which the other follows is not complete, and that some of the parts are missing.”
“ But I insist,” said the Fundamentalist, “ that what he calls the missing parts are not the Word of God.”
“ I say they are both wrong,” said the Rabbi; “ only the first part of the book is of any authority. It is the only inspired account, and my copy is in the original language.”
“ Oh, then,” said the Martian to the Rabbi, “ yours is not the original book, even though it is in the original language, and your copies,” turning to the Priest and the Fundamentalist, “ are translations.”
“ That is true,” answered the Priest. “ The original Book was in different languages, but was translated into our language by holy and inspired men.”
“ I am more than ever confounded,” said the Martian. “ May I not examine the original book? It seems to me that would avoid all dispute.”
“ That is unfortunately lost,” answered the Priest, “ but my copy was translated nearly sixteen hundred years ago from a copy of the original book. ³ His book,” pointing to the Fundamentalist, “ was translated only about three hundred years ago, and not from the original, and it contains many errors of translation.” ⁴

“ It seems amazing,” said the Martian, “ that your god should have permitted his original word to become lost. But were there other accounts of your god besides those that appear in the several versions you now possess? ”
“ There were many accounts, but they were spurious, and we do not include them,” said the Priest. ⁵

³ The Vulgate, translated by Jerome into latin.
⁴ King James’s Version.
⁵ Apocrypha of the New Testament.

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“ How do you know that they were spurious? ”
“ Because God told us which were spurious and which were not.”
“ Ah, that is important,” said the Martian; “ and when and how was that, may I ask?
“ Why, you see,” answered the Priest, “ we hold various councils of holy men, and these holy men, under the guidance of God, decide questions that arise from time to time. In the early days of our religion it was necessary to reject those accounts that were not genuine, and to fix the canon. This was especially the case in connection with the story of our Saviour. The holy men of the council received inspiration from God that but four accounts were genuine, and so they now appear in our Bible. God spoke to us in that way.”
“ Oh,” broke in the Modernist petulantly, “ why not be honest about it? We know those four gospels were selected because they were the ones respectively used by the four leading Churches of that day - Matthew at Jerusalem, Mark at Rome, Luke at Antioch, abd John at Ephesus. ⁶ None of these Churches was willing to give up its particular gospel account, and so the council canonized them all. That’s why the accounts disagree.”

The Priest ignored the interruption, and continued; “ Later, when the inclusion of other parts of the Book was in question, the holy men of the council were again guided by God and dicided which were true and which were not, and so we got our Bible.”
“ I deny that the men of this council were inspired,” said the Fundamentalist, “ for, as I have said before, there are included in his Bible certain parts that we know were not inspired.

⁶ A short History of Christianity (Reinach), p.5, translated by Florence Simmonds (Putnam, 1922).

Page 35
The holy men that fixed the canon of our Bible were inspired and they rejected those unauthorized parts.” “ I repeat,” said the Modernist, “ that they are both wrong; that none of it is inspired, for not only did St. Augustine and Eusebius, two of the fathers of the Church represented by our friend the Priest, reject certain parts which are now included in his Bible, but Martin Luther, who founded the Church of our friend the Fundamentalist, also rejected portions which are now found in the Fundamentalist’s Bible.” ⁷
“ Well,” said the Martian, “ at any rate you all appear to agree that this book, or at least part of it, is the foundation of the religion of all of you and relates to the same god. Your main difference of opinion appears to be as to the inclusion of certain passages.”
“ Yes,” said the Rabbi, “ the whole of the second part of the Book should be rejected and have no place in describing the character or actions of God.”
“ Since you cannot agree as to the entire book,” said the Martian, “ suppose we continue our discussion at present to that part as to which the majority of you are in accord.”
“ It is well,” said the Priest.
“ Then,” said the Martian to the Rabbi, “ may I have your copy as being in the original language? ”

⁷ Revelation, Hebrews, James, Jude.

Chapter VI The Martian Examines
The OLD TESTAMENT

Chapter IV The Martian Inquires As To SIN

Home: Chapter I The Martian Visits The Earth