Doane 361

Selected FOOTNOTES with Text - from: A MARTIAN EXAMINES CHRISTIANITY Chapter XI The Martian Inquires As To Miracles [ Ancient myth of the taxing: Pages 158, p. 361. BIBLE MYTHS. “Cæsar’s Fair.” More references at bottom of this page.]
Page 87 the Martian “ that according to the records Buddha, the son of the Virgin Maya, was born on December 25th; ³⁶ that the ancient Persians celebrated the birthday of their saviour, Mithra, on December 25th; ³⁷ that the ancient Egyptians for centuries before the birth of your saviour celebrated the end of December as an anniversary of their saviour Horus, the son of a holy virgin who was born on December 25th; ³⁸ that the same date is the birth of the Greek god Bacchus, born of a virgin and called the saviour, ³⁹ that the birthday of Adonis, another saviour, was celebrated on December 25th.” ⁴⁰ “ I find that your church father St. Chrysostom, who lived about the year 390, referred to these numerous festivals held on December 25th in the following language: ‘ On this day also the birth of Christ was lately fixed at Rome in order that whilst the heathen were busy with their profane ceremonies the Christians might perform their holy rite undisturbed.’ ” ⁴¹ ³⁶ Doane, Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions, 7th ed., p. 363. ³⁷ Ibid. ³⁸ Ibid. ³⁹ Ibid., p. 364. ⁴⁰ Ibid. ⁴¹ Ibid., p. 367. Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions CHAPTER XXXIV. (Page) 361 THE BIRTH-DAY OF CHRIST JESUS. If the writer of the “ Gospel according to Luke” is correct, Jesus was not born until about A. D. 10, for he explicitly tells us that this event did not happen until Cyrenius was governor of Syria. ^a Now it is well known that Cyrenius was not appointed to this office until long after the death of Herod (during whose reign the Matthew narrator informs us Jesus was born ^b ), and that the taxing spoken of by the Luke narrator as having taken place at this time, did not take place until ten years after the time at which, according to the Matthew narrator, Jesus was born. ^c [ Excerpt of page — “Tax Myth”. Complete Book available here: Bible Myths ] ^a Luke, ii. 1 - 7. ^b Matt, ii. 1. ^c See Josephus: Antiq., bk. xviii. ch. i. sec.1. Eusebius, the first ecclesiastical historian, ^d places his birth at the time Cyrenius was governor of Syria, and therefore at about A. D. 10. His words are as follows: ^d Eusebius was Bishop of Cesarea from A. D. 315 to 340., in which he died, in the 70th year of his age, thus playing his great part in life chiefly under the reigns of Constantine the Great and his son Constantius. “ It was the two and fortieth year after the reign of Augustus the Emperor, and the eight and twentieth year after the subduing of Egypt, and the death of Antonius and Cleopatra, when last of all the ptolemies in Egypt ceased to bear rule, when our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, at the time of the first taxing— Cyrenius, then President of Syria — was born in Bethlehem, a city of Judea, according unto the prophecies in that behalf premised.” ^e ^e Eusebius, Eccl. Hist., lib. 1. ch. vi. (Page) 362 BIBLE MYTHS. Had the Luke narrator known anything about Jewish history, he never would have made so gross a blunder as to place the taxing of Cyrenius in the days of Herod, and would have saved the immense amount of labor that it has taken in endeavoring to explain away the effects of his ignorance. One explanation of this mistake is, that there were two assessments, one about the time Jesus was born, and the other ten years after; but this has entirely failed. Dr. Hooykaas, speaking of this, says: “ The Evangelist (Luke) falls into the most extraordinary mistakes throughout. In the first place, history is silent as to a census of the whole (Roman) world ever having been made at all. In the next place, though Quirinius certainly did make such a register in Judea and Samaria, it did not extend to Galilee; so that Joseph’s household was not affected by it. Besides, it did not take place until ten years after the death of Herod, when his son Archelaus was deposed by the emperor, and the districts of Judea and Samarla were thrown into a Roman province. Under the reign of Herod, nothing of the kind took place, nor was there any occasion for it. Finally, at the time of the birth of Jesus, the Governor of Syria was not Quirinius, but Quintus Sentius Saturniuus.” ^f ^f Bible for Learners, vol. iii, p. 56. The institution of the festival of the Nativity of Christ Jesus being held on the 25th of December, among the Christians, is attributed to Telesphorus, who flourished during the reign of Antonius Pius (A. D. 138 to 161), but the first certain traces of it are found about the time of the Emperor Commodus (A. D. 180 to 192), ^g ^g Bible for Learners, vol. iii, p. 67. For a long time the Christians had been trying to discover upon what particular day Jesus had possibly or probably come into the world; and conjectures and traditions that rested upon absolutely no foundation, led one to the 20th of May, another to the 19th or 20th of April, and a third to the 5th of January. At last the opinion of the community at Rome gained the upper hand, and the 25th of December was fixed upon. ^h It was not until the fifth century, however, that this day had been generally agreed upon. ⁱ How it happened that this day finally became fixed as the birthday of Christ Jesus, may be inferred from what we shall now see. ^h See Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 66. ⁱ “ By the fifth century, however, whether from the influence of some tradition, or from the desire to supplant Heathen Festivals of that period of the year, such as the Saturnalia, the 25th of December has been generally agreed upon.” (Encyclopedia Brit., art. “ Christmas.” THE BIRTH-DAY OF CHRIST JESUS. 363 On the first moment after midnight of the 24th of December (i. e., on the morning of the 25th), nearly all the nations of the earth, as if by common consent, celebrated the accouchement of the “ Queen of Heaven,” of the “ Celestial Virgin” of the sphere, and the birth of the god Sol. In India this is a period of rejoicing everywhere. ^j It is a great religious festival, and the people decorate their houses with garlands and make presents to friends and relatives. This custom is of very great antiquity. ^k ^j See Monler Williams: Hinduism, p. 181. ^k See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 126. In China, religious solemnities are celebrated at the time of the winter solstice, the last week in December, when all shops are shut up, and the courts are closed. ^l Buddha, the son of the Virgin Maya, on whom, according to Chinese tradition, “ the Holy Ghost” had descended, was said to have been born on Christmas day, December 25th. ^m ^l Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 216. ^m See Bunsen The Angel-Messiah, pp. x. - 25, and 110, and Lillie: Buddha and Buddhism, p. 73. Some writers have asserted that Crishna is said to have been born on December 25th, but this is not the case. His birthday is held in July-August. (See Williams’ Hinduism, p. 183, and Life and Religion of the Hindoos, p. 134.) Among the ancient Persians their most splendid ceremonials were in honor of their Lord and Saviour Mithras; they kept his birthday, with many rejoicings, on the 25th of December. The author of the “ Celtic Druids” says: “ It was the custom of the heathen, long before the birth of Christ, to celebrate the birth-day of their gods,” and that, “ the 25th of December was a great festival with the Persians, who, in very early times, celebrated the birth of their god Mithras.” ⁿ ⁿ Celtic Druids, p. 163. See also, Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 272; Monumental Christianity, p. 167; Bible for Learners, iii. pp. 66, 67. The Rev. Joseph B. Gross, in his “Heathen Religion,” also tells us that: *“ The ancient Persians celebrated a festival in honor of Mithras* on the first day succeeding the Winter Solstice, the object of which was to commemorate the birth of Mithras” ^o ^o The Heathen Religion, p. 287. See also, Dupuis: p. 246. Among the ancient Egyptians*, for centuries before the time of Christ Jesus, the 25th of December was set aside as the birthday of their gods. M. Le Clerk De Septehenes speaks of it as follows: “ The ancient Egyptians fixed the pregnancy of Isis* (the Queen of Heaven, and the Virgin Mother of the Saviour Horns), on the last days of March, and towards the end of December they placed the commemoration of her delivery.” ^p ^p Relig. of the Anct. Greeks, p. 214. See also, Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 99. Mr. Bonwick, in speaking of Horus. says: “ He is the great God-loved of Heaven. His birth was one of the greatest mysteries of the Egyptian religion. Pictures representing it appeared on the wails of temples. One passed through the holy Adytum ^q to the still more sacred quarter of the temple known as the birth-place of Horus. He was presumably the child of Deity. At Christmas time, or that answering to our festival, his image was brought out of that sanctuary with peculiar ceremonies, as the image of the Infant Bambino ^r is still brought out and exhibited in Rome.” ^s ^q “ Adytum”— the interior or sacred part of a heathen temple. ^r “ Bambino”— a term used for representations of the infant Saviour, Christ Jesus, in swaddlings. ^s Bonwick’s Egyptian Belief, p. 157. See also, Dupuis, p. 287. Doane, Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions, 7th ed., pp. 364 et seq. Doane, Bible Myths pp. 359 et seq. Martian Visitor: Quoted excerpts and Footnotes to: Bible Myths. INDEX of Subjects. Martian Visitor ( Home ) Metaphysics: Which is PRIMARY? The Pagan origins of Easter THE WORLD’S SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS or Christianity Before Christ CONTAINING New, Startling and Extraordinary Revelations In Religious History, Which Disclose The Oriental Origin Of All The Doctrines, Principles, Precepts, And Miracles Of The CHRISTIAN NEW TESTAMENT And Furnishing A Key For Unlocking Many Of It’s Sacred Mysteries, Besides comprising the History Of 16 HEATHEN CRUCIFIED GODS BY KERSEY GRAVES Copyright, 1875

Selected FOOTNOTES with Text - from:
A MARTIAN EXAMINES CHRISTIANITY
Chapter XI
The Martian Inquires As To Miracles

[ Ancient myth of the taxing: Pages 158,
p. 361. BIBLE MYTHS. “Cæsar’s Fair.”
More references at bottom of this page.]

Page 87
the Martian
“ that according to the records Buddha, the son of the Virgin Maya, was born on December 25th; ³⁶ that the ancient Persians celebrated the birthday of their saviour, Mithra, on December 25th; ³⁷ that the ancient Egyptians for centuries before the birth of your saviour celebrated the end of December as an anniversary of their saviour Horus, the son of a holy virgin who was born on December 25th; ³⁸ that the same date is the birth of the Greek god Bacchus, born of a virgin and called the saviour, ³⁹ that the birthday of Adonis, another saviour, was celebrated on December 25th.” ⁴⁰

“ I find that your church father St. Chrysostom, who lived about the year 390, referred to these numerous festivals held on December 25th in the following language: ‘ On this day also the birth of Christ was lately fixed at Rome in order that whilst the heathen were busy with their profane ceremonies the Christians might perform their holy rite undisturbed.’ ” ⁴¹

³⁶ Doane, Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions, 7th ed., p. 363.
³⁷ Ibid.
³⁸ Ibid.
³⁹ Ibid., p. 364.
⁴⁰ Ibid.
⁴¹ Ibid., p. 367.

Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions
CHAPTER XXXIV. (Page) 361

THE BIRTH-DAY OF CHRIST JESUS.

If the writer of the “ Gospel according to Luke” is correct, Jesus was not born until about A. D. 10, for he explicitly tells us that this event did not happen until Cyrenius was governor of Syria. ^a Now it is well known that Cyrenius was not appointed to this office until long after the death of Herod (during whose reign the Matthew narrator informs us Jesus was born ^b ), and that the taxing spoken of by the Luke narrator as having taken place at this time, did not take place until ten years after the time at which, according to the Matthew narrator, Jesus was born. ^c

[ Excerpt of page — “Tax Myth”.
Complete Book available here: Bible Myths ]
^a Luke, ii. 1 - 7.
^b Matt, ii. 1.
^c See Josephus: Antiq., bk. xviii. ch. i. sec.1.

Eusebius, the first ecclesiastical historian, ^d places his birth at the time Cyrenius was governor of Syria, and therefore at about A. D. 10. His words are as follows:

^d Eusebius was Bishop of Cesarea from A. D. 315 to 340., in which he died, in the 70th year of his age, thus playing his great part in life chiefly under the reigns of Constantine the Great and his son Constantius.

“ It was the two and fortieth year after the reign of Augustus the Emperor, and the eight and twentieth year after the subduing of Egypt, and the death of Antonius and Cleopatra, when last of all the ptolemies in Egypt ceased to bear rule, when our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, at the time of the first taxing— Cyrenius, then President of Syria — was born in Bethlehem, a city of Judea, according unto the prophecies in that behalf premised.” ^e

^e Eusebius, Eccl. Hist., lib. 1. ch. vi.

(Page) 362 BIBLE MYTHS.

Had the Luke narrator known anything about Jewish history, he never would have made so gross a blunder as to place the taxing of Cyrenius in the days of Herod, and would have saved the immense amount of labor that it has taken in endeavoring to explain away the effects of his ignorance. One explanation of this mistake is, that there were two assessments, one about the time Jesus was born, and the other ten years after; but this has entirely failed. Dr. Hooykaas, speaking of this, says:

“ The Evangelist (Luke) falls into the most extraordinary mistakes throughout. In the first place, history is silent as to a census of the whole (Roman) world ever having been made at all. In the next place, though Quirinius certainly did make such a register in Judea and Samaria, it did not extend to Galilee; so that Joseph’s household was not affected by it. Besides, it did not take place until ten years after the death of Herod, when his son Archelaus was deposed by the emperor, and the districts of Judea and Samarla were thrown into a Roman province. Under the reign of Herod, nothing of the kind took place, nor was there any occasion for it. Finally, at the time of the birth of Jesus, the Governor of Syria was not Quirinius, but Quintus Sentius Saturniuus.” ^f

^f Bible for Learners, vol. iii, p. 56.

The institution of the festival of the Nativity of Christ Jesus being held on the 25th of December, among the Christians, is attributed to Telesphorus, who flourished during the reign of Antonius Pius (A. D. 138 to 161), but the first certain traces of it are found about the time of the Emperor Commodus (A. D. 180 to 192), ^g

^g Bible for Learners, vol. iii, p. 67.

For a long time the Christians had been trying to discover upon what particular day Jesus had possibly or probably come into the world; and conjectures and traditions that rested upon absolutely no foundation, led one to the 20th of May, another to the 19th or 20th of April, and a third to the 5th of January. At last the opinion of the community at Rome gained the upper hand, and the 25th of December was fixed upon. ^h It was not until the fifth century, however, that this day had been generally agreed upon. ⁱ How it happened that this day finally became fixed as the birthday of Christ Jesus, may be inferred from what we shall now see.

^h See Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 66.
ⁱ “ By the fifth century, however, whether from the influence of some tradition, or from the desire to supplant Heathen Festivals of that period of the year, such as the Saturnalia, the 25th of December has been generally agreed upon.” (Encyclopedia Brit., art. “ Christmas.”

THE BIRTH-DAY OF CHRIST JESUS. 363

On the first moment after midnight of the 24th of December (i. e., on the morning of the 25th), nearly all the nations of the earth, as if by common consent, celebrated the accouchement of the “ Queen of Heaven,” of the “ Celestial Virgin” of the sphere, and the birth of the god Sol.
In India this is a period of rejoicing everywhere. ^j It is a great religious festival, and the people decorate their houses with garlands and make presents to friends and relatives. This custom is of very great antiquity. ^k

^j See Monler Williams: Hinduism, p. 181.
^k See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 126.

In China, religious solemnities are celebrated at the time of the winter solstice, the last week in December, when all shops are shut up, and the courts are closed. ^l
Buddha, the son of the Virgin Maya, on whom, according to Chinese tradition, “ the Holy Ghost” had descended, was said to have been born on Christmas day, December 25th. ^m

^l Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 216.
^m See Bunsen The Angel-Messiah, pp. x. - 25, and 110, and Lillie: Buddha and Buddhism, p. 73. Some writers have asserted that Crishna is said to have been born on December 25th, but this is not the case. His birthday is held in July-August. (See Williams’ Hinduism, p. 183, and Life and Religion of the Hindoos, p. 134.)

Among the ancient Persians their most splendid ceremonials were in honor of their Lord and Saviour Mithras; they kept his birthday, with many rejoicings, on the 25th of December.
The author of the “ Celtic Druids” says:

“ It was the custom of the heathen, long before the birth of Christ, to celebrate the birth-day of their gods,” and that, “ the 25th of December was a great festival with the Persians, who, in very early times, celebrated the birth of their god Mithras.” ⁿ

ⁿ Celtic Druids, p. 163. See also, Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 272; Monumental Christianity, p. 167; Bible for Learners, iii. pp. 66, 67.

The Rev. Joseph B. Gross, in his “Heathen Religion,” also tells us that:

“ The ancient Persians celebrated a festival in honor of Mithras on the first day succeeding the Winter Solstice, the object of which was to commemorate the birth of Mithras” ^o

^o The Heathen Religion, p. 287. See also, Dupuis: p. 246.

Among the ancient Egyptians, for centuries before the time of Christ Jesus, the 25th of December was set aside as the birthday of their gods. M. Le Clerk De Septehenes speaks of it as follows:

“ The ancient Egyptians fixed the pregnancy of Isis (the Queen of Heaven, and the Virgin Mother of the Saviour Horns), on the last days of March, and towards the end of December they placed the commemoration of her delivery.” ^p

^p Relig. of the Anct. Greeks, p. 214. See also, Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 99.

Mr. Bonwick, in speaking of Horus. says:

“ He is the great God-loved of Heaven. His birth was one of the greatest mysteries of the Egyptian religion. Pictures representing it appeared on the wails of temples. One passed through the holy Adytum ^q to the still more sacred quarter of the temple known as the birth-place of Horus. He was presumably the child of Deity. At Christmas time, or that answering to our festival, his image was brought out of that sanctuary with peculiar ceremonies, as the image of the Infant Bambino ^r is still brought out and exhibited in Rome.” ^s

^q “ Adytum”— the interior or sacred part of a heathen temple.
^r “ Bambino”— a term used for representations of the infant Saviour, Christ Jesus, in swaddlings.
^s Bonwick’s Egyptian Belief, p. 157. See also, Dupuis, p. 287.

Doane, Bible Myths and their Parallels
in other Religions, 7th ed., pp. 364 et seq.

Doane, Bible Myths pp. 359 et seq.

Martian Visitor: Quoted excerpts
and Footnotes to: Bible Myths.
INDEX of Subjects.

Martian Visitor ( Home )

Metaphysics: Which is PRIMARY?

The Pagan origins of Easter

THE WORLD’S
SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS
or
Christianity Before Christ
CONTAINING
New, Startling and Extraordinary Revelations In
Religious History, Which Disclose The Oriental
Origin Of All The Doctrines, Principles,
Precepts, And Miracles Of The
CHRISTIAN NEW TESTAMENT
And Furnishing A Key For Unlocking Many Of
It’s Sacred Mysteries, Besides comprising the
History Of 16 HEATHEN CRUCIFIED GODS
BY
KERSEY GRAVES Copyright, 1875