Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions by T. W. Doane
CHAPTER XVI.
2520 words | Chapter 69
THE BIRTH-PLACE OF CHRIST JESUS.
The writer of that portion of the Gospel according to _Matthew_ which
treats of the _place_ in which Jesus was born, implies, as we stated in
our last chapter, that he was born in a _house_. His words are these:
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea _in the days of
Herod the king_, behold, there came wise men from the east" to
worship him. "And when they were come _into the house_, they
saw the young child with Mary his mother."[154:1]
The writer of the _Luke_ version implies that he was born in _a stable_,
as the following statement will show:
"The days being accomplished that she (Mary) should be
delivered . . . she brought forth her first-born son, and
wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and _laid him in a manger_,
there being no room for him in the _inn_."[154:2]
If these accounts were contained in these Gospels in the time of
Eusebius, the first ecclesiastical historian, who flourished during the
Council of Nice (A. D. 327), it is very strange that, in speaking of the
birth of Jesus, he should have omitted even mentioning them, and should
have given an altogether different version. He tells us that Jesus was
neither born in a _house_, nor in a _stable_, but in a _cave_, and that
at the time of Constantine a magnificent temple was erected on the spot,
so that the Christians might worship in the place where their Saviour's
feet had stood.[154:3]
In the apocryphal Gospel called "_Protevangelion_," attributed to James,
the brother of Jesus, we are informed that Mary and her husband, being
away from their home in Nazareth, and when within three miles of
Bethlehem, to which city they were going, Mary said to Joseph:
"Take me down from the ass, for that which is in me presses to
come forth."
Joseph, replying, said:
"Whither shall I take thee, _for the place is desert_?"
Then said Mary again to Joseph:
"Take me down, for that which is within me mightily presses
me."
Joseph then took her down from off the ass, and he found there a _cave_
and put her into it.
Joseph then left Mary in the cave, and started toward Bethlehem for a
midwife, whom he found and brought back with him. When they neared the
spot a bright cloud overshadowed the cave.
"But on a sudden the cloud became _a great light in the cave_,
so their eyes could not bear it. But the light gradually
decreased, until the infant appeared and sucked the breast of
his mother."[155:1]
Tertullian (A. D. 200), Jerome (A. D. 375) and other Fathers of the
Church, also state that Jesus was born in a _cave_, and that the
_heathen_ celebrated, in their day, the birth and _Mysteries_ of their
Lord and Saviour Adonis in this very cave near Bethlehem.[155:2]
Canon Farrar says:
"That the actual place of Christ's birth was a _cave_, is a
very ancient tradition, and this cave used to be shown as the
scene of the event even so early as the time of Justin Martyr
(A. D. 150)."[155:3]
Mr. King says:
"The place _yet_ shown as the scene of their (the Magi's)
adoration at Bethlehem is a _cave_."[155:4]
The Christian ceremonies in the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem are
celebrated to this day in a _cave_,[155:5] and are undoubtedly nearly
the same as were celebrated, _in the same place_, in honor of _Adonis_,
in the time of Tertullian and Jerome; and as are yet celebrated in Rome
every Christmas-day, _very early in the morning_.
We see, then, that there are _three_ different accounts concerning the
_place_ in which Jesus was born. The first, and evidently true one, was
that which is recorded by the _Matthew_ narrator, namely, that he was
born in a _house_. The stories about his being born in a _stable_ or in
a _cave_[155:6] were later inventions, caused from the desire to place
him in as _humble_ a position as possible in his infancy, and from the
fact that the virgin-born Saviours who had _preceded_ him had almost
all been born in a position the most humiliating--such as a cave, a
cow-shed, a sheep-fold, &c.--or had been placed there after birth. This
was a part of the _universal mythos_. As illustrations we may mention
the following:
_Crishna_, the Hindoo virgin-born Saviour, was born in a _cave_,[156:1]
fostered by an honest _herdsman_,[156:2] and, it is said, placed in a
_sheep-fold_ shortly after his birth.
_How-Tseih_, the Chinese "Son of Heaven," when an infant, was left
unprotected by his mother, but the _sheep_ and _oxen_ protected him with
loving care.[156:3]
_Abraham_, the Father of Patriarchs, is said to have been _born in a
cave_.[156:4]
_Bacchus_, who was the son of God by the virgin Semele, is said to have
been _born in a cave_, or placed in one shortly after his birth.[156:5]
Philostratus, the Greek sophist and rhetorician, says, "the inhabitants
of India had a tradition that Bacchus was born at _Nisa_, and was
brought up in a _cave_ on Mount Meros."
_Æsculapius_, who was the son of God by the virgin Coronis, was left
exposed, when an infant, on a mountain, where he was found and cared for
by a _goatherd_.[156:6]
_Romulus_, who was the son of God by the virgin Rhea-Sylvia, was left
exposed, when an infant, on the banks of the river Tiber, where he was
found and cared for by a _shepherd_.[156:7]
_Adonis_, the "Lord" and "Saviour," was placed in a _cave_ shortly after
his birth.[156:8]
_Apollo_ (Phoibos), son of the Almighty Zeus, was born in a cave at
early dawn.[156:9]
_Mithras_, the Persian Saviour, was born in a _cave or grotto_,[156:10]
at early dawn.
_Hermes_, the son of God by the mortal _Maia_, was born early in the
morning, in _a cave or grotto_ of the Kyllemian hill.[156:11]
_Attys_, the god of the Phrygians,[156:12] was born in a _cave_ or
grotto.[156:13]
The _object_ is the same in all of these stories, however they may
differ in detail, which is to place the heaven-born infant in the most
humiliating position in infancy.
We have seen it is recorded that, at the time of the birth of Jesus
"there was a _great light_ in the cave, so that the eyes of Joseph and
the midwife could not bear it." This feature is also represented in
early Christian art. "Early Christian painters have represented the
infant Jesus as welcoming three Kings of the East, _and shining as
brilliantly as if covered with phosphuretted oil_."[157:1] In all
pictures of the Nativity, the light is made to arise from the body of
the infant, and the father and mother are often depicted with glories
round their heads. This too was a part of the old mythos, as we shall
now see.
The moment _Crishna_ was born, his mother became beautiful, and her form
brilliant. The whole cave was splendidly illuminated, being filled with
a _heavenly light_, and the countenances of his father and his mother
emitted rays of glory.[157:2]
So likewise, it is recorded that, at the time of the birth of Buddha,
"the Saviour of the World," which, according to one account, took place
in an _inn_, "_a divine light diffused around his person_," so that "the
Blessed One" was "heralded into the world by a supernatural
light."[157:3]
When _Bacchus_ was born, a _bright light_ shone round him,[157:4] so
that, "_there was a brilliant light in the cave_."
When _Apollo_ was born, _a halo of serene light encircled his cradle_,
the nymphs of heaven attended, and bathed him in pure water, and girded
a broad golden band around his form.[157:5]
When the Saviour _Æsculapius_ was born, his countenance shone like the
sun, and he was surrounded by a fiery ray.[157:6]
In the life of _Zoroaster_ the common mythos is apparent. He was born in
innocence of an immaculate conception of a Ray of the Divine Reason. As
soon as he was born, _the glory arising from his body enlightened the
whole room_, and he laughed at his mother.[157:7]
It is stated in the legends of the Hebrew Patriarchs that, at the birth
of _Moses_, a bright light appeared and shone around.[157:8]
There is still another feature which we must notice in these narratives,
that is, the contradictory statements concerning the _time_ when Jesus
was born. As we shall treat of this subject more fully in the chapter on
"The Birthday of Christ Jesus," we shall allude to it here simply as far
as necessary.
The _Matthew_ narrator informs us that Jesus was born _in the days of
Herod the King_, and the _Luke_ narrator says he was born _when
Cyrenius_ was _Governor of Syria_, or later. This is a very awkward and
unfortunate statement, as Cyrenius was not Governor of Syria until some
_ten years after the time of Herod_.[158:1]
The cause of this dilemma is owing to the fact that the Luke narrator,
after having interwoven into _his_ story, of the birth of Jesus, the
_old myth_ of the tax or tribute, which is said to have taken place at
the time of the birth of some _previous_ virgin-born Saviours, looked
among the records to see if a taxing had ever taken place in Judea, so
that he might refer to it in support of his statement. He found the
account of the taxing, referred to above, and without stopping to
consider _when_ this taxing took place, or whether or not it would
conflict with the statement that Jesus was born _in the days of Herod_,
he added to his narrative the words: "And this taxing was _first made_
when Cyrenius was governor of Syria."[158:2]
We will now show the ancient myth of the taxing. According to the
_Vishnu Purana_, when the infant Saviour _Crishna_ was born, his foster
father, _Nanda_, had come to the city _to pay his tax or yearly tribute
to the king_. It distinctly speaks of Nanda, and other cowherds,
"_bringing tribute or tax to Kansa_" the reigning monarch.[158:3]
It also describes a scene which took place after the taxes had been
paid.
Vasudeva, an acquaintance of Nanda's, "went to the wagon of Nanda, and
found Nanda there, rejoicing that a son (Crishna) had been born to him.
"Vasudeva spoke to him kindly, and congratulated him _on having a son in
his old age_.[158:4]
"'Thy yearly tribute,' he added, 'has been paid to the king . . . why do
you delay, now that your affairs are settled? Up, Nanda, quickly, and
set off to your own pastures.' . . . Accordingly Nanda and the other
cowherds returned to their village."[158:5]
Now, in regard to _Buddha_, the same myth is found.
Among the thirty-two signs which were to be fulfilled by the mother of
the expected Messiah (Buddha), the fifth sign was recorded to be, "_that
she would be on a journey at the time of her child's birth_."
Therefore, "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophets," the virgin Maya, in the tenth month after her heavenly
conception, was on a journey to her father, when lo, the birth of the
Messiah took place under a tree. One account says that "she had alighted
at an _inn_ when Buddha was born."[159:1]
The mother of _Lao-tsze_, the Virgin-born Chinese sage, was away from
home when her child was born. She stopped to rest _under a tree_, and
there, like the virgin Maya, gave birth to her son.[159:2]
_Pythagoras_ (B. C. 570), whose real father was the Holy Ghost,[159:3]
was also born at a time when his mother was away from home on a journey.
She was travelling with her husband, who was _about his mercantile
concerns_, from Samos to Sidon.[159:4]
_Apollo_ was born when his mother was away from home. The Ionian legend
tells the simple tale that Leto, the mother of the unborn Apollo, could
find no place to receive her in her hour of travail until she came to
Delos. The child was born like Buddha and Lao-tsze--_under a
tree_.[159:5] The mother knew that he was destined to be a being of
mighty power, ruling among the undying gods and mortal men.[159:6]
Thus we see that the stories, one after another, relating to the birth
and infancy of Jesus, are simply old myths, and are therefore not
historical.
FOOTNOTES:
[154:1] Matthew, ii.
[154:2] Luke, ii.
[154:3] Eusebius's Life of Constantine, lib. 3, chs. xl., xli. and xlii.
[155:1] Protevangelion. Apoc. chs. xii., xiii., and xiv., and Lily of
Israel, p. 95.
[155:2] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. pp. 98, 99.
[155:3] Farrar's Life of Christ, p. 38, and _note_. See also, Hist.
Hindostan, ii. 311.
[155:4] King: The Gnostics and their Remains, p. 134.
[155:5] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 95.
[155:6] Some writers have tried to connect these by saying that it was a
_cave-stable_, but why should a stable be in a _desert place_, as the
narrative states?
[156:1] Aryan Myths, vol. ii. p. 107.
[156:2] See Asiatic Researches, vol. i. p. 259.
[156:3] See Amberly's Analysis, p. 226.
[156:4] See Calmet's Fragments, art. "Abraham."
[156:5] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 321. Bell's Pantheon, vol.
i. p. 118, and Dupuis, p. 284.
[156:6] See Taylor's Diegesis, p. 150, and Bell's Pantheon under
"Æsculapius."
[156:7] See Bell's Pantheon, vol. ii. p. 218.
[156:8] See Ibid. vol. i. p. 12.
[156:9] Aryan Mythology, vol. i. pp. 72, 158.
[156:10] See Dunlap's Mysteries of Adoni, p. 124, and Aryan Mythology,
vol. ii. p. 134.
[156:11] Ibid.
[156:12] See Dupuis: Origin of Religious Beliefs, p. 255.
[156:13] See Dunlap's Mysteries of Adoni, p. 124.
[157:1] Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 460.
[157:2] Cox: Aryan Mythology, vol. ii. p. 133. Higgins: Anacalypsis,
vol. i. p. 130. See also, Vishnu Purana, p. 502, where it says:
"No person could bear to gaze upon Devaki from the light that invested
her."
[157:3] See Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 43, 46, or Bunsen's Angel-Messiah,
pp. 34, 35.
[157:4] See Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 322, and Dupuis: Origin of
Relig. Belief, p. 119.
[157:5] Tales of Anct. Greece, p. xviii.
[157:6] Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p. 27. Roman Antiquities, p. 136.
[157:7] Inman: Ancient Faiths, vol. ii. p. 460. Anacalypsis, vol. i. p.
649.
[157:8] See Hardy: Manual of Buddhism, p. 145.
[158:1] See the chapter on "Christmas."
[158:2] It may be that this verse was added by another hand some time
after the narrative was written. We have seen it stated somewhere that,
in the manuscript, this verse is in brackets.
[158:3] See Vishnu Purana, book v. chap. iii.
[158:4] Here is an exact counterpart to the story of Joseph--the
foster-father, so-called--of Jesus. He too, had a son in his old age.
[158:5] Vishnu Purana, book v. chap. v.
[159:1] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 34. See also, Beal: Hist. Buddha,
p. 32, and Lillie: Buddha and Early Buddhism, p. 73.
[159:2] Thornton: Hist. China, i. 138.
[159:3] As we saw in Chapter XII.
[159:4] Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. i. p. 150.
[159:5] See Rhys David's Buddhism, p. 25.
[159:6] See Cox: Aryan Myths, vol. ii. p. 31.
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