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Page 67
It is true, that it may be said, that this is all hypothesis, and mere
conjecture. We allow it; it is true; and we assert that the account
given by the Evangelists is no better, nay, worse than conjecture,
as it is a mere forgery of the second century! For no man, we think,
who knows all that has been made known by biblical critics, in
later years, will now seriously contend for the literal truth of that
account. [See Appendix A.]
If all this will not satisfy the man that �believeth all things,� our
last resource is to demy the act of this resurrection. And this we
can do with perfect sang froid, as we know very well that it cannot
be proved; for the only testimony in favour of it, are the four
evangelists; four witnesses, the like of whose written testimony,
with reference thereto, (being as contradic-tory as that is,) to say
no more, certainly would not, we believe, be received in a modern
court of justice, to settle the fact about a debt of five dollars. And if
it be still urged, that such a story is unparalleled, and therefore
respectable; we say that it is not unparalleled; as we have an
account of a false Messiah, who applied the prophecies to himself,
had a forerunner, and more than two hundred thousand followers,
who publicly acknowledged him for the Messiah, raised
contributions, and supported him magnificently. He too, quoted the
prophets as speaking concerning him, and was said to have worked
divers miracles, and was ultimately put to death by the order of the
Grand Seignor at Constantinople; yet nevertheless was said to have
been, seen again by certain of his followers, who wrote books in
favour of that fact, and of his Messiahship. Many learned Rabbins
enrolled themselves as his disciples, and wrote controversial works
in his cause, as Paul did. And to conclude, his party was not
entirely extinct within a very few years. Yet, notwithstanding all
this, he was an impostor; and no man now believes the stories of
his miracles, or his resurrection; notwithstanding that both are
affirmed by more recent, more learned, and more respectable
testimony than is, or can be, offered, in favour of the Messiahship
of Jesus. The name of this famous impostor was Shabathai Tzevi,
and his history is given by Basnage, in his history of the Jews, [and
by other writers of Jewish history. See on this subject the Sepher
Torath Hakenaoth, page 2. The learned Mr. Zedner has extracted
the life of Shabetai Tsebi from tins book, and published it, with a
German translation, in his Auswahl historischer Stucke aus
Hebraischen Schriftstellern, Berlin, 1840.--D.]
I wish the Christian reader to peruse carefully, and cooly, that
account; and if he then persists in believing the history given by
the evangelists; with such faith as his, he certainly ought to be able
to move mountains; and I have no doubt at all, that with such a
good natured understanding as his, if he had found in his New
Testament the story of Jonah misquoted, and and by a small
transposition a la mode de Surenhusius, representing that �Jonah
swallowed the whale!� this sturdy �confidence in things not seen,�
would, I doubt not have enabled him without difficulty to swallow
the prophet with the whale in his belly.
CHAPTER XVII.
OF THE PECULIAR MORALITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT,
AS IT AFFECTS INDIVIDUALS.
I have already expressed my respect for the character of Jesus. And
I again declare, that I request it may be distinctly understood, that
by nothing that I have said do I intend to impeach, or to deprecate
his moral character. Whatever may have been his defects, or
whatever were his foibles, they must have been the faults of his
mind, not of his heart. For, though he may hare been a mistaken
enthusiast; yet I do firmly believe, That, with such a character as
he is represented to have possessed, he could not have been either
a hypocrite, or a wilful impostor. And if it be replied, that I have,
by some observations on his conduct, indirectly impeached the
perfection of his moral character; I answer, that if so, it is certainly
my misfortune, but it may not be his fault. To explain this
observation, I request the reader to recall to mind, that Jesus wrote
nothing himself! that the only accounts we have of him, are
contained in books, probably apocryphal, certainly not generally
known till after the middle of the second-century from his birth.
The gospels now extant do not appear to have been known to
Justin Martyr; and the earliest fathers, in their writings, generally
quote traditions concernng Jesus, instead of histories. Since these
things are so, who knows, but that the authors of the histories of
him now extant, have attributed to him words and actions of which
he was guiltless. We know how prone mankind are to invent
falsehoods concerning eminent men; for instance, Mahomet
expressly disclaimed the power of working miracles, and yet the
writings of his early followers ascribe hundreds to him. Why may
it not be possible then, since Jesus wrote nothing himself, that
these books ascribe to him words and actions he neither spake nor
performed? God grant that this may one day be proved! For I
should rejoice to find the meek, gentle, and amiable man of
Nazareth proved guiltless of the follies and impieties attributed to
him in the New Testament as I find it, and to reason concerning the
works and words of Jesus, as I find them there expressed, yet I
would earnestly request the reader to consider me willing and
desirous to exempt the author, or rather the cause of the Christian
religion, from the reproach of the sentiments I am bound by my
regard for one God, and his attributes, to express for the system
itself. Yes! I can in my own mind separate Jesus from his religion
and his followers. I read with admiration many of his beautiful
parables. I shall ever contemplate his mildness, and benevolence
with respect; and I peruse, with pity, the recital of his sufferings,
and cruel death. All this I have done, and I believe I shall ever do;
but I cannot! I cannot, in effect, deny the one living and true God,
and renounce my reason, and common sense, by believing all the
contradictory and strange doctrines contained in the New
Testament.
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