Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Being...

[111:1] Matthew, i. 18-25.

[111:2] The Luke narrator tells the story in a different manner. His account is more like that recorded in the Koran, which says that Gabriel appeared unto Mary in the shape of a perfect man, that Mary, upon seeing him, and seeming to understand his intentions, said: "If thou fearest God, thou wilt not approach me." Gabriel answering said: "Verily, I am the messenger of the Lord, and am sent to give thee a holy son." (Koran, ch. xix.)

[112:1] Instead, however, of the benevolent Jesus, the "Prince of Peace"—as Christian writers make him out to be—the Jews were expecting a daring and irresistible warrior and conqueror, who, armed with greater power than Cæsar, was to come upon earth to rend the fetters in which their hapless nation had so long groaned, to avenge them upon their haughty oppressors, and to re-establish the kingdom of Judah.

[112:2] Vol. v. p. 294.

[112:3] Moor, in his "Pantheon," tells us that a learned Pandit once observed to him that the English were a new people, and had only the record of one Avatara, but the Hindoos were an ancient people, and had accounts of a great many.

[112:4] This name has been spelled in many different ways, such as Krishna, Khrishna, Krishnu, Chrisna, Cristna, Christna, &c. We have followed Sir Wm. Jones's way of spelling it, and shall do so throughout.

[113:1] See Asiatic Researches, vol. i. pp. 259-275.

[113:2] Ibid. p. 260. We may say that, "In him dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Colossians, ii. 9.)

[113:3] Allen's India, p. 397.

[113:4] Indian Antiquities, vol. iii. p. 45.

[113:5] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 270.

[113:6] Like Mary, the mother of Jesus, Devaki is called the "Virgin Mother," although she, as well as Mary, is said to have had other children.

[114:1] Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 327.

[114:2] Ibid. p. 329.

[114:3] Vishnu Purana, p. 502.

[114:4] Ibid. p. 440.

[114:5] "Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began." (Romans, xvi. 15.) "And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." (1 Timothy, iii. 16.)

[114:6] Vishnu Purana, p. 492, note 3.

[114:7] Geeta, ch. iv.

[115:1] Bhagavat Geeta, Lecture iv. p. 52.

[115:2] Ibid., Lecture iv. p. 79.

[115:3] It is said that there have been several Buddhas (see ch. xxix). We speak of Gautama. Buddha is variously pronounced and expressed Boudh, Bod, Bot, But, Bud, Budd, Buddou, Bouttu, Bota, Budso, Pot, Pout, Pota, Poti, and Pouti. The Siamese make the final t or d quiescent, and sound the word Po; whence the Chinese still further vary it to Pho or Fo. Buddha—which means awakened or enlightened (see Müller: Sci. of Relig., p. 308)—is the proper way in which to spell the name. We have adopted this throughout this work, regardless of the manner in which the writer from which we quote spells it.

[115:4] Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 86.

[115:5]Fo-pen-hing is the life of Gautama Buddha, translated from the Chinese Sanskrit by Prof. Samuel Beal.

[115:6] Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. 25.

[115:7] Hardy: Manual of Buddhism, p. 141.

[115:8] A Christian sect called Collyridians believed that Mary was born of a virgin, as Christ is related to have been born of her (See note to the "Gospel of the Birth of Mary" [Apocryphal]; also King: The Gnostics and their Remains, p. 91, and Gibbon's Hist. of Rome, vol. v. p. 108, note). This idea has been recently adopted by the Roman Catholic Church. They now claim that Mary was born as immaculate as her son. (See Inman's Ancient Faiths, vol. i. p. 75, and The Lily of Israel, pp. 6-15; also fig. 17, ch. xxxii.)

"The gradual deification of Mary, though slower in its progress, follows, in the Romish Church, a course analogous to that which the Church of the first centuries followed, in elaborating the deity of Jesus. With almost all the Catholic writers of our day, Mary is the universal mediatrix; all power has been given to her in heaven and upon earth. Indeed, more than one serious attempt has been already made in the Ultramontane camp to unite Mary in some way to the Trinity; and if Mariolatry lasts much longer, this will probably be accomplished in the end." (Albert Réville.)

[116:1] Huc's Travels, vol. i. pp. 326, 327.

[116:2] Ibid. p. 327.

[116:3] Oriental Religions, p. 604.

[116:4] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah.

[116:5] Asiatic Researches, vol. ii. p. 309, and King's Gnostics, p. 167.

[116:6] See Bunsen's Angel-Messiah, pp. 10, 25 and 44.

[117:1] See Beal: Hist. Buddha, p. 36, note. Ganesa, the Indian God of Wisdom, is either represented as an elephant or a man with an elephant's head. (See Moore's Hindu Pantheon, and vol. i. of Asiatic Researches.)

[117:2] Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, p. 83.

[117:3] Beal: Hist. Buddha, pp. 38, 39.

[117:4] Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 131.

[118:1] Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 212.

[118:2] King: The Gnostics and their Remains, p. 168, and Hist. Hindostan, vol. ii. p. 485. R. Spence Hardy says: "The body of the Queen was transparent, and the child could be distinctly seen, like a priest seated upon a throne in the act of saying bana, or like a golden image enclosed in a vase of crystal; so that it could be known how much he grew every succeeding day." (Hardy: Manual of Buddhism, p. 144.) The same thing was said of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Early art represented the infant distinctly visible in her womb. (See Inman's Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism, and chap. xxix. this work.)