Part 73 (1/2)

(Horace: Tibull. lib. 1, Eleg. iii. In Ibid.)

[260:3] Chambers's Encyclo., art. ”aesculapius.”

[260:4] Murray: Manual of Mythology, p. 180.

[260:5] Apol. 1, ch. xxii.

[260:6] Deane: Serp. Wor. p. 204. See also, Bell's Pantheon, vol. i. p.

29.

”There were numerous oracles of aesculapius, but the most celebrated one was at Epidaurus. Here the sick sought responses and the recovery of their health by sleeping in the temple. . . . The wors.h.i.+p of aesculapius was introduced into Rome in a time of great sickness, and an emba.s.sy sent to the temple Epidaurus to entreat the aid of the G.o.d.” (Bulfinch: The Age of Fable, p. 397.)

[261:1] Aryan Mytho. vol. ii. p. 238.

[261:2] Herodotus: bk. vi. ch. 61.

[261:3] See Philostratus: Vie d'Apo.

Gibbon, the historian, says of him: ”Apollonius of Tyana, born about the same time as Jesus Christ. His life (that of the former) is related in so fabulous a manner by his disciples, that we are at a loss to discover whether he was a sage, an impostor, or a fanatic.” (Gibbon's Rome, vol.

i. p. 353, _note_.) What this learned historian says of Apollonius applies to Jesus of Nazareth. _His_ disciples have related his life in so fabulous a manner, that some consider him to have been an impostor, others a fanatic, others a sage, and others a G.o.d.

[262:1] See Philostratus, p. 146.

[262:2] Ibid. p. 158.

[262:3] See Ibid. p. 182.

[263:1] Compare Matt. ix. 18-25. ”There came a certain ruler and wors.h.i.+ped him, saying: 'My daughter is even now dead, but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.' And Jesus arose and followed him, and so did his disciples. . . . And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, he said unto them: 'Give peace, for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth.'

And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in, _and took her by the hand_, and the maid arose.”

[263:2] See Philostratus, pp. 285-286.

[263:3] ”He could render himself invisible, evoke departed spirits, utter predictions, and discover the thoughts of other men.” (Hardy: Eastern Monachism, p. 380.)

[263:4] ”And as they thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said unto them: 'Peace be unto you.' But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them: 'Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is myself; handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” (Luke, xxiv. 36-39.)

[264:1] See Philostratus, p. 342.

[264:2] Ibid. p. 5.

[264:3] Justin Martyr's ”_Quaest._” xxiv. Quoted in King's Gnostics, p.

242.

[264:4] Acts, viii. 9, 10.

[265:1] See Mosheim, vol. i. pp. 137, 140.

[265:2] Irenaeus: Against Heresies, bk. iii. ch. xi. The _authors.h.i.+p_ of the fourth gospel, attributed to John, has been traced to this same _Irenaeus_. He is the _first_ person who speaks of it; and adding this fact to the statement that ”it is impossible that there could be more or less than _four_,” certainly makes it appear very suspicious. We shall allude to this again.