Part 111 (1/2)
But strange as it may appear, the G.o.d of one nation became the devil of another.
The rock of Behistun, the sculptured chronicle of the glories of Darius, king of Persia, situated on the western frontier of Media, on the high-road from Babylon to the eastward, was used as a ”holy of holies.”
It was named _Bagistane_--”the place of the _Baga_”--referring to Ormuzd, chief of the Bagas. When examined with the lenses of linguistic science, the ”_Bogie_” or ”_Bug-a-boo_” or ”_Bugbear_” of nursery lore, turns out to be identical with the Slavonic ”_Bog_” and the ”_Baga_” of the cuneiform inscriptions, both of which are names of the _Supreme Being_. It is found also in the old Aryan ”_Bhaga_,” who is described in a commentary of the _Rig-Veda_ as the lord of life, the giver of bread, and the bringer of happiness. Thus, the same name which, to the _Vedic_ poet, to the Persian of the time of Xerxes, and to the modern Russian, suggests the supreme majesty of deity, is in English a.s.sociated with an ugly and ludicrous fiend. Another striking ill.u.s.tration is to be found in the word _devil_ itself. When traced back to its primitive source, it is found to be a name of the Supreme Being.[391:2]
The ancients had a great number of festival days, many of which are handed down to the present time, and are to be found in Christianity.
We have already seen that the 25th of December was almost a universal festival among the ancients; so it is the same with the _spring_ festivals, when days of fasting are observed.
The _Hindoos_ hold a festival, called _Siva-ratri_, in honor of _Siva_, about the middle or end of February. _A strict fast is observed during the day._ They have also a festival in April, when a strict fast is kept by some.[392:1]
At the _spring equinox_ most nations of antiquity set apart a day to implore the blessings of their G.o.d, or G.o.ds, on the fruits of the earth.
At the autumnal equinox, they offered the fruits of the harvest, and returned thanks. In China, these religious solemnities are called ”Festivals of grat.i.tude to Tien.”[392:2] The last named corresponds to _our_ ”Thanksgiving” celebration.
One of the most considerable festivals held by the ancient _Scandinavians_ was the _spring_ celebration. This was held in honor of Odin, at the beginning of spring, in order to welcome in that pleasant season, and to obtain of their G.o.d happy success in their projected expeditions.
Another festival was held toward the autumn equinox, when they were accustomed to kill all their cattle in good condition, and lay in a store of provision for the winter. This festival was also attended with religious ceremonies, when Odin, the supreme G.o.d, was thanked for what he had given them, by having his altar loaded with the fruits of their crops, and the choicest products of the earth.[392:3]
There was a grand celebration in Egypt, called the ”Feast of Lamps,”
held at Sais, in honor of the G.o.ddess Neith. Those who did not attend the ceremony, as well as those who did, burned lamps before their houses all night, filled with oil and salt: thus all Egypt was illuminated. It was deemed a great irreverence to the G.o.ddess for any one to omit this ceremony.[392:4]
The _Hindoos_ also held a festival in honor of the G.o.ddesses Lakshmi and Bhavanti, called ”_The feast of Lamps_.”[392:5] This festival has been handed down to the present time in what is called ”Candlemas day,” or the purification of the Virgin Mary.
The most celebrated Pagan festival held by modern Christians is that known as ”_Sunday_,” or the ”Lord's day.”
All the princ.i.p.al nations of antiquity kept the _seventh_ day of the week as a ”holy day,” just as the ancient Israelites did. This was owing to the fact that they consecrated the days of the week to the Sun, the Moon, and the five planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
_The seventh day was sacred to Saturn from time immemorial._ Homer and Hesiod call it the ”Holy Day.”[393:1] The people generally visited the temples of the G.o.ds, on that day, and offered up their prayers and supplications.[393:2] The Acadians, thousands of years ago, kept holy the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of each month as _Salum_ (rest), on which certain works were forbidden.[393:3] The _Arabs_ anciently wors.h.i.+ped Saturn under the name of Hobal. In his hands he held _seven_ arrows, symbols of the planets that preside over the seven days of the week.[393:4] The _Egyptians_ a.s.signed a day of the week to the sun, moon, and five planets, and the number _seven_ was held there in great reverence.[393:5]
The planet _Saturn_ very early became the chief deity of Semitic religion. Moses consecrated the number seven to him.[393:6]
In the _old_ conception, which finds expression in the Decalogue in Deuteronomy (v. 15), the Sabbath has a purely theocratic significance, and is intended to remind the Hebrews of their miraculous deliverance from the land of Egypt and bondage. When the story of _Creation_ was borrowed from the _Babylonians_, the celebration of the Sabbath was established on entirely new grounds (Ex. xx. 11), for we find it is because the ”Creator,” after his six days of work, rested on the seventh, that the day should be kept holy.
The a.s.syrians kept this day holy. Mr. George Smith says:
”In the year 1869, I discovered among other things a curious religious calendar of the a.s.syrians, in which every month is divided into four weeks, and the _seventh_ days or '_Sabbaths_,' are marked out as days on which no work should be undertaken.”[393:7]
The ancient _Scandinavians_ consecrated one day in the week to their Supreme G.o.d, _Odin_ or _Wodin_.[393:8] Even at the present time we call this day _Odin's-day_.[393:9]
The question now arises, how was the great festival day changed from the _seventh_--Saturn's day--to the _first_--_Sun_-day--among the Christians?
”If we go back to the founding of the church, we find that the most marked feature of that age, so far as the church itself is concerned, is the grand division between the 'Jewish faction,' as it was called, and the followers of Paul. This division was so deep, so marked, so characteristic, that it has left its traces all through the New Testament itself. It was one of the grand aspects of the time, and the point on which they were divided was simply this: the followers of Peter, those who adhered to the teachings of the central church in Jerusalem, held that all Christians, both converted Jews and Gentiles, were under obligation to keep the Mosaic law, ordinances, and traditions. That is, a Christian, according to their definition, was first a Jew; Christianity was something _added to_ that, not something taking the place of it.
”We find this controversy raging violently all through the early churches, and splitting them into factions, so that they were the occasion of prayer and counsel. Paul took the ground distinctly that Christianity, while it might be spiritually the lineal successor of Judaism, was not Judaism; and that he who became a Christian, whether a converted Jew or Gentile, was under no obligation whatever to keep the Jewish law, so far as it was separate from practical matters of life and character. We find this intimated in the writings of Paul; for we have to go to the New Testament for the origin of that which, we find, existed immediately after the New Testament was written. Paul says: 'One man esteemeth one day above another: another man esteemeth every day alike' (Rom. xiv. 5-9). He leaves it an open question; they can do as they please. Then: 'Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain' (Gal. iv.
10, 11). And if you will note this Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, you will find that the whole purpose of his writing it was to protest against what he believed to be the viciousness of the Judaizing influences. That is, he says: 'I have come to preach to you the perfect truth, that Christ hath made us free; and you are going back and taking upon yourselves this yoke of bondage. My labor is being thrown away; my efforts have been in vain.' Then he says, in his celebrated Epistle to the Colossians, that has never yet been explained away or met: 'Let no man therefore judge you any more in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days' (Col. ii. 16, 17), distinctly abrogating the binding authority of the Sabbath on the Christian church. So that, if Paul's word anywhere means anything--if his authority is to be taken as of binding force on any point whatever--then Paul is to be regarded as authoritatively and distinctly abrogating the Sabbath, and declaring that it is no longer binding on the Christian church.”[395:1]
This breach in the early church, this controversy, resulted at last in Paul's going up to Jerusalem ”to meet James and the representatives of the Jerusalem church, to see if they could find any common platform of agreement--if they could come together so that they could work with mutual respect and without any further bickering. What is the platform that they met upon? It was distinctly understood that those who wished to keep up the observance of Judaism should do so; and the church at Jerusalem gave Paul this grand freedom, substantially saying to him: 'Go back to your missionary work, found churches, and teach them that they are perfectly free in regard to all Mosaic and Jewish observances, save only these four: Abstain from pollutions of idols, from fornication, from things strangled, and from blood.”[395:2]
The point to which our attention is forcibly drawn is, that the question of Sabbath-keeping is one of those that is left out. The point that Paul had been fighting for was conceded by the central church at Jerusalem, and he was to go out thenceforth free, so far as that was concerned, in his teaching of the churches that he should found.
There is no mention of the Sabbath, or the Lord's day, as binding in the New Testament. What, then, was the actual condition of affairs? What did the churches do in the first three hundred years of their existence?
Why, they did just what Paul and the Jerusalem church had agreed upon.