Part 112 (1/2)
5. The Holy Ghost represented as a Pigeon.
6. The Mystical Letters I. H. S.[397:1]
6. The Mystical Letters I. H. S.[397:2]
In many cases the _Images_ of the Pagan G.o.ds were allowed to remain in these temples, and, after being _Christianized_, continued to receive divine honors.[397:3]
”In St. Peter's, Rome, is a statue of _Jupiter_, deprived of his thunderbolt, which is replaced by the emblematic keys. In like manner, much of the religion of the lower orders, which we regard as essentially _Christian_, is ancient _heathenism_, refitted with Christian symbols.”[397:4] We find that as early as the time of St. Gregory, Bishop of Neo-Cesarea (A. D. 243), the ”simple” and ”unskilled”
mult.i.tudes of Christians were allowed to pay divine honors to these images, hoping that in the process of time they would learn better.[398:1] In fact, as Prof. Draper says:
”Olympus was restored, but the divinities pa.s.sed under other names. The more powerful provinces insisted upon the adoption of their time-honored conceptions. . . . Not only was the adoration of _ISIS_ under a new name restored, but even her image, standing on the crescent moon, reappeared. The well-known effigy of that G.o.ddess with the infant Horus in her arms, has descended to our days in the beautiful, artistic creations of the Madonna and child. Such restorations of old conceptions under novel forms were everywhere received with delight. When it was announced to the Ephesians, that the Council of that place, headed by Cyril, had declared that the Virgin (Mary) should be called the '_Mother of G.o.d_,' with tears of joy they embraced the knees of their bishop; it was the old instinct cropping out; their ancestors would have done the same for Diana.”[398:2]
”O bright G.o.ddess; once again Fix on earth thy heav'nly reign; Be thy sacred name ador'd, Altars rais'd, and rites restor'd.”
Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople from 428 A. D., refused to call Mary ”_the mother of G.o.d_,” on the ground that she could be the mother of the human nature only, which the divine Logos used as its organ. Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, did all in his power to stir up the minds of the people against Nestorius; the consequence was that, both at Rome and at Alexandria, Nestorius was accused of heresy. The dispute grew more bitter, and Theodosius II. thought it necessary to convoke an c.u.menical Council at Ephesus in 431. On this, as on former occasions, the affirmative party overruled the negative. The person of Mary began to rise in the new empyrean. The paradoxical name of ”_Mother of G.o.d_”
pleased the popular piety. Nestorius was condemned, and died in exile.
The shrine of many an old hero was filled by the statue of some imaginary saint.
”They have not always” (says Dr. Conyers Middleton), ”as I am well informed, given themselves the trouble of making even this change, but have been contented sometimes to take up with the _old image_, just as they found it; after baptizing it only, as it were, or consecrating it anew, by the imposition of a Christian name. This their antiquaries do not scruple to put strangers in mind of, in showing their churches, as it was, I think, in that of St. Agnes, where they showed me an antique statue of a young _BACCHUS_, which, with a new name, and some little change of drapery, stands now wors.h.i.+ped under the t.i.tle of a female saint.”[398:3]
In many parts of Italy are to be seen pictures of the ”Holy Family,” of extreme antiquity, the grounds of them often of gold.
These pictures represent the mother with a child on her knee, and a little boy standing close by her side; the _Lamb_ is generally seen in the picture. They are inscribed ”_Deo Soli_,” and are simply ancient representations of Isis and Horus. The _Lamb_ is ”The Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world,” which, as we have already seen, was believed on in the Pagan world centuries before the time of Christ Jesus.[399:1] Some half-pagan Christian went so far as to forge a book, which he attributed to Christ Jesus himself, which was for the purpose of showing that he--Christ Jesus--was in no way against these heathen G.o.ds.[399:2]
The _Icelanders_ were induced to embrace Christianity, with its legends and miracles, and sainted divinities, as the Christian monks were ready to subst.i.tute for Thor, their warrior-G.o.d, Michael, the warrior-angel; for Freyja, their G.o.ddess, the Virgin Mary; and for the G.o.d Vila, a St.
Valentine--probably manufactured for the occasion.
”The statues of Jupiter, Apollo, Mercury, Orpheus, did duty for _The Christ_.[399:3] The Thames River G.o.d officiates at the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. Peter holds the keys of Ja.n.u.s.[399:4] Moses wears the horns of Jove. Ceres, Cybele, Demeter a.s.sume new names, as '_Queen of Heaven_,' '_Star of the Sea_,' '_Maria Illuminatrix_;' Dionysius is St.
Denis; Cosmos is St. Cosmo; Pluto and Proserpine resign their seats in the hall of final judgment to the Christ and his mother. The Parcae depute one of their number, Lachesis, the disposer of lots, to set the stamp of destiny upon the deaths of Christian believers. The _aura placida_ of the poets, the gentle breeze, is personified as Aura and Placida. The _perpetua felicitas_ of the devotee becomes a lovely presence in the forms of St. Perpetua and St. Felicitas, guardian angels of the pious soul. No relic of Paganism was permitted to remain in its casket. The depositories were all ransacked. The shadowy hands of Egyptian priests placed the urn of holy water at the porch of the basilica, which stood ready to be converted into a temple. Priests of the most ancient faiths of Palestine, a.s.syria, Babylon, Thebes, Persia were permitted to erect the altar at the point where the transverse beam of the cross meets the main stem. The hands that constructed the temple in cruciform shape had long become too attenuated to cast the faintest shadow. There Devaki with the infant Crishna, Maya with the babe Buddha, Juno with the child Mars, represent Mary with Jesus in her arms. Coa.r.s.e emblems are not rejected; the a.s.syrian dove is a tender symbol of the Holy Ghost. The rag-bags and toy boxes were explored. A bauble which the Roman schoolboy had thrown away was picked up, and called an '_agnus dei_.' The musty wardrobes of forgotten hierarchies furnished costumes for the officers of the new prince. Alb and chasuble recalled the fas.h.i.+ons of Numa's day. The cast-off purple habits and shoes of Pagan emperors beautified the august persons of Christian popes. The cardinals must be contented with the robes once worn by senators. Zoroaster bound about the monks the girdle he invented as a protection against evil spirits, and clothed them in the frocks he had found convenient for his ritual. The pope thrust out his foot to be kissed, as Caligula, Heliogabalus, and Julius Cesar had thrust out theirs. Nothing came amiss to the faith that was to discharge henceforth the offices of spiritual impression.”[400:1]
The ascetic and monastic life practiced by some Christians of the present day, is of great antiquity. Among the Buddhists there are priests who are ordained, tonsured, live in monasteries, and make vows of celibacy. There are also nuns among them, whose vows and discipline are the same as the priests.[400:2]
The close resemblance between the ancient religion of _Thibet_ and _Nepaul_--where the wors.h.i.+p of a crucified G.o.d was found--and the Roman Catholic religion of the present day, is very striking. In Thibet was found the pope, or head of the religion, whom they called the ”Dalai Lama;”[400:3] they use holy water, they celebrate a sacrifice with bread and wine; they give extreme unction, pray for the sick; they have monasteries, and convents for women; they chant in their services, have fasts; they wors.h.i.+p one G.o.d in a trinity, believe in a h.e.l.l, heaven, and a half-way place or purgatory; they make prayers and sacrifices for the dead, have confession, adore the cross; have chaplets, or strings of beads to count their prayers, and many other practices common to the Roman Catholic Church.[400:4]
The resemblance between Buddhism and Christianity has been remarked by many travelers in the eastern countries. Sir John Francis Davis, in his ”History of China,” speaking of Buddhism in that country, says:
”Certain it is--and the observance may be daily made even at Canton--that they (the Buddhist priests) practice the ordinances of celibacy, fasting, and prayers for the dead; they have holy water, rosaries of beads, which they count with their prayers, the wors.h.i.+p of relics, and a monastic habit resembling that of the Franciscans” (an order of Roman Catholic monks).
Pere Premere, a Jesuit missionary to China, was driven to conclude that the devil had practiced a trick to perplex his friends, the Jesuits. To others, however, it is not so difficult to account for these things as it seemed for the good Father. Sir John continues his account as follows:
”These priests are a.s.sociated in monasteries attached to the temples of Fo. They are in China precisely a society of mendicants, and go about, like monks of that description in the Romish Church, asking alms for the support of their establishment. Their tonsure extends to the hair of the whole head. There is a regular gradation among the priesthood; and according to his reputation for sanct.i.ty, his length of service and other claims, each priest may rise from the lowest rank of servitor--whose duty it is to perform the menial offices of the temple--to that of officiating priest--and ultimately of 'Tae Hoepang,' Abbot or head of the establishment.”
The five princ.i.p.al precepts, or rather interdicts, addressed to the Buddhist priests are:
1. Do not kill.
2. Do not steal.
3. Do not marry.
4. Speak not falsely.