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was not aware of this fact.])
(We have the main story of the wandering 'holy man' grafted with the story of John Barleycorn; St. John
takes care of the Gnostic, metaphysical Platonist department of the business; add a few condiments for the
minor sects; and there are the documents of a world-religion.) Additional elements of confusion are
negligibly small, and such as would naturally have crept into manuscripts copied carelessly or ambitiously
by scribes at any time in the presumed three centuries between the original writings of Mark and the first
codex yet discovered. Such alleged earlier documents as the Logia help the present theory of exhibiting
one of the two main sources of the legend apart from the other. The Gospels are therefore, in that sense of
the word which most implies moral turpitude, forgeries; the legend has been deliberately pieced together
of incongruous elements, like a mermaid at a country fair, in order to defraud the lieges. Backed by the
power of the priests of the various religions in the 'merger', the plan could not fail of success. Christianity
spread by the very convenience of its {219} international character in a world whose keynote was
becoming daily more that word of Horace: Luctantem Icarius fluctibus Africum Mercator metuens, otium,
et oppidi, Laudat rura sui; mox reficit rateis Quassas, indocilis pauperim pati. It only remained to lasso
Caesar; and once this was done, the husbandman could return in peace, bringing his sheaves with him.
The history of Christianity from that time on is but the account of how the robbers quarrelled among
themselves over the spoils.
Let us now try to summarize our conclusions still further, by the adoption of tabular form. The main
elements of religion in the Roman Empire, and the corresponding Jesus.
1
. The orthodox Jew, satisfied by Jesus the Messiah, of the fulfilment of the prophecies.
2
. The 'protestant' Jew, satisfied by Jesus the Isaiah-like prophet.
3
. The Essene ) )
4
. The Gnostic ) satisfied by the Jesus of the discourses ) given in John.
5
. The Greek Philosopher ) )
6
. The Mystic. )
7
. The ascetic or Gymnosophist: satisfied by Jesus of the of Yogi. Sermon on the Mount, of the parables
and miracles, and of the practical rules of life.
8
. The Pagan. satisfied by the Jesus of the Virgin birth. and him of the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and
Ascension.
9
. The Slave. satisfied by the Jesus of Salvation by faith for himself, and Damnation for his neighbour.
The Solution of the Enigma according to the Plymouth Brethren
Enough of these profane speculations, which have been inspired {220} by the devil himself, (permitted to
act in this manner in order to lead the ungodly into yet further darkness) soaring rather to those unsullied
realms of faith where nothing so vulgar as a fact has a card of admission, where all is miracle, all
simplicity of light and peace, where an instant reply is found to every question. Let this essay be my filial
offering to the manes of my sire; let me be empowered by the Holy Ghost to silence every objection to the
New Testament as John Nelson Darby would have done himself.
The main argument is a follows: The actual working of the authorized version of the Scriptures bears the
Imprimatur and the Nihil Obstat and the Ne Varietur of the Holy Ghost. The translators of 1611 were as
directly inspired as the authors. (It is not 'inspired', really; a stronger word is requested. People like
Matthew and Isaiah were not authors, but stenographers (like mine, God bless her!) incapable of error.
The Holy Ghost is the author. Any 'difficulty' is therefore placed exactly as it stands by the Holy Ghost
himself for a particular purpose.
To illustrate the idea: fifty years ago (it sounds like a bad mad sad impossible nightmare) quite serious
people were arguing as to whether the universe (not merely this planet) was made in six days 6000 years
ago. Geikie, a bold bad geologist, proving ad nauseam that the chalk alone would have required more
than 6000 years to deposit, was met by a thousand subterfuges. There were arguments as to what a day
was, and how there could have been days at all before the creation of the sun and moon, and so on -
arguments which make Alice in Wonderland read like a text-book of plumbing {221} by a German! The
whole literature is worth reading for its sheer fantastic folly. And these were the people who laughed at St.
Thomas and the schoolmen!
In the end Geikie, driven absolutely to bay, turned savagely on his assailants with the outburst I will not [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]