The Two Babylons
Alexander Hislop
Alexander Hislop
Chapter II
Section III
The Mother of the Child
* VALERIUS MAXIMUS. Valerius Maximus does not mention anything about the representation of Semiramis with the child in her arms; but as Semiramis was deified as Rhea, whose distinguishing character was that of goddess Mother, and as we have evidence that the name, "Seed of the Woman," or Zoroaster, goes back to the earliest times--viz., her own day (CLERICUS, De Chaldoeis), this implies that if there was any image-worship in these times, that "Seed of the Woman" must have occupied a prominent place in it. As over all the world the Mother and the child appear in some shape or other, and are found on the early Egyptian monuments, that shows that this worship must have had its roots in the primeval ages of the world. If, therefore, the mother was represented in so fascinating a form when singly represented, we may be sure that the same beauty for which she was celebrated would be given to her when exhibited with the child in her arms.
This Babylonian queen was not merely
in character coincident with the Aphrodite of Greece and the Venus of Rome,
but was, in point of fact, the historical original of that goddess that by the
ancient world was regarded as the very embodiment of everything attractive in
female form, and the perfection of female beauty; for Sanchuniathon assures
us that Aphrodite or Venus was identical with Astarte, and Astarte being interpreted,
is none other than "The woman that made towers or encompassing walls"--i.e.,
Semiramis. The Roman Venus, as is well known, was the Cyprian Venus, and the
Venus of Cyprus is historically proved to have been derived from Babylon. Now,
what in these circumstances might have been expected actually took place. If
the child was to be adored, much more the mother. The mother, in point of fact,
became the favourite object of worship. *
* How extraordinary, yea, frantic, was the devotion in the minds of the Babylonians to this goddess queen, is sufficiently proved by the statement of Herodotus, as to the way in which she required to be propitiated. That a whole people should ever have consented to such a custom as is there described, shows the amazing hold her worship must have gained over them. Nonnus, speaking of the same goddess, calls her "The hope of the whole world." (DIONUSIACA in BRYANT) It was the same goddess, as we have seen, who was worshipped at Ephesus, whom Demetrius the silversmith characterised as the goddess "whom all Asia and the world worshipped" (Acts 19:27). So great was the devotion to this goddess queen, not of the Babylonians only, but of the ancient world in general, that the fame of the exploits of Semiramis has, in history, cast the exploits of her husband Ninus or Nimrod, entirely into the shade. In regard to the identification of Rhea or Cybele and Venus, see note below.
To justify this worship, the mother
was raised to divinity as well as her son, and she was looked upon as destined
to complete that bruising of the serpent's head, which it was easy, if such
a thing was needed, to find abundant and plausible reasons for alleging that
Ninus or Nimrod, the great Son, in his mortal life had only begun.
The Roman Church maintains that
it was not so much the seed of the woman, as the woman herself, that was to
bruise the head of the serpent. In defiance of all grammar, she renders the
Divine denunciation against the serpent thus: "She shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise her heel." The same was held by the ancient Babylonians, and
symbolically represented in their temples. In the uppermost story of the tower
of Babel, or temple of Belus, Diodorus Siculus tells us there stood three images
of the great divinities of Babylon; and one of these was of a woman grasping
a serpent's head. Among the Greeks the same thing was symbolised; for Diana,
whose real character was originally the same as that of the great Babylonian
goddess, was represented as bearing in one of her hands a serpent deprived of
its head. As time wore away, and the facts of Semiramis' history became obscured,
her son's birth was boldly declared to be miraculous: and therefore she was
called "Alma Mater," * "the Virgin Mother."
* The term Alma is the precise term used by Isaiah in the Hebrew of the Old Testament, when announcing, 700 years before the event, that Christ should be born of a Virgin. If the question should be asked, how this Hebrew term Alma (not in a Roman, but a Hebrew sense) could find its way to Rome, the answer is, Through Etruria, which had an intimate connection with Assyria. The word "mater" itself, from which comes our own "mother," is originally Hebrew. It comes from Heb. Msh, "to draw forth," in Egyptian Ms, "to bring forth" (BUNSEN), which in the Chaldee form becomes Mt, whence the Egyptian Maut, "mother." Erh or Er, as in English (and a similar form is found in Sanscrit), is, "The doer." So that Mater or Mother signifies "The bringer forth." It may be thought an objection to the above account of the epithet Alma, that this term is often applied to Venus, who certainly was no virgin. But this objection is more apparent than real. On the testimony of Augustine, himself an eye-witness, we know that the rites of Vesta, emphatically "the virgin goddess of Rome," under the name of Terra, were exactly the same as those of Venus, the goddess of impurity and licentiousness (AUGUSTINE, De Civitate Dei). Augustine elsewhere says that Vesta, the virgin goddess, "was by some called Venus." Even in the mythology of our own Scandinavian ancestors, we have a remarkable evidence that Alma Mater, or the Virgin Mother, had been originally known to them. One of their gods called Heimdal, who is described in the most exalted terms, as having such quick perceptions as that he could hear the grass growing on the ground, or the wool on the sheep's back, and whose trumpet, when it blew, could be heard through all the worlds, is called by the paradoxical name, "the son of nine virgins." (MALLET) Now this obviously contains an enigma. Let the language in which the religion of Odin was originally delivered--viz., the Chaldee, be brought to bear upon it, and the enigma is solved at once. In Chaldee "the son of nine virgins" is Ben-Almut-Teshaah. But in pronunciation this is identical with "Ben-Almet-Ishaa," "the son of the virgin of salvation." That son was everywhere known as the "saviour seed." "Zera-hosha" and his virgin mother consequently claimed to be "the virgin of salvation." Even in the very heavens the God of Providence has constrained His enemies to inscribe a testimony to the great Scriptural truth proclaimed by the Hebrew prophet, that a "virgin should bring forth a son, whose name should be called Immanuel." The constellation Virgo, as admitted by the most learned astronomers, was dedicated to Ceres (Dr. JOHN HILL, in his Urania, and Mr. A. JAMIESON, in his Celestial Atlas), who is the same as the great goddess of Babylon, for Ceres was worshipped with the babe at her breast (SOPHOCLES, Antigone), even as the Babylonian goddess was. Virgo was originally the Assyrian Venus, the mother of Bacchus or Tammuz. Virgo then, was the Virgin Mother. Isaiah's prophecy was carried by the Jewish captives to Babylon, and hence the new title bestowed upon the Babylonian goddess.
That the birth of the Great Deliverer
was to be miraculous, was widely known long before the Christian era. For centuries,
some say for thousands of years before that event, the Buddhist priests had
a tradition that a Virgin was to bring forth a child to bless the world. That
this tradition came from no Popish or Christian source, is evident from the
surprise felt and expressed by the Jesuit missionaries, when they first entered
Thibet and China, and not only found a mother and a child worshipped as at home,
but that mother worshipped under a character exactly corresponding with that
of their own Madonna, "Virgo Deipara," "The Virgin mother of God," * and that,
too, in regions where they could not find the least trace of either the name
or history of our Lord Jesus Christ having ever been known.
* See Sir J. F. DAVIS'S China, and LAFITAN, who says that the accounts sent home by the Popish missionaries bore that the sacred books of the Chinese spoke not merely of a Holy Mother, but of a Virgin Mother. For further evidence on this subject, see note below.
The primeval promise that the "seed
of the woman should bruise the serpent's head," naturally suggested the idea
of a miraculous birth. Priestcraft and human presumption set themselves wickedly
to anticipate the fulfilment of that promise; and the Babylonian queen seems
to have been the first to whom that honour was given. The highest titles were
accordingly bestowed upon her. She was called the "queen of heaven." (Jer 44:17,18,19,25)
*
* When Ashta, or "the woman," came to be called the "queen of heaven," the name "woman" became the highest title of honour applied to a female. This accounts for what we find so common among the ancient nations of the East, that queens and the most exalted personages were addressed by the name of "woman." "Woman" is not a complimentary title in our language; but formerly it had been applied by our ancestors in the very same way as among the Orientals; for our word "Queen" is derived from Cwino, which in the ancient Gothic just signified a woman.
In Egypt she was styled Athor--i.e.,
"the Habitation of God," (BUNSEN) to signify that in her dwelt all the "fulness
of the Godhead." To point out the great goddess-mother, in a Pantheistic sense,
as at once the Infinite and Almighty one, and the Virgin mother, this inscription
was engraven upon one of her temples in Egypt: "I am all that has been, or that
is, or that shall be. No mortal has removed my veil. The fruit which I have
brought forth is the Sun." (Ibid.) In Greece she had the name of Hesita, and
amongst the Romans, Vesta, which is just a modification of the same name--a
name which, though it has been commonly understood in a different sense, really
meant "The Dwelling-place." *
* Hestia, in Greek, signifies "a house" or "dwelling." This is usually thought to be a secondary meaning of the word, its proper meaning being believed to be "fire." But the statements made in regard to Hestia, show that the name is derived from Hes or Hese, "to cover, to shelter," which is the very idea of a house, which "covers" or "shelters" from the inclemency of the weather. The verb "Hes" also signifies "to protect," to "show mercy," and from this evidently comes the character of Hestia as "the protectress of suppliants." Taking Hestia as derived from Hes, "to cover," or "shelter," the following statement of Smith is easily accounted for: "Hestia was the goddess of domestic life, and the giver of all domestic happiness; as such she was believed to dwell in the inner part of every house, and to have invented the art of building houses." If "fire" be supposed to be the original idea of Hestia, how could "fire" ever have been supposed to be "the builder of houses"! But taking Hestia in the sense of the Habitation or Dwelling-place, though derived from Hes, "to shelter," or "cover," it is easy to see how Hestia would come to be identified with "fire." The goddess who was regarded as the "Habitation of God" was known by the name of Ashta, "The Woman"; while "Ashta" also signified "The fire"; and thus Hestia or Vesta, as the Babylonian system was developed, would easily come to be regarded as "Fire," or "the goddess of fire." For the reason that suggested the idea of the Goddess-mother being a Habitation, see note below.
As the Dwelling-place of Deity,
thus is Hestia or Vesta addressed in the Orphic Hymns:
Who dwell'st amid great fire's eternal flame,
In thee the gods have fix'd their DWELLING-PLACE,
Strong stable basis of the mortal race." *
* TAYLOR'S Orphic Hymns: Hymn to Vesta. Though Vesta is here called the daughter of Saturn, she is also identified in all the Pantheons with Cybele or Rhea, the wife of Saturn.
Even when Vesta is identified with
fire, this same character of Vesta as "The Dwelling-place" still distinctly
appears. Thus Philolaus, speaking of a fire in the middle of the centre of the
world, calls it "The Vesta of the universe, The HOUSE of Jupiter, The mother
of the gods." In Babylon, the title of the goddess-mother as the Dwelling-place
of God was Sacca, or in the emphatic form, Sacta, that is, "The Tabernacle."
Hence, at this day, the great goddesses in India, as wielding all the power
of the god whom they represent, are called "Sacti," or the "Tabernacle." *
* KENNEDY and MOOR. A synonym for Sacca, "a tabernacle," is "Ahel," which, with the points, is pronounced "Ohel." From the first form of the word, the name of the wife of the god Buddha seems to be derived, which, in KENNEDY, is Ahalya, and in MOOR'S Pantheon, Ahilya. From the second form, in like manner, seems to be derived the name of the wife of the Patriarch of the Peruvians, "Mama Oello." (PRESCOTT'S Peru) Mama was by the Peruvians used in the Oriental sense: Oello, in all likelihood, was used in the same sense.
Now in her, as the Tabernacle or
Temple of God, not only all power, but all grace and goodness were believed
to dwell. Every quality of gentleness and mercy was regarded as centred in her;
and when death had closed her career, while she was fabled to have been deified
and changed into a pigeon, * to express the celestial benignity of her nature,
she was called by the name of "D'Iune," ** or "The Dove," or without the article,
"Juno"--the name of the Roman "queen of heaven," which has the very same meaning;
and under the form of a dove as well as her own, she was worshipped by the Babylonians.
* DIODORUS SIC. In connection with this the classical reader will remember the title of one of the fables in OVID'S Metamorphoses. "Semiramis into a pigeon." ** Dione, the name of the mother of Venus, and frequently applied to Venus herself, is evidently the same name as the above. Dione, as meaning Venus, is clearly applied by Ovid to the Babylonian goddess. (Fasti)
The dove, the chosen symbol of this
deified queen, is commonly represented with an olive branch in her mouth, as
she herself in her human form also is seen bearing the olive branch in her hand;
and from this form of representing her, it is highly probable that she has derived
the name by which she is commonly known, for "Z'emir-amit" means "The branch-bearer."
*
* From Ze, "the" or "that," emir, "branch," and amit, "bearer," in the feminine. HESYCHIUS says that Semiramis is a name for a "wild pigeon." The above explanation of the original meaning of the name Semiramis, as referring to Noah's wild pigeon (for it was evidently a wild one, as the tame one would not have suited the experiment), may account for its application by the Greeks to any wild pigeon.
When the goddess was thus represented
as the Dove with the olive branch, there can be no doubt that the symbol had
partly reference to the story of the flood; but there was much more in the symbol
than a mere memorial of that great event. "A branch," as has been already proved,
was the symbol of the deified son, and when the deified mother was represented
as a Dove, what could the meaning of this representation be but just to identify
her with the Spirit of all grace, that brooded, dove-like, over the deep at
the creation; for in the sculptures at Nineveh, as we have seen, the wings and
tail of the dove represented the third member of the idolatrous Assyrian trinity.
In confirmation of this view, it must be stated that the Assyrian "Juno," or
"The Virgin Venus," as she was called, was identified with the air. Thus Julius
Firmicus says: "The Assyrians and part of the Africans wish the air to have
the supremacy of the elements, for they have consecrated this same [element]
under the name of Juno, or the Virgin Venus." Why was air thus identified with
Juno, whose symbol was that of the third person of the Assyrian trinity? Why,
but because in Chaldee the same word which signifies the air signifies also
the "Holy Ghost." The knowledge of this entirely accounts for the statement
of Proclus, that "Juno imports the generation of soul." Whence could the soul--the
spirit of man--be supposed to have its origin, but from the Spirit of God. In
accordance with this character of Juno as the incarnation of the Divine Spirit,
the source of life, and also as the goddess of the air, thus is she invoked
in the "Orphic Hymns":
Aerial formed, divine, Jove's blessed queen,
Throned in the bosom of caerulean air,
The race of mortals is thy constant care;
The cooling gales, thy power alone inspires,
Which nourish life, which every life desires;
Mother of showers and winds, from thee alone
Producing all things, mortal life is known;
All natures show thy temperament divine,
And universal sway alone is thine,
With sounding blasts of wind, the swelling sea
And rolling rivers roar when shook by thee." *
* TAYLOR'S Orphic Hymns. Every classical reader must be aware of the identification of Juno with the air. The following, however, as still further illustrative of the subject from Proclus, may not be out of place: "The series of our sovereign mistress Juno, beginning from on high, pervades the last of things, and her allotment in the sublunary region is the air; for air is a symbol of soul, according to which also soul is called a spirit."
Thus, then, the deified queen, when
in all respects regarded as a veritable woman, was at the same time adored as
the incarnation of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of peace and love. In the temple
of Hierapolis in Syria, there was a famous statue of the goddess Juno, to which
crowds from all quarters flocked to worship. The image of the goddess was richly
habited, on her head was a golden dove, and she was called by a name peculiar
to the country, "Semeion." (BRYANT) What is the meaning of Semeion? It is evidently
"The Habitation"; * and the "golden dove" on her head shows plainly who it was
that was supposed to dwell in her--even the Spirit of God.
* From Ze, "that," or "the great," and "Maaon," or Maion, "a habitation," which, in the Ionic dialect, in which Lucian, the describer of the goddess, wrote, would naturally become Meion.
When such transcendent dignity was
bestowed on her, when such winning characters were attributed to her, and when,
over and above all, her images presented her to the eyes of men as Venus Urania,
"the heavenly Venus," the queen of beauty, who assured her worshippers of salvation,
while giving loose reins to every unholy passion, and every depraved and sensual
appetite--no wonder that everywhere she was enthusiastically adored. Under the
name of the "Mother of the gods," the goddess queen of Babylon became an object
of almost universal worship. "The Mother of the gods," says Clericus, "was worshipped
by the Persians, the Syrians, and all the kings of Europe and Asia, with the
most profound religious veneration." Tacitus gives evidence that the Babylonian
goddess was worshipped in the heart of Germany, and Caesar, when he invaded
Britain, found that the priests of this same goddess, known by the name of Druids,
had been there before him. *
* CAESAR, De Bello Gallico. The name Druid has been thought to be derived from the Greek Drus, an oak tree, or the Celtic Deru, which has the same meaning; but this is obviously a mistake. In Ireland, the name for a Druid is Droi, and in Wales Dryw; and it will be found that the connection of the Druids with the oak was more from the mere similarity of their name to that of the oak, than because they derived their name from it. The Druidic system in all its parts was evidently the Babylonian system. Dionysius informs us, that the rites of Bacchus were duly celebrated in the British Islands and Strabo cites Artemidorus to show that, in an island close to Britain, Ceres and Proserpine were venerated with rites similar to the orgies of Samothrace. It will be seen from the account of the Druidic Ceridwen and her child, afterwards to be noticed (see Chapter IV, Section III), that there was a great analogy between her character and that of the great goddess-mother of Babylon. Such was the system; and the name Dryw, or Droi, applied to the priests, is in exact accordance with that system. The name Zero, given in Hebrew or the early Chaldee, to the son of the great goddess queen, in later Chaldee became "Dero." The priest of Dero, "the seed," was called, as is the case in almost all religions, by the name of his god; and hence the familiar name "Druid" is thus proved to signify the priest of "Dero"--the woman's promised "seed." The classical Hamadryads were evidently in like manner priestesses of "Hamed-dero,"--"the desired seed"--i.e., "the desire of all nations."
Herodotus, from personal knowledge,
testifies, that in Egypt this "queen of heaven" was "the greatest and most worshipped
of all the divinities." Wherever her worship was introduced, it is amazing what
fascinating power it exerted. Truly, the nations might be said to be "made drunk"
with the wine of her fornications. So deeply, in particular, did the Jews in
the days of Jeremiah drink of her wine cup, so bewitched were they with her
idolatrous worship, that even after Jerusalem had been burnt, and the land desolated
for this very thing, they could not be prevailed on to give it up. While dwelling
in Egypt as forlorn exiles, instead of being witnesses for God against the heathenism
around them, they were as much devoted to this form of idolatry as the Egyptians
themselves. Jeremiah was sent of God to denounce wrath against them, if they
continued to worship the queen of heaven; but his warnings were in vain. "Then,"
saith the prophet, "all the men which knew that their wives had burnt incense
unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all
the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will
not hearken unto thee; but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth
out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour
out drink-offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings,
and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for
then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil" (Jer 44:15-17).
Thus did the Jews, God's own peculiar people, emulate the Egyptians in their
devotion to the queen of heaven.
The worship of the goddess-mother
with the child in her arms continued to be observed in Egypt till Christianity
entered. If the Gospel had come in power among the mass of the people, the worship
of this goddess-queen would have been overthrown. With the generality it came
only in name. Instead, therefore, of the Babylonian goddess being cast out,
in too many cases her name only was changed. She was called the Virgin Mary,
and, with her child, was worshipped with the same idolatrous feeling by professing
Christians, as formerly by open and avowed Pagans. The consequence was, that
when, in AD 325, the Nicene Council was summoned to condemn the heresy of Arius,
who denied the true divinity of Christ, that heresy indeed was condemned, but
not without the help of men who gave distinct indications of a desire to put
the creature on a level with the Creator, to set the Virgin-mother side by side
with her Son. At the Council of Nice, says the author of "Nimrod," "The Melchite
section"--that is, the representatives of the so-called Christianity of Egypt--"held
that there were three persons in the Trinity--the Father, the Virgin Mary, and
Messiah their Son." In reference to this astounding fact, elicited by the Nicene
Council, Father Newman speaks exultingly of these discussions as tending to
the glorification of Mary. "Thus," says he, "the controversy opened a question
which it did not settle. It discovered a new sphere, if we may so speak, in
the realms of light, to which the Church had not yet assigned its inhabitant.
Thus, there was a wonder in Heaven; a throne was seen far above all created
powers, mediatorial, intercessory, a title archetypal, a crown bright as the
morning star, a glory issuing from the eternal throne, robes pure as the heavens,
and a sceptre over all. And who was the predestined heir of that majesty? Who
was that wisdom, and what was her name, the mother of fair love, and far, and
holy hope, exalted like a palm-tree in Engaddi, and a rose-plant in Jericho,
created from the beginning before the world, in God's counsels, and in Jerusalem
was her power? The vision is found in the Apocalypse 'a Woman clothed with the
sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.'"
*
* NEWMAN'S Development. The intelligent reader will see at a glance the absurdity of applying this vision of the "woman" of the Apocalypse to the Virgin Mary. John expressly declares that what he saw was a "sign" or "symbol" (semeion). If the woman here is a literal woman, the woman that sits on the seven hills must be the same. "The woman" in both cases is a "symbol." "The woman" on the seven hills is the symbol of the false church; the woman clothed with the sun, of the true church--the Bride, the Lamb's wife.
"The votaries of Mary," adds he,
"do not exceed the true faith, unless the blasphemers of her Son came up to
it. The Church of Rome is not idolatrous, unless Arianism is orthodoxy." This
is the very poetry of blasphemy. It contains an argument too; but what does
that argument amount to? It just amounts to this, that if Christ be admitted
to be truly and properly God, and worthy of Divine honours, His mother, from
whom He derived merely His humanity, must be admitted to be the same, must be
raised far above the level of all creatures, and be worshipped as a partaker
of the Godhead. The divinity of Christ is made to stand or fall with the divinity
of His mother. Such is Popery in the nineteenth century; yea, such is Popery
in England. It was known already that Popery abroad was bold and unblushing
in its blasphemies; that in Lisbon a church was to be seen with these words
engraven on its front, "To the virgin goddess of Loretto, the Italian race,
devoted to her DIVINITY, have dedicated this temple." (Journal of Professor
GIBSON, in Scottish Protestant) But when till now was such language ever heard
in Britain before? This, however, is just the exact reproduction of the doctrine
of ancient Babylon in regard to the great goddess-mother. The Madonna of Rome,
then, is just the Madonna of Babylon. The "Queen of Heaven" in the one system
is the same as the "Queen of Heaven" in the other. The goddess worshipped in
Babylon and Egypt as the Tabernacle or Habitation of God, is identical with
her who, under the name of Mary, is called by Rome "The HOUSE consecrated to
God," "the awful Dwelling-place," * "the Mansion of God" (Pancarpium Marioe),
the "Tabernacle of the Holy Ghost" (Garden of the Soul), the "Temple of the
Trinity" (Golden Manual in Scottish Protestant).
* The Golden Manual in Scottish Protestant. The word here used for "Dwelling-place" in the Latin of this work is a pure Chaldee word--"Zabulo," and is from the same verb as Zebulun (Gen 30:20), the name which was given by Leah to her son, when she said "Now will my husband dwell with me."
Some may possibly be inclined to
defend such language, by saying that the Scripture makes every believer to be
a temple of the Holy Ghost, and, therefore, what harm can there be in speaking
of the Virgin Mary, who was unquestionably a saint of God, under that name,
or names of a similar import? Now, no doubt it is true that Paul says (1 Cor
3:16), "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you?" It is not only true, but it is a great truth, and a blessed
one--a truth that enhances every comfort when enjoyed, and takes the sting out
of every trouble when it comes, that every genuine Christian has less or more
experience of what is contained in these words of the same apostle (2 Cor 6:16),
"Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them
and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." It
must also be admitted, and gladly admitted, that this implies the indwelling
of all the Persons of the glorious Godhead; for the Lord Jesus hath said (John
14:23), "If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him,
and WE will come unto him, and make our abode with him." But while admitting
all this, on examination it will be found that the Popish and the Scriptural
ideas conveyed by these expressions, however apparently similar, are essentially
different. When it is said that a believer is "a temple of God," or a temple
of the Holy Ghost, the meaning is (Eph 3:17) that "Christ dwells in the heart
by faith." But when Rome says that Mary is "The Temple" or "Tabernacle of God,"
the meaning is the exact Pagan meaning of the term--viz., that the union between
her and the Godhead is a union akin to the hypostatical union between the divine
and human nature of Christ. The human nature of Christ is the "Tabernacle of
God," inasmuch as the Divine nature has veiled its glory in such a way, by assuming
our nature, that we can come near without overwhelming dread to the Holy God.
To this glorious truth John refers when he says (John 1:14), "The Word was made
flesh, and dwelt (literally tabernacled) among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." In
this sense, Christ, the God-man, is the only "Tabernacle of God." Now, it is
precisely in this sense that Rome calls Mary the "Tabernacle of God," or of
the "Holy Ghost." Thus speaks the author of a Popish work devoted to the exaltation
of the Virgin, in which all the peculiar titles and prerogatives of Christ are
given to Mary: "Behold the tabernacle of God, the mansion of God, the habitation,
the city of God is with men, and in men and for men, for their salvation, and
exaltation, and eternal glorification...Is it most clear that this is true of
the holy church? and in like manner also equally true of the most holy sacrament
of the Lord's body? Is it (true) of every one of us in as far as we are truly
Christians? Undoubtedly; but we have to contemplate this mystery (as existing)
in a peculiar manner in the most holy Mother of our Lord." (Pancarpium Marioe)
Then the author, after endeavouring to show that "Mary is rightly considered
as the Tabernacle of God with men," and that in a peculiar sense, a sense different
from that in which all Christians are the "temple of God," thus proceeds with
express reference to her in this character of the Tabernacle: "Great truly is
the benefit, singular is the privilege, that the Tabernacle of God should be
with men, IN WHICH men may safely come near to God become man." (Ibid.) Here
the whole mediatorial glory of Christ, as the God-man in whom dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily, is given to Mary, or at least is shared with
her. The above extracts are taken from a work published upwards of two hundred
years ago. Has the Papacy improved since then? Has it repented of its blasphemies?
No, the very reverse. The quotation already given from Father Newman proves
this; but there is still stronger proof. In a recently published work, the same
blasphemous idea is even more clearly unfolded. While Mary is called "The HOUSE
consecrated to God," and the "TEMPLE of the Trinity," the following versicle
and response will show in what sense she is regarded as the temple of the Holy
Ghost: "V. The Lord himself created HER in the Holy Ghost, and POURED HER out
among all his works. V. O Lady, hear," &c. This astounding language manifestly
implies that Mary is identified with the Holy Ghost, when it speaks of her "being
poured out" on "all the works of God"; and that, as we have seen, was just the
very way in which the Woman, regarded as the "Tabernacle" or House of God by
the Pagans, was looked upon. Where is such language used in regard to the Virgin?
Not in Spain; not in Austria; not in the dark places of Continental Europe;
but in London, the seat and centre of the world's enlightenment.
The names of blasphemy bestowed
by the Papacy on Mary have not one shadow of foundation in the Bible, but are
all to be found in the Babylonian idolatry. Yea, the very features and complexions
of the Roman and Babylonian Madonnas are the same. Till recent times, when Raphael
somewhat departed from the beaten track, there was nothing either Jewish or
even Italian in the Romish Madonnas. Had these pictures or images of the Virgin
Mother been intended to represent the mother of our Lord, naturally they would
have been cast either in the one mould or the other. But it was not so. In a
land of dark-eyed beauties, with raven locks, the Madonna was always represented
with blue eyes and golden hair, a complexion entirely different form the Jewish
complexion, which naturally would have been supposed to belong to the mother
of our Lord, but which precisely agrees with that which all antiquity attributes
to the goddess queen of Babylon. In almost all lands the great goddess has been
described with golden or yellow hair, showing that there must have been one
grand prototype, to which they were all made to correspond. The "yellow-haired
Ceres," might not have been accounted of any weight in this argument if she
had stood alone, for it might have been supposed in that case that the epithet
"yellow-haired" was borrowed from the corn that was supposed to be under her
guardian care. But many other goddesses have the very same epithet applied to
them. Europa, whom Jupiter carried away in the form of a bull, is called "The
yellow-haired Europa." (OVID, Fasti) Minerva is called by Homer "the blue-eyed
Minerva," and by Ovid "the yellow-haired"; the huntress Diana, who is commonly
identified with the moon, is addressed by Anacreon as "the yellow-haired daughter
of Jupiter," a title which the pale face of the silver moon could surely never
have suggested. Dione, the mother of Venus, is described by Theocritus as "yellow-haired."
Venus herself is frequently called "Aurea Venus," the "golden Venus." (HOMER'S
Iliad) The Indian goddess Lakshmi, the "Mother of the Universe," is described
as of "a golden complexion." (Asiatic Researches) Ariadne, the wife of Bacchus,
was called "the yellow-haired Ariadne." (HESIOD, Theogonia) Thus does Dryden
refer to her golden or yellow hair:
The fair forsaken Ariadne lay;
There, sick with grief and frantic with despair,
Her dress she rent, and tore her golden hair."
A rival crowd of anxious lovers strove.
They who have seen her, own they ne'er did trace
More moving features in a sweeter face;
But above all, her length of hair they own
In golden ringlets waves, and graceful shone."
Nor is this agreement in complexion
only, but also in features. Jewish features are everywhere marked, and have
a character peculiarly their own. But the original Madonnas have nothing at
all of Jewish form or feature; but are declared by those who have personally
compared both, entirely to agree in this respect, as well as in complexion,
with the Babylonian Madonnas found by Sir Robert Ker Porter among the ruins
of Babylon.
There is yet another remarkable
characteristic of these pictures worthy of notice, and that is the nimbus or
peculiar circle of light that frequently encompasses the head of the Roman Madonna.
With this circle the heads of the so-called figures of Christ are also frequently
surrounded. Whence could such a device have originated? In the case of our Lord,
if His head had been merely surrounded with rays, there might have been some
pretence for saying that that was borrowed from the Evangelic narrative, where
it is stated, that on the holy mount His face became resplendent with light.
But where, in the whole compass of Scripture, do we ever read that His head
was surrounded with a disk, or a circle of light? But what will be searched
for in vain in the Word of God, is found in he artistic representations of the
great gods and goddesses of Babylon. The disk, and particularly the circle,
were the well known symbols of the Sun-divinity, and figured largely in the
symbolism of the East. With the circle or the disk the head of the Sun-divinity
was encompassed. The same was the case in Pagan Rome. Apollo, as the child of
the Sun, was often thus represented. The goddesses that claimed kindred with
the Sun were equally entitled to be adorned with the nimbus or luminous circle.
From Pompeii there is a representation of Circe, "the daughter of the Sun" with
her head surrounded with a circle, in the very same way as the head of the Roman
Madonna is at this day surrounded. Let any one compare the nimbus around the
head of Circe, with that around the head of the Popish Virgin, and he will see
how exactly they correspond. *
* The explanation of the figure is thus given in Pompeii: "One of them [the paintings] is taken from the Odyssey, and represents Ulysses and Circe, at the moment when the hero, having drunk the charmed cup with impunity, by virtue of the antidote given him by Mercury [it is well known that Circe had a 'golden cup,' even as the Venus of Babylon had], draws his sword, and advances to avenge his companions," who, having drunk of her cup, had been changed into swine. The goddess, terrified, makes her submission at once, as described by Homer; Ulysses himself being the narrator:
"Hence, seek the sty, there wallow with thy friends, "This picture," adds the author of Pompeii, "is remarkable, as teaching us the origin of that ugly and unmeaning glory by which the heads of saints are often surrounded...This glory was called nimbus, or aureola, and is defined by Servius to be 'the luminous fluid which encircles the heads of the gods.' It belongs with peculiar propriety to Circe, as the daughter of the Sun. The emperors, with their usual modesty, assumed it as the mark of their divinity; and under this respectable patronage it passed, like many other Pagan superstitions and customs, into the use of the Church." The emperors here get rather more than a fair share of the blame due to them. It was not the emperors that brought "Pagan superstition" into the Church, so much as the Bishop of Rome. See Chapter VII, Section II.
She spake, I drawing from beside my thigh
My Falchion keen, with death-denouncing looks,
Rushed on her; she, with a shrill scream of fear,
Ran under my raised arm, seized fast my knees,
And in winged accents plaintive, thus began:
'Say, who art thou,'" &c.--COWPER'S Odyssey
Now, could any one possibly believe
that all this coincidence could be accidental. Of course, if the Madonna had
ever so exactly resembled the Virgin Mary, that would never have excused idolatry.
But when it is evident that the goddess enshrined in the Papal Church for the
supreme worship of its votaries, is that very Babylonian queen who set up Nimrod,
or Ninus "the Son," as the rival of Christ, and who in her own person was the
incarnation of every kind of licentiousness, how dark a character does that
stamp on the Roman idolatry. What will it avail to mitigate the heinous character
of that idolatry, to say that the child she holds forth to adoration is called
by the name of Jesus? When she was worshipped with her child in Babylon of old,
that child was called by a name as peculiar to Christ, as distinctive of His
glorious character, as the name of Jesus. He was called "Zoro-ashta," "the seed
of the woman." But that did not hinder the hot anger of God from being directed
against those in the days of old who worshipped that "image of jealousy, provoking
to jealousy." *
* Ezekiel 8:3. There have been many speculations about what this "image of jealousy" could be. But when it is known that the grand feature of ancient idolatry was just the worship of the Mother and the child, and that child as the Son of God incarnate, all is plain. Compare verses 3 and 5 with verse 14, and it will be seen that the "women weeping for Tammuz" were weeping close beside the image of jealousy.
Neither can the giving of the name
of Christ to the infant in the arms of the Romish Madonna, make it less the
"image of jealousy," less offensive to the Most High, less fitted to provoke
His high displeasure, when it is evident that that infant is worshipped as the
child of her who was adored as Queen of Heaven, with all the attributes of divinity,
and was at the same time the "Mother of harlots and abominations of the earth."
Image-worship in every case the Lord abhors; but image-worship of such a kind
as this must be peculiarly abhorrent to His holy soul. Now, if the facts I have
adduced be true, is it wonderful that such dreadful threatenings should be directed
in the Word of God against the Romish apostacy, and that the vials of this tremendous
wrath are destined to be outpoured upon its guilty head? If these things be
true (and gainsay them who can), who will venture now to plead for Papal Rome,
or to call her a Christian Church? Is there one, who fears God, and who reads
these lines, who would not admit that Paganism alone could ever have inspired
such a doctrine as that avowed by the Melchites at the Nicene Council, that
the Holy Trinity consisted of "the Father, the Virgin Mary, and the Messiah
their Son"? (Quarterly Journal of Prophecy, July, 1852) Is there one who would
not shrink with horror from such a thought? What, then, would the reader say
of a Church that teaches its children to adore such a Trinity as that contained
in the following lines?
Heart of Mary, I implore thee;
Heart of Joseph, pure and just;
IN THESE THREE HEARTS I PUT MY TRUST." *
* What every Christian must Know and Do. By the Rev. J. FURNISS. Published by James Duffy, Dublin. The edition of this Manual of Popery quoted above, besides the blasphemy it contains, contains most immoral principles, teaching distinctly the harmlessness of fraud, if only kept within due bounds. On this account, a great outcry having been raised against it, I believe this edition has been withdrawn from general circulation. The genuineness of the passage above given is, however, beyond all dispute. I received myself from a fried in Liverpool a copy of the edition containing these words, which is now in my possession, having previously seen them in a copy in the possession of the Rev. Richard Smyth of Armagh. It is not in Ireland, however, only, that such a trinity is exhibited for the worship of Romanists. In a Card, or Fly-leaf, issued by the Popish priests of Sunderland, now lying before me, with the heading "Paschal Duty, St. Mary's Church, Bishopwearmouth, 1859," the following is the 4th admonition given to the "Dear Christians" to whom it is addressed: "4. And never forget the acts of a good Christian, recommended to you so often during the renewal of the Mission.
Blessed be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. To induce the adherents of Rome to perform this "act of a good Christian," a considerable bribe is held out. In p. 30 of Furniss' Manual above referred to, under the head "Rule of Life," the following passage occurs: "In the morning, before you get up, make the sign of the cross, and say, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul. (Each time you say this prayer, you get an indulgence of 100 days, which you can give to the souls in Purgatory)!" I must add that the title of Furniss' book, as given above, is the title of Mr. Smyth's copy. The title of the copy in my possession is "What every Christian must Know." London: Richardson & Son, 147 Strand. Both copies alike have the blasphemous words given in the text, and both have the "Imprimatur" of "Paulus Cullen."
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give you my heart, my life, and my soul.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist me always; and in my last agony,
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, receive my last breath. Amen."
If this is not Paganism, what is
there that can be called by such a name? Yet this is the Trinity which now the
Roman Catholics of Ireland from tender infancy are taught to adore. This is
the Trinity which, in the latest books of catechetical instruction is presented
as the grand object of devotion to the adherents of the Papacy. The manual that
contains this blasphemy comes forth with the express "Imprimatur" of "Paulus
Cullen," Popish Archbishop of Dublin. Will any one after this say that the Roman
Catholic Church must still be called Christian, because it holds the doctrine
of the Trinity? So did the Pagan Babylonians, so did the Egyptians, so do the
Hindoos at this hour, in the very same sense in which Rome does. They all admitted
A trinity, but did they worship THE Triune Jehovah, the King Eternal, Immortal,
and Invisible? And will any one say with such evidence before him, that Rome
does so? Away then, with the deadly delusion that Rome is Christian!
There might once have been some palliation for entertaining such a supposition;
but every day the "Grand Mystery" is revealing itself more and more in its true
character. There is not, and there cannot be, any safety for the souls of men
in "Babylon." "Come out of her, my people," is the loud and express command
of God. Those who disobey that command, do it at their peril.
Notes
The bearing of all this upon the
question of the identification of Cybele and Astarte, or Venus, is important.
Fundamentally, there was but one goddess--the Holy Spirit, represented as female,
when the distinction of sex was wickedly ascribed to the Godhead, through a
perversion of the great Scripture idea, that all the children of God are at
once begotten of the Father, and born of the Spirit; and under this idea, the
Spirit of God, as Mother, was represented under the form of a dove, in memory
of the fact that that Spirit, at the creation, "fluttered"--for so, as I have
observed, is the exact meaning of the term in Genesis 1:2--"on the face of the
waters." This goddess, then, was called Ops, "the flutterer," or Juno, "The
Dove," or Khubele, "The binder with cords," which last title had reference to
"the bands of love, the cords of a man" (called in Hosea 11:4, "Khubeli Adam"),
with which not only does God @mL3 continually, by His providential goodness,
draw men unto Himself, but with which our first parent Adam, through the Spirit's
indwelling, while the covenant of Eden was unbroken, was sweetly bound to God.
This theme is minutely dwelt on in Pagan story, and the evidence is very abundant;
but I cannot enter upon it here. Let this only be noticed, however, that the
Romans joined the two terms Juno and Khubele--or, as it is commonly pronounced,
Cybele--together; and on certain occasions invoked their supreme goddess, under
the name of Juno Covella--that is, "The dove that binds with cords."
If the reader looks, in Layard,
at the triune emblem of the supreme Assyrian divinity, he will see this very
idea visibly embodied. There the wings and tail of the dove have two bands associated
with them instead of feet (LAYARD'S Nineveh and its Remains).
In reference to events after the
Fall, Cybele got a new idea attached to her name. Khubel signifies not only
to "bind with cords," but also "to travail in birth"; and therefore Cybele appeared
as the "Mother of the gods," by whom all God's children must be born anew or
regenerated. But, for this purpose, it was held indispensable that there should
be a union in the first instance with Rhea, "The gazer," the human "mother of
gods and men," that the ruin she had introduced might be remedied. Hence the
identification of Cybele and Rhea, which in all the Pantheons are declared to
be only two different names of the same goddess, though, as we have seen, these
goddesses were in reality entirely distinct. This same principle was applied
to all the other deified mothers. They were deified only through the supposed
miraculous identification with them of Juno or Cybele--in other words, of the
Holy Spirit of God. Each of these mothers had her own legend, and had special
worship suited thereto; but, as in all cases, she was held to be an incarnation
of the one spirit of God, as the great Mother of all, the attributes of that
one Spirit were always pre-supposed as belonging to her. This, then, was the
case with the goddess recognised as Astarte or Venus, as well as with Rhea.
Though there were points of difference between Cybele, or Rhea, and Astarte
or Mylitta, the Assyrian Venus, Layard shows that there were also distinct points
of contact between them. Cybele or Rhea was remarkable for her turreted crown.
Mylitta, or Astarte, was represented with a similar crown. Cybele, or Rhea,
was drawn by lions; Mylitta, or Astarte, was represented as standing on a lion.
The worship of Mylitta, or Astarte, was a mass of moral pollution (HERODOTUS).
The worship of Cybele, under the name of Terra, was the same (AUGUSTINE, De
Civitate).
The first deified woman was no doubt
Semiramis, as the first deified man was her husband. But it is evident that
it was some time after the Mysteries began that this deification took place;
for it was not till after Semiramis was dead that she was exalted to divinity,
and worshipped under the form of a dove. When, however, the Mysteries were originally
concocted, the deeds of Eve, who, through her connection with the serpent, brought
forth death, must necessarily have occupied a place; for the Mystery of sin
and death lies at the very foundation of all religion, and in the age of Semiramis
and Nimrod, and Shem and Ham, all men must have been well acquainted with the
facts of the Fall. At first the sin of Eve may have been admitted in all its
sinfulness (otherwise men generally would have been shocked, especially when
the general conscience had been quickened through the zeal of Shem); but when
a woman was to be deified, the shape that the mystic story came to assume shows
that that sin was softened, yea, that it changed its very character, and that
by a perversion of the name given to Eve, as "the mother of all living ones,"
that is, all the regenerate, she was glorified as the authoress of spiritual
life, and, under the very name Rhea, was recognised as the mother of the gods.
Now, those who had the working of the Mystery of Iniquity did not find it very
difficult to show that this name Rhea, originally appropriate to the mother
of mankind, was hardly less appropriate for her who was the actual mother of
the gods, that is, of all the deified mortals. Rhea, in the active sense, signifies
"the Gazing woman," but in the passive it signifies "The woman gazed at," that
is, "The beauty," and thus, under one and the same term, the mother of mankind
and the mother of the Pagan gods, that is, Semiramis, were amalgamated; insomcuh,
that now, as is well known, Rhea is currently recognised as the "Mother of gods
and men" (HESIOD, Theogon). It is not wonderful, therefore that the name Rhea
is found applied to her, who, by the Assyrians, was worshipped in the very character
of Astarte or Venus.
* From "Am," "mother," and "arka," "earth." The first letter aleph in both of these words is often pronounced as o. Thus the pronunciation of a in Am, "mother," is seen in the Greek a "shoulder." Am, "mother," comes from am, "to support," and from am, pronounced om, comes the shoulder that bears burdens. Hence also the name Oma, as one of the names of Bona Des. Oma is evidently the "Mother."
When we have thus deciphered the
meaning of the name Thalatth, as applied to the "mother of the world," that
leads us at once to the understanding, of the name Thalasius, applied by the
Romans to the god of marriage, the origin of which name has hitherto been sought
in vain. Thalatthi signifies "belonging to the rib," and, with the Roman termination,
becomes Thalatthius or "Thalasius, the man of the rib." And what name more appropriate
than this for Adam, as the god of marriage, who, when the rib was brought to
him, said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be
called Woman, because she was taken out of man." At first, when Thalatth, the
rib, was builded into a woman, that "woman" was, in a very important sense,
the "Habitation" or "Temple of God"; and had not the Fall intervened, all her
children would, in consequence of mere natural generation, have been the children
of God. The entrance of sin into the world subverted the original constitution
of things. Still, when the promise of a Saviour was given and embraced, the
renewed indwelling of the Holy Spirit was given too, not that she might thereby
have any power in herself to bring forth children unto God, but only that she
might duly act the part of a mother to a spiritually living offspring--to those
whom God of his free grace should quicken, and bring from death unto life. Now,
Paganism willingly overlooked all this; and taught, as soon as its votaries
were prepared for receiving it, that this renewed indwelling of the spirit of
God in the woman, was identification, and so it deified her. Then Rhea, "the
gazer," the mother of mankind, was identified with Cybele "the binder with cords,"
or Juno, "the Dove," that is, the Holy Spirit. Then, in the blasphemous Pagan
sense, she became Athor, "the Habitation of God," or Sacca, or Sacta, "the tabernacle"
or "temple," in whom dwelt "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Thus she
became Heva, "The Living One"; not in the sense in which Adam gave that name
to his wife after the Fall, when the hope of life out of the midst of death
was so unexpectedly presented to her as well as to himself; but in the sense
of the communicator of spiritual and eternal life to men; for Rhea was called
the "fountain of the blessed ones." The agency, then, of this deified woman
was held to be indispensable for the begetting of spiritual children to God,
in this, as it was admitted, fallen world. Looked at from this point of view,
the meaning of the name given to the Babylonian goddess in 2 Kings 17:30, will
be at once apparent. The name Succoth-benoth has very frequently been supposed
to be a plural word, and to refer to booths or tabernacles used in Babylon for
infamous purposes. But, as observed by Clericus (De Chaldoeis), who refers to
the Rabbins as being of the same opinion, the context clearly shows that the
name must be the name of an idol: (vv 29,30), "Howbeit every nation made gods
of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans
had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. And the men of Babylon
made Succoth-benoth." It is here evidently an idol that is spoken of; and as
the name is feminine, that idol must have been the image of a goddess. Taken
in this sense, then, and in the light of the Chaldean system as now unfolded,
the meaning of "Succoth-benoth," as applied to the Babylonian goddess, is just
"The tabernacle of child-bearing." *
* That is, the Habitation in which the Spirit of God dwelt, for the purpose of begetting spiritual children.
When the Babylonian system was developed,
Eve was represented as the first that occupied this place, and the very name
Benoth, that signifies "child-bearing," explains also how it came about that
the Woman, who, as Hestia or Vesta, was herself called the "Habitation," got
the credit of "having invented the art of building houses" (SMITH, "Hestia").
Benah, the verb, from which Benoth comes, signifies at once to "bring forth
children" and "to build houses"; the bringing forth of children being metaphorically
regarded as the "building up of the house," that is, of the family.
While the Pagan system, so far as
a Goddess-mother was concerned, was founded on this identification of the Celestial
and Terrestrial mothers of the "blessed" immortals, each of these two divinities
was still celebrated as having, in some sense, a distinct individuality; and,
in consequence, all the different incarnations of the Saviour-seed were represented
as born of two mothers. It is well known that Bimater, or Two-mothered, is one
of the distinguishing epithets applied to Bacchus. Ovid makes the reason of
the application of this epithet to him to have arisen from the myth, that when
in embryo, he was rescued from the flames in which is mother died, was sewed
up in Jupiter's thigh, and then brought forth at the due time. Without inquiring
into the secret meaning of this, it is sufficient to state that Bacchus had
two goddess-mothers; for, not only was he conceived by Semele, but he was brought
into the world by the goddess Ippa (PROCLUS in Timoeum). This is the very same
thing, no doubt, that is referred to, when it is said that after his mother
Semele's death, his aunt Ino acted the part of a mother and nurse unto him.
The same thing appears in the mythology of Egypt, for there we read that Osiris,
under the form of Anubis, having been brought forth by Nepthys, was adopted
and brought up by the goddess Isis as her own son. In consequence of this, the
favourite Triad came everywhere to be the two mothers and the son. In WILKINSON,
the reader will find a divine Triad, consisting of Isis and Nepthys, and the
child of Horus between them. In Babylon, the statement of Diodorus shows that
the Triad there at one period was two goddesses and the son--Hera, Rhea, and
Zeus; and in the Capitol at Rome, in like manner, the Triad was Juno, Minerva,
and Jupiter; while, when Jupiter was worshipped by the Roman matrons as "Jupiter
puer," or "Jupiter the child," it was in company with Juno and the goddess Fortuna
(CICERO, De Divinatione). This kind of divine Triad seems to be traced up to
very ancient times among the Romans; for it is stated both by Dionysius Halicarnassius
and by Livy, that soon after the expulsion of the Tarquins, there was at Rome
a temple in which were worshipped Ceres, Liber, and Libera (DION. HALICARN and
LIVY).
Sign of the Cross
The Two BabylonsChapter V
Section VI
The Sign of the Cross
There is yet one more symbol of the Romish worship to be noticed, and that is the sign of the cross. In the Papal system as is well known, the sign of the cross and the image of the cross are all in all. No prayer can be said, no worship engaged in, no step almost can be taken, without the frequent use of the sign of the cross. The cross is looked upon as the grand charm, as the great refuge in every season of danger, in every hour of temptation as the infallible preservative from all the powers of darkness. The cross is adored with all the homage due only to the Most High; and for any one to call it, in the hearing of a genuine Romanist, by the Scriptural term, "the accursed tree," is a mortal offence. To say that such superstitious feeling for the sign of the cross, such worship as Rome pays to a wooden or a metal cross, ever grew out of the saying of Paul, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ"--that is, in the doctrine of Christ crucified--is a mere absurdity, a shallow subterfuge and pretence. The magic virtues attributed to the so-called sign of the cross, the worship bestowed on it, never came from such a source. The same sign of the cross that Rome now worships was used in the Babylonian Mysteries, was applied by Paganism to the same magic purposes, was honoured with the same honours. That which is now called the Christian cross was originally no Christian emblem at all, but was the mystic Tau of the Chaldeans and Egyptians--the true original form of the letter T--the initial of the name of Tammuz--which, in Hebrew, radically the same as ancient Chaldee, was found on coins. That mystic Tau was marked in baptism on the foreheads of those initiated in the Mysteries, * and was used in every variety of way as a most sacred symbol.
* TERTULLIAN, De Proescript. Hoeret. The language of Tertullian implies that those who were initiated by baptism in the Mysteries were marked on the forehead in the same way, as his Christian countrymen in Africa, who had begun by this time to be marked in baptism with the sign of the cross.
To identify Tammuz with the sun it was joined sometimes to the circle of the sun; sometimes it was inserted in the circle. Whether the Maltese cross, which the Romish bishops append to their names as a symbol of their episcopal dignity, is the letter T, may be doubtful; but there seems no reason to doubt that that Maltese cross is an express symbol of the sun; for Layard found it as a sacred symbol in Nineveh in such a connection as led him to identify it with the sun. The mystic Tau, as the symbol of the great divinity, was called "the sign of life"; it was used as an amulet over the heart; it was marked on the official garments of the priests, as on the official garments of the priests of Rome; it was borne by kings in their hand, as a token of their dignity or divinely-conferred authority. The Vestal virgins of Pagan Rome wore it suspended from their necklaces, as the nuns do now. The Egyptians did the same, and many of the barbarous nations with whom they had intercourse, as the Egyptian monuments bear witness. In reference to the adorning of some of these tribes, Wilkinson thus writes: "The girdle was sometimes highly ornamented; men as well as women wore earrings; and they frequently had a small cross suspended to a necklace, or to the collar of their dress. The adoption of this last was not peculiar to them; it was also appended to, or figured upon, the robes of the Rot-n-no; and traces of it may be seen in the fancy ornaments of the Rebo, showing that it was already in use as early as the fifteenth century before the Christian era." There is hardly a Pagan tribe where the cross has not been found. The cross was worshipped by the Pagan Celts long before the incarnation and death of Christ. "It is a fact," says Maurice, "not less remarkable than well-attested, that the Druids in their groves were accustomed to select the most stately and beautiful tree as an emblem of the Deity they adored, and having cut the side branches, they affixed two of the largest of them to the highest part of the trunk, in such a manner that those branches extended on each side like the arms of a man, and, together with the body, presented the appearance of a HUGE CROSS, and on the bark, in several places, was also inscribed the letter Thau." It was worshipped in Mexico for ages before the Roman Catholic missionaries set foot there, large stone crosses being erected, probably to the "god of rain." The cross thus widely worshipped, or regarded as a sacred emblem, was the unequivocal symbol of Bacchus, the Babylonian Messiah, for he was represented with a head-band covered with crosses. This symbol of the Babylonian god is reverenced at this day in all the wide wastes of Tartary, where Buddhism prevails, and the way in which it is represented among them forms a striking commentary on the language applied by Rome to the Cross. "The cross," says Colonel Wilford, in the Asiatic Researches, "though not an object of worship among the Baud'has or Buddhists, is a favourite emblem and device among them. It is exactly the cross of the Manicheans, with leaves and flowers springing from it. This cross, putting forth leaves and flowers (and fruit also, as I am told), is called the divine tree, the tree of the gods, the tree of life and knowledge, and productive of whatever is good and desirable, and is placed in the terrestrial paradise." Compare this with the language of Rome applied to the cross, and it will be seen how exact is the coincidence. In the Office of the Cross, it is called the "Tree of life," and the worshippers are taught thus to address it: "Hail, O Cross, triumphal wood, true salvation of the world, among trees there is none like thee in leaf, flower, and bud...O Cross, our only hope, increase righteousness to the godly and pardon the offences of the guilty." *
* The above was actually versified by the Romanisers in the Church of England, and published along with much besides from the same source, some years ago, in a volume entitled Devotions on the Passion. The London Record, of April, 1842, gave the following as a specimen of the "Devotions" provided by these "wolves in sheep's clothing" for members of the Church of England:--
"O faithful cross, thou peerless tree,
No forest yields the like of thee,
Leaf, flower, and bud;
Sweet is the wood, and sweet the weight,
And sweet the nails that penetrate
Thee, thou sweet wood."
Can any one, reading the gospel narrative of the crucifixion, possibly believe that that narrative of itself could ever germinate into such extravagance of "leaf, flower, and bud," as thus appears in this Roman Office? But when it is considered that the Buddhist, like the Babylonian cross, was the recognised emblem of Tammuz, who was known as the mistletoe branch, or "All-heal," then it is easy to see how the sacred Initial should be represented as covered with leaves, and how Rome, in adopting it, should call it the "Medicine which preserves the healthful, heals the sick, and does what mere human power alone could never do."
Now, this Pagan symbol seems first to have crept into the Christian Church in Egypt, and generally into Africa. A statement of Tertullian, about the middle of the third century, shows how much, by that time, the Church of Carthage was infected with the old leaven. Egypt especially, which was never thoroughly evangelised, appears to have taken the lead in bringing in this Pagan symbol. The first form of that which is called the Christian Cross, found on Christian monuments there, is the unequivocal Pagan Tau, or Egyptian "Sign of life." Let the reader peruse the following statement of Sir G. Wilkinson: "A still more curious fact may be mentioned respecting this hieroglyphical character [the Tau], that the early Christians of Egypt adopted it in lieu of the cross, which was afterwards substituted for it, prefixing it to inscriptions in the same manner as the cross in later times. For, though Dr. Young had some scruples in believing the statement of Sir A. Edmonstone, that it holds that position in the sepulchres of the great Oasis, I can attest that such is the case, and that numerous inscriptions, headed by the Tau, are preserved to the present day on early Christian monuments." The drift of this statement is evidently this, that in Egypt the earliest form of that which has since been called the cross, was no other than the "Crux Ansata," or "Sign of life," borne by Osiris and all the Egyptian gods; that the ansa or "handle" was afterwards dispensed with, and that it became the simple Tau, or ordinary cross, as it appears at this day, and that the design of its first employment on the sepulchres, therefore, could have no reference to the crucifixion of the Nazarene, but was simply the result of the attachment to old and long-cherished Pagan symbols, which is always strong in those who, with the adoption of the Christian name and profession, are still, to a large extent, Pagan in heart and feeling. This, and this only, is the origin of the worship of the "cross."
This, no doubt, will appear all very strange and very incredible to those who have read Church history, as most have done to a large extent, even amongst Protestants, through Romish spectacles; and especially to those who call to mind the famous story told of the miraculous appearance of the cross to Constantine on the day before the decisive victory at the Milvian bridge, that decided the fortunes of avowed Paganism and nominal Christianity. That story, as commonly told, if true, would certainly give a Divine sanction to the reverence for the cross. But that story, when sifted to the bottom, according to the common version of it, will be found to be based on a delusion--a delusion, however, into which so good a man as Milner has allowed himself to fall. Milner's account is as follows: "Constantine, marching from France into Italy against Maxentius, in an expedition which was likely either to exalt or to ruin him, was oppressed with anxiety. Some god he thought needful to protect him; the God of the Christians he was most inclined to respect, but he wanted some satisfactory proof of His real existence and power, and he neither understood the means of acquiring this, nor could he be content with the atheistic indifference in which so many generals and heroes since his time have acquiesced. He prayed, he implored with such vehemence and importunity, and God left him not unanswered. While he was marching with his forces in the afternoon, the trophy of the cross appeared very luminous in the heavens, brighter than the sun, with this inscription, 'Conquer by this.' He and his soldiers were astonished at the sight; but he continued pondering on the event till night. And Christ appeared to him when asleep with the same sign of the cross, and directed him to make use of the symbol as his military ensign." Such is the statement of Milner. Now, in regard to the "trophy of the cross," a few words will suffice to show that it is utterly unfounded. I do not think it necessary to dispute the fact of some miraculous sign having been given. There may, or there may not, have been on this occasion a "dignus vindice nodus," a crisis worthy of a Divine interposition. Whether, however, there was anything out of the ordinary course, I do not inquire. But this I say, on the supposition that Constantine in this matter acted in good faith, and that there actually was a miraculous appearance in the heavens, that it as not the sign of the cross that was seen, but quite a different thing, the name of Christ. That this was the case, we have at once the testimony of Lactantius, who was the tutor of Constantine's son Crispus--the earliest author who gives any account of the matter, and the indisputable evidence of the standards of Constantine themselves, as handed down to us on medals struck at the time. The testimony of Lactantius is most decisive: "Constantine was warned in a dream to make the celestial sign of God upon his solders' shields, and so to join battle. He did as he was bid, and with the transverse letter X circumflecting the head of it, he marks Christ on their shields. Equipped with this sign, his army takes the sword." Now, the letter X was just the initial of the name of Christ, being equivalent in Greek to CH. If, therefore, Constantine did as he was bid, when he made "the celestial sign of God" in the form of "the letter X," it was that "letter X," as the symbol of "Christ" and not the sign of the cross, which he saw in the heavens. When the Labarum, or far-famed standard of Constantine itself, properly so called, was made, we have the evidence of Ambrose, the well-known Bishop of Milan, that that standard was formed on the very principle contained in the statement of Lactantius--viz., simply to display the Redeemer's name. He calls it "Labarum, hoc est Christi sacratum nomine signum."--"The Labarum, that is, the ensign consecrated by the NAME of Christ." *
* Epistle of Ambrose to the Emperor Theodosius about the proposal to restore the Pagan altar of Victory in the Roman Senate. The subject of the Labarum has been much confused through ignorance of the meaning of the word. Bryant assumes (and I was myself formerly led away by the assumption) that it was applied to the standard bearing the crescent and the cross, but he produces no evidence for the assumption; and I am now satisfied that none can be produced. The name Labarum, which is generally believed to have come from the East, treated as an Oriental word, gives forth its meaning at once. It evidently comes from Lab, "to vibrate," or "move to and fro," and ar "to be active." Interpreted thus, Labarum signifies simply a banner or flag, "waving to and fro" in the wind, and this entirely agrees with the language of Ambrose "an ensign consecrated by the name of Christ," which implies a banner.
There is not the slightest allusion to any cross--to anything but the simple name of Christ. While we have these testimonies of Lactantius and Ambrose, when we come to examine the standard of Constantine, we find the accounts of both authors fully borne out; we find that that standard, bearing on it these very words, "Hoc signo victor eris," "In this sign thou shalt be a conqueror," said to have been addressed from heaven to the emperor, has nothing at all in the shape of a cross, but "the letter X." In the Roman Catacombs, on a Christian monument to "Sinphonia and her sons," there is a distinct allusion to the story of the vision; but that allusion also shows that the X, and not the cross, was regarded as the "heavenly sign." The words at the head of the inscription are these: "In Hoc Vinces [In this thou shalt overcome] X." Nothing whatever but the X is here given as the "Victorious Sign." There are some examples, no doubt, of Constantine's standard, in which there is a cross-bar, from which the flag is suspended, that contains that "letter X"; and Eusebius, who wrote when superstition and apostacy were working, tries hard to make it appear that that cross-bar was the essential element in the ensign of Constantine. But this is obviously a mistake; that cross-bar was nothing new, nothing peculiar to Constantine's standard. Tertullian shows that that cross-bar was found long before on the vexillum, the Roman Pagan standard, that carried a flag; and it was used simply for the purpose of displaying that flag. If, therefore, that cross-bar was the "celestial sign," it needed no voice from heaven to direct Constantine to make it; nor would the making or displaying of it have excited any particular attention on the part of those who saw it. We find no evidence at all that the famous legend, "In this overcome," has any reference to this cross-bar; but we find evidence the most decisive that that legend does refer to the X. Now, that that X was not intended as the sign of the cross, but as the initial of Christ's name, is manifest from this, that the Greek P, equivalent to our R, is inserted in the middle of it, making by their union CHR. The standard of Constantine, then, was just the name of Christ. Whether the device came from earth or from heaven--whether it was suggested by human wisdom or Divine, supposing that Constantine was sincere in his Christian profession, nothing more was implied in it than a literal embodiment of the sentiment of the Psalmist, "In the name of the Lord will we display our banners." To display that name on the standards of Imperial Rome was a thing absolutely new; and the sight of that name, there can be little doubt, nerved the Christian soldiers in Constantine's army with more than usual fire to fight and conquer at the Milvian bridge.
In the above remarks I have gone on the supposition that Constantine acted in good faith as a Christian. His good faith, however, has been questioned; and I am not without my suspicions that the X may have been intended to have one meaning to the Christians and another to the Pagans. It is certain that the X was the symbol of the god Ham in Egypt, and as such was exhibited on the breast of his image. Whichever view be taken, however, of Constantine's sincerity, the supposed Divine warrant for reverencing the sign of the cross entirely falls to the ground. In regard to the X, there is no doubt that, by the Christians who knew nothing of secret plots or devices, it was generally taken, as Lactantius declares, as equivalent to the name of "Christ." In this view, therefore, it had no very great attractions for the Pagans, who, even in worshipping Horus, had always been accustomed to make use of the mystic tau or cross, as the "sign of life," or the magical charm that secured all that was good, and warded off everything that was evil. When, therefore, multitudes of the Pagans, on the conversion of Constantine, flocked into the Church, like the semi-Pagans of Egypt, they brought along with them their predilection for the old symbol. The consequence was, that in no great length of time, as apostacy proceeded, the X which in itself was not an unnatural symbol of Christ, the true Messiah, and which had once been regarded as such, was allowed to go entirely into disuse, and the Tau, the sign of the cross, the indisputable sign of Tammuz, the false Messiah, was everywhere substituted in its stead. Thus, by the "sign of the cross," Christ has been crucified anew by those who profess to be His disciples. Now, if these things be matter of historic fact, who can wonder that, in the Romish Church, "the sign of the cross" has always and everywhere been seen to be such an instrument of rank superstition and delusion?
There is more, much more, in the rites and ceremonies of Rome that might be brought to elucidate our subject. But the above may suffice. *
* If the above remarks be well founded, surely it cannot be right that this sign of the cross, or emblem of Tammuz, should be used in Christian baptism. At the period of the Revolution, a Royal Commission, appointed to inquire into the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England, numbering among its members eight or ten bishops, strongly recommended that the use of the cross, as tending to superstition, should be laid aside. If such a recommendation was given then, and that by such authority as members of the Church of England must respect, how much ought that recommendation to be enforced by the new light which Providence has cast on the subject!
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