The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-01-02
INFIDELSIN SELF DEFENCE.
INTERESTING REPLIES TO THE
CHRISTMAs DAY CHABLEN0E.

ttvai 81 the Nh vtOuf'a Btrthdny -tOmpnriHg
Him with the Wise Men Of Ancient Times.
To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Str: Hav-
Ing read your two articles on Christmas and
Christianity In your issues Of yesterday and to
day. allow me as an innde to say few words In
reply. In the nrst you start Oh In laudation OF
Cnrlstmap, and say "it is a festival that has
been. kept up for ages all over Christendom in |
OF tho birth OF q wonderful |
Child In Dethlem OF Judea in the days Of Herod, |
the King" understand you to give Christiani- |
ty tho entire credit Of originating the festival |
but know YOU not that the festival OF the 10Th
OF December has been observed much longer on
the earth than Christianity has existedr Are
you not aware that thousands of years ago II
was kept In India and Persia and Egypt In com
memOrntion Of the birth Of the sun, which on
that day beg To rise from the night OF dark
ness and death into which for the previous Six
mon,ns II had been gradually sinkinR2 Do YOU
not know that the ancient Druids long before
Christianity was introduced Into britain used
cenber and decorate their homes aud places OF
worship on these occasions with the holly, the
nr. the pine and other evergreensf From these
ians borrowed the idea Of the birth OF the re-
putcd son Of God. As to the real time OF the
birth Of Jesus, there Is no agreement among
those who claim to DO authorities upon the
subject.
proof that such person ever had an existence. we
only have the narratives accredited to Matthew,
Mara. Luke, anu John; bu, we have no way,9i
knowing whether they wrote them or not. No
profane historian cOfroboratca the story OF his
existence. with the exception OF passage IN
Josephus (Which by DR.. baidner.an1 other em
nent Christian writer's Ia admitted to be fraud
ulent Interpolation, we have nothing, as / said,
save tue four narratives allud to.
How reliable are those four statements7 We
know nothing Of their credibility, nor whether
they we're written bv one person or four, or
more. Al best they we're written long time
~ e. the death of Jesus CHRISTIAN authorities
say from thirty to sixty years, but 1t was pro-
kshf la n ttsn LAT nj a. - ne N
alluded TO the existence OF those gospels, 81 far
We know. OF VINO mentioned them, or made
any quotations from them was E1setius, VINO
died IN the fourth century. And "a he Is one
who believed 1t to be riTht ana admissible o
M Ike use Of fraud TO advance what ne believed
the good Cause, 1t - not unro !sOnaOle 10 sup
pose TIE was either the author OF the gospels or
that he knew who Was. rnoy certainly contain
nothing lie was incapable OF writing or which
thousands OF others could not easily write.
II Is not very material to Us whether those
four narratives were written thirty years after
tue time Jesus died or one hundred and thirty
ye r. after. IL Is iup 'ssible in either case to
/ understand how the writers could know any
thug ABOUT some ~ the fen-rkable events
they Presumed To describe.
1t ia, Of course. claimed that those stories
were written by in-pfa ion, and are therefore
/ reliable; nut who says 80, aud uy what dui nor
/ n.y. The writers themselves 81 lm nothing 81
/ tine kind, and do not even hint they were writ
ing by the dictauon Of Goa or of ANGELS. Are
we bound to believe they wro'e by in-pralion
when they did not claim 1t, and when aoDody
/ Claimed It tl hundreds of years nfterwardf
/ IL is to DC presumed tnlt you are well aware
] a
virgin WAS not new idea In the world eight
| cen huudteu wears ago. You must Ue aware
That hundreds Of years uriof to That tlme slmi-
/ lar belief ws entertained In many heathen
/ countries with respect To characters aud uemi-
gods greatly Distinguished In Their tunes anu
] countries. You are undoubtedly aware mat II
was believed for many hundred years iriOr to
Christ's time that Christina lIuddha, Acides
| Ptonetheus. Pytuagoras, ApulOniIs. ana many
| Others were porn Of virgins. II YOU oiu believe
! TIN. true Ia one case, simply because the as
| serti on IL made. are you not oqu lliy bound to
hp.l tsNa
clam Is set up Is there any more proof that
| tnis WIS true Of Jesus than OF the othersf
Admitting. however, tnat Jesus h All An exis-
| tonce. was lie IN any remarkable degree such a
wonderful child" rs YOU seem To think he
anle abiht,2 The GOSPELS" say very little Of
him until he was thirty years OF age, aud from
/ that tine tai j. ds4tu -wnicl VS. aOouL Nv
| years after-dd he accomplish enything more
wonderful! than what has reue ..e;:iy been
GAINED Tor others1 Did his strOllins over the
others. taliing To the numbers who gathered
around MN, indicate greater ability than SINH
lir performances oy many other individuals 7
Were the miracles. including tns Raising OF tue
dead, auy more extraordinary than wat have
been clatned for other distinguished characters
aud demi-gousf
Giying uim fun credit for all his utterances
that his remarks were sage. that his morals were
pure, anu tnat MS impulses were benevolent anu
humane, ulu lie perform gTALder works, uid lie
pronounce wiser maNms, ala ne utter purer
pners ana sages VINO preceded him bundreas of
years. Were his beatItudes. rs you term them,
more sublime tnan the moral teachings OF
Christina. Zoroastor, buddnA, Contucius, Ply
thAgoras, Bias, Socrates, Plato, Epicurus, Zeno,
ApoAonius, au1 many others, 10 say nothing Of
Seneca, Antonlnus, aud Mahomet, who lived
after hln? Was nOL the Golden Rule,
which IS admitted on all hands To be
tho sublimest aud greatest Of all his Ut
terancos, distinctly taught by several q the
characters above named, Us well As by lsocr Al 90
| PIttac.s. SeXtus, Hittel, and others, anu all be-
fore he ever uttered the sentmentr H. then
ne really taught tue beatituCes aud mora
maNius ne ~ edited wttn being the son o
Goa, is ne deserving Of greater credit and praise
tuan others who before taught pfecepts al
sentiments equally as good, ana theS DE az
merely human beincs? Are the dosnas Of the
/ CAistlan Church in any respect superior To th'
/ do-mas Of pag tnismf Not To tire YOU win IN
teIrugatories, 1 ask YOU To point out a singh,
dogma u Christianity that Is rrs mai with H. VI
was not believed and incdcatrd 10y heathen'
hundreds Of years caller i assert Il cannot Ds
aOue. Ii tlls Is true; II the Christian dognai
are simply pagan dogm.s In new dress; II the
Gospel incldents are simply me old heather
stores relOca-ed, l. there any thug ia then
justly demanding our veueratunf
Is tuero auNthlAg indeed, 50 lovely In the
Clristldn system As 70 compel Us L" DO" d1wi
aud beautiful that God should bring intO c~ist
enc1 numht rlrss millions Of humau bcln.
whose inevitable destiny Is eternal torment ant
unhappiuessg
IL Is lamentable In the dawn Of the last quar-
ter OF the nineteenth century, when truth anC
reason anu common sense ouRh! TO rule th'
civilized word, to see men ,till clnglng 10 these
exploded and obsolete mon-trosties cOnstitut
ing the Christian religion, which has Cauhet
moro wars, more cara. ge ana more pefsccu
tiOns than all tue other religions OF the wore
combined.
It's to be regretted that you cannot see great
er good ana beauty IN the eievatiug truths q
SCIENCE anu growing diligence. anu tess IN tu'
molly, lhe urs, ana tuo lints OF tue (nrlstula
feStiNh and less, also, In the cruel and ifuoran
dogiGas Of three thousand years ago. ID. M. Is.
MEN York, Dec. -, 1870.