The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-02-04

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virgin Of whom ne sun. the true savior Of
mankind" II born. 10 either the dawn or the
earth. nom which he appears TO emerge. or
night. which he dispels. Again. the star which
forctold the birth OF Jesus IL DECLARED to be the
morning star. which heralds the out
bursting Of the god sol. glance at
Q geography Of the heavens discloses the
sign Of the Virgin sucking an infant thus the
sign was depicted by the astronomers Of many
ancient national. preceded by star. which. by
astrologers and sun worshippers and shep-
herds who watch their focks by night. would
naturally be regarded a. Hherald or forerunner
Of the orb Of day. The legend OF the visit paid
to Jesus By the magi recalls the fact that the
maGi were sun worshippers. and like tho as
trologers Of the Arabs. Chaldeans. and other
Oriental nations. were accustomed at early
dawn on Dec. 20 to greet tho luminary whom
they regarded ~ their infant savior with gold
frankincense. and myrrh. &c. too with the
tradition that Jesus was born in cave"
handed down by Tertullian. Eusebius. Jerome
and other fathers Of the Church. who had evil
IDENTIFY never seen the designation OF his birth
place - house" or manager" by the evan
gehsts. In this respect the history OF Jesus cor
responds with that OF other sun gods and saviors
nearly all OF whom are represented as being
born In cave or dungeon. This il the dark
abode from which the wandering sun starts In
tho morning. Then. - touching the order
given BY Herod that the newborn Christ
should be put to death. we are reminded that
In the mythologies OF oil nations the sun gods
are tabled to bring ruin upon their parents or
the reignlng monarch. For this reason an at
tempt is made to prevent the birth OF the new
deity. or 70 destroy him when born. The sun
scatters the darkness and 30 the phrase went
that the child was TO be the destroyer Of the
reigning monarch. Night and oracles and
magi. Il was said. warned the latter OF the doom
which would overtake him. The newly born
babe Is therefore ordered to be put TO death by
the sword. or exposed on the bare hillside. az
the sun seems to rest on the earth at his rising.
Pursuing the attempt to trace the several
phases OF the solar myth in the traditional
story Of Jesus. the author OF this book reminds
US that In the ancient mythologies all the sun
gods-Indra. Crishna Buddha. Ormuzd Osiris.
Ra. Mithras. Apollo. Hercules-are opposed to
an evil being. usually represented in the form
OF q serpent. Most students OF comparative my
thology concur IN thinking that the victory over
the temptations and assaults OF the evil spirit
achieved by Christ. In common with the deities
above named. signifies the victory Of the sun
over the clouds of storm and darkness. Tho
young god Of light has entered upon his
shining mission. but is met by the demon
Of storm. who disputes with him the
sovereignty OF the heavens A like sym
bolical Interpretation ia given to the account
OF the oruciflxion. The sun has now reached
his extreme southern limit to the eye Of the
primitive observer hia career Is ended and
he is at last overcome by his enemies: the
powers OF darkness and Of winter. which had
sought In vain to wound him. have now won
the victory. Tho bright sun OF summer is
finally slain. either pierced by the thorn OF
winter. as Thammuz. Adonis. and other solar
dsities were pictured. or crucihed in the
heavens. a. Indra, Osiris. Horus. Prometheus.
and Ixion were portrayed. But who. accord
ing to the solar theory. were the women
who were beholding afar off" at the
scene OF Christs cruciflxion. and who
were also present In the last hours Of
Buddha. Prometheus. Gdipus. and Hercules
In these we see the Dawn. who bore him. and
the soft and beautiful lights which once more
flush the eastern sky with what may seem a
tender sympathy rs the dying sun sinks In the
west. As for the descent into hell and the re-
ascension into heaven. these features OF the
Gospel present no difficulty to the advocates Of
tho solar hypothesis. By the descent into the
lower regions is figured the entrance Of the sun
into the sign OF Capricornus or the Goat. when
the astronomical winter begins. The days have
reached their shortest span. and the heavenly
luminary his extreme southern limit. For
three days and nights. viz from the 22d to the
18th Of December. the sun apparently remains
in the same place. 1t Is firmly contended that
the descending into the lower regions. and
the abiding there for the space Of three
days. is one Of the latest sun-myth additions
to the history Of Jesus. The doctrine Is not to
be found In the more ancient rules OF faith laid
down by the Christian fathers. or In the earlier
creeds formulated by Councils OF the Church.
and the invention or innovation seems to have
been made subsequently to Eusebius "a. D.
$3.50. As for the festival OF the resurrection.
this was universally celebrated throughout the
ancient world at u date corresponding TO our
25th Of March. when the awakening Of spring
may be said to be the result OF the return OF
tho sun from the lower or far-on regions to
at Easter-the sun has been below the eaua-
tor. and suddenly rises above It. He has been.
dead TO US. but now exhibits q resurrection.
According. then. to those ratlonalists who see
in the Gospel narrative such large infusons OF
the old and universal nature worship as to make
It virtually only q new form Of the solar myth
Christ Jesus. like Christ Buddha (many other
persona@es besides Jesus had the title OF
Amounted" or Messiah" preflxed to their
names). like Crishna. Mithra. Osiris. Horus
Apollo. and others. IL none other than per-
sonification Of the SUM- and Christians. like so
many Of their pagan predecessors arc essen
italy sun worshippers. 1t is not to be inferred
however. that the author Of this volume advo-
Gates the theory that no such person us Jesus
| OF Nazareth ever lived. On the contrary. the
man. Jesus. il evidently an historical parsonage
just as the Sakaya prince. Gautama. and Cyrus
King OF Persia. and Alexander. King Of Mace
don. are historical personages; but the Christ
Jesus. tho Christ Buddha. tho mythical Cyrus
and the mythical Alexander never existed
Tho sun myth has been superposed on the
| workable histories OF these rs OF mnny other
real personages. The myths OF Buddha and
Jesus differ from those OF Crishna and other
virgin-born Savlours. who are wholly legend.
airy. in the circumstance that In the two for
mer cases they have crystalized about q nu-
- ant |, th.,h .