El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-05-24

not Justify me in calling aJlehlloH ~
this series of pictures. Ito, z
Rur there are two facts 10 WHlch i
wish to call attention heSe Ply ~ - -
are absolutely false TO life win d e"1SH
Tfo-ri+a-fas crfnging and serVlle- A ma
ton. tribute paying though IL -iie-s -
with its own ruler, neel NOT Cl---7o
when striving TO do its duty, no mater
how unwelcome that duty Hlsht ge-
A nation maufully WlIns lanullls ne
onsIaughts of all the great naJlons o.
anrf071frv and vet remaining true TO us
RELIGIOUS mission was not composed u
time serving cItlzens' Halgll, l15ilS
and AGAIN defeating the mighty 10
man hosts and the last OF al eastern
nations 10 finally bend Its neck 10 the
woke of the Roman cOnqueror was nos
compOsed OF serVile officials a nation
on the high road. leading from one 10
tho other of the couIending civilizations
of the pre-Christian era ana lne DuL-el
of antiquity yet so steering It's course
of state as TO be swallowed up by
neither, must have been composed q
statesmen and heroes
ssChrfstian Centuries Of Persecution"
If there be some descendants Of
these. whose humility seems superla-
tive this can beaCredited to Christian
centuries of persecution and bounding,
to the dark centuries when the tO1-
have holes and the birds Of heavens
have nests but the son of man llSraeD
hath not where TO Law his head"
MAT. WHO; Luke lA-6). The jew
has ever been exceedingly proud of his
heritage; he felt and lived the BlDll-
cal. promise that eve shall be unto me
a kingdom of priests and a holy ma
Important as the above point
is for an historic understand
ing Of the fats depicted in
the death scene. as there portrayed
are positively contrary to facts They
are the embellishments of men writ
ing with a bias and not of men calmly
relating facts or even knowing the
facts
Trial Scene Not Historical.
The trial scene cannot be historical.
1t is contrary TO all Jewish law. The
time when the same was held is con-
trary TO Jewish law, the punishment
inflicted is not a Jewish method Of
infiicriug capital punishment. Mark
and Matthew report the trial taking
place at night; no Jewish court could
hold its sessions at night tct- SAN
hedrin IN-l-) NO Jewish court lnIlicI-
ing capital punishment tried q case on
the dav preceding the Sabbath or a
holiday (cf Sanhedrin IN-l) And
the trial Of Jesus is reported TO have
taken place on the day preceding the
Sabbath. which at the same time was
the day preceding the festival of the
Passover. It would take far too much
time and space 10 so into the oeJalls
Of trial according TO JeWlSh Jaw,
to show the safeguards placed about
It to insure justice, to emphasize that
when life was at stake a man was
considered innocent until proved guilty
by not less than two witnesses.
Jewish Punishment Methods.
According to the Jewish law there
were four methods Of lntlcung caplIal
punishment ]. lapidatiOn or StOnings
. burning. g decapitatiOn- 4, sJrang-
ling or hanging. The latter was in
fIfcted only after SuOning 10 death had
taken place (cf. Sanhedrin WILD
CrucifixiOn was unknown TO the Jews,
il was a peculiarly Roman method OF
iuflicting death on those who rebelled
or were under suspicion Of 1omenJlnS
strife against the government tSee
article Grimes and Puntshments' IN
Encyclopedia of Ethics and Religion
edited by HastinEs) -JOsephus brands
the first crucifiZiCu he knew as one
of the most barbarOUs actions Of the
world" Can't. XIII H. p And this
opinion was dOubtlessly seconded Dy
all the Jews Of his day The time q
execution was also contrary TO jewish
law and custom
who Carried the Crosss
And the picture Of Jesus carrying
a heavy cross based on John 1917 is
contrary to Roman law. Mat 2f-S2i
Mark 1921, and Luke 1926 declare
that Simon, not Jesus, carried Ine
cross The Roman custom decreed
that the guilty party carry 10 the
place of execution the "utulus, the
board on which was inscribed the
crime for which the man was cruel
fled and which was later nailed to the
upright post. And this "titulus' con
tanned the words king Of the Jews
Here we have the real clue Tor the
condemnation. He was a traitor TO the
Roman emperor. he melted the multi
tUde to oppose Roman rule and for this
political Offense he was tried and con-
victed and crucified by the Romans
From NOn-Jeyish History.
A nOn-J eWish work. the Encyclo-
pedia Of Religion and Ethics, says IN
an article on Grimes and Punish
ment.' @In practice. capital punish
ment was obsolete long before the
fan of the Jewish state and in all
probability long before the courts were
deprived of legal power of inflicung
it." 1T is now the generally accepted
opinion among both Jewish and Chris
tian scholars that the trial of Jesus
was not carried out in accordance with
Jewish law and that the execution was
an act in which Pharisaic Judaism had
neither initiative nor shame" This
is a true statement of historical facts
and this is the truth which should be
taught in every Christian pulpit and
Christian Sunday school If the brother
hood of man is TO become a fact as
wen as an ideal
Testament Disputes CrueIfixiOn.
But even the New Testament is not
unanimous in its version about the
crucifiXiOn Of the Christian savior At
least one other tradition was accepted
at the time those books were written
or compiled. The author of Acts
thrice repeats the assertion (5;3O:10;
39-13-29) that Jesus was hanged to
tree. This view is given little prOmi-
hence in Christian pulpits and Chris
tian teachings Jewish tradition adds
weight TO this conception since Jesus