The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-08-24
POPULAR APoLoGETIcS.
Adapted from the German of Rev.
Peter Mikes, S. j., by Rev.
James Watcher.


Jesus is a historical person, still His
real person is obscured by cloud of
myths like so many other heroes of
antiquity
Answer: Prof. and Ecclesiastical
Councillor Dr. Paulus & 1851 lived to
see himself the laughing-stOck of his
own adherents because of his nat
ural" explanation of miracles. The
Christ-hater David Friedrich Strauss
t1S0S-74) says mockingly: Il could
not make up my mind to do such
violence to the Interpretation of the
biblical accounts" But Strauss, who
had already learned from his light
hearted mother to mock at religion,
could not bring himself to believe.
Is he with the old deist Reimarus
& 1859 to consider the Gospels
mere forgery? Many infdels were
proud of this invention, and even in
the time of Strauss it had not disap-
peared altogether. But Strauss says:
Such suspicion was repugnant."
This stale, rough manner to explain
phenomenon of the significance of
Christianity by lying and deception
must repel every scientifically think
ing mind? But what was he to do?
IF the Gospels are historical docu-
ments, then the miracle cannot be
eliminated from the life of the Lord"
But miracles cannot be according to
this "impartial' man, because they
are impossible. Whoever wants to
eXpel the parsOn from the church,
must first eXpeI the miracle from re-
ligion." But how accomplish that?
The natural explanation of miracles
is ridiculous the hypothesis of decep-
ton is repugnant. Let US try the
myth hypothesis" thought the
shrewd man.
Il examined the variations of the
old religions, which no man in our
days considers supernatural as did
Herodotus & circ. 424 B. c., nor
natural as did Euhemerus (fourished
Giro. 300 B. CO; we take them as
legends which were formed by the
pious imagination of the nations and
their poets without evil intent. In the
same way | consider the miraculous
accounts of the Gospels as the unin-
territorial poetic products of primeval
Christianity, at least most of them"
That is then the new wisdom of
intidelity, the new battering-ram
against Christianity. No wonder that
Zwinglian peasant near Zurich on
learning that Strauss was to become
professor at the university of that
city cried out I'VE have only such
a little bit of faith, and now they
want to take even that away from
US"
"A myth" says Strauss, lis the
story-like expression of ideas, formed
in the unintentional poetic legends"
According to Strauss Jesus Christ
really existed, but was "a mere man,
a religiously gifted man, a genius, the
highest in the religious line that we
know and can imagine" But every
thing miraculous in His life is only
legend and fiction.
Too bad for Strauss that Christ did
not live in hoary antiquity, but in
historically well-established time Too
bad that not Homer or Vergil or
some other poet described His life,
but eye-witnesses, sober, simple men,
whose writings are worthy of belief
for every unprecedented man, so that
the nationalist PaUlus must confess:
THAT whole events were invented,
because of the proved early compost
ton of the first three Gospels, is
against the nature of things. AS long
as the generation of eyewitnesses
lived (Cf. Luke 1: y and wrote for
eye-witnesses, there is no reason for
such Inventions" 1t is amusing to
see how one nationalist refutes
another.
But it is most ridiculous to think
that these myths should have been
woven around the historic Christ in
side of forty years, for the Gospel of
St. Matthew was undoubtedly written
before the year seventy according to
Belser 41-42. CT. No. 44) "at the
time when Peter and Paul were
spreading the glad tidings in Rome"
This period was indeed too short to
form such a myth of such extent and
perfection. Would we not laugh at
any one who would try, for example,
to weave a wreath of myths around
Johannes Ronge Ct 1880, the founder
of the so-called German Catholics in
the middle of the 40's? If today man
would tell how Ronge healed the blind,
the deaf, the lame, how he raised the
dead, multiplied bread, Gained the
storm and finally raised himself to
life; would people not declare him
insane? Or try the same with Martin
Luther and you would have the same
success.
But they say that in those old times
the men of the Orient lived as in
fools paradise a kind of phantastic,
dreamy life and after the manner of
children told and believed fairy
stories; and in this way the enthu-
.siasm of the Apostles and their poetic
fancy could have produced the legends
of miracles and in consequence
changed the wise teachersinto a God.
If ever one became the victim of his
own imagination it is David Strauss.
History tells different story; in the
face of historical facts there is on use
for this unbelieving gentleman to bury
AL H.