"FOR I determined not to know anything among you, save JesusChrist and him crucified." (I Cor. ii. 2.) There must have existeda very considerable amount of skepticism in the community as to thetruth of the report of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in thecountry and era of its occurrence to make it necessary thus toerect it into an important dogma, and make it imperative to believeit. There must have been a large margin for distrusting its truth.
The determination not to know anything but the crucifixion ofJesus Christ was narrowing down his knowledge to rather a smallcompass.
And such a resolution would necessarily preclude him fromacquainting himself with the history of any other cases ofcrucifixion that might have occurred before that of his ownfavorite Messiah. "What! Was there ever a case of crucifixionbeside that of Jesus Christ?" a good Christian brother or sistersometimes exclaims, when the world's sixteen crucified Saviors arespoken of.
We meet the question with the reply, You seem to be a discipleof Paul, whose position would not allow him to know of any othercases of crucifixion but that of Jesus Christ. Hence, he may haveconsidered it meritorious to perpetuate his ignorance on thesubject. And you, perhaps, are ignorant from the same cause.
It is the nature of all religions based on fear andunchangeable dogmas, to deter and thus exclude its disciples fromall knowledge adverse to their own creeds. And sometimes their ownreligions systems are magnified to such an exalted appreciationabove all others as to lead them to destroy the evidence of theexistence of the latter for fear of their ultimate rivalry.
Mr. Taylor informs us that some of the early disciples of theChristian faith demolished accessible monuments representing andmemorializing the crucifixion of the ancient oriental sin-atoningGods, so that they are now unknown in the annals of Christianhistory. Hence, the surprise excited in the minds of Christianprofessors when other cases are mentioned.
Such influences as referred to above have shut out from theminds of the disciples of several religious systems a knowledge ofall crucified Gods but their own. Hence, the Hindoo rejoices inknowing only "Chrishna and him crucified." The Persian entwinesaround his heart the remembrance only of the atoning sufferings onthe cross of Mithra the Mediator. The Mexican daily sends up hisearnest, soul-breathing prayer for the return of the spirit of hiscrucified Savior -- Quexalcote. While the Caucasian, with equaldevotion, chants daily praises to his slain "Divine Intercessor"for voluntarily offering himself upon the cross for the sins of afallen race. And the Christian disciple hugs to his bosom thebloody cross of the murdered Jesus, unhaunted by the suspicion thatother Gods died for the sins of man long anterior to the advent of the immaculate Nazarene.
We will now lay before the reader a brief account of thecrucifixion of more than a dozen virgin-born Gods and sin-atoningSaviors, predicated upon facts which have escaped the hands of theChristian iconoclasts determined to know only Jesus Christcrucified. We will first notice the case of the Indian God-Chrishna.
I. -- CRUCIFIXION OF CHRISHNA OF INDIA, 1200 B.C.


Mr. Moore, an English traveler and writer, in a largecollection of drawings taken from Hindoo sculptures and monuments,which he has arranged together in a work entitled "The HindooPantheon," has one representing, suspended on the cross, the Hindoocrucified God and Son of God, "our Lord and Savior" Chrishna, withholes pierced in his feet, evidently intended to represent thenail-holes made by the act of crucifixion. Mr. Higgins, whoexamined this work, which he found in the British Museum, makes areport of a number of the transcript drawings intended to representthe crucifixion of this oriental and mediatorial God, which we willhere condense. Savior is represented with a hole in the top of onefoot, just above the toes, where the nail was inserted in the actof crucifixion.
In another drawing he is represented exactly in the form of aRomish Christian crucifix, but not fixed or fastened to a tree,though the legs and feet are arranged in the usual way, with nail-holes in the latter. There is a halo of glory over it, emanatingfrom the heavens above, just as we have seen Jesus Christrepresented in a work by a Christian writer, entitled "Quarles'Emblems," also in other Christian books. In several of the icons(drawings) there are marks of holes in both feet, and in others ofholes in the hands only. In the first drawing which he consultedthe marks are very faint, so as to be scarcely visible. In figuresfour and five of plate eleven the figures have nail-holes in bothfeet, while the hands are not represented. Figure six has on it therepresentation of a round hole in the side. To his collar or shirthangs an emblem of a heart, represented in the same manner as thoseattached to the imaginary likenesses of Jesus Christ, which may nowbe found in some Christian countries Figure ninety-one has a holein one foot and a nail through the other, and a round nail or pinmark in one hand only, while the other is ornamented with a doveand a serpent (both emblems of deity in the Christian's bible).
Now, we raise the query here, and drive it into the innermosttemple of the Christian's conscience, with the overwhelming forceof the unconquerable logic of history -- What does all this mean?
And if they will only let convention have its perfect workwhile answering this question unhampered by the inheritedprejudices of a thousand years, they can henceforth rejoice in thediscovery of a glorious historical truth, calculated to disenthralltheir minds from the soul-cramping superstitions of crosses,crucifixions and bloody atonements on which they have beenaccustomed to hang the salvation of the world.
If the credibility of the relation of these incidents going toprove an astonishing coincidence in the sacred histories of theHindoo and Christian Saviors, and demonstrating the doctrine of thecrucifixion as having been practically realized, and preached tothe world long anterior to the offering of a God "once for all" onMount Calvary; if its credibility rested on mere 'ex parte'testimony, mere pagan tradition, or even upon the best digested andmost authentic annals of the past that have escaped the ravagestime, there might still be a forlorn hope for the stickler for theChristian faith now struggling in the agonies of a credalskepticism, that the whole thing has been plagiarized from theChristian Gospels. For paper and parchment history can be -- andhas been -- mutilated. But the verity of this account rests upon nosuch a precarious basis. Its antiquity, reaching far beyond theChristian era, is corroborated and demonstrated by imperishablemonuments, deep-chiseled indentures burrowed into the granite rock,which bid defiance to the fingers of time, and even the hands ofthe frenzied iconoclast, to destroy or deface, though impelled andspurred on to the effort by the long-cherished conviction burningin his soul, that the salvation of the human race depends uponbelieving that "there is no other name given under heaven wherebymen can be saved" than his own crucified God, and that all othersare but thieves robbers and antichrists. Some of the disciples ofthe oriental systems cherished this conviction, and Christians andMahommedans seem to have inherited it in magnified proportions.
Hence, we are credibly informed that some of the earlierChristian saints, having determined, like Paul, "to know only JesusChrist and him crucified," made repeated efforts to obliteratethese sacred facts (so fatally damaging to their one-sided creeds)from the page of history. Mr. Higgins suggests that if we couldhave persons less under the influence of sectarian prejudice tovisit, examine, and report on the sculptures and monuments ofIndia, covered over as they are with antiquated and significantfigures appertaining to and illustrating their religious history,we might accumulate still more light bearing upon the history ofthe crucifixion of the Savior and sin-atoning Chrishna. "Most ofour reports," he declares, "are fragmentary, if not one-sided,having come through the hands of Christian missionaries, bishopsand priests."
He informs us that a report on the Hindoo religion, made outby a deputation from the British Parliament, sent to India for thepurpose of examining their sacred books and monuments, being leftin the hands of a Christian bishop at Calcutta, and withinstructions to forward it to England, was found, on its arrival inLondon, to be so horribly mutilated and eviscerated as to bescarcely cognizable. The account of the crucifixion was gone --canceled out. The inference is patent.
And we have it upon the authority of this same reliable andtruthful writer (Sir Godfrey Higgins) that the author of the HindooPantheon (Mr. Moor), after having announced his intention topublish it to the world, was visited and labored with by some ofhis devout Christian neighbors zealous "for the faith oncedelivered to the saints," who endeavored to dissuade him frompublishing such facts to the world as he represented his book tocontain, for fear it would have the effect to unsettle the faith ofsome of the weak brethren (some of the weak-kneed church members)in the soul-saving religion of Jesus Christ, by raising doubts intheir minds as to the originality of the gospel story of thecrucifixion of Christ, or at least of his having been crucified asa God for a sin-offering. His crucifixion is a possible event. Itmay be thus far a true narrative, but the adjunct of the atonement,with its efficacy to obliterate the effects of sin, connected withthe idea that an infinite, omnipotent and self-existent God was putto death, when a human form was slain upon the cross -- never, no,never. It is a thought too monstrous to find lodgment in anenlightened human mind.
Another case evincing the same spirit as that narrated aboveis found in the circumstance of a Christian missionary (a Mr.Maurice) publishing a historical account of this man-god or demigodof the Hindoos, and omitting any allusion to his crucifixion; thiswas entirely left out, apparently from design. His death,resurrection and ascension were spoken of, but the crucifixionskipped over. He could not have been ignorant of this chapter inhis history, as the writers preceding him, from whom he copied, hadrelated it.
Among this number may be mentioned the learned French writerMonsier Guigniant, who, in his "Religion of the Ancients," speaksso specifically of the crucifixion of this God, as to name thecircumstance of his being nailed to a tree. He also states, thatbefore his exit he made some remarkable prophecies appertaining tothe crimes and miseries of the world in the approaching future,reminding us of the wars and rumors of wars predicted by theChristian Messiah. Mr. Higgins names the same circumstance.
We have it upon the authority of more than one writer onHindoo or Indian antiquities that there is a rock temple at Mathurain the form of a cross, and facing the four cardinal points of thecompass, which is admitted by all beholders as presenting the proofin bold relief of extreme age, and inside of this temple stands astatue of "the Savior of men," Chrishna of India, presenting theproof of being coeval in construction with the temple itself by thecircumstance of its being cut out of the same rock and constitutinga part of the temple. (Further citations of this character will befound under the head of Parallels, Chapter XXXII.)
Thus we have the proof deeply and indelibly carved in the old,time-chiseled rocks of India -- that their "Lord and Savior Chrishna" atoned for the sins of a grief-stricken world by "pouringout his blood as a propitiatory offering" while stretched upon thecross. No wonder, in view of such historic bulwarks, Col. Wiseman,for ten years a Christian missionary should have exclaimed, "Can webe surprised that the enemies of our holy religion should seizeupon this legend (the crucifixion of Chrishna) as containing theoriginal of our gospel history?"
Christian reader, please ponder over the facts of thischapter, and let conviction have its perfect work.
LIFE, CHARACTER, RELIGION, AND MIRACLES OF CHRISHNA


But he seems to have been more successful in the propagationof his doctrines; for it is declared, "he soon became surrounded bymany earnest followers, and the people in vast multitudes followedhim, crying aloud, 'This is indeed the Redeemer promised to ourfathers.'" His pathway was thickly strewn with miracles, whichconsisted in healing the sick, curing lepers, restoring the dumb,deaf and the blind, raising the dead, aiding the weak, comfortingthe sorrow-stricken, relieving the oppressed, casting out devils,etc. He come not ostensibly to destroy the previous religion, butto purify it of its impurities, and to preach a better doctrine. Hecame, as he declared, "to reject evil and restore the reign ofgood, and redeem man from the consequences of the fall, and deliverthe oppressed earth from its load of sin and suffering." Hisdisciples believed him to be God himself, and millions worshipedhim as such in the time of Alexander the Great, 330 B.C.
The hundreds of counterparts to the history of Christ, provingtheir histories to be almost identical, will be found enumerated inChapter XXXII, such as -- 1. His miraculous birthby a virgin. 2.The mother and child being visited by shepherds, wise men and theangelic host, who joyously sang, "In thy delivery, O favored amongwomen, all nations shall have cause to exult." 3. The edict of thetyrant ruler Cansa, ordering all the first born to be put to death.4. The miraculous escape of the mother and child from his bloodydecree by the parting of the waves of the River Jumna to permitthem to pass through on dry ground. 5. The early retirement ofChrishna to a desert. 6. His baptism or ablution in the RiverGanges, corresponding to Christ's baptism in Jordan. 7. Histransfiguration at Madura, where he assured his disciples that"present or absent, I will always be with you." 8. He had afavorite disciple (Arjoon), who was his bosom friend, as John wasChrist's. 9. He was anointed with oil by women, like Christ. 10. Asomewhat similar fish story is told of him -- his disciples beingenabled by him to catch large draughts of the finny prey in their nets. (For three hundred other similar parallels, see ChapterXXXII.)
Like Christ, he taught much by parables and precepts. Anotable sermon preached by him is also reported, which we have notspace for here.
On one occasion, having returned from a ministerial journey,as he entered Madura, the people came out in crowds to meet him,strewing the ground with the branches of cocoa-nut trees, anddesiring to hear him. He addressed them in parables -- theconclusion and moral of one of which, called the parable of thefishes, runs thus: "And thus it is, O people of Madura, that youought to protect the weak and each other, and not retaliate upon anenemy the wrongs he may have done you." Here we see the peacedoctrine preached in its purity. "And thus it was," says a writer,"that Chrishna spread among the people the holy doctrines of purestmorality, and initiated his hearers into the exalted principles ofcharity, of self-denial, and self-respect at a time when the desertcountries of the west were inhabited only by savage tribes;" and wewill add, long before Christianity was thought of. Purity of lifeand spiritual insight, we are told, were distinguishing traits inthe character of this oriental sin-atoning Savior, and that "he wasoften moved with compassion for the downtrodden and the suffering."
A Buddhist in Ceylon, who sent his son to a Christian school,once remarked to a missionary, "I respect Christianity as a help toBuddhism." Thus is disclosed the fact that the motives of some of"the heathen" in sending to Christian schools is the promotion oftheir own religion, which they consider superior, and in manyrespects most of them are. (For proof, see Chapter on Bibles.)
We have the remarkable admission of the Christian Examinerthat "the best precepts of the (Christian) bible are contained inthe Hindoo Baghavat." Then it is not true that "Christ spake as mannever spake." And if his "best precepts" were previously recordedin an old heathen bible, then they afford no proof of his divinity.This suicidal concession of the Examiner pulls up the claims oforthodox Christianity by the roots.
And many of the precepts uttered by Chrishna display aprofound wisdom and depth of thought equal to any of thoseattributed to Jesus Christ. In proof of the statement, we will citea few examples out of the hundreds in our possession: --


II. -- CRUCIFIXION OF THE HINDOO SAKIA, 600 B.C.


In some countries, the story runs, a God was crucified by anarrow being driven through his body, which fastened him to a tree;the tree, with the arrow thus projecting at right angles, formedthe cross, emblematical of the atoning sacrifice.
Sakia, an account states, was crucified by his enemies for thehumble act of plucking a flower in a garden -- doubtless seized onas a mere pretext, rather than as being considered a crime.
One of the accusations brought against Christ, it will beremembered, was that of plucking the ripened ears of corn on theSabbath. And it is a remarkable circumstance, that in the picturesof Christian countries representing the virgin Mary with the infantjesses in her arms, either the child or the mother is frequentlyrepresented with a bunch of flowers in the hand.
Here, let it be noted, the association of flowers withdivinely born Saviors, in India, is indicated in the religiousbooks of that country to have originated from the conception of thevirgin parting with the flowers of her virginity by giving birth toa divine child, whereby she lost the immortality of her physicalnature, it being transferred by that act to her Deity-begotten son.And from this circumstance, Sakia is represented as having beencrucified for abstracting a flower from a garden. That hiscrucifixion was designed as a sin-atoning offering, is evident fromthe following declaration found in his sacred biography, viz.:
"He in mercy left Paradise, and came down to earth because he wasfilled with compassion for the sins and miseries of mankind. Hesought to lead them into better paths, and took their sufferingsupon himself that he might expiate their crimes and mitigate thepunishment they must otherwise inevitably undergo." (Prog. Rel.Ideas, vol. i.p. 86.)
He believed and taught his followers that all sin isinevitably punished, either in this or the future life; and sogreat were his sympathy and tenderness, that he condescended tosuffer that punishment himself, by an ignominious death upon thecross, after which he descended into Hades (Hell), to suffer for atime (three days) for the inmates of that dreadful and horribleprison, that he might show he sympathized with them. After hisresurrection, and before his ascension to heaven, as well as duringhis earthly sojourn, he imparted to the world some beautiful,lofty, and soul-elevating precepts.
"The object of his mission," says a writer, "was to instructthose who were straying from the right path, and expiate the sinsof mortals by his own suffering, and procure for them a happyentrance into Paradise by obedience to his precepts and prayers tohis name. (Ibid.) "His followers always speak of him as one withGod from all eternity." (Ibid.) His most common title was "theSavior of the World." He was also called "the Benevolent One," "theDispenser of Grace," "the Source of Life, the Light of the World,""the True Light," etc.
His mother was a very pure, refined, pious and devout woman;never indulged in any impure thoughts, words or actions. She was somuch esteemed for her virtues and for being the mother of a God,that an escort of ladies attended her wherever she went. The treesbowed before her as she passed through the forest, and flowerssprang up wherever her foot pressed the ground. She was saluted as"the Holy Virgin, Queen of Heaven."
It is said that when her divine child was born, he stoodupright and proclaimed, "I will put an end to the sufferings andsorrows of the world." And immediately a light shone around aboutthe young Messiah. He spent much time in retirement, and likeChrist in another respect, was once tempted by a demon who offeredhim all the honors and wealth of the world. But he rebuked thedevil, saying, Be gone; hinder me not."
He began, like Christ, to preach his gospel and heal the sickwhen about twenty-eight years of age. And it is declared, "theblind saw, the deaf heard, the dumb spoke, the lame danced and thecrooked became straight." Hence, the people declared, "He is nomortal child, but an incarnation of the Deity." His religion was ofa very superior character. He proclaimed, "My law is a law of gracefor all." His religion knew no race, no sex, no caste, and noaristocratic priesthood.
"It taught," says Max Muller, "the equality of all men, andthe brotherhood of the human race." "All men, without regard torank, birth or nation," says Dunckar, "form, according to Budha'sview, one great suffering association in this earthly vale oftears; therefore, the commandments of love, forbearance, patience,compassion, pity, brotherliness of all men." Klaproth (a Germanprofessor of oriental languages) says this religion is calculatedto ennoble the human race. "It is difficult to comprehend," says aFrench writer (M. Leboulay), "how men, not assisted by revelation,could have soared so high, and approached so near the truth."
Dunckar says this oriental God "taught self-denial, chastity,temperance, the control of the passions, to bear injustice fromothers, to suffer death quietly, and without hate of yourpersecutor, to grieve not for one's own misfortunes, but for thoseof others." An investigation of their history will show that theylived up to these moral injunctions. "Besides the five greatcommandments," says a Wesleyan missionary (Spense Hardy) in hisDahmma Padam, "every shade of vice, hypocrisy, anger, pride,suspicion, greediness, gossiping, and cruelty to animals is guardedagainst by special precepts. Among the virtues, recommended, wefind not only reverence for parents, care for children, submissionto authority, gratitude, moderation in all things, submission intime of trial, equanimity at all times, but virtues, unknown insome systems of morality, such as the duty of forgiving injuries,and not rewarding evil for evil." And we will add, both charity andlove are specially recommended.
We have it also upon the authority of Dunckar that Budhaproclaimed that salvation and redemption have come for all, eventhe lowest and most abject classes." For he broke down the ironcaste of the Brahminical code which had so long ruled India, andaimed to place all mankind upon a level. His followers have beenstigmatized by Christian professors as "idolaters." But Sir JohnBowring, in his "Kingdom and People of Siam," denies that they areidolaters -- "because," says he, "no Buddhist believes his image tobe God, or anything more than an outward representation of Deity."Their deific images are looked upon with the same views andfeelings as a Christian venerates the photograph of his deceasedfriend. Hence, If one is an idolater, the other is also. Withrespect to the charge of polytheism, Missionary Huc says, "thatalthough their religion embraces many inferior deities, who fillthe same office's that angels do under the Christian system, yet,"-- adds M. Huc -- "monotheism is the real character of Buddhism;"and confirms the statement by the testimony of a Tibetan.
It should be noted here that although Buddhism succeeded inconverting about three hundred millions, or one-third of theinhabitants of the globe, it was never propagated by the sword, andnever persecuted the disciples of other religions. Its conquestswere made by a rational appeal to the human mind. Mr. Hodgson says,"It recognizes the infinite capacity of the human intellect." AndSt. Hilaire declares, "Love for all beings is its nucleus; and tolove our enemies, and not prosecute, are the virtues of thispeople." Max Muller says, "Its moral code, taken by itself, is oneof the most perfect the world has ever known."
Its five commandments are: --

Budha and his followers set an example to the world ofenduring opposition and persecution with great patience and non-resistance. And some of them suffered martyrdom rather than abandontheir principles, and gloried in thus sealing their doctrines withtheir lives.
A story is told of a rich merchant by the name of Purna,forsaking all to follow his lord and master; and also of hisencountering and talking with a woman of low caste at a well, whichreminds us of similar incidents in the history of Christ. But hisenemies, becoming jealous and fearful of his growing power, finallycrucified him near the foot of the Nepaul mountains, about 600 B.C.But after his death, burial and resurrection, we are told heascended back to heaven, where millions of his followers believedhe had existed with Brahma from all eternity.
(NOTE. -- In the cases of crucifixion which follow, nothinglike accuracy can be expected with respect to the dates of theiroccurrence, as all history covering the period beyond the modernera, or prior to the time of Alexander the Great (330 B.C.) isinvolved in a labyrinth of uncertainty with respect to dates.Hence, bible chronologists differ to the extent of three thousandyears with respect to the time of every event recorded in the OldTestament. Compare the Hebrew and Septuagint versions of the bible:The former makes the world three thousand nine hundred and forty-four, and the latter five thousand two hundred and seventy yearsold at the birth of Christ -- a difference of thirteen hundred andtwenty-six years. And other translations differ still more widely.All the cases of crucifixion which follow occurred before the timeof Christ, but the exact time of many of them cannot be fixed withcertainty.]
III. -- THAMMUZ OF SYRIA CRUCIFIED, 1160 B.C.


"Trust, ye saints, your Lord restored,
Trust ye in your risen Lord;
For the pains which Thammuz endured
Our salvation have procured."
Mr. Higgins informs us (Anac. vol. i.p. 246) that this God wascrucified at the period above named, as a sin-atoning offering. Thestanza just quoted is predicated upon the following Greek text,translated by Godwin: "Trust ye in God, for out of his loinssalvation has come unto us." Julius Firmicus speaks of this God"rising from the dead for the salvation of the world." TheChristian writer Parkhurst alludes to this Savior as preceding theadvent of Christ, and as filling to some extent the same chapter insacred history.
IV. -- CRUCIFIXION OF WITTOBA OF THE TELINGONESIC, 552 B.C.


V. -- IAO OF NEPAUL CRUCIFIED, 622 B.C.


VI. -- HESUS OF THE CELTIC DRUIDS CRUCIFIED, 834 B.C.


In this symbolical representation of the crucifixion, theelephant, being the largest animal known, was chosen to representthe magnitude of the sins of the world, while the lamb, from itsproverbial innocent nature, was chosen to represent the innocencyof the victim (the God offered as a propitiatory sacrifice). Andthus we have "the Lamb of God taking away the sins of the world" --symbolical language used with respect to the offering of JesusChrist. And here is indicated very clearly the origin of thefigure. It is evidently borrowed from the Druids. We have the statement of the above writer that this legend was found amongstthe Canutes of Gaul long before Jesus Christ was known to history.(See Anac. vol. ii. p. 130.)
VII. -- QUEXALCOTE OF MEXICO CRUCIFIED, 587 B.C.


That the advent of this crucified Savior and Mexican God waslong anterior to the era of Christ, is admitted by Christianwriters, as we have shown elsewhere. In the work above named "CodexBorgianus," may be found the account, not only of his crucifixion,but of his death, burial, descent into hell, and resurrection onthe third day. And another work, entitled "Codex Vaticanus,"contains the story of his immaculate birth by a virgin mother bythe name of Chimalman.
Many other incidences are found related of him in his sacredbiography, in which we find the most striking counterparts to themore modern gospel story of Jesus Christ, such as his forty days'temptation and fasting, his riding on an ass, his purification inthe temple, his baptism and regeneration by water, his forgiving ofsins, being anointed with oil, etc. "All these things, and manymore, found related of this Mexican God in their sacred books,"says Lord Kingsborough (a Christian writer), "are curious andmysterious." (See the books above cited.)
VIII. -- QUIRINUS OF ROME CRUCIFIED, 506 B.C.


He is represented, like Christ: --
IX. -- (AESCHYLUS) PROMETHEUS CRUCIFIED, 547 B.C.


The poet, in portraying his propitiatory offering, says: --
"Lo! streaming from the fatal tree
His all atoning blood,
Is this the Infinite? -- Yes, 'tis he,
Prometheus, and a God!
"Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And veil his glories in,
When God, the great Prometheus, died
For man the creature's sin."
The "New American Cyclopedia" (vol. i.p. 157) contains thefollowing significant declaration relative to this sin-atoningoriental Savior: "It is doubtful whether there is to be found inthe whole range of Greek letters deeper pathos than that of thedivine woe of the beneficent demigod Prometheus, crucified on hisScythian crags for his love to mortals." Here we have first-classauthority for the crucifixion of this oriental God.
In Lempriere's "Classical Dictonary," Higgins' "Anacalypsis,"and other works, may be found the following particulars relative tothe final exit of the God above named, viz.: --

These coincidences furnish still further proof that thetradition of the crucifixion of Gods has been very long prevalentamong the heathen.
X. -- CRUCIFIXION OF THULIS OF EGYPT, 1700 B.C.


Ultima Thule was the island which marked the ultimate boundsof the extensive empire of this legitimate descendant of the Gods.
This Egyptian Savior appears also to have been known as Zulis,and with this name -- Mr. Wilkison tells us -- "his history iscuriously illustrated in the sculptures, made seventeen hundredyears B.C., of a small, retired chamber lying nearly over thewestern adytum of the temple." We are told twenty-eight lotusplants near his grave indicate the number of years be lived on theearth. After suffering a violent death, he was buried, but roseagain, ascended into heaven, and there became "the judge of thedead," or of souls in a future state. Wilkison says he came downfrom heaven to benefit mankind, and that he was said to be full ofgrace and truth."
XI. -- CRUCIFIXION OF INDRA OF TIBET, 725 B.C.


Marvelous stories are told of the birth of the DivineRedeemer. His mother was a virgin of black complexion, and hencehis complexion was of the ebony hue, as in the case of Christ andsome other sin-atoning Saviors. He descended from heaven on amission of benevolence, and ascended back to the heavenly mansionafter his crucifixion. He led a life of strict celibacy, which, hetaught, was essential to true holiness. He inculcated greattenderness toward all living beings. He could walk upon the wateror upon the air; he could foretell future events with greataccuracy. He practiced the most devout contemplation, severediscipline of the body and mind, and acquired the most completesubjedtion of his passions. He was worshiped as a God who hadexisted as a spirit from all eternity, and his followers werecalled "Heavenly Teachers."
XII. -- ALCESTOS OF EURIPIDES CRUCIFIED, 600 B.C.


XIII. -- ATYS OF PHRYGIA CRUCIFIED, 1170 B.C.


XIV. -- CRITE OF CHALDEA CRUCIFIED, 1200 B.C.


XV. -- BALI OF ORISSA CRUCIFIED, 725 B.C.


XVI. -- MITHRA OF PERSIA CRUCIFIED, 600 B.C.


Our list is full, or we might note other cases of crucifixion.Devatat of Siam, Ixion of Rome, Apollonius of Tyana in Cappadocia,are all reported in history as having died the death of the cross."
Ixion, 400 B.C., according to Nimrod, was crucified on awheel, the rim representing the world, and the spokes constitutingthe cross. It is declared, "He bore the burden of the world" (thatis, "the sins of the world") on his back while suspended on thecross. Hence, he was sometimes called "the crucified spirit of theworld."
With respect to Apollonius, it is a remarkable, if not asuspicious circumstance that should not be passed unnoticed, thatseveral Christian writers, while they recount a long list ofmiracles and remarkable incidents in the life of this CappadocianSavior, extending through his whole life, and forming a parallel tosimilar incidents of the Christian Savior, not a word is said abouthis crucifixion.
And a similar policy has been pursued with respect to Mithraand other sin-atoning Gods, including Chrishna and Prometheus, asbefore noticed.
This important chapter in their history has been omitted byChristian writers for fear the relation of it would damage thecredibility of the crucifixion of Christ, or lessen its spiritualforce. For, like Paul, they were "determined to know nothing butJesus Christ and him crucified" (i Cor. ii. 2) i.e., to know noother God had been crucified but Jesus Christ. They thus exaltedthe tradition of the crucifixion into the most important dogma ofthe Christian faith. Hence, their efforts to conceal from thepublic a knowledge of the fact that it is of pagan origin.
By reference to Mackey's "Lexicon of Freemasonry (p. 35) welearn that Freemasons secretly taught the doctrine of thecrucifixion, atonement and resurrection long anterior to theChristian era, and that similar doctrines were taught in "all theancient mysteries," thus proving that the conception of thesetenets of faith existed at a very early period of time.
And it may be noted here, that the doctrine of salvation bycrucifixion had likewise, with most of the ancient forms ofreligious faith, an astronomical representation -- i.e., arepresentation in astronomical symbols. According to theemblematical figures comprised in their astral worship, people weresaved by the sun's crucifixion or crossification, realized bycrossing over the equinoctial line into the season of spring, andthereby gave out a saving heat and light to the world andstimulated the generative organs of animal and vegetable life. Itwas from this conception that the ancients were in the habit ofcarving or painting the organs of generation upon the walls oftheir holy temples. The blood of the grape, which was ripened bythe heat of the sun, as he crossed over by resurrection intospring, (i.e., was crucified), was symbolically "the blood of thecross," or "the blood of the Lamb."
If we should be met here with the statement, that the storiesof the ancient crucifixions of Gods were mere myths or fables,unwarrantably saddled on to their histories as mere romance, andhave no foundation in fact, we reply -- there is as much ground forsuspecting the same thing as being true of Jesus Christ.
One of the most celebrated and most frequently quotedChristian writers of the ancient bishops (Irenaeus) declares uponthe authority of the martyr Polycarp, who claimed to have got itfrom St. John and all the elders of Asia, that Jesus Christ was notcrucified, but lived to be about fifty years old.
We find there has always been a margin for doubt amongst hisown followers as to the fact of his crucifixion.
Many of the early Christians and contemporary Jews andGentiles doubted it, and some openly disputed its ever having takenplace. Others bestowed upon it a mere spiritual signification, andnot a few considered it symbolical of a holy life." Onecircumstance, calculated to lead to the entire discredit of thestory of the crucifixion of Christ, is the relation, in connectionwith it, of a violent convulsion of nature, and the resurrection ofthe long-buried saints -- events not supported by any authenticcontemporaneous history, sacred or profane. (See Chap. XVII.,Aphanasia).
And as these events must be set down as fabulous, they leavethe mind in doubt with respect to the fact of the crucifixionitself, especially when the many absurdities involved in thedocctrine of the crucifixion are brought to view, in connectionwith it, some of them so palpably erroneous that an unletteredsavage could see and point them out.
The Indian chief Red Jacket is reported to have replied to theChristian missionaries, when they urged upon his attention thebenefits of Christ's death by crucifixion, "Brethren, if you whitemen murdered the son of the Great Spirit, we Indians have nothingto do with it, and it is none of our affair. If he had come amongus, we would not have killed him. We would have treated him well.You must make amends for that crime yourselves."
This view of the crucifixion suggested to the mind of anilliterate heathen we deem more sensible and rational than that ofthe orthodox Christians, which makes it a meritorious act and amoral necessity. For this would not only exonerate Judas from anycriminality or guilt for the part he took in the affair, but wouldentitle him as well as Christ to the honorable title of a "Savior"for performing an act without which the crucifixion and consequentsalvation of the world could not have been effected. If it wasnecessary for Christ to suffer death upon the cross as an atonementfor sin, then the act of crucifixion was right, and a monumentshould be erected to the memory of Judas for bringing it about. Wechallenge Christian logic to find a flaw in this argument.
And another important consideration arises here. If theinhabitants of this planet required the murderous death of a God asan atonement, we must presume that the eighty-five millions ofinhabited worlds recently discovered by astronomers are, or havebeen, in equal need of a divine atonement. And this would requirethe crucifixion of eighty-five millions of Gods. Assuming one ofthese Gods to be crucified every minute, the whole would occupy aperiod of nearly twenty years. This would be killing off Gods atrather a rapid rate, and would make the work of the atonement andsalvation a very murderous and bloody affair -- a conception whichbrings to the mind a series of very revolting reflections.
The conception of Gods coming down from heaven, and being bornof virgins, and dying a violent death for the moral blunders of thepeople, originated in an age of the world when man was a savage,and dwelt exclusively upon the animal plane, and blood was therequisition for every offense. And it was an age when no world wasknown to exist but the one we inhabit. The stars were then supposedto be mere blazing tapers set in the azure vault to light thispygmy planet, or peep-holes for Gods to look out of heaven, to seeand learn what is going on below. Such conceptions are in perfectkeeping with the doctrine of the atoning crucifixion of Gods, whichcould never have originated or been entertained for a moment by anastronomer, with a knowledge of the existence of innumerableworlds. For as there is to the monotheistic Christian but one God,or Son of God, to be offered, he must be incarnated and crucifiedevery day for a thousand years to make a sin-offering for each ofthese worlds -- a conception too monstrous and preposterous to finda lodgment in a rational mind.
ORIGIN OF THE BELIEF OF THE CRUCIFIXION OF GODS


And thus the legend of the crucifixion became the crowningchapter, the aggrandizing episode in the history of their lives. Itwas presumed that nothing less than a God could endure suchexcruciating tortures without complaining.
Hence, when the victim was reported to have submitted withsuch fortitude that no murmur was heard to issue from his lips,this circumstance of itself was deemed sufficient evidence of hisGodship. The story of the crucifixion, therefore, whether true orfalse, deified or helped deify many great men and exalt them to therank of Gods. Though some of the disciples of Buddhism, and some ofthe primitive professors of Christianity also (including, accordingto Christian history, Peter and his brother Andrew), voluntarilychose this mode of dying in imitation of their crucified Lord,without experiencing, however, the desired promotion to divinehonors. They failed of an exaltation to the deityship, and henceare not now worshiped as Gods.


Christian reader, what can you now make of the story of thecrucifixion of Jesus Christ but a borrowed legend -- at least thestory of his being crucified as a God?

NOTE. -- The author desires it to be understood with respectto the cases of crucifixion here briefly narrated, that they arenot vouched for as actual occurrences, of which there is muchground to doubt. It has neither been his aim or desire to provethem to be real historical events, nor to establish any certainnumber of cases. Indeed, he deems it unimportant to know, if itcould be determined, whether they are fact or fiction, or whetherone God was crucified, or many. The moral lesson designed to betaught by this chapter is, simply, that the belief in thecrucifixion of Gods was prevalent in various oriental or heathencountries long prior to the reported crucifixion of Christ. If thispoint is established -- which he feels certain no reader willdispute then he is not concerned to know whether he has made outsixteen cases of crucifixion or not. Six will prove it as well assixteen. In fast, one case is sufficient to establish the importantproposition in view. The reader is, therefore, left to decide eachcase for himself, according as he may value the evidence presented.More authorities could have been adduced, and a more extendedhistory presented of each God brought to notice. But this wouldhave operated to exclude other matter, which the author considersof more importance.
TOPIC : The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors: Chapter 16: Sixteen Saviors Crucified  SOURCE : Linguistic Studies ** http://languages.forumactif.org/