The Author of Supernatural Religion Refuted by Himself - The Lost Gospel and Its Contents
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The Author of Supernatural Religion Refuted by Himself >> The Lost Gospel and Its Contents
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IRENAEUS.
Matthew, i.
"And Matthew, too, recognizing one and the same Jesus Christ,
exhibiting his generation as a man from the Virgin ... says, 'The
book of the generation of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of
Abraham.' Then, that he might free our mind from suspicion regarding
Joseph, he says, 'But the birth of Christ was on this wise: when His
mother was espoused,'" &c. (iii. xvi.)
Then he proceeds to quote and remark upon the whole of the remainder of
the chapter.
"Matthew again relates His generation as a man." For remainder, see
page 128.
"For Joseph is shown to be the son of Joachim and Jeconiah, as also
Matthew sets forth in his pedigree." (iii. 21, 9.)
"Born Emmanuel of the Virgin. To this effect they testify that
before Joseph had come together with Mary, while she therefore
remained in virginity, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost."
(iii. 21, 4.)
"Then again Matthew, when speaking of the angel, says, 'The angel of
the Lord appeared to Joseph in sleep.' (iii. 9, 2.)
"The angel said to him in sleep, 'Fear not to take to thee Mary, thy
wife'" (and proceeding with several other verses of the same
chapter). (iv. 23, l.)
Matthew, ii.
"But Matthew says that the Magi, coming from the East, exclaimed,
'For we have seen His star in the East, and are come to worship
Him.'" (iii. 9, 2.)
"And that having been led by the star unto the house of Jacob to
Emmanuel, they showed, by those gifts which they offered, who it was
that was worshipped; myrrh, because it was He who should die and be
buried for the human race; gold, because He was a king," &c., &c.
(iii. 9, 2)
"He, since He was Himself an infant, so arranging it that human
infants should be martyrs, slain, according to the Scriptures, for
the sake of Christ." (iii. 16, 4.)
Matthew, iii.
"For Matthew the apostle ... declares that John, when preparing the
way for Christ, said to them who were boasting of their relationship
according to the flesh, &c., 'O generation of vipers, who hath shown
you to flee from ... raise up children unto Abraham.' (iii. 9, 1.)
"As John the Baptist says, 'For God is able from these stones to
raise up children unto Abraham.'" (iv. 7, 2.)
There are no less than six quotations or references to the ninth and
tenth verses of this chapter, viz., iv. 24, 2; v. 34, 1; iv. 8, 3; iv.
36, 4; v. 17, 4.
"Now who this Lord is that brings such a day about, John the Baptist
points out when he says of Christ, 'He shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost and with fire, having His fan in His hand,'" &c. (iv. 4,
3.)
"Having a fan in His hands, and cleansing His floor, and gathering
the wheat,'" &c. (iv. 33, 1.)
"Who gathers the wheat into His barn, but will burn up the chaff
with fire unquenchable." (iv. 33, ll.)
"Then, speaking of His baptism, Matthew says, 'The heavens were
opened, and He saw the Spirit of God,'" &c. (iii. 9, 3.)
Mark, i.
"Wherefore Mark also says, 'The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets.'" (iii. 16,
3.)
"Yea, even the demons exclaimed, on beholding the Son, 'We know Thee
who Thou art, the Holy One of God.'" (iv. 6, 6.)
Mark iv. 28.
"His Word, through whom the wood fructifies, and the fountains gush
forth, and the earth gives 'first the blade, then the ear, then the
full corn in the ear.'" (iv. 18, 4.)
Luke, i.
"Thus also does Luke, without respect of persons, deliver to us what
he had learned from them, as he has himself testified, saying, 'Even
as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were
eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word.'" (iii. 14, 2.)
Another reference to same in preface to Book iv.
"Luke, also, the follower and disciple of the Apostles, referring to
Zacharias and Elizabeth, from whom, according to promise, John was
born, says, 'And they were both righteous before God, walking in all
the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless,'", &c. (iii.
10, 1.)
"And again, speaking of Zacharias, 'And it came to pass, that while
he executed the priest's office,'" &c. (_Ibid._)
"And then, speaking of John, he (the angel) says: 'For he shall be
great in the sight of the Lord,'" &c. (_Ibid._)
"In the spirit and power of Elias." (iii. 10, 6.)
"Truly it was by Him of whom Gabriel was the angel who also
announced the glad tidings of His birth ... in the spirit and power
of Elias." (iii. 11, 4.)
"But at that time the angel Gabriel was sent from God, who did also
say to the Virgin, 'Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with
God.'" (iii. 10, 2.)
"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest," &c.
(iii. 10, 2.)
"And Mary, exulting because of this, cried out; prophesying on
behalf of the Church, 'My soul doth magnify the Lord.'" (iii. 10,
2.)
"And that the angel Gabriel said unto her, 'The Holy Ghost shall
come upon thee,'" &c. (iii. 21, 4.)
"In accordance with this design Mary the Virgin is found obedient,
saying, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to
Thy word.'" (iii. 22, 4.)
"As Elizabeth testified when fitted with the Holy Ghost, saying to
Mary, 'Blessed art thou among women,'" &c. (iii. 21, 5.)
"Wherefore the prophets ... announced His Advent ... in freeing us
from the hands of all that hate us, that is, from every spirit of
wickedness, and causing us to serve Him in holiness and
righteousness all our days.'" (iv. 20, 4.)
Luke, ii.
"Wherefore Simeon also, one of his descendants, carried fully out
the rejoicing of the patriarch, and said, 'Lord, now lettest Thou
Thy servant,'" &c. (iv. 7, l.)
"And the angel in like manner announced tidings of great joy to the
shepherds who were keeping watch by night." (iv. 7, 1.)
"Wherefore he adds, 'The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising
God for all which they had seen and heard.'" (iii. 10, 4.)
"And still further does Luke say in reference to the Lord, 'When the
days of purification were accomplished they brought Him up to
Jerusalem to present Him before the Lord.'" (iii. 10, 5.)
"They say also that Simeon, 'Who took Christ into his arms and gave
thanks to God,'" &c. (i. 8, 4.)
"They assert also that by Anna, who is spoken of in the Gospel as a
prophetess, and who after living seven years with her husband,
passed all the rest of her life in widowhood till she saw the
Saviour." (i. 8, 4.)
"The production, again, of the Duodecad of the aeons is indicated by
the fact that the Lord was twelve years of age when He disputed with
the teachers of the law," &c. (i. 3, 2.)
"Some passages, also, which occur in the Gospels receive from them a
colouring of the same kind, as the answer which He gave His mother
when He was twelve years old, 'Wist ye not that I must be about My
Father's business?'" (i. 20, 2.)
Luke, iii.
"For because He knew that we should make a good use of our substance
which we should possess by receiving it from another, He says, 'He
that hath two coats let him impart to him that hath none, and he
that hath meat let him do likewise.'" (iv. 30, 3.)
"For when He came to be baptized He had not yet completed His
thirtieth year, but was beginning to be about thirty years of age;
for thus Luke, who has mentioned His years, has expressed it." (ii.
22, 5.)
John, i.
"[John] thus commenced his teaching in the Gospel, 'In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,'" &c.
(iii. 11, 1.)
"He (St. John) expresses himself thus: 'In the beginning was the
Word,'" &c. (i. 8, 5.)
"Thus saith the Scripture, 'By the word of the Lord were the heavens
made,' &c. And again, 'All things were made by Him, and without Him
was nothing made that was made.'" (i. 22, 1.)
"For he styles Him 'A light which shineth in darkness, and which was
not comprehended by it.'" (i. 8, 5.)
"And that we may not have to ask 'Of what God was the Word made
flesh?' He does Himself previously teach us, saying, 'There was a
man sent from God whose name was John. The same came as a witness
that he might bear witness of that Light. He was not that Light, but
that he might testify of the Light.'" (iii. 11, 4.)
"While the Gospel affirms plainly that by the Word, which was in the
beginning with God, all things were made, which Word, he says, was
made flesh and dwelt among us." (iii. 11, 2.)
To John i. 14, "The Word was made flesh," the references are absolutely
innumerable. Those I have given already will suffice.
"For this is the knowledge of salvation which was wanting to them,
that of the Son of God, which John made known, saying, 'Behold the
Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. This is He of
whom I said, After me cometh a Man Who was made before me, because
He was prior to me.'" (iii. 10, 2.)
"By whom also Nathaniel, being taught, recognized Him; he to whom
also the Lord bare witness that he was an Israelite indeed, in whom
was no guile. The Israelite recognized his King, therefore did he
cry out to Him, 'Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God. Thou art the King
of Israel.'" (iii. 11, 6.)
John, ii.
"But that wine was better which the Word made from water, on the
moment, and simply for the use of those who had been called to the
marriage." (iii. 11, 5.)
"As also the Lord speaks in reference to Himself, 'Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' He spake this,
however, it is said, of the temple of His body." (v. 6, 2.)
CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.
Matthew, i.
"And in the gospel according to Matthew the genealogy which begins
with Abraham is continued down to Mary, the mother of the Lord.
'For,' it is said, 'from Abraham to David are fourteen generations,
and from David to the carrying away into Babylon," &c.
(Miscellanies, i. 21.)
Matthew, iii.
"For the fan is in the Lord's hand, by which the chaff due to the
fire is separated from the wheat." (Instructor, i. 9.)
Matthew, iv.
"Therefore He Himself, urging them on to salvation, cries, 'The
Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.'" (Exhortation to Heathen, ch. ix.)
Matthew, v.
"And because He brought all things to bear on the discipline of the
soul, He said, 'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the
earth.'" (Miscellanies, iv. 6.)
Mark, i.
"For he also 'ate locusts and wild honey.'" [In St. Matthew the
corresponding expression being 'His food was locusts and wild
honey.'] (Instructor, ii. 11.)
Luke, iii.
"And to prove that this is true it is written in the Gospel by Luke
as follows: 'And in the fifteenth year, in the reign of Tiberius
Caesar, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias.'
And again, Jesus was coming to His baptism, being about thirty years
old,' and so on." (Miscellanies, i. 21.)
There are at least twenty more references to the accounts of the
preaching of St. John in the third of St. Matthew, first of St. Mark,
and third of St. Luke, in Clement's writings, which I have not given
simply because it is difficult to assign the quotation to a particular
Evangelist, as the account is substantially the same in the three.
Luke xii. 16-20.
"Of this man's field (the rich fool) the Lord, in the Gospel, says
that it was fertile, and afterwards, when he wished to lay by his
fruits and was about to build greater barns," &c. (Miscellanies,
iii. 6.)
Luke xiii. 32.
"Thus also in reference to Herod, 'Go tell that fox, Behold, I cast
out devils,'" &c. (Miscellanies, iv. 6.)
Luke xiv. 12, 13.
"He says accordingly, somewhere, 'When thou art called to a wedding
recline not on the highest couch.' ... And elsewhere, 'When thou
makest a dinner or a supper,' and again, 'But, when thou makest an
entertainment, call the poor.'" (Instructor, ii. 1.)
Luke, xv. Parable of Prodigal Son.
"For it were not seemly that we, after the fashion of the rich man's
son in the Gospel, should, as prodigals, abuse the Father's gifts."
(Instructor, ii. ch. i.)
John, i.
"You have then God's promise; you have His love: become partakers of
His grace. And do not suppose the song of salvation to be new, as a
vessel or a house is new; for ... in the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (Exhortation to
Heathen, ch. i.)
"For He has said, 'In the beginning the Word was in God, and the
Word was God." (Instructor, viii.)
"Wherefore it (the law) was only temporary; but eternal grace and
truth were by Jesus Christ. Mark the expressions of Scripture; of
the law only is it is said 'was given;' but truth, being the grace
of the Father, is the eternal work of the Word, and it is not said
to _be given_, but _to be_ by Jesus, _without whom nothing was_."
(Instructor, i. 7.)
"The divine Instructor is trustworthy, adorned as He is with three
of the fairest ornaments ... with authority of utterance, for He is
God and Creator; for all things were made by Him, and without Him
was not anything made: and with benevolence, for He alone gave
Himself a sacrifice for us, 'For the Good Shepherd giveth His life
for the sheep.'" (John x. 11.) (Instructor, i. 11.)
"For the darkness, it is said, comprehendeth it not." (Instructor,
ii. 10.)
"Having through righteousness attained to adoption, and therefore
'have received power to become the sons of God.'" (Miscellanies, iv.
6.)
"For of the prophets it is said, 'We have all received of His
fulness,' that is, of Christ's." (Miscellanies, i. 17.)
"And John the apostle says, 'No man hath seen God at any time. The
only begotten God,' [oldest reading,] 'who is in the bosom of the
Father, He hath declared Him." (Miscellanies, v. 12.) John, iii.
"He that believeth not is, according to the utterance of the
Saviour, condemned already." (Miscellanies, iv. 16.)
"Enslaved as you are to evil custom, and clinging to it voluntarily
till your last breath, you are hurried to destruction; because light
has come into the world, and men have loved the darkness rather than
the light." (Exhortation to Heathen, 10.)
"'I must decrease,' said the prophet John." (Miscellanies, vi. II.)
TERTULLIAN.
Matthew, i.
"There is, first of all, Matthew, that most faithful chronicler of
the Gospel, because the companion of the Lord; for no other reason
in the world than to show us clearly the fleshy original of Christ,
he thus begins, 'The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son
of David the son of Abraham.'" (On the Flesh of Christ, ch. xxii.)
"It is, however, a fortunate circumstance that Matthew also, when
tracing down the Lord's descent from Abraham to Mary, says, 'Jacob
begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, _of whom_ was born Jesus." (On
the Flesh of Christ, ch. xx.)
"You [the heretic] say that He was born _through_ a virgin, not _of_
a virgin, and _in_ a womb, not _of_ a womb; because the angel in the
dream said to Joseph, 'That which is born in her is of the Holy
Ghost.'" (_Ibid._ ch. xx.)
Matthew, ii.
"For they therefore offered to the then infant Lord that
frankincense, and myrrh, and gold, to be, as it were, the close of
worldly sacrifice and glory, which Christ was about to do away." (On
Idolatry, ch. ix.)
Mark i. 4.
"For, in that John used to preach 'baptism _for_ the remission of
sins,' the declaration was made with reference to a future
remission." (On Baptism, x.)
Mark i. 24.
"This accordingly the devils also acknowledge Him to be: 'We know
Thee Who Thou art, the Son of God.'" (Against Praxeas, ch. xxvi.)
Let the reader particularly remark this phrase. Tertullian quotes the
last clauses differently from the reading in our present copies, "The
Holy One of God." If such a quotation had occurred in Justin, the author
of "Supernatural Religion" would have cited the phrase as a quotation
from a lost Gospel, and asserted that the author had not even seen
St. Mark.
Luke, i.
"Elias was nothing else than John, who came 'in the power and spirit
of Elias.'" (On Monogamy, ch. viii.)
"I recognize, too, the angel Gabriel as having been sent to a
virgin; but when he is blessing her, it is 'among women.'" (On the
Veiling of Virgins, ch. vi.)
"Will not the angel's announcement be subverted, that the Virgin
should 'conceive in her womb and bring forth a son?' ... Therefore
even Elizabeth must be silent, although she is carrying in her womb
the prophetic babe, which was already conscious of his Lord, and is,
moreover, filled with the Holy Ghost. For without reason does she
say, 'And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should
come to me?' If it was not as her son, but only as a stranger, that
Mary carried Jesus in her womb, how is it she says, 'Blessed is the
fruit of thy womb?'" (On the Flesh of Christ, ch. xxi.)
"Away, says he [he is now putting words into the mouth of the
heretic], with that eternal plaguy taxing of Caesar, and the scanty
inn, and the squalid swaddling clothes, and the hard stable. We do
not care a jot for that multitude of the heavenly host which praised
their Lord at night. Let the shepherds take better care of their
flock ... Spare also the babe from circumcision, that He may escape
the pains thereof; nor let Him be brought into the temple, lest He
burden His parents with the expense of the offering; nor let Him be
handed to Simeon, lest the old man be saddened at the point of
death." (On the Flesh of Christ, ch. ii.)
"This He Himself, in those other gospels also, testifies Himself to
have been from His very boyhood, saying, 'Wist ye not, says He, that
I must be about my Father's business?'" (Against Praxeas, xxvi.)
John, i.
"In conclusion, I will apply the Gospel as a supplementary testimony
to the Old Testament ... it is therein plainly revealed by Whom He
made all things. 'In the beginning was the Word,'--that is, the same
beginning, of course, in which God made the heaven and the
earth--'and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,'" &c.
(Against Hermogenes, ch. xx.)
I give only one reference to the first few verses, as the number in
Tertullian's writings is enormous.
"It is written, 'To them that believed on Him, gave He power to be
called Sons of God.'" (On Prayer, ch. ii.)
"But by saying 'made,' he [St. Paul] not only confirmed the
statement 'the Word was made flesh,' but he also asserted the
reality," &c. (On the Flesh of Christ, ch. xx.)
John, ii.
"[He Jesus] inaugurates in _water_ the first rudimentary displays of
His power, when invited to the nuptials." (On Baptism, ch. ix.)
The twenty-first chapter of the "Discourse against Praxeas" is filled
with citations from St. John. I will give a small part.
"He declared what was in the bosom of the Father alone; the Father
did not divulge the secrets of His own bosom. For this is preceded
by another statement: 'No man hath seen God at any time.' Then
again, when He is designated by John as 'the Lamb of God.' ... This
[divine relationship] Nathanael at once recognized in Him, even as
Peter did on another occasion: 'Thou art the Son of God.' And He
affirmed Himself that they were quite right in their convictions,
for He answered Nathanael, 'Because I said I saw thee under the
fig-tree, dost thou believe?' ... When He entered the temple He
called it 'His Father's house,' [speaking] as the Son. In His
address to Nicodemus He says, 'So God loved the world,' &c....
Moreover, when John the Baptist was asked what he happened [to know]
of Jesus, he said, 'The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all
things into His Hands. He that believeth,' &c. Whom, indeed, did He
reveal to the woman of Samaria? Was it not 'the Messias which is
called Christ?' ... He says, therefore, 'My meat is to do the will
of Him that sent me, and to finish His work,'" &c. &c. (Against
Praxeas, ch. xxi.)
SECTION XX.
THE EVIDENCE FOR MIRACLES.
It does not come within the scope of this work to examine at any length
the general subject of miracles. The assertion that miracles, such as
those recorded in Scripture, are absolutely impossible, and so have
never taken place, must be met by the counter assertion that they are
possible, and have taken place. They are possible to the Supreme Being,
and have taken place by His will or sufferance at certain perfectly
historical periods; especially during the first century after the birth
of Christ. When to this it is replied that miracles are violations of
natural law or order, and that it is contrary to our highest idea of the
Supreme Being to suppose that He should alter the existing order of
things, we can only reply that it is in accordance with our highest idea
of Him that He should do so; and we say that in making these assertions
we are not unreasonable, but speak in accordance with natural science,
philosophy, and history.
And, in order to prove this, we have only to draw attention to the
inaccuracy which underlies the use of the term "law" by the author of
"Supernatural Religion," and those who think as he does. The author of
"Supernatural Religion" strives to bring odium on the miracles of the
Gospel by calling them "violations of law," and by asserting that it is
a false conception of the Supreme Being to suppose that He should have
made an Universe with such elements of disorder within it that it should
require such things as the violation, or even suspension, of laws to
restore it to order, and that our highest and truest idea of God is that
of One Who never can even so much as make Himself known except through
the action of the immutable laws by which this visible state of things
is governed.
Now what is a law? The laws with which in this discussion we are given
to understand we have to do, are strictly speaking limitations--the
limitations of forces or powers which, in conception at least, must
themselves be prior to the limitations.
Take the most universal of all so-called "laws," the law of gravitation.
The law of gravitation is the limitation imposed upon that mysterious
force which appears to reside in all matter, that it should attract all
other matter. This power of attraction is called gravitation; but
instead of acting at random, as it were, it acts according to certain
well-known rules which only are properly the "laws" of gravitation.
Now the very existence of our world depends upon the force of attraction
being counteracted. If, from a certain moment, gravitation were to
become the only force in the solar system, the earth would fall upon the
surface of the sun, and be annihilated; but the earth continues in
existence because of the action of another force--the projectile
force--which so far counteracts the force of the sun's attraction, that
the earth revolves around the sun instead of falling upon its surface.
In this case the _law_ of gravitation is not violated, or even
suspended, but the force of gravitation is counteracted or modified by
another force.
Again, the blood circulates through our bodies by means of another power
or force counteracting the force of gravitation, and this is the vital
power or force.
But why do we lift up our feet from the ground to go about some daily
duty? Here comes another force--the force of will, which directs the
action of some of the vital forces, but not that of others.
But, again, two courses of action are open to us, and we deliberately
choose the one because we think that it is our duty, though it may
entail danger or pain, or even death. Here is a still deeper force or
power, the force of conscience--the moral power which is clearly the
highest power within us, for it governs the very will, and sits in
judgment upon the whole man, and acquits or condemns him according to
its rule of right and wrong.
Here, then, are several gradations of power or force--any one of them as
real as the others; each one making itself felt by counteracting and
modifying the action of the one below it.
Now the question arises, is there any power or force clearly above the
highest controlling power within us, _i.e._ above our conscience? We say
that there is. There are some who on this point can reverently take up
the words of our Great Master, "We speak that we do know." We believe,
as firmly as we believe in our own existence, that this our
conscience--the highest power within us--has been itself acted upon by a
Higher Power still, a moral and spiritual Power, which has enlightened
it, purified it, strengthened it, in fact renewed it.
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