Produced by David Widger






CHRISTIAN MYSTERY

A CHINESE TALE, FOUND IN THE PORTFOLIO OF A PORTUGUESE FRIAR.


     Hear, O prodigy! O Tenderness! O Mystery!--He has just
     drowned the Fathers;--and now he will die for the Children!

     Voltaire.


LONDON:

PRINTED & PUBLISHED BY R. CARLILE, 55, FLEET STREET.

1819.





CHRISTIAN MYSTERY


Commercial affaire had engaged me to make a sea voyage. I had got far
from the shores of my native country, when a dreadful tempest threw me
on an unknown coast; however, I fell into the hands of a very humane
people, and soon found they had brought the arts to great perfection,
that they practised many virtues, and appeared to me in a state as
enlightened as humanity could attain.

My admiration of them equalled my gratitude, but, alas! it is but too
true, that man always discovers by some failing the weakness of his
being.

These people shewed as much friendship towards me as I could possibly do
to them; their mildness and civility entirely gained my affection. They
said to me one day, "Of what religion are you?" The question surprised
me; I asked them if there were two religions, at which they smiled, and
I saw they were astonished at my ignorance. "My friend," said one of
them, "give thanks to God for having conducted you amongst us to be
instructed in our holy religion. You do not know then that God has made
himself a man?" I assured them it was the first time I had heard of it,
and asked them why he had become a man? Know, continued they, that the
first man eat an apple which God had forbidden him, in consequence of
which all his posterity were condemned to eternal punishment. At another
time men became so criminal that the Almighty repented of having created
them, and drowned them all with the exception of eight persons. The
posterity of these became no better, God continued to be displeased, and
as it was necessary to reconcile him to mankind, God the Son became a
man to appease God the Father.

This divine family astonished me a little. And the daughter of God, said
I, what is become of her? They answered gravely, God has no daughter.

Oh! he has but a Son: but how do you know the sex of this Son? They
answered, God is incorporeal, he has no sex. I insisted--how could God
the Father produce God the Son? He begot him. God has a sex then,--he
must also have a wife. They smiled at me again. But when did the Father
beget this Son? From all eternity. My friends, there is an apparent
contradiction, it is not possible for the Son who was begotten to be as
old as the Father. Has the Father then any other children? No; but there
is a third person who proceeds from the Father and the Son. I suppose
he was begotten also? No; certainly not: pray take care what you say, or
you will be guilty of heresy. I replied, I did not understand them.

O, Sir, these are mysteries which God himself has revealed to men, to
the end that they might understand nothing. Wonderful, said I. They
continued: God wished to humble men's reason, that is, to give them a
disregard for the most precious gift they hold of his bounty. And you
make no use of your reason then? O yes; we are allowed to use it in
all other actions of our lives, but in matters of religion it would be
impious. Better and better, said I. So then I find you have three Gods?
No, no, replied they, we have indeed three persons, of whom the first
is the Father, the second is the Son, or word, the third is the Holy
Spirit; but all these three make only one God. How, Gentlemen? these
three make but one, and one makes three! Yes; it is so, replied they,
though contrary to all the rules of arithmetic; you must know that our
theology is far superior to this petty science; however we will explain
the whole to you.

What do you call the third person? said I. The Holy Ghost. Has the Holy
Ghost been a man also? No; but he became a pigeon; we do not know indeed
that it was his natural form, but when he appeared to the apostles he
was pleased to borrow that shape.

And the Son of God has been a man from all eternity? O no, only
seventeen hundred years.

Of whom, and now was he born? He was born of a virgin. She would
certainly be much surprised know-ing herself to be a virgin? O yes;
you are right; but an angel came to prepare her that she might not be
alarmed in being brought to bed. Yet I suppose you will be still
more surprised when we tell you she was married? O no; pardon me, I
understand this mystery better than all the others. Nay, do not jest,
Sir, her husband had not slept with her; we have it so revealed to us.
And pray how did she conceive? By the operation of the Holy Ghost. But
you say that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son; how then could he
produce the Son? Yes, Sir, it is so, by the infallible decision of the
holy church. And who was his mother? The wife of a carpenter. What kind
of a life did he lead? He served thirty years in his father's shop, and
was very serviceable to him. Indeed, gentlemen, very well! I perceive
you have sublime notions of the divinity. At the age of thirty he began
to preach to the people in the country, which lasted some time; at
length the magistrates became displeased, because in his sermons he
said a great deal about rich men, and the officers of the government. He
foresaw that he would be punished, and perspired both water and blood.
Indeed! that is another fine trait in his character.

At length he was arrested by the magistrates, and crucified between two
robbers. And he died? Yes. And was buried? Yes. Well then I suppose that
is the end of his history? Hold, Sir, you go too fast; he died, it is
true, but it was in consideration that God would pardon mankind. Oh, I
understand you. God would pardon the sins of mankind because they had
killed his Son. Truly, nothing could be better imagined. But know for
testimony of his divinity, he rose again the third day. And what proof
have you of this? The writings of his disciples. But what said the
people? They contradicted it.

Oh, gentlemen! I find you are as well provided with proofs as with
reasonings; but did he perform any other miracles? Yes; he cured those
possessed of evil spirits; dried a fig tree; sent devils into a herd of
swine; filled the nets of his disciples with fishes, and changed water
into wine; but he loved so to humble himself, that never in his life did
he own that he was God. And why do you believe it? His sectaries have
disputed a long time on this important article, as well as of the Holy
Ghost, because three persons were not spoken of in the Old Testament.
The Holy Ghost was found out to be God after twelve hundred years had
passed over, and as for the divinity of Jesus, three hundred years of
disputes, troubles, and massacres sufficed to decide the matter in his
favour.

As you love this God so much, I suppose he was born in your country? No;
he was born in another quarter of the globe. Indeed! You go very far to
seek your gods! He must then have left a book of doctrines of religion,
which you thought proper to adopt? No? he did not teach a new religion,
neither did he write any thing; but some of his disciples have
written his history and discourses. And your religion is there exactly
prescribed? Oh, no! We have only a few particulars of his life,
accompanied by some moral precepts; he has there declared that he
came to fulfil the ancient law and not to change it. Then there was a
particular religion in the country where he was born, before his time?
Yes. And it is that same religion that you still observe? No; ours is
in direct opposition to it. But whence then is this new religion, for
you own that it was never announced by your God? We have explained,
commented, interpreted without ceasing these seventeen hundred years on
the discourses of Christ; and have drawn from them a long succession
of dogmas and mysteries quite new. And do you all agree in these
interpretations? No: far from it. We have always been disputing,
fighting, and killing one another on account of them. Well, I am very
sorry to tell you that I do not think your religion very attracting.
What do you say? You do not agree in your explanations, and you quarrel
and kill each other about them? Your religion does not at all please
me; yet I suppose it had been adopted by the people of the country where
your God dwelt? You are again deceived; Christ had but a very small
number of disciples, and these were from the lowest class of the people.
Have we not already told you that he was put to death by order of the
magistrates? What do you say, gentlemen? Was not his doctrine believed
by the people he attempted to instruct? No. His miracles, have they not
persuaded those who were witnesses? No. And why should you believe
them; you who came seventeen hundred years after him? O, Sir, all things
require an explanation. Know then that God sent his Son among this
people whose hearts he had hardened, purposely that they might not
believe in him.

Well explained! I am quite delighted with your mode of reasoning; but
pray what name do you give this people? Jews.--Jews? Jews! I never heard
of them? No, I believe you. They occupied such a small territory that
their reputation did not extend far; nevertheless they were formerly
God's favourite people. God chose them from among all the nations of the
earth; he governed them himself, and often conversed with their chiefs.
Sometimes through tenderness for his people he ordered them to massacre
each other; and at one time twenty three thousand were put to death by
their own citizens at the express command of God.

God ordered one of their kings to murder every man of a nation they had
vanquished; the king had the audacity to spare some who were not in a
state to defend themselves and was punished for it. A son of this king
was condemned to die for eating honey on the day of battle, and God, who
was justly irritated at the father as well as son, proscribed them both,
and made choice of a new king.

This king (whom God had expressly chosen) committed adultery with the
wife of one of his generals, and massacred her husband. By the adultress
he had a son who kept seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines
in his seraglio; but you must know these two kings were cherished by our
God; both had heavenly benedictions heaped on their heads. The father
was the man after God's own heart, and the son was the wisest of men.
The Son of God, who became a man, descended in a direct line from this
_wisest of men_, and from the adultress of whom we have just spoken.

O, gentlemen, exclaimed I, you make me shudder at your impious ideas.
They resumed. Have we not told you that the conduct of this God was
always mysterious, purposely to humble our weak reason? The first
legislator whom God gave to his favourite people was an assassin; but
he had nevertheless the gift of performing a number of miracles. He
composed a body of civil and religious rites and laws which we still
revere as having been inspired by the Deity. And yet, you do not observe
them? No; truly. We hold those people in horror who do so. It is true,
that this was formerly the favourite people of God, and all other
nations were rejected; afterwards the other nations were chosen, and
this favourite people rejected. Do you not admire, Sir, the wisdom of
the God we adore?

At this discourse, I stole away from them, and could scarcely persuade
myself it was more than a dream. Having before seen to what great
perfection this people had attained in every human science, I began to
fear the weakness of my nature, and determined to return to my country;
lest those abominable European prejudices should make me forget my duty
to my fellow creatures, and reverence for the God of all worlds.


THE END.