CHAPTER V. Contradictory and Miscellaneous Extracts. IN the foregoing chapters the reader will find a tolerably accurate epitome of the various passages in the New Testament upon which the doctrines of modern Christianity rest. We will now point out some passages which seem to teach certain contradictory doctrines and sacraments which modern Christianity has thought fit to exclude from its observances. The Ceremony of Feet-washing Enjoined. "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; Anointing the Head and Fasting. "But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face." Do not Swear by Oaths. "I say unto you, Swear not at all. (Matt. 6: 17.) Let your communication be, yea, yea; nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these, cometh of evil." (Matt. 5: 34.) "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath; but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay, lest ye fall into condemnation." (James 5: 12.) Celibacy and Fasting Condemned. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received Confession. "Confess your faults one to another, and Discrepancies Concerning Christ. pray one for an (James 5:16.) In Hebrews 7th we find Christ described as "a priest after the order of Melchisedec," and in verse 3 occurs the following extraordinary allusion to his origin. "Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually." How this statement can be reconciled with the following from Romans 1: 3, or the pedigrees in Matthew and Luke, it is difficult to see: 66 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.” Let us now compare the pedigree given in Matthew with that contained in Luke. The former commences as follows: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Here Christ is called the son of David, but it is clearly meant in the sense of a descendant of David, seeing that whilst David is called the son of Abraham the writer immediately afterwards proceeds to show how David descended from Abraham through several generations. To trace the descent of Jesus from David, Matthew then proceeds to state that "David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; and Solomon begat Roboam," &c. (continuing the descent down to one "Matthan who begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus." On turning to Luke's pedigree, we are told in effect that David begat Nathan (not Solomon), and Nathan begat Mattatha, &c. (continuing the pedigree through quite a different succession of names to those given by Matthew), down to one Matthat who begat Heli (not Jacob), and Heli was the father of Joseph, the father of Jesus. Of Jesus, Luke speaks as "being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli." On referring to Matthew 1: 25, the reader will see that the foregoing statements about Jesus being "of the seed of David" are again contradicted, because Jesus is said to have been "conceived of the Holy Ghost." Since, therefore, it is impossible to reconcile all these contradictory statements, the only rational conclusion is, that either St. Matthew or St. Luke were wrong, and therefore not inspired. Flesh Meat and Wine Condemned. Although Christ attended feasts and drank wine until he was called a "wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners," St. Paul, in Romans 14:21, says— "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." It is needless to say that modern Christians quietly ignore St. Paul's teachings on this point, as they have the injunction to wash one another's feet, to anoint the head when fasting, and to avoid taking oaths. When we find, therefore, that stray remarks of St. Paul are seized hold of by various sects, and adopted as vital points of doctrine, in short, are made to all intents and purposes into laws binding on the Christian conscience, it is certainly strange that these other passages should be entirely ignored, especially in view of what St. James said "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." Should Religion be Gloomy? On this subject the apostles contradict one another, and differ from Christ's teachings. Jesus said "When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad counte nance for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward." (Matt. 6: 16.) (1 Thess. 5 16.) "Be afflicted, and mourn and weep: let your laughter be Has Christ Power to Judge? "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the (John 5: 22; see also 5 : 27.) "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again." (Rom. 8: 34.) Does God Tempt Man? Whilst in the Lord's Prayer Christ is said to have directed his followers to pray God to "Lead us not into temptation," James writes "Let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of Are Men to Hate and Forsake their Families? The following extraordinary statements by Christ are so entirely at variance with the rest of his teachings, as to leave little doubt that Christ never uttered them, and therefore, that the apostles, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, must have reported him wrongly, or they have been wrongly translated :— "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and (Luke 14: 33.) "And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." (Mark 10: 30; Luke 18: 30; and Matt. 19: 29.) Christians and anti-Christians. "For he that is not against us is on our part." "He that is not with me is against The Date of the Second Coming. (Mark 9: 40.) me: and he that (Luke 11: 23.) There is abundant evidence in the New Testament to prove either that Christ and his disciples were utterly mistaken regarding the second coming of Christ, or else, that the apostles have strangely misreported what Christ said. How otherwise it is possible to reconcile the following statements with the facts of history, it is difficult to see : Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” (Matt. 16: 28.) |