 of Matthew, Christ, speaking of the Scribes and Pharisees, ordered his followers, -- "All, therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do." But at the same time he denounces them for their acts, violates his own commandment to -- "speak well of those that hate you."
It was perfectly proper for Christ or anyone to criticize hypocrites and the religious leaders, but endeavoring to preach one thing and practice another is only an indication of the ridiculousness of the conflicting and garbled Biblical commandments.
Christ predicted that during the generation in which he was preaching, the sun would be darkened and the moon would not give light, the stars would fall from Heaven and the powers of the heaven would be shaken and the son of man would return and reign over the earth but, of course, this vain boast was never fulfilled.
There Are Grave Doubts
Whether Christ Ever Lived
Many eminent authorities claim that no such person as Christ ever lived, any more than such gods as Mars, Isis, Woden, Siva, Zeus, Jupiter, Juno, Baal, and a host of other reputed gods ever lived. Their lives have all been based on myths. Why the Christian believes in one myth rather than another is hard to determine.
They say that there is practically no evidence of the life of such a person in the writings of the contemporary historians.
The story of Christ closely parallels the story of the Hindu Krishna.
Krishna, reported to have been born 1000 years before Christ, was born of a virgin mother in a cave; he was worshiped by wise men; his father like Joseph had come to pay taxes; the tyrant who ruled ordered all children born that night to be slain; but Krishna's father, like Joseph, had had a dream and fled with the child; Krishna was a second person in a trinity; he was crucified; descended to hell like Christ; freed some saints; and ascended to Heaven in the flesh.
The story is very similar to the Christ story and it is very reasonable that the latter was copied from it. It was much easier in the days of ignorance and illiteracy to copy a myth than now, yet in this country today the average person who is not a student knows little or nothing of the story of Krishna.
A man who healed thousands by the touch of his hand, who died and was resurrected, would be so well known that his acts would be recorded at the time. Statues would have been raised to him, inscriptions carved, histories written, at the time. While the trivial events of those times were often recorded, nothing authentic has come to light of the life of Christ written at the time. All of the vast mountain of books about Christ and the Christian religion were written in later centuries.
For all practical purposes of course, it makes no difference whether Christ lived or not. It is certain that the devils and ghosts reported in the Bible never lived but that makes no difference; the churches still require their followers to believe in them Chapman Cohen, one of the great students of religion, says: "There is no document secular or religious, contemporary with Jesus, which mentions the alleged details chronicled in the Bible." Even the Egyptians 4000 years before had statues, stones, and tombs with engraved hieroglyphics recording their history and important events. No such records have been uncovered, contemporary with Christ, indicating his existence.
As has been shown, the veracity of the stories told in the Bible, like those told in the Arabian Nights fables, must be doubted by intelligent men, and if the rest of it is questionable, then the story of the life of Christ, if worth considering at all, must also be open to grave doubt.
Even Christians doubt the stories of the gods of other religions and cults; and the latter doubt the stories of the Christians, with their tales of ghosts, angels, devils, Satan, cherubim, seraphim, and all the unseen evil and good spirits of the Bible.