One writer devotes a volume to the subject in which he traces in the heathen mythologies sixteen crucified Saviors; the traditions concerning whom more or less bear some resemblance to chief events in the life of Messiah.
Perhaps one of the most elaborate and carefully prepared comparisons of the teachings of the Messiah as recorded in the New Testament, and the Rabbis in the Talmud appear in "The Open Court" for October, 1903, (Vol. 17). Of the long parallel I can only give samples:
New Testament. Talmud.
"More acceptable to the
"Blessed are the poor in spirit". Lord than sacrifice is the humble
spirit.""Let this be thy short form
"Thy kingdom come. Thy of prayer: Thy will be done
will be done on earth as it is in in heaven, and may peace of
heaven." heart be the reward of them
that reverence thee on earth.""Lead us not into temptation, "Lead me not into sin, even
but deliver us from evil." from its temptations deliver
thou me.""For with what judgment ye "Whoso judges his neighbor
judge, ye shall be judged." charitably, shall himself be
charitably judged.""How wilt thou say to thy "Do they say: Take the
brother, let me pull out the splinter out of thine eye? He
mote out of thine eye; and behold will answer: Remove the beam
a beam is in thine own out of thine own eye."
eye.""All things whatsoever ye
would that men should do to "What is hateful unto thee,
you, do you even so to them, that do not unto another. This
for this is the Law and the is the whole Law, all the rest
Prophets." is commentary.""Freely ye have received, "As freely as God has taught
freely give." you, so freely shall ye teach.""The Sabbath was made for "The Sabbath has been delivered
man, not man for the Sabbath." into your power, not
you into the power of the Sabbath.""It is enough for the disciple "It is enough for the servant
that he be as his master." that he be as his master."
A parallel somewhat similar, though neither so closely identical nor so extended, can be drawn between the teachings of Buddha and Christ, which any one may verify for himself by consulting Max Muller's lecture on Dhammapada, or The Path of Virtue.[[22]]
To a limited extent, also, a similar parallel might be drawn between the teachings of Christ and Confucius, and even of other moral philosophers. To illustrate what I mean, take the "Golden Rule," for so long, and even now, by a great many people, regarded as an exclusively Christian utterance, and you will find the substance of it in the utterance of many teachers before the time of Christ:
1. Golden Rule by Confucius, 500 B. C.
"Do unto another what you would have him do unto you, and do not to another what you would not have him do unto you. Thou needest this law alone. It is the foundation of all the rest."
2. Golden Rule by Aristotle, 385 B. C.
"We should conduct ourselves toward others as we would have them act toward us."
3. Golden Rule by Pittacus, 650 B. C.
"Do not to your neighbor what you would take ill from him."
4. Golden Rule by Thales, 464 B. C.
"Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing."
5. Golden Rule by Isocrates, 338 B. C.
"Act toward others as you desire them to act toward you."
6. Golden Rule by Aristippus, 365 B. C.
"Cherish reciprocal benevolence, which will make you as anxious for another's welfare as your own."
7. Golden Rule by Sextus, a Pithagorean, 406 B. C.
"What you wish your neighbors to be to you, such be also to them."
8. Golden Rule by Hillel, 50 B. C.
"Do not to others what you would not like others to do to you."[[23]]
Though perhaps not properly belonging to my treatment of this objection to the Book of Mormon, I may say in passing—and to keep those who read these pages in the presence of the full truth—I may say that the presence of ethical and religious truths, in what we call heathen mythology, is easily accounted for. The gospel was taught in very ancient times, in fact from the beginning—a dispensation of it was given to Adam—and although men departed from it in large measure as a system of truth, still fragments of it were preserved in the mythologies of all people. So that as a matter of fact Christianity, as taught by Jesus, derived nothing from heathen mythology, but heathen mythologies were made rich by fragmentary truths from the early dispensations of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
VIII.
Modern Astronomy in the Book.
From a remark of the younger Alma's (first century B. C.), and from one of Mormon's (fourth century A. D.), it is evident that the Nephites had knowledge of the movement of the earth and of the planets. Alma, in his remark, appeals to the earth's motion, "yea, and also of the planets which move in their regular form," as being evidence of the existence of the Creator.[[24]]