A few remarks on Christ’s temptation by the Devil will suffice to show its absurdity. In the first place, then, can we believe that a being of Infinite Power, Wisdom, and Goodness, ever has, or does now, keep in existence a Devil whose whole aim and happiness consist in tempting God’s creatures to rebel against their maker and benefactor; and that God has given him power and capacity to induce men and women to commit every sort of crime that disgraces humanity? Besides, so artful is this Devil that man has but a poor chance to escape his cunning attacks and devices. We are told that the Lord is angry with the wicked every day; and yet for all that, he has made a being of immense power who possesses unbounded malice against both God and man. Would any man, who was in his right mind, keep in his employ a person who would daily destroy his property, and breed discord among his steady workmen? None but a madman could so act; and shall we suppose that the all-wise ruler of the universe would follow in the path of a man out of his senses?
Again, according to the account in Matthew, the Devil seems full of life and impudence; while the reputed Saviour appears sheepish and stupid, and seems willing to follow the Devil about at his bidding! We have no account as to the form in which the Devil appeared, whether as a rich man or a loafer; whether fat or lean, and how old he appeared to be; neither are we informed in what kind of dress he walked through the street of Jerusalem, whether it was in the costume of the age, or in the livery of hell. At any rate, Jesus seemed rather scared at the old serpent. Jesus commenced his mission more like a hermit than as a messenger of peace; to God’s chosen people. In fact, there is, in Jesus, through his whole life, something so unearthly that his existence as a man is very doubtful. In the whole account of the temptation of the Devil, the evidence of its being a mixture of fable and falsehood is, apparent.
Besides, it is altogether unaccountable how Jesus and the Devil became so well acquainted with each other; for Jesus was a Jew by nation, and strictly obeyed the law of Moses; but Moses is completely silent as to the existence of any such personage as the Devil. At the time when it is said Jesus came to the Jewish nation, they had, during their captivity, embraced the theology of their conquerors; and on their return to the land of their nativity, brought with them the-belief in the existence of good and bad angels, and also the doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments,—dogmas unknown to, and never taught by, Moses. It is clear, then, that the very existence of a Devil never was a doctrine of the Old Testament, but on the contrary, it was borrowed from eastern mythology; and Jesus, finding that the Jews professed to believe it, fell in with it, as also a heaven and a hell, and a judgment to come, which doctrines were all of heathen origin. The Old Testament is silent as to what constitutes orthodox Christianity. Ye Christian ministers! your heaven and hell, by the teaching of which you gain wealth and live like princes, is nothing but an echo of by-gone ages, which had its origin in the imagination of the priesthood of an antiquity anterior to the existence of Moses or of the Jewish nation!
But to return to the temptation of Jesus by the Devil. And here it may be asked, how it can now, or ever could, be considered a temptation at all? If Jesus was what they say he professed to be, the sent of God, he knew well that the Devil had nothing to give him by way of inducement to distrust his Father’s superintendence and care. Jesus might have said to Satan, “You lying old Devil, you know that you have no kingdom to bestow; you likewise well know that you have not land enough whereon to build a hovel, in which to shelter your favorite associates, the swine!” But, on the contrary, Jesus seems to act with great respect towards the Devil. He made no objections to follow Satan wherever he chose to lead him. We are ignorant of the object Jesus had in view by retiring into the wilderness; and how the Devil came to be acquainted with his destitute situation, we are also at a loss to conjecture. Likewise, we have yet to learn whether Satan resided among the Jews, or dwelt in the regions of the air, as he is called “the Prince and power of the air, the spirit which works in the hearts of the children of disobedience.”
The number of forty years, or days, is repeatedly chosen by the writers of the Old Testament, in which to perform something wonderful, and of great importance. Thus, the Jews were forty years going from Egypt to the land of promise, during which time nearly all that came out of bondage were destroyed for their disobedience against the God of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob. Jehovah and Moses were forty days on Mount Sinai, preparing ornaments for the Jewish worship, during which time Aaron and the rest of the Israelties returned back to worship the gods of their former oppressors; so that it appears, before the church of Jehovah in the wilderness was ready to sing his praise, and thank him for bringing them out of bondage, both Aaron and the people were singing and dancing before the golden calves of Egypt! The number forty has been most unfortunate for Jehovah’s plans; for, in addition to repeated failures connected with the number forty, it is recorded that Jehovah was grieved forty years for the transgressions of his chosen people; and Jesus, after forty days’ fasting, surrounded by devouring beasts and hungry vultures, behold! the Devil came skulking along with brazen-faced impudence, and Jesus, the better to get rid of him, broke up his solitary abode. Thus, again, the number forty concluded without any apparent object being effected.
Whoever wrote this account of Christ’s temptation, as if it was not foolish enough, has added, that after the Devil had withdrawn from making Jesus such tempting offers to enlist into his service, angels came and ministered unto him. What the nature of the service was, which they performed, we know not; but one would suppose their first inquiry ought to have been, whether he did not wish to have his dinner as soon as possible? The whole of this account is so contemptible, that I shall not give it any further attention.
If we contrast the submissive conduct and humble deportment of Jesus, when in conversation with the Devil, with his manner and intercourse with the rulers and priests of his own nation, he appears, in reference to the latter, whom we should expect he would have treated with that respectable language due to their standing in society, and consistent with his dignity as the Messenger of Peace, to great disadvantage as a divine teacher: for it must be ever borne in mind, that Jesus must be considered, according to his own account, superior to all that ever came before him, and to the imperfections found in men in common, and even in the prophets of old, so that he must so conduct himself that his sayings and doings must be capable of standing the most rigid moral scrutiny. But, instead of his appealing to the Jewish rulers in the most courteous manner—instead of his plainly stating who he was, and the vast importance of his coming on earth, he begins by upbraiding them in a way calculated to disgust them, and thereby frustrate the object of his mission. He calls them “a generation of vipers” and asks them “how they can think to escape the damnation of hell?”
Although the chief priest and rulers were over-anxious in their inquiries as to whom he was, and by what authority he so openly condemned others, he treated them as unworthy of a civil reply; for, let the moral conduct of the Jewish priests and rulers be what it might, admitting it was very bad, nothing could justify him in the use of insult and the most violent vituperations. What kind of reception would an ambassador meet with in England, should he, before his' mission was fully understood by that Court, abuse the rulers of that kingdom, and at the same time associate with a few obscure individuals as witnesses of such abuse? Would he be considered a fit person to represent the authorities who sent him? for, never let us forget, that of all the missions sent by one nation to another nation for the settlement of any difficulties that might exist between them, none ever was of such importance as the one which Jesus was to present to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Let us also bear in mind, that the rulers among the Jews made every inquiry as to whom he was, and the purport of his coming. Yes, every effort on the part of the Jews was made to draw out of him from whence he derived his authority: but his answers were any thing but to the point, for, he said on one occasion, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas,” and that was no answer at all.
I am well aware what Christians will say in this case: that his miracles were sufficient evidence; but all the proof we have that he did perform miracles, is, somebody has written that he did so. But here I shall dispute the performance of some of his miracles, from the New Testament account of them; and, in my next chapter, I shall show that modern discoveries have proved, beyond dispute, that some of the miracles said to have been performed by Jesus could not have taken place, for if any person in the present age, were to pretend that he could perform similar miracles, he would not only be considered an impostor, but would also be deemed an ignoramus.