“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” ([Matthew xxiii, 33].)
Regarding these abusive epithets of Christ, Prof. Newman says: “The Jewish nation may well complain that they have been cruelly slandered by the gospels. The invectives have been burnt into the heart of Christendom, so that the innocent Jews, children of the dispersion, have felt in millennial misery—yes, and to this day feel—the deadly sting of these fierce and haughty utterances” (Jesus Christ, p. 25).
568
Relate his treatment of the Pharisee who invited him to dine with him.
Luke: “And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him; and he went in, and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him, now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools ... hypocrites!” ([xi, 37–44].)
Was such insolence of manners on the part of Jesus calculated to promote the interest of the cause he professed to hold so dear at heart? Supposing a Freethinker were to receive an invitation to dine with a Christian friend and were to repay the hospitality of his host with rudeness and abuse, interrupting the ceremony of “grace” with an oath or a sneer, and showering upon the head of his friend such epithets as “hypocrite” and “fool.” Would such insolent behavior have a tendency to gain for him the world’s esteem or aid the cause he represents? And are we to approve in a God conduct that we regard as detestable in a man? It may be urged that God is not subject to the rules of human conduct. Grant it; but is it necessary for him in order to exhibit his divine character to assume the manners of a brute?
569
Do the Pharisees deserve the sweeping condemnation heaped upon them by Christ and his followers?