To this we rejoin, that these assertions beg the question. The philosopher affirms that the idea of angels is incompatible with that of an omnipresent God—that the belief of Jesus in an angelic mythology proves him to have had an anthropomorphic notion of "the Supreme," and, as a consequence, it follows that Jesus was nothing more than a Jew, although very superior to the generality of his countrymen, having possibly been taught by some Buddhist.* The bigot, on the other hand, can only scream out the formularies which the so-called orthodox provide for him. Johanna Southcote once made some folks believe that she was pregnant with a Messiah, and she had most enthusiastic followers; but neither argument nor rhetoric sufficed to beget the promised baby and, in like manner, no amount of declamation can convert an assumption into a fact. But of this truth most of our theologians appear to be ignorant, and, like the heathen with their litanies, they think that they will obtain their will by "much speaking."
* It will be noticed by the reader, that the remarks in the
text have reference to the supernatural stories which were
interwoven into the biography of Jesus by those whom we call
Evangelists. The bibliolaters must, however, stand or fall
by the many legendary tales which pass current for truth. If
Jesus, as an ordinary Jew, believed in angels—just as our
king, James I., believed in the existence of modern witches
—we cannot use his evidence to prove the existence of angels
and devils, any more than the Christian laws against
witchcraft demonstrate that old women and men sold their
souls and bodies to Satan. If, on the other hand, we allow
that the spiritual mythology of the New Testament is due to
Pharasaic influence, all the testimony propounded in favour
of the assertion, that Jesus was, in reality, "a son of
Jehovah," crumbles away.
When summoned, a long time ago, to give evidence in a court of justice, the question was put to me—"Now, doctor, you have heard the symptoms from which the deceased suffered; do you believe that they were produced by arsenic?" Being doubtful about the propriety of the query in a court of law so prudish as ours is, I remained silent, and in an instant the judge, Baron Alderson, said—"I won't allow that question to be put or answered; you want the witness to take the place of the jury, and it shall not be done. You may ask the doctor, if you will, what are the symptoms produced by arsenic, when taken in a poisonous dose, and then it is the business of the jury to compare those, with such as have already been sworn to as occurring in the man before he died." This anecdote is frequently in my mind when I am composing an essay like the present. If I wish to convince the jury who reads my papers of the truth of a particular conclusion to which I have arrived, it is not enough for me to express my own opinions. I may assert, in the matter in question, that I am a skilled witness, and have closely investigated the subject, but it is open to any one to doubt my industry and to distrust my judgment; consequently, it is necessary for me to adduce evidence, as well as to draw deductions therefrom.
The hypothesis which I have formed, after a pretty extensive reading, is, that the belief in the mythology of angels which is current amongst Christians at the present time, and which is based upon a series of pretended revelations, said to have been made exclusively to Jews of ancient times, is, in reality, founded upon fancies of pagan priests or poets; and, as a corollary, I infer, either that our celestial mythology must be given up to oblivion, as being heathenish, or that we must abandon those claims to an exclusive inspiration which have been made for, and accorded by many to, the Bible. I have already described the ideas associated with angels in some ancient peoples, and I now propose to examine those of other nations with whom the Jews and Christians, directly or indirectly, came in contact.
The reader of ancient Roman history cannot doubt that the city on the Tiber was indebted to the Etruscans for all, or nearly all, of its early knowledge. It is probable that the original gods and goddesses of Rome were those of their northern neighbours, and everything which the Romans knew of augury was due to the priests of Etruria; consequently it is not unprofitable to inquire, as far as we can, whether these had any idea of beings such as we call angels. As we have not many available written remains of the remarkable people to whom we refer, we are obliged to be satisfied with pictorial and other relics which have survived until our days. Some of the scenes depicted on urns, vases, and walls, in tombs and elsewhere, are sufficiently explanatory of the subjects which the artist has desired to pourtray; others, on the contrary, can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Paying no attention to the latter, we may safely affirm, that the Etruscans had ideas upon the subject of angels very similar to our own. The form which their artists gave to them is precisely that which is current at the present day, except that, unlike the Christian, the Etruscan angels were of different sexes. Sometimes both males and females were draped from the neck to the feet, in other drawings they were partially or wholly nude. In the vast majority of cases each one possessed two wings that were attached to the back, behind the arms, precisely as they are in modern pictures; but in one very remarkable instance (plate 7, Description de quelques Vases Etrusques, par H. D. de Luynes—folio, Paris, 1840) the beings to whom we refer had each three pairs of pinions, the one attached to the shoulder blades, a second to the loins, and a third to the calves of the legs. These creatures correspond to our demons or imps of Satan, or the devils of the New Testament which were sent into a herd of swine.
Some of the winged Etruscan demons must be regarded as "angels of death," for they are represented as hovering in the air over individuals, such as Cassandra and Polynices, who are about to be sacrificed. One angel, who, as usual, Diaitized bv is spoken of by the Christian describer thereof as a goddess, is designated "Cunina." Her business was to look after and take charge of infants in their cradle. A being such as this, by whatever name we may designate her, cannot fail to remind us of the expression in the New Testament—"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven" (Matt, xviii. 10). In another Etruscan painting we find two angelic beings, fully draped, carrying a nude corpse apparently to the future or invisible state. These naturally remind us of the passage in Rev. xx. 1—"I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand." In some Etruscan paintings we have scenes which are supposed to indicate the preparation of a bride for the wedding ceremony. In these there are diminutive angels introduced, which are sometimes hovering in the air and sometimes seated on the edge of the bath; these are by the learned supposed to represent Cupid, Eros, Hymen, or Love, and they indicate the devout feeling, that an angel watches over those who contract marriage in an orthodox manner.*
* Whether the Romans obtained all their inferior deities
from the Etruscans, or whether the priests of the Eternal
City in ancient times improved upon the mythology which came
to them from their predecessors, just as the priests of
modern Rome have expanded, without improving, the
Christianised paganism which came to them, is a matter
difficult to decide. But it is certain that the old Romans
multiplied their "gods," as the modern ones have multiplied
their "saints." Amongst the former were many curious
deities, who presided at the wedding of young people, some at
the public ceremony, and others at the private rites.
"PRema" was the angel of quietness, whose business it was to
see "ne subacta virgo se ultra modum commovens semen a vulva
ejiceret." "Subigus" was another angel or demigod, whose
duty it was to see that the consummation should take place
in an appropriate manner—lovingly, pleasantly, and
peacefully. There was another—Pertunda—of whom Augustine
(Civ. Dei, vol. 9) remarks—"Si adest dea Prema ut subacta se
non commoveat quum prematur, dea Pertunda quid ea facit?" In
modern times the Papal saints, Cosmo, Damian, Foutin, and
sundry others, have had the special duty assigned to them to
make the husband fit for his marital duties.
That the absence of such a spirit was looked upon as unlucky we gather from an expression in Propertius (b. v. el. 3) in which a wife, whose husband has been obliged to leave her, and go to a distant war, when bewailing her destiny, amongst other references says—"I wedded without a god to accompany me." This calls to memory the statement in Hebrews i. 14, wherein, after speaking of angels, the writer asks—"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"—a sentence which implies the idea that those who are not heirs of salvation have not angels which minister for them. The doctrine was certainly not exclusively Christian. Of this any one may assure himself by referring to Eccles. v. 6—"Neither say thou before the angel that it was an error; wherefore... should God destroy the works of thine hands?"
Again, we find an angel seated between two young folk of opposite sexes, and archaeologists tell us that the winged creature thus figured is a nuptial god—one whose business is to induce appropriate couples to meet, to love, and to marry. Such a celestial match-maker was the Jewish Raphael, who, though "one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One" (Tobit xii. 15)—yet condescended to conduct Tobias a long way to meet Sara, and instructed him how he could marry her with safety, and defeat a devil.
Amongst other individuals, in the Etruscan mythological paintings who are winged, are the following, which are named thus by the authors who describe the vases, &c., whether rightly or wrongly it is not necessary for me to prove:—Janus; Furina, the goddess of thieves; Mercury, the messenger of Jupiter and the patron of robbers; Vacuna, or Desideria, or Venus, the goddess of indolence, desire, or love; Hymen, the angel or god of marriage; Cupid, the god of love; Victory, Bacchus, Silenus, Dryads, Calliope, Tempest, Fame, Proserpine; Iibitina, the goddess of funerals; Venus, infera, Nemesis, or fate; Death, life, Charybdis, The Furies, Geryon, Justice, Peace, Iris, and Diana. On such a subject the reader may consult with advantage Augustine (de Civitate Dei, b. vl. c. 9); Arnobius (Adversus Gentes, b. iv. c. 7); and Tertullian (Ad Nationes, b. ii. c. 11).