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Not Paul, But Jesus. Bentham Jeremy
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Автор произведения Bentham Jeremy
Жанр Зарубежная классика
Издательство Public Domain
Bear the name of Jesus? so far, so good. But for this function no such special and supernatural commission was necessary: without any such commission, the name of Jesus had been borne to the people at large, if in this particular the Gospel history is to be believed. Luke ix. 49, 50: "And John answered and said, 'Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name: and we forbad him, because he followed not with us.' And Jesus said unto him, 'Forbid him not, for he that is not against us, is for us.'" How inadequate soever, with reference to the professed end, to wit, giving extension to the religion of Jesus, the promise was perfectly adequate, and commensurate, to what we shall find to be Paul's real design; to wit, the planting a Gospel of his own, as, and for, and instead of, the Gospel of Jesus. The Gospel of Jesus was the Gospel of Jesus: and the Gospel, which, availing himself of the name of Jesus, it was Paul's design and practice to preach, was, as he himself declares, – as we shall see him declaring in the plainest and most express terms, – a Gospel of his own; a Gospel which was not the Gospel of the Apostles, and which, for fear of its being opposed by them, he kept studiously concealed from those confidential servants and real associates of Jesus, as may be seen in the following passages: Gal. i. 9, 11, and 12; "As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other Gospel unto you, than that ye have received, let him be accursed. – But I certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached of me is not after man. – For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." Gal. 2:2: "And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles; but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means, I should run, or had run, in vain."
In the course of Paul's dialogue with the voice on the road – that voice which we are given to understand was the Lord's, i. e. Jesus's – the promise supposed to be made to Paul, it must be remembered, was – the promise to tell him, when in the city, what he was to do. "What thou must do," says the historian in his historical account: – "all things which are appointed for thee to do," says the historian in the supposed unpremeditated oratorical account, which, in this so often mentioned first of the speeches, he is supposed by the historian to have delivered.
Among all these things, – one thing, which it is manifestly the design of the historian, as it was that of his hero, to make men believe, was accomplished: to wit, the satisfying them what was the religious doctrine, for the dissemination of which the expense of this miracle was incurred. This, moreover, is the promise; which, in the reading of the story everybody looks for: this too is the promise which in the reading of this same story, the believers in the religion of Jesus have very generally been in the habit of considering as performed. Not in and by this history, however, will they have any such satisfaction, when the matter comes to be looked into. For, in respect of this information, desirable as it is, – Paul is, in this strangely supposed intercourse, put off – put off to another time and place: put off, for no reason given, nor for any substantial reason that can be imagined. Further on, when a show of performing the promise comes to be made, then, instead of accomplishment, we have more evasion. Instead of furnishing the information to Paul himself – to Paul directly – for, when the time and place for performance comes, performance – what the Lord is not supposed so much as to profess to do, what he professes to do is – to make the communication to this man, who, his existence being supposed, was an utter stranger to Paul – namely to this Ananias. Well, and for the conveying the information, in this indirect and inadequate way – for conveying it to and through this same Ananias – what is done? – as we have seen, what amounts to nothing.
When, for affording the information – had any information been intended to be afforded – the time and place are come; when Ananias and Paul have been brought together; what is it that, from the information afforded us by the historian, we are to understand, passed? Answer, that, after the scales had fallen from his eyes, Paul was baptized; that he ate meat, and that after he had eaten meat he was strengthened: strengthened, we are warranted to suppose, by the meat which he had so eaten. Moreover, that somehow or other, in this large city he was certain days – number not specified, – with certain disciples – neither names nor number specified, – and preached Christ in the synagogues, saying that he was the son of God.
Thus far then we are got; and, of the supposed revelation, in all this time nothing revealed. Promises, put-offs, evasions – and, after all, no performance.
Among the purposes of this work, is the satisfying the reader – not only that Paul received not any revelation from the Almighty; but that, even upon his own showing, never did he receive any such revelation: that, on pretence of his having received it from the Almighty by a special revelation, he preached indeed a certain doctrine; but that this doctrine was partly one of his own, contrary to that of Jesus's apostles, and therefore contrary to that of Jesus: and that, in the way of revelation, he never did receive anything; neither that doctrine of his own which he preached, nor anything else.
Straightway, if the historian is to be believed; – straightway after being strengthened by the meat; – and straightway after he had passed the certain days with the disciples; – then did Paul preach Christ in the synagogues – preach that he is the son of God.
Here, had he really preached in any such places – here would have been the time, and the best time, for telling us what, in pursuance of the supposed revelation, he preached. For, whatever it was, if anything, that he ever learnt from his supposed revelation, it was not till he had learnt it, till he made this necessary acquisition, that the time for beginning to preach in the synagogues in question or anywhere else was come. And, no sooner had he received it, than then, when it was fresh in his memory – then was the time for preaching it. But, never having received any such thing as that which he pretended, and which the historian has made so many people believe, he received, – no such thing had he to preach at any time or place.
Whatever of that nature he had had, if he had had at any time, Damascus was not the place, at any rate at that time, for him to preach it, or anything else, in synagogues – in any receptacle so extensively open to the public eye.
Preach, in the name of Jesus – in the name of that Jesus, whose disciples, and with them whose religion, he now went thither with a commission to exterminate, – preach in that name he could not, without proclaiming his own religion – his own perfidy; – his own rebellion, against the authorities, from which, at his own solicitation, the commission so granted to him had been obtained: – his own perfidious contempt – not only of those Jerusalem rulers, but of those Damascus authorities, from whom, for that important and cruel purpose, he was sent to receive instruction and assistance. At some seven-and-twenty years distance in the field of time, and at we know not what distance in the field of space, probably that between Rome and Damascus, it was as easy for the historian to affirm the supposed preaching, as to deny it: but, as to the preaching itself, whether it was within the bounds of moral possibility, let the reader judge.
Had there really been any such preaching, well might have amazement followed it. But there was no such preaching, therefore no such amazement. Had there been real preaching, and real amazement produced by it – what would have been the subject of the amazement! Not so much the audacity of the preacher – for madmen acting singly are to be seen in but too great frequency: not so much the audacity of the speaker, as the supineness of the constituted