________________
174
it from the stand-point of the historian, is so deliberate and determined that no single fact can be seized as an actual event in the world of men. There is piling up of allegory upon allegory and metapher upon metaphor, on the one hand, and a delightful determination to violate the order of events, invent personalities, defy facts, disregard chronology, and, in every possible way, to act as if history was only meant to be topsy-turvy, on the other, The inference is plain: the narrators were anxious to guard against being understood in an historical sense, and took every precaution to set it at nought. The gospels, thus, constitute the records of the spiritual progress of "Jesus", the soul, rather than so many editions of the " Life and Teachings of Jesus, the Man", written by so many writers.
MYTHOLOGY
Our theory, then, is that the Biblical contradictions, like those of the Hindu scriptures, are either due to a deliberate effort on the part of the gospel-writers to discredit the historical sense, or arise as a natural consequence of mythological symbology. We shall presently see that this theory will not only prove to be the true explanation but will also at once bring the teaching of the Bible in a line with the earlier scriptures, reconciling it with the true scientific view of things at the same time,
I shall now take up Islam, which, as you know, was founded about thirteen hundred years ago, by Mahomed who became ultimately associated with history. The sacred book of Islam, too, is couched in
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org