Ancient faiths and modern : a dissertation upon worships, legends and divinities in Central and Western Asia, Europe, and elsewhere, before the Christian era : showing their relations to religious customs as they now exist / by Thomas Inman.

  • Thomas Inman
Date:
1876
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Ancient faiths and modern : a dissertation upon worships, legends and divinities in Central and Western Asia, Europe, and elsewhere, before the Christian era : showing their relations to religious customs as they now exist / by Thomas Inman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    means of locomotion, or a knowledge of the existence of a people. As tlie Greeks were then certainly trading with India, both by land and sea, it would be surprising if the Buddhist missionaries had not accompanied the merchant ships, or the overland convoys to Alexandria. But this subject, it is convenient for the present to postpone. There are two ]Doints connected with the teaching of Sakya Muni to which many Christian writers have especially addressed their remarks, apparently with the view of render- ing Buddha more or less contemptible, or at least of degrad- ing him far below Jesus of Nazareth. It is asserted that Siddartha did not believe in a god, and that his Nirvana was nothing more than absolute annihilation. To these I am disposed to add, that the Buddhists were not taught to pray, nor did their founder practise the custom. To my own mind, the assertion that Sakya did not believe in God is wholly unsupported. Nay, his whole scheme is built upon the belief that there are powers above which are capable of punishing mankind for their sins. It is true that these gods were not called Elohim, nor Jah, nor Jahveh, nor Jehovah, nor Adonai, nor Ehieh (I am), nor Baalim, nor Ashtoreth—yet, for the son of Suddhodana (another name for Sakya Muni, for he has almost as many, if not more than the western god), there was a supreme being called Brahma, or some other name representing the same idea as we entertain of the Omnipotent. Still further, in the life of Buddha, quoted by St. Hilaire (p. 9) we find the following as part of the thoughts of the young Siddartha— The three worlds, the world of the gods, the world of the assom^s (the benighted ones, or, as we should call them, ' the devils'), and that of men, are all plagued by the occurrence of old age and disease. We do not, for we dare not assert that this opinion is identical with ours; but we are equally indisposed to say that the opinions current amongst ourselves are absolutely true.
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