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    havittiiLr o £ > the foraaoaery Jhawe ^ eiFi fixtjra 4 ordinary - it naaglrfe gsfipttaiv - - : la . ' m $ Remarks on tibeiToith « rf < jtehfe Christian ReRgionv I' h ^ v ^ f ^ Weit * a -brief analysis of ! this Treatise fof iLuoian , < to whieliil must refer the taefeutar / * It is necessary :, however , to /; pifradaim > T > He , *> El ^ w *» jpas 4 sftges in ordear / lo . estaMdsh this truth ; of tbe view \ vliiehdl teve ^ of it * - Th&taifc

    thor tmi& opens ithe piec&ti ' '

    after glory . Yes , inyifoiend , this first and greatest of men 3 s reduced tod cinder , following , the Example of Em * pedocles , with tkis 4 iffer € incfc only , that he seemed witling to conceal himself from the eyes of > men , when he threw himself into the fl&mesy white our most

    noble hero che * sfe the most-public fes ^ tival , built a I magnificent funeral pile , and leaped in ; before iimumerabLe witnesses , after . having harangued the Grecians ,. and acquainting them with his intentions some : days before the ceremony . " On , this > topic the ? vvfriter

    enlarges in sections 21 > 22 : < " Peregrinus gave out among the Grecians that he should burn himself in a very short time . For thia purpose he ; began immediately to dig . the ditch , bring the wood , and prepare : every thiag with wonderful fortitude ; and magnanimity .

    But true bravery , in : my opinion , is shewn by patiently waiting for death , and not flying from life ; or , if he , must die , why not depart by some other means , so many thousands as there were , and not bv fire , and with all that

    tragical preparation ? If he was so fond of flame , as being more after the manner of Hercules ^ \ y ] r y could not he have chosen some secret wood y ^ mountain , where he might have gone and burnt himself in silence alone , or

    accompanied only b y his Theaganes , by way of a faithful Philoctetes ? But he must needs do it at th £ ^ Olympic games , and in a full assembly roasting himself , as it were , on the stage ; not but it is a death , by Herdutes , he long since

    deserved , if parricides and atheists are worthy of ' it . In this- respect he was rather ^ late 5 he : should h&ve been roasted long ago in Phalans ' s bull , and notcr halve perished in a / moment : for I have often heard this is * the shortest

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    way of dying , as it is only opening the moiiAhv catching the flame , and expiring ; / immediately ; but hfe has fallen' on this expedient , I supposes l ^ e cUuSjB ' it ? is > grand , and magnim ? ent far a man to tye burned on asaicred ground , where no-cdrpse esai be buried . ;! i YbualJ , -n& doubt , 'Fem ^ embeF ihim ^ who warited v & > be immortial , and eouki find' no cither

    wayud 6 becoiiaing sovout ^ by setting'fire to i the ^ mp le of IMana at Ephesu 3 . This nia % such ite Ms love of gloryv is ambitious 1 bf the same fatei ^ t iNow I propose ferifefly ta shew , that this and the rest is tiut a mock account

    of the death of Jesus , and that it is applied to Peregrinus as d . set-off 3 and that not a syllable of it has ever been realized in the life of that impostor . There are two arguments 1 which , prove the truth of this . assertion , and they ^ carry the force of demonstration ; for » o ¦ iban , whether in his senses or out

    of his senses , ever put himself to death in the manner , and * from the motives , which Lucian here ascribes to Peregrin nus . > The narrative is negatived by the known laws of the moral world : T

    nothing parallel is to be found in the history of man ; and Lucian himself is obliged to refer for illustration to the death of Hercules and Empedocles , the former of which is known to be

    fabulous , the other to be false , in fact . The Other argument is , that the person which Lucian principally has in * rievr under tRe name < of Peregrinus , and whom it is his object to wound , is Jesus * Christ ; and all the facts which

    he imputes to the impostor , are copied , distorted indeed , and disguised , from the New Testament . Thus the description he gives of Peregrinus , is , in its leading points , a description characteristic of Christ ; and if we substitute the fire and Olympia for the cross

    and Calvary , the death of Jesus and the death of Peregrinus are precisely the same . Jesus foretold his death , went up to Jerusalem * he died during a festival , when Jews and others , to an immense multitude , were there collected . The death and resurrection of

    Christ were predicted by the'Prophets ; the death of Peregrinus arid his re-appearance are predicted by the Sibyl , ' / Going /* says Lucian , 3 ome time after this into the assembly , I met a grey-haired old - man , wMmxi ' > toy hist beard and grave appearance one would have taken for a creditable witness .

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    Dr . J . Jones on the History of iJkrist travestied by Lucian . 7

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1821, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2496/page/7/