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CSEC ON-LINE REFERENCE LIBRARY |
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JUDGE SEPTIMUS J. HANNA, CSD
Now come to us newspaper reports of the recent finding of a plate evidently similar to this one, containing an exact copy of the death warrant above mentioned, and setting forth in detail an account of the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate. The plates which, it is said, bear such evidences of genuineness that there is every reason to believe them to be authentic, were found by two Italian savants named Duminy and Cantomi who were travelling and exploring in the ruins of the ancient city of Sardis. Sardis was a city of considerable size, located within ten miles of Ephesus, and is known to the modern world as the residence of Croesus, reputed to have been the richest man that ever lived. Later it was the site of one of the seven churches of Asia. The people of Sardis were among the first to embrace the Christian religion, having been converted thereto by St. John, and there is a tradition which says that Clement, one of the most eminent of the early Christian Fathers, was at one time its bishop. In the geographies of this century the place is called Sart or Serte, and it is but little visited by travellers or explorers. It has always been a point of interest for scholars, because of the grandeur that distinguished it in ancient times, and because of the many relics that have been there discovered remaining from the conquests of Alexandria and Cyrus. From the sheets of brass as translated by Italian scholars we make some extracts: "Pilate called Jesus, and said to him, What is it that these testify against thee? And Jesus answered, If they had not power they would not speak. Every one hath power over his own mouth, to speak good and bad; they will see. So the elders of the Hebrews answered and said to Jesus, What shall we see? First, that thou art born of sin; secondly, that at thy nativity at Bethlehem there was made a slaughter of infants; thirdly, that thy father, Joseph, and thy mother, Mary, fled into Egypt because they had no confidence in the people. . . . Certain of the Hebrews who stood by being well-disposed, said, We say that he was not born of sin, but we know that Mary was espoused to Joseph and he was not born of sin. Thus your speech is not true, because the espousals were celebrated, as these men of your nations say. Annas and Caiaphas say unto Pilate, We say with all the multitude that he was born of sin and is a malefactor; but these are proselytes and his disciples. And Pilate calling to Annas and Caiaphas, saith unto them, What are proselytes? They say unto him, They were born children of the Gentiles, and are now become Hebrews. Those who bore witness that Jesus was not born of sin, Lazarus and Astorius, Ontonius and Jacob, Annas and Azarus, Samuel and Isaac, Phineas and Crispus, Agrippa and Judas, answered, We are not proselytes, but were born children of the Hebrews, and speak the truth; for we were present at the espousals of Mary. "So Pilate called unto him these twelve men who proved that Jesus was not born of sin, and he said unto them, I adjure you by the safety of Caesar, tell me if it is true that Jesus was not born of sin? They say unto Pilate, We have a law not to swear, because it is sin; but let them swear by the safety of Caesar that it is not as we say, and we are deserving of death. Then said Pilate to Annas and Caiaphas, Answer ye nothing to those things which these men testify? Annas and Caiaphas say unto Pilate, These twelve believe that he was not born of sin. All we people cry that he was born of sin and is a malefactor, and saith that he is the son of God and a king, and we are not believed. "And Pilate commanded all the multitude to go out, except the twelve men who said he was not born of sin, and he commanded Jesus to go apart from them. And Pilate said unto them, Wherefore wish the Hebrews to slay Jesus? They say unto him, They are jealous because he healeth on the Sabbath. Pilate said, For a good work do they wish to slay him? They say unto him, Yea, lord. "Pilate, being filled with fury went out to the praetorium, and said to them, I take the sun to witness that I find not one fault in this man. The Hebrews answered and said to the governor, If he had not been a malefactor we should never have delivered him unto thee. Pilate saith to them, Take ye him and judge him according to your law. The Hebrews answered, It is not lawful for us to put any one to death. Pilate saith to them, God hath said to you that ye shall not put any one to death; hath he then said to me that I should kill? "Having entered the praetorium again, Pilate called Jesus unto himself secretly and said to him, Art thou the King of the Hebrews? Jesus answered Pilate, Dost thou speak this of thyself, or have others said it to thee concerning me? Pilate Answered, Am I a Hebrew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me; what hast thou done? Jesus answered and said, My kingdom is not of this world; my servants would by all means have contended that I should not be delivered to the Hebrews. But now my kingdom is not from hence. Pilate said unto him, Art thou therefore a king? Jesus saith to him, Thou sayest; for I am a king. For on this account was I born, and for this I came, that I should bear witness for the truth, and every one who is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? Jesus saith, Truth is from heaven. Pilate saith, Is truth not on earth? Jesus saith to Pilate, Observe how they who say the truth are judged by those who have power on earth. "Pilate therefore, leaving Jesus within the praetorium, went out to the Hebrews and said to them, I find not one fault in him. The Hebrews say to him, He said, I can destroy this temple and can raise it up again in three days. Pilate said to them, What temple? The Hebrews say to him, That which Solomon built in forty-six years; and he speaketh of destroying and building it in three days. Pilate saith to them, I am innocent of the blood of this man; ye shall see to it. The Hebrews say to him, His blood be on us and our children." Much more of detail is then given and finally Pilate "took water and washed his hands before the people, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this man; ye will see. The Hebrews shouted again, His blood be upon us and our children. "Then Pilate commanded him to be loosed, and said to Jesus, Thine own nation complain of thee as a king; therefore, I have decreed that thou shalt first be scourged according to the statutes of the emperors, and then be crucified upon a cross." Then follows the sentence of Jesus verbatim as published in our January number. The recital contains all that is stated in the Gospels in almost their exact language and, as we have shown, much more beside. We quote the following: "Now one of the robbers that were hanged, Gestas by name, said to him, If thou art Christ, deliver thyself and us. But Dimas rebuked him saying, Dost thou not even fear God, who art in this condemnation; for we, indeed, justly and worthily receive the things we have done, but he hath done no evil? And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me in thy kingdom. And Jesus said to him, Verily, I say unto thee, that today thou shalt be with me in paradise. "Now it was about the sixth hour, and darkness came upon all the earth, and the sun was obscured and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst; and he cried with a loud voice, and said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And, having said this, he expired. And the centurion seeing what was done, glorified God, saying this man was just. And all the people who were present at that sight, seeing what was done smote their breasts and returned. "Then the centurion reported to the governor what was done. And the governor and his wife on hearing it, were greatly grieved and neither ate nor drank that day. And Pilate, calling the Hebrews, said to them, Have ye seen what was done? And they said to the governor, There has been an eclipse of the sun, as is usual. "Now his acquaintances and the women who had followed him out of Galilee stood afar off beholding these things. And, behold, a certain man, Joseph by name, a counselor of Arimathea, a city of the Hebrews, a good and just man, who did not consent to their counsels nor deeds, and who himself expected the kingdom of God, went away to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. And taking it down from the cross he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and placed it in his own new tomb, wherein no one had been laid." We deem Pilate's report to Caesar of sufficient historical interest to set it forth in full. It is as follows: To the most potent, august, divine and awful Augustus Caesar, Pilate, the administrator of the Eastern Province — "I have received information most excellent one, in consequence of which I am seized with fear and trembling. For in this province which I administer, one of whose cities is called Jerusalem, the whole multitude of Hebrews delivered unto me a certain man called Jesus, and brought many accusations against him, which they were unable to establish by consistent evidence. But they charged him with one heresy in particular — namely, that Jesus said the Sabbath was not a rest, nor observed by them. For he performed many cures on that day, and made the blind see, and the lame walk, raised the dead, cleansed lepers, healed the paralytic who were wholly unable to move their body or brace their nerves, but could only speak and discourse, and he gave them power to walk and run, removing their infirmity by his word alone. There is another very mighty deed which is strange to the gods we have; he raised up a man who had been four days dead, summoning him by his word alone, when the dead man had begun to decay, and his body was corrupted by the worms which had been bred, and had the stench of a dog, but, seeing him lying in the tomb he commanded him to run, nor did the dead man at all delay, but as a bridegroom out of his chamber, so did he go forth from his tomb filled with abundant perfume. Moreover, even such as were strangers, and clearly demoniacs, who had their dwelling in deserts, and devoured their own flesh, and wandered about like cattle and creeping things he turned into inhabiters of cities and by a word rendered them rational and prepared them to become wise and powerful and illustrious, taking their food with all the enemies of the unclean spirits which were destructive in them, and which he cast into the depth of the sea. "And, again, there was another who had a withered hand, and not only the hand but the half of the body of the man was like a stone, and he had neither the shape of a man nor the symmetry of a body; even him he healed with a word and rendered whole. And a woman also, who had an issue of blood for a long time, and whose veins and arteries were exhausted, and who did not bear a human body, being like one dead, and daily speechless, so that all the physicians of the district were unable to cure her for there remained unto her not a hope of life; but as Jesus passed by she mysteriously received strength by his shadow falling on her from behind, and touched the hem of his garment; and immediately, in that very hour, strength filled her exhausted limbs, and as if she had never suffered anything she began to run along toward Capernaum, her own city, so that she reached it in a six days' journey. "And I have made known these things which I have recently been informed of and which Jesus did on the Sabbath. And he did other miracles greater than these, so that I have observed greater works of wonder done by him than by the gods whom we worship. "But Herod and Archelaus and Philip, Annas and Caiaphas, with all the people, delivered him to me, making a great tumult against me in order that I might try him. Therefore, I commanded him to be crucified, when I had first scourged him, though I found no cause in him for evil accusations or dealings. "Now, when he was crucified there was darkness over all the world, and the sun was obscured for half a day, and the stars appeared but no lustre was seen in them, and the moon lost its brightness, as though tinged with blood; and the world of the departed was swallowed up; so that the sanctuary of the temple, as they call it, did not appear to the Hebrews themselves at their fall, but they perceived a chasm in the earth and the rolling of successive thunders. And amid this terror the dead appeared arising again, as the Hebrews themselves bore witness, and said that it was Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve patriarchs, and Moses, and Job, who had died before, as they say, some 3,500 years. And there were very many whom I myself saw appearing in the body, and they made lamentation over the Hebrews, because of the transgression which was committed by them, and by the destruction of the Hebrews and their law. "And the terror of the earthquake continued from the sixth hour of the preparation until the ninth hour; and when it was evening on the first day of the week, there came a sound from heaven, and the heaven became seven times more luminous than on all other days. And at the third hour of the night the sun appeared more luminous than it had ever shone, lighting up the whole hemisphere, and as lightning flashes suddenly come forth in a storm, so there were seen men, lofty in stature and surpassing in glory, a countless host, crying out, and their voice was heard as that of exceedingly loud thunder, Jesus that was crucified is risen again; come up from hades ye that were enslaved in the subterranean recesses of hades. And the chasm in the earth was as if it had no bottom; but it was so that the very foundations of the earth appeared, with those that shouted in heaven, and walked in the body among the dead that were raised. And he that raised up all the dead and bound hades said, Tell my disciples that he goeth before you into Galilee, there shall ye see him. "And all that night the light ceased not shining. And many of the Hebrews died in the chasm of the earth, being swallowed up, so that on the morrow most of those that had been against Jesus were not to be found. Others saw the apparition of men rising again whom none of us had ever seen. The synagogue of the Hebrews was alone left in Jerusalem itself, for they all disappeared in that ruin. "Therefore, being astounded by that terror, and being, possessed with the most dreadful trembling, I have written what I saw at that time, and sent it to thine excellency; and I have inserted what was done against Jesus by the Hebrews, and sent it to thy divinity, my Lord." In the Apocryphal New Testament writings is a report corresponding substantially to the above, translated from the Greek, and many parts of it are verbatim the same. In these writings also is a letter from Pilate to Caesar which concludes thus: "Had I not been afraid of the rising of a sedition among the people, who were just on the point of breaking out, perhaps this man would still have been alive to us; although, urged more by fidelity to thy dignity than induced by my own wishes, I did not according to my strength resist that innocent blood free from the whole charge brought against it, but unjustly, through the malignity of men, should be sold and suffer, yet, as the Scriptures signify, to their own destruction." The finding of these plates corroborates the statement contained in them, as well as in the one published in January, that a copy thereof was sent to each of the tribes, and adds much to the probability of their genuineness. While Christian Scientists need no corroborative evidence of the Holy Scripture to fortify their faith, it is yet pleasing and helpful to them to see these multiplying, facts throwing light upon and giving additional significance to the sacred records. Studying the Scriptures in the new lustre shed upon them by their beloved textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, they hail with delight every additional detail which tends toward their elaboration and illumination, even though it be of a merely historical nature. The many discoveries which have been made during the past few years as the result of exhumations from ancient ruins, are not only strikingly prophetic of the future light which shall be thrown upon the Scriptures, but are in fulfilment of the prophecies thereof. They are among the "signs of the times" of these latter days, and presage the dawning of that millenial day which has been so long fore told, and the coming of which is in the lively apprehension of multitudes of people today. We speak of the coming in the sense that mankind are awakening to a higher and keener view of Christ's Kingdom, and it is coming to their apprehension in a correspondingly general way. To the sincere Christian Scientist the Kingdom of God is come, not shall come, — all that remains being its recognition by the people and their acceptance of it. God's Kingdom — the realm of infinite Truth — was never absent in fact; it has been absent only in the sense that mankind have not known and accepted its presence. The signs above referred to, while more pleasing than many of the other signs of the latter days, are not more helpful or even hopeful than are the latter. It needs but a casual glance at the condition of the world today to see the fulfilment of Jesus' prophecy as found in Matthew 24: "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. . . . For nations shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." But over against such seemingly gloomy forebodings are these glad assurances: — "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Let us then hail the upheavals both in the external world and in our own consciousness as happy omens, for they betoken the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. Surely the coming of the Son of man in power and great glory, all appearances to the contrary nevertheless, is cause for gratulation and rejoicing to all who have their armour on and their lamps trimmed and burning. The only cause for apprehension is the failure to be prepared for the coming. Note. We are indebted to the Springfield (Mass.) Sunday Union for most of the facts and data set forth relative to Jesus' trial, and from it we extracted most of the quotations made. "Editor's Table"
by
Judge Septimus J. Hanna, CSD |
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