Christ Conspiracy_ The Greatest Story Ever Sold - Acharya S [53]
If, therefore, Rome can boast that she has sixteen or twenty holy coats, seven or eight arms of St. Matthew, two or three heads of St. Peter, this is nothing more than Egypt could do in regard to the relics of Osiris. Egypt was covered with sepulchres of its martyred god; and many a leg and arm and skull, all vouched to be genuine, were exhibited in the rival burying-places for the adoration of the Egyptian faithful. ""
As regards other "evidence" of Christianity, such as weeping or bleeding statues, so much in vogue these days, or visions, voices, or miracles, etc., these too have their Pagan predecessors:
False prophecies and miracles and fraudulent relics were the chief reliance among the Pagans, as among the Christians, for stimulating the faith, or credulity, of the ignorant and superstitious masses. The images of the gods were believed to be endowed with supernatural power. Of some, the wounds could bleed; of others, the eyes could wink; of others, the heads could nod, the limbs could be raised; the statues of Minerva could brandish spears, those of Venus could weep; others could sweat; paintings there were which could blush. The Holy Crucifix of Boxley, in Kent, moved, lifted its head, moved its lips and eyes; it was broken up in London, and the springs exposed, and shown to the deriding public; but this relation is out of place-this was a pious Christian, not Pagan, fake. One of the marvels of many centuries was the statue of Memnon, whose divine voice was heard at the first dawn of day . . . Other holy relics galore were preserved and shown to the pious: The Aegis of Jove ... the very tools with which the Trojan horse was made . . . the Cretans exhibited the tomb of Zeus, which earned for them their reputation as Liars. But Mohammedans show the tomb of Adam and Christians that of Peter! There were endless shrines and sanctuaries at which miracle-cures could be performed ... The gods themselves came down regularly and at the fine feasts spread before their statues.... 20
In establishing their "holy relics," the Catholics were merely building on a long line of priestly hoaxing. If such "relics" are "evidence" of the reality of Jesus and Mary, are they not also "evidence" of the reality of Venus, whose statue also wept, or of the Indian elephant-headed god Ganesha, whose images drink milk by the bucket? A truly pious person, then, would do well to worship them all and not just these meager few from Palestine.
Doane sums up the quest thus:
In vain do the so-called disciples of Jesus point to the passages in Josephus and Tacitus; in vain do they point to the spot on which he was crucified; to the fragments of the true cross, or the nails with which he was pierced, and to the tomb in which he was laid. Others have done as much for scores of mythological personages who never lived in the flesh. Did not Damis, the beloved disciple of Apollonius of Tyana, while on his way to India, see, on Mt. Caucasus, the identical chains with which Prometheus had been bound to the rocks? Did not the Scythians say that Hercules had visited their country? and did not they show the print of his foot upon a rock to substantiate their story? Was not his tomb to be seen at Cadiz, where his bones were shown? Was not the tomb of Apollo to be seen at Delphi? Was not the tomb of Achilles to be seen at Dodona ... ? Was not the tomb of Aesculapius to be seen in Arcadia ... ? Was not the tomb of Deucalion-he who was saved from the Deluge-long pointed out ... in Athens? Was not the tomb of Osiris to be seen in Egypt ... ? ... Of what value, then, is such evidence of the existence of such an individual as Jesus of Nazareth?21
Basically, there is no physical evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ. In addition, since there are sacred sites all over the globe, for every culture, it is merely cultural bias that allows so many to claim that theirs are the only true ones, that their land is the "Holy Land" or some other designation.