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Jonah iii. 10. "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonas." Matt. xii. 41. The book of Jonah has been attacked by the destructive critics. Its historicity has been denied.
But happily this state of affairs is being changed and confidence in the historicity of the Old Testament records is being greatly strengthened by the investigations of the archaeologists in the ruins of the great empires of Egypt, Assyria and Babylonia with which Israel came so closely in contact.
Besides, as those wild myths were associated with sacred rites, the inveterate conservatism of religion, which insisted on stone knives in sacrifices long after bronze and iron came in, was likely enough to maintain the divine importance of those fables, just as the historicity of Balaam's ass and Jonah's whale is in some churches piously upheld still.
Is there any evidence strong enough to prove the historicity of Jesus, in spite of the fact that not even his supposed companions, writing during the lifetime of Jesus' mother, have any definite information to give. But let us continue. The reports current about a man like Lincoln are verifiable, while many of those about Jesus are of a nature that no amount of evidence can confirm.
History becomes pure nonsense, and knowledge of historical fact impossible; and, it may be noted, all knowledge is abolished if history is beyond reach. But we are not dependent on books for our evidence of the historicity of Jesus. The whole story of the Church implies him. He is inwrought in every feature of its being.
I have not, for example, discussed statements such as 'Krishna was not a god but a hero of a rough tribe of cowherds. 'The Gita is an interpolation. 'There is general agreement on the historicity of Krishna. 'Radha appears to be a late addition. Higher Criticism, whether applied to the Bible or to the classics of Indian religion must necessarily remain a small scholars' preserve of vital importance to the few but of little account to the main body of believers or to artists illustrating adored themes.
This admission is in answer to the charge that even in the first centuries the Christians were compelled to resort to forgery to prove the historicity of Jesus. The doctor admits the charge, except that he calls it by another name. The difference between fiction and forgery is this: the former is, what it claims to be; the latter is a lie parading as a truth.
There were those, then, in the early church who denied the historicity, not of a title, for what meaning would there be in denying that a title "is come in the flesh," but of a person, known as Jesus Christ. And what could the doctor mean when he speaks of a title being "mythological?" There are no mythological titles.
Barton Baynes, the hero of the book for whose actuality and historicity the author vouches is an orphan brought up on a farm by his Uncle Peabody and Aunt Deel. Getting into all sorts of scrapes, he makes up his mind that he is too heavy a burden on the affectionate and good-natured couple; and one night he runs away.
The ruins of churches and monasteries fascinated him, but he grieved to find the once populous and opulent capital of Portuguese India absolutely a city of the dead. The historicity of the tale of Julnar the Sea Born and her son King Badr seemed established, Queen Lab and her forbidding escort might have appeared at any moment. On all sides were bowing walls and tenantless houses.
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