Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

[ocr errors]

THE ANCIENT ORACLES-THE SIBYLLINE BOOKS.

S man ever since the Fall has shown anxiety in regard to the life to come; so also, in all ages and places, we find him troubled with doubts and fears as to his destiny in this life; and seeking to pry into futurity by means of some mysterious agency. We find seers and soothsayers, wizards and witches, astrologers and fortune-tellers, have always abounded. Whence is this? Among other things the ancient heathen were in the habit of consulting public oracles. How did these originate? Bishop Meade says, "We believe there is nothing very general in the world which does not point to something which existed among God's people, either before or after the flood." The earliest use of the word oracle in Scripture was in reference to the covering of the ark or chest in which the law of Moses. was shut up, and from above which God manifested his will, and delivered responses to Moses. Dreams and visions, such as God sent to the patriarchs; and the interpretation of dreams, such as Joseph and Daniel were inspired to give to Pharaoh, Darius, and Nebuchadnezzar; were also oracles, or answers from God. The answers to the high priest by means of certain signs and appearances on the Urim and Thummim, which Moses had put in the breastplate,' were the oracles of God among the Jews. This was consulted on all important occasions. The Scriptures are called the "lively," or living, "oracles" of God, in opposition to the false or dead oracles of the heathen. According to these oracles of 'Lev. viii. 8; Ex. xxviii. 30; Num. xxvii. 21. 2 Acts vii. 38; Rom. iii. 2.

God, Christians are now directed to speak; and forsaking all other oracles, they are, for their present and future welfare, to consult these only. Thanks be to God! they are always living; always open for consultation.

2

The knowledge that God has, from the beginning, held constant communications with His people, has been preserved in some form by all nations. All men feel the want of such a counselor. This want of man, Satan, the god of this world, has, in many ways, endeavored to supply. The ancient heathen oracles were one of these ways; and some of them became very celebrated. That of Jupiter Dodona in Epirus; of Apollo at Delphi, in Phocis, near Mount Parnassus; and the temple of Jupiter Ammon in the deserts of Libya, were the principal ones. Homer mentions the two former only. In process of time they became so multiplied that there were not less than twenty-five oracles in the small province of Boeotia. These were consulted not only on important public questions, but likewise on the affairs of private life. According to the heathen tradition, Mount Parnassus was once tenanted by a mighty serpent, which had the power of speech and delivered oracular responses from a sacred cave. This Delphic serpent, which was called Python, was, according to the tradition, slain by Apollo. From this fabulous monster the name Pythius was communicated to the god, and Pythia, or Pythoness, to the priestess, who, after receiving the vapor of inspiration through the cleft of a rock, delivered the responses.

The oracular temples were generally located in deep forests or steep, craggy places. The tripod or chair, on which the priest or priestess was seated, was sometimes over the mouth of a cavern; the vapor issuing from it was said to have an inspiring or infuriating effect on those who were upon it. The oracles were consulted by all classes; even by philosophers and kings. Rich presents were made to

11 Pet. iv. 11.

2 Deut. xviii. 19, 12.

THE ANCIENT ORACLES.

181

propitiate them. Bribes were sometimes used to procure favorable answers. Answers were also sometimes specially obtained for the purpose of stimulating credulous soldiers or people, when certain objects were to be gained.

Eusebius says that there were not less than six hundred authors among the heathen themselves who wrote against the reality of the oracles. In the Christian Church learned men, in all ages, have taken different views of them. Some believing them to be nothing but human ingenuity and fraud, while others contended that they were inspired by the father of lies.

That they did deliver some answers as to future events, of a most remarkable character, cannot be denied. Among the many responses given it would be strange, however, if this did not sometimes happen. The responses were always in some enigmatical or ambiguous form; so shaped, that the credit of the oracle might be sustained, whatever might be the event. Oftentimes the answer was to be inferred, not from anything said, but from the flight of birds, or some appearance in the sky, or some unnatural sound; so that all was uncertainty. However, there must have been something very remarkable in their character and conduct, to enable them to maintain their reputation and influence for a thousand successive years. We are reminded of Jacob's prevailing prayer, "I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me," by such instances as the following: while supplicating Apollo at Delphi, during the war with Xerxes, the Athenian messengers said, "We will never depart from thy sanctuary without a favorable answer, but will remain here until we die." The responses of the oracles certainly had the effect of stimulating to the most daring deeds of defensive war that heathen history has ever furnished.

Many of their responses are recorded by the ancient heathen historians. The famous answers to Croesus, king

1 Gen. xxxii. 26.

1

of Lydia, when about to engage in a war with Persia, are worthy of notice. Croesus, according to Herodotus, being doubtful of the oracle, determined first to try its superhuman knowledge; and, therefore, sent a messenger, who, at the end of a hundred days, was to enquire what the occupation of the king at that time would be. The reply of the god was; "That he smelt the odor of a lamb boiled with a tortoise, while brass was at once above and beneath it ;" and such, it was said, was actually the occupation of Croesus at the time. Croesus then sent to inquire of the Oracle whether he would be victorious in the proposed war; to which this ambiguous answer was returned; "That he would overthrow a great empire." Croesus, wishing to be yet more sure, sent again; and inquired whether his power would ever be diminished. The Oracle in reply advised the monarch to consult his safety by flight, "Whenever a mule should reign over the Medes." Croesus understood this as insuring him success; as a mule could not be king. But it turned out, that the mule was Cyrus, the Medo-Persian, who united the two kingdoms of Medea and Persia, and conquered Croesus. Thus also Croesus overthrew a great empire; but that empire was his own. In any event, with both

answers the credit of the oracle was secure.

In examining the question, whether the ancient Oracles received superhuman assistance and inspiration from the great enemy of mankind and father of lies, Bishop Meade refers to such facts as the temptation of our first parents by Satan in the form of a serpent; of his putting it into the heart of Judas to betray our Lord, and into the heart of Ananias to lie unto the Holy Ghost. He then adds, "We need not fear to admit that this wise and artful being might be permitted by God to create some mischief among men by means of Oracles, and the superhuman answers made through them." That the devil has exerted great power through the priests of false religions, we may infer from the facts record

THE ANCIENT ORACLES.

183

ed in Scripture concerning the rod of Moses. When it was turned into a serpent, the magicians of Egypt did the same. Simon, the sorcerer, who bewitched the people of Samaria with his sorceries, may have been enabled by Satan to do some wonderful things. "We read," says Mr. Faber, "in the Acts of the Apostles, of a young female who was possessed of a spirit of divination, according to our version, but with a spirit of Python, according to the original Greek. This spirit enabled her to utter certain oracular responses, which brought her masters much gain. When she beheld Paul and his companions, she cried, saying 'These men are the servants of the Most High God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. Paul being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ come out of her. And he came out the same hour.' Now, according to the plain import of this narrative, the young female was possessed by an evil spirit, which compelled her to utter responses of an oracular nature. The spirit was an intelligent and living agent. And he is denominated a spirit of Python, which is the precise name of the Delphic serpent which delivered Oracles from a sacred cave in Mount Parnassus. Putting these matters together," says Mr. Faber, "we certainly seem to collect that there was something more than mere juggling imposture in the responses of the ancient oracles.” Bishop Meade adds: "From a careful examination of many of the most judicious, as well as learned writers, ancient and modern, I find such to have been their prevailing impressions, though there be some diversity of sentiment among them."

Though great difference of opinion prevailed among the ancients in regard to the reliability of the Oracles, still they continued to be held in high repute until the Christian era. They then rapidly declined; so that even that at Delphi was closed. The most learned among the heathen were at

1 Acts xvi. 6.

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »