[361:3] Chap. ii. 13-20.

[361:4] Luke, ii. 1-7.

[361:5] Matt. ii. 1.

[361:6] See Josephus: Antiq., bk. xviii. ch. i. sec. i.

[361:7] Eusebius was Bishop of Cesarea from A. D. 315 to 340, in which he died, in the 70th year of his age, thus playing his great part in life chiefly under the reigns of Constantine the Great and his son Constantine.

[362:1] Eusebius: Eccl. Hist., lib. 1, ch. vi.

[362:2] Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 56.

[362:3] See Chamber's Encyclo., art. "_Christmas_."

[362:4] See Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 66.

[362:5] "By the fifth century, however, whether from the influence of some tradition, or from the desire to supplant _Heathen Festivals_ of that period of the year, such as the Saturnalia, the 25th of December had been generally agreed upon." (Encyclopaedia Brit., art. "Christmas.")

[363:1] See Monier Williams: Hinduism, p. 181.

[363:2] See Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p. 126.

[363:3] Ibid. 216.

[363:4] See Bunsen: The Angel-Messiah, pp. x.-25, and 110, and Lillie: Buddha and Buddhism, p. 73.

Some writers have a.s.serted that _Crishna_ is said to have been born on December 25th, but this is not the case. His birthday is held in July-August. (See Williams' Hinduism, p. 183, and Life and Religion of the Hindoos, p. 134.)

[363:5] Celtic Druids, p. 163. See also, Prog. Relig. Ideas, vol. i. p.

272; Monumental Christianity, p. 167; Bible for Learners, iii. pp. 66, 67.

[363:6] The Heathen Religion, p. 287. See also, Dupuis: p. 246.

[363:7] Relig. of the Anct. Greeks, p. 214. See also, Higgins: Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 99.

[364:1] "_Adytum_"--the interior or sacred part of a heathen temple.

[364:2] "_Bambino_"--a term used for representations of the infant Saviour, Christ Jesus, in _swaddlings_.

[364:3] Bonwick's Egyptian Belief, p. 157. See also, Dupuis, p. 237.

[364:4] "Deinceps Egyptii PARITURAM VIRGINEM magno in honore habuerunt; quin soliti sunt puerum effingere jacentem in praesepe, quali POSTEA in Bethlehemetica spelunca natus est." (Quoted in Anacalypsis, p. 102, of vol. ii.)

[364:5] Quoted by Bonwick, p. 143.

[364:6] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 99.

[364:7] Relig. Anct. Greece, p. 215.

[364:8] Ibid.

[364:9] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 102; Dupuis, p. 237, and Baring Gould: Orig. Relig. Belief, vol. i. p. 322.

[365:1] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 99.

[365:2] The Heathen Religion, p. 287; Dupuis, p. 283.

[365:3] Bulfinch, p. 21.

[365:4] See Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 67, and Chambers, art.

"Yule."

[365:5] See Chambers's, art. "Yule," and "Celtic Druids," p. 162.

[365:6] Mallet's Northern Antiquities, pp. 110 and 355. Knight: p. 87.

[366:1] Dupuis, 160; Celtic Druids, and Monumental Christianity, p. 167.

[366:2] Anacalypsis, vol. ii. p. 99.

[366:3] Hist. Indies, vol. ii. p. 354.

[366:4] See Middleton's Works, vol. i. p. 80.

[366:5] Knight: Anct. Art and Mytho., p. 82.

[367:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. ii. p. 383.

[367:2] King's Gnostics, p. 49.

[367:3] Quoted in Ibid.

[367:4] See the chapter on "Paganism in Christianity."

[367:5] Bible for Learners, vol. iii. p. 67.

CHAPTER x.x.xV.

THE TRINITY.

"Say not there are three G.o.ds, G.o.d is but One G.o.d."--(Koran.)

The doctrine of the Trinity is the highest and most mysterious doctrine of the Christian church. It declares that there are _three_ persons in the G.o.dhead or divine nature--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost--and that "these three are _one_ true, eternal G.o.d, the same in substance, equal in power and glory, although distinguished by their personal propensities." The most celebrated statement of the doctrine is to be found in the Athanasian creed,[368:1] which a.s.serts that: