The Life of Jehoshua, the Prophet of Nazareth

Ever since the beginning of the Christian era a storm of varied opinions in regard to the supposed founder of what is called ‘Christianity’ has been raging in the world of mind, finding its expression on the external plane in deeds of violence, in innumerable cruelties, wars, atrocities, and crimes, such as are almost beyond the power of human imagination to conceive. From the time of the maniac-emperors, when the Roman arenas were reddened by the blood of the Nazarenes, down to the Middle Ages, when Christians had ceased to be persecuted and became persecutors in their turn; when the scum of all Europe pillaged and plundered the inhabitants of the ‘Holy Land’ in the assumed name of Christ; — down to comparatively modern times, when the skies of all European countries were blackened by the smoke ascending from burning fagots, upon which men, women, and children, suspected of heresy, were roasted to death by those who claimed to be the followers of Him who had taught the doctrine of universal fraternal love; — and still further down to our present time, in which the churches struggle to regain their waning powers and wealth — the cause of all religious warfare has always been a difference of opinion in regard to the nature of ‘Christ’