A Few Reasons for Doubting the Inspiration of the Bible
Essay.

by Robert G. Ingersoll
(1891)

From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll (Dresden Edition, 1900–1902), Volume 11.
Source: https://thegreatagnostic.com/works/a-few-reasons-for-doubting-the-inspiration-of-the-bible/
Public domain. CC0 / Public Domain Mark 1.0.

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• Printed from manuscript notes found among Colonel
    Ingersoll's papers, evidently written in the early '80's.
    While much of the argument and criticism will be found
    embodied in his various lectures magazine articles and
    contributions to the press, it was thought too valuable in
    its present form to be left out of a complete edition of his
    works, on account of too much repetition. Undoubtedly it was
    the author's intention to go through the Bible in this same
    manner and to publish in book form. "A few Reasons for
    doubting the Inspiration of the Bible."

THE Old Testament must have been written nearly two thousand years
before the invention of printing. There were but few copies, and
these were in the keeping of those whose interest might have prompted
interpolations, and whose ignorance might have led to mistakes.

Second. The written Hebrew was composed entirely of consonants, without
any points or marks standing for vowels, so that anything like accuracy
was impossible. Anyone can test this for himself by writing an English
sentence, leaving out the vowels. It will take far more inspiration to
read than to write a book with consonants alone.

Third. The books composing the Old Testament were not divided into
chapters or verses, and no system of punctuation was known. Think of
this a moment and you will see how difficult it must be to read such a
book.

Fourth. There was not among the Jews any dictionary of their language,
and for this reason the accurate meaning of words could not be
preserved. Now the different meanings of words are preserved so that by
knowing the age in which a writer lived we can ascertain with reasonable
certainty his meaning.

Fifth. The Old Testament was printed for the first time in 1488. Until
this date it existed only in manuscript, and was constantly exposed to
erasures and additions.

Sixth. It is now admitted by the most learned in the Hebrew language
that in our present English version of the Old Testament there are
at least one hundred thousand errors. Of course the believers in
inspiration assert that these errors are not sufficient in number to
cast the least suspicion upon any passages upholding what are called the
"fundamentals."

Seventh. It is not certainly known who in fact wrote any of the books of
the Old Testament. For instance, it is now generally conceded that Moses
was not the author of the Pentateuch.

Eighth. Other books, not now in existence, are referred to in the Old
Testament as of equal authority, such as the books of Jasher, Nathan,
Ahijah, Iddo, Jehu, Sayings of the Seers.

Ninth. The Christians are not agreed among themselves as to what books
are inspired. The Catholics claim as inspired the books of Maccabees,
Tobit, Esdras, etc. Others doubt the inspiration of Esther,
Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.

Tenth. In the book of Esther and the Song of Solomon the name of God is
not mentioned, and no reference is made to any supreme being, nor to any
religious duty. These omissions would seem sufficient to cast a little
doubt upon these books.

Eleventh. Within the present century manuscript copies of the Old
Testament have been found throwing new light and changing in many
instances the present readings. In consequence a new version is now
being made by a theological syndicate composed of English and American
divines, and after this is published it may be that our present Bible
will fall into disrepute.

Twelfth. The fact that language is continually changing, that words are
constantly dying and others being born; that the same word has a variety
of meanings during its life, shows hew hard it is to preserve the
original ideas that might have been expressed in the Scriptures, for
thousands of years, without dictionaries, without the art of printing,
and without the light of contemporaneous literature.

Thirteenth. Whatever there was of the Old Testament seems to have been
lost from the time of Moses until the days of Josiah, and it is probable
that nothing like the Bible existed in any permanent form among the Jews
until a few hundred years before Christ. It is said that Ezra gave
the Pentateuch to the Jews, but whether he found or originated it is
unknown. So it is claimed that Nehemiah gathered up the manuscripts
about the kings and prophets, while the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs,
Ruth, Ecclesiastes, and some others were either collected or written
long after. The Jews themselves did not agree as to what books were
really inspired.

Fourteenth. In the Old Testament we find several contradictory
laws about the same thing, and contradictory accounts of the same
occurrences. In the twentieth chapter of Exodus we find the first
account of the giving of the Ten Commandments. In the thirty-fourth
chapter another account is given. These two accounts could never have
been written by the same person. Read these two accounts and you will
be forced to admit that one of them cannot be true. So there are two
histories of the creation, of the flood, and of the manner in which Saul
became king.

Fifteenth. It is now generally admitted that Genesis must have been
written by two persons, and the parts written by each can be separated,
and when separated they are found to contradict each other in many
important particulars.

Sixteenth. It is also admitted that copyists made verbal changes not
only, but pieced out fragments; that the speeches of Elihu in the book
of Job were all interpolated, and that most of the prophecies were made
by persons whose names we have never known.

Seventeenth. The manuscripts of the Old Testament were not alike, and
the Greek version differed from the Hebrew, and there was no absolutely
received text of the Old Testament until after the commencement of the
Christian era. Marks and points to denote vowels were invented probably
about the seventh century after Christ. Whether these vowels were put in
the proper places or not is still an open question.

Eighteenth. The Alexandrian version, or what is known as the Septuagint,
translated by seventy learned Jews, assisted by "miraculous power,"
about two hundred years before Christ, could not have been, it is said,
translated from the Hebrew text that we now have. The differences can
only be accounted for by supposing that they had a different Hebrew
text. The early Christian Churches adopted the Septuagint, and were
satisfied for a time. But so many errors were found, and so many were
scanning every word in search of something to sustain their peculiar
views, that several new versions appeared, all different somewhat from
the Hebrew manuscripts, from the Septuagint, and from each other.
All these versions were in Greek. The first Latin Bible originated in
Africa, but no one has ever found out which Latin manuscript was the
original. Many were produced, and all differed from each other. These
Latin versions were compared with each other and with the Hebrew, and
a new Latin version was made in the fifth century, but the old Latin
versions held their own for about four hundred years, and no one yet
knows which were right. Besides these there were Egyptian, Ethiopie,
Armenian, and several others, all differing from each other as well as
from all others in the world.

It was not until the fourteenth century that the Bible was translated
into German, and not until the fifteenth that Bibles were printed in
the principal languages of Europe. Of these Bibles there were several
kinds—Luther's, the Dort, King James's, Genevan, French, besides the
Danish and Swedish. Most of these differed from each other, and gave
rise to infinite disputes and crimes without number. The earliest
fragment of the Bible in the "Saxon" language known to exist was written
sometime in the seventh century. The first Bible was printed in England
in 1538. In 1560 the first English Bible was printed that was divided
into verses. Under Henry VIII. the Bible was revised; again under Queen
Elizabeth, and once again under King James. This last was published in
1611, and is the one now in general use.

Nineteenth. No one in the world has learning enough, nor has he time
enough even if he had the learning, and could live a thousand years, to
find out what books really belong to and constitute the Old Testament,
the authors of these books, when they were written, and what they really
mean. And until a man has the learning and the time to do all this he
cannot certainly tell whether he believes the Bible or not.

Twentieth. If a revelation from God was actually necessary to the
happiness of man here and to his salvation hereafter, it is not easy to
see why such revelation was not given to all the nations of the
earth. Why were the millions of Asia, Egypt, and America left to the
insufficient light of nature. Why was not a written, or what is still
better, a printed revelation given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of
Eden? And why were the Jews themselves without a Bible until the days
of Ezra the scribe? Why was nature not so made that it would give light
enough? Why did God make men and leave them in darkness—a darkness that
he, knew would fill the world with want and crime, and crowd with damned
souls the dungeons of his hell? Were the Jews the only people who needed
a revelation? It may be said that God had no time to waste with other
nations, and gave the Bible to the Jews that other nations through them
might learn of his existence and his will. If he wished other nations
to be informed, and revealed himself to but one, why did he not choose
a people that mingled with others? Why did he give the message to those
who had no commerce, who were obscure and unknown, and who regarded
other nations with the hatred born of bigotry and weakness? What would
we now think of a God who made his will known to the South Sea
Islanders for the benefit of the civilized world? If it was of such vast
importance for man to know that there is a God, why did not God make
himself known? This fact could have been revealed by an infinite being
instantly to all, and there certainly was no necessity of telling it
alone to the Jews, and allowing millions for thousands of years to die
in utter ignorance.

Twenty-first. The Chinese, Japanese, Hindus, Tartars, Africans, Eskimo,
Persians, Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Polynesians, and many other peoples,
are substantially ignorant of the Bible. All the Bible societies of
the world have produced only about one hundred and twenty millions of
Bibles, and there are about fourteen hundred million people. There
are hundreds of languages and tongues in which no Bible has yet been
printed. Why did God allow, and why does he still allow, a vast majority
of his children to remain in ignorance of his will?

Twenty-second. If the Bible is the foundation of all civilization, of
all just ideas of right and wrong, of our duties to God and each other,
why did God not give to each nation at least one copy to start with? He
must have known that no nation could get along successfully without a
Bible, and he also knew that man could not make one for himself. Why,
then, were not the books furnished? He must have known that the light
of nature was not sufficient to reveal the scheme of the atonement, the
necessity of baptism, the immaculate conception, transubstantiation, the
arithmetic of the Trinity, or the resurrection of the dead.

Twenty-third. It is probably safe to say that not one-third of the
inhabitants of this world ever heard of the Bible, and not one-tenth
ever read it. It is also safe to say that no two persons who ever read
it agreed as to its meaning, and it is not likely that even one person
has ever understood it. Nothing is more needed at the present time than
an inspired translator. Then we shall need an inspired commentator,
and the translation and the commentary should be written in an inspired
universal language, incapable of change, and then the whole world should
be inspired to understand this language precisely the same. Until these
things are accomplished, all written revelations from God will fill the
world with contending sects, contradictory creeds and opinions.

Twenty-fourth. All persons who know anything of constitutions and laws
know how impossible it is to use words that will convey the same ideas
to all. The best statesmen, the profoundest lawyers, differ as widely
about the real meaning of treaties and statutes as do theologians about
the Bible. When the differences of lawyers are left to courts, and the
courts give written decisions, the lawyers will again differ as to the
real meaning of the opinions. Probably no two lawyers in the United
States understand our Constitution alike. To allow a few men to tell
what the Constitution means, and to hang for treason all who refuse to
accept the opinions of these few men, would accomplish in politics what
most churches have asked for in religion.

Twenty-fifth. Is it very wicked to deny that the universe was created
of nothing by an infinite being who existed from all eternity? The human
mind is such that it cannot possibly conceive of creation, neither can
it conceive of an infinite being who dwelt in infinite space an infinite
length of time.

Twenty-sixth. The idea that the universe was made in six days, and is
but about six thousand years old, is too absurd for serious refutation.
Neither will it do to say that the six days were six periods, because
this does away with the Sabbath, and is in direct violation of the text.

Twenty-seventh. Neither is it reasonable that this God made man out of
dust, and woman out of one of the ribs of the man; that this pair were
put in a garden; that they were deceived by a snake that had the power
of speech; that they were turned out of this garden to prevent them from
eating of the tree of life and becoming immortal; that God himself made
them clothes; that the sons of God intermarried with the daughters
of men; that to destroy all life upon the earth a flood was sent that
covered the highest mountains; that Noah and his sons built an ark and
saved some of all animals as well as themselves; that the people tried
to build a tower that would reach to heaven; that God confounded their
language, and in this way frustrated their design.

Twenty-eighth. It is hard to believe that God talked to Abraham as one
man talks to another; that he gave him land that he pointed out; that he
agreed to give him land that he never did; that he ordered him to murder
his own son; that angels were in the habit of walking about the earth
eating veal dressed with butter and milk, and making bargains about the
destruction of cities.

Twenty-ninth. Certainly a man ought not to be eternally damned for
entertaining an honest doubt about a woman having been turned into
a pillar of salt, about cities being destroyed by storms of fire and
brimstone, and about people once having lived for nearly a thousand
years.

Thirtieth. Neither is it probable that God really wrestled with Jacob
and put his thigh out of joint, and that for that reason the
Jews refused "to eat the sinew that shrank," as recounted in the
thirty-second chapter of Genesis; that God in the likeness of a flame
inhabited a bush; that he amused himself by changing the rod of Moses
into a serpent, and making his hand leprous as snow.

Thirty-first. One can scarcely be blamed for hesitating to believe that
God met Moses at a hotel and tried to kill him that afterward he made
this same Moses a god to Pharaoh, and gave him his brother Aaron for a
prophet;2 that he turned all the ponds and pools and streams and all the
rivers into blood,3 and all the water in vessels of wood and stone; that
the rivers thereupon brought forth frogs;4 that the frogs covered the
whole land of Egypt; that he changed dust into lice, so that all the
men, women, children, and animals were covered with them;6 that he sent
swarms of flies upon the Egyptians;8 that he destroyed the innocent
cattle with painful diseases; that he covered man and beast with blains
and boils;7 that he so covered the magicians of Egypt with boils that
they could not stand before Moses for the purpose of performing the
same feats, that he destroyed every beast and every man that was in
the fields, and every herb, and broke every tree with storm of hail and
fire;9 that he sent locusts that devoured every herb that escaped the
hail, and devoured every tree that grew;10 that he caused thick darkness
over the land and put lights in the houses of the Jews;11 that he
destroyed all of the firstborn of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh
upon the throne to the firstborn of the maidservant that sat behind the
mill,"12 together with the firstborn of all beasts, so that there was
not a house in which the dead were not."
    1 Ex. iv, 24.    5 Ex. viii, 16, 17.  9 Ex. ix, 25.
    2 Ex. vii. 1.    6 Ex. viii, 21.     10 Ex. x, 15.
    3 Ex. viii, 19.  7 Ex. ix, 9.        11 Ex. x, 22, 23.
    4 Ex. viii, 3.   8 Ex. ix, 11.       12 Ex. xi, 5.
    13 Ex. xii, 29.

Thirty-second. It is very hard to believe that three millions of people
left a country and marched twenty or thirty miles all in one day. To
notify so many people would require a long time, and then the sick, the
halt, and the old would be apt to impede the march. It seems impossible
that such a vast number—six hundred thousand men, besides women and
children—could have been cared for, could have been fed and clothed,
and the sick nursed, especially when we take into consideration that
"they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they
prepared for themselves any victual." 1

Thirty-third. It seems cruel to punish a man forever for denying that
God went before the Jews by day "in a pillar of a cloud to lead' them
the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light to go by
day and night," or for denying that Pharaoh pursued the Jews with six
hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and that the six
hundred thousand men of war of the Jews were sore afraid when they saw
the pursuing hosts. It does seems strange that after all the water in a
country had been turned to blood—after it had been overrun with frogs
and devoured with flies; after all the cattle had died with the murrain,
and the rest had been killed by the fire and hail and the remainder had
suffered with boils, and the firstborn of all that were left had died;
that after locusts had devoured every herb and eaten up every tree of
the field, and the firstborn had died, from the firstborn of the king
on the throne to the firstborn of the captive in the dungeon; that after
three millions of people had left, carrying with them the jewels of
silver and gold and the raiment of their oppressors, the Egyptians still
had enough soldiers and chariots and horses left to pursue and destroy
an army of six hundred thousand men, if God had not interfered.
    1 Ex. xii, 37-39

Thirty-fourth. It certainly ought to satisfy God to torment a man for
four or five thousand years for insisting that it is but a small thing
for an infinite being to vanquish an Egyptian army; that it was rather a
small business to trouble people with frogs, flies, and vermin; that it
looked almost malicious to cover people with boils and afflict cattle
with disease; that a real good God would not torture innocent beasts
on account of something the owners had done; that it was absurd to do
miracles before a king to induce him to act in a certain way, and then
harden his heart so that he would refuse; and that to kill all the
firstborn of a nation was the act of a heartless fiend.

Thirty-fifth. Certainly one ought to be permitted to doubt that twelve
wells of water were sufficient for three millions of people, together
with their flocks and herds,1 and to inquire a little into the nature of
manna that was cooked by baking and seething and yet would melt in the
sun,2 and that would swell or shrink so as to make an exact omer, no
matter how much or how little there really was.3 Certainly it is not a
crime to say that water cannot be manufactured by striking a rock with a
stick, and that the fate of battle cannot be decided by lifting one hand
up or letting it fall.4 Must we admit that God really did come down upon
Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people; that he commanded that all
who should go up into the Mount or touch the border of it should be put
to death, and that even the beasts that came near it should be killed?5
Is it wrong to laugh at this? Is it sinful to say that God never spoke
from the top of a mountain covered with clouds these words to Moses, "Go
down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze,
and many of them perish; and let the priests also, which come near to
the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them"?6
    1 Ex. xv, 27.      3 Ex. xix. 12.       5 Ex. xix, 13, 13.
    2 Ex. xvi, 23, 21  4 Ex. xvii, 11, 13.  6 Ex. xix, 21, 22

Can it be that an infinite intelligence takes delight in scaring
savages, and that he is happy only when somebody trembles? Is it
reasonable to suppose that God surrounded himself with thunderings and
lightnings and thick darkness to tell the priests that they should not
make altars of hewn stones, nor with stairs? And that this God at the
same time he gave the Ten Commandments ordered the Jews to break the
most of them? According to the Bible these infamous words came from the
mouth of God while he was wrapped and clothed in darkness and clouds
upon the Mount of Sinai:

If thou buy an Hebrew servant six years he shall serve: and in the
seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself he
shall go out by himself; if he were married, then his wife shall go out
with him. If his master have given him a wife, and she have borne him
sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and
he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love
my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: then his
master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the
door or unto the doorpost; and his master shall bore his ear through
with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.2 And if a man smite his
servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall be
surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall
not be punished; for he is his money.3

Do you really think that a man will be eternally damned for endeavoring
to wipe from the record of God those barbaric words?

Thirty-sixth. Is it because of total depravity that some people refuse
to believe that God went into partnership with insects and granted
letters of marque and reprisal to hornets;4 that he wasted forty
days and nights furnishing Moses with plans and specifications for a
tabernacle, an ark, a mercy seat and two cherubs of gold, a table,
four rings, some dishes and spoons, one candlestick, three bowls, seven
lamps, a pair of tongs, some snuff dishes (for all of which God had
patterns), ten curtains with fifty loops, a roof for the tabernacle of
rams' skins dyed red, a lot of boards, an altar with horns, ash pans,
basins, and flesh hooks, and fillets of silver and pins of brass; that
he told Moses to speak unto all the wise-hearted that he had filled with
wisdom, that they might make a suit of clothes for Aaron, and that
God actually gave directions that an ephod "shall have the two
shoulder-pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof."
    1 Ex. xix, 25, 26.  3 Ex. xxi, 20, 21
    2 Ex. xxi, 2-6,     4 Ex, xxiii, 28

And gave all the orders concerning mitres, girdles, and onyx stones,
ouches, emeralds, breastplates, chains, rings, Urim and Thummim, and the
hole in the top of the ephod like the hole of a habergeon?1

Thirty-seventh. Is there a Christian missionary who could help laughing
if in any heathen country he had seen the following command of God
carried out? "And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons
shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. Then shalt thou kill the
ram and take of his blood and put it upon the tip of the right ear of
Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb
of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot."2 Does
one have to be born again to appreciate the beauty and solemnity of such
a performance? Is not the faith of the most zealous Christian somewhat
shaken while reading the recipes for cooking mutton, veal, beef, birds,
and unleavened dough, found in the cook book that God made for Aaron and
his sons?

Thirty-eighth. Is it to be wondered at that some people have doubted the
statement that God told Moses how to make some ointment, hair oil, and
perfume, and then made it a crime punishable with death to make any like
them? Think of a God killing a man for imitating his ointment!3 Think of
a God saying that he made heaven and earth in six days and rested on the
seventh day and was refreshed!4 Think of this God threatening to destroy
the Jews, and being turned from his purpose because Moses told him that
the Egyptians might mock him!5

    1 Ex. xxvii and xxviii.  3 Ex. xxx, 23.  5 Ex. xxxii, 11, 12

    2 Ex. xxix, 19, 20       4 Ex. xxxi, 17.

Thirty-ninth. What must we think of a man impudent enough to break in
pieces tables of stone upon which God had written with his finger? What
must we think of the goodness of a man that would issue the following
order: "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by
his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and
slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man
his neighbor. Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord, even every
man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a
blessing this day"?1 Is it true that the God of the Bible demanded human
sacrifice? Did it please him for man to kill his neighbor, for brother
to murder his brother, and for the father to butcher his sou? If there
is a God let him cause it to be written in the book of his memory,
opposite my name, that I refuted this slander and denied this lie.

Fortieth. Can it be true that God was afraid to trust himself with the
Jews for fear he would consume them? Can it be that in order to keep
from devouring them he kept away and sent one of his angels in his
place?2 Can it be that this same God talked to Moses "face to face, as a
man speaketh unto his friend," when it is declared in the same chapter,
by God himself, "Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see
me, and live"?3

Forty-first. Why should a man, because he has done a bad action, go and
kill a sheep? How can man make friends with God by cutting the throats
of bullocks and goats? Why should God delight in the shedding of blood?
Why should he want his altar sprinkled with blood, and the horns of his
altar tipped with blood, and his priests covered with blood? Why should
burning flesh be a sweet savor in the nostrils of God? Why did he compel
his priests to be butchers, cutters and stabbers?
    1 Ex. xxxii, 27-29.  2 Ex. xxxiii, 2, 3.
    3 Ex. xxxiii, 11, 20.

Why should the same God kill a man for eating the fat of an ox, a sheep,
or a goat?

Forty-second. Could it be a consolation to a man when dying to think
that he had always believed that God told Aaron to take two goats and
draw cuts to see which goat should be killed and which should be a
scapegoat?1 And that upon the head of the scapegoat Aaron should lay
both his hands and confess over him all the iniquities of the children
of Israel, and all their transgressions, and put them all on the head
of the goat, and send him away by the hand of a fit man into the
wilderness; and that the goat should bear upon him all the iniquities
of the people into a land not inhabited?2 How could a goat carry away
a load of iniquities and transgressions? Why should he carry them to a
land uninhabited? Were these sins contagious? About how many sins
could an average goat carry? Could a man meet such a goat now without
laughing?

Forty-third. Why should God object to a man wearing a garment made of
woolen and linen? Why should he care whether a man rounded the corners
of his beard?3 Why should God prevent a man from offering the sacred
bread merely because he had a flat nose, or was lame, or had five
fingers on one hand, or had a broken foot, or was a dwarf? If he
objected to such people, why did he make them?4

Forty-fourth. Why should we believe that God insisted upon the sacrifice
of human beings? Is it a sin to deny this, and to deny the inspiration
of a book that teaches it? Read the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth
verses of the last chapter of Leviticus, a book in which there is more
folly and cruelty, more stupidity and tyranny, than in any other book in
this world except some others in the same Bible. Read the thirty-second
chapter of Exodus and you will see how by the most infamous of crimes
man becomes reconciled to this God.
    1 Lev, xvi, 8.  2 Lev. xvi, 21, 22.  3 Lev. xix, 19, 27,
    4 Lev. xxi, 18-20.

You will see that he demands of fathers the blood of their sons. Read
the twelfth and thirteenth verses of the third chapter of Numbers, "And
I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel,"
etc.

How, in the desert of Sinai, did the Jews obtain curtains of fine linen?
How did these absconding slaves make cherubs of gold? Where did they get
the skins of badgers, and how did they dye them red? How did they make
wreathed chains and spoons, basins and tongs? Where did they get the
blue cloth and their purple? Where did they get the sockets of brass?
How did they coin the shekel of the sanctuary? How did they overlay
boards with gold? Where did they get the numberless instruments and
tools necessary to accomplish all these things? Where did they get the
fine flour and the oil? Were all these found in the desert of Sinai?
Is it a sin to ask these questions? Are all these doubts born of a
malignant and depraved heart? Why should God in this desert prohibit
priests from drinking wine, and from eating moist grapes? How could
these priests get wine?

Do not these passages show that these laws were made long after the Jews
had left the desert, and that they were not given from Sinai? Can you
imagine a God silly enough to tell a horde of wandering savages upon a
desert that they must not eat any fruit of the trees they planted until
the fourth year?

Forty-fifth. Ought a man to be despised and persecuted for denying that
God ordered the priests to make women drink dirt and water to test their
virtue? 1 Or for denying that over the tabernacle there was a cloud
during the day and fire by night, and that the cloud lifted up when God
wished the Jews to travel, and that until it was lifted they remained in
their tents?2
    1 Num. v, 12-31.  2 Num. ix, 16-18.

Can it be possible that the "ark of the covenant" traveled on its own
account, and that "when the ark set forward" the people followed, as is
related in the tenth chapter of the holy book of Numbers?

Forty-sixth. Was it reasonable for God to give the Jews manna, and
nothing else, year after year? He had infinite power, and could just as
easily have given them something good, in reasonable variety, as to
have fed them on manna until they loathed the sight of it, and longingly
remembered the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic of
Egypt. And yet when the poor people complained of the diet and asked for
a little meat, this loving and merciful God became enraged, sent them
millions of quails in his wrath, and while they were eating, while the
flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, this amiable
God smote the people with a plague and killed all those that lusted
after meat. In a few days after, he made up his mind to kill the rest,
but was dissuaded when Moses told him that the Canaanites would laugh at
him.1 No wonder the poor Jews wished they were back in Egypt. No wonder
they had rather be the slaves of Pharaoh than the chosen people of God.
No wonder they preferred the wrath of Egypt to the love of heaven. In my
judgment, the Jews would have fared far better if Jehovah had let them
alone, or had he even taken the side of the Egyptians.

When the poor Jews were told by their spies that the Canaanites were
giants, they, seized with fear, said, "Let us go back to Egypt." For
this, their God doomed all except Joshua and Caleb to a wandering
death. Hear the words of this most merciful God: "But as for you, your
carcasses they shall fall in this wilderness, and your children shall
wander in the wilderness forty years and bear your sins until your
carcasses be wasted in the wilderness."2 And yet this same God promised
to give unto all these people a land flowing with milk and honey.
    1 Num. xiv, 15, 16.  2 Num. xiv. 32-33.

Forty-seventh. "And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness
they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day.

"And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and
Aaron, and unto all the congregation.

"And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be
done to him.

"And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death; all
the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.

"And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him
with stones, and he died." 1

When the last stone was thrown, and he that was a man was but a mangled,
bruised, and broken mass, this God turned, and, touched with pity,
said: "Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they
make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their
generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a riband
of blue."2

In the next chapter, this Jehovah, whose loving kindness is over all his
works, because Korah, Dathan, and Abiram objected to being starved to
death in the wilderness, made the earth open and swallow not only them,
but their wives and their little ones. Not yet satisfied, he sent a
plague and killed fourteen thousand seven hundred more. There never was
in the history of the world such a cruel, revengeful, bloody, jealous,
fickle, unreasonable, and fiendish ruler, emperor, or king as Jehovah.
No wonder the children of Israel cried out, "Behold we die, we perish,
we all perish."

Forty-eighth. I cannot believe that a dry stick budded, blossomed, and
bore almonds; that the ashes of a red heifer are a purification for
sin;3 that God gave the cities into the hands of the Jews because they
solemnly agreed to murder all the inhabitants; that God became enraged
and induced snakes to bite his chosen people; that God told Balaam to go
with the Princess of Moab, and then got angry because he did go; that an
animal ever saw an angel and conversed with a man.
    1 Num. xv, 32-36.  2 Num. xv, 38,  3 Num. xix, 2-10.

I cannot believe that thrusting a spear through the body of a woman ever
stayed a plague;1 that any good man ever ordered his soldiers to slay
the men and keep the maidens alive for themselves; that God commanded
men not to show mercy to each other; that he induced men to obey his
commandments by promising them that he would assist them in murdering
the wives and children of their neighbors; or that he ever commanded a
man to kill his wife because she differed with him about religion;2 or
that God was mistaken about hares chewing the cud;3 or that he objected
to the people raising horses 4 or that God wanted a camp kept clean
because he walked through it at night;5 or that he commanded widows to
spit in the faces of their brothers-in-law;6 or that he ever threatened
to give anybody the itch;7 or that he ever secretly buried a man and
allowed the corpse to write an account of the funeral.

Forty-ninth. Does it necessarily follow that a man wishes to commit some
crime if he refuses to admit that the river Jordan cut itself in two
and allowed the lower end to run away? Or that seven priests could blow
seven ram's horns loud enough to throw down the walls of a city;8 or
that God, after Achan had confessed that he had secreted a garment and
a wedge of gold, became good natured as soon as Achan and his sons and
daughters had been stoned to death and their bodies burned?10 Is it not
a virtue to abhor such a God?
    1 Num. XXV, 8.       4 Deut. xvii, 16.       7 Deut. xxviii, 27.
    2 Deut. xiii, 6-10.  5 Deut. xxiii, 13, 14.  8 Josh, iii, 16.
    3 Deut. xiv, 7.      6 Deut. xxv, 9.,        9 Josh. vi, 20.
    10 Josh, vii, 24, 25.

Must we believe that God sanctioned and commanded all the cruelties
and horrors described in the Old Testament; that he waged the most
relentless and heartless wars; that he declared mercy a crime; that to
spare life was to excite his wrath; that he smiled when maidens were
violated, laughed when mothers were ripped open with a sword, and
shouted with joy when babes were butchered in their mothers' arms? Read
the infamous book of Joshua, and then worship the God who inspired it if
you can.

Fiftieth. Can any sane man believe that the sun stood still in the midst
of heaven and hasted not to go down about a whole day, and that the moon
stayed?1 That these miracles were performed in the interest of massacre
and bloodshed; that the Jews destroyed men, women, and children by the
million, and practiced every cruelty that the ingenuity of their God
could suggest? Is it possible that these things really happened? Is it
possible that God commanded them to be done? Again I ask you to read
the book of Joshua. After reading all its horrors you will feel a grim
satisfaction in the dying words of Joshua to the children of Israel:
"Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any
of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps
unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye
perish from off this good land."2

Think of a God who boasted that he gave the Jews a land for which they
did not labor, cities which they did not build, and allowed them to eat
of oliveyards and vineyards which they did not plant.3 Think of a God
who murders some of his children for the benefit of the rest, and then
kills the rest because they are not thankful enough. Think of a God who
had the power to stop the sun and moon, but could not defeat an army
that had iron chariots.4
    1 Josh, x, 13.  2 Josh, xiii, 13.  3 Josh. xxiv, 13.
    4 Judges i, 19.

Fifty-first. Can we blame the Hebrews for getting tired of their God?
Never was a people so murdered, starved, stoned, burned, deceived,
humiliated, robbed, and outraged. Never was there so little liberty
among men. Never did the meanest king so meddle, eavesdrop, spy out,
harass, torment, and persecute his people. Never was ruler so jealous,
unreasonable, contemptible, exacting, and ignorant as this God of the
Jews. Never was such ceremony, such mummery, such stuff about bullocks,
goats, doves, red heifers, lambs, and unleavened dough—never was such
directions about kidneys and blood, ashes and fat, about curtains,
tongs, fringes, ribands, and brass pins—never such details for killing
of animals and men and the sprinkling of blood and the cutting of
clothes. Never were such unjust laws, such punishments, such damned
ignorance and infamy! Fifty-second. Is it not wonderful that the creator
of all worlds, infinite in power and wisdom, could not hold his own
against the gods of wood and stone? Is it not strange that after he had
appeared to his chosen people, delivered them from slavery, fed them
by miracles, opened the sea for a path, led them by cloud and fire,
and overthrown their pursuers, they still preferred a calf of their
own making? Is it not beyond belief that this God, by statutes and
commandments, by punishments and penalties, by rewards and promises,
by wonders and plagues, by earthquakes and pestilence, could not in the
least civilize the Jews—could not get them beyond a point where they
deserved killing? What shall we think of a God who gave his entire time
for forty years to the work of converting three millions of people, and
succeeded in getting only two men, and not a single woman, decent enough
to enter the promised land? Was there ever in the history of man so
detestible an administration of public affairs? Is it possible that
God sold his children to the king of Mesopotamia; that he sold them to
Jabin, king of Canaan, to the Philistines, and to the children of Ammon?
Is it possible that an angel of the Lord devoured unleavened cakes and
broth with fire that came out of the end of a stick as he sat under an
oak-tree?1 Can it be true that God made known his will by making dew
fall on wool without wetting the ground around it?2 Do you really
believe that men who lap water like a dog make the best soldiers?3 Do
you think that a man could hold a lamp in his left hand, a trumpet in
his right hand, blow his trumpet, shout "the sword of the Lord and of
Gideon," and break pitchers at the same time? 4

Fifty-third. Read the story of Jephthah and his daughter, and then tell
me what you think of a father who would sacrifice his daughter to God,
and what you think of a God who would receive such a sacrifice. This one
story should be enough to make every tender and loving father hold this
book in utter abhorrence. Is it necessary, in order to be saved, that
one must believe that an angel of God appeared unto Manoah in the
absence of her husband; that this angel afterward went up in a flame of
fire; that as a result of this visit a child was born whose strength was
in his hair? a child that made beehives of lions, incendiaries of foxes,
and had a wife that wept seven days to get the answer to his riddle?
Will the wrath of God abide forever upon a man for doubting the story
that Samson killed a thousand men with a new jawbone? Is there enough
in the Bible to save a soul with this story left out? Is hell hungry for
those who deny that water gushed from a "hollow place" in a dry bone? Is
it evidence of a new heart to believe that one man turned over a house
so large that over three thousand people were on the roof? For my part,
I cannot believe these things, and if my salvation depends upon my
credulity I am as good as damned already. I cannot believe that the
Philistines took back the ark with a present of five gold mice, and that
thereupon God relented.5
    1 Judges vi, 21.   2 Judges vi, 37.  3 Judges vii, 5.
    4 Judges vii, 20.  5 I Sam. vi. 4.

I can not believe that God killed fifty thousand men for looking into a
box.1 It seems incredible, after all the Jews had done, after all their
wars and victories, even when Saul was king, that there was not among
them one smith who could make a sword or spear, and that they were
compelled to go to the Philistines to sharpen every plowshare, coulter,
and mattock.2 Can you believe that God said to Saul, "Now go and smite
Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not;
but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling"? Can you believe that
because Saul took the king alive after killing every other man, woman,
and child, the ogre called Jehovah was displeased and made up his mind
to hurl Saul from the throne and give his place to another?3 I cannot
believe that the Philistines all ran away because one of their number
was killed with a stone. I cannot justify the conduct of Abigail, the
wife of Nabal, who took presents to David. David hardly did right when
he said to this woman, "I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted
thy person." It could hardly have been chance that made Nabal so deathly
sick next morning and killed him in ten days. All this looks wrong,
especially as David married his widow before poor Nabal was fairly
cold.4

Fifty-fourth. Notwithstanding all I have heard of Katie King, I cannot
believe that a witch at Endor materialized the ghost of Samuel and
caused it to appear with a cloak on.5 I cannot believe that God
tempted David to take the census, and then gave him his choice of three
punishments: First, Seven years of famine; Second, Flying three months
before their enemies; Third, A pestilence of three days; that David
chose the pestilence, and that God destroyed seventy thousand men.6
    1 I Sam. vi, 19.        3 I Sam. xv.   5 I Sam. xxviii.
    2 I Sam. xiii, 19, 20.  4 I Sam. xxv.  6 2 Sam. xxiv.

Why should God kill the people for what David did? Is it a sin to be
counted? Can anything more brutally hellish be conceived? Why should man
waste prayers upon such a God?

Fifty-fifth. Must we admit that Elijah was fed by ravens; that they
brought him bread and flesh every morning and evening? Must we believe
that this same prophet could create meal and oil, and induce a departed
soul to come back and take up its residence once more in the body? That
he could get rain by praying for it; that he could cause fire to burn
up a sacrifice and altar, together with twelve barrels of water?1 Can we
believe that an angel of the Lord turned cook and prepared two suppers
in one night for Elijah, and that the prophet ate enough to last him
forty days and forty nights?* Is it true that when a captain with fifty
men went after Elijah, this prophet caused fire to come down from heaven
and consume them all? Should God allow such wretches to manage his fire?
Is it true that Elijah consumed another captain with fifty men in the
same way?3 Is it a fact that a river divided because the water was
struck with a cloak? Did a man actually go to heaven in a chariot
of fire drawn by horses of fire, or was he carried to Paradise by a
whirlwind? Must we believe, in order to be good and tender fathers and
mothers, that because some "little children" mocked at an old man with
a bald head, God—the same God who said, "Suffer little children to come
unto me"—sent two she-bears out of the wood and tare forty-two of these
babes? Think of the mothers that watched and waited for their children.
Think of the wailing when these mangled ones were found, when they
were brought back and pressed to the breasts of weeping women. What an
amiable gentleman Mr. Elisha must have been.4

Fifty-sixth. It is hard to believe that a prophet by lying on a dead
body could make it sneeze seven times.5
    1 I Kings xviii.  3 2 Kings i.  5 2 Kings iv.
    2 I Kings xix.    4 2 Kings ii.

It is hard to believe that being dipped seven times in the Jordan could
cure the leprosy.1 Would a merciful God curse children, and children's
children yet unborn, with leprosy for a father's fault?2 Is it possible
to make iron float in water?3 Is it reasonable to say that when a corpse
touched another corpse it came to life?4 Is it a sign that a man wants
to commit a crime because he refuses to believe that a king had a boil
and that God caused the sun to go backward in heaven so that the shadow
on a sun-dial went back ten degrees as a sign that the aforesaid would
get well?5 Is it true that this globe turned backward, that its motion
was reversed as a sign to a Jewish king? If it did not, this story is
false, and that part of the Bible is not true even if it is inspired.

Fifty-seventh. How did the Bible get lost?5 Where was the precious
Pentateuch from Moses to Josiah? How was it possible for the Jews to get
along without the directions as to fat and caul and kidney contained
in Leviticus? Without that sacred book in his possession a priest might
take up ashes and carry them out without changing his pantaloons. Such
mistakes kindled the wrath of God.

As soon as the Pentateuch was found Josiah began killing wizards and
such as had familiar spirits.

Fifty-eighth. I cannot believe that God talked to Solomon, that he
visited him in the night and asked him what he should give him; I cannot
believe that he told him, "I will give thee riches and wealth and honor,
such as none of the kings have had before thee, neither shall there any
after thee have the like."7 If Jehovah said this he was mistaken. It is
not true that Solomon had fourteen hundred chariots of war in a country
without roads. It is not true that he made gold and silver at Jerusalem
as plenteous as stones. There were several kings in his day, and
thousands since, that could have thrown away the value of Palestine
without missing the amount.
    1 2 Kings v.      3 2 Kings, vi. 6.    5 2 Kings xx, 1-11.
    2 2 Kings v. 27.  4 2 Kings xiii, 21.  6 2 Kings xxii, 8.
    7 2 Chron. i, 7, 12.

The Holy Land was and is a wretched country. There are no monuments, no
ruins attesting former wealth and greatness. The Jews had no commerce,
knew nothing of other nations, had no luxuries, never produced a
painter, a sculptor, architect, scientist, or statesman until after the
destruction of Jerusalem. As long as Jehovah attended to their affairs
they had nothing but civil war, plague, pestilence, and famine. After he
abandoned, and the Christians ceased to persecute them, they became the
most prosperous of people. Since Jehovah, in anger and disgust, cast
them away they have produced painters, sculptors, scientists, statesmen,
composers, and philosophers.

Fifty-ninth. I cannot admit that Hiram, the King of Tyre, wrote a letter
to Solomon in which he admitted that the "God of Israel made heaven and
earth." 1 This King was not a Jew. It seems incredible that Solomon had
eighty thousand men hewing timber for the temple, with seventy thousand
bearers of burdens, and thirty-six hundred overseers.2

Sixtieth. I cannot believe that God shuts up heaven and prevents rain,
or that he sends locusts to devour a land, or pestilence to destroy the
people.3 I cannot believe that God told Solomon that his eyes and heart
should perpetually be in the house that Solomon had built.4

Sixty-first. I cannot believe that Solomon passed all the kings of the
earth in riches; that all the kings of the earth sought his presence
and brought presents of silver and gold, raiment, harness, spices, and
mules—a rate year by year.5 Is it possible that Shishak, a King of
Egypt, invaded Palestine with seventy thousand horsemen and twelve
hundred chariots of war?6
    1 2 Chron. ii, 12.  3 2 Chron. vii, 13.  5 2 Chron. ix, 22-24.
    2 2 Chron. ii, 18.  4 2 Chron. vii, 16.  6 2 Chron. xii, 2, 3.

I cannot believe that in a battle between Jeroboam and Abijah, the army
of Abijah actually slew in one day five hundred thousand chosen men.1
Does anyone believe that Zerah, the Ethiopian, invaded Palestine with a
million men?2 I cannot believe that Jehoshaphat had a standing army
of nine hundred and sixty thousand men.3 I cannot believe that God
advertised for a liar to act as his messenger.4 I cannot believe that
King Amaziah did right in the sight of the Lord, and that he broke in
pieces ten thousand men by casting them from a precipice.5 I cannot
think that God smote a king with leprosy because he tried to burn
incense.6 I cannot think that Pekah slew one hundred and twenty thousand
men in one day.7
    1 2 Chron. xiii, 17. 3 2 Chron. xvii, 14-19.  5 2 Chron. xxv, 12.
    2 2 Chron. xiv, 9.   4 2 Chron. xviii, 19-22. 6 2 Chron. xxvi, 19.
    7 2 Chron. xxviii, 6.
