{
  "schema": "tga.work.v1",
  "identifier": "dresden:vol-11:a-few-reasons-for-doubting-the-inspiration-of-the-bible",
  "slug": "a-few-reasons-for-doubting-the-inspiration-of-the-bible",
  "title": "A Few Reasons for Doubting the Inspiration of the Bible",
  "subtitle": "Essay.",
  "excerpt": "A compact summary — fitting into a single essay — of the case against the Bible's claim to divine inspiration.",
  "year": 1891,
  "volume": 11,
  "category": "Essay",
  "author": {
    "name": "Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "wikidata": "Q360326",
    "viaf": "44331023"
  },
  "isPartOf": {
    "title": "The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "edition": "Dresden Edition",
    "publisher": "C. P. Farrell",
    "year": 1900
  },
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
  "url": "https://thegreatagnostic.com/works/a-few-reasons-for-doubting-the-inspiration-of-the-bible/",
  "wordCount": 9306,
  "body": "• Printed from manuscript notes found among Colonel\n    Ingersoll's papers, evidently written in the early '80's.\n    While much of the argument and criticism will be found\n    embodied in his various lectures magazine articles and\n    contributions to the press, it was thought too valuable in\n    its present form to be left out of a complete edition of his\n    works, on account of too much repetition. Undoubtedly it was\n    the author's intention to go through the Bible in this same\n    manner and to publish in book form. \"A few Reasons for\n    doubting the Inspiration of the Bible.\"\n\nTHE Old Testament must have been written nearly two thousand years\nbefore the invention of printing. There were but few copies, and\nthese were in the keeping of those whose interest might have prompted\ninterpolations, and whose ignorance might have led to mistakes.\n\nSecond. The written Hebrew was composed entirely of consonants, without\nany points or marks standing for vowels, so that anything like accuracy\nwas impossible. Anyone can test this for himself by writing an English\nsentence, leaving out the vowels. It will take far more inspiration to\nread than to write a book with consonants alone.\n\nThird. The books composing the Old Testament were not divided into\nchapters or verses, and no system of punctuation was known. Think of\nthis a moment and you will see how difficult it must be to read such a\nbook.\n\nFourth. There was not among the Jews any dictionary of their language,\nand for this reason the accurate meaning of words could not be\npreserved. Now the different meanings of words are preserved so that by\nknowing the age in which a writer lived we can ascertain with reasonable\ncertainty his meaning.\n\nFifth. The Old Testament was printed for the first time in 1488. Until\nthis date it existed only in manuscript, and was constantly exposed to\nerasures and additions.\n\nSixth. It is now admitted by the most learned in the Hebrew language\nthat in our present English version of the Old Testament there are\nat least one hundred thousand errors. Of course the believers in\ninspiration assert that these errors are not sufficient in number to\ncast the least suspicion upon any passages upholding what are called the\n\"fundamentals.\"\n\nSeventh. It is not certainly known who in fact wrote any of the books of\nthe Old Testament. For instance, it is now generally conceded that Moses\nwas not the author of the Pentateuch.\n\nEighth. Other books, not now in existence, are referred to in the Old\nTestament as of equal authority, such as the books of Jasher, Nathan,\nAhijah, Iddo, Jehu, Sayings of the Seers.\n\nNinth. The Christians are not agreed among themselves as to what books\nare inspired. The Catholics claim as inspired the books of Maccabees,\nTobit, Esdras, etc. Others doubt the inspiration of Esther,\nEcclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.\n\nTenth. In the book of Esther and the Song of Solomon the name of God is\nnot mentioned, and no reference is made to any supreme being, nor to any\nreligious duty. These omissions would seem sufficient to cast a little\ndoubt upon these books.\n\nEleventh. Within the present century manuscript copies of the Old\nTestament have been found throwing new light and changing in many\ninstances the present readings. In consequence a new version is now\nbeing made by a theological syndicate composed of English and American\ndivines, and after this is published it may be that our present Bible\nwill fall into disrepute.\n\nTwelfth. The fact that language is continually changing, that words are\nconstantly dying and others being born; that the same word has a variety\nof meanings during its life, shows hew hard it is to preserve the\noriginal ideas that might have been expressed in the Scriptures, for\nthousands of years, without dictionaries, without the art of printing,\nand without the light of contemporaneous literature.\n\nThirteenth. Whatever there was of the Old Testament seems to have been\nlost from the time of Moses until the days of Josiah, and it is probable\nthat nothing like the Bible existed in any permanent form among the Jews\nuntil a few hundred years before Christ. It is said that Ezra gave\nthe Pentateuch to the Jews, but whether he found or originated it is\nunknown. So it is claimed that Nehemiah gathered up the manuscripts\nabout the kings and prophets, while the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs,\nRuth, Ecclesiastes, and some others were either collected or written\nlong after. The Jews themselves did not agree as to what books were\nreally inspired.\n\nFourteenth. In the Old Testament we find several contradictory\nlaws about the same thing, and contradictory accounts of the same\noccurrences. In the twentieth chapter of Exodus we find the first\naccount of the giving of the Ten Commandments. In the thirty-fourth\nchapter another account is given. These two accounts could never have\nbeen written by the same person. Read these two accounts and you will\nbe forced to admit that one of them cannot be true. So there are two\nhistories of the creation, of the flood, and of the manner in which Saul\nbecame king.\n\nFifteenth. It is now generally admitted that Genesis must have been\nwritten by two persons, and the parts written by each can be separated,\nand when separated they are found to contradict each other in many\nimportant particulars.\n\nSixteenth. It is also admitted that copyists made verbal changes not\nonly, but pieced out fragments; that the speeches of Elihu in the book\nof Job were all interpolated, and that most of the prophecies were made\nby persons whose names we have never known.\n\nSeventeenth. The manuscripts of the Old Testament were not alike, and\nthe Greek version differed from the Hebrew, and there was no absolutely\nreceived text of the Old Testament until after the commencement of the\nChristian era. Marks and points to denote vowels were invented probably\nabout the seventh century after Christ. Whether these vowels were put in\nthe proper places or not is still an open question.\n\nEighteenth. The Alexandrian version, or what is known as the Septuagint,\ntranslated by seventy learned Jews, assisted by \"miraculous power,\"\nabout two hundred years before Christ, could not have been, it is said,\ntranslated from the Hebrew text that we now have. The differences can\nonly be accounted for by supposing that they had a different Hebrew\ntext. The early Christian Churches adopted the Septuagint, and were\nsatisfied for a time. But so many errors were found, and so many were\nscanning every word in search of something to sustain their peculiar\nviews, that several new versions appeared, all different somewhat from\nthe Hebrew manuscripts, from the Septuagint, and from each other.\nAll these versions were in Greek. The first Latin Bible originated in\nAfrica, but no one has ever found out which Latin manuscript was the\noriginal. Many were produced, and all differed from each other. These\nLatin versions were compared with each other and with the Hebrew, and\na new Latin version was made in the fifth century, but the old Latin\nversions held their own for about four hundred years, and no one yet\nknows which were right. Besides these there were Egyptian, Ethiopie,\nArmenian, and several others, all differing from each other as well as\nfrom all others in the world.\n\nIt was not until the fourteenth century that the Bible was translated\ninto German, and not until the fifteenth that Bibles were printed in\nthe principal languages of Europe. Of these Bibles there were several\nkinds—Luther's, the Dort, King James's, Genevan, French, besides the\nDanish and Swedish. Most of these differed from each other, and gave\nrise to infinite disputes and crimes without number. The earliest\nfragment of the Bible in the \"Saxon\" language known to exist was written\nsometime in the seventh century. The first Bible was printed in England\nin 1538. In 1560 the first English Bible was printed that was divided\ninto verses. Under Henry VIII. the Bible was revised; again under Queen\nElizabeth, and once again under King James. This last was published in\n1611, and is the one now in general use.\n\nNineteenth. No one in the world has learning enough, nor has he time\nenough even if he had the learning, and could live a thousand years, to\nfind out what books really belong to and constitute the Old Testament,\nthe authors of these books, when they were written, and what they really\nmean. And until a man has the learning and the time to do all this he\ncannot certainly tell whether he believes the Bible or not.\n\nTwentieth. If a revelation from God was actually necessary to the\nhappiness of man here and to his salvation hereafter, it is not easy to\nsee why such revelation was not given to all the nations of the\nearth. Why were the millions of Asia, Egypt, and America left to the\ninsufficient light of nature. Why was not a written, or what is still\nbetter, a printed revelation given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of\nEden? And why were the Jews themselves without a Bible until the days\nof Ezra the scribe? Why was nature not so made that it would give light\nenough? Why did God make men and leave them in darkness—a darkness that\nhe, knew would fill the world with want and crime, and crowd with damned\nsouls the dungeons of his hell? Were the Jews the only people who needed\na revelation? It may be said that God had no time to waste with other\nnations, and gave the Bible to the Jews that other nations through them\nmight learn of his existence and his will. If he wished other nations\nto be informed, and revealed himself to but one, why did he not choose\na people that mingled with others? Why did he give the message to those\nwho had no commerce, who were obscure and unknown, and who regarded\nother nations with the hatred born of bigotry and weakness? What would\nwe now think of a God who made his will known to the South Sea\nIslanders for the benefit of the civilized world? If it was of such vast\nimportance for man to know that there is a God, why did not God make\nhimself known? This fact could have been revealed by an infinite being\ninstantly to all, and there certainly was no necessity of telling it\nalone to the Jews, and allowing millions for thousands of years to die\nin utter ignorance.\n\nTwenty-first. The Chinese, Japanese, Hindus, Tartars, Africans, Eskimo,\nPersians, Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Polynesians, and many other peoples,\nare substantially ignorant of the Bible. All the Bible societies of\nthe world have produced only about one hundred and twenty millions of\nBibles, and there are about fourteen hundred million people. There\nare hundreds of languages and tongues in which no Bible has yet been\nprinted. Why did God allow, and why does he still allow, a vast majority\nof his children to remain in ignorance of his will?\n\nTwenty-second. If the Bible is the foundation of all civilization, of\nall just ideas of right and wrong, of our duties to God and each other,\nwhy did God not give to each nation at least one copy to start with? He\nmust have known that no nation could get along successfully without a\nBible, and he also knew that man could not make one for himself. Why,\nthen, were not the books furnished? He must have known that the light\nof nature was not sufficient to reveal the scheme of the atonement, the\nnecessity of baptism, the immaculate conception, transubstantiation, the\narithmetic of the Trinity, or the resurrection of the dead.\n\nTwenty-third. It is probably safe to say that not one-third of the\ninhabitants of this world ever heard of the Bible, and not one-tenth\never read it. It is also safe to say that no two persons who ever read\nit agreed as to its meaning, and it is not likely that even one person\nhas ever understood it. Nothing is more needed at the present time than\nan inspired translator. Then we shall need an inspired commentator,\nand the translation and the commentary should be written in an inspired\nuniversal language, incapable of change, and then the whole world should\nbe inspired to understand this language precisely the same. Until these\nthings are accomplished, all written revelations from God will fill the\nworld with contending sects, contradictory creeds and opinions.\n\nTwenty-fourth. All persons who know anything of constitutions and laws\nknow how impossible it is to use words that will convey the same ideas\nto all. The best statesmen, the profoundest lawyers, differ as widely\nabout the real meaning of treaties and statutes as do theologians about\nthe Bible. When the differences of lawyers are left to courts, and the\ncourts give written decisions, the lawyers will again differ as to the\nreal meaning of the opinions. Probably no two lawyers in the United\nStates understand our Constitution alike. To allow a few men to tell\nwhat the Constitution means, and to hang for treason all who refuse to\naccept the opinions of these few men, would accomplish in politics what\nmost churches have asked for in religion.\n\nTwenty-fifth. Is it very wicked to deny that the universe was created\nof nothing by an infinite being who existed from all eternity? The human\nmind is such that it cannot possibly conceive of creation, neither can\nit conceive of an infinite being who dwelt in infinite space an infinite\nlength of time.\n\nTwenty-sixth. The idea that the universe was made in six days, and is\nbut about six thousand years old, is too absurd for serious refutation.\nNeither will it do to say that the six days were six periods, because\nthis does away with the Sabbath, and is in direct violation of the text.\n\nTwenty-seventh. Neither is it reasonable that this God made man out of\ndust, and woman out of one of the ribs of the man; that this pair were\nput in a garden; that they were deceived by a snake that had the power\nof speech; that they were turned out of this garden to prevent them from\neating of the tree of life and becoming immortal; that God himself made\nthem clothes; that the sons of God intermarried with the daughters\nof men; that to destroy all life upon the earth a flood was sent that\ncovered the highest mountains; that Noah and his sons built an ark and\nsaved some of all animals as well as themselves; that the people tried\nto build a tower that would reach to heaven; that God confounded their\nlanguage, and in this way frustrated their design.\n\nTwenty-eighth. It is hard to believe that God talked to Abraham as one\nman talks to another; that he gave him land that he pointed out; that he\nagreed to give him land that he never did; that he ordered him to murder\nhis own son; that angels were in the habit of walking about the earth\neating veal dressed with butter and milk, and making bargains about the\ndestruction of cities.\n\nTwenty-ninth. Certainly a man ought not to be eternally damned for\nentertaining an honest doubt about a woman having been turned into\na pillar of salt, about cities being destroyed by storms of fire and\nbrimstone, and about people once having lived for nearly a thousand\nyears.\n\nThirtieth. Neither is it probable that God really wrestled with Jacob\nand put his thigh out of joint, and that for that reason the\nJews refused \"to eat the sinew that shrank,\" as recounted in the\nthirty-second chapter of Genesis; that God in the likeness of a flame\ninhabited a bush; that he amused himself by changing the rod of Moses\ninto a serpent, and making his hand leprous as snow.\n\nThirty-first. One can scarcely be blamed for hesitating to believe that\nGod met Moses at a hotel and tried to kill him that afterward he made\nthis same Moses a god to Pharaoh, and gave him his brother Aaron for a\nprophet;2 that he turned all the ponds and pools and streams and all the\nrivers into blood,3 and all the water in vessels of wood and stone; that\nthe rivers thereupon brought forth frogs;4 that the frogs covered the\nwhole land of Egypt; that he changed dust into lice, so that all the\nmen, women, children, and animals were covered with them;6 that he sent\nswarms of flies upon the Egyptians;8 that he destroyed the innocent\ncattle with painful diseases; that he covered man and beast with blains\nand boils;7 that he so covered the magicians of Egypt with boils that\nthey could not stand before Moses for the purpose of performing the\nsame feats, that he destroyed every beast and every man that was in\nthe fields, and every herb, and broke every tree with storm of hail and\nfire;9 that he sent locusts that devoured every herb that escaped the\nhail, and devoured every tree that grew;10 that he caused thick darkness\nover the land and put lights in the houses of the Jews;11 that he\ndestroyed all of the firstborn of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh\nupon the throne to the firstborn of the maidservant that sat behind the\nmill,\"12 together with the firstborn of all beasts, so that there was\nnot a house in which the dead were not.\"\n    1 Ex. iv, 24.    5 Ex. viii, 16, 17.  9 Ex. ix, 25.\n    2 Ex. vii. 1.    6 Ex. viii, 21.     10 Ex. x, 15.\n    3 Ex. viii, 19.  7 Ex. ix, 9.        11 Ex. x, 22, 23.\n    4 Ex. viii, 3.   8 Ex. ix, 11.       12 Ex. xi, 5.\n    13 Ex. xii, 29.\n\nThirty-second. It is very hard to believe that three millions of people\nleft a country and marched twenty or thirty miles all in one day. To\nnotify so many people would require a long time, and then the sick, the\nhalt, and the old would be apt to impede the march. It seems impossible\nthat such a vast number—six hundred thousand men, besides women and\nchildren—could have been cared for, could have been fed and clothed,\nand the sick nursed, especially when we take into consideration that\n\"they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they\nprepared for themselves any victual.\" 1\n\nThirty-third. It seems cruel to punish a man forever for denying that\nGod went before the Jews by day \"in a pillar of a cloud to lead' them\nthe way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light to go by\nday and night,\" or for denying that Pharaoh pursued the Jews with six\nhundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and that the six\nhundred thousand men of war of the Jews were sore afraid when they saw\nthe pursuing hosts. It does seems strange that after all the water in a\ncountry had been turned to blood—after it had been overrun with frogs\nand devoured with flies; after all the cattle had died with the murrain,\nand the rest had been killed by the fire and hail and the remainder had\nsuffered with boils, and the firstborn of all that were left had died;\nthat after locusts had devoured every herb and eaten up every tree of\nthe field, and the firstborn had died, from the firstborn of the king\non the throne to the firstborn of the captive in the dungeon; that after\nthree millions of people had left, carrying with them the jewels of\nsilver and gold and the raiment of their oppressors, the Egyptians still\nhad enough soldiers and chariots and horses left to pursue and destroy\nan army of six hundred thousand men, if God had not interfered.\n    1 Ex. xii, 37-39\n\nThirty-fourth. It certainly ought to satisfy God to torment a man for\nfour or five thousand years for insisting that it is but a small thing\nfor an infinite being to vanquish an Egyptian army; that it was rather a\nsmall business to trouble people with frogs, flies, and vermin; that it\nlooked almost malicious to cover people with boils and afflict cattle\nwith disease; that a real good God would not torture innocent beasts\non account of something the owners had done; that it was absurd to do\nmiracles before a king to induce him to act in a certain way, and then\nharden his heart so that he would refuse; and that to kill all the\nfirstborn of a nation was the act of a heartless fiend.\n\nThirty-fifth. Certainly one ought to be permitted to doubt that twelve\nwells of water were sufficient for three millions of people, together\nwith their flocks and herds,1 and to inquire a little into the nature of\nmanna that was cooked by baking and seething and yet would melt in the\nsun,2 and that would swell or shrink so as to make an exact omer, no\nmatter how much or how little there really was.3 Certainly it is not a\ncrime to say that water cannot be manufactured by striking a rock with a\nstick, and that the fate of battle cannot be decided by lifting one hand\nup or letting it fall.4 Must we admit that God really did come down upon\nMount Sinai in the sight of all the people; that he commanded that all\nwho should go up into the Mount or touch the border of it should be put\nto death, and that even the beasts that came near it should be killed?5\nIs it wrong to laugh at this? Is it sinful to say that God never spoke\nfrom the top of a mountain covered with clouds these words to Moses, \"Go\ndown, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze,\nand many of them perish; and let the priests also, which come near to\nthe Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them\"?6\n    1 Ex. xv, 27.      3 Ex. xix. 12.       5 Ex. xix, 13, 13.\n    2 Ex. xvi, 23, 21  4 Ex. xvii, 11, 13.  6 Ex. xix, 21, 22\n\nCan it be that an infinite intelligence takes delight in scaring\nsavages, and that he is happy only when somebody trembles? Is it\nreasonable to suppose that God surrounded himself with thunderings and\nlightnings and thick darkness to tell the priests that they should not\nmake altars of hewn stones, nor with stairs? And that this God at the\nsame time he gave the Ten Commandments ordered the Jews to break the\nmost of them? According to the Bible these infamous words came from the\nmouth of God while he was wrapped and clothed in darkness and clouds\nupon the Mount of Sinai:\n\nIf thou buy an Hebrew servant six years he shall serve: and in the\nseventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself he\nshall go out by himself; if he were married, then his wife shall go out\nwith him. If his master have given him a wife, and she have borne him\nsons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and\nhe shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love\nmy master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: then his\nmaster shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the\ndoor or unto the doorpost; and his master shall bore his ear through\nwith an awl; and he shall serve him forever.2 And if a man smite his\nservant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall be\nsurely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall\nnot be punished; for he is his money.3\n\nDo you really think that a man will be eternally damned for endeavoring\nto wipe from the record of God those barbaric words?\n\nThirty-sixth. Is it because of total depravity that some people refuse\nto believe that God went into partnership with insects and granted\nletters of marque and reprisal to hornets;4 that he wasted forty\ndays and nights furnishing Moses with plans and specifications for a\ntabernacle, an ark, a mercy seat and two cherubs of gold, a table,\nfour rings, some dishes and spoons, one candlestick, three bowls, seven\nlamps, a pair of tongs, some snuff dishes (for all of which God had\npatterns), ten curtains with fifty loops, a roof for the tabernacle of\nrams' skins dyed red, a lot of boards, an altar with horns, ash pans,\nbasins, and flesh hooks, and fillets of silver and pins of brass; that\nhe told Moses to speak unto all the wise-hearted that he had filled with\nwisdom, that they might make a suit of clothes for Aaron, and that\nGod actually gave directions that an ephod \"shall have the two\nshoulder-pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof.\"\n    1 Ex. xix, 25, 26.  3 Ex. xxi, 20, 21\n    2 Ex. xxi, 2-6,     4 Ex, xxiii, 28\n\nAnd gave all the orders concerning mitres, girdles, and onyx stones,\nouches, emeralds, breastplates, chains, rings, Urim and Thummim, and the\nhole in the top of the ephod like the hole of a habergeon?1\n\nThirty-seventh. Is there a Christian missionary who could help laughing\nif in any heathen country he had seen the following command of God\ncarried out? \"And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons\nshall put their hands upon the head of the ram. Then shalt thou kill the\nram and take of his blood and put it upon the tip of the right ear of\nAaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb\nof their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot.\"2 Does\none have to be born again to appreciate the beauty and solemnity of such\na performance? Is not the faith of the most zealous Christian somewhat\nshaken while reading the recipes for cooking mutton, veal, beef, birds,\nand unleavened dough, found in the cook book that God made for Aaron and\nhis sons?\n\nThirty-eighth. Is it to be wondered at that some people have doubted the\nstatement that God told Moses how to make some ointment, hair oil, and\nperfume, and then made it a crime punishable with death to make any like\nthem? Think of a God killing a man for imitating his ointment!3 Think of\na God saying that he made heaven and earth in six days and rested on the\nseventh day and was refreshed!4 Think of this God threatening to destroy\nthe Jews, and being turned from his purpose because Moses told him that\nthe Egyptians might mock him!5\n\n    1 Ex. xxvii and xxviii.  3 Ex. xxx, 23.  5 Ex. xxxii, 11, 12\n\n    2 Ex. xxix, 19, 20       4 Ex. xxxi, 17.\n\nThirty-ninth. What must we think of a man impudent enough to break in\npieces tables of stone upon which God had written with his finger? What\nmust we think of the goodness of a man that would issue the following\norder: \"Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by\nhis side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and\nslay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man\nhis neighbor. Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord, even every\nman upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a\nblessing this day\"?1 Is it true that the God of the Bible demanded human\nsacrifice? Did it please him for man to kill his neighbor, for brother\nto murder his brother, and for the father to butcher his sou? If there\nis a God let him cause it to be written in the book of his memory,\nopposite my name, that I refuted this slander and denied this lie.\n\nFortieth. Can it be true that God was afraid to trust himself with the\nJews for fear he would consume them? Can it be that in order to keep\nfrom devouring them he kept away and sent one of his angels in his\nplace?2 Can it be that this same God talked to Moses \"face to face, as a\nman speaketh unto his friend,\" when it is declared in the same chapter,\nby God himself, \"Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see\nme, and live\"?3\n\nForty-first. Why should a man, because he has done a bad action, go and\nkill a sheep? How can man make friends with God by cutting the throats\nof bullocks and goats? Why should God delight in the shedding of blood?\nWhy should he want his altar sprinkled with blood, and the horns of his\naltar tipped with blood, and his priests covered with blood? Why should\nburning flesh be a sweet savor in the nostrils of God? Why did he compel\nhis priests to be butchers, cutters and stabbers?\n    1 Ex. xxxii, 27-29.  2 Ex. xxxiii, 2, 3.\n    3 Ex. xxxiii, 11, 20.\n\nWhy should the same God kill a man for eating the fat of an ox, a sheep,\nor a goat?\n\nForty-second. Could it be a consolation to a man when dying to think\nthat he had always believed that God told Aaron to take two goats and\ndraw cuts to see which goat should be killed and which should be a\nscapegoat?1 And that upon the head of the scapegoat Aaron should lay\nboth his hands and confess over him all the iniquities of the children\nof Israel, and all their transgressions, and put them all on the head\nof the goat, and send him away by the hand of a fit man into the\nwilderness; and that the goat should bear upon him all the iniquities\nof the people into a land not inhabited?2 How could a goat carry away\na load of iniquities and transgressions? Why should he carry them to a\nland uninhabited? Were these sins contagious? About how many sins\ncould an average goat carry? Could a man meet such a goat now without\nlaughing?\n\nForty-third. Why should God object to a man wearing a garment made of\nwoolen and linen? Why should he care whether a man rounded the corners\nof his beard?3 Why should God prevent a man from offering the sacred\nbread merely because he had a flat nose, or was lame, or had five\nfingers on one hand, or had a broken foot, or was a dwarf? If he\nobjected to such people, why did he make them?4\n\nForty-fourth. Why should we believe that God insisted upon the sacrifice\nof human beings? Is it a sin to deny this, and to deny the inspiration\nof a book that teaches it? Read the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth\nverses of the last chapter of Leviticus, a book in which there is more\nfolly and cruelty, more stupidity and tyranny, than in any other book in\nthis world except some others in the same Bible. Read the thirty-second\nchapter of Exodus and you will see how by the most infamous of crimes\nman becomes reconciled to this God.\n    1 Lev, xvi, 8.  2 Lev. xvi, 21, 22.  3 Lev. xix, 19, 27,\n    4 Lev. xxi, 18-20.\n\nYou will see that he demands of fathers the blood of their sons. Read\nthe twelfth and thirteenth verses of the third chapter of Numbers, \"And\nI, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel,\"\netc.\n\nHow, in the desert of Sinai, did the Jews obtain curtains of fine linen?\nHow did these absconding slaves make cherubs of gold? Where did they get\nthe skins of badgers, and how did they dye them red? How did they make\nwreathed chains and spoons, basins and tongs? Where did they get the\nblue cloth and their purple? Where did they get the sockets of brass?\nHow did they coin the shekel of the sanctuary? How did they overlay\nboards with gold? Where did they get the numberless instruments and\ntools necessary to accomplish all these things? Where did they get the\nfine flour and the oil? Were all these found in the desert of Sinai?\nIs it a sin to ask these questions? Are all these doubts born of a\nmalignant and depraved heart? Why should God in this desert prohibit\npriests from drinking wine, and from eating moist grapes? How could\nthese priests get wine?\n\nDo not these passages show that these laws were made long after the Jews\nhad left the desert, and that they were not given from Sinai? Can you\nimagine a God silly enough to tell a horde of wandering savages upon a\ndesert that they must not eat any fruit of the trees they planted until\nthe fourth year?\n\nForty-fifth. Ought a man to be despised and persecuted for denying that\nGod ordered the priests to make women drink dirt and water to test their\nvirtue? 1 Or for denying that over the tabernacle there was a cloud\nduring the day and fire by night, and that the cloud lifted up when God\nwished the Jews to travel, and that until it was lifted they remained in\ntheir tents?2\n    1 Num. v, 12-31.  2 Num. ix, 16-18.\n\nCan it be possible that the \"ark of the covenant\" traveled on its own\naccount, and that \"when the ark set forward\" the people followed, as is\nrelated in the tenth chapter of the holy book of Numbers?\n\nForty-sixth. Was it reasonable for God to give the Jews manna, and\nnothing else, year after year? He had infinite power, and could just as\neasily have given them something good, in reasonable variety, as to\nhave fed them on manna until they loathed the sight of it, and longingly\nremembered the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic of\nEgypt. And yet when the poor people complained of the diet and asked for\na little meat, this loving and merciful God became enraged, sent them\nmillions of quails in his wrath, and while they were eating, while the\nflesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, this amiable\nGod smote the people with a plague and killed all those that lusted\nafter meat. In a few days after, he made up his mind to kill the rest,\nbut was dissuaded when Moses told him that the Canaanites would laugh at\nhim.1 No wonder the poor Jews wished they were back in Egypt. No wonder\nthey had rather be the slaves of Pharaoh than the chosen people of God.\nNo wonder they preferred the wrath of Egypt to the love of heaven. In my\njudgment, the Jews would have fared far better if Jehovah had let them\nalone, or had he even taken the side of the Egyptians.\n\nWhen the poor Jews were told by their spies that the Canaanites were\ngiants, they, seized with fear, said, \"Let us go back to Egypt.\" For\nthis, their God doomed all except Joshua and Caleb to a wandering\ndeath. Hear the words of this most merciful God: \"But as for you, your\ncarcasses they shall fall in this wilderness, and your children shall\nwander in the wilderness forty years and bear your sins until your\ncarcasses be wasted in the wilderness.\"2 And yet this same God promised\nto give unto all these people a land flowing with milk and honey.\n    1 Num. xiv, 15, 16.  2 Num. xiv. 32-33.\n\nForty-seventh. \"And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness\nthey found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day.\n\n\"And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and\nAaron, and unto all the congregation.\n\n\"And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be\ndone to him.\n\n\"And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death; all\nthe congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.\n\n\"And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him\nwith stones, and he died.\" 1\n\nWhen the last stone was thrown, and he that was a man was but a mangled,\nbruised, and broken mass, this God turned, and, touched with pity,\nsaid: \"Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they\nmake them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their\ngenerations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a riband\nof blue.\"2\n\nIn the next chapter, this Jehovah, whose loving kindness is over all his\nworks, because Korah, Dathan, and Abiram objected to being starved to\ndeath in the wilderness, made the earth open and swallow not only them,\nbut their wives and their little ones. Not yet satisfied, he sent a\nplague and killed fourteen thousand seven hundred more. There never was\nin the history of the world such a cruel, revengeful, bloody, jealous,\nfickle, unreasonable, and fiendish ruler, emperor, or king as Jehovah.\nNo wonder the children of Israel cried out, \"Behold we die, we perish,\nwe all perish.\"\n\nForty-eighth. I cannot believe that a dry stick budded, blossomed, and\nbore almonds; that the ashes of a red heifer are a purification for\nsin;3 that God gave the cities into the hands of the Jews because they\nsolemnly agreed to murder all the inhabitants; that God became enraged\nand induced snakes to bite his chosen people; that God told Balaam to go\nwith the Princess of Moab, and then got angry because he did go; that an\nanimal ever saw an angel and conversed with a man.\n    1 Num. xv, 32-36.  2 Num. xv, 38,  3 Num. xix, 2-10.\n\nI cannot believe that thrusting a spear through the body of a woman ever\nstayed a plague;1 that any good man ever ordered his soldiers to slay\nthe men and keep the maidens alive for themselves; that God commanded\nmen not to show mercy to each other; that he induced men to obey his\ncommandments by promising them that he would assist them in murdering\nthe wives and children of their neighbors; or that he ever commanded a\nman to kill his wife because she differed with him about religion;2 or\nthat God was mistaken about hares chewing the cud;3 or that he objected\nto the people raising horses 4 or that God wanted a camp kept clean\nbecause he walked through it at night;5 or that he commanded widows to\nspit in the faces of their brothers-in-law;6 or that he ever threatened\nto give anybody the itch;7 or that he ever secretly buried a man and\nallowed the corpse to write an account of the funeral.\n\nForty-ninth. Does it necessarily follow that a man wishes to commit some\ncrime if he refuses to admit that the river Jordan cut itself in two\nand allowed the lower end to run away? Or that seven priests could blow\nseven ram's horns loud enough to throw down the walls of a city;8 or\nthat God, after Achan had confessed that he had secreted a garment and\na wedge of gold, became good natured as soon as Achan and his sons and\ndaughters had been stoned to death and their bodies burned?10 Is it not\na virtue to abhor such a God?\n    1 Num. XXV, 8.       4 Deut. xvii, 16.       7 Deut. xxviii, 27.\n    2 Deut. xiii, 6-10.  5 Deut. xxiii, 13, 14.  8 Josh, iii, 16.\n    3 Deut. xiv, 7.      6 Deut. xxv, 9.,        9 Josh. vi, 20.\n    10 Josh, vii, 24, 25.\n\nMust we believe that God sanctioned and commanded all the cruelties\nand horrors described in the Old Testament; that he waged the most\nrelentless and heartless wars; that he declared mercy a crime; that to\nspare life was to excite his wrath; that he smiled when maidens were\nviolated, laughed when mothers were ripped open with a sword, and\nshouted with joy when babes were butchered in their mothers' arms? Read\nthe infamous book of Joshua, and then worship the God who inspired it if\nyou can.\n\nFiftieth. Can any sane man believe that the sun stood still in the midst\nof heaven and hasted not to go down about a whole day, and that the moon\nstayed?1 That these miracles were performed in the interest of massacre\nand bloodshed; that the Jews destroyed men, women, and children by the\nmillion, and practiced every cruelty that the ingenuity of their God\ncould suggest? Is it possible that these things really happened? Is it\npossible that God commanded them to be done? Again I ask you to read\nthe book of Joshua. After reading all its horrors you will feel a grim\nsatisfaction in the dying words of Joshua to the children of Israel:\n\"Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any\nof these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps\nunto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye\nperish from off this good land.\"2\n\nThink of a God who boasted that he gave the Jews a land for which they\ndid not labor, cities which they did not build, and allowed them to eat\nof oliveyards and vineyards which they did not plant.3 Think of a God\nwho murders some of his children for the benefit of the rest, and then\nkills the rest because they are not thankful enough. Think of a God who\nhad the power to stop the sun and moon, but could not defeat an army\nthat had iron chariots.4\n    1 Josh, x, 13.  2 Josh, xiii, 13.  3 Josh. xxiv, 13.\n    4 Judges i, 19.\n\nFifty-first. Can we blame the Hebrews for getting tired of their God?\nNever was a people so murdered, starved, stoned, burned, deceived,\nhumiliated, robbed, and outraged. Never was there so little liberty\namong men. Never did the meanest king so meddle, eavesdrop, spy out,\nharass, torment, and persecute his people. Never was ruler so jealous,\nunreasonable, contemptible, exacting, and ignorant as this God of the\nJews. Never was such ceremony, such mummery, such stuff about bullocks,\ngoats, doves, red heifers, lambs, and unleavened dough—never was such\ndirections about kidneys and blood, ashes and fat, about curtains,\ntongs, fringes, ribands, and brass pins—never such details for killing\nof animals and men and the sprinkling of blood and the cutting of\nclothes. Never were such unjust laws, such punishments, such damned\nignorance and infamy! Fifty-second. Is it not wonderful that the creator\nof all worlds, infinite in power and wisdom, could not hold his own\nagainst the gods of wood and stone? Is it not strange that after he had\nappeared to his chosen people, delivered them from slavery, fed them\nby miracles, opened the sea for a path, led them by cloud and fire,\nand overthrown their pursuers, they still preferred a calf of their\nown making? Is it not beyond belief that this God, by statutes and\ncommandments, by punishments and penalties, by rewards and promises,\nby wonders and plagues, by earthquakes and pestilence, could not in the\nleast civilize the Jews—could not get them beyond a point where they\ndeserved killing? What shall we think of a God who gave his entire time\nfor forty years to the work of converting three millions of people, and\nsucceeded in getting only two men, and not a single woman, decent enough\nto enter the promised land? Was there ever in the history of man so\ndetestible an administration of public affairs? Is it possible that\nGod sold his children to the king of Mesopotamia; that he sold them to\nJabin, king of Canaan, to the Philistines, and to the children of Ammon?\nIs it possible that an angel of the Lord devoured unleavened cakes and\nbroth with fire that came out of the end of a stick as he sat under an\noak-tree?1 Can it be true that God made known his will by making dew\nfall on wool without wetting the ground around it?2 Do you really\nbelieve that men who lap water like a dog make the best soldiers?3 Do\nyou think that a man could hold a lamp in his left hand, a trumpet in\nhis right hand, blow his trumpet, shout \"the sword of the Lord and of\nGideon,\" and break pitchers at the same time? 4\n\nFifty-third. Read the story of Jephthah and his daughter, and then tell\nme what you think of a father who would sacrifice his daughter to God,\nand what you think of a God who would receive such a sacrifice. This one\nstory should be enough to make every tender and loving father hold this\nbook in utter abhorrence. Is it necessary, in order to be saved, that\none must believe that an angel of God appeared unto Manoah in the\nabsence of her husband; that this angel afterward went up in a flame of\nfire; that as a result of this visit a child was born whose strength was\nin his hair? a child that made beehives of lions, incendiaries of foxes,\nand had a wife that wept seven days to get the answer to his riddle?\nWill the wrath of God abide forever upon a man for doubting the story\nthat Samson killed a thousand men with a new jawbone? Is there enough\nin the Bible to save a soul with this story left out? Is hell hungry for\nthose who deny that water gushed from a \"hollow place\" in a dry bone? Is\nit evidence of a new heart to believe that one man turned over a house\nso large that over three thousand people were on the roof? For my part,\nI cannot believe these things, and if my salvation depends upon my\ncredulity I am as good as damned already. I cannot believe that the\nPhilistines took back the ark with a present of five gold mice, and that\nthereupon God relented.5\n    1 Judges vi, 21.   2 Judges vi, 37.  3 Judges vii, 5.\n    4 Judges vii, 20.  5 I Sam. vi. 4.\n\nI can not believe that God killed fifty thousand men for looking into a\nbox.1 It seems incredible, after all the Jews had done, after all their\nwars and victories, even when Saul was king, that there was not among\nthem one smith who could make a sword or spear, and that they were\ncompelled to go to the Philistines to sharpen every plowshare, coulter,\nand mattock.2 Can you believe that God said to Saul, \"Now go and smite\nAmalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not;\nbut slay both man and woman, infant and suckling\"? Can you believe that\nbecause Saul took the king alive after killing every other man, woman,\nand child, the ogre called Jehovah was displeased and made up his mind\nto hurl Saul from the throne and give his place to another?3 I cannot\nbelieve that the Philistines all ran away because one of their number\nwas killed with a stone. I cannot justify the conduct of Abigail, the\nwife of Nabal, who took presents to David. David hardly did right when\nhe said to this woman, \"I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted\nthy person.\" It could hardly have been chance that made Nabal so deathly\nsick next morning and killed him in ten days. All this looks wrong,\nespecially as David married his widow before poor Nabal was fairly\ncold.4\n\nFifty-fourth. Notwithstanding all I have heard of Katie King, I cannot\nbelieve that a witch at Endor materialized the ghost of Samuel and\ncaused it to appear with a cloak on.5 I cannot believe that God\ntempted David to take the census, and then gave him his choice of three\npunishments: First, Seven years of famine; Second, Flying three months\nbefore their enemies; Third, A pestilence of three days; that David\nchose the pestilence, and that God destroyed seventy thousand men.6\n    1 I Sam. vi, 19.        3 I Sam. xv.   5 I Sam. xxviii.\n    2 I Sam. xiii, 19, 20.  4 I Sam. xxv.  6 2 Sam. xxiv.\n\nWhy should God kill the people for what David did? Is it a sin to be\ncounted? Can anything more brutally hellish be conceived? Why should man\nwaste prayers upon such a God?\n\nFifty-fifth. Must we admit that Elijah was fed by ravens; that they\nbrought him bread and flesh every morning and evening? Must we believe\nthat this same prophet could create meal and oil, and induce a departed\nsoul to come back and take up its residence once more in the body? That\nhe could get rain by praying for it; that he could cause fire to burn\nup a sacrifice and altar, together with twelve barrels of water?1 Can we\nbelieve that an angel of the Lord turned cook and prepared two suppers\nin one night for Elijah, and that the prophet ate enough to last him\nforty days and forty nights?* Is it true that when a captain with fifty\nmen went after Elijah, this prophet caused fire to come down from heaven\nand consume them all? Should God allow such wretches to manage his fire?\nIs it true that Elijah consumed another captain with fifty men in the\nsame way?3 Is it a fact that a river divided because the water was\nstruck with a cloak? Did a man actually go to heaven in a chariot\nof fire drawn by horses of fire, or was he carried to Paradise by a\nwhirlwind? Must we believe, in order to be good and tender fathers and\nmothers, that because some \"little children\" mocked at an old man with\na bald head, God—the same God who said, \"Suffer little children to come\nunto me\"—sent two she-bears out of the wood and tare forty-two of these\nbabes? Think of the mothers that watched and waited for their children.\nThink of the wailing when these mangled ones were found, when they\nwere brought back and pressed to the breasts of weeping women. What an\namiable gentleman Mr. Elisha must have been.4\n\nFifty-sixth. It is hard to believe that a prophet by lying on a dead\nbody could make it sneeze seven times.5\n    1 I Kings xviii.  3 2 Kings i.  5 2 Kings iv.\n    2 I Kings xix.    4 2 Kings ii.\n\nIt is hard to believe that being dipped seven times in the Jordan could\ncure the leprosy.1 Would a merciful God curse children, and children's\nchildren yet unborn, with leprosy for a father's fault?2 Is it possible\nto make iron float in water?3 Is it reasonable to say that when a corpse\ntouched another corpse it came to life?4 Is it a sign that a man wants\nto commit a crime because he refuses to believe that a king had a boil\nand that God caused the sun to go backward in heaven so that the shadow\non a sun-dial went back ten degrees as a sign that the aforesaid would\nget well?5 Is it true that this globe turned backward, that its motion\nwas reversed as a sign to a Jewish king? If it did not, this story is\nfalse, and that part of the Bible is not true even if it is inspired.\n\nFifty-seventh. How did the Bible get lost?5 Where was the precious\nPentateuch from Moses to Josiah? How was it possible for the Jews to get\nalong without the directions as to fat and caul and kidney contained\nin Leviticus? Without that sacred book in his possession a priest might\ntake up ashes and carry them out without changing his pantaloons. Such\nmistakes kindled the wrath of God.\n\nAs soon as the Pentateuch was found Josiah began killing wizards and\nsuch as had familiar spirits.\n\nFifty-eighth. I cannot believe that God talked to Solomon, that he\nvisited him in the night and asked him what he should give him; I cannot\nbelieve that he told him, \"I will give thee riches and wealth and honor,\nsuch as none of the kings have had before thee, neither shall there any\nafter thee have the like.\"7 If Jehovah said this he was mistaken. It is\nnot true that Solomon had fourteen hundred chariots of war in a country\nwithout roads. It is not true that he made gold and silver at Jerusalem\nas plenteous as stones. There were several kings in his day, and\nthousands since, that could have thrown away the value of Palestine\nwithout missing the amount.\n    1 2 Kings v.      3 2 Kings, vi. 6.    5 2 Kings xx, 1-11.\n    2 2 Kings v. 27.  4 2 Kings xiii, 21.  6 2 Kings xxii, 8.\n    7 2 Chron. i, 7, 12.\n\nThe Holy Land was and is a wretched country. There are no monuments, no\nruins attesting former wealth and greatness. The Jews had no commerce,\nknew nothing of other nations, had no luxuries, never produced a\npainter, a sculptor, architect, scientist, or statesman until after the\ndestruction of Jerusalem. As long as Jehovah attended to their affairs\nthey had nothing but civil war, plague, pestilence, and famine. After he\nabandoned, and the Christians ceased to persecute them, they became the\nmost prosperous of people. Since Jehovah, in anger and disgust, cast\nthem away they have produced painters, sculptors, scientists, statesmen,\ncomposers, and philosophers.\n\nFifty-ninth. I cannot admit that Hiram, the King of Tyre, wrote a letter\nto Solomon in which he admitted that the \"God of Israel made heaven and\nearth.\" 1 This King was not a Jew. It seems incredible that Solomon had\neighty thousand men hewing timber for the temple, with seventy thousand\nbearers of burdens, and thirty-six hundred overseers.2\n\nSixtieth. I cannot believe that God shuts up heaven and prevents rain,\nor that he sends locusts to devour a land, or pestilence to destroy the\npeople.3 I cannot believe that God told Solomon that his eyes and heart\nshould perpetually be in the house that Solomon had built.4\n\nSixty-first. I cannot believe that Solomon passed all the kings of the\nearth in riches; that all the kings of the earth sought his presence\nand brought presents of silver and gold, raiment, harness, spices, and\nmules—a rate year by year.5 Is it possible that Shishak, a King of\nEgypt, invaded Palestine with seventy thousand horsemen and twelve\nhundred chariots of war?6\n    1 2 Chron. ii, 12.  3 2 Chron. vii, 13.  5 2 Chron. ix, 22-24.\n    2 2 Chron. ii, 18.  4 2 Chron. vii, 16.  6 2 Chron. xii, 2, 3.\n\nI cannot believe that in a battle between Jeroboam and Abijah, the army\nof Abijah actually slew in one day five hundred thousand chosen men.1\nDoes anyone believe that Zerah, the Ethiopian, invaded Palestine with a\nmillion men?2 I cannot believe that Jehoshaphat had a standing army\nof nine hundred and sixty thousand men.3 I cannot believe that God\nadvertised for a liar to act as his messenger.4 I cannot believe that\nKing Amaziah did right in the sight of the Lord, and that he broke in\npieces ten thousand men by casting them from a precipice.5 I cannot\nthink that God smote a king with leprosy because he tried to burn\nincense.6 I cannot think that Pekah slew one hundred and twenty thousand\nmen in one day.7\n    1 2 Chron. xiii, 17. 3 2 Chron. xvii, 14-19.  5 2 Chron. xxv, 12.\n    2 2 Chron. xiv, 9.   4 2 Chron. xviii, 19-22. 6 2 Chron. xxvi, 19.\n    7 2 Chron. xxviii, 6.\n"
}