{
  "schema": "tga.work.v1",
  "identifier": "dresden:vol-3:about-the-holy-bible",
  "slug": "about-the-holy-bible",
  "title": "About the Holy Bible",
  "subtitle": "Somebody ought to tell the truth about the Bible.",
  "excerpt": "A frank, systematic examination of the Bible — its origin, inspiration, the Pentateuch, the New Testament, and Jehovah's moral administration — by a man who, unlike the preachers and the politicians, had nothing to lose by speaking plainly.",
  "year": 1894,
  "volume": 3,
  "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/about-the-holy-bible/",
  "wordCount": 12765,
  "body": "SOMEBODY ought to tell the truth about the Bible. The preachers dare\nnot, because they would be driven from their pulpits. Professors in\ncolleges dare not, because they would lose their salaries. Politicians\ndare not. They would be defeated. Editors dare not. They would lose\nsubscribers. Merchants dare not, because they might lose customers. Men\nof fashion dare not, fearing that they would lose caste. Even clerks\ndare not, because they might be discharged. And so I thought I would do\nit myself.\n\nThere are many millions of people who believe the Bible to be the\ninspired word of God—millions who think that this book is staff and\nguide, counselor and consoler; that it fills the present with peace and\nthe future with hope—millions who believe that it is the fountain of\nlaw, justice and mercy, and that to its wise and benign teachings the\nworld is indebted for its liberty, wealth and civilization—millions\nwho imagine that this book is a revelation from the wisdom and love of\nGod to the brain and heart of man—millions who regard this book as a\ntorch that conquers the darkness of death, and pours its radiance on\nanother world—a world without a tear.\n\nThey forget its ignorance and savagery, its hatred of liberty, its\nreligious persecution; they remember heaven, but they forget the dungeon\nof eternal pain.\n\nThey forget that it imprisons the brain and corrupts the heart. They\nforget that it is the enemy of intellectual freedom. Liberty is my\nreligion. Liberty of hand and brain—of thought and labor.\n\nLiberty is a word hated by kings—loathed by popes. It is a word that\nshatters thrones and altars—that leaves the crowned without subjects,\nand the outstretched hand of superstition without alms. Liberty is the\nblossom and fruit of justice—the perfume of mercy. Liberty is the seed\nand soil, the air and light, the dew and rain of progress, love and joy.\n\nI. The Origin of the Bible.\n\nA FEW wandering families—poor, wretched, without education, art or\npower; descendants of those who had been enslaved for four hundred\nyears; ignorant as the inhabitants of Central Africa, had just escaped\nfrom their masters to the desert of Sinai.\n\nTheir leader was Moses, a man who had been raised in the family of\nPharaoh and had been taught the law and mythology of Egypt. For the\npurpose of controlling his followers he pretended that he was instructed\nand assisted by Jehovah, the God of these wanderers.\n\nEverything that happened was attributed to the interference of this God.\nMoses declared that he met this God face to face; that on Sinai's top\nfrom the hands of this God he had received the tables of stone on which,\nby the finger of this God, the Ten Commandments had been written, and\nthat, in addition to this, Jehovah had made known the sacrifices and\nceremonies that were pleasing to him and the laws by which the people\nshould be governed.\n\nIn this way the Jewish religion and the Mosaic Code were established.\n\nIt is now claimed that this religion and these laws were and are\nrevealed and established for all mankind.\n\nAt that time these wanderers had no commerce with other nations, they\nhad no written language, they could neither read nor write. They had no\nmeans by which they could make this revelation known to other nations,\nand so it remained buried in the jargon of a few ignorant, impoverished\nand unknown tribes for more than two thousand years.\n\nMany centuries after Moses, the leader, was dead—many centuries after\nall his followers had passed away—the Pentateuch was written, the work\nof many writers, and to give it force and authority it was claimed that\nMoses was the author.\n\nWe now know that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses.\n\nTowns are mentioned that were not in existence when Moses lived.\n\nMoney, not coined until centuries after his death, is mentioned.\n\nSo, many of the laws were not applicable to wanderers on the\ndesert—laws about agriculture, about the sacrifice of oxen, sheep and\ndoves, about the weaving of cloth, about ornaments of gold and silver,\nabout the cultivation of land, about harvest, about the threshing of\ngrain, about houses and temples, about cities of refuge, and about many\nother subjects of no possible application to a few starving wanderers\nover the sands and rocks.\n\nIt is now not only admitted by intelligent and honest theologians that\nMoses was not the author of the Pentateuch, but they all admit that no\none knows who the authors were, or who wrote any one of these books, or\na chapter or a line. We know that the books were not written in the same\ngeneration; that they were not all written by one person; that they are\nfilled with mistakes and contradictions.\n\nIt is also admitted that Joshua did not write the book that bears his\nname, because it refers to events that did not happen until long after\nhis death.\n\nNo one knows, or pretends to know, the author of Judges; all we know is\nthat it was written centuries after all the judges had ceased to exist.\nNo one knows the author of Ruth, nor of First and Second Samuel; all we\nknow is that Samuel did not write the books that bear his name. In the\n25th chapter of First Samuel is an account of Samuel's death, and in\nthe 27th chapter is an account of the raising of Samuel by the Witch of\nEndor.\n\nNo one knows the author of First and Second Kings or First and Second\nChronicles; all we know is that these books are of no value.\n\nWe know that the Psalms were not written by David. In the Psalms the\nCaptivity is spoken of, and that did not happen until about five hundred\nyears after David slept with his fathers.\n\nWe know that Solomon did not write the Proverbs or the Song; that Isaiah\nwas not the author of the book that bears his name; that no one knows\nthe author of Job, Ecclesiastes, or Esther, or of any book in the Old\nTestament, with the exception of Ezra.\n\nWe know that God is not mentioned or in any way referred to in the book\nof Esther. We know, too, that the book is cruel, absurd and impossible.\n\nGod is not mentioned in the Song of Solomon, the best book in the Old\nTestament.\n\nAnd we know that Ecclesiastes was written by an unbeliever.\n\nWe know, too, that the Jews themselves had not decided as to what books\nwere inspired—were authentic—until the second century after Christ.\n\nWe know that the idea of inspiration was of slow growth, and that the\ninspiration was determined by those who had certain ends to accomplish.\n\nII.\n\nIF it is, it should be a book that no man—no number of men—could\nproduce.\n\nIt should contain the perfection of philosophy.\n\nIt should perfectly accord with every fact in nature.\n\nThere should be no mistakes in astronomy, geology, or as to any subject\nor science.\n\nIts morality should be the highest, the purest.\n\nIts laws and regulations for the control of conduct should be just,\nwise, perfect, and perfectly adapted to the accomplishment of the ends\ndesired.\n\nIt should contain nothing calculated to make man cruel, revengeful,\nvindictive or infamous.\n\nIt should be filled with intelligence, justice, purity, honesty, mercy\nand the spirit of liberty.\n\nIt should be opposed to strife and war, to slavery and lust, to\nignorance, credulity and superstition.\n\nIt should develop the brain and civilize the heart.\n\nIt should satisfy the heart and brain of the best and wisest.\n\nIt should be true.\n\nDoes the Old Testament satisfy this standard?\n\nIs there anything in the Old Testament—in history, in theory, in law,\nin government, in morality, in science—above and beyond the ideas, the\nbeliefs, the customs and prejudices of its authors and the people among\nwhom they lived?\n\nIs there one ray of light from any supernatural source?\n\nThe ancient Hebrews believed that this earth was the centre of the\nuniverse, and that the sun, moon and stars were specks in the sky.\n\nWith this the Bible agrees.\n\nThey thought the earth was flat, with four corners; that the sky, the\nfirmament, was solid—the floor of Jehovah's house.\n\nThe Bible teaches the same.\n\nThey imagined that the sun journeyed about the earth, and that by\nstopping the sun the day could be lengthened.\n\nThe Bible agrees with this.\n\nThey believed that Adam and Eve were the first man and woman; that they\nhad been created but a few years before, and that they, the Hebrews,\nwere their direct descendants.\n\nThis the Bible teaches.\n\nIf anything is, or can be, certain, the writers of the Bible were\nmistaken about creation, astronomy, geology; about the causes of\nphenomena, the origin of evil and the cause of death.\n\nNow, it must be admitted that if an Infinite Being is the author of\nthe Bible, he knew all sciences, all facts, and could not have made a\nmistake.\n\nIf, then, there are mistakes, misconceptions, false theories, ignorant\nmyths and blunders in the Bible, it must have been written by finite\nbeings; that is to say, by ignorant and mistaken men.\n\nNothing can be clearer than this.\n\nFor centuries the church insisted that the Bible was absolutely true;\nthat it contained no mistakes; that the story of creation was true;\nthat its astronomy and geology were in accord with the facts; that\nthe scientists who differed with the Old Testament were infidels and\natheists.\n\nNow this has changed. The educated Christians admit that the writers of\nthe Bible were not inspired as to any science. They now say that God,\nor Jehovah, did not inspire the writers of his book for the purpose of\ninstructing the world about astronomy, geology, or any science. They\nnow admit that the inspired men who wrote the Old Testament knew nothing\nabout any science, and that they wrote about the earth and stars, the\nsun and moon, in accordance with the general ignorance of the time.\n\nIt required many centuries to force the theologians to this admission.\nReluctantly, full of malice and hatred, the priests retired from the\nfield, leaving the victory with science.\n\nThey took another position:\n\nThey declared that the authors, or rather the writers, of the Bible\nwere inspired in spiritual and moral things; that Jehovah wanted to make\nknown to his children his will and his infinite love for his children;\nthat Jehovah, seeing his people wicked, ignorant and depraved, wished to\nmake them merciful and just, wise and spiritual, and that the Bible is\ninspired in its laws, in the religion it teaches and in its ideas of\ngovernment.\n\nThis is the issue now. Is the Bible any nearer right in its ideas of\njustice, of mercy, of morality or of religion than in its conception of\nthe sciences?\n\nIs it moral?\n\nIt upholds slavery—it sanctions polygamy.\n\nCould a devil have done worse?\n\nIs it merciful?\n\nIn war it raised the black flag; it commanded the destruction, the\nmassacre, of all—of the old, infirm, and helpless—of wives and babes.\n\nWere its laws inspired?\n\nHundreds of offences were punished with death. To pick up sticks on\nSunday, to murder your father on Monday, were equal crimes. There is\nin the literature of the world no bloodier code. The law of revenge—of\nretaliation—was the law of Jehovah. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a\ntooth, a limb for a limb.\n\nThis is savagery—not philosophy.\n\nIs it just and reasonable?\n\nThe Bible is opposed to religious toleration—to religious liberty.\nWhoever differed with the majority was stoned to death. Investigation\nwas a crime. Husbands were ordered to denounce and to assist in killing\ntheir unbelieving wives.\n\nIt is the enemy of Art. \"Thou shalt make no graven image.\" This was the\ndeath of Art.\n\nPalestine never produced a painter or a sculptor.\n\nIs the Bible civilized?\n\nIt upholds lying, larceny, robbery, murder, the selling of diseased meat\nto strangers, and even the sacrifice of human beings to Jehovah.\n\nIs it philosophical?\n\nIt teaches that the sins of a people can be transferred to an animal—to\na goat. It makes maternity an offence for which a sin offering had to be\nmade.\n\nIt was wicked to give birth to a boy, and twice as wicked to give birth\nto a girl.\n\nTo make hair-oil like that used by the priests was an offence punishable\nwith death.\n\nThe blood of a bird killed over running water was regarded as medicine.\n\nWould a civilized God daub his altars with the blood of oxen, lambs and\ndoves? Would he make all his priests butchers? Would he delight in the\nsmell of burning flesh?\n\nIII. The Ten Commandments\n\nSOME Christian lawyers—some eminent and stupid judges—have said and\nstill say, that the Ten Commandments are the foundation of all law.\n\nNothing could be more absurd. Long before these commandments were\ngiven there were codes of laws in India and Egypt—laws against murder,\nperjury, larceny, adultery and fraud. Such laws are as old as human\nsociety; as old as the love of life; as old as industry; as the idea of\nprosperity; as old as human love.\n\nAll of the Ten Commandments that are good were old; all that were new\nare foolish. If Jehovah had been civilized he would have left out the\ncommandment about keeping the Sabbath, and in its place would have said:\n\"Thou shalt not enslave thy fellow-men.\" He would have omitted the one\nabout swearing, and said: \"The man shall have but one wife, and the\nwoman but one husband.\" He would have left out the one about graven\nimages, and in its stead would have said: \"Thou shalt not wage wars\nof extermination, and thou shalt not unsheathe the sword except in\nself-defence.\"\n\nIf Jehovah, had been civilized, how much grander the Ten Commandments\nwould have been.\n\nAll that we call progress—the enfranchisement of man, of labor, the\nsubstitution of imprisonment for death, of fine for imprisonment, the\ndestruction of polygamy, the establishing of free speech, of the rights\nof conscience; in short, all that has tended to the development and\ncivilization of man; all the results of investigation, observation,\nexperience and free thought; all that man has accomplished for the\nbenefit of man since the close of the Dark Ages—has been done in spite\nof the Old Testament.\n\nLet me further illustrate the morality, the mercy, the philosophy and\ngoodness of the Old Testament:\n\nThe Story of Achan\n\nJoshua took the City of Jericho. Before the fall of the city he declared\nthat all the spoil taken should be given to the Lord.\n\nIn spite of this order Achan secreted a garment, some silver and gold.\n\nAfterward Joshua tried to take the city of Ai. He failed and many of his\nsoldiers were slain.\n\nJoshua sought for the cause of his defeat and he found that Achan had\nsecreted a garment, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold.\nTo this Achan confessed.\n\nAnd thereupon Joshua took Achan, his sons and his daughters, his oxen\nand his sheep—stoned them all to death and burned their bodies.\n\nThere is nothing to show that the sons and Daughters had committed any\ncrime. Certainly, the oxen and sheep should not have been stoned to\ndeath for the crime of their owner. This was the justice, the mercy, of\nJehovah!\n\nAfter Joshua had committed this crime, with the help of Jehovah he\ncaptured the city of Ai.\n\nThe Story of Elisha\n\n\"And he went up thence unto Bethel, and as he was going up by the way\nthere came forth little children out of the city and mocked him, and\nsaid unto him, 'Go up, thou baldhead.'\n\n\"And he turned back and looked at them, and cursed them in the name of\nthe Lord. And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood and tore\nforty and two children of them.\"\n\nThis was the work of the good God—the merciful Jehovah!\n\nThe Story of Daniel\n\nKing Darius had honored and exalted Daniel, and the native princes were\njealous. So they induced the king to sign a decree to the effect that\nany man who should make a petition to any god or man except to King\nDarius, for thirty days, should be cast into the den of lions.\n\nAfterward these men found that Daniel, with his face toward Jerusalem,\nprayed three times a day to Jehovah.\n\nThereupon Daniel was cast into the den of lions; a stone was placed at\nthe mouth of the den and sealed with the king's seal.\n\nThe king passed a bad night. The next morning he went to the den and\ncried out to Daniel. Daniel answered and told the king that God had sent\nhis angel and shut the mouths of the lions.\n\nDaniel was taken out alive and well, and the king was converted and\nbelieved in Daniel's God.\n\nDarius, being then a believer in the true God, sent for the men who had\naccused Daniel, and for their wives and their children, and cast them\nall into the lions' den.\n\n\"And the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in\npieces, or ever they came at the bottom of the pit.\"\n\nWhat had the wives and little children done? How had they offended King\nDarius, the believer in Jehovah? Who protected Daniel? Jehovah! Who\nfailed to protect the innocent wives and children? Jehovah!\n\nThe Story of Joseph\n\nPharaoh had a dream, and this dream was interpreted by Joseph.\n\nAccording to this interpretation there was to be in Egypt seven years of\nplenty, followed by seven years of famine. Joseph advised Pharaoh to buy\nall the surplus of the seven plentiful years and store it up against the\nyears of famine.\n\nPharaoh appointed Joseph as his minister or agent, and ordered him to\nbuy the grain of the plentiful years.\n\nThen came the famine. The people came to the king for help. He told them\nto go to Joseph and do as he said.\n\nJoseph sold corn to the Egyptians until all their money was gone—until\nhe had it all.\n\nWhen the money was gone the people said: \"Give us corn and we will give\nyou our cattle.\"\n\nJoseph let them have corn until all their cattle, their horses and their\nflocks had been given to him.\n\nThen the people said: \"Give us corn and we will give you our lands.\"\n\nSo Joseph let them have corn until all their lands were gone.\n\nBut the famine continued, and so the poor wretches sold themselves, and\nthey became the servants of Pharoah.\n\nThen Joseph gave them seed, and made an agreement with them that they\nshould forever give one-fifth of all they raised to Pharaoh.\n\nWho enabled Joseph to interpret the dream of Pharaoh? Jehovah! Did he\nknow at the time that Joseph would use the information thus given to rob\nand enslave the people of Egypt? Yes. Who produced the famine? Jehovah!\n\nIt is perfectly apparent that the Jews did not think of Jehovah as the\nGod of Egypt—the God of all the world. He was their God, and theirs\nalone. Other nations had gods, but Jehovah was the greatest of all. He\nhated other nations and other gods, and abhorred all religions except\nthe worship of himself.\n\nIV. What is it All Worth?\n\nWILL some Christian scholar tell us the value of Genesis?\n\nWe know that it is not true—that it contradicts itself. There are two\naccounts of the creation in the first and second chapters. In the first\naccount birds and beasts were created before man.\n\nIn the second, man was created before the birds and beasts.\n\nIn the first, fowls are made out of the water.\n\nIn the second, fowls are made out of the ground.\n\nIn the first, Adam and Eve are created together.\n\nIn the second, Adam is made; then the beasts and birds, and then Eve is\ncreated from one of Adam's ribs.\n\nThese stories are far older than the Pentateuch.\n\nPersian: God created the world in six days, a man called Adama, a woman\ncalled Evah, and then rested.\n\nThe Etruscan, Babylonian, Phoenician, Chaldean and the Egyptian stories\nare much the same.\n\nThe Persians, Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese and\n\nHindus have their Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life.\n\nSo the Persians, the Babylonians, the Nubians, the people of Southern\nIndia, all had the story of the fall of man and the subtle serpent.\n\nThe Chinese say that sin came into the world by the disobedience of\nwoman. And even the Tahitians tell us that man was created from the\nearth, and the first woman from one of his bones.\n\nAll these stories are equally authentic and of equal value to the world,\nand all the authors were equally inspired.\n\nWe know also that the story of the flood is much older than the book of\nGenesis, and we know besides that it is not true.\n\nWe know that this story in Genesis was copied from the Chaldean. There\nyou find all about the rain, the ark, the animals, the dove that was\nsent out three times, and the mountain on which the ark rested.\n\nSo the Hindus, Chinese, Parsees, Persians, Greeks, Mexicans and\nScandinavians have substantially the same story.\n\nWe also know that the account of the Tower of Babel is an ignorant and\nchildish fable.\n\nWhat then is left in this inspired book of\n\nGenesis? Is there a word calculated to develop the heart or brain? Is\nthere an elevated thought—any great principle—anything poetic—any\nword that bursts into blossom?\n\nIs there anything except a dreary and detailed statement of things that\nnever happened?\n\nIs there anything in Exodus calculated to make men generous, loving and\nnoble?\n\nIs it well to teach children that God tortured the innocent cattle of\nthe Egyptians—bruised them to death with hailstones—on account of the\nsins of Pharoah?\n\nDoes it make us merciful to believe that God killed the firstborn of the\nEgyptians—the firstborn of the poor and suffering people—of the poor\ngirl working at the mill—because of the wickedness of the king?\n\nCan we believe that the gods of Egypt worked miracles? Did they change\nwater into blood, and sticks into serpents?\n\nIn Exodus there is not one original thought or line of value.\n\nWe know, if we know anything, that this book was written by\nsavages—savages who believed in slavery, polygamy and wars of\nextermination. We know that the story told is impossible, and that the\nmiracles were never performed. This book admits that there are other\ngods besides Jehovah. In the 17th chapter is this verse: \"Now I know\nthat the Lord is greater than all gods, for, in the thing wherein they\ndealt proudly, he was above them.\"\n\nSo, in this blessed book is taught the duty of human sacrifice—the\nsacrifice of babes.\n\nIn the 22d chapter is this command: \"Thou shalt not delay to offer the\nfirst of thy ripe fruits and of thy liquors: the first-born of thy sons\nthou shalt give unto me.\"\n\nHas Exodus been a help or a hindrance to the human race?\n\nTake from Exodus the laws common to all nations, and is there anything\nof value left?\n\nIs there anything in Leviticus of importance? Is there a chapter worth\nreading? What interest have we in the clothes of priests, the curtains\nand candles of the tabernacle, the tongs and shovels of the altar or the\nhair-oil used by the Levites?\n\nOf what use the cruel code, the frightful punishments, the curses, the\nfalsehoods and the miracles of this ignorant and infamous book?\n\nAnd what is there in the book of Numbers—with its sacrifices and water\nof jealousy, with its shew-bread and spoons, its kids and fine flour,\nits oil and candlesticks, its cucumbers, onions and manna—to assist and\ninstruct mankind? What interest have we in the rebellion of Korah, the\nwater of separation, the ashes of a red heifer, the brazen serpent, the\nwater that followed the people uphill and down for forty years, and\nthe inspired donkey of the prophet Balaam? Have these absurdities and\ncruelties—these childish, savage superstitions—helped to civilize the\nworld?\n\nIs there anything in Joshua—with its wars, its murders and massacres,\nits swords dripping with the blood of mothers and babes, its\ntortures, maimings and mutilations, its fraud and fury, its hatred and\nrevenge—calculated to improve the world?\n\nDoes not every chapter shock the heart of a good man? Is it a book to be\nread by children?\n\nThe book of Joshua is as merciless as famine, as ferocious as the heart\nof a wild beast. It is a history—a justification—a sanctification of\nnearly every crime.\n\nThe book of Judges is about the same, nothing but war and bloodshed;\nthe horrible story of Jael and Sisera; of Gideon and his trumpets\nand pitchers; of Jephtha and his daughter, whom he murdered to please\nJehovah.\n\nHere we find the story of Samson, in which a sun-god is changed to a\nHebrew giant.\n\nRead this book of Joshua—read of the slaughter of women, of wives, of\nmothers and babes—read its impossible miracles, its ruthless crimes,\nand all done according to the commands of Jehovah, and tell me whether\nthis book is calculated to make us forgiving, generous and loving.\n\nI admit that the history of Ruth is in some respects a beautiful and\ntouching story; that it is naturally told, and that her love for Naomi\nwas deep and pure. But in the matter of courtship we would hardly advise\nour daughters to follow the example of Ruth. Still, we must remember\nthat Ruth was a widow.\n\nIs there anything worth reading in the first and second books of Samuel?\nOught a prophet of God to hew a captured king in pieces? Is the story of\nthe ark, its capture and return of importance to us? Is it possible that\nit was right, just and merciful to kill fifty thousand men because they\nhad looked into a box? Of what use to us are the wars of Saul and David,\nthe stories of Goliath and the Witch of Endor? Why should Jehovah have\nkilled Uzzah for putting forth his hand to steady the ark, and forgiven\nDavid for murdering Uriah and stealing his wife?\n\nAccording to \"Samuel,\" David took a census of the people. This excited\nthe wrath of Jehovah, and as a punishment he allowed David to choose\nseven years of famine, a flight of three months from pursuing enemies,\nor three days of pestilence. David, having confidence in God, chose the\nthree days of pestilence; and, thereupon, God, the compassionate, on\naccount of the sin of David, killed seventy thousand innocent men!\n\nUnder the same circumstances, what would a devil have done?\n\nIs there anything in First and Second Kings that suggests the idea of\ninspiration?\n\nWhen David is dying he tells his son Solomon to murder Joab—not to let\nhis hoar head go down to the grave in peace. With his last breath he\ncommands his son to bring down the hoar head of Shimei to the grave\nwith blood. Having uttered these merciful words, the good David, the man\nafter God's heart, slept with his fathers.\n\nWas it necessary to inspire the man who wrote the history of the\nbuilding of the temple, the story of the visit of the Queen of Sheba, or\nto tell the number of Solomon's wives?\n\nWhat care we for the withering of Jereboam's hand, the prophecy of Jehu,\nor the story of Elijah and the ravens?\n\nCan we believe that Elijah brought flames from heaven, or that he went\nat last to Paradise in a chariot of fire?\n\nCan we believe in the multiplication of the widow's oil by Elisha, that\nan army was smitten with blindness, or that an axe floated in the water?\n\nDoes it civilize us to read about the beheading of the seventy sons\nof Ahab, the putting out of the eyes of Zedekiah and the murder of his\nsons? Is there one word in First and Second Kings calculated to make men\nbetter?\n\nFirst and Second Chronicles is but a re-telling of what is told in First\nand Second Kings. The same old stories—a little left out, a little\nadded, but in no respect made better or worse.\n\nThe book of Ezra is of no importance. He tells us that Cyrus, King of\nPersia, issued a proclamation for building a temple at Jerusalem, and\nthat he declared Jehovah to be the real and only God.\n\nNothing could be more absurd. Ezra tells us about the return from\ncaptivity, the building of the temple, the dedication, a few prayers,\nand this is all. This book is of no importance, of no use.\n\nNehemiah is about the same, only it tells of the building of the wall,\nthe complaints of the people about taxes, a list of those who returned\nfrom Babylon, a catalogue of those who dwelt at Jerusalem, and the\ndedication of the walls.\n\nNot a word in Nehemiah worth reading.\n\nThen comes the book of Esther:\n\nIn this we are told that King Ahasueras was intoxicated; that he sent\nfor his Queen, Vashti, to come and show herself to him and his guests.\nVashti refused to appear.\n\nThis maddened the king, and he ordered that from every province the most\nbeautiful girls should be brought before him that he might choose one in\nplace of Vashti.\n\nAmong others was brought Esther, a Jewess. She was chosen and became the\nwife of the king. Then a gentleman by the name of Haman wanted to have\nall the Jews killed, and the king, not knowing that Esther was of that\nrace, signed a decree that all the Jews should be killed.\n\nThrough the efforts of Mordecai and Esther the decree was annulled and\nthe Jews were saved.\n\nHaman prepared a gallows on which to have Mordecai hanged, but the good\nEsther so managed matters that Haman and his ten sons were hanged on the\ngallows that Haman had built, and the Jews were allowed to murder more\nthan seventy-five thousand of the king's subjects.\n\nThis is the inspired story of Esther.\n\nIn the book of Job we find some elevated sentiments, some sublime and\nfoolish thoughts, something of the wonder and sublimity of nature, the\njoys and sorrows of life; but the story is infamous.\n\nSome of the Psalms are good, many are indifferent, and a few are\ninfamous. In them are mingled the vices and virtues. There are verses\nthat elevate, verses that degrade. There are prayers for forgiveness and\nrevenge. In the literature of the world there is nothing more heartless,\nmore infamous, than the 109th Psalm.\n\nIn the Proverbs there is much shrewdness, many pithy and prudent maxims,\nmany wise sayings. The same ideas are expressed in many ways—the wisdom\nof economy and silence, the dangers of vanity and idleness. Some are\ntrivial, some are foolish, and many are wise. These proverbs are not\ngenerous—not altruistic. Sayings to the same effect are found among all\nnations.\n\nEcclesiastes is the most thoughtful book in the Bible. It was written by\nan unbeliever—a philosopher—an agnostic. Take out the interpolations,\nand it is in accordance with the thought of the nineteenth century.\nIn this book are found the most philosophic and poetic passages in the\nBible.\n\nAfter crossing the desert of death and crime—after reading the\nPentateuch, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles—it is\ndelightful to reach this grove of palms, called the \"Song of Solomon.\" A\ndrama of love—of human love; a poem without Jehovah—a poem born of the\nheart and true to the divine instincts of the soul.\n\n\"I sleep, but my heart waketh.\"\n\nIsaiah is the work of several. Its swollen words, its vague imagery,\nits prophecies and curses, its ravings against kings and nations, its\nlaughter at the wisdom of man, its hatred of joy, have not the slightest\ntendency to increase the well-being of man.\n\nIn this book is recorded the absurdest of all miracles. The shadow on\nthe dial is turned back ten degrees, in order to satisfy Hezekiah that\nJehovah will add fifteen years to his life.\n\nIn this miracle the world, turning from west to east at the rate of more\nthan a thousand miles an hour, is not only stopped, but made to turn the\nother way until the shadow on the dial went back ten degrees! Is\nthere in the whole world an intelligent man or woman who believes this\nimpossible falsehood?\n\nJeremiah contains nothing of importance—no facts of value; nothing but\nfault-finding, lamentations, croakings, wailings, curses and promises;\nnothing but famine and prayer, the prosperity of the wicked, the ruin of\nthe Jews, the captivity and return, and at last Jeremiah, the traitor,\nin the stocks and in prison.\n\nAnd Lamentations is simply a continuance of the ravings of the same\ninsane pessimist; nothing but dust and sackcloth and ashes, tears and\nhowls, railings and revilings.\n\nAnd Ezekiel—eating manuscripts, prophesying siege and desolation, with\nvisions of coals of fire, and cherubim, and wheels with eyes, and\nthe type and figure of the boiling pot, and the resurrection of dry\nbones—is of no use, of no possible value.\n\nWith Voltaire, I say that any one who admires Ezekiel should be\ncompelled to dine with him.\n\nDaniel is a disordered dream—a nightmare.\n\nWhat can be made of this book with its image with a golden head, with\nbreast and arms of silver, with belly and thighs of brass, with legs of\niron, and with feet of iron and clay; with its writing on the wall, its\nden of lions, and its vision of the ram and goat?\n\nIs there anything to be learned from Hosea and his wife? Is there\nanything of use in Joel, in Amos, in Obadiah? Can we get any good from\nJonah and his gourd? Is it possible that God is the real author of\nMicah and Nahum, of Habakkuk and Zephaniah, of Haggai and Malachi and\nZechariah, with his red horses, his four horns, his four carpenters, his\nflying roll, his mountains of brass and the stone with four eyes?\n\nIs there anything in these \"inspired\" books that has been of benefit to\nman?\n\nHave they taught us how to cultivate the earth, to build houses, to\nweave cloth, to prepare food? Have they taught us to paint pictures, to\nchisel statues, to build bridges, or ships, or anything of beauty or of\nuse? Did we get our ideas of government, of religious freedom, of the\nliberty of thought, from the Old Testament? Did we get from any of these\nbooks a hint of any science? Is there in the \"sacred volume\" a word, a\nline, that has added to the wealth, the intelligence and the happiness\nof mankind? Is there one of the books of the Old Testament as\nentertaining as \"Robinson Crusoe,\" \"The Travels of Gulliver,\" or \"Peter\nWilkins and his Flying Wife\"? Did the author of Genesis know as much\nabout nature as Humboldt, or Darwin, or Haeckel? Is what is called the\nMosaic Code as wise or as merciful as the code of any civilized nation?\nWere the writers of Kings and Chronicles as great historians, as great\nwriters, as Gibbon and Draper? Is Jeremiah, or Habakkuk equal to Dickens\nor Thackeray? Can the authors of Job and the Psalms be compared with\nShakespeare? Why should we attribute the best to man and the worst to\nGod?\n\nV. Was Jehovah a God of Love?\n\nDid these words come from the heart of love?—\n\n\"When the Lord thy God shall drive them before thee, thou shalt smite\nthem and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, or\nshow mercy unto them.\"\n\n\"I will heap mischief upon them. I will send mine arrows upon them;\nthey shall be burned with hunger and devoured with burning heat and with\nbitter destruction.\"\n\n\"I will send the tooth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents\nof the dust.\"\n\n\"The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man\nand the virgin; the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.\"\n\n\"Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow; let his children\nbe continually vagabonds and beg; let them seek their bread also out of\ntheir desolate places; let the extortioner catch all that he hath, and\nlet the stranger spoil his labor; let there be none to extend mercy unto\nhim, neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children.\"\n\n\"And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body—the flesh of thy sons\nand daughters.\"\n\n\"And the heaven that is over thee shall be brass, and the earth that is\nunder thee shall be iron.\"\n\n\"Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the\nfield.\"\n\n\"I will make my arrows drunk with blood.\"\n\n\"I will laugh at their calamity.\".\n\nDid these curses, these threats, come from the heart of love or from the\nmouth of savagery?\n\nWas Jehovah god or devil?\n\nWhy should we place Jehovah above all the gods?\n\nHas man in his ignorance and fear ever imagined a greater monster?\n\nHave the barbarians of any land, in any time, worshiped a more heartless\ngod?\n\nBrahma was a thousand times nobler, and so was Osiris and Zeus and\nJupiter. So was the supreme god of the Aztecs, to whom they offered only\nthe perfume of flowers. The worst god of the Hindus, with his necklace\nof skulls and his bracelets of living snakes, was kind and merciful\ncompared with Jehovah.\n\nCompared with Marcus Aurelius, how small Jehovah seems. Compared with\nAbraham Lincoln, how cruel, how contemptible, is this god.\n\nVI. Jehovah's Administration.\n\nHE created the world, the hosts of heaven, a man and woman—placed them\nin a garden. Then the serpent deceived them, and they were cast out and\nmade to earn their bread.\n\nJehovah had been thwarted.\n\nThen he tried again. He went on for about sixteen hundred years trying\nto civilize the people.\n\nNo schools, no churches, no Bible, no tracts—nobody taught to read or\nwrite. No Ten Commandments. The people grew worse and worse, until the\nmerciful Jehovah sent the flood and drowned all the people except Noah\nand his family, eight in all.\n\nThen he started again, and changed their diet. At first Adam and Eve\nwere vegetarians. After the flood Jehovah said: \"Every moving thing that\nliveth shall be meat for you\"—snakes and buzzards.\n\nThen he failed again, and at the Tower of Babel he dispersed and\nscattered the people.\n\nFinding that he could not succeed with all the people, he thought he\nwould try a few, so he selected Abraham and his descendants. Again he\nfailed, and his chosen people were captured by the Egyptians and\nenslaved for four hundred years.\n\nThen he tried again—rescued them from Pharaoh and started for\nPalestine.\n\nThen he changed their diet, allowing them to eat only the beasts that\nparted the hoof and chewed the cud. Again he failed. The people hated\nhim, and preferred the slavery of Egypt to the freedom of Jehovah. So he\nkept them wandering until nearly all who came from Egypt had died.\nThen he tried again—took them into Palestine and had them governed by\njudges.\n\nThis, too, was a failure—no schools, no Bible. Then he tried kings, and\nthe kings were mostly idolaters.\n\nThen the chosen people were conquered and carried into captivity by the\nBabylonians.\n\nAnother failure.\n\nThen they returned, and Jehovah tried prophets—howlers and wailers—but\nthe people grew worse and worse. No schools, no sciences, no arts, no\ncommerce. Then Jehovah took upon himself flesh, was born of a woman, and\nlived among the people that he had been trying to civilize for several\nthousand years. Then these people, following the law that Jehovah\nhad given them in the wilderness, charged this Jehovah-man—this\nChrist—with blasphemy; tried, convicted and killed him.\n\nJehovah had failed again.\n\nThen he deserted the Jews and turned his attention to the rest of the\nworld.\n\nAnd now the Jews, deserted by Jehovah, persecuted by Christians, are the\nmost prosperous people on the earth. Again has Jehovah failed.\n\nWhat an administration!\n\nVII. The New Testament.\n\nWHO wrote the New Testament?\n\nChristian scholars admit that they do not know. They admit that, if the\nfour gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they must\nhave been written in Hebrew. And yet a Hebrew manuscript of any one of\nthese gospels has never been found. All have been and are in Greek.\nSo, educated theologians admit that the Epistles, James and Jude, were\nwritten by persons who had never seen one of the four gospels. In these\nEpistles—in James and Jude—no reference is made to any of the gospels,\nnor to any miracle recorded in them.\n\nThe first mention that has been found of one of our gospels was made\nabout one hundred and eighty years after the birth of Christ, and the\nfour gospels were first named and quoted from at the beginning of the\nthird century, about one hundred and seventy years after the death of\nChrist.\n\nWe now know that there were many other gospels besides our four, some of\nwhich have been lost.\n\nThere were the gospels of Paul, of the Egyptians, of the Hebrews, of\nPerfection, of Judas, of Thaddeus, of the Infancy, of Thomas, of Mary,\nof Andrew, of Nicodemus, of Marcion and several others.\n\nSo there were the Acts of Pilate, of Andrew, of Mary, of Paul and Thecla\nand of many others; also a book called the Shepherd of Hermas.\n\nAt first not one of all the books was considered as inspired. The Old\nTestament was regarded as di vine; but the books that now constitute the\nNew Testament were regarded as human productions. We now know that we do\nnot know who wrote the four gospels.\n\nThe question is, Were the authors of these four gospels inspired?\n\nIf they were inspired, then the four gospels must be true. If they are\ntrue, they must agree.\n\nThe four gospels do not agree.\n\nMatthew, Mark and Luke knew nothing of the atonement, nothing of\nsalvation by faith. They knew only the gospel of good deeds—of charity.\nThey teach that if we forgive others God will forgive us.\n\nWith this the gospel of John does not agree.\n\nIn that gospel we are taught that we must believe on the Lord Jesus\nChrist; that we must be born again; that we must drink the blood and\neat the flesh of Christ. In this gospel we find the doctrine of the\natonement and that Christ died for us and suffered in our place.\n\nThis gospel is utterly at variance with, the other three. If the other\nthree are true, the gospel of John is false. If the gospel of John\nwas written by an inspired man, the writers of the other three were\nuninspired. From this there is no possible escape. The four cannot be\ntrue.\n\nIt is evident that there are many interpolations in the four gospels.\n\nFor instance, in the 28th chapter of Matthew is an account to the effect\nthat the soldiers at the tomb of Christ were bribed to say that the\ndisciples of Jesus stole away his body while they, the soldiers, slept.\n\nThis is clearly an interpolation. It is a break in the narrative.\n\nThe 10th verse should be followed by the 16th. The 10th verse is as\nfollows:\n\n\"Then Jesus said unto them, 'Be not afraid; go tell my brethren that\nthey go unto Galilee and there shall they see me.'\"\n\nThe 16th verse:\n\n\"Then the eleven disciples went away unto Galilee into a mountain, where\nJesus had appointed them.\"\n\nThe story about the soldiers contained in the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and\n15th verses is an interpolation—an afterthought—long after. The 15th\nverse demonstrates this.\n\nFifteenth verse: \"So they took the money and did as they were taught.\nAnd this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.\"\n\nCertainly this account was not in the original gospel, and certainly\nthe 15th verse was not written by a Jew. No Jew could have written this:\n\"And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.\"\n\nMark, John and Luke never heard that the soldiers had been bribed by the\npriests; or, if they had, did not think it worth while recording. So\nthe accounts of the Ascension of Jesus Christ in Mark and Luke are\ninterpolations. Matthew says nothing about the Ascension.\n\nCertainly there never was a greater miracle, and yet Matthew, who was\npresent—who saw the Lord rise, ascend and disappear—did not think it\nworth mentioning.\n\nOn the other hand, the last words of Christ, according to Matthew,\ncontradict the Ascension: \"Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of\nthe world.\" John, who was present, if Christ really ascended, says not\none word on the subject.\n\nAs to the Ascension, the gospels do not agree. Mark gives the last\nconversation that Christ had with his disciples, as follows:\n\n\"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He\nthat believeth and is baptised shall be saved; but he that believeth not\nshall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my\nname shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They\nshall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not\nhurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.\nSo, then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into\nheaven and sat on the right hand of God.\"\n\nIs it possible that this description was written by one who witnessed\nthis miracle?\n\nThis miracle is described by Luke as follows: \"And it came to pass while\nhe blessed them he was parted from them and carried up into heaven.\"\n\n\"Brevity is the soul of wit.\"\n\nIn the Acts we are told that: \"When he had spoken, while they beheld, he\nwas taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.\"\n\nNeither Luke, nor Matthew, nor John, nor the writer of the Acts, heard\none word of the conversation attributed to Christ by Mark. The fact is\nthat the Ascension of Christ was not claimed by his disciples.\n\nAt first Christ was a man—nothing more. Mary was his mother, Joseph his\nfather. The genealogy of his father, Joseph, was given to show that he\nwas of the blood of David.\n\nThen the claim was made that he was the son of God, and that his mother\nwas a virgin, and that she remained a virgin until her death.\n\nThen the claim was made that Christ rose from the dead and ascended\nbodily to heaven.\n\nIt required many years for these absurdities to take possession of the\nminds of men.\n\nIf Christ rose from the dead, why did he not appear to his enemies?\nWhy did he not call on Caiaphas, the high priest? Why did he not make\nanother triumphal entry into Jerusalem?\n\nIf he really ascended, why did he not do so in public, in the presence\nof his persecutors? Why should this, the greatest of miracles, be done\nin secret, in a corner?\n\nIt was a miracle that could have been seen by a vast multitude—a\nmiracle that could not be simulated—one that would have convinced\nhundreds of thousands.\n\nAfter the story of the Resurrection, the Ascension became a necessity.\nThey had to dispose of the body.\n\nSo there are many other interpolations in the gospels and epistles.\n\nAgain I ask: Is the New Testament true? Does anybody now believe that at\nthe birth of Christ there was a celestial greeting; that a star led\nthe Wise Men of the Bast; that Herod slew the babes of Bethlehem of two\nyears old and under?\n\nThe gospels are filled with accounts of miracles. Were they ever\nperformed?\n\nMatthew gives the particulars of about twenty-two miracles, Mark of\nabout nineteen, Luke of about eighteen and John of about seven.\n\nAccording to the gospels, Christ healed diseases, cast out devils,\nrebuked the sea, cured the blind, fed multitudes with five loaves and\ntwo fishes, walked on the sea, cursed a fig tree, turned water into wine\nand raised the dead.\n\nMatthew is the only one that tells about the Star and the Wise Men—the\nonly one that tells about the murder of babes.\n\nJohn is the only one who says anything about the resurrection of\nLazarus, and Luke is the only one giving an account of the raising from\nthe dead the widow of Nain's son.\n\nHow is it possible to substantiate these miracles?\n\nThe Jews, among whom they were said to have been performed, did not\nbelieve them. The diseased, the palsied, the leprous, the blind who were\ncured, did not become followers of Christ. Those that were raised from\nthe dead were never heard of again.\n\nDoes any intelligent man believe in the existence of devils? The writer\nof three of the gospels certainly did. John says nothing about Christ\nhaving cast out devils, but Matthew, Mark and Luke give many instances.\n\nDoes any natural man now believe that Christ cast out devils? If his\ndisciples said he did, they were mistaken. If Christ said he did, he was\ninsane or an impostor.\n\nIf the accounts of casting out devils are false, then the writers were\nignorant or dishonest. If they wrote through ignorance, then they were\nnot inspired. If they wrote what they knew to be false, they were not\ninspired. If what they wrote is untrue, whether they knew it or not,\nthey were not inspired.\n\nAt that time it was believed that palsy, epilepsy, deafness, insanity\nand many other diseases were caused by devils; that devils took\npossession of and lived in the bodies of men and women. Christ believed\nthis, taught this belief to others, and pretended to cure diseases\nby casting devils out of the sick and insane. We know now, if we know\nanything, that diseases are not caused by the presence of devils. We\nknow, if we know anything, that devils do not reside in the bodies of\nmen.\n\nIf Christ said and did what the writers of the three gospels say he said\nand did, then Christ was mistaken. If he was mistaken, certainly he was\nnot God. And if he was mistaken, certainly he was not inspired.\n\nIs it a fact that the Devil tried to bribe Christ?\n\nIs it a fact that the Devil carried Christ to the top of the temple and\ntried to induce him to leap to the ground?\n\nHow can these miracles be established?\n\nThe principals have written nothing, Christ has written nothing, and the\nDevil has remained silent.\n\nHow can we know that the Devil tried to bribe Christ? Who wrote the\naccount? We do not know. How did the writer get his information? We do\nnot know.\n\nSomebody, some seventeen hundred years ago, said that the Devil tried to\nbribe God; that the Devil carried God to the top of the temple and tried\nto induce him to leap to the earth and that God was intellectually too\nkeen for the Devil.\n\nThis is all the evidence we have.\n\nIs there anything in the literature of the world more perfectly idiotic?\n\nIntelligent people no longer believe in witches, wizards, spooks and\ndevils, and they are perfectly satisfied that every word in the New\nTestament about casting out devils is utterly false.\n\nCan we believe that Christ raised the dead?\n\nA widow living in Nain is following the body of her son to the tomb.\nChrist halts the funeral procession and raises the young man from the\ndead and gives him back to the arms of his mother.\n\nThis young man disappears. He is never heard of again. No one takes the\nslightest interest in the man who returned from the realm of death. Luke\nis the only one who tells the story. Maybe Matthew, Mark and John never\nheard of it, or did not believe it and so failed to record it.\n\nJohn says that Lazarus was raised from the dead; Matthew, Mark and Luke\nsay nothing about it.\n\nIt was more wonderful than the raising of the widow's son. He had not\nbeen laid in the tomb for days. He was only on his way to the grave, but\nLazarus was actually dead. He had begun to decay.\n\nLazarus did not excite the least interest. No one asked him about the\nother world. No one inquired of him about their dead friends.\n\nWhen he died the second time no one said: \"He is not afraid. He has\ntraveled that road twice and knows just where he is going.\"\n\nWe do not believe in the miracles of Mohammed, and yet they are as well\nattested as this. We have no confidence in the miracles performed by\nJoseph Smith, and yet the evidence is far greater, far better.\n\nIf a man should go about now pretending to raise the dead, pretending to\ncast out devils, we would regard him as insane. What, then, can we say\nof Christ? If we wish to save his reputation we are compelled to say\nthat he never pretended to raise the dead; that he never claimed to have\ncast out devils.\n\nWe must take the ground that these ignorant and impossible things were\ninvented by zealous disciples, who sought to deify their leader.\n\nIn those ignorant days these falsehoods added to the fame of Christ.\nBut now they put his character in peril and belittle the authors of the\ngospels.\n\nCan we now believe that water was changed into wine? John tells of this\nchildish miracle, and says that the other disciples were present, yet\nMatthew, Mark and Luke say nothing about it.\n\n'Take the miracle of the man cured by the pool of Bethseda. John says\nthat an angel troubled the waters of the pool of Bethseda, and that\nwhoever got into the pool first after the waters were troubled was\nhealed.\n\nDoes anybody now believe that an angel went into the pool and troubled\nthe waters? Does anybody now think that the poor wretch who got in first\nwas healed? Yet the author of the gospel according to John believed and\nasserted these absurdities. If he was mistaken about that he may have\nbeen about all the miracles he records.\n\nJohn is the only one who tells about this pool of Bethseda. Possibly the\nother disciples did not believe the story.\n\nHow can we account for these pretended miracles?\n\nIn the days of the disciples, and for many centuries after, the world\nwas filled with the supernatural. Nearly everything that happened was\nregarded as miraculous. God was the immediate governor of the world. If\nthe people were good, God sent seed time and harvest; but if they were\nbad he sent flood and hail, frost and famine. If anything wonderful\nhappened it was exaggerated until it became a miracle.\n\nOf the order of events—of the unbroken and the unbreakable chain of\ncauses and effects—the people had no knowledge and no thought.\n\nA miracle is the badge and brand of fraud. No miracle ever was\nperformed. No intelligent, honest man ever pretended to perform a\nmiracle, and never will.\n\nIf Christ had wrought the miracles attributed to him; if he had cured\nthe palsied and insane; if he had given hearing to the deaf, vision to\nthe blind; if he had cleansed the leper with a word, and with a touch\nhad given life and feeling to the withered limb; if he had given pulse\nand motion, warmth and thought, to cold and breathless clay; if he had\nconquered death and rescued from the grave its pallid prey—no word\nwould have been uttered, no hand raised, except in praise and honor.\nIn his presence all heads would have been uncovered—all knees upon the\nground.\n\nIs it not strange that at the trial of Christ no one was found to say a\nword in his favor? No man stood forth and said: \"I was a leper, and this\nman cured me with a touch.\" No woman said: \"I am the widow of Nain and\nthis is my son whom this man raised from the dead.\"\n\nNo man said: \"I was blind, and this man gave me sight.\"\n\nAll silent\n\nVIII. The Philosophy of Christ\n\nMILLIONS assert that the philosophy of Christ is perfect—that he was\nthe wisest that ever littered speech.\n\nLet us see:\n\nResist not evil. If smitten on one cheek turn the other.\n\nIs there any philosophy, any wisdom in this? Christ takes from goodness,\nfrom virtue, from the truth, the right of self-defence. Vice becomes the\nmaster of the world, and the good become the victims of the infamous.\n\nNo man has the right to protect himself, his property, his wife and\nchildren. Government becomes impossible, and the world is at the mercy\nof criminals. Is there any absurdity beyond this?\n\nLove your enemies.\n\nIs this possible? Did any human being ever love his enemies? Did Christ\nlove his, when he denounced them as whited sepulchers, hypocrites and\nvipers?\n\nWe cannot love those who hate us. Hatred in the hearts of others does\nnot breed love in ours. Not to resist evil is absurd; to love your\nenemies is impossible.\n\nTake no thought for the morrow.\n\nThe idea was that God would take care of us as he did of sparrows and\nlilies. Is there the least sense in that belief?\n\nDoes God take care of anybody?\n\nCan we live without taking thought for the morrow? To plow, to sow, to\ncultivate, to harvest, is to take thought for the morrow. We plan and\nwork for the future, for our children, for the unborn generations\nto come. Without this forethought there could be no progress, no\ncivilization. The world would go back to the caves and dens of savagery.\n\n_If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out. If thy right hand offend\nthee, cut it off._\n\nWhy? Because it is better that one of our members should perish than\nthat the whole body should be cast into hell.\n\nIs there any wisdom in putting out your eyes or cutting off your hands?\nIs it possible to extract from these extravagant sayings the smallest\ngrain of common sense?\n\n_Swear not at all; neither by Heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by\nthe Earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is his holy\ncity._\n\nHere we find the astronomy and geology of Christ. Heaven is the throne\nof God, the monarch; the earth is his footstool. A footstool that turns\nover at the rate of a thousand miles an hour, and sweeps through space\nat the rate of over a thousand miles a minute!\n\nWhere did Christ think heaven was? Why was Jerusalem a holy city? Was it\nbecause the inhabitants were ignorant, cruel and superstitious?\n\n_If any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have\nthy cloak also_.\n\nIs there any philosophy, any good sense, in that commandment? Would it\nnot be just as sensible to say: \"If a man obtains a judgment against you\nfor one hundred dollars, give him two hundred.\"\n\nOnly the insane could give or follow this advice.\n\n_Think not I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace,\nbut a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father,\nand the daughter against her mother._\n\nIf this is true, how much better it would have been had he remained\naway.\n\nIs it possible that he who said, \"Resist not evil,\" came to bring a\nsword? That he who said, \"Love your enemies,\" came to destroy the peace\nof the world?\n\nTo set father against son, and daughter against father—what a glorious\nmission!\n\nHe did bring a sword, and the sword was wet for a thousand years with\ninnocent blood. In millions of hearts he sowed the seeds of hatred and\nrevenge. He divided nations and families, put out the light of reason,\nand petrified the hearts of men.\n\n_And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or\nfather, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake,\nshall receive an hundredfold, shall inherit everlasting life._\n\nAccording to the writer of Matthew, Christ, the compassionate, the\nmerciful, uttered these terrible words. Is it possible that Christ\noffered the bribe of eternal joy to those who would desert their\nfathers, their mothers, their wives and children? Are we to win the\nhappiness of heaven by deserting the ones we love? Is a home to be\nruined here for the sake of a mansion there?\n\nAnd yet it is said that Christ is an example for all the world. Did he\ndesert his father and mother? He said, speaking to his mother: \"Woman,\nwhat have I to do with, thee?\"\n\nThe Pharisees said unto Christ: \"Is it lawful to pay tribute unto Cæsar?\"\n\nChrist said: \"Show me the tribute money.\" They brought him a penny. And\nhe saith unto them: \"Whose is the image and the superscription?\" They\nsaid: \"Cæsar's.\" And Christ said: \"Render unto Cæsar the things that are\nCæsar's.\"\n\nDid Christ think that the money belonged to Cæsar because his image and\nsuperscription were stamped upon it? Did the penny belong to Cæsar or to\nthe man who had earned it? Had Cæsar the right to demand it because it\nwas adorned with his image?\n\nDoes it appear from this conversation that Christ understood the real\nnature and use of money?\n\nCan we now say that Christ was the greatest of philosophers?\n\nIX. Is Christ Our Example?\n\nHE never said a word in favor of education. He never even hinted at the\nexistence of any science. He never uttered a word in favor of industry,\neconomy or of any effort to better our condition in this world. He was\nthe enemy of the successful, of the wealthy. Dives was sent to hell, not\nbecause he was bad, but because he was rich. Lazarus went to heaven, not\nbecause he was good, but because he was poor.\n\nChrist cared nothing for painting, for sculpture, for music—nothing for\nany art. He said nothing about the duties of nation to nation, of king\nto subject; nothing about the rights of man; nothing about intellectual\nliberty or the freedom of speech. He said nothing about the sacredness\nof home; not one word for the fireside; not a word in favor of marriage,\nin honor of maternity.\n\nHe never married. He wandered homeless from place to place with a\nfew disciples. None of them seem to have been engaged in any useful\nbusiness, and they seem to have lived on alms. .\n\nAll human ties were held in contempt; this world was sacrificed for the\nnext; all human effort was discouraged. God would support and protect.\n\nAt last, in the dusk of death, Christ, finding that he was mistaken,\ncried out: \"My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me?\"\n\nWe have found that man must depend on himself. He must clear the land;\nhe must build the home; he must plow and plant; he must invent; he\nmust work with hand and brain; he must overcome the difficulties and\nobstructions; he must conquer and enslave the forces of nature to the\nend that they may do the work of the world.\n\nX. Why Should We Place Christ at the Top and Summit of the Human Race?\n\nAS he kinder, more forgiving, more self-sacrificing than Buddha? Was he\nwiser, did he meet death with more perfect calmness, than Socrates?\nWas he more patient, more charitable, than Epictetus? Was he a greater\nphilosopher, a deeper thinker, than Epicurus? In what respect was he the\nsuperior of Zoroaster? Was he gentler than Lao-tsze, more universal than\nConfucius? Were his ideas of human rights and duties superior to those\nof Zeno? Did he express grander truths than Cicero? Was his mind subtler\nthan Spinoza's? Was his brain equal to Kepler's or Newton's? Was he\ngrander in death—a sublimer martyr than Bruno? Was he in intelligence,\nin the force and beauty of expression, in breadth and scope of thought,\nin wealth of illustration, in aptness of comparison, in knowledge of the\nhuman brain and heart, of all passions, hopes and fears, the equal of\nShakespeare, the greatest of the human race?\n\nIf Christ was in fact God, he knew all the future.\n\nBefore Him like a panorama moved the history yet to be. He knew how\nhis words would be interpreted. He knew what crimes, what horrors, what\ninfamies, would be committed in his name. He knew that the hungry flames\nof persecution would climb around the limbs of countless martyrs. He\nknew that thousands and thousands of brave men and women would languish\nin dungeons in darkness, filled with pain. He knew that his church would\ninvent and use instruments of torture; that his followers would appeal\nto whip and fagot, to chain and rack. He saw the horizon of the future\nlurid with the flames of the auto da fe. He knew what creeds would\nspring like poisonous fungi from every text. He saw the ignorant sects\nwaging war against each other. He saw thousands of men, under the orders\nof priests, building prisons for their fellow-men. He saw thousands of\nscaffolds dripping with the best and bravest blood. He saw his followers\nusing the instruments of pain. He heard the groans—saw the faces white\nwith agony. He heard the shrieks and sobs and cries of all the moaning,\nmartyred multitudes. He knew that commentaries would be written on his\nwords with swords, to be read by the light of fagots. He knew that the\nInquisition would be born of the teachings attributed to him.\n\nHe saw the interpolations and falsehoods that hypocrisy would write and\ntell. He saw all wars that would be waged, and-he knew that above these\nfields of death, these dungeons, these rackings, these burnings, these\nexecutions, for a thousand years would float the dripping banner of the\ncross.\n\nHe knew that hypocrisy would be robed and crowned—that cruelty and\ncredulity would rule the world; knew that liberty would perish from the\nearth; knew that popes and kings in his name would enslave the souls\nand bodies of men; knew that they would persecute and destroy the\ndiscoverers, thinkers and inventors; knew that his church would\nextinguish reason's holy light and leave the world without a star.\n\nHe saw his disciples extinguishing the eyes of men, flaying them alive,\ncutting out their tongues, searching for all the nerves of pain.\n\nHe knew that in his name his followers would trade in human flesh; that\ncradles would be robbed and women's breasts unbabed for gold.\n\nAnd yet he died with voiceless lips.\n\nWhy did he fail to speak? Why did he not tell his disciples, and through\nthem the world: \"You shall not burn, imprison and torture in my name. You\nshall not persecute your fellow-men.\"\n\nWhy did he not plainly say: \"I am the Son of God,\" or, \"I am God\"? Why\ndid he not explain the Trinity? Why did he not tell the mode of baptism\nthat was pleasing to him? Why did he not write a creed? Why did he not\nbreak the chains of slaves? Why did he not say that the Old Testament\nwas or was not the inspired word of God? Why did he not write the New\nTestament himself? Why did he leave his words to ignorance, hypocrisy\nand chance? Why did he not say something positive, definite and\nsatisfactory about another world? Why did he not turn the tear-stained\nhope of heaven into the glad knowledge of another life? Why did he\nnot tell us something of the rights of man, of the liberty of hand and\nbrain?\n\nWhy did he go dumbly to his death, leaving the world to misery and to\ndoubt?\n\nI will tell you why. He was a man, and did not know.\n\nXI. Inspiration\n\nNOT before about the third century was it claimed or believed that the\nbooks composing the New Testament were inspired.\n\nIt will be remembered that there were a great number of books of\nGospels, Epistles and Acts, and that from these the \"inspired\" ones were\nselected by \"uninspired\" men.\n\nBetween the \"Fathers\" there were great differences of opinion as to\nwhich books were inspired; much discussion and plenty of hatred. Many of\nthe books now deemed spurious were by many of the \"Fathers\" regarded as\ndivine, and some now regarded as inspired were believed to be spurious.\nMany of the early Christians and some of the \"Fathers\" repudiated the\nGospel of John, the Epistle to the Hebrews, Jude, James, Peter, and the\nRevelation of St. John. On the other hand, many of them regarded the\nGospel of the Hebrews, of the Egyptians, the Preaching ol Peter, the\nShepherd of Hermas, the Epistle of Barnabas, the Pastor of Hermas, the\nRevelation of Peter, the Revelation of Paul, the Epistle of Clement, the\nGospel of Nicodemus, inspired Books, equal to the very best.\n\nFrom all these books, and many others, the Christians selected the\ninspired ones.\n\nThe men who did the selecting were ignorant and superstitious. They were\nfirm believers in the miraculous. They thought that diseases had been\ncured by the aprons and handkerchiefs of the apostles, by the bones of\nthe dead. They believed in the fable of the Phoenix, and that the hyenas\nchanged their sex every year.\n\nWere the men who through many centuries made the selections inspired?\nWere they—ignorant, credulous, stupid and malicious—as well qualified\nto judge of \"inspiration\" as the students of our time? How are we bound\nby their opinion? Have we not the right to judge for ourselves?\n\nErasmus, one of the leaders of the Reformation, declared that the\nEpistle to the Hebrews was not written by Paul, and he denied the\ninspiration of Second and Third John, and also of Revelation. Luther was\nof the same opinion. He declared James to be an epistle of straw, and\ndenied the inspiration of Revelation. Zwinglius rejected the book of\nRevelation, and even Calvin denied that Paul was the author of Hebrews.\n\nThe truth is that the Protestants did not agree as to what books are\ninspired until 1647, by the Assembly of Westminster.\n\nTo prove that a book is inspired you must prove the existence of God.\nYou must also prove that this God thinks, acts, has objects, ends and\naims. This Is somewhat difficult.\n\nIt is impossible to conceive of an infinite being. Having no conception\nof an infinite being, it is impossible to tell whether all the facts we\nknow tend to prove or disprove the existence of such a being.\n\nGod is a guess. If the existence of God is admitted, how are we to prove\nthat he inspired the writers of the books of the Bible?\n\nHow can one man establish the inspiration of another? How can an\ninspired man prove that he is inspired? How can he know himself that he\nis inspired? There is no way to prove the fact of inspiration. The\nonly evidence is the word of some man who could by no possibility know\nanything on the Subject.\n\nWhat is inspiration? Did God use men as instruments? Did he cause them\nto write his thoughts? Did he take possession of their minds and destroy\ntheir wills?\n\nWere these writers only partly controlled, so that their mistakes, their\nignorance and their prejudices were mingled with the wisdom of God?\n\nHow are we to separate the mistakes of man from the thoughts of God?\nCan we do this without being inspired ourselves? If the original writers\nwere inspired, then the translators should have been, and so should be\nthe men who tell us what the Bible means.\n\nHow is it possible for a human being to know that he is inspired by an\ninfinite being? But of one thing we may be certain: An inspired book\nshould certainly excel all the books produced by uninspired men.\nIt should, above all, be true, filled with wisdom, blossoming in\nbeauty—perfect.\n\nMinisters wonder how I can be wicked enough to attack the Bible.\n\nI will tell them:\n\nThis book, the Bible, has persecuted, even unto death, the wisest and\nthe best. This book stayed and stopped the onward movement of the human\nrace. This book poisoned the fountains of learning and misdirected the\nenergies of man.\n\nThis book is the enemy of freedom, the support of slavery. This book\nsowed the seeds of hatred in families and nations, fed the flames of\nwar, and impoverished, the world. This book is the breastwork of kings\nand tyrants—the enslaver of women and children. This book has corrupted\nparliaments and courts. This book has made colleges and, universities\nthe teachers of error and the haters of science. This book has filled\nChristendom with hateful, cruel, ignorant and warring sects. This book\ntaught men to kill their fellows for religion's sake. This book founded\nthe Inquisition, invented the instruments of torture, built the dungeons\nin which the good and loving languished, forged the chains that rusted\nin their flesh, erected the scaffolds whereon they died. This book\npiled fagots about the feet of the just. This book drove reason from the\nminds of millions and filled the asylums with the insane.\n\nThis book has caused fathers and mothers to shed the blood of their\nbabes. This book was the auction block on which the slave-mother stood\nwhen she was sold from her child. This book filled the sails of the\nslave-trader and made merchandise of human flesh. This book lighted\nthe fires that, burned \"witches\" and \"wizards.\" This book filled the\ndarkness with ghouls and ghosts, and the bodies of men and women with\ndevils. This book polluted the souls of men with the infamous dogma\nof eternal pain. This book made credulity the greatest of virtues, and\ninvestigation the greatest of crimes. This book filled nations with\nhermits, monks and nuns—with the pious and the useless. This book\nplaced the ignorant and unclean saint above the philosopher and\nphilanthropist. This book taught man to despise the joys of this life,\nthat he might be happy in another—to waste this world for the sake of\nthe next.\n\nI attack this book because it is the enemy of human liberty—the\ngreatest obstruction across the highway of human progress.\n\nLet me ask the ministers one question: How can you be wicked enough to\ndefend this book?\n\nXII. The Real Bible.\n\nOR thousands of years men have been writing the real Bible, and it is\nbeing written from day to day, and it will never be finished while man\nhas life. All the facts that we know, all the truly recorded events, all\nthe discoveries and inventions, all the wonderful machines whose wheels\nand levers seem to think, all the poems, crystals from the brain,\nflowers from the heart, all the songs of love and joy, of smiles and\ntears, the great dramas of Imagination's world, the wondrous paintings,\nmiracles of form and color, of light and shade, the marvelous marbles\nthat seem to live and breathe, the secrets told by rock and star, by\ndust and flower, by rain and snow, by frost and flame, by winding stream\nand desert sand, by mountain range and billowed sea.\n\nAll the wisdom that lengthens and ennobles life—all that avoids or\ncures disease, or conquers pain—all just and perfect laws and rules\nthat guide and shape our lives, all thoughts that feed the flames\nof love, the music that transfigures, enraptures and enthralls, the\nvictories of heart and brain, the miracles that hands have wrought,\nthe deft and cunning hands of those who worked for wife and child, the\nhistories of noble deeds, of brave and useful men, of faithful loving\nwives, of quenchless mother-love, of conflicts for the right, of\nsufferings for the truth, of all the best that all the men and women of\nthe world have said, and thought and done through all the years.\n\nThese treasures of the heart and brain—these are the Sacred Scriptures\nof the human race.\n"
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