{
  "schema": "tga.work.v1",
  "identifier": "dresden:vol-4:the-devil",
  "slug": "the-devil",
  "title": "The Devil",
  "subtitle": "If the Devil should die would God make another?",
  "excerpt": "On the indispensability of the Devil to Christian theology — if you take him away the plot collapses, yet no modern clergyman dares to assert his existence in plain English.",
  "year": 1899,
  "volume": 4,
  "category": "Lecture",
  "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/the-devil/",
  "wordCount": 11420,
  "body": "A little while ago I delivered a lecture on \"Superstition,\" in which,\namong other things, I said that the Christian world could not deny the\nexistence of the Devil; that the Devil was really the keystone of the\narch, and that to take him away was to destroy the entire system.\n\nA great many clergymen answered or criticised this statement. Some of\nthese ministers avowed their belief in the existence of his Satanic\nMajesty, while others actually denied his existence; but some, without\nstating their own position, said that others believed, not in the\nexistence of a personal devil, but in the personification of evil, and\nthat all references to the Devil in the Scriptures could be explained\non the hypothesis that the Devil thus alluded to was simply a\npersonification of evil.\n\nWhen I read these answers I thought of this line from Heine: \"Christ\nrode on an ass, but now asses ride on Christ.\"\n\nNow, the questions are, first, whether the Devil does really exist;\nsecond, whether the sacred Scriptures teach the existence of the Devil\nand of unclean spirits, and third, whether this belief in devils is a\nnecessary part of what is known as \"orthodox Christianity.\"\n\nNow, where did the idea that a Devil exists come from? How was it\nproduced?\n\nFear is an artist—a sculptor—a painter. All tribes and nations, having\nsuffered, having been the sport and prey of natural phenomena, having\nbeen struck by lightning, poisoned by weeds, overwhelmed by volcanoes,\ndestroyed by earthquakes, believed in the existence of a Devil, who was\nthe king—the ruler—of innumerable smaller devils, and all these devils\nhave been from time immemorial regarded as the enemies of men.\n\nAlong the banks of the Ganges wandered the Asuras, the most powerful\nof evil spirits. Their business was to war against the Devas—that is\nto say, the gods—and at the same time against human beings. There,\ntoo, were the ogres, the Jakshas and many others who killed and devoured\nhuman beings.\n\nThe Persians turned this around, and with them the Asuras were good and\nthe Devas bad. Ormuzd was the good—the god—Ahriman the evil—the devil\n—and between the god and the devil was waged a perpetual war. Some of\nthe Persians thought that the evil would finally triumph, but others\ninsisted that the good would be the victor.\n\nIn Egypt the devil was Set—or, as usually called, Typhon—and the good\ngod was Osiris. Set and his legions fought against Osiris and against\nthe human race.\n\nAmong the Greeks, the Titans were the enemies of the gods. Ate was the\nspirit that tempted, and such was her power that at one time she tempted\nand misled the god of gods, even Zeus himself.\n\nThese ideas about gods and devils often changed, because in the days of\nSocrates a demon was not a devil, but a guardian angel.\n\nWe obtain our Devil from the Jews, and they got him from Babylon.\nThe Jews cultivated the science of Demonology, and at one time it was\nbelieved that there were nine kinds of demons: Beelzebub, prince of the\nfalse gods of the other nations; the Pythian Apollo, prince of liars;\nBelial, prince of mischief-makers; Asmodeus, prince of revengeful\ndevils; Satan, prince of witches and magicians; Meresin, prince of\naerial devils, who caused thunderstorms and plagues; Abaddon, who caused\nwars, tumults and combustions; Diabolus, who drives to despair, and\nMammon, prince of the tempters.\n\nIt was believed that demons and sorcerers frequently came together and\nheld what were called \"Sabbats;\" that is to say, orgies. It was also\nknown that sorcerers and witches had marks on their bodies that had been\nimprinted by the Devil.\n\nOf course these devils were all made by the people, and in these devils\nwe find the prejudices of their makers. The Europeans always represent\ntheir devils as black, while the Africans believed that theirs were\nwhite.\n\nSo, it was believed that people by the aid of the Devil could assume any\nshape that they wished. Witches and wizards were changed into wolves,\ndogs, cats and serpents. This change to animal form was exceedingly\ncommon.\n\nWithin two years, between 1598 and 1600, in one district of France, the\ndistrict of Jura, more than six hundred men and women were tried and\nconvicted before one judge of having changed themselves into wolves, and\nall were put to death.\n\nThis is only one instance. There are thousands.\n\nThere is no time to give the history of this belief in devils. It\nhas been universal. The consequences have been terrible beyond the\nimagination. Millions and millions of men, women and children, of\nfathers and mothers, have been sacrificed upon the altar of this\nignorant and idiotic belief.\n\nOf course, the Christians of to-day do not believe that the devils of\nthe Hindus, Egyptians, Persians or Babylonians existed. They think that\nthose nations created their own devils, precisely the same as they\ndid their own gods. But the Christians of to-day admit that for many\ncenturies Christians did believe in the existence of countless devils;\nthat the Fathers of the church believed as sincerely in the Devil and\nhis demons as in God and his angels; that they were just as sure about\nhell as heaven.\n\nI admit that people did the best they could to account for what they\nsaw, for what they experienced. I admit that the devils as well as the\ngods were naturally produced—the effect of nature upon the human brain.\nThe cause of phenomena filled our ancestors not only with wonder, but\nwith terror. The miraculous, the supernatural, was not only believed in,\nbut was always expected.\n\nA man walking in the woods at night—just a glimmering of the\nmoon—everything uncertain and shadowy—sees a monstrous form. One arm\nis raised. His blood grows cold, his hair lifts. In the gloom he sees\nthe eyes of an ogre—eyes that flame with malice. He feels that the\nsomething is approaching. He turns, and with a cry of horror takes to\nhis heels. He is afraid to look back. Spent, out of breath, shaking\nwith fear, he reaches his hut and falls at the door. When he regains\nconsciousness, he tells his story and, of course, the children believe.\nWhen they become men and women they tell father's story of having seen\nthe Devil to their children, and so the children and grandchildren\nnot only believe, but think they know, that their father—their\ngrandfather—actually saw a devil.\n\nAn old woman sitting by the fire at night—a storm raging without—hears\nthe mournful sough of the wind. To her it becomes a voice. Her\nimagination is touched, and the voice seems to utter words. Out of these\nwords she constructs a message or a warning from the unseen world. If\nthe words are good, she has heard an angel; if they are threatening and\nmalicious, she has heard a devil. She tells this to her children and\nthey believe. They say that mother's religion is good enough for them.\nA girl suffering from hysteria falls into a trance—has visions of the\ninfernal world. The priest sprinkles holy water on her pallid face,\nsaying: \"She hath a devil.\" A man utters a terrible cry; falls to the\nground; foam and blood issue from his mouth; his limbs are convulsed.\nThe spectators say: \"This is the Devil's work.\"\n\nThrough all the ages people have mistaken dreams and visions of fear for\nrealities. To them the insane were inspired; epileptics were possessed\nby devils; apoplexy was the work of an unclean spirit. For many\ncenturies people believed that they had actually seen the malicious\nphantoms of the night, and so thorough was this belief—so vivid—that\nthey made pictures of them. They knew how they looked. They drew and\nchiseled their hoofs, their horns—all their malicious deformities.\n\nNow, I admit that all these monsters were naturally produced. The people\nbelieved that hell was their native land; that the Devil was a king, and\nthat lie and his imps waged war against the children of men. Curiously\nenough some of these devils were made out of degraded gods, and,\nnaturally enough, many devils were made out of the gods of other\nnations. So that frequently the gods of one people were the devils of\nanother.\n\nIn nature there are opposing forces. Some of the forces work for what\nman calls good; some for what he calls evil. Back of these forces our\nancestors put will, intelligence and design. They could not believe that\nthe good and evil came from the same being. So back of the good they put\nGod; back of the evil, the Devil.\n\nII. The Atlas of Christianity is the Devil.\n\nThe religion known as \"Christianity\" was invented by God himself to\nrepair in part the wreck and ruin that had resulted from the Devil's\nwork.\n\nTake the Devil from the scheme of salvation—from the atonement—from\nthe dogma of eternal pain—and the foundation is gone.\n\nThe Devil is the keystone of the arch.\n\nHe inflicted the wounds that Christ came to heal. He corrupted the human\nrace.\n\nThe question now is: Does the Old Testament teach the existence of the\nDevil?\n\nIf the Old Testament teaches anything, it does teach the existence of\nthe Devil, of Satan, of the Serpent, of the enemy of God and man, the\ndeceiver of men and women.\n\nThose who believe the Scriptures are compelled to say that this Devil\nwas created by God, and that God knew when he created him just what he\nwould do—the exact measure of his success; knew that he would be a\nsuccessful rival; knew that he would deceive and corrupt the children of\nmen; knew that, by reason of this Devil, countless millions of human\nbeings would suffer eternal torment in the prison of pain. And this God\nalso knew when he created the Devil, that he, God, would be compelled to\nleave his throne, to be bom a babe in Palestine, and to suffer a cruel\ndeath. All this he knew when he created the Devil. Why did he create\nhim?\n\nIt is no answer to say that this Devil was once an angel of light and\nfell from his high estate because he was free. God knew what he would do\nwith his freedom when he made him and gave him liberty of action, and\nas a matter of fact must have made him with the intention that he should\nrebel; that he should fall; that he should become a devil; that he\nshould tempt and corrupt the father and mother of the human race;\nthat he should make hell a necessity, and that, in consequence of his\ncreation, countless millions of the children of men would suffer eternal\npain. Why did he create him?\n\nAdmit that God is infinitely wise. Has he ingenuity enough to frame an\nexcuse for the creation of the Devil?\n\nDoes the Old Testament teach the existence of a real, living Devil?\n\nThe first account of this being is found in Genesis, and in that account\nhe is called the \"Serpent.\" He is declared to have been more subtle than\nany beast of the field. According to the account, this Serpent had a\nconversation with Eve, the first woman. We are not told in what language\nthey conversed, or how they understood each other, as this was the first\ntime they had met. Where did Eve get her language? Where did the Serpent\nget his? Of course, such questions are impudent, but at the same time\nthey are natural.\n\nThe result of this conversation was that Eve ate the forbidden fruit and\ninduced Adam to do the same. This is what is called the \"Fall,\" and for\nthis they were expelled from the Garden of Eden.\n\nOn account of this, God cursed the earth with weeds and thorns and\nbrambles, cursed man with toil, made woman a slave, and cursed maternity\nwith pain and sorrow.\n\nHow men—good men—can worship this God; how women—good women—can love\nthis Jehovah, is beyond my imagination.\n\nIn addition to the other curses the Serpent was cursed—condemned to\ncrawl on his belly and to eat dust. We do not know by what means, before\nthat time, he moved from place to place—whether he walked or flew;\nneither do we know on what food he lived; all we know is that after that\ntime he crawled and lived on dust. Jehovah told him that this he should\ndo all the days of his life. It would seem from this that the Serpent\nwas not at that time immortal—that there was somewhere in the future a\nmilepost at which the life of this Serpent stopped. Whether he is living\nyet or not, I am not certain.\n\nIt will not do to say that this is allegory, or a poem, because this\nproves too much. If the Serpent did not in fact exist, how do we know\nthat Adam and Eve existed? Is all that is said about God allegory, and\npoetic, or mythical? Is the whole account, after all, an ignorant dream?\n\nNeither will it do to say that the Devil—the Serpent—was a\npersonification of evil. Do personifications of evil talk? Can a\npersonification of evil crawl on its belly? Can a personification of\nevil eat dust? If we say that the Devil was a personification of\nevil, are we not at the same time compelled to say that Jehovah was a\npersonification of good; that the Garden of Eden was the personification\nof a place, and that the whole story is a personification of something\nthat did not happen? Maybe that Adam and Eve were not driven out of the\nGarden; they may have suffered only the personification of exile. And\nmaybe the cherubim placed at the gate of Eden, with flaming swords, were\nonly personifications of policemen.\n\nThere is no escape. If the Old Testament is true, the Devil does exist,\nand it is impossible to explain him away without at the same time\nexplaining God away.\n\nSo there are many references to devils, and spirits of divination and of\nevil which I have not the time to call attention to; but, in the Book of\nJob, Satan, the Devil has a conversation with God. It is this Devil that\nbrings the sorrows and losses on the upright man. It is this Devil that\nraises the storm that wrecks the homes of Job's children. It is this\nDevil that kills the children of Job. Take this Devil from that book,\nand all meaning, plot and purpose fade away.\n\nIs it possible to say that the Devil in Job was only a personification\nof evil?\n\nIn Chronicles we are told that Satan provoked David to number Israel.\nFor this act of David, caused by the Devil, God did not smite the Devil,\ndid not punish David, but he killed 70,000 poor innocent Jews who had\ndone nothing but stand up and be counted.\n\nWas this Devil who tempted David a personification of evil, or was\nJehovah a personification of the devilish?\n\nIn Zachariah we are told that Joshua stood before the angel of the Lord,\nand that Satan stood at his right hand to resist him, and that the Lord\nrebuked Satan.\n\nIf words convey any meaning, the Old Testament teaches the existence of\nthe Devil.\n\nAll the passages about witches and those having familiar spirits were\nborn of a belief in the Devil.\n\nWhen a man who loved Jehovah wanted revenge on his enemy he fell on his\nholy knees, and from a heart full of religion he cried: \"Let Satan stand\nat his right hand.\"\n\nIII. Take the Devil from the Drama of Christianity and the Plot is Gone.\n\nThe next question is: Does the New Testament teach the existence of the\nDevil?\n\nAs a matter of fact, the New Testament is far more explicit than the\nOld. The Jews, believing that Jehovah was God, had very little business\nfor a devil. Jehovah was wicked enough and malicious enough to take the\nDevil's place.\n\nThe first reference in the New Testament to the Devil is in the fourth\nchapter of Matthew. We are told that Jesus was led by the Spirit into\nthe wilderness to be tempted of the Devil.\n\nIt seems that he was not led by the Devil into the wilderness, but by\nthe Spirit; that the Spirit and the Devil were acting together in a kind\nof pious conspiracy.\n\nIn the wilderness Jesus fasted forty days, and then the Devil asked him\nto turn stones into bread. The Devil also took him to Jerusalem and set\nhim on a pinnacle of the temple, and tried to induce him to leap to the\nearth. The Devil also took him to the top of a mountain and showed him\nall the kingdoms of the world and offered them all to him in exchange\nfor his worship. Jesus refused. The Devil went away and angels came and\nministered to Christ.\n\nNow, the question is: Did the author of this account believe in the\nexistence of the Devil, or did he regard this Devil as a personification\nof evil, and did he intend that his account should be understood as an\nallegory, or as a poem, or as a myth.\n\nWas Jesus tempted? If he was tempted, who tempted him? Did anybody offer\nhim the kingdoms of the world?\n\nDid the writer of the account try to convey to the reader the thought\nthat Christ was tempted by the Devil?\n\nIf Christ was not tempted by the Devil, then the temptation was bom in\nhis own heart. If that be true, can it be said that he was divine? If\nthese adders, these vipers, were coiled in his bosom, was he the son of\nGod? Was he pure?\n\nIn the same chapter we are told that Christ healed \"those which were\npossessed of devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had\nthe palsy.\" From this it is evident that a distinction was made between\nthose possessed with devils and those whose minds were affected and\nthose who were afflicted with diseases.\n\nIn the eighth chapter we are told that people brought unto Christ many\nthat were possessed with devils, and that he cast out the spirits\nwith his word. Now, can we say that these people were possessed with\npersonifications of evil, and that these personifications of evil were\ncast out? Are these personifications entities? Have they form and shape?\nDo they occupy space?\n\nThen comes the story of the two men possessed with devils who came from\nthe tombs, and were exceeding fierce. It is said that when they saw\nJesus they cried out: \"What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of\nGod? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?\"\n\nIf these were simply personifications of evil, how did they know that\nJesus was the Son of God, and how can a personification of evil be\ntormented?\n\nWe are told that at the same time, a good way off, many swine were\nfeeding, and that the devils besought Christ, saying: \"If thou cast\nus out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.\" And he said unto\nthem: \"Go.\"\n\nIs it possible that personifications of evil would desire to enter the\nbodies of swine, and is it possible that it was necessary for them\nto have the consent of Christ before they could enter the swine? The\nquestion naturally arises: How did they enter into the body of the man?\nDid they do that without Christ's consent, and is it a fact that Christ\nprotects swine and neglects human beings? Can personifications have\ndesires?\n\nIn the ninth chapter of Matthew there was a dumb man brought to Jesus,\npossessed with a devil. Jesus cast out the devil and the dumb man spake.\n\nDid a personification of evil prevent the dumb man from talking? Did it\nin some way paralyze his organs of speech? Could it have done this had\nit only been a personification of evil?\n\nIn the tenth chapter Jesus gives his twelve disciples power to cast\nout unclean spirits. What were unclean spirits supposed to be? Did they\nreally exist? Were they shadows, impersonations, allegories?\n\nWhen Jesus sent his disciples forth on the great mission to convert the\nworld, among other things he told them to heal the sick, to raise the\ndead and to cast out devils. Here a distinction is made between the sick\nand those who were possessed by evil spirits.\n\nNow, what did Christ mean by devils?\n\nIn the twelfth chapter we are told of a very remarkable case. There was\nbrought unto Jesus one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb, and\nJesus healed him. The blind and dumb both spake and saw. Thereupon the\nPharisees said: \"This fellow doth not cast out devils but by Beelzebub,\nthe prince of devils.\"\n\nJesus answered by saying: \"Every kingdom divided against itself is\nbrought to desolation. If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against\nhimself.\"\n\nWhy did not Christ tell the Pharisees that he did not cast\nout devils—only personifications of evil; and that with these\npersonifications Beelzebub had nothing to do?\n\nAnother question: Did the Pharisees believe in the existence of devils,\nor had they the personification idea?\n\nAt the same time Christ said: \"If I cast out devils by the Spirit of\nGod, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.\"\n\nIf he meant anything by these words he certainly intended to convey\nthe idea that what he did demonstrated the superiority of God over the\nDevil.\n\nDid Christ believe in the existence of the Devil?\n\nIn the fifteenth chapter is the account of the woman of Canaan who cried\nunto Jesus, saying: \"Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David. My\ndaughter is sorely vexed with a devil.\" On account of her faith Christ\nmade the daughter whole.\n\nIn the sixteenth chapter a man brought his son to Jesus. The boy was\na lunatic, sore vexed, oftentimes falling in the fire and water. The\ndisciples had tried to cure him and had failed. Jesus rebuked the devil,\nand the devil departed out of him and the boy was cured. Was the devil\nin this case a personification of evil?\n\nThe disciples then asked Jesus why they could not cast that devil out.\nJesus told them that it was because of their unbelief, and then added:\n\"Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.\" From this\nit would seem that some personifications were easier to expel than\nothers.\n\nThe first chapter of Mark throws a little light on the story of the\ntemptation of Christ. Matthew tells us that Jesus was led up of the\nSpirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. In Mark we are\ntold who this Spirit was:\n\n\"And straightway coming up out of the water he saw the heavens opened,\nand the Spirit like a dove descending upon him.\n\n\"And there came a voice from heaven, saying: 'Thou art my beloved Son,\nin whom I am well pleased.'\n\n\"And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.\"\n\nWhy the Holy Ghost should hand Christ over to the tender mercies of\nthe Devil is not explained. And it is all the more wonderful when we\nremember that the Holy Ghost was the third person in the Trinity and\nChrist the second, and that this Holy Ghost was, in fact, God, and that\nChrist also was, in fact, God, so that God led God into the wilderness\nto be tempted of the Devil.\n\nWe are told that Christ was in the wilderness forty days tempted of\nSatan, and was with the wild beasts, and that the angels ministered unto\nhim.\n\nWere these angels real angels, or were they personifications of good, of\ncomfort?\n\nSo we see that the same Spirit that came out of heaven, the same Spirit\nthat said \"This is my beloved son,\" drove Christ into the wilderness to\nbe tempted of Satan.\n\nWas this Devil a real being? Was this Spirit who claimed to be the\nfather of Christ a real being, or was he a personification? Are the\nheavens a real place? Are they a personification? Did the wild beasts\nlive and did the angels minister unto Christ? In other words, is the\nstory true, or is it poetry, or metaphor, or mistake, or falsehood?\n\nIt might be asked: Why did God wish to be tempted by the Devil? Was God\nambitious to obtain a victory over Satan? Was Satan foolish enough\nto think that he could mislead God, and is it possible that the Devil\noffered to give the world as a bribe to its creator and owner, knowing\nat the same time that Christ was the creator and owner, and also knowing\nthat he (Christ) knew that he (the Devil) knew that he (Christ) was the\ncreator and owner?\n\nIs not the whole story absurdly idiotic? The Devil knew that Christ was\nGod, and knew that Christ knew that the tempter was the Devil.\n\nIt may be asked how I know that the Devil knew that Christ was God. My\nanswer is found in the same chapter. There is an account of what a devil\nsaid to Christ:\n\n\"Let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?\nArt thou come to destroy us? I know thee. Thou art the holy one of God.\"\nCertainly, if the little devils knew this, the Devil himself must have\nhad like information. Jesus rebuked this devil and said to him: \"Hold\nthy peace, and come out of him.\" And when the unclean spirit had torn\nhim and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.\n\nSo we are told that Jesus cast out many devils, and suffered not the\ndevils to speak because they knew him. So it is said in the third\nchapter that \"unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him\nand cried, saying, 'Thou art the son of God.'\"\n\nIn the fifth chapter is an account of casting out the devils that\nwent into the swine, and we are told that \"all the devils besought him\nsaying, 'Send us into the swine.' And Jesus gave them leave.\"\n\nAgain I ask: Was it necessary for the devils to get the permission of\nChrist before they could enter swine? Again I ask: By whose permission\ndid they enter into the man?\n\nCould personifications of evil enter a herd of swine, or could\npersonifications of evil make a bargain with Christ?\n\nIn the sixth chapter we are told that the disciples \"cast out many\ndevils and anointed with oil many that were sick.\" Here again the\ndistinction is made between those possessed by devils and those\nafflicted by disease. It will not do to say that the devils were\ndiseases or personifications.\n\nIn the seventh chapter a Greek woman whose daughter was possessed by a\ndevil besought Christ to cast this devil out. At last Christ said: \"The\ndevil is gone out of thy daughter.\"\n\nIn the ninth chapter one of the multitude said unto Christ: \"I have\nbrought unto thee my son which hath a dumb spirit. I spoke unto thy\ndisciples that they should cast him out, and they could not.\"\n\nSo they brought this boy before Christ, and when the boy saw him, the\nspirit tare him, and he fell on the ground and \"wallowed, foaming.\"\n\nChrist asked the father: \"How long is it ago since this came unto him?\"\nAnd he answered: \"Of a child, and ofttimes it hath cast him into the\nfire and into the waters to destroy him.\"\n\nThen Christ said: \"Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of\nhim, and enter no more into him.\"\n\n\"And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him; and he\nwas as one dead; insomuch that many said, 'He is dead.'\"\n\nThen the disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast them out, and\nJesus said: \"This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and\nfasting.\"\n\nIs there any doubt about the belief of the man who wrote this account?\nIs there any allegory, or poetry, or myth in this story? The devil, in\nthis case, was not an ordinary, every-day devil. He was dumb and deaf;\nit was no use to order him out, because he could not hear. The only way\nwas to pray and fast.\n\nIs there such a thing as a dumb and deaf devil? If so, the devils must\nbe organized. They must have ears and organs of speech, and they must\nbe dumb because there is something the matter with the apparatus of\nspeaking, and they must be deaf because something is the matter with\ntheir ears. It would seem from this that they are not simply spiritual\nbeings, but organized on a physical basis. Now, we know that the ears do\nnot hear. It is the brain that hears. So these devils must have brains;\nthat is to say, they must have been what we call \"organized beings.\"\n\nNow, it is hardly possible that personifications of evil are dumb or\ndeaf. That is to say, that they have physical imperfections.\n\nIn the same chapter John tells Christ that he saw one casting out devils\nin Christ's name who did not follow with them, and Jesus said: \"Forbid\nhim not.\"\n\nBy this he seemed to admit that some one, not a follower of his, was\ncasting out devils in his name, and he was willing that he should go on,\nbecause, as he said: \"For there is no man which shall do a miracle in my\nname that can lightly speak evil of me.\" In the fourth chapter of Luke\nthe story of the temptation of Christ by the Devil is again told with a\nfew additions. All the writers, having been inspired, did not remember\nexactly the same things.\n\nLuke tells us that the Devil said unto Christ, having shown him all the\nkingdoms of the world in a moment of time: \"All this power will I\ngive thee and the glory of them, for that is delivered unto me, and\nto whomsoever I will I give it. If thou wilt worship me, all shall be\nthine.\"\n\nWe are also told that when the Devil had ended all the temptation he\ndeparted from him for a season. The date of his return is not given.\n\nIn the same chapter we are told that a man in the synagogue had a\n\"spirit of an unclean devil.\" This devil recognized Jesus and admitted\nthat he was the Holy One of God.\n\nAs a matter of fact, the apostles seemed to have relied upon the\nevidence of devils to substantiate the divinity of their Lord.\n\nJesus said to this devil: \"Hold thy peace and come out of him.\" And the\ndevil, after throwing the man down, came out.\n\nIn the forty-first verse of the same chapter it is said: \"And devils\nalso came out of many, crying out and saying, 'Thou art Christ, the Son\nof God.'\"\n\nIt is also said that Christ rebuked them and suffered them not to speak,\nfor they knew that he was Christ.\n\nNow, it will not do to say that these devils were diseases, because\ndiseases could not talk, and diseases would not recognize Christ as the\nSon of God. After all, epilepsy is not a theologian. I admit that lunacy\ncomes nearer.\n\nIn the eighth chapter is told again the story of the devils and the\nswine. In this account, Jesus asked the devil his name, and the devil\nreplied \"Legion.\" In the ninth chapter is told the story of the devil\nthat the disciples could not cast out, but was cast out by Christ, and\nin the thirteenth chapter it is said that the Pharisees came to Jesus,\ntelling him to go away, because Herod would kill him, and Jesus said\nunto these Pharisees; \"Go ye, and tell that fox, behold, I cast out\ndevils.\"\n\nWhat did he mean by this? Did he mean that he cured diseases? No.\nBecause in the same sentence he says, \"And I do cures to-day,\" making a\ndistinction between devils and diseases.\n\nIn the twenty-second chapter an account of the betrayal of Christ by\nJudas is given in these words:\n\n\"Then entered Satan into Judas Iscariot, being of the number of the\ntwelve.\"\n\n\"And he went his way and communed with the chief priests and captains\nhow he might betray him unto them.\n\n\"And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money.\"\n\nAccording to Christ the little devils knew that he was the Son of God.\nCertainly, then, Satan, king of all the fiends, knew that Christ was\ndivine. And he not only knew that, but he knew all about the scheme of\nsalvation. He knew that Christ wished to make an atonement of blood by\nthe sacrifice of himself.\n\nAccording to Christian theologians, the Devil has always done his utmost\nto gain possession of the souls of men. At the time he entered into\nJudas, persuading him to betray Christ, he knew that if Christ was\nbetrayed he would be crucified, and that he would make an atonement for\nall believers, and that, as a result, he, the Devil, would lose all the\nsouls that Christ gained.\n\nWhat interest had the Devil in defeating himself? If he could have\nprevented the betrayal, then Christ would not have been crucified. No\natonement would have been made, and the whole world would have gone to\nhell. The success of the Devil would have been complete. But, according\nto this story, the Devil outwitted himself.\n\nHow thankful we should be to his Satanic Majesty. He opened for us the\ngates of Paradise and made it possible for us to obtain eternal life.\nWithout Satan, without Judas, not a single human being could have become\nan angel of light. All would have been wingless devils in the prison\nof flame. In Jerusalem, to the extent of his power, Satan repaired the\nwreck and ruin he had wrought in the Garden of Eden.\n\nCertainly the writers of the New Testament believed in the existence of\nthe Devil.\n\nIn the eighth chapter it is said that out of Mary Magdalene were cast\nseven devils. To me Mary Magdalene is the most beautiful character in\nthe New Testament. She is the one true disciple. In the darkness of\nthe crucifixion she lingered near. She was the first at the sepulcher.\nDefeat, disaster, disgrace, could not conquer her love. And yet,\naccording to the account, when she met the risen Christ, he said: \"Touch\nme not.\" This was the reward of her infinite devotion.\n\nIn the Gospel of John we are told that John the Baptist said that he saw\nthe Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and that it abode upon\nChrist. But in the Gospel of John nothing is said about the Spirit\ndriving Christ into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. Possibly\nJohn never heard of that, or forgot it, or did not believe it. But in\nthe thirteenth chapter I find this:\n\n\"And supper being ended, the Devil having now put into the heart of\nJudas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him.\"...\n\nIn John there are no accounts of the casting out of devils by Christ or\nhis apostles. On that subject there is no word. Possibly John had his\ndoubts.\n\nIn the fifth chapter of Acts we are told that the people brought the\nsick and those which were vexed with unclean spirits to the apostles,\nand the apostles healed them. Here again there is made a clear\ndistinction between the sick and those possessed by devils. And in the\neighth chapter we are told that \"unclean spirits, crying with a loud\nvoice, came out of them.\"\n\nIn the thirteen chapter Paul calls Elymas the child of the Devil, and in\nthe sixteenth chapter an account is given of \"a damsel possessed with a\nspirit of divination, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.\"\n\nPaul and Silas, it would seem, cast out this spirit, and by reason of\nthat suffered great persecution.\n\nIn the nineteenth chapter certain vagabond Jews pronounced over those\nwho had evil spirits the name of Jesus, and the evil spirits answered:\n\"Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?\"\n\n\"And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them so that they\nfled naked and wounded.\"\n\nPaul, writing to the Corinthians, in the eighth chapter says; \"I would\nnot that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup\nof the Lord and the cup of devils. Ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's\ntable and the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?\"\n\nIn the eleventh chapter he says that long hair is the glory of woman,\nbut that she ought to keep her head covered because of the angels.\n\nIn those intellectual days people believed in what were called the\nIncubi and the Succubi. The Incubi were male angels and the Succubi\nwere female angels, and according to the belief of that time nothing so\nattracted the Incubi as the beautiful hair of women, and for this reason\nPaul said that women should keep their heads covered. Paul calls the\nDevil the \"prince of the power of the air.\"\n\nSo in Jude we are told \"that Michael, the archangel, when contending\nwith the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring\nagainst him a railing accusation, but said, 'The Lord rebuke thee.'\" Was\nthis devil with whom Michael contended a personification of evil, or a\npoem, or a myth?\n\nIn First Peter we are told to be sober, vigilant, \"because your\nadversary, the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he\nmay devour.\"\n\nAre people devoured by personifications or myths? Has an allegory an\nappetite, or is a poem a cannibal?\n\nSo in Ephesians we are warned not to give place to the Devil, and in the\nsame book we are told: \"Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be\nable to stand against the wiles of the Devil.\"\n\nAnd in Hebrews it is said that \"him that had the power of death—that\nis, the Devil;\" showing that the Devil has the power of death.\n\nAnd in James it is said that if we resist the Devil he will flee from\nus; and in First John we are told that he that committeth sin is of the\nDevil, for the reason that the Devil sinneth from the beginning; and we\nare also told that \"for this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that\nhe may destroy the works of the Devil.\"\n\nNo Devil—no Christ.\n\nIn Revelation, the insanest of all books, I find the following: \"And\nthere was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the\ndragon, and the dragon fought and his angels.\n\n\"And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.\n\n\"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil,\nand Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the\nearth, and his angels were cast out with him.\n\n\"Therefore, rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the\ninhabiters of the earth and of the sea; for the devil is come down unto\nyou, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short\ntime.\"\n\nFrom this it would appear that the Devil once lived in heaven, raised\na rebellion, was defeated and cast out, and the inspired writer\ncongratulates the angels that they are rid of him and commiserates us\nthat we have him.\n\nIn the twentieth chapter of Revelation is the following:\n\n\"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the\nbottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.\n\n\"And he laid Hold on the dragon—that old serpent, which is the Devil\nand Satan—and bound him a thousand years.\n\n\"And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal\nupon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand\nyears should be fulfilled; and after he must be loosed a little season.\"\n\nIt is hard to understand how one could be confined in a pit without a\nbottom, and how a chain of iron could hold one in eternal fire, or what\nuse there would be to lock a bottomless pit; but these are questions\nprobably suggested by the Devil.\n\nWe are further told that \"when the thousand years are expired Satan\nshall be loosed out of his prison.\"\n\n\"And the Devil was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the\nbeast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night\nforever.\"\n\nIn the light of the passages that I have read we can clearly see what\nthe writers of the New Testament believed. About this there can be\nno honest difference. If the gospels teach the existence of God—of\nChrist—they teach the existence of the Devil. If the Devil does\nnot exist—if little devils do not enter the bodies of men—the New\nTestament may be inspired, but it is not true.\n\nThe early Christians proved that Christ was divine because he cast out\ndevils. The evidence they offered was more absurd than the statement\nthey sought to prove. They were like the old man who said that he saw\na grindstone floating down the river. Some one said that a grindstone\nwould not float. \"Ah,\" said the old man, \"but the one I saw had an iron\ncrank in it.\"\n\nOf course, I do not blame the authors of the gospels. They lived in' a\nsuperstitious age, at a time when Rumor was the historian, when Gossip\ncorrected the \"proof,\" and when everything was believed except the\nfacts.\n\nThe apostles, like their fellows, believed in miracles and magic.\nCredulity was regarded as a virtue.\n\nThe Rev. Mr. Parkhurst denounces the apostles as worthless cravens.\nCertainly I do not agree with him. I think that they were good men. I do\nnot believe that any one of them ever tried to reform Jerusalem on the\nParkhurst plan. I admit that they honestly believed in devils—that they\nwere credulous and superstitious.\n\nThere is one story in the New Testament that illustrates my meaning.\n\nIn the fifth chapter of John is the following:\n\n\"Now, there is at Jerusalem, by the sheep market, a pool, which is\ncalled in the Hebrew tongue 'Bethesda,' having five porches.\n\n\"In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk—of blind, halt,\nwithered—waiting for the moving of the water.\n\n\"For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled\nthe water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped\nin was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.\n\n\"And a certain man was there which had an infirmity thirty and eight\nyears.\n\n\"When Jesus saw him he and knew that he had been now a long time in that\ncase, he saith unto him: 'Wilt thou be made whole??'\n\n\"The impotent man answered him: 'Sir, I have no man when the water is\ntroubled to put me into the pool; but while I am coming another steppeth\ndown before me.'\n\n\"Jesus saith unto him: 'Rise, take up thy bed and walk.'\n\n\"And immediately the man was made whole and took up his bed and walked.\"\n\nDoes any sensible human being now believe this story? Was the water of\nBethesda troubled by an angel? Where did the angel come from? Where do\nangels live? Did the angel put medicine in the water—just enough to\ncure one? Did he put in different medicines for different diseases, or\ndid he have a medicine, like those that are patented now, that cured all\ndiseases just the same?\n\nWas the water troubled by an angel? Possibly, what apostles and\ntheologians call an angel a scientist knows as carbonic acid gas.\n\nJohn does not say that the people thought the water was troubled by an\nangel, but he states it as a fact. And he tells us, also, as a fact,\nthat the first invalid that got in the water after it had been troubled\nwas cured of what disease he had.\n\nWhat is the evidence of John worth?\n\nAgain I say that if the Devil does not exist the gospels are not\ninspired. If devils do not exist Christ was either honestly mistaken,\ninsane or an impostor.\n\nIf devils do not exist the fall of man is a mistake and the atonement an\nabsurdity. If devils do not exist hell becomes only a dream of revenge.\n\nBeneath the structure called \"Christianity\" are four corner-stones—the\nFather, Son, Holy Ghost and Devil.\n\nIV. The Evidence of the Church.\n\nThe Devil, was Forced to Father the Failures of God.\n\nAll the fathers of the church believed in devils. All the saints won\ntheir crowns by overcoming devils. All the popes and cardinals, bishops\nand priests, believed in devils. Most of their time was occupied in\nfighting devils. The whole Catholic world, from the lowest layman to the\nhighest priest, believed in devils. They proved the existence of devils\nby the New Testament. They knew that these devils were citizens of hell.\nThey knew that Satan was their king. They knew that hell was made for\nthe Devil and his angels.\n\nThe founders of all the Protestant churches—the makers of all the\northodox creeds—all the leading Protestant theologians, from Luther to\nthe president of Princeton College—were, and are, firm believers in\nthe Devil. All the great commentators believed in the Devil as firmly as\nthey did in God.\n\nUnder the \"Scheme of Salvation\" the Devil was a necessity. Somebody had\nto be responsible for the thorns and thistles, for the cruelties and\ncrimes. Somebody had to father the mistakes of God. The Devil was the\nscapegoat of Jehovah.\n\nFor hundreds of years, good, honest, zealous Christians contended\nagainst the Devil. They fought him day and night, and the thought that\nthey had beaten him gave to their dying lips the smile of victory.\n\nFor centuries the church taught that the natural man was totally\ndepraved; that he was by nature a child of the Devil, and that new-born\nbabes were tenanted by unclean spirits.\n\nAs late as the middle of the sixteenth century, every infant that was\nbaptized was, by that ceremony, freed from a devil. When the holy water\nwas applied the priest said: \"I command thee, thou unclean spirit, in\nthe name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, that thou\ncome out and depart from this infant, whom our Lord Jesus Christ has\nvouchsafed to call to his holy baptism, to be made a member of his body,\nand of his holy congregation.\"\n\nAt that time the fathers—the theologians, the commentators—agreed that\nunbaptized children, including those that were born dead, went to hell.\n\nAnd these same fathers—theologians and commentators—said: \"God is\nlove.\"\n\nThese babes were pure as Pity's tears, innocent as their mother's\nloving smiles, and yet the makers of our creeds believed and taught\nthat leering, unclean fiends inhabited their dimpled flesh. O, the\nunsearchable riches of Christianity!\n\nFor many centuries the church filled the world with devils—with\nmalicious spirits that caused storm and tempest, disease, accident and\ndeath—that filled the night with visions of despair; with prophecies\nthat drove the dreamers mad. These devils assumed a thousand\nforms—countless disguises in their efforts to capture souls and destroy\nthe church. They deceived sometimes the wisest and the best; made\npriests forget their vows. They melted virtue's snow in passion's fire,\nand in cunning ways entrapped and smirched the innocent and good. These\ndevils gave witches and wizards their supernatural powers, and told them\nthe secrets of the future.\n\nMillions of men and women were destroyed because they had sold\nthemselves to the Devil.\n\nAt that time Christians really believed the New Testament. They knew\nit was the inspired word of God, and so believing, so knowing—as they\nthought—they became insane.\n\nNo man has genius enough to describe the agonies that have been\ninflicted on innocent men and women because of this absurd belief. How\nit darkened the mind, hardened the heart, and poisoned life! It made the\nUniverse a madhouse presided over by an insane God.\n\nThink! Why would a merciful God allow his children to be the victims\nof devils? Why would a decent God allow his worshipers to believe in\ndevils, and by reason of that belief to persecute, torture and burn\ntheir fellow-men?\n\nChristians did not ask these questions. They believed the Bible; they\nhad confidence in the words of Christ.\n\nV. Personifications of Evil.\n\nThe Orthodox Ostrich Thrusts His Head into the Sand.\n\nMany of the clergy are now ashamed to say that they believe in devils.\nThe belief has become ignorant and vulgar. They are ashamed of the lake\nof fire and brimstone. It is too savage.\n\nAt the same time they do not wish to give up the inspiration of the\nBible. They give new meanings to the inspired words. Now they say that\ndevils were only personifications of evil. If the devils were only\npersonifications of evil, what were the angels? Was the angel who told\nJoseph who the father of Christ was, a personification? Was the Holy\nGhost only the personification of a father? Was the angel who told\nJoseph that Herod was dead a personification of news?\n\nWere the angels who rolled away the stone and sat clothed in shining\ngarments in the empty sepulcher of Christ a couple of personifications?\nWere all the angels described in the Old Testament imaginary\nshadows—bodiless personifications? If the angels of the Bible are real\nangels, the devils are real devils.\n\nLet us be honest with ourselves and each other and give to the Bible its\nnatural, obvious meaning. Let us admit that the writers believed what\nthey wrote. If we believe that they were mistaken, let us have the\nhonesty and courage to say so. Certainly we have no right to change or\navoid their meaning, or to dishonestly correct their mistakes. Timid\npreachers sully their own souls when they change what the writers of the\nBible believed to be facts to allegories, parables, poems and myths.\n\nIt is impossible for any man who believes in the inspiration of the\nBible to explain away the Devil.\n\nIf the Bible is true the Devil exists. There is no escape from this.\n\nIf the Devil does not exist the Bible is not true. There is no escape\nfrom this.\n\nI admit that the Devil of the Bible is an impossible contradiction; an\nimpossible being.\n\nThis Devil is the enemy of God and God is his. Now, why should this\nDevil, in another world, torment sinners, who are his friends, to please\nGod, his enemy?\n\nIf the Devil is a personification, so is hell and the lake of fire and\nbrimstone. All these horrors fade into allegories; into ignorant lies.\n\nAny clergyman who can read the Bible and then say that devils are\npersonifications of evil is himself a personification of stupidity or\nhypocrisy.\n\nVI.\n\nDoes any intelligent man now, whose brain has not been deformed by\nsuperstition, believe in the existence of the Devil? What evidence have\nwe that he exists? Where does this Devil live? What does he do for a\nlivelihood? What does he eat? If he does not eat, he cannot think. He\ncannot think without the expenditure of force. He cannot create force;\nhe must borrow it—that is to say, he must eat. How does lie move from\nplace to place? Does he walk or does he fly, or has he invented some\nmachine? What object has he in life? What idea of success? This Devil,\naccording to the Bible, knows that he is to be defeated; knows that\nthe end is absolute and eternal failure; knows that every step he takes\nleads to the infinite catastrophe. Why does he act as he does?\n\nOur fathers thought that everything in this world came from some\nother realm; that all ideas of right and wrong came from above; that\nconscience dropped from the clouds; that the darkness was filled with\nimps from perdition, and the day with angels from heaven; that souls had\nbeen breathed into man by Jehovah.\n\nWhat there is in this world that lives and breathes was produced here.\nLife was not imported. Mind is not an exotic. Of this planet man is a\nnative. This world is his mother. The maker did not descend from the\nheavens. The maker was and is here. Matter and force in their countless\nforms, affinities and repulsions produced the living, breathing world.\n\nHow can we account for devils? Is it possible that they creep into the\nbodies of men and swine? Do they stay in the stomach or brain, in the\nheart or liver?\n\nAre these devils immortal or do they multiply and die? Were they all\ncreated at the same time or did they spring from a single pair? If they\nare subject to death what becomes of them after death? Do they go to\nsome other world, are they annihilated, or can they get to heaven by\nbelieving on Christ?\n\nIn the brain of science the devils have never lived. There you will find\nno goblins, ghosts, wraiths or imps—no witches, spooks or sorcerers.\nThere the supernatural does not exist. No man of sense in the whole\nworld believes in devils any more than he does in mermaids,\nvampires, gorgons, hydras, naiads, dryads, nymphs, fairies or the\nanthropophagi—any more than he does in the Fountain of Youth, the\nPhilosopher's Stone, Perpetual Motion or Fiat Money.\n\nThere is the same difference between religion and science that there\nis between a madhouse and a university—between a fortune teller and\na mathematician—between emotion and philosophy—between guess and\ndemonstration.\n\nThe devils have gone, and with them they have taken the miracles of\nChrist. They have carried away our Lord. They have taken away the\ninspiration of the Bible, and we are left in the darkness of nature\nwithout the consolation of hell.\n\nBut let me ask the clergy a few questions:\n\nHow did your Devil, who was at one time an angel of light, come to\nsin? There was no other devil to tempt him. He was in perfectly good\nsociety—in the company of God—of the Trinity. All of his associates\nwere perfect. How did he fall? He knew that God was infinite, and yet\nhe waged war against him and induced about a third of the angels to\nvolunteer. He knew that he could not succeed; knew that he would be\ndefeated and cast out; knew that he was fighting for failure.\n\nWhy was God so unpopular? Why were the angels so bad?\n\nAccording to the Christians, these angels were spirits. They had never\nbeen corrupted by flesh—by the passion of love. Why were they so\nwicked?\n\nWhy did God create those angels, knowing that they would rebel? Why\ndid he deliberately sow the seeds of discord in heaven, knowing that he\nwould cast them into the lake of eternal fire—knowing that for them he\nwould create the eternal prison, whose dungeons would echo forever the\nsobs and shrieks of endless pain?\n\nHow foolish is infinite wisdom!\n\nHow malicious is mercy!\n\nHow revengeful is boundless love!\n\nAgain, I say that no sensible man in all the world believes in devils.\n\nWhy does God allow these devils to enjoy themselves at the expense of\nhis ignorant children? Why does he allow them to leave their prison?\nDoes he give them furloughs or tickets-of-leave?\n\nDoes he want his children misled and corrupted so that he can have the\npleasure of damning their souls?\n\nVII. The Man of Straw.\n\nSome of the preachers who have answered me say that I am fighting a man\nof straw.\n\nI am fighting the supernatural—the dogma of inspiration—the belief in\ndevils—the atonement, salvation by faith—the forgiveness of sins and\nthe savagery of eternal pain. I am fighting the absurd,-the monstrous,\nthe cruel.\n\nThe ministers pretend that they have advanced—that they do not believe\nthe things that I attack. In this they are not honest.\n\nWho is the \"man of straw\"?\n\nThe man of straw is their master. In every orthodox pulpit stands this\nman of straw—stands beside the preacher—stands with a club, called a\n\"creed,\" in his upraised hand. The shadow of this club falls athwart the\nopen Bible—falls upon the preacher's brain, darkens the light of his\nreason and compels him to betray himself.\n\nThe man of straw rules every sectarian school and college—every\northodox church. He is the censor who passes on every sermon. Now and\nthen some minister puts a little sense in his discourse—tries to take\na forward step. Down comes the club, and the man of straw demands an\nexplanation—a retraction. If the minister takes it back—good. If he\ndoes not, he is brought to book. The man of straw put the plaster of\nsilence on the lips of Prof. Briggs, and he was forced to leave the\nchurch or remain dumb.\n\nThe man of straw closed the mouth of Prof. Smith, and he has not opened\nit since.\n\nThe man of straw would not allow the Presbyterian creed to be changed.\n\nThe man of straw took Father McGlynn by the collar, forced him to his\nknees, made him take back his words and ask forgiveness for having been\nabused.\n\nThe man of straw pitched Prof. Swing out of the pulpit and drove the\nRev. Mr. Thomas from the Methodist Church.\n\nLet me tell the orthodox ministers that they are trying to cover their\nretreat.\n\nYou have given up the geology and astronomy of the Bible. You have\nadmitted that its history is untrue. You are retreating still. You are\ngiving up the dogma of inspiration; you have your doubts about the flood\nand Babel; you have given up the witches and wizards; you are beginning\nto throw away the miraculous; you have killed the little devils, and in\na little while you will murder the Devil himself.\n\nIn a few years you will take the Bible for what it is worth. The good\nand true will be treasured in the heart; the foolish, the infamous, will\nbe thrown away.\n\nThe man of straw will then be dead.\n\nOf course, the real old petrified, orthodox Christian will cling to the\nDevil. He expects to have all of his sins charged to the Devil, and at\nthe same time he will be credited with all the virtues of Christ. Upon\nthis showing on the books, upon this balance, he will be entitled to\nhis halo and harp. What a glorious, what an equitable, transaction! The\nsorcerer Superstition changes debt to credit. He waves his wand, and he\nwho deserves the tortures of hell receives an eternal reward.\n\nBut if a man lacks faith the scheme is exactly reversed. While in one\ncase a soul is rewarded for the virtues of another, in the other case a\nsoul is damned for the sins of another. This is justice when it blossoms\nin mercy.\n\nBeyond this idiocy cannot go.\n\nVIII. Keep the Devils Out of Children.\n\nWilliam Kingdon Clifford, one of the greatest men of this century, said:\n\"If there is one lesson that history forces upon us in every page, it is\nthis: Keep your children away from the priest, or he will make them the\nenemies of mankind.\"\n\nIn every orthodox Sunday school children are taught to believe in\ndevils. Every little brain becomes a menagerie, filled with wild beasts\nfrom hell. The imagination is polluted with the deformed, the monstrous\nand malicious. To fill the minds of children with leering fiends—with\nmocking devils—is one of the meanest and basest of crimes. In these\npious prisons—these divine dungeons—these Protestant and Catholic\ninquisitions—children are tortured with these cruel lies. Here they\nare taught that to really think is wicked; that to express your honest\nthought is blasphemy; and that to live a free and joyous life, depending\non fact instead of faith, is the sin against the Holy Ghost.\n\nChildren thus taught—thus corrupted and deformed—become the enemies\nof investigation—of progress. They are no longer true to themselves.\nThey have lost the veracity of the soul. In the language of Prof.\nClifford, \"they are the enemies of the human race.\"\n\nSo I say to all fathers and mothers, keep your children away from\npriests; away from orthodox Sunday schools; away from the slaves of\nsuperstition.\n\nThey will teach them to believe in the Devil; in hell; in the prison\nof God; in the eternal dungeon, where the souls of men are to suffer\nforever. These frightful things are a part of Christianity. Take these\nlies from the creed and the whole scheme falls into shapeless ruin. This\ndogma of hell is the infinite of savagery—the dream of insane revenge.\nIt makes God a wild beast—an infinite hyena. It makes Christ as\nmerciless as the fangs of a viper. Save poor children from the pollution\nof this horror. Protect them from this infinite lie.\n\nIX. Conclusion.\n\nI admit that there are many good and beautiful passages in the Old\nand New Testament; that from the lips of Christ dropped many pearls of\nkindness—of love. Every verse that is true and tender I treasure in my\nheart. Every thought, behind which is the tear of pity, I appreciate and\nlove. But I cannot accept it all. Many utterances attributed to Christ\nshock my brain and heart. They are absurd and cruel.\n\nTake from the New Testament the infinite savagery, the shoreless\nmalevolence of eternal pain, the absurdity of salvation by faith, the\nignorant belief in the existence of devils, the immorality and cruelty\nof the atonement, the doctrine of non-resistance that denies to virtue\nthe right of self-defence, and how glorious it would be to know that the\nremainder is true! Compared with this knowledge, how everything else in\nnature would shrink and shrivel! What ecstasy it would be to know that\nGod exists; that he is our father and that he loves and cares for the\nchildren of men! To know that all the paths that human beings travel,\nturn and wind as they may, lead to the gates of stainless peace! How the\nheart would thrill and throb to know that Christ was the conqueror\nof Death; that at his grave the all-devouring monster was baffled and\nbeaten forever; that from that moment the tomb became the door that\nopens on eternal life! To know this would change all sorrow into\ngladness. Poverty, failure, disaster, defeat, power, place and wealth\nwould become meaningless sounds. To take your babe upon your knee and\nsay: \"Mine and mine forever!\" What joy! To clasp the woman you love in\nyour arms and to know that she is yours and forever—yours though suns\ndarken and constellations vanish! This is enough: To know that the loved\nand dead are not lost; that they still live and love and wait for you.\nTo know that Christ dispelled the darkness of death and filled the grave\nwith eternal light. To know this would be all that the heart could bear.\nBeyond this joy cannot go. Beyond this there is no place for hope.\n\nHow beautiful, how enchanting, Death would be! How we would long to see\nhis fleshless skull! What rays of glory would stream from his sightless\nsockets, and how the heart would long for the touch of his stilling\nhand! The shroud would become a robe of glory, the funeral procession a\nharvest home, and the grave would mark the end of sorrow, the beginning\nof eternal joy.\n\nAnd yet it were better far that all this should be false than that all\nof the New Testament should be true.\n\nIt is far better to have no heaven than to have heaven and hell; better\nto have no God than God and Devil; better to rest iii eternal sleep than\nto be an angel and know that the ones you love are suffering eternal\npain; better to live a free and loving life—a life that ends forever at\nthe grave—than to be an immortal slave.\n\nThe master cannot be great enough to make slavery sweet. I have no\nambition to become a winged servant, a winged slave. Better eternal\nsleep. But they say, \"If you give up these superstitions, what have you\nleft?\"\n\nLet me now give you the declaration of a creed.\n\nDeclaration of the Free\n    We have no falsehoods to defend—\n    We want the facts;\n    Our force, our thought, we do not spend\n    In vain attacks.\n    And we will never meanly try\n    To save some fair and pleasing lie.\n    The simple truth is what we ask,\n    Not the ideal;\n    We've set ourselves the noble task\n    To find the real.\n    If all there is is naught but dross,\n    We want to know and bear our loss.\n    We will not willingly be fooled,\n    By fables nursed;\n    Our hearts, by earnest thought, are schooled\n    To bear the worst;\n    And we can stand erect and dare\n    All things, all facts that really are.\n    We have no God to serve or fear,\n    No hell to shun,\n    No devil with malicious leer.\n    When life is done\n    An endless sleep may close our eyes,\n    A sleep with neither dreams nor sighs.\n    We have no master on the land—\n    No king in air—\n    Without a manacle we stand,\n    Without a prayer,\n    Without a fear of coming night,\n    We seek the truth, we love the light.\n    We do not bow before a guess,\n    A vague unknown;\n    A senseless force we do not bless\n    In solemn tone.\n    When evil comes we do not curse,\n    Or thank because it is no worse.\n    When cyclones rend—when lightning blights,\n    'Tis naught but fate;\n    There is no God of wrath who smites\n    In heartless hate.\n    Behind the things that injure man\n    There is no purpose, thought, or plan.\n    We waste no time in useless dread,\n    In trembling fear;\n    The present lives, the past is dead,\n    And we are here,\n    All welcome guests at life's great feast—\n    We need no help from ghost or priest.\n    Our life is joyous, jocund, free—\n    Not one a slave\n    Who bends in fear the trembling knee,\n    And seeks to save\n    A coward soul from future pain;\n    Not one will cringe or crawl for gain.\n    The jeweled cup of love we drain,\n    And friendship's wine\n    Now swiftly flows in every vein\n    With warmth divine.\n    And so we love and hope and dream\n    That in death's sky there is a gleam.\n    We walk according to our light,\n    Pursue the path\n    That leads to honor's stainless height,\n    Careless of wrath\n    Or curse of God, or priestly spite,\n    Longing to know and do the right.\n    We love our fellow-man, our kind,\n    Wife, child, and friend.\n    To phantoms we are deaf and blind,\n    But we extend\n    The helping hand to the distressed;\n    By lifting others we are blessed.\n    Love's sacred flame within the heart\n    And friendship's glow;\n    While all the miracles of art\n    Their wealth bestow\n    Upon the thrilled and joyous brain,\n    And present raptures banish pain.\n    We love no phantoms of the skies,\n    But living flesh,\n    With passion's soft and soulful eyes,\n    Lips warm and fresh,\n    And cheeks with health's red flag unfurled,\n    The breathing angels of this world.\n    The hands that help are better far\n    Than lips that pray.\n    Love is the ever gleaming star\n    That leads the way,\n    That shines, not on vague worlds of bliss,\n    But on a paradise in this.\n    We do not pray, or weep, or wail;\n    We have no dread,\n    No fear to pass beyond the veil\n    That hides the dead.\n    And yet we question, dream, and guess,\n    But knowledge we do not possess.\n    We ask, yet nothing seems to know;\n    We cry in vain.\n    There is no \"master of the show\"\n    Who will explain,\n    Or from the future tear the mask;\n    And yet we dream, and still we ask\n    Is there beyond the silent night\n    An endless day?\n    Is death a door that leads to light?\n    We cannot say.\n    The tongueless secret locked in fate\n    We do not know.—\n    We hope and wait.\n"
}