{
  "schema": "tga.work.v1",
  "identifier": "dresden:vol-1:the-gods",
  "slug": "the-gods",
  "title": "The Gods",
  "subtitle": "An Honest God is the Noblest Work of Man",
  "excerpt": "Ingersoll's landmark 1872 lecture attacking the gods fashioned by man after his own fears and ambitions — and calling for a morality built on reason rather than revelation.",
  "year": 1872,
  "volume": 1,
  "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-gods/",
  "wordCount": 16675,
  "body": "EACH nation has created a god, and the god has always resembled his\ncreators. He hated and loved what they hated and loved, and he was\ninvariably found on the side of those in power. Each god was intensely\npatriotic, and detested all nations but his own. All these gods demanded\npraise, flattery, and worship. Most of them were pleased with sacrifice,\nand the smell of innocent blood has ever been considered a divine\nperfume. All these gods have insisted upon having a vast number of\npriests, and the priests have always insisted upon being supported by\nthe people, and the principal business of these priests has been to\nboast about their god, and to insist that he could easily vanquish all\nthe other gods put together.\n\nThese gods have been manufactured after numberless models, and according\nto the most grotesque fashions. Some have a thousand arms, some a\nhundred heads, some are adorned with necklaces of living snakes, some\nare armed with clubs, some with sword and shield, some with bucklers,\nand some have wings as a cherub; some were invisible, some would show\nthemselves entire, and some would only show their backs; some were\njealous, some were foolish, some turned themselves into men, some into\nswans, some into bulls, some into doves, and some into Holy Ghosts,\nand made love to the beautiful daughters of men. Some were married—all\nought to have been—and some were considered as old bachelors from all\neternity. Some had children, and the children were turned into gods and\nworshiped as their fathers had been. Most of these gods were revengeful,\nsavage, lustful, and ignorant. As they generally depended upon\ntheir priests for information, their ignorance can hardly excite our\nastonishment.\n\nThese gods did not even know the shape of the worlds they had created,\nbut supposed them perfectly flat Some thought the day could be\nlengthened by stopping the sun, that the blowing of horns could throw\ndown the walls of a city, and all knew so little of the real nature\nof the people they had created, that they commanded the people to love\nthem. Some were so ignorant as to suppose that man could believe just\nas he might desire, or as they might command, and that to be governed\nby observation, reason, and experience was a most foul and damning sin.\nNone of these gods could give a true account of the creation of this\nlittle earth. All were wofully deficient in geology and astronomy. As a\nrule, they were most miserable legislators, and as executives, they were\nfar inferior to the average of American presidents.\n\nThese deities have demanded the most abject and degrading obedience. In\norder to please them, man must lay his very face in the dust Of course,\nthey have always been partial to the people who created them, and have\ngenerally shown their partiality by assisting those people to rob and\ndestroy others, and to ravish their wives and daughters.\n\nNothing is so pleasing to these gods as the butchery of unbelievers.\nNothing so enrages them, even now, as to have some one deny their\nexistence.\n\nFew nations have been so poor as to have but one god. Gods were made\nso easily, and the raw material cost so little, that generally the god\nmarket was fairly glutted, and heaven crammed with these phantoms. These\ngods not only attended to the skies, but were supposed to interfere in\nall the affairs of men. They presided over everybody and everything.\nThey attended to every department. All was supposed to be under their\nimmediate control. Nothing was too small—nothing too large; the falling\nof sparrows and the motions of the planets were alike attended to by\nthese industrious and observing deities. From their starry thrones they\nfrequently came to the earth for the purpose of imparting information to\nman. It is related of one that he came amid thunderings and lightnings\nin order to tell the people that they should not cook a kid in its\nmother's milk. Some left their shining abodes to tell women that they\nshould, or should not, have children, to inform a priest how to cut\nand wear his apron, and to give directions as to the proper manner of\ncleaning the intestines of a bird.\n\nWhen the people failed to worship one of these gods, or failed to feed\nand clothe his priests, (which was much the same thing,) he generally\nvisited them with pestilence and famine. Sometimes he allowed some other\nnation to drag them into slavery—to sell their wives and children; but\ngenerally he glutted his vengeance by murdering their first-born.\nThe priests always did their whole duty, not only in predicting these\ncalamities, but in proving, when they did happen, that they were brought\nupon the people because they had not given quite enough to them.\n\nThese gods differed just as the nations differed; the greatest and most\npowerful had the most powerful gods, while the weaker ones were obliged\nto content themselves with the very off-scourings of the heavens. Each\nof these gods promised happiness here and hereafter to all his slaves,\nand threatened to eternally punish all who either disbelieved in his\nexistence or suspected that some other god might be his superior; but to\ndeny the existence of all gods was, and is, the crime of crimes. Redden\nyour hands with human blood; blast by slander the fair fame of the\ninnocent; strangle the smiling child upon its mother's knees; deceive,\nruin and desert the beautiful girl who loves and trusts you, and\nyour case is not hopeless. For all this, and for all these you may\nbe forgiven. For all this, and for all these, that bankrupt court\nestablished by the gospel, will give you a discharge; but deny the\nexistence of these divine ghosts, of these gods, and the sweet and\ntearful face of Mercy becomes livid with eternal hate. Heaven's golden\ngates are shut, and you, with an infinite curse ringing in your\nears, with the brand of infamy upon your brow, commence your endless\nwanderings in the lurid gloom of hell—an immortal vagrant—an eternal\noutcast—a deathless convict.\n\nOne of these gods, and one who demands our love, our admiration and\nour worship, and one who is worshiped, if mere heartless ceremony is\nworship, gave to his chosen people for their guidance, the following\nlaws of war: \"When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it,\nthen proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be if it make thee answer of\npeace, and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people that is\nfound therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.\nAnd if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee,\nthen thou shalt besiege it.\n\n\"And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thy hands, thou shalt\nsmite every male thereof with the edge of the sword. But the women and\nthe little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all\nthe spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself, and thou shalt eat\nthe spoil of thine enemies which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Thus\nshalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee,\nwhich are not of the cities of these nations. But of the cities of these\npeople which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, _thou\nshalt save alive nothing that breatheth_\"\n\nIs it possible for man to conceive of anything more perfectly infamous?\nCan you believe that such directions were given by any being except an\ninfinite fiend? Remember that the army receiving these instructions\nwas one of invasion. Peace was offered upon condition that the people\nsubmitting should be the slaves of the invader; but if any should have\nthe courage to defend their homes, to fight for the love of wife and\nchild, then the sword was to spare none—not even the prattling, dimpled\nbabe.\n\nAnd we are called upon to worship such a God; to get upon our knees and\ntell him that he is good, that he is merciful, that he is just, that he\nis love. We are asked to stifle every noble sentiment of the soul, and\nto trample under foot all the sweet charities of the heart. Because we\nrefuse to stultify ourselves—refuse to become liars—we are denounced,\nhated, traduced and ostracized here, and this same god threatens to\ntorment us in eternal fire the moment death allows him to fiercely\nclutch our naked helpless souls. Let the people hate, let the god\nthreaten—we will educate them, and we will despise and defy him.\n\nThe book, called the Bible, is filled with passages equally horrible,\nunjust and atrocious. This is the book to be read in schools in order\nto make our children loving, kind and gentle! This is the book to\nbe recognized in our Constitution as the source of all authority and\njustice!\n\nStrange! that no one has ever been persecuted by the church for\nbelieving God bad, while hundreds of millions have been destroyed\nfor thinking him good. The orthodox church never will forgive the\nUniversalist for saying \"God is love.\" It has always been considered\nas one of the very highest evidences of true and undefiled religion to\ninsist that all men, women and children deserve eternal damnation. It\nhas always been heresy to say, \"God will at last save all.\"\n\nWe are asked to justify these frightful passages, these infamous laws\nof war, because the Bible is the word of God. As a matter of fact, there\nnever was, and there never can be, an argument, even tending to prove\nthe inspiration of any book whatever. In the absence of positive\nevidence, analogy and experience, argument is simply impossible, and at\nthe very best, can amount only to a useless agitation of the air.\n\nThe instant we admit that a book is too sacred to be doubted, or even\nreasoned about, we are mental serfs. It is infinitely absurd to suppose\nthat a god would address a communication to intelligent beings, and yet\nmake it a crime, to be punished in eternal flames, for them to use their\nintelligence for the purpose of understanding his communication. If we\nhave the right to use our reason, we certainly have the right to act in\naccordance with it, and no god can have the right to punish us for such\naction.\n\nThe doctrine that future happiness depends upon belief is monstrous.\nIt is the infamy of infamies. The notion that faith in Christ is to\nbe rewarded by an eternity of bliss, while a dependence upon reason,\nobservation, and experience merits everlasting pain, is too absurd for\nrefutation, and can be relieved only by that unhappy mixture of insanity\nand ignorance, called \"faith.\" What man, who ever thinks, can believe\nthat blood can appease God? And yet, our entire system of religion is\nbased upon that belief. The Jews pacified Jehovah with the blood of\nanimals, and according to the Christian system, the blood of Jesus\nsoftened the heart of God a little, and rendered possible the salvation\nof a fortunate few. It is hard to conceive how the human mind can give\nassent to such terrible ideas, or how any sane man can read the Bible\nand still believe in the doctrine of inspiration.\n\nWhether the Bible is true or false, is of no consequence in comparison\nwith the mental freedom of the race.\n\nSalvation through slavery is worthless. Salvation from slavery is\ninestimable.\n\nAs long as man believes the Bible to be infallible, that book is his\nmaster. The civilization of this century is not the child of faith, but\nof unbelief—the result of free thought.\n\nAll that is necessary, as it seems to me, to convince any reasonable\nperson that the Bible is simply and purely of human invention—of\nbarbarian invention—is to read it Read it as you would any other book;\nthink of it as you would of any other; get the bandage of reverence\nfrom your eyes; drive from your heart the phantom of fear; push from the\nthrone of your brain the cowled form of superstition—then read the Holy\nBible, and you will be amazed that you ever, for one moment, supposed a\nbeing of infinite wisdom, goodness and purity, to be the author of such\nignorance and of such atrocity.\n\nOur ancestors not only had their god-factories, but they made devils as\nwell. These devils were generally disgraced and fallen gods. Some had\nheaded unsuccessful revolts; some had been caught sweetly reclining in\nthe shadowy folds of some fleecy cloud, kissing the wife of the god of\ngods. These devils generally sympathized with man. There is in regard\nto them a most wonderful fact: In nearly all the theologies, mythologies\nand religions, the devils have been much more humane and merciful\nthan the gods. No devil ever gave one of his generals an order to kill\nchildren and to rip open the bodies of pregnant women. Such barbarities\nwere always ordered by the good gods. The pestilences were sent by the\nmost merciful gods. The frightful famine, during which the dying child\nwith pallid lips sucked the withered bosom of a dead mother, was sent by\nthe loving gods. No devil was ever charged with such fiendish brutality.\n\nOne of these gods, according to the account, drowned an entire world,\nwith the exception of eight persons. The old, the young, the beautiful\nand the helpless were remorsely devoured by the shoreless sea. This,\nthe most fearful tragedy that the imagination of ignorant priests ever\nconceived, was the act, not of a devil, but of a god, so-called, whom\nmen ignorantly worship unto this day. What a stain such an act would\nleave upon the character of a devil! One of the prophets of one of these\ngods, having in his power a captured king, hewed him in pieces in the\nsight of all the people. Was ever any imp of any devil guilty of such\nsavagery?\n\nOne of these gods is reported to have given the following directions\nconcerning human slavery: \"If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall\nhe serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he\ncame in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he were married, then\nhis wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him a wife, and\nshe have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be\nher master's, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall\nplainly say, I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go\nout free. Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also\nbring him unto the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall\nbore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.\"\n\nAccording to this, a man was given liberty upon condition that he would\ndesert forever his wife and children. Did any devil ever force upon a\nhusband, upon a father, so cruel and so heartless an alternative? Who\ncan worship such a god? Who can bend the knee to such a monster? Who can\npray to such a fiend?\n\nAll these gods threatened to torment forever the souls of their enemies.\nDid any devil ever make so infamous a threat? The basest thing recorded\nof the devil, is what he did concerning Job and his family, and that\nwas done by the express permission of one of these gods, and to decide\na little difference of opinion between their serene highnesses as to the\ncharacter of \"my servant Job.\" The first account we have of the devil is\nfound in that purely scientific book called Genesis, and is as follows:\n\"Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the\nLord God had made, and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye\nshall not eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden? And the woman\nsaid unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the\ngarden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden\nGod hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest\nye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.\nFor God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall\nbe opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the\nwoman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to\nthe eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the\nfruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and\nhe did eat.... And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of\nus, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take\nalso of the tree of life and eat, and live forever. Therefore the Lord\nGod sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which\nhe was taken. So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the\nGarden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way to\nkeep the way of the tree of life.\"\n\nAccording to this account the promise of the devil was fulfilled to\nthe very letter. Adam and Eve did not die, and they did become as gods,\nknowing good and evil.\n\nThe account shows, however, that the gods dreaded education and\nknowledge then just as they do now. The church still faithfully guards\nthe dangerous tree of knowledge, and has exerted in all ages her utmost\npower to keep mankind from eating the fruit thereof. The priests have\nnever ceased repeating the old falsehood and the old threat: \"Ye shall\nnot eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.\" From every\npulpit comes the same cry, born of the same fear: \"Lest they eat and\nbecome as gods, knowing good and evil.\" For this reason, religion\nhates science, faith detests reason, theology is the sworn enemy of\nphilosophy, and the church with its flaming sword still guards the hated\ntree, and like its supposed founder, curses to the lowest depths the\nbrave thinkers who eat and become as gods.\n\nIf the account given in Genesis is really true, ought we not, after all,\nto thank this serpent? He was the first schoolmaster, the first advocate\nof learning, the first enemy of ignorance, the first to whisper in human\nears the sacred word liberty, the creator of ambition, the author of\nmodesty, of inquiry, of doubt, of investigation, of progress and of\ncivilization.\n\nGive me the storm and tempest of thought and action, rather than the\ndead calm of ignorance and faith! Banish me from Eden when you will; but\nfirst let me eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge!\n\nSome nations have borrowed their gods; of this number, we are compelled\nto say, is our own. The Jews having ceased to exist as a nation, and\nhaving no further use for a god, our ancestors appropriated him and\nadopted their devil at the same time. This borrowed god is still an\nobject of some adoration, and this adopted devil still excites the\napprehensions of our people. He is still supposed to be setting his\ntraps and snares for the purpose of catching our unwary souls, and is\nstill, with reasonable success, waging the old war against our God.\n\nTo me, it seems easy to account for these ideas concerning gods and\ndevils. They are a perfectly natural production. Man has created them\nall, and under the same circumstances would create them again. Man has\nnot only created all these gods, but he has created them out of the\nmaterials by which he has been surrounded. Generally he has modeled them\nafter himself, and has given them hands, heads, feet, eyes, ears,\nand organs of speech. Each nation made its gods and devils speak its\nlanguage not only, but put in their mouths the same mistakes in history,\ngeography, astronomy, and in all matters of fact, generally made by the\npeople. No god was ever in advance of the nation that created him. The\nnegroes represented their deities with black skins and curly hair. The\nMongolian gave to his a yellow complexion and dark almond-shaped eyes.\nThe Jews were not allowed to paint theirs, or we should have seen\nJehovah with a full beard, an oval face, and an aquiline nose. Zeus was\na perfect Greek, and Jove looked as though a member of the Roman senate.\nThe gods of Egypt had the patient face and placid look of the loving\npeople who made them. The gods of northern countries were represented\nwarmly clad in robes of fur; those of the tropics were naked. The gods\nof India were often mounted upon elephants; those of some islanders were\ngreat swimmers, and the deities of the Arctic zone were passionately\nfond of whale's blubber. Nearly all people have carved or painted\nrepresentations of their gods, and these representations were, by the\nlower classes, generally treated as the real gods, and to these images\nand idols they addressed prayers and offered sacrifice.\n\nIn some countries, even at this day, if the people after long praying\ndo not obtain their desires, they turn their images off as impotent\ngods, or upbraid them in a most reproachful manner, loading them with\nblows and curses. 'How now, dog of a spirit,' they say, 'we give you\nlodging in a magnificent temple, we gild you with gold, feed you with\nthe choicest food, and offer incense to you; yet, after all this care,\nyou are so ungrateful as to refuse us what we ask.'\n\nHereupon they will pull the god down and drag him through the filth\nof the street. If, in the meantime, it happens that they obtain their\nrequest, then, with a great deal of ceremony, they wash him clean, carry\nhim back and place him in his temple again, where they fall down and\nmake excuses for what they have done. 'Of a truth,' they say, 'we were\na little too hasty, and you were a little too long in your grant. Why\nshould you bring this beating on yourself. But what is done cannot be\nundone. Let us not think of it any more. If you will forget what is\npast, we will gild you over brighter again than before.\n\nMan has never been at a loss for gods. He has worshiped almost\neverything, including the vilest and most disgusting beasts. He has\nworshiped fire, earth, air, water, light, stars, and for hundreds of\nages prostrated himself before enormous snakes. Savage tribes often make\ngods of articles they get from civilized people. The Todas worship a\ncow-bell. The Kotas worship two silver plates, which they regard as\nhusband and wife, and another tribe manufactured a god out of a king of\nhearts.\n\nMan, having always been the physical superior of woman, accounts for\nthe fact that most of the high gods have been males. Had woman been the\nphysical superior, the powers supposed to be the rulers of Nature would\nhave been women, and instead of being represented in the apparel of\nman, they would have luxuriated in trains, low-necked dresses, laces and\nback-hair.\n\nNothing can be plainer than that each nation gives to its god its\npeculiar characteristics, and that every individual gives to his god his\npersonal peculiarities.\n\nMan has no ideas, and can have none, except those suggested by his\nsurroundings. He cannot conceive of anything utterly unlike what he has\nseen or felt. He can exaggerate, diminish, combine, separate, deform,\nbeautify, improve, multiply and compare what he sees, what he feels,\nwhat he hears, and all of which he takes cognizance through the medium\nof the senses; but he cannot create. Having seen exhibitions of power,\nhe can say, omnipotent. Having lived, he can say, immortality. Knowing\nsomething of time, he can say, eternity. Conceiving something of\nintelligence, he can say, God. Having seen exhibitions of malice, he can\nsay, devil. A few gleams of happiness having fallen athwart the gloom of\nhis life, he can say, heaven. Pain, in its numberless forms, having been\nexperienced, he can say, hell. Yet all these ideas have a foundation\nin fact, and only a foundation. The superstructure has been reared\nby exaggerating, diminishing, combining, separating, deforming,\nbeautifying, improving or multiplying realities, so that the edifice or\nfabric is but the incongruous grouping of what man has perceived through\nthe medium of the senses. It is as though we should give to a lion the\nwings of an eagle, the hoofs of a bison, the tail of a horse, the pouch\nof a kangaroo, and the trunk of an elephant. We have in imagination\ncreated an impossible monster. And yet the various parts of this monster\nreally exist So it is with all the gods that man has made.\n\nBeyond nature man cannot go even in thought—above nature he cannot\nrise—below nature he cannot fall.\n\nMan, in his ignorance, supposed that all phenomena were produced by\nsome intelligent powers, and with direct reference to him. To preserve\nfriendly relations with these powers was, and still is, the object of\nall religions. Man knelt through fear and to implore assistance, or\nthrough gratitude for some favor which he supposed had been rendered. He\nendeavored by supplication to appease some being who, for some reason,\nhad, as he believed, become enraged. The lightning and thunder terrified\nhim. In the presence of the volcano he sank upon his knees. The great\nforests filled with wild and ferocious beasts, the monstrous serpents\ncrawling in mysterious depths, the boundless sea, the flaming comets,\nthe sinister eclipses, the awful calmness of the stars, and, more than\nall, the perpetual presence of death, convinced him that he was the\nsport and prey of unseen and malignant powers. The strange and frightful\ndiseases to which he was subject, the freezings and burnings of fever,\nthe contortions of epilepsy, the sudden palsies, the darkness of night,\nand the wild, terrible and fantastic dreams that filled his brain,\nsatisfied him that he was haunted and pursued by countless spirits\nof evil. For some reason he supposed that these spirits differed\nin power—that they were not all alike malevolent—that the higher\ncontrolled the lower, and that his very existence depended upon gaining\nthe assistance of the more powerful. For this purpose he resorted to\nprayer, to flattery, to worship and to sacrifice.\n\nThese ideas appear to have been almost universal in savage man.\n\nFor ages all nations supposed that the sick and insane were possessed by\nevil spirits. For thousands of years the practice of medicine consisted\nin frightening these spirits away. Usually the priests would make the\nloudest and most discordant noises possible. They would blow horns,\nbeat upon rude drums, clash cymbals, and in the meantime utter the most\nunearthly yells. If the noise-remedy failed, they would implore the aid\nof some more powerful spirit.\n\nTo pacify these spirits was considered of infinite importance. The poor\nbarbarian, knowing that men could be softened by gifts, gave to these\nspirits that which to him seemed of the most value. With bursting heart\nhe would offer the blood of his dearest child. It was impossible for him\nto conceive of a god utterly unlike himself, and he naturally supposed\nthat these powers of the air would be affected a little at the sight of\nso great and so deep a sorrow. It was with the barbarian then as with\nthe civilized now—one class lived upon and made merchandise of the\nfears of another. Certain persons took it upon themselves to appease the\ngods, and to instruct the people in their duties to these unseen powers.\nThis was the origin of the priesthood. The priest pretended to stand\nbetween the wrath of the gods and the helplessness of man. He was man's\nattorney at the court of heaven. He carried to the invisible world a\nflag of truce, a protest and a request. He came back with a command,\nwith authority and with power. Man fell upon his knees before his own\nservant, and the priest, taking advantage of the awe inspired by his\nsupposed influence with the gods, made of his fellow-man a cringing\nhypocrite and slave. Even Christ, the supposed son of God, taught that\npersons were possessed of evil spirits, and frequently, according to\nthe account, gave proof of his divine origin and mission by frightening\ndroves of devils out of his unfortunate countrymen. Casting out devils\nwas his principal employment, and the devils thus banished generally\ntook occasion to acknowledge him as the true Messiah; which was not only\nvery kind of them, but quite fortunate for him. The religious people\nhave always regarded the testimony of these devils as perfectly\nconclusive, and the writers of the New Testament quote the words of\nthese imps of darkness with great satisfaction.\n\nThe fact that Christ could withstand the temptations of the devil was\nconsidered as conclusive evidence that he was assisted by some god, or\nat least by some being superior to man. St. Matthew gives an account of\nan attempt made by the devil to tempt the supposed son of God; and it\nhas always excited the wonder of Christians that the temptation was\nso nobly and heroically withstood. The account to which I refer is as\nfollows:\n\n\"Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted\nof the devil. And when the tempter came to him, he said: 'If thou be the\nson of God, command that these stones be made bread.' But he answered,\nand said: 'It is written: man shall not live by bread alone, but by\nevery word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' Then the devil\ntaketh him up into the holy city and setteth him upon a pinnacle of\nthe temple and saith unto him: 'If thou be the son of God, cast thyself\ndown; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning\nthee, lest at any time thou shalt dash thy foot against a stone,'Jesus\nsaid unto him: 'It is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy\nGod.' Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and\nsheweth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and\nsaith unto him: 'All these will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and\nworship me.'\"\n\nThe Christians now claim that Jesus was God. If he was God, of course\nthe devil knew that fact, and yet, according to this account, the devil\ntook the omnipotent God and placed him upon a pinnacle of the temple,\nand endeavored to induce him to dash himself against the earth. Failing\nin that, he took the creator, owner and governor of the universe up into\nan exceeding high mountain, and offered him this world—this grain of\nsand—if he, the God of all the worlds, would fall down and worship\nhim, a poor devil, without even a tax title to one foot of dirt! Is it\npossible the devil was such an idiot? Should any great credit be given\nto this deity for not being caught with such chaff? Think of it! The\ndevil—the prince of sharpers—the king of cunning—the master of\nfinesse, trying to bribe God with a grain of sand that belonged to God!\n\nIs there in all the religious literature of the world anything more\ngrossly absurd than this?\n\nThese devils, according to the Bible, were of various kinds—some could\nspeak and hear, others were deaf and dumb. All could not be cast out\nin the same way. The deaf and dumb spirits were quite difficult to deal\nwith. St. Mark tells of a gentleman who brought his son to Christ. The\nboy, it seems, was possessed of a dumb spirit, over which the disciples\nhad no control. \"Jesus said unto the spirit: 'Thou dumb and deaf spirit,\nI charge thee come out of him, and enter no more into him.'\" Whereupon,\nthe deaf spirit (having heard what was said) cried out (being dumb) and\nimmediately vacated the premises. The ease with which Christ controlled\nthis deaf and dumb spirit excited the wonder of his disciples, and they\nasked him privately why they could not cast that spirit out. To whom he\nreplied: \"This kind can come forth by nothing but prayer and fasting.\" Is\nthere a Christian in the whole world who would believe such a story\nif found in any other book? The trouble is, these pious people shut up\ntheir reason, and then open their Bible.\n\nIn the olden times the existence of devils was universally admitted. The\npeople had no doubt upon that subject, and from such belief it followed\nas a matter of course, that a person, in order to vanquish these devils,\nhad either to be a god, or to be assisted by one. All founders of\nreligions have established their claims to divine origin by controlling\nevil spirits and suspending the laws of nature. Casting out devils was\na certificate of divinity. A prophet, unable to cope with the powers\nof darkness was regarded with contempt The utterance of the highest\nand noblest sentiments, the most blameless and holy life, commanded but\nlittle respect, unless accompanied by power to work miracles and command\nspirits.\n\nThis belief in good and evil powers had its origin in the fact that man\nwas surrounded by what he was pleased to call good and evil phenomena.\nPhenomena affecting man pleasantly were ascribed to good spirits, while\nthose affecting him unpleasantly or injuriously, were ascribed to evil\nspirits. It being admitted that all phenomena were produced by spirits,\nthe spirits were divided according to the phenomena, and the phenomena\nwere good or bad as they affected man.\n\nGood spirits were supposed to be the authors of good phenomena, and evil\nspirits of the evil—so that the idea of a devil has been as universal\nas the idea of a god.\n\nMany writers maintain that an idea to become universal must be true;\nthat all universal ideas are innate, and that innate ideas cannot be\nfalse. If the fact that an idea has been universal proves that it\nis innate, and if the fact that an idea is innate proves that it is\ncorrect, then the believers in innate ideas must admit that the evidence\nof a god superior to nature, and of a devil superior to nature, is\nexactly the same, and that the existence of such a devil must be as\nself-evident as the existence of such a god. The truth is, a god was\ninferred from good, and a devil from bad, phenomena. And it is just as\nnatural and logical to suppose that a devil would cause happiness as\nto suppose that a god would produce misery. Consequently, if an\nintelligence, infinite and supreme, is the immediate author of all\nphenomena, it is difficult to determine whether such intelligence is the\nfriend or enemy of man. If phenomena were all good, we might say they\nwere all produced by a perfectly beneficent being. If they were all bad,\nwe might say they were produced by a perfectly malevolent power; but,\nas phenomena are, as they affect man, both good and bad, they must be\nproduced by different and antagonistic spirits; by one who is sometimes\nactuated by kindness, and sometimes by malice; or all must be produced\nof necessity, and without reference to their consequences upon man.\n\nThe foolish doctrine that all phenomena can be traced to the\ninterference of good and evil spirits, has been, and still is, almost\nuniversal. That most people still believe in some spirit that can change\nthe natural order of events, is proven by the fact that nearly all\nresort to prayer. Thousands, at this very moment, are probably imploring\nsome supposed power to interfere in their behalf. Some want health\nrestored; some ask that the loved and absent be watched over and\nprotected, some pray for riches, some for rain, some want diseases\nstayed, some vainly ask for food, some ask for revivals, a few ask for\nmore wisdom, and now and then one tells the Lord to do as he may think\nbest. Thousands ask to be protected from the devil; some, like David,\npray for revenge, and some implore even God, not to lead them into\ntemptation. All these prayers rest upon, and are produced by, the idea\nthat some power not only can, but probably will, change the order of the\nuniverse. This belief has been among the great majority of tribes\nand nations. All sacred books are filled with the accounts of such\ninterferences, and our own Bible is no exception to this rule.\n\nIf we believe in a power superior to nature, it is perfectly natural to\nsuppose that such power can and will interfere in the affairs of this\nworld. If there is no interference, of what practical use can such\npower be? The Scriptures give us the most wonderful accounts of divine\ninterference: Animals talk like men; springs gurgle from dry bones; the\nsun and moon stop in the heavens in order that General Joshua may have\nmore time to murder; the shadow on a dial goes back ten degrees to\nconvince a petty king of a barbarous people that he is not going to die\nof a boil; fire refuses to burn; water positively declines to seek its\nlevel, but stands up like a wall; grains of sand become lice; common\nwalking-sticks, to gratify a mere freak, twist themselves into serpents,\nand then swallow each other by way of exercise; murmuring streams,\nlaughing at the attraction of gravitation, run up hill for years,\nfollowing wandering tribes from a pure love of frolic; prophecy becomes\naltogether easier than history; the sons of God become enamored of the\nworld's girls; women are changed into salt for the purpose of keeping a\ngreat event fresh in the minds of men; an excellent article of brimstone\nis imported from heaven free of duty; clothes refuse to wear out for\nforty years; birds keep restaurants and feed wandering prophets free of\nexpense; bears tear children in pieces for laughing at old men without\nwigs; muscular development depends upon the length of one's hair; dead\npeople come to life, simply to get a joke on their enemies and heirs;\nwitches and wizards converse freely with the souls of the departed, and\nGod himself becomes a stone-cutter and engraver, after having been a\ntailor and dressmaker.\n\nThe veil between heaven and earth was always rent or lifted. The shadows\nof this world, the radiance of heaven, and the glare of hell mixed\nand mingled until man became uncertain as to which country he really\ninhabited. Man dwelt in an unreal world. He mistook his ideas, his\ndreams, for real things. His fears became terrible and malicious\nmonsters. He lived in the midst of furies and fairies, nymphs and\nnaiads, goblins and ghosts, witches and wizards, sprites and spooks,\ndeities and devils. The obscure and gloomy depths were filled with\nclaw and wing—with beak and hoof—with leering looks and sneering\nmouths—with the malice of deformity—with the cunning of hatred, and\nwith all the slimy forms that fear can draw and paint upon the shadowy\ncanvas of the dark.\n\nIt is enough to make one almost insane with pity to think what man in\nthe long night has suffered; of the tortures he has endured, surrounded,\nas he supposed, by malignant powers and clutched by the fierce phantoms\nof the air. No wonder that he fell upon his trembling knees—that he\nbuilt altars and reddened them even with his own blood. No wonder that\nhe implored ignorant priests and impudent magicians for aid. No wonder\nthat he crawled groveling in the dust to the temple's door, and there,\nin the insanity of despair, besought the deaf gods to hear his bitter\ncry of agony and fear.\n\nThe savage as he emerges from a state of barbarism, gradually loses\nfaith in his idols of wood and stone, and in their place puts a\nmultitude of spirits. As he advances in knowledge, he generally discards\nthe petty spirits, and in their stead believes in one, whom he supposes\nto be infinite and supreme. Supposing this great spirit to be superior\nto nature, he offers worship or flattery in exchange for assistance. At\nlast, finding that he obtains no aid from this supposed deity—:\nfinding that every search after the absolute must of necessity end in\nfailure—finding that man cannot by any possibility conceive of the\nconditionless—he begins to investigate the facts by which he is\nsurrounded, and to depend upon himself.\n\nThe people are beginning to think, to reason and to investigate. Slowly,\npainfully, but surely, the gods are being driven from the earth. Only\nupon rare occasions are they, even by the most religious, supposed to\ninterfere in the affairs of men. In most matters we are at last supposed\nto be free. Since the invention of steamships and railways, so that the\nproducts of all countries can be easily interchanged, the gods have quit\nthe business of producing famine. Now and then they kill a child because\nit is idolized by its parents. As a rule they have given up causing\naccidents on railroads, exploding boilers, and bursting kerosene lamps.\nCholera, yellow fever, and small-pox are still considered heavenly\nweapons; but measles, itch and ague are now attributed to natural\ncauses. As a general thing, the gods have stopped drowning children,\nexcept as a punishment for violating the Sabbath. They still pay some\nattention to the affairs of kings, men of genius and persons of great\nwealth; but ordinary people are left to shirk for themselves as best\nthey may. In wars between great nations, the gods still interfere; but\nin prize fights, the best man with an honest referee, is almost sure to\nwin.\n\nThe church cannot abandon the idea of special providence. To give up\nthat doctrine is to give up all. The church must insist that prayer\nis answered—that some power superior to nature hears and grants the\nrequest of the sincere and humble Christian, and that this same power in\nsome mysterious way provides for all.\n\nA devout clergyman sought every opportunity to impress upon the mind\nof his son the fact, that God takes care of all his creatures; that the\nfalling sparrow attracts his attention, and that his loving kindness is\nover all his works. Happening, one day, to see a crane wading in quest\nof food, the good man pointed out to his son the perfect adaptation of\nthe crane to get his living in that manner. \"See,\" said he, \"how his\nlegs are formed for wading! What a long slender bill he has! Observe how\nnicely he folds his feet when putting them in or drawing them out of\nthe water! He does not cause the slightest ripple. He is thus enabled\nto approach the fish without giving them any notice of his arrival.\"\n\"My son,\" said he, \"it is impossible to look at that bird without\nrecognizing the design, as well as the goodness of God, in thus\nproviding the means of subsistence.\" \"Yes,\" replied the boy, \"I think I\nsee the goodness of God, at least so far as the crane is concerned; but\nafter all, father, don't you think the arrangement a little tough on the\nfish?\"\n\nEven the advanced religionist, although disbelieving in any great amount\nof interference by the gods in this age of the world, still thinks,\nthat in the beginning, some god made the laws governing the universe.\nHe believes that in consequence of these laws a man can lift a greater\nweight with, than without, a lever; that this god so made matter, and so\nestablished the order of things, that two bodies cannot occupy the same\nspace at the same time; so that a body once put in motion will keep\nmoving until it is stopped; so that it is a greater distance around,\nthan across a circle; so that a perfect square has four equal sides,\ninstead of five or seven. He insists that it took a direct interposition\nof Providence to make the whole greater than a part, and that had it not\nbeen for this power superior to nature, twice one might have been more\nthan twice two, and sticks and strings might have had only one end\napiece. Like the old Scotch divine, he thanks God that Sunday comes at\nthe end instead of in the middle of the week, and that death comes at\nthe close instead of at the commencement of life, thereby giving us time\nto prepare for that holy day and that most solemn event These religious\npeople see nothing but design everywhere, and personal, intelligent\ninterference in everything. They insist that the universe has been\ncreated, and that the adaptation of means to ends is perfectly apparent.\nThey point us to the sunshine, to the flowers, to the April rain, and\nto all there is of beauty and of use in the world. Did it ever occur to\nthem that a cancer is as beautiful in its development as is the reddest\nrose? That what they are pleased to call the adaptation of means to\nends, is as apparent in the cancer as in the April rain? How beautiful\nthe process of digestion! By what ingenious methods the blood is\npoisoned so that the cancer shall have food! By what wonderful\ncontrivances the entire system of man is made to pay tribute to this\ndivine and charming cancer! See by what admirable instrumentalities it\nfeeds itself from the surrounding quivering, dainty flesh! See how it\ngradually but surely expands and grows! By what marvelous mechanism\nit is supplied with long and slender roots that reach out to the most\nsecret nerves of pain for sustenance and life! What beautiful colors\nit presents! Seen through the microscope it is a miracle of order and\nbeauty. All the ingenuity of man cannot stop its growth. Think of the\namount of thought it must have required to invent a way by which the\nlife of one man might be given to produce one cancer? Is it possible to\nlook upon it and doubt that there is design in the universe, and that\nthe inventor of this wonderful cancer must be infinitely powerful,\ningenious and good?\n\nWe are told that the universe was designed and created, and that it is\nabsurd to suppose that matter has existed from eternity, but that it is\nperfectly self-evident that a god has.\n\nIf a god created the universe, then, there must have been a time when he\ncommenced to create. Back of that time there must have been an eternity,\nduring which there had existed nothing—absolutely nothing—except this\nsupposed god. According to this theory, this god spent an eternity, so\nto speak, in an infinite vacuum, and in perfect idleness.\n\nAdmitting that a god did create the universe, the question then arises,\nof what did he create it? It certainly was not made of nothing. Nothing,\nconsidered in the light of a raw material, is a most decided failure. It\nfollows, then, that the god must have made the universe out of himself,\nhe being the only existence. The universe is material, and if it was\nmade of god, the god must have been material. With this very thought in\nhis mind, Anaximander of Miletus said: \"Creation is the decomposition of\nthe infinite.\"\n\nIt has been demonstrated that the earth would fall to the sun, only for\nthe fact, that it is attracted by other worlds, and those worlds must\nbe attracted by other worlds still beyond them, and so on, without\nend. This proves the material universe to be infinite. If an infinite\nuniverse has been made out of an infinite god, how much of the god is\nleft?\n\nThe idea of a creative deity is gradually being abandoned, and nearly\nall truly scientific minds admit that matter must have existed from\neternity. It is indestructible, and the indestructible cannot be\ncreated. It is the crowning glory of our century to have demonstrated\nthe indestructibility and the eternal persistence of force. Neither\nmatter nor force can be increased nor diminished. Force cannot exist\napart from matter. Matter exists only in connection with force, and\nconsequently, a force apart from matter, and superior to nature, is a\ndemonstrated impossibility.\n\nForce, then, must have also existed from eternity, and could not have\nbeen created. Matter in its countless forms, from dead earth to the\neyes of those we love, and force, in all its manifestations, from simple\nmotion to the grandest thought, deny creation and defy control.\n\nThought is a form of force. We walk with the same force with which we\nthink. Man is an organism, that changes several forms of force into\nthought-force. Man is a machine into which we put what we call food, and\nproduce what we call thought. Think of that wonderful chemistry by which\nbread was changed into the divine tragedy of Hamlet!\n\nA god must not only be material, but he must be an organism, capable of\nchanging other forms of force into thought-force. This is what we call\neating. Therefore, if the god thinks, he must eat, that is to say, he\nmust of necessity have some means of supplying the force with which to\nthink. It is impossible to conceive of a being who can eternally impart\nforce to matter, and yet have no means of supplying the force thus\nimparted.\n\nIf neither matter nor force were created, what evidence have we, then,\nof the existence of a power superior to nature? The theologian will\nprobably reply, \"We have law and order, cause and effect, and beside all\nthis, matter could not have put itself in motion.\"\n\nSuppose, for the sake of the argument, that there is no being superior\nto nature, and that matter and force have existed from eternity. Now,\nsuppose that two atoms should come together, would there be an effect?\nYes. Suppose they came in exactly opposite directions with equal force,\nthey would be stopped, to say the least. This would be an effect. If\nthis is so, then you have matter, force and effect without a being\nsuperior to nature. Now, suppose that two other atoms, just like the\nfirst two, should come together under precisely the same circumstances,\nwould not the effect be exactly the same? Yes. Like causes, producing\nlike effects, is what we mean by law and order. Then we have matter,\nforce, effect, law and order without a being superior to nature. Now, we\nknow that every effect must also be a cause, and that every cause must\nbe an effect. The atoms coming together did produce an effect, and as\nevery effect must also be a cause, the effect produced by the collision\nof the atoms, must as to something else have been a cause. Then we have\nmatter, force, law, order, cause and effect without a being superior to\nnature. Nothing is left for the supernatural but empty space. His throne\nis a void, and his boasted realm is without matter, without force,\nwithout law, without cause, and without effect.\n\nBut what put all this matter in motion? If matter and force have existed\nfrom eternity, then matter must have always been in motion. There can\nbe no force without motion. Force is forever active, and there is, and\nthere can be no cessation. If, therefore, matter and force have existed\nfrom eternity, so has motion. In the whole universe there is not even\none atom in a state of rest.\n\nA deity outside of nature exists in nothing, and is nothing. Nature\nembraces with infinite arms all matter and all force. That which is\nbeyond her grasp is destitute of both, and can hardly be worth the\nworship and adoration even of a man.\n\nThere is but one way to demonstrate the existence of a power independent\nof and superior to nature, and that is by breaking, if only for one\nmoment, the continuity of cause and effect Pluck from the endless chain\nof existence one little link; stop for one instant the grand procession,\nand you have shown beyond all contradiction that nature has a master.\nChange the fact, just for one second, that matter attracts matter, and a\ngod appears.\n\nThe rudest savage has always known this fact, and for that reason always\ndemanded the evidence of miracle. The founder of a religion must be able\nto turn water into wine—cure with a word the blind and lame, and\nraise with a simple touch the dead to life. It was necessary for him to\ndemonstrate to the satisfaction of his barbarian disciple, that he\nwas superior to nature. In times of ignorance this was easy to do. The\ncredulity of the savage was almost boundless. To him the marvelous\nwas the beautiful, the mysterious was the sublime. Consequently, every\nreligion has for its foundation a miracle—that is to say, a violation\nof nature—that is to say, a falsehood.\n\nNo one, in the world's whole history, ever attempted to substantiate a\ntruth by a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of miracle. Nothing but\nfalsehood ever attested itself by signs and wonders. No miracle ever was\nperformed, and no sane man ever thought he had performed one, and until\none is performed, there can be no evidence of the existence of any power\nsuperior to and independent of nature.\n\nThe church wishes us to believe. Let the church, or one of its\nintellectual saints, perform a miracle, and we will believe. We are told\nthat nature has a superior. Let this superior, for one single instant,\ncontrol nature, and we will admit the truth of your assertions.\n\nWe have heard talk enough. We have listened to all the drowsy, idealess,\nvapid sermons that we wish to hear. We have read your Bible and the\nworks of your best minds. We have heard your prayers, your solemn groans\nand your reverential amens. All these amount to less than nothing. We\nwant one fact. We beg at the doors of your churches for just one little\nfact We pass our hats along your pews and under your pulpits and implore\nyou for just one little fact We know all about your mouldy wonders and your\nstale miracles. We want a this year's fact. We ask only one. Give us one\nfact for charity. Your miracles are too ancient. The witnesses have\nbeen dead for nearly two thousand years. Their reputation for \"truth and\nveracity\" in the neighborhood where they resided is wholly unknown to\nus. Give us a new miracle, and substantiate it by witnesses who still\nhave the cheerful habit of living in this world. Do not send us to\nJericho to hear the winding horns, nor put us in the fire with Shadrach,\nMeshech, and Abednego. Do not compel us to navigate the sea with Captain\nJonah, nor dine with Mr. Ezekiel. There is no sort of use in sending us\nfox-hunting with Samson. We have positively lost all interest in that\nlittle speech so eloquently delivered by Balaam's inspired donkey. It\nis worse than useless to show us fishes with money in their mouths,\nand call our attention to vast multitudes stuffing themselves with five\ncrackers and two sardines. We demand a new miracle, and we demand it\nnow. Let the church furnish at least one, or forever after hold her\npeace.\n\nIn the olden time, the church, by violating the order of nature, proved\nthe existence of her God. At that time miracles were performed with the\nmost astonishing ease. They became so common that the church ordered\nher priests to desist. And now this same church—the people having found\nsome little sense—admits, not only, that she cannot perform a miracle,\nbut insists that the absence of miracle—the steady, unbroken march of\ncause and effect, proves the existence of a power superior to nature.\nThe fact is, however, that the indissoluble chain of cause and effect\nproves exactly the contrary.\n\nSir William Hamilton, one of the pillars of modern theology, in\ndiscussing this very subject, uses the following language: \"The\nphenomena of matter taken by themselves, so far from warranting any\ninference to the existence of a god, would on the contrary ground even\nan argument to his negation. The phenomena of the material world are\nsubjected to immutable laws; are produced and reproduced in the same\ninvariable succession, and manifest only the blind force of a mechanical\nnecessity.\"\n\nNature is but an endless series of efficient causes. She cannot create,\nbut she eternally transforms. There was no beginning, and there can be\nno end.\n\nThe best minds, even in the religious world, admit that in material\nnature there is no evidence of what they are pleased to call a god.\nThey find their evidence in the phenomena of intelligence, and very\ninnocently assert that intelligence is above, and in fact, opposed to\nnature. They insist that man, at least, is a special creation; that\nhe has somewhere in his brain a divine spark, a little portion of the\n\"Great First Cause.\" They say that matter cannot produce thought; but\nthat thought can produce matter. They tell us that man has intelligence,\nand therefore there must be an intelligence greater than his. Why not\nsay, God has intelligence, therefore there must be an intelligence\ngreater than his? So far as we know, there is no intelligence apart\nfrom matter. We cannot conceive of thought, except as produced within a\nbrain.\n\nThe science, by means of which they demonstrate the existence of an\nimpossible intelligence, and an incomprehensible power is called,\nmetaphysics or theology. The theologians admit that the phenomena of\nmatter tend, at least, to disprove the existence of any power superior\nto nature, because in such phenomena we see nothing but an endless chain\nof efficient causes—nothing but the force of a mechanical necessity.\nThey therefore appeal to what they denominate the phenomena of mind to\nestablish this superior power.\n\nThe trouble is, that in the phenomena of mind we find the same endless\nchain of efficient causes; the same mechanical necessity. Every thought\nmust have had an efficient cause. Every motive, every desire, every\nfear, hope and dream must have been necessarily produced. There is no\nroom in the mind of man for providence or chance. The facts and forces\ngoverning thought are as absolute as those governing the motions of\nthe planets. A poem is produced by the forces of nature, and is as\nnecessarily and naturally produced as mountains and seas. You will seek\nin vain for a thought in man's brain without its efficient cause.\nEvery mental operation is the necessary result of certain facts and\nconditions. Mental phenomena are considered more complicated than those\nof matter, and consequently more mysterious. Being more mysterious, they\nare considered better evidence of the existence of a god. No one infers\na god from the simple, from the known, from what is understood, but from\nthe complex, from the unknown, and, incomprehensible. Our ignorance is\nGod; what we know is science.\n\nWhen we abandon the doctrine that some infinite being created matter\nand force, and enacted a code of laws for their government, the idea\nof interference will be lost. The real priest will then be, not the\nmouth-piece of some pretended deity, but the interpreter of nature. From\nthat moment the church ceases to exist. The tapers will die out upon the\ndusty altar; the moths will eat the fading velvet of pulpit and pew;\nthe Bible will take its place with the Shastras, Puranas, Vedas, Eddas,\nSagas and Korans, and the fetters of a degrading faith will fall from\nthe minds of men.\n\n\"But,\" says the religionist, \"you cannot explain everything; you cannot\nunderstand everything; and that which you cannot explain, that which you\ndo not comprehend, is my God.\"\n\nWe are explaining more every day. We are understanding more every day;\nconsequently your God is growing smaller every day.\n\nNothing daunted, the religionist then insists that nothing can exist\nwithout a cause, except cause, and that this uncaused cause is God.\n\nTo this we again reply: Every cause must produce an effect, because\nuntil it does produce an effect, it is not a cause. Every effect must\nin its turn become a cause. Therefore, in the nature of things, there\ncannot be a last cause, for the reason that a so-called last cause would\nnecessarily produce an effect, and that effect must of necessity becomes\na cause. The converse of these propositions must be true. Every effect\nmust have had a cause, and every cause must have been an effect.\nTherefore there could have been no first cause. A first cause is just as\nimpossible as a last effect.\n\nBeyond the universe there is nothing, and within the universe the\nsupernatural does not and cannot exist.\n\nThe moment these great truths are understood and admitted, a belief in\ngeneral or special providence become impossible. From that instant men\nwill cease their vain efforts to please an imaginary being, and will\ngive their time and attention to the affairs of this world. They will\nabandon the idea of attaining any object by prayer and supplication.\nThe element of uncertainty will, in a great measure, be removed from the\ndomain of the future, and man, gathering courage from a succession of\nvictories over the obstructions of nature, will attain a serene grandeur\nunknown to the disciples of any superstition. The plans of mankind will\nno longer be interfered with by the finger of a supposed omnipotence,\nand no one will believe that nations or individuals are protected or\ndestroyed by any deity whatever. Science, freed from the chains of pious\ncustom and evangelical prejudice, will, within her sphere, be supreme.\nThe mind will investigate without reverence, and publish its conclusions\nwithout fear. Agassiz will no longer hesitate to declare the Mosaic\ncosmogony utterly inconsistent with the demonstrated truths of geology,\nand will cease pretending any reverence for the Jewish Scriptures. The\nmoment science succeeds in rendering the church powerless for evil, the\nreal thinkers will be outspoken. The little flags of truce carried by\ntimid philosophers will disappear, and the cowardly parley will give\nplace to victory—lasting and universal.\n\nIf we admit that some infinite being has controlled the destinies of\npersons and peoples, history becomes a most cruel and bloody farce.\nAge after age, the strong have trampled upon the weak; the crafty\nand heartless have ensnared and enslaved the simple and innocent, and\nnowhere, in all the annals of mankind, has any god succored the\noppressed.\n\nMan should cease to expect aid from on high. By this time he should know\nthat heaven has no ear to hear, and no hand to help. The present is the\nnecessary child of all the past. There has been no chance, and there can\nbe no interference.\n\nIf abuses are destroyed, man must destroy them. If slaves are freed, man\nmust free them. If new truths are discovered, man must discover them.\nIf the naked are clothed; if the hungry are fed; if justice is done;\nif labor is rewarded; if superstition is driven from the mind; if the\ndefenceless are protected and if the right finally triumphs, all must be\nthe work of man. The grand victories of the future must be won by man,\nand by man alone.\n\nNature, so far as we can discern, without passion and without intention,\nforms, transforms, and retransforms forever. She neither weeps nor\nrejoices. She produces man without purpose, and obliterates him without\nregret. She knows no distinction between the beneficial and the hurtful.\nPoison and nutrition, pain and joy, life and death, smiles and tears are\nalike to her. She is neither merciful nor cruel. She cannot be flattered\nby worship nor melted by tears. She does not know even the attitude of\nprayer. She appreciates no difference between poison in the fangs of\nsnakes and mercy in the hearts of men. Only through man does nature take\ncognizance of the good, the true, and the beautiful; and, so far as we\nknow, man is the highest intelligence.\n\nAnd yet man continues to believe that there is some power independent\nof and superior to nature, and still endeavors, by form, ceremony,\nsupplication, hypocrisy and sacrifice, to obtain its aid. His best\nenergies have been wasted in the service of this phantom. The horrors\nof witchcraft were all born of an ignorant belief in the existence of\na totally depraved being superior to nature, acting in perfect\nindependence of her laws; and all religious superstition has had for its\nbasis a belief in at least two beings, one good and the other bad, both\nof whom could arbitrarily change the order of the universe. The history\nof religion is simply the story of man's efforts in all ages to avoid\none of these powers, and to pacify the other. Both powers have inspired\nlittle else than abject fear. The cold, calculating sneer of the devil,\nand the frown of God, were equally terrible. In any event, man's fate\nwas to be arbitrarily fixed forever by an unknown power superior to\nall law, and to all fact. Until this belief is thrown aside, man must\nconsider himself the slave of phantom masters—neither of whom promise\nliberty in this world nor in the next.\n\nMan must learn to rely upon himself. Reading bibles will not protect\nhim from the blasts of winter, but houses, fires, and clothing will.\nTo prevent famine, one plow is worth a million sermons, and even patent\nmedicines will cure more diseases than all the prayers uttered since the\nbeginning of the world.\n\nAlthough many eminent men have endeavored to harmonize necessity and\nfree will, the existence of evil, and the infinite power and goodness\nof God, they have succeeded only in producing learned and ingenious\nfailures. Immense efforts have been made to reconcile ideas utterly\ninconsistent with the facts by which we are surrounded, and all persons\nwho have failed to perceive the pretended reconciliation, have been\ndenounced as infidels, atheists and scoffers. The whole power of the\nchurch has been brought to bear against philosophers and scientists\nin order to compel a denial of the authority of demonstration, and to\ninduce some Judas to betray Reason, one of the saviors of mankind.\n\nDuring that frightful period known as the \"Dark Ages,\" Faith reigned,\nwith scarcely a rebellious subject. Her temples were \"carpeted with\nknees,\" and the wealth of nations adorned her countless shrines. The\ngreat painters prostituted their genius to immortalize her vagaries,\nwhile the poets enshrined them in song. At her bidding, man covered the\nearth with blood. The scales of Justice were turned with her gold, and\nfor her use were invented all the cunning instruments of pain. She built\ncathedrals for God, and dungeons for men. She peopled the clouds with\nangels and the earth with slaves. For centuries the world was retracing\nits steps—going steadily back toward barbaric night! A few infidels—a\nfew heretics cried, \"Halt!\" to the great rabble of ignorant devotion,\nand made it possible for the genius of the nineteenth century to\nrevolutionize the cruel creeds and superstitions of mankind.\n\nThe thoughts of man, in order to be of any real worth, must be free.\nUnder the influence of fear the brain is paralyzed, and instead of\nbravely solving a problem for itself, tremblingly adopts the solution\nof another. As long as a majority of men will cringe to the very earth\nbefore some petty prince or king, what must be the infinite abjectness\nof their little souls in the presence of their supposed creator and God?\nUnder such circumstances, what can their thoughts be worth?\n\nThe originality of repetition, and the mental vigor of acquiescence, are\nall that we have any right to expect from the Christian world. As long\nas every question is answered by the word \"God,\" scientific inquiry is\nsimply impossible. As fast as phenomena are satisfactorily explained the\ndomain of the power, supposed to be superior to nature must decrease,\nwhile the horizon of the known must as constantly continue to enlarge.\n\nIt is no longer satisfactory to account for the fall and rise of nations\nby saying, \"It is the will of God.\" Such an explanation puts ignorance\nand education upon an exact equality, and does away with the idea of\nreally accounting for anything whatever.\n\nWill the religionist pretend that the real end of science is to\nascertain how and why God acts? Science, from such a standpoint would\nconsist in investigating the law of arbitrary action, and in a grand\nendeavor to ascertain the rules necessarily obeyed by infinite caprice.\n\nFrom a philosophical point of view, science is knowledge of the laws\nof life; of the conditions of happiness; of the facts by which we are\nsurrounded, and the relations we sustain to men and things—by means\nof which, man, so to speak, subjugates nature and bends the elemental\npowers to his will, making blind force the servant of his brain.\n\nA belief in special providence does away with the spirit of\ninvestigation, and is inconsistent with personal effort. Why should man\nendeavor to thwart the designs of God? Which of you, by taking thought,\ncan add one cubit to his stature? Under the influence of this belief,\nman, basking in the sunshine of a delusion, considers the lilies of the\nfield and refuses to take any thought for the morrow. Believing himself\nin the power of an infinite being, who can, at any moment, dash him\nto the lowest hell or raise him to the highest heaven, he necessarily\nabandons the idea of accomplishing anything by his own efforts. As\nlong as this belief was general, the world was filled with ignorance,\nsuperstition and misery. The energies of man were wasted in a vain\neffort to obtain the aid of this power, supposed to be superior to\nnature. For countless ages, even men were sacrificed upon the altar of\nthis impossible god. To please him, mothers have shed the blood of their\nown babes; martyrs have chanted triumphant songs in the midst of flame;\npriests have gorged themselves with blood; nuns have forsworn the\necstasies of love; old men have tremblingly implored; women have sobbed\nand entreated; every pain has been endured, and every horror has been\nperpetrated.\n\nThrough the dim long years that have fled, humanity has suffered more\nthan can be conceived. Most of the misery has been endured by the weak,\nthe loving and the innocent Women have been treated like poisonous\nbeasts, and little children trampled upon as though they had been\nvermin. Numberless altars have been reddened, even with the blood of\nbabes; beautiful girls have been given to slimy serpents; whole races\nof men doomed to centuries of slavery, and everywhere there has been\noutrage beyond the power of genius to express. During all these years\nthe suffering have supplicated; the withered lips of famine have prayed;\nthe pale victims have implored, and Heaven has been deaf and blind.\n\nOf what use have the gods been to man?\n\nIt is no answer to say that some god created the world, established\ncertain laws, and then turned his attention to other matters, leaving\nhis children weak, ignorant and unaided, to fight the battle of life\nalone. It is no solution to declare that in some other world this god\nwill render a few, or even all, his subjects happy. What right have we\nto expect that a perfectly wise, good and powerful being will ever\ndo better than he has done, and is doing? The world is filled with\nimperfections. If it was made by an infinite being, what reason have we\nfor saying that he will render it nearer perfect than it now is? If the\ninfinite \"Father\" allows a majority of his children to live in ignorance\nand wretchedness now, what evidence is there that he will ever improve\ntheir condition? Will God have more power? Will he become more merciful?\nWill his love for his poor creatures increase? Can the conduct of\ninfinite wisdom, power and love ever change? Is the infinite capable of\nany improvement whatever?\n\nWe are informed by the clergy that this world is a kind of school; that\nthe evils by which we are surrounded are for the purpose of developing\nour souls, and that only by suffering can men become pure, strong,\nvirtuous and grand.\n\nSupposing this to be true, what is to become of those who die in\ninfancy? The little children, according to this philosophy, can never\nbe developed. They were so unfortunate as to escape the ennobling\ninfluences of pain and misery, and as a consequence, are doomed to\nan eternity of mental inferiority. If the clergy are right on this\nquestion, none are so unfortunate as the happy, and we should envy only\nthe suffering and distressed. If evil is necessary to the development\nof man, in this life, how is it possible for the soul to improve in the\nperfect joy of Paradise?\n\nSince Paley found his watch, the argument of \"design\" has been relied\nupon as unanswerable. The church teaches that this world, and all that\nit contains, were created substantially as we now see them; that the\ngrasses, the flowers, the trees, and all animals, including man, were\nspecial creations, and that they sustain no necessary relation to each\nother. The most orthodox will admit that some earth has been washed into\nthe sea; that the sea has encroached a little upon the land, and that\nsome mountains may be a trifle lower than in the morning of creation.\nThe theory of gradual development was unknown to our fathers; the idea\nof evolution did not occur to them. Our fathers looked upon the then\narrangement of things as the primal arrangement. The earth appeared\nto them fresh from the hands of a deity. They knew nothing of the slow\nevolutions of countless years, but supposed that the almost infinite\nvariety of vegetable and animal forms had existed from the first.\n\nSuppose that upon some island we should find a man a million years of\nage, and suppose that we should find him in the possession of a most\nbeautiful carriage, constructed upon the most perfect model. And\nsuppose, further, that he should tell us that it was the result of\nseveral hundred thousand years of labor and of thought; that for\nfifty thousand years he used as flat a log as he could find, before\nit occurred to him, that by splitting the log, he could have the same\nsurface with only half the weight; that it took him many thousand years\nto invent wheels for this log; that the wheels he first used were solid,\nand that fifty thousand years of thought suggested the use of spokes\nand tire; that for many centuries he used the wheels without linch-pins;\nthat it took a hundred thousand years more to think of using four\nwheels, instead of two; that for ages he walked behind the carriage,\nwhen going down hill, in order to hold it back, and that only by a lucky\nchance he invented the tongue; would we conclude that this man, from\nthe very first, had been an infinitely ingenious and perfect mechanic?\nSuppose we found him living in an elegant mansion, and he should inform\nus that he lived in that house for five hundred thousand years before\nhe thought of putting on a roof, and that he had but recently invented\nwindows and doors; would we say that from the beginning he had been an\ninfinitely accomplished and scientific architect?\n\nDoes not an improvement in the things created, show a corresponding\nimprovement in the creator?\n\nWould an infinitely wise, good and powerful God, intending to produce\nman, commence with the lowest possible forms of life; with the simplest\norganism that can be imagined, and during immeasurable periods of time,\nslowly and almost imperceptibly improve upon the rude beginning, until\nman was evolved? Would countless ages thus be wasted in the production\nof awkward forms, afterwards abandoned? Can the intelligence of man\ndiscover the least wisdom in covering the earth with crawling, creeping\nhorrors, that live only upon the agonies and pangs of others? Can we see\nthe propriety of so constructing the earth, that only an insignificant\nportion of its surface is capable of producing an intelligent man? Who\ncan appreciate the mercy of so making the world that all animals devour\nanimals; so that every mouth is a slaughterhouse, and every stomach\na tomb? Is it possible to discover infinite intelligence and love in\nuniversal and eternal carnage?\n\nWhat would we think of a father, who should give a farm to his children,\nand before giving them possession should plant upon it thousands of\ndeadly shrubs and vines; should stock it with ferocious beasts, and\npoisonous reptiles; should take pains to put a few swamps in the\nneighborhood to breed malaria; should so arrange matters, that the\nground would occasionally open and swallow a few of his darlings, and\nbesides all this, should establish a few volcanoes in the immediate\nvicinity, that might at any moment overwhelm his children with rivers of\nfire? Suppose that this father neglected to tell his children which of\nthe plants were deadly; that the reptiles were poisonous; failed to say\nanything about the earthquakes, and kept the volcano business a profound\nsecret; would we pronounce him angel or fiend?\n\nAnd yet this is exactly what the orthodox God has done.\n\nAccording to the theologians, God prepared this globe expressly for the\nhabitation of his loved children, and yet he filled the forests with\nferocious beasts; placed serpents in every path; stuffed the world with\nearthquakes, and adorned its surface with mountains of flame.\n\nNotwithstanding all this, we are told that the world is perfect; that\nit was created by a perfect being, and is therefore necessarily perfect.\nThe next moment, these same persons will tell us that the world was\ncursed; covered with brambles, thistles and thorns, and that man was\ndoomed to disease and death, simply because our poor, dear mother ate an\napple contrary to the command of an arbitrary God.\n\nA very pious friend of mine, having heard that I had said the world\nwas full of imperfections, asked me if the report was true. Upon being\ninformed that it was, he expressed great surprise that any one could\nbe guilty of such presumption. He said that, in his judgment, it was\nimpossible to point out an imperfection. \"Be kind enough,\" said he, \"to\nname even one improvement that you could make, if you had the power.\"\n\"Well,\" said I, \"I would make good health catching, instead of disease.\"\nThe truth is, it is impossible to harmonize all the ills, and pains,\nand agonies of this world with the idea that we were created by, and\nare watched over and protected by an infinitely wise, powerful and\nbeneficent God, who is superior to and independent of nature.\n\nThe clergy, however, balance all the real ills of this life with the\nexpected joys of the next. We are assured that all is perfection in\nheaven—there the skies are cloudless—there all is serenity and peace.\nHere empires may be overthrown; dynasties may be extinguished in blood;\nmillions of slaves may toil 'neath the fierce rays of the sun, and the\ncruel strokes of the lash; yet all is happiness in heaven. Pestilences\nmay strew the earth with corpses of the loved; the survivors may bend\nabove them in agony—yet the placid bosom of heaven is unruffled.\nChildren may expire vainly asking for bread; babes may be devoured by\nserpents, while the gods sit smiling in the clouds. The innocent may\nlanguish unto death in the obscurity of dungeons; brave men and heroic\nwomen may be changed to ashes at the bigot's stake, while heaven is\nfilled with song and joy. Out on the wide sea, in darkness and in storm,\nthe shipwrecked struggle with the cruel waves while the angels play\nupon their golden harps. The streets of the world are filled with\nthe diseased, the deformed and the helpless; the chambers of pain are\ncrowded with the pale forms of the suffering, while the angels float\nand fly in the happy realms of day. In heaven they are too happy to have\nsympathy; too busy singing to aid the imploring and distressed. Their\neyes are blinded; their ears are stopped and their hearts are turned to\nstone by the infinite selfishness of joy. The saved mariner is too happy\nwhen he touches the shore to give a moment's thought to his drowning\nbrothers. With the indifference of happiness, with the contempt of\nbliss, heaven barely glances at the miseries of earth. Cities are\ndevoured by the rushing lava; the earth opens and thousands perish;\nwomen raise their clasped hands towards heaven, but the gods are too\nhappy to aid their children. The smiles of the deities are unacquainted\nwith the tears of men. The shouts of heaven drown the sobs of earth.\n\nHaving shown how man created gods, and how he became the trembling slave\nof his own creation, the questions naturally arise: How did he free\nhimself even a little, from these monarchs of the sky, from these\ndespots of the clouds, from this aristocracy of the air? How did he,\neven to the extent that he has, outgrow his ignorant, abject terror, and\nthrow off the yoke of superstition?\n\nProbably, the first thing that tended to disabuse his mind was the\ndiscovery of order, of regularity, of periodicity in the universe. From\nthis he began to suspect that everything did not happen purely with\nreference to him. He noticed, that whatever he might do, the motions\nof the planets were always the same; that eclipses were periodical,\nand that even comets came at certain intervals. This convinced him that\neclipses and comets had nothing to do with him, and that his conduct had\nnothing to do with them. He perceived that they were not caused for\nhis benefit or injury. He thus learned to regard them with admiration\ninstead of fear. He began to suspect that famine was not sent by some\nenraged and revengeful deity, but resulted often from the neglect and\nignorance of man. He learned that diseases were not produced by evil\nspirits. He found that sickness was occasioned by natural causes,\nand could be cured by natural means. He demonstrated, to his own\nsatisfaction at least, that prayer is not a medicine. He found by\nsad experience that his gods were of no practical use, as they never\nassisted him, except when he was perfectly able to help himself. At\nlast, he began to discover that his individual action had nothing\nwhatever to do with strange appearances in the heavens; that it was\nimpossible for him to be bad enough to cause a whirlwind, or good enough\nto stop one. After many centuries of thought, he about half concluded\nthat making mouths at a priest would not necessarily cause an\nearthquake. He noticed, and no doubt with considerable astonishment,\nthat very good men were occasionally struck by lightning, while very bad\nones escaped. He was frequently forced to the painful conclusion (and it\nis the most painful to which any human being ever was forced) that the\nright did not always prevail. He noticed that the gods did not interfere\nin behalf of the weak and innocent. He was now and then astonished\nby seeing an unbeliever in the enjoyment of most excellent health. He\nfinally ascertained that there could be no possible connection between\nan unusually severe winter and his failure to give a sheep to a priest.\nHe began to suspect that the order of the universe was not constantly\nbeing changed to assist him because he repeated a creed. He observed\nthat some children would steal after having been regularly baptized.\nHe noticed a vast difference between religion and justice, and that\nthe worshipers of the same god, took delight in cutting each other's\nthroats. He saw that these religious disputes filled the world with\nhatred and slavery. At last he had the courage to suspect, that no god\nat any time interferes with the order of events. He learned a few\nfacts, and these facts positively refused to harmonize with the ignorant\nsuperstitions of his fathers. Finding his sacred books incorrect and\nfalse in some particulars, his faith in their authenticity began to be\nshaken; finding his priests ignorant upon some points, he began to\nlose respect for the cloth. This was the commencement of intellectual\nfreedom.\n\nThe civilization of man has increased just to the same extent that\nreligious power has decreased. The intellectual advancement of man\ndepends upon how often he can exchange an old superstition for a new\ntruth. The church never enabled a human being to make even one of these\nexchanges; on the contrary, all her power has been used to prevent them.\nIn spite, however, of the church, man found that some of his religious\nconceptions were wrong. By reading his Bible, he found that the ideas\nof his God were more cruel and brutal than those of the most depraved\nsavage. He also discovered that this holy book was filled with\nignorance, and that it must have been written by persons wholly\nunacquainted with the nature of the phenomena by which we are\nsurrounded; and now and then, some man had the goodness and courage to\nspeak his honest thoughts. In every age some thinker, some doubter, some\ninvestigator, some hater of hypocrisy, some despiser of sham, some\nbrave lover of the right, has gladly, proudly and heroically braved\nthe ignorant fury of superstition for the sake of man and truth. These\ndivine men were generally torn in pieces by the worshipers of the\ngods. Socrates was poisoned because he lacked reverence for some of the\ndeities. Christ was crucified by a religious rabble for the crime of\nblasphemy. Nothing is more gratifying to a religionist than to destroy\nhis enemies at the command of God. Religious persecution springs from a\ndue admixture of love towards God and hatred towards man.\n\nThe terrible religious wars that inundated the world with blood tended\nat least to bring all religion into disgrace and hatred. Thoughtful\npeople began to question the divine origin of a religion that made its\nbelievers hold the rights of others in absolute contempt. A few began\nto compare Christianity with the religions of heathen people, and were\nforced to admit that the difference was hardly worth dying for. They\nalso found that other nations were even happier and more prosperous than\ntheir own. They began to suspect that their religion, after all, was not\nof much real value.\n\nFor three hundred years the Christian world endeavored to rescue from\nthe \"Infidel\" the empty sepulchre of Christ. For three hundred years the\narmies of the cross were baffled and beaten by the victorious hosts\nof an impudent impostor. This immense fact sowed the seeds of distrust\nthroughout all Christendom, and millions began to lose confidence in\na God who had been vanquished by Mohammed. The people also found that\ncommerce made friends where religion made enemies, and that religious\nzeal was utterly incompatible with peace between nations or individuals.\nThey discovered that those who loved the gods most were apt to love men\nleast; that the arrogance of universal forgiveness was amazing; that the\nmost malicious had the effrontery to pray for their enemies, and that\nhumility and tyranny were the fruit of the same tree.\n\nFor ages, a deadly conflict has been waged between a few brave men and\nwomen of thought and genius upon the one side, and the great ignorant\nreligious mass on the other. This is the war between Science and Faith.\nThe few have appealed to reason, to honor, to law, to freedom, to the\nknown, and to happiness here in this world. The many have appealed\nto prejudice, to fear, to miracle, to slavery, to the unknown, and\nto misery hereafter. The few have said, \"Think!\" The many have said,\n\"Believe!\"\n\nThe first doubt was the womb and cradle of progress, and from the first\ndoubt, man has continued to advance. Men began to investigate, and the\nchurch began to oppose. The astronomer scanned the heavens, while the\nchurch branded his grand forehead with the word, \"Infidel;\" and now,\nnot a glittering star in all the vast expanse bears a Christian name.\nIn spite of all religion, the geologist penetrated the earth, read her\nhistory in books of stone, and found, hidden within her bosom, souvenirs\nof all the ages. Old ideas perished in the retort of the chemist, and\nuseful truths took their places. One by one religious conceptions have\nbeen placed in the crucible of science, and thus far, nothing but dross\nhas been found. A new world has been discovered by the microscope;\neverywhere has been found the infinite; in every direction man has\ninvestigated and explored and nowhere, in earth or stars, has been found\nthe footstep of any being superior to or independent of nature. Nowhere\nhas been discovered the slightest evidence of any interference from\nwithout.\n\nThese are the sublime truths that enabled man to throw off the yoke of\nsuperstition. These are the splendid facts that snatched the sceptre of\nauthority from the hands of priests.\n\nIn that vast cemetery, called the past, are most of the religions of\nmen, and there, too, are nearly all their gods. The sacred temples of\nIndia were ruins long ago. Over column and cornice; over the painted and\npictured walls, cling and creep the trailing vines. Brahma, the golden,\nwith four heads and four arms; Vishnu, the sombre, the punisher of the\nwicked, with his three eyes, his crescent, and his necklace of skulls;\nSiva, the destroyer, red with seas of blood; Kali, the goddess;\nDraupadi, the white-armed, and Chrishna, the Christ, all passed away and\nleft the thrones of heaven desolate. Along the banks of the sacred\nNile, Isis no longer wandering weeps, searching for the dead Osiris. The\nshadow of Typhon's scowl falls no more upon the waves. The sun rises\nas of yore, and his golden beams still smite the lips of Memnon, but\nMemnon is as voiceless as the Sphinx. The sacred fanes are lost in\ndesert sands; the dusty mummies are still waiting for the resurrection\npromised by their priests, and the old beliefs, wrought in curiously\nsculptured stone, sleep in the mystery of a language lost and dead.\nOdin, the author of life and soul, Vili and Ve, and the mighty giant\nYmir, strode long ago from the icy halls of the North; and Thor, with\niron glove and glittering hammer, dashes mountains to the earth no more.\nBroken are the circles and cromlechs of the ancient Druids; fallen upon\nthe summits of the hills, and covered with the centuries' moss, are the\nsacred cairns. The divine fires of Persia and of the Aztecs, have died\nout in the ashes of the past, and there is none to rekindle, and none to\nfeed the holy flames. The harp of Orpheus is still; the drained cup of\nBacchus has been thrown aside; Venus lies dead in stone, and her white\nbosom heaves no more with love. The streams still murmur, but no naiads\nbathe; the trees still wave, but in the forest aisles no dryads dance.\nThe gods have flown from high Olympus. Not even the beautiful women\ncan lure them back, and Danae lies unnoticed, naked to the stars. Hushed\nforever are the thunders of Sinai; lost are the voices of the prophets,\nand the land once flowing with milk and honey, is but a desert waste.\nOne by one, the myths have faded from the clouds: one by one, the\nphantom host has disappeared, and one by one, facts, truths and\nrealities have taken their places. The supernatural has almost gone, but\nthe natural remains. The gods have fled, but man is here.\n\nNations, like individuals, have their periods of youth, of manhood and\ndecay. Religions are the same. The same inexorable destiny awaits them\nall. The gods created by the nations must perish with their creators.\nThey were created by men, and like men, they must pass away. The deities\nof one age are the by-words of the next The religion of our day, and\ncountry, is no more exempt from the sneer of the future than the others\nhave been. When India was supreme, Brahma sat upon the world's throne.\nWhen the sceptre passed to Egypt, Isis and Osiris received the homage of\nmankind. Greece, with her fierce valor, swept to empire, and Zeus put\non the purple of authority. The earth trembled with the tread of Rome's\nintrepid sons, and Jove grasped with mailed hand the thunderbolts of\nheaven. Rome fell, and Christians from her territory, with the red sword\nof war, carved out the ruling nations of the world, and now Christ sits\nupon the old throne. Who will be his successor?\n\nDay by day, religious conceptions grow less and less intense. Day by\nday, the old spirit dies out of book and creed. The burning enthusiasm,\nthe quenchless zeal of the early church have gone, never, never to\nreturn. The ceremonies remain, but the ancient faith is fading out\nof the human heart. The worn-out arguments fail to convince, and\ndenunciations that once blanched the faces of a race, excite in us\nonly derision and disgust. As time rolls on, the miracles grow mean and\nsmall, and the evidences our fathers thought conclusive utterly fail to\nsatisfy us. There is an \"irrepressible conflict\" between religion and\nscience, and they cannot peaceably occupy the same brain nor the same\nworld.\n\nWhile utterly discarding all creeds, and denying the truth of all\nreligions, there is neither in my heart nor upon my lips a sneer for the\nhopeful, loving and tender souls who believe that from all this discord\nwill result a perfect harmony; that every evil will in some mysterious\nway become a good, and that above and over all there is a being who, in\nsome way, will reclaim and glorify every one of the children of men;\nbut for those who heartlessly try to prove that salvation is almost\nimpossible; that damnation is almost certain; that the highway of the\nuniverse leads to hell; who fill life with fear and death with horror;\nwho curse the cradle and mock the tomb, it is impossible to entertain\nother than feelings of pity, contempt and scorn.\n\nReason, Observation and Experience—the Holy Trinity of Science—have\ntaught us that happiness is the only good; that the time to be happy is\nnow, and the way to be happy is to make others so. This is enough for\nus. In this belief we are content to live and die. If by any possibility\nthe existence of a power superior to, and independent of, nature shall\nbe demonstrated, there will then be time enough to kneel. Until then,\nlet us stand erect.\n\nNotwithstanding the fact that infidels in all ages have battled for\nthe rights of man, and have at all times been the fearless advocates\nof liberty and justice, we are constantly charged by the church with\ntearing down without building again. The church should by this time know\nthat it is utterly impossible to rob men of their opinions. The history\nof religious persecution fully establishes the fact that the mind\nnecessarily resists and defies every attempt to control it by violence.\nThe mind necessarily clings to old ideas until prepared for the new.\nThe moment we comprehend the truth, all erroneous ideas are of necessity\ncast aside.\n\nA surgeon once called upon a poor cripple and kindly offered to render\nhim any assistance in his power. The surgeon began to discourse very\nlearnedly upon the nature and origin of disease; of the curative\nproperties of certain medicines; of the advantages of exercise, air and\nlight, and of the various ways in which health and strength could be\nrestored. These remarks were so full of good sense, and discovered so\nmuch profound thought and accurate knowledge, that the cripple, becoming\nthoroughly alarmed, cried out, \"Do not, I pray you, take away my\ncrutches. They are my only support, and without them I should be\nmiserable indeed!\" \"I am not going,\" said the surgeon, \"to take away\nyour crutches. I am going to cure you, and then you will throw the\ncrutches away yourself.\"\n\nFor the vagaries of the clouds the infidels propose to substitute the\nrealities of earth; for superstition, the splendid demonstrations and\nachievements of science; and for theological tyranny, the chainless\nliberty of thought.\n\nWe do not say that we have discovered all; that our doctrines are the\nall in all of truth. We know of no end to the development of man. We\ncannot unravel the infinite complications of matter and force. The\nhistory of one monad is as unknown as that of the universe; one drop of\nwater is as wonderful as all the seas; one leaf, as all the forests; and\none grain of sand, as all the stars.\n\nWe are not endeavoring to chain the future, but to free the present. We\nare not forging fetters for our children, but we are breaking those our\nfathers made for us. We are the advocates of inquiry, of investigation\nand thought This of itself, is an admission that we are not perfectly\nsatisfied with all our conclusions. Philosophy has not the egotism of\nfaith. While superstition builds walls and creates obstructions,\nscience opens all the highways of thought. We do not pretend to have\ncircumnavigated everything, and to have solved all difficulties, but we\ndo believe that it is better to love men than to fear gods; that it is\ngrander and nobler to think and investigate for yourself than to repeat\na creed. We are satisfied that there can be but little liberty on earth\nwhile men worship a tyrant in heaven. We do not expect to accomplish\neverything in our day; but we want to do what good we can, and to render\nall the service possible in the holy cause of human progress. We know\nthat doing away with gods and supernatural persons and powers is not an\nend. It is a means to an end: the real end being the happiness of man.\n\nFelling forests is not the end of agriculture. Driving pirates from the\nsea is not all there is of commerce.\n\nWe are laying the foundations of the grand temple of the future—not the\ntemple of all the gods, but of all the people—wherein, with appropriate\nrites, will be celebrated the religion of Humanity. We are doing what\nlittle we can to hasten the coming of the day when society shall cease\nproducing millionaires and mendicants—gorged indolence and famished\nindustry—truth in rags, and superstition robed and crowned. We are\nlooking for the time when the useful shall be the honorable; and when\nReason, throned upon the world's brain, shall be the King of Kings, and\nGod of Gods.\n"
}