,,humanity',s ,,gain from ,,unbelief ,by ,charles ,bradlaugh ,reprinted from the ,north ,american ,review of ,march1 #ahhi4 ,,london ,,freethought ,,publishing ,,company1 #ahhi4 ,,humanity',s ,,gain ,,from ,,unbelief4 ,as an unbeliever1 ,i ask leave to plead that humanity has been real gainer from scepticism1 and that the gradual and growing rejection of ,christianity--like the rejection of the faiths which preceded it--has in fact added1 and will add1 to man's happiness and well being4 ,i maintain that in physics science is the outcome of scepticism1 and that general progress is impossible without scepticism on matters of religion4 ,i mean by religion every form of belief which accepts or asserts the supernatural4 ,i write as a ,monist1 and use the word nature as meaning all phenomena1 every phnomenon1 all that is necessary for the happening of any and every phnomenon4 ,every religion is constantly changing1 and at any given time is the measure of the civilisation attained by what ,guizot described as the juste milieu of those who profess it4 ,each religion is slowly but certainly modified in its dogma and practice by the gradual development of the peoples amongst whom it is professed4 ,each discovery destroys in whole or part some theretofore cherished belief4 ,no religion is suddenly rejected by any people2 it is rather gradually out-grown4 ,none see a religion die2 dead religions are like dead languages and obsolete customs2 the decay is long and--like the glacier march--is only perceptible to the careful watcher by comparisons extending over long periods4 ,a superseded religion may often be traced in the festivals1 ceremonies1 and dogmas of the religion which has replaced it4 ,traces of obsolete religions may often be found in popular customs1 in old wives' stories1 and in children's tales4 ,it is necessary1 in order that my plea should be understood1 that ,i should explain what ,i mean by ,christianity2 and in the very attempt at this explanation there will1 ,i think1 be found strong illustration of the value of unbelief4 ,christianity in practice may be gathered from its more ancient forms1 represented by the ,roman ,catholic and the ,greek ,churches1 or from the various churches which have grown up in the last few centuries4 ,each of these churches calls itself ,christian4 ,some of them deny the right of the others to use the word ,christian4 ,some ,christian churches treat1 or have treated1 other ,christian churches as heretics or unbelievers4 ,the ,roman ,catholics and the ,protestants in ,great ,britain and ,ireland have in turn been terribly cruel one to the other2 and the ferocious laws of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries1 enacted by the ,english ,protestants against ,english and ,irish ,papists1 are a disgrace to civilisation4 ,these penal laws1 enduring longest in ,ireland1 still bear fruit in much of the political mischief and agrarian crime of to-day4 ,it is only the tolerant indifference of scepticism that1 one after the other1 has repealed most of the laws directed by the ,established ,christian ,church against ,papists and ,dissenters1 and also against ,jews and heretics4 ,church of ,england clergymen have in the past gone to great lengths in denouncing nonconformity2 and even in the present day an effective sample of such denunciatory bigotry may be found in a sort of orthodox catechism written by the ,rev4 ,f4 ,a4 ,gace1 of ,great ,barling1 ,essex1 the popularity of which is vouched by the fact that it has gone through ten editions4 ,this catechism for little children teaches that ,dissent is a great sin1 and that ,dissenters worship ,god according to their own evil and corrupt imaginations1 and not according to his revealed will1 and therefore their worship is idolatrous4 ,church of ,england ,christians and ,dissenting ,christians1 when fraternising amongst themselves1 often publicly draw the line at ,unitarians1 and positively deny that these have any sort of right to call themselves ,christians4 ,in the first half of the seventeenth century ,quakers were flogged and imprisoned in ,england as blasphemers2 and the early ,christian settlers in ,new ,england1 escaping from the persecution of ,old ,world ,christians1 showed scant mercy to the followers of ,fox and ,penn4 ,it is customary1 in controversy1 for those advocating the claims of ,christianity1 to include all good done by men in nominally ,christian countries as if such good were the result of ,christianity1 while they contend that the evil which exists prevails in spite of ,christianity4 ,i shall try to make out that the ameliorating march of the last few centuries has been initiated by the heretics of each age1 though ,i quite concede that the men and women denounced and persecuted as infidels by the pious of one century1 are frequently claimed as saints by the pious of a later generation4 ,what then is ,christianity8 ,as a system or scheme of doctrine1 ,christianity may1 ,i submit1 not unfairly be gathered from the ,old and ,new ,testaments4 ,it is true that some ,christians to-day desire to escape from submission to portions1 at any rate1 of the ,old ,testament2 but this very tendency seems to me to be part of the result of the beneficial heresy for which ,i am pleading4 ,man's humanity has revolted against ,old ,testament barbarism2 and therefore he has attempted to disassociate the ,old ,testament from ,christianity4 ,unless ,old and ,new ,testaments are accepted as ,god's revelation to man1 ,christianity has no higher claim than any other of the world's many religions1 if no such claim can be made out for it apart from the ,bible4 ,and though it is quite true that some who deem themselves ,christians put the ,old ,testament completely in the background1 this is1 ,i allege1 because they are out-growing their ,christianity4 ,without the doctrine of the atoning sacrifice of ,jesus1 ,christianity1 as a religion1 is naught2 but unless the story of ,adam's fall is accepted1 the redemption from the consequences of that fall cannot be believed4 ,both in ,great ,britain and in the ,united ,states the ,old and ,new ,testaments are forced on the people as part of ,christianity2 for it is blasphemy at common law to deny the scriptures of the ,old and ,new ,testaments to be of divine authority2 and such denial is punishable with fine and imprisonment1 or even worse4 ,the rejection of ,christianity intended throughout this paper1 is therefore the rejection of the ,old and ,new ,testaments as being of divine revelation4 ,it is the rejection alike of the authorised teachings of the ,church of ,rome and of the ,church of ,england1 as these may be found in the ,bible1 the creeds1 the encyclicals1 the prayer book1 the canons and homilies of either or both of these churches4 ,it is the rejection of the ,christianity of ,luther1 of ,calvin1 and of ,wesley4 ,a ground frequently taken by ,christian theologians is that the progress and civilisation of the world are due to ,christianity2 and the discussion is complicated by the fact that many eminent servants of humanity have been nominal ,christians1 of one or other of the sects4 ,my allegation will be that the special services rendered to human progress by these exceptional men1 have not been in consequence of their adhesion to ,christianity1 but in spite of it2 and that the specific points of advantage to human kind have been in ratio of their direct opposition to precise ,biblical enactments4 ,a4 ,s4 ,farrar says 7#a7 that ,christianity asserts authority over religious belief in virtue of being a supernatural communication from ,god1 and claims the right to control human thought in virtue of possessing sacred books1 which are at once the record and the instrument of the communication1 written by men endowed with supernatural inspiration4 #a ,farrar's ,critical ,history of ,freethought4 ,unbelievers refuse to submit to the asserted authority1 and deny this claim of control over human thought3 they allege that every effort at freethinking must provoke sturdier thought4 ,take one clear gain to humanity consequent on unbelief1 i4e4 in the abolition of slavery in some countries1 in the abolition of the slave trade in most civilised countries1 and in the tendency to its total abolition4 ,i am unaware of any religion in the world which in the past forbade slavery4 ,the professors of ,christianity for ages supported it2 the ,old ,testament repeatedly sanctioned it by special laws2 the ,new ,testament has no repealing declaration4 ,though we are at the close of the nineteenth century of the ,christian era1 it is only during the past three-quarters of a century that the battle for freedom has been gradually won4 ,it is scarcely a quarter of a century since the famous emancipation amendment was carried to the ,united ,states ,constitution4 ,and it is impossible for any well-informed ,christian to deny that the abolition movement in ,north ,america was most steadily and bitterly opposed by the religious bodies in the various ,states4 ,henry ,wilson1 in his ,rise and ,fall of the ,slave ,power in ,america2 ,samuel ,j4 ,may1 in his ,recollections of the ,anti-,slavery ,conflict2 and ,j4 ,greenleaf ,whittier1 in his poems1 alike are witnesses that the ,bible and pulpit1 the ,church and its great influence1 were used against abolition and in favor of the slaveowner4 ,i know that ,christians in the present day often declare that ,christianity had a large share in bringing about the abolition of slavery1 and this because men professing ,christianity were abolitionists4 ,i plead that these so-called ,christian abolitionists were men and women whose humanity1 recognising freedom for all1 was in this in direct conflict with ,christianity4 ,it is not yet fifty years since the ,european ,christian powers jointly agreed to abolish the slave trade4 ,what of the effect of ,christianity on these powers in the centuries which had preceded8 ,the heretic ,condorcet pleaded powerfully for freedom whilst ,christian ,france was still slave-holding4 ,for many centuries ,christian ,spain and ,christian ,portugal held slaves4 ,porto ,rico freedom is not of long date2 and ,cuban emancipation is even yet newer4 ,it was a ,christian ,king1 ,charles #eth1 and a ,christian friar1 who founded in ,spanish ,america the slave trade between the ,old ,world and the ,new4 ,for some #ahjj years1 almost1 ,christians kept slaves1 bought slaves1 sold slaves1 bred slaves1 stole slaves4 ,pious ,bristol and godly ,liverpool less than #ajj years ago openly grew rich on the traffic4 ,daring the ninth century week ,christians sold slaves to the ,saracens4 ,in the eleventh century prostitutes were publicly sold as slaves in ,rome1 and the profit went to the ,church4 ,it is said that ,william ,wilberforce1 the abolitionist1 was a ,christian4 ,but at any rate his ,christianity was strongly diluted with unbelief4 ,as an abolitionist he did not believe ,leviticus xxv1 #dd-f2 he must have rejected ,exodus xxi1 #b-f2 he could not have accepted the many permissions and injunctions by the ,bible deity to his chosen people to capture and hold slaves4 ,in the ,house of ,commons on #ahth ,february1 #agif1 ,wilberforce reminded that ,christian assembly that infidel and anarchic ,france had given liberty to the ,africans1 whilst ,christian and monarchic ,england was obstinately continuing a system of cruelty and injustice4 ,wilberforce1 whilst advocating the abolition of slavery1 found the whole influence of the ,english ,court1 and the great weight of the ,episcopal ,bench1 against him4 ,george ,,iii1 a most ,christian king1 regarded abolition theories with abhorrence1 and the ,christian ,house of ,lords was utterly opposed to granting freedom to the slave4 ,when ,christian missionaries some sixty-two years ago preached to ,demerara negroes under the rule of ,christian ,england1 they were treated by ,christian judges1 holding commission from ,christian ,england1 as criminals for so preaching4 ,a ,christian commissioned officer1 member of the ,established ,church of ,england1 signed the auction notices for the sale of slaves as late as the year #ahbd4 ,in the evidence before a ,christian court-martial1 a missionary is charged with having tended to make the negroes dissatisfied with their condition as slaves1 and with having promoted discontent and dissatisfaction amongst the slaves against their lawful masters4 ,for this the ,christian judges sentenced the ,demerara abolitionist missionary to be hanged by the neck till he was dead4 ,the judges belonged to the ,established ,church2 the missionary was a ,methodist4 ,in this the ,church of ,england ,christians in ,demerara were no worse than ,christians of other sects3 their ,roman ,catholic ,christian brethren in ,st4 ,domingo fiercely attacked the ,jesuits as criminals because they treated negroes as though they were men and women1 in encouraging two slaves to separate their interest and safety from that of the gang1 whilst orthodox ,christians let them couple promiscuously and breed for the benefit of their owners like any other of their plantation cattle4 ,in #ahbc the ,royal ,gazette 7,christian7 of ,demerara said3 ,we shall not suffer you to enlighten our slaves1 who are by law our property1 till you can demonstrate that when they are made religious and knowing they will continue to be our slaves4 ,when ,william ,lloyd ,garrison1 the pure-minded and most earnest abolitionist1 delivered his first anti-slavery address in ,boston1 ,massachusetts1 the only building he could obtain1 in which to speak1 was the infidel hall owned by ,abner ,kneeland1 the infidel editor of the ,boston ,investigatory who had been sent to gaol for blasphemy4 ,every ,christian sect had in turn refused ,mr4 ,lloyd ,garrison the use of the buildings they severally controlled4 ,lloyd ,garrison told me himself how honored deacons of a ,christian ,church joined in an actual attempt to hang him4 ,when abolition was advocated in the ,united ,states in #agij1 the representative from ,south ,carolina was able to plead that the ,southern clergy did not condemn either slavery or the slave trade2 and ,mr4 ,jackson1 the representative from ,georgia1 pleaded that from ,genesis to ,revelation the current was favorable to slavery4 ,elias ,hicks1 the brave ,abolitionist ,quaker1 was denounced as an ,atheist1 and less than twenty years ago a ,hicksite ,quaker was expelled from one of the ,southern ,american ,legislatures1 because of the reputed irreligion of these abolitionist ,friends4 ,when the ,fugitive ,slave ,law was under discussion in ,north ,america1 large numbers of clergymen of nearly every denomination were found ready to defend this infamous law4 ,samuel ,james ,may1 the famous abolitionist1 was driven from the pulpit as irreligious1 solely because of his attacks on slaveholding4 ,northern clergymen tried to induce silver tongued ,wendell ,philips to abandon his advocacy of abolition4 ,southern pulpits rang with praises for the murderous attack on ,charles ,sumner4 ,the slayers of ,elijah ,lovejoy were highly reputed ,christian men4 ,guizot1 notwithstanding that he tries to claim that the ,church exerted its influence to restrain slavery1 says 7,european ,civilisation1 vol4 i41 p4 #aaj73 ,it has often been repeated that the abolition of slavery among modern people is entirely due to ,christians4 ,that1 ,i think1 is saying too much4 ,slavery existed for a long period in the heart of ,christian society1 without its being particularly astonished or irritated4 ,a multitude of causes1 and a great development in other ideas and principles of civilisation1 were necessary for the abolition of this iniquity of all iniquities4 ,and my contention is that this development in other ideas and principles of civilisation was long retarded by ,governments in which the ,christian ,church was dominant4 ,the men who advocated liberty were imprisoned1 racked1 and burned1 so long as the ,church was strong enough to be merciless4 ,the ,rev4 ,francis ,minton1 ,hector of ,middlewich1 in his recent earnest volume 7#a7 on the struggles of labor1 admits that a few centuries ago slavery was acknowledged throughout ,christendom to have the divine sanction4444 #a ,capital and ,wages1 p4 #ai4 ,neither the exact cause1 nor the precise time of the decline of the belief in the righteousness of slavery can be defined4 ,it was doubtless due to a combination of causes1 one probably being as indirect as the recognition of the greater economy of free labor4 ,with the decline of the belief the abolition of slavery took place4 ,the institution of slavery was actually existent in ,christian ,scotland in the #agth century1 where the white coal workers and salt workers of ,east ,lothian were chattels1 as were their negro brethren in the ,southern ,states thirty years since2 they went to those who succeeded to the property of the works1 and they could be sold1 bartered1 or pawned4 7#a7 ,there is1 says ,j4 ,m4 ,robertson1 no trace that the ,protestant clergy of ,scotland ever raised a voice against the slavery which grew up before their eyes4 ,and it was not until #agii1 after republican and irreligious ,france had set the example1 that it was legally abolished4 #a ,perversion of ,scotland1 p4 #aig4 #b ,capital and ,wages 1 pp4 #ae1 #af4 ,take further the gain to humanity consequent on the unbelief1 or rather disbelief1 in witchcraft and wizardry4 ,apart from the brutality by ,christians towards those suspected of witchcraft1 the hindrance to scientific initiative or experiment was incalculably great so long as belief in magic obtained4 ,the inventions of the past two centuries1 and especially those of the #ahth century1 might have benefitted mankind much earlier and much more largely1 but for the foolish belief in witchcraft and the shocking ferocity exhibited against those suspected of necromancy4 ,after quoting a large number of cases of trial and punishment for witchcraft from official records in ,scotland1 ,j4 ,m4 ,robertson says3 ,the people seem to have passed from cruelty to cruelty precisely as they became more and more fanatical1 more and more devoted to their ,church1 till after many generations the slow spread of human science began to counteract the ravages of superstition1 the clergy resisting reason and humanity to the last4 ,the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,minton concedes that it is the advance of knowledge which has rendered the idea of ,satanic agency through the medium of witchcraft grotesquely ridiculous4 ,he admits that for more than #aejj years the belief in witchcraft was universal in ,christendom1 and that the public mind was saturated with the idea of ,satanic agency in the economy of nature4 ,he adds3 ,if we ask why the world now rejects what was once so unquestioningly believed1 we can only reply that advancing knowledge has gradually undermined the belief4 ,in a letter recently sent to the ,pall ,mall ,gazette against modern ,spiritualism1 ,professor ,huxley declares1 444 that the older form of the same fundamental delusion--the belief in possession and in witchcraft--gave rise in the fifteenth1 sixteenth1 and seventeenth centuries to persecutions by ,christians of innocent men1 women1 and children1 more extensive1 more cruel1 and more murderous than any to which the ,christians of the first three centuries were subjected by the authorities of pagan ,rome4 ,and ,professor ,huxley adds3 ,no one deserves much blame for being deceived in these matters4 ,we are all intellectually handicapped in youth by the incessant repetition of the stories about possession and witchcraft in both the ,old and the ,new ,testaments4 ,the majority of us are taught nothing which will help us to observe accurately and to interpret observations with due caution4 ,the ,english ,statute ,book under ,elizabeth and under ,james was disfigured by enactments against witchcraft passed under pressure from the ,christian churches1 which ,acts have only been repealed in consequence of the disbelief in the ,christian precept1 thou shaft not suffer a witch to live4 ,the statute #a ,james ,i1 c4 #ab1 condemned to death all persons invoking any evil spirits1 or consulting1 covenanting with1 entertaining1 employing1 feeding1 or rewarding any evil spirit1 or generally practising any infernal arts4 ,this was not repealed until the eighteenth century was far advanced4 ,edison's phonograph would #bhj years ago have insured martyrdom for its inventor2 the utilisation of electric force to transmit messages around the world would have been clearly the practice of an infernal art4 ,at least we may plead that unbelief has healed the bleeding feet of science1 and made the road free for her upward march4 ,is it not also fair to urge the gain to humanity which has been apparent in the wiser treatment of the insane1 consequent on the unbelief in the ,christian doctrine that these unfortunates were examples either of demoniacal possession or of special visitation of deity8 ,for centuries under ,christianity mental disease was most ignorantly treated4 ,exorcism1 shackles1 and the whip were the penalties rather than the curatives for mental maladies4 ,from the heretical departure of ,pinel at the close of the last century to the position of ,maudsley to-day1 every step illustrates the march of unbelief4 ,take the gain to humanity in the unbelief not yet complete1 but now largely preponderant1 in the dogma that sickness1 pestilence1 and famine were manifestations of divine anger1 the results of which could neither be avoided nor prevented4 ,the ,christian ,churches have done little or nothing to dispel this superstition4 ,the official and authorised prayers of the principal denominations1 even to-day1 reaffirm it4 ,modern study of the laws of health1 experiments in sanitary improvements1 more careful applications of medical knowledge1 have proved more efficacious in preventing or diminishing plagues and pestilence than have the intervention of the priest or the practice of prayer4 ,those in ,england who hold the old faith that prayer will suffice to cure disease are to-day termed peculiar people1 and are occasionally indicted for manslaughter when their sick children die1 because the parents have trusted to ,god instead of appealing to the resources of science4 ,it is certainly a clear gain to astronomical science that the ,church which tried to compel ,galileo to unsay the truth has been overborne by the growing unbelief of the age1 even though our little children are yet taught that ,joshua made the sun and moon stand still1 and that for ,hezekiah the sun-dial reversed its record4 ,as ,buckle1 arguing for the morality of scepticism1 says 7#a73 #a ,history of ,civilisation1 vol4 i1 p4 #cde4 ,as long as men refer the movements of the comets to the immediate finger of ,god1 and as long as they believe that an eclipse is one of the modes by which the deity expresses his anger1 they will never be guilty of the blasphemous presumption of attempting to predict such supernatural appearances4 ,before they could dare to investigate the causes of these mysterious phnomena1 it is necessary that they should believe1 or at all events that they should suspect1 that the phnomena themselves were capable of being explained by the human mind4 ,as in astronomy so in geology1 the gain of knowledge to humanity has been almost solely in measure of the rejection of the ,christian theory4 ,a century since it was almost universally held that the world was created #f1jjj years ago1 or at any rate1 that by the sin of the first man1 ,adam1 death commenced about that period4 ,ethnology and ,anthropology have only been possible in so far as1 adopting the regretful words of ,sir ,w4 ,jones1 intelligent and virtuous persons are inclined to doubt the authenticity of the accounts delivered by ,moses concerning the primitive world4 ,surely it is clear gain to humanity that unbelief has sprung up against the divine right of kings1 that men no longer believe that the monarch is ,god's anointed or that the powers that be are ordained of ,god4 ,in the struggles for political freedom the weight of the ,church was mostly thrown on the side of the tyrant4 ,the homilies of the ,church of ,england declare that even the wicked rulers have their power and authority from ,god 1 and that such subjects as are disobedient or rebellious against their princes disobey ,god and procure their own damnation4 ,it can scarcely be necessary to argue to the citizens of the ,united ,states of ,america that the origin of their liberties was in the rejection of faith in the divine right of ,george ,,iii4 ,will any one1 save the most bigoted1 contend that it is not certain gain to humanity to spread unbelief in the terrible doctrine that eternal torment is the probable fate of the great majority of the human family8 ,is it not gain to have diminished the faith that it was the duty of the wretched and the miserable to be content with the lot in life which providence had awarded them8 ,if it stood alone it would be almost sufficient to plead as justification for heresy the approach towards equality and liberty for the utterance of all opinions achieved because of growing unbelief4 ,at one period in ,christendom each ,government acted as though only one religious faith could be true1 and as though the holding1 or at any rate the making known1 any other opinion was a criminal act deserving punishment4 ,under the one word infidel1 even as late as ,lord ,coke1 were classed together all who were not ,christians1 even though they were ,mahommedans1 ,brahmins1 or ,jews4 ,all who did not accept the ,christian faith were sweepingly denounced as infidels and therefore hors de la loi4 ,one hundred and forty-five years since1 the ,attorney-,general1 pleading in our highest court1 said 7#a73 ,what is the definition of an infidel8 ,why1 one who does not believe in the ,christian religion4 ,then a ,jew is an infidel4 ,and ,english history for several centuries prior to the ,commonwealth shows how habitually and most atrociously ,christian kings1 ,christian courts1 and ,christian churches1 persecuted and harassed these infidel ,jews4 ,there was a time in ,england when ,jews were such infidels that they were not even allowed to be sworn as witnesses4 ,in #agdj a legacy left for establishing an assembly for the reading of the ,jewish scriptures was held to be void 7#b7 because it was for the propagation of the ,jewish law in contradiction to the ,christian religion 4 ,it is only in very modern times that municipal rights have been accorded in ,england to ,jews4 ,it is barely thirty years since they have been allowed to sit in ,parliament4 ,in #ahea1 the late ,mr4 ,newdegate in debate 7#c7 objected that they should have sitting in that ,house an individual who regarded our ,redeemer as an impostor4 ,lord ,chief ,justice ,raymond has shown 7#d7 how it was that ,christian intolerance was gradually broken down4 ,a ,jew may sue at this day1 but heretofore he could not2 for then they were looked upon as enemies1 but now commerce has taught the world more humanity4 ,lord ,coke treated the infidel as one who in law had no right of any kind1 with whom no contract need be kept1 to whom no debt was payable4 ,the plea of alien infidel as answer to a claim was actually pleaded in court as late as #agcg4 7#e7 ,in a solemn judgment1 ,lord ,coke says 7#f73 ,all infidels are in law perpetui inimici2 for between them1 as with the devils whose subjects they be1 and the ,christian1 there is perpetual hostility4 ,twenty years ago the law of ,england required the writer of any periodical publication or pamphlet under sixpence in price to give sureties for #hjj against the publication of blasphemy4 ,i was the last person prosecuted in #ahfh for non-compliance with that law1 which was repealed by ,mr4 ,gladstone in #ahfi4 ,up till the #bcrd ,december1 #ahhh1 an infidel in ,scotland was only allowed to enforce any legal claim in court on condition that1 if challenged1 he denied his infidelity4 ,if he lied and said he was a ,christian1 he was accepted1 despite his lying4 ,if he told the truth and said he was an unbeliever1 then he was practically an outlaw1 incompetent to give evidence for himself or for any other4 ,fortunately all this was changed by the ,royal assent to the ,oaths ,act on #bdth ,december4 ,has not humanity clearly gained a little in this struggle through unbelief8 #a ,omychund v4 ,barker1 #a ,atkyns #bi4 #b ,d',costa4 ,d',pays1 ,amb4 #bbh4 #c ,hansard cxvi4 #cha4 #d ,lord ,raymond's reports #bhb1 ,wells v4 ,williams4 #e ,ramkissenseat v4 ,barker1 #a ,atkyns #fa4 #f ,coke's reports1 ,calvin's ease4 ,for more than a century and a-half the ,roman ,catholic had in practice harsher measure dealt out to him by the ,english ,protestant ,christian1 than was even during that period the fate of the ,jew or the unbeliever4 ,if the ,roman ,catholic would not take the oath of abnegation1 which to a sincere ,romanist was impossible1 he was in effect an outlaw1 and the jury packing so much complained of to-day in ,ireland is one of the habit survivals of the old bad time when ,roman ,catholics were thus by law excluded from the jury box4 ,the ,scotsman of ,january #eth1 #ahhi1 notes that in #ahfj the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,robert ,lee1 of ,greyfriars1 gave a course of ,sunday evening lectures on ,biblical ,criticism1 in which he showed the absurdity and untenableness of regarding every word in the ,bible as inspired2 and it adds3 ,we well remember the awful indignation such opinions inspired1 and it is refreshing to contrast them with the calmness with which they are now received4 ,not only from the pulpits of the city1 but from the press 7misnamed religious7 were his doctrines denounced4 ,and one eminent ,u4,p4 minister went the length of publicly praying for him1 and for the students under his care4 ,it speaks volumes for the progress made since then1 when we think in all probability ,dr4 ,charteris1 ,dr4 ,lee's successor in the chair1 differs in his teaching from the ,confession of ,faith much more widely than ,dr4 ,lee ever did1 and yet he is considered supremely orthodox1 whereas the stigma of heresy was attached to the other all his life4 ,and this change and gain to humanity is due to the gradual progress of unbelief1 alike inside and outside the ,churches4 ,take from differing ,churches two recent illustrations3 ,the late ,principal ,dr4 ,lindsay ,alexander1 a strict ,calvinist1 in his important work on ,biblical ,theology1 claims that all the statements of ,scripture are alike to be deferred to as presenting to us the mind of ,god 4 ,yet the ,rev4 ,dr4 of ,divinity also says3 ,we find in their writings i4e41 in the writings of the sacred authors statements which no ingenuity can reconcile with what modern research has shown to be the scientific truths--i4e41 we find in them statements which modern science proves to be erroneous4 ,at the last ,southwell ,diocesan ,church of ,england ,conference at ,derby1 the ,bishop of the ,diocese presiding1 the ,rev4 ,j4 ,g4 ,richardson said of the ,old ,testament that it was no longer honest or even safe to deny that this noble literature1 rich in all the elements of moral or spiritual grandeur1 given--so the ,church had always taught1 and would always teach--under the inspiration of ,almighty ,god1 was sometimes mistaken in its science1 was sometimes inaccurate in its history1 and sometimes only relative and accommodatory in its morality4 ,it assumed theories of the physical world which science had abandoned and could never resume2 it contained passages of narrative which devout and temperate men pronounced discredited1 both by external and internal evidence2 it praised1 or justified1 or approved1 or condoned1 or tolerated1 conduct which the teaching of ,christ and the conscience of the ,christian alike condemned4 ,or1 as ,i should urge1 the gain to humanity by unbelief is that the teaching of ,christ has been modified1 enlarged1 widened1 and humanised1 and that the conscience of the ,christian is in quantity and quality made fitter for human progress by the ever increasing additions of knowledge of these later and more heretical days4