,not to ,undeceive is to ,deceive  ,how 
the ,bible ,was ,invented  ,a ,lecture  
,delivered ,before the ,independent     
,religious ,society ,orchestra ,hall    
,chicago1 ,illinois ,sunday at #aa ,a4  
,m4  ,illustration3 ,logo  ,tenth       
,edition  ,by ,m4 ,m4 ,,mangasarian     
,how the ,bible ,was ,invented   ,many  
good people believe that the ,bible was 
given by inspiration of ,god4 ,the      
wording of my subject suggests that it  
is the work of men1 and not always of   
honest men1 either4 ,am ,i trying to    
offend people by intimating that the    
,bible was invented8 ,on the contrary1  
,i am exposing myself to criticism by   
telling these good people the truth     
about the ,bible1 which their own       
preachers1 for some reason or other1    
have withheld from them4  ,one of the   
texts in the ,bible1 attributed to      
,jesus1 says that1 ,it were better for a
 man to have a millstone tied about his 
neck1 and he were cast into the sea1    
than that he should offend1 that is to  

say1 unsettle the faith of1 one of these
 little ones4 ,according to this saying 
of ,jesus1 a man must keep his          
questionings and his doubts to himself4 
,he shall not talk where he is liable to
 upset the faith of some believing      
soul1--some aged mother1 some           
,sunday-school lad or lassie4 ,the man  
who will go about disturbing people's   
religious peace1 deserves to be drowned 
with a millstone about his neck6 ,what  
is your opinion of such a suggestion8   
,if you approve of this sentiment1      
attributed to the founder of            
,christianity1 then the work which we   
are doing here1 every ,sunday1 is quite 
wicked2 a millstone around our necks is 
what we deserve1 and the bottom of the  
sea is where we belong4  ,psychologists 
tell us that there is great power in    
suggestion4 ,with all my love and       
reverence for whatever is sweet and sane
 in the ,gospels1 ,i must protest       
against this text1 because it is a      
suggestion to violence and persecution4 

,if ,jesus suggests a millstone for the 
neck of the heretic who upsets people's 
illusions and makes inquirers out of    
believers1 and intimates further that   
drowning is too good for them1 why not  
take the hint and act upon it8 ,he      
expresses a wish1 shall we not fulfill  
it8 ,alas1 we know1 too well1 that in   
less enlightened ages1 the suggestion of
 ,jesus was not only carried out1 but   
vastly improved upon--by the ,spanish   
,inquisition1 for instance4  ,let us be 
fair4 ,when a man is accused1 it is his 
privilege to defend himself4 ,if ,jesus 
suggests that the investigator who      
unsettles people's beliefs should be    
drowned1 before the suggestion is acted 
upon1 the disturber should be given a   
chance to be heard4 ,would that be      
asking too much8 ,let us see1 then1 just
 what it means to command a man to      
suppress whatever might disturb a       
neighbor's faith3 ,it means that if ,i  
am announced to speak on the ,bible1 ,i 
must say nothing to which the weakest or

 the most credulous among my hearers    
might object4 ,if ,i do1 ,i shall       
deserve to be tied to a millstone and   
drowned6 ,but let us turn this          
proposition about to see how it would   
work3 ,having discovered a truth1 and   
yearning in my soul to express it1      
suppose ,i were to say1 that if any man 
in this audience shall scare me into    
silence1--shall cheat me out of the joy 
and duty of imparting that truth to my  
world1 by threatening to be offended1 or
 to be unsettled by it1--he ought to    
have a millstone tied to his neck and be
 cast into the sea4 ,how would that do8 
,again1 an illustration1 which ,i have  
used before1 can with great aptness be  
repeated here3 ,a woman is given a ring 
with a stone in it4 ,not being herself a
 connaisseur of precious stones1 she is 
easily made to believe that her jewel is
 the most costly in the world4 ,this is 
told her in order to make her happy1 and
 to fancy herself as the possessor of a 
gem of great value4 ,observe1 now1 how  

much it costs to keep up this deception4
 ,all her friends have to agree to say  
nothing that may unsettle her faith in  
her imitation jewel4 ,indeed1 they must 
pretend not to know the difference      
between the genuine and the sham stone4 
,to preserve this woman's illusion1 they
 must prevaricate and even openly lie1  
if pressed to do so1 lest the poor      
woman's eyes should open1 or her faith  
in her jewel be lost4 ,is it fair to    
demand so great a sacrifice to prolong  
the fantasy of a foolish woman8  ,apply 
this illustration now to the ,bible4    
,here are some people who have been told
 when they were young1 that this book1  
which is placed in their hands1 is a    
personal message to them from ,god4     
,this makes the book1 certainly1 more   
precious than any jewel4 ,god1 the owner
 and disposer of everything1 with his   
own hand has inscribed an epistle to    
them1 and this is it6 ,what joy6 ,what a
 treasure6 ,now these people1 not being 
students themselves1 accepted implicitly

 what they were told by their teachers1 
just as the woman1 not being an expert  
herself1 took her jeweler's word about  
the value of the stone in her ring4 ,in 
order not to offend this child-like     
faith in the ,bible1 word is sent out to
 everybody to hush4 ,hush6 not a word6  
not a whisper6--,hush6 hush6 is the cry 
of all4 ,to uphold this conspiracy of   
silence1 arrangements are made to       
dictate what may and what may not be    
said in public4 ,a preacher in praying  
or preaching might give away the        
secret1--he might inadvertently say     
something which may prick this pretty   
bubble of illusion4 ,hence1 in the      
,catholic and ,episcopal ,churches1 all 
the prayers are printed1 and the        
preachers pray according to the book4   
,do you think the ,church will let a man
 close his eyes and open his mouth and  
say whatever comes into his head8       
,indeed1 not6 ,he must pray by the book4
 ,in the protestant denominations there 
is the creed1 to which you swear your   

allegiance before you can open your     
mouth in one of their churches1 and the 
moment you are caught talking beyond    
what the creed allows1 your ordination  
is taken from you and your mouth is     
shut4 ,dear me6 all this regime is for  
the purpose of encouraging the conceit  
that man has been favored with a        
hand-written1 personal message1 from the
 ,creator of the universe4  ,if this    
were all1 we1 ourselves1 would not take 
notice of it4 ,but we1 too1 are         
compelled to join this conspiracy of    
silence and suppression1 and to lie in  
the interests of the delicate believers 
whose faith cannot stand the least      
strain4 ,darwin must beware how he      
writes about the origin of species1 or  
the descent of man4 ,some believer1     
hugging ecstatically his ,bible to his  
bosom1 might read his books and lose his
 blissful conceit4 ,do not think1 do not
 invent1 do not announce your truth1 ye 
philosophers1 scientists and reformers6 
without first consulting the prejudices 

of the little ones in the faith2 for if 
you unsettle the faith of a single      
believer1 it were better that you were  
weighted down into the sea by a         
millstone hanging about your necks4 ,and
 you1 whose love and genius give us our 
daily victory over disease and          
error1--whose thought is our daily bread
 and beauty1--you1 too1 must hush1 you  
must become sterile1 or be content to   
speak by rote1 lest you should disturb  
the repose of the believer who has laid 
himself down to sleep4 ,the theological 
babe must not be awakened4 ,it will bawl
 and cry if aroused1 and better than    
cause one of these babes to cry1 let    
there be no intellectual life in the    
world6  ,our ,american author1 ,thoreau1
 was right when he said that1 ,the      
modern ,christian is a man who has      
consented to say all the prayers in the 
liturgy1 provided you will let him go   
straight to bed and sleep quietly       
afterward4 ,that is to say1 he does not 
wish to be disturbed4 ,all his prayers  

begin with1 says ,thoreau1 ,now ,i lay  
me down to sleep4 ,sleep1 seems to be   
his quest1 intellectual as well as      
physical1 and he is forever looking     
forward to the time when he shall go to 
his 'long rest4' ,he looks forward to a 
future of inactivity4 ,all effort1      
especially intellectual effort1 is      
distasteful to him1 and is apt to offend
 and unsettle him4 ,hence the           
intellectual life must not be real2 what
 must be real is the sleep4  ,those of  
you who support these lectures1 as well 
as those of you who only hear them1 know
 that our position is the very reverse  
of what ,jesus and the ,church          
recommend4 ,we do not believe in        
persecution4 ,we do not even suggest    
that anybody should be drowned2 but if  
our human nature is so depraved that    
persecution and murder are inevitable1  
then1 in our humble opinion1 it will be 
more economical to drown the people who 
will not permit a ,darwin to give his   
thought to the world1 than to drown a   

,darwin4 ,the man who is offended at    
freedom of speech1 can be dispensed with
 more safely than the man who avails    
himself of this divine privilege4 ,if my
 freedom of speech offends my neighbor1 
his fear of freedom is a greater offense
 to me4 ,which of us deserves most to be
 drowned8  ,but in the next place the   
suggestion that people who rob their    
weaker fellows of their illusions should
 be drowned1 even when it does not lead 
to persecution1 is an encouragement to  
hypocrisy and imposture1 as the story of
 the composition of the ,bible which    
will now be told1 shows4  ,you have to  
listen as closely as you can1 if you do 
not wish to do me the injustice of      
misrepresenting me4 ,i have traveled    
extensively in the ,orient1 and have    
conversed with and read the works of    
eminent scholars who have enjoyed a     
first-hand acquaintance with eastern    
people1 and the unanimous testimony is  
that one of the besetting sins of       
,oriental races1 is lying4 ,it is not   

because the ,asiatics are wickeder than 
,european nations1 for in other respects
 they are as good1 if not better1 than  
ourselves4 ,the average of morality is  
perhaps about the same in all countries4
 ,but the notorious vice of all ,asiatic
 peoples is lying4 ,they lie with a     
freedom and a fluency1--with such       
plausibility and so straight a          
face1--that one can hardly distinguish  
their lie from their truth4 ,curious    
though it may seem1 people who are given
 to lying are often the first to be     
deceived by their own lies4 ,they       
,keep on till their own lies deceive    
them4      ,and oft' repeating1 at      
length believed 'em4   ,now1 then1 ,i am
 going to look this audience in the     
face1 and then ,i am going to say just  
this3  ,the ,bible is an ,oriental book4
  ,when1 in reading the ,bible1 ,i find 
in it exaggeration1 invention1 and even 
unscrupulous misrepresentation1 ,i am   
not astonished1 because ,i know that it 
is an ,oriental book4 ,but the orthodox 

believer1 in order to excuse or explain 
away1 for instance1 these violations of 
the law of veracity1 resorts frequently 
to sophistry1 subterfuge1 and even1     
alas1 to lies more unscrupulous than any
 found in the ,bible4 ,this is as sad as
 it is true4 ,but to defend one lie1 or 
to make it look like the truth1 more    
lying becomes necessary4  ,there are    
numerous instances of the ,oriental     
practice of lying in the ,bible4        
,abraham suppressed the truth about his 
wife1 and declared she was his sister4  
,jacob deceived his father1 ,isaac1 and 
made him believe he was ,esau1 and stole
 his blessing4 ,the same patriarch      
deceived his father-in-law1 and stole   
his gods4 ,god himself instructs ,samuel
 to tell a falsehood to ,saul1 to whom  
he is sent on a mission4 ,i will send   
them a lying spirit1 threatens ,jehovah1
 when he is out of temper4 ,and1 in the 
,new ,testament1 the ,apostle ,paul is  
,oriental enough1 though in many        
respects a great soul1 to resort to     

craft and guile1 and to be all things to
 all men1 and even to lie for the glory 
of ,god4 ,aside from this being his own 
policy1 he imagined that it was also the
 policy of ,god4 ,and for this cause1 he
 says in his ,epistle to the            
,thessalonians1 ,god shall send them    
strong delusion1 that they should       
believe in a lie4 ,reflect upon that4   
,to send a delusion to people means to  
trip or trap them1--to catch them in a  
snare4 ,people tell a falsehood1 either 
to protect themselves1 or to hurt       
others4 ,god needed not to resort to    
this means to protect himself4 ,paul    
tells us he does this to hurt others4   
,god shall send them strong delusion1   
that they might believe a lie that they 
all might be damned4 ,how could ,paul1  
an exceptionally intelligent man1 be    
guilty of such blasphemy8 ,how could he 
so damage the character of the ,god he  
loved8 ,my answer is that he was an     
,asiatic1 and he did not look upon lying
 in the same light that ,europeans do4  

,the ,asiatic conscience for veracity   
has never enjoyed a very high           
reputation4 ,the ,apostle ,paul even    
boasts that1 being crafty1 ,i caught you
 with guile4  ,a very curious           
controversy took place some years ago1  
between ,herbert ,spencer and a         
religious ,weekly4 ,quoting the words of
 ,paul to the ,romans1 where he says1   
,for if the truth of ,god hath more     
abounded through my lie unto his glory1 
etc41 ,spencer condemned ,paul for this2
 the religious ,weekly objected that    
,paul was only speaking ironically4 ,and
 ,mr4 ,spencer generously admitted that 
such a supposition was quite possible4  
,we are ourselves willing to give ,paul 
every opportunity to exonerate himself1 
and will not press the charge too       
vehemently against him4 ,but whatever   
,paul may have meant in his argument    
with the ,romans1 what shall we say     
about his defense of guile and craft1 in
 his ,epistle to the ,thessalonians8    
,and what about his general policy1 to  

be all things to all men1--that is to   
say1 to trim and compromise8  ,moreover1
 the practice of the ,church during the 
early centuries1 confirms the criticism 
of such representative writers as       
,mosheim1 ,ellicott1 ,warburton1 ,lecky1
 ,gibbon1 ,jortin1 ,gieseler1 and other 
equally reliable authorities1 that ,the 
pernicious maxim that those who make it 
their business to deceive with a view of
 promoting the cause of truth1 were     
deserving rather of commendation than of
 censure4  ,history forces upon us1     
writes ,bishop ,ellicott1 the           
recognition of pious fraud as a         
principle which was by no means         
inoperative in the earliest ages of     
,christianity4 ,it reflects credit upon 
this ,bishop1--this ,european1--to admit
 that the early ,christians cultivated  
the ,oriental practice of lying for the 
glory of ,god4 ,eusebius1 the saint who 
invented ,constantine's vision of the   
cross1 boasted that he had written what 
redounded to the glory and suppressed   

whatever tended to the disgrace of      
religion4  ,no faith with the heretics1 
was the cry of the ,christian church for
 centuries4  ,my object in speaking of  
this is to show that even as our        
,oriental-born religion1 brought over   
into ,europe the germ of monasticism1   
religious intolerance1 the practise of  
burning men and women alive1--absolutism
 in matters of faith1 determining by    
authority of councils what shall and    
what shall not be the truth1--not one of
 which institutions previously existed  
in ,europe2 it also brought over1 the   
,oriental practice of pious lying1 and  
gave it a vogue which it had never      
before enjoyed in ,europe4  ,it is      
universally admitted that beside the    
four ,gospels which the churches believe
 to be genuine1 there were1 in the early
 centuries1 hundreds of ,gospels which  
have been rejected as spurious4 ,pause  
for a moment1 and think of what that    
means4 ,why were there so many lying    
,gospels8 ,the very fact that our four  

,gospels were chosen from a pile of     
manuscripts1 everyone of which claimed  
to be genuine1 is a sad commentary upon 
the morality of the early churchmen4 ,i 
trust you duly appreciate the           
significance of this4 ,what was it that 
gave an impetus to the industry of      
imposture8 ,how explain the vogue which 
lying for religion enjoyed after the    
conversion of the ,roman ,empire8 ,was  
it so profitable to manufacture ,gospels
 that everybody tried his hand at it8 ,i
 cannot get away from the tremendous    
fact that by the admission of the       
churches themselves1 there were a great 
number of apocryphal ,gospels thrown    
upon the religious market as soon as    
,christianity became well established in
 ,europe4 ,what made lying so popular   
and profitable all at once8 ,if it is   
true1 and it is1 that our four ,gospels 
had to be voted upon from among a heap  
of other manuscripts2 and if it is true1
 as one ,church father reports1 that a  
great number of manuscripts were placed 

under a table1 and that prayers were    
then offered to induce the genuine      
,gospels to jump upon the table1 and    
that four of them did so1 while the     
rest1 failing to jump upon the table1   
were disowned2 and if it is also true1  
and we know it is1 that some of the     
,christian fathers claimed that only    
four ,gospels could be genuine because  
the earth has four corners1 and four    
winds4 ,if all this is true--then1      
speaking as a student of history1       
whether it unsettles you or not1 ,i am  
constrained to say that this ,oriental  
religion1 as soon as it set foot in     
,europe1 lifted both superstition and   
lying to the dignity of a vocation4     
,but when we come to the four ,gospels  
themselves1 pronounced to be canonical1 
do you know1 my hearers1 that there are 
upwards of #aej1jjj different readings  
of these same ,gospels8 ,that is to say1
 the same passages read one way in one  
manuscript1 and another1 in another1    
while they may be absent altogether from

 a third1 etc4 ,in view of all these    
facts1 reflect upon the intelligence of 
the man who1 ,sunday after ,sunday1     
holds up the ,gospels as the infallible 
word of ,god4 ,he does so because he is 
speaking by the creed1 to which he has  
sworn allegiance for the rest of his    
life4 ,one hundred and fifty thousand   
various readings of the ,new ,testament6
 ,and think of the centuries of         
bloodshed and controversy over these    
various readings6  ,open1 if you please1
 your ,new ,testaments and read the     
seventh verse of the fifth chapter of   
the first epistle of ,john1 then look   
for the same verse in the ,revised      
,version1 and you will not find it      
there4 ,after being regarded as the word
 of ,god for two thousand years1 it has 
been expurgated4 ,today1 according to   
one ,bible 7the ,king ,james ,version71 
this passage is inspired2 according to  
another ,bible 7the ,revised ,version71 
it is an imposture4 ,let me quote the   
text3         ,for there are three that 

bear record in ,heaven1 the ,father1 the
       ,word1 and the ,holy ,ghost1 and 
these three are one4   ,what better     
proof of the ,trinity do we need8 ,on   
black and white1 in the ,bible1 ,john1  
the ,apostle1 declares by the power of  
the ,holy ,ghost1 that there are three  
in heaven1 gives their names1 and adds  
that these three are one4  ,some lying  
scribe1 some crabbed sectarian1 some    
unconscionable copyist1 bribed by his   
party1 must have invented this text1    
which1 for twenty centuries1 has been   
worshiped as the word of ,god4 ,wicked  
sceptics1 two thousand years ago1       
denounced the clumsy imposture1 but they
 were silenced by the halter and the    
sword4 ,it has taken the ,christian     
,church nearly two thousand years to    
discover that the sceptics were right4  
,it has taken the church two thousand   
years of evolution in honesty and       
intelligence to throw out this spurious 
text4 ,it has taken the church1 claiming
 to be under the guidance of the ,spirit

 of ,god1 twenty hundred years in which 
to acquire the courage and love of truth
 of the wicked sceptics who first called
 attention to this lie hiding behind an 
apostle's name4 ,reflect upon this6     
,after using every means1 even the most 
cruel1 to force this ,trinitarian text  
upon the world1 the ,revised ,version   
blushes with shame to retain it any     
longer4  ,it would be unnecessary to    
multiply illustrations1 but let my      
readers also consult the words in the   
margin of the last chapter of the       
,gospel of ,mark1 in the ,revised       
,bible4 ,eleven entire verses of this   
chapter after having been palmed off for
 two thousand years as the word of ,god2
 after being repeatedly quoted as       
representing ,god's mind on matters of  
faith2 after causing untold misery1     
cruel wars1 persecutions1 diabolical    
tortures1 and more than all these1 such 
mental anguish in millions of sensitive 
minds as no repentance can atone        
for1--these verses1 among which is the  

following3 ,go ye into all the world and
 preach the ,gospel to the whole        
,creation4444 ,he that believeth and is 
baptised shall be saved1 but he that    
believeth not shall be damned1--has been
 placed under an interrogation mark4    
,ah1 for how much misery is the above   
damnatory clause responsible6 ,how many 
lives this leprous falsehood has        
blasted6 ,how this cruel imposture1 like
 a malignant cancer1 ate away the sound 
parts in human nature1 for twenty long  
centuries6  ,among these eleven verses  
are also ,jesus' promise of miraculous  
power to his disciples1 such as casting 
out devils1 juggling with live serpents1
 drinking deadly poisons1 laying hands  
on the sick1--which has filled our world
 with charlatans without number4 ,but   
now comes the ,revised ,version1 and    
quietly dismisses from the ,word of ,god
 these eleven ,verses1 with these words 
in the margin3 ,the two oldest ,greek   
manuscripts1 and some other authorities1
 omit from verse #i to the end 7verse   

#bj74 ,some other authorities have a    
different ending to the ,gospel4 ,read  
the above carefully and reflect4 ,the   
old translators suppressed all this     
information1 and gave us to believe that
 we were not only reading the word of   
,god1 but the only word of ,god in      
existence4 ,the revisers say1 ,some     
other authorities have a different      
ending to the ,gospel4 ,is not that     
edifying8 ,how did they decide which    
ending of the ,gospel to print as the   
,word of ,god8 ,and why did the         
translators of the ,bible wait two      
thousand years before they gave out this
 information8 ,is it to their increasing
 honesty that we owe this admission1 or 
is it the increasing power of the       
non-churchgoing world which has         
compelled this admission from their     
lips8 ,yes1 yes1 pause and think of how 
an organization must have become        
gangrened with imposture to have        
successfully resisted every claim of    
truth and honor for two thousand years6 

,this is a question of conscience as    
well as a question of knowledge4 ,why   
did the translators suppress the fact   
until a few years ago that1 ,some other 
authorities have a different ending to  
the ,gospel81 and that the two oldest   
,greek manuscripts and some other       
authorities omit from verse #i to the   
end8 ,time forbids me to give other     
illustrations of the--,i regret to say  
it--manipulations of the ,word of ,god  
by its custodians4 ,the heart bleeds    
with mingled pain and indignation at the
 temerity and effrontery of the pious   
crew1 who1 to advance their ism or to   
make converts1 did not hesitate to      
pervert history4  ,for two thousand     
years1 for anyone to dare breathe a word
 against this ,bible-inventing party1   
meant hell here and hereafter4 ,mark    
,antony invited ,rome to weep over the  
prostrate form of assassinated ,caesar4 
,i wish ,i could provoke you to a       
burning blush of indignation over the   
prostrate majesty of ,europe and        

,america at the feet of these           
unconscionable inventors of inspired    
texts4 ,blessed be the day which humbled
 the pride of the ecclesiastic1 and     
wrested from his hands the power to     
suppress the truth6  ,but aside from    
doctoring their own ,gospels1 the early 
,christians did not hesitate to submit  
the writings of the great               
pagans1--,seneca1 ,pliny1 ,tacitus1     
,suetonious1 ,marcus ,aurelius and the  
,jewish historian1 ,josephus1 to the    
same indignity1 by slipping passages    
into their works favorable to the       
,christian religion4 ,perhaps ,i am to  
be blamed for taking this matter so     
seriously1 but how can ,i help it8 ,i   
feel the wrong1 the shame1 and the crime
 of it1 deep in my bones--when ,i       
picture to myself an ,asiatic scribbler1
 a sectarian1 a clown1 a rogue1 a cheat1
 tampering with the works of a dead     
master1--pushing and squeezing his      
imposture into the mouth of the mighty  
dead1--defiling the thought of the      

philosopher with the foulness of his    
superstition6 ,it makes my heart rise   
and knock with vehemence against my ribs
 until ,i feel as if they would break4  
,not only were individual passages      
invented and slipped into the ,pagan    
writings1 but a number of books were    
written and attributed to the greatest  
shining lights of the old ,roman world4 
,dr4 ,gieseler1 a prominent ,christian  
historian of modern ,germany1 who has   
made1 as most ,german students do1 a    
painstaking study of the early          
centuries1 says that1 when the          
,christians were accused of inventing   
manuscripts1 they quieted their         
consciences respecting the forgery with 
the idea of their good intentions4 ,it  
was an age of literary fraud1 declares  
,bishop ,ellicott4  ,there is shown at  
the library in ,jena1 a letter purported
 to have been written by ,publius       
,lentulus1 the supposed predecessor of  
,pontius ,pilate4 ,the impostor who     
concocted this epistle and affixed the  

signature of a ,roman governor to it1   
makes him tell the ,roman ,senate1 that 
there had appeared 7in ,judea7 a man    
endowed with great powers1 whose name is
 ,jesus ,christ4 ,the earmarks of fraud 
are so plain that even the orthodox are 
ashamed of this clumsy manufacture4     
,another ,gospel is attributed to       
,pontius ,pilate4 ,nicodemus is made the
 author of still another4 ,the ,emperor 
,aurelius1 is made to recommend the     
,christians to the ,senate for their    
valor2 ,tiberius even gives his         
testimony in their favor2 ,jesus1       
himself1 is made the author of a        
treatise in his own behalf2 the ,virgin 
,mary writes the story of her wonderful 
child2 ,adam1 even1 testifies to the    
truth of the ,christian religion1 though
 he is supposed to have lived nearly    
four thousand years before ,jesus4      
,there is no end to the list of         
inventions4  ,but one of the most daring
 forgeries is the following passage in  
,josephus3         ,about that time     

appeared ,jesus1 a wise man1 if indeed  
it be       right to speak of him as a  
man1 for he was a performer of          
wonderful works1 a teacher of such men  
as receive the truth with               
pleasure4 ,he drew after him many of the
 ,jews as well as of the                
,gentiles4 ,this same was the ,christ4  
,and though ,pilate1 by the             
judgment of the chief rulers among us1  
delivered him up to be       crucified  
444 he showed himself alive on the third
 day4444   ,that this famous passage in 
,josephus is an interpolation1 is now   
generally admitted4 ,breaking suddenly  
in the midst of a paragraph1 the great  
,jewish historian pauses to announce    
that ,jesus was the ,christ1 and that he
 really rose from the dead1 etc41 etc4  
,this1 if true1 makes ,josephus a       
,christian1 which he was not4 ,the early
 fathers1 ,justin ,martyr1 ,clement of  
,alexandria1 and ,origen1 never referred
 to this famous passage1 which they     
certainly would have done1 had such a   

passage existed4 ,what better evidence  
could they desire in their controversy  
with the ,jews than to point to this    
wonderful confession of their principal 
author and historian1 that the ,jesus   
whom they crucified was the ,christ1 and
 that he rose from the dead6 ,but in the
 ,josephus with which they were         
acquainted there was no such text4      
,origen1 the ,christian ,father1 admits 
in his writings that ,josephus was not a
 believer in ,christ4 ,how1 then1 did   
this passage creep into the works of the
 ,jewish historian8 ,the man who        
discovered this passage in ,josephus was
 the same man who invented              
,constantine's vision1 and the fable of 
the ,seventy1 who1 he says1 shut up in  
seventy separate cells1 produced the    
,septuagint translation of the ,old     
,testament1 a translation1 which1 he    
adds1 was surely the work of the ,holy  
,ghost1 because when the ,seventy       
separate translations were compared1    
they were found to be in every detail   

alike1 without even the difference of a 
punctuation mark in them all4 ,to       
further prove this story1 ,eusebius     
tells us that he himself saw the seventy
 cells which the translators had        
occupied four hundred years before4     
,this is the kind of churchman who first
 discovered the ,josephus passage4      
,after quoting the interpolated passage1
 ,eusebius wonders how any ,jew can have
 the impudence not to believe that      
,jesus was the ,christ4 ,in one of his  
essays1 ,de ,quincy says that only      
lunatics now believe in the genuineness 
of this passage1 while a bishop of the  
,anglican ,church1--,warburton--calls it
 a stupid forgery4  ,but the early      
,christians made even the pagan gods to 
testify for ,jesus4 ,they composed      
verses in praise of the ,christian      
religion and attributed them to the     
pagan ,sibyls4 ,the oracles of ,rome    
were made to prophesy the coming of     
,christ1--his passion1 and resurrection1
 and to admit their inferiority to him4 

,for many hundred years these ,sibylline
 verses were quoted as genuine1 until   
the advancement of education laughed the
 disgraceful fabrication out of         
existence4  ,again1 pious ecclesiastics 
in their zeal for their ism1 invented   
also an ,apostles' ,creed1 which the    
apostles never saw1 and an ,apostolic   
,constitution1 containing directions how
 a ,christian ,church or ,state should  
be governed4 ,they invented also the    
,decretal ,epistles1 by which           
,constantine transfers all his property 
to the ,bishop of ,rome1--his sword1 his
 diadem1 his throne1--and makes a prince
 of the pope1 and an empire of his      
church4 ,here is the passage which was  
forged into ,constantine's mouth by the 
,spanish priest ,isidore3         ,we   
ascribe to the ,see of ,st4 ,peter all  
dignity1 all glory1 all       imperial  
power4444 ,besides1 we give to          
,sylvester 7bishop of ,rome7       and  
his successor1 our palace of the        
,lateran which is beyond       question 

the most beautiful place on earth4 ,we  
give him our crown1       our mitre1 our
 diadem1 and all our imperial vestments2
 we remit to       him the imperial     
dignity4 ,we give as a pure gift1 to the
 holy       pontiff1 the city of ,rome  
and all the ,western cities of ,italy1  
as       well as the ,western cities of 
other countries4 ,in order to give      
place to him1 we yield our dominion over
 all these provinces by       removing  
the seat of our empire to ,byzantium1   
considering it not       right that a   
terrestrial emperor should preserve the 
least power       where ,god had        
established the head of religion4   ,how
 lovely6 ,no wonder that ,cardinal      
,newman regarded ,constantine as a      
pattern for all future monarchs4  ,but  
enough6 ,let us draw the curtain upon   
that early ,christian age of invention  
and imposture4 ,why was it1 we ask      
again1 that ,europe became a market for 
forgeries1 immediately after its        
conversion to the ,asiatic cult8  ,yet  

we must not forget that hand in hand    
with this dishonest work of invention1  
went the shameful destruction of        
whatever was deemed unfavorable to the  
new religion4 ,many of the masterpieces 
of pagan literature were destroyed when 
they could not be tampered with4 ,the   
rare volumes of history1 philosophy and 
poetry were reduced to ashes1 that they 
might not live to bear witness to the   
greatness of the pre-,christian world4  
,even as they destroyed the monuments   
and temples of ,athens and ,rome1 they  
destroyed also the precious manuscripts 
of ,greek and ,roman authors4 ,from the 
following confession of ,st4 ,ambrose1  
,bishop of ,milan1 we may gauge the     
temper of the early ,christian ,church3 
,i myself would willingly assume the    
guilt 7of destroying pagan buildings7   
and say that ',i have set them in flames
 that there may be not a place left in  
which ,christ is denied4'   ,let us now 
briefly1 tell the story of the invention
 of the ,old ,testament3 ,when ,moses   

finished writing the book of the law1 he
 called the elders of the people before 
him and commanded them to take the book 
of the law and put it into the side or  
the inside of the ark of the covenant of
 the ,lord your ,god1 that it may be    
there for a witness4 ,the ark was a     
chest or box constructed after specific 
directions from ,god1 and was placed in 
the holy place in the temple1 under or  
behind a veil1 which also covered the   
mercy seat upon the ark4 ,as you must   
know1 even ,aaron the high priest was   
cautioned against approaching this place
 too often1 for it was very holy4       
,according to this account1 ,god gives a
 book to his people1 but he locks it up 
in a box1 and places the box behind a   
veil1 then fixes a seat upon the box    
which ,he ,himself1 occupies4 ,how could
 the people1 under these circumstances1 
get at the book8 ,but it was not meant  
that they should4 ,ah1 we have here a   
fine illustration of what we may call   
the craft of the priest1 or priestcraft4

 ,they announce a revelation from ,god1 
but they will not permit anyone to take 
it home and read it4 ,it is locked up in
 a box1 and ,god himself is made to sit 
on the box4  ,the grass dies without air
 and light4 ,the birds pine away in a   
cage4 ,even the worms which creep in    
damp holes1 come out for a glimpse of   
the light1 now and then2 but the word of
 ,god hides in the darkness of the ark1 
and fears the searching gaze of man6    
,was it born to be buried in a wooden   
tomb1--born to be locked up in a        
shittim-wood chest1--born to blink at   
the light6 ,ah1 the precious priests6   
,the sun may be seen by everybody1 the  
stars shine in the open1 but the ,word  
of ,god1 like a bashful maid1 shrinks   
from observation1 and sneaks into a     
closet4 ,to this day1 the ,catholics    
have to go to a closet--that is to say  
they have to secure permission1 before  
they can read the ,word of ,god4#a  ,to 
show that we have ,bible authority for  
the statements made above1 we will quote

 from the ,book of ,deuteronomy1 chapter
 xxxi1 verse #bd1 etc3         ,and it  
came to pass1 when ,moses had made an   
end of writing the       words of this  
law in a book1 until they were finished4
 ,that ,moses       commanded the       
,levites which bare the ,ark of the     
,covenant of the       ,lord1 saying3   
,take this book of the law1 and put it  
in the side of       the ,ark of the    
,covenant of the ,lord1 your ,god1 that 
it may be       there for a witness     
against thee4   ,the directions are     
specific4 ,and the people's reverence   
for the ark or the chest containing the 
inspired words of ,god increased a      
thousandfold4  ,let us continue3 ,the   
book of the law is now in the box1 with 
the lid closed1 and the deity sitting on
 the lid4 ,surely1 it will be impossible
 for the book ever to get lost4 ,but it 
did get lost4 ,we will tell its story   
presently4 ,but first let us speak of   
the jealousy with which the priests     
watched the ark4 ,in times of war when  

the ,jews were compelled to move the ark
 from one place to another1 everybody   
was strictly forbidden from touching it1
 or looking into it4 ,on one occasion1  
while they had the chest containing the 
two tables of stone and the ,book of the
 ,law1 on an ox-cart1 moving it to a    
place of safety1 the cart jostled and   
the ark tipped4 ,one of the drivers1    
,uzzah1 instinctively1 put forth his    
hand to steady the sacred chest4 ,he was
 instantly killed4 ,he touched the ark1 
and that was a crime4 ,one must not even
 touch the box to save it from falling1 
much less read and investigate the book 
hidden therein4 ,every precaution was   
taken to protect the ,bible from being  
investigated4 ,god did not guard the    
tree of knowledge more zealously than   
did the priests the book of the law4    
,there were some people1 however1 who   
were curious enough to peep into the    
ark1 in spite of the threats of the     
rabbis4 ,to scare these people1 the     
awful words1--sacrilege1 impiety1       

profanity1--blasphemy1--were invented4  
,when these failed1 murder was resorted 
to4 ,listen to this story3 ,the people  
of ,beth-,shemesh1 being of an inquiring
 mind1 one day1 they approached the ark 
and peeped into it1 or tried to4 ,well2 
riot and massacre followed6 ,the ,lord  
smote the men of ,beth-,shemesh because 
they had looked into the ark of the     
,lord1 even he smote of the people fifty
 thousand and three score and ten       
men1--fifty thousand and seventy4 ,the  
rabbis charged this wholesale massacre  
to the deity4 ,all successful murderers 
do the same4 ,but we must admit the     
priests took excellent care of the ark  
and its contents4 ,unfortunately1       
however1 it is now nearly three thousand
 years since the ark was last heard of4 
,where is it now8  ,but to return to our
 story3  ,many years after the time we  
are now speaking of1 when ,king ,solomon
 finished his magnificent temple1 in    
,jerusalem1 he ordered the ark to be    
opened4 ,how he dared to disobey the    

priests1 ,i cannot tell1 but kings enjoy
 special privileges1 and perhaps1 he had
 never heard that there was a           
prohibition against even touching the   
ark4 ,when the ark was opened1 lo6 and  
behold6 the ,book of the ,law which     
,moses had commanded to be put inside   
the ark was not there4  ,it was not     
there6  ,in #bnd ,kings1 eighth chapter1
 ninth verse1 we read that when they    
opened the ark3         ,there was      
nothing in the ark save the two tables  
of stone4   ,in other words1 the book   
which we read about in the former       
quotation from the ,bible1 and which    
contained most valuable divine          
instructions to the people1 had         
disappeared4 ,the ark contained only two
 stones1 which too1 in due time1 went   
the way of the book1 and no one knows   
where they are at the present time4 ,ark
 and stones and book1 as they are       
nowhere to be found1 there is a bare    
possibility that they have returned to  
heaven whence they came4  ,but let us   

follow the story3 ,the book was not in  
the ark4  ,what fate had befallen it8   
,was it never put there8 ,when ,uzzah1  
and the five thousand and seventy men   
were killed for touching the ark1 was it
 empty8 ,solomon had the lid of the     
chest removed1 and he found therein no  
,book of the ,law1 which was ordered to 
be placed there as a witness4  ,then    
followed a stretch of centuries in which
 the ,book of the ,law is not heard of4 
,oblivion now began to spread its dusty 
wings upon the memory of it4 ,yet1      
suggests ,saladin1 the old world jogged 
along as usual2 the sun rose and set2   
the moon1 as ever before shed its       
romantic light upon sea and shore4      
,lovers paired1 and children1 like a    
flock of swallows1 visited our earth4   
,they toiled1 grew old and died--without
 any ,book of the ,law4  ,there is a    
third chapter in the biography of the   
,bible4 ,three hundred and fifty years  
after ,solomon had fallen asleep with   
his fathers1 one morning1--,i cannot    

tell whether it was on a fair or on a   
foul day1 ,hilkiah1--remember that      
name1--,hilkiah6 the high priest1       
knocked on the door of ,shaphan1 ,king  
,josiah's private secretary1 and begged 
for a private interview1--a tete-a-tete1
 as the ,french would say4 ,leaning     
over1 he whispered in the ears of the   
,king's minister1 slowly and solemnly1  
as one who is burdened with some        
compelling                              
news1--that--he--had--just--found--,the 
,book of the ,law which had been lost   
for three hundred and fifty years6  ,the
 two men paused and looked at each other
 for a moment4 ,yes1 ,hilkiah1 the high 
priest1 had found the book which had    
been lost for three hundred and fifty   
years6 ,and where8 ,in the ,temple6 ,had
 the king's minister been in an         
inquiring mood1 he might have asked some
 questions3 ,was the book lying there   
all these years and not a man stumbled  
upon it8 ,or was it just put there for  
,hilkiah to find it8 ,if it had been    

lost for three hundred years or more1   
how could ,hilkiah tell that the book he
 found was the same that ,moses wrote   
and ordered kept in the shittim-wood    
chest8 ,if ,hilkiah made any changes in 
the book1 how is the world to know which
 is ,hilkiah's and which is ,moses'     
contribution to the ,bible8 ,but the    
questions were not asked4 ,besides1     
faith can shut its small eye to even    
greater difficulties than are involved  
in ,hilkiah's discovery4  ,when the     
,king heard this extraordinary news1 he 
must have doubted the word of the high  
priest1 for he appointed a committee1   
whose names are given in the ,bible1 to 
present a report on this newly-found    
book4 ,what did the committee do8 ,did  
it study the book8 ,did it invite native
 and foreign scholars to pronounce upon 
it8 ,did it encourage the noblest1      
bravest1 most truthful men and women in 
the world to express their free opinion 
about it1 or to cross-examine the high  
priest8 ,indeed not6 ,the committee took

 the book and went to a medium4 ,they   
believed that the prophetess ,huldah1   
the medium1 or the witch1 was the sole  
person capable of passing upon the      
genuineness of inspired documents4 ,no  
thinker1 no conscientious student1      
patiently collecting facts1 and         
fearlessly exposing error1 could compare
 with the witch ,huldah in inspiration4 
,she was to the ,jewish nation1 at this 
time1 what ,plato and ,aristotle were to
 the heathen ,greeks4 ,huldah1 the      
medium1 represented the highest culture 
of the country and its people4 ,she was 
the one light in ,jerusalem4 ,the       
confidence of ,minot1 ,savage1 ,heber1  
,newton and publisher ,funk1 in ,mrs4   
,piper1 is not a circumstance to the    
faith of ,king ,josiah's committee in   
prophetess ,huldah4 ,and she did not    
require time to study the book1 or to   
make investigations4 ,what kind of a    
prophetess would she have been if she   
could not answer any questions offhand8 
,of course1 ,huldah's opinion was the   

,lord's opinion1 because she began her  
decision with the words1 ,thus saith the
 ,lord4 ,and although1 like all mediums1
 she is very careful not to commit      
herself1 she seems to have satisfied the
 delegation from the ,king that the     
priest1 ,hilkiah1 had found the lost    
book of the law4 ,for some reason which 
we are unable to divine the book was not
 put back into the ,ark4 ,perhaps they  
had found a safer place4  ,how do       
,christian scholars explain this        
,hilkiah episode8 ,let us quote from the
 ,encyclopedia ,biblica1 one of the best
 known commentaries on the              
,bible3--,what led ,hilkiah to say that 
he had found the ,book of the ,law is   
not recorded4 ,perhaps it was not       
convenient to do so3 ,he may merely have
 meant1 adds the commentator1 feeling   
fearfully the strain of his orthodoxy1  
,here is the best and fullest law-book1 
about which thou hast been asking4 ,is  
not this ingenious8 ,i have found the   
,book of the ,law1 may only have meant1 

according to this clergyman's           
interpretation1 ,here is the best and   
fullest law-book about which thou hast  
been asking4 ,but why should ,hilkiah   
have meant one thing and said another8  
,and what about the fact that ,solomon  
failed to find the ,book of the ,law in 
the ,ark1 and that for three hundred and
 fifty years there is silence about this
 same book8 ,and why did they go to     
medium ,huldah1 if everybody knew what  
the book was8 ,but the explanations of  
the orthodox scholars which ,i have     
quoted prove what ,i said about the     
believer being compelled to twist and   
cramp his conscience even worse than the
 reputed authors of the ,scriptures have
 done1 in order to smooth over the      
offenses against truth and honor in the 
,bible4  ,the authors of the            
,encyclopedia ,biblica are among the    
most scholarly and progressive of the   
,christian clergy1 and their answer to  
questions about the ,high ,priest       
,hilkiah is as good as can be expected1 

under the circumstances4 ,but we know of
 a safer answer than that--silence4     
,there is a concluding chapter in the   
history of the ,bible4 ,it appears that 
when ,jerusalem fell into the hands of  
the ,persians1 the city was pillaged1   
the temple destroyed1 and the ,book of  
the ,law which ,hilkiah had discovered1 
was burned4 ,once more1 ,israel is      
without a book4 ,driven into captivity1 
the ,jews lived among the heathen       
without a temple and without a bible4   
,then ,cyrus1 the ,king of ,persia1 is  
represented in the book of ,ezra1 as    
issuing a proclamation to the ,jews to  
return to their country and rebuild the 
temple in ,jerusalem4 ,at this time1    
,cyrus1 graciously delivered to the     
,jews the vessels of the house of the   
,lord1 which ,nebuchadnezzar had brought
 out of ,jerusalem1 and had put them in 
the house of his gods4 ,among the       
articles restored to the ,temple1 no    
mention is made of the ,book of the     
,law4 ,but ,ezra1 who is called a scribe

 of the words of the commandment of the 
,lord1 appears to have not only rebuilt 
the temple1 but also to have restored   
the burned ,book of the ,law4 ,in forty 
days1 by the help of forty associates1  
everything that was ever reported to    
have been done of the ,lord was put to  
writing and read aloud to the           
congregation which kept standing as     
,ezra read to them4 ,such is the story  
in the ,book of ,esdras4  ,that ,ezra   
was the restorer of the destroyed law   
seems to have been the opinion of almost
 all the early church ,fathers4 ,whether
 you choose to call ,moses the author of
 the ,pentateuch1 or ,ezra the restorer 
of the same book1 ,i make no objection1 
wrote ,st4 ,jerome4 ,clement1 of        
,alexandria1 another church ,father1    
writes1 that1 ,the writings having been 
destroyed1 ,ezra1 the ,levite1 having   
become inspired1 prophesied1 restoring  
again all the old writings4 ,eusebius   
and ,irenaeus seem to be of the same    
opinion1 and the famous ,tertullian1 a  

pillar of the church1 gives his         
testimony that1 ,jerusalem having been  
destroyed by the ,babylonian siege1 it  
appears that every instrument of ,jewish
 literature was restored by ,esdras4    
,if ,esdras1 indeed1 restored the burned
 book1 which ,hilkiah had found in the  
,temple after it had been lost for three
 hundred and fifty years1 then1 the     
question whether ,moses was inspired or 
not1--a question which has vexed the    
world so much--loses all its importance4
 ,was ,ezra inspired8 ,that is the      
crucial question8 ,if he was not1 how   
can ,moses' inspiration help us since   
his writings were burned by the         
,persians1 even if they were not stolen 
from the ark and revised by ,hilkiah8   
,the inventor of the ,old ,testament was
 ,ezra1 a scribe of the words of the    
commandment of the ,lord1 that is to    
say1 the clerk or amanuensis of ,god1 a 
title which aptly describes not the     
interpreter1 but the author of the ,book
 of the ,law4 ,what kind of a man was   

this compiler or inventor of the ,book  
of the ,law8 ,what does ,christian      
,scholarship think of his character8    
,let us hear the doctors of divinity on 
,ezra4  ,the authors of the             
,encyclopedia ,biblica whom we nave     
already quoted1 admit that the man who  
bears the name of ,ezra manipulated1 if 
he did not invent1 the narrative which  
he tells in the ,bible3--,he partly     
mutilates it by removing a portion1     
partly makes it almost unintelligible by
 placing it in a connection to which it 
does not belong1 and by making          
interpolations1 etc4 ,could we ask for a
 stronger proof that the ,bible is the  
work of men--and not of honest men1 at  
that8 ,but is it fair to include the    
whole ,bible in this accusation8 ,i wish
 ,i could feel that some portions of the
 ,bible are free from suspicion1 but ,i 
cannot4 ,alas6 it is impossible to point
 to a single book in the ,bible of the  
authorship of which we may speak with   
assurance4 ,the marks of political and  

theological imposture in the ,bible are 
like leopard's spots1 they cannot be    
removed4  ,well6 ,it must not be thought
 that we have now disarmed the          
bibliolaters4 ,they have still a        
powerful weapon left with which to      
defend the ,bible3 ,suppose ,ezra did   
compose or compile the ,book6 ,is it    
not1 nevertheless1 true that the ,bible 
teaches righteousness8 ,the argument is 
something like this3 ,the ,bible may not
 be true1 but it is very moral4 ,in our 
opinion1 however1 it is even less moral 
than it is true4 ,a book which commands 
murder1 plunder1 persecution for opinion
 sake1 slavery and credulity of the most
 abject kind1 can not very well be      
recommended as a moral text-book4 ,of   
course1 there are in the ,bible1 as also
 in the ,vedas or the ,koran1 splendid  
passages of truth and beauty1 but by    
selecting only one set of passages and  
ignoring the rest any book could be made
 pure4  ,matthew ,arnold professes to   
have discovered in the ,old ,bible the  

,eternal1 not ourselves1 making for     
,righteousness1 one of his proofs being 
,ps4 #ej3bc3 ,to him that ordereth his  
conversation right shall be shown the   
salvation of ,god4 ,but the ,revised    
,version has robbed the ,oxford         
professor of his text by completely     
changing its meaning3 ,whoso offereth   
the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth
 me1 and prepareth a way that ,i may    
show him the salvation of ,god 7,see    
margin of ,revised ,version74 ,there is 
nothing in the original about ordering  
one's conduct or conversation right1 it 
was put there by the translators whose  
moral culture was far superior to the   
authors they were rendering into        
,english4  ,moreover1 ,matthew ,arnold1 
fully conceding the conclusions of the  
higher critics1 e4 g41 that the events  
narrated in the ,bible are in most cases
 pure fabrications2 that they are the   
work of myth-mongers who sought to pass 
as genuine and divine1 documents which  
they had themselves forged for partisan 

purposes--who plagiarized from ,assyrian
 liturgies1 and wilfully misrepresented 
as well as interpolated the history of  
their nation--asks us1 nevertheless1 to 
look upon these political schemers and  
poseurs1 as having but one all-consuming
 passion--righteousness6  ,in           
conclusion3 ,the inspiration of the     
,bible is not a question of belief1 it  
is a question of evidence4 ,if believing
 a book inspired could make it so1 then1
 the books of ,mohammed and ,buddha1 of 
,confucius and ,zoroaster1 must be      
inspired too4 ,in fact1 any book could  
be made infallible1 if believing it to  
be so1 were all that was required4 ,but 
does the evidence which ,i have offered 
prove that the ,bible was invented8 ,i  
sincerely believe it does1 but still1 ,i
 may be mistaken1 and am therefore open 
to any evidence which may be furnished  
that the four gospels1 for instance1    
were not invented by religious          
partisans1 who1 while suppressing their 
own names1 paraded those of the apostles

 as their real authors1 notwithstanding 
that the apostles had been dead long    
ago4 ,i shall consider1 conscientiously1
 any evidence which might be furnished  
that ,ezra was not the real reproducer1 
if not the original author of the       
,jewish code1 after his return from     
,babylonia4 ,and1 ,i promise to retract 
and apologize for the position ,i have  
maintained in this lecture1 if the      
theologians1 who are at home on this    
subject1 will prove that there were no  
spurious gospels1 no impostures1 no     
lying manuscripts thrown upon the       
religious market as soon as the pagan   
state embraced ,christianity1 ,i will   
also listen to any arguments which may  
be produced to show that the ,apostles' 
,creed was written by the apostles2 that
 ,constantine abdicated in favor of the 
pope2 that the ,pagan ,sibyls prophesied
 of ,christ1 and that ,josephus         
acknowledged ,jesus to have been the    
,messiah4  ,i sincerely trust some      
learned divine into whose hands this    

lecture might fall1 will present the    
other side1 if he thinks there is       
another side1 of the story ,i have      
presented4 ,by the word invented it is  
not meant that the names1 events1 etc1  
were all manufactured1 but that stories 
borrowed largely from mythical sources  
were edited and altered to serve        
partisan and political purposes4  ,and  
why have ,i told this story8  ,do you   
know of any good reason1 reader1 why    
every other subject may be independently
 discussed or investigated1 except      
religion8 ,and do you know why1 if      
,shakespeare can stand criticism1 the   
,bible should shrink from it8  ,if it is
 possible to disagree with1 or to       
advance beyond1 ,plato1 ,socrates1      
,spencer1 ,darwin1 ,goethe1             
,emerson1--please6 why is it a heresy to
 differ from ,moses1 ,solomon1 ,jonah or
 ,jesus8 ,why is it proper to disagree  
with a ,greek or a ,roman1 but blasphemy
 to disagree with a ,jew8  ,the ,bible  
has for centuries blocked the way of    

progress4 ,as an infallible book it has 
enslaved conscience1 and encouraged     
intolerance4 ,to defend its many        
puerilities1 and even immoral tales1 men
 have resorted to casuistry and         
dissimulation4 ,i believe that men will 
be more honest1 more tolerant1 more     
progressive1 more independent and more  
manly1 if they could be delivered from  
the bondage of the ,bible4 ,to overthrow
 its tyranny and to prove that a book   
can not be the master of living and     
growing men1 to make man free1 to raise 
him from his knees1 to bring back the   
color to his cheeks white with fear1 and
 to give to his arrested mind           
movement--is my aim and my joy6#b       
,,footnotes3  #a ,see ,saladin's ,god   
and ,his ,book4  #b ,those who wish to  
read further on this subject should     
consult the author's ,the ,truth ,about 
,jesus--,is ,he a ,myth8         99     
99       99       99       99           
,publications by the ,same ,author      
,a ,,new ,,catechism4 ,fifth ,edition1  

,revised and ,enlarged1 with            
,portrait of ,author1 #a4jj4            
,,the ,,truth ,,about ,,jesus3 ,,is ,,he
 ,a ,,myth8 ,a new book of #bie pages4  
,illustrated4 ,cloth #a4jj4 ,paper      
#j4ej4        ,,mangasarian-,,crapsey   
,,debate ,,on ,,the ,,historicity ,,of  
,,jesus4 #be;c4        ,,pearls4 7,new  
,edition7 ,brave ,thoughts from ,brave  
,minds4 ,selected       and arranged by 
,m4 ,m4 ,mangasarian4 #be;c4   ,lectures
  #aj cents a ,copy         ,,the       
,,church ,,in ,,politics--,,americans   
,,beware6        ,,woman ,,suffrage1    
,,or ,,the ,,child-,,bearing ,,woman    
,,and ,,civilization4        ,,the      
,,kingdom ,,of ,,god ,,in ,,geneva      
,,under ,,calvin4        ,,the          
,,martyrdom ,,of ,,hypatia4             
,,morality ,,without ,,god4             
,,what ,,was ,,the ,,religion ,,of      
,,shakespeare4        ,,christian       
,,science ,,analyzed ,,and ,,answered4  
,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,washington1     
,,jefferson ,,and ,,franklin4           

,,publications ,,of ,m4 ,m4 ,,mangasaman
 ,orchestra ,hall ,building   ,a ,,new  
,,catechism  ,containing six new        
chapters1 making altogether #bb         
chapters1 with an introduction1 and a   
photograph of the author1 bound in      
cloth1 #bgj pages4 ,fourth edition4     
,price1 one dollar4   ,,an ,,opinion    
,sir4 ,george ,jacob ,holyoake1 of      
,england1 the friend and neighbor of the
 late ,herbert ,spencer1 says this of ,a
 ,new ,catechism3         ,it is the    
boldest1 the brightest1 the most varied 
and informing       of any work of the  
kind extant4 ,the book is a cyclopedia  
in a       nutshell4 --,literary ,guide1
 ,london1 ,eng4   ,prof4 ,c4 ,s4        
,laisant1 one of the leading educators  
of ,france1 and a member of the faculty 
of the ,college of ,france1 says3       
,admiration is too feeble a word to     
express my opinion of ',a ,new          
,catechism4' ,it is a marvelous manual  
of rationalistic philosophy and         
scientific morality4 ,to disseminate    

this book is to aid the cause of        
,european democracy--the emancipation of
 the people4 ,we congratulate ,frenchmen
 for the opportunity of reading in their
 own language so beautiful and          
beneficent a book4  ,m4 ,vandervelde1   
member of the ,parliament of ,belgium1  
says3  ,i know of no other work of its  
kind which is as lucid1 as loyal to     
truth1 and as attractive to the daily   
toiler1 as it is to the                 
philosopher4--,in ,introduction to      
,french ,edition4  ,mr4 ,geo4 ,w4       
,foote1 of ,england1 in ,the            
,freethinker3  ,mr4 ,mangasarian's      
well-known ',catechism' promises to have
 a great sale in ,france and ,belgium4  
,the ,english edition ought to be widely
 circulated in this country4 ,it is     
written with power1 knowledge1 and      
dexterity4 ,placed in the hands of young
 people1 in particular1 it should do a  
world of good for ,free-thought4        
,,what ,,the ,,european ,,papers ,,say  
,,of ,a ,,new ,,catechism               

,grapples with the problems that        
underlie all the creeds and all         
the systems of science and              
philosophy4--,glasgow ,herald4          
,the author shows good judgment in      
devising questions and great            
fertility of resource in answering them4
 ,the book is well worth a              
perusal4--,educational ,news1 ,london4  
,mr4 ,mangasarian seems to us to have   
hit upon a happy union of the           
brevity which is the soul of wit with   
the amplitude which conduces       to   
enlightenment4444 ,it is acute1         
stimulating and suggestive4444       ,it
 is eminently readable1 and we trust it 
will have the extensive       sale which
 its intrinsic merit                    
deserves4--,literary ,guide1            
,london4   ,,christian ,,science ,a     
,comedy in ,four ,acts  ,the book is    
meant for those in whom the spirit of   
inquiry is not hopelessly stifled4      
,people who enjoy doing their thinking1 
will relish reading this comedy4 ,the   

motto of the book is3 ,the light is     
known to have failed against folly      
sometimes1 the laugh never4 #hj pages4  
,cloth #be;c1 paper #aj;c4  ,the above  
should be read in connection with the   
author's pamphlet lecture on ,why ,mrs4 
,eddy's ,teachings ,appeal to ,women1 or
 ,christian ,science ,analysed4 ,price1 
#aj;c4   ,a ,,few ,,of ,,the ,,printed  
,,lectures ,of ,m4 ,m4 ,mangasarian     
,,how ,,the ,,bible ,,was ,,invented4   
,,morality ,,without ,,god4             
,,sunday ,,sermons ,,and ,,sunday       
,,sports        ,,orthodox ,,attacks    
7,mr4 ,mangasarian's answer to ,the     
,outlook's       attack on ,a ,new      
,catechism74        ,,prayer4           
,,the ,,catholic ,,church ,,in ,,america
 7,being a reply to the ,archbishop     
of ,chicago74        ,,christian        
,,science ,,analyzed ,,and ,,answered1  
#bnd ,edition4        ,,christian       
,,science--,a ,,comedy4        ,,bryan  
,,on ,,religion4        ,,what ,,was    
,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,shakespeare8    

,,shakespeare1 ,,the ,,rationalist4     
#aj;c per copy4 ,orchestra ,hall        
,building1 ,chicago4   ,the ,independent
 ,religious ,society  ,lectures are     
delivered every ,sunday morning at #aa  
by ,m4 ,m4 ,mangasarian1 in ,orchestra  
,hall1 ,michigan ,avenue and ,adams     
,street4  ,the aim1 spirit1 and         
fellowship1 of the ,society1 are clearly
 expressed in the following selection   
from ,ralph ,waldo ,emerson3  ,the new  
church will be founded on moral science4
 ,poets1 artists1 musicians1            
philosophers1 will be its prophet       
teachers4 ,the noblest literature of the
 world will be its bible4 ,love and     
labor1 its holy sacraments--and instead 
of worshipping one saviour1 it will     
gladly build an altar in the heart for  
every one who has suffered for humanity4