,,the ,,works ,,of ,,robert ,g4 ,,ingersoll ,,the ,,clergy ,,know1 ,,that ,i ,,know1 ,,that ,,they ,,know1 ,,that ,,they ,,do ,,not ,,know4 ,,in ,,twelve ,,volumes1 ,,volume ,,ii4 ,,lectures #aijj ,,the ,,dresden ,,edition ,,to ,,mrs4 ,,sue4 ,m4 ,,farrell1 ,,in ,,law ,,my ,,sister1 ,,and ,,in ,,fact ,,my ,,friend1 ,,this ,,volume1 ,,as ,a ,,token ,,of ,,respect ,,and ,,love1 ,,is ,,dedicated4 ,,contents ,,of ,,volume ,,ii4 ,,some ,,mistakes ,,of ,,moses4 7#ahgi47 ,preface--,i4 ,he who endeavors to control the ,mind by ,force is a ,tyrant1 and he who submits is a ,slave--,all ,i ,ask--,when a ,religion is ,founded--,freedom for the ,orthodox ,clergy--,every ,minister an ,attorney--,submission to the ,orthodox and the ,dead--,bounden ,duty of the ,ministry--,the ,minister ,factory at ,andover--,,ii4 ,free ,schools--,no ,sectarian ,sciences--,religion and the ,schools--,scientific ,hypocrites--,,iii4 ,the ,politicians and the ,churches--,,iv4 ,man and ,woman the ,highest ,possible ,titles--,belief ,dependent on ,surroundings--,worship of ,ancestors--,blindness ,necessary to ,keeping the ,narrow ,path--,the ,bible the ,chain that ,binds--,a ,bible of the ,middle ,ages and the ,awe it ,inspired--,v4 ,the ,pentateuch--,moses ,not the ,author--,belief out of which ,grew ,religious ,ceremonies--,egypt the ,source of the ,information of ,moses--,,vi4 ,monday--,nothing1 in the ,light of ,raw ,material--,the ,story of ,creation ,begun--,the ,same ,story1 substantially1 ,found in the ,records of ,babylon1 ,egypt1 and ,india--,inspiration ,unnecessary to the ,truth--,usefulness of ,miracles to ,fit ,lies to ,facts--,division of ,darkness and ,light--,,vii4 ,tuesday--,the ,firmament and ,some ,biblical ,notions about it--,laws of ,evaporation ,unknown to the ,inspired ,writer--,,viii4 ,wednesday--,the ,waters ,gathered into ,seas--,fruit and ,nothing to ,eat it--,five ,epochs in the ,organic ,history of the ,earth--,balance between the ,total ,amounts of ,animal and ,vegetable ,life--,vegetation ,prior to the ,appearance of the ,sun--,,ix4 ,thursday--,sun and ,moon ,manufactured--,magnitude of the ,solar ,orb--,dimensions of ,some of the ,planets--,moses' ,guess at the ,size of ,sun and ,moon--,joshua's ,control of the ,heavenly ,bodies--,a ,hypothesis ,urged by ,ministers--,the ,theory of ,refraction--,rev4 ,henry ,morey--,astronomical ,knowledge of ,chinese ,savants--,the ,motion of the ,earth ,reversed by ,jehovah for the ,reassurance of ,ahaz--,errors ,renounced by ,button--,x4 ,he made the ,stars ,also--,distance of the ,nearest ,star--,,xi4 ,friday--,whales and ,other ,living ,creatures ,produced--,,xii4 ,saturday--,reproduction ,inaugurated--,,xiii4 ,let ,us ,make ,man--,human ,beings ,created in the ,physical ,image and ,likeness of ,god--,inquiry as to the ,process ,adopted--,development of ,living ,forms ,according to ,evolution--,how ,were ,adam and ,eve ,created8--,the ,rib ,story--,age of ,man ,upon the ,earth--,a ,statue ,apparently ,made before the ,world--,,xiv4 ,sunday--,sacredness of the ,sabbath ,destroyed by the ,theory of ,vast ,periods--,reflections on the ,sabbath--,,xv4 ,the ,necessity for a ,good ,memory--,the ,two ,accounts of the ,creation in ,genesis ,i and ,,ii--,order of ,creation in the ,first ,account--,order of ,creation in the ,second ,account--,fastidiousness of ,adam in the ,choice of a ,helpmeet--,dr4 ,adam ,clark's ,commentary--,dr4 ,scott's ,guess--,dr4 ,matthew ,henry's ,admission--,the ,blonde and ,brunette ,problem--,the ,result of ,unbelief and the ,reward of ,faith--,give ,him a ,harp--,,xvi4 ,the ,garden--,location of ,eden--,the ,four ,rivers--,the ,tree of ,knowledge--,andover ,appealed ,to--,,xvii4 ,the ,fall--,the ,serpent--,dr4 ,adam ,clark ,gives a ,zoological ,explanation--,dr4 ,henry ,dissents--,whence ,this ,serpent8--,,xviii4 ,dampness--,a ,race of ,giants--,wickedness of ,mankind--,an ,ark ,constructed--,a ,universal ,flood ,indicated--,animals ,probably ,admitted to the ,ark--,how ,did ,they ,get ,there8--,problem of ,food and ,service--,a ,shoreless ,sea ,covered with ,innumerable ,dead--,drs4 ,clark and ,henry on the ,situation--,the ,ark ,takes ,ground--,new ,difficulties--,noah's ,sacrifice--,the ,rainbow as a ,memorandum--,babylonian1 ,egyptian1 and ,indian ,legends of a ,flood--,,xix4 ,bacchus and ,babel--,interest ,attaching to ,noah--,where ,did ,our ,first ,parents and the ,serpent ,acquire a ,common ,language8--,babel and the ,confusion of ,tongues--,,xx4 ,faith in ,filth--,immodesty of ,biblical ,diction--,,xxi4 ,the ,hebrews--,god's ,promises to ,abraham--,the ,sojourning of ,israel in ,egypt--,marvelous ,increase--,moses and ,aaron--,,xxii4 ,the ,plagues--,competitive ,miracle ,working--,defeat of the ,local ,magicians--,,xxiii4 ,the ,flight ,out of ,egypt--,three ,million ,people in a ,desert--,destruction of ,pharaoh ana ,his ,host--,manna--,a ,superfluity of ,quails--,rev4 ,alexander ,cruden's ,commentary--,hornets as ,allies of the ,israelites--,durability of the ,clothing of the ,jewish ,people--,an ,ointment ,monopoly--,consecration of ,priests--,the ,crime of ,becoming a ,mother--,the ,ten ,commandments--,medical ,ideas of ,jehovah--,character of the ,god of the ,pentateuch--,,xxiv4 ,confess and ,avoid--,,xxv4 ,inspired ,slavery--,,xxvi4 ,inspired ,marriage-,,xxvii4 ,inspired ,war-,,xxviii4 ,inspired ,religious ,liberty--,,xxix4 ,conclusion4 ,,some ,,reasons ,,why4 7#ahha47 ,i--,religion makes ,enemies--,hatred in the ,name of ,universal ,benevolence--,no ,respect for the ,rights of ,barbarians--,literal ,fulfillment of a ,new ,testament ,prophecy--,,ii4 ,duties to ,god--,can we ,assist ,god8--,an ,infinite ,personality an ,infinite ,impossibility-,ill4 ,inspiration--,what it ,really ,is--,indication of ,clams--,multitudinous ,laughter of the ,sea--,horace ,greeley and the ,mammoth ,trees--,a ,landscape ,compared to a ,table-cloth--,the ,supernatural is the ,deformed--,inspiration in the ,man as well as in the ,book--,our ,inspired ,bible--,,iv4 ,god's ,experiment with the ,jews--,miracles of ,one ,religion never astonish the ,priests of ,another--,i am a ,liar ,myself--,v4 ,civilized ,countries--,crimes once regarded as ,divine ,institutions--,what the ,believer in the ,inspiration of the ,bible is ,compelled to ,say--,passages apparently written by the ,devil--,,vi4 ,a ,comparison of ,books--,advancing a ,cannibal from ,missionary to ,mutton--,contrast between the ,utterances of ,jehovah and those of ,reputable ,heathen--,epictetus1 ,cicero1 ,zeno1 ,seneca--the ,hindu1 ,antoninus1 ,marcus ,aurelius--,the ,avesta--,,vii4 ,monotheism--,egyptians before ,moses taught there was but ,one ,god and ,married but ,one ,wife--,persians and ,hindoos had a ,single ,supreme ,deity--,rights of ,roman ,women--,marvels of ,art achieved without the ,assistance of ,heaven--,probable ,action of the ,jewish ,jehovah incarnated as ,man--,,viii4 ,the ,new ,testament--,doctrine of ,eternal ,pain brought to ,light--,discrepancies--,human ,weaknesses cannot be ,predicated of ,divine ,wisdom--,why there are ,four ,gospels according to ,irenaeus--,the ,atonement--,remission of ,sins under the ,mosaic ,dispensation--,christians say1 ,charge it--,god's ,forgiveness does not ,repair an ,injury--,suffering of ,innocence for the ,guilty--,salvation made ,possible by ,jehovah's ,failure to ,civilize the ,jews--,necessity of ,belief not taught in the ,synoptic ,gospels--,non-resistance the ,offspring of ,weakness--,,ix4 ,christ's ,mission--,all the ,virtues had been ,taught before his ,advent--,perfect and ,beautiful ,thoughts of his ,pagan ,predecessors--,st4 ,paul ,contrasted with ,heathen ,writers--,the ,quality of ,mercy--,x4 ,eternal ,pain--,an ,illustration of ,eternal ,punishment--,captain ,kreuger of the ,barque ,tiger--,,xi4 ,civilizing ,influence of the ,bible--,its ,effects on the ,jews--,if ,christ was ,god1 ,did he not1 in his ,crucifixion1 ,reap what he had ,sown8--,nothing can add to the ,misery of a ,nation whose ,king is ,jehovah ,,orthodoxy4 7#ahhd47 ,orthodox ,religion ,dying ,out--,religious ,deaths and ,births--,the ,religion of ,reciprocity--,every ,language has a ,cemetery--,orthodox ,institutions ,survive through the ,money invested in them--,let us tell our ,real ,names--,the ,blows that have ,shattered the ,shield and ,shivered the ,lance of ,superstition--,mohammed's ,successful ,defence of the ,sepulchre of ,christ--,the ,destruction of ,art--,the ,discovery of ,america--,although he made it himself1 the ,holy ,ghost was ,ignorant of the ,form of this ,earth--,copernicus and ,kepler--,special ,providence--,the ,man and the ,ship he did not ,take--,a ,thanksgiving ,proclamation ,contradicted--,charles ,darwin--,henry ,ward ,beecher--,the ,creeds--,the ,latest ,creed--,god as a ,governor--,the ,love of ,god--,the ,fall of ,man--,we are ,bound by ,representatives without a ,chance to ,vote against ,them--,the ,atonement--,the ,doctrine of ,depravity a ,libel on the ,human ,race--,the ,second ,birth--,a ,unitarian ,universalist--,inspiration of the ,scriptures--,god a ,victim of his own ,tyranny--,in the ,new ,testament ,trouble ,commences at ,death--,the ,reign of ,truth and ,love--,the ,old ,spaniard who ,died without an ,enemy--,the ,wars it ,brought--,consolation should be ,denied to ,murderers--,at the ,rate at which ,heathen are being ,converted1 how long will it take to ,establish ,christ's ,kingdom on ,earth8--,the ,resurrection--,the ,judgment ,day--,pious ,evasions--,we shall not ,die1 but we shall all be ,hanged--,no ,bible1 no ,civilization ,miracles of the ,new ,testament--,nothing ,written by ,christ or his ,contemporaries--,genealogy of ,jesus--,more ,miracles--,a ,master of ,death--,improbable that he would be ,crucified--,the ,loaves and ,fishes--,how did it happen that the ,miracles ,convinced so ,few8--,the ,resurrection--,the ,ascension--,was the ,body ,spiritual--,parting from the ,disciples--,casting out ,devils--,necessity of ,belief--,god should be consistent in the ,matter of forgiving ,enemies--,eternal ,punishment--,some ,good ,men who are ,damned--,another ,objection--,love the only ,bow on ,life's dark ,cloud--,now is the accepted ,time--,rather than this ,doctrine of ,eternal ,punishment ,should be ,true--,i would rather that every ,planet should in its ,orbit wheel a barren ,star--,what ,i ,believe--,immortality--,it existed long before ,moses--,consolation--,the ,promises are so ,far ,away1 and the ,dead are so ,near--,death a ,wall or a ,door--,a ,fable--,orpheus and ,eurydice4 ,,myth ,,and ,,miracle4 7#ahhe47 ,i4 ,happiness the true ,end and ,aim of ,life--,spiritual ,people and their ,literature--,shakespeare's ,clowns superior to ,inspired ,writers--,beethoven's ,sixth ,symphony ,preferred to the ,five ,books of ,moses--,venus of ,milo more ,pleasing than the ,presbyterian ,creed--,,ii4 ,religions ,naturally ,produced--,poets the ,myth-makers--,the ,sleeping ,beauty--,orpheus and ,eurydice--,red ,riding ,hood--,the ,golden ,age--,elysian ,fields--,the ,flood ,myth--,myths of the ,seasons--,,iii4 ,the ,sun-god--,jonah1 ,buddha1 ,chrisnna1 ,horus1 ,zoroaster--,december #beth as a ,birthday of ,gods--,christ a ,sun-,god--,the ,cross a ,symbol of the ,life to ,come--,when ,nature rocked the ,cradle of the ,infant ,world--,,iv4 ,difference between a ,myth and a ,miracle--,raising the ,dead1 ,past and ,present--,miracles of ,jehovah--,miracles of ,christ--,everything ,told except the ,truth--,the ,mistake of the ,world--,v4 ,beginning of ,investigation--,the ,stars as ,witnesses against ,superstition--,martyrdom of ,bruno--,geology--,steam and ,electricity--,nature forever the ,same--,persistence of ,force--,cathedral1 ,mosque1 and ,joss ,house have the same ,foundation--,science the ,providence of ,man--,,vi4 ,to ,soften the ,heart of ,god--,martyrs--,the ,god was ,silent--,credulity a ,vice--,develop the ,imagination--,the ,skylark and ,the ,daisy--,,vii4 ,how are we to ,civilize the ,world8--,put ,theology out of ,religion--,divorce of ,church and ,state--,secular ,education--,godless ,schools--,,viii4 ,the ,new ,jerusalem--,knowledge of the ,supernatural possessed by ,savages--,beliefs of ,primitive ,peoples--,science is ,modest--,theology ,arrogant--,torque-mada and ,bruno on the ,day of ,judgment--,,ix4 ,poison of ,superstition in the ,mother's ,milk--,ability of ,mistakes to take ,care of ,themselves--,longevity of ,religious ,lies--,mother's religion pleaded by the ,cannibal--,the ,religion of ,freedom--,o ,liberty1 thou art the ,god of my ,idolatry ,,preface4 ,for many years ,i have regarded the ,pentateuch simply as a record of a barbarous people1 in which are found a great number of the ceremonies of savagery1 many absurd and unjust laws1 and thousands of ideas inconsistent with known and demonstrated facts4 ,to me it seemed almost a crime to teach that this record was written by inspired men2 that slavery1 polygamy1 wars of conquest and extermination were right1 and that there was a time when men could win the approbation of infinite ,intelligence1 ,justice1 and ,mercy1 by violating maidens and by butchering babes4 ,to me it seemed more reasonable that savage men had made these laws2 and ,i endeavored in a lecture1 entitled ,some ,mistakes of ,moses1 to point out some of the errors1 contradictions1 and impossibilities contained in the ,pentateuch4 ,the lecture was never written and consequently never delivered twice the same4 ,on several occasions it was reported and published without consent1 and without revision4 ,all these publications were grossly and glaringly incorrect ,as published1 they have been answered several hundred times1 and many of the clergy are still engaged in the great work4 ,to keep these reverend gentlemen from wasting their talents on the mistakes of reporters and printers1 ,i concluded to publish the principal points in all my lectures on this subject4 ,and here1 it may be proper for me to say1 that arguments cannot be answered by personal abuse2 that there is no logic in slander1 and that falsehood1 in the long run1 defeats itself4 ,people who love their enemies should1 at least1 tell the truth about their friends4 ,should it turn out that ,i am the worst man in the whole world1 the story of the flood will remain just as improbable as before1 and the contradictions of the ,pentateuch will still demand an explanation4 ,there was a time when a falsehood1 fulminated from the pulpit1 smote like a sword2 but1 the supply having greatly exceeded the demand1 clerical misrepresentation has at last become almost an innocent amusement4 ,remembering that only a few years ago men1 women1 and even children1 were imprisoned1 tortured and burned1 for having expressed in an exceedingly mild and gentle way1 the ideas entertained by me1 ,i congratulate myself that calumny is now the pulpit's last resort4 ,the old instruments of torture are kept only to gratify curiosity2 the chains are rusting away1 and the demolition of time has allowed even the dungeons of the ,inquisition to be visited by light4 ,the church1 impotent and malicious1 regrets1 not the abuse1 but the loss of her power1 and seeks to hold by falsehood what she gained by cruelty and force1 by fire and fear4 ,christianity cannot live in peace with any other form of faith4 ,if that religion be true1 there is but one savior1 one inspired book1 and but one little narrow grass-grown path that leads to heaven4 ,such a religion is necessarily uncompromising1 unreasoning1 aggressive and insolent4 ,christianity has held all other creeds and forms in infinite contempt1 divided the world into enemies and friends1 and verified the awful declaration of its founder--a declaration that wet with blood the sword he came to bring1 and made the horizon of a thousand years lurid with the fagots' flames4 ,too great praise challenges attention1 and often brings to light a thousand faults that otherwise the general eye would never see4 ,were we allowed to read the ,bible as we do all other books1 we would admire its beauties1 treasure its worthy thoughts1 and account for all its absurd1 grotesque and cruel things1 by saying that its authors lived in rude1 barbaric times4 ,but we are told that it was written by inspired men2 that it contains the will of ,god2 that it is perfect1 pure1 and true in all its parts2 the source and standard of all moral and religious truth2 that it is the star and anchor of all human hope2 the only guide for man1 the only torch in ,nature's night4 ,these claims are so at variance with every known recorded fact1 so palpably absurd1 that every free unbiased soul is forced to raise the standard of revolt4 ,we read the pagan sacred books with profit and delight4 ,with myth and fable we are ever charmed1 and find a pleasure in the endless repetition of the beautiful1 poetic1 and absurd4 ,we find1 in all these records of the past1 philosophies and dreams1 and efforts stained with tears1 of great and tender souls who tried to pierce the mystery of life and death1 to answer the eternal questions of the ,whence and ,whither1 and vainly sought to make1 with bits of shattered glass1 a mirror that would1 in very truth1 reflect the face and form of ,nature's perfect self4 ,these myths were born of hopes1 and fears1 and tears1 and smiles1 and they were touched and colored by all there is of joy and grief between the rosy dawn of birth1 and deaths sad night4 ,they clothed even the stars with passion1 and gave to gods the faults and frailties of the sons of men4 ,in them1 the winds and waves were music1 and all the lakes1 and streams1 and springs1--the mountains1 woods and perfumed dells were haunted by a thousand fairy forms4 ,they thrilled the veins of ,spring with tremulous desire2 made tawny ,summer's billowed breast the throne and home of love2 filled ,autumn's arms with sun-kissed grapes1 and gathered sheaves2 and pictured ,winter as a weak old king who felt1 like ,lear upon his withered face1 ,cordelia's tears4 ,these myths1 though false1 are beautiful1 and have for many ages and in countless ways1 enriched the heart and kindled thought4 ,but if the world were taught that all these things are true and all inspired of ,god1 and that eternal punishment will be the lot of him who dares deny or doubt1 the sweetest myth of all the ,fable ,world would lose its beauty1 and become a scorned and hateful thing to every brave and thoughtful man4 ,robert ,g4 ,ingersoll4 ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 ,oct4 #gth1 #ahgi4 ,,some ,,mistakes ,,of ,,moses4 ,,he ,,who ,,endeavors ,,to ,,control ,,the ,,mind ,,by ,,force ,,is ,a ,,tyrant1 ,,and ,,he ,,who ,,submits ,,is ,a ,,slave4 ,i4 ,i want to do what little ,i can to make my country truly free1 to broaden the intellectual horizon of our people1 to destroy the prejudices born of ignorance and fear1 to do away with the blind worship of the ignoble past1 with the idea that all the great and good are dead1 that the living are totally depraved1 that all pleasures are sins1 that sighs and groans are alone pleasing to ,god1 that thought is dangerous1 that intellectual courage is a crime1 that cowardice is a virtue1 that a certain belief is necessary to secure salvation1 that to carry a cross in this world will give us a palm in the next1 and that we must allow some priest to be the pilot of our souls4 ,until every soul is freely permitted to investigate every book1 and creed1 and dogma for itself1 the world cannot be free4 ,mankind will be enslaved until there is mental grandeur enough to allow each man to have his thought and say4 ,this earth will be a paradise when men can1 upon all these questions differ1 and yet grasp each other's hands as friends4 ,it is amazing to me that a difference of opinion upon subjects that we know nothing with certainty about1 should make us hate1 persecute1 and despise each other4 ,why a difference of opinion upon predestination1 or the ,trinity1 should make people imprison and burn each other seems beyond the comprehension of man2 and yet in all countries where ,christians have existed1 they have destroyed each other to the exact extent of their power4 ,why should a believer in ,god hate an atheist8 ,surely the atheist has not injured ,god1 and surely he is human1 capable of joy and pain1 and entitled to all the rights of man4 ,would it not be far better to treat this atheist1 at least1 as well as he treats us8 ,christians tell me that they love their enemies1 and yet all ,i ask is--not that they love their enemies1 not that they love their friends even1 but that they treat those who differ from them1 with simple fairness4 ,we do not wish to be forgiven1 but we wish ,christians to so act that we will not have to forgive them4 ,if all will admit that all have an equal right to think1 then the question is forever solved2 but as long as organized and powerful churches1 pretending to hold the keys of heaven and hell1 denounce every person as an outcast and criminal who thinks for himself and denies their authority1 the world will be filled with hatred and suffering4 ,to hate man and worship ,god seems to be the sum of all the creeds4 ,that which has happened in most countries has happened in ours4 ,when a religion is founded1 the educated1 the powerful--that is to say1 the priests and nobles1 tell the ignorant and superstitious--that is to say1 the people1 that the religion of their country was given to their fathers by ,god himself2 that it is the only true religion2 that all others were conceived in falsehood and brought forth in fraud1 and that all who believe in the true religion will be happy forever1 while all others will burn in hell4 ,for the purpose of governing the people1 that is to say1 for the purpose of being supported by the people1 the priests and nobles declare this religion to be sacred1 and that whoever adds to1 or takes from it1 will be burned here by man1 and hereafter by ,god4 ,the result of this is1 that the priests and nobles will not allow the people to change2 and when1 after a time1 the priests1 having intellectually advanced1 wish to take a step in the direction of progress1 the people will not allow them to change4 ,at first1 the rabble are enslaved by the priests1 and afterwards the rabble become the masters4 ,one of the first things ,i wish to do1 is to free the orthodox clergy4 ,i am a great friend of theirs1 and in spite of all they may say against me1 ,i am going to do them a great and lasting service4 ,upon their necks are visible the marks of the collar1 and upon their backs those of the lash4 ,they are not allowed to read and think for themselves4 ,they are taught like parrots1 and the best are those who repeat1 with the fewest mistakes1 the sentences they have been taught4 ,they sit like owls upon some dead limb of the tree of knowledge1 and hoot the same old hoots that have been hooted for eighteen hundred years4 ,their congregations are not grand enough1 nor sufficiently civilized1 to be willing that the poor preachers shall think for themselves4 ,they are not employed for that purpose4 ,investigation regarded as a dangerous experiment1 and the ministers are warned that none of that kind of work will be tolerated4 ,they are notified to stand by the old creed1 and to avoid all original thought1 as a mortal pestilence4 ,every minister is employed like an attorney--either for plaintiff or defendant1--and he is expected to be true to his client4 ,if he changes his mind1 he is regarded as a deserter1 and denounced1 hated1 and slandered accordingly4 ,every orthodox clergyman agrees not to change4 ,he contracts not to find new facts1 and makes a bargain that he will deny them if he does4 ,such is the position of a ,protestant minister in this nineteenth century4 ,his condition excites my pity2 and to better it1 ,i am going to do what little ,i can4 ,some of the clergy have the independence to break away1 and the intellect to maintain themselves as free men1 but the most are compelled to submit to the dictation of the orthodox1 and the dead4 ,they are not employed to give their thoughts1 but simply to repeat the ideas of others4 ,they are not expected to give even the doubts that may suggest themselves1 but are required to walk in the narrow1 verdureless path trodden by the ignorance of the past4 ,the forests and fields on either side are nothing to them4 ,they must not even look at the purple hills1 nor pause to hear the babble of the brooks4 ,they must remain in the dusty road where the guide-boards are4 ,they must confine themselves to the fall of man1 the expulsion from the garden1 the scheme of salvation1 the second birth1 the atonement1 the happiness of the redeemed1 and the misery of the lost4 ,they must be careful not to express any new ideas upon these great questions4 ,it is much safer for them to quote from the works of the dead4 ,the more vividly they describe the sufferings of the unregenerate1 of those who attended theatres and balls1 and drank wine in summer gardens on the ,sabbath-day1 and laughed at priests1 the better ministers they are supposed to be4 ,they must show that misery fits the good for heaven1 while happiness prepares the bad for hell2 that the wicked get all their good things in this life1 and the good all their evil2 that in this world ,god punishes the people he loves1 and in the next1 the ones he hates2 that happiness makes us bad here1 but not in heaven2 that pain makes us good here1 but not in hell4 ,no matter how absurd these things may appear to the carnal mind1 they must be preached and they must be believed4 ,if they were reasonable1 there would be no virtue in believing4 ,even the publicans and sinners believe reasonable things4 ,to believe without evidence1 or in spite of it1 is accounted as righteousness to the sincere and humble ,christian4 ,the ministers are in duty bound to denounce all intellectual pride1 and show that we are never quite so dear to ,god as when we admit that we are poor1 corrupt and idiotic worms2 that we never should have been born2 that we ought to be damned without the least delay2 that we are so infamous that we like to enjoy ourselves2 that we love our wives and children better than our ,god2 that we are generous only because we are vile2 that we are honest from the meanest motives1 and that sometimes we have fallen so low that we have had doubts about the inspiration of the ,jewish ,scriptures4 ,in short1 they are expected to denounce all pleasant paths and rustling trees1 to curse the grass and flowers1 and glorify the dust and weeds4 ,they are expected to malign the wicked people in the green and happy fields1 who sit and laugh beside the gurgling springs or climb the hills and wander as they will4 ,they are expected to point out the dangers of freedom1 the safety of implicit obedience1 and to show the wickedness of philosophy1 the goodness of faith1 the immorality of science and the purity of ignorance4 ,now and then a few pious people discover some young man of a religious turn of mind and a consumptive habit of body1 not quite sickly enough to die1 nor healthy enough to be wicked4 ,the idea occurs to them that he would make a good orthodox minister4 ,they take up a contribution1 and send the young man to some theological school where he can be taught to repeat a creed and despise reason4 ,should it turn out that the young man had some mind of his own1 and1 after graduating1 should change his opinions and preach a different doctrine from that taught in the school1 every man who contributed a dollar towards his education would feel that he had been robbed1 and would denounce him as a dishonest and ungrateful wretch4 ,the pulpit should not be a pillory4 ,congregations should allow the minister a little liberty4 ,they should1 at least1 permit him to tell the truth4 ,they have1 in ,massachusetts1 at a place called ,andover1 a kind of minister factory1 where each professor takes an oath once in five years--that time being considered the life of an oath--that he has not1 during the last five years1 and will not1 during the next five years1 intellectually advance4 ,there is probably no oath that they could easier keep4 ,probably1 since the foundation stone of that institution was laid there has not been a single case of perjury4 ,the old creed is still taught4 ,they still insist that ,god is infinitely wise1 powerful and good1 and that all men are totally depraved4 ,they insist that the best man ,god ever made1 deserved to be damned the moment he was finished4 ,andover puts its brand upon every minister it turns out1 the same as ,sheffield and ,birmingham brand their wares1 and all who see the brand know exactly what the minister believes1 the books he has read1 the arguments he relies on1 and just what he intellectually is4 ,they know just what he can be depended on to preach1 and that he will continue to shrink and shrivel1 and grow solemnly stupid day by day until he reaches the ,andover of the grave and becomes truly orthodox forever4 ,i have not singled out the ,andover factory because it is worse than the others4 ,they are all about the same4 ,the professors1 for the most part1 are ministers who failed in the pulpit and were retired to the seminary on account of their deficiency in reason and their excess of faith4 ,as a rule1 they know nothing of this world1 and far less of the next2 but they have the power of stating the most absurd propositions with faces solemn as stupidity touched by fear4 ,something should be done for the liberation of these men4 ,they should be allowed to grow--to have sunlight and air4 ,they should no longer be chained and tied to confessions of faith1 to mouldy books and musty creeds4 ,thousands of ministers are anxious to give their honest thoughts4 ,the hands of wives and babes now stop their mouths4 ,they must have bread1 and so the husbands and fathers are forced to preach a doctrine that they hold in scorn4 ,for the sake of shelter1 food and clothes1 they are obliged to defend the childish miracles of the past1 and denounce the sublime discoveries of to-day4 ,they are compelled to attack all modern thought1 to point out the dangers of science1 the wickedness of investigation and the corrupting influence of logic4 ,it is for them to show that virtue rests upon ignorance and faith1 while vice impudently feeds and fattens upon fact and demonstration4 ,it is a part of their business to malign and vilify the ,voltaires1 ,humes1 ,paines1 ,humboldts1 ,tyndalls1 ,haeckels1 ,darwins1 ,spencers1 and ,drapers1 and to bow with uncovered heads before the murderers1 adulterers1 and persecutors of the world4 ,they are1 for the most part1 engaged in poisoning the minds of the young1 prejudicing children against science1 teaching the astronomy and geology of the ,bible1 and inducing all to desert the sublime standard of reason4 ,these orthodox ministers do not add to the sum of knowledge4 ,they produce nothing4 ,they live upon alms4 ,they hate laughter and joy4 ,they officiate at weddings1 sprinkle water upon babes1 and utter meaningless words and barren promises above the dead4 ,they laugh at the agony of unbelievers1 mock at their tears1 and of their sorrows make a jest4 ,there are some noble exceptions4 ,now and then a pulpit holds a brave and honest man4 ,their congregations are willing that they should think--willing that their ministers should have a little freedom4 ,as we become civilized1 more and more liberty will be accorded to these men1 until finally ministers will give their best and highest thoughts4 ,the congregations will finally get tired of hearing about the patriarchs and saints1 the miracles and wonders1 and will insist upon knowing something about the men and women of our day1 and the accomplishments and discoveries of our time4 ,they will finally insist upon knowing how to escape the evils of this world instead of the next4 ,they will ask light upon the enigmas of this life4 ,they will wish to know what we shall do with our criminals instead of what ,god will do with his--how we shall do away with beggary and want--with crime and misery--with prostitution1 disease and famine1--with tyranny in all its cruel forms--with prisons and scaffolds1 and how we shall reward the honest workers1 and fill the world with happy homes6 ,these are the problems for the pulpits and congregations of an enlightened future4 ,if ,science cannot finally answer these questions1 it is a vain and worthless thing4 ,the clergy1 however1 will continue to answer them in the old way1 until their congregations are good enough to set them free4 ,they will still talk about believing in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 as though that were the only remedy for all human ills4 ,they will still teach that retrogression is the only path that leads to light2 that we must go back1 that faith is the only sure guide1 and that reason is a delusive glare1 lighting only the road to eternal pain4 ,until the clergy are free they cannot be intellectually honest4 ,we can never tell what they really believe until they know that they can safely speak4 ,they console themselves now by a secret resolution to be as liberal as they dare1 with the hope that they can finally educate their congregations to the point of allowing them to think a little for themselves4 ,they hardly know what they ought to do4 ,the best part of their lives has been wasted in studying subjects of no possible value4 ,most of them are married1 have families1 and know but one way of making their living4 ,some of them say that if they do not preach these foolish dogmas1 others will1 and that they may through fear1 after all1 restrain mankind4 ,besides1 they hate publicly to admit that they are mistaken1 that the whole thing is a delusion1 that the scheme of salvation is absurd1 and that the ,bible is no better than some other books1 and worse than most4 ,you can hardly expect a bishop to leave his palace1 or the pope to vacate the ,vatican4 ,as long as people want popes1 plenty of hypocrites will be found to take the place4 ,and as long as labor fatigues1 there will be found a good many men willing to preach once a week1 if other folks will work and give them bread4 ,in other words1 while the demand lasts1 the supply will never fail4 ,if the people were a little more ignorant1 astrology would flourish--if a little more enlightened1 religion would perish6 ,,ii4 ,,free ,,schools4 ,it is also my desire to free the schools4 ,when a professor in a college finds a fact1 he should make it known1 even if it is inconsistent with something ,moses said4 ,public opinion must not compel the professor to hide a fact1 and1 like the base ,indian1 throw the pearl away4 ,with the single exception of ,cornell1 there is not a college in the ,united ,states where truth has ever been a welcome guest4 ,the moment one of the teachers denies the inspiration of the ,bible1 he is discharged4 ,if he discovers a fact inconsistent with that book1 so much the worse for the fact1 and especially for the discoverer of the fact4 ,he must not corrupt the minds of his pupils with demonstrations4 ,he must beware of every truth that cannot1 in some way be made to harmonize with the superstitions of the ,jews4 ,science has nothing in common with religion4 ,facts and miracles never did1 and never will agree4 ,they are not in the least related4 ,they are deadly foes4 ,what has religion to do with facts8 ,nothing4 ,can there be ,methodist mathematics1 ,catholic astronomy1 ,presbyterian geology1 ,baptist biology1 or ,episcopal botany8 ,why1 then1 should a sectarian college exist8 ,only that which somebody knows should be taught in our schools4 ,we should not collect taxes to pay people for guessing4 ,the common school is the bread of life for the people1 and it should not be touched by the withering hand of superstition4 ,our country will never be filled with great institutions of learning until there is an absolute divorce between ,church and ,school4 ,as long as the mutilated records of a barbarous people are placed by priest and professor above the reason of mankind1 we shall reap but little benefit from church or school4 ,instead of dismissing professors for finding something out1 let us rather discharge those who do not4 ,let each teacher understand that investigation is not dangerous for him2 that his bread is safe1 no matter how much truth he may discover1 and that his salary will not be reduced1 simply because he finds that the ancient ,jews did not know the entire history of the world4 ,besides1 it is not fair to make the ,catholic support a ,protestant school1 nor is it just to collect taxes from infidels and atheists to support schools in which any system of religion is taught4 ,the sciences are not sectarian4 ,people do not persecute each other on account of disagreements in mathematics4 ,families are not divided about botany1 and astronomy does not even tend to make a man hate his father and mother4 ,it is what people do not know1 that they persecute each other about4 ,science will bring1 not a sword1 but peace4 ,just as long as religion has control of the schools1 science will be an outcast4 ,let us free our institutions of learning4 ,let us dedicate them to the science of eternal truth4 ,let us tell every teacher to ascertain all the facts he can--to give us light1 to follow ,nature1 no matter where she leads2 to be infinitely true to himself and us2 to feel that he is without a chain1 except the obligation to be honest2 that he is bound by no books1 by no creed1 neither by the sayings of the dead nor of the living2 that he is asked to look with his own eyes1 to reason for himself without fear1 to investigate in every possible direction1 and to bring us the fruit of all his work4 ,at present1 a good many men engaged in scientific pursuits1 and who have signally failed in gaining recognition among their fellows1 are endeavoring to make reputations among the churches by delivering weak and vapid lectures upon the harmony of ,genesis and ,geology4 ,like all hypocrites1 these men overstate the case to such a degree1 and so turn and pervert facts and words that they succeed only in gaining the applause of other hypocrites like themselves4 ,among the great scientists they are regarded as generals regard sutlers who trade with both armies4 ,surely the time must come when the wealth of the world will not be wasted in the propagation of ignorant creeds and miraculous mistakes4 ,the time must come when churches and cathedrals will be dedicated to the use of man2 when minister and priest will deem the discoveries of the living of more importance than the errors of the dead2 when the truths of ,nature will outrank the sacred falsehoods of the past1 and when a single fact will outweigh all the miracles of ,holy ,writ4 ,who can over estimate the progress of the world if all the money wasted in superstition could be used to enlighten1 elevate and civilize mankind8 ,when every church becomes a school1 every cathedral a university1 every clergyman a teacher1 and all their hearers brave and honest thinkers1 then1 and not until then1 will the dream of poet1 patriot1 philanthropist and philosopher1 become a real and blessed truth4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,politicians4 ,i would like also to liberate the politician4 ,at present1 the successful office-seeker is a good deal like the centre of the earth2 he weighs nothing himself1 but draws everything else to him4 ,there are so many societies1 so many churches1 so many isms1 that it is almost impossible for an independent man to succeed in a political career4 ,candidates are forced to pretend that they are ,catholics with ,protestant proclivities1 or ,christians with liberal tendencies1 or temperance men who now and then take a glass of wine1 or1 that although not members of any church their wives are1 and that they subscribe liberally to all4 ,the result of all this is that we reward hypocrisy and elect men entirely destitute of real principle2 and this will never change until the people become grand enough to allow each other to do their own thinking1 our ,government should be entirely and purely secular4 ,the religious views of a candidate should be kept entirely out of sight4 ,he should not be compelled to give his opinion as to the inspiration of the ,bible1 the propriety of infant baptism1 or the immaculate conception4 ,all these things are private and personal4 ,he should be allowed to settle such things for himself1 and should he decide contrary to the law and will of ,god1 let him settle the matter with ,god4 ,the people ought to be wise enough to select as their officers men who know something of political affairs1 who comprehend the present greatness1 and clearly perceive the future grandeur of our country4 ,if we were in a storm at sea1 with deck wave-washed and masts strained and bent with storm1 and it was necessary to reef the top sail1 we certainly would not ask the brave sailor who volunteered to go aloft1 what his opinion was on the five points of ,calvinism4 ,our ,government has nothing to do with religion4 ,it is neither ,christian nor pagan2 it is secular4 ,but as long as the people persist in voting for or against men on account of their religious views1 just so long will hypocrisy hold place and power4 ,just so long will the candidates crawl in the dust--hide their opinions1 flatter those with whom they differ1 pretend to agree with those whom they despise2 and just so long will honest men be trampled under foot4 ,churches are becoming political organizations4 ,nearly every ,catholic is a ,democrat2 nearly every ,methodist in the ,north is a ,republican4 ,it probably will not be long until the churches will divide as sharply upon political1 as upon theological questions2 and when that day comes1 if there are not liberals enough to hold the balance of power1 this ,government will be destroyed4 ,the liberty of man is not safe in the hands of any church4 ,wherever the ,bible and sword are in partnership1 man is a slave4 ,all laws for the purpose of making man worship ,god1 are born of the same spirit that kindled the fires of the auto da fe1 and lovingly built the dungeons of the ,inquisition4 ,all laws defining and punishing blasphemy--making it a crime to give your honest ideas about the ,bible1 or to laugh at the ignorance of the ancient ,jews1 or to enjoy yourself on the ,sabbath1 or to give your opinion of ,jehovah1 were passed by impudent bigots1 and should be at once repealed by honest men4 ,an infinite ,god ought to be able to protect himself1 without going in partnership with ,state ,legislatures4 ,certainly he ought not so to act that laws become necessary to keep him from being laughed at4 ,no one thinks of protecting ,shakespeare from ridicule1 by the threat of fine and imprisonment4 ,it strikes me that ,god might write a book that would not necessarily excite the laughter of his children4 ,in fact1 ,i think it would be safe to say that a real ,god could produce a work that would excite the admiration of mankind4 ,surely politicians could be better employed than in passing laws to protect the literary reputation of the ,jewish ,god4 ,,iv4 ,,man ,,and ,,woman ,let us forget that we are ,baptists1 ,methodists1 ,catholics1 ,presbyterians1 or ,freethinkers1 and remember only that we are men and women4 ,after all1 man and woman are the highest possible titles4 ,all other names belittle us1 and show that we have1 to a certain extent1 given up our individuality1 and have consented to wear the collar of authority--that we are followers4 ,throwing away these names1 let us examine these questions not as partisans1 but as human beings with hopes and fears in common4 ,we know that our opinions depend1 to a great degree1 upon our surroundings--upon race1 country1 and education4 ,we are all the result of numberless conditions1 and inherit vices and virtues1 truths and prejudices4 ,if we had been born in ,england1 surrounded by wealth and clothed with power1 most of us would have been ,episcopalians1 and believed in church and state4 ,we should have insisted that the people needed a religion1 and that not having intellect enough to provide one for themselves1 it was our duty to make one for them1 and then compel them to support it4 ,we should have believed it indecent to officiate in a pulpit without wearing a gown1 and that prayers should be read from a book4 ,had we belonged to the lower classes1 we might have been dissenters and protested against the mummeries of the ,high ,church4 ,had we been born in ,turkey1 most of us would have been ,mohammedans and believed in the inspiration of the ,koran4 ,we should have believed that ,mohammed actually visited heaven and became acquainted with an angel by the name of ,gabriel1 who was so broad between the eyes that it required three hundred days for a very smart camel to travel the distance4 ,if some man had denied this story we should probably have denounced him as a dangerous person1 one who was endeavoring to undermine the foundations of society1 and to destroy all distinction between virtue and vice4 ,we should have said to him1 ,what do you propose to give us in place of that angel8 ,we cannot afford to give up an angel of that size for nothing4 ,we would have insisted that the best and wisest men believed the ,koran4 ,we would have quoted from the works and letters of philosophers1 generals and sultans1 to show that the ,koran was the best of books1 and that ,turkey was indebted to that book and to that alone for its greatness and prosperity4 ,we would have asked that man whether he knew more than all the great minds of his country1 whether he was so much wiser than his fathers8 ,we would have pointed out to him the fact that thousands had been consoled in the hour of death by passages from the ,koran2 that they had died with glazed eyes brightened by visions of the heavenly harem1 and gladly left this world of grief and tears4 ,we would have regarded ,christians as the vilest of men1 and on all occasions would have repeated ,there is but one ,god1 and ,mohammed is his prophet6 ,so1 if we had been born in ,india1 we should in all probability have believed in the religion of that country4 ,we should have regarded the old records as true and sacred1 and looked upon a wandering priest as better than the men from whom he begged1 and by whose labor he lived4 ,we should have believed in a god with three heads instead of three gods with one head1 as we do now4 ,now and then some one says that the religion of his father and mother is good enough for him1 and wonders why anybody should desire a better4 ,surely we are not bound to follow our parents in religion any more than in politics1 science or art4 ,china has been petrified by the worship of ancestors4 ,if our parents had been satisfied with the religion of theirs1 we would be still less advanced than we are4 ,if we are1 in any way1 bound by the belief of our fathers1 the doctrine will hold good back to the first people who had a religion2 and if this doctrine is true1 we ought now to be believers in that first religion4 ,in other words1 we would all be barbarians4 ,you cannot show real respect to your parents by perpetuating their errors4 ,good fathers and mothers wish their children to advance1 to overcome obstacles which baffled them1 and to correct the errors of their education4 ,if you wish to reflect credit upon your parents1 accomplish more than they did1 solve problems that they could not understand1 and build better than they knew4 ,to sacrifice your manhood upon the grave of your father is an honor to neither4 ,why should a son who has examined a subject1 throw away his reason and adopt the views of his mother8 ,is not such a course dishonorable to both8 ,we must remember that this ancestor argument is as old at least as the second generation of men1 that it has served no purpose except to enslave mankind1 and results mostly from the fact that acquiescence is easier than investigation4 ,this argument pushed to its logical conclusion1 would prevent the advance of all people whose parents were not ,freethinkers4 ,it is hard for many people to give up the religion in which they were born2 to admit that their fathers were utterly mistaken1 and that the sacred records of their country are but collections of myths and fables4 ,but when we look for a moment at the world1 we find that each nation has its sacred records--its religion1 and its ideas of worship4 ,certainly all cannot be right2 and as it would require a life time to investigate the claims of these various systems1 it is hardly fair to damn a man forever1 simply because he happens to believe the wrong one4 ,all these religions were produced by barbarians4 ,civilized nations have contented themselves with changing the religions of their barbaric ancestors1 but they have made none4 ,nearly all these religions are intensely selfish4 ,each one was made by some contemptible little nation that regarded itself as of almost infinite importance1 and looked upon the other nations as beneath the notice of their god4 ,in all these countries it was a crime to deny the sacred records1 to laugh at the priests1 to speak disrespectfully of the gods1 to fail to divide your substance with the lazy hypocrites who managed your affairs in the next world upon condition that you would support them in this4 ,in the olden time these theological people who quartered themselves upon the honest and industrious1 were called soothsayers1 seers1 charmers1 prophets1 enchanters1 sorcerers1 wizards1 astrologers1 and impostors1 but now1 they are known as clergymen4 ,we are no exception to the general rule1 and consequently have our sacred books as well as the rest4 ,of course1 it is claimed by many of our people that our books are the only true ones1 the only ones that the real ,god ever wrote1 or had anything whatever to do with4 ,they insist that all other sacred books were written by hypocrites and impostors2 that the ,jews were the only people that ,god ever had any personal intercourse with1 and that all other prophets and seers were inspired only by impudence and mendacity4 ,true1 it seems somewhat strange that ,god should have chosen a barbarous and unknown people who had little or nothing to do with the other nations of the earth1 as his messengers to the rest of mankind4 ,it is not easy to account for an infinite ,god making people so low in the scale of intellect as to require a revelation4 ,neither is it easy to perceive why1 if a revelation was necessary for all1 it was made only to a few4 ,of course1 ,i know that it is extremely wicked to suggest these thoughts1 and that ignorance is the only armor that can effectually protect you from the wrath of ,god4 ,i am aware that investigators with all their genius1 never find the road to heaven2 that those who look where they are going are sure to miss it1 and that only those who voluntarily put out their eyes and implicitly depend upon blindness can surely keep the narrow path4 ,whoever reads our sacred book is compelled to believe it or suffer forever the torments of the lost4 ,we are told that we have the privilege of examining it for ourselves2 but this privilege is only extended to us on the condition that we believe it whether it appears reasonable or not4 ,we may disagree with others as much as we please upon the meaning of all passages in the ,bible1 but we must not deny the truth of a single word4 ,we must believe that the book is inspired4 ,if we obey its every precept without believing in its inspiration we will be damned just as certainly as though we disobeyed its every word4 ,we have no right to weigh it in the scales of reason--to test it by the laws of nature1 or the facts of observation and experience4 ,to do this1 we are told1 is to put ourselves above the word of ,god1 and sit in judgment on the works of our creator4 ,for my part1 ,i cannot admit that belief is a voluntary thing4 ,it seems to me that evidence1 even in spite of ourselves1 will have its weight1 and that whatever our wish may be1 we are compelled to stand with fairness by the scales1 and give the exact result4 ,it will not do to say that we reject the ,bible because we are wicked4 ,our wickedness must be ascertained not from our belief but from our acts4 ,i am told by the clergy that ,i ought not to attack the ,bible2 that ,i am leading thousands to perdition and rendering certain the damnation of my own soul4 ,they have had the kindness to advise me that1 if my object is to make converts1 ,i am pursuing the wrong course4 ,they tell me to use gentler expressions1 and more cunning words4 ,do they really wish me to make more converts8 ,if their advice is honest1 they are traitors to their trust4 ,if their advice is not honest1 then they are unfair with me4 ,certainly they should wish me to pursue the course that will make the fewest converts1 and yet they pretend to tell me how my influence could be increased4 ,it may be1 that upon this principle ,john ,bright advises ,america to adopt free trade1 so that our country can become a successful rival of ,great ,britain4 ,sometimes ,i think that even ministers are not entirely candid4 ,notwithstanding the advice of the clergy1 ,i have concluded to pursue my own course1 to tell my honest thoughts1 and to have my freedom in this world whatever my fate may be in the next4 ,the real oppressor1 enslaver and corrupter of the people is the ,bible4 ,that book is the chain that binds1 the dungeon that holds the clergy4 ,that book spreads the pall of superstition over the colleges and schools4 ,that book puts out the eyes of science1 and makes honest investigation a crime4 ,that book unmans the politician and degrades the people4 ,that book fills the world with bigotry1 hypocrisy and fear4 ,it plays the same part in our country that has been played by sacred records in all the nations of the world4 ,a little while ago ,i saw one of the ,bibles of the ,middle ,ages4 ,it was about two feet in length1 and one and a half in width4 ,it had immense oaken covers1 with hasps1 and clasps1 and hinges large enough almost for the doors of a penitentiary4 ,it was covered with pictures of winged angels and aureoled saints4 ,in my imagination ,i saw this book carried to the cathedral altar in solemn pomp--heard the chant of robed and kneeling priests1 felt the strange tremor of the organ's peal2 saw the colored light streaming through windows stained and touched by blood and flame--the swinging censer with its perfumed incense rising to the mighty roof1 dim with height and rich with legend carved in stone1 while on the walls was hung1 written in light1 and shade1 and all the colors that can tell of joy and tears1 the pictured history of the martyred ,christ4 ,the people fell upon their knees4 ,the book was opened1 and the priest read the messages from ,god to man4 ,to the multitude1 the book itself was evidence enough that it was not the work of human hands4 ,how could those little marks and lines and dots contain1 like tombs1 the thoughts of men1 and how could they1 touched by a ray of light from human eyes1 give up their dead8 ,how could these characters span the vast chasm dividing the present from the past1 and make it possible for the living still to hear the voices of the dead8 ,v4 ,,the ,,pentateuch ,the first five books in our ,bible are known as the ,pentateuch4 ,for a long time it was supposed that ,moses was the author1 and among the ignorant the supposition still prevails4 ,as a matter of fact1 it seems to be well settled that ,moses had nothing to do with these books1 and that they were not written until he had been dust and ashes for hundreds of years4 ,but1 as all the churches still insist that he was the author1 that he wrote even an account of his own death and burial1 let us speak of him as though these books were in fact written by him4 ,as the ,christians maintain that ,god was the real author1 it makes but little difference whom he employed as his pen4 ,nearly all authors of sacred books have given an account of the creation of the universe1 the origin of matter1 and the destiny of the human race1 all have pointed out the obligation that man is under to his creator for having placed him upon the earth1 and allowed him to live and suffer1 and have taught that nothing short of the most abject worship could possibly compensate ,god for his trouble and labor suffered and done for the good of man4 ,they have nearly all insisted that we should thank ,god for all that is good in life2 but they have not all informed us as to whom we should hold responsible for the evils we endure4 ,moses differed from most of the makers of sacred books by his failure to say anything of a future life1 by failing to promise heaven1 and to threaten hell4 ,upon the subject of a future state1 there is not one word in the ,pentateuch4 ,probably at that early day ,god did not deem it important to make a revelation as to the eternal destiny of man4 ,he seems to have thought that he could control the ,jews1 at least1 by rewards and punishments in this world1 and so he kept the frightful realities of eternal joy and torment a profound secret from the people of his choice4 ,he thought it far more important to tell the ,jews their origin than to enlighten them as to their destiny4 ,we must remember that every tribe and nation has some way in which1 the more striking phenomena of nature are accounted for4 ,these accounts are handed down by tradition1 changed by numberless narrators as intelligence increases1 or to account for newly discovered facts1 or for the purpose of satisfying the appetite for the marvelous4 ,the way in which a tribe or nation accounts for day and night1 the change of seasons1 the fall of snow and rain1 the flight of birds1 the origin of the rainbow1 the peculiarities of animals1 the dreams of sleep1 the visions of the insane1 the existence of earthquakes1 volcanoes1 storms1 lightning and the thousand things that attract the attention and excite the wonder1 fear or admiration of mankind1 may be called the philosophy of that tribe or nation4 ,and as all phenomena are1 by savage and barbaric man accounted for as the action of intelligent beings for the accomplishment of certain objects1 and as these beings were supposed to have the power to assist or injure man1 certain things were supposed necessary for man to do in order to gain the assistance1 and avoid the anger of these gods4 ,out of this belief grew certain ceremonies1 and these ceremonies united with the belief1 formed religion2 and consequently every religion has for its foundation a misconception of the cause of phenomena4 ,all worship is necessarily based upon the belief that some being exists who can1 if he will1 change the natural order of events4 ,the savage prays to a stone that he calls a god1 while the ,christian prays to a god that he calls a spirit1 and the prayers of both are equally useful4 ,the savage and the ,christian put behind the ,universe an intelligent cause1 and this cause whether represented by one god or many1 has been1 in all ages1 the object of all worship4 ,to carry a fetich1 to utter a prayer1 to count beads1 to abstain from food1 to sacrifice a lamb1 a child or an enemy1 are simply different ways by which the accomplishment of the same object is sought1 and are all the offspring of the same error4 ,many systems of religion must have existed many ages before the art of writing was discovered1 and must have passed through many changes before the stories1 miracles1 histories1 prophecies and mistakes became fixed and petrified in written words4 ,after that1 change was possible only by giving new meanings to old words1 a process rendered necessary by the continual acquisition of facts somewhat inconsistent with a literal interpretation of the sacred records4 ,in this way an honest faith often prolongs its life by dishonest methods2 and in this way the ,christians of to-day are trying to harmonize the ,mosaic account of creation with the theories and discoveries of modern science4 ,admitting that ,moses was the author of the ,pentateuch1 or that he gave to the ,jews a religion1 the question arises as to where he obtained his information4 ,we are told by the theologians that he received his knowledge from ,god1 and that every word he wrote was and is the exact truth4 ,it is admitted at the same time that he was an adopted son of ,pharaoh's daughter1 and enjoyed the rank and privilege of a prince4 ,under such circumstances1 he must have been well acquainted with the literature1 philosophy and religion of the ,egyptians1 and must have known what they believed and taught as to the creation of the world4 ,now1 if the account of the origin of this earth as given by ,moses is substantially like that given by the ,egyptians1 then we must conclude that he learned it from them4 ,should we imagine that he was divinely inspired because he gave to the ,jews what the ,egyptians had given him8 ,the ,egyptian priests taught first1 that a god created the original matter1 leaving it in a state of chaos2 second1 that a god moulded it into form2 third1 that the breath of a god moved upon the face of the deep2 fourth1 that a god created simply by saying ,let it be2 fifth1 that a god created light before the sun existed4 ,nothing can be clearer than that ,moses received from the ,egyptians the principal parts of his narrative1 making such changes and additions as were necessary to satisfy the peculiar superstitions of his own people4 ,if some man at the present day should assert that he had received from ,god the theories of evolution1 the survival of the fittest1 and the law of heredity1 and we should afterwards find that he was not only an ,englishman1 but had lived in the family of ,charles ,darwin1 we certainly would account for his having these theories in a natural way1 ,so1 if ,darwin himself should pretend that he was inspired1 and had obtained his peculiar theories from ,god1 we should probably reply that his grandfather suggested the same ideas1 and that ,lamarck published substantially the same theories the same year that ,mr4 ,darwin was born4 ,now1 if we have sufficient courage1 we will1 by the same course of reasoning1 account for the story of creation found in the ,bible4 ,we will say that it contains the belief of ,moses1 and that he received his information from the ,egyptians1 and not from ,god4 ,if we take the account as the absolute truth and use it for the purpose of determining the value of modern thought1 scientific advancement becomes impossible4 ,and even if the account of the creation as given by ,moses should turn out to be true1 and should be so admitted by all the scientific world1 the claim that he was inspired would still be without the least particle of proof4 ,we would be forced to admit that he knew more than we had supposed4 ,it certainly is no proof that a man is inspired simply because he is right4 ,no one pretends that ,shakespeare was inspired1 and yet all the writers of the books of the ,old ,testament put together1 could not have produced ,hamlet4 ,why should we1 looking upon some rough and awkward thing1 or god in stone1 say that it must have been produced by some inspired sculptor1 and with the same breath pronounce the ,venus de ,milo to be the work of man8 ,why should we1 looking at some ancient daub of angel1 saint or virgin1 say its painter must have been assisted by a god8 ,let us account for all we see by the facts we know4 ,if there are things for which we cannot account1 let us wait for light4 ,to account for anything by supernatural agencies is1 in fact to say that we do not know4 ,theology is not what we know about ,god1 but what we do not know about ,nature4 ,in order to increase our respect for the ,bible1 it became necessary for the priests to exalt and extol that book1 and at the same time to decry and belittle the reasoning powers of man4 ,the whole power of the pulpit has been used for hundreds of years to destroy the confidence of man in himself--to induce him to distrust his own powers of thought1 to believe that he was wholly unable to decide any question for himself1 and that all human virtue consists in faith and obedience4 ,the church has said1 ,believe1 and obey6 ,if you reason1 you will become an unbeliever1 and unbelievers will be lost4 ,if you disobey1 you will do so through vain pride and curiosity1 and will1 like ,adam and ,eve1 be thrust from ,paradise forever6 ,for my part1 ,i care nothing for what the church says1 except in so far as it accords with my reason2 and the ,bible is nothing to me1 only in so far as it agrees with what ,i think or know4 ,all books should be examined in the same spirit1 and truth should be welcomed and falsehood exposed1 no matter in what volume they may be found4 ,let us in this spirit examine the ,pentateuch2 and if anything appears unreasonable1 contradictory or absurd1 let us have the honesty and courage to admit it4 ,certainly no good can result either from deceiving ourselves or others4 ,many millions have implicitly believed this book1 and have just as implicitly believed that polygamy was sanctioned by ,god4 ,millions have regarded this book as the foundation of all human progress1 and at the same time looked upon slavery as a divine institution4 ,millions have declared this book to have been infinitely holy1 and to prove that they were right1 have imprisoned1 robbed and burned their fellow-men4 ,the inspiration of this book has been established by famine1 sword and fire1 by dungeon1 chain and whip1 by dagger and by rack1 by force and fear and fraud1 and generations have been frightened by threats of hell1 and bribed with promises of heaven4 ,let us examine a portion of this book1 not in the darkness of our fear1 but in the light of reason4 ,and first1 let us examine the account given of the creation of this world1 commenced1 according to the ,bible1 on ,monday morning about five thousand eight hundred and eighty-three years ago4 ,,vi4 ,,monday4 ,moses commences his story by telling us that in the beginning ,god created the heaven and the earth4 ,if this means anything1 it means that ,god produced1 caused to exist1 called into being1 the heaven and the earth4 ,it will not do to say that he formed the heaven and the earth of previously existing matter4 ,moses conveys1 and intended to convey the idea that the matter of which the heaven and the earth are composed1 was created4 ,it is impossible for me to conceive of something being created from nothing4 ,nothing1 regarded in the light of a raw material1 is a decided failure4 ,i cannot conceive of matter apart from force4 ,neither is it possible to think of force disconnected with matter4 ,you cannot imagine matter going back to absolute nothing4 ,neither can you imagine nothing being changed into something4 ,you may be eternally damned if you do not say that you can conceive these things1 but you cannot conceive them4 ,such is the constitution of the human mind that it cannot even think of a commencement or an end of matter1 or force4 ,if ,god created the universe1 there was a time when he commenced to create4 ,back of that commencement there must have been an eternity4 ,in that eternity what was this ,god doing8 ,he certainly did not think4 ,there was nothing to think about4 ,he did not remember4 ,nothing had ever happened4 ,what did he do8 ,can you imagine anything more absurd than an infinite intelligence in infinite nothing wasting an eternity8 ,i do not pretend to tell how all these things really are2 but ,i do insist that a statement that cannot possibly be comprehended by any human being1 and that appears utterly impossible1 repugnant to every fact of experience1 and contrary to everything that we really know1 must be rejected by every honest man4 ,we can conceive of eternity1 because we cannot conceive of a cessation of time4 ,we can conceive of infinite space because we cannot conceive of so much matter that our imagination will not stand upon the farthest star1 and see infinite space beyond4 ,in other words1 we cannot conceive of a cessation of time2 therefore eternity is a necessity of the mind4 ,eternity sustains the same relation to time that space does to matter4 ,in the time of ,moses1 it was perfectly safe for him to write an account of the creation of the world4 ,he had simply to put in form the crude notions of the people4 ,at that time1 no other ,jew could have written a better account4 ,upon that subject he felt at liberty to give his imagination full play4 ,there was no one who could authoritatively contradict anything he might say4 ,it was substantially the same story that had been imprinted in curious characters upon the clay records of ,babylon1 the gigantic monuments of ,egypt1 and the gloomy temples of ,india4 ,in those days there was an almost infinite difference between the educated and ignorant4 ,the people were controlled almost entirely by signs and wonders4 ,by the lever of fear1 priests moved the world4 ,the sacred records were made and kept1 and altered by them4 ,the people could not read1 and looked upon one who could1 as almost a god4 ,in our day it is hard to conceive of the influence of an educated class in a barbarous age4 ,it was only necessary to produce the sacred record1 and ignorance fell upon its face4 ,the people were taught that the record was inspired1 and therefore true4 ,they were not taught that it was true1 and therefore inspired4 ,after all1 the real question is not whether the ,bible is inspired1 but whether it is true4 ,if it is true1 it does not need to be inspired4 ,if it is true1 it makes no difference whether it was written by a man or a god4 ,the multiplication table is just as useful1 just as true as though ,god had arranged the figures himself4 ,if the ,bible is really true1 the claim of inspiration need not be urged2 and if it is not true1 its inspiration can hardly be established4 ,as a matter of fact1 the truth does not need to be inspired4 ,nothing needs inspiration except a falsehood or a mistake4 ,where truth ends1 where probability stops1 inspiration begins4 ,a fact never went into partnership with a miracle4 ,truth does not need the assistance of miracle4 ,a fact will fit every other fact in the ,universe1 because it is the product of all other facts4 ,a lie will fit nothing except another lie made for the express purpose of fitting it4 ,after a while the man gets tired of lying1 and then the last lie will not fit the next fact1 and then there is an opportunity to use a miracle4 ,just at that point1 it is necessary to have a little inspiration4 ,it seems to me that reason is the highest attribute of man1 and that if there can be any communication from ,god to man1 it must be addressed to his reason4 ,it does not seem possible that in order to understand a message from ,god it is absolutely essential to throw our reason away4 ,how could ,god make known his will to any being destitute of reason8 ,how can any man accept as a revelation from ,god that which is unreasonable to him8 ,god cannot make a revelation to another man for me4 ,he must make it to me1 and until he convinces my reason that it is true1 ,i cannot receive it4 ,the statement that in the beginning ,god created the heaven and the earth1 ,i cannot accept4 ,it is contrary to my reason1 and ,i cannot believe it4 ,it appears reasonable to me that force has existed from eternity4 ,force cannot1 as it appears to me1 exist apart from matter4 ,force1 in its nature1 is forever active1 and without matter it could not act2 and so ,i think matter must have existed forever4 ,to conceive of matter without force1 or of force without matter1 or of a time when neither existed1 or of a being who existed for an eternity without either1 and who out of nothing created both1 is to me utterly impossible4 ,i may be damned on this account1 but ,i cannot help it4 ,in my judgment1 ,moses was mistaken4 ,it will not do to say that ,moses merely intended to tell what ,god did1 in making the heavens and the earth out of matter then in existence4 ,he distinctly states that in the beginning ,god created them4 ,if this account is true1 we must believe that ,god1 existing in infinite space surrounded by eternal nothing1 naught and void1 created1 produced1 called into being1 willed into existence this universe of countless stars4 ,the next thing we are told by this inspired gentleman is1 that ,god created light1 and proceeded to divide it from the darkness4 ,certainly1 the person who wrote this believed that darkness was a thing1 an entity1 a material that could get mixed and tangled up with light1 and that these entities1 light and darkness1 had to be separated4 ,in his imagination he probably saw ,god throwing pieces and chunks of darkness on one side1 and rays and beams of light on the other4 ,it is hard for a man who has been born but once to understand these things4 ,for my part1 ,i cannot understand how light can be separated from darkness4 ,i had always supposed that darkness was simply the absence of light1 and that under no circumstances could it be necessary to take the darkness away from the light4 ,it is certain1 however1 that ,moses believed darkness to be a form of matter1 because ,i find that in another place he speaks of a darkness that could be felt4 ,they used to have on exhibition at ,rome a bottle of the darkness that overspread ,egypt4 ,you cannot divide light from darkness any more than you can divide heat from cold4 ,cold is an absence of heat1 and darkness is an absence of light4 ,i suppose that we have no conception of absolute cold4 ,we know only degrees of heat4 ,twenty degrees below zero is just twenty degrees warmer than forty degrees below zero4 ,neither cold nor darkness are entities1 and these words express simply either the absolute or partial absence of heat or light4 ,i cannot conceive how light can be divided from darkness1 but ,i can conceive how a barbarian several thousand years ago1 writing upon a subject about which he knew nothing1 could make a mistake4 ,the creator of light could not have written in this way4 ,if such a being exists1 he must have known the nature of that mode of motion that paints the earth on every eye1 and clothes in garments seven-hued this universe of worlds4 ,,vii4 ,,tuesday4 ,we are next informed by ,moses that ,god of the waters1 and let it divide the waters from the waters2 and that ,god made the firmament1 and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament4 ,what did the writer mean by the word firmament8 ,theologians now tell us that he meant an expanse4 ,this will not do4 ,how could an expanse divide the waters from the waters1 so that the waters above the expanse would not fall into and mingle with the waters below the expanse8 ,the truth is that ,moses regarded the firmament as a solid affair4 ,it was where ,god lived1 and where water was kept4 ,it was for this reason that they used to pray for rain4 ,they supposed that some angel could with a lever raise a gate and let out the quantity of moisture desired4 ,it was with the water from this firmament that the world was drowned when the windows of heaven were opened4 ,it was in this said ,let there be a firmament in the midst firmament that the sons of ,god lived--the sons who saw the daughters of men that they were fair and took them wives of all which they chose4 ,the issue of such marriages were giants1 and the same became mighty men which were of old1 men of renown4 ,nothing is clearer than that ,moses regarded the firmament as a vast material division that separated the waters of the world1 and upon whose floor ,god lived1 surrounded by his sons4 ,in no other way could he account for rain4 ,where did the water come from8 ,he knew nothing about the laws of evaporation4 ,he did not know that the sun wooed with amorous kisses the waves of the sea1 and that they1 clad in glorified mist rising to meet their lover1 were1 by disappointment1 changed to tears and fell as rain4 ,the idea that the firmament was the abode of the ,deity must have been in the mind of ,moses when he related the dream of ,jacob4 ,and he dreamed1 and behold1 a ladder set upon the earth and the top of it reached to heaven2 and behold the angels of ,god ascending and descending on it2 and behold the ,lord stood above it and said1 ,i am the ,lord ,god4 ,so1 when the people were building the tower of ,babel the ,lord came down to see the city1 and the tower which the children of men builded4 ,and the ,lord said1 ,behold the people is one1 and they have all one language3 and this they begin to do2 and nothing will be restrained from them which they imagined to do4 ,go to1 let us go down and confound their language that they may not understand one another's speech4 ,the man who wrote that absurd account must have believed that ,god lived above the earth1 in the firmament4 ,the same idea was in the mind of the ,psalmist when he said that ,god bowed the heavens and came down4 ,of course1 ,god could easily remove any person bodily to heaven1 as it was but a little way above the earth4 ,enoch walked with ,god1 and he was not1 for ,god took him4 ,the accounts in the ,bible of the ascension of ,elijah1 ,christ and ,st4 ,paul were born of the belief that the firmament was the dwelling-place of ,god4 ,it probably never occurred to these writers that if the firmament was seven or eight miles away1 ,enoch and the rest would have been frozen perfectly stiff long before the journey could have been completed4 ,possibly ,elijah might have made the voyage1 as he was carried to heaven in a chariot of fire by a whirlwind4 ,the truth is1 that ,moses was mistaken1 and upon that mistake the ,christians located their heaven and their hell4 ,the telescope destroyed the firmament1 did away with the heaven of the ,new ,testament1 rendered the ascension of our ,lord and the assumption of his ,mother infinitely absurd1 crumbled to chaos the gates and palaces of the ,new ,jerusalem1 and in their places gave to man a wilderness of worlds4 ,,viii4 ,,wednesday4 ,we are next informed by the historian of creation1 that after ,god had finished making the firmament and had succeeded in dividing the waters by means of an expanse1 he proceeded to gather the waters on the earth together in seas1 so that the dry land might appear4 ,certainly the writer of this did not have any conception of the real form of the earth4 ,he could not have known anything of the attraction of gravitation4 ,he must have regarded the earth as flat and supposed that it required considerable force and power to induce the water to leave the mountains and collect in the valleys4 ,just as soon as the water was forced to run down hill1 the dry land appeared1 and the grass began to grow1 and the mantles of green were thrown over the shoulders of the hills1 and the trees laughed into bud and blossom1 and the branches were laden with fruit4 ,and all this happened before a ray had left the quiver of the sun1 before a glittering beam had thrilled the bosom of a flower1 and before the ,dawn with trembling hands had drawn aside the curtains of the ,east and welcomed to her arms the eager god of ,day4 ,it does not seem to me that grass and trees could grow and ripen into seed and fruit without the sun4 ,according to the account1 this all happened on the third day4 ,now1 if1 as the ,christians say1 ,moses did not mean by the word day a period of twenty-four hours1 but an immense and almost measureless space of time1 and as ,god did not1 according to this view make any animals until the fifth day1 that is1 not for millions of years after he made the grass and trees1 for what purpose did he cause the trees to bear fruit8 ,moses says that ,god said on the third day1 ,let the earth bring forth grass1 the herb yielding seed1 and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind1 whose seed is in itself upon the earth2 and it was so4 ,and the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after his kind1 and the tree yielding fruit whose seed was in itself after his kind2 and ,god saw that it was good1 and the evening and the morning were the third day4 ,there was nothing to eat this fruit2 not an insect with painted wings sought the honey of the flowers2 not a single living1 breathing thing upon the earth4 ,plenty of grass1 a great variety of herbs1 an abundance of fruit1 but not a mouth in all the world4 ,if ,moses is right1 this state of things lasted only two days2 but if the modern theologians are correct1 it continued for millions of ages4 ,it is now well known that the organic history of the earth can be properly divided into five epochs--the ,primordial1 ,primary1 ,secondary1 ,tertiary1 and ,quaternary4 ,each of these epochs is characterized by animal and vegetable life peculiar to itself4 ,in the ,first will be found ,algae and ,skulless ,vertebrates1 in the ,second1 ,ferns and ,fishes1 in the ,third1 ,pine ,forests and ,reptiles1 in the ,fourth1 ,foliaceous ,forests and ,mammals1 and in the ,fifth1 ,man4 ,how much more reasonable this is than the idea that the earth was covered with grass1 and herbs1 and trees loaded with fruit for millions of years before an animal existed4 ,there is1 in ,nature1 an even balance forever kept between the total amounts of animal and vegetable life4 ,in her wonderful economy she must form and bountifully nourish her vegetable progeny--twin-brother life to her1 with that of animals4 ,the perfect balance between plant existences and animal existences must always be maintained1 while matter courses through the eternal circle1 becoming each in turn4 ,if an animal be resolved into its ultimate constituents in a period according to the surrounding circumstances1 say1 of four hours1 of four months1 of four years1 or even of four thousand years1--for it is impossible to deny that there may be instances of all these periods during which the process has continued--those elements which assume the gaseous form mingle at once with the atmosphere and are taken up from it without delay by the ever-open mouths of vegetable life4 ,by a thousand pores in every leaf the carbonic acid which renders the atmosphere unfit for animal life is absorbed1 the carbon being separated1 and assimilated to form the vegetable fibre1 which1 as wood1 makes and furnishes our houses and ships1 is burned for our warmth1 or is stored up under pressure for coal4 ,all this carbon has played its part1 and many parts in its time1 as animal existences from monad up to man4 ,our mahogany of to-day has been many negroes in its turn1 and before the ,african existed1 was integral portions of many a generation of extinct species4 ,it seems reasonable to suppose that certain kinds of vegetation-and certain kinds of animals should exist together1 and that as the character of the vegetation changed1 a corresponding change would take place in the animal world4 ,it may be that ,i am led to these conclusions by total depravity1 or that ,i lack the necessary humility of spirit to satisfactorily harmonize ,haeckel and ,moses2 or that ,i am carried away by pride1 blinded by reason1 given over to hardness of heart that ,i might be damned1 but ,i never can believe that the earth was covered with leaves1 and buds1 and flowers1 and fruits before the sun with glittering spear had driven back the hosts of ,night4 ,,ix4 ,,thursday4 ,after the world was covered with vegetation1 it occurred to ,moses that it was about time to make a sun and moon2 and so we are told that on the fourth day ,god said1 ,let there be light in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night2 and let them be for signs and for seasons1 and for days and years2 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth2 and it was so4 ,and ,god made two great lights2 the greater light to rule the day1 and the lesser light to rule the night2 he made the stars also4 ,can we believe that the inspired writer had any idea of the size of the sun8 ,draw a circle five inches in diameter1 and by its side thrust a pin through the paper4 ,the hole made by the pin will sustain about the same relation to the circle that the earth does to the sun4 ,did he know that the sun was eight hundred and sixty thousand miles in diameter2 that it was enveloped in an ocean of fire thousands of miles in depth1 hotter even than the ,christian's hell1 over which sweep tempests of flame moving at the rate of one hundred miles a second1 compared with which the wildest storm that ever wrecked the forests of this world was but a calm8 ,did he know that the sun every moment of time throws out as much heat as could be generated by the combustion of millions upon millions of tons of coal8 ,did he know that the volume of the earth is less than one-millionth of that of the sun8 ,did he know of the one hundred and four planets belonging to our solar system1 all children of the sun8 ,did he know of ,jupiter eighty-five thousand miles in diameter1 hundreds of times as large as our earth1 turning on his axis at the rate of twenty-five thousand miles an hour accompanied by four moons1 making the tour of his orbit in fifty years1 a distance of three thousand million miles8 ,did he know anything about ,saturn1 his rings and his eight moons8 ,did he have the faintest idea that all these planets were once a part of the sun2 that the vast luminary was once thousands of millions of miles in diameter2 that ,neptune1 ,uranus1 ,saturn1 ,jupiter and ,mars were all born before our earth1 and that by no possibility could this world have existed three days1 nor three periods1 nor three good whiles before its source1 the sun8 ,moses supposed the sun to be about three or four feet in diameter and the moon about half that size4 ,compared with the earth they were but simple specks4 ,this idea seems to have been shared by all the inspired men4 ,we find in the book of ,joshua that the sun stood still1 and the moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies4 ,so the sun stood still in the midst of heaven1 and hasted not to go down about a whole day4 ,we are told that the sacred writer wrote in common speech as we do when we talk about the rising and setting of the sun1 and that all he intended to say was that the earth ceased to turn on its axis for about a whole day4 ,my own opinion is that ,general ,joshua knew no more about the motions of the earth than he did about mercy and justice4 ,if he had known that the earth turned upon its axis at the rate of a thousand miles an hour1 and swept in its course about the sun at the rate of sixty-eight thousand miles an hour1 he would have doubled the hailstones1 spoken of in the same chapter1 that the ,lord cast down from heaven1 and allowed the sun and moon to rise and set in the usual way4 ,it is impossible to conceive of a more absurd story than this about the stopping of the sun and moon1 and yet nothing so excites the malice of the orthodox preacher as to call its truth in question4 ,some endeavor to account for the phenomenon by natural causes1 while others attempt to show that ,god could1 by the refraction of light have made the sun visible although actually shining on the opposite side of the earth4 ,the last hypothesis has been seriously urged by ministers within the last few months4 ,the ,rev4 ,henry ,m4 ,morey of ,south ,bend1 ,indiana1 says that the phenomenon was simply optical4 ,the rotary motion of the earth was not disturbed1 but the light of the sun was prolonged by the same laws of refraction and reflection by which the sun now appears to be above the horizon when it is really below4 ,the medium through which the sun's rays passed may have been miraculously influenced so as to have caused the sun to linger above the horizon long after its usual time for disappearance4 ,this is the latest and ripest product of ,christian scholarship upon this question no doubt1 but still it is not entirely satisfactory to me4 ,according to the sacred account the sun did not linger1 merely1 above the horizon1 but stood still in the midst of heaven for about a whole day1 that is to say1 for about twelve hours4 ,if the air was miraculously changed1 so that it would refract the rays of the sun while the earth turned over as usual for about a whole day1 then1 at the end of that time the sun must have been visible in the east1 that is1 it must by that time have been the next morning4 ,according to this1 that most wonderful day must have been at least thirty-six hours in length4 ,we have first1 the twelve hours of natural light1 then twelve hours of refracted and reflected light4 ,by that time it would again be morning1 and the sun would shine for twelve hours more in the natural way1 making thirty-six hours in all4 ,if the ,rev4 ,morey would depend a little less on refraction and a little more on reflection1 he would conclude that the whole story is simply a barbaric myth and fable4 ,it hardly seems reasonable that ,god1 if there is one1 would either stop the globe1 change the constitution of the atmosphere or the nature of light simply to afford ,joshua an opportunity to kill people on that day when he could just as easily have waited until the next morning4 ,it certainly cannot be very gratifying to ,god for us to believe such childish things4 ,it has been demonstrated that force is eternal2 that it is forever active1 and eludes destruction by change of form4 ,motion is a form of force1 and all arrested motion changes instantly to heat4 ,the earth turns upon its axis at about one thousand miles an hour4 ,let it be stopped and a force beyond our imagination is changed to heat4 ,it has been calculated that to stop the world would produce as much heat as the burning of a solid piece of coal three times the size of the earth4 ,and yet we are asked to believe that this was done in order that one barbarian might defeat another4 ,such stories never would have been written1 had not the belief been general that the heavenly bodies were as nothing compared with the earth4 ,the view of ,moses was acquiesced in by the ,jewish people and by the ,christian world for thousands of years4 ,it is supposed that ,moses lived about fifteen hundred years before ,christ1 and although he was inspired1 and obtained his information directly from ,god1 he did not know as much about our solar system as the ,chinese did a thousand years before he was born4 ,the ,emperor ,chwenhio adopted as an epoch1 a conjunction of the planets ,mercury1 ,mars1 ,jupiter and ,saturn1 which has been shown by ,m4 ,bailly to have occurred no less than #bddi years before ,christ4 ,the ancient ,chinese knew not only the motions of the planets1 but they could calculate eclipses4 ,in the reign of the ,emperor ,chow-,kang1 the chief astronomers1 ,ho and ,hi were condemned to death for neglecting to announce a solar eclipse which took place #bafi ,b4 ,c41 a clear proof that the prediction of eclipses was a part of the duty of the imperial astronomers4 ,is it not strange that a ,chinaman should find out by his own exertions more about the material universe than ,moses could when assisted by its ,creator8 ,about eight hundred years after ,god gave ,moses the principal facts about the creation of the heaven and the earth he performed another miracle far more wonderful than stopping the world4 ,on this occasion he not only stopped the earth1 but actually caused it to turn the other way4 ,a ,jewish king was sick1 and ,god1 in order to convince him that he would ultimately recover1 offered to make the shadow on the dial go forward1 or backward ten degrees4 ,the king thought it was too easy a thing to make the shadow go forward1 and asked that it be turned back4 ,thereupon1 ,isaiah the prophet cried unto the ,lord1 and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward by which it had gone down in the dial of ,ahaz4 ,i hardly see how this miracle could be accounted for even by refraction and reflection4 ,it seems1 from the account1 that this stupendous miracle was performed after the king had been cured4 ,the account of the shadow going backward is given in the eleventh verse of the twentieth chapter of ,second ,kings1 while the cure is given in the seventh verse of the same chapter4 ,and ,isaiah said1 ,take a lump of figs4 ,and they took and laid it on the boil1 and he recovered4 ,stopping the world and causing it to turn back ten degrees after that1 seems to have been1 as the boil was already cured by the figs1 a useless display of power4 ,the easiest way to account for all these wonders is to say that the inspired writers were mistaken4 ,in this way a fearful burden is lifted from the credulity of man1 and he is left free to believe the evidences of his own senses1 and the demonstrations of science4 ,in this way he can emancipate himself from the slavery of superstition1 the control of the barbaric dead1 and the despotism of the church4 ,only about a hundred years ago1 ,buffon1 the naturalist1 was compelled by the faculty of theology at ,paris to publicly renounce fourteen errors in his work on ,natural ,history because they were at variance with the ,mosaic account of creation4 ,the ,pentateuch is still the scientific standard of the church1 and ignorant priests1 armed with that1 pronounce sentence upon the vast accomplishments of modern thought4 ,x4 ,,he ,,made ,,the ,,stars ,,also4 ,moses came very near forgetting about the stars1 and only gave five words to all the hosts of heaven4 ,can it be possible that he knew anything about the stars beyond the mere fact that he saw them shining above him8 ,did he know that the nearest star1 the one we ought to be the best acquainted with1 is twenty-one billion of miles away1 and that it is a sun shining by its own light8 ,did he know of the next1 that is thirty-seven billion miles distant8 ,is it possible that he was acquainted with ,sirius1 a sun two thousand six hundred and eighty-eight times larger than our own1 surrounded by a system of heavenly bodies1 several of which are already known1 and distant from us eighty-two billion miles8 ,did he know that the ,polar star that tells the mariner his course and guided slaves to liberty and joy1 is distant from this little world two hundred and ninety-two billion miles1 and that ,capella wheels and shines one hundred and thirty-three billion miles beyond8 ,did he know that it would require about seventy-two years for light to reach us from this star8 ,did he know that light travels one hundred and eighty-five thousand miles a second8 ,did he know that some stars are so far away in the infinite abysses that five millions of years are required for their light to reach this globe8 ,if this is true1 and if as the ,bible tells us1 the stars were made after the earth1 then this world has been wheeling in its orbit for at least five million years4 ,it may be replied that it was not the intention of ,god to teach geology and astronomy4 ,then why did he say anything upon these subjects8 and if he did say anything1 why did he not give the facts8 ,according to the sacred records ,god created1 on the first day1 the heaven and the earth1 moved upon the face of the waters1 and made the light4 ,on the second day he made the firmament or the expanse and divided the waters4 ,on the third day he gathered the waters into seas1 let the dry land appear and caused the earth to bring forth grass1 herbs and fruit trees1 and on the fourth day he made the sun1 moon and stars and set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth4 ,this division of labor is very striking4 ,the work of the other days is as nothing when compared with that of the fourth4 ,is it possible that it required the same time and labor to make the grass1 herbs and fruit trees1 that it did to fill with countless constellations the infinite expanse of space8 ,,xi4 ,,friday4 ,we are then told that on the next day ,god the moving creatures that hath life1 and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven4 ,and ,god created great whales and every living creature which the waters brought forth abundantly1 after their kind1 and every winged fowl after his kind1 and ,god saw that it was good4 ,and ,god blessed them1 saying1 ,be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas1 and let fowl multiply in the earth4 ,is it true that while the dry land was covered with grass1 and herbs1 and trees bearing fruit1 the ocean was absolutely devoid of life1 and so remained for millions of years8 ,if ,moses meant twenty-four hours by the word day1 then it would make but little difference on which of the six days animals were made2 but if the word said1 ,let the waters bring forth abundantly day was used to express millions of ages1 during which life was slowly evolved from monad up to man1 then the account becomes infinitely absurd1 puerile and foolish4 ,there is not a scientist of high standing who will say that in his judgment the earth was covered with fruit-bearing trees before the moners1 the ancestors it may be of the human race1 felt in ,laurentian seas the first faint throb of life4 ,nor is there one who will declare that there was a single spire of grass before the sun had poured upon the world his flood of gold4 ,why should men in the name of religion try to harmonize the contradictions that exist between ,nature and a book8 ,why should philosophers be denounced for placing more reliance upon what they know than upon what they have been told8 ,if there is a ,god1 it is reasonably certain that he made the world1 but it is by no means certain that he is the author of the ,bible4 ,why then should we not place greater confidence in ,nature than in a book8 ,and even if this ,god made not only the world but the book besides1 it does not follow that the book is the best part of creation1 and the only part that we will be eternally punished for denying4 ,it seems to me that it is quite as important to know something of the solar system1 something of the physical history of this globe1 as it is to know the adventures of ,jonah or the diet of ,ezekiel4 ,for my part1 ,i would infinitely prefer to know all the results of scientific investigation1 than to be inspired as ,moses was4 ,supposing the ,bible to be true2 why is it any worse or more wicked for ,freethinkers to deny it1 than for priests to deny the doctrine of evolution1 or the dynamic theory of heat8 ,why should we be damned for laughing at ,samson and his foxes1 while others1 holding the ,nebular ,hypothesis in utter contempt1 go straight to heaven8 ,it seems to me that a belief in the great truths of science are fully as essential to salvation1 as the creed of any church4 ,we are taught that a man may be perfectly acceptable to ,god even if he denies the rotundity of the earth1 the ,copernican system1 the three laws of ,kepler1 the indestructibility of matter and the attraction of gravitation4 ,and we are also taught that a man may be right upon all these questions1 and yet1 for failing to believe in the scheme of salvation1 be eternally lost4 ,,xii4 ,,saturday4 ,on this1 the last day of creation1 ,god said2-- ,let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind1 cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth after his kind2 and it was so4 ,and ,god made the beast of the earth after his kind1 and cattle after their kind1 and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind2 and ,god saw that it was good4 ,now1 is it true that the seas were filled with fish1 the sky with fowls1 and the earth covered with grass1 and herbs1 and fruit bearing trees1 millions of ages before there was a creeping thing in existence8 ,must we admit that plants and animals were the result of the fiat of some incomprehensible intelligence independent of the operation of what are known as natural causes8 ,why is a miracle any more necessary to account for yesterday than for to-day or for to-morrow8 ,if there is an infinite ,power1 nothing can be more certain than that this ,power works in accordance with what we call law1 that is1 by and through natural causes4 ,if anything can be found without a pedigree of natural antecedents1 it will then be time enough to talk about the fiat of creation4 ,there must have been a time when plants and animals did not exist upon this globe4 ,the question1 and the only question is1 whether they were naturally produced4 ,if the account given by ,moses is true1 then the vegetable and animal existences are the result of certain special fiats of creation entirely independent of the operation of natural causes4 ,this is so grossly improbable1 so at variance with the experience and observation of mankind1 that it cannot be adopted without abandoning forever the basis of scientific thought and action4 ,it may be urged that we do not understand the sacred record correctly4 ,to this it may be replied that for thousands of years the account of the creation has1 by the ,jewish and ,christian world1 been regarded as literally true4 ,if it was inspired1 of course ,god must have known just how it would be understood1 and consequently must have intended that it should be understood just as he knew it would be4 ,one man writing to another1 may mean one thing1 and yet be understood as meaning something else4 ,now1 if the writer knew that he would be misunderstood1 and also knew that he could use other words that would convey his real meaning1 but did not1 we would say that he used words on purpose to mislead1 and was not an honest man4 ,if a being of infinite wisdom wrote the ,bible1 or caused it to be written1 he must have known exactly how his words would be interpreted by all the world1 and he must have intended to convey the very meaning that was conveyed4 ,he must have known that by reading that book1 man would form erroneous views as to the shape1 antiquity1 and size of this world2 that he would be misled as to the time and order of creation2 that he would have the most childish and contemptible views of the creator2 that the sacred word would be used to support slavery and polygamy2 that it would build dungeons for the good1 and light fagots to consume the brave1 and therefore he must have intended that these results should follow4 ,he also must have known that thousands and millions of men and women never could believe his ,bible1 and that the number of unbelievers would increase in the exact ratio of civilization1 and therefore1 he must have intended that result4 ,let us understand this4 ,an honest finite being uses the best words1 in his judgment1 to convey his meaning4 ,this is the best he can do1 because he cannot certainly know the exact effect of his words on others4 ,but an infinite being must know not only the real meaning of the words1 but the exact meaning they will convey to every reader and hearer4 ,he must know every meaning that they are capable of conveying to every mind4 ,he must also know what explanations must be made to prevent misconception4 ,if an infinite being cannot1 in making a revelation to man1 use such words that every person to whom a revelation is essential will understand distinctly what that revelation is1 then a revelation from ,god through the instrumentality of language is impossible1 or it is not essential that all should understand it correctly4 ,it may be urged that millions have not the capacity to understand a revelation1 although expressed in the plainest words4 ,to this it seems a sufficient reply to ask1 why a being of infinite power should create men so devoid of intelligence1 that he cannot by any means make known to them his will8 ,we are told that it is exceedingly plain1 and that a wayfaring man1 though a fool1 need not err therein4 ,this statement is refuted by the religious history of the ,christian world4 ,every sect is a certificate that ,god has not plainly revealed his will to man4 ,to each reader the ,bible conveys a different meaning4 ,about the meaning of this book1 called a revelation1 there have been ages of war1 and centuries of sword and flame4 ,if written by an infinite ,god1 he must have known that these results must follow2 and thus knowing1 he must be responsible for all4 ,is it not infinitely more reasonable to say that this book is the work of man1 that it is filled with mingled truth and error1 with mistakes and facts1 and reflects1 too faithfully perhaps1 the very form and pressure of its time8 ,if there are mistakes in the ,bible1 certainly they were made by man4 ,if there is anything contrary to nature1 it was written by man4 ,if there is anything immoral1 cruel1 heartless or infamous1 it certainly was never written by a being worthy of the adoration of mankind4 ,,xiii4 ,,let ,,us ,,make ,,man4 ,we are next informed by the author of the ,pentateuch that ,god said ,let us make man in our image1 after our likeness1 and that ,god created man in his own image1 in the image of ,god created he him--male and female created he them4 ,if this account means anything1 it means that man was created in the physical image and likeness of ,god4 ,moses while he speaks of man as having been made in the image of ,god1 never speaks of ,god except as having the form of a man4 ,he speaks of ,god as walking in the garden in the cool of the day2 and that ,adam and ,eve heard his voice4 ,he is constantly telling what ,god said1 and in a thousand passages he refers to him as not only having the human form1 but as performing actions1 such as man performs4 ,the ,god of ,moses was a ,god with hands1 with feet1 with the organs of speech4 ,a ,god of passion1 of hatred1 of revenge1 of affection1 of repentance2 a ,god who made mistakes3--in other words1 an immense and powerful man4 ,it will not do to say that ,moses meant to convey the idea that ,god made man in his mental or moral image4 ,some have insisted that man was made in the moral image of ,god because he was made pure4 ,purity cannot be manufactured4 ,a moral character cannot be made for man by a god4 ,every man must make his own moral character4 ,consequently1 if ,god is infinitely pure1 ,adam and ,eve were not made in his image in that respect4 ,others say that ,adam and ,eve were made in the mental image of ,god4 ,if it is meant by that1 that they were created with reasoning powers like1 but not to the extent of those possessed by a god1 then this may be admitted4 ,but certainly this idea was not in the mind of ,moses4 ,he regarded the human form as being in the image of ,god1 and for that reason always spoke of ,god as having that form4 ,no one can read the ,pentateuch without coming to the conclusion that the author supposed that man was created in the physical likeness of ,deity4 ,god said ,go to1 let us go down4 ,god smelled a sweet savor2 ,god repented him that he had made man2 and ,god said2 and walked2 and talked2 and rested4 ,all these expressions are inconsistent with any other idea than that the person using them regarded ,god as having the form of man4 ,as a matter of fact1 it is impossible for a man to conceive of a personal ,god1 other than as a being having the human form4 ,no one can think of an infinite being having the form of a horse1 or of a bird1 or of any animal beneath man4 ,it is one of the necessities of the mind to associate forms with intellectual capacities4 ,the highest form of which we have any conception is man's1 and consequently1 his is the only form that we can find in imagination to give to a personal ,god1 because all other forms are1 in our minds1 connected with lower intelligences4 ,it is impossible to think of a personal ,god as a spirit without form4 ,we can use these words1 but they do not convey to the mind any real and tangible meaning4 ,every one who thinks of a personal ,god at all1 thinks of him as having the human form4 ,take from ,god the idea of form2 speak of him simply as an all pervading spirit--which means an all pervading something about which we know nothing--and ,pantheism is the result4 ,we are told that ,god made man2 and the question naturally arises1 how was this done8 ,was it by a process of evolution1 development2 the transmission of acquired habits2 the survival of the fittest1 or was the necessary amount of clay kneaded to the proper consistency1 and then by the hands of ,god moulded into form8 ,modern science tells that man has been evolved1 through countless epochs1 from the lower forms2 that he is the result of almost an infinite number of actions1 reactions1 experiences1 states1 forms1 wants and adaptations4 ,did ,moses intend to convey such a meaning1 or did he believe that ,god took a sufficient amount of dust1 made it the proper shape1 and breathed into it the breath of life8 ,can any believer in the ,bible give any reasonable account of this process of creation8 ,is it possible to imagine what was really done8 ,is there any theologian who will contend that man was created directly from the earth8 ,will he say that man was made substantially as he now is1 with all his muscles properly developed for walking and speaking1 and performing every variety of human action8 ,that all his bones were formed as they now are1 and all the relations of nerve1 ligament1 brain and motion as they are to-day8 ,looking back over the history of animal life from the lowest to the highest forms1 we find that there has been a slow and gradual development2 a certain but constant relation between want and production2 between use and form4 ,the ,moner is said to be the simplest form of animal life that has yet been found4 ,it has been described as an organism without organs4 ,it is a kind of structureless structure2 a little mass of transparent jelly that can flatten itself out1 and can expand and contract around its food4 ,it can feed without a mouth1 digest without a stomach1 walk without feet1 and reproduce itself by simple division4 ,by taking this ,moner as the commencement of animal life1 or rather as the first animal1 it is easy to follow the development of the organic structure through all the forms of life to man himself4 ,in this way finally every muscle1 bone and joint1 every organ1 form and function may be accounted for4 ,in this way1 and in this way only1 can the existence of rudimentary organs be explained4 ,blot from the human mind the ideas of evolution1 heredity1 adaptation1 and the survival of the fittest1 with which it has been enriched by ,lamarck1 ,goethe1 ,darwin1 ,haeckel and ,spencer1 and all the facts in the history of animal life become utterly disconnected and meaningless4 ,shall we throw away all that has been discovered with regard to organic life1 and in its place take the statements of one who lived in the rude morning of a barbaric day8 ,will anybody now contend that man was a direct and independent creation1 and sustains and bears no relation to the animals below him8 ,belief upon this subject must be governed at last by evidence4 ,man cannot believe as he pleases4 ,he can control his speech1 and can say that he believes or disbelieves2 but after all1 his will cannot depress or raise the scales with which his reason finds the worth and weight of facts4 ,if this is not so1 investigation1 evidence1 judgment and reason are but empty words4 ,i ask again1 how were ,adam and ,eve created8 ,in one account they are created male and female1 and apparently at the same time4 ,in the next account1 ,adam is made first1 and ,eve a long time afterwards1 and from a part of the man4 ,did ,god simply by his creative fiat cause a rib slowly to expand1 grow and divide into nerve1 ligament1 cartilage and flesh8 ,how was the woman created from a rib8 ,how was man created simply from dust8 ,for my part1 ,i cannot believe this statement4 ,i may suffer for this in the world to come2 and may1 millions of years hence1 sincerely wish that ,i had never investigated the subject1 but had been content to take the ideas of the dead4 ,i do not believe that any deity works in that way4 ,so far as my experience goes1 there is an unbroken procession of cause and effect4 ,each thing is a necessary link in an infinite chain2 and ,i cannot conceive of this chain being broken even for one instant4 ,back of the simplest moner there is a cause1 and back of that another1 and so on1 it seems to me1 forever4 ,in my philosophy ,i postulate neither beginning nor ending4 ,if the ,mosaic account is true1 we know how long man has been upon this earth4 ,if that account can be relied on1 the first man was made about five thousand eight hundred and eighty-three years ago4 ,sixteen hundred and fifty-six years after the making of the first man1 the inhabitants of the world1 with the exception of eight people1 were destroyed by a flood4 ,this flood occurred only about four thousand two hundred and twenty-seven years ago4 ,if this account is correct1 at that time1 only one kind of men existed4 ,noah and his family were certainly of the same blood4 ,it therefore follows that all the differences we see between the various races of men have been caused in about four thousand years4 ,if the account of the deluge is true1 then since that event all the ancient kingdoms of the earth were founded1 and their inhabitants passed through all the stages of savage1 nomadic1 barbaric and semi-civilized life2 through the epochs of ,stone1 ,bronze and ,iron2 established commerce1 cultivated the arts1 built cities1 filled them with palaces and temples1 invented writing1 produced a literature and slowly fell to shapeless ruin4 ,we must believe that all this has happened within a period of four thousand years4 ,from representations found upon ,egyptian granite made more than three thousand years ago1 we know that the negro was as black1 his lips as full1 and his hair as closely curled then as now4 ,if we know anything1 we know that there was at that time substantially the same difference between the ,egyptian and the ,negro as now4 ,if we know anything1 we know that magnificent statues were made in ,egypt four thousand years before our era--that is to say1 about six thousand years ago4 ,there was at the ,world's ,exposition1 in the ,egyptian department1 a statue of king ,cephren1 known to have been chiseled more than six thousand years ago4 ,in other words1 if the ,mosaic account must be believed1 this statue was made before the world4 ,we also know1 if we know anything1 that men lived in v ,europe with the hairy mammoth1 the cave bear1 the rhinoceros1 and the hyena4 ,among the bones of these animals have been found the stone hatchets and flint arrows of our ancestors4 ,in the caves where they lived have been discovered the remains of these animals that had been conquered1 killed and devoured as food1 hundreds of thousands of years ago4 ,if these facts are true1 ,moses was mistaken4 ,for my part1 ,i have infinitely more confidence in the discoveries of to-day1 than in the records of a barbarous people4 ,it will not now do to say that man has existed upon this earth for only about six thousand years4 ,one can hardly compute in his imagination the time necessary for man to emerge from the barbarous state1 naked and helpless1 surrounded by animals far more powerful than he1 to progress and finally create the civilizations of ,india1 ,egypt and ,athens4 ,the distance from savagery to ,shakespeare must be measured not by hundreds1 but by millions of years4 ,,xiv4 ,,sunday4 ,and on the seventh day ,god ended his work which he had made1 and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made4 ,and ,god blessed the seventh day and sanctified it2 because that in it he had rested from all his work which ,god created and made4 ,the great work had been accomplished1 the world1 the sun1 and moon1 and all the hosts of heaven were finished2 the earth was clothed in green1 the seas were filled with life1 the cattle wandered by the brooks--insects with painted wings were in the happy air1 ,adam and ,eve were making each others acquaintance1 and ,god was resting from his work4 ,he was contemplating the accomplishments of a week4 ,because he rested on that day he sanctified it1 and for that reason and for that alone1 it was by the ,jews considered a holy day4 ,if he only rested on that day1 there ought to be some account of what he did the following ,monday4 ,did he rest on that day8 ,what did he do after he got rested8 ,has he done anything in the way of creation since ,saturday evening of the first week8 ,it is now claimed by the scientific ,christians that the days of creation were not ordinary days of twenty-four hours each1 but immensely long periods of time4 ,if they are right1 then how long was the seventh day8 ,was that1 too1 a geologic period covering thousands of ages8 ,that cannot be1 because ,adam and ,eve were created the ,saturday evening before1 and according to the ,bible that was about five thousand eight hundred and eighty-three years ago4 ,i cannot state the time exactly1 because there have been as many as one hundred and forty different opinions given by learned ,biblical students as to the time between the creation of the world and the birth of ,christ4 ,we are quite certain1 however1 that1 according to the ,bible1 it is not more than six thousand years since the creation of ,adam4 ,from this it would appear that the seventh day was not a geologic epoch1 but was in fact a period of less than six thousand years1 and probably of only twenty-four hours4 ,the theologians who answer these things may take their choice4 ,if they take the ground that the days were periods of twenty-four hours1 then geology will force them to throw away the whole account4 ,if1 on the other hand1 they admit that the days were vast periods1 then the sacredness of the ,sabbath must be given up4 ,there is found in the ,bible no intimation that there was the least difference in the days4 ,they are all spoken of in the same way4 ,it may be replied that our translation is incorrect4 ,if this is so1 then only those who understand ,hebrew1 have had a revelation from ,god1 and all the rest have been deceived4 ,how is it possible to sanctify a space of time8 ,is rest holier than labor8 ,if there is any difference between days1 ought not that to be considered best in which the most useful labor has been performed8 ,of all the superstitions of mankind1 this insanity about the sacred ,sabbath is the most absurd4 ,the idea of feeling it a duty to be solemn and sad one-seventh of the time6 ,to think that we can please an infinite being by staying in some dark and sombre room1 instead of walking in the perfumed fields6 ,why should ,god hate to see a man happy8 ,why should it excite his wrath to see a family in the woods1 by some babbling stream1 talking1 laughing and loving8 ,nature works on that sacred day4 ,the earth turns1 the rivers run1 the trees grow1 buds burst into flower1 and birds fill the air with song4 ,why should we look sad1 and think about death1 and hear about hell8 ,why should that day be filled with gloom instead of joy8 ,a poor mechanic1 working all the week in dust and noise1 needs a day of rest and joy1 a day to visit stream and wood--a day to live with wife and child2 a day in which to laugh at care1 and gather hope and strength for toils to come4 ,and his weary wife needs a breath of sunny air1 away from street and wall1 amid the hills or by the margin of the sea1 where she can sit and prattle with her babe1 and fill with happy dreams the long1 glad day4 ,the ,sabbath was born of asceticism1 hatred of human joy1 fanaticism1 ignorance1 egotism of priests and the cowardice of the people4 ,this day1 for thousands of years1 has been dedicated to superstition1 to the dissemination of mistakes1 and the establishment of falsehoods4 ,every ,freethinker1 as a matter of duty1 should violate this day4 ,he should assert his independence1 and do all within his power to wrest the ,sabbath from the gloomy church and give it back to liberty and joy4 ,freethinkers should make the ,sabbath a day of mirth and music2 a day to spend with wife and child--a day of games1 and books1 and dreams--a day to put fresh flowers above our sleeping dead--a day of memory and hope1 of love and rest4 ,why should we in this age of the world be dominated by the dead8 ,why should barbarian ,jews who went down to death and dust three thousand years ago1 control the living world8 ,why should we care for the superstition of men who began the ,sabbath by paring their nails1 beginning at the fourth finger1 then going to the second1 then to the fifth1 then to the third1 and ending with the thumb8 ,how pleasing to ,god this must have been4 ,the ,jews were very careful of these nail parings4 ,they who threw them upon the ground were wicked1 because ,satan used them to work evil upon the earth4 ,they believed that upon the ,sabbath1 souls were allowed to leave purgatory and cool their burning souls in water4 ,fires were neither allowed to be kindled nor extinguished1 and upon that day it was a sin to bind up wounds4 ,the lame might use a staff1 but the blind could not4 ,so strict was the ,sabbath kept1 that at one time if a ,jew on a journey was overtaken by the 'sacred day' in a wood1 or on the highway1 no matter where1 nor under what circumstances1 he must sit down1 and there remain until the day was gone4 ,if he fell down in the dirt1 there he was compelled to stay until the day was done4 ,for violating the ,sabbath1 the punishment was death1 for nothing short of the offender's blood could satisfy the wrath of ,god4 ,there are1 in the ,old ,testament1 two reasons given for abstaining from labor on the ,sabbath3--the resting of ,god1 and the redemption of the ,jews from the bondage of ,egypt4 ,since the establishment of the ,christian religion1 the day has been changed1 and ,christians do not regard the day as holy upon which ,god actually rested1 and which he sanctified4 ,the ,christian ,sabbath1 or the ,lord's day was legally established by the murderer ,constantine1 because upon that day ,christ was supposed to have risen from the dead4 ,it is not easy to see where ,christians got the right to disregard the direct command of ,god1 to labor on the day he sanctified1 and keep as sacred1 a day upon which he commanded men to labor4 ,the ,sabbath of ,god is ,saturday1 and if any day is to be kept holy1 that is the one1 and not the ,sunday of the ,christian4 ,let us throw away these superstitions and take the higher1 nobler ground1 that every day should be rendered sacred by some loving act1 by increasing the happinesss of man1 giving birth to noble thoughts1 putting in the path of toil some flower of joy1 helping the unfortunate1 lifting the fallen1 dispelling gloom1 destroying prejudice1 defending the helpless and filling homes with light and love4 ,,xv4 ,,the ,,necessity ,,for ,a ,,good ,,memory4 ,it must not be forgotten that there are two accounts of the creation in ,genesis4 ,the first account stops with the third verse of the second chapter4 ,the chapters have been improperly divided4 ,in the original ,hebrew the ,pentateuch was neither divided into chapters nor verses4 ,there was not even any system of punctuation4 ,it was written wholly with consonants1 without vowels1 and without any marks1 dots1 or lines to indicate them4 ,these accounts are materially different1 and both cannot be true4 ,let us see wherein they differ4 ,the second account of the creation begins with the fourth verse of the second chapter1 and is as follows3 ,these are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created1 in the day that the ,lord ,god made the earth and the heavens4 ,and every plant of the field before it was in the earth1 and every herb of the field before it grew2 for the ,lord ,god had not caused it to rain upon the earth1 and there was not a man to till the ground4 ,but there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground4 ,and the ,lord ,god formed man of the dust of the ground1 and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life2 and man became a living soul4 ,and the ,lord ,god planted a garden eastward in ,eden2 and there he put the man whom he had formed4 ,and out of the ground made the ,lord ,god to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight1 and good for food2 the tree of life also in the midst of the garden1 and the tree of knowledge of good and evil4 ,and a river went out of ,eden to water the garden2 and from thence it was parted and became into four heads4 ,the name of the first is ,pison2 that is it which compasseth the whole land of ,havilah1 where there is gold4 ,and the gold of that land is good3 there is bdellium and the onyx stone4 ,and the name of the second river is ,gihon3 the same is it that compasseth the whole land of ,ethiopia4 ,and the name of the third river is ,hiddekel2 that is it which goeth toward the east of ,assyria4 ,and the fourth river is ,euphrates4 ,and the ,lord ,god took the man1 and put him into the ,garden of ,eden to dress it and to keep it4 ,and the ,lord ,god commanded the man1 saying1 ,of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat2 ,but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil1 thou shalt not eat of it2 for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die4 ,and the ,lord ,god said1 ,it is not good that the man should be alone2 ,i will make him an helpmeet for him4 ,and out of the ground the ,lord ,god formed every beast of the field1 and every fowl of the air2 and brought them unto ,adam to see what he would call them3 and whatsoever ,adam called every living creature1 that was the name thereof4 ,and ,adam gave names to all cattle1 and to the fowl of the air1 and to every beast of the field2 but for ,adam there was not found a helpmeet for him4 ,and the ,lord ,god caused a deep sleep to fall upon ,adam1 and he slept2 and he took one of his ribs1 and closed up the flesh instead thereof2 ,and the rib1 which the ,lord ,god had taken from man1 made he a woman and brought her unto the man4 ,and ,adam said1 ,this is now bone of my bones1 and flesh of my flesh2 she shall be called ,woman1 because she was taken out of man4 ,therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother1 and shall cleave unto his wife2 and they shall be one flesh4 ,and they were both naked1 the man and his wife1 and were not ashamed4 ,order of creation in the first account3 #a4 ,the heaven and the earth1 and light were made4 #b4 ,the firmament was constructed and the waters divided4 #c4 ,the waters gathered into seas--and then came dry land1 grass1 herbs and fruit trees4 #d4 ,the sun and moon4 ,he made the stars also4 #e4 ,fishes1 fowls1 and great whales4 #f4 ,beasts1 cattle1 every creeping thing1 man and woman4 ,order of creation in the second account3 #a4 ,the heavens and the earth4 #b4 ,a mist went up from the earth1 and watered the whole face of the ground4 #c4 ,created a man out of dust1 by the name of ,adam4 #d4 ,planted a garden eastward in ,eden1 and put the man in it4 #e4 ,created the beasts and fowls4 #f4 ,created a woman out of one of the man's ribs4 ,in the second account1 man was made before the beasts and fowls4 ,if this is true1 the first account is false4 ,and if the theologians of our time are correct in their view that the ,mosaic day means thousands of ages1 then1 according to the second account1 ,adam existed millions of years before ,eve was formed4 ,he must have lived one ,mosaic day before there were any trees1 and another ,mosaic day before the beasts and fowls were created4 ,will some kind clergymen tell us upon what kind of food ,adam subsisted during these immense periods8 ,in the second account a man is made1 and the fact that he was without a helpmeet did not occur to the ,lord ,god until a couple of vast periods afterwards4 ,the ,lord ,god suddenly coming to an appreciation of the situation said1 ,it is not good that the man should be alone4 ,i will make him an helpmeet for him4 ,now1 after concluding to make an helpmeet for ,adam1 what did the ,lord ,god do8 ,did he at once proceed to make a woman8 ,no4 ,what did he do8 ,he made the beasts1 and tried to induce ,adam to take one of them for an helpmeet4 ,if ,i am incorrect1 read the following account1 and tell me what it means3 ,and the ,lord ,god said1 ,it is not good that the man should be alone2 ,i will make him an helpmeet for him4 ,and out of the ground the ,lord ,god formed every beast of the field1 and every fowl of the air2 and brought them unto ,adam to see what he would call them3 and whatsoever ,adam called every living creature1 that was the name thereof4 ,and ,adam gave names to all cattle1 and to the fowl of the air1 and to every beast of the field2 but for ,adam there was not found an helpmeet for him4 ,unless the ,lord ,god was looking for an helpmeet for ,adam1 why did he cause the animals to pass before him8 ,and why did he1 after the menagerie had passed by1 pathetically exclaim1 ,but for ,adam there was not found an helpmeet for him8 ,it seems that ,adam saw nothing that struck his fancy4 ,the fairest ape1 the sprightliest chimpanzee1 the loveliest baboon1 the most bewitching orangoutang1 the most fascinating gorilla failed to touch with love's sweet pain1 poor ,adam's lonely heart4 ,let us rejoice that this was so4 ,had he fallen in love then1 there never would have been a ,freethinker in this world4 ,dr4 ,adam ,clarke1 speaking of this remarkable proceeding says3--,god caused the animals to pass before ,adam to show him that no creature yet formed could make him a suitable companion2 that ,adam was convinced that none of these animals could be a suitable companion for him1 and that therefore he must continue in a state that was not good 7celibacy7 unless he became a further debtor to the bounty of his maker1 for among all the animals which he had formed1 there was not a helpmeet for ,adam4 ,upon this same subject1 ,dr4 ,scott informs us that it was not conducive to the happiness of the man to remain without the consoling society1 and endearment of tender friendship1 nor consistent with the end of his creation to be without marriage by which the earth might be replenished and worshipers and servants raised up to render him praise and glory4 ,adam seems to have been vastly better acquainted by intuition or revelation with the distinct properties of every creature than the most sagacious observer since the fall of man4 ,upon this review of the animals1 not one was found in outward form his counterpart1 nor one suited to engage his affections1 participate in his enjoyments1 or associate with him in the worship of ,god4 ,dr4 ,matthew ,henry admits that ,god brought all the animals together to see if there was a suitable match for ,adam in any of the numerous families of the inferior creatures1 but there was none4 ,they were all looked over1 but ,adam could not be matched among them all4 ,therefore ,god created a new thing to be a helpmeet for him4 ,failing to satisfy ,adam with any of the inferior animals1 the ,lord ,god caused a deep sleep to fall upon him1 and while in this sleep took out one of ,adam's ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof4 ,and out of this rib1 the ,lord ,god made a woman1 and brought her to the man4 ,was the ,lord ,god compelled to take a part of the man because he had used up all the original nothing out of which the universe was made8 ,is it possible for any sane and intelligent man to believe this story8 ,must a man be born a second time before this account seems reasonable8 ,imagine the ,lord ,god with a bone in his hand with which to start a woman1 trying to make up his mind whether to make a blonde or a brunette6 ,just at this point it may be proper for me to warn all persons from laughing at or making light of1 any stories found in the ,holy ,bible4 ,when you come to die1 every laugh will be a thorn in your pillow4 ,at that solemn moment1 as you look back upon the records of your life1 no matter how many men you may have wrecked and ruined2 no matter how many women you have deceived and deserted1 all that can be forgiven2 but if you remember then that you have laughed at even one story in ,god's sacred book you will see through the gathering shadows of death the forked tongues of devils1 and the leering eyes of fiends4 ,these stories must be believed1 or the work of regeneration can never be commenced4 ,no matter how well you act your part1 live as honestly as you may1 clothe the naked1 feed the hungry1 divide your last farthing with the poor1 and you are simply traveling the broad road that leads inevitably to eternal death1 unless at the same time you implicitly believe the ,bible to be the inspired word of ,god4 ,let me show you the result of unbelief4 ,let us suppose1 for a moment1 that we are at the ,day of ,judgment1 listening to the trial of souls as they arrive4 ,the ,recording ,secretary1 or whoever does the cross-examining1 says to a soul3 ,where are you from8 ,i am from the ,earth4 ,what kind of a man were you8 ,well1 ,i don't like to talk about myself4 ,i suppose you can tell by looking at your books4 ,no1 sir4 ,you must tell what kind of a man you were4 ,well1 ,i was what you might call a first-rate fellow4 ,i loved my wife and children4 ,my home was my heaven4 ,my fireside was a paradise to me4 ,to sit there and see the lights and shadows fall upon the faces of those ,i loved1 was to me a perfect joy4 ,how did you treat your family8 ,i never said an unkind word4 ,i never caused my wife1 nor one of my children1 a moments pain4 ,did you pay your debts8 ,i did not owe a dollar when ,i died1 and left enough to pay my funeral expenses1 and to keep the fierce wolf of want from the door of those ,i loved4 ,did you belong to any church8 ,no1 sir4 ,they were too narrow1 pinched and bigoted for me1 ,i never thought that ,i could be very happy if other folks were damned4 ,did you believe in eternal punishment8 ,well1 no4 ,i always thought that ,god could get his revenge in far less time4 ,did you believe the rib story8 ,do you mean the ,adam and ,eve business8 ,yes6 ,did you believe that8 ,to tell you the ,god's truth1 that was just a little more than ,i could swallow4 ,away with him to hell6 ,next6 ,where are you from8 ,i am from the world too4 ,did you belong to any church8 ,yes1 sir1 and to the ,young ,men's ,christian ,association besides4 ,what was your business8 ,cashier in a ,savings ,bank4 ,did you ever run away with any money8 ,where ,i came from1 a witness could not be compelled to criminate himself4 ,the law is different here4 ,answer the question4 ,did you run away with any money8 ,yes1 sir4 ,how much8 ,one hundred thousand dollars4 ,did you take anything else with you8 ,yes1 sir4 ,well1 what else8 ,i took my neighbor's wife--we sang together in the choir4 ,did you have a wife and children of your own8 ,yes1 sir4 ,and you deserted them8 ,yes1 sir1 but such was my confidence in ,god that ,i believed he would take care of them4 ,have you heard of them since8 ,no1 sir4 ,did you believe in the rib story8 ,bless your soul1 of course ,i did4 ,a thousand times ,i regretted that there were no harder stories in the ,bible1 so that ,i could have shown my wealth of faith4 ,do you believe the rib story yet8 ,yes1 with all my heart4 ,give him a harp6 ,well1 as ,i was saying1 ,god made a woman from ,adam's rib4 ,of course1 ,i do not know exactly how this was done1 but when he got the woman finished1 he presented her to ,adam4 ,he liked her1 and they commenced house-keeping in the celebrated ,garden of ,eden4 ,must we1 in order to be good1 gentle and loving in our lives1 believe that the creation of woman was a second thought8 ,that ,jehovah really endeavored to induce ,adam to take one of the lower animals as an helpmeet for him8 ,after all1 is it not possible to live honest and courageous lives without believing these fables8 ,it is said that from ,mount ,sinai ,god gave1 amid thunderings and lightnings1 ten commandments for the guidance of mankind2 and yet among them is not found--,thou shalt believe the ,bible4 ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,garden4 ,in the first account we are told that ,god made man1 male and female1 and said to them ,be fruitful1 and multiply1 and replenish the earth and subdue it4 ,in the second account only the man is made1 and he is put in a garden to dress it and to keep it4 ,he is not told to subdue the earth1 but to dress and keep a garden4 ,in the first account man is given every herb bearing seed upon the face of the earth and the fruit of every tree for food1 and in the second1 he is given only the fruit of all the trees in the garden with the exception of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which was a deadly poison4 ,there was issuing from this garden a river that was parted into four heads4 ,the first of these1 ,pison1 compassed the whole land of ,havilah1 the second1 ,gihon1 that compassed the whole land of ,ethiopia4 ,the third1 ,heddekel1 that flowed toward the east of ,assyria1 and the fourth1 the ,euphrates4 ,where are these four rivers now8 ,the brave prow of discovery has visited every sea2 the traveler has pressed with weary feet the soil of every clime2 and yet there has been found no place from which four rivers sprang4 ,the ,euphrates still journeys to the gulf1 but where are ,pison1 ,gihon and the mighty ,heddekel8 ,surely by going to the source of the ,euphrates we ought to find either these three rivers or their ancient beds4 ,will some minister when he answers the ,mistakes of ,moses tell us where these rivers are or were8 ,the maps of the world are incomplete without these mighty streams4 ,we have discovered the sources of the ,nile2 the ,north ,pole will soon be touched by an ,american2 but these three rivers still rise in unknown hills1 still flow through unknown lands1 and empty still in unknown seas4 ,the account of these four rivers is what the ,rev4 ,david ,swing would call a geographical poem4 ,the orthodox clergy cover the whole affair with the blanket of allegory1 while the scientific ,christian folks talk about cataclysms1 upheavals1 earthquakes1 and vast displacements of the earth's crust4 ,the question1 then arises1 whether within the last six thousand years there have been such upheavals and displacements8 ,talk as you will about the vast creative periods that preceded the appearance of man2 it is1 according to the ,bible1 only about six thousand years since man was created4 ,moses gives us the generations of men from ,adam until his day1 and this account cannot be explained away by calling centuries1 days4 ,according to the second account of creation1 these four rivers were made after the creation of man1 and consequently they must have been obliterated by convulsions of ,nature within six thousand years4 ,can we not account for these contradictions1 absurdities1 and falsehoods by simply saying that although the writer may have done his level best1 he failed because he was limited in knowledge1 led away by tradition1 and depended too implicitly upon the correctness of his imagination8 ,is not such a course far more reasonable than to insist that all these things are true and must stand though every science shall fall to mental dust8 ,can any reason be given for not allowing man to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge8 ,what kind of tree was that8 ,if it is all an allegory1 what truth is sought to be conveyed8 ,why should ,god object to that fruit being eaten by man8 ,why did he put it in the midst of the garden8 ,there was certainly plenty of room outside4 ,if he wished to keep man and this tree apart1 why did he put them together8 ,and why1 after he had eaten1 was he thrust out8 ,the only answer that we have a right to give1 is the one given in the ,bible4 ,and the ,lord ,god said1 ,behold the man has become as one of us to know good and evil2 and now1 lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life1 and eat1 and live forever3 ,therefore the ,lord ,god sent him forth from the ,garden of ,eden1 to till the ground from whence he was taken4 ,will some minister1 some graduate of ,andover1 tell us what this means8 ,are we bound to believe it without knowing what the meaning is8 ,if it is a revelation1 what does it reveal8 ,did ,god object to education then1 and does that account for the hostile attitude still assumed by theologians toward all scientific truth8 ,was there in the garden a tree of life1 the eating of which would have rendered ,adam and ,eve immortal8 ,is it true1 that after the ,lord ,god drove them from the garden that he placed upon its ,eastern side ,cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life8 ,are the ,cherubim and the flaming sword guarding that tree still1 or was it destroyed1 or did its rotting trunk1 as the ,rev4 ,robert ,collyer suggests1 nourish a bank of violets8 ,what objection could ,god have had to the immortality of man8 ,you see that after all1 this sacred record1 instead of assuring us of immortality1 shows us only how we lost it4 ,in this there is assuredly but little consolation4 ,according to this story we have lost one ,eden1 but nowhere in the ,mosaic books are we told how we may gain another4 ,i know that the ,christians tell us there is another1 in which all true believers will finally be gathered1 and enjoy the unspeakable happiness of seeing the unbelievers in hell2 but they do not tell us where it is4 ,some commentators say that the ,garden of ,eden was in the third heaven--some in the fourth1 others have located it in the moon1 some in the air beyond the attraction of the earth1 some on the earth1 some under the earth1 some inside the earth1 some at the ,north ,pole1 others at the ,south1 some in ,tartary1 some in ,china1 some on the borders of the ,ganges1 some in the island of ,ceylon1 some in ,armenia1 some in ,africa1 some under the ,equator1 others in ,mesopotamia1 in ,syria1 ,persia1 ,arabia1 ,babylon1 ,assyria1 ,palestine and ,europe4 ,others have contended that it was invisible1 that it was an allegory1 and must be spiritually understood4 ,but whether you understand these things or not1 you must believe them4 ,you may be laughed at in this world for insisting that ,god put ,adam into a deep sleep and made a woman out of one of his ribs1 but you will be crowned and glorified in the next4 ,you will also have the pleasure of hearing the gentlemen howl there1 who laughed at you here4 ,while you will not be permitted to take any revenge1 you will be allowed to smilingly express your entire acquiescence in the will of ,god4 ,but where is the new ,eden8 ,no one knows4 ,the one was lost1 and the other has not been found4 ,is it true that man was once perfectly pure and innocent1 and that he became degenerate by disobedience8 ,no4 ,the real truth is1 and the history of man shows1 that he has advanced4 ,events1 like the pendulum of a clock have swung forward and back ward1 but after all1 man1 like the hands1 has gone steadily on4 ,man is growing grander4 ,he is not degenerating4 ,nations and individuals fail and die1 and make room for higher forms4 ,the intellectual horizon of the world widens as the centuries pass4 ,ideals grow grander and purer2 the difference between justice and mercy becomes less and less2 liberty enlarges1 and love intensifies as the years sweep on4 ,the ages of force and fear1 of cruelty and wrong1 are behind us and the real ,eden is beyond4 ,it is said that a desire for knowledge lost us the ,eden of the past2 but whether that is true or not1 it will certainly give us the ,eden of the future4 ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,fall4 ,we are told that the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field1 that he had a conversation with ,eve1 in which he gave his opinion about the effect of eating certain fruit2 that he assured her it was good to eat1 that it was pleasant to the eye1 that it would make her wise2 that she was induced to take some2 that she persuaded her husband to try it2 that ,god found it out1 that he then cursed the snake2 condemning it to crawl and eat the dust2 that he multiplied the sorrows of ,eve1 cursed the ground for ,adam's sake1 started thistles and thorns1 condemned man to eat the herb of the field in the sweat of his face1 pronounced the curse of death1 ,dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return1 made coats of skins for ,adam and ,eve1 and drove them out of ,eden4 ,who1 and what was this serpent8 ,dr4 ,adam ,clarke says3--,the serpent must have walked erect1 for this is necessarily implied in his punishment4 ,that he was endued with the gift of speech1 also with reason4 ,that these things were given to this creature4 ,the woman no doubt having often seen him walking erect1 and talking and reasoning1 therefore she testifies no sort of surprise when he accosts her in the language related in the text4 ,it therefore appears to me that a creature of the ape or orangoutang kind is here intended1 and that ,satan made use of this creature as the most proper instrument for the accomplishment of his murderous purposes against the life of the soul of man4 ,under this creature he lay hid1 and by this creature he seduced our first parents4 ,such a creature answers to every part of the description in the text4 ,it is evident from the structure of its limbs and its muscles that it might have been originally designed to walk erect1 and that nothing else than the sovereign controlling power could induce it to put down hands--in every respect formed like those of man--and walk like those creatures whose claw-armed parts prove them to have been designed to walk on all fours4 ,the stealthy cunning1 and endless variety of the pranks and tricks of these creatures show them even now to be wiser and more intelligent than any other creature1 man alone excepted4 ,being obliged to walk on all fours and gather their food from the ground1 they are literally obliged to eat the dust2 and though exceeding cunning1 and careful in a variety of instances to separate that part which is wholesome and proper for food from that which is not so1 in the article of cleanliness they are lost to all sense of propriety4 ,add to this their utter aversion to walk upright2 it requires the utmost discipline to bring them to it1 and scarcely anything offends or irritates them more than to be obliged to do it4 ,long observation of these animals enables me to state these facts4 ,for earnest1 attentive watching1 and for chattering and babbling they 7the ape7 have no fellows in the animal world4 ,indeed1 the ability and propensity to chatter1 is all they have left of their original gift of speech1 of which they appear to have been deprived at the fall as a part of their punishment4 ,here then is the connecting link between man and the lower creation4 ,the serpent was simply an orang-outang that spoke ,hebrew with the greatest ease1 and had the outward appearance of a perfect gentleman1 seductive in manner1 plausible1 polite1 and most admirably calculated to deceive4 ,it never did seem reasonable' to me that a long1 cold and disgusting snake with an apple in his mouth1 could deceive anybody2 and ,i am glad1 even at this late date to know that the something that persuaded ,eve to taste the forbidden fruit was1 at least1 in the shape of a man4 ,dr4 ,henry does not agree with the zoological explanation of ,mr4 ,clark1 but insists that it is certain that the devil that beguiled ,eve is the old serpent1 a malignant by creation1 an angel of light1 an immediate attendant upon ,god's throne1 but by sin an apostate from his first state1 and a rebel against ,god's crown and dignity4 ,he who attacked our first parents was surely the prince of devils1 the ring leader in rebellion4 ,the devil chose to act his part in a serpent1 because it is a specious creature1 has a spotted1 dappled skin1 and then1 went erect4 ,perhaps it was a flying serpent which seemed to come from on high1 as a messenger from the upper world1 one of the seraphim2 because the serpent is a subtile creature4 ,what ,eve thought of this serpent speaking to her1 we are not likely to tell1 and1 ,i believe1 she herself did not know what to think of it4 ,at first1 perhaps1 she supposed it might be a good angel1 and yet afterwards might suspect something amiss4 ,the person tempted was a woman1 now alone1 and at a distance from her husband1 but near the forbidden tree4 ,it was the devil's subtlety to assault the weaker vessel with his temptations1 as we may suppose her inferior to ,adam in knowledge1 strength and presence of mind4 ,some think that ,eve received the command not immediately from ,god1 but at second hand from her husband1 and might1 therefore1 be the more easily persuaded to discredit it4 ,it was the policy of the devil to enter into discussion with her when she was alone4 ,he took advantage by finding her near the forbidden tree4 ,god permitted ,satan to prevail over ,eve1 for wise and holy ends4 ,satan teaches men first to doubt1 and then to deny4 ,he makes skeptics first1 and by degrees makes them atheists4 ,we are compelled to admit that nothing could be more attractive to a woman than a snake walking erect1 with a spotted1 dappled skin1 unless it were a serpent with wings4 ,is it not humiliating to know that our ancestors believed these things8 ,why should we object to the ,darwinian doctrine of descent after this8 ,our fathers thought it their duty to believe1 thought it a sin to entertain the slightest doubt1 and really supposed that their credulity was exceedingly1 gratifying to ,god4 ,to them1 the story was entirely real4 ,they could see the garden1 hear the babble of waters1 smell the perfume of flowers4 ,they believed there was a tree where knowledge grew like plums or pears2 and they could plainly see the serpent coiled amid its rustling leaves1 coaxing ,eve to violate the laws of ,god4 ,where did the serpent come from8 ,on which of the six days was he created8 ,who made him8 ,is it possible that ,god would make a successful rival8 ,he must have known that ,adam and ,eve would fall4 ,he knew what a snake with a spotted1 dappled skin could do with an inexperienced woman4 ,why did he not defend his children8 ,he knew that if the serpent got into the garden1 ,adam and ,eve would sin1 that he would have to drive them out1 that afterwards the world would be destroyed1 and that he himself would die upon the cross4 ,again1 ,i ask what and who was this serpent8 ,he was not a man1 for only one man had been made4 ,he was not a woman4 ,he was not a beast of the field1 because he was more subtile than any beast of the field which the ,lord ,god had made4 ,he was neither fish nor fowl1 nor snake1 because he had the power of speech1 and did not crawl upon his belly until after he was cursed4 ,where did this serpent come from8 ,why was he not kept out of the garden8 ,why did not the ,lord ,god take him by the tail and snap his head off8 ,why did he not put ,adam and ,eve on their guard about this serpent8 ,they1 of course1 were not acquainted in the neighborhood1 and knew nothing about the serpent's reputation for truth and veracity among his neighbors4 ,probably ,adam saw him when he was looking for an helpmeet and gave him a name1 but ,eve had never met him before4 ,she was not surprised to hear a serpent talk1 as that was the first one she had ever met4 ,every thing being new to her1 and her husband not being with her just at that moment1 it need hardly excite our wonder that she tasted the fruit by way of experiment4 ,neither should we be surprised that when she saw it was good and pleasant to the eye1 and a fruit to be desired to make one wise1 she had the generosity to divide with her husband4 ,theologians have filled thousands of volumes with abuse of this serpent1 but it seems that he told the exact truth4 ,we are told that this serpent was1 in fact1 ,satan1 the greatest enemy of mankind1 and that he entered the serpent1 appearing to our first parents in its body4 ,if this is so1 why should the serpent have been cursed8 ,why should ,god curse the serpent for what had really been done by the devil8 ,did ,satan remain in the body of the serpent1 and in some mysterious manner share his punishment8 ,is it true that when we kill a snake we also destroy an evil spirit1 or is there but one devil1 and did he perish at the death of the first serpent8 ,is it on account of that transaction in the ,garden of ,eden1 that all the descendants of ,adam and ,eve known as ,jews and ,christians hate serpents8 ,do you account for the snake-worship in ,mexico1 ,africa and ,india in the same way8 ,what was the form of the serpent when he entered the garden1 and in what way did he move from place to place8 ,did he walk or fly8 ,certainly he did not crawl1 because that mode of locomotion was pronounced upon him as a curse4 ,upon what food did he subsist before his conversation with ,eve8 ,we know that after that he lived upon dust1 but what did he eat before8 ,it may be that this is all poetic2 and the truest poetry is1 according to ,touchstone1 the most feigning4 ,in this same chapter we are informed that unto ,adam also and to his wife did the ,lord ,god make coats of skins and clothed them4 ,where did the ,lord ,god get those skins8 ,he must have taken them from the animals2 he was a butcher4 ,then he had to prepare them2 he was a tanner4 ,then he made them into coats2 he was a tailor4 ,how did it happen that they needed coats of skins1 when they had been perfectly comfortable in a nude condition8 ,did the fall produce a change in the climate8 ,is it really necessary to believe this account in order to be happy here1 or hereafter8 ,does it tend to the elevation of the human race to speak of ,god as a butcher1 tanner and tailor8 ,and here1 let me say once for all1 that when ,i speak of ,god1 ,i mean the being described by ,moses2 the ,jehovah of the ,jews4 ,there may be for aught ,i know1 somewhere in the unknown shoreless vast1 some being whose dreams are constellations and within whose thought the infinite exists4 ,about this being1 if such an one exists1 ,i have nothing to say4 ,he has written no books1 inspired no barbarians1 required no worship1 and has prepared no hell in which to burn the honest seeker after truth4 ,when ,i speak of ,god1 ,i mean that god who prevented man from putting forth his hand and taking also of the fruit of the tree of life that he might live forever2 of that god who multiplied the agonies of woman1 increased the weary toil of man1 and in his anger drowned a world--of that god whose altars reeked with human blood1 who butchered babes1 violated maidens1 enslaved men and filled the earth with cruelty and crime2 of that god who made heaven for the few1 hell for the many1 and who will gloat forever and ever upon the writhings of the lost and damned4 ,,xviii4 ,,dampness4 ,and it came to pass1 when men began to multiply on the face of the earth1 and daughters were born unto them4 ,that the sons of ,god saw the daughters of men that they were fair2 and they took them wives of all which they chose4 ,and the ,lord said1 ,my spirit shall not always strive with man1 for that he also is flesh2 yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years4 ,there were giants in the earth in those days2 and also after that when the sons of ,god came in unto the daughters of men1 and they bare children to them1 the same became mighty men which were of old1 men of renown4 ,and ,god saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth1 and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually4 ,and it repented the ,lord that he had made man on the earth1 and it grieved him at his heart4 ,and the ,lord said1 ,i will destroy man whom ,i have created from the face of the earth2 both man1 and beast1 and the creeping thing1 and the fowls of the air2 for it repenteth me that ,i have made them4 ,from this account it seems that driving ,adam and ,eve out of ,eden did not have the effect to improve them or their children4 ,on the contrary1 the world grew worse and worse4 ,they were under the immediate control and government of ,god1 and he from time to time made known his will2 but in spite of this1 man continued to increase in crime4 ,nothing in particular seems to have been done4 ,not a school was established4 ,there was no written language4 ,there was not a ,bible in the world4 ,the scheme of salvation was kept a profound secret4 ,the five points of ,calvinism had not been taught4 ,sunday schools had not been opened4 ,in short1 nothing had been done for the reformation of the world4 ,god did not even keep his own sons at home1 but allowed them to leave their abode in the firmament1 and make love to the daughters of men4 ,as a result of this1 the world was filled with wickedness and giants to such an extent that ,god regretted that he had made man on the earth1 and it grieved him at his heart4 ,of course ,god knew when he made man1 that he would afterwards regret it4 ,he knew that the people would grow worse and worse until destruction would be the only remedy4 ,he knew that he would have to kill all except ,noah and his family1 and it is hard to see why he did not make ,noah and his family in the first place1 and leave ,adam and ,eve in the original dust4 ,he knew that they would be tempted1 that he would have to drive them out of the garden to keep them from eating of the tree of life2 that the whole thing would be a failure2 that ,satan would defeat his plan2 that he could not reform the people2 that his own sons would corrupt them1 and that at last he would have to drown them all except ,noah and his family4 ,why was the ,garden of ,eden planted8 ,why was the experiment made8 ,why were ,adam and ,eve exposed to the seductive arts of the serpent8 ,why did ,god wait until the cool of the day before looking after his children8 ,why was he not on hand in the morning8 ,why did he fill the world with his own children1 knowing that he would have to destroy them8 ,and why does this same ,god tell me how to raise my children when he had to drown his8 ,it is a little curious that when ,god wished to reform the ante-diluvian world he said nothing about hell2 that he had no revivals1 no camp-meetings1 no tracts1 no outpourings of the ,holy ,ghost1 no baptisms1 no noon prayer meetings1 and never mentioned the great doctrine of salvation by faith4 ,if the orthodox creeds of the world are true1 all those people went to hell without ever having heard that such a place existed4 ,if eternal torment is a fact1 surely these miserable wretches ought to have been warned4 ,they were threatened only with water when they were in fact doomed to eternal fire6 ,is it not strange that ,god said nothing to ,adam and ,eve about a future life2 that he should have kept these infinite verities to himself and allowed millions to live and die without the hope of heaven1 or the fear of hell8 ,it may be that hell was not made at that time4 ,in the six days of creation nothing is said about the construction of a bottomless pit1 and the serpent himself did not make his appearance until after the creation of man and woman4 ,perhaps he was made on the first ,sunday1 and from that fact came1 it may be1 the old couplet1 ,and ,satan still some mischief finds ,for idle hands to do4 ,the sacred historian failed also to tell us when the cherubim and the flaming sword were made1 and said nothing about two of the persons composing the ,trinity4 ,it certainly would have been an easy thing to enlighten ,adam and his immediate descendants4 ,the world was then only about fifteen hundred and thirty-six years old1 and only about three or four generations of men had lived4 ,adam had been dead only about six hundred and six years1 and some of his grandchildren must1 at that time1 have been alive and well4 ,it is hard to see why ,god did not civilize these people4 ,he certainly had the power to use1 and the wisdom to devise the proper means4 ,what right has a god to fill a world with fiends8 ,can there be goodness in this8 ,why should he make experiments that he knows must fail8 ,is there wisdom in this8 ,and what right has a man to charge an infinite being with wickedness and folly8 ,according to ,moses1 ,god made up his mind not only to destroy the people1 but the beasts and the creeping things1 and the fowls of the air4 ,what had the beasts1 and the creeping things1 and the birds done to excite the anger of ,god8 ,why did he repent having made them8 ,will some ,christian give us an explanation of this matter8 ,no good man will inflict unnecessary pain upon a beast2 how then can we worship a god who cares nothing for the agonies of the dumb creatures that he made8 ,why did he make animals that he knew he would destroy8 ,does ,god delight in causing pain8 ,he had the power to make the beasts1 and fowls1 and creeping things in his own good time and way1 and it is to be presumed that he made them according to his wish4 ,why should he destroy them8 ,they had committed no sin4 ,they had eaten no forbidden fruit1 made no aprons1 nor tried to reach the tree of life4 ,yet this god1 in blind unreasoning wrath destroyed all flesh wherein was the breath of life1 and every living thing beneath the sky1 and every substance wherein was life that he had made4 ,jehovah having made up his mind to drown the world1 told ,noah to make an ,ark of gopher wood three hundred cubits long1 fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high4 ,a cubit is twenty-two inches2 so that the ark was five hundred and fifty feet long1 ninety-one feet and eight inches wide and fifty-five feet high4 ,this ark was divided into three stories1 and had on top1 one window twenty-two inches square4 ,ventilation must have been one of ,jehovah's hobbies4 ,think of a ship larger than the ,great ,eastern with only one window1 and that but twenty-two inches square6 ,the ark also had one door set in the side thereof that shut from the outside4 ,as soon as this ship was finished1 and properly victualed1 ,noah received seven days notice to get the animals in the ark4 ,it is claimed by some of the scientific theologians that the flood was partial1 that the waters covered only a small portion of the world1 and that consequently only a few animals were in the ark4 ,it is impossible to conceive of language that can more clearly convey the idea of a universal flood than that found in the inspired account4 ,if the flood was only partial1 why did ,god say he would destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven1 and that every thing that is in the earth shall die8 ,why did he say ,i will destroy man whom ,i have created from the face of the earth1 both man and beast1 and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air8 ,why did he say ,and every living substance that ,i have made will ,i destroy from off the face of the earth8 ,would a partial1 local flood have fulfilled these threats8 ,nothing can be clearer than that the writer of this account intended to convey1 and did convey the idea that the flood was universal4 ,why should ,christians try to deprive ,god of the glory of having wrought the most stupendous of miracles8 ,is it possible that the ,infinite could not overwhelm with waves this atom called the earth8 ,do you doubt his power1 his wisdom or his justice8 ,believers in miracles should not endeavor to explain them4 ,there is but one way to explain anything1 and that is to account for it by natural agencies4 ,the moment you explain a miracle1 it disappears4 ,you should depend not upon explanation1 but assertion4 ,you should not be driven from the field because the miracle is shown to be unreasonable4 ,you should reply that all miracles are unreasonable4 ,neither should you be in the least disheartened if it is shown to be impossible4 ,the possible is not miraculous4 ,you should take the ground that if miracles were reasonable1 and possible1 there would be no reward paid for believing them4 ,the ,christian has the goodness to believe1 while the sinner asks for evidence4 ,it is enough for ,god to work miracles without being called upon to substantiate them for the benefit of unbelievers4 ,only a few years ago1 the ,christians believed implicitly in the literal truth of every miracle recorded in the ,bible4 ,whoever tried to explain them in some natural way1 was looked upon as an infidel in disguise1 but now he is regarded as a benefactor4 ,the credulity of the church is decreasing1 and the most marvelous miracles are now either explained1 or allowed to take refuge behind the mistakes of the translators1 or hide in the drapery of allegory4 ,in the sixth chapter1 ,noah is ordered to take of every living thing of all flesh1 two of every sort into the ark--male and female4 ,in the seventh chapter the order is changed1 and ,noah is commanded1 according to the ,protestant ,bible1 as follows3 ,of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens1 the male and his female1 and of beasts that are not clean1 by two1 the male and his female4 ,of fowls also of the air by sevens1 the male and the female4 ,according to the ,catholic ,bible1 ,noah was commanded---,of all clean beasts take seven and seven1 the male and the female4 ,but of the beasts that are unclean two and two1 the male and the female4 ,of the fowls also of the air seven and seven1 the male and the female4 ,for the purpose of belittling this miracle1 many commentators have taken the ground that ,noah was not ordered to take seven males and seven females of each kind of clean beasts1 but seven in all4 ,many ,christians contend that only seven clean beasts of each kind were taken into the ark--three and a half of each sex4 ,if the account in the seventh chapter means anything1 it means first1 that of each kind of clean beasts1 fourteen were to be taken1 seven males1 and seven females2 second1 that of unclean beasts should be taken1 two of each kind1 one of each sex1 and third1 that he should take of every kind of fowls1 seven of each sex4 ,it is equally clear that the command in the #aith and #bjth verses of the #fth chapter1 is to take two of each sort1 one male and one female4 ,and this agrees exactly with the account in the #gth1 #hth1 #ith1 #adth1 #aeth1 and #afth verses of the #gth chapter4 ,the next question is1 how many beasts1 fowls and creeping things did ,noah take into the ark8 ,there are now known and classified at least twelve thousand five hundred species of birds4 ,there are still vast territories in ,china1 ,south ,america1 and ,africa unknown to the ornithologist4 ,of the birds1 ,noah took fourteen of each species1 according to the #c;d verse of the #gth chapter1 ,of fowls also of the air by sevens1 the male and the female1 making a total of #age1jjj birds4 ,and right here allow me to ask a question4 ,if the flood was simply a partial flood1 why were birds taken into the ark8 ,it seems to me that most birds1 attending strictly to business1 might avoid a partial flood4 ,there are at least sixteen hundred and fifty-eight kinds of beasts4 ,let us suppose that twenty-five of these are clean4 ,of the clean1 fourteen of each kind--seven of each sex--were taken4 ,these amount to #cej4 ,of the unclean--two of each kind1 amounting to #c1bff4 ,there are some six hundred and fifty species of reptiles4 ,two of each kind amount to #a1cjj4 ,and lastly1 there are of insects including the creeping things1 at least one million species1 so that ,noah and his folks had to get of these into the ark about #b1jjj1jjj4 ,animalculae have not been taken into consideration4 ,there are probably many hundreds of thousands of species2 many of them invisible2 and yet ,noah had to pick them out by pairs4 ,very few people have any just conception of the trouble ,noah had4 ,we know that there are many animals on this continent not found in the ,old ,world4 ,these must have been carried from here to the ark1 and then brought back afterwards4 ,were the peccary1 armadillo1 ant-eater1 sloth1 agouti1 vampire-bat1 marmoset1 howling and prehensile-tailed monkey1 the raccoon and muskrat carried by the angels from ,america to ,asia8 ,how did they get there8 ,did the polar bear leave his field of ice and journey toward the tropics8 ,how did he know where the ark was8 ,did the kangaroo swim or jump from ,australia to ,asia8 ,did the giraffe1 hippopotamus1 antelope and orang-outang journey from ,africa in search of the ark8 ,can absurdities go farther than this8 ,what had these animals to eat while on the journey8 ,what did they eat while in the ark8 ,what did they drink8 ,when the rain came1 of course the rivers ran to the seas1 and these seas rose and finally covered the world4 ,the waters of the seas1 mingled with those of the flood1 would make all salt4 ,it has been calculated that it required1 to drown the world1 about eight times as much water as was in all the seas4 ,to find how salt the waters of the flood must have been1 take eight quarts of fresh water1 and add one quart from the sea4 ,such water would create instead of allaying thirst4 ,noah had to take in his ark fresh water for all his beasts1 birds and living things4 ,he had to take the proper food for all4 ,how long was he in the ark8 ,three hundred and seventy-seven days6 ,think of the food necessary for the monsters of the ante-diluvian world6 ,eight persons did all the work4 ,they attended to the wants of #age1jjj birds1 #c1faf beasts1 #a1cjj reptiles1 and #b1jjj1jjj insects1 saying nothing of countless animalculae4 ,well1 after they all got in1 ,noah pulled down the window1 ,god shut the door1 and the rain commenced4 ,how long did it rain8 ,forty days4 ,how deep did the water get8 ,about five miles and a half4 ,how much did it rain a day8 ,enough to cover the whole world to a depth of about seven hundred and forty-two feet4 ,some ,christians say that the fountains of the great deep were broken up4 ,will they be kind enough to tell us what the fountains of the great deep are8 ,others say that ,god had vast stores of water in the center of the earth that he used on that occasion4 ,how did these waters happen to run up hill8 ,gentlemen1 allow me to tell you once more that you must not try to explain these things4 ,your efforts in that direction do no good1 because your explanations are harder to believe than the miracle itself4 ,take my advice1 stick to assertion1 and let explanation alone4 ,then1 as now1 ,dhawalagiri lifted its crown of snow twenty-nine thousand feet above the level of the sea1 and on the cloudless cliffs of ,chimborazo then1 as now1 sat the condor2 and yet the waters rising seven hundred and twenty-six feet a day--thirty feet an hour1 six inches a minute1--rose over the hills1 over the volcanoes1 filled the vast craters1 extinguished all the fires1 rose above every mountain peak until the vast world was but one shoreless sea covered with the innumerable dead4 ,was this the work of the most merciful ,god1 the father of us all8 ,if there is a ,god1 can there be the slightest danger of incurring his displeasure by doubting even in a reverential way1 the truth of such a cruel lie8 ,if we think that ,god is kinder than he really is1 will our poor souls be burned for that8 ,how many trees can live under miles of water for a year8 ,what became of the soil washed1 scattered1 dissolved1 and covered with the debris of a world8 ,how were the tender plants and herbs preserved8 ,how were the animals preserved after leaving the ark8 ,there was no grass except such as had been submerged for a year4 ,there were no animals to be devoured by the carnivorous beasts4 ,what became of the birds that fed on worms and insects8 ,what became of the birds that devoured other birds8 ,it must be remembered that the pressure of the water when at the highest point--say twenty-nine thousand feet1 would have been about eight hundred tons on each square foot4 ,such a pressure certainly would have destroyed nearly every vestige of vegetable life1 so that when the animals came out of the ark1 there was not a mouthful of food in the wide world4 ,how were they supported until the world was again clothed with grass8 ,how were those animals taken care of that subsisted on others8 ,where did the bees get honey1 and the ants seeds8 ,there was not a creeping thing upon the whole earth2 not a breathing creature beneath the whole heavens2 not a living substance4 ,where did the tenants of the ark get food8 ,there is but one answer1 if the story is true4 ,the food necessary not only during the year of the flood1 but sufficient for many months afterwards1 must have been stored in the ark4 ,there is probably not an animal in the world that will not1 in a year1 eat and drink ten times its weight4 ,noah must have provided food and water for a year while in the ark1 and food for at least six months after they got ashore4 ,it must have required for a pair of elephants1 about one hundred and fifty tons of food and water4 ,a couple of mammoths would have required about twice that amount4 ,of course there were other monsters that lived on trees2 and in a year would have devoured quite a forest4 ,how could eight persons have distributed this food1 even if the ark had been large enough to hold it8 ,how was the ark kept clean8 ,we know how it was ventilated2 but what was done with the filth8 ,how were the animals watered8 ,how were some portions of the ark heated for animals from the tropics1 and others kept cool for the polar bears8 ,how did the animals get back to their respective countries8 ,some had to creep back about six thousand miles1 and they could only go a few feet a day4 ,some of the creeping things must have started for the ark just as soon as they were made1 and kept up a steady jog for sixteen hundred years4 ,think of a couple of the slowest snails leaving a point opposite the ark and starting for the plains of ,shinar1 a distance of twelve thousand miles4 ,going at the rate of a mile a month1 it would take them a thousand years4 ,how did they get there8 ,polar bears must have gone several thousand miles1 and so sudden a change in climate must have been exceedingly trying upon their health4 ,how did they know the way to go8 ,of course1 all the polar bears did not go4 ,only two were required4 ,who selected these8 ,two sloths had to make the journey from ,south ,america4 ,these creatures cannot travel to exceed three rods a day4 ,at this rate1 they would make a mile in about a hundred days4 ,they must have gone about six thousand five hundred miles1 to reach the ark4 ,supposing them to have traveled by a reasonably direct route1 in order to complete the journey before ,noah hauled in the plank1 they must have started several years before the world was created4 ,we must also consider that these sloths had to board themselves on the way1 and that most of their time had to be taken up getting food and water4 ,it is exceedingly doubtful whether a sloth could travel six thousand miles and board himself in less than three thousand years4 ,volumes might be written upon the infinite absurdity of this most incredible1 wicked and foolish of all the fables contained in that repository of the impossible1 called the ,bible4 ,to me it is a matter of amazement1 that it ever was for a moment believed by any intelligent human being4 ,dr4 ,adam ,clarke says that the animals were brought to the ark by the power of ,god1 and their enmities were so removed or suspended1 that the lion could dwell peaceably with the lamb1 and the wolf sleep happily by the side of the kid4 ,there is no positive evidence that animal food was ever used before the flood4 ,noah had the first grant of this kind4 ,dr4 ,scott remarks1 ,there seems to have been a very extraordinary miracle1 perhaps by the ministration of angels1 in bringing two of every species to ,noah1 and rendering them submissive1 and peaceful with each other4 ,yet it seems not to have made any impression upon the hardened spectators4 ,the suspension of the ferocity of the savage beasts during their continuance in the ark1 is generally considered as an apt figure of the change that takes place in the disposition of sinners when they enter the true church of ,christ4 ,he believed the deluge to have been universal4 ,in his day science had not demonstrated the absurdity of this belief1 and he was not compelled to resort to some theory not found in the ,bible4 ,he insisted that by some vast convulsion1 the very bowels of the earth were forced upwards1 and rain poured down in cataracts and water-spouts1 with no intermission for forty days and nights1 and until in every place a universal deluge was effected4 ,the presence of ,god was the only comfort of ,noah in his dreary confinement1 and in witnessing the dire devastation of the earth and its inhabitants1 and especially of the human species--of his companions1 his neighbors1 his relatives--all those to whom he had preached1 for whom he had prayed and over whom he had wept1 and even of many who had helped to build the ark4 ,it seems that by a peculiar providential interposition1 no animal of any sort died1 although they had been shut up in the ark above a year2 and it does not appear that there had been any increase of them during that time4 ,the ,ark was flat-bottomed--square at each end--roofed like a house so that it terminated at the top in the breadth of a cubit4 ,it was divided into many little cabins for its intended inhabitants4 ,pitched within and without to keep it tight and sweet1 and lighted from the upper part4 ,but it must1 at first sight1 be evident that so large a vessel1 thus constructed1 with so few persons on board1 was utterly unfitted to weather out the deluge1 except it was under the immediate guidance and protection of the ,almighty4 ,dr4 ,henry furnished the ,christian world with the following3-- ,as our bodies have in them the humors which1 when ,god pleases1 become the springs and seeds of mortal disease1 so the earth had1 in its bowels1 those waters which1 at ,god's command1 sprung up and flooded it4 ,god made the world in six days1 but he was forty days in destroying it1 because he is slow to anger4 ,the hostilities between the animals in the ark ceased1 and ravenous creatures became mild and manageable1 so that the wolf lay down with the lamb1 and the lion ate straw like an ox4 ,god shut the door of the ark to secure ,noah and to keep him safe1 and because it was necessary that the door should be shut very close lest the water should break in and sink the ark1 and very fast lest others might break it down4 ,the waters rose so high that not only the low flat countries were deluged1 but to make sure work and that none might escape1 the tops of the highest mountains were overflowed fifteen cubits4 ,that is1 seven and a half yards1 so that salvation was not hoped for from hills or mountains4 ,perhaps some of the people got to the top of the ark1 and hoped to shift for themselves there4 ,but either they perished there for want of food1 or the dashing rain washed them off the top4 ,others1 it may be1 hoped to prevail with ,noah for admission into the ark1 and plead old acquaintance4 ',have we not eaten and drank in thy presence8 ,hast thou not preached in our streets8' ',yea1' said ,noah1 'many a time1 but to little purpose4 ,i called but ye refused2 and now it is not in my power to help you4 ,god has shut the door and ,i cannot open it4' ,we may suppose that some of those who perished in the deluge had themselves assisted ,noah1 or were employed by him in building the ark4 ,hitherto1 man had been confined to feed only upon the products of the earth4 ,fruits1 herbs and roots1 and all sorts of greens1 and milk1 which was the first grant2 but the flood having perhaps washed away much of the fruits of the earth1 and rendered them much less pleasant and nourishing1 ,god enlarged the grant and allowed him to eat flesh1 which perhaps man never thought of until now1 that ,god directed him to it4 ,nor had he any more desire to it than the sheep has to suck blood like the wolf4 ,but now1 man is allowed to feed upon flesh as freely and safely as upon the green herb4 ,such was the debasing influence of a belief in the literal truth of the ,bible upon these men1 that their commentaries are filled with passages utterly devoid of common sense4 ,dr4 ,clarke speaking of the mammoth says3 ,this animal1 an astonishing proof of ,god's power1 he seems to have produced merely to show what he could do4 ,and after suffering a few of them to propagate1 he extinguished the race by a merciful providence1 that they might not destroy both man and beast4 ,we are told that it would have been much easier for ,god to destroy all the people and make new ones1 but he would not want to waste anything and no power or skill should be lavished where no necessity exists4 ,the animals were brought to the ark by the power of ,god4 ,again gentlemen1 let me warn you of the danger of trying to explain a miracle4 ,let it alone4 ,say that you do not understand it1 and do not expect to until taught in the schools of the ,new ,jerusalem4 ,the more reasons you give1 the more unreasonable the miracle will appear4 ,through what you say in defence1 people are led to think1 and as soon as they really think1 the miracle is thrown away4 ,among the most ignorant nations you will find the most wonders1 among the most enlightened1 the least4 ,it is with individuals1 the same as with nations4 ,ignorance believes1 ,intelligence examines and explains4 ,for about seven months the ark1 with its cargo of men1 animals and insects1 tossed and wandered without rudder or sail upon a boundless sea4 ,at last it grounded on the mountains of ,ararat2 and about three months afterward the tops of the mountains became visible4 ,it must not be forgotten that the mountain where the ark is supposed to have first touched bottom1 was about seventeen thousand feet high4 ,how were the animals from the tropics kept warm8 ,when the waters were abated it would be intensely cold at a point seventeen thousand feet above the level of the sea4 ,may be there were stoves1 furnaces1 fire places and steam coils in the ark1 but they are not mentioned in the inspired narrative4 ,how were the animals kept from freezing8 ,it will not do to say that ,ararat was not very high after all4 ,if you will read the fourth and fifth verses of the eight chapter you will see that although the ark rested in the seventh month1 on the seventeenth day of the month1 upon the mountains of ,ararat1 it was not until the first day of the tenth month that the tops of the mountains could be seen4 ,from this it would seem that the ark must have rested upon about the highest peak in that country4 ,noah waited forty days more1 and then for the first time opened the window and took a breath of fresh air4 ,he then sent out a raven that did not return1 then a dove that returned4 ,he then waited seven days and sent forth a dove that returned not4 ,from this he knew that the waters were abated4 ,is it possible that he could not see whether the waters had gone8 ,is it possible to conceive of a more perfectly childish way of ascertaining whether the earth was dry8 ,at last ,noah removed the covering of the ark1 and looked and behold the face of the ground was dry1 and thereupon ,god told him to disembark4 ,in his gratitude ,noah built an altar and took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl1 and offered burnt offerings4 ,and the ,lord smelled a sweet savor and said in his heart that he would not any more curse the ground for man's sake4 ,for saying this in his heart the ,lord gives as a reason1 not that man is1 or will be good1 but because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth4 ,god destroyed man because the wickedness of man was great in the earth1 and because every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually4 ,and he promised for the same reason not to destroy him again4 ,will some gentleman skilled in theology give us an explanation8 ,after ,god had smelled the sweet savor of sacrifice1 he seems to have changed his idea as to the proper diet for man4 ,when ,adam and ,eve were created they were allowed to eat herbs bearing seed1 and the fruit of trees4 ,when they were turned out of ,eden1 ,god said to them ,thou shalt eat the herb of the field4 ,in the first chapter of ,genesis the green herb was given for food to the beasts1 fowls and creeping things4 ,upon being expelled from the garden1 ,adam and ,eve1 as to their food1 were put upon an equality with the lower animals4 ,according to this1 the ante-diluvians were vegetarians4 ,this may account for their wickedness and longevity4 ,after ,noah sacrificed1 and ,god smelled the sweet savor2 he said--,every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you1 even as the green herb have ,i given you all things4 ,afterward this same ,god changed his mind again1 and divided the beasts and birds into clean and unclean1 and made it a crime for man to eat the unclean4 ,probably food was so scarce when ,noah was let out of the ark that ,jehovah generously allowed him to eat anything and everything he could find4 ,according to the account1 ,god then made a covenant with ,noah to the effect that he would not again destroy the world with a flood1 and as the attesting witness of this contract1 a rainbow was set in the cloud4 ,this bow was placed in the sky so that it might perpetually remind ,god of his promise and covenant4 ,without this visible witness and reminder1 it would seem that ,jehovah was liable to forget the contract1 and drown the world again4 ,did the rainbow originate in this way8 ,did ,god put it in the cloud simply to keep his agreement in his memory8 ,for me it is impossible to believe the story of the deluge4 ,it seems so cruel1 so barbaric1 so crude in detail1 so absurd in all its parts1 and so contrary to all we know of law1 that even credulity itself is shocked4 ,many nations have preserved accounts of a deluge in which all people1 except a family or two1 were destroyed4 ,babylon was certainly a city before ,jerusalem was founded4 ,egypt was in the height of her power when there were only seventy ,jews in the world1 and ,india had a literature before the name of ,jehovah had passed the lips of superstition4 ,an account of a general deluge was discovered by ,george ,smith1 translated from another account that was written about two thousand years before ,christ4 ,of course it is impossible to tell how long the story had lived in the memory of tradition before it was reduced to writing by the ,babylonians4 ,according to this account1 which is1 without doubt1 much older than the one given by ,moses1 ,tamzi built a ship at the command of the god ,hea1 and put in it his family and the beasts of the field4 ,he pitched the ship inside and outside with bitumen1 and as soon as it was finished1 there came a flood of rain and destroyed all life from the face of the whole earth4 ,on the seventh day there was a calm1 and the ship stranded on the mountain ,nizir4 ,tamzi waited for seven days more1 and then let out a dove4 ,afterwards1 he let out a swallow1 and that1 as well as the dove returned4 ,then he let out a raven1 and as that did not return1 he concluded that the water had dried away1 and thereupon left the ship4 ,then he made an offering to god1 or the gods1 and ,hea interceded with ,bel1 so that the earth might never again be drowned4 ,this is the ,babylonian story1 told without the contradictions of the original4 ,for in that1 it seems1 there are two accounts1 as well as in the ,bible4 ,is it not a strange coincidence that there should be contradictory accounts mingled in both the ,babylonian and ,jewish stories8 ,in the ,bible there are two accounts4 ,in one account1 ,noah was to take two of all beasts1 birds1 and creeping things into the ark1 while in the other1 he was commanded to take of clean beasts1 and all birds by sevens of each kind4 ,according to one account1 the flood only lasted one hundred and fifty days--as related in the third verse of the eighth chapter2 while the other account fixes the time at three hundred and seventy-seven days4 ,both of these accounts cannot be true4 ,yet in order to be saved1 it is not sufficient to believe one of them--you must believe both4 ,among the ,egyptians there was a story to the effect that the great god ,ra became utterly maddened with the people1 and deliberately made up his mind that he would exterminate mankind4 ,thereupon he began to destroy1 and continued in the terrible work until blood flowed in streams1 when suddenly he ceased1 and took an oath that he would not again destroy the human race4 ,this myth was probably thousands of years old when ,moses was born4 ,so1 in ,india1 there was a fable about the flood4 ,a fish warned ,manu that a flood was coming4 ,manu built a box and the fish towed it to a mountain and saved all hands4 ,the same kind of stories were told in ,greece1 and among our own ,indian tribes4 ,at one time the ,christian pointed to the fact that many nations told of a flood1 as evidence of the truth of the ,mosaic account2 but now1 it having been shown that other accounts are much older1 and equally reasonable1 that argument has ceased to be of any great value4 ,it is probable that all these accounts had a common origin4 ,they were likely born of something in nature visible to all nations4 ,the idea of a universal flood1 produced by a god to drown the world on account of the sins of the people1 is infinitely absurd4 ,the solution of all these stories has been supposed to be1 the existence of partial floods in most countries2 and for a long time this solution was satisfactory4 ,but the fact that these stories are greatly alike1 that only one man is warned1 that only one family is saved1 that a boat is built1 that birds are sent out to find if the water had abated1 tend to show that they had a common origin4 ,admitting that there were severe floods in all countries2 it certainly cannot follow that in each instance only one family would be saved1 or that the same story would in each instance be told4 ,it may be urged that the natural tendency of man to exaggerate calamities1 might account for this agreement in all the accounts1 and it must be admitted that there is some force in the suggestion4 ,i believe1 though1 that the real origin of all these myths is the same1 and that it was originally an effort to account for the sun1 moon and stars4 ,the sun and moon were the man and wife1 or the god and goddess1 and the stars were their children4 ,from a celestial myth1 it became a terrestrial one2 the air1 or ether-ocean became a flood1 produced by rain1 and the sun moon and stars became man1 woman and children4 ,in the original story1 the mountain was the place where in the far east the sky was supposed to touch the earth1 and it was there that the ship containing the celestial passengers finally rested from its voyage4 ,but whatever may be the origin of the stories of the flood1 whether told first by ,hindu1 ,babylonian or ,hebrew1 we may rest perfectly assured that they are all equally false4 ,,xix4 ,,bacchus ,,and ,,babel4 ,as soon as ,noah had disembarked1 he proceeded to plant a vineyard1 and began to be a husbandman2 and when the grapes were ripe he made wine and drank of it to excess2 cursed his grandson1 blessed ,shem and ,japheth1 and after that lived for three hundred and fifty years4 ,what he did during these three hundred and fifty years1 we are not told4 ,we never hear of him again4 ,for three hundred and fifty years he lived among his sons1 and daughters1 and their descendants4 ,he must have been a venerable man4 ,he was the man to whom ,god had made known his intention of drowning the world4 ,by his efforts1 the human race had been saved4 ,he must have been acquainted with ,methuselah for six hundred years1 and ,methuselah was about two hundred and forty years old1 when ,adam died4 ,noah must himself have known the history of mankind1 and must have been an object of almost infinite interest2 and yet for three hundred and fifty years he is neither directly nor indirectly mentioned4 ,when ,noah died1 ,abraham must have been more than fifty years old2 and ,shem1 the son of ,noah1 lived for several hundred years after the death of ,abraham2 and yet he is never mentioned4 ,noah when he died1 was the oldest man in the whole world by about five hundred years2 and everybody living at the time of his death knew that they were indebted to him1 and yet no account is given of his burial4 ,no monument was raised to mark the spot4 ,this1 however1 is no more wonderful than the fact that no account is given of the death of ,adam or of ,eve1 nor of the place of their burial4 ,this may all be accounted for by the fact that the language of man was confounded at the building of the tower of ,babel1 whereby all tradition may have been lost1 so that even the sons of ,noah could not give an account of their voyage in the ark2 and1 consequently1 some one had to be directly inspired to tell the story1 after new languages had been formed4 ,it has always been a mystery to me how ,adam1 ,eve1 and the serpent were taught the same language4 ,where did they get it8 ,we know now1 that it requires a great number of years to form a language2 that it is of exceedingly slow growth4 ,we also know that by language1 man conveys to his fellows the impressions made upon him by what he sees1 hears1 smells and touches4 ,we know that the language of the savage consists of a few sounds1 capable of expressing only a few ideas or states of the mind1 such as love1 desire1 fear1 hatred1 aversion and contempt4 ,many centuries are required to produce a language capable of expressing complex ideas4 ,it does not seem to me that ideas can be manufactured by a deity and put in the brain of man4 ,these ideas must be the result of observation and experience4 ,does anybody believe that ,god directly taught a language to ,adam and ,eve1 or that he so made them that they1 by intuition spoke ,hebrew1 or some language capable of conveying to each other their thoughts8 ,how did the serpent learn the same language8 ,did ,god teach it to him1 or did he happen to overhear ,god1 when he was teaching ,adam and ,eve8 ,we are told in the second chapter of ,genesis that ,god caused all the animals to pass before ,adam to see what he would call them4 ,we cannot infer from this that ,god named the animals and informed ,adam what to call them4 ,adam named them himself4 ,where did he get his words8 ,we cannot imagine a man just made out of dust1 without the experience of a moment1 having the power to put his thoughts in language4 ,in the first place1 we cannot conceive of his having any thoughts until he has combined1 through experience and observation1 the impressions that nature had made upon him through the medium of his senses4 ,we cannot imagine of his knowing anything1 in the first instance1 about different degrees of heat1 nor about darkness1 if he was made in the day-time1 nor about light1 if created at night1 until the next morning4 ,before a man can have what we call thoughts1 he must have had a little experience4 ,something must have happened to him before he can have a thought1 and before he can express himself in language4 ,language is a growth1 not a gift4 ,we account now for the diversity of language by the fact that tribes and nations have had different experiences1 different wants1 different surroundings1 and1 one result of all these differences is1 among other things1 a difference in language4 ,nothing can be more absurd than to account for the different languages of the world by saying that the original language was confounded at the tower of ,babel4 ,according to the ,bible1 up to the time of the building of that tower1 the whole earth was of one language and of one speech1 and would have so remained until the present time had not an effort been made to build a tower whose top should reach into heaven4 ,can any one imagine what objection ,god would have to the building of such a tower8 ,and how could the confusion of tongues prevent its construction8 ,how could language be confounded8 ,it could be confounded only by the destruction of memory4 ,did ,god destroy the memory of mankind at that time1 and if so1 how8 ,did he paralyze that portion of the brain presiding over the organs of articulation1 so that they could not speak the words1 although they remembered them clearly1 or did he so touch the brain that they could not hear8 ,will some theologian1 versed in the machinery of the miraculous1 tell us in what way ,god confounded the language of mankind8 ,why would the confounding of the language make them separate8 ,why would they not stay together until they could understand each other8 ,people will not separate1 from weakness4 ,when in trouble they come together and desire the assistance of each other4 ,why1 in this instance1 did they separate8 ,what particular ones would naturally come together if nobody understood the language of any other person8 ,would it not have been just as hard to agree when and where to go1 without any language to express the agreement1 as to go on with the building of the tower8 ,is it possible that any one now believes that the whole world would be of one speech had the language not been confounded at ,babel8 ,do we not know that every word was suggested in some way by the experience of men8 ,do we not know that words are continually dying1 and continually being born2 that every language has its cradle and its cemetery--its buds1 its blossoms1 its fruits and its withered leaves8 ,man has loved1 enjoyed1 hated1 suffered and hoped1 and all words have been born of these experiences4 ,why did the ,lord come down to see the city and the tower8 ,could he not see them from where he lived or from where he was8 ,where did he come down from8 ,did he come in the daytime1 or in the night8 ,we are taught now that ,god is everywhere2 that he inhabits immensity2 that he is in every atom1 and in every star4 ,if this is true1 why did he come down to see the city and the tower8 ,will some theologian explain this8 ,after all1 is it not much easier and altogether more reasonable to say that ,moses was mistaken1 that he knew little of the science of language1 and that he guessed a great deal more than he investigated8 ,,xx4 ,,faith ,,in ,,filth4 ,no light whatever is shed upon what passed in the world after the confounding of language at ,babel1 until the birth of ,abraham4 ,but1 before speaking of the history of the ,jewish people1 it may be proper for me to say that many things are recounted in ,genesis1 and other books attributed to ,moses1 of which ,i do not wish to speak4 ,there are many pages of these books unfit to read1 many stories not calculated1 in my judgment1 to improve the morals of mankind4 ,i do not wish even to call the attention of my readers to these things1 except in a general way4 ,it is to be hoped that the time will come when such chapters and passages as cannot be read without leaving the blush of shame upon the cheek of modesty1 will be left out1 and not published as a part of the ,bible4 ,if there is a ,god1 it certainly is blasphemous to attribute to him the authorship of pages too obscene1 beastly and vulgar to be read in the presence of men and women4 ,the believers in the ,bible are loud in their denunciation of what they are pleased to call the immoral literature of the world2 and yet few books have been published containing more moral filth than this inspired word of ,god4 ,these stories are not redeemed by a single flash of wit or humor4 ,they never rise above the dull details of stupid vice4 ,for one1 ,i cannot afford to soil my pages with extracts from them2 and all such portions of the ,scriptures ,i leave to be examined1 written upon1 and explained by the clergy4 ,clergymen may know some way by which they can extract honey from these flowers4 ,until these passages are expunged from the ,old ,testament1 it is not a fit book to be read by either old or young4 ,it contains pages that no minister in the ,united ,states would read to his congregation for any reward whatever4 ,there are chapters that no gentleman would read in the presence of a lady4 ,there are chapters that no father would read to his child4 ,there are narratives utterly unfit to be told2 and the time will come when mankind will wonder that such a book was ever called inspired4 ,i know that in many books besides the ,bible1 there are immodest lines4 ,some of the greatest writers have soiled their pages with indecent words4 ,we account for this by saying that the authors were human2 that they catered to the taste and spirit of their times4 ,we make excuses1 but at the same time regret that in their works they left an impure word4 ,but what shall we say of ,god8 ,is it possible that a being of infinite purity--the author of modesty1 would smirch the pages of his book with stories lewd1 licentious and obscene8 ,if ,god is the author of the ,bible1 it is1 of course1 the standard by which all other books can1 and should be measured4 ,if the ,bible is not obscene1 what book is8 ,why should men be imprisoned simply for imitating ,god8 ,the ,christian world should never say another word against immoral books until it makes the inspired volume clean4 ,these vile and filthy things were not written for the purpose of conveying and enforcing moral truth1 but seem to have been written because the author loved an unclean thing4 ,there is no moral depth below that occupied by the writer or publisher of obscene books1 that stain with lust1 the loving heart of youth4 ,such men should be imprisoned and their books destroyed4 ,the literature of the world should be rendered decent1 and no book should be published that cannot be read by1 and in the hearing of the best and purest people4 ,but as long as the ,bible is considered as the work of ,god1 it will be hard to make all men too good and pure to imitate it2 and as long as it is imitated there will be vile and filthy books4 ,the literature of our country will not be sweet and clean until the ,bible ceases to be regarded as the production of a god4 ,we are continually told that the ,bible is the very foundation of modesty and morality2 while many of its pages are so immodest and immoral that a minister1 for reading them in the pulpit1 would be instantly denounced as an unclean wretch4 ,every woman would leave the church1 and if the men stayed1 it would be for the purpose of chastising the minister4 ,is there any saving grace in hypocrisy8 ,will men become clean in speech by believing that ,god is unclean8 ,would it not be far better to admit that the ,bible was written by barbarians in a barbarous1 coarse and vulgar age8 ,would it not be safer to charge ,moses with vulgarity1 instead of ,god8 ,is it not altogether more probable that some ignorant ,hebrew would write the vulgar words8 ,the ,christians tell me that ,god is the author of these vile and stupid things8 ,i have examined the question to the best of my ability1 and as to ,god my verdict is3--,not guilty4 ,faith should not rest in filth4 ,every foolish and immodest thing should be expunged from the ,bible4 ,let us keep the good4 ,let us preserve every great and splendid thought1 every wise and prudent maxim1 every just law1 every elevated idea1 and every word calculated to make man nobler and purer1 and let us have the courage to throw the rest away4 ,the souls of children should not be stained and soiled4 ,the charming instincts of youth should not be corrupted and defiled4 ,the girls and boys should not be taught that unclean words were uttered by inspired lips4 ,teach them that these words were born of savagery and lust4 ,teach them that the unclean is the unholy1 and that only the pure is sacred4 ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,hebrews4 ,after language had been confounded and the people scattered1 there appeared in the land of ,canaan a tribe of ,hebrews ruled by a chief or sheik called ,abraham4 ,they had a few cattle1 lived in tents1 practiced polygamy1 wandered from place to place1 and were the only folks in the whole world to whom ,god paid the slightest attention4 ,at this time there were hundreds of cities in ,india filled with temples and palaces2 millions of ,egyptians worshiped ,isis and ,osiris1 and had covered their land with marvelous monuments of industry1 power and skill4 ,but these civilizations were entirely neglected by the ,deity1 his whole attention being taken up with ,abraham and his family4 ,it seems1 from the account1 that ,god and ,abraham were intimately acquainted1 and conversed frequently upon a great variety of subjects4 ,by the twelfth chapter of ,genesis it appears that he made the following promises to ,abraham4 ,i will make of thee a great nation1 and ,i will bless thee1 and make thy name great3 and thou shalt be a blessing4 ,and ,i will bless them that bless thee1 and curse him that curseth thee4 ,after receiving this communication from the ,almighty1 ,abraham went into the land of ,canaan1 and again ,god appeared to him and told him to take a heifer three years old1 a goat of the same age1 a sheep of equal antiquity1 a turtle dove and a young pigeon4 ,whereupon ,abraham killed the animals and divided them in the midst1 and laid each piece one against another4 ,and it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark1 behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between the raw and bleeding meat4 ,the killing of these animals was a preparation for receiving a visit from ,god4 ,should an ,american missionary in ,central ,africa find a negro chief surrounded by a butchered heifer1 a goat and a sheep1 with which to receive a communication from the infinite ,god1 my opinion is1 that the missionary would regard the proceeding as the direct result of savagery4 ,and if the chief insisted that he had seen a smoking furnace and a burning lamp going up and down between the pieces of meat1 the missionary would certainly conclude that the chief was not altogether right in his mind4 ,if the ,bible is true1 this same ,god told ,abraham to take and sacrifice his only son1 or rather the only son of his wife1 and a murder would have been committed had not ,god1 just at the right moment1 directed him to stay his hand and take a sheep instead4 ,god made a great number of promises to ,abraham1 but few of them were ever kept4 ,he agreed to make him the father of a great nation1 but he did not4 ,he solemnly promised to give him a great country1 including all the land between the river of ,egypt and the ,euphrates1 but he did not4 ,in due time ,abraham passed away1 and his son ,isaac took his place at the head of the tribe4 ,then came ,jacob1 who watered stock and enriched himself with the spoil of ,laban4 ,joseph was sold into ,egypt by his jealous brethren1 where he became one of the chief men of the kingdom1 and in a few years his father and brothers left their own country and settled in ,egypt4 ,at this time there were seventy ,hebrews in the world1 counting ,joseph and his children4 ,they remained in ,egypt two hundred and fifteen years4 ,it is claimed by some that they were in that country for four hundred and thirty years4 ,this is a mistake4 ,josephus says they were in ,egypt two hundred and fifteen years1 and this statement is sustained by the best biblical scholars of all denominations4 ,according to the #agth verse of the #crd chapter of ,galatians1 it was four hundred and thirty years from the time the promise was made to ,abraham to the giving of the law1 and as the ,hebrews did not go to ,egypt for two hundred and fifteen years after the making of the promise to ,abraham1 they could in no event have been in ,egypt more than two hundred and fifteen years4 ,in our ,bible the #djth verse of the #abth chapter of ,exodus1 is as follows3-- ,now the sojourning of the children of ,israel1 who dwelt in ,egypt1 was four hundred and thirty years4 ,this passage does not say that the sojourning was all done in ,egypt2 neither does it say that the children of ,israel dwelt in ,egypt four hundred and thirty years2 but it does say that the sojourning of the children of ,israel who dwelt in ,egypt was four hundred and thirty years4 ,the ,vatican copy of the ,septuagint renders the same passage as follows3-- ,the sojourning of the children of ,israel which they sojourned in ,egypt1 and in the land of ,canaan1 was four hundred and thirty years4 ,the ,alexandrian version says3--,the sojourning of the children of ,israel which they and their fathers sojourned in ,egypt1 and in the land of ,canaan1 was four hundred and thirty years4 ,and in the ,samaritan ,bible we have3--,the sojourning of the children of ,israel and of their fathers which they sojourned in the land of ,canaan1 and in the land of ,egypt1 was four hundred and thirty years4 ,there were seventy souls when they went down into ,egypt1 and they remained two hundred and fifteen years1 and at the end of that time they had increased to about three million4 ,how do we know that there were three million at the end of two hundred and fifteen years8 ,we know it because we are informed by ,moses that there were six hundred thousand men of war4 ,now1 to each man of war1 there must have been at least five other people4 ,in every ,state in this ,union there will be to each voter1 five other persons at least1 and we all know that there are always more voters than men of war4 ,if there were six hundred thousand men of war1 there must have been a population of at least three million4 ,is it possible that seventy people could increase to that extent in two hundred and fifteen years8 ,you may say that it was a miracle2 but what need was there of working a miracle8 ,why should ,god miraculously increase the number of slaves8 ,if he wished miraculously to increase the population1 why did he not wait until the people were free8 ,in #aggf1 we had in the ,american ,colonies about three millions of people4 ,in one hundred years we doubled four times3 that is to say1 six1 twelve1 twenty-four1 forty-eight million1--our present population4 ,we must not forget that during all these years there has been pouring into our country a vast stream of emigration1 and that this1 taken in connection with the fact that our country is productive beyond all others1 gave us only four doubles in one hundred years4 ,admitting that the ,hebrews increased as rapidly without emigration as we1 in this country1 have with it1 we will give to them four doubles each century1 commencing with seventy people1 and they would have1 at the end of two hundred years1 a population of seventeen thousand nine hundred and twenty4 ,giving them another double for the odd fifteen years and there would be1 provided no deaths had occurred1 thirty-five thousand eight hundred and forty people4 ,and yet we are told that instead of having this number1 they had increased to such an extent that they had six hundred thousand men of war2 that is to say1 a population of more than three millions8 ,every sensible man knows that this account is not1 and cannot be true4 ,we know that seventy people could not increase to three million in two hundred and fifteen years4 ,about this time the ,hebrews took a census1 and found that there were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three first-born males4 ,it is reasonable to suppose that there were about as many first-born females4 ,this would make forty-four thousand five hundred and forty-six first-born children4 ,now1 there must have been about as many mothers as there were first-born children4 ,if there were only about forty-five thousand mothers and three millions of people1 the mothers must have had on an average about sixty-six children apiece4 ,at this time1 the ,hebrews were slaves1 and had been for two hundred and fifteen years4 ,a little while before1 an order had been made by the ,egyptians that all the male children of the ,hebrews should be killed4 ,one1 contrary to this order1 was saved in an ark made of bullrushes daubed with slime4 ,this child was found by the daughter of ,pharaoh1 and was adopted1 it seems1 as her own1 and1 may be1 was4 ,he grew to be a man1 sided with the ,hebrews1 killed an ,egyptian that was smiting a slave1 hid the body in the sand1 and fled from ,egypt to the land of ,midian1 became acquainted with a priest who had seven daughters1 took the side of the daughters against the ill-mannered shepherds of that country1 and married ,zipporah1 one of the girls1 and became a shepherd for her father4 ,afterward1 while tending his flock1 the ,lord appeared to him in a burning bush1 and commanded him to go to the king of ,egypt and demand from him the liberation of the ,hebrews4 ,in order to convince him that the something burning in the bush was actually ,god1 the rod in his hand was changed into a serpent1 which1 upon being caught by the tail1 became again a rod4 ,moses was also told to put his hand in his bosom1 and when he took it out it was as leprous as snow4 ,quite a number of strange things were performed1 and others promised4 ,moses then agreed to go back to ,egypt provided his brother could go with him4 ,whereupon the ,lord appeared to ,aaron1 and directed him to meet ,moses in the wilderness4 ,they met at the mount of ,god1 went to ,egypt1 gathered together all the elders of the children of ,israel1 spake all the words which ,god had spoken unto ,moses1 and did all the signs in the sight of the people4 ,the ,israelites believed1 bowed their heads and worshiped2 and ,moses and ,aaron went in and told their message to ,pharaoh the king4 ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,plagues4 ,three millions of people were in slavery4 ,they were treated with the utmost rigor1 and so fearful were their masters that they might1 in time1 increase in numbers sufficient to avenge themselves1 that they took from the arms of mothers all the male children and destroyed them4 ,if the account given is true1 the ,egyptians were the most cruel1 heartless and infamous people of which history gives any record4 ,god finally made up his mind to free the ,hebrews2 and for the accomplishment of this purpose he sent1 as his agents1 ,moses and ,aaron1 to the king of ,egypt4 ,in order that the king might know that these men had a divine mission1 ,god gave ,moses the power of changing a stick into a serpent1 and water into blood4 ,moses and ,aaron went before the king1 stating that the ,lord ,god of ,israel ordered the king of ,egypt to let the ,hebrews go that they might hold a feast with ,god in the wilderness4 ,thereupon ,pharaoh1 the king1 enquired who the ,lord was1 at the same time stating that he had never made his acquaintance1 and knew nothing about him4 ,to this they replied that the ,god of the ,hebrews had met with them1 and they asked to go a three days journey into the desert and sacrifice unto this ,god1 fearing that if they did not he would fall upon them with pestilence or the sword4 ,this interview seems to have hardened ,pharaoh1 for he ordered the tasks of the children of ,israel to be increased2 so that the only effect of the first appeal was to render still worse the condition of the ,hebrews4 ,thereupon1 ,moses returned unto the ,lord and said1 ,lord1 wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people8 ,why is it that thou hast sent me8 ,for since ,i came to ,pharaoh to speak in thy name he hath done evil to this people2 neither hast thou delivered thy people at all4 ,apparently stung by this reproach1 ,god answered3-- ,now shalt thou see what ,i will do to ,pharoah2 for with a strong hand shall he let them go2 and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land4 ,god then recounts the fact that he had appeared unto ,abraham1 ,isaac and ,jacob1 that he had established a covenant with them to give them the land of ,canaan1 that he had heard the groanings of the children of ,israel in ,egyptian bondage2 that their groanings had put him in mind of his covenant1 and that he had made up his mind to redeem the children of ,israel with a stretched-out arm and with great judgments4 ,moses then spoke to the children of ,israel again1 but they would listen to him no more4 ,his first effort in their behalf had simply doubled their trouble and they seemed to have lost confidence in his power4 ,thereupon ,jehovah promised ,moses that he would make him a god unto ,pharaoh1 and that ,aaron should be his prophet1 but at the same time informed him that his message would be of no avail2 that he would harden the heart of ,pharaoh so that he would not listen2 that he would so harden his heart that he might have an excuse for destroying the ,egyptians4 ,accordingly1 ,moses and ,aaron again went before ,pharaoh4 ,moses said to ,aaron2--,cast down your rod before ,pharaoh1 which he did1 and it became a serpent4 ,then ,pharaoh not in the least surprised1 called for his wise men and his sorcerers1 and they threw down their rods and changed them into serpents4 ,the serpent that had been changed from ,aaron's rod was1 at this time crawling upon the floor1 and it proceeded to swallow the serpents that had been produced by the magicians of ,egypt4 ,what became of these serpents that were swallowed1 whether they turned back into sticks again1 is not stated4 ,can we believe that the stick was changed into a real living serpent1 or did it assume simply the appearance of a serpent8 ,if it bore only the appearance of a serpent it was a deception1 and could not rise above the dignity of legerdemain4 ,is it necessary to believe that ,god is a kind of prestigiator--a sleight-of-hand performer1 a magician or sorcerer8 ,can it be possible that an infinite being would endeavor to secure the liberation of a race by performing a miracle that could be equally performed by the sorcerers and magicians of a barbarian king8 ,not one word was said by ,moses or ,aaron as to the wickedness of depriving a human being of his liberty4 ,not a word was said in favor of liberty4 ,not the slightest intimation that a human being was justly entitled to the product of his own labor4 ,not a word about the cruelty of masters who would destroy even the babes of slave mothers4 ,it seems to me wonderful that this ,god did not tell the king of ,egypt that no nation could enslave another1 without also enslaving itself2 that it was impossible to put a chain around the limbs of a slave1 without putting manacles upon the brain of the master4 ,why did he not tell him that a nation founded upon slavery could not stand8 ,instead of declaring these things1 instead of appealing to justice1 to mercy and to liberty1 he resorted to feats of jugglery4 ,suppose we wished to make a treaty with a barbarous nation1 and the ,president should employ a sleight-of-hand performer as envoy extraordinary1 and instruct him1 that when he came into the presence of the savage monarch1 he should cast down an umbrella or a walking stick1 which would change into a lizard or a turtle2 what would we think8 ,would we not regard such a performance as beneath the dignity even of a ,president8 ,and what would be our feelings if the savage king sent for his sorcerers and had them perform the same feat8 ,if such things would appear puerile and foolish in the ,president of a great republic1 what shall be said when they were resorted to by the creator of all worlds8 ,how small1 how contemptible such a ,god appears6 ,pharaoh1 it seems1 took about this view of the matter1 and he would not be persuaded that such tricks were performed by an infinite being4 ,again1 ,moses and ,aaron came before ,pharaoh as he was going to the river's bank1 and the same rod which had changed to a serpent1 and1 by this time changed back1 was taken by ,aaron1 who1 in the presence of ,pharaoh1 smote the water of the river1 which was immediately turned to blood1 as well as all the water in all the streams1 ponds1 and pools1 as well as all water in vessels of wood and vessels of stone in the entire land of ,egypt4 ,as soon as all the waters in ,egypt had been turned into blood1 the magicians of that country did the same with their enchantments4 ,we are not informed where they got the water to turn into blood1 since all the water in ,egypt had already been so changed4 ,it seems from the account that the fish in the ,nile died1 and the river emitted a stench1 and there was not a drop of water in the land of ,egypt that had not been changed into blood4 ,in consequence of this1 the ,egyptians digged around about the river for water to drink4 ,can we believe this story8 ,is it necessary to salvation to admit that all the rivers1 pools1 ponds and lakes of a country were changed into blood1 in order that a king might be induced to allow the children of ,israel the privilege of going a three days journey into the wilderness to make sacrifices to their ,god8 ,it seems from the account that ,pharaoh was told that the ,god of the ,hebrews would1 if he refused to let the ,israelites go1 change all the waters of ,egypt into blood1 and that1 upon his refusal1 they were so changed4 ,this had1 however1 no influence upon him1 for the reason that his own magicians did the same4 ,it does not appear that ,moses and ,aaron expressed the least surprise at the success of the ,egyptian sorcerers4 ,at that time it was believed that each nation had its own god4 ,the only claim that ,moses and ,aaron made for their ,god was1 that he was the greatest and most powerful of all the gods1 and that with anything like an equal chance he could vanquish the deity of any other nation4 ,after the waters were changed to blood ,moses and ,aaron waited for seven days4 ,at the end of that time ,god told ,moses to again go to ,pharaoh and demand the release of his people1 and to inform him that1 if he refused1 ,god would strike all the borders of ,egypt with frogs4 ,that he would make frogs so plentiful that they would go into the houses of ,pharaoh1 into his bedchamber1 upon his bed1 into the houses of his servants1 upon his people1 into their ovens1 and even into their kneading troughs4 ,this threat had no effect whatever upon ,pharaoh4 ,and thereupon ,aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of ,egypt1 and the frogs came up and covered the land4 ,the magicians of ,egypt did the same1 and with their enchantments brought more frogs upon the land of ,egypt4 ,these magicians do not seem to have been original in their ideas1 but so far as imitation is concerned1 were perfect masters of their art4 ,the frogs seem to have made such an impression upon ,pharaoh that he sent for ,moses and asked him to entreat the ,lord that he would take away the frogs4 ,moses agreed to remove them from the houses and the land1 and allow them to remain only in the rivers4 ,accordingly the frogs died out of the houses1 and out of the villages1 and out of the fields1 and the people gathered them together in heaps4 ,as soon as the frogs had left the houses and fields1 the heart of ,pharaoh became again hardened1 and he refused to let the people go4 ,aaron then1 according to the command of ,god1 stretched out his hand1 holding the rod1 and smote the dust of the earth1 and it became lice in man and in beast1 and all the dust became lice throughout the land of ,egypt4 ,pharaoh again sent for his magicians1 and they sought to do the same with their enchantments1 but they could not4 ,whereupon the sorcerers said unto ,pharaoh3 ,this is the finger of ,god4 ,notwithstanding this1 however1 ,pharaoh refused to let the ,hebrews go4 ,god then caused a grievous swarm of flies to come into the house of ,pharaoh and into his servants' houses1 and into all the land of ,egypt1 to such an extent that the whole land was corrupted by reason of the flies4 ,but into that part of the country occupied by the children of ,israel there came no flies4 ,thereupon ,pharaoh sent for ,moses and ,aaron and said to them3 ,go1 and sacrifice to your ,god in this land4 ,they were not willing to sacrifice in ,egypt1 and asked permission to go on a journey of three days into the wilderness4 ,to this ,pharaoh acceded1 and in consideration of this ,moses agreed to use his influence with the ,lord to induce him to send the flies out of the country4 ,he accordingly told the ,lord of the bargain he had made with ,pharaoh1 and the ,lord agreed to the compromise1 and removed the flies from ,pharaoh and from his servants and from his people1 and there remained not a single fly in the land of ,egypt4 ,as soon as the flies were gone1 ,pharaoh again changed his mind1 and concluded not to permit the children of ,israel to depart4 ,the ,lord then directed ,moses to go to ,pharaoh and tell him that if he did not allow the children of ,israel to depart1 he would destroy his cattle1 his horses1 his camels and his sheep2 that these animals would be afflicted with a grievous disease1 but that the animals belonging to the ,hebrews should not be so afflicted4 ,moses did as he was bid4 ,on the next day all the cattle of ,egypt died2 that is to say1 all the horses1 all the asses1 all the camels1 all the oxen and all the sheep2 but of the animals owned by the ,israelites1 not one perished4 ,this disaster had no effect upon ,pharaoh1 and he still refused to let the children of ,israel go4 ,the ,lord then told ,moses and ,aaron to take some ashes out of a furnace1 and told ,moses to sprinkle them toward the heavens in the sight of ,pharaoh2 saying that the ashes should become small dust in all the land of ,egypt1 and should be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast throughout all the land4 ,how these boils breaking out with blains1 upon cattle that were already dead1 should affect ,pharaoh1 is a little hard to understand4 ,it must not be forgotten that all the cattle and all beasts had died with the murrain before the boils had broken out4 ,this was a most decisive victory for ,moses and ,aaron4 ,the boils were upon the magicians to that extent that they could not stand before ,moses4 ,but it had no effect upon ,pharaoh1 who seems to have been a man of great firmness4 ,the ,lord then instructed ,moses to get up early in the morning and tell ,pharaoh that he would stretch out his hand and smite his people with a pestilence1 and would1 on the morrow1 cause it to rain a very grievous hail1 such as had never been known in the land of ,egypt4 ,he also told ,moses to give notice1 so that they might get all the cattle that were in the fields under cover4 ,it must be remembered that all these cattle had recently died of the murrain1 and their dead bodies had been covered with boils and blains4 ,this1 however1 had no effect1 and ,moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven1 and the ,lord sent thunder1 and hail and lightning1 and fire that ran along the ground1 and the hail fell upon all the land of ,egypt1 and all that were in the fields1 both man and beast1 were smitten1 and the hail smote every herb of the field1 and broke every tree of the country except that portion inhabited by the children of ,israel2 there1 there was no hail4 ,during this hail storm ,pharaoh sent for ,moses and ,aaron and admitted that he had sinned1 that the ,lord was righteous1 and that the ,egyptians were wicked1 and requested them to ask the ,lord that there be no more thunderings and hail1 and that he would let the ,hebrews go4 ,moses agreed that as soon as he got out of the city he would stretch forth his hands unto the ,lord1 and that the thunderings should cease and the hail should stop4 ,but1 when the rain and the hail and the thundering ceased1 ,pharaoh concluded that he would not let the children of ,israel go4 ,again1 ,god sent ,moses and ,aaron1 instructing them to tell ,pharaoh that if he refused to let the people go1 the face of the earth would be covered with locusts1 so that man would not be able to see the ground1 and that these locusts would eat the residue of that which escaped from the hail2 that they would eat every tree out of the field2 that they would fill the houses of ,pharaoh and the houses of all his servants1 and the houses of all the ,egyptians4 ,moses delivered the message1 and went out from ,pharaoh4 ,some of ,pharaoh's servants entreated their master to let the children of ,israel go4 ,pharaoh sent for ,moses and ,aaron and asked them1 who wished to go into the wilderness to sacrifice4 ,they replied that they wished to go with the young and old2 with their sons and daughters1 with flocks and herds4 ,pharaoh would not consent to this1 but agreed that the men might go4 ,thereupon ,pharaoh drove ,moses and ,aaron out of his sight4 ,then ,god told ,moses to stretch forth his hand upon the land of ,egypt for the locusts1 that they might come up and eat every herb1 even all that the hail had left4 ,and ,moses stretched out his rod over the land of ,egypt1 and the ,lord brought an east wind all that day and all that night2 and when it was morning the east wind brought the locusts2 and they came up over all the land of ,egypt and rested upon all the coasts covering the face of the whole earth1 so that the land was darkened2 and they ate every herb and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left1 and there remained not any green thing on the trees or in the herbs of the field throughout the land of ,egypt4 ,pharaoh then called for ,moses and ,aaron in great haste1 admitted that he had sinned against the ,lord their ,god and against them1 asked their forgiveness and requested them to intercede with ,god that he might take away the locusts4 ,they went out from his presence and asked the ,lord to drive the locusts away1 ,and the ,lord made a strong west wind which took away the locusts1 and cast them into the ,red ,sea so that there remained not one locust in all the coasts of ,egypt4 ,as soon as the locusts were gone1 ,pharaoh changed his mind1 and1 in the language of the sacred text1 the ,lord hardened ,pharaoh's heart so that he would not let the children of ,israel go4 ,the ,lord then told ,moses to stretch out his hand toward heaven that there might be darkness over the land of ,egypt1 even darkness which might be felt4 ,and ,moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven1 and there was a thick darkness over the land of ,egypt for three days during which time they saw not each other1 neither arose any of the people from their places for three days2 but the children of ,israel had light in their dwellings4 ,it strikes me that when the land of ,egypt was covered with thick darkness--so thick that it could be felt1 and when light was in the dwellings of the ,israelites1 there could have been no better time for the ,hebrews to have left the country4 ,pharaoh again called for ,moses1 and told him that his people could go and serve the ,lord1 provided they would leave their flocks and herds4 ,moses would not agree to this1 for the reason that they needed the flocks and herds for sacrifices and burnt offerings1 and he did not know how many of the animals ,god might require1 and for that reason he could not leave a single hoof4 ,upon the question of the cattle1 they divided1 and ,pharaoh again refused to let the people go4 ,god then commanded ,moses to tell the ,hebrews to borrow1 each of his neighbor1 jewels of silver and gold4 ,by a miraculous interposition the ,hebrews found favor in the sight of the ,egyptians so that they loaned the articles asked for4 ,after this1 ,moses again went to ,pharaoh and told him that all the first-born in the land of ,egypt1 from the first-born of ,pharaoh upon the throne1 unto the first-born of the maid-servant who was behind the mill1 as well as the first-born of beasts1 should die4 ,as all the beasts had been destroyed by disease and hail1 it is troublesome to understand the meaning of the threat as to their first-born4 ,preparations were accordingly made for carrying this frightful threat into execution4 ,blood was put on the door-posts of all houses inhabited by ,hebrews1 so that ,god1 as he passed through that land1 might not be mistaken and destroy the first-born of the ,jews4 ,and it came to pass that at midnight the ,lord smote all the first-born in the land of ,egypt1 the first-born of ,pharaoh who sat on the throne1 and the first-born of the captive who was in the dungeon4 ,and ,pharaoh rose up in the night1 and all his servants1 and all the ,egyptians1 and there was a great cry in ,egypt1 for there was not a house where there was not one dead4 ,what had these children done8 ,why should the babes in the cradle be destroyed on account of the crime of ,pharaoh8 ,why should the cattle be destroyed because man had enslaved his brother8 ,in those days women and children and cattle were put upon an exact equality1 and all considered as the property of the men2 and when man in some way excited the wrath of ,god1 he punished them by destroying all their cattle1 their wives1 and their little ones4 ,where can words be found bitter enough to describe a god who would kill wives and babes because husbands and fathers had failed to keep his law8 ,every good man1 and every good woman1 must hate and despise such a deity4 ,upon the death of all the first-born ,pharaoh sent for ,moses and ,aaron1 and not only gave his consent that they might go with the ,hebrews into the wilderness1 but besought them to go at once4 ,is it possible that an infinite ,god1 creator of all worlds and sustainer of all life1 said to ,pharaoh1 ,if you do not let my people go1 ,i will turn all the water of your country into blood1 and that upon the refusal of ,pharaoh to release the people1 ,god did turn all the waters into blood8 ,do you believe this8 ,do you believe that ,pharaoh even after all the water was turned to blood1 refused to let the ,hebrews go1 and that thereupon ,god told him he would cover his land with frogs8 ,do you believe this8 ,do you believe that after the land was covered with frogs ,pharaoh still refused to let the people go1 and that ,god then said to him1 ,i will cover you and all your people with lice8 ,do you believe ,god would make this threat8 ,do you also believe that ,god told ,pharaoh1 ,it you do not let these people go1 ,i will fill all your houses and cover your country with flies8 ,do you believe ,god makes such threats as this8 ,of course ,god must have known that turning the waters into blood1 covering the country with frogs1 infesting all flesh with lice1 and filling all houses with flies1 would not accomplish his object1 and that all these plagues would have no effect whatever upon the ,egyptian king4 ,do you believe that1 failing to accomplish anything by the flies1 ,god told ,pharaoh that if he did not let the people go he would kill his cattle with murrain8 ,does such a threat sound ,god-like8 ,do you believe that1 failing to effect anything by killing the cattle1 this same ,god then threatened to afflict all the people with boils1 including the magicians who had been rivaling him in the matter of miracles2 and failing to do anything by boils1 that he resorted to hail8 ,does this sound reasonable8 ,the hail experiment having accomplished nothing1 do you believe that ,god murdered the first-born of animals and men8 ,is it possible to conceive of anything more utterly absurd1 stupid1 revolting1 cruel and senseless1 than the miracles said to have been wrought by the ,almighty for the purpose of inducing ,pharaoh to liberate the children of ,israel8 ,is it not altogether more reasonable to say that the ,jewish people1 being in slavery1 accounted for the misfortunes and calamities1 suffered by the ,egyptians1 by saying that they were the judgments of ,god8 ,when the ,armada of ,spain was wrecked and scattered by the storm1 the ,english people believed that ,god had interposed in their behalf1 and publicly gave thanks4 ,when the battle of ,lepanto was won1 it was believed by the ,catholic world that the victory was given in answer to prayer4 ,so1 our fore-fathers in their ,revolutionary struggle saw1 or thought they saw1 the hand of ,god1 and most firmly believed that they achieved their independence by the interposition of the ,most ,high4 ,now1 it may be that while the ,hebrews were enslaved by the ,egyptians1 there were plagues of locusts and flies4 ,it may be that there were some diseases by which many of the cattle perished4 ,it may be that a pestilence visited that country so that in nearly every house there was some one dead4 ,if so1 it was but natural for the enslaved and superstitious ,jews to account for these calamities by saying that they were punishments sent by their ,god4 ,such ideas will be found in the history of every country4 ,for a long time the ,jews held these opinions1 and they were handed from father to son simply by tradition4 ,by the time a written language had been produced1 thousands of additions had been made1 and numberless details invented2 so that we have not only an account of the plagues suffered by the ,egyptians1 but the whole woven into a connected story1 containing the threats made by ,moses and ,aaron1 the miracles wrought by them1 the promises of ,pharaoh1 and finally the release of the ,hebrews1 as a result of the marvelous things performed in their behalf by ,jehovah4 ,in any event it is infinitely more probable that the author was misinformed1 than that the ,god of this universe was guilty of these childish1 heartless and infamous things4 ,the solution of the whole matter is this3--,moses was mistaken4 ,,xxiii4 ,,the ,,flight4 ,three millions of people1 with their flocks and herds1 with borrowed jewelry and raiment1 with unleavened dough in kneading troughs bound in their clothes upon their shoulders1 in one night commenced their journey for the land of promise4 ,we are not told how they were informed of the precise time to start4 ,with all the modern appliances1 it would require months of time to inform three millions of people of any fact4 ,in this vast assemblage there were six hundred thousand men of war1 and with them were the old1 the young1 the diseased and helpless4 ,where were those people going8 ,they were going to the desert of ,sinai1 compared with which ,sahara is a garden4 ,imagine an ocean of lava torn by storm and vexed by tempest1 suddenly gazed at by a ,gorgon and changed instantly to stone6 ,such was the desert of ,sinai4 ,all of the civilized nations of the world could not feed and support three millions of people on the desert of ,sinai for forty years4 ,it would cost more than one hundred thousand millions of dollars1 and would bankrupt ,christendom4 ,they had with them their flocks and herds1 and the sheep were so numerous that the ,israelites sacrificed1 at one time1 more than one hundred and fifty thousand first-born lambs4 ,how were these flocks supported8 ,what did they eat8 ,where were meadows and pastures for them8 ,there was no grass1 no forests--nothing6 ,there is no account of its having rained baled hay1 nor is it even claimed that they were miraculously fed4 ,to support these flocks1 millions of acres of pasture would have been required4 ,god did not take the ,israelites through the land of the ,philistines1 for fear that when they saw the people of that country they would return to ,egypt1 but he took them by the way of the wilderness to the ,red ,sea1 going before them by day in a pillar of cloud1 and by night1 in a pillar of fire4 ,when it was told ,pharaoh that the people had fled1 he made ready and took six hundred chosen chariots of ,egypt1 and pursued after the children of ,israel1 overtaking them by the sea4 ,as all the animals had long before that time been destroyed1 we are not informed where ,pharaoh obtained the horses for his chariots4 ,the moment the children of ,israel saw the hosts of ,pharaoh1 although they had six hundred thousand men of war1 they immediately cried unto the ,lord for protection4 ,it is wonderful to me that a land that had been ravaged by the plagues described in the ,bible1 still had the power to put in the field an army that would carry terror to the hearts of six hundred thousand men of war4 ,even with the help of ,god1 it seems1 they were not strong enough to meet the ,egyptians in the open field1 but resorted to strategy4 ,moses again stretched forth his wonderful rod over the waters of the ,red ,sea1 and they were divided1 and the ,hebrews passed through on dry land1 the waters standing up like a wall on either side4 ,the ,egyptians pursued them2 and in the morning watch the ,lord looked into the hosts of the ,egyptians1 through the pillar of fire1 and proceeded to take the wheels off their chariots4 ,as soon as the wheels were off1 ,god told ,moses to stretch out his hand over the sea4 ,moses did so1 and immediately the waters returned and covered the chariots and horsemen and all the hosts of ,pharaoh that came into the sea1 and there remained not so much as one of them4 ,this account may be true1 but still it hardly looks reasonable that ,god would take the wheels off the chariots4 ,how did he do it8 ,did he pull out the linch-pins1 or did he just take them off by main force8 ,what a picture this presents to the mind6 ,god the creator of the universe1 maker of every shining1 glittering star1 engaged in pulling off the wheels of wagons1 that he might convince ,pharaoh of his greatness and power6 ,where were these people going8 ,they were going to the promised land4 ,how large a country was that8 ,about twelve thousand square miles4 ,about one-fifth the size of the ,state of ,illinois4 ,it was a frightful country1 covered with rocks and desolation4 ,how many people were in the promised land already8 ,moses tells us there were seven nations in that country mightier than the ,jews4 ,as there were at least three millions of ,jews1 there must have been at least twenty-one millions of people already in that country4 ,these had to be driven out in order that room might be made for the chosen people of ,god4 ,it seems1 however1 that ,god was not willing to take the children of ,israel into the promised land immediately4 ,they were not fit to inhabit the land of ,canaan2 so he made up his mind to allow them to wander upon the desert until all except two1 who had left ,egypt1 should perish4 ,of all the slaves released from ,egyptian bondage1 only two were allowed to reach the promised land6 ,as soon as the ,hebrews crossed the ,red ,sea1 they found themselves without food1 and with water unfit to drink by reason of its bitterness1 and they began to murmur against ,moses1 who cried unto the ,lord1 and the ,lord showed him a tree4 ,moses cast this tree into the waters1 and they became sweet4 ,and it came to pass in the morning the dew lay around about the camp2 and when the dew that lay was gone1 behold1 upon the face of the wilderness lay a small round thing1 small as the hoar-frost upon the ground4 ,and ,moses said unto them1 this is the bread which the ,lord hath given you to eat4 ,this manna was a very peculiar thing4 ,it would melt in the sun1 and yet they could cook it by seething and baking4 ,one would as soon think of frying snow or of broiling icicles4 ,but this manna had another remarkable quality4 ,no matter how much or little any person gathered1 he would have an exact omer2 if he gathered more1 it would shrink to that amount1 and if he gathered less1 it would swell exactly to that amount4 ,what a magnificent substance manna would be with which to make a currency--shrinking and swelling according to the great laws of supply and demand6 ,upon this manna the children of ,israel lived for forty years1 until they came to a habitable land4 ,with this meat were they fed until they reached the borders of the land of ,canaan4 ,we are told in the twenty-first chapter of ,numbers1 that the people at last became tired of' the manna1 complained of ,god1 and asked ,moses why he brought them out of the land of ,egypt to die in the wilderness4 ,and they said3--,there is no bread1 nor have we any water4 ,our soul loatheth this light food4 ,we are told by some commentators that the ,jews lived on manna for forty years2 by others that they lived upon it for only a short time4 ,as a matter of fact the accounts differ1 and this difference is the opportunity for commentators4 ,it also allows us to exercise faith in believing that both accounts are true4 ,if the accounts agreed1 and were reasonable1 they would be believed by the wicked and unregenerated4 ,but as they are different and unreasonable1 they are believed only by the good4 ,whenever a statement in the ,bible is unreasonable1 and you believe it1 you are considered quite a good ,christian4 ,if the statement is grossly absurd and infinitely impossible1 and you still believe it1 you are a saint4 ,the children of ,israel were in the desert1 and they were out of water4 ,they had nothing to eat but manna1 and this they had had so long that the soul of every person abhorred it4 ,under these circumstances they complained to ,moses4 ,now1 as ,god is infinite1 he could just as well have furnished them with an abundance of the purest and coolest of water1 and could1 without the slightest trouble to himself1 have given them three excellent meals a day1 with a generous variety of meats and vegetables1 it is very hard to see why he did not do so4 ,it is still harder to conceive why he fell into a rage when the people mildly suggested that they would like a change of diet4 ,day after day1 week after week1 month after month1 year after year1 nothing but manna4 ,no doubt they did the best they could by cooking it in different ways1 but in spite of themselves they began to loathe its sight and taste1 and so they asked ,moses to use his influence to secure a change in the bill of fare4 ,now1 ,i ask1 whether it was unreasonable for the ,jews to suggest that a little meat would be very gratefully received8 ,it seems1 however1 that as soon as the request was made1 this ,god of infinite mercy became infinitely enraged1 and instead of granting it1 went into partnership with serpents1 for the purpose of punishing the hungry wretches to whom he had promised a land flowing with milk and honey4 ,where did these serpents come from8 ,how did ,god convey the information to the serpents1 that he wished them to go to the desert of ,sinai and bite some ,jews8 ,it may be urged that these serpents were created for the express purpose of punishing the children of ,israel for having had the presumption1 like ,oliver ,twist1 to ask for more4 ,there is another account in the eleventh chapter of ,numbers1 of the people murmuring because of their food4 ,they remembered the fish1 the cucumbers1 the melons1 the leeks1 the onions and the garlic of ,egypt1 and they asked for meat4 ,the people went to the tent of ,moses and asked him for flesh4 ,moses cried unto the ,lord and asked him why he did not take care of the multitude4 ,god thereupon agreed that they should have meat1 not for a day or two1 but for a month1 until the meat should come out of their nostrils and become loathsome to them4 ,he then caused a wind to bring quails from beyond the sea1 and cast them into the camp1 on every side of the camp around about for the space of a days journey4 ,and the people gathered them1 and while the flesh was yet between their teeth the wrath of ,god being provoked against them1 struck them with an exceeding great plague4 ,serpents1 also1 were sent among them1 and thousands perished for the crime of having been hungry4 ,the ,rev4 ,alexander ,cruden commenting upon this account says3-- ,god caused a wind to rise that drove the quails within and about the camp of the ,israelites2 and it is in this that the miracle consists1 that they were brought so seasonably to this place1 and in so great numbers as to suffice above a million of persons above a month4 ,some authors affirm1 that in those eastern and southern countries1 quails are innumerable1 so that in one part of ,italy within the compass of five miles1 there were taken about an hundred thousand of them every day for a month together2 and that sometimes they fly so thick over the sea1 that being weary they fall into ships1 sometimes in such numbers1 that they sink them with their weight4 ,no wonder ,mr4 ,cruden believed the ,mosaic account4 ,must we believe that ,god made an arrangement with hornets for the purpose af securing their services in driving the ,canaanites from the land of promise8 ,is this belief necessary unto salvation8 ,must we believe that ,god said to the ,jews that he would send hornets before them to drive out the ,canaanites1 as related in the twenty-third chapter of ,exodus1 and the second chapter of ,deuteronomy8 ,how would the hornets know a ,canaanite8 ,in what way would ,god put it in the mind of a hornet to attack a ,canaanite8 ,did ,god create hornets for that especial purpose1 implanting an instinct to attack a ,canaanite1 but not a ,hebrew8 ,can we conceive of the ,almighty granting letters of marque and reprisal to hornets8 ,of course it is admitted that nothing in the world would be better calculated to make a man leave his native land than a few hornets4 ,is it possible for us to believe that an infinite being would resort to such expedients in order to drive the ,canaanites from their country8 ,he could just as easily have spoken the ,canaanites out of existence as to have spoken the hornets in4 ,in this way a vast amount of trouble1 pain and suffering would have been saved4 ,is it possible that there is1 in this country1 an intelligent clergyman who will insist that these stories are true2 that we must believe them in in order to be good people in this world1 and glorified souls in the next8 ,we are also told that ,god instructed the ,hebrews to kill the ,canaanites slowly1 giving as a reason that the beasts of the field might increase upon his chosen people4 ,when we take into consideration the fact that the ,holy ,land contained only about eleven or twelve thousand square miles1 and was at that time inhabited by at least twenty-one millions of people1 it does not seem reasonable that the wild beasts could have been numerous enough to cause any great alarm4 ,the same ratio of population would give to the ,state of ,illinois at least one hundred and twenty millions of inhabitants4 ,can anybody believe that1 under such circumstances1 the danger from wild beasts could be very great8 ,what would we think of a general1 invading such a ,state1 if he should order his soldiers to kill the people slowly1 lest the wild beasts might increase upon them8 ,is it possible that a ,god capable of doing the miracles recounted in the ,old ,testament could not1 in some way1 have disposed of the wild beasts8 ,after the ,canaanites were driven out1 could he not have employed the hornets to drive out the wild beasts8 ,think of a ,god that could drive twenty-one millions of people out of the promised land1 could raise up innumerable stinging flies1 and could cover the earth with fiery serpents1 and yet seems to have been perfectly powerless against the wild beasts of the land of ,canaan6 ,speaking of these hornets1 one of the good old commentators1 whose views have long been considered of great value by the believers in the inspiration of the ,bible1 uses the following language3--,hornets are a sort of strong flies1 which the ,lord used as instruments to plague the enemies of his people4 ,they are of themselves very troublesome and mischievous1 and those the ,lord made use of were1 it is thought1 of an extraordinary bigness and perniciousness4 ,it is said they live as the wasps1 and that they have a king or captain1 and pestilent stings as bees1 and that1 if twenty-seven of them sting man or beast1 it is certain death to either4 ,nor is it strange that such creatures did drive out the ,canaanites from their habitations2 for many heathen writers give instances of some people driven from their seats by frogs1 others by mice1 others by bees and wasps4 ,and it is said that a ,christian city1 being besieged by ,sapores1 king of ,persia1 was delivered by hornets2 for the elephants and beasts being stung by them1 waxed unruly1 and so the whole army fled4 ,only a few years ago1 all such stories were believed by the ,christian world2 and it is a historical fact1 that ,voltaire was the third man of any note in ,europe1 who took the ground that the mythologies of ,greece and ,rome were without foundation4 ,until his time1 most ,christians believed as thoroughly in the miracles ascribed to the ,greek and ,roman gods as in those of ,christ and ,jehovah4 ,the ,christian world cultivated credulity1 not only as one of the virtues1 but as the greatest of them all4 ,but1 when ,luther and his followers left the ,church of ,rome1 they were compelled to deny the power of the ,catholic ,church1 at that time1 to suspend the laws of nature1 but took the ground that such power ceased with the apostolic age4 ,they insisted that all things now happened in accordance with the laws of nature1 with the exception of a few special interferences in favor of the ,protestant ,church in answer to prayer4 ,they taught their children a double philosophy3 by one1 they were to show the impossibility of ,catholic miracles1 because opposed to the laws of nature2 by the other1 the probability of the miracles of the apostolic age1 because they were in conformity with the statements of the ,scriptures4 ,they had two foundations3 one1 the law of nature1 and the other1 the word of ,god4 ,the ,protestants have endeavored to carry on this double process of reasoning1 and the result has been a gradual increase of confidence in the law of nature1 and a gradual decrease of confidence in the word of ,god4 ,we are told1 in this inspired account1 that the clothing of the ,jewish people did not wax old1 and that their shoes refused to wear out4 ,some commentators have insisted that angels attended to the wardrobes of the ,hebrews1 patched their garments1 and mended their shoes4 ,certain it is1 however1 that the same clothes lasted them for forty years1 during the entire journey from ,egypt to the ,holy ,land4 ,little boys starting out with their first pantaloons1 grew as they traveled1 and their clothes grew with them4 ,can it be necessary to believe a story like this8 ,will men make better husbands1 fathers1 neighbors1 and citizens1 simply by giving credence to these childish and impossible things8 ,certainly an infinite ,god could have transported the ,jews to the ,holy ,land in a moment1 and could1 as easily1 have removed the ,canaanites to some other country4 ,surely there was no necessity for doing thousands and thousands of petty miracles1 day after day for forty years1 looking after the clothes of three millions of people1 changing the nature of wool and linen and leather1 so that they would not wax old4 ,every step1 every motion1 would wear away some part of the clothing1 some part of the shoes4 ,were these parts1 so worn away1 perpetually renewed1 or was the nature of things so changed that they could not wear away8 ,we know that whenever matter comes in contact with matter1 certain atoms1 by abrasion1 are lost4 ,were these atoms gathered up every night by angels1 and replaced on the soles of the shoes1 on the elbows of coats1 and on the knees of pantaloons1 so that the next morning they would be precisely in the condition they were on the morning before8 ,there must be a mistake somewhere4 ,can we believe that the real ,god1 if there is one1 ever ordered a man to be killed simply for making hair oil1 or ointment8 ,we are told in the thirtieth chapter of ,exodus1 that the ,lord commanded ,moses to take myrrh1 cinnamon1 sweet calamus1 cassia1 and olive oil1 and make a holy ointment for the purpose of anointing the tabernacle1 tables1 candlesticks and other utensils1 as well as ,aaron and his sons2 saying1 at the same time1 that whosoever compounded any like it1 or whoever put any of it on a stranger1 should be put to death4 ,in the same chapter1 the ,lord furnishes ,moses with a recipe for making a perfume1 saying1 that whoever should make any which smelled like it1 should be cut off from his people4 ,this1 to me1 sounds so unreasonable that ,i cannot believe it4 ,why should an infinite ,god care whether mankind made ointments and perfumes like his or not8 ,why should the ,creator of all things threaten to kill a priest who approached his altar without having washed his hands and feet8 ,these commandments and these penalties would disgrace the vainest tyrant that ever sat1 by chance1 upon a throne4 ,there must be some mistake4 ,i cannot believe that an infinite ,intelligence appeared to ,moses upon ,mount ,sinai having with him a variety of patterns for making a tabernacle1 tongs1 snuffers and dishes4 ,neither can ,i believe that ,god told ,moses how to cut and trim a coat for a priest4 ,why should a ,god care about such things8 ,why should he insist on having buttons sewed in certain rows1 and fringes of a certain color8 ,suppose an intelligent civilized man was to overhear1 on ,mount ,sinai1 the following instructions from ,god to ,moses3-- ,you must consecrate my priests as follows3--,you must kill a bullock for a sin offering1 and have ,aaron and his sons lay their hands upon the head of the bullock4 ,then you must take the blood and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with your finger1 and pour some blood at the bottom of the altar to make a reconciliation2 and of the fat that is upon the inwards1 the caul above the liver and two kidneys1 and their fat1 and burn them upon the altar4 ,you must get a ram for a burnt offering1 and ,aaron and his sons must lay their hands upon the head of the ram4 ,then you must kill it and sprinkle the blood upon the altar1 and cut the ram into pieces1 and burn the head1 and the pieces1 and the fat1 and wash the inwards and the lungs in water and then burn the whole ram upon the altar for a sweet savor unto me4 ,then you must get another ram1 and have ,aaron and his sons lay their hands upon the head of that1 then kill it and take of its blood1 and put it on the top of ,aaron's right ear1 and on the thumb of his right hand1 and on the great toe of his right foot4 ,and you must also put a little of the blood upon the top of the right ears of ,aaron's sons1 and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet4 ,and then you must take of the fat that is on the inwards1 and the caul above the liver and the two kidneys1 and their fat1 and the right shoulder1 and out of a basket of unleavened bread you must take one unleavened cake and another of oil bread1 and one wafer1 and put them on the fat of the right shoulder4 ,and you must take of the anointing oil1 and of the blood1 and sprinkle it on ,aaron1 and on his garments1 and on his sons' garments1 and sanctify them and all their clothes4--,do you believe that he would have even suspected that the creator of the universe was talking8 ,can any one now tell why ,god commanded the ,jews1 when they were upon the desert of ,sinai1 to plant trees1 telling them at the same time that they must not eat any of the fruit of such trees until after the fourth year8 ,trees could not have been planted in that desert1 and if they had been1 they could not have lived4 ,why did ,god tell ,moses1 while in the desert1 to make curtains of fine linen8 ,where could he have obtained his flax8 ,there was no land upon which it could have been produced4 ,why did he tell him to make things of gold1 and silver1 and precious stones1 when they could not have been in possession of these things8 ,there is but one answer1 and that is1 the ,pentateuch was written hundreds of years after the ,jews had settled in the ,holy ,land1 and hundreds of years after ,moses was dust and ashes4 ,when the ,jews had a written language1 and that must have been long after their flight from ,egypt1 they wrote out their history and their laws4 ,tradition had filled the infancy of the nation with miracles and special interpositions in their behalf by ,jehovah4 ,patriotism would not allow these wonders to grow small1 and priestcraft never denied a miracle4 ,there were traditions to the effect that ,god had spoken face to face with ,moses2 that he had given him the tables of the law1 and had1 in a thousand ways1 made known his will2 and whenever the priests wished to make new laws1 or amend old ones1 they pretended to have found something more that ,god said to ,moses at ,sinai4 ,in this way obedience was more easily secured4 ,only a very few of the people could read1 and1 as a consequence1 additions1 interpolations and erasures had no fear of detection4 ,in this way we account for the fact that ,moses is made to speak of things that did not exist in his day1 and were unknown for hundreds of years after his death4 ,in the thirtieth chapter of ,exodus1 we are told that the people1 when numbered1 must give each one a half shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary4 ,at that time no such money existed1 and consequently the account could not1 by any possibility1 have been written until after there was a shekel of the sanctuary1 and there was no such thing until long after the death of ,moses4 ,if we should read that ,caesar paid his troops in pounds1 shillings and pence1 we would certainly know that the account was not written by ,caesar1 nor in his time1 but we would know that it was written after the ,english had given these names to certain coins4 ,so1 we find1 that when the ,jews were upon the desert it was commanded that every mother should bring1 as a sin offering1 a couple of doves to the priests1 and the priests were compelled to eat these doves in the most holy place4 ,at the time this law appears to have been given1 there were three million people1 and only three priests1 ,aaron1 ,eleazer and ,ithamar4 ,among three million people there would be1 at least1 three hundred births a day4 ,certainly we are not expected to believe that these three priests devoured six hundred pigeons every twenty-four hours4 ,why should a woman ask pardon of ,god for having been a mother8 ,why should that be considered a crime in ,exodus1 which is commanded as a duty in ,genesis8 ,why should a mother be declared unclean8 ,why should giving birth to a daughter be regarded twice as criminal as giving birth to a son8 ,can we believe that such laws and ceremonies were made and instituted by a merciful and intelligent ,god8 ,if there is anything in this poor world suggestive of1 and standing for1 all that is sweet1 loving and pure1 it is a mother holding in her thrilled and happy arms her prattling babe4 ,read the twelfth chapter of ,leviticus1 and you will see that when a woman became the mother of a boy she was so unclean that she was not allowed to touch a hallowed thing1 nor to enter the sanctuary for forty days4 ,if the babe was a girl1 then the mother was unfit for eighty days1 to enter the house of ,god1 or to touch the sacred tongs and snuffers4 ,these laws1 born of barbarism1 are unworthy of our day1 and should be regarded simply as the mistakes of savages4 ,just as low in the scale of intelligence are the directions given in the fifth chapter of ,numbers1 for the trial of a wife of whom the husband was jealous4 ,this foolish chapter has been the foundation of all appeals to ,god for the ascertainment of facts1 such as the corsned1 trial by battle1 by water1 and by fire1 the last of which is our judicial oath4 ,it is very easy to believe that in those days a guilty woman would be afraid to drink the water of jealousy and take the oath1 and that1 through fear1 she might be made to confess4 ,admitting that the deception tended not only to prevent crime1 but to discover it when committed1 still1 we cannot admit that an honest god would1 for any purpose1 resort to dishonest means4 ,in all countries fear is employed as a means of getting at the truth1 and in this there is nothing dishonest1 provided falsehood is not resorted to for the purpose of producing the fear4 ,protestants laugh at ,catholics because of their belief in the efficacy of holy water1 and yet they teach their children that a little holy water1 in which had been thrown some dust from the floor of the sanctuary1 would1 work a miracle in a woman's flesh4 ,for hundreds of years our fathers believed that a perjurer could not swallow a piece of sacramental bread4 ,such stories belong to the childhood of our race1 and are now believed only by mental infants and intellectual babes4 ,i cannot believe that ,moses had in his hands a couple of tables of stone1 upon which ,god had written the ,ten ,commandments1 and that when he saw the golden calf1 and the dancing1 that he dashed the tables to the earth and broke them in pieces4 ,neither do ,i believe that ,moses took a golden calf1 burnt it1 ground it to powder1 and made the people drink it with water1 as related in the thirty-second chapter of ,exodus4 ,there is another account of the giving of the ,ten ,commandments to ,moses1 in the nineteenth and twentieth chapters of ,exodus4 ,in this account not one word is said about the people having made a golden calf1 nor about the breaking of the tables of stone4 ,in the thirty-fourth chapter of ,exodus1 there is an account of the renewal of the broken tables of the law1 and the commandments are given1 but they are not the same commandments mentioned in the twentieth chapter4 ,there are two accounts of the same transaction4 ,both of these stories cannot be true1 and yet both must be believed4 ,any one who will take the trouble to read the nineteenth and twentieth chapters1 and the last verse of the thirty-first chapter1 the thirty-second1 thirty-third1 and thirty-fourth chapters of ,exodus1 will be compelled to admit that both accounts cannot be true4 ,from the last account it appears that while ,moses was upon ,mount ,sinai receiving the commandments from ,god1 the people brought their jewelry to ,aaron and he cast for them a golden calf4 ,this happened before any commandment against idolatry had been given4 ,a god ought1 certainly1 to publish his laws before inflicting penalties for their violation4 ,to inflict punishment for breaking unknown and unpublished laws is1 in the last degree1 cruel and unjust4 ,it may be replied that the ,jews knew better than to worship idols1 before the law was given4 ,if this is so1 why should the law have been given8 ,in all civilized countries1 laws are made and promulgated1 not simply for the purpose of informing the people as to what is right and wrong1 but to inform them of the penalties to be visited upon those who violate the laws4 ,when the ,ten ,commandments were given1 no penalties were attached4 ,not one word was written on the tables of stone as to the punishments that would be inflicted for breaking any or all of the inspired laws4 ,the people should not have been punished for violating a commandment before it was given4 ,and yet1 in this case1 ,moses commanded the sons of ,levi to take their swords and slay every man his brother1 his companion1 and his neighbor4 ,the brutal order was obeyed1 and three thousand men were butchered44 ,the ,levites consecrated themselves unto the ,lord by murdering their sons1 and their brothers1 for having violated a commandment before it had been given4 ,it has been contended for many years that the ,ten ,commandments are the foundation of all ideas of justice and of law4 ,eminent jurists have bowed to popular prejudice1 and deformed their works by statements to the effect that the ,mosaic laws are the fountains from which sprang all ideas of right and wrong4 ,nothing can be more stupidly false than such assertions4 ,thousands of years before ,moses was born1 the ,egyptians had a code of laws4 ,they had laws against blasphemy1 murder1 adultery1 larceny1 perjury1 laws for the collection of debts1 the enforcement of contracts1 the ascertainment of damages1 the redemption of property pawned1 and upon nearly every subject of human interest4 ,the ,egyptian code was far better than the ,mosaic4 ,laws spring from the instinct of self-preservation4 ,industry objected to supporting idleness1 and laws were made against theft4 ,laws were made against murder1 because a very large majority of the people have always objected to being murdered4 ,all fundamental laws were born simply of the instinct of self-defence4 ,long before the ,jewish savages assembled at the foot of ,sinai1 laws had been made and enforced1 not only in ,egypt and ,india1 but by every tribe that ever existed4 ,it is impossible for human beings to exist together1 without certain rules of conduct1 certain ideas of the proper and improper1 of the right and wrong1 growing out of the relation4 ,certain rules must be made1 and must be enforced4 ,this implies law1 trial and punishment4 ,whoever produces anything by weary labor1 does not need a revelation from heaven to teach him that he has a right to the thing produced4 ,not one of the learned gentlemen who pretend that the ,mosaic laws are filled with justice and intelligence1 would live1 for a moment1 in any country where such laws were in force4 ,nothing can be more wonderful than the medical ideas of ,jehovah4 ,he had the strangest notions about the cause and cure of disease4 ,with him everything was miracle and wonder4 ,in the fourteenth chapter of ,leviticus1 we find the law for cleansing a leper3--,then shall the priest take for him that is to be cleansed1 two birds1 alive and clean1 and cedar wood1 and scarlet1 and hyssop4 ,and the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel1 over running water4 ,as for the living bird1 he shall take it1 and the cedar wood1 and the scarlet1 and the hyssop1 and shall dip them1 and the living bird1 in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water4 ,and he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy1 seven times1 and shall pronounce him clean1 and shall let the living bird loose into the open field4 ,we are told that ,god himself gave these directions to ,moses4 ,does anybody believe this8 ,why should the bird be killed in an earthen vessel8 ,would the charm be broken if the vessel was of wood8 ,why over running water8 ,what would be thought of a physician now1 who would give a prescription like that8 ,is it not strange that ,god1 although he gave hundreds of directions for the purpose of discovering the presence of leprosy1 and for cleansing the leper after he was healed1 forgot to tell how that disease could be cured8 ,is it not wonderful that while ,god told his people what animals were fit for food1 he failed to give a list of plants that man might eat8 ,why did he leave his children to find out the hurtful and the poisonous by experiment1 knowing that experiment1 in millions of cases1 must be death8 ,when reading the history of the ,jewish people1 of their flight from slavery to death1 of their exchange of tyrants1 ,i must confess that my sympathies are all aroused in their behalf4 ,they were cheated1 deceived and abused4 ,their god was quick-tempered1 unreasonable1 cruel1 revengeful and dishonest4 ,he was always promising but never performed4 ,he wasted time in ceremony and childish detail1 and in the exaggeration of what he had done4 ,it is impossible for me to conceive of a character more utterly detestable than that of the ,hebrew god4 ,he had solemnly promised the ,jews that he would take them from ,egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey4 ,he had led them to believe that in a little while their troubles would be over1 and that they would soon in the land of ,canaan1 surrounded by their wives and little ones1 forget1 the stripes and tears of ,egypt4 ,after promising the poor wanderers again and again that he would lead them in safety to the promised land of joy and plenty1 this ,god1 forgetting every promise1 said to the wretches in his power3--,your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness and your children shall wander until your carcasses be wasted4 ,this curse was the conclusion of the whole matter4 ,into this dust of death and night faded all the promises of ,god4 ,into this rottenness of wandering despair fell all the dreams of liberty and home4 ,millions of corpses were left to rot in the desert1 and each one certified to the dishonesty of ,jehovah4 ,i cannot believe these things4 ,they are so cruel and heartless1 that my blood is chilled and my sense of justice shocked4 ,a book that is equally abhorrent to my head and heart1 cannot be accepted as a revelation from ,god4 ,when we think of the poor ,jews1 destroyed1 murdered1 bitten by serpents1 visited by plagues1 decimated by famine1 butchered by each other1 swallowed by the earth1 frightened1 cursed1 starved1 deceived1 robbed and outraged1 how thankful we should be that we are not the chosen people of ,god4 ,no wonder that they longed for the slavery of ,egypt1 and remembered with sorrow the unhappy day when they exchanged masters4 ,compared with ,jehovah1 ,pharaoh was a benefactor1 and the tyranny of ,egypt was freedom to those who suffered the liberty of ,god4 ,while reading the ,pentateuch1 ,i am filled with indignation1 pity and horror4 ,nothing can be sadder than the history of the starved and frightened wretches who wandered over the desolate crags and sands of wilderness and desert1 the prey of famine1 sword1 and plague4 ,ignorant and superstitious to the last degree1 governed by falsehood1 plundered by hypocrisy1 they were the sport of priests1 and the food of fear4 ,god was their greatest enemy1 and death their only friend4 ,it is impossible to conceive of a more thoroughly despicable1 hateful1 and arrogant being1 than the ,jewish god4 ,he is without a redeeming feature4 ,in the mythology of the world he has no parallel4 ,he1 only1 is never touched by agony and tears4 ,he delights only in blood and pain4 ,human affections are naught to him4 ,he cares neither for love nor music1 beauty nor joy4 ,a false friend1 an unjust judge1 a braggart1 hypocrite1 and tyrant1 sincere in hatred1 jealous1 vain1 and revengeful1 false in promise1 honest in curse1 suspicious1 ignorant1 and changeable1 infamous and hideous3--such is the ,god of the ,pentateuch4 ,,xxiv4 ,,confess ,,and ,,avoid ,the scientific ,christians now admit that the ,bible is not inspired in its astronomy1 geology1 botany1 zoology1 nor in any science4 ,in other words1 they admit that on these subjects1 the ,bible cannot be depended upon4 ,if all the statements in the ,scriptures were true1 there would be no necessity for admitting that some of them are not inspired4 ,a ,christian will not admit that a passage in the ,bible is uninspired1 until he is satisfied that it is untrue4 ,orthodoxy itself has at last been compelled to say1 that while a passage may be true and uninspired1 it cannot be inspired if false4 ,if the people of ,europe had known as much of astronomy and geology when the ,bible was introduced among them1 as they do now1 there never could have been one believer in the doctrine of inspiration4 ,if the writers of the various parts of the ,bible had known as much about the sciences as is now known by every intelligent man1 the book never could have been written4 ,it was produced by ignorance1 and has been believed and defended by its author4 ,it has lost power in the proportion that man has gained knowledge4 ,a few years ago1 this book was appealed to in the settlement of all scientific questions2 but now1 even the clergy confess that in such matters1 it has ceased to speak with the voice of authority4 ,for the establishment of facts1 the word of man is now considered far better than the word of ,god4 ,in the world of science1 ,jehovah was superseded by ,copernicus1 ,galileo1 and ,kepler4 ,all that ,god told ,moses1 admitting the entire account to be true1 is dust and ashes compared to the discoveries of ,descartes1 ,laplace1 and ,humboldt4 ,in matters of fact1 the ,bible has ceased to be regarded as a standard4 ,science has succeeded in breaking the chains of theology4 ,a few years ago1 ,science endeavored to show that it was not inconsistent with the ,bible4 ,the tables have been turned1 and now1 ,religion is endeavoring to prove that the ,bible is not inconsistent with ,science4 ,the standard has been changed4 ,for many ages1 the ,christians contended that the ,bible1 viewed simply as a literary performance1 was beyond all other books1 and that man without the assistance of ,god could not produce its equal4 ,this claim was made when but few books existed1 and the ,bible1 being the only book generally known1 had no rival4 ,but this claim1 like the other1 has been abandoned by many1 and soon will be1 by all4 ,com pared with ,shakespeare's book and volume of the brain1 the sacred ,bible shrinks and seems as feebly impotent and vain1 as would a pipe of ,fan1 when some great organ1 voiced with every tone1 from the hoarse thunder of the sea to the winged warble of a mated bird1 floods and fills cathedral aisles with all the wealth of sound4 ,it is now maintained--and this appears to be the last fortification behind which the doctrine of inspiration skulks and crouches--that the ,bible1 although false and mistaken in its astronomy1 geology1 geography1 history and philosophy1 is inspired in its morality4 ,it is now claimed that had it not been for this book1 the world would have been inhabited only by savages1 and that had it not been for the ,holy ,scriptures1 man never would have even dreamed of the unity of ,god4 ,a belief in one ,god is claimed to be a dogma of almost infinite importance1 that with out this belief civilization is impossible1 and that this fact is the sun around which all the virtues revolve4 ,for my part1 ,i think it infinitely more important to believe in man4 ,theology is a superstition--,humanity a religion4 ,,xxv4 ,,inspired ,,slavery ,perhaps the ,bible was inspired upon the subject of human slavery4 ,is there1 in the civilized world1 to-day1 a clergyman who believes in the divinity of slavery8 ,does the ,bible teach man to enslave his brother8 ,if it does1 is it not blasphemous to say that it is inspired of ,god8 ,if you find the institution of slavery upheld in a book said to have been written by ,god1 what would you expect to find in a book inspired by the devil8 ,would you expect to find that book in favor of liberty8 ,modern ,christians1 ashamed of the ,god of the ,old ,testament1 endeavor now to show that slavery was neither commanded nor opposed by ,jehovah4 ,nothing can be plainer than the following passages from the twenty-fifth chapter of ,leviticus4 ,moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you1 of them shall ye buy1 and of their families that are with you1 which they begat in your land3 and they shall be your possession4 ,and ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you1 to inherit them for a possession1 they shall be your bondmen forever4 ,both thy bondmen1 and thy bondmaids1 which thou shalt have1 shall be of the heathen that are round about you2 of them shall ye buy bondmen1 and bondmaids4 ,can we believe in this1 the ,nineteenth ,century1 that these infamous passages were inspired by ,god8 that ,god approved not only of human slavery1 but instructed his chosen people to buy the women1 children and babes of the heathen round about them8 ,if it was right for the ,hebrews to buy1 it was also right for the heathen to sell4 ,this ,god1 by commanding the ,hebrews to buy1 approved of the selling of sons and daughters4 ,the ,canaanite who1 tempted by gold1 lured by avarice1 sold from the arms of his wife the dimpled babe1 simply made it possible for the ,hebrews to obey the orders of their ,god4 ,if ,god is the author of the ,bible1 the reading of these passages ought to cover his cheeks with shame4 ,i ask the ,christian world to-day1 was it right for the heathen to sell their children8 ,was it right for ,god not only to uphold1 but to command the infamous traffic in human flesh8 ,could the most revengeful fiend1 the most malicious vagrant in the gloom of hell1 sink to a lower moral depth than this8 ,according to this ,god1 his chosen people were not only commanded to buy of the heathen round about them1 but were also permitted to buy each other for a term of years4 ,the law governing the purchase of ,jews is laid down in the twenty-first chapter of ,exodus4 ,if thou buy a ,hebrew servant1 six years shall he serve3 and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing4 ,if he came in by himself1 he shall go out by himself3 if he were married1 then his wife shall go out with him4 ,if his master have given him a wife1 and she have borne him sons or daughters1 the wife and her children shall be her master's1 and he shall go out by himself4 ,and if the servant shall plainly say1 ,i love my master1 my wife1 and my children2 ,i will not go out free3 ,then his master shall bring him unto the judges2 he shall also bring him to the door1 or unto the door-post3 and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl3 and he shall serve him forever4 ,do you believe that ,god was the author of this infamous law8 ,do you believe that the loving father of us all1 turned the dimpled arms of babes into manacles of iron8 ,do you believe that he baited the dungeon of servitude with wife and child8 ,is it possible to love a ,god who would make such laws8 ,is it possible not to hate and despise him8 ,the heathen are not spoken of as human beings4 ,their rights are never mentioned4 ,they were the rightful food of the sword1 and their bodies were made for stripes and chains4 ,in the same chapter of the same inspired book1 we are told that1 if a man smite his servant1 or his maid1 with a rod1 and he dies under his hand1 he shall be surely punished4 ,notwithstanding1 if he continue a day or two1 he shall not be punished1 for he is his money4 ,must we believe that ,god called some of his children the money of others8 ,can we believe that ,god made lashes upon the naked back1 a legal tender for labor performed8 ,must we regard the auction block as an altar8 ,were blood hounds apostles8 ,was the slave-pen a temple8 ,were the stealers and whippers of babes and women the justified children of ,god8 ,it is now contended that while the ,old ,testament is touched with the barbarism of its time1 that the ,new ,testament is morally perfect1 and that on its pages can be found no blot or stain4 ,as a matter of fact1 the ,new ,testament is more decidedly in favor of human slavery than the old4 ,for my part1 ,i never will1 ,i never can1 worship a ,god who upholds the institution of slavery4 ,such a ,god ,i hate and defy4 ,i neither want his heaven1 nor fear his hell4 ,,xxxvi4 ,,inspired ,,marriage ,is there an orthodox clergyman in the world1 who will now declare that he believes the institution of polygamy to be right8 ,is there one who will publicly declare that1 in his judgment1 that institution ever was right8 ,was there ever a time in the history of the world when it was right to treat woman simply as property8 ,do not attempt to answer these questions by saying1 that the ,bible is an exceedingly good book1 that we are indebted for our civilization to the sacred volume1 and that without it1 man would lapse into savagery1 and mental night4 ,this is no answer4 ,was there a time when the institution of polygamy was the highest expression of human virtue8 ,is there a ,christian woman1 civilized1 intelligent1 and free1 who believes in the institution of polygamy8 ,are we better1 purer1 and more intelligent than ,god was four thousand years ago8 ,why should we imprison ,mormons1 and worship ,god8 ,polygamy is just as pure in ,utah1 as it could have been in the promised land4 ,love and ,virtue are the same the whole world round1 and ,justice is the same in every star4 ,all the languages of the world are not sufficient to express the filth of polygamy4 ,it makes of man1 a beast1 of woman1 a trembling slave4 ,it destroys the fireside1 makes virtue an outcast1 takes from human speech its sweetest words1 and leaves the heart a den1 where crawl and hiss the slimy serpents of most loathsome lust4 ,civilization rests upon the family4 ,the good family is the unit of good government4 ,the virtues grow about the holy hearth of home--they cluster1 bloom1 and shed their perfume round the fireside where the one man loves the one woman4 ,lover--husband--wife--mother--father--c hild--home6--8 without these sacred words1 the world is but a lair1 and men and women merely beasts4 ,why should the innocent maiden and the loving mother worship the heartless ,jewish ,god8 ,why should they1 with pure and stainless lips1 read the vile record of inspired lust8 ,the marriage of the one man to the one woman is the citadel and fortress of civilization4 ,without this1 woman becomes the prey and slave of lust and power1 and man goes back to savagery and crime4 ,from the bottom of my heart ,i hate1 abhor and execrate all theories of life1 of which the pure and sacred home is not the corner-stone4 ,take from the world the family1 the fireside1 the children born of wedded love1 and there is nothing left4 ,the home where virtue dwells with love is like a lily with a heart of fire--the fairest flower in all the world4 ,,xxvii4 ,,inspired ,,war ,if the ,bible be true1 ,god commanded his chosen people to destroy men simply for the crime of defending their native land4 ,they were not allowed to spare trembling and white-haired age1 nor dimpled babes clasped in the mothers' arms4 ,they were ordered to kill women1 and to pierce1 with the sword of war1 the unborn child4 ,our heavenly ,father commanded the ,hebrews to kill the men and women1 the fathers1 sons and brothers1 but to preserve the girls alive4 ,why were not the maidens also killed8 ,why were they spared8 ,read the thirty-first chapter of ,numbers1 and you will find that the maidens were given to the soldiers and the priests4 ,is there1 in all the history of war1 a more infamous thing than this8 ,is it possible that ,god permitted the violets of modesty1 that grow and shed their perfume in the maiden's heart1 to be trampled beneath the brutal feet of lust8 ,if this was the order of ,god1 what1 under the same circumstances1 would have been the command of a devil8 ,when1 in this age of the world1 a woman1 a wife1 a mother1 reads this record1 she should1 with scorn and loathing1 throw the book away4 ,a general1 who now should make such an order1 giving over to massacre and rapine a conquered people1 would be held in execration by the whole civilized world4 ,yet1 if the ,bible be true1 the supreme and infinite ,god was once a savage4 ,a little while ago1 out upon the western plains1 in a little path leading to a cabin1 were found the bodies of two children and their mother4 ,her breast was filled with wounds received in the defence of her darlings4 ,they had been murdered by the savages4 ,suppose when looking at their lifeless forms1 some one had said1 ,this was done by the command of ,god6 ,in ,canaan there were countless scenes like this4 ,there was no pity in inspired war4 ,god raised the black flag1 and commanded his soldiers to kill even the smiling infant in its mother's arms4 ,who is the blasphemer2 the man who denies the existence of ,god1 or he who covers the robes of the ,infinite with innocent blood8 ,we are told in the ,pentateuch1 that ,god1 the father of us all1 gave thousands of maidens1 after having killed their fathers1 their mothers1 and their brothers1 to satisfy the brutal lusts of savage men4 ,if there be a ,god1 ,i pray him to write in his book1 opposite my name1 that ,i denied this lie for him4 ,,xxviii4 ,,inspired ,,religious ,,liberty4 ,according to the ,bible1 ,god selected the ,jewish people through whom to make known the great fact1 that he was the only true and living ,god4 ,for this purpose1 he appeared on several occasions to ,moses--came down to ,sinai's top clothed in cloud and fire1 and wrought a thousand miracles for the preservation and education of the ,jewish people4 ,in their presence he opened the waters of the sea4 ,for them he caused bread to rain from heaven4 ,to quench their thirst1 water leaped from the dry and barren rock4 ,their enemies were miraculously destroyed2 and for forty years1 at least1 this ,god took upon himself the government of the ,jews4 ,but1 after all this1 many of the people had less confidence in him than in gods of wood and stone4 ,in moments of trouble1 in periods of disaster1 in the darkness of doubt1 in the hunger and thirst of famine1 instead of asking this ,god for aid1 they turned and sought the help of senseless things4 ,this ,god1 with all his power and wisdom1 could not even convince a few wandering and wretched savages that he was more potent than the idols of ,egypt4 ,this ,god was not willing that the ,jews should think and investigate for themselves4 ,for heresy1 the penalty was death4 ,where this ,god reigned1 intellectual liberty was unknown4 ,he appealed only to brute force2 he collected taxes by threatening plagues2 he demanded worship on pain of sword and fire2 acting as spy1 inquisitor1 judge and executioner4 ,in the thirteenth chapter of ,deuteronomy1 we have the ideas of ,god as to mental freedom4 ,if thy brother1 the son of thy mother1 or thy son1 or the wife of thy bosom1 or thy friend which is as thine own soul1 entice thee secretly1 saying1 ,let us go and serve other gods1 which thou hast not known1 thou nor thy fathers2 namely of the gods of the people which are around about you1 nigh unto thee1 or far off from thee1 from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth1 ,thou shalt not consent unto him1 nor hearken unto him1 neither shall thine eye pity him1 neither shalt thou spare him1 neither shalt thou conceal him4 ,but thou shalt surely kill him2 thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death1 and afterward the hand of all the people4 ,and thou shalt stone him with stones that he die4 ,this is the religious liberty of ,god2 the toleration of ,jehovah4 ,if ,i had lived in ,palestine at that time1 and my wife1 the mother of my children1 had said to me1 ,i am tired of ,jehovah1 he is always asking for blood2 he is never weary of killing2 he is always telling of his might and strength2 always telling what he has done for the ,jews1 always asking for sacrifices2 for doves and lambs--blood1 nothing but blood4--,let us worship the sun4 ,jehovah is too revengeful1 too malignant1 too exacting4 ,let us worship the sun4 ,the sun has clothed the world in beauty2 it has covered the earth with flowers2 by its divine light ,i first saw your face1 and my beautiful babe4--,if ,i had obeyed the command of ,god1 ,i would have killed her4 ,my hand would have been first upon her1 and after that the hands of all the people1 and she would have been stoned with stones until she died4 ,for my part1 ,i would never kill my wife1 even if commanded so to do by the real ,god of this universe4 ,think of taking up some ragged rock and hurling it against the white bosom filled with love for you2 and when you saw oozing from the bruised lips of the death wound1 the red current of her sweet life--think of looking up to heaven and receiving the congratulations of the infinite fiend whose commandment you had obeyed6 ,can we believe that any such command was ever given by a merciful and intelligent ,god8 ,suppose1 however1 that ,god did give this law to the ,jews1 and did tell them that whenever a man preached a heresy1 or proposed to worship any other ,god that they should kill him2 and suppose that afterward this same ,god took upon himself flesh1 and came to this very chosen people and taught a different religion1 and that thereupon the ,jews crucified him2 ,i ask you1 did he not reap exactly what he had sown8 ,what right would this ,god have to complain of a crucifixion suffered in accordance with his own command8 ,nothing can be more infamous than intellectual tyranny4 ,to put chains upon the body is as nothing compared with putting shackles on the brain4 ,no god is entitled to the worship or the respect of man who does not give1 even to the meanest of his children1 every right that he claims for himself4 ,if the ,pentateuch be true1 religious persecution is a duty4 ,the dungeons of the ,inquisition were temples1 and the clank of every chain upon the limbs of heresy was music in the ear of ,god4 ,if the ,pentateuch was inspired1 every heretic should be destroyed2 and every man who advocates a fact inconsistent with the sacred book1 should be consumed by sword and flame4 ,in the ,old ,testament no one is told to reason with a heretic1 and not one word is said about relying upon argument1 upon education1 nor upon intellectual development--nothing except simple brute force4 ,is there to-day a ,christian who will say that four thousand years ago1 it was the duty of a husband to kill his wife if she differed with him upon the subject of religion8 ,is there one who will now say that1 under such circumstances1 the wife ought to have been killed8 ,why should ,god be so jealous of the wooden idols of the heathen8 ,could he not compete with ,baal8 ,was he envious of the success of the ,egyptian magicians8 ,was it not possible for him to make such a convincing display of his power as to silence forever the voice of unbelief8 ,did this ,god have to resort to force to make converts8 ,was he so ignorant of the structure of the human mind as to believe all honest doubt a crime8 ,if he wished to do away with the idolatry of the ,canaanites1 why did he not appear to them8 ,why did he not give them the tables of the law8 ,why did he only make known his will to a few wandering savages in the desert of ,sinai8 ,will some theologian have the kindness to answer these questions8 ,will some minister1 who now believes in religious liberty1 and eloquently denounces the intolerance of ,catholicism1 explain these things2 will he tell us why he worships an intolerant ,god8 ,is a god who will burn a soul forever in another world1 better than a ,christian who burns the body for a few hours in this8 ,is there no intellectual liberty in heaven8 ,do the angels all discuss questions on the same side8 ,are all the investigators in perdition8 ,will the penitent thief1 winged and crowned1 laugh at the honest folks in hell8 ,will the agony of the damned increase or decrease the happiness of ,god8 ,will there be1 in the universe1 an eternal auto da fe8 ,,xxix4 ,,conclusion ,if the ,pentateuch is not inspired in its astronomy1 geology1 geography1 history or philosophy1 if it is not inspired concerning slavery1 polygamy1 war1 law1 religious or political liberty1 or the rights of men1 women and children1 what is it inspired in1 or about8 ,the unity of ,god8--that was believed long before ,moses was born4 ,special providence8--that has been the doctrine of ignorance in all ages4 ,the rights of property8--theft was always a crime4 ,the sacrifice of animals8--that was a custom thousands of years before a ,jew existed4 ,the sacredness of life8--there have always been laws against murder4 ,the wickedness of perjury8--truthfulness has always been a virtue4 ,the beauty of chastity8--the ,pentateuch does not teach it4 ,thou shalt worship no other ,god8--that has been the burden of all religions4 ,is it possible that the ,pentateuch could not have been written by uninspired men8 that the assistance of ,god was necessary to produce these books8 ,is it possible that ,galileo ascertained the mechanical principles of ,virtual ,velocity1 the laws of falling bodies and of all motion2 that ,copernicus ascertained the true position of the earth and accounted for all celestial phenomena2 that ,kepler discovered his three laws--discoveries of such importance that the #hth of ,may1 #afah1 may be called the birthday of modern science2 that ,newton gave to the world the ,method of ,fluxions1 the ,theory of ,universal ,gravitation1 and the ,decomposition of ,light2 that ,euclid1 ,cavalieri1 ,descartes1 and ,leibnitz1 almost completed the science of mathematics2 that all the discoveries in optics1 hydrostatics1 pneumatics and chemistry1 the experiments1 discoveries1 and inventions of ,galvani1 ,volta1 ,franklin and ,morse1 of ,trevethick1 ,watt and ,fulton and of all the pioneers of progress--that all this was accomplished by uninspired men1 while the writer of the ,pentateuch was directed and inspired by an infinite ,god8 ,is it possible that the codes of ,china1 ,india1 ,egypt1 ,greece and ,rome were made by man1 and that the laws recorded in the ,pentateuch were alone given by ,god8 ,is it possible that ,a,eschylus and ,shakespeare1 ,burns1 and ,beranger1 ,goethe and ,schiller1 and all the poets of the world1 and all their wondrous tragedies and songs1 are but the work of men1 while no intelligence except the infinite ,god could be the author of the ,pentateuch8 ,is it possible that of all the books that crowd the libraries of the world1 the books of science1 fiction1 history and song1 that all save only one1 have been produced by man8 ,is it possible that of all these1 the ,bible only is the work of ,god8 ,if the ,pentateuch is inspired1 the civilization of our day is a mistake and crime4 ,there should be no political liberty4 ,heresy should be trodden out beneath the bigot's brutal feet4 ,husbands should divorce their wives at will1 and make the mothers of their children houseless and weeping wanderers4 ,polygamy ought to be practiced2 women should become slaves2 we should buy the sons and daughters of the heathen and make them bondmen and bondwomen forever4 ,we should sell our own flesh and blood1 and have the right to kill our slaves4 ,men and women should be stoned to death for laboring on the seventh day4 ,mediums1 such as have familiar spirits1 should be burned with fire4 ,every vestige of mental liberty should be destroyed1 and reason's holy torch extinguished in the martyr's blood4 ,is it not far better and wiser to say that the ,pentateuch while containing some good laws1 some truths1 some wise and useful things is1 after all1 deformed and blackened by the savagery of its time8 ,is it not far better and wiser to take the good and throw the bad away8 ,let us admit what we know to be true2 that ,moses was mistaken about a thousand things2 that the story of creation is not true2 that the ,garden of ,eden is a myth2 that the serpent and the tree of knowledge1 and the fall of man are but fragments of old mythologies lost and dead2 that woman was not made out of a rib2 that serpents never had the power of speech2 that the sons of ,god did not marry the daughters of men2 that the story of the flood and ark is not exactly true2 that the tower of ,babel is a mistake2 that the confusion of tongues is a childish thing2 that the origin of the rainbow is a foolish fancy2 that ,methuselah did not live nine hundred and sixty-nine years2 that ,enoch did not leave this world1 taking with him his flesh and bones2 that the story of ,sodom and ,gomorrah is somewhat improbable2 that burning brimstone never fell like rain2 that ,lot's wife was not changed into chloride of sodium2 that ,jacob did not1 in fact1 put his hip out of joint wrestling with ,god2 that the history of ,tamar might just as well have been left out2 that a belief in ,pharaoh's dreams is not essential to salvation2 that it makes but little difference whether the rod of ,aaron was changed to a serpent or not2 that of all the wonders said to have been performed in ,egypt1 the greatest is1 that anybody ever believed the absurd account2 that ,god did not torment the innocent cattle on account of the sins of their owners2 that he did not kill the first born of the poor maid behind the mill because of ,pharaoh's crimes2 that flies and frogs were not ministers of ,god's wrath2 that lice and locusts were not the executors of his will2 that seventy people did not1 in two hundred and fifteen years1 increase to three million2 that three priests could not eat six hundred pigeons in a day2 that gazing at a brass serpent could not extract poison from the blood2 that ,god did not go in partnership with hornets2 that he did not murder people simply because they asked for something to eat2 that he did not declare the making of hair oil and ointment an offence to be punished with death2 that he did not miraculously preserve cloth and leather2 that he was not afraid of wild beasts2 that he did not punish heresy with sword and fire2 that he was not jealous1 revengeful1 and unjust2 that he knew all about the sun1 moon1 and stars2 that he did not threaten to kill people for eating the fat of an ox2 that he never told ,aaron to draw cuts to see which of two goats should be killed2 that he never objected to clothes made of woolen mixed with linen2 that if he objected to dwarfs1 people with flat noses and too many fingers1 he ought not to have created such folks2 that he did not demand human sacrifices as set forth in the last chapter of ,leviticus2 that he did not object to the raising of horses2 that he never commanded widows to spit in the faces of their brothers-in-law2 that several contradictory accounts of the same transaction cannot all be true2 that ,god did not talk to ,abraham as one man talks to another2 that angels were not in the habit of walking about the earth eating veal dressed with milk and butter1 and making bargains about the destruction of cities2 that ,god never turned himself into a flame of fire1 and lived in a bush2 that he never met ,moses in a hotel and tried to kill him2 that it was absurd to perform miracles to induce a king to act in a certain way and then harden his heart so that he would refuse2 that ,god was not kept from killing the ,jews by the fear that the ,egyptians would laugh at him2 that he did not secretly bury a man and then allow the corpse to write an account of the funeral2 that he never believed the firmament to be solid2 that he knew slavery was and always would be a frightful crime2 that polygamy is but stench and filth2 that the brave soldier will always spare an unarmed foe2 that only cruel cowards slay the conquered and the helpless2 that no language can describe the murderer of a smiling babe2 that ,god did not want the blood of doves and lambs2 that he did not love the smell of burning flesh2 that he did not want his altars daubed with blood2 that he did not pretend that the sins of a people could be transferred to a goat2 that he did not believe in witches1 wizards1 spooks1 and devils2 that he did not test the virtue of woman with dirty water2 that he did not suppose that rabbits chewed the cud2 that he never thought there were any four-footed birds2 that he did not boast for several hundred years that he had vanquished an ,egyptian king2 that a dry stick did not bud1 blossom1 and bear almonds in one night2 that manna did not shrink and swell1 so that each man could gather only just one omer2 that it was never wrong to countenance the poor man in his cause2 that ,god never told a people not to live in peace with their neighbors2 that he did not spend forty days with ,moses on ,mount ,sinai giving him patterns for making clothes1 tongs1 basins1 and snuffers2 that maternity is not a sin2 that physical deformity is not a crime2 that an atonement cannot be made for the soul by shedding innocent blood2 that killing a dove over running water will not make its blood a medicine2 that a god who demands love knows nothing of the human heart2 that one who frightens savages with loud noises is unworthy the love of civilized men2 that one who destroys children on account of the sins of their fathers is a monster2 that an infinite god never threatened to give people the itch2 that he never sent wild beasts to devour babes2 that he never ordered the violation of maidens2 that he never regarded patriotism as a crime2 that he never ordered the destruction of unborn children2 that he never opened the earth and swallowed wives and babes because husbands and fathers had displeased him2 that he never demanded that men should kill their sons and brothers1 for the purpose of sanctifying themselves2 that we cannot please ,god by believing the improbable2 that credulity is not a virtue2 that investigation is not a crime2 that every mind should be free2 that all religious persecution is infamous in ,god1 as well as man2 that without liberty1 virtue is impossible2 that without freedom1 even love cannot exist2 that every man should be allowed to think and to express his thoughts2 that woman is the equal of man2 that children should be governed by love and reason2 that the family relation is sacred2 that war is a hideous crime2 that all intolerance is born of ignorance and hate2 that the freedom of today is the hope of to-morrow2 that the enlightened present ought not to fall upon its knees and blindly worship the barbaric past2 and that every free1 brave and enlightened man should publicly declare that all the ignorant1 infamous1 heartless1 hideous things recorded in the inspired ,pentateuch are not the words of ,god1 but simply ,some ,mistakes of ,moses4 ,,some ,,reasons ,,why ,i4 ,,religion makes enemies instead of friends4 ,that one word1 religion1 covers all the horizon of memory with visions of war1 of outrage1 of persecution1 of tyranny1 and death4 ,that one word brings to the mind every instrument with which man has tortured man4 ,in that one word are all the fagots and flames and dungeons of the past1 and in that word is the infinite and eternal hell of the future4 ,in the name of universal benevolence ,christians have hated their fellow-men4 ,although they have been preaching universal love1 the ,christian nations are the warlike nations of the world4 ,the most destructive weapons of war have been invented by ,christians4 ,the musket1 the revolver1 the rifled canon1 the bombshell1 the torpedo1 the explosive bullet1 have been invented by ,christian brains4 ,above all other arts1 the ,christian world has placed the art of war4 ,a ,christian nation has never had the slightest respect for the rights of barbarians2 neither has any ,christian sect any respect for the rights of other sects4 ,anciently1 the sects discussed with fire and sword1 and even now1 something happens almost every day to show that the old spirit that was in the ,inquisition still slumbers in the ,christian breast4 ,whoever imagines himself a favorite with ,god1 holds other people in contempt4 ,whenever a man believes that he has the exact truth from ,god1 there is in that man no spirit of compromise4 ,he has not the modesty born of the imperfections of human nature2 he has the arrogance of theological certainty and the tyranny born of ignorant assurance4 ,believing himself to be the slave of ,god1 he imitates his master1 and of all tyrants1 the worst is a slave in power4 ,when a man really believes that it is necessary to do a certain thing to be happy forever1 or that a certain belief is necessary to ensure eternal joy1 there is in that man no spirit of concession4 ,he divides the whole world into saints and sinners1 into believers and unbelievers1 into ,god's sheep and ,devil's goats1 into people who will be glorified and people who will be damned4 ,a ,christian nation can make no compromise with one not ,christian2 it will either compel that nation to accept its doctrine1 or it will wage war4 ,if ,christ1 in fact1 said ,i came not to bring peace but a sword1 it is the only prophecy in the ,new ,testament that has been literally fulfilled4 ,,ii4 ,,duties ,,to ,,god4 ,,religion is supposed to consist in a discharge of the duties we owe to ,god4 ,in other words1 we are taught that ,god is exceedingly anxious that we should believe a certain thing4 ,for my part1 ,i do not believe that there is any infinite being to whom we owe anything4 ,the reason ,i say this is1 we can not owe any duty to any being who requires nothing--to any being that we cannot possibly help1 to any being whose happiness we cannot increase4 ,if ,god is infinite1 we cannot make him happier than he is4 ,if ,god is infinite1 we can neither give1 nor can he receive1 anything4 ,anything that we do or fail to do1 cannot1 in the slightest degree1 affect an infinite ,god2 consequently1 no relations can exist between the finite and the ,infinite1 if by relations is meant mutual duties and obligations4 ,some tell us that it is the desire of ,god that we should worship him4 ,what for8 ,why does he desire worship8 ,others tell us that we should sacrifice something to him4 ,what for8 ,is he in want8 ,can we assist him8 ,is he unhappy8 ,is he in trouble8 ,does he need human sympathy8 ,we cannot assist the ,infinite1 but we can assist our fellow-men4 ,we can feed the hungry and clothe the naked1 and enlighten the ignorant1 and we can help1 in some degree at least1 toward covering this world with the mantle of joy4 ,i do not believe there is any being in this universe who gives rain for praise1 who gives sunshine for prayer1 or who blesses a man simply because he kneels4 ,the ,infinite cannot receive praise or worship4 ,the ,infinite can neither hear nor answer prayer4 ,an ,infinite personality is an infinite impossibility4 ,,iii4 ,,inspiration4 ,,we are told that we have in our possession the inspired will of ,god4 ,what is meant by the word inspired is not exactly known2 but whatever else it may mean1 certainly it means that the inspired must be the true4 ,if it is true1 there is1 in fact1 no need of its being inspired--the truth will take care of itself4 ,the church is forced to say that the ,bible differs from all other books2 it is forced to say that it contains the actual will of ,god4 ,let us then see what inspiration really is4 ,a man looks at the sea1 and the sea says something to him4 ,it makes an impression upon his mind4 ,it awakens memory1 and this impression depends upon the man's experience--upon his intellectual capacity4 ,another looks upon the same sea4 ,he has a different brain2 he has had a different experience4 ,the sea may speak to him of joy1 to the other of grief and tears4 ,the sea cannot tell the same thing to any two human beings1 because no two human beings have had the same experience4 ,a year ago1 while the cars were going from ,boston to ,gloucester1 we passed through ,manchester4 ,as the cars stopped1 a lady sitting opposite1 speaking to her husband1 looking out of the window and catching1 for the first time1 a view of the sea1 cried out1 ,is it not beautiful6 and the husband replied1 ,i'll bet you could dig clams right here6 ,another1 standing upon the shore1 listening to what the great ,greek tragedian called the multitudinous laughter of the sea1 may say3 ,every drop has visited all the shores of the earth2 every one has been frozen in the vast and icy ,north2 every one has fallen in snow1 has been whirled by storms around mountain peaks2 every one has been kissed to vapor by the sun2 every one has worn the seven-hued garment of light2 every one has fallen in pleasant rain1 gurgled from springs and laughed in brooks while lovers wooed upon the banks1 and every one has rushed with mighty rivers back to the sea's embrace4 ,everything in nature tells a different story to all eyes that see and to all ears that hear4 ,once in my life1 and once only1 ,i heard ,horace ,greeley deliver a lecture4 ,i think its title was1 ,across the ,continent4 ,at last he reached the mammoth trees of ,california1 and ,i thought ,here is an opportunity for the old man to indulge his fancy4 ,here are trees that have outlived a thousand human governments4 ,there are limbs above his head older than the pyramids4 ,while man was emerging from barbarism to something like civilization1 these trees were growing4 ,older than history1 every one appeared to be a memory1 a witness1 and a prophecy4 ,the same wind that filled the sails of the ,argonauts had swayed these trees4 ,but these trees said nothing of this kind to ,mr4 ,greeley4 ,upon these subjects not a word was told to him4 ,instead1 he took his pencil1 and after figuring awhile1 remarked3 ,one of these trees1 sawed into inch-boards1 would make more than three hundred thousand feet of lumber4 ,i was once riding on the cars in ,illinois4 ,there had been a violent thunder-storm4 ,the rain had ceased1 the sun was going down4 ,the great clouds had floated toward the west1 and there they assumed most wonderful architectural shapes4 ,there were temples and palaces domed and turreted1 and they were touched with silver1 with amethyst and gold4 ,they looked like the homes of the ,titans1 or the palaces of the gods4 ,a man was sitting near me4 ,i touched him and said1 ,did you ever see anything so beautiful6 ,he looked out4 ,he saw nothing of the cloud1 nothing of the sun1 nothing of the color2 he saw only the country and replied1 ,yes1 it is beautiful2 ,i always did like rolling land4 ,on another occasion ,i was riding in a stage4 ,there had been a snow1 and after the snow a sleet1 and all the trees were bent1 and all the boughs were arched4 ,every fence1 every log cabin had been transfigured1 touched with a glory almost beyond this world4 ,the great fields were a pure and perfect white2 the forests1 drooping beneath their load of gems1 made wonderful caves1 from which one almost expected to see troops of fairies come4 ,the whole world looked like a bride1 jewelled from head to foot4 ,a ,german on the back seat1 hearing our talk1 and our exclamations of wonder leaned forward1 looked out of the stage window and said3 ,yes1 it looks like a clean table cloth6 ,so1 when we look upon a flower1 a painting1 a statue1 a star1 or a violet1 the more we know1 the more we have experienced1 the more we have thought1 the more we remember1 the more the statue1 the star1 the painting1 the violet has to tell4 ,nature says to me all that ,i am capable of understanding--gives all that ,i can receive4 ,as with star1 or flower1 or sea1 so with a book4 ,a man reads ,shakespeare4 ,what does he get from him8 ,all that he has the mind to understand4 ,he gets his little cup full4 ,let another read him who knows nothing of the drama1 nothing of the impersonations of passion1 and what does he get8 ,almost nothing4 ,shakespeare has a different story for each reader4 ,he is a world in which each recognizes his acquaintances--he may know a few1 he may know all4 ,the impression that nature makes upon the mind1 the stories told by sea and star and flower1 must be the natural food of thought4 ,leaving out for the moment the impression gained from ancestors1 the hereditary fears and drifts and trends--the natural food of thought must be the impression made upon the brain by coming in contact through the medium of the five senses with what we call the outward world4 ,the brain is natural4 ,its food is natural4 ,the result1 thought1 must be natural4 ,the supernatural can be constructed with no material except the natural4 ,of the supernatural we can have no conception4 ,thought may be deformed1 and the thought of one may be strange to1 and denominated as unnatural by1 another2 but it cannot be supernatural4 ,it may be weak1 it may be insane1 but it is not supernatural4 ,above the natural man cannot rise1 even with the aid of fancy's wings4 ,there can can be deformed ideas1 as there are deformed persons4 ,there can be religions monstrous and misshapen1 but they must be naturally produced4 ,some people have ideas about what they are pleased to call the supernatural2 but what they call the supernatural is simply the deformed4 ,the world is to each man according to each man4 ,it takes the world as it really is and that man to make that man's world1 and that man's world cannot exist without that man4 ,you may ask1 and what of all this8 ,i reply1 as with everything in nature1 so with the ,bible4 ,it has a different story for each reader4 ,is then the ,bible a different book to every human being who reads it8 ,it is4 ,can ,god then1 through the ,bible1 make the same revelation to two persons8 ,he cannot4 ,why8 ,because the man who reads it is the man who inspires4 ,inspiration is in the man1 as well as in the book4 ,god should have inspired readers as well as writers4 ,you may reply3 ,god knew that his book would be understood differently by each one1 and that he really intended that it should be understood as it is understood by each4 ,if this is so1 then my understanding of the ,bible is the real revelation to me4 ,if this is so1 ,i have no right to take the understanding of another4 ,i must take the revelation made to me through my understanding1 and by that revelation ,i must stand4 ,suppose then1 that ,i do read this ,bible honestly1 fairly1 and when ,i get through ,i am compelled to say1 ,the book is not true4 ,if this is the honest result1 then you are compelled to say1 either that ,god has made no revelation to me1 or that the revelation that it is not true1 is the revelation made to me1 and by which ,i am bound4 ,if the book and my brain are both the work of the same ,infinite ,god1 whose fault is it that the book and the brain do not agree8 ,either ,god should have written a book to fit my brain1 or should have made my brain to fit his book4 ,the inspiration of the ,bible depends upon the ignorance of him who reads4 ,there was a time when its geology1 its astronomy1 its natural history1 were inspired4 ,that time has passed4 ,there was a time when its morality satisfied the men who ruled mankind4 ,that time has passed4 ,there was a time when the tyrant regarded its laws as good2 when the master believed in its liberty2 when strength gloried in its passages2 but these laws never satisfied the oppressed1 they were never quoted by the slave4 ,we have a sacred book1 an inspired ,bible1 and ,i am told that this book was written by the same being who made every star1 and who peopled infinite space with infinite worlds4 ,i am also told that ,god created man1 and that man is totally depraved4 ,it has always seemed to me that an infinite being has no right to make imperfect things4 ,i may be mistaken2 but this is the only planet ,i have ever been on2 ,i live in what might be called one of the rural districts of this universe1 consequently ,i may be mistaken2 ,i simply give the best and largest thought ,i have4 ,,iv4 ,,god',s ,,experiment ,,with ,,the ,,jews ,,the ,bible tells us that men became so bad that ,god destroyed them all with the exception of eight persons2 that afterwards he chose ,abraham and some of his kindred1 a wandering tribe1 for the purpose of seeing whether or no they could be civilized4 ,he had no time to waste with all the world4 ,the ,egyptians at that time1 a vast and splendid nation1 having a system of laws and free schools1 believing in the marriage of the one man to the one woman2 believing1 too1 in the rights of woman--a nation that had courts of justice and understood the philosophy of damages--these people had received no revelation from ,god1--they were left to grope in ,nature's night4 ,he had no time to civilize ,india1 wherein had grown a civilization that fills the world with wonder still--a people with a language as perfect as ours1 a people who had produced philosophers1 scientists1 poets4 ,he had no time to waste on them2 but he took a few1 the tribe of ,abraham4 ,he established a perfect despotism--with no schools1 with no philosophy1 with no art1 with no music--nothing but the sacrifices of dumb beasts--nothing but the abject worship of a slave4 ,not a word upon geology1 upon astronomy2 nothing1 even1 upon the science of medicine4 ,thus ,god spent hours and hours with ,moses upon the top of ,sinai1 giving directions for ascertaining the presence of leprosy and for preventing its spread1 but it never occurred to ,jehovah to tell ,moses how it could be cured4 ,he told them a few things about what they might eat--prohibiting among other things four-footed birds1 and one thing upon the subject of cooking4 ,from the thunders and lightnings of ,sinai he proclaimed this vast and wonderful fact3 ,thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk4 ,he took these people1 according to our sacred ,scriptures1 under his immediate care1 and for the purpose of controlling them he wrought wonderful miracles in their sight4 ,is it not a little curious that no priest of one religion has ever been able to astonish a priest of another religion by telling a miracle8 ,our missionaries tell the ,hindoos the miracles of the ,bible1 and the ,hindoo priests1 without the movement of a muscle1 hear them and then recite theirs1 and theirs do not astonish our missionaries in the least6 ,is it not a little curious that the priests of one religion never believe the priests of another8 ,is it not a little strange that the believers in sacred books regard all except their own as having been made by hypocrites and fools8 ,i heard the other day a story4 ,a gentleman was telling some wonderful things and the listeners1 with one exception1 were saying1 as he proceeded with his tale1 ,is it possible8 ,did you ever hear anything so wonderful8 and when he had concluded1 there was a kind of chorus of ,is it possible8 and ,can it be8 ,one man1 however1 sat perfectly quiet1 utterly unmoved4 ,another listener said to him ,did you hear that8 and he replied ,yes4 ,well1 said the other1 ,you did not manifest much astonishment4 ,oh1 no1 was the answer1 ,i am a liar myself4 ,i am told by the sacred ,scriptures that1 as a matter of fact1 ,god1 even with the help of miracles1 failed to civilize the ,jews1 and this shows of how little real benefit1 after all1 it is1 to have a ruler much above the people1 or to simply excite the wonder of mankind4 ,infinite wisdom1 if the account be true1 could not civilize a single tribe4 ,laws made by ,jehovah himself were not obeyed1 and every effort of ,jehovah failed4 ,it is claimed that ,god made known his law and inspired men to write and teach his will1 and yet1 it was found utterly impossible to reform mankind4 ,v4 ,,civilized ,,countries ,,in all civilized countries1 it is now passionately asserted that slavery is a crime2 that a war of conquest is murder2 that polygamy enslaves woman1 degrades man and destroys home2 that nothing is more infamous than the slaughter of decrepit men1 of helpless mothers1 and of prattling babes2 that captured maidens should not be given to their captors2 that wives should not be stoned to death for differing with their husbands on the subject of religion4 ,we know that there was a time1 in the history of most nations1 when all these crimes were regarded as divine institutions4 ,nations entertaining this view now are regarded as savage1 and1 with the exception of the ,south ,sea ,islanders1 ,feejees1 a few tribes in ,central ,africa1 and some citizens of ,delaware1 no human beings are found degraded enough to agree upon these subjects with ,jehovah4 ,the only evidence we can have that a nation has ceased to be savage1 is that it has abandoned these doctrines of savagery4 ,to every one except a theologian1 it is easy to account for these mistakes and crimes by saying that civilization is a painful growth2 that the moral perceptions are cultivated through ages of tyranny1 of crime1 and of heroism2 that it requires centuries for man to put out the eyes of self and hold in lofty and in equal poise the golden scales of ,justice4 ,conscience is born of suffering4 ,mercy is the child of the imagination4 ,man advances as he becomes acquainted with his surroundings1 with the mutual obligations of life1 and learns to take advantage of the forces of nature4 ,the believer in the inspiration of the ,bible is compelled to say1 that there was a time when slavery was right1 when women could sell their babes1 when polygamy was the highest form of virtue1 when wars of extermination were waged with the sword of mercy1 when religious toleration was a crime1 and when death was the just penalty for having expressed an honest thought4 ,he is compelled to insist that ,jehovah is as bad now as he was then2 that he is as good now as he was then4 ,once1 all the crimes that ,i have mentioned were commanded by ,god2 now they are prohibited4 ,once1 ,god was in favor of them all2 now the ,devil is their defender4 ,in other words1 the ,devil entertains the same opinion to-day that ,god held four thousand years ago4 ,the ,devil is as good now as ,jehovah was then1 and ,god was as bad then as the ,devil is now4 ,other nations besides the ,jews had similar laws and ideas--believed in and practiced the same crimes1 and yet1 it is not claimed that they received a revelation4 ,they had no knowledge of the true ,god1 and yet they practiced the same crimes1 of their own motion1 that the ,jews did by command of ,jehovah4 ,from this it would seem that man can do wrong without a special revelation4 ,the passages upholding slavery1 polygamy1 war and religious persecution are certainly not evidences of the inspiration of that book4 ,suppose nothing had been in the ,old ,testament upholding these crimes1 would the modern ,christian suspect that it was not inspired on that account8 ,suppose nothing had been in the ,old ,testament except laws in favor of these crimes1 would it still be insisted that it was inspired8 ,if the ,devil had inspired a book1 will some ,christian tell us in what respect1 on the subjects of slavery1 polygamy1 war and liberty1 it would have differed from some parts of the ,old ,testament8 ,suppose we knew that after inspired men had finished the ,bible the ,devil had gotten possession of it and had written a few passages1 what part would ,christians now pick out as being probably his work8 ,which of the following passages would be selected as having been written by the ,devil3 ,love thy neighbor as thyself1 or ,kill all the males among the little ones1 and kill every woman1 but all the women children keep alive for yourselves8 ,is there a believer in the ,bible who does not now wish that ,god1 amid the thunders and lightnings of ,sinai1 had said to ,moses that man should not own his fellow-man2 that women should not sell their babes2 that all men should be allowed to think and investigate for themselves1 and that the sword never should be unsheathed to shed innocent blood8 ,is there a believer who would not be delighted to find that every one of the infamous passages are interpolations1 and that the skirts of ,god were never reddened by the blood of maiden1 wife1 or babe8 ,is there an honest man who does not regret that ,god commanded a husband to stone his wife for suggesting the worship of some other ,god8 ,surely we do not need an inspired book to teach us that slavery is right1 that polygamy is virtue1 and that intellectual liberty is a crime4 ,,vi4 ,a ,,comparison ,,of ,,books ,,let us compare the gems of ,jehovah with ,pagan paste4 ,it may be that the best way to illustrate what ,i have said1 is to compare the supposed teachings of ,jehovah with those of persons who never wrote an inspired line4 ,in all ages of which any record has been preserved1 men have given their ideas of justice1 charity1 liberty1 love and law4 ,if the ,bible is the work of ,god1 it should contain the sublimest truths1 it should excel the works of man1 it should contain the loftiest definitions of justice1 the best conceptions of human liberty1 the clearest outlines of duty1 the tenderest and noblest thoughts4 ,upon every page should be found the luminous evidence of its divine origin4 ,it should contain grander and more wonderful things than man has written4 ,it may be said that it is unfair to call attention to bad things in the ,bible4 ,to this it may be replied that a divine being ought not to put bad things in his book4 ,if the ,bible now upholds what we call crimes1 it will not do to say that it is not verbally inspired4 ,if the words are not inspired1 what is8 ,it may be said1 that the thoughts are inspired4 ,this would include only thoughts expressed without words4 ,if ideas are inspired1 they must be expressed by inspired words--that is to say1 by an inspired arrangement of words4 ,if a sculptor were inspired of ,god to make a statue1 we would not say that the marble was inspired1 but the statue--that is to say1 the relation of part to part1 the married harmony of form and function4 ,the language1 the words1 take the place of the marble1 and it is the arrangement of the words that ,christians claim to be inspired4 ,if there is an uninspired word1 or a word in the wrong place1 until that word is known a doubt is cast on every word the book contains4 ,if it was worth ,god's while to make a revelation at all1 it was certainly worth his while to see that it was correctly made--that it was absolutely preserved4 ,why should ,god allow an inspired book to be interpolated8 ,if it was worth while to inspire men to write it1 it was worth while to inspire men to preserve it2 and why should he allow another person to interpolate in it that which was not inspired8 ,he certainly would not have allowed the man he inspired to write contrary to the inspiration4 ,he should have preserved his revelation4 ,neither will it do to say that ,god adapted his revelation to the prejudices of man4 ,it was necessary for him to adapt his revelation to the capacity of man1 but certainly ,god would not confirm a barbarian in his prejudices4 ,he would not fortify a heathen in his crimes4444 ,if a revelation is of any importance1 it is to eradicate prejudice4 ,they tell us now that the ,jews were so ignorant1 so bad1 that ,god was compelled to justify their crimes1 in order to have any influence with them4 ,they say that if he had declared slavery and polygamy to be crimes1 the ,jews would have refused to receive the ,ten ,commandments4 ,they tell us that ,god did the best he could2 that his real intention was to lead them along slowly1 so that in a few hundred years they would be induced to admit that larceny and murder and polygamy and slavery were not virtues4 ,i suppose if we now wished to break a cannibal of the bad habit of devouring missionaries1 we would first induce him to cook them in a certain way1 saying3 ,to eat cooked missionary is one step in advance of eating your missionary raw4 ,after a few years1 a little mutton could be cooked with missionary1 and year after year the amount of mutton could be increased and the amount of missionary decreased1 until in the fullness of time the dish could be entirely mutton1 and after that the missionaries would be absolutely safe4 ,if there is anything of value1 it is liberty--liberty of body1 liberty of mind4 ,the liberty of body is the reward of labor4 ,intellectual liberty is the air of the soul1 the sunshine of the mind1 and without it1 the world is a prison1 the universe a dungeon4 ,if the ,bible is really inspired1 ,jehovah commanded the ,jewish people to buy the children of the strangers that sojourned among them1 and ordered that the children thus bought should be an inheritance for the children of the ,jews1 and that they should be bondmen and bondwomen forever4 ,yet ,epictetus1 a man to whom no revelation was ever made1 a man whose soul followed only the light of nature1 and who had never heard of the ,jewish ,god1 was great enough to say3 ,will you not remember that your servants are by nature your brothers1 the children of ,god8 ,in saying that you have bought them1 you look down on the earth1 and into the pit1 on the wretched law of men long since dead1 but you see not the laws of the gods4 ,we find that ,jehovah1 speaking to his chosen people1 assured them that their bondmen and their bondmaids must be of the heathen that were round about them4 ,of them1 said ,jehovah1 shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids4 ,and yet ,cicero1 a pagan1 ,cicero1 who had never been enlightened by reading the ,old ,testament1 had the moral grandeur to declare3 ,they who say that we should love our fellow-citizens but not foreigners1 destroy the universal brotherhood of mankind1 with which benevolence and justice would perish forever4 ,if the ,bible is inspired1 ,jehovah1 ,god of all worlds1 actually said3 ,and if a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod1 and he die under his hand1 he shall be sorely punished2 notwithstanding1 if he continue a day or two1 he shall not be punished1 for he is his money4 ,and yet ,zeno1 founder of the ,stoics1 centuries before ,christ was born1 insisted that no man could be the owner of another1 and that the title was bad1 whether the slave had become so by conquest or by purchase4 ,jehovah ordered a ,jewish general to make war1 and gave1 among others1 this command3 ,when the ,lord thy ,god shall drive them before thee1 thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them2 thou shalt make no covenant with them1 nor show mercy unto them4 ,and yet ,epictetus1 whom we have already quoted1 gave this marvelous rule for the guidance of human conduct3 ,live with thy inferiors as thou wouldst have thy superiors live with thee4 ,is it possible1 after all1 that a being of infinite goodness and wisdom said3 ,i will heap mischief upon them2 ,i will send mine arrows upon them2 they shall be burned with hunger1 and devoured with burning heat1 and with bitter destruction4 ,i will send the tooth of beasts upon them1 with the poison of serpents of the dust4 ,the sword without1 and terror within1 shall destroy both the young man and the virgin1 the suckling also1 with the man of gray hairs while ,seneca1 an uninspired ,roman1 said3 ,the wise man will not pardon any crime that ought to be punished1 but he will accomplish1 in a nobler way1 all that is sought in pardoning4 ,he will spare some and watch over some1 because of their youth1 and others on account of their ignorance4 ,his clemency will not fall short of justice1 but will fulfill it perfectly4 ,can we believe that ,god ever said to any one3 ,let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow2 let his children be continually vagabonds1 and beg2 let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places2 let the extortioner catch all that he hath1 and let the stranger spoil his labor2 let there be none to extend mercy unto him1 neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children4 ,if he ever said these words1 surely he had never heard this line1 this strain of music from the ,hindu3 ,sweet is the lute to those who have not heard the prattle of their own children4 ,jehovah1 from the clouds and darkness of ,sinai1 said to the ,jews3 ,thou shalt have no other gods before me4444 ,though shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them2 for ,i1 the ,lord thy ,god1 am a jealous ,god1 visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me4 ,contrast this with the words put by the ,hindu in the mouth of ,brahma3 ,i am the same to all mankind4 ,they who honestly serve other gods involuntarily worship me4 ,i am he who partakest of all worship1 and ,i am the reward of all worshipers4 ,compare these passages2 the first a dungeon where crawl the things begot of jealous slime2 the other1 great as the domed firmament inlaid with suns4 ,is it possible that the real ,god ever said3 ,and if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing1 ,i1 the ,lord1 have deceived that prophet2 and ,i will stretch out my hand upon him and will destroy him from the midst of my people4 ,compare that passage with one from a ,pagan4 ,it is better to keep silence for the remainder of your life than to speak falsely4 ,can we believe that a being of infinite mercy gave this command3 ,put every man his sword by his side1 and go in and out from gate to gate1 throughout the camp1 and slay every man his brother1 and every man his companion1 and every man his neighbor2 consecrate yourselves to-day to the ,lord1 even every man upon his son and upon his brother1 that he may bestow a blessing upon you this day4 ,surely1 that ,god was not animated by so great and magnanimous a spirit as was ,antoninus1 a ,roman emperor1 who declared that1 he had rather keep a single ,roman citizen alive than slay a thousand enemies4 ,compare the laws given to the children of ,israel1 as it is claimed by the ,creator of us all1 with the following from ,marcus ,aurelius3 ,i have formed the ideal of a state1 in which there is the same law for all1 and equal rights1 and equal liberty of speech established2 an empire where nothing is honored so much as the freedom of the citizen4 ,in the ,avesta ,i find this3 ,i belong to five3 to those who think good1 to those who speak good1 to those who do good1 to those who hear1 and to those who are pure4 ,which is the one prayer which in greatness1 goodness1 and beauty is worth all that is between heaven and earth and between this earth and the stars8 ,and he replied3 ,to renounce all evil thoughts and words and works4 ,,vii4 ,,it is claimed by the ,christian world that one of the great reasons for giving an inspired book to the ,jews was1 that through them the world might learn that there is but one ,god4 ,this piece of information has been supposed to be of infinite value4 ,as a matter of fact1 long before ,moses was born1 the ,egyptians believed and taught that there was but one ,god--that is to say1 that above all intelligences there was the one ,supreme4 ,they were guilty1 too1 of the same inconsistencies of modern ,christians4 ,they taught the doctrine of the ,trinity--,god the ,father1 ,god the ,mother1 and ,god the ,son4 ,god was frequently represented as father1 mother and babe4 ,they also taught that the soul had a divine origin2 that after death it was to be judged according to the deeds done in the body2 that those who had done well passed into perpetual joy1 and those who had done evil into endless pain4 ,in this they agreed with the most approved divine of the nineteenth century4 ,women were the equals of men1 and ,egypt was often governed by queens4 ,in this1 her government was vastly better than the one established by ,god4 ,the laws were administered by courts much like ours4 ,in ,egypt there was a system of schools that gave the son of poverty a chance of advancement1 and the highest offices were open to the successful scholar4 ,the ,egyptian married one wife4 ,the wife was called the lady of the house4 ,the women were not secluded4 ,the people were not divided into castes4 ,there was nothing to prevent the rise of able and intelligent ,egyptians4 ,but like the ,jehovah of the ,jews1 they made slaves of the captives of war4 ,the ancient ,persians believed in one ,god2 and women helped to found the ,parsee religion4 ,nothing can exceed some of the maxims of ,zoroaster4 ,the ,hindoos taught that above all1 and over all1 was one eternal ,supreme4 ,they had a code of laws4 ,they understood the philosophy of evidence and of damages4 ,they knew better than to teach the doctrine of an eye for an eye1 and a tooth for a tooth4 ,they knew that when one man maimed another1 it was not to the interest of society to have that man maimed1 thus burdening the people with two cripples1 but that it was better to make the man who maimed the other work to support him4 ,in ,india1 upon the death of a father1 the daughters received twice as much from the estate as the sons4 ,the ,romans built temples to ,truth1 ,faith1 ,valor1 ,concord1 ,modesty1 and ,charity1 in which they offered sacrifices to the highest conceptions of human excellence4 ,women had rights2 they presided in the temple2 they officiated in holy offices2 they guarded the sacred fires upon which the safety of ,rome depended2 and when ,christ came1 the grandest figure in the known world was the ,roman mother4 ,it will not do to say that some rude statue was made by an inspired sculptor1 and that the ,apollo of ,belvidere1 ,venus de ,milo1 and the ,gladiator were made by unaided men2 that the daubs of the early ages were painted by divine assistance1 while the ,raphaels1 the ,angelos1 and the ,rembrandts did what they did without the help of heaven4 ,it will not do to say1 that the first hut was built by ,god1 and the last palace by degraded man2 that the hoarse songs of the savage tribes were made by the ,deity1 but that ,hamlet and ,lear were written by man2 that the pipes of ,pan were invented in heaven1 and all other musical instruments on the earth4 ,if the ,jehovah of the ,jews had taken upon himself flesh1 and dwelt as a man among the people had he endeavored to govern1 had he followed his own teachings1 he would have been a slaveholder1 a buyer of babes1 and a beater of women4 ,he would have waged wars of extermination4 ,he would have killed grey-haired and trembling age1 and would have sheathed his sword1 in prattling1 dimpled babes4 ,he would have been a polygamist1 and would have butchered his wife for differing with him on the subject of religion4 ,,viii4 ,,the ,,new ,,testament4 ,,ne great objection to the ,old ,testament is the cruelty said to have been commanded by ,god4 ,all these cruelties ceased with death4 ,the vengeance of ,jehovah stopped at the tomb4 ,he never threatened to punish the dead2 and there is not one word1 from the first mistake in ,genesis to the last curse of ,malachi1 containing the slightest intimation that ,god will take his revenge in another world4 ,it was reserved for the ,new ,testament to make known the doctrine of eternal pain4 ,the teacher of universal benevolence rent the veil between time and eternity1 and fixed the horrified gaze of man upon the lurid gulf of hell4 ,within the breast of non-resistance coiled the worm that never dies4 ,compared with this1 the doctrine of slavery1 the wars of extermination1 the curses1 the punishments of the ,old ,testament were all merciful and just4 ,there is no time to speak of the conflicting statements in the various books composing the ,new ,testament--no time to give the history of the manuscripts1 the errors in translation1 the interpolations made by the fathers and by their successors1 the priests1 and only time to speak of a few objections1 including some absurdities and some contradictions4 ,where several witnesses testify to the same transaction1 no matter how honest they may be1 they will disagree upon minor matters1 and such testimony is generally considered as evidence that the witnesses have not conspired among themselves4 ,the differences in statement are accounted for from the facts that all do not see alike1 and that all have not equally good memories2 but when we claim that the witnesses are inspired1 we must admit that he who inspired them did know exactly what occurred1 and consequently there should be no disagreement1 even in the minutest detail4 ,the accounts should not only be substantially1 but they should be actually1 the same4 ,the differences and contradictions can be accounted for by the weaknesses of human nature1 but these weaknesses cannot be predicated of divine wisdom4 ,and here let me ask3 ,why should there have been more than one correct account of what really happened8 ,why were four gospels necessary8 ,it seems to me that one inspired gospel1 containing all that happened1 was enough4 ,copies of the one correct one could have been furnished to any extent4 ,according to ,doctor ,davidson1 ,irenaeus argues that the gospels were four in number1 because there are four universal winds1 four corners of the globe4 ,others have said1 because there are four seasons2 and these gentlemen might have added1 because a donkey has four legs4 ,for my part1 ,i cannot even conceive of a reason for more than one gospel4 ,according to one of these gospels1 and according to the prevalent ,christian belief1 the ,christian religion rests upon the doctrine of the atonement4 ,if this doctrine is without foundation1 the fabric falls2 and it is without foundation1 for it is repugnant to justice and mercy4 ,the church tells us that the first man committed a crime for which all others are responsible4 ,this absurdity was the father and mother of another--that a man can be rewarded for the good action of another4 ,we are told that ,god made a law1 with the penalty of eternal death4 ,all men1 they tell us1 have broken this law4 ,the law had to be vindicated4 ,this could be done by damning everybody1 but through what is known as the atonement the salvation of a few was made possible4 ,they insist that the law demands the extreme penalty1 that justice calls for its victim1 that mercy ceases to plead1 and that ,god by allowing the innocent to suffer in the place of the guilty settled satisfactory with the law4 ,to carry out this scheme ,god was born as a babe1 grew in stature1 increased in knowledge1 and at the age of thirty-three years having lived a life filled with kindness1 having practiced every virtue1 he was sacrificed as an atonement for man4 ,it is claimed that he took our place1 bore our sins1 our guilt1 and in this way satisfied the justice of ,god4 ,under the ,mosaic dispensation there was no remission of sin except through the shedding of blood4 ,when a man sinned he must bring to the priest a lamb1 a bullock1 a goat1 or a pair of turtle-doves4 ,the priest would lay his hand upon the animal and the sin of the man would be transferred to the beast4 ,then the animal would be killed in place of the sinner1 and the blood thus shed would be sprinkled upon the altar4 ,in this way ,jehovah was satisfied4 ,the greater the crime1 the greater the sacrifice4 ,there was a ratio between the value of the animal and the enormity of the sin4 ,the most minute directions were given as to the killing of these animals4 ,every priest became a butcher1 every synagogue a slaughter-house4 ,nothing could be more utterly shocking to a refined soul1 nothing better calculated to harden the heart1 than the continual shedding of innocent blood4 ,this terrible system culminated in the sacrifice of ,christ4 ,his blood took the place of all other4 ,it is not necessary to shed any more4 ,the law at last is satisfied1 satiated1 surfeited4 ,the idea that ,god wants blood is at the bottom of the atonement1 and rests upon the most fearful savagery2 and yet the ,mosaic dispensation was better adapted to prevent the commission of sin than the ,christian system4 ,under that dispensation1 if you committed a sin1 you had to bring a sacrifice--dove1 sheep1 or bullock1 now1 when a sin is committed1 the ,christian says1 ,charge it1 ,put it on the slate1 ,if ,i don't pay it the ,savior will4 ,in this way1 rascality is sold on a credit1 and the credit system of religion breeds extravagance in sin4 ,the ,mosaic dispensation was based upon far better business principles4 ,the debt had to be paid1 and by the man who owed it4 ,we are told that the sinner is in debt to ,god1 and that the obligation is discharged by the ,savior4 ,the best that can be said of such a transaction is that the debt is transferred1 not paid4 ,as a matter of fact1 the sinner is in debt to the person he has injured4 ,if you injure a man1 it is not enough to get the forgiveness of ,god--you must get the man's forgiveness1 you must get your own4 ,if a man puts his hand in the fire and ,god forgives him1 his hand will smart just as badly4 ,you must reap what you sow4 ,no ,god can give you wheat when you sow tares1 and no ,devil can give you tares when you sow wheat4 ,we must remember that in nature there are neither rewards nor punishments--there are consequences4 ,the life and death of ,christ do not constitute an atonement4 ,they are worth the example1 the moral force1 the heroism of benevolence1 and in so far as the life of ,christ produces emulation in the direction of goodness1 it has been of value to mankind4 ,to make innocence suffer is the greatest sin1 and it may be the only sin4 ,how1 then1 is it possible to make the consequences of sin an atonement for sin1 when the consequences of sin are to be borne by one who has not sinned1 and the one who has sinned is to reap the reward of virtue8 ,no honorable man should be willing that another should suffer for him4 ,no good law can accept the sufferings of innocence as an atonement for the guilty2 and besides1 if there was no atonement until the crucifixion of ,christ1 what became of the countless millions who died before that time8 ,we must remember that the ,jews did not kill animals for the ,gentiles4 ,jehovah hated foreigners4 ,there was no way provided for the forgiveness of a heathen4 ,what has become of the millions who have died since1 without having heard of the atonement8 ,what becomes of those who hear and do not believe8 ,can there be a law that demands that the guilty be rewarded4 ,and yet1 to reward the guilty is far nearer justice than to punish the innocent4 ,if the doctrine of the atonement is true1 there would have been no heaven had no atonement been made4 ,if ,judas had understood the ,christian system1 if he knew that ,christ must be betrayed1 and that ,god was depending on him to betray him1 and that without the betrayal no human soul could be saved1 what should ,judas have done8 ,jehovah took special charge of the ,jewish people4 ,he did this for the purpose of civilizing them4 ,if he had succeeded in civilizing them1 he would have made the damnation of the entire human race a certainty2 because if the ,jews had been a civilized people when ,christ appeared--a people who had not been hardened by the laws of ,jehovah--they would not have crucified ,christ1 and as a consequence1 the world would have been lost4 ,if the ,jews had believed in religious freedom1 in the rights of thought and speech1 if the ,christian religion is true1 not a human soul ever could have been saved4 ,if1 when ,christ was on his way to ,calvary1 some brave soul had rescued him from the pious mob1 he would not only have been damned for his pains1 but would have rendered impossible the salvation of any human being4 ,the ,christian world has been trying for nearly two thousand years to explain the atonement1 and every effort has ended in an admission that it cannot be understood1 and a declaration that it must be believed4 ,has the promise and hope of forgiveness ever prevented the commission of a sin8 ,can men be made better by being taught that sin gives happiness here2 that to live a virtuous life is to bear a cross2 that men can repent between the last sin and the last breath2 and that repentance washes every stain of the soul away8 ,is it good to teach that the serpent of regret will not hiss in the ear of memory2 that the saved will not even pity the victims of their crimes2 and that sins forgiven cease to affect the unhappy wretches sinned against8 ,another objection is1 that a certain belief is necessary to save the soul4 ,this doctrine1 ,i admit1 is taught in the gospel according to ,john1 and in many of the epistles2 ,i deny that it is taught in ,matthew1 ,mark1 or ,luke4 ,it is1 however1 asserted by the church that to believe is the only safe way4 ,to this1 ,i reply3 ,belief is not a voluntary thing4 ,a man believes or disbelieves in spite of himself4 ,they tell us that to believe is the safe way2 but ,i say1 the safe way is to be honest4 ,nothing can be safer than that4 ,no man in the hour of death ever regretted having been honest4 ,no man when the shadows of the last day were gathering about the pillow of death1 ever regretted that he had given to his fellow-man his honest thought4 ,no man1 in the presence of eternity1 ever wished that he had been a hypocrite4 ,no man ever then regretted that he did not throw away his reason4 ,it certainly cannot be necessary to throw away your reason to save your soul1 because after that1 your soul is not worth saving4 ,the soul has a right to defend itself4 ,my brain is my castle2 and when ,i waive the right to defend it1 ,i become an intellectual serf and slave4 ,i do not admit that a man by doing me an injury can place me under obligations to do him a service4 ,to render benefits for injuries is to ignore all distinctions between actions4 ,he who treats friends and enemies alike has neither love nor justice4 ,the idea of non-resistance never occurred to a man with power to defend himself4 ,the mother of this doctrine was weakness4 ,to allow a crime to be committed1 even against yourself1 when you can prevent it1 is next to committing the crime yourself4 ,the church has preached the doctrine of non-resistance1 and under that banner has shed the blood of millions4 ,in the folds of her sacred vestments have gleamed for centuries the daggers of assassination4 ,with her cunning hands she wove the purple for hypocrisy and placed the crown upon the brow of crime4 ,for more than a thousand years larceny held the scales of justice1 hypocrisy wore the mitre and tiara1 while beggars scorned the royal sons of toil1 and ignorant fear denounced the liberty of thought4 ,,xi4 ,,christ',s ,,mission4 ,,he came1 they tell us1 to make a revelation1 and what did he reveal8 ,love thy neighbor as thyself8 ,that was in the ,old ,testament4 ,love ,god with all thy heart8 ,that was in the ,old ,testament4 ,return good for evil8 ,that was said by ,buddha1 seven hundred years before ,christ was born4 ,do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you8 ,that was the doctrine of ,lao-tsze4 ,did he come to give a rule of action8 ,zoroaster had done this long before3 ,whenever thou art in doubt as to whether an action is good or bad1 abstain from it4 ,did he come to tell us of another world8 ,the immortality of the soul had been taught by the ,hindoos1 ,egyptians1 ,greeks1 and ,romans hundreds of years before he was born4 ,what argument did he make in favor of immortality8 ,what facts did he furnish8 ,what star of hope did he put above the darkness of this world8 ,did he come simply to tell us that we should not revenge ourselves upon our enemies8 ,long before1 ,socrates had said3 ,one who is injured ought not to return the injury1 for on no account can it be right to do an injustice2 and it is not right to return an injury1 or to do evil to any man1 however much we have suffered from him4 ,and ,cicero had said3 ,let us not listen to those who think we ought to be angry with our enemies1 and who believe this to be great and manly4 ,nothing is so praiseworthy1 nothing so clearly shows a great and noble soul1 as clemency and readiness to forgive4 ,is there anything in the literature of the world more nearly perfect than this thought8 ,was it from ,christ the world learned the first lesson of forbearance1 when centuries and centuries before1 ,chrishna had said1 ,if a man strike thee1 and in striking drop his staff1 pick it up and hand it to him again8 ,is it possible that the son of ,god threatened to say to a vast majority1 of his children1 ,depart from me1 ye cursed1 into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels1 while the ,buddhist was great and tender enough to say3 ,never will ,i seek nor receive private individual salvation2 never enter into final peace alone2 but forever and everywhere will ,i live and strive for the universal redemption of every creature throughout all worlds4 ,never will ,i leave this world of sin and sorrow and struggle until all are delivered4 ,until then1 ,i will remain and suffer where ,i am8 ,is there anything in the ,new ,testament as beautiful as this1 from a ,sufi8--,better one moment of silent contemplation and inward love than seventy thousand years of outward worship4 ,is there anything comparable to this8--,whoever carelessly treads on a worm that crawls on the earth1 that heartless one is darkly alienate from ,god4 ,is there anything in the ,new ,testament more beautiful than the story of the ,sufi8 ,for seven years a ,sufi practised every virtue1 and then he mounted the three steps that lead to the doors of ,paradise4 ,he knocked and a voice said3 ,who is there8 ,the ,sufi replied3 ,thy servant1 ,o ,god4 ,but the doors remained closed4 ,yet seven other years the ,sufi engaged in every good work4 ,he comforted the sorrowing and divided his substance with the poor4 ,again he mounted the three steps1 again knocked at the doors of ,paradise1 and again the voice asked3 ,who is there8 and the ,sufi replied3 ,thy slave1 ,o ,god4--,but the doors remained closed4 ,yet seven other years the ,sufi spent in works of charity1 in visiting the imprisoned and the sick4 ,again he mounted the steps1 again knocked at the celestial doors4 ,again he heard the question3 ,who is there8 and he replied3 ,thyself1 ,o ,god4--,the gates wide open flew4 ,is it possible that ,st4 ,paul was inspired of ,god1 when he said3 ,let the women learn in silence1 with all subjection4--,neither was the man created for the woman1 but the woman for the man8 ,and is it possible that ,epictetus1 without the slightest aid from heaven1 gave to the world this gem of love3 ,what is more delightful than to be so dear to your wife1 as to be on that account dearer to yourself8 ,did ,st4 ,paul express the sentiments of ,god when he wrote-- ,but ,i would have you know that the head of every man is ,christ1 and the head of every woman is the man1 and the head of ,christ is ,god4 ,wives1 submit yourselves unto your husbands as unto the ,lord8 ,and was the author of this1 a poor despised heathen8-- ,in whatever house the husband is contented with the wife1 and the wife with the husband1 in that house will fortune dwell2 but upon the house where women are not honored1 let a curse be pronounced4 ,where the wife is honored1 there the gods are truly worshiped4 ,is there anything in the ,new ,testament as beautiful as this8-- ,shall ,i tell thee where nature is most blest and fair8 ,it is where those we love abide4 ,though that space be small1 it is ample above kingdoms2 though it be a desert1 through it run the rivers of ,paradise4 ,after reading the curses pronounced in the ,old ,testament upon ,jew and heathen1 the descriptions of slaughter1 of treachery and of death1 the destruction of women and babes2 after you shall have read all the chapters of horror in the ,new ,testament1 the threatenings of fire and flame1 then read this1 from the greatest of human beings3 ,the quality of mercy is not strained3 ,it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven ,upon the place beneath4 ,it is twice blessed2 ,it blesseth him that gives and him that takes4 ',tis mightiest in the mightiest3 it becomes ,the throned monarch better than his crown4 ,x4 ,,eternal ,,pain ,,upon passages in the ,new ,testament rests the doctrine of eternal pain4 ,this doctrine subverts every idea of justice4 ,a finite being can neither commit an infinite sin1 nor a sin against the ,infinite4 ,a being of infinite goodness and wisdom has no right to create any being whose life is not a blessing4 ,infinite wisdom has no right to create a failure1 and surely a man destined to everlasting failure is not a conspicuous success4 ,the doctrine of eternal punishment is the most infamous of all doctrines--born of ignorance1 cruelty and fear4 ,around the angel of immortality1 ,christianity has coiled this serpent4 ,upon ,love's breast the church has placed the eternal asp4 ,and yet in the same book in which is taught this most frightful of dogmas1 we are assured that the ,lord is good to all1 and his tender mercies are over all his works4 ,a few days ago upon the wide sea1 was found a barque called ,the ,tiger1 ,captain ,kreuger1 in command4 ,the vessel had been one hundred and twenty-six days upon the sea4 ,for days the crew had been without water1 without food1 and were starving4 ,for nine days not a drop had passed their lips4 ,the crew consisted of the captain1 a mate1 and eleven men4 ,at the end of one hundred and eighteen days from ,liverpool they killed the captain's ,newfoundland dog4 ,this lasted them four days4 ,during the next five days they had nothing4 ,for weeks they had had no light and were unable to see the compass at night4 ,on the one hundred and twenty-fifth day ,captain ,kreuger1 a ,german1 took a revolver in his hand1 stood up before the men1 and placing the weapon at his temple said3 ,boys1 we can't stand this much longer1 and to save you all1 ,i am willing to die4 ,the mate grasped the revolver and begged the captain to wait another day4 ,the next day1 upon the horizon of their despair1 they saw the smoke of the steamship ,nebo4 ,they were rescued4 ,suppose that ,captain ,kreuger was not a ,christian1 and suppose that he had sent the ball crashing through his brain1 and had done so simply to keep the crew from starvation1 do you tell me that a ,god of infinite mercy would forever damn that man8 ,do not misunderstand me4 ,i insist that every passage in the ,bible upholding crime was written by savage man4 ,i insist that if there is a ,god1 he is not1 never was1 and never will be in favor of slavery1 polygamy1 wars of extermination1 or religious persecution4 ,does any ,christian believe that if the real ,god were to write a book now1 he would uphold the crimes commanded in the ,old ,testament8 ,has ,jehovah improved8 ,has infinite mercy become more merciful8 ,has infinite wisdom intellectually advanced8 ,,will any one claim that the passages upholding slavery have liberated mankind8 ,are we indebted to polygamy for our modern homes8 ,was religious liberty born of that infamous verse in which the husband is commanded to kill his wife for worshiping an unknown ,god8 ,the usual answer to these objections is1 that no country has ever been civilized without a ,bible4 ,the ,jews were the only people to whom ,jehovah made his will directly known4 ,were they better than other nations8 ,they read the ,old ,testament and one of the effects of such reading was1 that they crucified a kind1 loving1 and perfectly innocent man4 ,certainly they could not have done worse1 without a ,bible4 ,in crucifying ,christ the ,jews followed the teachings of his ,father4 ,if ,jehovah was in fact ,god1 and if that ,god took upon himself flesh and came among the ,jews1 and preached what the ,jews understood to be blasphemy2 and if the ,jews in accordance with the laws given by this same ,jehovah to ,moses1 crucified him1 then ,i say1 and ,i say it with infinite reverence1 he reaped what he had sown4 ,he became the victim of his own injustice4 ,but ,i insist that these things are not true4 ,i insist that the real ,god1 if there is one1 never commanded man to enslave his fellow-man1 never told a mother to sell her babe1 never established polygamy1 never urged one nation to exterminate another1 and never told a husband to kill his wife because she suggested the worship of another ,god4 ,from the aspersions of the pulpit1 from the slanders of the church1 ,i seek to rescue the reputation of the ,deity4 ,i insist that the ,old ,testament would be a better book with all these passages left out2 and whatever may be said of the rest of the ,bible1 the passages to which ,i have called attention can1 with vastly more propriety1 be attributed to a devil than to a god4 ,take from the ,new ,testament the idea that belief is necessary to salvation2 that ,christ was offered as an atonement for the sins of mankind2 that heaven is the reward of faith1 and hell the penalty of honest investigation1 and that the punishment of the human soul will go on forever2 take from it all miracles and foolish stories1 and ,i most cheerfully admit that the good passages are true4 ,if they are true1 it makes no difference whether they are inspired or not4 ,inspiration is only necessary to give authority to that which is repugnant to human reason4 ,only that which never happened needs to be substantiated by a miracle4 ,the universe is natural4 ,the church must cease to insist that passages upholding the institutions of savage men were inspired of ,god4 ,the dogma of atonement must be abandoned4 ,good deeds must take the place of faith4 ,the savagery of eternal punishment must be renounced4 ,it must be admitted that credulity is not a virtue1 and that investigation is not a crime4 ,it must be admitted that miracles are the children of mendacity1 and that nothing can be more wonderful than the majestic1 unbroken1 sublime1 and eternal procession of causes and effects4 ,reason must be the arbiter4 ,inspired books attested by miracles cannot stand against a demonstrated fact4 ,a religion that does not command the respect of the greatest minds will1 in a little while1 excite the mockery of all4 ,a man who does not believe in intellectual liberty is a barbarian4 ,is it possible that ,god is intolerant8 ,could there be any progress1 even in heaven1 without intellectual liberty8 ,is the freedom of the future to exist only in perdition8 ,is it not1 after all1 barely possible that a man acting like ,christ can be saved8 ,is a man to be eternally rewarded for believing according to evidence1 without evidence1 or against evidence8 ,are we to be saved because we are good1 or because another was virtuous8 ,is credulity to be winged and crowned1 whilst honest doubt is chained and damned4 ,if ,jehovah1 was in fact ,god1 he knew the end from the beginning4 ,he knew that his ,bible would be a breast-work behind which all tyranny and hypocrisy would crouch4 ,he knew that his ,bible would be the auction-block on which women would stand while their babes were sold from their arms4 ,he knew that this ,bible would be quoted by tyrants2 that it would be the defence of robbers called kings1 and of hypocrites called priests4 ,he knew that he had taught the ,jewish people nothing of importance4 ,he knew that he had found them free and left them slaves4 ,he knew that he had never fulfilled a single promise made to them4 ,he knew that while other nations had advanced in art and science his chosen people were savage still4 ,he promised them the world1 and gave them a desert4 ,he promised them liberty and he made them slaves4 ,he promised them victory and he gave them defeat4 ,he said they should be kings and he made them serfs4 ,he promised them universal empire and gave them exile4 ,when one finishes the ,old ,testament he is compelled to say3 ,nothing can add to the misery of a nation whose king is ,jehovah6 ,the ,old ,testament filled this world with tyranny and injustice1 and the ,new gives us a future filled with pain for nearly all of the sons of men4 ,the ,old ,testament describes the hell of the past1 and the ,new the hell of the future4 ,the ,old ,testament tells us the frightful things that ,god has done1 the ,new the frightful things that he will do4 ,these two books give us the sufferings of the past and the future--the injustice1 the agony and the tears of both worlds4 ,,orthodoxy4 ,a ,,lecture4 ,,it is utterly inconceivable that any man believing in the truth of the ,christian religion should publicly deny it1 because he who believes in that religion would believe that1 by a public denial1 he would peril the eternal salvation of his soul4 ,it is conceivable1 and without any great effort of the mind1 that millions who do not believe in the ,christian religion should openly say that they did4 ,in a country where religion is supposed to be in power--where it has rewards for pretence1 where it pays a premium upon hypocrisy1 where it at least is willing to purchase silence--it is easily conceivable that millions pretend to believe what they do not4 ,and yet ,i believe it has been charged against myself not only that ,i was insincere1 but that ,i took the side ,i am on for the sake of popularity2 and the audience to-night goes far toward justifying the accusation4 ,orthodox ,religion ,dying ,out4 ,it gives me immense pleasure to say to this audience that orthodox religion is dying out of the civilized world4 ,it is a sick man4 ,it has been attacked with two diseases--softening of the brain and ossification of the heart4 ,it is a religion that no longer satisfies the intelligence of this country2 that no longer satisfies the brain2 a religion against which the heart of every civilized man and woman protests4 ,it is a religion that gives hope only to a few2 that puts a shadow upon the cradle2 that wraps the coffin in darkness and fills the future of mankind with flame and fear4 ,it is a religion that ,i am going to do what little ,i can while ,i live to destroy4 ,in its place ,i want humanity1 ,i want good fellowship1 ,i want intellectual liberty--free lips1 the discoveries and inventions of genius1 the demonstrations of science--the religion of art1 music and poetry--of good houses1 good clothes1 good wages--that is to say1 the religion of this world4 ,religious ,deaths and ,births4 ,we must remember that this is a world of progress1 a world of perpetual change--a succession of coffins and cradles4 ,there is perpetual death1 and there is perpetual birth4 ,by the grave of the old1 forever stand youth and joy2 and when an old religion dies1 a better one is born4 ,when we find out that an assertion is a falsehood a shining truth takes its place1 and we need not fear the destruction of the false4 ,the more false we destroy the more room there will be for the true4 ,there was a time when the astrologer sought to read in the stars the fate of men and nations4 ,the astrologer has faded from the world1 but the astronomer has taken his place4 ,there was a time when the poor alchemist1 bent and wrinkled and old1 over his crucible endeavored to find some secret by which he could change the baser metals into purest gold4 ,the alchemist has gone2 the chemist took his place2 and1 although he finds nothing to change metals into gold1 he finds something that covers the earth with wealth4 ,there was a time when the soothsayer and augur flourished4 ,after them came the parson and the priest2 and the parson and the priest must go4 ,the preacher must go1 and in his place must come the teacher--the real interpreter of ,nature4 ,we are done with the supernatural4 ,we are through with the miraculous and the impossible4 ,there was once the prophet who pretended to read the book of the future4 ,his place has been taken by the philosopher1 who reasons from cause to effect--who finds the facts by which we are surrounded and endeavors to reason from these premises and to tell what in all probability will happen4 ,the prophet has gone1 the philosopher is here4 ,there was a time when man sought aid from heaven--when he prayed to the deaf sky4 ,there was a time when everything depended on the supernaturalist4 ,that time in ,christendom is passing away4 ,we now depend upon the naturalist--not upon the believer in ancient falsehoods1 but on the discoverer of facts--on the demonstrater of truths4 ,at last we are beginning to build on a solid foundation1 and as we progress1 the supernatural dies4 ,the leaders of the intellectual world deny the existence of the supernatural4 ,they take from all superstition its foundation4 ,the ,religion of ,reciprocity4 ,supernatural religion will fade from this world1 and in its place we shall have reason4 ,in the place of the worship of something we know not of1 will be the religion of mutual love and assistance--the great religion of reciprocity4 ,superstition must go4 ,science will remain4 ,the church dies hard4 ,the brain of the world is not yet developed4 ,there are intellectual diseases as well as physical--there are pestilences and plagues of the mind4 ,whenever the new comes the old protests1 and fights for its place as long as it has a particle of power4 ,we are now having the same warfare between superstition and science that there was between the stage coach and the locomotive4 ,but the stage coach had to go4 ,it had its day of glory and power1 but it is gone4 ,it went ,west4 ,in a little while it will be driven into the ,pacific4 ,so we find that there is the same conflict between the different sects and different schools not only of philosophy but of medicine4 ,recollect that everything except the demonstrated truth is liable to die4 ,that is the order of ,nature4 ,words die4 ,every language has a cemetery4 ,every now and then a word dies and a tombstone is erected1 and across it is written obsolete4 ,new words are continually being born4 ,there is a cradle in which a word is rocked4 ,a thought is married to a sound1 and a child-word is born4 ,and there comes a time when the word gets old1 and wrinkled1 and expressionless1 and is carried mournfully to the grave4 ,so in the schools of medicine4 ,you can remember1 so can ,i1 when the old allopathists1 the bleeders and blisterers1 reigned supreme4 ,if there was anything the matter with a man they let out his blood4 ,called to the bedside1 they took him on the point of a lancet to the edge of eternity1 and then practiced all their art to bring him back4 ,one can hardly imagine how perfect a constitution it took a few years ago to stand the assault of a doctor4 ,and long after the old practice was found to be a mistake hundreds and thousands of the ancient physicians clung to it1 carried around with them1 in one pocket a bottle of jalap1 and in the other a rusty lancet1 sorry that they could not find some patient with faith enough to allow the experiment to be made again4 ,so these schools1 and these theories1 and these religions die hard4 ,what else can they do8 ,like the paintings of the old masters1 they are kept alive because so much money has been invested in them4 ,think of the amount of money that has been invested in superstition6 ,think of the schools that have been founded for the more general diffusion of useless knowledge6 ,think of the colleges wherein men are taught that it is dangerous to think1 and that they must never use their brains except in the act of faith6 ,think of the millions and billions of dollars that have been expended in churches1 in temples1 and in cathedrals6 ,think of the thousands and thousands of men who depend for their living upon the ignorance of mankind6 ,think of those who grow rich on credulity and who fatten on faith6 ,do you suppose they are going to die without a struggle8 ,what are they to do8 ,from the bottom of my heart ,i sympathize with the poor clergyman that has had all his common sense educated out of him1 and is now to be thrown upon the cold and unbelieving world4 ,his prayers are not answered2 he gets no help from on high1 and the pews are beginning to criticise the pulpit4 ,what is the man to do8 ,if he suddenly changes he is gone4 ,if he preaches what he really believes he will get notice to quit4 ,and yet1 if he and the congregation would come together and be perfectly honest1 they would all admit that they believe little and know nothing4 ,only a little while ago a couple of ladies were riding together from a revival1 late at night1 and one said to the other1 as they rode along3 ,i am going to say something that will shock you1 and ,i beg of you never to tell it to anybody else4 ,i am going to tell it to you4 ,well1 what is it8 ,said she3 ,i do not believe the ,bible4 ,the other replied3 ,neither do ,i4 ,i have often thought how splendid it would be if the ministers could but come together and say3 ,now1 let us be honest4 ,let us tell each other1 honor bright--like ,dr4 ,curry1 of ,chicago1 did in the meeting the other day--just what we believe4 ,they tell a story that in the old time a lot of people1 about twenty1 were in ,texas in a little hotel1 and one fellow got up before the fire1 put his hands behind him1 and said3 ,boys1 let us all tell our real names4 ,if the ministers and their congregations would only tell their real thoughts they would find that they are nearly as bad as ,i am1 and that they believe as little4 ,orthodoxy dies hard1 and its defenders tell us that this fact shows that it is of divine origin4 ,judaism dies hard4 ,it has lived several thousand years longer than ,christianity4 ,the religion of ,mohammed dies hard4 ,buddhism dies hard4 ,why do all these religions die hard8 ,because intelligence increases slowly4 ,let me whisper in the ear of the ,protestant3 ,catholicism dies hard4 ,what does that prove8 ,it proves that the people are ignorant and that the priests are cunning4 ,let me whisper in the ear of the ,catholic3 ,protestantism dies hard4 ,what does that prove8 ,it proves that the people are superstitious and the preachers stupid4 ,let me whisper in all your ears3 ,infidelity is not dying--it is growing--it increases every day4 ,and what does that prove8 ,it proves that the people are learning more and more--that they are advancing--that the mind is getting free1 and that the race is being civilized4 ,the clergy know that ,i know that they know that they do not know4 ,the ,blows ,that ,have ,shattered the ,shield and ,shivered the ,lance of ,superstition4 ,mohammed4 ,mohammed wrested from the disciples of the cross the fairest part of ,europe4 ,it was known that he was an impostor1 and that fact sowed the seeds of distrust and infidelity in the ,christian world4 ,christians made an effort to rescue from the infidels the empty sepulchre of ,christ4 ,that commenced in the eleventh century and ended at the close of the thirteenth4 ,europe was almost depopulated4 ,the fields were left waste1 the villages were deserted1 nations were impoverished1 every man who owed a debt was discharged from payment if he put a cross upon his breast and joined the ,crusades4 ,no matter what crime he had committed1 the doors of the prison were open for him to join the hosts of the cross4 ,they believed that ,god would give them victory1 and they carried in front of the first ,crusade a goat and a goose1 believing that both those animals were blessed by the indwelling of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,and ,i may say that those same animals are in the lead to-day in the orthodox world4 ,until the year #abia they endeavored to gain possession of that sepulchre1 and finally the hosts of ,christ were driven back1 baffled and beaten1--a poor1 miserable1 religious rabble4 ,they were driven back1 and that fact sowed the seeds of distrust in ,christendom4 ,you know that at that time the world believed in trial by battle--that ,god would take the side of the right--and there had been a trial by battle between the cross and the crescent1 and ,mohammed had been victorious4 ,was ,god at that time governing the world8 ,was he endeavoring to spread his gospel8 ,the ,destruction of ,art4 ,you know that when ,christianity came into power it destroyed every statue it could lay its ignorant hands upon4 ,it defaced and obliterated every painting2 it destroyed every beautiful building2 it burned the manuscripts1 both ,greek and ,latin2 it destroyed all the history1 all the poetry1 all the philosophy it could find1 and reduced to ashes every library that it could reach with its torch4 ,and the result was1 that the night of the ,middle ,ages fell upon the human race4 ,but by accident1 by chance1 by oversight1 a few of the manuscripts escaped the fury of religious zeal2 and these manuscripts became the seed1 the fruit of which is our civilization of to-day4 ,a few statues had been buried2 a few forms of beauty were dug from the earth that had protected them1 and now the civilized world is filled with art1 the walls are covered with paintings1 and the niches filled with statuary4 ,a few manuscripts were found and deciphered4 ,the old languages were learned1 and literature was again born4 ,a new day dawned upon mankind4 ,every effort at mental improvement had been opposed by the church1 and yet1 the few things saved from the general wreck--a few poems1 a few works of the ancient thinkers1 a few forms wrought in stone1 produced a new civilization destined to overthrow and destroy the fabric of superstition4 ,the ,discovery of ,america4 ,what was the next blow that this church received8 ,the discovery of ,america4 ,the ,holy ,ghost who inspired men to write the ,bible did not know of the existence of this continent1 never dreamed of the ,western ,hemisphere4 ,the ,bible left out half the world4 ,the ,holy ,ghost did not know that the earth is round4 ,he did not dream that the earth is round4 ,he believed it was flat1 although he made it himself4 ,at that time heaven was just beyond the clouds4 ,it was there the gods lived1 there the angels were1 and it was against that heaven that ,jacob's ladder leaned when the angels went up and down4 ,it was to that heaven that ,christ ascended after his resurrection4 ,it was up there that the ,new ,jerusalem was1 with its streets of gold1 and under this earth was perdition4 ,there was where the devils lived2 where a pit was dug for all unbelievers1 and for men who had brains4 ,i say that for this reason3 ,just in proportion that you have brains1 your chances for eternal joy are lessened1 according to this religion4 ,and just in proportion that you lack brains your chances are increased4 ,at last they found that the earth is round4 ,it was circumnavigated by ,magellan4 ,in #aeai that brave man set sail4 ,the church told him3 ,the earth is flat1 my friend2 don't go1 you may fall off the edge4 ,magellan said3 ,i have seen the shadow of the earth upon the moon1 and ,i have more confidence in the shadow than ,i have in the church4 ,the ship went round4 ,the earth was circumnavigated4 ,science passed its hand above it and beneath it1 and where was the old heaven and where was the hell8 ,vanished forever6 ,and they dwell now only in the religion of superstition4 ,we found there was no place there for ,jacob's ladder to lean against2 no place there for the gods and angels to live2 no place to hold the waters of the deluge2 no place to which ,christ could have ascended4 ,the foundations of the ,new ,jerusalem crumbled4 ,the towers and domes fell1 and in their places infinite space1 sown with an infinite number of stars2 not with ,new ,jerusalems1 but with countless constellations4 ,copernicus and ,kepler4 ,then man began to grow great1 and with that came ,astronomy1 ,in #adgc ,copernicus was born4 ,in #aedc his great work appeared4 ,in #afaf the system of ,copernicus was condemned by the pope1 by the infallible ,catholic ,church1 and the church was about as near right upon that subject as upon any other4 ,the system of ,copernicus was denounced4 ,and how long do you suppose the church fought that8 ,let me tell you4 ,it was revoked by ,pius ,,vii4 in the year of grace #ahba4 ,for two hundred and seventy-eight years after the death of ,copernicus the church insisted that his system was false1 and that the old ,bible astronomy was true4 ,astronomy is the first help that we ever received from heaven4 ,then came ,kepler in #afji1 and you may almost date the birth of science from the night that ,kepler discovered his first law4 ,that was the break of the day4 ,his first law1 that the planets do not move in circles but in ellipses2 his second law1 that they describe equal spaces in equal times2 his third law1 that the squares of their periodic times are proportional to the cubes of their distances4 ,that man gave us the key to the heavens4 ,he opened the infinite book1 and in it read three lines4 ,i have not time to speak of ,galileo1 of ,leonardo da ,vinci1 of ,bruno1 and of hundreds of others who contributed to the intellectual wealth of the world4 ,special ,providence4 ,the next thing that gave the church a blow was ,statistics4 ,we found by taking statistics that we could tell the average length of human life2 that this human life did not depend upon infinite caprice2 that it depended upon conditions1 circumstances1 laws and facts1 and that these conditions1 circumstances1 and facts were during long periods of time substantially the same4 ,and now1 the man who depends entirely upon special providence gets his life insured4 ,he has more confidence even in one of these companies than he has in the whole ,trinity4 ,we found by statistics that there were just so many crimes on an average committed2 just so many crimes of one kind and so many of another2 just so many suicides1 so many deaths by drowning1 so many accidents on an average1 so many men marrying women1 for instance1 older than themselves2 so many murders of a particular kind2 just the same number of mistakes2 and ,i say to-night1 statistics utterly demolish the idea of special providence4 ,only the other day a gentleman was telling me of a case of special providence4 ,he knew it4 ,he had been the subject of it4 ,a few years ago he was about to go on a ship when he was detained4 ,he did not go1 and the ship was lost with all on board4 ,yes6 ,i said1 ,do you think the people who were drowned believed in special providence8 ,think of the infinite egotism of such a doctrine4 ,here is a man that fails to go upon a ship with five hundred passengers and they go down to the bottom of the sea--fathers1 mothers1 children1 and loving husbands and wives waiting upon the chores of expectation4 ,here is one poor little wretch that did not happen to go6 ,and he thinks that ,god1 the ,infinite ,being1 interfered in his poor little withered behalf and let the rest all go4 ,that is special providence4 ,why does special providence allow all the crimes8 ,why are the wife-beaters protected1 and why are the wives and children left defenceless if the hand of ,god is over us all8 ,who protects the insane8 ,why does ,providence permit insanity8 ,but the church cannot give up special providence4 ,if there is no such thing1 then no prayers1 no worship1 no churches1 no priests4 ,what would become of ,national ,thanksgiving8 ,you know we have a custom every year of issuing a proclamation of thanksgiving4 ,we say to ,god1 ,although you have afflicted all the other countries1 although you have sent war1 and desolation1 and famine on everybody else1 we have been such good children that you have been kind to us1 and we hope you will keep on4 ,it does not make a bit of difference whether we have good times or not--the thanksgiving is always exactly the same4 ,i remember a few years ago a governor of ,iowa got out a proclamation of that kind4 ,he went on to tell how thankful the people were and how prosperous the ,state had been4 ,there was a young fellow in that ,state who got out another proclamation1 saying that he feared the ,lord might be misled by official correspondence2 that the governor's proclamation was entirely false2 that the ,state was not prosperous2 that the crops had been an almost utter failure2 that nearly every farm in the ,state was mortgaged1 and that if the ,lord did not believe him1 all he asked was that he would send some angel in whom he had confidence1 to look the matter over and report4 ,charles ,darwin4 ,this century will be called ,darwin's century4 ,he was one of the greatest men who ever touched this globe4 ,he has explained more of the phenomena of life than all of the religious teachers4 ,write the name of ,charles ,darwin on the one hand and the name of every theologian who ever lived on the other1 and from that name has come more light to the world than from all of those4 ,his doctrine of evolution1 his doctrine of the survival of the fittest1 his doctrine of the origin of species1 has removed in every thinking mind the last vestige of orthodox ,christianity4 ,he has not only stated1 but he has demonstrated1 that the inspired writer knew nothing of this world1 nothing of the origin of man1 nothing of geology1 nothing of astronomy1 nothing of nature2 that the ,bible is a book written by ignorance--at the instigation of fear4 ,think of the men who replied to him4 ,only a few years ago there was no person too ignorant to successfully answer ,charles ,darwin2 and the more ignorant he was the more cheerfully he undertook the task4 ,he was held up to the ridicule1 the scorn and contempt of the ,christian world1 and yet when he died1 ,england was proud to put his dust with that of her noblest and her grandest4 ,charles ,darwin conquered the intellectual world1 and his doctrines are now accepted facts4 ,his light has broken in on some of the clergy1 and the greatest man who to-day occupies the pulpit of one of the orthodox3 churches1 ,henry ,ward ,beecher1 is a believer in the theories of ,charles ,darwin--a man of more genius than all the clergy of that entire church put together4 ,and yet we are told in this little creed that orthodox religion is about to conquer the world6 ,it will be driven to the wilds of ,africa4 ,it must go to some savage country2 it has lost its hold upon civilization4 ,it is unfortunate to have a religion that cannot be accepted by the intellect of a nation4 ,it is unfortunate to have a religion against which every good and noble heart protests4 ,let us have a good religion or none4 ,my pity has been excited by seeing these ministers endeavor to warp and twist the passages of ,scripture to fit the demonstrations of science4 ,of course1 ,i have not time to recount all the discoveries and events that have assisted in the destruction of superstition4 ,every fact is an enemy of the church4 ,every fact is a heretic4 ,every demonstration is an infidel4 ,everything that ever really happened testifies against the supernatural4 ,the church teaches that man was created perfect1 and that for six thousand years he has degenerated4 ,darwin demonstrated the falsity of this dogma4 ,he shows that man has for thousands of ages steadily advanced2 that the ,garden of ,eden is an ignorant myth2 that the doctrine of original sin has no foundation in fact2 that the atonement is an absurdity2 that the serpent did not tempt1 and that man did not fall4 ,charles ,darwin destroyed the foundation of orthodox ,christianity4 ,there is nothing left but faith in what we know could not and did not happen4 ,religion and science are enemies4 ,one is a superstition2 the other is a fact4 ,one rests upon the false1 the other upon the true4 ,one is the result of fear and faith1 the other of investigation and reason4 ,the ,creeds4 ,i have been talking a great deal about the orthodox religion4 ,often1 after having delivered a lecture1 ,i have met some good1 religious person who has said to me3 ,you do not tell it as we believe it4 ,well1 but ,i tell it as you have it written in your creed4 ,oh1 we don't mind the creed any more4 ,then1 why do you not change it8 ,oh1 well1 we understand it as it is1 and if we tried to change it1 maybe we would not agree4 ,possibly the creeds are in the best condition now4 ,there is a tacit understanding that they do not believe them1 that there is a way to get around them1 and that they can read between the lines2 that if they should meet now to form new creeds they would fail to agree2 and that now they can say as they please1 except in public4 ,whenever they do so in public the church1 in self-defence1 must try them2 and ,i believe in trying every minister that does not preach the doctrine he agrees to4 ,i have not the slightest sympathy with a ,presbyterian preacher who endeavors to preach infidelity from a ,presbyterian pulpit and receives ,presbyterian money4 ,when he changes his views he should step down and out like a man1 and say1 ,i do not believe your doctrine1 and ,i will not preach it4 ,you must hire some other man4 ,the ,latest ,creed4 ,but ,i find that ,i have correctly interpreted the creeds4 ,there was put into my hands the new ,congregational creed4 ,i have read it1 and ,i will call your attention to it to-night1 to find whether that church has made any advance2 to find whether the sun of science has risen in the heavens in vain2 whether they are still the children of intellectual darkness2 whether they still consider it necessary for you to believe something that you by no possibility can understand1 in order to be a winged angel forever4 ,now1 let us see what their creed is4 ,i will read a little of it4 ,they commence by saying that they ,believe in one ,god1 the ,father ,almighty1 maker of heaven and earth1 and of all things visible and invisible4 ,they say1 now1 that there is the one personal ,god2 that he is the maker of the universe and its ruler4 ,i again ask the old question1 ,of what did he make it8 ,if matter has not existed through eternity1 then this ,god made it4 ,of what did he make it8 ,what did he use for the purpose8 ,there was nothing in the universe except this ,god4 ,what had the ,god been doing for the eternity he had been living8 ,he had made nothing--called nothing into existence2 never had had an idea1 because it is impossible to have an idea unless there is something to excite an idea4 ,what had he been doing8 ,why does not the ,congregational ,church tell us8 ,how do they know about this ,infinite ,being8 ,and if he is infinite how can they comprehend him8 ,what good is it to believe in something that you know you do not understand1 and that you never can understand8 ,in the ,episcopalian creed ,god is described as follows3 ,there is but one living and true ,god1 everlasting1 without body1 parts or passions4 ,think of that6--without body1 parts1 or passions4 ,i defy any man in the world to write a better description of nothing4 ,you cannot conceive of a finer word-painting of a vacuum than without body1 parts1 or passions4 ,and yet this ,god1 without passions1 is angry at the wicked every day2 this ,god1 without passions1 is a jealous ,god1 whose anger burneth to the lowest hell4 ,this ,god1 without passions1 loves the whole human race2 and this ,god1 without passions1 damns a large majority of mankind4 ,this ,god without body1 walked in the ,garden of ,eden1 in the cool of the day4 ,this ,god1 without body1 talked with ,adam and ,eve4 ,this ,god1 without body1 or parts met ,moses upon ,mount ,sinai1 appeared at the door of the tabernacle1 and talked with ,moses face to face as a man speaketh to his friend4 ,this description of ,god is simply an effort of the church to describe a something of which it has no conception4 ,god as a ,governor4 ,so1 too1 ,i find the following3 ,we believe that the ,providence of ,god1 by which he executes his eternal purposes in the government of the world1 is in and over all events4 ,is ,god the governor of the world8 ,is this established by the history of nations8 ,what evidence can you find1 if you are absolutely honest and not frightened1 in the history of the world1 that this universe is presided over by an infinitely wise and good ,god8 ,how do you account for ,russia8 ,how do you account for ,siberia8 ,how do you account for the fact that whole races of men toiled beneath the master's lash for ages without recompense and without reward8 ,how do you account for the fact that babes were sold from the arms of mothers--arms that had been reached toward ,god in supplication8 ,how do you account for it8 ,how do you account for the existence of martyrs8 ,how do you account for the fact that this ,god allows people to be burned simply for loving him8 ,is justice always done8 ,is innocence always acquitted8 ,do the good succeed8 ,are the honest fed8 ,are the charitable clothed8 ,are the virtuous shielded8 ,how do you account for the fact that the world has been filled with pain1 and grief1 and tears8 ,how do you account for the fact that people have been swallowed by earthquakes1 overwhelmned by volcanoes1 and swept from the earth by storms8 ,is it easy to account for famine1 for pestilence and plague if there be above us all a ,ruler infinitely good1 powerful and wise8 ,i do not say there is none4 ,i do not know4 ,as ,i have said before1 this is the only planet ,i was ever on4 ,i live in one of the rural districts of the universe1 and do not know about these things as much as the clergy pretend to1 but if they know no more about the other world than they do about this1 it is not worth mentioning4 ,how do they answer all this8 ,they say that ,god permits it4 ,what would you say to me if ,i stood by and saw a ruffian beat out the brains of a child1 when ,i had full and perfect power to prevent it8 ,you would say truthfully that ,i was as bad as the murderer4 ,is it possible for this ,god to prevent it8 ,then1 if he does not he is a fiend2 he is no god4 ,but they say he permits it4 ,what for8 ,so that we may have freedom of choice4 ,what for8 ,so that ,god may find1 ,i suppose1 who are good and who are bad4 ,did he not know that when he made us8 ,did he not know exactly just what he was making8 ,why should he make those whom he knew would be criminals8 ,if ,i should make a machine that would walk your streets and take the lives of people you would hang me4 ,and if ,god made a man whom he knew would commit murder1 then ,god is guilty of that murder4 ,if ,god made a man knowing that he would beat his wife1 that he would starve his children1 that he would strew on either side of his path of life the wrecks of ruined homes1 then ,i say the being who knowingly called that wretch into existence is directly responsible4 ,and yet we are to find the providence of ,god in the history of nations4 ,what little ,i have read shows me that when man has been helped1 man has done it2 when the chains of slavery have been broken1 they have been broken by man2 when something bad has been done in the government of mankind1 it is easy to trace it to man1 and to fix the responsibility upon human beings4 ,you need not look to the sky2 you need throw neither praise nor blame upon gods2 you can find the efficient causes nearer home--right here4 ,the ,love of ,god4 ,what is the next thing ,i find in this creed8 ,we believe that man was made in the image of ,god1 that he might know1 love1 and obey ,god1 and enjoy him forever4 ,i do not believe that anybody ever did love ,god1 because nobody ever knew anything about him4 ,we love each other4 ,we love something that we know4 ,we love something that our experience tells us is good and great and beautiful4 ,we cannot by any possibility love the unknown4 ,we can love truth1 because truth adds to human happiness4 ,we can love justice1 because it preserves human joy4 ,we can love charity4 ,we can love every form of goodness that we know1 or of which we can conceive1 but we cannot love the infinitely unknown4 ,and how can we be made in the image of something that has neither body1 parts1 nor passions8 ,the ,fall of ,man4 ,the ,congregational ,church has not outgrown the doctrine of original sin4 ,we are told that3 ,our first parents1 by disobedience1 fell under the condemnation of ,god1 and that all men are so alienated from ,god that there is no salvation from the guilt and power of sin except through ,god's redeeming power4 ,is there an intelligent man or woman now in the world who believes in the ,garden of ,eden story8 ,if you find any man who believes it1 strike his forehead and you will hear an echo4 ,something is for rent4 ,does any intelligent man now believe that ,god made man of dust1 and woman of a rib1 and put them in a garden1 and put a tree in the midst of it8 ,was there not room outside of the garden to put his tree1 if he did not want people to eat his apples8 ,if ,i did not want a man to eat my fruit1 ,i would not put him in my orchard4 ,does anybody now believe in the story of the serpent8 ,i pity any man or woman who1 in this nineteenth century1 believes in that childish fable4 ,why did ,adam and ,eve disobey8 ,why1 they were tempted4 ,by whom8 ,the devil4 ,who made the devil8 ,god4 ,what did ,god make him for8 ,why did he not tell ,adam and ,eve about this serpent8 ,why did he not watch the devil1 instead of watching ,adam and ,eve8 ,instead of turning them out1 why did he not keep him from getting in8 ,why did he not have his flood first1 and drown the devil1 before he made a man and woman4 ,and yet1 people who call themselves intelligent--professors in colleges and presidents of venerable institutions--teach children and young men that the ,garden of ,eden story is an absolute historical fact4 ,i defy any man to think of a more childish thing4 ,this ,god1 waiting around ,eden--knowing all the while what would happen--having made them on purpose so that it would happen1 then does what8 ,holds all of us responsible1 and we were not there4 ,here is a representative before the constituency had been born4 ,before ,i am bound by a representative ,i want a chance to vote for or against him2 and if ,i had been there1 and known all the circumstances1 ,i should have voted ,no6 ,and yet1 ,i am held responsible4 ,we are told by the ,bible and by the churches that through this fall of man ,sin and death entered the world8 ,according to this1 just as soon as ,adam and ,eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit1 ,god began to contrive ways by which he could destroy the lives of his children4 ,he invented all the diseases--all the fevers and coughs and colds--all the pains and plagues and pestilences--all the aches and agonies1 the malaria and spores2 so that when we take a breath of air we admit into our lungs unseen assassins2 and1 fearing that some might live too long1 even under such circumstances1 ,god invented the earthquake and volcano1 the cyclone and lightning1 animalcules to infest the heart and brain1 so small that no eye can detect--no instrument reach4 ,this was all owing to the disobedience of ,adam and ,eve6 ,in his infinite goodness1 ,god invented rheumatism and gout and dyspepsia1 cancers and neuralgia1 and is still inventing new diseases4 ,not only this'1 but he decreed the pangs of mothers1 and that by the gates of love and life should crouch the dragons of death and pain4 ,fearing that some might1 by accident1 live too long1 he planted poisonous vines and herbs that looked like food4 ,he caught the serpents he had made and gave them fangs and curious organs1 ingeniously devised to distill and deposit the deadly drop4 ,he changed the nature of the beasts1 that they might feed on human flesh4 ,he cursed a world1 and tainted every spring and source of joy4 ,he poisoned every breath of air2 corrupted even light1 that it might bear disease on every ray2 tainted every drop of blood in human veins2 touched every nerve1 that it might bear the double fruit of pain and joy2 decreed all accidents and mistakes that maim and hurt and kill1 and set the snares of life-long grief1 baited with present pleasure1--with a moment's joy4 ,then and there he foreknew and foreordained all human tears4 ,and yet all this is but the prelude1 the introduction1 to the infinite revenge of the good ,god4 ,increase and multiply all human griefs until the mind has reached imagination's farthest verge1 then add eternity to time1 and you may faintly tell1 but never can conceive1 the infinite horrors of this doctrine called ,the ,fall of ,man4 ,the ,atonement4 ,we are further told that3 ,all men are so alienated from ,god that there is no alleviation from the guilt and power of sin except through ,god's redeeming grace2 ,and that3 ,we believe that the love of ,god to sinful man has found its highest expression in the redemptive work of his ,son1 who became man1 uniting his divine nature with our human nature in one person2 who was tempted like other men and yet without sin1 and by his humiliation1 his holy obedience1 his sufferings1 his death on the cross1 and his resurrection1 became a perfect redeemer2 whose sacrifice of himself for the sins of the world declares the righteousness of ,god1 and is the sole and sufficient ground of forgiveness and of reconciliation with him4 ,the absurdity of the doctrine known as ,the ,fall of ,man1 gave birth to that other absurdity known as ,the ,atonement4 ,so that now it is insisted that1 as we are rightfully charged with the sin of somebody else1 we can rightfully be credited with the virtues of another4 ,let us leave out of our philosophy both these absurdities4 ,our creed will read a great deal better with both of them out1 and will make far better sense4 ,now1 in consequence of ,adam's sin1 everybody is alienated from ,god4 ,how8 ,why8 ,oh1 we are all depraved1 you know2 we all do wrong4 ,well1 why8 ,is that because we are depraved8 ,no4 ,why do we make so many mistakes8 ,because there is only one right way1 and there is an almost infinite number of wrong ways2 and as long as we are not perfect in our intellects we must make mistakes4 ,there is no darkness but ignorance1 and alienation1 as they call it1 from ,god1 is simply a lack of intellect4 ,why were we not given better brains8 ,that may account for the alienation4 ,the church teaches that every soul that finds its way to the shore of this world is against ,god--naturally hates ,god2 that the little dimpled child in the cradle is simply a chunk of depravity4 ,everybody against ,god6 ,it is a libel upon the human race2 it is a libel upon all the men who have worked for wife and child2 upon all mothers who have suffered and labored1 wept and worked2 upon all the men who have died for their country2 upon all who have fought for human liberty4 ,leave out the history of religion and there is little left to prove the depravity of man4 ,everybody that comes is against ,god6 ,every soul1 they think1 is like the wrecked ,irishman1 who drifted to an unknown island1 and as he climbed the shore saw a man and said to him1 ,have you a ,government here8 ,the man replied ,we have4 ,well1 said he1 ,i'm forninst it6 ,the church teaches us that such is the attitude of every soul in the universe of ,god4 ,ought a god to take any credit to himself for making depraved people8 ,a god that cannot make a soul that is not totally depraved1 ,i respectfully suggest1 should retire from the business4 ,and if a god has made us1 knowing that we are totally depraved1 why should we go to the same being to be born again8 ,the ,second ,birth4 ,the church insists that we must be born again and that all who are not the subjects of this second birth are heirs of everlasting fire4 ,would it not have been much better to have made another ,adam and ,eve8 ,would it not have been better to change ,noah and his people1 so that after that a second birth would not have been necessary8 ,why not purify the fountain of all human life8 ,why allow the earth to be peopled with depraved and monstrous beings1 each one of whom must be re-made1 re-formed1 and born again8 ,and yet1 even reformation is not enough4 ,if the man who steals becomes perfectly honest1 that is not enough2 if the man who hates his fellow-man1 changes and loves his fellow-man1 that is not enough2 he must go through that mysterious thing called the second birth2 he must be born again4 ,he must have faith2 he must believe something that he does not understand1 and experience what they call conversion4 ,according to the church1 nothing so excites the wrath of ,god--nothing so corrugates the brows of ,jehovah with hatred--as a man relying on his own good works4 ,he must admit that he ought to be damned1 and that of the two he prefers it1 before ,god will consent to save him4 ,i met a man the other day1 who said to me1 ,i am a ,unitarian ,universalist4 ,what do you mean by that8 ,i asked4 ,well1 said he1 this is what ,i mean3 the ,unitarian thinks he is too good to be damned1 and the ,universalist thinks ,god is too good to damn him1 and ,i believe them both4 ,is it possible that the sacrifice of a perfect being was acceptable to ,god8 ,will he accept the agony of innocence for the punishment of guilt8 ,will he release ,barabbas and crucify ,christ8 ,inspiration4 ,what is the next thing in this great creed8 ,we believe that the ,scriptures of the ,old and ,new ,testaments are the record of ,god's revelation of ,himself1 the work of redemption2 that they were written by men under the special guidance of the holy spirit2 that they are able to make wise unto salvation2 and that they constitute an authoritative standard by which religious teaching and human conduct are to be regulated and judged4 ,this is the creed of the ,congregational ,church2 that is1 the result reached by a high-joint commission appointed to draw up a creed for their churches2 and there we have the statement that the ,bible was written by men under the special guidance of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,what part of the ,bible8 ,all of it8 ,all of it4 ,and yet what is this ,old ,testament that was written by an infinitely good ,god8 ,the being who wrote it did not know the shape of the world he had made2 knew nothing of human nature4 ,he commands men to love him1 as if one could love upon command4 ,the same ,god upheld the institution of human slavery2 and the church says that the ,bible that upholds that institution was written by men under the guidance of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,then ,i disagree with the ,holy ,spirit4 ,this church tells us that men under the guidance of the ,holy ,spirit upheld the institution of polygamy--,i deny it2 that under the guidance of the ,holy ,spirit these men upheld wars of extermination and conquest--,i deny it2 that under the guidance of the ,holy ,spirit these men wrote that it was right for a man to destroy the life of his wife if she happened to differ with him on the subject of religion--,i deny it4 ,and yet that is the book now upheld in this creed of the ,congregational ,church4 ,if the devil had written upon the subject of slavery1 which side would he have taken8 ,let every minister answer4 ,if you knew the devil had written a work on human slavery1 in your judgment1 would he uphold slavery1 or denounce it8 ,would you regard it as any evidence that he ever wrote it1 if it upheld slavery8 ,and yet1 here you have a work upholding slavery1 and you say that it was written by an infinitely good ,god6 ,if the devil upheld polygamy1 would you be surprised8 ,if the devil wanted to kill men for differing with him would you be astonished8 ,if the devil told a man to kill his wife1 would you be shocked8 ,and yet1 you say1 that is exactly what ,god did4 ,if there be a ,god1 then that creed is blasphemy4 ,that creed is a libel upon him who sits on heaven's throne4 ,if there be a ,god1 ,i ask him to write in the book in which my account is kept1 that ,i denied these lies for him4 ,i do not believe in a slaveholding ,god6 ,i do not worship a polygamous ,holy ,ghost1 nor a ,son who threatens eternal pain2 ,i will not get upon my knees before any being who commands a husband to slay his wife because she expresses her honest thought4 ,suppose a book should be found old as the ,old ,testament in which slavery1 polygamy and war are all denounced1 would ,christians think that it was written by the devil8 ,did it ever occur to you that if ,god wrote the ,old ,testament1 and told the ,jews to crucify or kill anybody that disagreed with them on religion1 and that this ,god afterward took upon himself flesh and came to ,jerusalem1 and taught a different religion1 and the ,jews killed him--did it ever occur to you that he reaped exactly what he had sown8 ,did it ever occur to you that he fell a victim to his own tyranny1 and was destroyed by his own hand8 ,of course ,i do not believe that any ,god ever was the author of the ,bible1 or that any ,god was ever crucified1 or that any ,god was ever killed1 or ever will be1 but ,i want to ask you that question4 ,take this ,old ,testament1 then1 with all its stories of murder and massacre2 with all its foolish and cruel fables2 with all its infamous doctrines2 with its spirit of caste2 with its spirit of hatred1 and tell me whether it was written by a good ,god4 ,if you will read the maledictions and curses of that book1 you will think that ,god1 like ,lear1 had divided heaven among his daughters1 and then1 in the insanity of despair1 had launched his curses on the human race4 ,and yet1 ,i must say--,i must admit--that the ,old ,testament is better than the ,new4 ,in the ,old ,testament1 when ,god had a man dead1 he let him alone4 ,when he saw him quietly in his grave he was satisfied4 ,the muscles relaxed1 and the frown gave place to a smile4 ,but in the ,new ,testament the trouble commences at death4 ,in the ,new ,testament ,god is to wreak his revenge forever and ever4 ,it was reserved for one who said1 ,love your enemies1 to tear asunder the veil between time and eternity and fix the horrified gaze of man upon the gulfs of eternal fire4 ,the ,new ,testament is just as much worse than the ,old1 as hell is worse than sleep2 just as much worse1 as infinite cruelty is worse than dreamless rest2 and yet1 the ,new ,testament is claimed to be a gospel of love and peace4 ,is it possible that3 ,the ,scriptures constitute the authoritative standard by which religious teaching and human conduct are to be regulated and judged8 ,are we to judge of conduct by the ,old ,testament1 by the ,new1 or by both8 ,according to the ,old1 the slaveholder was a just and generous man2 a polygamist was a model of virtue4 ,according to the ,new1 the worst can be forgiven and the best can be lost4 ,how can any book be a standard1 when the standard itself must be measured by human reason8 ,is there a standard of a standard8 ,must not the reason be convinced8 and1 if so1 is not the reason of each man the final arbiter of that man8 ,if he takes a book as a standard1 does he so take it because it is to him reasonable8 ,in what way is the human reason to be ignored8 ,why should a book take its place1 unless the reason has been convinced that the book is the proper standard8 ,if this is so1 the book rests upon the reason of those who adopt it4 ,are they to be saved because they act in accordance with their reason1 and are others to be damned because they act by the same standard--their reason8 ,no two are alike4 ,can we demand of all the same result8 ,suppose the compasses were not constant to the pole--no two compasses exactly alike--would you expect all ships to reach the same harbor8 ,the ,reign of ,truth and ,love4 ,i also find in this creed the following3 ,we believe that ,jesus ,christ came to establish among men the ,kingdom of ,god1 the reign of truth and love1 of righteousness and peace6 ,well1 that may have been the object of ,jesus ,christ4 ,i do not deny it4 ,but what was the result8 ,the ,christian world has caused more war than all the rest of the world beside4 ,most of the cunning instruments of death have been devised by ,christians4 ,all the wonderful machinery by which the life is blown from men1 by which nations are conquered and enslaved--all these machines have been born in ,christian brains4 ,and yet he came to bring peace1 they say2 but the ,testament says otherwise3 ,i came not to bring peace1 but a sword4 ,and the sword was brought4 ,what are the ,christian nations doing to-day in ,europe8 ,is there a solitary ,christian nation that will trust any other8 ,how many millions of ,christians are in the uniform of forgiveness1 armed with the muskets of love8 ,there was an old ,spaniard on the bed of death1 who sent for a priest1 and the priest told him that he would have to forgive his enemies before he died4 ,he said1 ,i have none4 ,what6 no enemies8 ,not one1 said the dying man2 ,i killed the last one three months ago4 ,how many millions of ,christians are now armed and equipped to destroy their fellow-,christians8 ,who are the men in ,europe crying against war8 ,who wishes to have the nations disarmed8 ,is it the church8 ,no2 the men who do not believe in what they call this religion of peace4 ,when there is a war1 and when they make a few thousand widows and orphans2 when they strew the plain with dead patriots1 ,christians assemble in their churches and sing ,te ,deum ,laudamus4 ,why8 ,because he has enabled a few of his children to kill some others of his children4 ,this is the religion of peace--the religion that invented the ,krupp gun1 that will hurl a ball weighing two thousand pounds through twenty-four inches of solid steel4 ,this is the religion of peace that covers the sea with men-of-war1 clad in mail1 in the name of universal forgiveness4 ,this is the religion that drills and uniforms five millions of men to kill their fellows4 ,the ,wars ,it ,brought4 ,what effect has this religion had upon the nations of the earth8 ,what have the nations been fighting about8 ,what was the ,thirty ,years' ,war in ,europe for8 ,what was the war in ,holland for8 ,why was it that ,england persecuted ,scotland8 ,why is it that ,england persecutes ,ireland even to this day8 ,at the bottom of every one of these conflicts you will find a religious question4 ,the religion of ,jesus ,christ1 as preached by his church1 causes war1 bloodshed1 hatred1 and all uncharitableness2 and why8 ,because1 they say1 a certain belief is necessary to salvation4 ,they do not say1 if you behave yourself you will get there2 they do not say1 if you pay your debts and love your wife and love your children1 and are good to your friends1 and your neighbors1 and your country1 you will get there2 that will do you no good2 you have got to believe a certain thing4 ,no matter how bad you are1 you can instantly be forgiven2 and no matter how good you are1 if you fail to believe that which you cannot understand1 the moment you get to the day of judgment nothing is left but to damn you1 and all the angels will shout hallelujah4 ,what do they teach to-day8 ,nearly every murderer goes to heaven2 there is only one step from the gallows to ,god1 only one jerk between the halter and heaven4 ,that is taught by this church4 ,i believe there ought to be a law to prevent the giving of the slightest religious consolation to any man who has been found guilty of murder4 ,let a ,catholic understand that if he imbrues his hands in his brother's blood1 he can have no extreme unction4 ,let it be understood that he can have no forgiveness through the church2 and let the ,protestant understand that when he has committed that crime the community will not pray him into heaven4 ,let him go with his victim4 ,the victim1 dying in his sins1 goes to hell1 and the murderer has the happiness of seeing him there4 ,if heaven grows dull and monotonous1 the murderer can again give life to the nerve of pleasure by watching the agony of his victim4 ,the truth is1 ,christianity has not made friends2 it has made enemies4 ,it is not1 as taught1 the religion of peace1 it is the religion of war4 ,why should a ,christian hesitate to kill a man that his ,god is waiting to damn8 ,why should a ,christian not destroy an infidel who is trying to assassinate his soul8 ,why should a ,christian pity an unbeliever--one who has rejected the ,bible--when he knows that ,god will be pitiless forever8 ,and yet we are told1 in this creed1 that we believe in the ultimate prevalence of the ,kingdom of ,christ over all the earth4 ,what makes you8 ,do you judge from the manner in which you are getting along now8 ,how many people are being born a year8 ,about fifty millions4 ,how many are you converting a year1 really1 truthfully8 ,five or six thousand4 ,i think ,i have overstated the number4 ,is orthodox ,christianity on the increase8 ,no4 ,there are a hundred times as many unbelievers in orthodox ,christianity as there were ten years ago4 ,what are you doing in the missionary world8 ,how long is it since you converted a ,chinaman8 ,a fine missionary religion1 to send missionaries with their ,bibles and tracts to ,china1 but if a ,chinaman comes here1 mob him1 simply to show him the difference between the practical and theoretical workings of the ,christian religion4 ,how long since you have had an intelligent convert in ,india8 ,in my judgment1 never2 there never has been an intelligent ,hindoo converted from the time the first missionary put his foot on that soil2 and never1 in my judgment1 has an intelligent ,chinaman been converted since the first missionary touched that shore4 ,where are they8 ,we hear nothing of them1 except in the reports4 ,they get money from poor old ladies1 trembling on the edge of the grave1 and go and tell them stories1 how hungry the average ,chinaman is for a copy of the ,new ,testament1 and paint the sad condition of a gentleman in the interior of ,africa without the works of ,dr4 ,mc,cosh1 longing for a copy of ,the ,princeton ,review1--in my judgment1 a pamphlet that would suit a savage4 ,thus money is scared from the dying1 and frightened from the old and feeble4 ,about how long is it before this kingdom is to be established8 ,no one objects to the establishment of peace and good will4 ,every good man longs for the time when war shall cease4 ,we are all hoping for a day of universal justice--a day of universal freedom--when man shall control himself1 when the passions shall become obedient to the intelligent will4 ,but the coming of that day will not be hastened by preaching the doctrines of total depravity and eternal revenge4 ,that sun will not rise the quicker for preaching salvation by faith4 ,the star that shines above that dawn1 the herald of that day1 is ,science1 not superstition1--,reason1 not religion4 ,to show you how little advance has been made1 how many intellectual bats and mental owls still haunt the temple1 still roost above the altar1 ,i call your attention to the fact that the ,congregational ,church1 according to this creed2 still believes in the resurrection of the dead1 and in their ,confession of ,faith1 attached to the creed1 ,i find that they also believe in the literal resurrection of the body4 ,the ,resurrection4 ,does anybody believe that1 who has the courage to think for himself8 ,here is a man1 for instance1 that weighs #bjj pounds and gets sick and dies weighing #abj2 how much will he weigh in the morning of the resurrection8 ,here is a cannibal1 who eats another man2 and we know that the atoms you eat go into your body and become a part of you4 ,after the cannibal has eaten the missionary1 and appropriated his atoms to himself1 and then dies1 to whom will the atoms belong in the morning of the resurrection8 ,could the missionary maintain an action of replevin1 and if so1 what would the cannibal do for a body8 ,it has been demonstrated1 in so far as logic can demonstrate anything1 that there is no creation and no destruction in ,nature4 ,it has been demonstrated1 again and again1 that the atoms in us have been in millions of other beings2 have grown in the forests and in the grass1 have blossomed in flowers1 and been in the metals4 ,in other words1 there are atoms in each one of us that have been in millions of others2 and when we die1 these atoms return to the earth1 again appear in grass and trees1 are again eaten by animals1 and again devoured by countless vegetable mouths and turned into wood2 and yet this church1 in the nineteenth century1'in a council composed of1 and presided over by1 professors and presidents of colleges and theologians1 solemnly tells us that it believes in the literal resurrection of the body4 ,this is almost enough to make one despair of the future--almost enough to convince a man of the immortality of the absurd4 ,they know better4 ,there is not one so ignorant but knows better4 ,the ,judgment-,day4 ,and what is the next thing8 ,we believe in a final judgment1 the issues of which are everlasting punishment and everlasting life6 ,at the final judgment all of us will be there4 ,the thousands1 and millions1 and billions1 and trillions1 and quadrillions that have died will be there4 ,the books will be opened1 and each case will be called4 ,the sheep and the goats will be divided4 ,the unbelievers will be sent to the left1 while the faithful will proudly walk to the right4 ,the saved1 without a tear1 will bid an eternal farewell to those who loved them here--to those they loved4 ,nearly all the human race will go away to everlasting punishment1 and the fortunate few to eternal life4 ,this is the consolation of the ,congregational ,church6 ,this is the hope that dispels the gloom of life6 ,pious ,evasions4 ,when the clergy are caught1 they give a different meaning to the words and say the world was not made in seven days4 ,they say good whiles--epochs4 ,and in this same ,confession of ,faith and in this creed they say that the ,lord's day is holy--every seventh day4 ,suppose you lived near the ,north ,pole where the day is three months long4 ,then which day would you keep8 ,if you could get to the ,north ,pole you could prevent ,sunday from ever overtaking you4 ,you could walk around the other way faster than the world could revolve4 ,how would you keep ,sunday then8 ,suppose we invent something that can go one thousand miles an hour8 ,we can chase ,sunday clear around the globe4 ,is there anything that can be more perfectly absurd than that a space of time can be holy8 ,you might as well talk about a virtuous vacuum4 ,we are now told that the ,bible is not a scientific book1 and that after all we cannot depend on what ,god said four thousand years ago--that his ways are not as our ways--that we must accept without evidence1 and believe without understanding4 ,i heard the other night of an old man4 ,he was not very well educated1 and he got into the notion that he must have reading of the ,bible and family worship4 ,there was a bad boy in the family1 and they were reading the ,bible by course4 ,in the fifteenth chapter of ,corinthians is this passage3 ,behold1 brethren1 ,i show you a mystery2 we shall not all die1 but we shall all be changed4 ,this boy had rubbed out the c in changed4 ,so when the old man put on his spectacles1 and got down his ,bible1 he read3 ,behold1 brethren1 ,i show you a mystery1 we shall not all die1 but we shall all be hanged4 ,the old lady said1 ,father1 ,i don't think it reads that way4 ,he said1 ,who is reading this8 ,yes mother1 it says 'hanged1' and1 more than that1 ,i see the sense of it4 ,pride is the besetting sin of the human heart1 and if there is anything calculated to take the pride out of a man it is hanging4 ,it is in this way that ministers avoid and explain the discoveries of ,science4 ,people ask me1 if ,i take away the ,bible what are we going to do8 ,how can we get along without the revelation that no one understands8 ,what are we going to do if we have no ,bible to quarrel about ,what are we to do without hell8 ,what are we going to do with our enemies8 ,what are we going to do with the people we love but don't like8 ,no ,bible1 ,no ,civilization4 ,they tell me that there never would have been any civilization if it had not been for this ,bible4 ,the ,jews had a ,bible2 the ,romans had not4 ,which had the greater and the grander government8 ,let us be honest4 ,which of those nations produced the greatest poets1 the greatest soldiers1 the greatest orators1 the greatest statesmen1 the greatest sculptors8 ,rome had no ,bible4 ,god cared nothing for the ,roman ,empire4 ,he let the men come up by chance4 ,his time was taken up with the ,jewish people4 ,and yet ,rome conquered the world1 including the chosen people of ,god4 ,the people who had the ,bible were defeated by the people who had not4 ,how was it possible for ,lucretius to get along without the ,bible8--how did the great and glorious of that empire8 ,and what shall we say of ,greece8 ,no ,bible4 ,compare ,athens with ,jerusalem4 ,from ,athens come the beauty and intellectual grace of the world4 ,compare the mythology of ,greece with the mythology of ,judea2 one covering the earth with beauty1 and the other filling heaven with hatred and injustice4 ,the ,hindoos had no ,bible2 they had been forsaken by the ,creator1 and yet they became the greatest metaphysicians of the world4 ,egypt had no ,bible4 ,compare ,egypt with ,judea4 ,what are we to do without the ,bible8 ,what became of the ,jews who had a ,bible8 ,their temple was destroyed and their city was taken2 and they never found real prosperity until their ,god deserted them4 ,the ,turks attributed all their victories to the ,koran4 ,the ,koran gave them their victories over the believers in the ,bible4 ,the priests of each nation have accounted for the prosperity of that nation by its religion4 ,the ,christians mistake an incident for a cause1 and honestly imagine that the ,bible is the foundation of modern liberty and law4 ,they forget physical conditions1 make no account of commerce1 care nothing for inventions and discoveries1 and ignorantly give the credit to their inspired book4 ,the foundations of our civilization were laid centuries before ,christianity was known4 ,the intelligence of courage1 of self-government1 of energy1 of industry1 that uniting made the civilization of this century1 did not come alone from ,judea1 but from every nation of the ancient world4 ,miracles of the ,new ,testament4 ,there are many things in the ,new ,testament that ,i cannot accept as true4 ,i cannot believe in the miraculous origin of ,jesus ,christ4 ,i believe he was the son of ,joseph and ,mary2 that ,joseph and ,mary had been duly and legally married2 that he was the legitimate offspring of that union4 ,nobody ever believed the contrary until he had been dead at least one hundred and fifty years4 ,neither ,matthew1 ,mark1 nor ,luke ever dreamed that he was of divine origin4 ,he did not say to either ,matthew1 ,mark1 or ,luke1 or to any one in their hearing1 that he was the ,son of ,god1 or that he was miraculously conceived4 ,he did not say it4 ,it may be asserted that he said it to ,john1 but ,john did not write the gospel that bears his name4 ,the angel ,gabriel1 who1 they say1 brought the news1 never wrote a word upon the subject4 ,the mother of ,christ never wrote a word upon the subject4 ,his alleged father never wrote a word upon the subject1 and ,joseph never admitted the story4 ,we are lacking in the matter of witnesses4 ,i would not believe such a story now4 ,i cannot believe that it happened then4 ,i would not believe people ,i know1 much less would ,i believe people ,i do not know4 ,at that time ,matthew and ,luke believed that ,christ was the son of ,joseph and ,mary4 ,and why8 they say he descended from ,david1 and in order to show that he was of the blood of ,david1 they gave the genealogy of ,joseph4 ,and if ,joseph was not his father1 why did they not give the genealogy of ,pontius ,pilate or of ,herod8 ,could they1 by giving the genealogy of ,joseph1 show that he was of the blood of ,david if ,joseph was in no way related to ,christ8 ,and yet that is the position into which the ,christian world is driven4 ,in the ,new ,testament we find that in giving the genealogy of ,christ it says1 who was the son of ,joseph8 and the church has interpolated the words as was supposed4 ,why did they give a supposed genealogy8 ,it will not do4 ,and that is a thing that cannot in any way1 by any human testimony1 be established4 ,if it is important for us to know that he was the ,son of ,god1 ,i say1 then1 that it devolves upon ,god to give us the evidence4 ,let him write it across the face of the heavens1 in every language of mankind4 ,if it is necessary for us to believe it1 let it grow on every leaf next year4 ,no man should be damned for not believing1 unless the evidence is overwhelming4 ,and he ought not to be made to depend upon say so1 or upon as was supposed4 ,he should have it directly1 for himself4 ,a man says that ,god told him a certain thing1 and he tells me1 and ,i have only his word4 ,he may have been deceived4 ,if ,god has a message for me he ought to tell it to me1 and not to somebody that has been dead four or five thousand years1 and in another language4 ,besides1 ,god may have changed his mind on many things2 he has on slavery1 and polygamy at least1 according to the church2 and yet his church now wants to go and destroy polygamy in ,utah with the sword4 ,why do they not send missionaries there with copies of the ,old ,testament8 ,by reading the lives of ,abraham and ,isaac1 and ,lot1 and a few other patriarchs who ought to have been in the penitentiary1 maybe they can soften their hearts4 ,more ,miracles4 ,there is another miracle ,i do not believe1--the resurrection4 ,i want to speak about it as we would about any ordinary transaction4 ,in the first place1 ,i do not believe that any miracle was ever performed1 and if there was1 you cannot prove it4 ,why8 ,because it is altogether more reasonable to believe that the people were mistaken about it than that it happened4 ,and why8 ,because1 according to human experience1 we know that people will not always tell the truth1 and we never saw a miracle ourselves1 and we must be governed by our experience2 and if we go by our experience1 we must say that the miracle never happened--that the witnesses were mistaken4 ,a man comes into ,jerusalem1 and the first thing he does is to cure the blind4 ,he lets the light of day visit the night of blindness4 ,the eyes are opened1 and the world is again pictured upon the brain4 ,another man is clothed with leprosy4 ,he touches him and the disease falls from him1 and he stands pure1 and clean1 and whole4 ,another man is deformed1 wrinkled1 and bent4 ,he touches him1 and throws around him again the garment of youth4 ,a man is in his grave1 and he says1 ,come forth6 ,and the man walks in life1 feeling his heart throb and his blood going joyously through his veins4 ,they say that actually happened4 ,i do not know4 ,there is one wonderful thing about the dead people that were raised--we do not hear of them any more4 ,what became of them8 ,if there was a man in this city who had been raised from the dead1 ,i would go to see him to-night4 ,i would say1 ,where were you when you got the notice to come back8 ,what kind of a country is it8 ,what kind of opening there for a young man8 ,how did you like it8 ,did you meet there the friends you had lost8 ,is there a world without death1 without pain1 without a tear8 ,is there a land without a grave1 and where good-bye is never heard8 ,nobody ever paid the slightest attention to the dead who had been raised4 ,they did not even excite interest when they died the second time4 ,nobody said1 ,why1 that man is not afraid4 ,he has been there once4 ,he has walked through the valley of the shadow4 ,not a word4 ,they pass quietly away4 ,i do not believe these miracles4 ,there is something wrong somewhere about that business4 ,i may suffer eternal punishment for all this1 but ,i cannot1 ,i do not1 believe4 ,there was a man who did all these things1 and thereupon they crucified him4 ,let us be honest4 ,suppose a man came into this city and should meet a funeral procession1 and say1 ,who is dead8 and they should reply1 ,the son of a widow2 her only support4 ,suppose he should say to the procession1 ,halt6 and to the undertaker1 ,take out that coffin1 unscrew that lid4 ,young man1 ,i say unto thee1 arise6 and the dead should step from the coffin and in a moment afterward hold his mother in his arms4 ,suppose this stranger should go to your cemetery and find some woman holding a little child in each hand1 while the tears fell upon a new-made grave1 and he should say to her1 ,who lies buried here8 and she should reply1 ,my husband2 and he should cry1 ,i say unto thee1 oh grave1 give up thy dead6 and the husband should rise1 and in a moment after have his lips upon his wife's1 and the little children with their arms around his neck2 do you think that the people of this city would kill him8 ,do you think any one would wish to crucify him8 ,do you not rather believe that every one who had a loved one out in that cemetery would go to him1 even upon their knees1 and beg him to give back their dead8 ,do you believe that any man was ever crucified who was the master of death8 ,let me tell you to-night if there shall ever appear upon this earth the master1 the monarch1 of death1 all human knees will touch the earth4 ,he will not be crucified4 ,all the living who fear death2 all the living who have lost a loved one1 will bow to him4 ,and yet we are told that this worker of miracles1 this man who could clothe the dead dust in the throbbing flesh of life1 was crucified4 ,i do not believe that he worked the miracles1 ,i do not believe that he raised the dead1 ,i do not believe that he claimed to be the ,son of ,god1 ,these things were told long after he was dead2 told because the ignorant multitude demanded mystery and wonder2 told1 because at that time the miraculous was believed of all the illustrious dead4 ,stories that made ,christianity powerful then1 weaken it now4 ,he who gains a triumph in a conflict with a devil1 will be defeated by science4 ,there is another thing about these foolish miracles4 ,all could have been imitated4 ,men could pretend to be blind2 confederates could feign sickness1 and even death4 ,it is not very difficult to limp or to hold an arm as though it were paralyzed2 or to say that one is afflicted with an issue of blood4 ,it is easy to say that the son of a widow was raised from the dead1 and if you fail to give the name of the son1 or his mother1 or the time and place where the wonder occurred1 it is quite difficult to show that it did not happen4 ,no one can be called upon to disprove anything that has not apparently been established4 ,i say apparently1 because there can be no real evidence in support of a miracle4 ,how could we prove1 for instance1 the miracle of the loaves and fishes8 ,there were plenty of other loaves and other fishes in the world8 ,each one of the five thousand could have had a loaf and a fish with him4 ,we would have to show that there was no other possible way for the people to get the bread and fish except by miracle1 and then we are only half through4 ,we must then show that they did1 in fact1 get enough to feed five thousand people1 and that more was left than was had in the beginning4 ,of course this is simply impossible4 ,and let me ask1 why was not the miracle substantiated by some of the multitude8 ,would it not have been a greater wonder if ,christ had created instead of multiplied the loaves and fishes8 ,how can we now prove that a certain person more than eighteen hundred years ago was possessed by seven devils8 ,how was it ever possible to prove a thing like that8 ,how can it be established that some evil spirits could talk while others were dumb1 and that the dumb ones were the hardest to control8 ,if ,christ wished to convince his fellow-men by miracles1 why did he not do something that could not by any means have been a counterfeit8 ,instead of healing a withered arm1 why did he not find some man whose arm had been cut off1 and make another grow8 ,if he wanted to raise the dead1 why did he not raise some man of importance1 some one known to all8 ,why did he do his miracles in the obscurity of the village1 in the darkness of the hovel8 ,why call back to life people so insignificant that the public did not know of their death8 ,suppose that in ,may1 #ahfe1 a man had pretended to raise some person by the name of ,smith from the dead1 and suppose a religion had been founded on that miracle1 would it not be natural for people1 hundreds of years after the pretended miracle1 to ask why the founder of that religion did not raise from the dead ,abraham ,lincoln1 instead of the unknown and obscure ,mr4 ,smith8 ,how could any man now1 in any court1 by any known rule of evidence1 substantiate one of the miracles of ,christ8 ,must we believe anything that cannot in any way be substantiated8 ,if miracles were necessary to convince men eighteen centuries ago1 are they not necessary now8 ,after all1 how many men did ,christ convince with his miracles8 ,how many walked beneath the standard of the master of ,nature8 ,how did it happen that so many miracles convinced so few8 ,i will tell you4 ,the miracles were never performed4 ,no other explanation is possible4 ,it is infinitely absurd to say that a man who cured the sick1 the halt and blind1 raised the dead1 cast out devils1 controlled the winds and waves1 created food and held obedient to his will the forces of the world1 was put to death by men who knew his superhuman power and who had seen his wondrous works4 ,if the crucifixion was public1 the miracles were private4 ,if the miracles had been public1 the crucifixion could not have been4 ,do away with the miracles1 and the superhuman character of ,christ is destroyed4 ,he becomes what he really was--a man4 ,do away with the wonders1 and the teachings of ,christ cease to be authoritative4 ,they are then worth the reason1 the truth that is in them1 and nothing more4 ,do away with the miracles1 and then we can measure the utterances of ,christ with the standard of our reason4 ,we are no longer intellectual serfs1 believing what is unreasonable in obedience to the command of a supposed god4 ,we no longer take counsel of our fears1 of our cowardice1 but boldly defend what our reason maintains4 ,christ takes his appropriate place with the other teachers of mankind4 ,his life becomes reasonable and admirable4 ,we have a man who hated oppression2 who despised and denounced superstition and hypocrisy2 who attacked the heartless church of his time2 who excited the hatred of bigots and priests1 and who rather than be false to his conception of truth1 met and bravely suffered even death4 ,the ,resurrection4 ,the miracle of the resurrection ,i do not and cannot believe4 ,if it was the fact1 if the dead ,christ rose from the grave1 why did he not appear to his enemies8 ,why did he not visit ,pontius ,pilate8 ,why did he not call upon ,caiaphas1 the high priest8 upon ,herod8 ,why did he not again enter the temple and end the old dispute with demonstration8 ,why did he not confront the ,roman soldiers who had taken money to falsely swear that his body had been stolen by his friends8 ,why did he not make another triumphal entry into ,jerusalem8 ,why did he not say to the multitude3 ,here are the wounds in my feet1 and in my hands1 and in my side4 ,i am the one you endeavored to kill1 but ,death is my slave8 ,simply because the resurrection is a myth4 ,it makes no difference with his teachings4 ,they are just as good whether he wrought miracles or not4 ,twice two are four2 that needs no miracle4 ,twice two are five--a miracle can not help that4 ,christ's teachings are worth their effect upon the human race4 ,it makes no difference about miracle or wonder4 ,in that day every one believed in the impossible4 ,nobody had any standing as teacher1 philosopher1 governor1 king1 general1 about whom there was not supposed to be something miraculous4 ,the earth was covered with the sons and daughters of gods and goddesses4 ,in ,greece1 in ,rome1 in ,egypt1 in ,india1 every great man was supposed to have had either a god for his father1 or a goddess for his mother4 ,they accounted for genius by divine origin4 ,earth and heaven were at that time near together4 ,it was but a step for the gods from the blue arch to the green earth4 ,every lake and valley and mountain top was made rich with legends of the loves of gods4 ,how could the early ,christians have made converts to a man1 among a people who believed so thoroughly in gods--in gods that had lived upon the earth2 among a people who had erected temples to the sons and daughters of gods8 ,such people could not have been induced to worship a man--a man born among barbarous people1 citizen of a nation weak and poor and paying tribute to the ,roman power4 ,the early ,christians therefore preached the gospel of a god4 ,the ,ascension4 ,i cannot believe in the miracle of the ascension1 in the bodily ascension of ,jesus ,christ4 ,where was he going8 ,in the light shed upon this question by the telescope1 ,i again ask1 where was he going8 ,the ,new ,jerusalem is not above us4 ,the abode of the gods is not there4 ,where was he going8 ,which way did he go8 ,of course that depends upon the time of day he left4 ,if he left in the evening1 he went exactly the opposite way from that he would have gone had he ascended in the morning4 ,what did he do with his body8 ,how high did he go8 ,in what way did he overcome the intense cold8 ,the nearest station is the moon1 two hundred and forty thousand miles away4 ,again ,i ask1 where did he go8 ,he must have had a natural body1 for it was the same body that died4 ,his body must have been material1 otherwise he would not as he rose have circled with the earth1 and he would have passed from the sight of his disciples at the rate of more than a thousand miles per hour4 ,it may be said that his body was spiritual4 ,then what became of the body that died8 ,just before his ascension we are told that he partook of broiled fish with his disciples4 ,was the fish spiritual8 ,who saw this miracle8 ,they say the disciples saw it4 ,let us see what they say4 ,matthew did not think it was worth mentioning4 ,he does not speak of it4 ,on the contrary1 he says that the last words of ,christ were3 ,lo1 ,i am with you alway1 even unto the end of the world4 ,is it possible that ,matthew saw this1 the most miraculous of miracles1 and yet forgot to put it in his life of ,christ8 ,think of the little miracles recorded by this saint1 and then determine whether it is probable that he witnessed the ascension of ,jesus ,christ4 ,mark says3 ,so1 then1 after the ,lord had spoken unto them he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of ,god4 ,this is all he says about the most wonderful vision that ever astonished human eyes1 a miracle great enough to have stuffed credulity to bursting2 and yet all we have is this one1 poor1 meagre verse4 ,we know now that most of the last chapter of ,mark is an interpolation1 and as a matter of fact1 the author of ,mark's gospel said nothing about the ascension one way or the other4 ,luke says3 ,and it came to pass while he blessed them he was parted from them and was carried up into ,heaven4 ,john does not mention it4 ,he gives as ,christ's last words this address to ,peter3 ,follow thou ,me4 ,of course1 he did not say that as he ascended4 ,it seems to have made very little impression upon him2 he writes the account as though tired of the story4 ,he concludes with an impatient wave of the hand4 ,in the ,acts we have another account4 ,a conversation is given not spoken of in any of the others1 and we find there two men clad in white apparel1 who said3 ,ye men of ,galilee why stand ye here gazing up into heaven8 ,this same ,jesus that was taken up into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go up into heaven4 ,matthew did not see the men in white apparel1 did not see the ascension4 ,mark forgot the entire transaction1 and ,luke did not think the men in white apparel worth mentioning4 ,john had not confidence enough in the story to repeat it4 ,and yet1 upon such evidence1 we are bound to believe in the bodily ascension1 or suffer eternal pain4 ,and here let me ask1 why was not the ascension in public8 ,casting out ,devils4 ,most of the miracles said to have been wrought by ,christ were recorded to show his power over evil spirits4 ,on many occasions1 he is said to have cast out devils--devils who could speak1 and devils who were dumb4 ,for many years belief in the existence of evil spirits has been fading from the mind1 and as this belief grew thin1 ministers endeavored to give new meanings to the ancient words4 ,they are inclined now to put disease in the place of devils1 and most of them say1 that the poor wretches supposed to have been the homes of fiends1 were simply suffering from epileptic fits6 ,we must remember that ,christ and these devils often conversed together4 ,is it possible that fits can talk8 ,these devils often admitted that ,christ was ,god4 ,can epilepsy certify to divinity8 ,on one occasion the fits told their name1 and made a contract to leave the body of a man provided they would be permitted to take possession of a herd of swine4 ,is it possible that fits carried ,christ himself to the pinnacle of a temple8 ,did fits pretend to be the owner of the whole earth8 ,is ,christ to be praised for resisting such a temptation8 ,is it conceivable that fits wanted ,christ to fall down and worship them8 ,the church must not abandon its belief in devils4 ,orthodoxy cannot afford to put out the fires of hell4 ,throw away a belief in the devil1 and most of the miracles of the ,new ,testament become impossible1 even if we admit the supernatural4 ,if there is no devil1 who was the original tempter in the garden of ,eden8 ,if there is no hell1 from what are we saved2 to what purpose is the atonement8 ,upon the obverse of the ,christian shield is ,god1 upon the reverse1 the devil4 ,no devil1 no hell4 ,no hell1 no atonement4 ,no atonement1 no preaching1 no gospel4 ,necessity of ,belief4 ,does belief depend upon evidence8 ,i think it does somewhat in some cases4 ,how is it when a jury is sworn to try a case1 hearing all the evidence1 hearing both sides1 hearing the charge of the judge1 hearing the law1 are upon their oaths equally divided1 six for the plaintiff and six for the defendant8 ,evidence does not have the same effect upon all people4 ,why8 ,our brains are not alike4 ,they are not the same shape4 ,we have not the same intelligence1 or the same experience1 the same sense4 ,and yet ,i am held accountable for my belief4 ,i must believe in the ,trinity--three times one is one1 once one is three1 and my soul is to be eternally damned for failing to guess an arithmetical conundrum4 ,that is the poison part of ,christianity--that salvation depends upon belief4 ,that is the accursed part1 and until that dogma is discarded ,christianity will be nothing but superstition4 ,no man can control his belief4 ,if ,i hear certain evidence ,i will believe a certain thing4 ,if ,i fail to hear it ,i may never believe it4 ,if it is adapted to my mind ,i may accept it2 if it is not1 ,i reject it4 ,and what am ,i to go by8 ,my brain4 ,that is the only light ,i have from ,nature1 and if there be a ,god it is the only torch that this ,god has given me to find my way through the darkness and night called life4 ,i do not depend upon hearsay for that4 ,i do not have to take the word of any other man nor get upon my knees before a book4 ,here in the temple of the mind ,i consult the ,god1 that is to say my reason1 and the oracle speaks to me and ,i obey the oracle4 ,what should ,i obey8 ,another man's oracle8 ,shall ,i take another man's word--not what he thinks1 but what he says some ,god has said to him8 ,i would not know a god if ,i should see one4 ,i have said before1 and ,i say again1 the brain thinks in spite of me1 and ,i am not responsible for my thoughts4 ,i cannot control the beating of my heart4 ,i cannot stop the blood that flows through the rivers of my veins4 ,and yet ,i am held responsible for my belief4 ,then why does not ,god give me the evidence8 ,they say he has4 ,in what8 ,in an inspired book4 ,but ,i do not understand it as they do4 ,must ,i be false to my understanding8 ,they say3 ,when you come to die you will be sorry if you do not4 ,will ,i be sorry when ,i come to die that ,i did not live a hypocrite8 ,will ,i be sorry that ,i did not say ,i was a ,christian when ,i was not8 ,will the fact that ,i was honest put a thorn in the pillow of death8 ,cannot ,god forgive me for being honest8 ,they say that when he was in ,jerusalem he forgave his murderers1 but now he will not forgive an honest man for differing from him on the subject of the ,trinity4 ,they say that ,god says to me1 ,forgive your enemies4 ,i say1 ,i do2 but he says1 ,i will damn mine4 ,god should be consistent4 ,if he wants me to forgive my enemies he should forgive his4 ,i am asked to forgive enemies who can hurt me4 ,god is only asked to forgive enemies who cannot hurt him4 ,he certainly ought to be as generous as he asks us to be4 ,and ,i want no ,god to forgive me unless ,i am willing to forgive others1 and unless ,i do forgive others4 ,all ,i ask1 if that be true1 is that this ,god should act according to his own doctrine4 ,if ,i am to forgive my enemies1 ,i ask him to forgive his4 ,i do not believe in the religion of faith1 but of kindness1 of good deeds4 ,the idea that man is responsible for his belief is at the bottom of religious intolerance and persecution4 ,how inconsistent these ,christians are6 ,in ,st4 ,louis the other day ,i read an interview with a ,christian minister--one who is now holding a revival4 ,they call him the boy preacher--a name that he has borne for fifty or sixty years4 ,the question was whether in these revivals1 when they were trying to rescue souls from eternal torture1 they would allow colored people to occupy seats with white people2 and that revivalist1 preaching the unsearchable riches of ,christ1 said he would not allow the colored people to sit with white people2 they must go to the back of the church4 ,these same ,christians tell us that in heaven there will be no distinction4 ,that ,christ cares nothing for the color of the skin4 ,that in ,paradise white and black will sit together1 swap harps1 and cry hallelujah in chorus2 yet this minister1 believing as he says he does1 that all men who fail to believe in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ will eternally perish1 was not willing that a colored man should sit by a white man and hear the gospel of everlasting peace4 ,according to this revivalist1 the ship of the world is going down2 ,christ is the only life-boat2 and yet he is not willing that a colored man1 with a soul to save1 shall sit by the side of a white brother1 and be rescued from eternal death4 ,he admits that the white brother is totally depraved2 that if the white brother had justice done him he would be damned2 that it is only through the wonderful mercy of ,god that the white man is not in hell2 and yet such a being1 totally depraved1 is too good to sit by a colored man6 ,total depravity becomes arrogant2 total depravity draws the color line in religion1 and an ambassador of ,christ says to the black man1 ,stand away2 let your white brother hear first about the love of ,god4 ,i believe in the religion of humanity4 ,it is far better to love our fellow-men than to love ,god4 ,we can help them4 ,we cannot help him4 ,we had better do what we can than to be always pretending to do what we cannot4 ,virtue is of no color2 kindness1 justice and love1 of no complexion4 ,eternal ,punishment4 ,now ,i come to the last part of this creed--the doctrine of eternal punishment4 ,i have concluded that ,i will never deliver a lecture in which ,i will not attack the doctrine of eternal pain4 ,that part of the ,congregational creed would disgrace the lowest savage that crouches and crawls in the jungles of ,africa4 ,the man who now1 in the nineteenth century1 preaches the doctrine of eternal punishment1 the doctrine of an eternal hell1 has lived in vain4 ,think of that doctrine6 ,the eternity of punishment6 ,i find in this same creed--in this latest utterance of ,congregationalism--that ,christ is finally going to triumph in this world and establish his kingdom4 ,this creed declares that we believe in the ultimate prevalence of the kingdom of ,god over all the earth4 ,if their doctrine is true he will never triumph in the other world4 ,the ,congregational ,church does not believe in the ultimate prevalence of the kingdom of ,christ in the world to come4 ,there he is to meet with eternal failure4 ,he will have billions in hell forever4 ,in this world we never will be perfectly civilized as long as a gallows casts its shadow upon the earth4 ,as long as there is a penitentiary1 within the walls of which a human being is immured1 we are not a perfectly civilized people4 ,we shall never be perfectly civilized until we do away with crime4 ,and yet1 according to this ,christian religion1 ,god is to have an eternal penitentiary2 he is to be an everlasting jailer1 an everlasting turnkey1 a warden of an infinite dungeon1 and he is going to keep prisoners there forever1 not for the purpose of reforming them--because they are never going to get any better1 only worse--but for the purpose of purposeless punishment4 ,and for what8 ,for something they failed to believe in this world4 ,born in ignorance1 supported by poverty1 caught in the snares of temptation1 deformed by toil1 stupefied by want--and yet held responsible through the countless ages of eternity6 ,no man can think of a greater horror2 no man can dream of a greater absurdity4 ,for the growth of that doctrine ignorance was soil and fear was rain4 ,it came from the fanged mouths of serpents1 and yet it is called glad tidings of great joy4 ,some ,who are ,damned4 ,we are told ,god so loved the world that he is going to damn almost everybody4 ,if this orthodox religion be true1 some of the greatest1 and grandest1 and best who ever lived are suffering ,god's torments to-night4 ,it does not appear to make much difference with the members of the church4 ,they go right on enjoying themselves about as well as ever4 ,if this doctrine is true1 ,benjamin ,franklin1 one of the wisest and best of men1 who did so much to give us here a free government1 is suffering the tyranny of ,god to-night1 although he endeavored to establish freedom among men4 ,if the churches were honest1 their preachers would tell their hearers3 ,benjamin ,franklin is in hell1 and we warn all the youth not to imitate ,benjamin ,franklin4 ,thomas ,jefferson1 author of the ,declaration of ,independence1 with its self-evident truths1 has been damned these many years4 ,that is what all the ministers ought to have the courage to say4 ,talk as you believe4 ,stand by your creed1 or change it4 ,i want to impress it upon your minds1 because the thing ,i wish to do in this world is to put out the fires of hell4 ,i will keep on as long as there is one little red coal left in the bottomless pit4 ,as long as the ashes are warm ,i shall denounce this infamous doctrine4 ,i want you to know that according to this creed the men who founded this great and splendid ,government are in hell to-night4 ,most of the men who fought in the ,revolutionary war1 and wrested from the clutch of ,great ,britain this continent1 have been rewarded by the eternal wrath of ,god4 ,thousands of the old ,revolutionary soldiers are in torment tonight4 ,let the preachers have the courage to say so4 ,the men who fought in #ahab1 and gave to the ,united ,states the freedom of the seas1 have nearly all been damned4 ,thousands of heroes who served our country in the ,civil war1 hundreds who starved in prisons1 are now in the dungeons of ,god1 compared with which1 ,andersonville was ,paradise4 ,the greatest of heroes are there2 the greatest of poets1 the greatest scientists1 the men who have made the world beautiful--they are all among the damned if this creed is true4 ,humboldt1 who shed light1 and who added to the intellectual wealth of mankind2 ,goethe1 and ,schiller1 and ,lessing1 who almost created the ,german language--all gone--all suffering the wrath of ,god tonight1 and every time an angel thinks of one of those men he gives his harp an extra twang4 ,laplace1 who read the heavens like an open book--he is there4 ,robert ,burns1 the poet of human love--he is there4 ,he wrote the ,prayer of ,holy ,willie4 ,he fastened on the cross the ,presbyterian creed1 and there it is1 a lingering crucifixion4 ,robert ,burns increased the tenderness of the human heart4 ,dickens put a shield of pity before the flesh of childhood--,god is getting even with him4 ,our own ,ralph ,waldo ,emerson1 although he had a thousand opportunities to hear ,methodist clergymen1 scorned the means of grace1 lived to his highest ideal1 gave to his fellow-men his best and truest thought1 and yet his spirit is the sport and prey of fiends to-night4 ,longfellow1 who has refined thousands of homes1 did not believe in the miraculous origin of the ,savior1 doubted the report of ,gabriel1 loved his fellow-men1 did what he could to free the slaves1 to increase the happiness of man1 yet ,god was waiting for his soul--waiting to cast him out and down forever4 ,thomas ,paine1 author of the ,rights of ,man2 offering his life in both hemispheres for the freedom of the human race2 one of the founders of this ,republic1 is now among the damned2 and yet it seems to me that if he could only get ,god's attention long enough to point him to the ,american flag he would let him out4 ,auguste ,comte1 author of the ,positive ,philosophy1 who loved his fellow-men to that degree that he made of humanity a god1 who wrote his great work in poverty1 with his face covered with tears--they are getting their revenge on him now4 ,voltaire1 who abolished torture in ,france2 who did more for human liberty than any other man1 living or dead2 who was the assassin of superstition1 and whose dagger still rusts in the heart of ,catholicism--he is with the rest4 ,all the priests who have been translated have had their happiness increased by looking at ,voltaire4 ,giordano ,bruno1 the first star of the morning after the long night2 ,benedict ,spinoza1 the pantheist1 the metaphysician1 the pure and generous man2 ,diderot1 the encyclopedist1 who endeavored to get all knowledge in a small compass1 so that he could put the peasant on an equality intellectually with the prince2 ,diderot1 who wished to sow all over the world the seed of knowledge1 and loved to labor for mankind1 while the priests wanted to burn2 who did all he could to put out the fires--he was lost1 long1 long ago4 ,his cry for water has become so common that his voice is now recognized through all the realms of heaven1 and the angels laughing1 say to one another1 ,that is ,diderot4 ,david ,hume1 the ,scotch philosopher1 is there1 with his inquiry about the ,human ,understanding and his argument against miracles4 ,beethoven1 master of music1 and ,wagner1 the ,shakespeare of harmony1 who made the air of this world rich forever1 they are there2 and to-night they have better music in hell than in heaven6 ,shelley1 whose soul1 like his own ,skylark1 was a winged joy1 has been damned for many1 many years2 and ,shakespeare1 the greatest of the human race1 who did more to elevate mankind than all the priests who ever lived and died1 he is there2 but founders of inquisitions1 builders of dungeons1 makers of chains1 inventors of instruments of torture1 tearers1 and burners1 and branders of human flesh1 stealers of babes1 and sellers of husbands and wives and children1 and they who kept the horizon lurid with the fagot's flame for a thousand years--are in heaven to-night4 ,i wish heaven joy6 ,that is the doctrine with which we are polluting the souls of children4 ,that is the doctrine that puts a fiend by the dying bed and a prophecy of hell over every cradle4 ,that is glad tidings of great joy4 ,only a little while ago1 when the great flood came upon the ,ohio1 sent by him who is ruling the world and paying particular attention to the affairs of nations1 just in the gray of the morning they saw a house floating down and on its top a human being4 ,a few men went out to the rescue4 ,they found there a woman1 a mother1 and they wished to save her life4 ,she said3 ,no1 ,i am going to stay where ,i am4 ,in this house ,i have three dead babes2 ,i will not desert them4 ,think of a love so limitless--stronger and deeper than despair and death6 ,and yet1 the ,christian religion says1 that if that woman1 that mother1 did not happen to believe in their creed ,god would send her soul to eternal fire6 ,if there is another world1 and if in heaven they wear hats1 when such a woman climbs the opposite bank of the ,jordan1 ,christ should lift his to her4 ,the doctrine of eternal pain is my trouble with this ,christian religion4 ,i reject it on account of its infinite heartlessness4 ,i cannot tell them too often1 that during our last war ,christians1 who knew that if they were shot they would go right to heaven1 went and hired wicked men to take their places1 perfectly willing that these men should go to hell provided they could stay at home4 ,you see they are not honest in it1 or they do not believe it1 or as the people say1 they don't sense it4 ,they have not imagination enough to conceive what it is they believe1 and what a terrific falsehood they assert4 ,and ,i beg of every one who hears me to-night1 ,i beg1 ,i implore1 ,i beseech you1 never to give another dollar to build a church in which that lie is preached4 ,never give another cent to send a missionary with his mouth stuffed with that falsehood to a foreign land4 ,why1 they say1 the heathen will go to heaven1 any way1 if you let them alone4 ,what is the use of sending them to hell by enlightening them8 ,let them alone4 ,the idea of going and telling a man a thing that if he does not believe1 he will be damned1 when the chances are ten to one that he will not believe it1 is monstrous4 ,do not tell him here1 and as quick as he gets to the other world and finds it is necessary to believe1 he can say ,yes4 ,give him a chance4 ,another ,objection4 ,my objection to orthodox religion is that it destroys human love1 and tells us that the love of this world is not necessary to make a heaven in the next4 ,no matter about your wife1 your children1 your brother1 your sister--no matter about all the affections of the human heart--when you get there1 you will be with the angels4 ,i do not know whether ,i would like the angels4 ,i do not know whether the angels would like me4 ,i would rather stand by the ones who have loved me and whom ,i know2 and ,i can conceive of no heaven without the loved of this earth4 ,that is the trouble with this ,christian relief-ion4 ,leave your father1 leave your mother1 leave your wife1 leave your children1 leave everything and follow ,jesus ,christ4 ,i will not4 ,i will stay with my people4 ,i will not sacrifice on the altar of a selfish fear all the grandest and noblest promptings of my heart4 ,do away with human love and what are we8 ,what would we be in another world1 and what would we be here8 ,can any one conceive of music without human love8 ,of art1 or joy8 ,human love builds every home4 ,human love is the author of all beauty4 ,love paints every picture1 and chisels every statue4 ,love builds every fireside4 ,what could heaven be without human love8 ,and yet that is what we are promised--a heaven with your wife lost1 your mother lost1 some of your children gone4 ,and you expect to be made happy by falling in with some angel6 ,such a religion is infamous4 ,christianity holds human love for naught2 and yet ,love is the only bow on ,life's dark cloud4 ,it is the morning and the evening star4 ,it shines upon the babe1 and sheds its radiance on the quiet tomb4 ,it is the mother of art1 inspirer of poet1 patriot and philosopher4 ,it is the air and light of every heart--builder of every home1 kindler of every fire on every hearth4 ,it was the first to dream of immortality4 ,it fills the world with melody--for music is the voice of love4 ,love is the magician1 the enchanter1 that changes worthless things to joy1 and makes right royal kings and queens of common clay4 ,it is the perfume of that wondrous flower1 the heart1 and without that sacred passion1 that divine swoon1 we are less than beasts2 but with it1 earth is heaven1 and we are gods4 ,and how are you to get to this heaven8 ,on the efforts of another4 ,you are to be a perpetual heavenly pauper1 and you will have to admit through all eternity that you never would have been there if you had not been frightened4 ,i am here1 you will say1 ,i have these wings1 ,i have this musical instrument1 because ,i was scared4 ,i am here4 ,the ones who loved me are among the damned2 the ones ,i loved are also there--but ,i am here1 that is enough4 ,what a glorious' world heaven must be6 ,no reformation in that world--not the slightest4 ,if you die in ,arkansas that is the end of you6 ,think of telling a boy in the next world1 who lived and died in ,delaware1 that he had been fairly treated6 ,can anything be more infamous8 ,all on an equality--the rich and the poor1 those with parents loving them1 those with every opportunity for education1 on an equality with the poor1 the abject and the ignorant--and this little day called life1 this moment with a hope1 a shadow and a tear1 this little space between your mother's arms and the grave1 balances eternity4 ,god can do nothing for you when you get there4 ,a ,methodist preacher can do more for the soul here than its creator can there4 ,the soul goes to heaven1 where there is nothing but good society2 no bad examples2 and they are all there1 ,father1 ,son and ,holy ,ghost1 and yet they can do nothing for that poor unfortunate except to damn him4 ,is there any sense in that8 ,why should this be a period of probation8 ,it says in the ,bible1 ,i believe1 ,now is the accepted time4 ,when does that mean8 ,that means whenever the passage is pronounced4 ,now is the accepted time4 ,it will be the same to-morrow1 will it not8 ,and just as appropriate then as to-day1 and if appropriate at any time1 appropriate through all eternity4 ,what ,i say is this3 ,there is no world--there can be no world--in which every human being will not have the eternal opportunity of doing right4 ,that is my objection to this ,christian religion2 and if the love of earth is not the love of heaven1 if those we love here are to be separated from us there1 then ,i want eternal sleep4 ,give me a good cool grave rather than the furnace of ,jehovah's wrath4 ,i pray the angel of the resurrection to let me sleep4 ,gabriel1 do not blow6 ,let me alone6 ,if1 when the grave bursts1 ,i am not to meet the faces that have been my sunshine in this life1 let me sleep4 ,rather than that this doctrine of endless punishment should be true1 ,i would gladly see the fabric of our civilization crumbling fall to unmeaning chaos and to formless dust1 where oblivion broods and even memory forgets4 ,i would rather that the blind ,samson of some imprisoned force1 released by chance1 should so wreck and strand the mighty world that man in stress and strain of want and fear should shudderingly crawl back to savage and barbaric night4 ,i would rather that every planet should in its orbit wheel a barren star6 ,what ,i ,believe4 ,i think it is better to love your children than to love ,god1 a thousand times better1 because you can help them1 and ,i am inclined to think that ,god can get along without you4 ,certainly we cannot help a being without body1 parts1 or passions6 ,i believe in the religion of the family4 ,i believe that the roof-tree is sacred1 from the smallest fibre that feels the soft cool clasp of earth1 to the topmost flower that spreads its bosom to the sun1 and like a spendthrift gives its perfume to the air4 ,the home where virtue dwells with love is like a lily with a heart of fire--the fairest flower in all the world4 ,and ,i tell you ,god cannot afford to damn a man in the next world who has made a happy family in this4 ,god cannot afford to cast over the battlements of heaven the man who has a happy home upon this earth4 ,god cannot afford to be unpitying to a human heart capable of pity4 ,god cannot clothe with fire the man who has clothed the naked here2 and ,god cannot send to eternal pain a man who has done something toward improving the condition of his fellow-man4 ,if he can1 ,i had rather go to hell than to heaven and keep the company of such a god4 ,immortality4 ,they tell me that the next terrible thing ,i do is to take away the hope of immortality6 ,i do not1 ,i would not1 ,i could not4 ,immortality was first dreamed of by human love2 and yet the church is going to take human love out of immortality4 ,we love1 therefore we wish to live4 ,a loved one dies and we wish to meet again2 and from the affection of the human heart grew the great oak of the hope of immortality4 ,around that oak has climbed the poisonous vines of superstition4 ,theologians1 pretenders1 soothsayers1 parsons1 priests1 popes1 bishops1 have taken advantage of that4 ,they have stood by graves and promised heaven4 ,they have stood by graves and prophesied a future filled with pain4 ,they have erected their toll-gates on the highway of life and have collected money from fear4 ,neither the ,bible nor the church gave us the idea of immortality4 ,the ,old ,testament tells us how we lost immortality1 and it does not say a word about another world1 from the first mistake in ,genesis to the last curse in ,malachi4 ,there is not in the ,old ,testament a burial service4 ,no man in the ,old ,testament stands by the dead and says1 ,we shall meet again4 ,from the top of ,sinai came no hope of another world4 ,and when we get to the ,new ,testament1 what do we find8 ,they that are accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection of the dead4 ,as though some would be counted unworthy to obtain the resurrection of the dead4 ,and in another place4 ,seek for honor1 glory1 immortality4 ,if you have it1 why seek it8 ,and in another place1 ,god1 who alone hath immortality4 ,yet they tell us that we get our idea of immortality from the ,bible4 ,i deny it4 ,i would not destroy the faintest ray of human hope1 but ,i deny that we got our idea of immortality from the ,bible4 ,it existed long before ,moses4 ,we find it symbolized through all ,egypt1 through all ,india4 ,wherever man has lived he has made another world in which to meet the lost of this4 ,the history of this belief we find in tombs and temples wrought and carved by those who wept and hoped4 ,above their dead they laid the symbols of another life4 ,we do not know4 ,we do not prophesy a life of pain4 ,we leave the dead with ,nature1 the mother of us all4 ,under the bow of hope1 under the seven-hued arch1 let the dead sleep4 ,if ,christ was in fact ,god1 why did he not plainly say there is another life8 ,why did he not tell us something about it8 ,why did he not turn the tear-stained hope of immortality into the glad knowledge of another life8 ,why did he go dumbly to his death and leave the world in darkness and in doubt8 ,why8 ,because he was a man and did not know4 ,what consolation has the orthodox religion for the widow of the unbeliever1 the widow of a good1 brave1 kind man8 ,what can the orthodox minister say to relieve the bursting heart of that woman8 ,what can he say to relieve the aching hearts of the orphans as they kneel by the grave of that father1 if that father did not happen to be an orthodox ,christian8 ,what consolation have they8 ,when a ,christian loses a friend the tears spring from his eyes as quickly as from the eyes of others4 ,their tears are as bitter as ours4 ,why8 ,the echoes of the words spoken eighteen hundred years ago are so low1 and the sounds of the clods upon the coffin are so loud2 the promises are so far away1 and the dead are so near4 ,we do not know1 we cannot say1 whether death is a wall or a door2 the beginning or end of a day2 the spreading of pinions to soar1 or the folding forever of wings2 the rise or the set of a sun1 or an endless life that brings the rapture of love to everyone4 ,a ,fable4 ,there is the fable of ,orpheus and ,eurydice4 ,eurydice had been captured and taken to the infernal regions1 and ,orpheus went after her1 taking with him his harp and playing as he went4 ,when he came to ,pluto's realm he began to play1 and ,sysiphus1 charmed by the music1 sat down upon the stone that he had been heaving up the mountain's side for so many years1 and which continually rolled back upon him2 ,ixion paused upon his wheel of fire2 ,tantalus ceased his vain efforts for water2 the daughters of the ,danaides left off trying to fill their sieves with water2 ,pluto smiled1 and for the first time in the history of hell the cheeks of the ,furies were wet with tears4 ,the god relented1 and said1 ,eurydice may go with you1 but you must not look back4 ,so ,orpheus again threaded the caverns1 playing as he went1 and as he reached the light he failed to hear the footsteps of ,eurydice4 ,he looked back1 and in a moment she was gone4 ,again and again ,orpheus sought his love4 ,again and again looked back4 ,this fable gives the idea of the perpetual effort made by the human mind to rescue truth from the clutch of error4 ,some time ,orpheus will not look back4 ,some day ,eurydice will reach the blessed light1 and at last there will fade from the memory of men the monsters of superstition4 ,,myth ,,and ,,miracle4 ,i4 ,,happiness is the true end and aim of life4 ,it is the task of intelligence to ascertain the conditions of happiness1 and when found the truly wise will live in accordance with them4 ,by happiness is meant not simply the joy of eating and drinking--the gratification of the appetite--but good1 wellbeing1 in the highest and noblest forms4 ,the joy that springs from obligation discharged1 from duty done1 from generous acts1 from being true to the ideal1 from a perception of the beautiful in nature1 art and conduct4 ,the happiness that is born of and gives birth to poetry and music1 that follows the gratification of the highest wants4 ,happiness is the result of all that is really right and sane4 ,but there are many people who regard the desire to be happy as a very low and degrading ambition4 ,these people call themselves spiritual4 ,they pretend to care nothing for the pleasures of sense4 ,they hold this world1 this life1 in contempt4 ,they do not want happiness in this world--but in another4 ,here1 happiness degrades--there1 it purifies and ennobles4 ,these spiritual people have been known as prophets1 apostles1 augurs1 hermits1 monks1 priests1 popes1 bishops and parsons4 ,they are devout and useless4 ,they do not cultivate the soil4 ,they produce nothing4 ,they live on the labor of others4 ,they are pious and parasitic4 ,they pray for others1 if the others will work for them4 ,they claim to have been selected by the ,infinite to instruct and govern mankind4 ,they are meek and arrogant1 long-suffering and revengeful4 ,they ever have been1 now are1 and always will be the enemies of liberty1 of investigation and science4 ,they are believers in the supernatural1 the miraculous and the absurd4 ,they have filled the world with hatred1 bigotry and fear4 ,in defence of their creeds they have committed every crime and practiced every cruelty4 ,they denounce as worldly and sensual those who are gross enough to love wives and children1 to build homes1 to fell the forests1 to navigate the seas1 to cultivate the earth1 to chisel statues1 to paint pictures and fill the world with love and art4 ,they have denounced and maligned the thinkers1 the poets1 the dramatists1 the composers1 the actors1 the orators1 the workers--those who have conquered the world for man4 ,according to them this world is only the vestibule of the next1 a kind of school1 an ordeal1 a place of probation4 ,they have always insisted that this life should be spent in preparing for the next2 that those who supported and obeyed the spiritual guides--the shepherds1 would be rewarded with an eternity of joy1 and that all others would suffer eternal pain4 ,these spiritual people have always hated labor4 ,they have added nothing to the wealth of the world4 ,they have always lived on alms--on the labor of others4 ,they have always been the enemies of innocent pleasure1 and of human love4 ,these spiritual people have produced a literature4 ,the books they have written are called sacred4 ,our sacred books are called the ,bible4 ,the ,hindoos have the ,vedas and many others1 the ,persians the ,zend ,avesta--the ,egyptians had the ,book of the ,dead--the ,aztecs the ,popol ,vuh1 and the ,mohammedans have the ,koran4 ,these books1 for the most part1 treat of the unknowable4 ,they describe gods and winged phantoms of the air4 ,they give accounts of the origin of the universe1 the creation of man and the worlds beyond this4 ,they contain nothing of value4 ,millions and millions of people have wasted their lives studying these absurd and ignorant books4 ,the spiritual people in each country claimed that their books had been written by inspired men--that ,god was the real author1 and that all men and women who denied this would be1 after death1 tormented forever4 ,and yet1 the worldly people1 the uninspired1 the wicked1 have produced a far greater literature than the spiritual and the inspired4 ,not all the sacred books of the world equal ,shakespeare's volume of the brain4 ,a purer philosophy1 grander1 nobler1 fell from the lips of ,shakespeare's clowns than the ,old ,testament1 or the ,new1 contains4 ,the ,declaration of ,independence is nobler far than all the utterances from ,sinai's cloud and flame4 ,a ,man's a ,man for a' ,that1 by ,robert ,burns1 is better than anything the sacred books contain4 ,for my part1 ,i would rather hear ,beethoven's ,sixth ,symphony than to read the five books of ,moses4 ,give me the ,sixth ,symphony--this sound-wrought picture of the fields and woods1 of flowering hedge and happy home1 where thrushes build and swallows fly1 and mothers sing to babes2 this echo of the babbled lullaby of brooks that1 dallying1 wind and fall where meadows bare their daisied bosoms to the sun2 this joyous mimicry of summer rain1 the laugh of children1 and the rhythmic rustle of the whispering leaves2 this strophe of peasant life2 this perfect poem of content and love4 ,i would rather listen to ,tristan and ,isolde--that ,mississippi of melody--where the great notes1 winged like eagles1 lift the soul above the cares and griefs of this weary world--than to all the orthodox sermons ever preached4 ,i would rather look at the ,venus de ,milo than to read the ,presbyterian creed4 ,the spiritual have endeavored to civilize the world through fear and faith--by the promise of reward and the threat of pain in other worlds4 ,they taught men to hate and persecute their fellow-men4 ,in all ages they have appealed to force4 ,during all the years they have practiced fraud4 ,they have pretended to have influence with the gods--that their prayers gave rain1 sunshine and harvest--that their curses brought pestilence and famine1 and that their blessings filled the world with plenty4 ,they have subsisted on the fears their falsehoods created4 ,like poisonous vines1 they have lived on the oak of labor4 ,they have praised charity1 but they never gave4 ,they have denounced revenge1 but they never forgave4 ,whenever the spiritual have had power1 art has died1 learning has languished1 science has been despised1 liberty destroyed1 the thinkers have been imprisoned1 the intelligent and honest have been outcasts1 and the brave have been murdered4 ,the spiritual have been1 are1 and always will be the enemies of the human race4 ,for all the blessings that we now enjoy--for progress in every form1 for science and art--for all that has lengthened life1 that has conquered disease1 that has lessened pain1 for raiment1 roof and food1 for music in its highest forms--for the poetry that has ennobled and enriched our lives--for the marvellous machines now working for the world--for all this we are indebted to the worldly--to those who turned their attention to the affairs of this life4 ,they have been the only benefactors of our race4 ,,ii4 ,,and yet all of these religions--these sacred books1 these priests1 have been naturally produced4 ,from the dens and caves of savagery to the palaces of civilization men have traveled by the necessary paths and roads4 ,back of every step has been the efficient cause4 ,in the history of the world there has been no chance1 no interference from without1 nothing miraculous4 ,everything in accordance with and produced by the facts in nature4 ,we need not blame the hypocritical and cruel4 ,they thought and acted as they were compelled to think and act4 ,in all ages man has tried to account for himself and his surroundings4 ,he did the best he could4 ,he wondered why the water ran1 why the trees grew1 why the clouds floated1 why the stars shone1 why the sun and moon journeyed through the heavens4 ,he was troubled about life and death1 about darkness and dreams4 ,the seas1 the volcanoes1 the lightning and thunder1 the earthquake and cyclone1 filled him with fear4 ,behind all life and growth and motion1 and even inanimate things1 he placed a spirit--an intelligent being--a fetich1 a person1 something like himself--a god1 controlled by love and hate4 ,to him causes and effects became gods--supernatural beings4 ,the ,dawn was a maiden1 wondrously fair1 the ,sun1 a warrior and lover2 the ,night1 a serpent1 a wolf--the ,wind1 a musician2 ,winter1 a wild beast2 ,autumn1 ,proserpine gathering flowers4 ,poets were the makers of these myths4 ,they were the first to account for what they saw and felt4 ,the great multitude mistook these fancies for facts4 ,myths strangely alike1 were produced by most nations1 and gradually took possession of the world4 ,the ,sleeping ,beauty1 a myth of the year1 has been found among most peoples4 ,in this myth1 the ,earth was a maiden--the ,sun was her lover1 ,she had fallen asleep in winter4 ,her blood was still and her breath had gone4 ,in the ,spring the lover came1 clasped her in his arms1 covered her lips and cheeks with kisses4 ,she was thrilled1 her heart began to beat1 she breathed1 her blood flowed1 and she awoke to love and joy4 ,this myth has made the circuit of the globe4 ,so1 ,red ,riding-,hood is the history of a day4 ,little ,red ,riding-,hood--the morning1 touched with red1 goes to visit her kindred1 a day that is past4 ,she is attacked by the wolf of night and is rescued by the hunter1 ,apollo1 who pierces the heart of the beast with an arrow of light4 ,the beautiful myth of ,orpheus and ,eurydice is the story of the year4 ,eurydice has been captured and carried to the infernal world4 ,orpheus1 playing upon his harp1 goes after her4 ,such is the effect of his music when he reaches the realm of ,pluto1 the laughterless1 that ,tantalus ceases his efforts to slake his thirst4 ,he listens and forgets his withered lips1 the daughters of the ,danaides cease their vain efforts to fill the sieve with water1 ,sisyphus sits down on the stone that he so often had heaved against the mountain's misty side1 ,ixion pauses upon his wheel of fire1 even ,pluto smiles1 and for the first time in the history of hell the cheeks of the ,furies are wet with tears4 ,give me back ,eurydice1 cried ,orpheus1 and ,pluto said3 ,take her1 but look not back4 ,orpheus led the way and ,eurydice followed4 ,just as he reached the upper world1 he missed her footsteps1 turned1 looked1 and she vanished4 ,and thus the summer comes1 is lost1 and comes again through all the years4 ,so1 our ancestors believed in the ,garden of ,eden1 in the ,golden ,age1 in the blessed time when all were good and pure--when nature satisfied the wants of all4 ,the race1 like the old man1 has golden dreams of youth4 ,the morning was filled with light and life and joy1 and the evening is always sad4 ,when the old man was young1 girls were beautiful and men were honest4 ,he remembers his ,eden4 ,and so the whole world has had its age of gold4 ,our fathers were believers in the ,elysian ,fields4 ,they were in the far1 far ,west4 ,they saw them at the setting of the sun4 ,they saw the floating isles of gold in sapphire seas2 the templed mist with spires and domes of emerald and amethyst2 the magic caverns of the clouds1 resplendent with the rays of every gem4 ,and as they looked1 they thought the curtain had been drawn aside and that their eyes had for a moment feasted on the glories of another world4 ,the myth of the ,flood has also been universal4 ,finding shells of the seas on plain and mountain1 and everywhere some traces of the waves1 they thought the world had been submerged--that ,god in wrath had drowned the race1 except a few his mercy saved4 ,the ,hindus say that ,menu1 a holy man1 dipped from the ,ganges some water1 and in the basin saw a little fish4 ,the fish begged him to throw him back into the river1 and ,menu1 having pity1 cast him back4 ,the fish then told ,menu that there was to be a flood--told him to build an ark1 to take on board1 people1 animals and food1 and that when the flood came1 he1 the fish1 would save him4 ,the saint did as he was told1 the flood came1 the fish returned4 ,by that time he had grown to be a whale with a horn in his head4 ,about this horn ,menu fastened a rope1 attached the other end to the ark1 and the fish towed the boat across the raging waves to a mountain's top1 where it rested until the waters subsided4 ,the name of this wonderful fish was ,matsaya4 ,many other nations told similar stories of floods and arks and the sending forth of doves4 ,in all these myths and legends of the past we find philosophies and dreams and efforts1 stained with tears1 of great and tender souls who tried to pierce the mysteries of life and death1 to answer the questions of the whence and whither1 and who vainly sought with bits of shattered glass to make a mirror that would in very truth reflect the face and form of ,nature's perfect self4 ,these myths were born of hopes and fears1 of tears and smiles1 and they were touched and colored by all there is of joy and grief between the rosy dawn of birth and death's sad night4 ,they clothed even the stars with passion1 and gave to gods the faults and frailties of the sons of men4 ,in them the winds and waves were music1 and all the springs1 the mountains1 woods and perfumed dells were haunted by a thousand fairy forms4 ,they thrilled the veins of ,spring with tremulous desire1 made tawny ,summer's billowy breast the throne and home of love1 filled ,autumn's arms with sun-kissed grapes and gathered sheaves1 and pictured ,winter as a weak old king1 who felt1 like ,lear1 upon his withered face1 ,cordelia's tears4 ,these myths1 though false in fact1 are beautiful and true in thought1 and have for many ages and in countless ways enriched the heart and kindled thought4 ,,iii4 ,,in all probability the first religion was ,sun-worship4 ,nothing could have been more natural4 ,light was life and warmth and love4 ,the sun was the fireside of the world4 ,the sun was the all-seeing--the ,sky ,father4 ,darkness was grief and death1 and in the shadows crawled the serpents of despair and fear4 ,the sun was a great warrior1 fighting the hosts of ,night4 ,apollo was the sun1 and he fought and conquered the serpent of ,night4 ,agni1 the generous1 who loved the lowliest and visited the humblest1 was the sun4 ,he was the god of fire1 and the crossed sticks that by friction leaped into flame were his emblem4 ,it was said that1 in spite of his goodness1 he devoured his father and mother1 the two pieces of wood being his parents4 ,baldur was the sun4 ,he was in love with the ,dawn--a maiden--he deserted her and traveled through the heavens alone4 ,at the twilight they met1 were reconciled1 and the drops of dew were the tears of joy they shed4 ,chrishna was the sun4 ,at his birth the ,ganges thrilled from its source to the sea4 ,all the trees1 the dead as well as the living1 burst into leaf and bud and flower4 ,hercules was a sun-god4 ,jonah the same1 rescued from the fiends of ,night and carried by the fish through the under world4 ,samson was a sun-god4 ,his strength was in his hair--in his beams4 ,he was shorn of his strength by ,delilah1 the shadow--the darkness4 ,so1 ,osiris1 ,bacchus1 ,mithra1 ,hermes1 ,buddha1 ,quelzalcoatle1 ,prometheus1 ,zoroaster1 ,perseus1 ,codom ,lao-tsze ,fo-hi1 ,horus and ,rameses were all sun-gods4 ,all these gods had gods for fathers and all their mothers were virgins4 ,the births of nearly all were announced by stars4 ,when they were born there was celestial music--voices declared that a blessing had come upon the earth4 ,when ,buddha was born1 the celestial choir sang3 ,this day is born for the good of men ,buddha1 and to dispel the darkness of their ignorance--to give joy and peace to the world4 ,chrishna was born in a cave1 and protected by shepherds4 ,bacchus1 ,apollo1 ,mithra and ,hermes were all born in caves4 ,buddha was born in an inn--according to some1 under a tree4 ,tyrants sought to kill all of these gods when they were babes4 ,when ,chrishna was born1 a tyrant killed the babes of the neighborhood4 ,buddha was the child of ,maya1 a virgin1 in the kingdom of ,madura4 ,the king arrested ,maya before the child was born1 imprisoned her in a tower4 ,during the night when the child was born1 a great wind wrecked the tower1 and carried mother and child to a place of safety4 ,the next morning the king sent his soldiers to kill the babes1 and when they came to ,buddha and his mother1 the babe appeared to be about twelve years of age1 and the soldiers passed on4 ,so ,typhon sought in many ways to destroy the babe ,horus4 ,the king pursued the infant ,zoroaster4 ,cadmus tried to kill the infant ,bacchus4 ,all of these gods were born on the #beth of ,december4 ,nearly all were worshiped by wise men4 ,all of them fasted for forty days4 ,all met with a violent death4 ,all rose from the dead4 ,the history of these gods is the history of our ,christ4 ,he had a god for a father1 a virgin for a mother4 ,he was born in a manger1 or a cave--on the #b #eth of ,december4 ,his birth was announced by angels4 ,he was worshiped by wise men1 guided by a star4 ,herod1 seeking his life1 caused the death of many babes4 ,christ fasted for forty days4 ,so1 it rained for forty days before the flood--,moses was on ,mt4 ,sinai for forty days4 ,the temple had forty pillars and the ,jews wandered in the wilderness for forty years4 ,christ met with a violent death1 and rose from the dead4 ,these things are not accidents--not coincidences4 ,christ was a sun-god4 ,all religions have been born of sun-worship4 ,to-day1 when priests pray1 they shut their eyes4 ,this is a survival of sun-worship4 ,when men worshiped the sun1 they had to shut their eyes4 ,afterwards1 to flatter idols1 they pretended that the glory of their faces was more than the eyes could bear4 ,in the religion of our day there is nothing original4 ,all of its doctrines1 its symbols and ceremonies are but the survivals of creeds that perished long ago4 ,baptism is far older than ,christianity--than ,judaism4 ,the ,hindus1 the ,egyptians1 the ,greeks and ,romans had holy water4 ,the eucharist was borrowed from the ,pagans4 ,ceres was the goddess of the fields1 ,bacchus the god of the vine4 ,at the harvest festival they made cakes of wheat and said3 ,these are the flesh of the goddess4 ,they drank wine and cried3 ,this is the blood of our god4 ,the cross has been a symbol for many thousands of years4 ,it was a symbol of immortality--of life1 of the god ,agni1 the form of the grave of a man4 ,an ancient people of ,italy1 who lived long before the ,romans1 long before the ,etruscans1 so long that not one word of their language is known1 used the cross1 and beneath that emblem1 carved on stone1 their dead still rest4 ,in the forests of ,central ,america1 ruined temples have been found1 and on the walls the cross with the bleeding victim4 ,on ,babylonian cylinders is the impression of the cross4 ,the ,trinity came from ,egypt4 ,osiris1 ,isis and ,horus were worshiped thousands of years before our ,father1 ,son and ,holy ,ghost were thought of4 ,so the ,tree of ,life grew in ,india1 ,china and among the ,aztecs long before the ,garden of ,eden was planted4 ,long before our ,bible was known1 other nations had their sacred books1 temples and altars1 sacrifices1 ceremonies and priests4 ,the ,fall of ,man is far older than our religion1 and so are the ,atonement and the ,scheme of ,redemption4 ,in our blessed religion there is nothing new1 nothing original4 ,among the ,egyptians the cross was a symbol of the life to come4 ,and yet the first religion was1 and all religions growing out of that1 were naturally produced4 ,every brain was a field in which ,nature sowed the seeds of thought4 ,the rise and set of sun1 the birth and death of day1 the dawns of silver and the dusks of gold1 the wonders of the rain and snow1 the shroud of ,winter and the many colored robe of ,spring1 the lonely moon with nightly loss or gain1 the serpent lightning and the thunder's voice1 the tempest's fury and the zephyr's sigh1 the threat of storm and promise of the bow1 cathedral clouds with dome and spire1 earthquake and strange eclipse1 frost and fire1 the snow-crowned mountains with their tongues of flame1 the fields of space sown thick with stars1 the wandering comets hurrying past the fixed and sleepless sentinels of night1 the marvels of the earth and air1 the perfumed flower1 the painted wing1 the waveless pool that held within its magic breast the image of the startled face1 the mimic echo that made a record in the viewless air1 the pathless forests and the boundless seas1 the ebb and flow of tides--the slow1 deep breathing of some vague and monstrous life--the miracle of birth1 the mystery of dream and death1 and over all the silent and immeasurable dome4 ,these were the warp and woof1 and at the loom sat ,love and ,fancy1 ,hope and ,fear1 and wove the wondrous tapestries whereon we find pictures of gods and fairy lands and all the legends that were told when ,nature rocked the cradle of the infant world4 ,,iv4 ,,we must remember that there is a great difference4 ,myth is the idealization of a fact4 ,a miracle is the counterfeit of a fact4 ,there is the same difference between a myth and a miracle that there is between fiction and falsehood--between poetry and perjury4 ,miracles belong to the far past and the far future4 ,the little line of sand1 called the present1 between the seas1 belongs to common sense1 to the natural4 ,if you should tell a man that the dead were raised two thousand years ago1 he would probably say3 ,yes1 ,i know that4 ,if you should say that a hundred thousand years from now all the dead will be raised1 he might say3 ,probably they will4 ,but if you should tell him that you saw a dead man raised and given life that day1 he would likely ask the name of the insane asylum from which you had escaped4 ,our ,bible is filled with accounts of miracles and yet they always fail to convince4 ,jehovah1 according to the ,scriptures1 wrought hundreds of miracles for the benefit of the ,jews4 ,with many miracles he rescued them from slavery1 guided them on their journey with a miraculous cloud by day and a miraculous pillar of fire by night--divided the sea that they might escape from the ,egyptians1 fed them with miraculous manna and supernatural quails1 raised up hornets to attack their enemies1 caused water to follow them wherever they wandered and in countless ways manifested his power1 and yet the ,jews cared nothing for these wonders4 ,not one of them seems to have been convinced that ,jehovah had done anything for the people4 ,in spite of all these miracles1 the ,jews had more confidence in a golden calf1 made by themselves1 than in ,jehovah4 ,the reason of this is1 that the miracles were never performed1 and never invented until hundreds of years after those1 who had wandered over the desert of ,sinai1 were dust4 ,the miracles attributed to ,christ had no effect4 ,no human being seems to have been convinced by them4 ,those whom he raised from the dead1 cured of leprosy1 or blindness1 failed to become his followers4 ,not one of them appeared at his trial4 ,not one offered to bear witness of his miraculous power4 ,to this there is but one explanation3 ,the miracles were never performed4 ,these stories were the growth of centuries4 ,the casting out of devils1 the changing of water into wine1 feeding the multitude with a few loaves and fishes1 resisting the devil1 using a fish for a pocketbook1 curing the blind with clay and saliva1 stilling the tempest1 walking on the water1 the resurrection and ascension1 happened and only happened1 in the imaginations of men1 who were not born until several generations after ,christ was dead4 ,in those days the world was filled with ignorance and fear4 ,miracles happened every day4 ,the supernatural was expected4 ,gods were continually interfering with the affairs of this world4 ,everything was told except the truth1 everything believed except the facts4 ,history was a circumstantial account of occurrences that never occurred4 ,devils and goblins and ghosts were as plentiful as saints4 ,the bones of the dead were used to cure the living4 ,cemeteries were hospitals and corpses were physicians4 ,the saints practiced magic1 the pious communed with ,god in dreams1 and the course of events was changed by prayer4 ,the credulous demanded the marvelous1 the miraculous1 and the priests supplied the demand4 ,the sky was full of signs1 omens of death and disaster1 and the darkness thick with devils endeavoring to mislead and enslave the souls of men4 ,our fathers thought that everything had been made for man1 and that demons and gods gave their entire attention to this world4 ,the people believed that they were the sport and prey1 the favorites or victims1 of these phantoms4 ,and they also believed that the ,creator1 the ,god1 could be influenced by sacrifice1 by prayers and ceremonies4 ,this has been the mistake of the world4 ,all the temples have been reared1 all the altars erected1 all the sacrifices offered1 all the prayers uttered in vain4 ,no god has interfered1 no prayer has been answered1 no help received from heaven4 ,nothing was created1 nothing has happened for1 or with reference to man4 ,if not a human being lived1--if all ,were in' their graves1 the sun would continue to shine1 the wheeling world would still pursue its flight1 violets would spread their velvet bosoms to the day1 the spendthrift roses give their perfume to the air1 the climbing vines would hide with leaf and flower the fallen and the dead1 the changing seasons would come-and go1-time would repeat the poem of the year1 storms would wreck and whispering rains repair1 ,spring with deft and unseen hands would weave her robes of green1 life with countless lips would seek fair ,summer's swelling breasts1 ,autumn would reap the wealth of leaf and fruit and seed1 ,winter1 the artist1 would etch in frost the pines and ferns1 while ,wind and ,wave and ,fire1 old architects1 with ceaseless toil would still destroy and build1 still wreck and change1 and from the dust of death produce again the throb and breath of life4 ,v4 ,a ,,few years ago a few men began to think1 to investigate1 to reason4 ,they began to doubt the legends of the church1 the miracles of the past4 ,they began to notice what happened4 ,they found that eclipses came at certain intervals and that their coming could be foretold4 ,they became satisfied that the conduct of men had nothing to do with eclipses--and that the stars moved in their orbits unconscious of the sons of men4 ,galileo1 ,copernicus1 and ,kepler' destroyed the astronomy of the ,bible1 and demonstrated that the inspired story of creation could not be true1 and that the church was as ignorant as the priests were dishonest4 ,they found that the myth-makers were mistaken1 that the sun and stars did not revolve about the earth1 that the firmament was not solid1 that the earth was not flat1 and that the so-called philosophy of the theologians was absurd and idiotic4 ,the stars became witnesses against the creeds of superstition4 ,with the telescope the heavens were explored4 ,the ,new ,jerusalem could not be found4 ,it had faded away4 ,the church persecuted the astronomers and denied the facts4 ,in ,february1 in the year of grace sixteen hundred1 the ,catholic ,church1 the ,triumphant ,beast1 having in her hands1 her paws1 the keys of heaven and hell1 accused ,giordano ,bruno of having declared that there were other worlds than this4 ,he was tried1 convicted1 imprisoned in a dungeon for seven years4 ,he was offered his liberty if he would recant4 ,bruno1 the atheist1 the philosopher1 refused to stain his soul by denying what he believed to be true4 ,he was taken from his cell by the priests1 by those who loved their enemies1 led to the place of execution4 ,he was clad in a robe on which representations of devils had been painted--the devils that were soon to claim his soul4 ,he was chained to a stake and about his body the wood was piled4 ,then priests1 followers of ,christ1 lighted the fagots and flames consumed the greatest1 the most perfect martyr1 that ever suffered death4 ,and yet the ,italian agent of ,god1 the infallible ,leo ,,xiii41 only a few years ago1 denounced ,bruno1 the bravest of the brave1 as a coward4 ,the church murdered him1 and the pope maligned his memory4 ,fagot and falsehood--two weapons of the church4 ,a little while ago a few men began to examine rocks and soils1 mountains1 islands1 reefs and seas4 ,they noticed the valleys and deltas that had been formed by rivers1 the many strata of lava that had been changed to soil1 the vast deposits of metals and coal1 the immense reefs that the coral had formed1 the work of glaciers in the far past1 the production of soil by the disintegration of rock1 by the growth and decay of vegetation and the countless evidences of the countless ages through which the ,earth has passed4 ,the geologists read the history of the world written by wave and flame1 attested by fossils1 by the formation of rocks1 by mountain ranges1 by volcanoes1 by rivers1 islands1 continents and seas4 ,the geology of the ,bible--of the divinely inspired church1 of the infallible pope1 was found to be utterly false and foolish4 ,the ,earth became a witness against the creeds of superstition4 ,then came ,watt and ,galvani with the miracles of steam and electricity1 while countless inventors created the wonderful machines that do the work of the world4 ,investigation took the place of credulity4 ,men became dissatisfied with huts and rags1 with crusts and creeds4 ,they longed for the comforts1 the luxuries of life4 ,the intellectual horizon enlarged1 new truths were discovered1 old ideas were thrown aside1 the brain was developed1 the heart civilized and science was born4 ,humboldt1 ,laplace and hundreds of others explained the phenomena of nature1 called attention to the ancient and venerable mistakes of sanctified ignorance and added to the sum of knowledge4 ,darwin and ,haeckel gave their conclusions to the world4 ,men began to really think1 the myths began to fade1 the miracles to grow mean and small1 and the great structure1 known as theology1 fell with a crash4 ,science denies the truth of myth and miracle1 denies that human testimony can substantiate the miraculous1 denies the existence of the supernatural4 ,science asserts the absolute1 the unvarying uniformity of nature4 ,science insists that the present is the child of all the past1--that no power can change the past1 and that nature is forever the same4 ,the chemist has found that just so many atoms of one kind unite with just so many of another--no more1 no less1 always the same4 ,no caprice in chemistry2 no interference from without4 ,the astronomers know that the planets remain in their orbits--that their forces are constant4 ,they know that light is forever the same1 always obeying the angle of incidence1 traveling with the same rapidity1--casting the same shadow1 under the same circumstances in all worlds4 ,they know that the eclipses will occur at the times foretold--neither hastening nor delaying4 ,they know that the attraction of gravitation is always the same1 always in perfect proportion to mass and distance1 neither weaker nor stronger1 unvarying forever4 ,they know that the facts in nature cannot be changed or destroyed1 and that the qualities of all things are eternal4 ,the men of science know that the atomic integrity of the metals is always the same1 that each metal is true to its nature and that the particles cling to each other with the same tenacity1--the same force4 ,they have demonstrated the persistence of force1 that it is forever active1 forever the same1 and that it cannot be destroyed4 ,these great truths have revolutionized the thought of the world4 ,every art1 every employment1 all study1 all experiment1 the value of experience1 of judgment1 of hope1 all rest on a belief in the uniformity of nature1 on the eternal persistence and indestructibility of force4 ,break one link in the infinite chain of cause and effect1 and the ,master of ,nature appears4 ,the broken link would become the throne of a god4 ,the uniformity of ,nature denies the supernatural and demonstrates that there is no interference from without4 ,there is no place1 no office left for gods4 ,ghosts fade from the brain and the shrivelled deities fall palsied from their thrones4 ,the uniformity of ,nature renders a belief in special providence impossible4 ,prayer becomes a useless agitation of the air1 and religious ceremonies are but motions1 pantomimes1 mindless and meaningless4 ,the naked savage1 worshiping a wooden god1 is the religious equal of the robed pope kneeling before an image of the ,virgin4 ,the poor ,african who carries roots and bark to protect himself from evil spirits is on the same intellectual plane of one who sprinkles his body with holy water4 ,all the creeds of ,christendom1 all the religions of the heathen world are equally absurd4 ,the cathedral1 the mosque and the joss house have the same foundation4 ,their builders do not believe in the uniformity of ,nature1 and the business of all priests is to induce a so-called infinite being to change the order of events1 to make causes barren of effects and to produce effects without1 and in spite of1 natural causes4 ,they all believe in the unthinkable and pray for the impossible4 ,science teaches us that there was no creation and that there can be no destruction4 ,the infinite denies creation and defies destruction4 ,an infinite person1 an infinite being is an infinite impossibility4 ,to conceive of such a being is beyond the power of the mind4 ,yet all religions rest upon the supposed existence of the unthinkable1 the inconceivable4 ,and the priests of these religions pretend to be perfectly familiar with the designs1 will1 and wishes of this unthinkable1 this inconceivable4 ,science teaches that that which really is has always been1 that behind every effect is the efficient and necessary cause1 that there is in the universe neither chance nor interference1 and that energy is eternal4 ,day by day the authority of the theologian grows weaker and weaker4 ,as the people become intelligent they care less for preachers and more for teachers4 ,their confidence in knowledge1 in thought and investigation increases4 ,they are eager to know the discoveries1 the useful truths1 the important facts made1 ascertained and demonstrated by the explorers in the domain of the natural4 ,they are no longer satisfied with the platitudes of the pulpit1 and the assertions of theologians4 ,they are losing confidence in the sacred ,scriptures and in the protecting power and goodness of the supernatural4 ,they are satisfied that credulity is not a virtue and that investigation is not a crime4 ,science is the providence of man1 the worker of true miracles1 of real wonders4 ,science has read a little in ,nature's infinite book of secrecy4 ,science knows the circuits of the winds1 the courses of the stars4 ,fire is his servant1 and lightning his messenger4 ,science freed the slaves and gave liberty to their masters4 ,science taught man to enchain1 not his fellows1 but the forces of nature1 forces that have no backs to be scarred1 no limbs for chains to chill and eat1 forces that have no hearts to break1 forces that never know fatigue1 forces that shed no tears4 ,science is the great physician4 ,his touch has given sight4 ,he has made the lame to leap1 the deaf to hear1 the dumb to speak1 and in the pallid face his hand has set the rose of health4 ,science has given his beloved sleep and wrapped in happy dreams the throbbing nerves of pain4 ,science is the destroyer of disease1 builder of happy homes1 the preserver of life and love4 ,science is the teacher of every virtue1 the enemy of every vice4 ,science has given the true basis of morals1 the origin and office of conscience1 revealed the nature of obligation1 of duty1 of virtue in its highest1 noblest forms1 and has demonstrated that true happiness is the only possible good4 ,science has slain the monsters of superstition1 and destroyed the authority of inspired books4 ,science has read the records of the rocks1 records that priestcraft cannot change1 and on his wondrous scales has weighed the atom and the star4 ,science has founded the only true religion4 ,science is the only ,savior of this world4 ,,vi4 ,,for many ages religion has been tried4 ,for countless centuries man has sought for help from heaven4 ,to soften the heart of ,god1 mothers sacrificed their babes6 but the ,god did not hear1 did not see1 and did not help4 ,naked savages were devoured by beasts1 bitten by serpents1 killed by flood and frost4 ,they prayed for help1 but their ,god was deaf4 ,they built temples and altars1 employed priests and gave of their substance1 but the volcano destroyed and the famine came4 ,for the sake of ,god millions murdered their fellow-men1 but the ,god was silent4 ,millions of martyrs died for the honor of ,god1 but the ,god was blind4 ,he did not see the flames1 the scaffolds4 ,he did not hear the prayers1 the groans4 ,thousands of priests in the name of ,god tortured their fellow-men1 stretched them on racks1 crushed their feet in iron boots1 tore out their tongues1 extinguished their eyes4 ,the victims implored the protection of ,god1 but their god did not hear1 did not see4 ,he was deaf and blind4 ,he was willing that his enemies should torture his friends4 ,nations tried to destroy each other for the sake of ,god1 and the banner of the cross dripping with blood floated over a thousand fields--but the god was silent4 ,he neither knew nor cared4 ,pestilence covered the earth with dead1 the priests prayed1 the altars were heaped with sacrifices1 but the god did not see1 did not hear4 ,the miseries of the world did not lessen the joys of heaven4 ,the clouds gave no rain1 the famine came1 withered babes with pallid lips sought the breasts of dead mothers1 while starving fathers knelt and prayed1 but the god did not hear4 ,through many centuries millions were enslaved1 babes were sold from mothers1 husbands from wives1 backs were scarred with the lash4 ,the poor wretches lifted their clasped hands toward heaven and prayed for justice1 for liberty--but their god did not hear4 ,he cared nothing for the sufferings of slaves1 nothing for the tears of wives and mothers1 nothing for the agony of men4 ,he answered no prayers4 ,he broke no chains4 ,he freed no slaves4 ,the miserable wretches appealed to the priests of ,god1 but they were on the other side4 ,they defended the masters4 ,the slaves had nothing to give4 ,during all these years it was claimed by the theologians that their ,god was governing the world1 that he was infinitely powerful1 wise and good--and that the powers of the earth were ordained by him4 ,during all these years the church was the enemy of progress4 ,it hated all physicians and told the people to rely on prayer1 amulets and relics4 ,it persecuted the astronomers and geologists1 denounced them as infidels and atheists1 as enemies of the human race4 ,it poisoned the fountains of learning and insisted that teachers should distort the facts in nature to the end that they might harmonize with the inspired book4 ,during all these years the church misdirected the energies of man1 and when it reached the zenith of its power1 darkness fell upon the world4 ,in all nations and in all ages1 religion has failed4 ,the gods have never interfered4 ,nature has produced and destroyed without mercy and without hatred4 ,she has cared no more for man than for the leaves of the forest1 no more for nations than for hills of ants1 nothing for right or wrong1 for life or death1 for pain or joy4 ,man through his intelligence must protect himself4 ,he gets no help from any other world4 ,the church has always claimed and still claims that it is the only reforming power1 that it makes men honest1 virtuous and merciful1 that it prevents violence and war1 and that without its influence the race would return to barbarism4 ,nothing can exceed the absurdity of these claims4 ,if we wish to improve the condition of mankind--if we wish for nobler men and women we must develop the brain1 we must encourage thought and investigation4 ,we must convince the world that credulity is a vice1--that there is no virtue in believing without1 or against evidence1 and that the really honest man is true to himself4 ,we must fill the world with intellectual light4 ,we must applaud mental courage4 ,we must educate the children1 rescue them from ignorance and crime4 ,school-houses are the real temples1 and teachers are the true priests4 ,we must supply the wants of the mind1 satisfy the hunger of the brain4 ,the people should be familiar with the great poets1 with the tragedies of ,a,eschylus1 the dramas of ,shakespeare1 with the poetry of ,homer and ,virgil4 ,shakespeare should be taught in every school1 found in every house4 ,through photography the whole world may become acquainted with the great statues1 the great paintings1 the victories of art4 ,in this way the mind is enlarged1 the sympathies quickened1 the appreciation of the beautiful intensified1 the taste refined and the character ennobled4 ,the great novels should be read by all4 ,all should be acquainted with the men and women of fiction1 with the ideal world4 ,the imagination should be developed1 trained and strengthened4 ,superstition has degraded art and literature4 ,it gave us winged monsters1 scenes from heaven and hell1 representations of gods and devils1 sculptured the absurd and painted the impossible in the name of ,art4 ,it gave us the dreams of the insane1 the lives of fanatical saints1 accounts of miracles and wonders1 of cures wrought by the bones of the dead1 descriptions of ,paradise1 purgatory and the eternal dungeon1 discourses on baptism1 on changing wine and wafers into the the blood and flesh of ,god1 on the forgiveness of sins by priests1 on fore-ordination and accountability1 predestination and free will1 on devils1 ghosts and goblins1 the ministrations of guardian angels1 the virtue of belief and the wickedness of doubt4 ,and this was called sacred literature4 ,the church taught that those who believed1 counted beads1 mumbled prayers1 and gave their time or property for the support of the gospel were the good and that all others were traveling the broad road to eternal pain4 ,according to the theologians1 the best people1 the saints1 were dead1 and real beauty was to be found only in heaven4 ,they denounced the joys of life as husks and filthy rags1 declared that the world had been cursed1 and that it brought forth thistles and thorns because of the sins of man4 ,they regarded the earth as a kind of dock1 running out into the sea of eternity1--on which the pious waited for the ship on which they were to be transported to another world4 ,but the real poets and the real artists clung to this world1 to this life4 ,they described and represented things that exist4 ,they expressed thoughts of the brain1 emotions of the heart1 the griefs and joys1 the hope and despair of men and women4 ,they found strength and beauty on every hand4 ,they found their angels here4 ,they were true to human experience and they touched the brain and heart of the world4 ,in the tragedies and comedies of life1 in the smiles and tears1 in the ecstasies of love1 in the darkness of death1 in the dawn of hope1 they found their materials for statue and song1 for poem and painting4 ,poetry and art are the children of this world1 born and nourished here4 ,they are human4 ,they have left the winged monsters of heaven1 the malicious deformities of hell1 and have turned their attention to men and women1 to the things of this life4 ,there is a poem called ,the ,skylark1 by ,shelley1 graceful as the motions of flames4 ,another by ,robert ,burns1 called ,the ,daisy1 exquisite1 perfect as the pearl of virtue in the beautiful breast of a loving girl4 ,between this lark and this daisy1 neither above nor below1 you will find all the poetry of the world4 ,eloquence1 sublimity1 poetry and art must have the foundation of fact1 of reality4 ,imaginary worlds and beings are nothing to us4 ,at last the old creeds are becoming cruel and vulgar4 ,we now have imagination enough to put ourselves in the place of others4 ,believers in hell1 in eternal pain1 like murderers1 lack imagination4 ,the murderer has not imagination enough to see his victim dead4 ,he does not see the sightless and pathetic eyes4 ,he does not see the widow's arms about the corpse1 her lips upon the dead4 ,he does not hear the sobs of children4 ,he does not see the funeral4 ,he does not hear the clods as they fall on the coffin4 ,he does not feel the hand of arrest1 the scene of the trial is not before him4 ,he does not hear the awful verdict1 the sentence of the court1 the last words4 ,he does not see the scaffold1 nor feel about his throat the deadly noose4 ,let us develop the brain1 civilize the heart1 and give wings to the imagination4 ,,vii4 ,,if we abandon myth and miracle1 if we discard the supernatural and the scheme of redemption1 how are we to civilize the world8 ,is falsehood a reforming power8 ,is credulity the mother of virtue8 ,is there any saving grace in the impossible and absurd8 ,did wisdom perish with the dead8 ,must the civilized accept the religion of savages8 ,if we wish to reform the world we must rely on truth1 on fact1 on reason4 ,we must teach men that they are good or bad for themselves1 that others cannot be good or bad for them1 that they cannot be charged with the crimes1 or credited with the virtues of others4 ,we must discard the doctrine of the atonement1 because it is absurd and immoral4 ,we are not accountable for the sins of ,adam and the virtues of ,christ cannot be transferred to us4 ,there can be no vicarious virtue1 no vicarious vice4 ,why should the sufferings of the innocent atone for the crimes of the guilty4 ,according to the doctrine of the atonement right and wrong do not exist in the nature of things1 but in the arbitrary will of the ,infinite4 ,this is a subversion of all ideas of justice and mercy4 ,an act is good1 bad1 or indifferent1 according to its consequences4 ,no power can step between an act and its natural consequences4 ,a governor may pardon the criminal1 but the natural consequences of the crime remain untouched4 ,a god may forgive1 but the consequences of the act forgiven1 are still the same4 ,we must teach the world that the consequences of a bad action cannot be avoided1 that they are the invisible police1 the unseen avengers1 that accept no gifts1 that hear no prayers1 that no cunning can deceive4 ,we do not need the forgiveness of gods1 but of ourselves and the ones we injure4 ,restitution without repentance is far better than repentance without restitution4 ,we know nothing of any god who rewards1 punishes or forgives4 ,we must teach our fellow-men that honor comes from within1 not from without1 that honor must be earned1 that it is not alms1 that even an infinite ,god could not enrich the beggar's palm with the gem of honor4 ,teach them also that happiness is the bud1 the blossom and the fruit of good and noble actions1 that it is not the gift of any god2 that it must be earned by man--must be deserved4 ,in this world of ours there is no magic1 no sleight-of-hand1 by which consequences can be made to punish the good and reward the bad4 ,teach men not to sacrifice this world for some other1 but to turn their attention to the natural1 to the affairs of this life4 ,teach them that theology has no known foundation1 that it was born of ignorance and fear1 that it has hardened the heart1 polluted the imagination and made fiends of men4 ,theology is not for this world4 ,it is no part of real religion4 ,it has nothing to do with goodness or virtue4 ,religion does not consist in worshiping gods1 but in adding to the well-being1 the happiness of man4 ,no human being knows whether any god exists or not1 and all that has been said and written about our god1 or the gods of other people1 has no known fact for a foundation4 ,words without thoughts1 clouds without rain4 ,let us put theology out of religion4 ,church and state should be absolutely divorced4 ,priests pretend that they have been selected by1 and that they get their power from ,god4 ,kings occupy their thrones in accordance with the will of ,god4 ,the pope declares that he is the agent1 the deputy of ,god and that by right he should rule the world4 ,all these pretentions and assertions are perfectly absurd and yet they are acknowledged and believed by millions4 ,get theology out of government and kings will descend from their thrones4 ,all will admit that governments get their powers from the consent of the governed1 and that all persons in office are the servants of the people4 ,get theology out of government and chaplains will be dismissed from ,legislatures1 from ,congress1 from the army and navy4 ,get theology out of government and people will be allowed to express their honest thoughts about inspired books and superstitious creeds4 ,get theology out of government and priests will no longer steal a seventh of our time4 ,get theology out of government and the clergy will soon take their places with augurs and soothsayers1 with necromancers and medicine-men4 ,get theology out of education4 ,nothing should be taught in a school that somebody does not know4 ,there are plenty of things to be learned about this world1 about this life4 ,every child should be taught to think1 and that it is dangerous not to think4 ,children should not be taught the absurdities1 the cruelties and imbecilities of superstition4 ,no church should be allowed to control the common school1 and public money should not be divided between the hateful and warring sects4 ,the public school should be secular1 and only the useful should be taught4 ,many of our colleges are under the control of churches4 ,presidents and professors are mostly ministers of the gospel and the result is that all facts inconsistent with the creeds are either suppressed or denied4 ,only those professors who are naturally stupid or mentally dishonest can retain their places4 ,those who tell the truth1 who teach the facts1 are discharged4 ,in every college truth should be a welcome guest4 ,every professor should be a finder1 and every student a learner1 of facts4 ,theology and intellectual dishonesty go together4 ,the teacher of children should be intelligent and perfectly sincere4 ,let us get theology out of education4 ,the pious denounce the secular schools as godless4 ,they should be4 ,the sciences are all secular1 all godless4 ,theology bears the same relation to science that the black art does to chemistry1 that magic does to mathematics4 ,it is something that cannot be taught1 because it cannot be known4 ,it has no foundation in fact4 ,it neither produces1 nor accords with1 any image in the mind4 ,it is not only unknowable but unthinkable4 ,through hundreds and thousands of generations men have been discussing1 wrangling and fighting about theology4 ,no advance has been made4 ,the robed priest has only reached the point from which the savage tried to start4 ,we know that theology always has and always will make enemies4 ,it sows the seeds of hatred in families and nations4 ,it is selfish1 cruel1 revengeful and malicious4 ,it has heaven for the few and perdition for the many4 ,we now know that credulity is not a virtue and that intellectual courage is4 ,we must stop rewarding hypocrisy and bigotry4 ,we must stop persecuting the thinkers1 the investigators1 the creators of light1 the civilizers of the world4 ,,viii4 ,,will the unknown1 the mysteries of life and itiations of the mind1 forever furnish food for superstition8 ,will the gods and ghosts perish or simply retreat before the advancing hosts of science1 and continue to crouch and lurk just beyond the horizon of the known8 ,will darkness forever be the womb and mother of the supernatural8 ,a little while ago priests told peasants that the ,new ,jerusalem1 the celestial city was just above the clouds4 ,they said that its walls and domes and spires were just beyond the reach of human sight4 ,the telescope was invented and those who looked at the wilderness of stars1 saw no city1 no throne4 ,they said to the priests3 ,where is your ,new ,jerusalem8 ,the priests cheerfully and confidently replied4 ,it is just beyond where you see4 ,at one time it was believed that a race of men existed with their heads beneath their shoulders4 ,returning travelers from distant lands were asked about these wonderful people and all replied that they had not seen them4 ,oh1 said the believers in the monsters1 the men with heads beneath their shoulders live in a country that you did not visit4 ,and so the monsters lived and flourished until all the world was known4 ,we cannot know the universe4 ,we cannot travel infinite distances1 and so1 somewhere in shoreless space there will always be room for gods and ghosts1 for heavens and hells4 ,and so it may be that superstition will live and linger until the world becomes intelligent enough to build upon the foundation of the known1 to keep the imagination within the domain of the probable1 and to believe in the natural--until the supernatural shall have been demonstrated4 ,savages knew all about gods1 about heavens and hells before they knew anything about the world in which they lived4 ,they were perfectly familiar with evil spirits1 with the invisible phantoms of the air1 long before they had any true conception of themselves4 ,so1 they knew all about the origin and destiny of the human race4 ,they were absolutely certain about the problems1 the solution of which1 philosophers know1 is beyond the limitations of the mind4 ,they understood astrology1 but not astronomy1 knew something of magic1 but nothing about chemistry4 ,they were wise only as to those things about which nothing can be known4 ,the poor ,indian believed in the ,great ,spirit and saw design on every hand4--,trees were made that he might have bows and arrows1 wood for his fire and bark for his wigwam--rivers and lakes to give him fish1 wild beasts and corn that he might have food1 and the animals had skins that he might have clothes4 ,primitive peoples all reasoned in the same way1 and modern ,christians follow their example4 ,they knew but little of the world and thought that it had been made expressly for the use of man4 ,they did not know that it was mostly water1 that vast regions were locked in eternal ice and that in most countries the conditions were unfavorable to human life4 ,they knew nothing of the countless enemies of man that live unseen in water1 food and air4 ,back of the little good they knew they put gods and back of the evil1 devils4 ,they thought it of the greatest importance to gain the good will of the gods1 who alone could protect them from the devils4 ,those who worshiped these gods1 offered sacrifices1 and obeyed priests1 were considered loyal members of the tribe or community1 and those who refused to worship were regarded as enemies and traitors4 ,the believers1 in order to protect themselves from the anger of the gods1 exiled or destroyed the infidels4 ,believing as they did1 the course they pursued was natural4 ,they not only wished to protect themselves from disease and death1 from pestilence and famine in this world but the souls of their children from eternal pain in the next4 ,their gods were savages who demanded flattery and worship not only1 but the acceptance of a certain creed4 ,as long as ,christians believe in eternal punishment they will be the enemies of those who investigate and contend for the authority of reason1 of those who demand evidence1 who care nothing for the unsupported assertions of the dead or the illogical inferences of the living4 ,science always has been1 is1 and always will be modest1 thoughtful1 truthful4 ,it has but one object3 ,the ascertainment of truth4 ,it has no prejudice1 no hatred4 ,it is in the realm of the intellect and cannot be swayed or changed by passion4 ,it does not try to please ,god1 to gain heaven or avoid hell4 ,it is for this world1 for the use of man4 ,it is perfectly candid4 ,it does not try to conceal1 but to reveal4 ,it is the enemy of mystery1 of pretence and canc4 ,it does not ask people to be solemn1 but sensible4 ,it calls for and insists on the use of all the senses1 of all the faculties of the mind4 ,it does not pretend to be holy or inspired4 ,it courts investigation1 criticism and even denial4 ,it asks for the application of every test1 for trial by every standard4 ,it knows nothing of blasphemy and does not ask for the imprisonment of those who ignorantly or knowingly deny the truth4 ,the good that springs from a knowledge of the truth is the only reward it offers1 and the evil resulting from ignorance is the only punishment it threatens4 ,its effort is to reform the world through intelligence4 ,on the other hand theology is1 always has been1 and always will be1 ignorant1 arrogant1 puerile and cruel4 ,when the church had power1 hypocrisy was crowned and honesty imprisoned4 ,fraud wore the tiara and truth was a convict1 ,liberty was in chains1 ,theology has always sent the worst to heaven1 the best to hell4 ,let me give you a scene from the day of judgment4 ,christ is upon his throne1 his secretary by his side4 ,a soul appears4 ,this is what happens-- ,what is your name8 ,torquemada4 ,were you a ,christian8 ,i was4 ,did you endeavor to convert your fellow-men8 ,i did4 ,i tried to convert them by persuasion1 by preaching and praying and even by force4 ,what did you do8 ,i put the heretics in prison1 in chains4 ,i tore out their tongues1 put out their eyes1 crushed their bones1 stretched them upon racks1 roasted their feet1 and if they remained obdurate ,i flayed them alive or burned them at the stake4 ,and did you do all this for my glory8 ,yes1 all for you4 ,i wanted to save some1 ,i wanted to protect the young and the weak minded4 ,did you believe the ,bible1 the miracles--that ,i was ,god1 that ,i was born of a virgin and kept money in the mouth of a fish8 ,yes1 ,i believed it all4 ,my reason was the slave of faith4 ,well done1 good and faithful servant1 enter thou into the joys of thy ,lord4 ,i was hungry and you gave me meat1 naked and you clothed me44 ,another soul arises4 ,what is your name8 ,giordano ,bruno4 ,were you a ,christian8 ,at one time ,i was1 but for many years ,i was a philosopher1 a seeker after truth4 ,did you seek to convert your fellow-men8 ,not to ,christianity1 but to the religion of reason4 ,i tried to develop their minds1 to free them from the slavery of ignorance and superstition4 ,in my day the church taught the holiness of credulity--the virtue of unquestioning obedience1 and in your name tortured and destroyed the intelligent and courageous4 ,i did what ,i could to civilize the world1 to make men tolerant and merciful1 to soften the hearts of priests1 and banish torture from the world4 ,i expressed my honest thoughts and walked in the light of reason4 ,did you believe the ,bible1 the miracles8 ,did you believe that ,i was ,god1 that ,i was born of a virgin and that ,i suffered myself to be killed by the ,jews to appease the wrath of ,god--that is1 of myself--so that ,god could save the souls of a few8 ,no1 ,i did not4 ,i did not believe that ,god was ever born into my world1 or that ,god learned the trade of a carpenter1 or that he 'increased in knowledge1' or that he cast devils out of men1 or that his garments could cure diseases1 or that he allowed himself to be murdered1 and in the hour of death forsook himself4 ,these things ,i did not and could not believe4 ,but ,i did all the good ,i could4 ,i enlightened the ignorant1 comforted the afflicted1 defended the innocent1 divided even my poverty with the poor1 and did the best ,i could to increase the happiness of my fellow-men4 ,i was a soldier in the army of progress4--,i was arrested1 imprisoned1 tried and convicted by the church--by the ',triumphant ,beast4' ,i was burned at the stake by ignorant and heartless priests and my ashes given to the winds4 ,then ,christ1 his face growing dark1 his brows contracted with wrath1 with uplifted hands1 with half averted face1 cries or rather shrieks3 ,depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels4 ,this is the justice of ,god--the mercy of the compassionate ,christ4 ,this is the belief1 the dream and hope of the orthodox theologian--the consummation devoutly to be wished4 ,theology makes ,god a monster1 a tyrant1 a savage2 makes man a servant1 a serf1 a slave2 promises heaven to the obedient1 the meek1 the frightened1 and threatens the self-reliant with the tortures of hell4 ,it denounces reason and appeals to the passions--to hope and fear4 ,it does not answer the arguments of those who attack1 but resorts to sophistry1 falsehood and slander4 ,it is incapable of advancement4 ,it keeps its back to the sunrise1 lives on myth and miracle1 and guards with a misers care the sacred superstitions of the past4 ,in the great struggle between the supernatural and the natural1 between gods and men1 we have passed midnight4 ,all the forces of civilization1 all the facts that have been found1 all the truths that have been discovered are the allies of science--the enemies of the supernatural4 ,we need no myths1 no miracles1 no gods1 no devils4 ,,ix4 ,,for thousands of generations the myths have been taught and the miracles believed4 ,every mother was a missionary and told with loving care the falsehoods of faith to her babe4 ,the poison of superstition was in the mother's milk4 ,she was honest and affectionate and her character1 her goodness1 her smiles and kisses1 entered into1 mingled with1 and became a part of the superstition that she taught4 ,fathers1 friends and priests united with the mothers1 and the children thus taught1 became the teachers of their children and so the creeds were kept alive4 ,childhood loves the romantic1 the mysterious1 the monstrous4 ,it lives in a world where cause has nothing to do with effect1 where the fairy waves her hand and the prince appears4 ,where wish creates the thing desired and facts become the slaves of amulet and charm4 ,the individual lives the life of the race1 and the child is charmed with what the race in its infancy produced4 ,there seems to be the same difference between mistakes and facts that there is between weeds and corn4 ,mistakes seem to take care of themselves1 while the facts have to be guarded with all possible care4 ,falsehoods like weeds flourish without care4 ,weeds care nothing for soil or rain4 ,they not only ask no help but they almost defy destruction4 ,in the minds of children1 superstitions1 legends1 myths and miracles find a natural1 and in most instances a lasting home4 ,thrown aside in manhood1 forgotten or denied1 in old age they oft return and linger to the end4 ,this in part accounts for the longevity of religious lies4 ,ministers with clasped hands and uplifted eyes ask the man who is thinking for himself how he can be wicked and heartless enough to attack the religion of his mother4 ,this question is regarded by the clergy as unanswerable4 ,of course it is not to be asked by the missionaries1 of the ,hindus and the ,chinese4 ,the heathen are expected to desert the religion of their mothers as ,christ and his apostles deserted the religion of their mothers4 ,it is right for ,jews and heathen1 but not for thinkers and philosophers4 ,a cannibal was about to kill a missionary for food4 ,the missionary objected and asked the cannibal how he could be so cruel and wicked4 ,the cannibal replied that he followed the example of his mother4 ,my mother1 said he1 was good enough for me4 ,her religion is my religion4 ,the last time ,i saw her she was sitting1 propped up against a tree1 eating cold missionary4 ,but now the mother argument has mostly lost its force1 and men of mind are satisfied with nothing less than truth4 ,the phenomena of nature have been investigated and the supernatural has not been found4 ,the myths have faded from the imagination1 and of them nothing remains but the poetic4 ,the miraculous has become the absurd1 the impossible4 ,gods and phantoms have been driven from the earth and sky4 ,we are living in a natural world4 ,our fathers1 some of them1 demanded the freedom of religion4 ,we have taken another step4 ,we demand the ,religion of ,freedom4 ,o ,liberty1 thou art the god of my idolatry6 ,thou art the only deity that hateth bended knees4 ,in thy vast and unwalled temple1 beneath the roofless dome1 star-gemmed and luminous with suns1 thy worshipers stand erect6 ,they do not cringe1 or crawl1 or bend their foreheads to the earth4 ,the dust has never borne the impress of their lips4 ,upon thy altars mothers do not sacrifice their babes1 nor men their rights4 ,thou askest naught from man except the things that good men hate--the whip1 the chain1 the dungeon key4 ,thou hast no popes1 no priests1 who stand between their fellow-men and thee4 ,thou carest not for foolish forms1 or selfish prayers4 ,at thy sacred shrine hypocrisy does not bow1 virtue does not tremble1 superstition's feeble tapers do not burn1 but ,reason holds aloft her inextinguishable torch whose holy light will one day flood the world4