99,,the ,,christian ,,creed2 ,,or1 ,,what ,,it ,,is ,,blasphemy ,,to ,,deny99 ,by 99,annie ,besant99 ,,showing ,,some ,,of ,,the ,,errors1 ,,contradictions1 ,,and ,,absurdities1 ,,given ,,on ,,divine ,,authority1,,in ,,the ,,holy ,,scriptures ,,of ,,the ,,old ,,testament ,london #ahhc ,,the ,,christian ,,creed1 ,,or1 ,,what ,,it ,,is ,,blasphemy ,,to ,,deny ,a struggle has began1 which promises to be one of the fiercest that this century has seen1 between the bigots and persecutors on the one hand and the supporters of free speech on the other4 ,it appears1 then1 worth while to look closely into this ,christian creed1 which claims the right to imprison and torture men of pure life for non-belief in its tenets4 ,christianity threatens us with persecution here and damnation hereafter if we do not believe its doctrines4 8,he that believeth not shall be damned10 says ,jesus4 8,he that believeth not shall be imprisoned and pick oakum10 says ,mr4 ,justice ,north4 ,the threat of damnation would trouble us little if it stood alone--we could put off consideration of that until we arrived in the other world2 but the threat of imprisonment here is unpleasant4 ,if we are to burn for ever hereafter1 the ,christians might really allow us to enjoy ourselves here2 is their malice 7like their hell7 such a bottomless pit that an eternity of torture is not enough to fill it up8 ,let us see what we must believe on peril of damnation and ,newgate4 7#a7 ,we must believe the 8,holy ,scriptures of the ,old and ,new ,testaments to be of divine authority20 7#b7 we must believe each 8one of the persons in the ,holy ,trinity to be ,god10 while 7#c7 we also believe that there are not 8more gods than one20 7#d7 we must believe the 8,christian religion to be true20 we are strictly forbidden to publish any 8ludicrous matter relating to ,god1 ,jesus ,christ1 or the ,bible1 or the formularies of the ,church of ,england as by law established10 and are warned that we shall not be saved by our remarks being 8intended in good faith as an argument against any doctrine or opinion40 7#a7 ,we must believe the ,holy ,scriptures of the ,old and ,new ,testament to be of ,divine ,authority4 ,this first demand on our faith is a very large one1 and can only be met by refusing to read any scientific book1 to look at any geological or antiquarian collections1 to study any kind of natural knowledge2 we must erase from our memories all the facts we have learned about the world2 we must reject purity and decency of morals2 we must revert to a condition of barbarous ignorance and barbarous conduct before we can believe very many parts of the ,holy ,scriptures are of divine authority4 ,still1 as we are to be imprisoned and damned for not believing this1 we must try1 and we had better examine a little more exactly what we are to believe on divine authority4 ,only some of our imposed feats of leger-de-foi will be examined4 ,those who can accomplish these will not bungle over the rest4 ,it is of divine authority that god made 8a firmament in the midst of the waters0 and divided the waters1 putting some above it and some below1 and this firmament is 8heaven0 7,gen4 i41 #f--h74 ,this heaven has windows in it which let the rain through 7,gen4 vii41 #aa71 and when these windows are closed the rain stops 7,gen4 viii41 #b74 ,it has doors1 through which the manna was rained down on the ,israelites 7,ps4 lxxviii41 #bc1 #bd74 ,this 8sky0 is very 8strong10 as is indeed necessary remembering all it has to support above it1 and resembles 8a molten looking-glass0 7,job4 xxxvii41 #ah74 ,another reason why it should be very strong is that god has 8set0 in it the sun1 moon and stars4 ,some of the stars are large and solid1 and require a very strong setting4 ,my unbelieving reader1 you may have some difficulty in crediting all this4 ,you may argue that the sky is not strong at all1 but is only a vast space1 and that to apply the word strong to space shews gross ignorance4 ,divine authority says the sky is strong1 and if you persist in believing facts instead of the ,bible1 you will at least find ,newgate strong and its space limited4 ,you may argue that the stars are at very various distances1 and cannot all be set in one arching roof resembling a molten looking-glass2 that when it rains1 the rain is due to condensation of watery vapor within our atmosphere1 at a distance of at the most very few miles1 and not to the opening of any windows at a distance of many billions of miles2 that the firmament must be at least #e1dhj1dij1jjj1jjj miles away1 as the stars are set in it1 and the nearest fixed star is at that distance1 while the furthest is beyond calculation4 ,all these contentions of yours are facts1 ,i admit1 but they fly in the teeth of the fictions which are of divine authority2 and as ,mr4 ,justice ,north is armed with full power to vindicate the divine authority1 you had better1 if you want to keep out of gaol1 give up the facts and pretend to believe in the fictions4 ,it is of divine authority that god made grass and herb and fruit tree on the 8third day of creation10 the day before he created the sun1 two days before he made fishes and birds1 and three days before he made animals4 ,in the face of this it is a mere trifle1 my dear sceptical reader1 that no herb could yield seed1 no fruit tree could yield fruit1 without the aid of the sun4 ,it is quite true that a plant without the sun-rays can form no chlorophyll2 that without chlorophyll no starch1 no reparation nor growth of tissues can proceed4 ,what are these mere botanical facts beside the divine authority of the ,holy ,scriptures8 ,it is also true that in the study of fossils no traces of all these grasses1 herbs1 and fruit trees are found precedent to all animal life4 ,that the earliest living thing which has left a trace was an animal1 not a plant4 ,that fishes precede fruit trees in the fossilised history of the globe1 although fruit trees precede fishes in the divinely authoritative fable4 ,these geological facts must follow the botanical1 my heretic1 and you must be content to take the ,holy ,scriptures on faith1 for they are not even tales founded on fact4 ,it is of divine authority that sun1 moon1 and stars were created on the fourth day1 after the world had been in existence for three4 ,it is true that to talk of a member of a solar system like our earth as existing three days before the central sun came into being is to talk nonsense4 ,but that is of no importance if the nonsense is of divine authority4 ,it is also true that the light travelling from part of the ,milky ,way at the rate of #ahf1jjj miles per second would take #i1jjj years 7,madler7 to reach our earth1 so that if the ,holy ,scriptures are of divine authority we should be unable to see these stars1 which we nevertheless do see4 ,who would rashly put the testimony of everybody's eyes against the authority of this old book written in an unknown tongue1 by an unknown author1 at an unknown date8 ,if the stars are there1 they ought not to be1 and if we can see them we ought not to be able to do so4 ,i am not sure that they are not committing a silent and perpetual blasphemy by their very existence2 but then ,mr4 ,justice ,north cannot reach them to put them out1 odious as is the outrage they commit on the feelings of the ,christian public1 and ,i doubt if the sentence of damnation threatened by ,jesus would run in that distant spot4 ,it is of divine authority that on the #fth day of creation1 just #e1hhg years ago1 god created man1 male and female4 ,it is true that man has left his bones in the ground as a record of his existence hundreds of thousands of years ago1 although he has only existed during #e1hhg years4 ,but that was a thoughtless and irreverent action on his part1 which cannot be allowed to have any weight as compared with the divine authority of the ,holy ,scriptures4 ,men should not leave their bones about in caves and drifts as arguments for the wicked unbeliever and puzzles for the faithful soul4 ,it is of divine authority that everything was once created in two different ways1 perfectly incompatible the one with the other1 and both equally true4 ,the two stories of the creation are mutually exclusive2 but1 as they are both of divine authority1 both must be believed1 on peril of prison here and of damnation hereafter4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that the world was covered with water1 so that god was obliged to gather it away into one place to let the land appear1 which forthwith brought forth from its moist surface herb and grass and tree 7,gen4 i41 #ab71 and that the world was at the same time so dry that god could not set in it the herb and plant which he had previously made 7,gen4 ii41 #e74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that the vegetation was brought forth by the earth itself at the mere command of god3 8,let the earth bring forth grass10 etc4 7,gen4 i41 #aa74 ,it is also blasphemy to deny that 8the ,lord ,god made444 every plant of the field before it was in the earth1 and every herb of the field before it grew10 and that the reason for this creation before planting was that 8the ,lord ,god had not caused it to rain upon the earth1 and there was not a man to till the ground0 7,gen4 ii41 #e74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god made man1 the last of his works1 after the earth was clothed with vegetation1 after the seas were filled with life1 and after fowl were flying in the air1 and beasts and cattle and creeping things were roaming over the earth 7,gen i1 #aa1 #ab1 #bj--bg74 ,it is also blasphemy to deny that god made man1 the first of his works1 before any vegetation was growing on the earth1 before a single fowl of the air or a single beast of the field was made 7,gen ii41 #e1 #g1 #h1 #i1ai74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god commanded the 8waters0 to 8bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life1 and fowl that may fly above the earth0 7,gen4 i41 #bj74 ,it is also blasphemy to deny that 8out of the ground the ,lord ,god formed444 every fowl of the air0 7,gen4 ii41 #ai74 ,if wicked sceptics say that the fowl cannot have been brought forth by the waters if 8every fowl0 was formed out of the ground1 the only answer is that both these contradictory statements are of divine authority1 and 8he that believeth not shall be damned40 ,convincing1 is it not8 ,it is blasphemy to deny that man was created with woman1 in the likeness of god 7,gen4 i41 #bg1 and v41 #a1b71 and came into a world replete with life1 with fowl and every living thing1 over which god gave him dominion 7,gen4 i41 #bh74 ,it is also blasphemy to deny that man was created without woman1 and came into a world where there was no life1 and that god1 pitying his loneliness1 formed all living things in the attempt to make a help meet for the man1 and that failing in this attempt he lastly made a woman1 not with man but long afterwards 7the making and naming of all animals and birds intervening71 out of one of the man's ribs which he detached for that purpose from his skeleton while the man was asleep 7,gen4 ii41 #g1 #ah1 #ai--bb74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god gave man for food 8every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree0 7,gen4 i41 #bi71 while it is equally blasphemy to deny that the 8,lord ,god0 withheld from him as food one of the trees 7,gen4 ii41 #ag47 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god1 who is 8the truth10 said that ,adam should die 8in the day that0 he eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge 7,gen4 ii41 #g71 and it is blasphemy to deny that so far from dying in that day1 8all the days that ,adam lived were #icj years10 and that 8he begat sons and daughters0 7,gen4 iv41 #e1 #d7 long after the day on which1 unless we blaspheme and make god a liar 7#a ,john v41 #aj71 we must believe that he died4 ,it is blasphemy to deny the fable of the ,fall4 ,it is of divine authority that a talking snake persuaded ,eve to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree1 and that by eating this fruit man and woman found out that they were naked1 a sufficiently obvious fact of which they appear to have been ignorant4 ,the first result of eating the forbidden fruit was a regard for decency1 and they made some somewhat inadequate clothes out of fig leaves1 sewing them together4 ,there is no divine authority as to the implements used1 nor as to the discovery of the needles and thread which seem necessary for the sewing4 ,god who is 8a spirit0 7,john iv41 #bd7 and who is 8without body0 and 8parts0 7#a ,art of the ,church established by law7 8walked in the garden0 7,gen4 iii41 #h7 soon afterwards2 it is blasphemy to deny that god walked1 and blasphemy to assert that he has legs4 ,the method of walking without legs is not revealed to us on divine authority1 so we must believe 7literally7 without understanding4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that 8the eyes of the ,lord are in every place20 it is also blasphemy to assert that the eyes of the ,lord were in the special place wherein ,adam and his wife 8hid themselves from the presence of the ,lord ,god amongst the trees0 7,gen4 iii41 #h74 ,the only way to reconcile these contradictions is to believe that ,adam and his wife and the trees behind which they hid themselves were nowhere1 and to believe this comes perilously near the blasphemy of denying the whole story4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god cursed the serpent-- who had unfortunately lost the power of speech just at the time at which he most required it--for being the helpless tool of ,satan1 and condemned him to go on his belly and to eat dust4 ,divine authority does not say how snakes went about before this literal fall1 whether on their heads or their tails1 so that the method of their locomotion is not of faith4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god made coats of skins for ,adam and ,eve1 although coat-making seems rather a curious employment for a deity1 and scarcely as dignified as world-making4 ,we are not told what became of the animals whom god deprived of their skins for this purpose2 nor whether he killed them first4 ,if he did1 then death first entered into the world by god's immediate act4 ,as it is blasphemy to deny that death entered into the world by sin 7,rom4 v41 #ab71 it is difficult to avoid identifying god with sin1 and this1 again1 is1 ,i fear me1 blasphemy4 ,if in any other old eastern book we read about trees the eating of the fruit of which gave knowledge1 serpents which talked1 gods who walked in gardens and who made coats1 we should at once understand that we were reading old myths1 and should never dream of regarding them as a record of historical facts4 ,if we apply the same reasoning to the ,bible1 ,justice ,north will send us to pick oakum here1 and we shall be burned for ever hereafter4 ,it is blasphemy not to believe that 8,cain went out from the presence of the ,lord0 7,gen4 iv41 #af7--whom it is blasphemy to deny is everywhere present--and that god put a mark on him lest any one--there being only in existence his own family--8finding him should kill him0 7,gen4 iv41 #ae74 ,it is blasphemy not to believe that having a wife1 who was also his sister1 and who bare him a son1 he 8builded a city0 7,gen4 iv41 #ag7 for himself1 his wife and child4 ,how many houses there were in the city1 and whether each of the three inhabitants lived in a separate house1 or the trio moved from house to house1 so as to inhabit 8the city10 these things are not revealed by divine authority4 ,it is blasphemy not to believe that ,adam lived #icj years1 ,cain #iaj years1 ,methuselah #ifi years2 and that the rest of the antediluvian patriarchs lived to approximate ages4 ,it is useless to allege that such preposterous terms of life are contrary to all experience4 8,he that believeth not shall be damned40 ,it is blasphemy to deny that all the human race are descended from one man1 ,adam1 created #e1hhg years ago4 ,it is true that there was existing in ,egypt a settled government more than #aa1jjj years ago1 and as a settled government implies centuries upon centuries of political evolution1 it is hard to reconcile this fact with the declaration made on divine authority that man has only existed for about half this period4 ,egyptian antiquities are not safe subjects of study for the true believer1 and a nation which has blasphemy laws on its statute books should shut up its museums and burn its collections of ,egyptian treasures1 for each room stored with these objects is a training school for blasphemers and a standing menace to the faith of the young4 ,justice ,north should also ask that the delta of the ,mississipi should be blown up with dynamite to the depth of at least a thousand feet1 for that blasphemous ground has given up human bones1 says the blasphemer ,gliddon1 which formed parts of living men #eg1jjj years ago4 ,it is of divine authority that 8the strength of ,israel will not lie nor repent1 for he is not a man that he should repent0 7#a ,sam4 xv41 #bi74 ,it is of equally divine authority that 8it repented the ,lord that he had made man on the earth1 and it grieved him at his heart0 7,gen4 vi41 #f74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god knows all things before they take place2 that before he created man he knew what man would do1 and slew a lamb from the foundation of the world 7,rev4 xiii41 #h7 to atone for the sins not then committed1 but which man would commit in due time2 that at this same period the book of life was written containing the names of all those who were to be saved 7,rev4 xvii41 #h72 that no sin occurs that god does not himself do1 7,is4 xlv41 #g2 ,amos iii41 #f71 so that he need not have any difficulty in avoiding sin if he objects to it4 ,since it is blasphemy to deny any of these propositions1 it is a great trial to faith to believe that god repented when he saw happen the facts he fore-ordained1 and grieved over the wickedness which he caused2 yet hard as this is1 you will be damned if you do not believe it1 so you had better try to do so4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god1 8whose tender mercy is over all his works0 7,prayer-book71 said that he would destroy 8both man and beast1 and the creeping things and the fowls of the air0 7,gen4 vi41 #g74 ,we are not told what sins had been committed by the beasts and fowls and creeping things1 so that god exclaimed3 8it repenteth me that ,i have made them40 ,if the ,bible were a mere human book1 and 8the ,lord0 were a mere ordinary man1 ,i should say that he was behaving like a naughty1 passionate child1 who has lost his temper because the paper animals he has cut out very badly will not stand properly1 and who tears them up in a rage4 ,but as it is blasphemy to say this1 and blasphemy to deny that god did act exactly in the fashion that would be naughty if he were a child1 ,i can only suppose that the conduct for which a child would be put in the corner is admirable when displayed by a god4 ,out of all the wicked men there was one man1 ,noah1 who found 8grace in the eyes of the ,lord0 7,gen4 vi41 #h74 ,noah was not what ,atheists would regard as a very good man1 so far as his conduct is recorded in ,holy ,scripture4 ,in fact1 we are not told of any one good action that he committed4 ,he was a very selfish man1 for he saved himself and his family in the ark1 and left all his poor fellow-creatures to drown2 he drank so much wine that he misbehaved himself shamefully before his children 7,gen4 ix41 #ba71 and in any respectable society would have had a sack thrown over him1 and would have been carried on a stretcher to the nearest police station2 he cursed and swore at his poor grandson because his son1 the young man's father1 had told his brethren of the condition to which ,noah had reduced himself 7,gen4 ix41 #be74 ,yet1 in spite of all this disgusting misbehavior1 it is blasphemy to deny that 8,noah found grace in the eyes of the ,lord40 ,it is blasphemy to deny that in a vessel #cjj cubits long1 #ej cubits broad1 and #cj cubits high1 divided into three floors1 with only one window in it1 #a cubit square1 for purposes of light and ventilation1 and this window kept shut till nearly the end of the time 7compare ,gen4 viii41 #f71 eight persons with pairs or sevens 8of every living thing of all flesh10 lived for one year and seventeen days4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that into this floating ,black ,hole went 8of every living thing of all flesh1 two of every sort0 7,gen4 vi41 #ai71 and although only two of every sort went in1 yet of some sorts 8sevens0 went in1 8the male and his female0 7,gen4 vii41 #b71 so that two and fourteen signify the same number when the multiplication table is of faith4 ,what the number of this numerous live cargo of fowls1 of cattle1 and of every creeping thing 7,gen4 vi41 #bj7 must have been1 may be faintly imagined by the fact that there are known #f1bjj species of the 8fowls of the air0 alone4 ,as the fowls were to be taken 8by sevens10 there must have been an aviary in the ark containing #hf1hjj birds1 and some of these1 such as the eagles1 the ostriches1 and the condors would require considerable room4 ,of ,mammalia some #a1fjj species are known1 and elephants1 hippopotami1 rhinoceroses1 buffaloes1 giraffes--to take but a few instances--are fairly large1 and one might imagine--were it not blasphemy to think so-- that lions1 tigers1 pumas1 leopards1 wolves1 etc41 would not only be difficult to manage among the sevens of sheep1 goats1 and oxen1 but would also suffer from the want of exercise necessitated by their caged condition4 ,as the ark must have been packed quite closely in every division1 from floor to ceiling1 it is difficult to understand how the creatures survived their voyage1 while it is blasphemy to deny that every one of them in due time 8went forth out of the ark0 7,gen4 viii41 #ai74 ,in addition to all the living creatures1 ,noah took with him into the ark 8of all food that is eaten0 7,gen4 vi41 #ba74 ,as there could be no room for ,noah and his family to walk about distributing the food 7and it would have been scarcely safe to have left it to natural selection71 we must suppose that layers of animals and layers of food were packed alternately all through1 and even this arrangement must have given rise to some awkward complications if1 in order to save space1 a pair of caterpillars were dropped in among the cabbages packed round the noses of a pair of guinea-pigs4 ,one might almost imagine that the going forth from the ark must have been a lively ante-type of the general resurrection of the dead4 ,but yet again1 in my efforts to realise this beautiful and divinely inspired history1 ,i am almost afraid that ,i am being beguiled into blasphemy4 8,lord1 ,i 7do not7 believe4 ,help thou mine unbelief40 ,it is blasphemy to deny that #d1bcb years ago a universal flood took place1 covering 8all the high hills that were under the whole heaven0 7,gen4 vii41 #ai72 the manner in which this was done is partly explained by ,peter1 who tells us that at that time the earth was 8standing out of the water and in the water3 whereby the world that then was1 being overflowed with water1 perished0 7#b ,pet4 iii41 #e1 #f74 ,this world--half in1 half out of the water--is not any world known to history nor to science2 there is not a shadow of proof of its existence1 except that of divine authority2 such a world has nothing in common with our own globe1 a planet circling round the sun2 the solar system1 as we know it1 would have been disorganised by the sudden increase in mass of one of its members2 our globe has most certainly not been 8overflowed with water0 daring the last #e1jjj years1 for the cones built up of scori from ,mount ,etna have been undisturbed for at least #ab1jjj years4 ,if you believe the testimony of these hills1 you must believe that divine authority has blundered over the deluge2 but then1 if you think this you will be damned1 and if you say it ,justice ,north will send you to pick oakum4 ,it is of divine authority that the ark came to land upon the mountains of ,ararat 7,gen4 viii41 #d7 after its long and stormy voyage4 ,the humming-birds1 the tropical butterflies1 the monkeys and the animals of the equatorial zone must have found it rather chilly during their seven-months' stay in the region of perpetual snow1 especially as there can have been no facilities for hot-water pipes in the ark4 ,all the living things1 tropical or polar1 must have also suffered much from the difficulty of breathing on that exalted spot1 as the waters went down and the higher atmosphere regained its normal rarity4 ,but what are little difficulties of this sort to the true believer1 especially when into the scale of belief are thrown the smile of god and the approval of ,mr4 ,justice ,north8 ,it is of divine authority that ,noah sent out of the ark a dove1 which returned to him finding 8no rest for the sole of her foot10 8for the waters were on the face of the whole earth0 7,gen4 viii41 #i72 yet seven days later the same dove returned from a second excursion with 8an olive leaf pluckt off10 8in her mouth0 7v41 #aa74 ,it is1 therefore1 blasphemy to deny that an olive tree stood firm beneath the crushing weight of the tons of water which covered every high hill1 and was so little injured by its submersion of eleven months that it promptly budded out as the water left uncovered its topmost boughs4 ,it is of divine authority that 8every beast1 every creeping thing1 and every fowl1 and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth after their kinds1 went forth out of the ark0 7,gen4 viii41 #ai71 and that ,noah1 lest his god should not have had his appetite for slaughter satiated by the putrifying masses of the drowned dead1 scattered over the face of the whole earth1 took 8of every clean beast and of every clean fowl0 7v4 #bj71 and offered up his puny sacrifice by fire from the few living things left from the huge sacrifice by water4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that as the fumes of the roasting animals went up 8the ,lord smelled a sweet savor0 7v4 #ba71 and gratefully declared3 8neither will ,i again smite any more every thing living1 as ,i have done0 7v4 #ba74 ,so that god appears to have made man1 then to have repented that he made him1 then to have destroyed him1 and then to have been half sorry once more1 declaring that he would not do it again4 ,and this is the god in 8whom is no variableness1 neither shadow of turning0 7,james i41 #ag74 ,it certainly required a revelation to tell us so4 ,it is of divine authority that the 8fear0 and 8dread0 of man is on every 8beast of the earth1 and upon every fowl of the air1 upon all that moveth upon the earth1 and upon all the fishes of the sea0 7,gen4 ix41 #b74 ,this fear is not very evident in the tiger as he tears a man in pieces1 in the vulture who picks out the eyes of the dying traveller1 in the shark who snaps in twain the swimming sailor2 yet it is consoling to know that they are all trembling with dread of their prey as they swallow the toothsome morsel4 ,the 8covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh0 7,gen4 ix41 #ae7 is rather funny2 if it were not blasphemy to deny it ,i should scarcely have conceived of god entering into a covenant with1 say1 a black-beetle4 ,the covenant is not of much use to individuals apparently1 though entered into with 8every0 one of them1 for though god promises that he will not again drown them all en masse1 he gives no pledge as to drowning in detail1 and this is quite as unpleasant to the victims4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that #d1acj years ago 8the whole earth was of one language and of one speech0 7,gen4 xi41 #a71 and the whole science of philology is therefore a delusion and a snare4 ,as 8they0--the whole earth--8journeyed from the east10 they 8found a plain10 and made up their minds to build 8a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven0 7verses #b and #d74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god--who at that time appears to have known little about the laws of gravitation or the difficulty of breathing1 say1 five miles up--thought they might succeed1 and1 being omnipresent1 he changed his place1 and 8came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men builded40 ,in order to prevent the appearance of the top of the tower in heaven--heaven being above the firmament1 the firmament having the stars set in it1 and the nearest fixed star being #e1dhj1dij1jjj1jjj miles away1 so that if they had directed their tower towards this star1 and had built at the rate of ten miles a day1 it would have taken them more than #a1eja1ejd1aji years to reach heaven1 that is1 they would have had to build for #a1eja1eii1igi years onwards from the present time--god being afraid that they would storm his realm1 took the trouble to confound their language1 so that they might not understand each other's speech4 ,when we read of the ,titans trying to storm heaven1 we know that the story is a myth2 but the same fable is 8,bible truth0 in ,genesis1 and it is blasphemy to deny it1 foolish as it is4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that when ,terah was #gj years of age he begat ,abram 7,gen4 xi41 #bf71 and that he died when he was #bje years of age 7verse #cb72 it is blasphemy to deny that ,abram was #ge years old when he departed out of ,haran and went into ,canaan 7,gen4 xii41 #d1 #e72 it is blasphemy to deny that ,abram stayed in ,haran until after his father's death 7,acts vii41 #d72 that is1 it is blasphemy to deny that the #ace years of ,terah's life are of exactly the same length as the #ge years of ,abram's life4 ,anyone who believes not that #acege will be damned4 ,moral1 parents should not allow their children to learn arithmetic1 for by so doing they imperil their immortal souls1 and risk their committal to gaol by the tender mercies of ,mr4 ,justice ,north4 ,sarai1 about whose age there is some doubt1 in consequence of the great length of her husband's years1 was a very fair woman2 reckoning by ,terah's age1 she must have been at this time at least #afj years old 7supposing that she married at #ae71 but she seems to have been only #ij years of age at least #be years later 7,gen4 xvii41 #ag74 ,however1 whether she was a fair woman of #afj summers1 or a gay young thing of only #fe1 she proved to be indeed a treasure to her husband4 ,for it is of divine authority that faithful ,abraham pretended that his wife was only his sister1 and allowed ,king ,pharaoh to take her and to pay him for her 8sheep1 and oxen1 and he-asses1 and menservants1 and maidservants1 and she-asses1 and camels0 7,gen4 xii41 #af72 it is blasphemy to deny that god plagued poor innocent 8,pharaoh and his house with great plagues0 because they were deceived by his friend's shameless venality and lying1 and that when ,pharaoh discovered the fraud1 ,abram took himself off with his wife and all he had gained by her sale1 being1 as the sacred narrative naively remarks1 8very rich0 7,gen4 xiii41 #b7 after this transaction4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that 8he god is faithful that promised0 7,heb4 x41 #bc72 it is also blasphemy to deny that he god broke his promises4 ,for he promised ,abram1 over and over again1 that he would give to him as well as to his seed the land of ,canaan 7,gen4 xiii41 #ae2 xv41 #g1 #h2 xvii41 #h1 etc472 yet we find that ,abram was obliged to buy a sepulchre for his wife's corpse1 and never inherited the land at all4 ,even as far as his seed was concerned1 god broke the 8everlasting covenant0 7,gen4 xvii41 #i7 he made1 to give to 8thee and to thy seed after thee1 the land wherein thou art a stranger1 even the land of ,canaan for an everlasting possession0 7,gen4 v41 #h71 for the ,jews only possessed part of this land for a short time1 instead of for ever1 and as defined by god1 8this land1 from the river of ,egypt unto the great river1 the river ,euphrates0 7,gen4 xv41 #ah71 they never had it at all4 ,it is comforting to notice that this promise-breaking god is the same who in the person of his son declared3 8he that believeth not shall be damned for as he did not keep his word in the one case perhaps he will not do so in the other4 ,one day1 as ,abram was returning from the slaughter of some of his enemies1 a certain ,melchizedek1 named with charming appropriateness ,king of ,peace 7,heb4 vii41 #b71 went out to meet him1 and blessed him4 ,nothing is said in ,genesis to make us regard ,melchizedek as the extraordinary being that he really was2 for it is blasphemy to say that ,melchizedek was ever born1 that he had any ancestors1 that he ever died 7,heb4 vii41 #c72 like ,topsy1 8'spects he growed02 where he is now nobody knows2 he would be a most useful 8,christian antiquity10 but he is not producible4 ,on the world's stage he made but this one appearance1 8positively for the first and last time40 ,melchizedek is a type of ,jesus ,christ4 ,jesus was born2 ,melchizedek was not4 ,jesus had a mother2 ,melchizedek had none4 ,jesus had his descent from ,david2 ,melchizedek was without descent4 ,jesus died2 ,melchizedek had no end of life4 ,the correspondence between them is really striking4 ,the only similarity is that they were both without any acknowledged father1 and this peculiarity they share with many pagan heroes and with some less important folk4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that ,abram1 the 8friend of ,god10 took to himself his wife's maid1 ,hagar1 and that when this poor slave was about to bear him a child he chivalrously handed her over to her jealous mistress1 ,sarai1 saying3 8,behold1 thy maid is in her hand2 do to her as it pleaseth thee0 7,gen xvi41 #f74 ,an ordinary man1 under such circumstances1 would have had some tender1 pitiful feeling towards the mother of his unborn child2 but ,abram was a saint of ,god1 and was above all weak sentiment of that kind1 so he stood quietly by while ,sarai ill-treated the woman who had lain in his arms1 and let her flee away into the wilderness unhelped and unpitied4 ,god's angel drove poor ,hagar back to her bondage1 and after her return her son was born4 ,at this time ,abram was #hf years of age2 fourteen years later ,sarah had a son1 ,isaac1 and some time after she insisted on turning out poor ,ishmael1 with his mother1 ,hagar4 ,a sweet1 womanly creature was ,sarah4 ,abraham made no objection1 but 8rose up early in the morning0 to send off his first-born son and his mother1 and was generous enough to take 8bread and a bottle of water10 and to make this splendid present to ,hagar 8putting it on her shoulder1 and the child1 and sent her away40 8,the child0 was now about fifteen years of age1 and would have been a little heavy for poor ,hagar to carry if he had been an ordinary well-grown boy2 he was1 however1 curiously small for his age1 for we learn that when 8the water was spent in the bottle0 8she cast the child under one of the shrubs0 7,gen4 xxi41 #ae74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that ,hagar carried this big baby1 and threw him about like a toy4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that 8the ,lord0 appeared to ,abraham in the plains of ,mamre1 and that he1 with two others1 eat dressed calf1 butter and milk 7,gen4 xviii41 #a--h74 ,it is blasphemy to say that god has parts 7,art4 ,i471 but it is difficult to understand how he eat without teeth1 and swallowed without a throat2 besides1 what became of the eaten meat if there was no stomach to receive it8 ,truly1 the gate is narrow which leadeth unto life1 and narrow must be the brains that go in there through4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god1 who knows everything1 did not know what was going on in ,sodom and ,gomorrah4 ,he said3 8,because the cry of ,sodom and ,gomorrah is great1 and because their sin is very grievous1 ,i will go down now1 and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it1 which is come unto me2 and if not1 ,i will know0 7,gen4 xviii41 #bj1 #ba74 ,much faith is necessary to believe that god knew and that he did not know all at once1 but 8he that believeth not shall be damned40 ,it is blasphemy to deny that the same god who did not punish ,lot and his daughters for incest1 punished ,lot's poor wife because she committed the terrible crime of looking back towards her burning home4 ,she was turned into a 8pillar of salt0 7,gen4 xix41 #bf71 and ,jesus bids us remember her 7,luke xvii1 #cb71 but does not say why we should do so4 ,if god had forgotten her and had turned the two daughters into salt1 the family history would have been less scandalous than it is4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god 8rained upon ,sodom and ,gomorrah brimstone and fire from the ,lord out of heaven0 7,gen4 xix41 #bd74 ,heaven must be a pleasant place if it contains stores of brimstone and fire which can be rained down in this fashion4 ,action of this kind is supposed to be wicked when done by man1 but a divine ,o',donovan ,rossa is apparently held up for our admiration4 ,i have sometimes wondered whether this brimstone may not possibly have come from the lake of brimstone and fire connected with the bottomless pit 7,rev4 xx41 #aj72 if so1 it is very probable that as the earth turned round and ,sodom and ,gomorrah came opposite the bottomless pit1 so that it was above those 8towns10 god lifted the lid and let out some of the contents4 ,this view should commend itself to the religious1 as it cannot be pleasant for them to look forward to spending eternity in the close neighborhood of a celestial manufactory of dynamite4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that 8just ,lot0 7#b ,pet4 ii41 #g7 offered his two virgin daughters to satiate the lust of the crowd surrounding his house3 8let me1 ,i pray you10 said this good father1 8bring them out unto you1 and do ye to them as is good in your eyes40 ,this generous offer1 which would be vile in any one but a saint1 throws much light on his later relations with these young women4 ,the frightful crime related in ,gen4 xix41 #cj--cf1 seems to have been much approved of by god2 for we learn in ,deut4 ii41 #i and #ai1 that the ,moabites and ,ammonites were not to be molested1 for their lands were given 8unto the children of ,lot for a possession10 and the reference ,bible refers us back on this to the beautiful story in ,genesis4 ,little ,english girls are given this story to read1 and it would be blasphemous to teach them that ,lot and his daughters were criminals of the filthiest type4 ,the holy book of god says that ,lot was a 8just0 man1 and there is not a word of disapproval of his vice4 ,if it were not that all good little girls must read the ,bible1 it would be far better that they should not know that such crimes are committed at all4 ,children's thoughts should never be turned towards sexual matters in any fashion1 and they do not so turn of themselves1 and it would be one of the worst mischiefs done by the ,bible--if it were not the book of god--that it destroys this natural healthy indifference in children's minds4 ,it is not wonderful that such frightful tales of family immorality are but too often told at the assizes1 or that poor ignorant people1 believing with blind faith in the ,bible1 repeat the crime of ,lot and his daughters1 and are startled when our human laws punish peremptorily the crime which in the ,bible is blessed of god4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god plagued the innocent household of ,abimelech1 the king of ,gerar1 because ,abimelech had been deceived by the lie of ,abraham1 god's friend4 ,from the story as related in ,genesis xx4 we learn that ,abimelech took ,sarah--then over ninety years of age-- believing her to be ,abraham's sister2 next1 that finding out the trick played on him1 he gave her back to her base husband1 rebuking him in 8that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin next1 that ,sarah was ,abraham's half-sister1 although she was also his wife1 and that such marriage unions between children of the same father by different mothers are pleasing to god2 next1 that ,abraham accepted 8sheep and oxen and men-servants and women-servants0 from ,abimelech with his restored wife1 as well as 8a thousand pieces of silver10 ironically bestowed on him as her 8brother20 and1 finally1 we learn that it is blasphemy to deny that just the same sequence of events happened twice over to ,abraham1 and also happened to ,isaac his son 7,gen4 xx vi41 #g--aa71 who inherited the family untruthfulness and the family cowardice with the family property4 ,it is blasphemy for a man to say 8when he is tempted1 ,i am tempted of god2 for god cannot be tempted with evil1 neither tempteth he any man0 7,james i41 #ac74 ,yet it is blasphemy to deny that 8after these things god did tempt ,abraham 7,gen4 xxii41 #a74 ,if anybody is infidel enough to ask how a god that tempts no one could have tempted ,abraham1 the best answer is3 8,he that believeth not shall be damned40 ,perhaps ,abraham was no one1 and in that case both statements would be true4 ,everyone knows the beautiful story of ,abraham and the sacrifice of ,isaac4 ,how this noble father led his child to the slaughter2 how ,isaac meekly submitted2 how the farce went on till the lad was bound and laid on the altar1 and how god then stopped the murder1 and blessed the intending murderer for his willingness to commit the crime4 ,if anyone now tries to emulate ,abraham's faith1 he is treated as a dangerous lunatic2 but it is blasphemy to deny that that which would be murder now was virtue then4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that ,isaac was born when his father and mother were too old for his birth to be natural 7,gen4 xvii41 #ag72 in fact1 ,abraham was 8as good as dead0 and ,sarah 8was past age0 7,heb4 xi41 #aa1 #ab71 and we are told that when 8he was about an hundred years old0 8his own body0 was 8now dead0 7,rom4 iv41 #ai74 ,although it is blasphemy to assert that he was not too old at #ajj to become the father of one son1 it is also blasphemy to assert that he was too old more than #cg years later to become the father of six sons 7,gen4 xxv41 #b74 ,we are bound to believe that ,abraham was naturally capable of becoming a father when he was #hf years of age1 and when he was over #acg years of age1 but that it was only by a miracle that he was capable of becoming a father when he was #ajj years of age4 ,truly there are in the ,bible 8some things hard to be understood0 7#b ,pet4 iii41 #af74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that before ,esau and ,jacob were born god chose one as his favorite1 and declared3 8,jacob have ,i loved1 but ,esau have ,i hated0 7,rom4 ix41 #ac74 ,if anyone should carpingly allege that it was wrong to hate poor unborn ,esau before he had committed 8any good or evil0 7,rom4 ix41 #aa71 the right answer is that 8god's ways are not as our ways10 and that which would be wickedness in man is righteousness in god4 ,god loved ,jacob4 ,jacob would not give his starving brother food until he had bargained for his birthright in return 7,gen4 xxv41 #bi--cd72 but god loved ,jacob4 ,jacob cheated his blind father1 pretending to be his brother1 and deceived the old man's sense of touch1 the sense of vision having failed 7,gen4 xxvii41 #aa1 #ab1 #ae1 #af1 #bb1 #bc72 but god loved ,jacob4 ,jacob was a hypocrite1 and when he took a kid dressed to imitate venison to his father1 pretended that he had found it quickly 8because the ,lord thy god brought it to me0 7v4 #bj72 but god loved ,jacob4 ,jacob was a liar1 declaring that he was his brother ,esau 7v4 #ai1 #bd72 but god loved ,jacob4 ,jacob was a coward1 and ran away from his defrauded brother2 but god loved ,jacob4 ,jacob hated his wife 7,gen4 xxix41 #ca72 yet god loved ,jacob4 ,jacob swindled his hospitable uncle ,laban out of his flocks and herds 7,gen4 xxx41 #ca-dc72 yet god loved ,jacob4 ,jacob ran away from his uncle with his ill-gotten gains1 like a thief in the night 7,gen4 xxxi1 #bj72 yet god loved ,jacob4 ,jacob was once more a coward1 afraid of the brother he had wronged1 and sent on some of his people to get killed that he might escape 7,gen4 xxxii41 #g1 #h72 yet god loved ,jacob4 ,it is instructive to know the kind of men that god loves1 and to know that god loves a bargaining1 cheating1 hypocritical1 lying1 swindling coward4 ,as to poor ,esau1 on whom fell the awful hate of god before he was born1 he seems to have been a brave1 loving1 generous-hearted man4 ,the kindly words of the man god hated1 as he refused his cringing brother's present3 8,i have enough1 my brother2 keep that thou hast unto thyself0 7,gen4 xxxiii41 #i71 contrast forcibly with the mean1 despicable conduct of the man god loved4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god abetted pious ,jacob's frauds1 for we learn that 8god hath taken away the cattle of your father1 and given them to me0 7,gen4 xxxi41 #i71 and that in suggesting the method of fraud god reminded him of the share due to himself by the vow he had made 7,gen4 xxxi1 #ac71 the said vow being that 8of all that thou shalt give me ,i will surely give the tenth to thee0 7,gen4 xxviii41 #bb74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that the foul stories of ,tamar and ,onan1 of ,tamar and ,judah1 and of the births of ,pharez and ,zarah--the children of ,judah and his daughter-in-law --with all the details of the several events 7,gen4 xxxviii471 are of divine authority4 ,if any one but god had told the stories they would be indecent1 and the teller would be liable to prosecution under ,lord ,campbell's act4 ,out of the filthiest literature the story told in verses #bg--cj could not be paralleled1 and ,i doubt if ,holywell ,street has anything fouler on its book-shelves4 ,yet little innocent girls are given the book containing these perfectly useless and indescribable nastinesses2 and if decent people venture to criticise the book1 avoiding the parts of it only fit for pious hands1 they are liable to be sent to gaol1 and the judge accuses them of undermining morality6 ,the sooner the morality built on ,judah1 ,tamar1 and the stories of ,onan and ,pharez1 is undermined the better for decent society4 ,the story of ,joseph and ,potiphar's wife is told in the next chapter 7,gen4 xxxix71 and ,i have heard a clergyman read this story out in church without the smallest hesitation to listening men1 women1 and children4 ,christianity blunts the very commonest feelings of human decency in the minds of its followers2 and the clergy1 who deprave the minds of the young by circulating the ,holy ,book1 have the insolence to accuse unbelievers in its divinity of undermining morality6 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god blessed the ,egyptian midwives for telling a deliberate lie 7,ex4 i41 #ai1 #bj74 ,it is also blasphemy to deny that 8,lying lips are an abomination to the ,lord0 7,prov4 xii41 #bb74 ,the only deduction we can draw from these two facts1 both given on divine authority1 is that god blesses that which is an abomination to him4 ,once again we must say piously3 8,his ways are not as our ways40 ,with the second chapter of ,exodus begins the story of ,moses1 8the man of god40 ,like most of the ,bible saints1 ,moses was a great sinner from the point of view of ordinary morality4 ,he began his public career with a murder4 8,and it came to pass in those days1 when ,moses was grown1 that he went out unto his brethren and looked on their burdens2 and he spied an ,egyptian smiting an ,hebrew1 one of his brethren4 ,and he looked this way and that way1 and when he saw that there was no man1 he slew the ,egyptian and hid him in the sand0 7,ex4 ii41 #aa1 #ab74 ,the careful looking 8this way and that way0 before he interferes shows the care for his own person that characterises ,moses4 ,a man might have been moved by honest indignation to smite an oppressor4 ,the careful looking round and the hiding of the body do not impress us with a sense of the heroic4 ,after this adventure ,moses ran away from ,egypt and dwelt in ,midian1 and while looking after his father-in-law's flock1 he saw a remarkable sight1 a bush burning1 but not consumed4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god was in the 8midst of the bush0 7,ex4 iii41 #d71 and it is blasphemy to suggest1 what is nevertheless true1 that this legend of a god in the midst of a bush is a trace of the old tree-worship so common in ,eastern lands1 a worship constantly referred to later in the ,hebrew scriptures under the name of 8the grove40 ,this god who spoke to ,moses was one of the gods of the grove4 ,it is very unfortunate that the truth should be so blasphemous4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god said3 8,thou shalt not steal0 7,ex4 xx41 #ae71 and also blasphemy to deny that he commanded the ,israelites to rob the ,egyptians 7,ex4 iii41 #ba1 #bb74 ,little discrepancies of this sort must not be allowed to trouble the true believer4 ,moses did not believe what god said1 and in later times he that believeth not shall be damned4 ,but in those days god treated sceptics more mercifully1 and instead of damning ,moses god performed two miracles to convince him4 ,what a pity that ,mr4 ,foote did not live in the days of ,moses2 if his walking-stick had turned into a snake1 and then when he had caught hold of the snake's tail it had turned back into a walking-stick1 perhaps he might have become a believer4 ,it puzzles me a little1 however1 why the performance of useless and childish miracles of this sort should be admitted as proving anything4 ,if ,i go to ,maskelyne and ,cooke's ,i see much more wonderful transformations than those performed on ,mount ,horeb1 but ,i do not1 therefore1 feel inclined to worship ,mr4 ,maskelyne or to take ,mr4 ,cooke as my guide and mentor4 ,miracles are hopelessly irrelevant2 if they were all true they would prove nothing beyond the dexterity of the miracle-worker4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that the rod changed into a serpent2 yet who can believe this who tries to realise what the words mean8 a piece of wood1 of vegetable tissue1 is suddenly transformed into a snake1 into bones and muscle1 and nerve and blood1 and skin6 ,we are here in the region of fairy-tale1 not of history4 ,we may also note that when this wonderful transformation-scene was repeated before ,pharoah1 the ,egyptian jugglers proved themselves to be quite as skilful at snake-making as were ,moses and ,aaron4 ,the scene ended1 however1 with a grand effect3 for 8,aaron's rod swallowed all their rods0 7,ex4 vii41 #ab74 ,the sacred narrative does not state the result on the triumphant stick1 nor whether it showed the thickness of all the rods combined1 when it turned back again into a stick4 ,moses appears to have shared my doubts as to the point of the miracles1 for he persisted that he did not want to go1 until god1 who is without passions 7,art4 ,i47 got very angry 7,ex4 ix41 #ad74 ,at last1 he agreed to go1 and god informed him as to ,pharoah3 8,i will harden his heart1 that he shall not let the people go0 7,ex4 ix41 #ba74 ,this unhappy ,pharaoh was 8raised up0 by god in order that god's power might be manifested in tormenting him and his miserable people2 over and over again1 god 8hardened his heart10 and ,paul1 instead of being ashamed of this awful conduct actually justifies it 7see p4 #be74 ,if any human being forced a helpless creature into crime1 and then punished him for committing it1 no words of abhorrence could be found too strong to express the loathing which would fill every just and righteous heart in contemplating such conduct4 ,yet it is blasphemy to deny that the 8heavenly ,father0 behaved in this fashion towards ,pharaoh4 ,the odd little interlude which takes up vv4 #bd1 #be1 #bf of the same chapter has been a sore trouble to commentators4 ,why 8the ,lord0 tried to kill somebody1 who it was he tried to kill1 where 8the inn0 was by which he met him1 what the mutilation of her son by ,zipporah had to do with the quarrel1 all these things have been discussed and re-discussed ad nauseam4 ,students of ancient religions will find that nature-worship throws some light on the matter1 but it is blasphemous light1 and must be carefully avoided by all true believers who are anxious about the salvation of their souls4 ,it is blasphemy to say that god was known to ,abraham 8by my name ,jehovah0 7,ex4 vi41 #h72 it is also blasphemy to deny that ,abraham knew him as ,jehovah and 8called the name of the place ,jehovah-jireh0 7,gen4 xxii41 #ad74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that ,moses turned all the water in ,egypt1 the water in streams1 rivers1 ponds1 pools1 as well as all in vessels2 after all the water had been thus turned into blood1 the ,egyptian magicians turned the rest into blood 7,ex4 vii41 #ai1 #bj1 #bb74 ,this is a very remarkable miracle1 showing great skill on the part of the ,egyptians4 ,it is blasphemy to deny the historical truth and perfect accuracy of the ,biblical account of the miracles wrought by the hand of the ,lord in the land of ,egypt4 ,it is very hard work to believe1 but we must try1 for it is clear that if we go to gaol for denying them1 we shall not get out 8till we have paid the uttermost farthing0 demanded by law4 ,first1 we must believe that 8the ,lord0 kept on sending messages to ,pharaoh1 commanding him to let the people go1 while at the same time 8the ,lord hardened ,pharaoh's heart1 so that he would not let the children of ,israel go0 7,ex4 x41 #bj74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god behaved in this horribly wicked manner1 compelling ,pharaoh to refuse1 and then plaguing him and his people for the refusal2 we deserve damnation if we do not agree with ,paul1 when he writes3 8,it is not of him that willeth1 nor of him that runneth1 but of ,god that showeth mercy4 ,for the ,scripture saith unto ,pharaoh1 ,even for this same purpose have ,i raised thee up1 that ,i might show my power in thee1 and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth4 ,therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy1 and whom he will he hardeneth4 ,thou will say then unto me1 ,why doth he yet find fault1 for who hath resisted his will8 ,nay but1 ,o man1 who art thou that repliest against ,god8 ,shall the thing formed say to him that formed it3 ,why hast thou made me thus80 7,rom4 ix41 #af--bj47 ,yes1 most certainly it should so say1 if it be a living sentient thing1 capable of enjoyment and of agony4 ,no god has the right to create sentient beings1 to harden them1 and then to find fault with them and torture them for being hardened4 ,the challenge1 8,why doth he yet find fault80 is a very proper one1 and ,paul cannot answer it1 so he falls back on god's power to do as he chooses2 but the exercise of the power would be a crime1 and if it be blasphemy to say that such unutterable wickedness is criminal1 then ,i will blaspheme as long as ,i live1 rather than turn flattering courtier to a monarch more cruel than ,caligula1 a despot more tyrannical than any ,eastern potentate known to history4 ,after the duel about the water between ,moses and the ,egyptian magicians -- in which the magicians certainly shewed the greater power and dexterity--,moses and ,aaron covered the land of ,egypt with frogs 7,ex4 viii41 #f71 and again the magicians proved quite as capable4 ,exit frogs4 ,enter lice4 ,this was too much for the magicians2 8all the dust of the land became lice0 7viii41 #ag7--note this proof of spontaneous generation--so the material was lacking to the magicians1 but as they had done so well in turning the water into blood after it had all become blood already1 it is disappointing to find that they broke down at this critical period4 ,perhaps they were tired4 ,exit lice4 ,enter flies4 ,that was a very horrid plague4 ,blue-bottles everywhere4 ,they filled the cream-jugs1 they covered the joints1 they fell into the jam1 they stuck in the treacle4 ,fly-papers went up #ajj per cent1 and several gentlemen in the profession made fortunes during the rush4 8,a greater than0 these1 however1 came to the rescue3 8the ,lord0 himself 8removed the swarms of flies10 and joyful to relate1 8there remained not one0 7viii41 #ca74 ,i should like to have spent the remainder of that summer in ,egypt4 ,as day after day went on1 and not a solitary buzz was heard1 how joyfully must the maids and matrons of ,egypt have chanted in thankful chorus3 8,fly not yet60 ,pharaoh's heart remaining petrified1 an attack was made on the flocks and herds4 8,a very grievous murrain0 was sent 8upon thy cattle which is in the field1 upon the horses1 upon the asses1 upon the camels1 upon the oxen1 and upon the sheep0 7,ex4 ix41 #c74 ,and they all died4 ,between the dead frogs and the dead cattle ,egypt must have been4444 well1 let us say fragrant4 ,while they were all lying there dead1 god sent boils on them2 the object of this is not clear1 and it is a little difficult to understand how the boils flourished on cold corpses2 still the ,scriptures cannot lie1 and thus it is written4 ,with that appropriateness which shews real genius1 ,moses1 at the ,lord's command1 sprinkled 8handfuls of ashes of the furnace10 and in 8these ashes glowed their former fires10 and they caused 8a boil40 ,the next miracle is a very remarkable one4 ,forgetting that all the beasts were dead and boiled1 the ,lord said3 8,send therefore now and gather thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field2 for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field and shall not be brought home1 the hail shall come down upon them and they shall die0 7ix41 #ai74 ,some made their dead 8cattle flee into the houses10 thus showing a skill and a miracle-working power which must have made ,moses very jealous2 others left theirs in the field1 probably thinking that the boil-covered carcases were not worth the trouble of carriage4 ,down came the hail1 and smote 8all that was in the field1 both man and beast0 7ix41 #be74 ,here indeed was an exemplification1 so far as the cattle were concerned1 of the second death4 ,next came the locusts1 to 8eat the residue of that which is escaped1 which remaineth unto you from the hail0 7x41 #e74 ,as the hail 8smote every herb of the field and brake every tree of the field0 7ix41 #be71 there cannot have been much left for the locusts2 however1 they made a clean sweep of all the vegetable life in ,egypt1 8and there remained not any green thing in the trees or in the herbs of the fields0 7x41 #ae74 ,on the whole it was by a merciful dispensation of ,providence that the cattle were all dead1 and were not left to starve4 ,as all the animals were dead and there were no plants left1 the ,lord had nearly come to the end of his plagues2 so he sent 8darkness which may be felt0 for three days1 while trying to invent some more4 ,none of the ,egyptians1 we are told1 rose 8from his place for three days20 why nobody struck a light we are not told2 now-a-days we often have plagues of darkness in ,london from the fogs1 but we make shift with gas and the electric light until the sunlight returns4 ,the last miracle in ,egypt was a very wonderful one2 it was the killing for the third time of some--the first-born-- cattle4 ,the first-born of men were also slain2 but that was only for the first time1 and all men are mortal4 ,this was too much for the ,egyptians1 and they rose up to drive out the ,israelites1 the latter picking up1 as they went1 8jewels of silver1 jewels of gold1 and raiment0 7xii4 #ce71 and so robbing their unlucky hosts of the little property they had left4 ,but poor ,pharaoh was not yet safe3 8,the ,lord hardened the heart of ,pharaoh king of ,egypt1 and he pursued after the children of ,israel0 7xiv4 #h74 ,he yoked into his chariots the twice-slain horses1 and mounted his men on others of these re-revivified quadrupeds1 and galloped after the flying robbers4 ,god1 to deliver his people1 divided the sea before them1 piling up the waters on each side as a wall4 ,down along this curious and unique path plunged the men and the horses1 the latter probably thinking that one death1 more or less1 couldn't hurt them4 ,a new difficulty arose4 ,god pulled off their chariot-wheels1 and so delayed them2 and then suddenly down came the water-walls1 and the poor ,egyptians were all drowned4 ,like the flies and the locusts1 8there remained not so much as one of them0 7xiv4 #bh74 ,the horses also were drowned1 and let us hope they did not come to life again4 ,thus endeth the story of the miracles of ,egypt1 which story is part of the ,christian creed as defined by law1 and which it is blasphemy to deny4 ,after the ,lord had thrown 8the horse and his rider0 into the sea1 the children of ,israel went on into the wilderness1 and found no water for three days4 ,at the end of that time they found some 8bitter0 water1 but the ,lord showed ,moses a tree which made the water sweet4 ,genus and species not revealed to us4 ,it is very odd that1 when the ,bible mentions anything that might be practically useful1 it never gives such particulars as would enable us to repeat the experiment4 ,the next trial to our faith is the story of the manna4 ,the people might well ask3 8,what is this80 ,it was so expansible and contractile that1 when they measured it1 having 8gathered some more1 some less10 if a man gathered much he had 8nothing over1 and he that gathered little had no lack0 7,ex4 xvi41 #ag1 #ah74 ,this curious result of measuring it 8with an omer0 is1 however1 susceptible of explanation1 for we read1 in ,ex4 xvi41 #cf1 that 8an omer is the tenth part of an ephah10 whereas1 in ,ezech4 xiv41 the ephah contains 8the tenth part of an homer40 ,perhaps in measuring some of the ,jews dropped their h's4 ,the variable expansion of the manna is not its only peculiarity4 ,manna gathered on ,thursday 8bred worms and stank0 if kept till ,friday2 manna gathered on ,friday 8did not stink1 neither was there any worm therein0 on ,saturday 7xvi41 #bj and #bd74 ,the bread difficulty disposed of1 the water difficulty again came to the front1 but ,moses smote a rock1 and water came out of it 7,ex4 xvii41 #f74 ,later1 under very similar circumstances1 ,moses smote another rock with the like result 7,numb1 xx41 #aa471 and the ,lord was very angry with him1 and refused to let him enter 8the promised land40 ,it is curious that in both these cases the place was called ,meribah1 because of the complaints of the ,israelites2 but it would be blasphemy to say that two traditions of one incident have been inserted in the text4 ,soon after this a wonderful battle took place1 in which ,israel fought against ,amalek1 and 8it came to pass when ,moses held up his hand that ,israel prevailed1 and when he let down his hand ,amalek prevailed0 7,ex4 xvii41 #aa74 ,the relation of cause and effect is not clear1 but it is satisfactory to know that ,moses' hands were held up by main force until evening stopped the slaughter4 ,it is blasphemy to say that there are more gods than one 7,statute of ,will4 ,,iii471 yet it is blasphemy to deny that 8the ,lord is greater than all gods0 7,ex4 xviii41 #aa74 ,it is hard to understand how the ,lord can be greater than gods which do not exist2 nevertheless 8he that believeth not shall be damned40 ,chapters xix4 and xx4 of ,exodus can only be believed by those who have not risen above the most anthropomorphic conception of their god4 ,god is everywhere1 yet ,moses went backwards and forwards between the people and god 7xix41 #c--i74 ,god is everywhere1 yet ,moses 8brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with ,god0 7v41 #ag71 and 8the ,lord descended upon0 a particular mountain 7v4 #ah71 and 8came down upon ,mount ,sinai1 on the top of the mount0 7v4 #bj74 ,god is invisible1 one 8whom no man hath seen nor can see0 7#a ,tim4 vi41 #af71 whom 8no man hath seen at any time0 7,john ,l1 #ah72 yet he was afraid lest the people should 8break through unto the ,lord to gaze0 7,ex4 xix41 #ba71 and up the mount went 8,moses1 and ,aaron1 and ,nadab1 and ,abihu1 and seventy of the elders of ,israel2 and they saw the ,god of ,israel0 7,ex4 xxiv41 #i1 #aj74 ,god dwells 8in the light which no man can approach unto0 7#a ,tim4 vi41 #af71 and 8,god is light and in him is no darkness at all0 7#a ,john i41 #e72 yet 8,moses drew near onto the thick darkness where ,god was0 7,ex4 xx41 #ba74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that all these contradictions are true4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god1 on ,mount ,sinai1 gave commands among which we find the following revolting and immoral ones3 ,if the owner of a ,hebrew slave give the slave a wife1 and the slave goes out at the end of seven years1 8the wife and her children shall be her master's2 he shall go out by himself0 7,ex4 xxi41 #d74 ,the wife is like any other female animal2 she and her young belong to her master1 and she may be used to increase his stock4 ,if the husband and father clings to his family1 god mercifully allows him to buy the right to live with them with the price of his freedom4 ,a man may sell his daughter to be a concubine1 and if her purchaser starve her1 or let her go naked1 or does not perform his marital duty1 she may leave him 7vv4 #g--aa74 ,a man may beat his man or woman slave to death1 provided that he or she lives 8a day or two0 after the flogging1 for 8he is his money0 7vv4 #bj1 #ba71 and the loss of his valuable chattel is punishment sufficient4 ,if an ox gore a man1 the ox is to be stoned 7v4 #bh71 a form of vivisection which ,lord ,coleridge can scarcely approve2 but1 as ,paul says3 8,doth god take care for oxen80 7#a ,cor4 ix41 #i74 ,if the ox gore a slave1 the owner of the slave is to be paid for the value of his property 7v4 #cb74 ,if a thief be unable to restore the double or fourfold value1 as the case may be1 of that which he has stolen1 8then he shall be sold for his theft0 7xxii41 #c74 ,a witch is to be murdered 7v4 #bj74 ,an idolater is to be murdered 7v4 #bj74 8,the first-born of thy sons shalt thou give unto me4 ,likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen and with thy sheep0 7vv4 #bi1 #cj74 ,is it credible that by the law of ,england it should be blasphemy to deny that these horrible commands are 8of divine authority08 ,and as though to show that this book is of purely human origin1 with the mingled good and evil inseparable from all early efforts at legislation1 we read1 after the foregoing horrors the following noble and generous teaching3 8,thou shalt not raise a false report3 put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness4 ,thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil2 neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment4 ,neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause4 ,if thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray1 thou shalt surely bring it back to him again4 ,if thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden1 and wouldest forbear to help him1 thou shalt surely help with him4 ,thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in in his cause4 ,keep thee far from a false matter2 and the innocent and righteous slay thou not3 for ,i will not justify the wicked4 ,and thou shalt take no gift3 for the gift blindeth the wise1 and perverteth the words of the righteous4 ,also thou shalt not oppress a stranger3 for ye know the heart of a stranger1 seeing ye were strangers in the land of ,egypt40 7xxiii41 #a--i47 ,here we see the pen of some lofty and tender lawgiver1 who has nothing in common with the savage chief who 8breathed out threatenings and slaughter40 ,it is blasphemy to deny that the ,lord on ,mount ,sinai gave a number of frivolous commands1 about a candlestick 7,ex4 xxv41 #ca--ci7 with its snuff-dishes1 and curtains1 and hangings1 and dresses1 with their trimmings of 8a golden bell and a pomegranate1 a golden bell and a pomegranate1 upon the hem10 and 8holy ointment10 and 8perfume10 etc41 etc4 7,ex4 xxv4--xxx474 ,after the making of stars and suns it seems but poor work to give directions about 8loops10 and 8taches10 and a 8curious girdle10 fitter employment for a cabinet maker and a tailor than for a god with 8thunders and lightnings1 and a thick cloud upon the mount1 and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud40 ,while ,moses and the ,lord were discoursing on upholstery the people were getting into trouble down below1 and god1 who is 8without passions10 7,art4 #a7 felt his wrath 8wax hot against them0 7,ex4 xxxii41 #aj74 ,moses did not ask for forgiveness on the ground of god's goodness1 but he appealed to his vanity1 and reminded him that the ,egyptians would crow over him if he destroyed his own people 7xxxii41 #ab47 ,thereupon god1 who is not a man 8that he should repent0 7,numb1 xxiii41 #ai71 8repented of the evil which he thought to do0 7,ex4 xxxii41 #ad74 ,god who is 8without body0 7,art #a7 had written two tables with his 8finger0 7,ex4 xxxi41 #ah71 and these tables 8were the work of god1 and the writing was the writing of god0 7xxxii1 #af74 ,so careless was ,moses of this unique specimen that he lost his temper and broke it in pieces1 and then1 arriving at the camp1 he sent the sons of ,levi through the camp1 bidding them 8slay every man his brother1 and every man his companion1 and every man his neighbor10 and when #c1jjj men had fallen he bade the murderers3 8,consecrate yourselves to-day to the ,lord1 even every man upon his son and upon his brother1 that he may bestow a blessing upon you0 7w41 #bg--bi74 ,yet it is blasphemy to deny that this great wickedness was god-inspired4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that 8the ,lord spake unto ,moses face to face0 7,ex4 xxxiii41 #aa72 also it is blasphemy to deny that god told ,moses3 8,thou canst not see my face1 for there shall no man see me and live0 7v4 #bj1 compare with ch4 xxiv41 #aj1 #aa74 ,and while it is blasphemy to deny that god is 8without parts0 7,art #a71 it is equally blasphemy to deny that he has 8back parts0 7,ex4 xxxiii41 #bc74 ,either the ,prayer ,book or the ,bible clearly needs revision2 meanwhile it is blasphemy to deny either4 ,it is interesting to observe the fashion in which ,christians pick and choose among the commandments given 8by divine authority0 while they imprison heretics for attacking those of which they1 in their turn1 disapprove4 ,thus we have 7,ex4 xxxv41 #b1 #c73 8,six days shall work be done1 but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day1 a sabbath of rest to the ,lord2 whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death4 ,ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day40 ,the ,sabbatarians quote verse #b as a reason for shutting up all museums and art galleries on 8the ,lord's day10 and they abuse as rebels against the law of god all the liberal-minded of their own creed4 ,but they quietly ignore verse #c1 because that would cause discomfort to themselves1 and the very peers who1 in the ,house of ,lords1 vote to shut working men out of art education go home to sit over their comfortable fires1 and to wander through their own galleries wanned by a fire kindled against their god's direct command4 ,wonderful1 indeed1 are the ways of religious men6 ,the book of ,leviticus is 8of divine authority40 ,it is blasphemy to deny that a bullock1 flayed and cut into pieces and burned1 makes a sweet smell to god 7,lev4 ,l1 #e--i74 ,tastes differ4 ,also burning a goat1 with 8the fat that covereth the inwards1 and all the fat that is upon the inwards1 and the two kidneys1 and the fat that is upon them1 which is by the flanks0 7iii41 #ad1 #ae71 makes a sweet savor as it frizzles and drips4 ,the tabernacle of the congregation must have smelt like the kitchen of a dirty cook4 ,yet it is blasphemy to deny that god enjoyed it4 8,all the fat is the ,lord's0 7#af74 ,not a morsel of fat might the ,israelite eat 7#ag74 ,personally1 ,i should have been quite willing to give all the fat to the ,lord1 but some of the people probably felt envious4 ,it would be wearisome to recite all the extraordinary commands given by god in this 8third book of ,moses40 ,christians disregard them1 on the pretence that the ceremonial law is not binding on them1 yet it is blasphemy to deny that 8whosoever shall break one of these least commandments1 and shall teach men so1 he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven0 7,matt1 v41 #ai74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that the hare chews the cud 7xi41 #f72 as a matter of mere fact it does nothing of the kind4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that the locust1 the beetle1 and the grasshopper have more than four feet 7xi41 #ba--bc72 as a matter of fact they each have six4 ,it is very awkward when fact and faith clash in this numerical fashion4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that god concerns himself with the way a man cuts his beard2 8neither shalt thou10 says he1 8mar the corners of thy beard0 7xix41 #bg74 ,is it conceivable that the creator of the universe should trouble himself with such barber's work as this8 ,if such a being existed would it not rather be blasphemy to ascribe such directions to him8 ,it is blasphemy to deny that ,jahveh1 like other gods of his time1 commanded human sacrifice4 ,he says3 8,no devoted thing that a man shall devote unto the ,lord of all that he hath1 both of man and beast1 and of the field of his possession1 shall be sold or redeemed2 every devoted thing is most holy unto the ,lord4 ,none devoted which shall be devoted of men shall be redeemed1 but shall surely be put to death0 7xxvii41 #bh1 #bi74 ,this abomination is commanded by divine authority1 and he is in danger of gaol and damnation who shall honestly repudiate the detestable thing4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that ,jahveh ordained the disgusting trial of a wife suspected of infidelity which is related in ,numbers v41 #ab--ca4 ,if the 8spirit of jealousy0 come on a man1 he is to bring his wife to the priest4 8,and the priest shall take holy water in an earthern vessel2 and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take1 and put it into the water20 this delectable but dirty drink is to be swallowed by the woman1 after a charm has been repeated by the priest1 as 8an oath of cursing10 and if the woman has been unfaithful the water will have very unpleasant physical results1 while if the suspicion of her husband be false 8she shall be free40 ,this prompt way of settling matters would obviate all the expenses and formalities of a divorce court1 and if the arrangement could be extended to include unfaithful husbands1 this ,christian country would be saved much cost4 ,but though the ,christians punish other people for unbelief they are thorough infidels themselves in all practical matters4 ,they would far rather trust ,sir ,james ,hannen than dirty holy water1 when they suspect conjugal infidelity4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that ,jahveh was so passionate 7,god is without passions1 ,art4 ,i471 and so vain that he could only be restrained from smiting his people by the appeal of ,moses to his vanity3 8,then the ,egyptians shall hear it4444 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land4444 the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak1 saying3 ,because the ,lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them1 therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness0 7,numbers xiv41 #ab--af74 ,this suggestion1 most ingeniously introduced by ,moses -- who 8managed0 ,jahveh with admirable tact -- proved successful1 and 8the ,lord said1 ,i have pardoned according to thy word0 7v4 #bj74 ,yet it is blasphemy to say that god changes his purpose4 ,furthermore1 although it is blasphemy to deny that u he is faithful that promised0 7,heb4 x41 #bc71 yet we must believe that ,jahveh declared to the ,israelites1 8ye shall know my breach of promise0 7,numbers xiv41 #cd74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that ,jahveh commanded that a man who 8gathered sticks upon the sabbath day0 7xv41 #cb--cf7 should be stoned to death4 ,yet is it equally blasphemy to deny that ,jesus1 the representative and first-begotten of ,jahveh1 condemned the ,pharisees who declared that his disciples did 8that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day0 7,matt1 xii41 #b71 when they gathered corn4 ,the poor ,pharisees tried to obey the law as given by ,jahveh2 their reward was to be condemned by his son4 ,yet it is blasphemy to deny that 8,i and my ,father are one0 7,john x41 #cj74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that ,jahveh commanded the ,israelites to 8make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations1 and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a riband of blue3 and it shall be unto you for a fringe0 7,numbers xv41 #ch1 #ci74 ,it is hard to believe1 though it is blasphemy to deny1 that the 8,eternal ,spirit0 troubled himself about 8a fringe40 ,it is blasphemy to deny that there is a 8pit10 within the earth1 into which people may fall alive1 when the earth opens her mouth and swallows them up2 further1 that ,korah1 ,dathan and ,abiram1 their wives1 their sons and their little children1 were so swallowed up1 and 8went down alive into the pit1 and the earth closed upon them0 7,numb1 xvi41 #bg--cc74 ,it is blasphemy to deny that a plague so fierce that it slew #ad1gjj people in a few hours could be stopped by a man with a censer full of incense who 8stood between the dead and the living0 7xvi41 #df--di74 ,one can only suppose that the plague advanced steadily across the camp1 like a fog1 killing every person it covered4 ,thus only could a man stand between the living and the dead4 ,yet no such advancing destruction is known to history4 ,it is blasphemy to deny that a dry old rod belonging to ,aaron blossomed miraculously when eleven other dry old rods behaved in the normal fashion 7xvii41 #b--i74 ,and not only did ,aaron's rod bud and blossom1 but it also yielded almonds1 and this all in the course of one night4 ,it is blasphemy to suggest that ,moses1 ,aaron's brother1 who took the rods and who hid them 8before the ,lord in the tabernacle of witness10 quietly substituted a blooming and fruiting branch in the place of his brother's rod1 and yet this would be the explanation which would be at once suggested if a similar trick were played now-a-days4 ,but in those easy-going and credulous times very little skill was needed to impose upon a crowd ready to be deceived4 ,it is interesting to note1 in passing1 the admirable provision made by ,jahveh--through the mouth of his servant1 ,moses --for ,aaron and his family4 8,all the best of the oil1 and all the best of the wine1 and of the wheat1 the first fruits of them which they shall offer unto the ,lord1 them have ,i given thee4 ,and whatsoever is first ripe in the land1 which they shall bring unto the ,lord1 shall be thine0 7,numb1 xviii41 #ab1 #ac74 ,this claim on the part of the priesthood has never been regarded as part of that ceremonial law which has been 8done away in ,christ40 ,the story of ,balaam is one of the tests to which true faith must be submitted4 ,we learn in this that when ,balak sent to ask ,balaam to go to him that he might curse ,israel1 god at first commanded him not to go 7,numbers xxii41 #ab71 but a little later commanded him to go 7#bj74 ,god1 as we know1 never changes4 ,when ,balaam obeyed god's command and went1 8god's anger was kindled against him because he went0 7#bb71 that is because ,balaam did what god told him to do1 and 8the angel of the ,lord stood in the way for an adversary against him40 ,balaam was riding on a donkey1 and the donkey saw the angel1 though no one else did1 8and the ass turned aside out of the way40 ,again the angel placed himself in front of the donkey1 and the donkey squeezed past him1 crushing ,balaam's foot against the wall4 ,for the third time the angel confronted the donkey1 and on this occasion in a narrow place1 8where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left40 ,then the donkey tumbled down4 ,balaam was1 not unnaturally1 disturbed at his donkey's extraordinary behavior1 and he had struck her each time that she had1 as he thought1 misbehaved4 ,and now occurred a wonderful thing4 8,the ,lord opened the mouth of the ass1 and she said unto ,balaam1 ,what have ,i done unto thee1 that thou hast smitten me these three times8 ,and ,balaam said unto the ass1 ,because thou hast mocked me3 ,i would there were a sword in my hand1 for now would ,i kill thee4 ,and the ass said unto ,balaam1 ,am not ,i thine ass1 upon which thou hast ridden ever since ,i was thine unto this day8 was ,i ever wont to do so unto thee8 ,and he said1 ,nay40 ,sensible persons are expected to believe this absurd story of a conversation between a man and a donkey4 ,peter speaks of it without any expression of doubt1 saying3 8the dumb ass1 speaking with man's voice1 forbad the madness of the prophet0 7#b ,peter ii41 #af74 ,it is blasphemy to deny it2 it is madness to believe it4 ,balaam's ass stands on a level with ,mahomet's1 and only the credulous and superstitious can yield credence to the stories of either4 ,it is not worth while to delay over ,balaam's rhapsodies1 except to note their extreme inaccuracy4 8,god is not a man that he should lie0 7,numbers xxiii11 #ai72 yet 8,i1 the ,lord1 have deceived that prophet0 7,ezech4 xiv41 #i74 8,nor the son of man that he should repent0 7,numbers xxiii41 #ai72 yet 8it repented the ,lord that he had made man0 7,gen4 vi41 #f74 8,he hath not beheld iniquity in ,jacob1 neither hath he seen perverseness in ,israel0 7,numbers xxiii41 #ba72 yet1 8,i have seen this people1 and behold it is a stiff-necked people20 8how long will this people provoke me80 7,exodus xxxii41 #i1 and ,numbers xiv41 #aa74 ,this declaration is the more startling when we find ,moses-- whose acquaintance with the people was more intimate than that of ,balaam--saying3 8,remember1 and forget not1 how thou provokedst the ,lord thy ,god to wrath in the wilderness2 from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of ,egypt1 until ye came unto this place1 ye have been rebellious against the ,lord4444 ,ye have been rebellious against the ,lord from the day that ,i knew you0 7,deut4 ix41 #g and #bd74 ,it is needless to accumulate these contradictory statements1 all of which we are commanded to believe on peril of damnation4 ,immediately after ,balaam's declaration of ,israel's holiness1 we read how the people reverted to idolatry1 and how 8the anger of the ,lord was kindled against them0 7,numbers xxv41 #c74 ,some more murders were committed to pacify ,jahveh1 and he himself slew #bd1jjj by a plague4 ,in ,numbers xxxi4 we have one of the most horrible stories related even in the ,bible1 the story of the slaughter of the ,midianites4 ,jahveh sent his tribes against this unhappy race1 and1 after their usual wicked fashion1 they 8slew all the males40 ,moved1 however1 by an unwonted touch of pity1 they 8took all the women of ,midian captives1 and their little ones10 and brought them alive back to their camp4 ,moses1 ,jahveh's friend1 8was wroth with the officers of the host0 for their unworthy humanity1 and shrieked out in his rage3 8,have ye saved all the women alive80 ,and then he commanded them to 8kill every male among the little ones1 and kill every woman0 that had been married1 8but all the women children that0 were virgins 8keep alive for yourselves40 ,this bloodthirsty and loathsome command is of 8divine authority40 ,it is blasphemy to deny that it was god-given4 ,yet what of the blasphemy that ascribes an order so fiendish to 8the ,god of the spirits of all flesh80 ,these baby boys and prattling children1 kill every one2 these mothers and matrons of ,midian1 murder them one after another4 ,such is the command of ,jahveh1 who said3 8,thou shalt not kill40 ,and these fair and pure maidens1 these helpless women-children1 whose natural guardians ye have slain1 keep these for the satisfactions of your passions4 ,such is the command of ,jahveh1 who said3 8,thou shalt not commit adultery40 ,some of these fair girls were claimed as 8the ,lord's tribute10 #ceb in all4 ,these were handed over to the ,levites1 and small doubt can be felt as to their fate4 ,to add a touch of the comic to this tragic scene1 we learn that after all the fighting and the slaughter1 not one solitary ,israelite was missing1 while the ,midianitish nation1 of which not a male was left alive1 turns up again later as merrily as though it had never been destroyed1 and 8prevailed against ,israel1 and because of the ,midianites the children of ,israel made them the dens which are in the mountains1 and caves1 and strongholds0 7,judges vi41 #b74 ,the book of ,deuteronomy is awkward for the true believer1 because it is a recital of the story related in the preceding book1 and constantly contradicts the previous narrative4 ,thus ,moses commands ,israel to make no likeness or similitude of ,jahveh on the ground that when he spake to them 8out of the midst of the fire10 8ye heard the voice of the words but saw no similitude0 7,deut4 iv41 #ab72 yet turning back we read that seventy-four of them 8saw the god of ,israel1 and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone1 and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness4 ,and upon the nobles of the children of ,israel he laid not his hand3 also they saw ,god0 7,ex4 xxiv41 #aj1aa74 ,it can scarcely be pretended that when they saw a visible being with 8feet0 and a 8hand10 they 8saw no similitude40 ,in ,deut4 v41 #ae1 the reason for keeping holy the sabbath day is different from the reason given in ,ex4 xx41 #aa4 ,both of these are given as the very words of ,jahveh1 spoken from 8,horeb0 or 8,sinai40 ,one of the versions must be inaccurate1 yet it is blasphemy to deny either4 ,in ,deut4 v41 #bb1 ,moses says that after the ten commandments 8he added no more40 ,in ,exodus he added a large number of other commands 7see xx4--xxiii474 ,we learn in ,deut4 viii41 #d1 that during the forty years wasted in the wilderness 8thy raiment waxed not old upon thee40 ,this was very satisfactory for the adults1 but what happened to the growing children8 ,the raiment of a week-old baby can scarcely have been suitable to the man of forty2 did the clothes grow with the body1 and as the numbers of the people increased very much during the forty years1 were new clothes born as well as new babies8 ,if such questions are regarded as blasphemous1 ,i can only answer that they are suggested by ,moses' assertion of the remarkable durability of the raiment1 and raiment that did not become old might surely also grow and reproduce itself4 ,once begin miracle-working on old clothes1 and none can say how far it may go4 ,it is blasphemy to assert that it is wrong to swear1 for the ,bible commands3 8,thou shalt fear the ,lord thy ,god4444 and swear by his name0 7,deut4 x41 #bj74 ,it is blasphemy to assert that it is right to swear1 for the ,bible commands3 8,swear not at all0 7,matt1 v41 #cd74 ,deuteronomy xiii41 from the first verse to the last1 is a disgrace to the book in which it is contained1 and a scandal to the community which permits it to be circulated as of divine authority4 ,yet it is blasphemy to attack it and to show its horrible atrocity4 ,if a prophet or dreamer arise and try to turn away the ,hebrews from ,jahveh1 then they are told3 8,the ,lord your ,god proveth you1 to know whether ye love the ,lord your ,god0 7v4 #c74 ,yet1 although it is ,jahveh's own doing1 that unfortunate 8prophet1 or that dreamer of dreams1 shall be put to death0 7v4 #e74 ,the same fate is to befall 8thy brother1 the son of thy mother1 or thy son1 or thy daughter1 or the wife of thy bosom1 or thy friend1 which is as thine own soul0 7v4 #f71 if such try to turn any away from ,jahveh's worship2 with a refinement of cruelty1 devilish in its wickedness1 8thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death0 7v4 #i74 ,the wife1 passionately loved1 is to see her husband1 in whose bosom she has lain1 raise his hand against her1 foremost of a howling mob1 greedy for her blood4 ,the daughter is to clasp her father's knees in vain2 he must strike her down as she clings to him in her agony4 ,the trusting and trusted friend is to be betrayed to the slaughterers1 and the hand most closely grasped in love is to be the first to catch up the heavy stone and to beat out the faithful life4 ,and it is blasphemy to cry out against this horror1 but not blasphemy to ascribe its invention to the god 8whose tender mercy is over all his works40 ,the murder commenced in the family circle is to be continued in the national policy4 ,if a city of the ,hebrews reject ,jahveh1 8thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword1 destroying it utterly1 and all that is therein1 and the cattle thereof1 with the edge of the sword0 7v4 #ae72 nothing is to escape1 a burning bloodstained ruin is to be left 8for the ,lord thy ,god0 7v4 #af71 and then ,jahveh will bless his brutal servants1 who have done 8that which is right in the eyes of the ,lord thy ,god0 7v4 #ah74 ,this command is of divine authority1 and has been largely obeyed in ,christendom1 but people have fortunately become too civilised to carry it out now4 ,in ,deut4 xiv41 some of the natural history blunders of ,lev4 xi4 are repeated4 ,it is confusing1 however1 after reading in ,lev4 xi41 #ba--bc1 8these may ye eat1 of every flying creeping thing10 etc41 to find in ,deut4 xiv41 #ai1 8,every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you2 they shall not be eaten40 ,so that the ,israelites are deprived of those remarkable four-legged locusts1 beetles and grasshoppers which 8have legs above their feet40 7,do other animals carry their feet above their legs87 ,it is delightful to find ,moses speaking of a bat as a bird2 clearly in those days the schoolmaster was not abroad1 but it is hard that we should be compelled to choose between the blasphemy of speaking of the bat as a mammal1 and the falsehood of treating it as a bird4 ,a beautiful touch of generosity is to be found in v4 #ba3 8,ye shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself2 thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates1 that he may eat it2 or thou mayest sell it unto an alien40 ,the general law of warfare laid down in ,deut4 xx41 #aj--ae1 is brutal in the extreme4 ,if any foreign city ventures to defend itself against ,hebrew aggression1 and closes its gates against the invader1 then it is to be besieged1 and 8when the ,lord thy ,god hath delivered it into thine hands1 thou shalt ,smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword40 ,a yet worse fate is to be dealt out to the cities of ,palestine1 for in these 8thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth0 7v4 #af74 ,of course such method of war has nothing surprising1 when we consider the cruelty and barbarism of the ,eastern nations of which the ,hebrews were one1 but it is surprising that in the nineteenth century the bloody customs of a savage tribe should be set forth as founded on 8divine authority40 ,if possible1 still viler is the treatment of captive women2 when thou 8seest among the captives a beautiful woman1 and hast a desire unto her that thou wouldst have her to thy wife2 then thou shalt bring her home to thine house4444 and after that thou shalt4444 be her husband1 and she shall be thy wife4 ,and it shall be if thou have no delight in her10 thy passions being satisfied1 8then thou shalt let her go whither she will0 7,deut4 xxi41 #aa--ad74 ,no wonder that prostitution is rife in every ,christian city1 when this command is placed before young men's eyes as 8of divine authority40 ,similar low views are taken in ,deut4 xxiv41 #a4 ,while this degrading teaching is that of ,jahveh1 ,manu1 a mere man1 with no 8divine authority10 but with only a human heart1 taught his followers to treat every aged woman as their mother1 every young woman as their sister4 ,it is rather odd to note in passing that he is declared to be cursed who marries 8his sister1 the daughter of his father1 or the daughter of his mother0 7,deut4 xxvii41 #bb71 when we remember that ,abraham said of his wife ,sarah3 8,indeed she is my sister2 she is the daughter of my father1 but not the daughter of my mother2 and she became my wife0 7,gen4 xx41 #ab74 ,thus ,abraham1 who is so highly blessed in one part of god's word1 is cursed in another4 ,the book of ,joshua is taken up with the bloody wars of the ,israelites2 it is a mere record of savage butchery2 every page reeks with slaughter4 8,they utterly destroyed all that was in the city1 both man and woman1 young and old1 and ox1 and sheep1 and ass1 with the edge of the sword0 7,josh1 vi41 #ba74 ,this1 repeated ad nauseam1 is the book of ,joshua4 ,the tale is varied now and then with the record of absurd miracles1 as that of the falling down of the walls of ,jericho1 or the standing still of the sun and moon at the command of ,joshua4 ,from its ferocity and absurdity1 the book is beneath contempt1 yet it is of 8divine authority40 ,in the ,book of ,judges we have the record of a number of utterly unimportant victories and defeats in the history of the ,hebrew nation4 ,why should these be accepted as 8of divine authority0 any more than any corresponding history of some other equally obscure and barbarous people8 ,over the barbarous stories of ,ehud stabbing ,eglon1 with its disgusting details 7iii41 #ba1 #bb72 of ,jael murdering her guest1 in defiance of all desert laws of hospitality1 and receiving for her treachery the blessing of the ,lord1 a blessing shared only with ,mary1 the mother of ,jesus 7v4 #bd1 compare ,luke i41 #bh72 of ,gideon and of ,abimelech1 with the evil spirit sent by god 7,judges ix41 #bc72 of ,jephthah and his vow and his sacrifice of his daughter 7xi41 #bi--ci71 as ,agamemnon sacrificed ,iphigenia2 of ,samson with his absurd and brutal conduct 7xiv41 #ai2 xv41 #d1 #e2 and #ad-- #ai1 etc472 of the ,levite and his concubine1 and the foul details thereon 7xix47--what can any say of these save that such coarse and brutal stories belong to the childhood of every nation1 and that while other peoples look back on their savage history as a thing that is past1 these ,hebrew stories are preserved in perennial freshness1 and are placed as a burden on the consciences of the civilised nations of ,europe1 and1 to our shame1 are defended from criticism by the brutal laws of blasphemy invented in savage times and sanctioned in ,england to-day4 ,the books of ,samuel1 ,kings1 ,chronicles1 ,ezra and ,nehemiah are interesting for the light they throw on the growth of the ,israelitish people1 but regarded as of divine authority1 they give manifold occasion 8for the enemies of the ,lord to blaspheme40 ,thus we read how the 8ark of ,god0 was carried to battle1 and how the ,philistines were afraid1 and asked3 8,who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty ,gods80 ,but they wisely determined to try and save themselves1 and bade each other3 8,quit yourselves like men1 and fight40 ,so they overcame ,israel and his 8mighty ,gods10 and took the ark itself captive 7chap4 iv474 ,jahveh1 however1 if he could not fight the ,philistines1 was strong enough to fight their gods1 and when he was offered the hospitality of ,dagon's temple1 and was left quiet for the night1 he knocked poor ,dagon down4 ,the ,philistines put ,dagon up again1 and this so annoyed ,jahveh that on the following night he knocked ,dagon down again1 and cut off his head and 8the palms of his hands0 on the threshold4 ,after that ,jahveh performed a miniature edition of the plagues of ,egypt in the various towns to which his ark was carried1 until some clever priests hit upon the idea of putting the ark on a cart and harnessing in two milch kine1 and letting them go wherever they pleased4 ,off marched the kine to ,bethshemesh1 and there they met the fate of all the unlucky creatures that did ,jahveh any service1 for the men of ,bethshemesh took them and offered them as 8a burnt offering to the ,lord40 ,then ,jahveh broke out on the poor men of ,bethshemesh1 and killed #ej1jgj of them1 because they 7all of them87 had peeped into the ark 7chaps1 v41 vi474 ,and it is actually blasphemy to deny any detail of this absurd story4 #a ,samuel xv4 is a chapter that many a pious soul must wish blotted out from the ,old ,testament4 ,samuel1 as bloodthirsty as ,moses1 gave in 8the ,lord's0 name the horrible command3 8,go and smite ,amalek1 and utterly destroy all that they have1 and spare them not2 but slay both man and woman1 infant and suckling1 ox and sheep1 camel and ass0 7v4 #c74 ,this fiendish command was not wholly obeyed1 for ,saul saved the king1 and the best of the sheep and of the other animals4 ,thereupon ,samuel came down and cursed ,saul vigorously1 and then committed the absurdity of telling ,saul that the 8,strength of ,israel10 whose change of purpose he had just announced1 and who 8repented that he had made ,saul king0 7v4 #ce71 was 8not a man that he should repent0 7v4 #bi74 ,after this manifest untruth1 he murdered poor ,agag1 hewing him 8in pieces before the ,lord0 7v4 #cc74 ,yet it is blasphemy to deny that this tissue of bloodshed and lying is inspired by 8the spirit of truth40 ,after this the contradictions about the connexion of ,saul and ,david are of small moment4 ,in chap4 xvi41 #ah--bc1 ,david is brought to play the harp to ,saul1 and he is described as 8a mighty valiant man and a man of war10 and he became ,saul's arm or-bearer as well as musician4 ,in the next chapter ,david leaves him 7v4 #ae7 and goes back to feed his father's sheep1 when a war breaks out2 a curious proceeding for a 8mighty valiant man40 ,six weeks later ,david carries some food to his brethren in the camp1 and hearing the ,philistine giant ,goliath utter a challenge1 he offers to go and fight him4 ,saul points out to the man who six weeks before was 8mighty valiant0 and 8a man of war10 that he could not fight the ,philistine1 for he was 8but a youth10 while ,goliath was 8a man of war from his youth40 ,david then relates the story of a struggle he had with a curious composite animal1 a 8lion and a bear10 who stole a lamb1 and 8,i went out after him and smote him1 and delivered it out of his mouth1 and when he arose against me ,i caught him by the beard and slew him40 ,saul then put his armor on him1 but the former armor-bearer and man of war had forgotten how to use armor1 and refused to wear it4 ,he then killed the ,philistine1 and ,saul1 in whose court he had lived six weeks before1 and who 8loved him greatly0 7xvi41 #ba71 asked one of his captains who he was1 and bade him 8inquire whose son the stripling is0 7xvii41 #ee1 #ef74 ,we can only understand the king's loss of memory when we think how much changed ,david was2 the 8man of war0 had become a 8stripling10 the 8mighty valiant man10 the armor-bearer1 had changed into a 8youth0 who could not wear armor4 ,no wonder poor ,saul was puzzled1 and if he could not understand it when he was on the spot1 how cruel to threaten us with imprisonment and damnation if we blunder about it #c1jjj years afterwards4 ,almost immediately after ,david is playing away on his harp 8as at other times0 7xviii41 #aj74 ,the bloodthirsty1 treacherous1 profligate character of ,david is so well known that ,i will not deal with it here1 further than to call attention to the fact that this deep-dyed criminal was the man 8after ,god's own heart10 the man who 8did that which was right in the eyes of the ,lord1 and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life1 save only in the matter of ,uriah the ,hittite0 7#a ,kings xv41 #e74 ,there is one grave difficulty of identity that meets us here which we must not overlook4 ,in #a ,sam4 xxiv1 #a1 we read3 8,the anger of the ,lord was kindled against ,israel1 and he moved ,david against them to say3 go number ,israel and ,judah40 ,in #a ,chron4 xxi41 #a1 we read3 8,and ,satan stood up against ,israel1 and provoked ,david to number ,israel40 ,are 8,god0 and 8,satan0 convertible terms8 ,it is clearly blasphemy to say that they are not1 since the above verses prove that they are1 yet ,i fancy it must be blasphemy to say that they are4 ,the barbaric magnificence of the temple built by ,solomon is fully described in #a ,kings vi4--viii41 and we are bound to believe that ,solomon offered up #bb1jjj oxen and #abj1jjj sheep6 ,it would scarcely have been possible for him to have killed more than one animal in five minutes1 for each corpse would have to be dragged away to make room for the next1 and this is supposing that others prepared the dead animals for sacrifice4 ,yet at this rapid rate1 without stopping for food or rest or sleep1 it would have taken ,solomon #aa1hcc hours and #ae minutes to complete his task1 or #dic days4 ,as he must have stopped for food and sleep we may double this time1 and a pleasant #b #c_/d years poor ,solomon must have passed4 ,numberless contradictions may be found in these historical books1 but ,i pass over them all at present1 as well as over the succeeding books until we come to the prophets1 for to these ,i must devote the remainder of the space allotted to this part of my subject4 ,we may note in passing the ludicrous absurdity of the headings1 8reciprocal love of ,christ and his ,church10 etc41 put by commentators over the sensual and suggestive descriptions of male and female beauty in the amorous 8,song of ,solomon40 ,isaiah is by far the finest and least objectionable of the seventeen prophets whose supposed productions form the latter part of the ,old ,testament4 ,a distinctly higher moral tone appears in the writings called by his name1 and this is especially noticeable in the 8second ,isaiah10 who wrote after the ,babylonish captivity4 ,there is also much fine imagery and poetic feeling1 and a distinct effort to raise the people above the brutal savagery of animal sacrifice to the recognition that justice and right-doing are more acceptable to ,jahveh than dead animals4 ,jahveh himself has wonderfully altered1 and though there are many traces of the savage ,mosaic deity1 the prevailing thought is of the 8,high and lofty ,one that inhabiteth eternity1 whose ,name is ,holy0 7,is4 lvii41 #ae74 ,it seems strange1 after reading some of the more beautiful passages1 to suddenly come upon such a passage as that in chapter xxxiv41 #f--h4 ,yet all are equally inspired1 and must be equally accepted as divine4 ,it is hard to imagine that the coarse indecency of chapter xxxvi41 #ab1 is dictated by 8a ,god of purity40 ,nor is it easy to see what good ,isaiah did by walking about 8naked and barefoot0 7chap4 xx41 #b1c74 ,the completeness of the nakedness is not left in doubt 7v4 #d74 ,in any civilised community ,isaiah would have been taken up by the police4 ,a fresh difficulty is thrown in the believer's way by the statement3 8,the grave cannot praise thee2 death cannot celebrate thee2 they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth0 7chap4 xxxviii41 #ah74 ,it is therefore blasphemy to say that there is any 8hope0 for the dead4 ,yet it is equally blasphemy to deny that the dead have hope of resurrection4 ,jeremiah is a most melancholy prophet4 ,he wails from beginning to end2 he is often childish1 is rarely indecent1 and although it may be blasphemy to say so1 he and his 8,lamentations0 are really not worth reading4 ,ezekiel is both childish and obscene in the grossest sense4 ,i can fancy how ,sir ,w4 ,v4 ,harcourt would characterise ,ezekiel if he were not protected by law4 ,in the first chapter we are introduced to a wonderful chariot1 borne by four living creatures1 each of whom had four wings and four faces1 and four sides1 and they had a 8likeness0 which was separate from them1 for 8it went up and down among the living creatures0 7chap4 i41 #ah72 and the chariot had four wheels1 or perhaps eight1 for there was 8as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel0 7v4 #af72 these wheels 8went upon their four sides0 7v4 #ag71 which must have been very awkward1 and they were full of eyes--what do wheels do with eyes8-- and were 8so high that they were dreadful0 7v4 #ah72 on the top of this conglomeration of four-faced creatures and eyed wheels was a firmament1 and on the firmament a throne1 and on the throne a man1 amber-colored1 and fire enwrapped1 and the man was 8the ,lord40 ,and it is blasphemy to deny the truth of this unintelligible jargon of absurdities4 ,then this man converses with ,ezekiel1 and 8a hand0--apparently minus an arm and a body--brings a book 7chap4 ii41 #i71 and ,ezekiel eats this 8roll0 7chap4 iii41 #a--c71 a very indigestible one1 #a should fancy4 ,then ,ezekiel takes a tile1 and sketches a town on it1 and pretends to besiege the tile1 and sticks up an iron pan which he makes believe is an iron wall1 and then he lies before it1 making a fort and a mount1 and bringing battering rams to bear on his old brickbat 7chap4 iv41 #a--d74 ,and it is blasphemy not to believe that this midsummer madness was god-inspired4 ,the remainder of his conduct 7w4 #i--ae7 is too disgusting to mention1 and as we are not protected1 to print it would bring us under ,lord ,campbell's ,act4 ,the same remark applies to the unutterable nastiness of chaps1 xvi4 and xxiii4 ,and this is in a book put into the hands of little boys and girls1 without one protest from the ,home ,secretary4 ,after all this we are not surprised to read 8the spirit0 lifted ,ezekiel up in the air1 8the form of a hand0 taking him 8by a lock of mine head0 7chap4 viii41 #c74 ,when we read that ,gabriel lifted ,mahomet in this manner1 we say it is an impudent fraud2 when we read it of ,ezekiel it is 8the very truth of ,god40 ,the book of ,daniel has been so utterly destroyed by criticism that it would be wasted time to dwell upon it4 ,yet this book is kept as one of the 8prophets10 although it has been proved to demonstration that the pretended prophecies were written after the event4 ,the 8minor prophets0 deserve a pamphlet to themselves1 so full of absurdities are they4 ,hosea1 judging by chap4 i41 #b1 #c1 and iv41 #a1 #b1 must have been a man of very indifferent character4 ,his writings have the two characteristics of the minor prophets1 indecency and maniacal raving2 sexual vice is played upon in a manner that is wearisomely disgusting 7see v41 #a--ac2 iv41 #ab--ad2 v41 #c1 #d2 vi41 #aj1 etc41 etc474 ,amos tells us how 8the ,lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline1 with a plumbline in his hand4 ,and the ,lord said unto me1 ,amos1 what seest thou8 ,and ,i said1 a plumbline0 7chap4 vii41 #g1 #h74 ,amos was always seeing queer things1 and 8the ,lord0 was always asking him what he saw6 ,he saw some grasshoppers 7vii41 #a1 #b71 and a basket of summer fruit 7viii41 #a71 and the 8,lord standing upon the altar0 7ix41 #a74 ,jonah's adventures are famous1 and it is blasphemy to deny that throwing ,jonah into the sea stilled the waves1 that a great fish swallowed him1 that the fish was a whale 7,matt1 xii41 #dj71 that he lived in the whale's stomach for three days and three nights1 said his prayers there1 and was thrown up safe and sound after living for seventy-two hours inside an animal6 ,zechariah is as bad for vision-seeing as ,amos4 ,he sees red1 speckled and white horses among myrtle trees 7i41 #h71 and then four horns 7v4 #ah72 a friendly angel talks with him 7v4 #i71 and explains matters in a fashion that makes them more confused4 ,then there is a 8man with a measuring line0 7ii41 #a71 and ,joshua the high priest 8in filthy garments10 whom they undressed and dressed up again 7iii41 #a--e74 ,and there are a candlestick1 and two olive-trees1 and some pipes which 8empty the golden oil10 and which are the 8two anointed ones0 7iv474 ,next comes 8a flying roll10 and then can anyone make sense of the following3 8,then the angel that talked with me went forth1 and said unto me1 ,lift up now thine eyes1 and see what is this that goeth forth4 ,and ,i said1 what is it8 ,and he said1 this is an ephah that goeth forth4 ,he said moreover1 this is their resemblance through all the earth4 ,and1 behold1 there was lifted up a talent of lead1 and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah4 ,and he said1 ,this is wickedness4 ,and he cast it into the midst of the ephah2 and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof4 ,then lifted ,i up mine eyes1 and looked1 and behold there came out two women1 and the wind was in their wings2 for they had wings like the wings of a stork3 and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven4 ,then said ,i to the angel that talked with me1 whither do these bear the ephah8 ,and he said unto me1 to build it an house in the land of ,shinar3 and it shall be established1 and set there upon her own base40 7,zech4 v41 #e--aa47 ,yet if we do not believe this we shall be dammed4 ,i might heap together yet more of these absurdities1 but to what end8 ,who but a lunatic could have written such incoherent matter8 ,yet this ,old ,testament1 containing error1 folly1 absurdity and immorality is by ,english statute law declared to be of divine authority1 a blasphemy --if there were anyone to be blasphemed--blacker and more insolent than any word ever written or penned by the most hotheaded ,freethinker4 --------