,,the ,,story ,,of ,,my ,,mind    ,how  
,i ,became a ,rationalist    ,by ,m4 ,m4
 ,mangasarian    #aiji    ,,dedication  
,to ,my ,children    ,my ,dear          
,children3--    ,you have often         
requested me to tell you how1 having    
been brought up by  my parents as a     
,calvinist1 ,i came to be a             
,rationalist4 ,i propose now to  answer 
that question in a more connected and   
comprehensive way than ,i  have ever    
done before4 ,one reason for waiting    
until now was1 that you  were not old   
enough before1 to appreciate fully the  
mental struggle  which culminated in my 
resignation from the ,spring ,garden    
,presbyterian  church of ,philadelpha1  
in which1 my dear ,zabelle1 you received
 your  baptism at the time ,i was its   
pastor4 ,your brother1 ,armand1 and your
  sister1 ,christine1 were born after ,i
 had withdrawn from the ,presbyterian   
church1 and they have therefore not been
 baptised4 ,but you are1 all  three of  
you1 now sufficiently advanced in years1

 and in training1 to  be interested in1 
and ,i trust also1 to be benefited by1  
the story of my  religious evolution4 ,i
 am going to put the story in writing   
that you may  have it with you when ,i  
am gone1 to remind you of the aims and  
interests  for which ,i lived1 as well  
as to acquaint you with the most earnest
 and  intimate period in my career as a 
teacher of men4 ,if you should ever     
become parents yourselves1 and your     
children should feel inclined to  lend  
their support to dogma1 ,i hope you will
 prevail upon them1 first to  read the  
story of their grand-father1 who fought 
his way out of the camp  of orthodoxy by
 grappling with each dogma1 hand to hand
 and breast to  breast4    ,i have no   
fear that you yourselves will ever be   
drawn into the meshes of  orthodoxy1    
which cost me my youth and the best     
years of my life to break  through1 or  
that you will permit motives of         
self-interest to estrange  you from the 
,cause of ,rationalism with which my    

life has been so closely  identified4   
,my assurance of your loyalty to freedom
 of thought in  religion is not based1  
nor do ,i desire it to be based1 on     
considerations  of respect or affection 
which you may entertain for me as your  
father1  but on your ability and        
willingness to verify a proposition     
before  assenting to it4 ,do not believe
 me because ,i am your parent1 but      
believe  what you have yourselves1 by   
conscientious and earnest endeavor1     
found  to be worthy of belief4 ,it will 
never be said of you1 that you have     
inherited your opinions from me1 or     
borrowed them from your neighbors1  if  
you can give a reason for the faith that
 is in you4    ,i wish you also to know 
that during those years of storm and    
stress1  when everything seemed so      
discouraging1 and when my resignation   
from  the church had left us exposed to 
many privations1--without money and     
without help1 your mother's sympathy    
with me in my combat with the  church--a

 lone man1 and a mere youth1 battling   
with the most powerfully  intrenched    
institution in all the world1 was more  
than my daily bread  to me during the   
pain and travail of my second birth4 ,my
 spirits1 often  depressed from sheer   
weariness1 were nursed to new life and  
ardor by her  patience and sympathy4    
,one word more3 ,nothing will give your 
parents greater satisfaction than  to   
see in you1 increasing with the increase
 of years1 a love for those  ideals     
which instead of dragging the world     
backward1 or arresting its  progress1   
urge man's search to nobler issues4     
,co-operate with the  light4 ,be on the 
side of the dawn4 ,it is not enough to  
profess  ,rationalism--make it your     
religion4 ,devotedly1    ,m4 ,m4        
,mangasarian4          ,,chapter ,i4 ,in
 the ,cradle of ,christianity    ,i was 
a ,christian because ,i was born one4   
,my parents were ,christians for  the   
same reason4 ,it had never occurred to  
me1 any more than it had to  my parents1

 to ask for any other reason for        
professing the ,christian  religion4    
,never in the least did ,i entertain    
even the most remote  suspicion that    
being born in a religion was not enough1
 either to make  the religion true1 or  
to justify my adherence to it4    ,my   
parents were members of the             
,congregational church1 and when ,i was 
only a few weeks old1 they brought me1  
as ,i have often been told by  those who
 witnessed the ceremony1 to the ,rev4   
,mr4 ,richardson1 to be  baptized and   
presented to the ,lord4 ,it was the vow 
of my mother1 if she  ever had a son1 to
 dedicate him to the service of ,god4   
,as ,i advanced in  years1 the one      
thought constantly instilled into my    
mind was that ,i did  not belong to     
myself but to ,god4 ,every attempt was  
made to wean me from  the world1 and to 
suppress in me those hopes and ambitions
 which might  lead me to choose some    
other career than that of the ministry4 
,this constant surveillance over me1 and

 the artificial sanctity  associated    
with the life of one set apart for ,god1
 was injurious to me  in many ways4     
,among other things it robbed me of my  
childhood4 ,instead  of playing1 ,i     
began very early to pray4 ,god1 ,christ1
 ,bible1 and the  dogmas of the faith   
monopolized my attention1 and left me   
neither the  leisure nor the desire for 
the things that make childhood joyous4  
,at the  age of eight years ,i was      
invited to lead the congregation in     
prayer1 in  church1 and could recite    
many parts of the ,new ,testament by    
heart4 ,one  of my favorite pastimes was
 to play church4 ,i would arrange the   
chairs  as ,i had seen them arranged at 
church1 then mounting on one of the     
chairs1 ,i would improvise a sermon and 
follow it with an unctuous  prayer4 ,all
 this pleased my mother very much1 and  
led her to believe  that ,god had       
condescended to accept her offering4    
,my dear mother is still living1 and is 
still a devout member of the            

,congregational church4 ,i have not     
concealed my ,rationalism from her1  nor
 have ,i tried to make light of the     
change which has separated us  radically
 in the matter of religion4 ,needless to
 say that my withdrawal  from the       
,christian ministry1 and the ,christian 
religion1 was a painful  disappointment 
to her4 ,but like all loving mothers1   
she hopes and prays  that ,i may return 
to the faith she still holds1 and in    
which ,i was  baptized4 ,it is only     
natural that she should do so4 ,at her  
age of life1  beliefs have become so    
crystallized that they can not yield to 
new  impressions4 ,when my mother had   
convictions ,i was but a child1 and     
therefore ,i was like clay in her hands1
 but now that ,i can think for  myself  
my mother is too advanced in years for  
me to try to influence  her4 ,she was   
more successful with me than ,i shall   
ever be with her4    ,that my mother had
 a great influence upon me1 all my early
 life attests4  ,as soon as ,i was old  

enough ,i was sent to college with a    
view of  preparing myself for the       
ministry4 ,having finished college ,i   
went to the  ,princeton ,theological    
,seminary1 where ,i received instruction
 from such  eminent theologians as ,drs4
 ,a4 ,a4 ,hodge1 ,william ,h4 ,green1   
and ,prof4  ,francis ,l4 ,patton4 ,at   
the age of twenty-three1 ,i became      
pastor of the  ,spring ,garden          
,presbyterian church of ,philadelphia4  
,it was the reading of ,emerson and     
,theodore ,parker which gave me my first
  glimpse of things beyond the creed ,i 
was educated in4 ,i was at this time    
obstinately orthodox1 and1 hence1 to    
free my mind from the ,calvinistic      
teaching which ,i had imbibed with my   
mother's milk1 was a most painful       
operation4 ,again and again1 during the 
period of doubt1 ,i returned to  the    
bosom of my early faith1 just as the    
legendary dove1 scared by the  waste of 
waters1 returned to the ark4 ,to        
dislodge the shot fired into  a wall is 

not nearly so difficult an operation as 
to tear one's self  forever from the    
early beliefs which cling closer to the 
soul than the  skin does to the bones4  
,while it was the reading of a new set  
of books which first opened my  eyes1   
these would have left no impression upon
 my mind had not certain  events in my  
own life1 which ,i was unable to        
reconcile with the belief  in a         
,heavenly ,father1 created in me a      
predisposition to inquire into  the     
foundations of my ,faith4    ,an event1 
which happened when ,i was only a boy1  
gave me many anxious  thoughts about the
 truth of the beliefs my dear mother had
 so eloquently  instilled into me4 ,the 
one thought ,i was imbued with from my  
youth was  that the tender mercies of   
,god are over all his children1 ,i      
believed  myself to be a child of ,god1 
and counted confidently upon his special
  providence4 ,but when the opportunity 
came for providence to show his         
interest in me1 ,i was forsaken1 and had

 to look elsewhere for help4 ,my  first 
disappointment was a severe shock4 ,i   
got over it at the time1 but  when ,i   
came to read ,rationalistic books1 the  
full meaning of that early  experience1 
which ,i will now briefly relate1 dawned
 upon me1 and helped  to make my mind   
good soil for the new ideas4    ,in     
#ahgg ,i was traveling in ,asia ,minor1 
going from the ,euphrates to the        
,bosphorus1 accompanied by the driver of
 my horses1 one of which ,i rode1  the  
other carrying my luggage4 ,we had not  
proceeded very far when we  were        
overtaken by a young traveler on foot1  
who1 for reasons of safety1  begged to  
join our little party4 ,he was a        
,mohammedan1 while my driver  and ,i    
professed the ,christian religion4      
,for three days we traveled together1   
going at a rapid pace in order to       
overtake the caravan4 ,it need hardly be
 said that in that part of the  world it
 is considered unsafe to travel even    
with a caravan1 but1 to  go on a long   

journey1 as we were doing1 all by       
ourselves1 was certainly  taking a great
 risk4    ,we were armed with only a    
rifle--one of those flint fire-arms     
which  frequently refused to go off4 ,i 
forgot to say that my driver had also   
hanging from his girdle a long and      
crooked knife sheathed in a  black      
canvas scabbard4 ,both the driver1 who  
was a ,christian1 and the  ,mohammedan1 
who had placed himself under our        
protection1 were1 ,i am  sorry to say1  
much given to boasting4 ,they would tell
 how1 on various  occasions1 they had1  
single-handed1 driven away the ,kurdish 
brigands1  who outnumbered them1 ten to 
one2 how that rusty knife had           
disemboweled  one of the most renowned  
,kurdish chiefs1 and how the silent and 
meek-looking flint-gun had held at bay a
 pack of those curs who go  about       
scenting for human flesh4 ,all this was 
reassuring to me--a lad of  seventeen1  
and ,i began to think that ,i was       
indebted to ,providence for my  brave   

escort4    ,on the morning of the #ahth 
of ,february1 #ahgg1 we reached the     
valley said  to be a veritable den of   
thieves1 where many a traveler had lost 
his  life as well as his goods4 ,a great
 fear fell upon us when we saw on  the  
wooden bridge which spanned the river at
 the base of the hills1 two  ,kurds     
riding in our direction4 ,i was at once 
disillusioned as to the  boasted bravery
 of my comrades1 and felt that it was   
all braggadocio  with which they had    
been regaling me4 ,as ,i was the one    
supposed to have  money1 ,i would       
naturally be the chief object of attack1
 which made  my position the more       
perilous4 ,but this sudden fear which   
seemed to  paralyze me at first1 was    
followed by a bracing resolve to cope   
with  these devils mentally4    ,as ,i  
look back now upon the events of that   
day1 ,i am puzzled to know  how ,i got  
through it all without any serious harm 
to my person4 ,i was  surprised also    
that ,i1 who had been brought up to pray

 and to trust in  divine help1 forgot in
 the hour of real peril1 all about other
 help  and bent all my energies upon    
helping myself4    ,but why did ,i not  
pray8 ,why did ,i not fall upon my knees
 to commit  myself to ,god's keeping8   
,perhaps it was because ,i was too much 
pre-occupied--too much in earnest to    
take the time to pray4 ,perhaps my      
better instincts would not let me take  
refuge in words when something  stronger
 was wanted4 ,we may ask the good ,lord 
not to burn our house1  but when the    
house is actually on fire1 water is     
better than prayer4  ,perhaps1 again1 ,i
 did not pray because of an instinctive 
feeling that  this was a case of        
self-help or no help at all4 ,perhaps1  
again1 there  was a feeling in me1 that 
if all the prayers my mother and ,i had 
offered  did not save me from falling   
into the hands of thieves neither would 
any  new prayer that ,i might offer be  
of any help4 ,but the fact is that in   
the hour of positive and imminent       

peril--when face to face with death--,i 
was too busy to pray4    ,my mother1    
before ,i started on this journey1 had  
made a bag for my  valuables--watch and 
chain1 etc4--and sewed it on my         
underflannels1 next  to my body4 ,but my
 money 7all in gold coins7 was in a     
snuff-box1 and  that again in a long    
silk purse4 ,i was1 of course1 the      
better dressed  of the three--with long 
boots which reached higher than my      
knees1 a  warm ,english broadcloth cloak
 reaching down to my ankles1 and an     
,angora  collarette1 soft and snow      
white1 about my neck4    ,i rode ahead1 
and the others1 with the baggage horse1 
followed me4 ,when  the two ,kurdish    
riders who were advancing in our        
direction reached me1  they saluted me  
very politely1 saying1 according to the 
custom of the  country1 ,god be with    
you1 to which ,i timidly returned the   
customary  answer1 ,we are all in his   
keeping4 ,at the time it did not occur  
to me  how absurd it was for both       

travelers and robbers to recommend each 
other  to ,god while carrying           
fire-arms--the ones for attack1 the     
others for  defense4    ,of course now  
,i can see1 though ,i could not at the  
time ,i am speaking  of1 that ,god never
 interfered to save an unarmed traveler 
from  brigands--,i say never1 for if he 
ever did1 and could1 he would do it     
always4 ,but as we know1 alas1 too well1
 that hundreds and thousands have  been 
robbed and cut to pieces by these       
,kurds1 it would be reasonable to  infer
 that ,god is indifferent4 ,of course1  
the strongly-armed travelers1  as a     
rule1 escape1 thanks to their own       
courage and firearms4 ,for1 we ask      
again1 if the ,lord can save one1 why   
not all8 ,and if he can save all1  but  
will not1 does he not become as         
dangerous as the robbers8 ,but really   
if ,god could do anything in the matter1
 ,he would reform the ,kurds out  of the
 land1 or--out of the thieving business4
 ,if ,god is the unfailing  police force

 in ,christian1 lands1 he is not that in
 ,mohammedan  countries1 at any rate4   
,as the two mounted ,kurds passed by me1
 they scanned me very closely--my       
costume1 boots1 furs1 cap and so on4    
,then ,i heard them making inquiries  of
 my driver about me--who ,i was1 where  
,i was going1 and why ,i was going  at  
all4    ,my driver answered these1      
inquiries as honestly as the            
circumstances  permitted4 ,wishing us   
all again the protection of ,allah1 the 
,kurds  spurred their horses and        
galloped away4    ,for a moment we began
 to breathe freely--but only for a      
moment1 for as  our horses reached the  
bridge we saw that the ,kurds had turned
 around  and were now following us4 ,and
 before we reached the middle of the    
bridge over the river1 one of the ,kurds
 galloping up close to me laid  his hand
 on my shoulders and1 unceremoniously1  
pulled me out of my  saddle4 ,at the    
same time he dismounted himself1 while  
his partner  remained on horseback with 

his gun pointed squarely in my-face1 and
  threatening to kill me if ,i did not  
give him my money immediately4    ,i can
 never forget his savage grin when at   
last he found my purse1 and  grabbing   
it1 with another oath1 pulled it out of 
its hiding place4 ,i  have already      
described that my coins were all in a   
little box hid away  in my purse1 hence1
 as soon as the robber had loosened the 
strings he  took out the box1 held it in
 his left hand1 while with his right he 
kept  searching in the inner folds of my
 long purse4 ,while he was running his  
fingers through the tortuous purse1 ,i  
slipped mine into his left hand1  and1  
taking hold of the box1 ,i emptied its  
contents into my pocket  in the         
twinkling of an eye and handed it back  
to the robber4 ,the ,kurd  incensed at  
finding nothing in the purse which he   
kept shaking and  fingering1 snatched   
the box from my hand1 opened it1 and    
finding it as  empty as the purse1 flung
 it away with an oath4    ,are you      

,moslems or ,christians8 inquired one of
 the ,kurds1 to my  companions4    ,we  
are all ,moslems1 by ,allah1 they       
answered4    ,in ,turkey you are not    
supposed to speak the truth unless you  
say1 by  ,allah1 which means by ,god4   
,of course it was not true that ,i was a
 ,mohammedan4 ,my companions told  the  
,kurds a falsehood about me1 to save my 
life4 ,there was no doubt the  ,kurds   
would have killed me1 but for the lie   
which ,i did not correct4  ,when ,i     
reached my destination many of my       
co-religionists declared that ,i  had   
denied ,christ by allowing the ,kurds to
 think that ,i was a ,moslem4    ,as ,i 
feel now1 my conscience does not trouble
 me for helping1 by my  silence1 to     
deceive the ,kurds about my religion4   
,in withholding the  truth from these   
would-be assassins ,i was doing them no 
evil1 but  protecting the most sacred   
rights of man1 the ,kurd's included4    
,here was  an instance in which silence 
was golden4 ,but ,i would not hesitate1 

any moment1 to mislead a thief or a     
murderer1 by speech1 as well as  by     
silence4 ,if it is right to kill the    
murderer in self-defense1 it is  right  
to deny him also the truth4    ,but     
young as ,i was1 what alarmed me at the 
time was that we should  have been led  
into the temptation of lying to save our
 lives4 ,why did a  ,heavenly ,father   
deliver us to the brigands8 ,and of what
 help was ,god  to us1 if1 in real      
peril1 we had to resort to fighting or  
falsehood for  self-protection8 ,in what
 way would the world have been worse off
 without  a ,heavenly ,father8    ,about
 a month after ,i arrived at my         
destination1 ,i received a letter  from 
my mother1 to whom the driver1 upon his 
return1 had related my  adventure with  
the ,kurds4 ,without paying the least   
thought to the fact  that we had to lie 
to save our lives1 my mother claimed    
that it was her  prayers which had saved
 me from the brigands4 ,sancta          
,simplicitas6    ,but my hospitality to 

new tendencies did not in the least     
diminish the  anguish and pain of the   
separation from the religion of my      
mother4 ,even  after ,i began to        
seriously doubt many of the beliefs ,i  
had once accepted  as divine1 it seemed 
impossible to abandon them4 ,ten        
thousand obstacles  blocked my way1 and 
as many voices seemed to caution me     
against sailing  forth upon an unknown  
sea4 ,in a modest way1 ,i was like      
,columbus1  separated from the new world
 ,i was seeking1 by the dark and        
tempestuous  waste of waters4 ,how often
 my heart sank within me6 ,i was almost 
sure  of a better and larger world      
beyond ,calvin1 or ,christ even1 but the
 huge  sea rolled between and struck    
terror upon my mind4    ,but if there   
are difficulties1 there is a way out of 
them4 ,i am glad  that the difficulties1
 great and insurmountable as they seemed
 at  the time1 did not succeed in       
holding me back4 ,between ,calvinism and
  ,rationalism flowed the deep1 dark sea

 of fear4 ,i have crossed that sea4     
,behind me is theology with its         
mysteries and dogmas2 before me are the 
sunny fields of science4 ,born in the   
world of ,john ,calvin1 baptised  in the
 name of the ,holy ,trinity1 and set    
apart for the ,christian  ministry1--,i 
have become a ,rationalist4 ,the meaning
 of both these words1  ,calvinist and   
,rationalist1 will1 ,i hope1 become     
clear to all the readers  of this book4 
,the difference between the ,calvinist  
and the ,rationalist  is not that the   
one uses his reason1 while the other    
does not4 ,both  use their reason4 ,it  
is by using his reason that the         
,calvinist is not  a ,catholic1 for     
instance1 or a ,mohammedan4 ,in the same
 way the ,catholic  reasons for his     
church and against ,calvinism4 ,to say  
that ,christianity1  or ,judaism1 should
 be accepted on faith1 without first    
subjecting  its claims to the strain of 
reason1 is also reasoning4 ,such is the 
constitution of the mind1 that even when

 men seek to suppress reason1  they are 
compelled to offer reasons for doing so4
    ,but there is reasoning and         
reasoning4 ,the ,bushman has his reason 
for  trusting in his amulets2 the       
civilized man1 his1 for trusting in     
self-help4 ,just as the eyes must have  
light before they can see1 ,reason  must
 have knowledge before it can reason    
truly4 ,but it is possible to  possess  
knowledge and still reason badly1 just  
as a man may be in the  light1 and still
 not see--by keeping his eyes shut4     
,nor does it follow that if a man opens 
his eyes he will see4 ,the eyes  obey   
the will2 if we do not wish to see1 we  
will not see even with  our eyes open4  
,there are many educated people who     
allow motives of  self-interest1 if not 
to blind1 at least to blur their vision4
    ,finally1 it is not enough to see   
for ourselves4 ,we must show to others  
what we see3 ,my object for telling the 
story of my mind--how it passed  from   
,calvinism to ,rationalism1--is to help 

others see what ,i see4                 
,,chapter ,,ii4 ,early ,struggles    ,as
 ,i look back upon the period of mental 
conflict and uncertainty which  marked  
the closing years of my pastorate in the
 ,presbyterian church1 ,i  am comforted 
by the thought that ,i did not wait     
until ,i was accused of  heresy1 tried  
by an ecclesiastical court and dismissed
 from the church  before ,i severed my  
connection with the ,presbyterian       
denomination4 ,on  the contrary1 as soon
 as ,i had fully persuaded myself that  
,i was no  longer a ,presbyterian1 ,i1  
of my own accord1 offered my            
resignation1  after stating publicly the
 reasons which had led me to renounce   
,calvinism4 ,it was not the church that 
expelled me2 it was ,i that  renounced  
the church4    ,of course1 even then    
there were those1 who demanded a public 
trial and  my formal deposition from the
 ministry4 ,the ,philadelphia           
,presbytery met  to discuss whether ,i  
should not be summoned to appear before 

them1 to  receive their censure4 ,but   
wiser counsel prevailed1 and a          
sensational  public trial was avoided4  
,the district attorney of the city of   
,philadelphia1 ,mr4 ,george ,graham1    
himself a staunch ,presbyterian1        
explained to the ministers that my      
resignation had deprived them of all    
ecclesiastical jurisdiction over me4 ,i 
had1 he explained1 unlocked the  door   
and walked out into the open1 and it was
 too late now to talk of  expelling me4 
,on the other hand1 although my complete
 severance from  ,calvinism had been    
fully announced1 still for many days and
 nights my  house was filled with       
members of my church urging me to remain
 with them  as their pastor1 and to hold
 on to the church building4 ,i am very  
happy  to think that ,i was able to     
resist this temptation too4 ,had ,i     
yielded to  their entreaties1 or allowed
 myself to be swayed by their arguments1
  ,i would have been placed in a        
position where ,i could neither be  a   

,rationalist nor a ,calvinist1 but a    
preacher of ambiguities1  contradicting 
in one breath what ,i had said in       
another4 ,from such a  career of        
duplicity and arrested growth1 ,i was   
saved by a fortunate  decision on my    
part to give up ,presbyterian property  
as well as the  ,presbyterian creed4    
,the first ,sunday after my resignation1
 ,i spoke in a hall on ,broad  street1  
in ,philadelphia4 ,it was quite a change
 from a handsome church  edifice to a   
secular hall4 ,i could see that those   
who followed me out of  the             
,presbyterian denomination felt ill at  
ease1 on a ,sunday morning in a  public 
hall4 ,but that was not the worst shock 
in store for them4    ,when ,i reached  
the hall on ,broad street it was so     
densely packed that  it seemed          
impossible for me to reach the platform4
 ,in the meantime1 my  trustees were    
getting anxious about my failure to     
appear in the  pulpit4 ,the audience too
 was showing signs of discomfort in the 

crowded  auditorium4 ,it was only by    
announcing my name1 and begging those   
who  stood up in rows at the            
entrance1--all the seats being          
occupied--to help  me reach the stage1  
that ,i could make any progress through 
the crowd4  ,when at last ,i faced the  
audience to deliver my first address    
from a  free platform1 ,i thought of the
 advice given me by my trustees1 that1  
as  much depended upon the impression of
 my first talk1 which would in all      
probability be extensively reported in  
the papers1 ,i should take care  not to 
go too far4 ,what they meant by not     
going too far1 was that ,i  should let  
the public know that in the essentials  
,i was as ,christian as  ever4 ,i do not
 blame my friends for this advice4 ,they
 trembled for me  and for the           
organization which was to be launched   
for the first time on  that day4        
,besides1 they were themselves1         
,presbyterians still1 at heart1  and had
 no clear understanding of the meaning  

of my renunciation  of ,calvinism4      
,sentimentally they were with me1 but by
 training and  conviction they were     
still for the creed of their ancestors4 
,speaking frankly1 ,i had myself agreed 
to the wisdom of being careful and      
conservative in my opening address1     
believing that radical utterances at    
this time would make me more enemies    
than friends4 ,but when ,i began to     
speak1 in the enthusiasm of the moment1 
joyous over the first taste of  freedom 
of speech1 ,i forgot my caution1 and    
gave my thoughts as  they welled up     
within me1 full scope4 ,to the winds    
with policy and  calculation6 ,whether  
,i win followers1 or lose the last man1 
,i must not  stammer1--,i must speak6   
,under the spell of this thought1 which 
seemed  to seize me without at all      
consulting me1 ,i said many things which
  changed the color on the faces of my  
,presbyterian supporters4    ,unused to 
freedom of speech1 and brought up to    
believe certain beliefs  as sacred1 the 

attempt on my part to subject these to  
the strain of  reason was in the nature 
of a painful disappointment to them4    
,thus  many of my followers lost heart  
and quickly returned to the cradle from 
which1 in a moment of excitement1 they  
had leaped forth4 ,but new friends  took
 the place of those who deserted the    
young movement1 and in a very  short    
time1 a larger hall was secured4 ,this  
was ,st4 ,george's hall1 on  ,arch      
street1 one of the largest halls in     
,philadelphia4 ,but up to this  time we1
 including myself1 believed ourselves to
 be still ,christians1  though no longer
 ,presbyterians4 ,as long as we held on 
to the name of  ,christian we continued 
to sail in comparatively smooth waters4 
,we made  the word ,christian1 of       
course1 to mean what we wanted it to    
mean4    ,but very soon new perplexities
 arose4 ,the people who came to hear me1
  and who paid the expenses of the new  
organization1 as well as  directed its  
policy1 while they progressed           

sufficiently to renounce                
,presbyterianism1 they were very        
reluctant to part with ,christianity    
altogether4 ,i could criticise ,calvin  
to my heart's content1 but ,i must  not1
 ,christ4 ,the church1 or churchianity1 
certainly deserved to be  investigated1 
and its errors exposed1 but ,christ and 
,christianity were  too sacred to be    
handled with equal freedom4 ,my trustees
 felt that as a  liberal ,christian     
organization1 there was a great future  
before us2  we would soon become one of 
the largest and most prosperous         
religious  bodies in the city2 but if we
 attacked ,christ--they called examining
  the teachings and character of ,christ
 freely attacking ,christ--we  would be 
disowned by all respectable members1 and
 lose our standing in  the esteem of a  
hitherto friendly public4    ,and the   
public was indeed friendly at this stage
 of our evolution4 ,the  press of       
,philadelphia1 as well as of ,new ,york 
,city1 reported daily1  for some time1  

the doings of the new organization4 ,the
 majority of  the editorials in the     
daily papers commended the course ,i had
 taken  in avoiding a heresy trial1 and 
in resisting the great temptation to    
resort to shifts and subterfuges to     
enable me to remain at a lucrative      
post4 ,in these days 99 departures from 
,orthodoxy were rare1 and  naturally1 my
 case created a great stir4 ,but as ,i  
have intimated1  the preponderance of   
criticism and comment was favorable4    
,encouraging  letters from ,henry ,ward 
,beecher1 ,lyman ,abbott1 ,prof4 ,david 
,swing1 and  other prominent leaders    
gave the new society an enviable        
prestige4  ,but my trustees protested   
that this good will of the public1 which
  constituted our best asset1 would be  
lost1 and its sympathy turned  into     
antagonism1 if ,i spoke as freely of    
,christ as ,i did of ,calvin1  and      
subjected the ,bible to the same strain 
of reason that ,i did the  ,westminster 
,catechism4 ,in other words1 ,i was     

politely made to feel that  while it was
 respectable enough to part with        
,presbyterianism1 it would  spell ruin  
to part also with ,christianity4        
99 #ahhj4    ,in justice to my          
supporters ,i must state that when ,i   
resigned from the  ,presbyterian church 
,i had no idea that the step would      
eventually carry  me beyond             
,christianity itself4 ,a purer          
,christianity was my plea at  that time1
 and ,i sincerely believed that with    
,calvinism out of the way  there would  
be left no serious obstacle for reason  
to stumble over4  ,i was not prepared at
 that stage of my evolution to perceive 
the  impossibility of separating        
,calvinism from ,christianity without   
destroying both4 ,calvinism was a       
symptom and not the disease itself4     
,the disease was supernaturalism1 of    
which the different sects are  the      
manifestations4 ,it is the disease and  
not its manifestation that  required    
suppression4 ,i was unable to see the   

relationship between an  infinite ,god1 
sovereign of all1 and ,calvinism1 and   
fancied in my mind  that ,i could keep  
,god and let ,calvin go4 ,but faith in a
 ,god who knows  everything and is      
absolutely sovereign1 spells ,calvinism4
    ,the step out of ,christianity was  
infinitely more difficult than the  step
 out of ,presbyterianism4 ,had my       
followers been trained to think         
rationally1 they would have seen that   
since ,i did not resign from the        
,presbyterian church1 for a different   
form of baptism1 or communion1 but      
because of its failure to recognize     
,reason as the highest authority in     
religion1 ,i was bound1 by the very     
stress and logic of my premises1 to     
drop ,christianity as ,i had been led to
 drop ,calvinism4    ,my trustees were  
quite unconscious of giving me dangerous
 advice1 or of  trying to make of me an 
example of arrested development4 ,they  
were  my friends1 and the friends of the
 cause1 but they could not think        

logically1 and that is why they could   
not appreciate my reply that we  are not
 free to command the truth1--we must    
obey the truth4    ,matters came to a   
crisis when ,i delivered a lecture on   
,was ,jesus  ,god8 ,i can still see the 
painful expression on the faces of many 
of my  hearers on that ,sunday morning4 
,did ,i bring them out of the           
,presbyterian  church to make infidels  
and blasphemers of them8 ,a number of my
  hearers rose and left the hall4 ,the  
strain upon me was severe4 ,when ,i  sat
 down ,i was in a profuse perspiration4 
,when all was over1 ,i must  have looked
 ashen pale4 ,i had hardly any strength 
left to announce the  closing hymn4 ,but
 my audience suffered perhaps even more 
than did ,i4 ,to  part with ,jesus is   
not the same thing as parting with      
,calvin1 and that  morning ,i had told  
them that if ,calvin goes1 ,jesus must  
go too4    ,c'est le premier pas qui    
cote4 ,it is the first step that costs4 
,but ,i found my second step even more  

costly4 ,voltaire speaks of the         
inevitableness of the second step if the
 first is taken4 ,they told him  how    
,st4 ,denis had picked up his own head  
after it had been chopped off  by the   
executioner1 and walked a hundred steps 
with it in his hands4 ,he  replied1 ,i  
can believe in the ninety-nine steps1 it
 is the first step ,i  find difficulty  
in believing4 ,granted the first step1  
the ninety-nine1  or nine million steps 
are very easy4 ,would it not be wasteful
 to argue  that ,st4 ,denis took the    
first step1 but no more8 ,is it not     
equally  superfluous to accept one      
miracle in the ,bible1 and deny the     
rest8  ,if one miracle1 why not a       
million8 ,but the aim of the training we
 had  received in the church was not to 
help us to think logically but how  not 
to think logically4 ,the state of the   
,christian church1 divided1             
sub-divided1 and voicing doctrines      
diametrically opposed the one to the    
other1 while they all claim to be and   

are1 equally scriptural is a proof  of  
this4 ,i do not blame therefore1 the    
members of my society for taking        
offense or for withdrawing1 as many of  
them did after the ,jesus  lecture1     
their support from my work4 ,they could 
not see the incongruity  of accepting   
one part and rejecting another of a     
divine revelation4  ,if the texts upon  
which ,calvin based his theology were   
doubtful1 what  assurance could we have 
of the genuineness of the more liberal  
texts4  ,the obscurity or ambiguity of  
,jesus was really the cause of the      
contradictions and divisions of his     
followers4 ,the obscurity and           
contradictory nature of the text        
accounts for the crowd of religious     
sects1 each claiming to be the only     
church of ,christ1 or1 at least1 more   
scriptural than its competitors4 ,it was
 both a moral as well as a mental       
relief to escape the bewildering        
confusion of such a situation4 ,and it  
was after ,i had commanded the babel of 

clashing voices to hush that ,i  could  
hear the still1 small voice of ,reason4 
,,chapter ,,iii4 ,new ,temptations      
,notwithstanding our many heresies we   
still believed in ,christianity--in  its
 moral excellence1 as we expressed it4  
,jesus was not ,god2 ,calvin was  all   
wrong2 but still there was that in      
,christianity which could not be  found 
elsewhere4 ,while ,i myself did not     
linger long in this indecisive  mood1   
still it was very trying while it       
lasted4 ,to soften a little the  pain of
 losing ,jesus the ,god1 the temptation 
to exalt him as a perfect  moral teacher
 beyond all others the world had ever   
seen very nearly  swamped me4 ,but there
 were also financial considerations     
which made my  position at this stage a 
very critical one4 ,i was1 besides1 so  
much in  need of companionship and      
sympathy that ,i wonder now why ,i did  
not rush  into the open arms of the     
first liberal ,christian sect that      
offered to  fellowship with me4    ,and 

there were religious fellowships ready  
to receive us4 ,let me first  speak of  
the ,unitarians1 who very kindly offered
 to help us1 both  morally and          
financially4 ,we were not told that we  
had to join the  denomination before we 
could receive financial assistance4     
,they offered  to help us without any   
conditions4 ,the ,unitarians have a fund
 to  help all liberal religious         
movements1 and as a liberal religious   
movement1 we could1 if we wished1 draw  
upon that fund4 ,we did not accept  the 
financial help1 but we were happy to    
receive such moral support as  men like 
,james ,freeman ,clarke1 ,edward        
,everett ,hale1 ,minot ,j4 ,savage and  
other equally distinguished preachers of
 ,unitarianism could give us4 ,the      
venerable ,dr4 ,furness1 more than once1
 occupied my pulpit1 as also  the ,rev4 
,gordon ,ames1 whose church also        
proposed my name for a life  membership 
in the ,american ,unitarian             
,association4 ,i can never be too       

grateful to the ,unitarians for their   
hospitality to me in those trying       
times4 ,both ,dr4 ,clarke and ,dr4 ,hale
 had received me in their homes and     
given me such counsel as a young man at 
the threshold of a new career  stands in
 need of4 ,it was thus that             
,unitarianism1 with its gracious        
hospitality1 its tolerance and          
liberality1 came very near persuading   
me that having gone as far as           
,unitarianism1 it was not necessary to  
go farther4 ,thus you see1 ,moses and   
,calvin came back to me dressed as      
,unitarians2 but1 fortunately for me1 ,i
 recognized the disguise4    ,if ,i     
could settle down in ,unitarianism1 why 
did ,i leave the  ,presbyterian church8 
,the difference between them is after   
all a  difference of quantity4 ,the     
,presbyterians believe more than the    
,unitarians1 and while the ,bible is    
inspired from cover to cover for the    
former1 the latter believe only in the  
authority of certain portions  of the   

book4 ,ernest ,renan told the           
,protestants that they did not have     
sufficient reason for leaving the       
,catholic church4 ,but we could not     
believe in the mass1 replied the        
,protestants4 ,if you believe in the    
virgin birth and the resurrection of the
 flesh1 what but a whim could  prevent  
you from believing also in              
transubstantiation1 argued ,renan4  ,we 
can say the same of ,unitarianism4 ,if  
it can believe in parts of the  ,bible1 
as inspired or if it can accept1 the    
unity of ,god1 or the  ,lordship of     
,jesus1 why not believe a little more8  
,if it drops one dogma  on grounds of   
reason1 it must drop all1 and if it can 
accept one  dogma1 the ,lordship of     
,jesus1 for example1 on faith1 why not  
also  the ,trinity8 ,if ,god exists1 he 
could be in three or more parts quite as
  easily as in one4    ,unwittingly the 
,unitarian church has helped to         
strengthen the cause of  ,orthodoxy4 ,it
 speaks of ,christ as the most perfect  

being or teacher who  has ever visited  
this planet--a being possessing all the 
virtues1 and  none of the defects of    
human nature1--a being worthy to be     
called in a  special sense1 the ,son of 
,god4    ,very well1 answers the        
,orthodox believer1 ,if ,jesus was all  
that1 he  was ,god4 ,the difference     
between ,unitarianism and ,orthodoxy is 
that1  while the latter calls ,christ a 
,god1 the former holds that he was more 
than man4 ,the point is not worth       
fighting for4 ,moreover1 ,if ,christ was
  the type of perfection1 as you        
,unitarians seem to believe1 argues the 
,calvinist1 he could not have claimed to
 be ,god1 as he certainly does1  unless 
he was ,god4 ,if he was not ,god1 he was
 an impostor1 and not the  most perfect 
type of character the world has ever    
seen1 as you claim4  ,the answer is     
decisive4 ,if ,jesus believed himself to
 be only a mortal  like ourselves1 how  
explain his language of authority1 his  
forgiving of  sins1 his miracles1 his   

claim to be equal with the ,father1 and 
to have  existed from all time8 ,the    
weapons which ,unitarianism uses against
  ,orthodoxy1 the latter can easily     
ignore4 ,nay1 ,unitarians are often     
quoted by the ,orthodox to prove that   
even those who deny the divinity  of    
,jesus1 are compelled to admit that     
there never was another like  unto ,him4
 ,the point ,i am endeavoring to make is
 that ,i could not accept  ,unitarianism
 because its claim about the moral      
perfection of ,jesus was  as much an    
unreasoned dogma1 as the belief in his  
divinity4 ,if ,i could  subscribe to one
 dogma1 why not to all8 ,if there is no 
evidence that  ,jesus was ,god1 neither 
is there any that he was morally        
perfect4    ,i am aware that there are  
,unitarians who do not accept even the  
moral  perfection of ,jesus4 ,but that  
only helps to confuse us as to what     
,unitarianism really stands for4 ,if    
,jesus was not morally perfect1 or the  
wisest and best teacher1 why does he    

monopolize the ,unitarian pulpit8 ,in   
conclusion1 as already intimated1       
,unitarianism with its ,god-idea differs
  from ,calvinism1 not in kind1 but in  
degree only4 ,its baggage of the        
supernatural is not quite so heavy1 but 
what there is of it is every  whit as   
supernatural4    ,but my inexperienced  
bark had hardly weathered the ,unitarian
 storm  which1 as ,i confessed1 came    
very near driving me under shelter1     
before  another danger confronted me and
 my struggling society4 ,the financial  
problem was1 of course1 a pressing one  
with us4 ,hall rent had to be  paid1    
which was considerable1 and the lecturer
 and his family had to be  supported4   
,the independent course ,i was following
 was not adding to the  revenues of the 
society4 ,the moneyed people1 and the   
people accustomed  to making generous   
contributions for church purposes1 did  
not approve of  my ,rational tendencies4
 ,it was at this time that ,spiritualism
 crossed  my path1 and endeavored1 if ,i

 may use so trite a phrase1 to flirt    
with  me4    ,i could have many new     
supporters1 and some moneyed men and    
women1 if ,i  could see the truth of    
,spiritualism1 was whispered in my ears 
by my own  fears and hopes4 ,and then   
hardly a ,sunday passed when at the     
conclusion  of the lecture ,i was not   
met by some believer in ,spiritualism1  
who told  me how he or she had seen     
,darwin1 or ,emerson1 or ,goethe1 or    
,voltaire at  my side on the platform1  
while ,i was delivering my address1 and 
how  one or the other had smiled upon me
 with approval4 ,i received messages    
purporting to come from the world of    
,spirits1 commending my course1 and     
bidding me to go forward unafraid4      
,opportunities were given me to see     
tables tip1 to hear celestial voices1   
and to be surprised by flashes  of light
 in perfectly dark rooms4    ,for many  
of the friends who tried to lead my     
steps toward ,spiritualism1  ,i still   
cherish the tenderest thoughts4 ,they   

befriended me and my wife1  they helped 
to render those desolate days of anxiety
 and hardship  a little less of a strain
 upon our resources4 ,but ,i could      
become a  ,spiritualist only with my    
eyes shut1 and ,i had opened them when  
,i parted  with ,calvinism4 ,was ,i now 
going to shut my eyes again8    ,my     
neighbor and colleague1 ,dr4 ,john ,e4  
,roberts1 who left the ,baptist  church 
to join the ,unitarians1 and later1     
became minister of the ,church  of this 
,world1 has recently expressed his      
interest in ,spiritualism4 ,he  thinks  
the ,spiritualists have the most        
comforting doctrine1 because of  their  
hope of immortality4 ,dr4 ,roberts      
thinks that we need the spiritual  glow 
of faith in immortality to keep us from 
withering4 ,but is not  immortality as  
inconceivable as the ,trinity8 ,why     
should a man object  to the ,baptist or 
the ,unitarian immortality1 if he can   
accept the  immortality of the          
,spiritualists8 ,is the evidence        

furnished by modern  mediums more       
convincing than that furnished by the   
mediums in the ,bible8  ,are the spirits
 who manifest themselves in the ,old and
 ,new ,testaments1  impostors1 while    
those who appear to ,mrs4 ,piper in     
,brooklyn are genuine8  ,and is the     
immortality promised by ,mrs4 ,piper's  
ghosts different1 or  better1 than the  
immortality promised by those who       
communed with ,jesus1  ,peter and ,paul8
 ,but let us hear ,dr4 ,roberts' reasons
 for preferring  the ,spiritualist's    
certain hope of another life to the     
silence of  ,rationalism on the question
 of the hereafter3    ,and then ,i think
 there is need of a revival along the   
line of  cherishing the old-fashioned   
hopes4 ,you can see in current          
literature a  strong tendency towards   
the belief that this world is the end of
 it4  ,it is surprising to one that will
 bear in mind how often he finds that   
strain of pessimism4 ,men and women in  
very great numbers are beginning  to    

think that after all maybe eternal sleep
 is better than eternal life4  ,for1 in 
the grave there can come no pain1 no    
sorrow1 no tears4 ',on the  shore of    
that vast sea of oblivion no wave of    
sorrow breaks4' ,but1 to my  mind1 life 
is too sweet ever to be given up1 and ,i
 can't help liking  the old-fashioned   
hope that there is something beyond2    
that we shall  remember and find each   
other and make reparations for wrongs we
 have  done and explain some things that
 were misunderstood here4 ,in other     
words1 that we shall live again4 ,for   
one1 without knowing a thing about  it1 
,i cling to the old-fashioned hope of   
immortality4    ,but is it correct to   
identify the old-fashioned hope with    
optimism1  and the belief that eternal  
sleep is better than eternal life1 or   
that in the grave there can come no     
pain1 no sorrow1 no tears1--with        
pessimism8 ,the old-fashioned hope was  
no hope at all1 because it was  a       
private and exclusive hope4 ,it reserved

 a place in heaven for the few1  the    
elect1--whether ,jewish1 ,mohammedan or 
,christian1--and condemned the          
multitude to the pains of hell4 ,can    
such a hope make for optimism8 ,can     
such a prospect brace up humanity at    
large8 ,moreover1 the old-fashioned     
hope's picture of eternal life is so    
prosaic1 so savorless1 that it  has     
fallen into innocuous desuetude even    
among the elect4 ,men have  expressed   
their hesitation to decide which they   
would prefer1 the heaven  or the hell of
 the old-fashioned hope4 ,the grave is  
more optimistic  than the old-fashioned 
future4    ,ah1 within our ,mother's    
breast1    ,from toil and tumult1 sin   
and sorrow free1    ,sphered beyond hope
 and dread1 divinely calm1    ,they lie1
 all gathered into perfect rest4    ,and
 o'er the trance of their ,eternity4    
,the cypress waves more holy than the   
palm4    ,but ,dr4 ,roberts likes       
eternal life of some kind4 ,eternal     
life6 ,we  fear our good friend has     

stooped to a sonorous phrase4 ,pliny1   
one of the  illustrious philosophers of 
the reign of ,trajan1 thought that man  
was  more fortunate than the gods1      
because1 while the gods cannot die1 man 
can4 ,we are not in a position to tell  
whether or not eternal life is          
desirable1 for we do not know what it   
is4 ,how can we desire1 or despise  the 
inconceivable8 ,no one can tell whether 
it is an evil or a blessing  to live    
forever and ever1 and ever1 and         
ever1--and ever--unless he  has         
experienced it4 ,nor can anyone affirm  
eternal life 7we think  ,dr4 ,roberts   
means conscious1 personal immortality7  
until he has lived  through an eternity4
 ,to live a million1 million years1 is  
not eternal  life4 ,hence1 no one who   
has not so lived1 can speak             
intelligently of  eternal life4 ,we     
cannot even say that the gods are       
immortal4 ,because  they have lived     
until now1 so to speak1 is no argument  
that they will  live forever4 ,we have  

to wait until they prove their ability  
to live  forever1 and ever1 and ever1   
before we can pronounce them immortal4  
,no  being can be called immortal until 
he has lived to the end of time4 ,we  do
 not affirm1 nor do we deny1 the        
inconceivable4 ,the question of the     
hereafter is still an open one4 ,there  
is no reason why people should not      
speculate about it4 ,we may even hope   
that tomorrow's science will throw  more
 light upon this interesting problem1   
but today1 all we know about  eternal   
life is that we do not know anything    
about it4    ,i gazed 7as oft ,i've     
gazed the same7    ,to try if ,i could  
wrench aught out of death1    ,which    
could confirm1 or shake1 or make a      
faith1    ,but it was all a mystery4    
,here we are4    ,yes1 ,here we         
are1--that is the great reality4 ,there 
is cheer and  hope and love even in the 
thought that the present hour is big    
with  possibilities and sweet with      
memories4 ,we need not think of the     

grave  while our hearts pulse1 and our  
blood is warm4 ,it is queer how all     
believers in eternal life fear the grave
 and deepen its gloom4 ,the  thought of 
another life often impoverishes the life
 we now possess4  ,pining for the far   
away tomorrow1 we lose the joy at our   
doors4 ,schiller  describes a recluse at
 the bar of heaven1 arguing that he must
 have  great rewards because he has     
practiced great privations in life4 ,he 
received a chilling answer4 ,he is told 
that if he was foolish enough to  let   
the real life slip through his fingers  
for a distant reward1 there  is no power
 that can make good his losses4    ,real
 optimism springs from the thought that 
the present life may be made  dearer and
 nobler1 richer1 and happier1 and that  
we may so live as to  leave behind us a 
long and fragrant memory3    ,the ripe  
products of a fertile brain    ,will    
live and reproduce fair fruit again4    
,even at its worst1 death is an         
obligation we owe posterity1 and the    

discharge of it should make no one a    
pessimist4 ,at any rate1 with ,grant    
,allen1 we can sing when we feel life's 
evening gathering about us3             
,perchance a little light will come with
 morning2    ,perchance ,i shall but    
sleep4    ,dr4 ,roberts admits1 ,i      
believe1 that he has no evidence to     
offer1 except  what he calls the innate 
desire for another life4 ,but if the    
desire  for immortality proves another  
and an endless life1 the desire for     
,god1  or ,christ1 or an infallible     
,revelation1 ought to be sufficient to  
prove  their existence4 ,the            
,spiritualists1 like the ,orthodox1     
reason logically  enough against beliefs
 not their own1 but when it comes to    
their own  dogmas they do not consult   
reason at all4 ,i had left ,calvinism   
because  it failed to furnish the       
evidence for its claims1 how then could 
,i join  the ,spiritualists with no more
 evidence to substantiate their claims  
than that it was pleasant to desire     

another life8 ,but there is the         
testimony of the mediums2 yes1 and there
 is the testimony of the  apostles4 ,if 
the latter is not enough to make        
,christianity true1 the  former is not  
enough to prove ,spiritualism4    ,the  
comparatively few lines in which ,i have
 tried to tell my early  experience as a
 ,rationalist give but an imperfect idea
 of the effort  required under          
circumstances of stress and anxiety1 to 
keep my ship  steady on the troublous   
waters to which the winds outside the   
harbor  of ,calvinism had driven me4 ,in
 the words of ,shelley1 ,i had unfurled 
my  sails to the tempest1 and fear and  
alarm were to be my portion1 until  ,i  
became more accustomed to the swing of  
the sea1 and could command the  stars to
 point the way4 ,the open sea is not    
like the sheltered harbor4  ,it is easy 
to go out to sea1 but not so easy to    
find one's way there4    ,during this   
period of mental struggle to work out a 
philosophy of life  which should fill   

the vacuum created by the collapse of   
theology1 ,i was  frequently approached 
by well-meaning1 but over-confident1    
teachers who1  in their own opinion1 at 
any rate1 had completely and            
satisfactorily  reconciled religion with
 ,reason4 ,nearly every mail brought me 
letters  recommending some publication  
which would answer all my difficulties  
as  it had theirs4 ,not a few of my     
would-be helpers went to the trouble of 
calling on me with the same object in   
view4 ,i shall only speak here of  one  
of the books which was supposed to have 
untied all the knots1 divine  and human1
 which have ever perplexed the brain of 
man4 ,the book came  to me highly       
recommended4 ,even ,president ,eliot of 
,harvard had publicly  endorsed it4     
,while it was many years after the      
period ,i am now writing  of1 that my   
attention was called to this book1      
nevertheless1 it is  because the book is
 typical of the efforts to make ,reason 
approve of the  fundamentals of the     

popular faith1 that ,i reproduce here   
what ,i said of  it at the time3        
,balance is the name of a little book   
with a great aim4  ,its author1 ,mr4    
,orlando ,smith1 sets out as a new      
,columbus to discover  not another      
earth1 but another truth1 which shall   
give to all  known truths new meaning   
and worth4 ,this truth1 he believes1 he 
has discovered1 and christens it1 ,the  
,fundamental ,verity4 ,lucid            
illustrations are massed together with  
telling effect1 to show that  ,nature is
 equipped with a self-curative genius   
which makes discord an  impossibility4  
,that which is overdone in one direction
 is underdone  equally in an opposite   
direction4 ,this rhythm1 this           
equivalence which  pulls the pendulum in
 one direction as far as it pushes it in
 another is  the ,fundamental ,verity1  
which1 if grasped as universal and      
infallible1  will remove from our       
shoulders what ,shakespeare calls the   
weary weight  of all this unintelligible

 world1 and bring ,religion and         
,science1  the two gladiatorial         
contestants in the modern arena1 to     
replace their  quarrelous weapons1 with 
which they have given and received      
gashes deep  and bloody1 with the olive 
branch of peace and concord4    ,having 
undertaken to demonstrate that the      
physical world is in the  embrace of    
laws which forever evolve order out of  
confusion1 and that  ,balance is supreme
 in every detail of life1 from the most 
momentous to  the most minute1 that     
throughout the length and breadth of the
 universe  the account balances         
perfectly2 and that ,nature has no      
failures1 and bad  debts2 that ,balance 
forbids wrong1 such for instance as the 
victory of  one force over another1 the 
author believes he has found in this law
 the  unanswerable demonstration for the
 existence of a ,supreme ,being who is  
the author of ,balance in the universe  
and of the immortality of the  soul4    
,thus1 having given to these two        

ambitious propositions a new  front1 he 
concludes he has reconciled ,religion   
with ,science4    ,it is quite easy to  
reconcile enemies if they let you       
interpret their  differences to suit    
yourself4 ,mr4 ,smith defines both      
,religion and  ,science with a view to  
reconciliation1 and it is no wonder that
 they  stop quarreling immediately4     
,even in ,mr4 ,orlando ,smith's         
religion1 there is an element of the    
supernatural1 a deus ex machina--who    
from the eternities rules the  world and
 is pledged to see that in the end right
 shall prevail4 ,this is  theology and  
not science4    ,mr4 ,smith starts by   
trying to prove that ,nature is just1   
orderly1 and  its accounts are always   
perfect1 and then1 unfortunately enough1
 he  drags forth once more the obsolete 
theological argument which science  has 
already rent into tatters1 that another 
life is inevitable since  this life is  
unsatisfactory4 ,having shown that there
 are no failures in  ,nature1 he now    

says1 ,we must admit1 however1 that     
justice is incomplete  in this life4    
,that1 however1 destroys the position   
that ,nature is at  present governed by 
a ,supreme ,being who makes failure     
impossible1 and  the proposition that   
this ,supreme ,being must be given more 
time to work  in--an eternity--is       
theology1 not science4    ,if for       
millions of years this earth could roll 
under the eye of a  ,supreme ,being and 
still be imperfect1 what reason have we 
to conclude  that the ,being who has    
failed hitherto is going to do better in
 the  unknown future8 ,and what about   
the animals8 ,will they have to  look   
forward to another world for justice8   
,must not their lives be  balanced' in  
some way too8 ,or will ,mr4 ,orlando    
,smith answer with ,st4  ,paul1 ,does   
,god care for the oxen8    ,toward the  
end1 ,mr4 ,smith develops into a        
full-fledged pulpiteer1  claiming that  
no hospitals1 charities1 or institutions
 of  learning1--songs hymns1 poems1     

noble thoughts or sentiments are        
possible1 without the doctrine of a     
,supreme ,being1 and of another  life4  
,thus the science with which ,mr4 ,smith
 began is swallowed up in  theology--it 
is the lamb and the lion lying down     
together1--but one  inside the other4   
,i had renounced ,calvinism1 not because
 it would not let me use my reason  at  
all1 but because it would not let me use
 it consistently4 ,i could  use it here1
 but not there1 or only so far and no   
further4 ,the men who  offered me       
substitutes for ,calvinism placed       
restrictions upon reason  too1 differing
 only in appearance from those imposed  
by the church4  ,i had not yet found an 
organization that respected consistency1
 and  consistency is another word for   
sincerity4          ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,the
 ,critical ,period    ,in #ahhh ,i      
became acquainted with the work of the  
,ethical ,movement1 which  was then     
establishing a branch in ,philadelphia4 
,the platform of the  movement appealed 

to me strongly1 because it was          
completely divorced  from the           
supernatural4 ,it emphasized the deed1  
and ignored the creed2 or  rather1 it   
believed in the creed of the deed4 ,i   
invited the leaders of  this movement to
 address my society1 and to explain to  
us in detail the  philosophy of ,ethical
 ,culture4 ,all five of the lecturers of
 the ,ethical  ,societies in ,america   
successively occupied my platform in    
,st4 ,george's  hall1 and ,i in return  
occupied their platforms in ,new ,york1 
,chicago1  ,st4 ,louis and              
,philadelphia4 ,this interchange of     
platforms resulted in  my accepting a   
call from the ,new ,york ,society for   
,ethical ,culture1 and  three years     
later from the ,chicago ,society1 which 
latter ,i served as its  lecturer for   
five years4    ,the founder of the      
,ethical ,societies was ,dr4 ,felix     
,adler1 the son of a  ,jewish ,rabbi1   
who was expected to succeed his father  
as the spiritual  head of the           

fashionable and wealthy ,fifth ,avenue  
synagogue in ,new ,york  ,city4 ,but all
 the other members of the fraternity of 
lecturers were  either ex-ministers of  
the ,christian church1 like myself1 or  
had1 at one  time1 studied for the      
,christian ministry4 ,in the beginning1 
the movement  was consistently and      
fearlessly ,rationalistic4 ,adler had a 
lecture  on ,atheism in which he boldly 
exposed the weakness of the theistic    
position4 ,this lecture was printed and 
widely circulated4 ,the other  lecturers
 also openly antagonized the ,god idea  
as robbing the idea  of the ,good of the
 attention and love of man4 ,the        
churches feared the  ,ethical ,movement 
in those days1 and denounced it as an   
irreligious  institution4    ,but soon  
there appeared a change in the leader   
and founder of the  movement1 and       
gradually also in the majority of his   
colleagues4 ,the  lecture on ,atheism   
was withdrawn from circulation1 and ,dr4
 ,adler began  delivering addresses on  

immortality1 and exalting the character 
of  ,christ in the fashion of           
,unitarianism4 ,all lectures in         
criticism of the  fundamentals of       
,orthodoxy were as much as prohibited4  
,orthodox leaders  were invited to      
preach from the platform of the ,ethical
 ,societies1  and it became the ambition
 of an ,ethical lecturer to deliver only
 such  lectures as no church-goer would 
object to hear4 ,i do not mean that     
,orthodox doctrines were promulgated by 
the ,ethical lecturers1 but  nothing was
 to be said against them1 if nothing    
could be said in  their favor4 ,the aim 
of the ,movement was now defined to be  
solely  the improvement of the morals of
 its members and of the public1 and     
therefore1 like the church1 it began to 
fight sin1 studiously ignoring  the     
debasing superstitions and the bondage  
of dogma which not only had  bankrupted1
 both mentally and morally1 whole       
nations1 but which had  also withered   
the greatest civilization the world had 

ever seen1 and  surrendered humanity to 
the keeping of the dark ages for a      
thousand  years4 ,this change in the    
program of the ,ethical ,societies      
greatly  pleased the ,orthodox world1   
and all fear of menace or danger to its 
theological interests from that         
direction was dissipated4 ,catholic and 
,protestant clergymen vied with each    
other in expressions of admiration  for 
the work of the ,ethical ,societies1 and
 all praised the tact which  the leaders
 of the movement displayed in refraining
 from criticisms  of the churches and   
their doctrines1 to protest against the 
degrading  effects of which1 was the    
very object for which the ,ethical      
,societies  were organized in the first 
place4 ,thus it will be seen how        
completely  the ,movement came to       
abandon its original program4 ,the      
,sunday lectures  of the leaders of the 
,movement became1 in time1 so harmless  
that  preachers recommended them to     
their flock1 while the ,ethical         

lecturers  in return publicly declared  
that it was not necessary for a         
,trinitarian1  a ,papist or a ,jew to   
leave his church before he could be     
admitted to  membership in an ,ethical  
,society4 ,the ,ethical ,societies1 in  
fact1  did not encourage people to break
 away from their ecclesiastical         
connections1 but indirectly1 at least1  
advised them to support the new         
movement without withdrawing their      
support from the churches to which  they
 belonged4    ,i cannot imagine that any
 one seriously believed that a devout   
,christian1 or an ,orthodox ,jew1 would 
join an ,ethical ,society for  purposes 
of edification in morals4 ,to do so     
would be equivalent to an  admission    
that one's divinely appointed church was
 not satisfying one's  highest needs1   
and to feel that way toward one's own   
church is to cease  to believe in it4   
,only those then who had parted with the
 past1 with  its crushing and hampering 
freight of dogmas1 would think of       

joining  an organization that started as
 an ,atheistic1 or at least1 a          
non-religious society4 ,but the         
invitation to join the ,ethical         
,societies  without leaving their own   
churches had the effect of drawing the  
new  movement into closer relations with
 the religious bodies1 which in our     
opinion has greatly handicapped the     
,ethical lecturers1 and impaired  their 
leadership in the world of thought4 ,it 
is not my intention to  bring a charge  
of deliberate surrender to the churches 
against the  leaders of the ,ethical    
,movement4 ,it will be difficult to find
 anywhere a  finer body of men than the 
lecturers of the different ,ethical     
,societies  in ,america4 ,but they      
swerved from the path they had started  
to follow1  and sacrificed a magnificent
 career to become an annex to the       
church4  ,not only the history of the   
,movement1 but also the literature which
 it  now puts forth1 lends confirmatory 
evidence to the criticism ,i have made  

against a cause to which ,i once gave my
 heart4    ,that the publications of the
 ,ethical ,society as well as the       
,sunday  lectures of the leaders1 show  
decidedly reactionary tendencies1 it    
will not be difficult to prove4 ,they do
 this1 first1 by maintaining  a         
significant silence on questions the    
free discussion of which would  offend  
the churches1 and in the second place1  
by indirectly endeavoring  to bolster   
up1 by new interpretations1 the         
discredited dogmas of the  popular      
religions4 ,either of these charges1 if 
true1 will be enough  to prove that the 
,ethical ,movement has not remained     
faithful to its  original intentions4   
,it is not a secret that the lecturers  
of the ,ethical ,societies no  longer   
publicly condemn the false teaching of  
the churches4 ,these false  teachings1  
in our opinion1 form an essential part  
of both ,christianity  and ,judaism1    
which have to be exposed and attacked   
vigorously and  without compromise1 if  

morality is ever to make any permanent  
progress  in the world4 ,it should be as
 impossible to reconcile ,ethical       
,culture  with the churches1 as it is to
 reconcile theology with science1 and   
yet1 that is precisely what the ,ethical
 lecturers think they ,have             
accomplished4 ,i have only to quote from
 authoritative ,christian sources  to   
show how prejudicial to the interests of
 morality is the teaching of  the       
churches4 ,for an ,ethical ,movement    
systematically to ignore the evil  which
 the churches do by sacrificing reason  
to dogma is in the nature of  treason to
 its own principles4 ,the whole trend of
 ,christian teaching is  that ,ethics is
 secondary4 ,how can the ,ethical       
,societies afford to ignore  so         
fundamental an untruth8 ,both the       
established and the non-conformist      
churches explicitly and officially      
declare and teach that1 ,they also  are 
to be accursed that presume to say1 that
 every man shall be saved by  the ,law1 

or the sect that he professeth1 so that 
he be diligent to  frame his life       
according to that ,law1 and the ,light  
of ,nature4 ,for ,holy  ,scripture doth 
set out unto us only the name of ,jesus 
,christ whereby men  must be saved4 99  
,clearly1 then1 for the churches it is  
not ethics1 but  faith in ,jesus1 a     
disputed personage at the very best1    
which represents  the highest interests 
of the race4         99  ,eighteenth    
,article of the ,church of ,england4    
,that the same unethical doctrine forms 
the basis of the ,reformed  churches    
will be seen from the following3        
,much less can men not professing the   
,christian religion be saved1 be  they  
ever so diligent to frame their lives   
according to the light of  nature2 and  
to ascertain and maintain that they can 
is very pernicious  and to be detested4 
99    ,the same indifference1 if not    
contempt for morality is shown by the   
leading exponents of ,christianity4     
,when ,i was a lad of about fifteen1    

one of the books placed in my hand1 and 
which ,i was made to  regard almost as  
inspired as the ,bible1 was1 ,paleys    
,evidences of  ,christianity4 ,speaking 
on the scope of the ,christian religion1
 in the  second part of his book1 he    
writes3 ,moral precepts or examples1 or 
illustrations of moral precepts1 may be 
occasionally given1 and be  highly      
valuable1 yet still they do not form the
 original purpose of the  mission4 ,the 
meaning is clear3 ,christ did not come  
to make men moral1  he came to save     
those who shall believe in him4 ,and    
this is also the  teaching of leaders   
like ,martin ,luther1 ,john ,calvin1    
,charles ,spurgeon  and ,general ,booth4
 ,the burden of ,luther's message was   
that ,christ had  come to abolish the   
,moral ,law4 ,the liberty which ,luther 
proclaimed  assured the believer that   
even the decalogue shall not be brought 
into account against him1 nor its       
violation be allowed to disturb the     
conscience of the ,christian4 9999 ,in  

the same spirit1 ,spurgeon cried in  his
 ,london ,tabernacle1 ,sunday after     
,sunday1 for nearly half a century3     
,thirty years of sin shall be forgiven1 
and it shall not take thirty  minutes to
 do it in4 ,and this doctrine that faith
 in ,christ can in one  instant make a  
man who has led a life of crime and     
corruption1 one of  ,god's saints1      
,spurgeon and his fellow-clergymen      
learned from ,christ  himself1 who      
opened the gates of paradise to the     
malefactor on the  cross1 and in one    
minute wiped out all his past4 ,this    
example from the  gospels shows that1   
the preachers and the creeds in giving  
to morality a  secondary place1 are not 
misrepresenting the teachings of        
,christ4 ,what  need has a religion     
which can change men miraculously1--and 
which makes  faith the sole condition of
 salvation1--for ,ethical ,culture8     
99 ,westminster ,catechism4         9999
  ,moehler's ,works1 quoted by ,cotter  
,morison1 ,service of       ,man1 page  

#ea4    ,what is true of ,christianity  
is equally true of its parent1 ,judaism4
 ,the  full stress of the ,old          
,testament is on the necessity of the   
,ceremonial  and not the ,moral ,law4   
,while the ,jews were not only          
permitted1 but were  ordered to break   
every ,ethical commandment in the       
decalogue1 to commit  theft1 murder1    
massacre1 and acts of oppression and    
brigandage1--every  departure from the  
ritual of ,israel was visited by        
immediate and  clamorous punishment4    
,both ,judaism and ,christianity make   
their special  objective1 not character1
 but the creed4 ,how1 then1 can a       
movement the  motto of which is ,the    
deed1 not the creed1 maintain so        
profound a  silence1 or refrain even    
from calling attention to the positive  
hurt  which the old religions do to the 
cause of righteousness8 ,what is the    
defense of ,ethical ,culture against    
this charge8    ,if it be answered that1
 the churches no longer take their      

creeds or  bibles1 seriously1           
notwithstanding their official          
professions1 then the  ,ethical         
lecturers should1 instead of silently   
endorsing the hypocrisy  which professes
 one thing and believes another1 thunder
 against it  with all their might4 ,this
 should be done not from motives of     
hatred or  combativeness1 but in the    
spirit of faithfulness to the best      
interests  of man4 ,it is error1 and not
 its victims1 against which the         
,rationalist  directs his straight and  
sounding blows4 ,it was ,paine's kindly 
advice  in the ,french convention to    
kill the king and spare the man4 ,it is 
the  desire of ,reason to destroy false 
teachings and to help enlighten the     
teacher4    ,the effect upon the        
prosperity of the ,ethical ,societies1  
both in ,america  and ,europe1 of this  
policy of silence1 has been really      
disastrous4 ,like  ,unitarianism1 the   
,ethical ,movement has drifted into the 
sheltered harbor  where it hugs the     

wharves made fast by posts and ropes4   
,both these  movements started out for  
the sea1 but not a vessel flying their  
flags  can now be encountered at any    
distance from the coast4 ,thirty years  
ago  there were four ,ethical ,societies
 in ,america2 there are now these same  
four and no more1 and three of them are 
without any lecturers4    ,but not only 
by their silence on the injurious       
teachings of both ,judaism  and         
,christianity1 which strike at the very 
foundations of moral health1  but also  
by their attempts1 incredible as it may 
seem1 to discredit  science and to seek 
in metaphysics1 or in a sort of         
attenuated theology1  the origins and   
sanctions of ,ethics1 the ,ethical      
lecturers have given to  decaying dogmas
 the support they owed to ,rationalism4 
,in a contribution by ,dr4 ,adler1 head 
of the fellowship1 on one of the        
fundamentals of the ,movement1 we see   
full traces of this deplorable  effort  
to divorce ,ethics from science1 and wed

 her to theology4    ,in discussing ,the
 ,religion of ,duty1 the professor1     
instead of  explaining duty in the terms
 of science1 tries to make of it a      
deeper  mystery even than the thrice    
veiled dogmas of the churches4 ,duty1   
he says1 becomes religion when we       
recognize that it is not a law or a     
command that has a merely sensible      
origin1 or can be explained in  terms of
 sensible experience1 that we can get to
 the bottom of it and  thoroughly       
penetrate it with our understanding1 or 
see fully the use of  it4 99 99 99 ,it  
is then that we come to realize that in 
the moral command  there is something   
awful4 ,the language is not very        
clear--perhaps  because the thought is  
not very clear--but we believe its      
meaning is  that1 a moral command is    
awful because we cannot understand it4  
,prof4  ,adler seems to make of duty a  
new kind of a god4 ,the qualities and   
attributes of the deity he bodily       
transfers to his successor--,duty4      

,accordingly1 ,duty becomes just as     
mysterious and awful as ,god1 and  we   
can no more get at the bottom of ,duty  
than we can understand  the ,deity4     
,duty no more than the ,deity can be    
expressed in terms of  sensible         
experience1 hence it is inexplicable2   
and the only way we  can feel the       
majesty and inexplicable augustness of  
it1 says the  professor1 is to draw back
 the curtains and see1 and then we shall
  find that out of this relation we     
suddenly get religion4 ,i fear we get   
it a little too suddenly4 ,such rapid   
transformations suggest a deus ex       
machina4    ,there is serious danger of 
making a fetish out of the word duty4   
,the  thinking world has abandoned      
theism because of the impossibility of  
explaining in terms of sensible         
experience1 the existence of a personal 
infinite2 but now ,prof4 ,adler wishes  
to surround his new deity1 ,duty1  with 
the same clouds and darkness which have 
so long hung about the  ancient         

divinities4    ,in what sense is it a   
compliment to the moral law to say that 
it cannot  be explained in terms of     
sensible experience8 ,what is gained by 
putting a dead wall or curtains between 
the intelligence of man and  his        
conscience8 ,why sneer at the scientific
 explanation of the  origin and growth  
of the moral sense by calling it narrow1
 secular1  materialistic and paltry1 as 
,prof4 ,adler does in this lecture--when
 no  better explanation is offered than 
a mere rhetorical recommendation to     
draw back the curtains and see the      
majesty and inexplicable augustness  of 
it8 ,what are these curtains8 ,who put  
them there to hide such  augustness8 ,if
 the scientific explanation of the      
origin of the moral  sense is a flat    
failure1 quoting from the professor     
again1 what is  his explanation8 ,we are
 really grieved to see so influential a 
public  leader taking sides against     
science1 the only dependable teacher we 
have1 notwithstanding its many          

limitations4    ,again1 in his criticism
 of the evolutionary view1 the professor
 says3  ,as against the scientific      
evolutionary view1 ,i plead for what ,i 
would  call the moral evolutionary view1
 which asserts that the moral law is a  
law of our nature1 and in so far1 the   
universal nature4 99 99 99 ,we leave    
the issues to work themselves out2 we   
leave them to mightier powers than  we1 
whose ways we wot not of4 ,here surely  
is theology--cap1 cassock and  all4     
,but what is the difference between the 
scientific evolutionary view and  the   
moral evolutionary view8 ,if the        
scientific view is not in accord  with  
the known facts1 then it is not         
scientific4 ,but if it is in harmony    
with the facts1 what do we gain by      
rejecting it in preference to the  moral
 evolutionary view8 ,if on the other    
hand the moral evolutionary  view is not
 scientific1 what is its value8         
,according to the generally admitted    
scientific explanation1 morality is     

just as much the result of evolution as 
is music or language4 ,morality  is the 
slow product of the accumulated         
experience of humanity4 ,but that  does 
not seem to be ,prof4 ,adler's theory4  
,there is1 he says1 a voice  that speaks
 in us out of the ultimate reality of   
things4 ,but if this  voice is not the  
inherited instincts of the race1 what is
 it8 ,if it is  a ready-made1 or made to
 order voice1 or a voice not made at    
all--but1  well1 an unfathomable        
something commanding us in tones of the 
categorical imperative--who placed it   
there8 ,god1 or chance8 ,if  conscience1
 in straight words1 is a natural product
 in the same sense  that the brain or   
the human hand is1 then there is no good
 reason for  throwing a mystic veil over
 this one faculty or sense1 or in       
decorating  it with fallacy trimmings   
and jingling bells in order to make it  
look  exceptionally awful and august4   
,just as the foolish overpraise of      
,jesus  has nearly ruined him as a      

living force in the life of the world   
today1  so there is danger of making an 
idol or a mummy out of morality by      
taking away all its beautiful           
naturalness4    ,i simply think of the  
moral law within us1 says ,dr4 ,adler1  
as a hand  laid on us4 99 99 99 ,i like 
to think of the moral law 99 99 99 as of
 a hand2  the face we do not see1 but   
the hand we feel4 ,is not this an       
attempt to  make ethics as mystifying as
 theology8 ,if this hand1 of which the  
professor speaks1 is endowed with       
unerring intelligence1 how shall we     
account for the missteps1 disastrous in 
their consequences1 which man  has taken
 with this hand laid on him8            
,however1 this hand which we are told is
 heavy upon our shoulders as  ,atlas1 is
 not infallible1 what is its worth8 ,is 
it necessary to perplex  an audience    
with visions of a hand1 and a face that 
belongs to the  hand which we do not    
see1 in order to impress it with the    
beauty and  duty of obedience to the    

dictates of the enlightened and         
emancipated  conscience8    ,but this   
confusion is the result of the commerce 
of ,ethical ,culture  with ,churchianity
 and ,judaism1 in other words1 with the 
supernatural4  ,a teacher who is trying 
to convince both ,christian and ,jew    
that without  discarding their obsolete 
and obstructive dogmas they can join    
the ,ethical ,movement1 is compelled by 
the very exigencies of the  mesalliance 
to tarry in the region of fog and       
obscurity4 ,and this  confusion in      
thought1 this lack of decision and      
clarity in one's  concepts1 this        
metaphysical vagueness and bewildering  
rhetoric is the  price ,orthodoxy exacts
 before it will bestow its smile upon a 
prodigal  teacher seeking to return to  
the fold4    ,we could not agree with   
the head of the ,ethical ,movement that 
it was  worth our while to try to win   
the favor of the churches1 or to seek   
their co-operation4 ,in our opinion such
 a rapprochement would only  redound to 

the glory of an institution that has    
proven itself not  only incapable of    
saving the world1 but of positively     
hindering its  salvation4 ,this         
indictment is not voiced in haste1 or in
 malice1 but  because it is based upon  
careful observation and study4    ,the  
church can never become a great moral   
power until it is  rationalized4 ,in    
this age of enlightenment the church can
 not be  honest and ,orthodox at the    
same time4 ,we recommend this thought to
 the  consideration of the ,ethical     
lecturers4 ,and no institution can make 
others honest1 if it is dishonest       
itself4 ,is the church honest with      
science8 ,is it honest with history8 ,is
 it honest with the ,bible8 ,mark  these
 brave words of ,huxley3    ,when       
,sunday after ,sunday1 men who profess  
to be our instructors in  righteousness1
 read out the statement that ',in six   
days the ,lord made  heaven and earth1  
the sea and all that in them is1' in    
innumerable  churches1 they are either  

propagating what they may honestly know1
 and1  therefore1 are bound to know1 to 
be falsities2 or if they use the words  
in some non-natural sense1 they fall    
below the moral standard of the         
much-abused ,jesuit4    ,how refreshing6
    ,to the average thinker the         
inconsistency of advocating ,ethics as  
the  supreme good1 on the one hand1 and 
on the other1 of maintaining a          
deliberate silence on the demonstrably  
false teaching of the church  which     
makes belief the greatest of all        
virtues1 has only to be pointed  out to 
be comprehended4 ,and it is ,kant1 the  
patron-saint of the ,american  ,ethical 
lecturers1 who set them the example of  
inconsistency4 ,with a  rigour which    
even in a dogmatist of the theological  
schools would be  considered excessive1 
,emanuel ,kant argued that so imperative
 was the  duty to tell the truth that1  
even to save one's self or another from 
murder1 there must be no departure from 
it4 ,if you saw an assassin with  a     

drawn dagger running after a man or a   
woman1 and he asked you1 which  way the 
fugitive ran1 if you answer him at all1 
insists ,kant1 you must  tell him the   
truth4 ,and yet this same philosopher   
encouraged openly the  ,lutheran clergy 
of his day to go on deceiving the people
 with beliefs  which they themselves had
 discarded1 on the score that populus   
vult  decipi1 and that the clergy are   
excused by their profession for playing 
a false part4    ,is it then from policy
 or from principle that the ,ethical    
lecturers1  starting as they did1 by    
denouncing the supernatural as the      
destroyer  of character1 later on came  
to ignore altogether the existence even 
of degrading superstitions1 and were    
content to be a moral improvement       
association merely1 somewhat after the  
pattern1 as ,marie-,jean ,guyau  states1
 of a ,christian ,temperance ,society8  
99         99  ,l',irrligion de         
,l',avenir4    ,the battle of progress  
is to be fought in the mind4 ,an        

intellectual  awakening must precede all
 real and permanent moral improvement of
  the world4 ,on the tree of            
enlightenment alone can ripen the fruit 
of  righteousness and peace4 ,and there 
can be no enlightenment under the       
church4 ,even as the light of the sun   
can not enter a dungeon1 the light  of  
knowledge can not penetrate the mind    
which it has been the aim of the  church
 to keep shut4 ,the condition of the    
spread of knowledge as of the  sunlight 
is the same--freedom4 ,yet freedom is   
anathema where there is  a ,revelation4 
,a thousand ,ethical ,societies could   
not help ,russia unless  she began by   
striking1 without sparing or wavering1  
at the teachings of  the ,greek church4 
,the new edifice cannot rise side by    
side with the old--it must rise on  the 
ruins of the old4    ,can there be any  
real moral advance in a community in    
which the  following is accepted and    
taught as a divinely revealed truth3 ,we
  are accounted righteous before ,god1  

only for the merit of our ,lord and     
,saviour ,jesus ,christ by faith1 and   
not for our own works and deservings4   
,wherefore1 that we are justified by    
faith only is a most wholesome          
doctrine1 and very full of comfort4 99  
99 ,no4 ,,xi4 of the ,articles of the   
,church of ,england4 ,all the           
other ,christian churches teach to young
 and old the same       doctrine4       
,only by self-stultification can an     
,ethical ,society refrain from          
combating so injurious a teaching with  
all the earnestness and courage  at     
their command4    ,nothing would please 
the priests and rabbis more than to be  
assured  that the efforts of the new    
teachers will be confined strictly to   
giving moral exhortations1 and that they
 will leave church and dogma            
respectfully alone4          ,,chapter  
,v4 ,anchored at ,last    ,after nearly 
ten years of service in the ,ethical    
field1 ,i felt  constrained to withdraw 
from the fraternity of lecturers1       

because ,i  realized that under the     
guise of a new name we were all slowly  
slipping  back into the net of theology1
 from which we had escaped after years  
of struggle and suffering4 ,when ,i look
 over my own lectures delivered  during 
my connection with the ,ethical         
,movement1 ,i find in them clearly  the 
traces of the same reactionary bias4    
,the atmosphere of theology is          
perceptible on nearly every page1       
,passages about the moral supremacy of  
,jesus1 ,his uniqueness1 and the        
indebtedness of the ages to ,him1 will  
be  found in the publications which will
 not only show that ,i had swerved  from
 the path into which ,i had entered when
 ,i left ,calvinism1 and in  which ,i   
had persevered against numerous         
temptations to leave it1 but  also1 what
 a powerful influence my new environment
 exerted upon me4 ,in a  lecture        
delivered before the ,chicago ,ethical  
,society1 ,i try to prove  the spiritual
 resurrection of ,jesus1 and ,his       

incomparable greatness4 ,in  another1   
delivered before the ,new ,york         
,society1 in ,carnegie ,music  ,hall1 ,i
 fail to appreciate the services of such
 intellectual ,titans  as ,voltaire and 
,thomas ,paine--who flung themselves    
against a thousand  abuses1 and by      
opposing1 succeeded in putting an end to
 them4 ,i make  these confessions to    
show that there was in my course from   
,calvinism to  ,rationalism1 a break1   
after all4 ,i missed the straight path1 
despite  all my vigilance1 and cannot1  
therefore1 claim the happiness1 nor the 
distinction which belongs to those who  
have been more consistent than ,i  have 
been4    ,but it was not very long      
before ,i began to see whither ,i was   
drifting4  ,i discovered that ,i was    
using two sets of weights and           
measures--one set  for ,calvinistic     
,christianity1 and another set for my   
,christianity1 and  it was only         
necessary to submit my own              
interpretations to the same  tests which

 had shown the untenability of          
,calvinism to discover my               
self-deception4 ,i had rejected         
,calvinism because it offered no        
evidence  in support of its dogmas1 but 
what evidence did ,i offer to prove the 
moral superiority of my ,jesus which ,i 
claimed to find in the gospels8  ,why is
 not ,calvin's word as good as mine1 if 
an assertion may pass  for an argument8 
,i began to see1 even more clearly than 
ever before1  perhaps1 because of my    
temporary backsliding or egarement1 as  
the  ,french would it is as impossible  
to construct a character of ,jesus as   
it is to write a life of ,jesus out of  
the data in hand4 ,no less an  authority
 than ,prof4 ,conybeare1 of ,oxford1    
,fellow of the ,british ,academy  and   
,doctor of ,theology1 admits that ,we   
cannot1 then1 aspire to write  a life of
 ,jesus4 ,even ,renan failed1 and from  
the hands of a ,farrar  we merely get   
under this rubric a farago of falsehood1
 absurdity1 and  charlatanry4 99 ,this  

is strong language1 but there is no     
exaggeration  in it4 ,if1 however1 a    
life of ,jesus cannot be written1 it    
follows that1  under the circumstances a
 character of ,jesus can not be         
constructed4 ,how  can the character of 
a man be known whose life is unknown to 
us8 ,are  a few floating aphorisms      
ascribed to ,jesus enough to justify his
  beatification8 ,and yet1 the other    
,ethical lecturers1 as well as myself1  
were speaking of ,jesus not only as the 
religious genius of the ages1 but  also 
as the one being in whom humanity's     
hopes and dreams came true4 ,i  have    
quoted elsewhere 9999 ,adler's          
description of ,christ as a personality 
of such superlative excellence1 so      
radiant1 so incomparably lofty in  mien 
and port and speech and intercourse4    
,but this rhetorical praise is  as      
untrue of ,jesus as it would be of      
,moses or ,mohammed4         99  ,myth1 
,magic and ,morals1 page #adj4          
99  ,the ,truth ,about ,jesus1 page     

#beg4    ,in the fall of #ahii there was
 presented to me the opportunity of     
either  going to ,philadelphia1 the     
scene of my earlier intellectual        
struggles1  as the lecturer of an       
,independent ,society1 or of returning  
to ,chicago1  after an absence of four  
years from that city1 to be the lecturer
 of  a society which promised to help   
support a platform pledged to an        
uncompromising ,rationalism4            
,considerable objection was made by     
members  and lecturers of the ,ethical  
,societies to my trying to organize an  
,independent ,society in ,chicago4 ,was 
not one liberal society enough in       
,chicago8 it was asked4 ,did not the    
,ethical platform answer the purposes   
which the proposed society wished to    
serve8 ,would ,i not be dividing and    
thereby weakening the cause by engaging 
a new lecture hall8 ,my critics  did not
 object to my going to cities where     
there were no ,ethical  ,societies1 but 
in cities where there was one1 ,i was   

not needed1 was  their argument4 ,but   
time has shown that the society of which
 ,i have  been the lecturer for the past
 ten years1 does not in the least       
conflict  with1 or duplicate the work of
 the ,ethical ,societies4 ,there is a   
radical  difference between ,ethical    
,culture and ,rationalism1 which may be 
brought  out by the help of an          
illustration3 ,a certain king had many  
slaves4 ,this  king had been a          
slave-holder for a long1 long time4 ,and
 his slaves had  lived in slavery ever  
since they could remember4 ,there were  
among the  slaves of the king1 young and
 old1 men and women1 rich and poor4     
,now there came to the slave-holder1 one
 day1 men from a strange country1  who  
demanded that the slaves be given their 
freedom4 ,the king put them  to death1  
and continued to hold his slaves4 ,from 
time to time others  came demanding     
freedom for the slaves1 but they met a  
similar fate4  ,some of the preachers of
 freedom were burned at the stake1      

others were  tortured to death in       
dungeons1 and others again were put to  
the sword4  ,but this did not stop the  
coming of new preachers of liberty4     
,when the number of people believing in 
freedom for the slave increased         
sufficiently to command respect1 the    
slave-holder changed his policy4 ,he    
received the messengers of liberty with 
great courtesy and hospitality1  and    
expressed the hope that he and they     
might arrive at a satisfactory          
arrangement4    ,why do you demand the  
freedom of the slaves8 he asked1 very   
politely4  ,it is their right1 and it   
alone can develop the best possibilities
 in  them1 they answered4    ,i am      
perfectly willing1--indeed1 ,i shall    
cooperate with you toward that  laudible
 end1 but on one condition3 they shall  
continue to remain in my  care and obey 
me as their guide and protector4    ,no1
 said some of the apostles of liberty1  
as slaves they can never be  helped to  
the fuller and better life4 ,before     

everything else1 they  must conquer     
freedom to obey not you1 but their own  
unfettered and  enlightened consciences4
 ,besides1 you have been an evil        
,master1 and can  no longer be entrusted
 with the care of others4 ,with the fall
 of slavery  falls all your pretended   
rights to the allegiance of these men   
and  women4 ,and the slaves can not     
become free until your real character is
  exposed and your pretensions to       
authority divine exploded4    ,but1 on  
the other hand1 there were those among  
the preachers of freedom  who were      
inclined to accept the slave-owner's    
proposition3 ,we will  come in and do   
what we can to educate and reform the   
people4 ,we will  say nothing to them   
about their slavery1 or against your    
authority over  them4 ,all we wish is to
 make good men and women out of them1   
they said4    ,behold the difference    
between liberal ,christian and ,ethical 
movements1  and a thoroughgoing and     
uncompromising ,rationalism4 ,the former

 think  that the intellectual bondage of
 the church is not an obstacle to the   
moral and mental development of man1 the
 latter hold1 and to my mind1  justly1  
that the first condition of salvation   
for a slave is that he be  free--free   
from gods1 christs1 bibles and churches1
 as well as kings4    ,but the          
,rationalist ,societies of ,europe and  
,america need no  justification for     
their existence4 ,they do a work which  
neither  ,unitarianism nor ,ethical     
,culture attempt even to do4 ,the work  
of the  ,rationalists of ,chicago has   
been singularly successful1 both in     
building  up a self-supporting ,society 
with a large membership and a much      
larger  audience which regularly fills  
,orchestra ,hall--the largest and finest
 on  ,michigan ,avenue1 but it has also1
 together with the other progressive    
forces at play in the modern world1     
profoundly influenced the life and      
thought of the community4 ,superstition 
is more ashamed to show her face  in    

,chicago1 than perhaps in any other city
 of its size in ,america4 ,there  are no
 doubt1 ,rationalists in many of our    
other cities1 and in large  numbers1 but
 in ,chicago1 ,rationalists are         
organized4 ,they maintain a  regular    
platform1 and disseminate ,rationalistic
 publications by the  thousands4    ,the
 ten years in which ,i have been engaged
 in this work of constructive           
,rationalism have been the most fruitful
 years of my life4 ,they have  been     
years of conscious development in the   
knowledge and grasp of  truths which    
enrich as well as interpret life4 ,the  
sense of freedom from  inconsistency1   
which is a kind of insincerity1 is a    
great source1 both  of power and        
happiness4 ,then1 the militant note to  
which the soul of the  ,rationalist     
vibrates1--for he is a soldier sworn to 
free men from the  fear of the gods and 
their priests--a soldier to help man    
break his  holy chains--gives him all   
the alertness1 watchfulness1 and courage

 of  a sentinel at his vigil4 ,there    
have been those who have helped man to  
political liberty1 and others who are   
nobly endeavoring to help him  conquer  
industrial liberty3 but not until man   
has thrown off the yoke  of the gods can
 he be free indeed4 ,the last king to be
 dethroned is the  heavenly king4 ,if he
 stays1 ,tzar and ,kaiser1 tyrant and   
despot1 pope and  priest1 in some form  
or other1 will remain with us4 ,here and
 there men  may succeed in banishing or 
overthrowing the tyrant1--king or       
priest1  but these will come back again 
and again1 perhaps disguised1 but  ever 
really the same1 until ,god from whom   
they derive their power is  unseated1   
and man becomes forever free4 ,honor to 
those who taught us not  to kneel before
 ,caesar1 but greater honor to him who  
shall teach us not  to kneel at all1 and
 to accept nothing that is given to us  
for kneeling4          ,,chapter ,,vi4  
,some ,objections to ,rationalism4      
,rationalism is cold1 is a frequent     

criticism advanced by theological       
people4 ,without ,god and the hope of   
immortality1 the ,rationalist1          
according to church-goers1 ought to be  
very miserable4 ,even if he should      
manage to escape the consequences of his
 unbelief while living1 he is  sure to  
suffer horrors when he comes to die4    
,life and death are so awful  that only 
faith in ,god and the hope of a future  
life can enable us to  endure the one   
and resign ourselves to the other4 ,such
 is the reasoning  of ,orthodoxy4       
,strictly speaking1 the question of the 
existence of a ,god is not a  human     
question4 ,the bare fact that for these 
thousands of years1 and  throughout the 
world1 the existence of ,god has        
remained an unsolved  question1 suggests
 that in all probability it will never  
be decided by  mortals4 ,certainty about
 the future is equally impossible4 ,of  
course1 we  do not know what light      
science may throw upon these problems   
to-morrow1  but speaking modestly1 and  

without dogmatizing1 every honest soul  
must  admit1 with ,shakespeare1 that the
 future is still an undiscovered        
country4    ,the essential thing is not 
that we should believe in a ,god or in  
the  hereafter1 but that we should grow4
 ,whenever1 during my ten years of      
complete severance from the             
supernatural1 ,i have been called to say
 a  few words in the house of mourning1 
or at the open grave1 ,i have  never    
pretended to find comfort for the       
bereaved in the belief in a             
non-resident ,god or in a life          
hereafter4    ,the priest knows1 or says
 he does1 where the departed has gone1  
what  kind of a life he leads there1    
what will be his lot in eternity1  and  
whether we shall meet again4 ,he speaks 
of these things with the  assurance of a
 schoolboy reciting a page which he has 
learned by heart4  ,but he is only      
pretending to possess information which1
 as a matter  of fact1 no one possesses4
 ,he knows no more of a personal ,god1  

or of  another life1 than anybody else4 
,if we cannot predict what will happen  
in the next hour1 how can we talk with  
assurance of the secrets of the         
unending future8 ,if we do not quite    
understand ourselves1 or the world      
which we daily see1 how can we boast of 
any certain knowledge of a  ,being who  
is said to be infinitely and absolutely 
and incomprehensibly  different from us8
 ,silence is more religious than the    
gossip one hears  about such a ,being4  
,modesty is more reverent than          
dogmatism1 and the  agnostic is more    
honest and more eloquent than the       
garrulous preacher4  ,if men wish to    
know where the ,eternal is1 who he is1  
what he does1 what  his intentions are1 
how he should be praised1 what humors or
 provokes  him1 how many manifestations 
or persons there are in his godhead1    
and when he first began his operations1 
etc41 they must not come to a           
,rationalist for such information4 ,to  
acquaint man with himself1 to show  him 

the way to develop and use his own      
resources1 and in time of sorrow  and   
bereavement1 to depend upon the thoughts
 of the wise and the brave1  which heal 
and sooth and bless1 is the consolation 
,rationalism offers4  ,it is modest1 but
 it is real4 ,rationalists cannot count 
on the creeds  for consolation4 ,a doll 
may amuse a baby1 but is a grown-up man 
miserable because he cannot play with a 
toy8 ,the ,rationalist is willing  to   
see ,nature in its true light4 ,he      
prefers reality to illusions1 and  would
 rather be awake than dreaming the most 
seductive dreams which  poppy or        
mandragora1 or all the drowsy syrups of 
the world can  medicine the mind into4  
,but the greatest consolation of the    
,rationalist is in this1 that he is  not
 under obligation to distort his        
intellect and twist his affections  out 
of joint in order to justify ,god's way 
to man4 ,no sooner a disaster  is       
announced than the clergy begin to      
concoct excuses for this seeming        

neglect of ,providence4 ,god meant to   
punish human carelessness2 he was  angry
 with the present generation for its    
unbelief2 he wished to speak  in tones  
loud enough to be heard the world over1 
he was trying to make  us more careful  
in the future1 he wished to demonstrate 
that all human  devices and inventions  
are futile unless the ,lord protect the 
ship1  the house or the city2 and       
finally1 that we do not understand ,god1
 for  he moves in a mysterious way1 his 
wonders to perform1 though we know  he  
does everything for the best4 ,is it not
 a welcome relief that the  ,rationalist
 can bear his great sorrow without      
resorting to commonplace  sophistries of
 this nature8 ,not taxed with the burden
 of vindicating  ,providence1 the       
,rationalist devotes his energies to the
 fruitful work of  developing his       
resources against the fortuitous        
elements at play about  him4    ,only a 
moment's reflection will prove the      
futility of all attempts to  establish a

 relation of some kind between ,god and 
the world's life4    ,god's in ,his     
,heaven1    ,all's right with the       
,world6    is ,browning's creed in his  
,pippa ,passes4    ,the verse in which  
the lines occur is1 no doubt1 excellent 
poetry1 but  what about its philosophy8 
,the lark's on the wing2    ,the snail's
 on the thorn2    ,god's in ,his        
,heaven-    ,all's right with the world6
    ,we have seen and heard the lovely  
lark winging through the crystal air2   
and a thousand thousand eyes have       
discovered the snail on the thorn4  ,is 
it ,browning's idea to intimate that by 
the same material or tangible  proofs we
 may be sure ,god's in ,his ,heaven1 and
 be reassured that  ,all's right with   
the world8 ,the two propositions belong 
altogether to  radically different      
categories1 and to infer from the       
presence of the  lark in the air1 or the
 snail on the thorn1 that ,all's right  
with the  world1 may be good rhyme1 but 
that is all it is4 ,granting that ,god's

  in ,his ,heaven1--a question toward   
which we maintain the modest and  honest
 agnostic position1--it is within the   
sphere of man to discuss  whether ,all's
 right with the world4 ,the world is    
made up of many  countries full of      
people1 and it has had a long history4  
,certainly  all's not right in all the  
countries of the world1 nor has it been 
so during all the periods of time4 ,is  
it1 for example1 true of ,russia  to-day
 that all's right there8 ,is it true of 
,poland1 bleeding from  a thousand      
wounds8 ,has it ever been all right in  
,turkey8 ,in ,browning's  opinion1 was  
there a country in ,europe--the ,europe 
of his day--of which  he could          
truthfully say that all was right there8
 ,but perhaps the poet  merely meant to 
say that since ,god's in ,his ,heaven1  
all is bound to  be right1 sooner or    
later1--if not in this world1 then1     
surely1 in some  other4 ,but is not that
 begging the question8 ,the mere fact   
that the best  human effort is directed 

toward making the world better1 shows   
that  the world needs mending1 and is   
far from being all right4 ,we fear  that
 ,browning used his oft-quoted          
expression after a very enjoyable       
breakfast1 while looking out upon his   
green and carefully trimmed lawns1      
shaded with the overspreading branches  
of gorgeous trees1 and imagined  that   
his cheerful yard was the world4 ,the   
poet appears to correct his  own hasty  
generalization when a little later he   
puts in ,pippa's mouth  the lines3      
,in the morning of the world1    ,when  
earth was nigher ,heaven than now4      
,if it is true that the older the world 
grows1 the farther it falls from        
heaven1 then1 it can not be all right   
with the world1 even if ,god's in  ,his 
,heaven4 ,and what is ,browning's       
authority that the earth was nearer     
,heaven once than it is now8 ,does he   
believe that the state of barbarism  is 
nearer heaven than that of civilization8
 ,or does he believe that man  began    

life as an angel1 and later became a    
man--a fallen man8 ,it seems  as if the 
former of the two suppositions          
represents ,browning's thought1  for in 
the following lines he shows decided    
preference for the animal1  the         
primitive1 life of the world3    ,for   
what are the voices of birds1    ,aye6  
and of beasts--but words1 our words8    
,only so much more sweet8    ,this is   
reason swallowed up in rhyme1 or sense  
lost in sentiment4 ,why  is the         
incoherent1 instinctive exclamations of 
childhood1 of bird and  beast1 sweeter  
than the ripened1 rational1 progressive1
 word of man8  ,surely a bird is more   
innocent than a man1 but a stone is even
 more  innocent than a bird4 ,the beast 
tears its victims to death1 the tree    
feeds the worms2 is not a tree1         
therefore1 purer than a beast8 ,in all  
nature1 there is nothing holier than    
man1 for he alone can be holy4          
,browning seems to think that we were   
all so much better off when we were     

nearer the bird and beast1 but evolution
 is our destiny1 and only faint  hearts 
cast wistful glances at the ages left   
behind4    ,finally1 the great ,english 
poet seems to develop further the       
,asiatic  fatalism of ,god's in ,his    
,heaven1 all's right with the world     
idea1 when  in ,scene ,,vi41 ,pippa1 in 
her chamber1 exclaims3    ,all service  
ranks the same with ,god--    ,with     
,god1 whose puppets1 best and worst1    
,are we2 there is no last1 nor first4   
,indeed6 ,are we1 then1 but his         
puppets'8 ,is ,god a puppet showman8    
,and is  this a puppet world which he   
rules8 ,what is the educational value to
 ,god  of presiding over a race of      
puppets8 ,is there any glory for ,god1  
as ,omar  ,khayyam suggests1 in pushing 
back and forth1 on a checkerboard1 mere 
puppets1 and then shutting them up in a 
closet after he has finished  with the  
game8 ,if we are all his puppets1 we    
cannot much care whether  ,god's in ,his
 ,heaven1 or somewhere else1 and whether

 or not ,all's  right with the world4   
,the truth is1 ,browning1 instead of    
portraying  truth1 betrays it4 ,he      
sacrifices reason to imagination1 and   
the result  is failure4    ,the attempts
 of the clergy to reconcile the god-idea
 with human  suffering and wrong have   
proved equally worthless4 ,shortly after
 the  disastrous ,iroquois fire1 in     
which nearly six hundred lives were     
lost1  the ,chicago clergy met1 strange 
to say1 to thank ,god for his tender    
mercies4 ,theology cuts strange capers  
with ,reason after it has put out  its  
eyes4 ,it was of course appropriate     
that1 not only the mourners1  but the   
public in general1 should observe with  
sober reflections the  anniversary of a 
holocaust which left a great city in    
mourning4 ,it is  regrettable1 however1 
that the ceremonies at the commemoration
 service  assumed altogether a          
theological character1 excluding thereby
 from  participation many who would have
 derived great benefit from a purely    

human expression of sorrow and sympathy4
 ,the exercises opened by the  ringing  
of the well known ,hymn1 ,nearer1 ,my   
,god1 to ,thee1 which was  touchingly   
rendered by the soloist and quartet to  
the accompaniment  of the piano4 ,all   
music1 softly and feelingly rendered1 is
 sure to be  impressive as well as      
soothing on occasions of this kind4 ,but
 was it not  a pity that some poet's    
words1 free from the theological        
implication1  were not selected in place
 of this church hymn which is1 after    
all1  nothing but the ecstatic          
outpouring of a superlatively mystical  
soul8  ,what does it mean1 for instance1
 to be ,nearer and still nearer1 to     
,god8 ,did the six hundred people who   
murmured the words of the hymn have  any
 clear idea of what they were asking for
 when they sang ,nearer1 ,my  ,god1 to  
,thee8 ,no doubt they were comforted by 
the hymn1 but how did it  differ from   
the help which the ,asiatic thinks he   
derives as often as  he exclaims ,om    

,mani ,padme ,houm--,o the glorious     
jewel of the  lotus1--amen8 ,imagine the
 effect upon an ,american audience1 had 
one of  the speakers suggested that the 
audience should sing the ,hindoo prayer 
to the lotus instead of the ,christian  
hymn4 ,but why is not ,o the  glorious  
jewel of the lotus as intelligible as   
,nearer1 ,my ,god1 to  ,thee8 ,would the
 millions of ,orientals who in sorrow   
and darkness find  light in drawing     
nearer to the lotus1 be in the least    
moved by the  ,christian hymn which     
moistened the eyes of so many in        
,willard ,hall8    ,but why not let the 
,hindoo have his lotus prayer and the   
,christian his  hymn8 ,we have no       
objection3 if they cannot do without    
them1 they are  welcome to them4 ,in our
 opinion there has never been a         
religion1 however  crude or primitive1  
but has helped some struggling soul2    
there has  not been an idol1 however    
wooden1 but has answered some prayers2  
not  a fetish1 however cheap1 but has   

inspired some believer4 ,it is with     
religions as it is with houses3 ,the    
poorest hut or shanty protects some     
little ones from the cold1 the most     
rickety roof shields from the storm     
some shivering child of want--even the  
hole in the ground into which  the      
savage creeps to escape the ravages of  
the elements is a refuge4 ,but  true as 
all this is1 it still remains as the    
most religions duty of man  to try to   
replace these primitive shelters by     
building1 as ,oliver ,wendel  ,holmes   
suggests1 more stately mansions for his 
soul4 ,even as liberty  with little is  
better than slavery with prosperity1 and
 as justice is  more precious than      
peace1 truth is better than all the     
consolations  which such financial      
exclamations as ,o the glorious jewel of
 the  lotus1 or ,nearer1 ,my ,god1 to   
,thee1 can afford4    ,we thank ,thee1  
,o ,god1 for the gift of tears2 we thank
 ,thee for the  ministrations of pain1  
prayed the reverend comforter4 ,pain and

 tears  are certainly among man's       
teachers1 but they have not been an     
unmixed  good4 ,pain has crushed1       
perhaps1 as many souls as it has        
educated4 ,how  many have come and gone 
to whom pain was simply pain1 and who   
derived no  benefit from it whatever8 ,a
 dispatch from ,port ,arthur states that
 the  inmates of the hospitals complain 
bitterly of the heartlessness of the    
doctors and sisters of charity1 who have
 become so accustomed to human          
suffering during the long siege that    
they have lost all sympathy  with their 
patients4 ,pain1 then1 can make people  
callous as well as  sensitive2 it can   
break the spring of the heart as well as
 sting the  will into action4    ,but it
 is not our purpose1 at present1 to     
question the wisdom of being  specially 
and officially grateful for the         
ministrations of pain2 our  object is to
 inquire what the officiating clergyman 
meant when he said1  ,we thank ,thee1 ,o
 ,father1 etc4 ,did he mean it was good 

of the ,deity  to visit us1 now and     
then1 with such catastrophes as the     
,iroquois  theatre fire8 or1 did he mean
 that it was quite considerate of him to
  make us feel the horror of that event 
sufficiently as to bring tears  from our
 eyes8 ,in thanking the ,lord for pain  
as a gift1 are we to  understand that we
 owe it solely to his loving kindness   
that we can  suffer1 and not to any     
merit on our part8 ,to thank anybody for
 anything  implies the receiving of a   
favor1 and is it this clergyman's idea  
that  in send-ing pain and              
suffering--earthquakes and floods and   
terrible  fires which in one black hour 
destroys the lives of dearest children  
with their helpless parents or          
guardians--the ,deity is doing us a     
favor8    ,let us reflect a moment3 ,we 
thank ,thee1 ,o ,father1 etc41 ,does    
this  mean that there was a possibility 
of the ,lord withholding from us the    
ministrations of pain1 and that1        
therefore1 we must be thankful to him   

for not doing so--for not letting us be 
like the angels who live in a  world    
free from evil and error8 ,we cannot    
understand what the reverend  doctor    
means when he publicly thanks the ,deity
 for the ministrations of  pain4 ,and   
will our good neighbor 99 tell us who he
 meant by ,o ,father1  and how he       
connects this ,father with the          
unutterable calamity1 the  shadow of    
which still darkens our human hearts8   
,ah1 let us be truthful4  ,we are       
soldiers1 and illusions can only spoil  
us4 ,we had sinned  together1 continued 
the ,reverend1 at least someone had     
sinned1 and  'let him without sin cast  
the first stone1' ,i have not the heart 
to  recriminate now1 as ,i had not then1
 because in my own conscience ,i  stand 
convicted before ,god of the common     
negligence4 ,we are common  sinners4    
,what do these words mean8 ,is the good 
doctor trying to  exonerate ,god by     
laying the entire blame upon us common  
sinners8         99 ,reverend ,lloyd    

,jones4    ,the theatre fire was in all 
probability started by an accident      
which1 in  the absence of efficient     
management on the stage and in the      
auditorium1  spread rapidly1 converting 
the building in a few moments into a    
charnel-house4 ,why bring the ,deity    
into the affair8 ,what part1 according  
to the doctor1 did the ,deity play in   
the ,iroquois fire8 ,did he try to  save
 anybody8 ,did he try to prevent anybody
 from being rescued8 ,did he  cause the 
accident8 ,did he put it into someone's 
mind to be careless8  ,did he confuse   
the people and throw them into a panic  
purposely8 ,did he  fold his hands and  
stand aside to see the burning8 ,did he 
wish to help  but could not for any     
moral reasons8 ,did he regret his       
inability to  prevent the horror8 or was
 he glad it happened because it would   
teach us  a lesson8 ,did he choose that 
special way of teaching us a lesson8    
,had he  inevitable reasons for         
selecting a ,wednesday matinee1 when    

more children  would be present1 to     
punish us common sinners1 who stand     
convicted  before ,god4 ,if we cannot   
answer any of these questions1 why do we
  connect ,god with the affair8 ,if we  
cannot say just what ,god did or did    
not do in the theatre fire1 why talk    
about it8 ,if this calamity came  upon  
us because of our sins1 then1 according 
to the missionary the  ,martinique      
earthquake came because the islanders   
rejected the ,protestant  religion4 ,and
 whose sins was ,god punishing by the   
,galveston disaster  or the ,armenian   
massacres8 ,has it come to this that a  
man cannot take  a sorrowing1 weeping1  
heart-mangled brother or sister by the  
hand with  sincere and sweet pity1      
without speculating about the ,deity and
 his  mysterious moves8    ,rationalism 
saves us from all these contradictions1 
and gives us the  consolation of being  
sane1 even when we cannot have our      
heart's desire4    ,but to abstain from 
the worship of unknown beings1 does not 

mean to go  through life without an     
ideal4 ,the feeling of longing1 which   
the poet  tells us is of all the moods  
of mind1 the dearest1 is present in     
every earnest man and woman4 ,to develop
 our faculties1 to accomplish our       
tasks1 to realize our hopes1 to reach   
after our best thoughts--to labor  for  
the beautiful yet-to-be--it is this hope
 which gives atmosphere  to life1 and   
makes our prattle eloquent4 ,the pursuit
 of the ideal1 the  vision of a world   
void of wrong1 of a humanity free and   
strong1 of a  world sweetened by the    
harmony of happy lives1 of honest loves1
 of great  worth1 of innocent           
joys1--will ever draw us like a loving  
kiss4    ,another objection marshalled  
against ,rationalism is that it is too  
critical1 and that it is not nice to    
criticise4 ,criticism1 it is  argued1   
dwells upon the things which separate1  
more than upon those  which bring       
together races and creeds4    ,it       
certainly is more pleasant to talk of   

the unities and the  fraternities1      
instead of the differences between men  
or their views and  ideals4    ,unity is
 a fine thing1 but when it is used as a 
shibboleth1 or as a  check upon the     
freedom of thought and speech1 it ceases
 to be desirable4  ,when agreement is   
the product of unhampered and generous  
research1 it is  good2 but when it is   
desired as an excuse for the fear to    
investigate1  then it becomes a cover   
for error1 or a plea for peace and      
harmony at  the cost of truth and       
growth4 ,the teacher who provokes       
thought through  criticism is a greater 
helper than he who by repeating set     
phrases never  awakens a new interest in
 us4 ,to sacrifice everything for the   
sake of  peace and fraternity would be a
 loss rather than a gain4 ,in ,russia1  
for  instance1 one has all the freedom  
in the world1 provided1 he will speak   
only well of the government4 ,there     
would1 indeed1 be harmony under  these  
conditions1 in any camp1 but what would 

it be worth8 ,look at my  charities1    
says the ,catholic church--my art1 my   
music--the magnificent  cathedrals ,i   
have built1 which are like beautiful    
galleries4 ,is it right  to criticise or
 condemn the evil practices of a church 
that has done  so much good for         
civilization8 ,speak1 then1 of the good 
the church has  done1 and say nothing of
 her persecutions and superstitions1 and
 we  will all be of one accord and of   
one mind4 ,but would such a compromise1 
though baptised with the high-sounding  
name of unity1 help the cause of        
progress8 ,is not progress a dearer word
 than unity8 ,is not freedom more       
precious than peace8 ,let us have unity 
if we can1 but we must grow1 and  we    
must be free4 ,shall we sell the truth  
that we may have money to be  charitable
 with8 ,is it right to sacrifice speech 
to silence1 for the  sake of harmony8   
,but is it nice to criticise8 ,is it not
 more generous and aesthetic to  be on  
good terms with everybody8 ,what is     

there more desirable1 they say1  than to
 see the ministers of the various       
cults--the ,catholic priest1  the       
,protestant divine1 the ,jewish rabbi1  
the ,unitarian minister1  the ,ethicist 
and ,revivalist1 arm in arm1 and on the 
same platform1  exchanging courtesies   
and praising one another's work8 ,we are
 told that  when we see such a gathering
 on one platform1 we can be sure that   
the  millenium has arrived4 ,but it will
 be a millenium for the priest and the  
rabbi1 the healer and the shouter--they 
are the only ones who will be  benefited
 by such a ,pentecostal assemblage4     
,such fellowship will no  doubt throw   
its mantle of silence over a great many 
evils which fear the  light1 and        
encourage their authors to be defiant   
and indifferent to the  truth4 ,where   
there is silence truth has no advantage 
over error4 ,is it  worth while to      
sacrifice the most sacred privileges of 
men in order to  bring priest and rabbi 
together8    ,a great cause is often    

lost from the desire of its sponsors to 
be  nice4 ,the teacher who wants to be  
nice may manage not to tell any  lies1  
but he never succeeds in telling any    
truths1 either4 ,he cannot  afford to   
tell the truth1 for it may hurt1 and he 
is not nice if he  hurts4 ,when he      
cannot tell anything pleasant1 he must  
hold his tongue4  ,such a teacher is    
like an acrobat dancing on a tight rope1
 all he can do  is to save himself from 
falling4 ,there is no more room in      
modern society  for a teacher who is    
afraid to hurt than there is for the    
physician who  would rather humor the   
patient than do his duty4 ,and1 yet1    
there are not  a few who trim their     
thoughts so as to make only friends4 ,if
 the whole  truth should at any time    
escape them by accident1 they hasten    
forthwith  to qualify it1 or to take    
back a part of it--just to be obliging  
and  nice4 ,there has never been a      
reformer in the world who could not have
  become the idol of the people by      

following such a method2 but idols die  
and turn to dust1 while the heroism of  
the martyred soul is a perennial        
benediction4    ,to be nice was never   
the policy of a really earnest man4 ,if 
,jesus was  a historical personage1 it  
does not appear on the records that he  
ever  tried to be nice--to pat the      
priests on the back1 or to tell them    
what  good fellows they were1 and that  
when he and they met they should be     
careful to speak only of the things they
 agreed upon4 ,of course the  inability1
 to be nice cost ,jesus his life4 ,his  
independence nailed him  to the cross1  
but evidently he prized something else  
more than he  did unity4 ,luther was not
 very nice when he tore the pope's bull 
in pieces1 and nailed his challenge to  
,rome on the church doors where         
everybody could see it4 ,how impolite6  
,that1 surely1 was a poor way  to make  
friends4 ,let us have masculine men1    
cries ,emerson1 who was  himself thrown 
out of his pulpit and his church1       

because he preferred  independence to   
popularity4    ,another thing which the 
independent teacher does which is not   
nice is  that he takes away the religion
 of our mothers4 ,what about taking     
away the religion of heathen mothers8   
,why is it right to take away the       
religion of a ,chinaman--a religion     
handed down to him by his mother--and   
wrong to disturb the religion of an     
,american because it was his mother's   
religion8 ,did not ,protestantism take  
away from the ,catholics the  religion  
of their mothers8 ,did not ,catholics   
take away from the pagan  ,romans the   
religion of their mothers8 ,is it only  
taking away the  religion of our mothers
 that is not nice8    ,but the          
,rationalist is also charged with being 
negative and not  positive4 ,we are told
 in sonorous language that man cannot   
live on  negations4 ,but it is          
,orthodoxy that is negative1 not        
,rationalism4 ,the  first commandment in
 the ,bible ,god ever gave man was a    

negative one3  ,thou shalt not eat of   
the tree of knowledge of good and evil4 
,it  denied man freedom1 and science4   
,it denied him the right to progress4   
,and ever since the one aim of the      
church has been to keep man poor  in    
spirit4 ,rationalism1 on the contrary1  
removes the angel with the  flaming     
sword at the gates of ,eden1 and invites
 everyone who hungers for  knowledge to 
enter and eat of the tree of life4      
,to know that a thing is not true1 is   
also truth4 ,the mind1 like the  ground1
 must be plowed and cleared before it   
can receive the truth4  ,there can be no
 truth without the destruction of error4
    ,your doctrine is well enough for   
the strong1 but the weak must have      
crutches to walk at all1 and you take   
away from them their crutches1 is       
another criticism often advanced against
 the ,rationalist4 ,it is related  that 
,mr4 ,ingersoll1 when he called one day 
to see his friend1 ,mr4    --------1 who
 was an invalid1 was confronted with an 

argument he was  unable to meet4 ,as ,i 
was sitting in my invalid's chair1 began
 his  friend1 and was looking out of the
 window1 ,i saw a feeble1 old man1      
struggling up the hill yonder1 upon his 
crutches4 ,evidently1 he was  in pain1  
for he moved with extreme care and      
leaned heavily upon his  crutches4 ,i   
could tell that his crutches were all   
that sustained him  from utter collapse4
 ,then ,i saw a young man run after him1
 and when he  came up to where the old  
man was1 he kicked off his crutches1 and
 the  poor fellow rolled down the hill1 
a perfect wreck4    ,that was an        
outrage1 ,ingersoll exclaimed1 jumping  
to his feet and  walking toward the     
window4 ,where is he8 he asked1         
impatient with  indignation4    ,you are
 that man1 returned his friend4 ,i was  
once a believer2 my  beliefs comforted  
me4 ,you came into my life1 kicked off  
my crutches1 and  now ,i sit here in    
this chair1 a desolate and hopeless     
soul1 waiting for  the flame to blow    

out4    ,there is no more comparison    
between a tottering man leaning upon his
  wooden crutches1 and a religion       
claiming to appeal to the intellect  of 
man1 than there is between a watch and a
 universe1 to quote ,paley's  famous    
argument for the existence of a ,god4   
,but1 at any rate1 is it not  cruel to  
knock an old man's crutches from under  
him8 ,let us see4 ,if the  old man with 
the crutches represents the             
feeble-minded believers1 the  question  
to be answered is1 how did they come to 
depend upon the use  of crutches in the 
first place8 ,was it not more cruel to  
teach them to  depend upon crutches8    
,are not those who prevent the healthy  
development  of the limbs to enhance the
 sale of crutches even more cruel than  
those  who despise their use8 ,to bring 
a man to a state of dependence2 to      
terrorize him into fear2 to fetter his  
faculties so that he cannot  train them 
into service2 to arrest his evolution2  
to keep him a dwarf1  clinging like a   

scared child to the apron strings of his
 lords2 to  place in his hands an icon  
or a crucifix as his only hope--and then
 to  denounce the teachers who rob these
 poor people of their crutches1 is an   
argument which is bound to recoil with  
fearful force upon the venders  of such 
artificial helps4 ,it is like depriving 
a man of house and goods1  and then     
providing a tattered tent for his       
shelter1 and then saying to  us3 ,would 
you be so cruel as to pull down the only
 thing that protects  his poor head from
 the elements8 ,yes6 in order that we   
may awaken in him  a sense of the wrong 
and the oppression and the deprivation  
of which he  is the unconscious victim4 
,sir ,henry ,main1 in his ,popular      
,government1  says1 that1 if it had been
 put to a vote whether machinery1 when  
it was  first invented1 should be       
introduced into the factories1 there    
would  have been recorded an            
overwhelming vote against its use4 ,it  
was taking  away from the poor man his  

crutches to compel him to compete with  
the  iron and steel4 ,and1 actually1    
laborers of the time1 suffered much  and
 were driven to the wall1 by the        
invention of machinery4 ,but the        
temporary mischief caused by the        
introduction of machinery has been      
fully compensated by its lasting        
benefits to all classes4 ,likewise1 this
  or that believer may fall and hurt    
himself when his theological crutches   
have been taken away from him1 but if   
thereby his children and the  future    
race can be taught to dispense with the 
use of so clumsy a  contrivance1        
altogether--who would hesitate to knock 
them off8 ,was man  meant to be an      
invalid all his life8 ,must all the     
generations of the  future limp and     
hobble1 to support the crutch industry8 
,moreover1 if any invalid can be made to
 give up his crutches1 that very  fact  
shows that he did not need them4        
,grandma1 or grandpa1 must not  be      
disturbed in their beliefs1 we hear     

people argue4 ,we cannot disturb  them1 
however hard we may try1 unless they are
 intellectually virile  enough to keep  
themselves together without crutches4   
,the very fact that  we can shake a man1
 shows he is strong enough to stand the 
strain4 ,we  cannot induce an invalid to
 give up his crutches2 when we can1     
then1 he  is not an invalid4 ,and what  
do we give in place of the              
crutches8--the  ability to do without   
them4    ,i have often been asked ,why  
do we not as a ,rationalist ,society do 
works  of charity1 such as establishing 
neighborhood guilds1 sewing and bathing 
clubs for the poor1 free dispensaries1  
and hospitals8 ,there are many  who are 
already doing this kind of work whatever
 its value may be1 but  very few who are
 even attempting to do the work which we
 have set out  to do1 namely1 to help   
men to use freely and wisely the noblest
 of all  their gifts--,reason4 ,is that 
a work that can be dispensed with8 ,and 
can  public baths1 and evening classes  

do more for a man than they will for  an
 animal if his ,reason is still         
fettered4 ,the emigrant from ,russia1 or
  ,italy1 or ,ireland1 may join all the 
guilds and frequent all the night       
schools1 and still remain a mental      
slave4 ,but he can not take a course  in
 ,rationalism1 and continue to cling to 
his chains4 ,of course1 to make  men    
free and enlightened is not enough4     
,they must also be helped to  develop   
the humanities which are the salt of    
life1 but we must first  wake him up1   
for he can not be saved in his sleep4   
,,chapter ,,vii4 ,rationalism and the   
,world's ,great ,religions4             
,rationalism does not attack the        
religions of the world1 it tries  to    
explain them4 ,but religions do not wish
 to be explained1 and  consequently they
 denounce the investigator as an enemy  
of morals as  well as of religion4      
,reason1 the theologians contend1 is    
incapable of  understanding the divine  
mysteries1 and forgets1 of course1 that 

faith  alone can discover the hidden    
things of ,god4 ,but they do not stop to
  think that they are reasoning even    
when they are giving reasons why we     
should not reason4    ,beginning with   
the belief in ,god1 which is the basic  
belief in nearly  all religions1        
,rationalism endeavors to show the      
unreasonableness of all  the dogmas     
which deal with the supernatural4 ,it is
 impossible to  talk about an infinite  
person without making one's self utterly
  unintelligible1 not to say1 absurd4   
,there is not a single statement  made  
about a god1 which can be harmonized    
with sense4 ,it is because the  beliefs 
about the supernatural cannot be        
reconciled with reason1--it is  because 
of the apparent absurdity of the dogmas 
of religion1 that the  clergy have had  
to resort to fire and blood1--the       
scourge1 the dungeon1  the rack1 the    
gallows1 and hell-fire to force people  
to believe in them4    ,there is no     
reliable record of ,god ever being seen 

by man4 ,his voice  has never been      
heard4 ,his form and expression or      
whereabouts remain  a mystery to this   
day4 ,we have nothing but guesses as to 
the kind  of worship he prefers1 or why 
he should be praised4 ,and yet1 entire  
countries have been plundered1 pillaged1
 and laid waste for no other  reason    
than that they held different views from
 ours on the form or  nature of a ,god  
whom no man has ever seen1 heard or     
comprehended4 ,such  is the             
extraordinary folly of man6    ,all     
religions are absolutely human in       
origin4 ,there is not1 and there  has   
never been1 and in the nature of things 
there never can be a divine  or         
superhuman religion--that is to say1 a  
religion invented by a god4    ,let us  
imagine for the sake of argument1       
however1 that a god wished to  reveal   
himself to us4 ,what would be the       
probable course he would pursue8  ,would
 he reveal himself to us as he is1 or   
only as much of himself as we  needed to

 know or could comprehend8 ,to reveal   
himself to us as he is in  all the      
fulness of his nature would be a moral  
impossibility1 for the  reason that only
 a god could fully comprehend a god4    
,but if he revealed to men only as much 
of himself as they could grasp1  then   
their knowledge of him must necessarily 
be imperfect4 ,we are  revealing        
ourselves to the animals1 for instance1 
every day of our life1  but still the   
animals1 owing to their limitations1 can
 never know us  as we are1 but only as  
they think we are4 ,likewise our        
knowledge of  supernatural beings must  
be as incomplete as is the knowledge of 
animals  concerning man4 ,we see objects
 as the structure of our eyes permits us
  to see them1 or as our minds grasp    
them4 ,the reflection of the sky in  a  
drop of dew is limited to the capacity  
of the dew4 ,owing to this  adaptation  
of objects to the powers of the observer
 before they can be  observed at all1 it
 may be said that objects are seen not  

as they really  are but as they appear  
to the observer4 ,since1 then1 a divine 
revelation  cannot overcome the         
limitations of the finite mind1 ,god    
could be no more  to us than what we    
think he is1 or in other words1 what we 
make him to  be4    ,another proof that 
man is the maker of his own gods is that
 his gods  are neither better nor worse 
than he is himself4 ,the barbarian can  
never  conceive of a civilized diety2 on
 the contrary1 the ,great ,spirit he    
worships is a projection of his own     
passions and aspirations--his own  vices
 and virtues4 ,as he advances in        
refinement and humanity1 his ,god       
advances too4 ,if he sinks into deeper  
ignorance and brutality1 he drags  his  
,god down with him4 ,the ,god of the    
,quaker is peaceful2 that of the        
,hebrew was a man of war4 ,the ,god of  
the ,negro1 who has never seen  white   
folks1 is necessarily black4 ,the ,god  
of children is a child-god2  and in a   
society where man1 not woman1 is the    

ruler1 ,god is a he4  ,not only is man  
the maker of his gods1 but he also keeps
 them in  repair--constantly remodeling 
or retouching them in order to preserve 
some sort of correspondence between     
himself and his gods4    ,and why is the
 god of the ,negro black8 ,because he   
not only is ignorant  of any other      
color1 but because black is for him the 
color of preference  or aristocracy4    
,when he becomes acquainted with white  
people he  associates their color with  
everything that he fears and despises4  
,he  therefore1 as a later evolution1   
makes his devils white4 ,the idea ,i    
wish to present is that just as man     
determines the color of his gods and    
devils he determines also their         
characters4 ,he can only invest them    
with  such virtues and vices as he is   
acquainted with4 ,he can not attribute  
to them powers which he does not covet  
for himself4 ,in short he is the  maker 
of the gods he worships and the devils  
he fears4    ,the pathetic part of all  

this1 however1 is that though man makes 
his own  gods1 he imagines that the gods
 have made him4 ,he manufactures an     
image  or an idol1 invests it with      
certain attributes and powers1 and then1
  like a slave1 falls down to bite the  
dust before his own handiwork4  ,reflect
 upon this for a moment3 ,the ,pope1 for
 instance1 owes every one  of his       
prerogatives to the very people who bend
 before him2 they make  him infallible1 
they seat him on a throne1 and place the
 ,keys of ,heaven  and ,hell in his     
hands2 yet before this creature of their
 own vanity or  fear they behave like a 
race of bondsmen4 ,who created the      
,sultan or the  ,czar8 ,their own       
subjects6 ,and yet see how these ,turks 
and ,russians creep  and crawl before   
the work of their own hands4 ,is it not 
absurd for a  potter to worship his own 
pot8 ,in view1 therefore1 of the        
undeniable  fact that man makes the gods
 he worships1 how pitiable to observe   
the  servility and stupidity with which 

he plays the sycophant before the       
images of his own hand or head6         
,notwithstanding this self-evident truth
 that all religions are human in        
origin1 every one of them has claimed to
 be from above4 ,like puffed-up  or     
ungrateful children1 the religions of   
the world have denied their  real1      
though humble parentage1 and have laid  
claim to a celestial  birth4 ,but the   
fact that each of the great religions1  
while claiming  a supernatural origin   
for itself1 vehemently denies it to all 
others1  renders all such claims        
exceedingly suspicious4 ,it would be    
easier for  me1 for instance1 to believe
 that ,god has also spoken to you1 if he
  has really spoken to me4 ,but if he   
has not spoken to me1 ,i am apt to      
consider the claim that he has spoken to
 you1 as an impertinence4 ,the  reason  
one inspired teacher calls another an   
imposter is that he  is not sure of his 
own inspiration4 ,he judges others'     
pretensions to a  divine origin by his  

own4 99 ,the refusal of the different   
religions  to believe in one another is 
a strong proof that they are all equally
  unworthy of belief1 as far as their   
supernatural claims are concerned4      
99 ,oato used to say that he was        
surprised one soothsayer       could    
keep his countenance when he saw another
 manipulating1       knowing as he did  
the imposture he was practicing4        
,jesus is reported by ,john the         
evangelist to have denounced       all  
who preceded his as thieves and         
robbers4--,gospel       according to    
,john4         ,there is a ,hindoo      
legend that ,krishna1 the son of ,god1  
once       showed himself to a group of 
young ladies who were so       charmed  
with his handsome face and figure that  
not only did       each of the young    
ladies wish to dance with him1 but each 
insisted that no one else should enjoy  
the same privilege1       whereupon     
,krishna found himself in an            
embarrassing position4       ,he was    

willing enough to dance with the girls1 
but did not       wish to inflame their 
jealously1 so calling upon his          
resources1 he immediately multiplied    
himself into as many       ,krishnas as 
there were maidens1 and danced with each
 and       every one of them1 taking    
pains however to leave the              
impression with each young woman that   
she alone had danced       with the god4
 ,so each religious prophet imagines    
that the       ,lord has not danced with
 anybody but himself4    ,the reluctance
 of the prophets to believe in one      
another shows how  difficult it is for  
us to ascertain to which of them the    
revelation has  been made4 ,the only way
 a special revelation could be given    
would be  through an individual--a      
,moses1 a ,mohammed1 a ,jesus1 etc4 ,but
 if we  ourselves are not inspired1 how 
are we to tell which teacher is telling 
the truth8 ,if we are to use our own    
reason to decide this momentous         
question1 why1 then1 do we need a       

revelation8 ,tell me1 ,i pray you1 was  
it fair in ,god to have expressed       
himself privately to some individual1   
and then to have left it to us to decide
 whether said individual was or  was not
 inspired8    ,and a revelation1 the    
truth or untruth of which has to be     
ascertained by  the exercise of human   
reason can claim no superiority to human
 reason4  ,it follows then unmistakably 
that a revelation is impossible since it
  is we who have to decide whether or   
not it is a revelation4 ,even as we     
create the gods1 we create also the     
bibles of the world4    ,besides the    
ostensible purpose of a revelation is to
 make things  clear1 or to change our   
ignorance into knowledge4 ,have the     
different  revelations of the world done
 this8 ,have they not1 on the contrary1 
added to the perplexities of the mind8  
,a god who reveals himself to an        
individual privately and then leaves it 
to us to decide whether said  individual
 has or has not received a revelation   

instead of relieving1  increases our    
embarrassment4    ,if it be argued that 
we should have faith1 ,i answer in which
 one of the  prophets8 ,shall we have   
faith in the one our parents believed1  
in the  one of the country we were born 
in1 in the one who agrees with us1 or in
  the one who can force us to accept    
him8    ,moreover1 if faith can make one
 prophet inspired1 why not another8 ,if 
faith can make ,jesus divine1 why not   
,mohammed8    ,it is our purpose to show
 that neither gods nor revealed         
religions can  be a proper subject of   
study1 and what cannot be a subject of  
study  cannot be an object of faith4 ,we
 do not deny the gods1 for we know      
nothing about them to be able to make   
any reasonable statement  concerning    
them2 we simply dismiss them from our   
thought4    ,but while the supernatural 
has no interest for the ,rationalist1 he
 is  very much interested in the        
interpretations which men have given of 
it1 and the manner in which they have   

built up a system of morals and a       
philosophy of life upon it4 ,the great  
teachers and founders of religions  are 
proper subjects both for criticism and  
commendation4 ,being men they  cannot   
claim immunity from a free and fearless 
examination of their  teachings4 ,the   
more honest a teacher is1 the more      
willing he is to be  investigated1 and  
nothing prejudices us more against a    
teacher than  his refusal to be         
questioned4 ,he who will have no judge  
but himself1  condemns himself1 says the
 proverb4    ,but to regard these       
teachers as men1 only1 is to divest them
 also of  all the magical powers which a
 fond credulity has ascribed to them4   
,a teacher who seeks converts to his    
religion by curing a horse1 as          
,zoroaster is supposed to have done1 or 
by changing a stick into a  serpent1 as 
,moses claims he did1 or water into     
wine1 as ,jesus is  believed to have    
done1 instead of saving the world1      
degrades it4 ,we  insult our teachers   

when we ascribe to them miraculous      
powers such as  walking on the water1   
multiplying1 loaves and raising the     
dead4 ,all the  wonders of the world    
cannot make what is bad1 good1 or what  
is false1  true4 ,a teacher who has a   
falsehood which he wishes to pass for   
the  truth may resort to a miracle2 but 
why should an honest soul undertake  to 
win converts by unintelligible          
performances8 ,if physical and          
mathematical truth can1 unaided1 command
 universal assent1 why should  there be 
signs and wonders to maintain moral or  
intellectual truths8  ,moreover1 if a   
teacher has power to stop the sun1 has  
he not the power  to make people see the
 truth without a miracle8 ,if he can    
raise the  dead1 can he not lift the    
human mind out of error without the aid 
of  extraordinary phenomena8 ,resorting 
to miracles to convert people1  proves1 
not the power1 but the despair of the   
teacher4 ,he who can  command followers 
relying solely upon the truth of his    

teaching is1 and  remains forever1 a    
greater moral and intellectual force    
than he who is  driven to surprise and  
bewilder his hearers before he can      
convert  them4 99         99  ,to aim to
 convert a man by miracle is a          
profanation4          --,emerson    ,and
 now before we can make an estimate of  
the world's leading religions1  we must 
try to arrive at some sort of an        
agreement as to what we would  consider 
the greatest virtue1 and what the       
greatest vice in religion4    ,there    
will be no objection1 on the part of my 
readers1 to the statement  that the most
 heinous of all vices in any religion is
 cruelty4 ,there  is not a crime or an  
error which is not made worse by        
cruelty--or  softened by the absence of 
it4 ,cruelty is the most inexcusable1   
the most  inhuman1 the most             
unreasonable1 the most degrading1 and   
the most  deadly of the vices that human
 nature is heir to4 ,cruelty is         
consummate  wickedness4 ,it is the      

passion of the bad because it is bad4   
,it is  doing evil from pleasure1       
,think1 then1 what a serious thing it is
 for  a religion purporting to be divine
 to recommend the halter1 the           
fire-brand and the sword1 for instance1 
against all who do not subscribe  to its
 dogmas4 ,with such a religion in force1
 it will not be necessary  to invent a  
devil1 for man1 himself1 under its      
influence1 must develop  into a fiend of
 hate and cruelty1 withering all he     
comes in contact  with1 as the frost    
blackens all it bites4    ,it is        
admitted that there is an element of    
cruelty in almost all the  religions of 
the world2--though of ,buddhism it has  
been claimed that  during its nearly    
twenty-five centuries of existence1 it  
has not killed1  much less tortured a   
single human being in the name of       
religion4 ,that is  certainly an        
enviable record4 ,it should compel the  
hot flush of shame to  the cheek of     
those persecuting ,faiths which have    

shed enough human  blood to incamardine 
the multitudinous seas4 ,as ,buddhism is
 one of  the numerically stronger       
religions of the world1 and as it has   
helped to  shape the beliefs and        
practices recommended by the more recent
 creeds1 a  brief examination of its    
fundamental doctrine would assist us in 
making  an estimate of its moral worth  
and may be useful to this discussion4   
,what is the teaching which makes of    
,buddhism a distinctive religion8  ,life
 is an evil1 taught the ,hindu reformer4
 ,to desire life is the acme  of        
immorality according to this doctrine   
for it is to desire that which  is evil4
 ,desire is the soil in which spring up 
all the noxious weeds  which choke to   
death the flower of happiness4 ,to cease
 to desire is to  conquer freedom from  
suffering4 ,salvation according to      
,buddhism consists  in winding up and   
sealing forever the book of life1       
leaving not the  remotest possibility   
for any fresh life to spring up again4  

,this  pessimism1 which while it has    
attractions for the speculative and     
supine  ,oriental1 is justly abhorred by
 the creative and ever-youthful         
,european4  ,the important question is  
not1 ,is life worth living8 but ,how can
 life  be made worth living1 since live 
we must8 ,while therefore ,buddha taught
  a scrupulous morality1 while his own  
character stands out as one of the      
noblest1 and while his teachings have   
made countless millions gentle and      
peaceful1 nevertheless1 there is in this
 mildest of religions1 much  that is    
positively harmful4 ,the ,buddhist      
conception of life with its  blighting  
pessimism which recommends              
non-resistance to evil1 has emptied  a  
continent of its vigor and converted it 
into a desert4 ,the teaching  of        
orthodox ,buddhism may be likened to the
 advice which a sea captain1  driven by 
despair1 might give to his men on       
deck--to sink the ship  in order to     
escape the storm4 ,then again the       

,buddhist doctrine of  reincarnation as 
an endless chain of nightmares1 dragging
 man through  unending births to the    
vast void night1 has caused untold agony
 of  mind and body4 ,this gloomy view   
has made life1 for millions of people1 a
  misfortune1 love a crime1 and the     
earth1 a hell6    ,the believers in     
transmigration or reincarnation forget  
that the  scientific view of man leaves 
no room for anything to migrate4 ,what  
science understands by soul is the word 
which expresses the functions1          
including brain activity and the        
circulation of the blood4 ,when these   
cease there is no soul to go anywhere4  
,neither could reincarnation  produce   
the moral discipline claimed by its     
advocates4 ,it is no  punishment to     
return to the world in a lower form of  
life1 since there  is no memory1 clear  
and ringing1 of a former and higher     
existence4  ,moreover1 the lower forms  
of life are more callous and not at all 
conscious of deflection from a better   

standard4 ,if a cruel man becomes  a    
tiger1 it would be giving him a better  
chance to be more cruel4 ,unless  the   
animal can remember his humanity1 he can
 not be disciplined by a  descent into a
 lower stage of being44    ,but the     
,buddhist hell1 fearful though it is1   
is1 fortunately1 not  everlasting4 ,over
 its gaping mouth is spread the rainbow 
arch of  ,nirvana1 that is to say1      
deliverance for all from every form of  
suffering1 in sleep--eternal sleep1     
which will1 some day1 according to  this
 religion1 fold an aching world on its  
cool and calm bosom4    ,the vice of    
,buddhism then is its exaggeration of   
the troubles of  life--its deprecation  
of the opportunities for the pursuit of 
truth and  goodness which life offers4  
,by dwelling too long and too often upon
  the thorns1 ,buddhism becomes blind to
 the rose which is as real as the       
thorns4 ,and again this ,oriental       
teacher set up an unattainable ideal    
when he demanded the eradication of all 

desire from the human soul4 ,man  can   
only change his desires2 he cannot cease
 to desire4 ,not to desire is  also a   
desire--a desire to be free from desire4
    ,the virtue which we admire most in 
,buddha's doctrine is gentleness4       
,buddha is said to have been of all     
great leaders the most compassionate4   
,he trembled to cause pain to the least 
of sentient things4 ,the birds1  the    
fishes1 the crawling worms1 as well as  
man1 he looked upon as his  brothers4   
,buddhism might be called the ,religion 
of ,pity4 ,there is little  doubt but   
that wherever ,buddhism triumphed there 
war and persecution1  two of the most   
abominable institutions of all time1    
practically  disappeared4    ,it is with
 feelings of undivided admiration that  
,i now come to speak of  ,confucius--the
 only ,rationalist among the immortals  
of ancient times4 ,if  the other        
founders of ,faiths owe their reign over
 the minds of men1 in  part at least1 to
 the wonderful miracles attributed to   

them1 ,confucius1  on the contrary1 owes
 his increasing reputation to the       
complete absence  of the supernatural   
from his life and doctrines4 ,he has    
conquered the  ages by his common sense4
 ,and his sanity assures for him a      
future which  we can not safely predict 
for the others4    ,omitting a          
historical sketch of the great ,chinese 
teacher1 and confining  ourselves       
briefly to an exposition of his         
philosophy or religion1 we  notice at   
once that ,confucianism devotes itself  
exclusively to this  world--to the now  
and here4 ,this is very remarkable when 
we remember  how all the other teachers 
made the world to come1 that is to say1 
some  invisible and undiscovered world  
the principal theme of their preaching4 
,to lose this world that we may win the 
next was the burden of the  teaching of 
both ,buddha and ,jesus4 ,but the great 
,chinaman completely  ignored the       
so-called next world1 and directed all  
his efforts toward  the enlightenment of

 man concerning the world that now is4  
,it will  readily be seen what a radical
 difference there is between ,confucius 
and  his colleagues4 ,when they spoke of
 gods1 ,confucius spoke of man2  when   
they asked for faith1 ,confucius        
recommended knowledge2 when they        
delivered mysteries1 ,confucius         
presented facts4 ,with perfect propriety
  we may call ,confucius the first      
apostle of secularism4 ,now secularism  
is  the very opposite of                
supernaturalism1 and as the world is    
becoming more  and more secular1 that is
 to say1 practical and humanitarian1    
,confucius  is the only one among the   
great sages who is as much modern as he 
is  ancient4    ,in the teaching of     
,confucius we do not find the least     
suggestion of  even so much as a        
,buddhist hell4 ,the religion taught by 
,confucius is the  least theological of 
any ,oriental cult4 ,confucius was a    
teacher1 not a  priest4 ,he worked no   
miracles1 delivered no inspired oracles1

 dealt in  no mysteries1 claimed no     
supernatural powers1 did not think that 
the  less sense there was in a religion 
the more divine it would be1 and made   
no attempt to allure with future        
promises1 or to frighten with hell-fire 
his hearers4 ,in the long annals of a   
past musty with age and choking  with   
superstitions innumerable1 the page on  
which is inscribed the name  of this    
sanest of all ,asiatics is the fairest  
and freest from cant and  rant4    ,the 
name of ,zoroaster takes us back to a   
very remote period in the  history of   
our humanity4 ,it has been conjectured  
that when he began  his career as a     
religious teacher he found his people1  
the ,persians1  worshiping the principle
 of ,evil1 or ,ahriman1 the ,persian    
name for  ,devil4 ,while ,zoroaster was 
unable to wean his people from ,ahriman1
 he  did succeed in supplementing the   
fear of the devil with the love of ,god 
or ,ormuzd1 the principle of goodness4  
,the dualism is the distinguishing      

characteristic of the religion founded  
by ,zoroaster1 and is also its          
contribution to nearly all the other    
religions2 for we find in ,judaism1     
,christianity and ,mohammedanism the    
same fundamental belief in the          
existence of a ,god invariably          
accompanied by his rival--the ,devil4   
,what  the one creates1 the other       
destroys2 what the one mends1 the other 
mars2  ,god makes the light1 the ,devil 
the darkness2 ,god kindles the flame1   
the ,devil tries to turn it into smoke2 
,god is omnipotent in wisdom1 the       
,devil is equally resourceful in        
mischief4 ,zoroastrianism or ,mazdaism1 
then1 is the parent of dualism1 namely1 
of the eternal struggle between  these  
two archpowers for the possession of    
man4    ,without denying to ,zoroaster  
the name of reformer1 and also of       
empire-builder1--for doubtless his      
services contributed to the political   
expansion of ,persia1 making her on land
 and sea1 one of the great  powers of   

ancient times1 and duly acknowledging   
the beginnings of a high  morality in   
the collected scriptures called the     
,avestas1 attributed  to his pen1--we   
are compelled by the evidence to charge 
the religion  of ,zoroaster1 that is to 
say1 the religion of dualism1 of a ,god 
plus a  ,devil1 with having invented1 so
 to speak1 the awful doctrine of hell1  
and therefore of religious persecution4 
,it was a natural consequence of  the   
belief in a ,god opposed by a ,devil to 
make war upon all who were not  on the  
side of ,god4 ,and as the prophet is    
himself invariably the vicar  or the    
apostle of ,god1 it followed that all   
those who refused obedience  to his will
 were in opposition to the ,deity and   
should be suppressed1  even as ,god is  
trying to suppress the ,devil1 his      
antagonist4    ,when we approach the    
,jewish-,christian faith1 we find the   
dark stream  of religious persecution1  
which had its source in ,zoroastrianism1
  grown into a raging sea4 ,the three   

religions1 ,judaism1 ,christianity and  
,mohammedanism1 bear to one another the 
relation of parent and children4        
,christianity is the elder1 and         
,mohammedanism the younger daughter  of 
,judaism4 ,the predominant trait1 which 
is common to them all1 is               
exclusiveness4 ,it is impossible to be  
humanitarian or universal and  exclusive
 at the same time1 which is another way 
of saying that1 where  the spirit of    
exclusiveness holds sway1 there         
religious toleration will  be considered
 a crime1 both against ,god and the     
,state4 ,of course in all  three of     
these faiths are to be found passages   
which seem to possess  an accent of     
universality4 ,but it is a universality 
conditioned on the  conversion of the   
whole world to the faith in question4   
,my house shall  be a house of prayer   
for all nations1 writes the ,jewish     
prophet1 but  observe it says1--,my     
house1--which means that the whole world
 will  come to worship in a ,jewish     

temple4 ,it does not mean that ,pagan   
and  ,christian1 without embracing the  
,jewish faith1 may each worship his  own
 ,christ in a ,jewish synagogue4 ,it is 
in this same spirit that the            
,mohammedan throws open his mosque1 and 
the ,christian his cathedral to  the    
whole world4 ,brotherhood in these      
religions is limited to those of  the   
true faith4 ,the misbeliever is an alien
 to whom it is a sin even to  say ,god  
speed4 ,intermarriage is forbidden with 
a view to emphasize the  fact that only 
through conversion can a stranger become
 a friend or a  brother4 ,such          
exclusiveness was bound to breed hatred 
and persecution4    ,and as men make    
their gods1 an exclusive people will    
have an exclusive  god4 ,the ,bible     
conception of ,god is one of the most   
repellant in  religious literature4 ,we 
may say it is the least successful      
attempt at  god-making on record4 ,the  
three religions we have named have all  
one and  the same ,god1 with only       

unimportant variations4 ,the authors of 
the  ,bible seem to have labored under  
the impression that to make their ,god  
acceptable they had only to make him    
intensely partisan4 ,one who loves  his 
own only4 ,but they have made him1      
necessarily1 as terrible as he  is      
exclusive4 ,he is not only called a     
jealous ,god1 but also a consuming      
fire1 a man of war4 ,it is expressly    
stated that ,he is angry every  day4    
,the ,english translators have          
interpolated the words--with the        
wicked1--but the original as rendered   
into ,latin1 ,german1 ,french and  other
 languages1 shows plainly that the      
editors of ,king ,james' ,version  took 
undue liberties with the text4 ,the     
,revised ,version has dropped the  words
 with the wicked1 and the text now      
conveys the same meaning in  the        
,english ,bible as in the ,german1 which
 reads3 ,und ein ,gott1 der  taglich    
dirauet1 and in the ,french1 ,la colere 
the ,dieu est toujours  prete a eclater4

    ,irascitur per singulos dies1 are   
the words in the ,vulgate4    ,to please
 his makers the ,god of the ,jew1 the   
,christian and the  ,mohammedan orders  
the extermination of all who object to  
be converted3  ,and thou shalt consume  
all the people which the ,lord thy ,god 
shall  deliver thee3 thine eye shall    
have no pity upon them4 ,each of the    
three  religions1 unfortunately1 has    
been too willing to obey to the letter  
this unfraternal injunction introduced  
into the mouth of the ,deity by  the    
priesthood4 ,as the authors of the above
 text claimed to be inspired  the       
priests of these three religions have   
shed more blood than all the  tyrants   
put together4 ,this is a fearful but    
absolutely just indictment  against the 
,jewish-,chris-tian-,mohammedan         
religion4    ,but confining for a moment
 our remarks to ,christianity alone1 it 
must be  admitted that in spite of its  
doctrine of hell1 it has certain        
redeeming  features about it which are  

of undoubted pagan origin and which we  
do  not find in ,judaism4 ,the advantage
 of ,christianity over ,judaism consists
  in the former's generous efforts to   
save the whole world1 irrespective  of  
race or color1 from the doom of hell4   
,this is the contribution of the        
,gentile to ,christianity4 ,the words of
 ,jesus1 ,go ye into all the world  and 
preach the ,gospel to every creature1   
were in all probability put  in his     
mouth by a ,gentile4 ,what ,jesus really
 said1 if1 indeed1 we can  be sure of   
anything that he said1 was1 ,go not into
 the cities of the  ,gentiles1 assuring 
them at the same time that the world    
would come  to an end before they had   
even finished preaching to the lost     
sheep of  ,israel4 ,jesus as a ,jew     
shared the belief of his people that    
none are  beloved before ,god but       
,israel4 ,it was the ,greek and ,latin  
genius that  made of ,christianity more 
than merely another4 ,jewish sect1 by   
breathing  into it as much of its       

universalism as a dogmatic religion     
would admit  ,of course1 the best       
service which paganism rendered         
,christianity was  to introduce into it 
a new ,god--the man ,god as against the 
all-,god  ,jehovah--who1 by personal    
sacrifices1 conquered for the whole     
world  an opportunity to be saved4      
,christ1 as a secondary ,god--or a      
junior  ,god--was the revolt of the     
,gentile world against the ,jewish      
,deity4  ,whatever good ,christianity   
has done is due to this rebellion which 
culminated in compelling the dread      
,jehovah to admit the man-,god into     
full and equal partnership with him4    
,the ,jews call this blasphemy2 but     
,christianity1 inspired by the ,hellenic
 and ,latin genius1 weakened the        
divinity by dividing it into            
three--later into four1 by the addition 
of  a woman to the number4 ,in this     
alone1 namely1 in making a new ,god1 and
  thus taking from the old solitary     
deity many of his ancient and ,semitic  

prerogatives1 ,christianity has proved  
its greater sympathy with paganism  than
 with ,judaism4    ,another leading     
trait of these three religions is their 
fear and hatred  of freedom of thought  
,to perpetuate their own power the      
priests of this  family of religions    
found it necessary to suppress1 at first
 by threats  of divine punishments1 and 
when these failed1 by force of arms1 all
  inquiry4 ,faith1 which meant          
unquestioning acquiescence1 was of ,god2
  ,science1 which meant investigation1  
was of the ,devil4 ,the agents of this  
group of religions which between them   
have held ,europe1 ,america and a  great
 part of ,asia and ,africa captive for  
many centuries1 prompted their  ,god to 
solemnly declare in infallible          
documents1 that a father should  not    
hesitate to kill his own son1 or a son  
his own father2 that a mother  should   
destroy her child1 and the child its    
mother1--to prevent them  from          
professing or following another         

religion4 ,it is impossible to bring  a 
more horrible accusation against a set  
of men4 ,the worst thing that  we can   
say against the profession of the law or
 of medicine1 pales into  insignificance
 when compared with this specimen of the
 inhumanity of the  priesthood4 ,the day
 of judgment is here1 and the founders  
of these three  religions are summoned  
to answer at the bar of humanity1       
awakened from  sleep1 for the wholesale 
massacres which have dipped the world in
 blood1  for the ,spanish and ,scottish 
inquisitions1 and for the sectarianism  
and  hatred which converted men of the  
same race and country into implacable   
enemies and persecutors of one another4 
,the religious commentators defend the  
respective scriptures of these          
religions by saying that their teachings
 were limited to the mental  level of   
the times and the peoples4 ,but if ,god 
had to descend to  the plane of man and 
become brutal and bigoted like him1 how 
was man  benefited by his intercourse   

with the divine8 ,furthermore1 if the   
mental  and moral limitations of a      
people determine the character of       
revelation1  what advantage is there in 
having a revelation8 ,moreover1 because 
a  child cannot comprehend algebra1 is  
it right to teach him that one and  one 
make three8 ,is the inability of the    
primitive man to appreciate the  higher 
virtues of generosity1 justice and      
fellowship with aliens1 an  excuse to   
command him to exterminate his          
neighbors1 99 to bear false  witness1   
9999 to practice immorality1 to plunder1
 to be cruel and  credulous8 999999 ,if 
a revelation cannot civilize a          
barbarian1 what is its  value8          
99 ,deut4 #g3 #af1 etc4         9999    
,jer4 #d3 #aj2 ,i4 ,kings #bb3 #bc2     
,ezek4 #ad3 #i1 etc4                    
999999,exod4 #ab3 #he1 #cf2 ,i4 ,sam4   
#af3 #a1 #b12 ,exod4 #a2 #ah-bj1 etc4   
,but while denouncing intolerance we    
must not become intolerant  ourselves4  
,with all their faults these three      

religions have been1 in  their day1 of  
considerable service to the world4 ,we  
may justly say of  them that having done
 all the bad and all the good of which  
they  were capable it is time for them  
to step aside and leave the field to    
science4 ,am ,i asked what good these   
religions have done8 ,i answer3 ,they   
have taught man science by forbidding   
it4 ,it may sound strange1 but  religion
 aroused human curiosity1 which again   
discovered science4 ,the  time came when
 man was not satisfied with information 
only about the  next world1 about       
spirits and demons1 about mysteries and 
divine  attributes2 he asked also       
information about this world1 about man1
 the  past history of the earth and so  
forth4 ,just as by seeking the          
philosopher's stone men discovered      
chemistry1 and by the way of  astrology 
they came to the science of astronomy1  
and by the way of  sorcery and magic to 
the knowledge of medicine1--so did      
theology develop  into philosophy4      

,religion also must be credited with    
having been the first to give man a     
system of thought4 ,now a system1       
however crude1 is a work of art4 ,it  is
 a creation4 ,it is a putting together  
of ideas and beliefs for the  purpose of
 arriving at a conclusion4 ,thus        
religion taught man to think            
connectedly1 to see the relation of     
things1 and to think for a purpose1     
that is to say1 to reason4 ,the savage  
has ideas too1 but he can not put  them 
together1 he can not classify or        
systematize them4 ,there has been  iron 
in the bowels of the earth1 and lying on
 the surface in many places  for long   
ages1 but only when man could give shape
 and form to it did he  enter the path  
of civilization4 ,in the same sense1 not
 until man could  forge1 fuse and       
combine his ideas into a system of some 
kind1 did he  begin his intellectual    
evolution4 ,religion started            
civilization by  enabling man to put his
 ideas together4 ,even as the worm was  

the  prophecy of the coming man1 the    
creed was the beginning of science4     
,let us see if we cannot make this idea 
a little clearer3 ,all religions        
represent the effort of the human mind  
to understand itself and its            
environment4 ,at the core of every      
religion1 however crude1 there is a     
philosophy1--that is to say1 every      
belief1 be it ever so foolish1 has a    
meaning1 and at one time was a help to  
man4    ,the savage carries a fetish on 
his person to secure himself against    
evil4 ,the civilized man crosses himself
 in the presence of danger4 ,both       
practices embody a truth1 and it is the 
province of criticism to define  that   
truth4    ,when the turbaned ,oriental1 
standing in his mosque1 pronounces the  
name  of ,allah with such awe and joy1  
what is it he means8 ,in his groping    
way he is aiming to be scientific2 he is
 trying his hand at philosophy2  he     
wishes to put his finger upon the nerve 
of the universe2 he is trying  to bring 

the multifarious forces of nature about 
him into a focus2 he  is trying to      
evolve harmony out of chaos1--music out 
of the discord and  babel of life2 and  
he thinks he has succeeded1 when he has 
pronounced  the word ,allah6 ,of course1
 his philosophy is that of a beginner1  
but  it is a philosophy1 nevertheless4  
,he is an embryo scientist1 taking his  
first lesson in logical reasoning4 ,that
 is the truth at the heart of all       
religions which we must recognize4 ,they
 represent the desire of man to  make   
things clear to his intelligence1 and to
 wrest life's secret  from the universe4
 ,man seeks knowledge because in the    
consciousness  of knowledge there is    
happiness and power4 ,the strain of     
ignorance is  intolerable to him4       
,darkness embarrasses his mind and he   
seeks the light  by instinct4    ,the   
primitive man1 for instance1 alarmed by 
the things he did not  understand1      
proposed explanation after explanation1 
in his effort to  throw off the darkness

 from his mind4 ,when the sky frowned   
upon him and  the winds wailed in his   
ears1 he did not know what to make of   
them1 and  felt insecure until he could 
satisfy himself that he understood how  
and why the dark clouds swept over the  
face of the skies and the winds  moaned 
about his dwelling4 ,he felt relieved   
when he believed that he had  grasped   
the situation4 ,his explanation that the
 sun and the wind were  free agents1    
like himself1 acting from choice1 as he 
thought he did1 was  a very crude one1  
but it was an explanation1 all the same1
 and for the  time being proved helpful 
to him4 ,from the very beginning1 man   
has shown  a hunger for knowledge1 which
 has put his mind in action4 ,religion1 
then1 is man's first attempt at         
scientific and philosophical thinking4  
,religion is1 in a sense1 the primer of 
science and philosophy4 ,the  mistake we
 make is to declare this primer         
infallible4 ,we take the first          
composition of the child1 so to         

speak--his first prattle in the presence
  of the universe--and pronounce it     
inspired4 ,when ,moses1 or whoever wrote
  the first chapters of the book of     
,genesis1 described how man and woman   
were fashioned1 he was trying to be     
scientific1 in his modest way4 ,but  the
 best explanation that his mentality    
could produce was that ,god took  some  
clay from the ground and kneaded it into
 the form of man1 and from  one of the  
ribs of this man he formed woman4 ,it is
 not his science we  commend2 it is his 
desire to explain man's origin that     
honors him1 for  out of that desire1    
philosophy1 science1--progress--are     
born4    ,but there is another truth    
hidden in the bosom of all religions    
which it  is the mission of philosophy  
to disclose4 ,the first truth ,i called 
your attention to was that the primitive
 beliefs of man represented his  effort 
to understand the world and himself2 the
 second truth is that  all the religious
 rites and ceremonies1 the most         

superstitious of them1  embody likewise 
a truth2--they represent the effort of  
man to get the  control of the universe 
into his own hands4 ,if today we possess
 any  power over the resources and      
forces of nature1 if we can utilize     
them1  command them to do our errands1  
to wait upon us1 to serve us1--this     
power is the fruition of that primitive 
desire of our barbarian  ancestors to   
get the gods under control by presents  
and compliments4    ,the scientist      
masters the laws of nature1--the        
movements of the  atmosphere1 the       
currents of the ocean1 the lightning's  
secret1 for the  purpose of putting a   
bit into their mouths to control them   
for human  service2 but the priest when 
he offered his bloody sacrifices1 when  
he  performed his incantations1 and     
repeated magical formulas1 had the same 
aim in view1--the control of the        
universe4 ,as soon as primitive man     
concluded that the sun1 for example1 or 
the river1 was a god1 he set to  work to

 learn the habits1 tastes1 pleasure of  
his gods1 that he might  prevent them   
from hurting him and encourage them to  
gratify his needs4  ,in other words1 he 
wished to replace them in the government
 of the  world4 ,he did not feel safe   
until he could get the reins in his own 
hands4 ,when ,i was in one of the       
churches of ,florence1 and stood looking
  at a figure of the pope with the keys 
of heaven and hell in his hand1 it      
dawned upon me that man1 from time      
immemorial1 has coveted the  ownership  
of the universe1 and even in his        
feebleness gave himself the             
satisfaction of holding the keys in his 
own hands4    ,but it would be          
unreasonable to continue to preserve and
 propagate these  religions at great    
cost to the people1 and also at the     
detriment of more  important            
interests--on the ground that at one    
time1 when man was but a  child1 they   
were of service to him4 ,our ancestors  
before the age of  iron used tools made 

of stone4 ,shall these still be given   
the preference  despite the better and  
more useful implements of modern        
times--because1  forsooth1 they started 
our race in its career of progress8     
,shall the  candle light be permitted to
 prejudice us against electricity2 the  
stagecoach against the locomotive2 the  
cave of the savage against  the sanitary
 dwellings of modern cities2 or the     
primitive forms of  communication       
against the wonderful wireless8 ,why1   
then1 should ,moses  or ,mohammed or    
,jesus stand in the way of the science  
of the twentieth  century8 ,if we may   
discard our mother's hut or the rag she 
clothed  herself with at one time1 why  
not also her religion8 ,true enough both
  hut and rag served a purpose and      
marked a stage in the evolution of man1 
but the purpose they served was to fit  
us for something better1 that is  to    
say1 to make us discontented with and   
rebellious against the hut and  the rag 
forever4    ,the day of faiths is over4 

,they belong to the furniture of the    
past4 ,the  glorious reign of ,science  
has begun4 ,thought like a fruit on the 
tree of  evolution has at last ripened4 
,the glow of the sun1 and the tints of  
the  sky are upon her4 ,the countries   
which were the first to replace faith   
by knowledge have invariably been the   
first also in civilization4 ,while      
,palestine remained a desert1 ,greece   
became the garden of the world4         
,whatever of beauty there is in our     
lives today1 we owe it to the  immortal 
,greeks4 ,truth and goodness flourish in
 all their glory only  among a free and 
intelligent people4 ,where there is an  
infallible faith  there can be no       
liberty of thought1 and without liberty 
of thought there  is no mind1 and       
without mind man is not different from  
the brute4