2666 lines
125 KiB
Plaintext
2666 lines
125 KiB
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41 page printout
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Reproducible Electronic Publishing can defeat censorship.
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**** ****
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This file, its printout, or copies of either
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are to be copied and given away, but NOT sold.
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Bank of Wisdom, Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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The Works of ROBERT G. INGERSOLL
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**** ****
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MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
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1877
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I.
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(This lecture was delivered by Col. Ingersoll in San Francisco
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Cal., June 27, 1877. It was a reply to various clergymen of that
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city, who had made violent attacks upon him after the delivery of
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his lectures, "The Liberty of Man, Woman and Child," and " The
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Ghosts.")
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Against the aspersions of the pulpit and the religious press,
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I offer in evidence this magnificent audience. Although I represent
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but a small part of the holy cause of intellectual liberty, even
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that part shall not be defiled or smirched by a single personality.
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Whatever I say, I shall say because I believe it will tend to make
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this world grander, man nearer just, the father kinder, the mother
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more loving, the children more affectionate, and because I believe
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it will make an additional flower bloom in the pathway of every one
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who hears me.
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In the first place, what have I said? What has been my
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offence? What have I done? I am spoken of by the clergy as though
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I were a wolf that in the absence of the good shepherd had fattened
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upon his innocent flock. What have I said?
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I delivered a lecture entitled, "The Liberty of Man. Woman and
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Child." In that lecture I said that man was entitled to physical
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and intellectual liberty. I defined physical liberty to be the
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right to do right; the right to do anything that did not interfere
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with the real happiness of others. I defined intellectual liberty
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to be the right to think right, and the right to think wrong --
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provided you did your best to think right.
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This must be so, because thought is only an instrumentality by
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which we seek to ascertain the truth. Every man has the right to
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think, whether his thought is in reality right or wrong; and he
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cannot be accountable to any being for thinking wrong. There is
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upon man, so far as thought is concerned, the obligation to think
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the best he can, and to honestly express his best thought. Whenever
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he finds what is right, or what he honestly believes to be the
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right, he is less than a man if he fears to express his conviction
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before an assembled world.
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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1
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MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
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The right to do right is my definition of physical liberty.
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"The right of one human being ceases where the right of another
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commences." My definition of intellectual liberty is, the right to
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think, whether you think right or wrong. provided you do your best
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to think right.
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I believe in Liberty, Fraternity and Equality -- the Blessed
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Trinity of Humanity.
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I believe in Observation, Reason and Experience -- the Blessed
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Trinity of Science.
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I believe in Man, Woman and Child -- the Blessed Trinity of
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Life and Joy.
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I have said, and still say, that you have no right to endeavor
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by force to compel another to think your way -- that man has no
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right to compel his fellowman to adopt his creed, by torture or
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social ostracism. I have said, and still say, that even an infinite
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God has and can have no right to compel by force or threats even
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the meanest of mankind to accept a dogma abhorrent to his mind. As
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a matter of fact such a power is incapable of being exercised. You
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may compel a man to say that he has changed his mind. You may force
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him to say that he agrees with you. In this way, however, you make
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hypocrites, not converts. Is it possible that a god wishes the
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worship of a slave? Does a god desire the homage of a coward? Does
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he really long for the adoration of a hypocrite? Is it possible
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that he requires the worship of those who dare not think? If I were
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a god it seems to me that I had rather have the esteem and love of
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one grand, brave man, with plenty of heart and plenty of brain,
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than the blind worship, the ignorant adoration, the trembling
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homage of a universe of men afraid to reason. And yet I am warned
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by the orthodox guardians of this great city not to think. I am
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told that I am in danger of hell; that for me to express my honest
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convictions is to excite the wrath of God. They inform me that
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unless I believe in a certain way, meaning their way, I am in
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danger of everlasting fire.
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There was a time when these threats whitened the faces of men
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with fear. That time has substantially passed away. For a hundred
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years hell has been gradually growing cool, the flames have been
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slowly dying out, the brimstone is nearly exhausted, the fires have
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been burning lower and lower, and the climate gradually changing.
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To such an extent has the change already been effected that if I
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were going there to-night I would take an overcoat and a box of
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matches.
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They say that the eternal future of man depends upon his
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belief I deny it. A conclusion honestly arrived at by the brain
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cannot possibly be a crime; and the man who says it is, does not
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think so. The god who punishes it as a crime is simply an infamous
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tyrant. As for me, I would a thousand times rather go to perdition
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and suffer its torments with the brave, grand thinkers of the
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world, than go to heaven and keep the company of a god who would
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damn his children for an honest belief.
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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2
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MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
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The next thing I have said is, that woman is the equal of man;
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that she has every right that man has, and one more -- the right to
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he protected, because she is the weaker. I have said that marriage
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should be an absolutely perfect partnership of body and soul; that
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a man should treat his wife like a splendid flower, and that she
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should fill his life with perfume and with joy. I have said that a
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husband had no right to be morose; that he had no right to
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assassinate the sunshine and murder the joy of life.
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I have said that when he went home he should go like a ray of
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light, and fill his house so full of joy that it would burst out of
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the doors and windows and illumine even the darkness of night. I
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said that marriage was the holiest, highest, the most sacred
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institution among men; that it took millions of years for woman to
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advance from the condition of absolute servitude, from the absolute
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slavery where the Bible found her and left her, up to the position
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she occupies at present. I have pleaded for the rights of woman,
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for the rights of wives, and what is more, for the rights of little
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children. I have said that they could be governed by affection, by
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love, and that my heart went out to all the children of poverty and
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of crime; to the children that live in the narrow streets and in
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the sub-cellars; to the children that run and hide when they hear
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the footsteps of a brutal father, the children that grow pale when
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they hear their names pronounced even by a mother; to all the
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little children, the flotsam and jetsam upon the wide, rude sea of
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life. I have said that my heart goes out to them one and all; I
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have asked fathers and mothers to cease beating their own flesh and
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blood. I have said to them, When your child does wrong, put your
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arms around him; let him feel your heart beat against his. It is
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easier to control your child with a kiss than with a club.
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For expressing these sentiments, I have been denounced by the
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religious press and by misters in their pulpits as a demon, as an
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enemy of order, as a fiend, as an infamous man. Of this, however,
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I make no complaint. A few years ago, they would have burned me at
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the stake and I should have been compelled to look upon their
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hypocritical faces through flame and smoke. They cannot do it now
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or they would. One hundred years ago I would have been burned,
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simply for pleading for the rights of men. Fifty years ago I would
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have been imprisoned. Fifty years ago my wife and my children would
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have been torn from my arms in the name of the most merciful God.
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Twenty-five years ago I could not have made a living in the United
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States at the practice of law; but I can now. I would not then have
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been allowed to express my thought; but I can now, and I will. And
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when I think about the liberty I now enjoy, the whole horizon is
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illuminated with glory and the air is filled with wings.
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I then delivered another lecture entitled "Ghosts," in which
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I sought to show that man had been controlled by phantoms of his
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own imagination; in which I sought to show these imps of darkness,
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these devils, had all been produced by superstition; in which I
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endeavored to prove that man had groveled in the dust before
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monsters of his own creation; in which I endeavored to demonstrate
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that the many had delved in the soil that the few might live in
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idleness, that the many had lived in caves and dens that the few
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might dwell in palaces of gold; in which I endeavored to show that
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man had received nothing from these ghosts except hatred, except
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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3
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MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
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ignorance, except unhappiness, and that in the name of phantoms man
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had covered the face of the world with tears. And for this, I have
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been assailed, in the name, I presume, of universal forgiveness. So
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far as any argument I have produced is concerned, it cannot in any
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way make the slightest difference whether I am a good or a bad man.
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It cannot in any way make the slightest difference whether my
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personal character is good or bad. That is not the question,
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though, so far as I am concerned, I am willing to stake the whole
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question upon that issue. That is not, however, the thing to be
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discussed, nor the thing to be decided. The question is, whether
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what I said is true.
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I did say that from ghosts we had obtained certain things --
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among other things a book known as the Bible. From the ghosts we
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received that book; and the believers in ghosts pretend that upon
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that book rests the doctrine of the immortality of the human soul.
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This I deny.
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Whether or not the soul is immortal is a fact in nature and
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cannot be changed by any book whatever. If I am immortal. I am. If
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I am not, no book can render me so. It is no more wonderful that I
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should live again than that I do live.
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The doctrine of immortality is not based upon any book. The
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foundation of that idea is not a creed. The idea of immortality,
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which, like a sea, has ebbed and flowed in the human heart, beating
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with its countless waves of hope and fear against the shores and
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rocks of fate and time, was not born of any book, was not born of
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a creed. It is not the child of any religion. It was born of human
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affection; and it will continue to ebb and flow beneath the mists
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and clouds of doubt and darkness as long as love kisses the lips of
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death. It is the eternal bow -- Hope shining upon the tears of
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Grief.
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I did say that these ghosts taught that human slavery was
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right. If there is a crime beneath the shining stars it is the
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crime of enslaving a human being. Slavery enslaves not only the
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slave, but the master as well. When you put a chain upon the limbs
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of another, you put a fetter also upon your own brain. I had rather
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be a slave than a slave-holder. The slave can at least be just --
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the slave-holder cannot. I had rather be robbed than be a robber.
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I had rather be stolen from than to be a thief. I have said, and I
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do say, that the Bible upheld, sustained and sanctioned the
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institution of human slavery; and before I get through I will prove
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it.
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I said that to the same book we are indebted, to a great
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degree, for the doctrine of witchcraft. Relying upon its supposed
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sacred texts, people were hanged and their bodies burned for
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getting up storms at sea with the intent of drowning royal vermin.
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Every possible offence was punished under the name of witchcraft,
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from souring beer to high treason.
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I also said, and I still say, that the book we obtained from
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the ghosts, for the guidance of man, upheld the infamy of infamies,
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called polygamy; and I will also prove that. And the same book
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teaches, not political liberty, but political tyranny.
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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4
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MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
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I also said that the author of the book given us by the ghosts
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knew nothing about astronomy, still less about geology, still less,
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if possible, about medicine, and still less about legislation.
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This is what I have said concerning the aristocracy of the
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air. I am well aware that having said it I ought to be able to
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prove the truth of my words. I have said these things. No one ever
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said them in better nature than I have. I have not the slightest
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malice -- a victor never felt malice. As soon as I had said these
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things, various gentlemen felt called upon to answer me. I want to
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say that if there is anything I like in the world it is fairness.
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And one reason I like it so well is that I have had so little of
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it. I can say, if I wish, extremely mean and hateful things. I have
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read a great many religious papers and discussions and think that
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I now know all the infamous words in our language. I know how to
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account for every noble action by a mean and wretched motive, and
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that, in my judgment, embraces nearly the entire science of modern
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theology. The moment I delivered a lecture upon "The Liberty of
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Man, Woman and Child," I was charged with having said that there is
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nothing back of nature, and that nature with its infinite arms
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embraces everything; and thereupon I was informed that I believed
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in nothing but matter and force, that I believed only in earth,
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that I did not believe in spirit. If by spirit you mean that which
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thinks, then I am a believer in spirit. If you mean by spirit the
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something that says "I," the something that reasons, hopes, loves
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and aspires, then I am a believer in spirit. Whatever spirit there
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is in the universe must be a natural thing, and not superimposed
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upon nature. All that I can say is, that whatever is, is natural.
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And there is as much goodness, in my judgment, as much spirit in
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this world as in any other; and you are just as near the heart of
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the universe here as you can be anywhere. One of your clergymen
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says in answer, as he supposes, to me, that there is matter and
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force and spirit. Well, can matter exist without force? What would
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keep it together? What would keep the finest possible conceivable
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atom together unless there was force? Can you imagine such a thing
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as matter without force? Can you conceive of force without matter?
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Can you conceive of force floating about attached to nothing? Can
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you possibly conceive of this? No human being can conceive of force
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without matter. "You cannot conceive of force being harnessed or
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hitched to matter as you would hitch horses to a carriage." You
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cannot. Now, what is spirit? They say spirit is the first thing
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that was. It seems to me, however, as though spirit was the
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blossom, the fruit of all, not the commencement. They say it was
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first. Very well. Spirit without force, a spirit without any matter
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-- what would that spirit do? No force, no matter! -- a spirit
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living in an infinite vacuum. What would such a spirit turn its
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particular attention to? This spirit, according to these
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theologians, created the world, the universe; and if it did, there
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must have been a time when it commenced to create; and back of that
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there must have been an eternity spent in absolute idleness. Now,
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is it possible that a spirit existed during an eternity without any
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force and without any matter? Is it possible that force could exist
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without matter or spirit? Is it possible that matter could exist
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alone, if by matter you mean something without force? The only
|
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|
|
answer I can give to all these questions is, I do not know. For my
|
|||
|
|
part, I do not know what spirit is, if there is any. I do not know
|
|||
|
|
what matter is, neither am I acquainted with the elements of force.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
5
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If you mean by matter that which I can touch, that which occupies
|
|||
|
|
space, then I believe in matter. If you mean by force anything that
|
|||
|
|
can overcome weight, that can overcome what we call gravity or
|
|||
|
|
inertia; if you mean by force that which moves the molecules of
|
|||
|
|
matter, or the movement itself, then I believe in force. If you
|
|||
|
|
mean by spirit that which thinks and loves, then I believe in
|
|||
|
|
spirit. There is, however, no propriety in wasting any time about
|
|||
|
|
the science of metaphysics. I will give you my definition of
|
|||
|
|
metaphysics: Two fools get together; each admits what neither can
|
|||
|
|
prove, and thereupon both of them say, "hence we infer." That is
|
|||
|
|
all there is of metaphysics.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
These gentlemen, however. say to me that all my doctrine about
|
|||
|
|
the treatment of wives and children. all my ideas of the rights of
|
|||
|
|
man, all these are wrong. If because I am not exactly correct as to
|
|||
|
|
my notion of spirit. They say that spirit existed first, at least
|
|||
|
|
an eternity before there was any force or any matter. Exactly how
|
|||
|
|
spirit could act without force we do not understand. That we must
|
|||
|
|
take upon credit. How spirit could create matter without force is
|
|||
|
|
a serious question, and we are too reverent to press such an
|
|||
|
|
inquiry. We are bound to be satisfied, however, that spirit is
|
|||
|
|
entirely independent of force and matter, and any man who denies
|
|||
|
|
this must be "a malevolent and infamous wretch."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Another reverend gentleman proceeds to denounce all I have
|
|||
|
|
said as the doctrine of negation. And we are informed by him --
|
|||
|
|
speaking I presume from experience -- that negation is a poor thing
|
|||
|
|
to die by. He tells us that the last hours are the grand testing
|
|||
|
|
hours. They are the hours when atheists disown their principles and
|
|||
|
|
infidels bewail their folly -- "that Voltaire and Thomas Paine
|
|||
|
|
wrote sharply against Christianity, but their death-bed scenes are
|
|||
|
|
too harrowing for recital" -- He also states that "another French
|
|||
|
|
infidel philosopher tried in vain to fortify Voltaire, but that a
|
|||
|
|
stronger man than Voltaire had taken possession of him, and he
|
|||
|
|
cried 'Retire! it is you that have brought me to my present state
|
|||
|
|
-- Begone! what a rich glory you have brought me.'" This, my
|
|||
|
|
friends, is the same old, old falsehood that has been repeated
|
|||
|
|
again and again by the lips of hatred and hypocrisy. There is not
|
|||
|
|
in one of these stories a solitary word of truth; and every
|
|||
|
|
intelligent man knows all these death-bed accounts to be entirely
|
|||
|
|
and utterly false. They are taken, however, by the mass of the
|
|||
|
|
church as evidence that all opposition to Christianity, so-called,
|
|||
|
|
fills the bed of the dying infidel and scoffer with serpents and
|
|||
|
|
scorpions. So far as my experience goes, the bad die in many
|
|||
|
|
instances as placidly as the good. I have sometimes thought that a
|
|||
|
|
hardened wretch, upon whose memory is engraved the record of nearly
|
|||
|
|
every possible crime, dies without a shudder, without a tremor,
|
|||
|
|
while some grand, good man, remembering during his last moments an
|
|||
|
|
unkind word spoken to a stranger, it may be in the heat of anger,
|
|||
|
|
dies with remorseful words upon his lips. Nearly every murderer who
|
|||
|
|
is hanged, dies with an immensity of nerve, but I never thought it
|
|||
|
|
proved that he had lived a good and useful life. Neither have I
|
|||
|
|
imagined that it sanctified the crime for which he suffered death.
|
|||
|
|
The fact is, that when man approaches natural death, his powers,
|
|||
|
|
his intellectual faculties fail and grow dim. He becomes a child.
|
|||
|
|
He has less and less sense. And just in proportion as he loses his
|
|||
|
|
reasoning powers, he goes back to the superstitions of his
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
6
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
childhood. The scenes of youth cluster about him and he is again in
|
|||
|
|
the lap of his mother. Of this very fact, there is not a more
|
|||
|
|
beautiful description than that given by Shakespeare when he takes
|
|||
|
|
that old mass of wit and filth, Jack Falstaff, in his arms. and Mrs
|
|||
|
|
Quickly says: "A' made a finer end, and went away, an it had been
|
|||
|
|
my christian child; a' parted ev'n just between twelve and one,
|
|||
|
|
ev'n at the turning o' the tide; for after I saw him fumble with
|
|||
|
|
the sheets, and play with flowers, and smile upon his fingers' end,
|
|||
|
|
I knew there was but one way; for his nose was as sharp as a pen,
|
|||
|
|
and a' babbled of green fields." As the genius of Shakespeare makes
|
|||
|
|
Falstaff a child again upon sunny slopes, decked with daisies, so
|
|||
|
|
death takes the dying back to the scenes of their childhood, and
|
|||
|
|
they are clasped once more to the breasts of mothers. They go back,
|
|||
|
|
for the reason that nearly every superstition in the world has been
|
|||
|
|
sanctified by some sweet and placid mother. Remember, the
|
|||
|
|
superstition has never sanctified the mother, but the mother has
|
|||
|
|
sanctified the superstition. The young Mohammedan, who now lies
|
|||
|
|
dying upon some field of battle, thinks sweet and tender thoughts
|
|||
|
|
of home and mother, and will, as the blood oozes from his veins,
|
|||
|
|
repeat some holy verse from the blessed Koran. Every superstition
|
|||
|
|
in the world that is now held sacred has been made so by mothers,
|
|||
|
|
by fathers, by the recollections of home. I know what it has cost
|
|||
|
|
the noble, the brave, the tender, to throw away every superstition,
|
|||
|
|
although sanctified by the memory of those they loved. Whoever has
|
|||
|
|
thrown away these superstitions has been pursued by his fellow-men.
|
|||
|
|
From the day of the death of Voltaire the church has pursued him as
|
|||
|
|
though he had been the vilest criminal. A little over one hundred
|
|||
|
|
years ago, Catholicism, the inventor of instruments of torture, red
|
|||
|
|
with the innocent blood of millions, felt in its heartless breast
|
|||
|
|
the dagger of Voltaire. From that blow the Catholic Church never
|
|||
|
|
can recover. Livid with hatred she launched at her assassin the
|
|||
|
|
curse of Rome, and ignorant Protestants have echoed that curse. For
|
|||
|
|
myself, I like Voltaire. and whenever I think of that name, it is
|
|||
|
|
to me as a plume floating above some grand knight -- a knight who
|
|||
|
|
rides to a walled city and demands an unconditional surrender. I
|
|||
|
|
like him. He was once imprisoned in the Bastille, and while in that
|
|||
|
|
frightful fortress -- and I like to tell it -- he changed his name.
|
|||
|
|
His name was Francis Marie Arouet. In his gloomy cell he changed
|
|||
|
|
this name to Voltaire, and when some sixty years afterward the
|
|||
|
|
Bastille was torn down to the very dust, "Voltaire" was the battle
|
|||
|
|
cry of the destroyers who did it. I like him because he did more
|
|||
|
|
for religious toleration than any other man who ever lived or died.
|
|||
|
|
I admire him because he did more to do away with torture in civil
|
|||
|
|
proceedings than any other man. I like him because he was always
|
|||
|
|
upon the side of Justice, upon the side of progress. I like him in
|
|||
|
|
spite of his faults, because he had many and splendid virtues. I
|
|||
|
|
like him because his doctrines have never brought unhappiness to
|
|||
|
|
any country. I like him because he hated tyranny; and when he died
|
|||
|
|
he died as serenely as ever mortal died; he spoke to his servant
|
|||
|
|
recognizing him as a man. He said to him, calling him by name: "My
|
|||
|
|
friend, farewell." These were the last words of Voltaire. And this
|
|||
|
|
was the only frightful scene enacted at his bed of death. I like
|
|||
|
|
Voltaire, because for half a century he was the intellectual
|
|||
|
|
emperor of Europe. I like him, because from his throne at the foot
|
|||
|
|
of the Alps he pointed the finger of scorn at every hypocrite in
|
|||
|
|
Christendom.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
7
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I will give to any clergyman in the city of San Francisco a
|
|||
|
|
thousand dollars in gold to substantiate the story that the death
|
|||
|
|
of Voltaire was not as peaceful as the coming of the dawn. The same
|
|||
|
|
absurd story is told of Thomas Paine. Thomas Paine was a patriot --
|
|||
|
|
he was the first man in the world to write these words: "THE FREE
|
|||
|
|
AND INDEPENDENT STATES OF AMERICA." He was the first man to
|
|||
|
|
convince the American people that they ought to separate themselves
|
|||
|
|
from Great Britain. "His pen did as much, to say the least, for the
|
|||
|
|
liberty of America, as the sword of Washington." The men who have
|
|||
|
|
enjoyed the benefit of his heroic services repay them with slander
|
|||
|
|
and calumny. there is in this world a crime, ingratitude is a
|
|||
|
|
crime. And as for myself, I am not willing to receive anything from
|
|||
|
|
any man without making at least an acknowledgment of my obligation.
|
|||
|
|
Yet these clergymen, whose very right to stand in their pulpits and
|
|||
|
|
preach, was secured to them by such men as Thomas Paine, delight in
|
|||
|
|
slandering the reputation of that great man. They tell their
|
|||
|
|
hearers that he died in fear, -- that he died in agony, hearing
|
|||
|
|
devils rattle chains, and that the infinite God condescended to
|
|||
|
|
frighten a dying man. I will give one thousand dollars in gold to
|
|||
|
|
any clergyman in San Francisco who will substantiate the truth of
|
|||
|
|
the absurd stories concerning the death of Thomas Paine. There is
|
|||
|
|
not one word of truth in these accounts; not one word.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Let me ask one thing, and let me ask it, if you please, in
|
|||
|
|
what is called a reverent spirit. Suppose that Voltaire and Thomas
|
|||
|
|
Paine and Volney and Hume and Hobbes had cried out when dying "My
|
|||
|
|
God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" what would the clergymen
|
|||
|
|
of this city then have said?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
To resort to these foolish calumnies about the great men who
|
|||
|
|
have opposed the superstitions of the world, is in my judgment,
|
|||
|
|
unbecoming any intelligent man. The real question is not, who is
|
|||
|
|
afraid to die? The question is, who is right? The great question is
|
|||
|
|
not, who died right, but who lived right? There is infinitely more
|
|||
|
|
responsibility in living than in dying. The moment of death is the
|
|||
|
|
most unimportant moment of life. Nothing can be done then. You
|
|||
|
|
cannot even do a favor for a friend, except to remember him in your
|
|||
|
|
will. It is a moment when life ceases to be of value. While living,
|
|||
|
|
while you have health and strength, you can augment the happiness
|
|||
|
|
of your fellow-men; and the man who has made others happy need not
|
|||
|
|
be afraid to die. Yet these believers, as they call themselves,
|
|||
|
|
these believers who hope for immortality -- thousands of them, will
|
|||
|
|
rob their neighbors, thousands of them will do numberless acts of
|
|||
|
|
injustice, when, according to their belief, the witnesses of their
|
|||
|
|
infamy will live forever; and the men whom they have injured and
|
|||
|
|
outraged, will meet them in every glittering star through all the
|
|||
|
|
ages yet to be.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
As for me, I would rather do a generous action, and read the
|
|||
|
|
record in the grateful faces of my fellow-men.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
These gentlemen who attack me are orthodox now, but the men
|
|||
|
|
who started their churches were heretics.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The first Presbyterian was a heretic. The first Baptist was a
|
|||
|
|
heretic. The first Congregationalist was a heretic. The first
|
|||
|
|
Christian was denounced as a blasphemer. And yet these heretics,
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
8
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
the moment they get numerous enough to be in the majority in some
|
|||
|
|
locality, begin to call themselves orthodox. Can there be any
|
|||
|
|
impudence beyond this?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The first Baptist, as I said before, was a heretic; and he was
|
|||
|
|
the best Baptist that I have ever heard anything about. I always
|
|||
|
|
liked him. He was a good man -- Roger Williams. He was the first
|
|||
|
|
man, so far as I know, in this country, who publicly said that the
|
|||
|
|
soul of man should be free. And it was a wonder to me that a man
|
|||
|
|
who had sense enough to say that, could think that any particular
|
|||
|
|
form of baptism was necessary to salvation. It does strike me that
|
|||
|
|
a man of great brain and thought could not possibly think the
|
|||
|
|
eternal welfare of a human being, the question whether he should
|
|||
|
|
dwell with angels, or be tossed upon eternal waves of fire, should
|
|||
|
|
be settled by the manner in which he had been baptized. That seems,
|
|||
|
|
to me so utterly destitute of thought and heart, that it is a
|
|||
|
|
matter of amazement to me that any man ever looked upon the
|
|||
|
|
ordinance of baptism as of any importance whatever. If we were at
|
|||
|
|
the judgment seat to-night, and the Supreme Being, in our hearing,
|
|||
|
|
should ask a man:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Have you been a good man?" and the man replied:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Tolerably good."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Did you love your wife and children?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Yes."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Did you try and make them happy?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Yes."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Did you try and make your neighbors happy?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Yes, I paid my debts: I gave heaping measure, and I never
|
|||
|
|
cared whether I was thanked for it or not."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Suppose the Supreme Being then should say: "Were you ever
|
|||
|
|
baptized?" and the man should reply:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I am sorry to say I never was."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Could a solitary person of sense hear that question asked, by
|
|||
|
|
the Supreme Being, without laughing, even if he knew that his own
|
|||
|
|
case was to be called next?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I happened to be in the company of six or seven Baptist elders
|
|||
|
|
-- how I ever got into such bad company, I don't know, -- and one
|
|||
|
|
of them asked what I thought about baptism. Well, I never thought
|
|||
|
|
much about it; did not know much about it; didn't want to say
|
|||
|
|
anything, but they insisted upon it. I said, "Well, I'll give you
|
|||
|
|
my opinion -- with soap, baptism is a good thing."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Reverend Mr. Guard has answered me, as I am informed, upon
|
|||
|
|
several occasions. I have read the reports of his remarks, and have
|
|||
|
|
boiled them down. He said some things about me not entirely
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
9
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
pleasant, which I do not wish to repeat. In his reply he takes the
|
|||
|
|
ground:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
First. That the Bible is not an immoral book, because he swore
|
|||
|
|
upon it or by it when he joined the Masons.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Second. He excuses Solomon for all his crimes upon the
|
|||
|
|
supposition that he had softening of the brain, or a fatty
|
|||
|
|
degeneration of the heart.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Third. That the Hebrews had the right to slay all the
|
|||
|
|
inhabitants of Canaan, according to the doctrine of the "survival
|
|||
|
|
of the fittest." He takes the ground that the destruction of these
|
|||
|
|
Canaanites, the ripping open of women with child by the sword of
|
|||
|
|
war, was an act of sublime mercy. He justifies a war of
|
|||
|
|
extermination; he applauds every act of cruelty and murder. He says
|
|||
|
|
that the Canaanites ought to have been turned from their homes;
|
|||
|
|
that men guilty of no crime except fighting for their country, old
|
|||
|
|
men with gray hairs, old mothers and little, dimpled. prattling
|
|||
|
|
children, ought to have been sacrificed upon the altar of war; that
|
|||
|
|
it was an act of sublime mercy to plunge the sword of religious
|
|||
|
|
persecution into the bodies of all, old and young. This is what the
|
|||
|
|
reverend gentleman is pleased to call mercy. If this is mercy let
|
|||
|
|
us have injustice. If there is in the heavens such a God I am sorry
|
|||
|
|
that man exists. All this, however, is justified upon the ground
|
|||
|
|
that God has the right to do as he pleases with the being he has
|
|||
|
|
created. This I deny. Such a doctrine is infamously false. Suppose
|
|||
|
|
I could take a stone and in one moment change it into a sentient,
|
|||
|
|
hoping, loving human being, would I have the right to torture it?
|
|||
|
|
Would I have the right to give it pain? No one but a fiend would
|
|||
|
|
either exercise or justify such a right. Even if there is a God who
|
|||
|
|
created us all he has no such right. Above any God that can exist,
|
|||
|
|
in the infinite serenity forever sits the figure of justice; and
|
|||
|
|
this God, no matter how great and infinite he may be, is bound to
|
|||
|
|
do justice.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Fourth. That God chose the Jews and governed them personally
|
|||
|
|
for thousands of years, and drove out the Canaanites in order that
|
|||
|
|
his peculiar people might not be corrupted by the example of
|
|||
|
|
idolaters; that he wished to make of the Hebrews a great nation,
|
|||
|
|
and that, consequently, he was justified in destroying the original
|
|||
|
|
inhabitants of that country. It seems to me that the end hardly
|
|||
|
|
justified the means. According to the account, God governed the
|
|||
|
|
Jews personally for many ages and succeeded in civilizing them to
|
|||
|
|
that degree, that they crucified him the first opportunity they
|
|||
|
|
had. Such an administration can hardly be called a success.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Fifth. The reverend gentleman seems to think that the practice
|
|||
|
|
of polygamy after all is not a bad thing when compared with the
|
|||
|
|
crime of exhibiting a picture of Antony and Cleopatra. Upon the
|
|||
|
|
corrupting influence of such pictures he descants at great length,
|
|||
|
|
and attacks with all the bitterness of the narrow theologian the
|
|||
|
|
masterpieces of art. Allow me to say one word about art. That is
|
|||
|
|
one of the most beautiful words in our language -- Art. And it
|
|||
|
|
never seemed to me necessary for art to go in partnership with a
|
|||
|
|
rag. I like the paintings of Angelo, of Raphael. I like the
|
|||
|
|
productions of those splendid souls that put their ideas of beauty
|
|||
|
|
upon the canvas uncovered.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
10
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"There are brave souls in every land
|
|||
|
|
Who worship nature, grand and nude,
|
|||
|
|
And who with swift indignant hand
|
|||
|
|
Tear off the fig leaves of the prude."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Sixth. That it may be true that the Bible sanctions slavery,
|
|||
|
|
but that it is not an immoral book even if it does.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I can account for these statements, for these arguments, only
|
|||
|
|
as the reverend gentleman has accounted for the sins of Solomon --
|
|||
|
|
"by a softening of the brain, or a fatty degeneration of the
|
|||
|
|
heart."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It does seem to me that if I were a Christian, and really
|
|||
|
|
thought my fellow-man was going down to the bottomless pit; that he
|
|||
|
|
was going to misery and agony forever, it does seem to me that I
|
|||
|
|
would try and save him. It does seem to me, that instead of having
|
|||
|
|
my mouth filled with epithets and invectives; instead of drawing
|
|||
|
|
the lips of malice back from the teeth of hatred, it seems to me
|
|||
|
|
that my eyes would be filled with tears. It seems to me that I
|
|||
|
|
would do what little I could to reclaim him. I would talk to him
|
|||
|
|
and of him, in kindness. I would put the arms of affection about
|
|||
|
|
him. I would not speak of him as though he were a wild beast. I
|
|||
|
|
would not speak to him as though he were a brute. I would think of
|
|||
|
|
him as a man, as a man liable to eternal torture among the damned,
|
|||
|
|
and my heart would be filled with sympathy, not hatred -- my eyes
|
|||
|
|
with tears, not scorn.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If there is anything pitiable, it is to see a man so narrowed
|
|||
|
|
and withered by the blight and breath of superstition, as
|
|||
|
|
cheerfully to defend the most frightful crimes of which we have a
|
|||
|
|
record -- a man so hardened and petrified by creed and dogma that
|
|||
|
|
he hesitates not to defend even the institution of human slavery --
|
|||
|
|
so lost to all sense of pity that he applauds murder and rapine as
|
|||
|
|
though they were acts of the loftiest self-denial.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The next gentleman who has endeavored to answer what I have
|
|||
|
|
said, is the Rev. Samuel Robinson. This he has done in his sermon
|
|||
|
|
entitled "Ghosts against God or Ingersoll against Honesty." I
|
|||
|
|
presume he imagines himself to be the defendant in both cases.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This gentleman apologized for attending an infidel lecture,
|
|||
|
|
upon the ground that he had to contribute to the support of a
|
|||
|
|
"materialistic demon." To say the least, this is not charitable.
|
|||
|
|
But I am satisfied. I am willing to exchange facts for epithets. I
|
|||
|
|
fare so much better than did the infidels in the olden time that I
|
|||
|
|
am more than satisfied. It is a little thing that I bear.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The brave men of the past endured the instruments of torture.
|
|||
|
|
They were stretched upon racks; their feet were crushed in iron
|
|||
|
|
boots; they stood upon the shores of exile and gazed with tearful
|
|||
|
|
eyes toward home and native land. They were taken from their
|
|||
|
|
firesides, from their wives, from their children: they were taken
|
|||
|
|
to the public square; they were chained to stakes, and their ashes
|
|||
|
|
were scattered by the countless hands of hatred. I am satisfied.
|
|||
|
|
The disciples of fear cannot touch me.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
11
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This gentlemen hated to contribute a cent to the support of a
|
|||
|
|
"materialistic demon." When I saw that statement I will tell you
|
|||
|
|
what I did. I knew the man's conscience must be writhing in his
|
|||
|
|
bosom to think that he had contributed a dollar toward my support,
|
|||
|
|
toward the support of a "materialistic demon." I wrote him a letter
|
|||
|
|
and I said:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"My Dear Sir: In order to relieve your conscience of the crime
|
|||
|
|
of having contributed to the support of an unbeliever in ghosts, I
|
|||
|
|
hereby enclose the amount you paid to attend my lecture." I then
|
|||
|
|
gave him a little good advice. I advised him to be charitable, to
|
|||
|
|
be kind, and regretted exceedingly that any man could listen to one
|
|||
|
|
of my talks for an hour and a half and not go away satisfied that
|
|||
|
|
all men had the same right to think.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This man denied having received the money, but it was traced
|
|||
|
|
to him through a blot on the envelope.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This gentleman avers that everything that I said about
|
|||
|
|
persecution is applicable to the Catholic Church only. That is what
|
|||
|
|
he says. The Catholics have probably persecuted more than any other
|
|||
|
|
church, simply because that church has had more power, simply
|
|||
|
|
because it has been more of a church. It has to-day a better
|
|||
|
|
organization, and as a rule, the Catholics come nearer believing
|
|||
|
|
what they say about their church than other Christians do. Was it
|
|||
|
|
a Catholic persecution that drove the Puritan fathers from England?
|
|||
|
|
Was it not the storm of Episcopal persecution that filled the sails
|
|||
|
|
of the Mayflower? Was it not a Protestant persecution that drove
|
|||
|
|
the Ark and Dove to America? Let us be honest. Who went to Scotland
|
|||
|
|
and persecuted the Presbyterians? Who was it that chained to the
|
|||
|
|
stake that splendid girl by the sands of the sea, for not saying
|
|||
|
|
"God save the king"? She was worthy to have been the mother of
|
|||
|
|
Caesar. She would not say "God save the king," but she would say
|
|||
|
|
"God save the king, if it be God's will." Protestants ordered her
|
|||
|
|
to say "God save the king," and no more. She said, "I will not,"
|
|||
|
|
and they chained her to a stake in the sand and allowed her to be
|
|||
|
|
drowned by the rising of the inexorable tide. Who did this?
|
|||
|
|
Protestants. Who drove Roger Williams from Massachusetts?
|
|||
|
|
Protestants. Who sold white Quaker children into slavery?
|
|||
|
|
Protestants. Who cut out the tongues of Quakers? Who burned and
|
|||
|
|
destroyed men and women and children" charged with impossible
|
|||
|
|
crimes? Protestants. The Protestants have persecuted exactly to the
|
|||
|
|
extent of their power. The Catholics have done the same.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I want, however, to be just. The first people to pass an act
|
|||
|
|
of religious toleration in the New World were the Catholics of
|
|||
|
|
Maryland. The next were the Baptists of Rhode Island, led by Roger
|
|||
|
|
Williams. The Catholics passed the act of religious toleration, and
|
|||
|
|
after the Protestants got into power again in England, and also in
|
|||
|
|
the colony of Maryland, they repealed the law of toleration and
|
|||
|
|
passed another law declaring the Catholics from under the
|
|||
|
|
protection of all law. Afterward, the Catholics again got into
|
|||
|
|
power and had the generosity and magnanimity to re-enact the old
|
|||
|
|
law. And, so far as I know, it is the only good record upon the
|
|||
|
|
subject of religious toleration the Catholics have in this world,
|
|||
|
|
and I am always willing to give them credit for it.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
12
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This gentleman also says that infidelity has done nothing for
|
|||
|
|
the world in the development of the arts and sciences. Does he not
|
|||
|
|
know that nearly every man who took a forward step was denounced by
|
|||
|
|
the church as a heretic and infidel? Does he not know that the
|
|||
|
|
church has in all ages persecuted the astronomers, the geologists,
|
|||
|
|
the logicians? Does he not know that even to-day the church
|
|||
|
|
slanders and maligns the foremost men? Has he ever heard of
|
|||
|
|
Tyndall, of Huxley? Is he acquainted with John W. Draper, one of
|
|||
|
|
the leading minds of the world? Did he ever hear of Auguste Comte,
|
|||
|
|
the great Frenchman? Did he ever hear of Descartes, of Laplace, of
|
|||
|
|
Spinoza? In short, has he ever heard of a man who took a step in
|
|||
|
|
advance of his time?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Orthodoxy never advances. When it advances, it ceases to be
|
|||
|
|
orthodoxy and becomes heresy. Orthodoxy is putrefaction. It is
|
|||
|
|
intellectual cloaca it cannot advance. What the church calls
|
|||
|
|
infidelity is simply free thought. Every man who really owns his
|
|||
|
|
own brain is, in the estimation of the church, an infidel.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There is a paper published in this city called The Occident.
|
|||
|
|
The Editor has seen fit to speak of me, and of the people who have
|
|||
|
|
assembled to hear me, in the lowest, vilest and most scurrilous
|
|||
|
|
terms possible. I cannot afford to reply in the same spirit. He
|
|||
|
|
alleges that the people who assemble to hear me are the low, the
|
|||
|
|
debauched and the infamous. The man who reads that paper ought to
|
|||
|
|
read it with tongs. It is a Presbyterian sheet; and would gladly
|
|||
|
|
treat me as John Calvin treated Castalio. Castalio was the first
|
|||
|
|
minister in the history of Christendom who acknowledged the
|
|||
|
|
innocence of honest error, and John Calvin followed him like a
|
|||
|
|
sleuth-hound of perdition. He called him a "dog of Satan;" said
|
|||
|
|
that he had crucified Christ afresh; and pursued him to the very
|
|||
|
|
grave. The editor of this paper is still warming his hands at the
|
|||
|
|
fire that burned Servetus. He has in his heart the same fierce
|
|||
|
|
hatred of everything that is free. But what right have we to expect
|
|||
|
|
anything good of a man who believes in the eternal damnation of
|
|||
|
|
infants?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There may have been sometime in the history of the world a
|
|||
|
|
worse religion than Old School Presbyterianism, but if there ever
|
|||
|
|
was, from cannibalism to civilization, I have never heard of it.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I make a distinction between the members and the creed of that
|
|||
|
|
church. I know many who are a thousand times better than the creed
|
|||
|
|
-- good, warm and splendid friends of mine. I would do anything in
|
|||
|
|
the world for them. And I have said to them a hundred times, "You
|
|||
|
|
are a thousand times better than your creed." But when you come
|
|||
|
|
down to the doctrine of the damnation of infants, it is the
|
|||
|
|
deformity of deformities. The editor of this paper is engaged in
|
|||
|
|
giving the world the cheerful doctrines of fore-ordination and
|
|||
|
|
damnation -- those twin comforts of the Presbyterian creed, and
|
|||
|
|
warning them against the frightful effects of reasoning in any
|
|||
|
|
manner for themselves. He regards the intellectually free as the
|
|||
|
|
lowest, the vilest and the meanest, as men who wish to sin, as men
|
|||
|
|
who are longing to commit crime, men who are anxious to throw off
|
|||
|
|
all restraint.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
13
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
My friends, every chain thrown from the body puts an
|
|||
|
|
additional obligation upon the soul. Every man who is free, puts a
|
|||
|
|
responsibility upon his brain and upon his heart. You, who never
|
|||
|
|
want responsibility, give your souls to some church. You, who never
|
|||
|
|
want the feeling that you are under obligation to yourselves, give
|
|||
|
|
your souls away. But if you are willing to feel and meet
|
|||
|
|
responsibility; if you feel that you must give an account not only
|
|||
|
|
to yourselves but to every human being whom you injure, then you
|
|||
|
|
must be free. Where there is no freedom, there can he no
|
|||
|
|
responsibility.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It is a mystery to me why the editors of religious papers are
|
|||
|
|
so malicious, why they endeavor to answer argument with calumny. Is
|
|||
|
|
it because they feel the scepter slowly slipping from their hands?
|
|||
|
|
Is it the result of impotent rage? Is it because there is being
|
|||
|
|
written upon every orthodox brain a certificate of intellectual
|
|||
|
|
inferiority?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This same editor assures his readers that what I say is not
|
|||
|
|
worth answering, and yet he devotes column after column of his
|
|||
|
|
journal to that very purpose. He states that I am no speaker, no
|
|||
|
|
orator; and upon the same page admits that he did not hear me,
|
|||
|
|
giving as a reason that he does not think it right to pay money for
|
|||
|
|
such a purpose. Recollect, that in a religious paper, a man who
|
|||
|
|
professes honesty, criticizes a statue or a painting, condemns it,
|
|||
|
|
and at the end of the criticism says that he never saw it. He
|
|||
|
|
criticizes what he calls the oratory of a man, and at the end says,
|
|||
|
|
"I never heard him, and I never saw him."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
As a matter of fact, I have never heard of any of these
|
|||
|
|
gentlemen who thought it necessary to hear what any man said in
|
|||
|
|
order to answer him.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The next gentleman who answered me is the Rev. Mr. Ijams. And
|
|||
|
|
I must say, so far as I can see, in his argument, or in his mode of
|
|||
|
|
treatment, he is a kind and considerate gentleman. He makes several
|
|||
|
|
mistakes as to what I really said, but the fault I suppose must
|
|||
|
|
have been in the report. I am made to say in the report of his
|
|||
|
|
sermon, "There is no sacred place in all the universe." What I did
|
|||
|
|
say was, "There is no sacred place in all the universe of thought.
|
|||
|
|
There is nothing too holy to be investigated, nothing too divine to
|
|||
|
|
be understood. The fields of thought are fenceless, and without a
|
|||
|
|
wall." I say this to-night.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Mr. Ijams also says that I had declared that man had not only
|
|||
|
|
the right to do right, but also the right to do wrong. What I
|
|||
|
|
really said was, man has the right to do right, and the right to
|
|||
|
|
think right. and the right to think wrong. Thought is a means of
|
|||
|
|
ascertaining truth, a mode by which we arrive at conclusions. And
|
|||
|
|
if no one has a right to think, unless he thinks right, he would
|
|||
|
|
only have the right to think upon self-evident propositions. In all
|
|||
|
|
respects, with the exception of these misstatements to which I have
|
|||
|
|
called your attention, so far as I can see, Mr. Ijams was perfectly
|
|||
|
|
fair, and treated me as though I had the ordinary rights of a human
|
|||
|
|
being. I take this occasion to thank him.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
14
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A great many papers, a great many people, a good many
|
|||
|
|
ministers and a multitude of men, have had their say, and have
|
|||
|
|
expressed themselves with the utmost freedom. I cannot reply to
|
|||
|
|
them all. I can only reply to those who have made a parade of
|
|||
|
|
answering me. Many have said it is not worth answering, and then
|
|||
|
|
proceeded to answer. They have said, he has produced no argument,
|
|||
|
|
and then have endeavored to refute it. They have said it is simply
|
|||
|
|
the old straw that has been thrashed over and over again for years
|
|||
|
|
and years. If all I have said is nothing, if it is all idle and
|
|||
|
|
foolish, why do they take up the time of their fellow-men replying
|
|||
|
|
to me? Why do they fill their religious papers with criticisms, if
|
|||
|
|
all I have said and done reminds them, according to the Rev. Mr.
|
|||
|
|
Guard, of "some little dog barking at a railway train"? Why stop
|
|||
|
|
the train, why send for the directors, why hold a consultation and
|
|||
|
|
finally say, we must settle with that dog or stop running these
|
|||
|
|
cars?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Probably the best way to answer them all, is to prove beyond
|
|||
|
|
cavil the truth of what I have said.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DOES THE BIBLE TEACH MAN TO ENSLAVE
|
|||
|
|
HIS BROTHERS?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
II.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IF this "sacred" book teaches man to enslave his brother, it
|
|||
|
|
is not inspired. A god who would establish slavery is as cruel and
|
|||
|
|
heartless as any devil could be.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Moreover, of the children of the strangers that do sojourn
|
|||
|
|
among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are
|
|||
|
|
with you, which they begat in your land, and they shall be your
|
|||
|
|
possession.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children
|
|||
|
|
after you, to inherit them for a possession. They shall be your
|
|||
|
|
bondmen forever.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have,
|
|||
|
|
shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye
|
|||
|
|
buy bondmen and bondmaids." -- Leviticus xxv.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This is white slavery. This allows one white man to buy
|
|||
|
|
another, to buy a woman, to separate families and rob a mother of
|
|||
|
|
her child. This makes the whip upon the naked backs of men and
|
|||
|
|
women a legal tender for labor performed. This is the kind of
|
|||
|
|
slavery established by the most merciful God. The reason given for
|
|||
|
|
all this, is, that the persons whom they enslaved were heathen. You
|
|||
|
|
may enslave them because they are not orthodox. If you can find
|
|||
|
|
anybody who does not believe in me, the God of the Jews, you may
|
|||
|
|
steal his wife from his arms, and her babe from the cradle. If you
|
|||
|
|
can find a woman that does not believe in the Hebrew Jehovah, you
|
|||
|
|
may steal her prattling child from her breast. Can any one conceive
|
|||
|
|
of anything more infamous? Can any one find in the literature of
|
|||
|
|
this world more frightful words ascribed even to a demon? And all
|
|||
|
|
this is found in that most beautiful and poetic chapter known as
|
|||
|
|
the 25th of Leviticus -- from the Bible -- from this sacred gift of
|
|||
|
|
God -- this "Magna Charta of human freedom."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
15
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2. "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve;
|
|||
|
|
and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
3. "If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if
|
|||
|
|
he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
4. "If his master have given him a wife, and she hath borne
|
|||
|
|
him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her
|
|||
|
|
master's, and he shall go out by himself.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
5. "And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my
|
|||
|
|
wife, and children; I will not go out free:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
6. "Then his master shall bring him unto the judges: he shall
|
|||
|
|
also bring him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master
|
|||
|
|
shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him
|
|||
|
|
forever." -- Exodus, xxi.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The slave is allowed to have his liberty if he will give up
|
|||
|
|
his wife and children. He must remain in slavery for the sake of
|
|||
|
|
wife and child. This is another of the laws of the most merciful
|
|||
|
|
God. This God changes even love into a chain. Children are used by
|
|||
|
|
him as manacles and fetters, and wives become the keepers of
|
|||
|
|
prisons. Any man who believes that such hideous laws were made by
|
|||
|
|
an infinitely wise and benevolent God is, in my judgment, insane or
|
|||
|
|
totally depraved.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
These are the doctrines of the Old Testament. What is the
|
|||
|
|
doctrine of the New? What message had he who came from heaven's
|
|||
|
|
throne for the oppressed of earth? What words of sympathy, what
|
|||
|
|
words of cheer, for those who labored and toiled without reward?
|
|||
|
|
Let us see:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters,
|
|||
|
|
according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of
|
|||
|
|
your heart, as unto Christ." -- Ephesians, vi.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This is the salutation of the most merciful God to a slave, to
|
|||
|
|
a woman who has been robbed of her child -- to a man tracked by
|
|||
|
|
hounds through lonely swamps -- to a girl with flesh torn and
|
|||
|
|
bleeding -- to a mother weeping above an empty cradle.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only
|
|||
|
|
to the good and gentle, but also to the froward." -- I Peter ii.,
|
|||
|
|
18.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God
|
|||
|
|
endure grief, suffering wrongfully." -- I Peter ii., 19.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It certainly must be an immense pleasure to God to see a man
|
|||
|
|
work patiently for nothing. It must please the Most High to see a
|
|||
|
|
slave with his wife and child sold upon the auction block. If this
|
|||
|
|
slave escapes from slavery and is pursued, how musical the baying
|
|||
|
|
of the bloodhound must be to the ears of this most merciful God.
|
|||
|
|
All this is simply infamous. On the throne of this universe there
|
|||
|
|
sits no such monster.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
16
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Servants, obey in all things your masters, according to the
|
|||
|
|
flesh; not with eye-service, as men pleasers; but in singleness of
|
|||
|
|
heart, fearing God." -- Col. iii., 22.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The apostle here seems afraid that the slave would not work
|
|||
|
|
every moment that his strength permitted. He really seems to have
|
|||
|
|
feared that he might not at all times do the very best he could to
|
|||
|
|
promote the interests of the thief who claimed to own him. And
|
|||
|
|
speaking to all slaves, in the name of the Father of All, this
|
|||
|
|
apostle says: "Obey in all things your masters, not with
|
|||
|
|
eye-service, but with singleness of heart, fearing God." He says to
|
|||
|
|
them in substance, There is no way you can so well please God as to
|
|||
|
|
work honestly for a thief.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1. "Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own
|
|||
|
|
masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine
|
|||
|
|
be not blasphemed."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Think of serving God by honoring a robber! Think of bringing
|
|||
|
|
the name and doctrine of God into universal contempt by claiming to
|
|||
|
|
own yourself!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2. "And they that have believing masters, let them not despise
|
|||
|
|
them because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because
|
|||
|
|
they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These
|
|||
|
|
things teach and exhort."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
That is to say, do not despise Christians who steal the labor
|
|||
|
|
of others. Do not hold in contempt the "faithful and beloved,
|
|||
|
|
partakers of the benefit," who turn the cross of Christ into a
|
|||
|
|
whipping post.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
3. "If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome
|
|||
|
|
words even to words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine
|
|||
|
|
which is according to godliness;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
4. "He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions
|
|||
|
|
and strafes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, civil
|
|||
|
|
surmisings,
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
5. "Perverse disputings of man of corrupt minds, and destitute
|
|||
|
|
of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw
|
|||
|
|
thyself."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This seems to be the opinion the apostles entertained of the
|
|||
|
|
early abolitionists. Seeking to give human beings their rights,
|
|||
|
|
seeking to give labor its just reward, seeking to clothe all men
|
|||
|
|
with that divine garment of the soul, Liberty, -- all this was
|
|||
|
|
denounced by the apostle as a simple strife of words, whereof
|
|||
|
|
cometh envy, railings, evil surmisings and perverse disputing,
|
|||
|
|
destitute of truth.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
6. "But godliness with contentment is great gain.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
7. "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain
|
|||
|
|
we can carry nothing out.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
17
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
8. "And having food and raiment let us be therewith content."
|
|||
|
|
-- I Tim., vi.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This was intended to make a slave satisfied to hear the
|
|||
|
|
clanking of his chains. This is the reason he should never try to
|
|||
|
|
better his condition. He should be contented simply with the right
|
|||
|
|
to work for nothing. If he only had food and raiment, and a thief
|
|||
|
|
to work for, he should be contented. He should solace himself with
|
|||
|
|
the apostolic reflection, that as he brought nothing into the
|
|||
|
|
world, he could carry nothing out, and that when dead he would be
|
|||
|
|
as happily situated as his master.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
In order to show you what the inspired writer meant by the
|
|||
|
|
word servant, I will read from the 21 st chapter of Exodus, verses
|
|||
|
|
20 and 21:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and
|
|||
|
|
he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be
|
|||
|
|
punished: for he is his money."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Yet, notwithstanding these passages the Christian Advocate
|
|||
|
|
says, "the Bible is the Magna Charta of our liberty."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
After reading that, I was not surprised by the following in
|
|||
|
|
the same paper:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"We regret to record that Ingersoll is on a low plane of
|
|||
|
|
infidelity and atheism, not less offensive to good morals than have
|
|||
|
|
been the teachings of infidelity during the last century. France
|
|||
|
|
has been cursed with such teachings for a hundred years, and
|
|||
|
|
because of it, to-day her citizens are incapable of self-
|
|||
|
|
government."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
What was the condition of France a century ago Were they
|
|||
|
|
capable of self-government then? For fourteen hundred years the
|
|||
|
|
common people of France had suffered. For fourteen hundred year
|
|||
|
|
they had been robbed by the altar and by the throne. They had been
|
|||
|
|
the prey of priests and nobles. All were exempt from taxation,
|
|||
|
|
except the common people. The cup of their suffering was full, and
|
|||
|
|
the French people arose in fury and frenzy, and tore the drapery
|
|||
|
|
from the altars of God, and filled the air with the dust of
|
|||
|
|
thrones.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Surely, the slavery of fourteen centuries had not been
|
|||
|
|
produced by the teachings of Voltaire. I stood only a little while
|
|||
|
|
ago at the place where once stood the Bastille. In my imagination
|
|||
|
|
I saw that prison standing as it stood of yore. I could see it
|
|||
|
|
attacked by the populace. I could see their stormy faces and hear
|
|||
|
|
their cries. And I saw that ancient fortification of tyranny go
|
|||
|
|
down forever. And now where once stood the Bastille stands the
|
|||
|
|
Column of July. Upon its summit is a magnificent statue of Liberty,
|
|||
|
|
holding in one hand a banner, in the other a broken chain. and upon
|
|||
|
|
its shining forehead is the star of progress. There it stands where
|
|||
|
|
once stood the Bastille. And France is as much superior to what it
|
|||
|
|
was when Voltaire was born, as that statue, surmounting the Column
|
|||
|
|
of July, is more beautiful than the Bastille that stood there once
|
|||
|
|
with its cells of darkness, and its dungeons of horror.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
18
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
And yet we are now told that the French people have rendered
|
|||
|
|
themselves incapable of government. simply because they have
|
|||
|
|
listened to the voice of progress. There are magnificent men in
|
|||
|
|
France. From that country have come to the human race some of the
|
|||
|
|
grandest and holiest messages the ear of man has ever heard. The
|
|||
|
|
French people have given to history some of the most touching acts
|
|||
|
|
of self-sacrifice ever performed beneath the amazed stars.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For my part, I admire the French people. I cannot forget the
|
|||
|
|
Rue San Antoine. nor the red cap of liberty. I can never cease to
|
|||
|
|
remember that the tricolor was held aloft in Paris, while Europe
|
|||
|
|
was in chains, and while liberty, with a bleeding breast. was in
|
|||
|
|
the Inquisition of Spain. And yet we are now told by a religious
|
|||
|
|
paper, that France is not capable of self-government. I suppose it
|
|||
|
|
was capable of self-government under the old regime. at the time of
|
|||
|
|
the massacre of St. Bartholomew. I suppose it was capable of self-
|
|||
|
|
government when women were seen yoked with cattle pulling plows. I
|
|||
|
|
suppose it was capable of self-government when all who labored were
|
|||
|
|
in a condition of slavery.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
In the old times, even among the priests, there were some
|
|||
|
|
good, some sincere and most excellent men. I have read somewhere of
|
|||
|
|
a sermon preached by one of these in the Cathedral of Notre Dame.
|
|||
|
|
This old priest, among other things, said that the soul of a beggar
|
|||
|
|
was as dear to God as the soul of the richest of his people, and
|
|||
|
|
that Jesus Christ died as much for a beggar as for a prince. One
|
|||
|
|
French peasant, rough with labor, cried out: "I propose three
|
|||
|
|
cheers for Jesus Christ." I like such things. I like to hear of
|
|||
|
|
them. I like to repeat them. Paris has been a kind of volcano, and
|
|||
|
|
has made the heavens lurid with its lava of hatred. but it has also
|
|||
|
|
contributed more than any other city to the intellectual
|
|||
|
|
development of man. France has produced some infamous men, among
|
|||
|
|
others John Calvin, but for one Calvin, she has produced a thousand
|
|||
|
|
benefactors of the human race.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The moment the French people rise above the superstitions of
|
|||
|
|
the church, they will be in the highest sense capable of
|
|||
|
|
self-government. The moment France succeeds in releasing herself
|
|||
|
|
from the coils of Catholicism -- from the shadows of superstition
|
|||
|
|
-- from the foolish forms and mummeries of the church -- from the
|
|||
|
|
intellectual tyranny of a thousand years -- she will not only be
|
|||
|
|
capable of self-government, but will govern herself. Let the
|
|||
|
|
priests be usefully employed. We want no overseers of the mind; no
|
|||
|
|
slave-drivers for the soul. We cannot afford to pay hypocrites for
|
|||
|
|
depriving us of liberty. It is a waste of money to pay priests to
|
|||
|
|
frighten our children, and paralyze the intellect of women.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
WAS THE WORLD CREATED IN SIX DAYS?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
III.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For hundreds of years it was contended by all Christians that
|
|||
|
|
the earth was made in six days, literal days of twenty-four hours
|
|||
|
|
each, and that on the seventh day the Lord rested from his labor.
|
|||
|
|
Geologists have driven the church from this position, and it is now
|
|||
|
|
claimed that the days mentioned in the Bible are periods of time.
|
|||
|
|
This is a simple evasion, not in any way supported by the
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
19
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Scriptures. The Bible distinctly and clearly says that the world
|
|||
|
|
was created in six days. There is not within its lids a clearer
|
|||
|
|
statement. It does not say six periods. It was made according to
|
|||
|
|
that book in six days:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
31. "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it
|
|||
|
|
was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
|
|||
|
|
-- Genesis i.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1. "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the
|
|||
|
|
host of them.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2. "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had
|
|||
|
|
made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he
|
|||
|
|
had made.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
3. "And God blessed the seventh day (not seventh period), and
|
|||
|
|
sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work
|
|||
|
|
which God created and made." -- Genesis ii.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
From the following passages it seems clear what was meant by
|
|||
|
|
the word days:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
15. "Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the
|
|||
|
|
Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the
|
|||
|
|
Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death." -- Served him right!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
16. "Wherefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath.
|
|||
|
|
to observe the Sabbath, throughout their generations, for a
|
|||
|
|
perpetual covenant.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
17. "It is a sign between me and the children of Israel
|
|||
|
|
forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the
|
|||
|
|
seventh day he rested and was refreshed.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
18. "And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of
|
|||
|
|
communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony,
|
|||
|
|
tables of stone, written with the finger of God." -- Exodus xxxi.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
12. "Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord
|
|||
|
|
delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he
|
|||
|
|
said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and
|
|||
|
|
thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
13. "And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the
|
|||
|
|
people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this
|
|||
|
|
written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst
|
|||
|
|
of heaven; and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
14. "And there was no day like that before it or after it,
|
|||
|
|
that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord
|
|||
|
|
fought for Israel." -- Josh. x.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
These passages must certainly convey the idea that this world
|
|||
|
|
was made in six days, not six periods. And the reason why they were
|
|||
|
|
to keep the Sabbath was because the Creator rested on the seventh
|
|||
|
|
day -- not period. If you say six periods, instead of six days,
|
|||
|
|
what becomes of your Sabbath? The only reason given in the Bible
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
20
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
for observing the Sabbath is that God observed it -- that he rested
|
|||
|
|
from his work that day and was refreshed. Take this reason away and
|
|||
|
|
the sacredness of that day has no foundation in the Scriptures.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
WHAT IS THE ASTRONOMY OF THE BIBLE?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IV.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
When people were ignorant of all the sciences the Bible was
|
|||
|
|
understood by those who read it the same as by those who wrote it.
|
|||
|
|
From time to time discoveries were made that seemed inconsistent
|
|||
|
|
with the Scriptures. At first, theologians denounced the
|
|||
|
|
discoverers of all facts inconsistent with the Bible, as atheists
|
|||
|
|
and scoffers.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Bible teaches us that the earth is the center of the
|
|||
|
|
universe; that the sun and moon and stars revolve around this speck
|
|||
|
|
called the earth. The men who discovered that all this was a
|
|||
|
|
mistake were denounced by the ignorant clergy of that day,
|
|||
|
|
precisely as the ignorant clergy of our time denounce the advocates
|
|||
|
|
of free thought. When the doctrine of the earth's place in the
|
|||
|
|
solar system was demonstrated; when persecution could no longer
|
|||
|
|
conceal the mighty truth, then it was that the church made an
|
|||
|
|
effort to harmonize the Scriptures with the discoveries of science.
|
|||
|
|
When the utter absurdity of the Mosaic account of creation became
|
|||
|
|
apparent to all thoughtful men, the church changed the reading of
|
|||
|
|
the Bible. Then it was pretended that the "days" of creation were
|
|||
|
|
vast periods of time. When it was shown to be utterly impossible
|
|||
|
|
that the sun revolved around the earth, then the account given by
|
|||
|
|
Joshua of the sun standing still for the space of a whole day, was
|
|||
|
|
changed into a figure of speech. It was said that Joshua merely
|
|||
|
|
conformed to the mode of speech common in his day; and that when he
|
|||
|
|
said the sun stood still, he merely intended to convey the idea
|
|||
|
|
that the earth ceased turning upon its axis. They admitted that
|
|||
|
|
stopping the sun could not lengthen the day, and for that reason it
|
|||
|
|
must have been the earth that stopped. But you will remember that
|
|||
|
|
the moon stood still in the valley of Ajalon -- that the moon
|
|||
|
|
stayed until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
One would naturally suppose that the sun would have given
|
|||
|
|
sufficient light to enable the Jews to avenge themselves upon their
|
|||
|
|
enemies without any assistance from the moon. Of course, if the
|
|||
|
|
moon had not stopped, the relations between the earth and moon
|
|||
|
|
would have been changed.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Is there a sensible man in the world who believes this
|
|||
|
|
wretched piece of ignorance? Is it possible that the religion of
|
|||
|
|
this nineteenth century has for its basis such childish
|
|||
|
|
absurdities? According to this account. what was the sun, or rather
|
|||
|
|
the earth, stopped for? It was stopped in order that the Hebrews
|
|||
|
|
might avenge themselves upon the Amorites. For the accomplishment
|
|||
|
|
of such a purpose the earth was made to pause. Why should an almost
|
|||
|
|
infinite force be expended simply for the purpose of destroying a
|
|||
|
|
handful of men? Why this waste of force? Let me explain. I strike
|
|||
|
|
my hands together. They feel a sudden heat. Where did the heat come
|
|||
|
|
from? Motion has been changed into heat. You will remember that
|
|||
|
|
there can be no destruction of force. It disappears in one form
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
21
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
only to reappear in another. The earth, rotating at the rate of one
|
|||
|
|
thousand miles an hour, was stopped. The motion of this vast globe
|
|||
|
|
would have instantly been changed into heat. It has been calculated
|
|||
|
|
by one of the greatest scientists of the present day that to stop
|
|||
|
|
the earth would generate as much heat as could be produced by
|
|||
|
|
burning a world as large as this of solid coal. And yet, all this
|
|||
|
|
force was expended for the paltry purpose of defeating a few poor
|
|||
|
|
barbarians. The employment of so much force for the accomplishment
|
|||
|
|
of so insignificant an object would be as useless as bringing all
|
|||
|
|
the intellect of a great man to bear in answering the arguments of
|
|||
|
|
the clergymen of San Francisco.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The waste of that immense force in stopping the planets in
|
|||
|
|
their grand courses, for the purpose claimed, would be like using
|
|||
|
|
a Krupp gun to destroy an insect to which a single drop of water is
|
|||
|
|
"an unbounded world." How is it possible for men of ordinary
|
|||
|
|
intellect, not only to endorse such ignorant falsehoods, but to
|
|||
|
|
malign those who do not? Can anything he more debasing to the
|
|||
|
|
intellect of man than a belief in the astronomy of the Bible?
|
|||
|
|
According to the Scriptures, the world was made out of nothing, and
|
|||
|
|
the sun, moon, and stars, of the nothing that happened to be left.
|
|||
|
|
To the writers of the Bible the firmament was solid, and in it were
|
|||
|
|
grooves along which the stars were pushed by angels. From the Bible
|
|||
|
|
Cosmos constructed his geography and astronomy. His book was passed
|
|||
|
|
upon by the church. and was declared to be the truth concerning the
|
|||
|
|
subjects upon which he treated.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This eminent geologist and astronomer, taking the Bible as his
|
|||
|
|
guide, found and taught: First, that the earth was flat; second,
|
|||
|
|
that it was a vast parallelogram; third. that in the middle there
|
|||
|
|
was a vast body of land, then a strip of water all around it, then
|
|||
|
|
a strip of land. He thought that on the outer strip of land people
|
|||
|
|
lived before the flood -- that at the time of the flood, Noah in
|
|||
|
|
his Ark crossed the strip of water and landed on the shore of the
|
|||
|
|
country in the middle of the world, where we now are. This great
|
|||
|
|
biblical scholar informed the true believers of his day that in the
|
|||
|
|
outer strip of land were mountains, around which the sun and moon
|
|||
|
|
revolved; that when the sun was on the side of the mountain next
|
|||
|
|
the land occupied by man, it was day, and when on the other side,
|
|||
|
|
it was night.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Mr. Cosmos believed the Bible, and regarded Joshua as the most
|
|||
|
|
eminent astronomer of his day. He also taught that the firmament
|
|||
|
|
was solid, and that the angels pushed and drew the stars. He tells
|
|||
|
|
us that these angels attended strictly to their business, that each
|
|||
|
|
one watched the motions of all the others so that proper distances
|
|||
|
|
might always be maintained, and all confusion avoided. All this was
|
|||
|
|
believed by the gentlemen who made most of our religion. The great
|
|||
|
|
argument made by Cosmos to show that the earth must be flat, was
|
|||
|
|
the fact that the Bible stated that when Christ should come the
|
|||
|
|
second time, in glory, the whole world should see him. "Now," said
|
|||
|
|
Cosmos, "if the world is round, how could the people on the other
|
|||
|
|
side see the Lord when he comes? "This settled the question. These
|
|||
|
|
were the ideas of the fathers of the church. These men have been
|
|||
|
|
for centuries regarded as almost divinely inspired. Long after they
|
|||
|
|
had become dust they governed the world. The superstitions they
|
|||
|
|
planted, their descendants watered with the best and bravest blood.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
22
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
To maintain their ignorant theories, the brain of the world was
|
|||
|
|
dwarfed for a thousand years, and the infamous work is still being
|
|||
|
|
prosecuted.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Bible was regarded as not only true, but as the best of
|
|||
|
|
all truth. Any new theory advanced, was immediately examined in the
|
|||
|
|
light, or rather in the darkness, of revelation, and if according
|
|||
|
|
to that test it was false, it was denounced, and the person
|
|||
|
|
bringing it forward forced to recant. It would have been a far
|
|||
|
|
better course to have discovered every theory found to be in
|
|||
|
|
harmony with the Scriptures. And yet we are told by the clergy and
|
|||
|
|
religious press of this city, that the Bible is the foundation of
|
|||
|
|
all science.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DOES THE BIBLE TEACH THE EXISTENCE OF THAT
|
|||
|
|
IMPOSSIBLE CRIME CALLED WITCHCRAFT?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
V.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It was said by Sir Thomas More that to give up witchcraft was
|
|||
|
|
to give up the Bible itself. This idea was entertained by nearly
|
|||
|
|
all the eminent theologians of a hundred years ago. In my judgment,
|
|||
|
|
they were right. To give up witchcraft is to give up, in a great
|
|||
|
|
degree at least, the supernatural. To throw away the little ghosts
|
|||
|
|
simply prepares the mind of man to give up the great ones. The
|
|||
|
|
founders of nearly all creeds, and of all religions properly
|
|||
|
|
so-called, have taught the existence of good and evil spirits. They
|
|||
|
|
have peopled the dark with devils and the light with angels. They
|
|||
|
|
have crowded hell with demons and heaven with seraphs. The moment
|
|||
|
|
these good and evil spirits, these angels and fiends, disappear
|
|||
|
|
from the imaginations of men, and phenomena are accounted for by
|
|||
|
|
natural rather than by supernatural means, a great step has been
|
|||
|
|
taken in the direction of what is now known as materialism. While
|
|||
|
|
the church believes in witchcraft, it is in a greatly modified
|
|||
|
|
form. The evil spirits are not as plenty as in former times, and
|
|||
|
|
more phenomena are accounted for by natural means. Just to the
|
|||
|
|
extent that belief has been lost in spirits, just to that extent
|
|||
|
|
the church has lost its power and authority. When men ceased to
|
|||
|
|
account for the happening of any event by ascribing it to the
|
|||
|
|
direct action of good or evil spirits, and began to reason from
|
|||
|
|
known premises, the chains of superstition began to grow weak. Into
|
|||
|
|
such disrepute has witchcraft at last fallen that many Christians
|
|||
|
|
not only deny the existence of these evil spirits, but take the
|
|||
|
|
ground that no such thing is taught in the Scriptures. Let us see:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." -- Exodus xxii., 18.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
7. "Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that
|
|||
|
|
hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her.
|
|||
|
|
And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a
|
|||
|
|
spirit at Endor.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
8. "And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and
|
|||
|
|
he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night;
|
|||
|
|
and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit,
|
|||
|
|
and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
23
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
9. "And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what
|
|||
|
|
Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar
|
|||
|
|
spirits, and the wizards out of the land; wherefore, then, layest
|
|||
|
|
thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
10. "And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord
|
|||
|
|
liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
11. "Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And
|
|||
|
|
he said, Bring me up Samuel.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
12. "And when the woman saw Samuel she cried with a loud
|
|||
|
|
voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived
|
|||
|
|
me? for thou art Saul.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
13. "And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what
|
|||
|
|
sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out
|
|||
|
|
of the earth.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
14. "And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said,
|
|||
|
|
An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul
|
|||
|
|
perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the
|
|||
|
|
ground, and bowed himself.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
15. "And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me to
|
|||
|
|
bring me up?" -- 2 Samuel, xxviii.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This reads very much like an account of a modern spiritual
|
|||
|
|
seance. Is it not one of the wonderful things of the world that men
|
|||
|
|
and women who believe this account of the witch of Endor, who
|
|||
|
|
believe all the miracles and all the ghost stories of the Bible,
|
|||
|
|
deny with all their force the truth of modern Spiritualism. So far
|
|||
|
|
as I am concerned. I would rather believe some one who has heard
|
|||
|
|
what he relates, who has seen what he tells, or at least thinks he
|
|||
|
|
has seen what he tells. I would rather believe somebody I know,
|
|||
|
|
whose reputation for truth is good among those who know him. I
|
|||
|
|
would rather believe these people than to take the words of those
|
|||
|
|
who have been in their graves for four thousand years, and about
|
|||
|
|
whom I know nothing.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
31 "Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek
|
|||
|
|
after wizards, to be defiled by them; I am the Lord, your God." --
|
|||
|
|
Leviticus xix.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
6. "And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar
|
|||
|
|
spirits, and after wizards, I will even set my face against that
|
|||
|
|
soul, and will cut him off from among his people." -- Leviticus xx.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
10. "There shall not be found among you any one that useth
|
|||
|
|
divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
11. "Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a
|
|||
|
|
wizard, or a necromancer.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
12. "For all that do these things are an abomination unto the
|
|||
|
|
Lord." -- Deut. xviii.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
24
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I have given you a few of the passages found in the Old
|
|||
|
|
Testament upon this subject, showing conclusively that the Bible
|
|||
|
|
teaches the existence of witches, wizards and those who have
|
|||
|
|
familiar spirits. In the New Testament there are passages equally
|
|||
|
|
strong, showing that the Savior himself was a believer in the
|
|||
|
|
existence of evil spirits. and in the existence of a personal
|
|||
|
|
devil. Nothing can be plainer than the teaching of the following:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1. "Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to
|
|||
|
|
be tempted of the devil.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2. "And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was
|
|||
|
|
afterward an hungered.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
3. "And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the
|
|||
|
|
Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
4. "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not
|
|||
|
|
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
|
|||
|
|
mouth of God.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
5. "Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and
|
|||
|
|
setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
6. "And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast
|
|||
|
|
thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge
|
|||
|
|
concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest
|
|||
|
|
at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
7. "Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not
|
|||
|
|
tempt the Lord, thy God.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
8. "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high
|
|||
|
|
mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the
|
|||
|
|
glory of them;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
9. "And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if
|
|||
|
|
thou wilt fall down and worship me.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
10. "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it
|
|||
|
|
is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt
|
|||
|
|
thou serve.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
11. "Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and
|
|||
|
|
ministered unto him." -- Matt. iv.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If this does not teach the existence of a personal devil,
|
|||
|
|
there is nothing within the lids of the Scriptures teaching the
|
|||
|
|
existence of a personal God. If this does not teach the existence
|
|||
|
|
of evil spirits, there is nothing in the Bible going to show that
|
|||
|
|
good spirits exist either in this world or the next.
|
|||
|
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|
|||
|
|
16. "When the even was come they brought unto him many that
|
|||
|
|
were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his
|
|||
|
|
word, and healed all that were sick." -- Matt. vii.
|
|||
|
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|
|||
|
|
1. "And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into
|
|||
|
|
the country of the Gadarenes.
|
|||
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|
|||
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|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
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|
25
|
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|
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MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
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2. "And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there
|
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|
met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
|
|||
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|
|||
|
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3. "Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could
|
|||
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|
bind him, no, not with chains:
|
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|
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4. "Because that he had been often bound with fetters and
|
|||
|
|
chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the
|
|||
|
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fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
|
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|
|||
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5. "And always, night and day, he was in the mountains. and in
|
|||
|
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the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones.
|
|||
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|
|||
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6. "But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him.
|
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|
|||
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|
7. "And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do
|
|||
|
|
with thee, Jesus, thou son of the most high God? I adjure thee by
|
|||
|
|
God, that thou torment me not.
|
|||
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|
|||
|
|
8. "For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean
|
|||
|
|
spirit.
|
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|
|||
|
|
9. "And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered,
|
|||
|
|
saying, My name is Legion, for we are many.
|
|||
|
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|
|||
|
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11. "Now, there was nigh unto the mountains a great herd of
|
|||
|
|
swine feeding.
|
|||
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|
|||
|
|
12. "And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the
|
|||
|
|
swine, that we may enter into them.
|
|||
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|
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|
|
13. "And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean
|
|||
|
|
spirits went out, and entered into the swine; and the herd ran
|
|||
|
|
violently down a steep place into the sea, and they were about two
|
|||
|
|
thousand; and were choked in the sea." -- Mark v.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The doctrine of witchcraft does not stop here. The power of
|
|||
|
|
casting out devils was bequeathed by the Savior to his apostles and
|
|||
|
|
followers, and to all who might believe in him throughout all the
|
|||
|
|
coming time:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
17. "And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my
|
|||
|
|
name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
18. "And they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any
|
|||
|
|
deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the
|
|||
|
|
sick and they shall recover." -- Mark xvi.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I would like to see the clergy who have been answering me,
|
|||
|
|
tested in this way: Let them drink poison, let them take up
|
|||
|
|
serpents, let them cure the sick by the laying on of hands, and I
|
|||
|
|
will then believe that they believe.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I deny the witchcraft stories of the world. Witches are born
|
|||
|
|
in the ignorant, frightened minds of men. Reason will exorcise
|
|||
|
|
them. "They are tales told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
|
|||
|
|
signifying nothing." These devils have covered the world with blood
|
|||
|
|
and tears. They have filled the earth with fear. They have filled
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
26
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
the lives of children with darkness and horror. They have peopled
|
|||
|
|
the sweet world of imagination with monsters. They have made
|
|||
|
|
religion a strange mingling of fear and ferocity. I am doing what
|
|||
|
|
I can to reeve the heavens of these monsters. For my part, I laugh
|
|||
|
|
at them all. I hold them all in contempt, ancient and modern, great
|
|||
|
|
and small.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE BIBLE IDEA OF THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
VI.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
All religion has for its basis the tyranny of God and the
|
|||
|
|
slavery of man.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
18. "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will
|
|||
|
|
not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and
|
|||
|
|
that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them,
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
19. "Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and
|
|||
|
|
bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his
|
|||
|
|
place.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
20. "And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our
|
|||
|
|
son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice, he is
|
|||
|
|
a glutton and a drunkard.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
21. "And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones,
|
|||
|
|
that he die; so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all
|
|||
|
|
Israel shall hear, and fear." -- Deut. xxi.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.
|
|||
|
|
He proceeded to obey. And the boy, being then about thirty years of
|
|||
|
|
age, was not consulted. At the command of a phantom of the air, a
|
|||
|
|
man was willing to offer upon the altar his only son. And such was
|
|||
|
|
the slavery of children, that the only son had not the spirit to
|
|||
|
|
resist.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Have you ever read the story of Jephthah?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
30 "And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, "If thou
|
|||
|
|
shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
31. "Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the
|
|||
|
|
doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the
|
|||
|
|
children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it
|
|||
|
|
up for a burnt offering.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
32. "So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to
|
|||
|
|
fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
33. "And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to
|
|||
|
|
Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards,
|
|||
|
|
with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were
|
|||
|
|
subdued before the children of Israel.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
27
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
34. "And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and behold,
|
|||
|
|
his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances;
|
|||
|
|
and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor
|
|||
|
|
daughter.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
35. "And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his
|
|||
|
|
clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very
|
|||
|
|
low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my
|
|||
|
|
mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back. . . .
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
39. "And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she
|
|||
|
|
returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow
|
|||
|
|
which he had vowed." -- Judges xi.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
What can we think of a father who would sacrifice his
|
|||
|
|
daughter to a demon God? And what can we think of a God who would
|
|||
|
|
accept such a sacrifice? Can such a God be worthy of the worship of
|
|||
|
|
man? I plead for the rights of children. I plead for the government
|
|||
|
|
of kindness and love. I plead for the republic of home, the
|
|||
|
|
democracy of the fireside. I plead for affection. And for this I am
|
|||
|
|
pursued by invective. For this I am called a fiend, a devil, a
|
|||
|
|
monster, by Christian editors and clergymen, by those who pretend
|
|||
|
|
to love their enemies and pray for those that despitefully use
|
|||
|
|
them.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Allow me to give you another instance of affection related in
|
|||
|
|
the Scriptures. There was, it seems, a most excellent man by the
|
|||
|
|
name of Job. The Lord was walking up and down, and happening to
|
|||
|
|
meet Satan, said to him: "Are you acquainted with my servant Job?
|
|||
|
|
Have you noticed what an excellent man he is? "And Satan replied to
|
|||
|
|
him and said: "Why should he not be an excellent man -- you have
|
|||
|
|
given him everything he wants? Take from him what he has and he
|
|||
|
|
will curse you." And thereupon the Lord gave Satan the power to
|
|||
|
|
destroy the property and children of Job. In a little while these
|
|||
|
|
high contracting parties met again; and the Lord seemed somewhat
|
|||
|
|
elated with his success, and called again the attention of Satan to
|
|||
|
|
the sinlessness of Job. Satan then told him to touch his body and
|
|||
|
|
he would curse him. And thereupon power was given to Satan over the
|
|||
|
|
body of Job. and he cured his body with boils. Yet in all this, Job
|
|||
|
|
did not sin with his lips.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This book seems to have been written to show the excellence of
|
|||
|
|
patience, and to prove that at last God will reward all who will
|
|||
|
|
bear the afflictions of heaven with fortitude and without
|
|||
|
|
complaint. The sons and daughters of Job had been slain, and then
|
|||
|
|
the Lord, in order to reward Job, gave him other children, other
|
|||
|
|
sons and other daughters -- not the same ones he had lost; but
|
|||
|
|
others. And this, according to the writer, made ample amends. Is
|
|||
|
|
that the idea we now have of love? If I have a child, no matter how
|
|||
|
|
deformed that child may be, and if it dies, nobody can make the
|
|||
|
|
loss to me good by bringing a more beautiful child. I want the one
|
|||
|
|
I loved and the one I lost.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
28
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE GALLANTRY OF GOD.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
VII.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I Have said that the Bible is a barbarous book; that it has no
|
|||
|
|
respect for the rights of woman. Now I propose to prove it. It
|
|||
|
|
takes something besides epithets and invectives to prove or
|
|||
|
|
disprove anything. Let us see what the sacred volume says
|
|||
|
|
concerning the mothers and daughters of the human race.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A man who does not in his heart of hearts respect woman, who
|
|||
|
|
has not there an altar at which he worships the memory of mother,
|
|||
|
|
is less than a man.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
11. "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
12. "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority
|
|||
|
|
over the man, but to be in silence."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The reason given for this, and the only reason that occurred
|
|||
|
|
to the sacred writer, was:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
13. "For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
14. "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived
|
|||
|
|
was in the transgression.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
15. "Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in child-bearing, if
|
|||
|
|
they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. --
|
|||
|
|
I Tim. ii.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
3. "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is
|
|||
|
|
Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of
|
|||
|
|
Christ is God."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
That is to say, the woman sustains the same relation to the
|
|||
|
|
man that man does to Christ. and man sustains the same relation to
|
|||
|
|
Christ that Christ does to God.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This places the woman infinitely below the man. And yet this
|
|||
|
|
barbarous idiocy is regarded as divinely inspired. How can any
|
|||
|
|
woman look other than with contempt upon such passages? How can any
|
|||
|
|
woman believe that this is the will of a most merciful God?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
7. "For a man, indeed, ought not to cover his head, forasmuch
|
|||
|
|
as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of
|
|||
|
|
man."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
And this is justified from the remarkable fact set forth in
|
|||
|
|
the next verse:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
8. "For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the
|
|||
|
|
man."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This same chivalric gentleman also says:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
9. "Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman
|
|||
|
|
for the man." -- I Cor. xi.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
29
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
22. "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto
|
|||
|
|
the Lord."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Is it possible for abject obedience to go beyond this?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
23. "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ
|
|||
|
|
is the head of the Church, and he is the saviour of the body.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
24. "Therefore, as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let
|
|||
|
|
the wives be to their own husbands in everything. -- Eph. v.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Even the Savior did not put man and woman upon an equality. A
|
|||
|
|
man could divorce his wife, but the wife could not divorce her
|
|||
|
|
husband.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Every noble woman should hold such apostles and such ideas in
|
|||
|
|
contempt. According to the Old Testament, woman had to ask pardon
|
|||
|
|
and had to be purified from the crime of having born sons and
|
|||
|
|
daughters. To make love and maternity crimes is infamous.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
10. "When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and
|
|||
|
|
the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou
|
|||
|
|
hast taken them captive,
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
11. "And seest among the captives a beautiful woman. and hast
|
|||
|
|
a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife,
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
12. "Then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she
|
|||
|
|
shall shave her head, and pare her nails." -- Deut. xxi.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This is barbarism, no matter whether it came from heaven or
|
|||
|
|
from hell, from a God or from a devil, from the golden streets of
|
|||
|
|
the New Jerusalem or from the very Sodom of perdition. It is
|
|||
|
|
barbarism complete and utter.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DOES THE BIBLE SANCTION POLYGAMY
|
|||
|
|
AND CONCUBINAGE?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
VIII.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Read the infamous order of Moses in the 31st chapter of
|
|||
|
|
Numbers -- an order unfit to be reproduced in print -- an order
|
|||
|
|
which I am unwilling to repeat. Read the 31st chapter of Exodus.
|
|||
|
|
Read the 21st chapter of Deuteronomy. Read the life of Abraham, of
|
|||
|
|
David, of Solomon, of Jacob, and then tell me the sacred Bible does
|
|||
|
|
not teach polygamy and concubinage. All the languages of the world
|
|||
|
|
are insufficient to express the filth of polygamy. It makes man a
|
|||
|
|
beast -- woman a slave. It destroys the fireside. It makes virtue
|
|||
|
|
an outcast. It makes home a lair of wild beasts. It is the infamy
|
|||
|
|
of infamies. Yet this is the doctrine of the Bible -- a doctrine
|
|||
|
|
defended even by Luther and Melancthon. It is by the Bible that
|
|||
|
|
Brigham Young justifies the practice of this beastly horror. It
|
|||
|
|
takes from language those sweetest words, husband, wife, father,
|
|||
|
|
mother, child and lover. It takes us back to the barbarism of
|
|||
|
|
animals, and leaves the heart a den in which crawl and hiss the
|
|||
|
|
slimy serpents of loathsome lust. Yet the book justifying this
|
|||
|
|
infamy is the book upon which rests the civilization of the
|
|||
|
|
nineteenth century. And because I denounce this frightful thing,
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
30
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
the clergy denounce me as a demon, and the infamous Christian
|
|||
|
|
Advocate says that the moral sentiment of this State ought to
|
|||
|
|
denounce this Illinois Catiline for his blasphemous utterances and
|
|||
|
|
for his base and debasing scurrility.
|
|||
|
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|
|||
|
|
DOES THE BIBLE UPHOLD AND JUSTIFY
|
|||
|
|
POLITICAL TYRANNY?
|
|||
|
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|
|||
|
|
IX.
|
|||
|
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|
|||
|
|
For my part, I insist that man has not only the capacity, but
|
|||
|
|
the right to govern himself. All political authority is vested in
|
|||
|
|
the people themselves. They have the right to select their officers
|
|||
|
|
and agents, and these officers and agents are responsible to the
|
|||
|
|
people. Political authority does not come from the clouds. Man
|
|||
|
|
should not be governed by the aristocracy of the air. The Bible is
|
|||
|
|
not a Republican or Democratic book. Exactly the opposite doctrine
|
|||
|
|
is taught. From that volume we learn that the people have no power
|
|||
|
|
whatever; that all power and political authority comes from on
|
|||
|
|
high, and that all the kings, all the potentates and powers, have
|
|||
|
|
been ordained of God; that all the ignorant and cruel kings have
|
|||
|
|
been placed upon the world's thrones by the direct act of Deity.
|
|||
|
|
The Scriptures teach us that the common people have but one duty --
|
|||
|
|
the duty of obedience. Let me read to you some of the political
|
|||
|
|
ideas in the great "Magna Charta" of human liberty.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1. "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For
|
|||
|
|
there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of
|
|||
|
|
God.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2. "Whosoever, therefore. resisteth the power, resisteth the
|
|||
|
|
ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves
|
|||
|
|
damnation."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
According to this, George III. was ordained of God. He was
|
|||
|
|
King of Great Britain by divine right, and by divine right was the
|
|||
|
|
lawful King of the American Colonies. The leaders in the
|
|||
|
|
Revolutionary struggle resisted the power, and according to these
|
|||
|
|
passages, resisted the ordinances of God; and for that resistance
|
|||
|
|
they are promised the eternal recompense of damnation.
|
|||
|
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|
|||
|
|
3. "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the
|
|||
|
|
evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is
|
|||
|
|
good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. . . .
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
5. "Wherefore, ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath,
|
|||
|
|
but also for conscience sake.
|
|||
|
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|
|||
|
|
6. "For. for this cause pay ye tribute also; for they are
|
|||
|
|
God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing." --
|
|||
|
|
Romans, xiii.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
13. "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the
|
|||
|
|
Lord's sake; whether it be to the king as supreme;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
14. "Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for
|
|||
|
|
the punishment of evil-doers. and far the praise of them that do
|
|||
|
|
well.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
31
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
15. "For so is the will of God." -- 1 Pet. ii.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Had these ideas been carried out, political progress in the
|
|||
|
|
world would have been impossible. Upon the necks of the people
|
|||
|
|
still would have been the feet of kings. I deny this wretched, this
|
|||
|
|
infamous doctrine. Whether higher powers are ordained of God or
|
|||
|
|
not, if those higher powers endeavor to destroy the rights of man,
|
|||
|
|
I for one shall resist. Whenever and wherever the sword of
|
|||
|
|
rebellion is drawn in support of a human right, I am a rebel. The
|
|||
|
|
despicable doctrine of submission to titled wrong and robed
|
|||
|
|
injustice finds no lodgment in the brain of a man. The real rulers
|
|||
|
|
are the people, and the rulers so-called are but the servants of
|
|||
|
|
the people. They are not ordained of any God. All political power
|
|||
|
|
comes from and belongs to man. Upon these texts of Scripture rest
|
|||
|
|
the thrones of Europe. For fifteen hundred years these verses have
|
|||
|
|
been repeated by brainless kings and heartless priests. For fifteen
|
|||
|
|
hundred years each one of these texts has been a bastille in which
|
|||
|
|
has been imprisoned the pioneers of progress. Each one of these
|
|||
|
|
texts has been an obstruction on the highway of humanity. Each one
|
|||
|
|
has been a fortification behind which have crouched the sainted
|
|||
|
|
hypocrites and the titled robbers. According to these texts, a
|
|||
|
|
robber gets his right to rob from God. And it is the duty of the
|
|||
|
|
robbed to submit. The thief gets his right to steal from God. The
|
|||
|
|
king gets his right to trample upon human liberty from God. I say.
|
|||
|
|
fight the king -- fight the priest.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY OF GOD.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
X.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Bible denounces religious liberty. After covering the
|
|||
|
|
world with blood, after having made it almost hollow with graves,
|
|||
|
|
Christians are beginning to say that men have a right to differ
|
|||
|
|
upon religious questions provided the questions about which they
|
|||
|
|
differ are not considered of great importance. The motto of the
|
|||
|
|
Evangelical Alliance is:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"In non-essentials, liberty; in essentials, unity."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Christian world have condescended to say that upon all
|
|||
|
|
non-essential points we shall have the right to think for
|
|||
|
|
ourselves; but upon matters of the least importance, they will
|
|||
|
|
think and speak for us. In this they are consistent. They but
|
|||
|
|
follow the teachings of the God they worship. They but adhere to
|
|||
|
|
the precepts and commands of the sacred Scriptures. Within that
|
|||
|
|
volume there is no such thing as religious toleration. Within that
|
|||
|
|
volume there is not one particle of mercy for an unbeliever. For
|
|||
|
|
all who think for themselves, for all who are the owners of their
|
|||
|
|
own souls, there are threatenings, curses and anathemas. Any
|
|||
|
|
Christian who to-day exercises the least toleration is to that
|
|||
|
|
extent false to his religion. Let us see what the "Magna Charta" of
|
|||
|
|
liberty says upon this subject:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
6. "If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy
|
|||
|
|
daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as
|
|||
|
|
thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve
|
|||
|
|
other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
32
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
7. "Namely of the gods of the people which are round about
|
|||
|
|
you, nigh unto thee, or afar off from thee, from the one end of the
|
|||
|
|
earth even unto the other end of the earth;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
8. "Thou shalt not consent unto him; nor hearken unto him;
|
|||
|
|
neither shall thine eye pity him; neither shalt thou spare, neither
|
|||
|
|
shalt thou conceal him
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
9. "But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first
|
|||
|
|
upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the
|
|||
|
|
people;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
10. "And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die;
|
|||
|
|
because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God,
|
|||
|
|
which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of
|
|||
|
|
bondage." -- Deut. xiii.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
That is the religious liberty of the Bible. If the wife of
|
|||
|
|
your bosom had said, "I like the religion of India better than the
|
|||
|
|
religion of Palestine," it was then your duty to kill her, and the
|
|||
|
|
merciful Most High -- understand me, I do not believe in any
|
|||
|
|
merciful Most High -- said:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Thou shalt not pity her but thou shalt surely kill; thy hand
|
|||
|
|
shall be the first upon her to put her to death."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This I denounce as infamously infamous. If it is necessary to
|
|||
|
|
believe in such a God. if it is necessary to adore such a Deity in
|
|||
|
|
order to be saved, I will take my part joyfully in perdition. Let
|
|||
|
|
me read you a few more extracts from the "Magna Charta" of human
|
|||
|
|
liberty;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2. "If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which
|
|||
|
|
the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman that hath wrought
|
|||
|
|
wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God, in transgressing his
|
|||
|
|
covenant,
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
3. "And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them,
|
|||
|
|
either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have
|
|||
|
|
not commanded:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
4. "And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and
|
|||
|
|
enquired diligently. and behold, it be true, and the thing certain,
|
|||
|
|
that such abomination is wrought in Israel;
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
5. "Then shalt thou bring forth that man, or that woman, which
|
|||
|
|
have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or
|
|||
|
|
that woman, and shalt stone them with stones till they die."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Under this law if the woman you loved had said: "Let us
|
|||
|
|
worship the sun; I am tired of this jealous and bloodthirsty
|
|||
|
|
Jehovah; let us worship the sun; let us kneel to it as it rises
|
|||
|
|
over the hills, filling the world with light and love, when the
|
|||
|
|
dawn stands jocund on the mountain's misty top; it is the sun whose
|
|||
|
|
beams illumine and cover the earth with verdure and with beauty; it
|
|||
|
|
is the sun that covers the trees with leaves. that carpets the
|
|||
|
|
earth with grass and adorns the world with flowers; I adore the sun
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
33
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
because in its light I have seen your eyes; it has given to me the
|
|||
|
|
face of my babe; it has clothed my life with joy; let us in
|
|||
|
|
gratitude fall down and worship the glorious beams of the sun."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For this offence she deserved not only death, but death at
|
|||
|
|
your hands:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Thine eye shall not pity her; neither shalt thou spare:
|
|||
|
|
neither shalt thou conceal her.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"But thou shalt surely kill her: thy hand shall be the first
|
|||
|
|
upon her to put her to death, and afterwards the hand of all the
|
|||
|
|
people.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"And thou shalt stone her with stones that she die."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For my part I had a thousand times rather worship the sun than
|
|||
|
|
a God who would make such a law or give such a command. This you
|
|||
|
|
may say is the doctrine of the Old Testament -- what is the
|
|||
|
|
doctrine of the New?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; and he that
|
|||
|
|
believeth not shall be damned."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
That is the religious liberty of the New Testament. That is
|
|||
|
|
the "tidings of great joy."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Every one of these words has been a chain upon the limbs, a
|
|||
|
|
whip upon the backs of men. Every one has been a fagot. Every one
|
|||
|
|
has been a sword. Every one has been a dungeon, a scaffold, a rack.
|
|||
|
|
Every one has been a fountain of tears. These words have filled the
|
|||
|
|
hearts of men with hatred. These words invented all the instruments
|
|||
|
|
of torture. These words covered the earth with blood.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For the sake of argument, suppose that the Bible is an
|
|||
|
|
inspired book. If then, as is contended, God gave these frightful
|
|||
|
|
laws commanding religious intolerance to his chosen people, and
|
|||
|
|
afterward this same God took upon himself flesh, and came among the
|
|||
|
|
Jews and taught a different religion, and they crucified him, did
|
|||
|
|
he not reap what he had sown?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DOES THE BIBLE DESCRIBE A GOD OF MERCY?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
XI.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Is it possible to conceive of a more Jealous, revengeful,
|
|||
|
|
changeable, unjust, unreasonable, cruel being than the Jehovah of
|
|||
|
|
the Hebrews? Is it possible to read the words said to have been
|
|||
|
|
spoken by this Deity, without a shudder? Is it possible to
|
|||
|
|
contemplate his character without hatred?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I will make mine arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall
|
|||
|
|
devour flesh." -- Deut. xxxii.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Is this the language of an infinitely kind and tender parent
|
|||
|
|
to his weak, his wandering and suffering children?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
34
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the
|
|||
|
|
tongue of thy dogs in the same." -- Psalms, lxviii.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Is it possible that a God takes delight in seeing dogs lap the
|
|||
|
|
blood of his children?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
22. "And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before
|
|||
|
|
thee by little and little; thou mayest not consume them at once,
|
|||
|
|
lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
23. "But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and
|
|||
|
|
shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be
|
|||
|
|
destroyed.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
24. "And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and
|
|||
|
|
thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven; there shall no man
|
|||
|
|
be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them." --
|
|||
|
|
Deut. vii.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If these words had proceeded from the mouth of a demon, if
|
|||
|
|
they had been spoken by some enraged and infinitely malicious
|
|||
|
|
fiend, I should not have been surprised. But these things are
|
|||
|
|
attributed to a God of infinite mercy.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
40. "So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the
|
|||
|
|
south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings; he
|
|||
|
|
left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as
|
|||
|
|
the Lord God of Israel commanded." -- Josh. x.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
14. "And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the
|
|||
|
|
children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but every man
|
|||
|
|
they smote with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed
|
|||
|
|
them, neither left they any to breathe." -- Josh. xi.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
19. "There was not a city that made peace with the children of
|
|||
|
|
Israel, save the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon; all other they
|
|||
|
|
took in battle.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
20. "For it was of the Lord to harden their heart. that they
|
|||
|
|
should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them
|
|||
|
|
utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that he might
|
|||
|
|
destroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses." -- Josh. xi.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There are no words in our language with which. to express the
|
|||
|
|
indignation I feel when reading these cruel and heartless words.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then
|
|||
|
|
proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be if it make thee answer of
|
|||
|
|
peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people
|
|||
|
|
therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
|
|||
|
|
And if it will make no peace with thee. but will make war against
|
|||
|
|
thee, then thou shalt besiege it. And when the Lord thy God hath
|
|||
|
|
delivered it into thy hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof
|
|||
|
|
with the sword. But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle,
|
|||
|
|
and all that is in the city, even the spoil thereof, shalt thou
|
|||
|
|
take unto thyself, and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies,
|
|||
|
|
which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
35
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off
|
|||
|
|
from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. But of the
|
|||
|
|
cities of these people which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an
|
|||
|
|
inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
These terrible instructions were given to an army of invasion.
|
|||
|
|
The men who were thus ruthlessly murdered were fighting for their
|
|||
|
|
homes, their firesides, for their wives and for their little
|
|||
|
|
children. Yet these things, by the clergy of San Francisco, are
|
|||
|
|
called acts of sublime mercy.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
All this is justified by the doctrine of the survival of the
|
|||
|
|
fittest. The Old Testament is filled with anathemas. with curses,
|
|||
|
|
with words of vengeance, of revenge, of jealousy. of hatred and of
|
|||
|
|
almost infinite brutality. Do not, I pray you, pluck from the heart
|
|||
|
|
the sweet flower of pity and trample it in the bloody dust of
|
|||
|
|
superstition. Do not, I beseech you, justify the murder of women.
|
|||
|
|
the assassination of dimpled babes. Do not let the gaze of the
|
|||
|
|
gorgon of superstition turn your hearts to stone.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Is there an intelligent Christian in the world who would not
|
|||
|
|
with joy and gladness receive conclusive testimony to the effect
|
|||
|
|
that all the passages in the Bible upholding and sustaining
|
|||
|
|
polygamy and concubinage, political tyranny, the subjection of
|
|||
|
|
woman, the enslavement of children, establishing domestic and
|
|||
|
|
political tyranny, and that all the commands to destroy men, women
|
|||
|
|
and children, are but interpolations of kings and priests, made for
|
|||
|
|
the purpose of subjugating mankind through the instrumentality of
|
|||
|
|
fear? Is there a Christian in the world who would not think vastly
|
|||
|
|
more of the Bible if all these infamous things were eliminated from
|
|||
|
|
it?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Surely the good things in that book are not rendered more
|
|||
|
|
sacred from the fact that in the same volume are found the
|
|||
|
|
frightful passages I have quoted. In my judgment the Bible should
|
|||
|
|
be read and studied precisely as we read and study any book
|
|||
|
|
whatever. The good in it should he preserved and cherished, and
|
|||
|
|
that which shocks the human heart should be cast aside forever.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
While the Old Testament threatens men, women and children with
|
|||
|
|
disease, famine, war, pestilence and death, there are no
|
|||
|
|
threatenings of punishment beyond this life. The doctrine of
|
|||
|
|
eternal punishment is a dogma of the New Testament. This doctrine,
|
|||
|
|
the most cruel, the most infamous of which the human mind can
|
|||
|
|
conceive, is taught, if taught at all, in the Bible -- in the New
|
|||
|
|
Testament. One cannot imagine what the human heart has suffered by
|
|||
|
|
reason of the frightful doctrine of eternal damnation. It is a
|
|||
|
|
doctrine so abhorrent to every drop of my blood. so infinitely
|
|||
|
|
cruel, that it is impossible for me to respect either the head or
|
|||
|
|
heart of any human being who teaches or fears it. This doctrine
|
|||
|
|
necessarily subverts all ideas of justice. To inflict infinite
|
|||
|
|
punishment for finite crimes, or rather for crimes committed by
|
|||
|
|
finite beings, is a proposition so monstrous that I am astonished
|
|||
|
|
it ever found lodgment in the brain of man. Whoever says that we
|
|||
|
|
can be happy in heaven while those we loved on earth are suffering
|
|||
|
|
infinite torments in eternal fire, defames and calumniates the
|
|||
|
|
human heart.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
36
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE PLAN OF SALVATION.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
XII.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We are told, however, that a way has been provided for the
|
|||
|
|
salvation of all men, and that in this plan the infinite mercy of
|
|||
|
|
God is made manifest to the children of men. According to the great
|
|||
|
|
scheme of the atonement, the innocent suffers for the guilty in
|
|||
|
|
order to satisfy a law. What kind of law must it be that is
|
|||
|
|
satisfied with the agony of innocence? Who made this law? If God
|
|||
|
|
made it he must have known that the innocent would have to suffer
|
|||
|
|
as a consequence. The whole scheme is to me a medley of
|
|||
|
|
contradictions, impossibilities and theological conclusions. We are
|
|||
|
|
told that if Adam and Eve had not sinned in the Garden of Eden
|
|||
|
|
death never would have entered the world. We are further informed
|
|||
|
|
that had it not been for the devil, Adam and Eve would not have
|
|||
|
|
been led astray; and if they had not, as I said before, death never
|
|||
|
|
would have touched with its icy hand the human heart. If our first
|
|||
|
|
parents had never sinned, and death never had entered the world,
|
|||
|
|
you and I never would have existed. The earth would have been
|
|||
|
|
filled thousands of generations before you and I were born. At the
|
|||
|
|
feast of life, death made seats vacant for us. According to this
|
|||
|
|
doctrine, we are indebted to the devil for our existence. Had he
|
|||
|
|
not tempted Eve -- no sin. If there had been no sin -- no death. If
|
|||
|
|
there had been no death the world would have been filled ages
|
|||
|
|
before you and I were born. Therefore, we owe our existence to the
|
|||
|
|
devil. We are further informed that as a consequence of original
|
|||
|
|
sin the scheme called the atonement became necessary; and that if
|
|||
|
|
the Savior had not taken upon himself flesh and come to this atom
|
|||
|
|
called the earth, and if he had not been crucified for us, we
|
|||
|
|
should all have been cast forever into hell. Had it not been for
|
|||
|
|
the bigotry of the Jews and the treachery of Judas Iscariot, Christ
|
|||
|
|
would not have been crucified; and if he had not been crucified,
|
|||
|
|
all of us would have had our portion in the lake that burneth with
|
|||
|
|
eternal fire.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
According to this great doctrine, according to this vast and
|
|||
|
|
most wonderful scheme, we owe, as I said before, our existence to
|
|||
|
|
the devil, our salvation to Judas Iscariot and the bigotry of the
|
|||
|
|
Jews.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
So far as I am concerned, I fail to see any mercy in the plan
|
|||
|
|
of salvation. Is it mercy to reward a man forever in consideration
|
|||
|
|
of believing a certain thing, of the truth of which there is, to
|
|||
|
|
his mind, ample testimony? Is it mercy to punish a man with eternal
|
|||
|
|
fire simply because there is not testimony enough to satisfy his
|
|||
|
|
mind? Can there be such a thing as mercy in eternal punishment?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
And yet this same Deity says to me, "resist not evil; pray for
|
|||
|
|
those that despitefully use you; love your enemies, but I will
|
|||
|
|
eternally damn mine." It seems to me that even gods should practice
|
|||
|
|
what they preach.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
All atonement, after all, is a kind of moral bankruptcy. Under
|
|||
|
|
its provisions, man is allowed the luxury of sinning upon a credit.
|
|||
|
|
Whenever he is guilty of a wicked action he says, "charge it." This
|
|||
|
|
kind of bookkeeping, in my judgment, tends to breed extravagance in
|
|||
|
|
sin.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
37
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The truth is, most Christians are better than their creeds;
|
|||
|
|
most creeds are better than the Bible, and most men are better than
|
|||
|
|
heir God.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
OTHER RELIGIONS.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
XIII.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We must remember that ours is not the only religion. Man has
|
|||
|
|
in all ages endeavored to answer the great questions Whence? and
|
|||
|
|
Whither? He has endeavored to read his destiny in the stars, to
|
|||
|
|
pluck the secret of his existence from the night. He has questioned
|
|||
|
|
the specters of his own imagination. He has explored the mysterious
|
|||
|
|
avenues of dreams. He has peopled the heavens with spirits. He has
|
|||
|
|
mistaken his visions for realities. In the twilight of ignorance he
|
|||
|
|
has mistaken shadows for gods. In all ages he has been the slave of
|
|||
|
|
misery, the dupe of superstition and the fool of hope. He has
|
|||
|
|
suffered and aspired.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Religion is a thing of growth, of development. As we advance
|
|||
|
|
we throw aside the grosser and absurder forms of faith --
|
|||
|
|
practically at first by ceasing to observe them, and lastly, by
|
|||
|
|
denying then, altogether. Every church necessarily by its
|
|||
|
|
constitution endeavors to prevent this natural growth or
|
|||
|
|
development. What has happened to other religions must happen to
|
|||
|
|
ours. Ours is not superior to many that have passed, or are passing
|
|||
|
|
away. Other religions have been lived for and died for by men as
|
|||
|
|
noble as ours can boast. Their dogmas and doctrines have, to say
|
|||
|
|
the least, been as reasonable, as full of spiritual grandeur, as
|
|||
|
|
ours.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Man has had beautiful thoughts. Man has tried to solve these
|
|||
|
|
questions in all the countries of the world, and I respect all such
|
|||
|
|
men and women; but let me tell you one little thing. I want to show
|
|||
|
|
you that in other countries there is something.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Parsee sect of Persia say: A Persian saint ascended the three
|
|||
|
|
stairs that lead to heaven's gate, and knocked; a voice said: "Who
|
|||
|
|
is there?" Thy servant, O God! "But the gates would not open. For
|
|||
|
|
seven years he did every act of kindness; again he came, and the
|
|||
|
|
voice said: "Who is there? "And he replied: "Thy slave, O God!" Yet
|
|||
|
|
the gates were shut. Yet seven other years of kindness, and the man
|
|||
|
|
again knocked; and the voice cried and said: "Who is there?"
|
|||
|
|
"Thyself' O God!" And the gates wide open flew.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I say there is no more beautiful Christian poem than this.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A Persian after having read our religion, with its frightful
|
|||
|
|
descriptions of perdition, wrote these words: "Two angels flying
|
|||
|
|
out from the blissful city of God -- the angel of love and the
|
|||
|
|
angel of pity -- hovered over the eternal pit where suffered the
|
|||
|
|
captives of hell. One smile of love illumined the darkness and one
|
|||
|
|
tear of pity extinguished all the fires." Has orthodoxy produced
|
|||
|
|
anything as generously beautiful as this? Let me read you this:
|
|||
|
|
Sectarians, hear this: Believers in eternal damnation, hear this:
|
|||
|
|
Clergy of America who expect to have your happiness in heaven
|
|||
|
|
increased by seeing me burning in hell, hear this:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
38
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This is the prayer of the Brahmins -- a prayer that has
|
|||
|
|
trembled from human lips toward heaven for more than four thousand
|
|||
|
|
years:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Never will I seek or receive private individual salvation.
|
|||
|
|
Never will I enter into final bliss alone. But forever and
|
|||
|
|
everywhere will I labor and strive for the final redemption of
|
|||
|
|
every creature throughout all worlds, and until all are redeemed.
|
|||
|
|
Never will I wrongly leave this world to sin, sorrow and struggle,
|
|||
|
|
but will remain and work and suffer where I am."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Has the orthodox religion produced a prayer like this? See the
|
|||
|
|
infinite charity, not only for every soul in this world. but of all
|
|||
|
|
the shining worlds of the universe. Think of that, ye parsons who
|
|||
|
|
imagine that a large majority are going to eternal ruin.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Compare it with the sermons of Jonathan Edwards, and compare
|
|||
|
|
it with the imprecation of Christ: "Depart ye cursed into
|
|||
|
|
everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels; "with the
|
|||
|
|
ideas of Jeremy Taylor, with the creeds of Christendom, with all
|
|||
|
|
the prayers of all the saints, and in no church except the
|
|||
|
|
Universalist will you hear a prayer like this.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"When thou art in doubt as to whether an action is good or
|
|||
|
|
bad, abstain from it."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Since the days of Zoroaster has there been any rule for human
|
|||
|
|
conduct given superior to this?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Are the principles taught by us superior to those of
|
|||
|
|
Confucius? He was asked if there was any single word comprising the
|
|||
|
|
duties of man. He replied: "Reciprocity." Upon being asked what he
|
|||
|
|
thought of the doctrine of returning benefits for injuries, he
|
|||
|
|
replied: "That is not my doctrine. If you return benefits for
|
|||
|
|
injuries what do you propose for benefits? My doctrine is: For
|
|||
|
|
benefits return benefits; for injuries return justice without any
|
|||
|
|
admixture of revenge."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
To return good for evil is to pay a premium upon wickedness.
|
|||
|
|
I cannot put a man under obligation to do me a favor by doing him
|
|||
|
|
an injury.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Now, to-day, right now, what is the church doing? What is it
|
|||
|
|
doing, I ask you honestly? Does it satisfy the craving hearts of
|
|||
|
|
the nineteenth century? Are we satisfied? I am not saying this
|
|||
|
|
except from the honesty of my heart. Are we satisfied? Is it a
|
|||
|
|
consolation to us now? Is it even a consolation when those we love
|
|||
|
|
die? The dead are so near and the promises are so far away. It is
|
|||
|
|
covered with the rubbish of the past. I ask you, is it all that is
|
|||
|
|
demanded by the brain and heart of the nineteenth century?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We want something better; we want something grander; we want
|
|||
|
|
something that has more brain in it, and more heart in it. We want
|
|||
|
|
to advance -- that is what we want; and you cannot advance without
|
|||
|
|
being a heretic -- you cannot do it.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
39
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Nearly all these religions have been upheld by Persecution and
|
|||
|
|
bloodshed. They have been rendered stable by putting fetters upon
|
|||
|
|
the human brain. They have all, however, been perfectly natural
|
|||
|
|
productions, and under similar circumstances would all be
|
|||
|
|
reproduced. Only by intellectual development are the old
|
|||
|
|
superstitions outgrown. As only the few intellectually advance, the
|
|||
|
|
majority is left on the side of superstition. and remains there
|
|||
|
|
until the advanced ideas of the few thinkers become general; and by
|
|||
|
|
that time there are other thinkers still in advance.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
And so the work of development and growth slowly and painfully
|
|||
|
|
proceeds from age to age. The pioneers are denounced as heretics,
|
|||
|
|
and the heretics denounce their denouncers as the disciples of
|
|||
|
|
superstition and ignorance. Christ was a heretic. Herod was
|
|||
|
|
orthodox. Socrates was a blasphemer. Anytus worshiped all the gods.
|
|||
|
|
Luther was a skeptic. while the sellers of indulgences were the
|
|||
|
|
best of Catholics. Roger Williams was a heretic, while the Puritans
|
|||
|
|
who drove him from Massachusetts were all orthodox. Every step in
|
|||
|
|
advance in the religious history of the world has been taken by
|
|||
|
|
heretics. No superstition has been destroyed except by a heretic.
|
|||
|
|
Heretic is the name that the orthodox laggard hurl at the
|
|||
|
|
disappearing pioneer. It is shouted by the dwellers in swamps to
|
|||
|
|
the people upon the hills. It is the opinion that midnight
|
|||
|
|
entertains of the dawn. It is what the rotting says of the growing.
|
|||
|
|
Heretic is the name that a stench gives to a perfume.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
With this word the coffin salutes the cradle. It is taken from
|
|||
|
|
the lips of the dead. Orthodoxy is a shroud -- heresy is a banner.
|
|||
|
|
Orthodoxy is an epitaph -- heresy is a prophecy. Orthodoxy is a
|
|||
|
|
cloud, a fog, a mist -- heresy the star shining forever above the
|
|||
|
|
child of truth.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I am a believer in the eternity of progress. I do not believe
|
|||
|
|
that Want will forever extend its withered hand, its wan and
|
|||
|
|
shriveled palms, for charity. I do not believe that the children
|
|||
|
|
will forever be governed by cruelty and brute force. I do not
|
|||
|
|
believe that poverty will dwell with man forever. I do not believe
|
|||
|
|
that prisons will forever cover the earth, or that the shadow of
|
|||
|
|
the gallows will forever fall upon the ground. I do not believe
|
|||
|
|
that injustice will sit forever upon the bench, or that malice and
|
|||
|
|
superstition will forever stand in the pulpit.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I believe the time will come when there will be charity in
|
|||
|
|
every heart, when there will be love in every family, and when law
|
|||
|
|
and liberty and justice, like the atmosphere, will surround this
|
|||
|
|
world.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We have worshiped the ghosts long enough. We have prostrated
|
|||
|
|
ourselves before the ignorance of the past.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Let us stand erect and look with hopeful eyes toward the
|
|||
|
|
brightening future. Let us stand by our convictions. Let us not
|
|||
|
|
throw away our idea of justice for the sake of any book or of any
|
|||
|
|
religion whatever. Let us live according to our highest and noblest
|
|||
|
|
and purest ideal.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
By this time we should know that the real Bible has not been
|
|||
|
|
written.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bank of Wisdom
|
|||
|
|
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
|||
|
|
40
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MY REVIEWERS REVIEWED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The real Bible is not the work of inspired men, or prophets,
|
|||
|
|
or apostles, or evangelists. or of Christs.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Every man who finds a fact, adds, as it were, a word to this
|
|||
|
|
great book. It is not attested by prophecy, by miracles, or signs.
|
|||
|
|
It makes no appeal to faith, to ignorance, to credulity or fear. It
|
|||
|
|
has no punishment for unbelief, and no reward for hypocrisy. It
|
|||
|
|
appeals to man in the name of demonstration. It has nothing to
|
|||
|
|
conceal. It has no fear of being read, of being contradicted, of
|
|||
|
|
being investigated and understood. It does not pretend to be holy,
|
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or sacred: it simply claims to be true. It challenges the scrutiny
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of all, and implores every reader to verity every line for himself.
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It is incapable of being blasphemed. This book appeals to all the
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surroundings of man. Each thing that exist, testifies to its
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perfection. The earth, with its heart of fire and crowns of snow;
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with its forests and plains, its rocks and seas; with its every
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wave and cloud; with its every leaf and bud and flower, confirms
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its every word, and the solemn stars, shining in the infinite
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abysses, are the eternal witnesses of its truth.
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Ladies and gentlemen you cannot tell how I thank you this
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evening; you cannot tell how I feel toward the intellectual
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|
hospitality of this great city by the Pacific sea. Ladies and
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gentlemen, I thank you -- I thank you again and again, a thousand
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times.
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**** ****
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Reproducible Electronic Publishing can defeat censorship.
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The Bank of Wisdom is a collection of the most thoughtful,
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scholarly and factual books. These computer books are reprints of
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suppressed books and will cover American and world history; the
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Biographies and writings of famous persons, and especially of our
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nations Founding Fathers. They will include philosophy and
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religion. all these subjects, and more, will be made available to
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the public in electronic form, easily copied and distributed, so
|
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that America can again become what its Founders intended --
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The Free Market-Place of Ideas.
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The Bank of Wisdom is always looking for more of these old,
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|
hidden, suppressed and forgotten books that contain needed facts
|
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|
and information for today. If you have such books please contact
|
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us, we need to give them back to America.
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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41
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