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diff --git a/38093.txt b/38093.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5f4c596 --- /dev/null +++ b/38093.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1297 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Christian Religion, by Robert G. Ingersoll + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Christian Religion + An Enquiry + +Author: Robert G. Ingersoll + +Release Date: November 22, 2011 [EBook #38093] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + +THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. + +AN + +ENQUIRY + +By R. G. Ingersoll + +INTRODUCTION. + +ENGLAND is now for the first time offering to the toiling portion of +its people a fair modicum of the education which was in old time the +exclusive privilege of the rich. In doing so it has acted with a keen +eye to self-preservation, for the history of every fallen nation shows +that the unaided ignorance of the masses has been a principal and fatal +element in its downfall. + +This truth would seem to be not yet fully realized by all of higher +education in the country; for the teaching that many of them counsel +for the poor is clogged with ignorance and clouded with error from which +their own higher culture has long been free. It is distressing to see +men who no longer regard the Bible as anything more than a curious +and interesting record, a compound of reflections of ancient myths and +poetry, commingled with a considerable amount of fabulous history and +absurd theology--to see any such man still arguing that for the poor +and for the young it is a necessary subject of study, and (for them) a +useful article of belief! + +Do those who argue thus deem the light of reason too clear, too pure, +too delightful, for mankind at large; or is it that they trust that +the useful ignorance of the workers will continue to supply them with +unmerited or unworthy luxuries? + +In neither case can the position endure. The refinement of Rome might +loftily echo + + Odi profanum vulgus et arceo: + +but Rome has herself fallen; and not on the portals of future science or +of humanity shall any such motto be written. Freedom of Knowledge is +the corollary to Freedom of Thought: in the society of the future +no hierarchy or oligarchy of intellect will close its doors upon the +masses; none will find delight in either sensuous or intellectual +pleasure obtained at the cost of the baser condition of others. + +The following Reprint will be found a clear exposition of the +incongruities of creed and record and dogma taught to the poor as a +system of ethics for the whole of their life; and held as a convenient +thing up to a certain age for the young, and especially the female +young, of the moneyed classes. + +It is time that such warfare as this should be aggressive; that such +books as the present should be part of the food of our children. Our +truest feelings and our tenderest years have been enslaved to blind +faith, unreasoning credulity and degrading fear; our infant lips have +been trained to link in loving accents the gentle and holy names of +Mother and of Father with that of a God of jealousy, of vengeance, and +brutality; our growing mind has been warned to look to a Hebrew ascetic +as the noblest type of the divine, and to a Hebrew profligate and +murderer as the highest type of the human. As the opening thought of +youth has striven to turn to the light of reason, it has been constantly +threatened back and thrust back into the dark of superstition. It has +been told that eternal misery is the doom of those who leave the +paths of dogma; and it has been falsely and persistently taught that +Free-thinkers are evil and unclean, men without care for right, scoffers +at every good thing. + +But it is not scoffers who wage this war of the rational against the +supernatural: let none deceive themselves with that vain thought, or +perpetuate the incorrect assertion. Of such books as the present, such +writings as the present, some at least are the words of men and women +who have been born to, and striven toward a godly life, with intense +effort, with groanings not to be uttered: who, nursed in the bosom of +the Church, and partakers in all her most sacred ordinances, crushed +down as unholy the first and the repeated breathings of doubt and +of reasoning their minds; who held to the falseness of their early +teachings,--till there came that final struggle, when they wrestled with +God,--to hold him,--not to lose him; gasping with fevered lips and shut +teeth and scalding eyelids, "I will not let thee go ": and who won a +blessing they knew not of in that they proved the Jehovah of Hebraism, +the God of Christianity, to be an Apollyon of Superstition: who cast him +off in disgust, in loathing, in half despair; who lay faint and bleeding +through a night of darkness: but to whom, with the dawn, has come the +free and bracing air of reason, and then the deep warm glow of true +life, and humanity, and universal love,--love given this time not to a +fetish, but to every fellow being, to man and beast, to tree and moss, +to stone and star. + +With a great price obtained we this freedom, and we will that our Sons +and that our Daughters be free born. To such a liberator as Robert G. +Ingersoll the thanks of present parents are lovingly offered; his +name will be cherished by our children, and his memory hallowed in the +gratitude of generations yet unborn. + +B. E. + +Rudyard: + +9th Month, 1881. + + + + +BOUQUET GARNI. + + It is the curse of England that its intellect can see truths + which its heart will not embody. + --Laurence Oliphant + + The root of all tyranny and oppression, of all social and + human ills, is found in witholding from the masses of each + community mental culture, or knowledge that may be conferred + on all. + --Rd. Carlile. + + Atheism leaves to man reason, philosophy, natural piety, + laws, reputation, and every thing that can serve to conduct + him to virtue; but superstition destroys all these, and + erects itself into tyranny over the understandings of men. + --Bacon. + + A healthy poetic nature wants, as you yourself say, no Moral + Law, no Rights of Man, no Political Metaphysics. You might + have added as well, it wants no Deity, no Immortality, to + stay and uphold itself withal. + --Letter from Schiller to Goethe. + + Never to blend our pleasure or our pride With sorrow of the + meanest thing that feels. + --Wordsworth. + + * A Bouquet Garni is a little bundle of herbs, some bitter + some sweet, but all salutary. + + + + +THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION + + + + +I. + +A PROFOUND change has taken place in the world of thought, The pews are +trying to set themselves somewhat above the pulpit. The layman discusses +theology with the minister, and smiles. _Christians_ excuse themselves +for belonging to the Church, by denying a part of the creed. The idea +is abroad that they who know the most of nature believe the least about +theology. The sciences are regarded as infidels, and facts as scoffers. +Thousands of most excellent people avoid churches, and, with few +exceptions, only those attend prayer-meetings who wish to be alone. The +pulpit is losing because the people are growing. + +Of course it is still claimed that we are a _Christian_ people, indebted +to something called _Christianity_ for all the progress we have made. +There is still a vast difference of opinion as to what _Christianity_ +really is, although many warring sects have been discussing that +question, with fire and sword, through centuries of creed and crime. +Every new sect has been denounced at its birth as illegitimate, as a +something born out of orthodox wedlock and that should have been allowed +to perish on the steps where it was found. Of the relative merits of the +various denominations, it is sufficient to say that each claims to be +right Among the evangelical churches there is a substantial agreement +upon what they consider the fundamental truths of the _Gospel_. These +"fundamental truths," as I understand them, are: + +That there is a personal _God_, the creator of the material universe; +that he made man of the dust, and woman from part of the man; that the +man and woman were tempted by the _Devil_; that they were turned out +of the garden of _Eden_; that, about fifteen hundred years afterward, +_God's_ patience having been exhausted by the wickedness of mankind, he +drowned his children with the exception of eight persons; that afterward +he selected from their descendants _Abraham_, and through him the +_Jewish_ people; that he gave laws to these people, and tried to govern +them in all things; that he made known his will in many Ways; that he +wrought a vast number of miracles; that he inspired men to write the +_Bible_; that, in the fulness of time, it having been found impossible +to reform man, this _God_ came upon earth as a child born of the _Virgin +Mary_; that he lived in _Palestine_; that he preached for about three +years, going from place to place, Occasionally raising the dead, curing +the blind and the halt; that he was crucified--for the crime of +blasphemy, as the _Jews_ supposed, but that, as a matter of fact, he was +offered as a sacrifice for the sins of all who might have faith in him; +that he was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven where he now +is, making intercession for his followers; that he will forgive the sins +of all who believe on him, and that those who do not believe will be +consigned to the dungeons of eternal pain. These--it may be with the +addition of the sacraments of _Baptism_ and the _Last +Supper_--constitute what is generally known as the _Christian_ religion. + +It is most cheerfully admitted that a vast number of people not only +believe these things, but hold them in exceeding reverence, and imagine +them to be of the utmost importance to mankind. They regard the Bible as +the only light that God has given for the guidance of his children; that +it is the one star in nature's sky--the foundation of all morality, of +all law, of all order, and of all individual and national progress. They +regard it as the only means we have for ascertaining the will of God, +the origin of man, and the destiny of the soul. + +It is needless to enquire into the causes that have led so many people, +to believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures. In my opinion, they +were and are mistaken, and the mistake has hindered, in countless ways, +the civilization of man. The Bible has been the fortress and defence of +nearly every crime. No civilized country could re-enact its laws, and in +many respects its moral code is abhorrent to every good and tender man. +It is admitted that many of its precepts are pure, that many of its laws +are wise and just, and that many of its statements are absolutely true. + +Without desiring to hurt the feelings of anybody, I propose to give +a few reasons for thinking that a few passages, at least, in the _Old +Testament_ are the product of a barbarous people, In all civilized +countries it is not only admitted, but it is passionately asserted, that +slavery is and always was a hideous crime; that a war of conquest +is simply murder; that polygamy is the enslavement of woman, the +degradation of man, and the destruction of home; that nothing is more +infamous than the slaughter of decrepit men, of helpless women, and of +prattling babes; that captured maidens should not be given to soldiers; +that wives should not be stoned to death on account of their religious +opinions, and that the death penalty ought not to be inflicted for +a violation of the _Sabbath_. We know that there was a time, in the +history of almost every nation, when slavery, polygamy, and wars of +extermination were regarded as divine institutions; when women were +looked upon as beasts of burden, and when, among some people, it was +considered the duty of the husband to murder the wife for differing +with him on the subject of religion. Nations that entertain these views +to-day are regarded as savage, and, probably, with the exception of the +_South Sea Islanders_, the _Feejees_, some citizens of _Delaware_, and +a few tribes in _Central Africa_, no human beings can be found degraded +enough to agree upon these subjects with the _Jehovah_ of the ancient +_Jews_. The only evidence we have, or can have, that a nation has ceased +to be savage is the fact that it has abandoned these doctrines. To every +one, except the theologian, it is perfectly easy to account for +the mistakes, atrocities, and crimes of the past, by saying that +civilization is a slow and painful growth; that the moral perceptions +are cultivated through ages of tyranny, of want, of crime, and of +heroism; that it requires centuries for man to put out the eyes of +self and hold in lofty and in equal poise the scales of justice; +that conscience is born of suffering; that mercy is the child of the +imagination---of the power to put oneself in the sufferer's place, and +that man advances only as he becomes acquainted with his surroundings, +with the mutual obligations of life, and learns to take advantage of the +forces of nature. + +But the believer in the inspiration of the Bible is compelled to declare +that there was a time when slavery was right--when men could buy, and +women could sell, their babes. He is compelled to insist that there +was a time when polygamy was the highest form of virtue; when wars +of extermination were waged with the sword of mercy; when religious +toleration was a crime, and when death was the just penalty for having +expressed an honest thought. He must maintain that Jehovah is just as +bad now as he was four thousand years ago, or that he was just as +good then as he is now, but that human conditions have so changed that +slavery, polygamy, religious persecutions, and wars of conquest are now +perfectly devilish. Once they were right--once they were commanded by +God himself; now, they are prohibited. There has been such a change in +the conditions of man that, at the present time, the Devil is in favour +of slavery, polygamy, religious persecution, and wars of conquest. That +is to say, the Devil entertains the same opinion to-day that Jehovah +held four thousand years ago, but in the meantime Jehovah has remained +exactly the same--changeless and incapable of change. + +We find that other nations beside the Jews had similar laws and ideas; +that they believed in and practised slavery and polygamy, murdered women +and children, and exterminated their neighbours to the extent of their +power. It is not claimed that they received a revelation. It is admitted +that they had no knowledge of the true God. And yet, by a strange +coincidence, they practised the same crimes, of their own motion, that +the Jews did by the command of Jehovah. From this it would seem that man +can do wrong without a special revelation. It will hardly be claimed, +at this day, that the passages in the Bible upholding slavery, polygamy, +war, and religious persecution are evidences of the inspiration of that +book. Suppose that there had been nothing in the Old Testament upholding +these crimes, would any modern Christian suspect that it was not +inspired, on account of the omission? Suppose that there had been +nothing in the Old Testament but laws in favour of these crimes, would +any intelligent Christian now contend that it was the work of the +true God? If the Devil had inspired a book, will some believer in the +doctrine of inspiration tell us in what respect, on the subjects of +slavery, polygamy, war, and liberty, it would have differed from some +parts of the Old Testament? Suppose that we should now discover a Hindu +book of equal antiquity with the Old Testament, containing a defence +of slavery, polygamy, wars of extermination, and religious persecution, +would we regard it as evidence that the writers were inspired by an +infinitely wise and merciful God? As most other nations at that time +practised these crimes, and as the Jews would have practised them all, +even if left to themselves, one can hardly see the necessity of any +inspired commands upon these subjects. Is there a believer in the Bible +who does not wish that God, amid the thunders and lightnings of Sinai, +had distinctly said to Moses that man should not own his fellow-man; +that women should not sell their babes; that men should be allowed to +think and investigate for themselves, and that the sword should never be +unsheathed to shed the blood of honest men? Is there a believer in +the world, who would not be delighted to find that every one of these +infamous passages are interpolations, and that the skirts of God +were never reddened by the blood of maiden, wife, or babe? Is there a +believer who does not regret that God commanded a husband to stone his +wife to death for suggesting the worship of the sun or moon? Surely, +the light of experience is enough to tell us that slavery is wrong, that +polygamy is infamous, and that murder is not a virtue. No one will now +contend that it was worth God's while to impart the information to Moses +or to Joshua, or to anybody else, that the Jewish people might purchase +slaves of the heathen, or that it was their duty to exterminate the +natives of the Holy Land. The deists have contended that the Old +Testament is too cruel and barbarous to be the work of a wise and loving +God, To this, the theologians have replied, that nature is just as +cruel; that the earthquake, the volcano, the pestilence and storm, +are just as savage as the Jewish God; and to my mind this is a perfect +answer. + +Suppose that we knew that after "inspired" men had finished the Bible, +the Devil got possession of it, and wrote a few passages; what part of +the sacred Scriptures would Chris-tians now pick out as being probably +his work? Which of the following passages would naturally be selected as +having been written by the Devil--"Love thy neighbour as thyself," or, +"Kill all the males among the little ones, and kill every woman; but all +the women children keep alive for yourselves"? + +It may be that the best way to illustrate what I have said of the Old +Testament is to compare some of the supposed teachings of Jehovah with +those of persons who never read an "inspired" line, and who lived and +died without having received the light of revelation. Nothing can be +more suggestive than a comparison of the ideas of Jehovah--the inspired +words of the one claimed to be the infinite God, as recorded in the +Bible--with those that have been expressed by men who, all admit, +received no help from heaven. + +In all ages of which any record has been preserved, there have been +those who gave their ideas of justice, charity, liberty, love, and +law. Now, if the Bible is really the work of God, it should contain the +grandest and sublimest truths. It should, in all respects, excel the +works of man. Within that book should be found the best and loftiest +definitions of justice; the truest conceptions of human liberty; the +clearest outlines of duty; the tenderest, the highest, and the noblest +thoughts,--not that the human mind has produced, but that the human mind +is capable of receiving. Upon every page should be found the luminous +evidence of its divine origin. Unless it contains grander and more +wonderful things than man has written, we are not only justified in +saying, but we are compelled to say, that it was written by no being +superior to man. It may be said that it is unfair to call attention +to certain bad things in the Bible, while the good are not so much as +mentioned. To this it may be replied that a divine being would not put +bad things in a book. Certainly a being of infinite intelligence, +power, and goodness could never fall below the ideal of "depraved and +barbarous" man. It will not do, after we find that the Bible upholds +what we now call crimes, to say that it is not verbally inspired. If the +words are not inspired, what is? It may be said that the thoughts are +inspired. But this would include only the thoughts expressed without +words If ideas are inspired they must be contained in and expressed only +by inspired words; that is, to say, the arrangement of the words, with +relation, to each other, must have been inspired For the purpose of +this perfect; arrangement, the writers, according to the Christian +world, were inspired. Were some sculptor inspired, of God to make a +statue perfect in its every part, we would not say that the marble was +inspired, but the statue--the relation of part to part, the married; +harmony of form and function. The language, the words, take the place +of the marble, and it is the arrangement of these words that Christians +claim to be inspired. If there is one uninspired word,--that is, one +word in the wrong place, or a word that ought not to be there,--to that +extent the Bible is an uninspired book. The moment it is admitted that +some words are not, in their arrangement as to other words, inspired, +then, unless with absolute certainty these words can be pointed out, a +doubt is cast on all the words the book contains. If it was worth God's +while to make a revelation to man at all, it was certainly worth his +while to see to it that it was correctly made. He would not have allowed +the ideas and mistakes of pretended prophets and designing priests to +become so mingled with the original text that it is impossible to tell +where he ceased and where the priests and prophets began. Neither +will it do to say that God adapted his revelation to the prejudices of +mankind. Of course it was necessary for an infinite being to adapt +his revelation to the intellectual capacity of man; but why should God +confirm a barbarian in his prejudices? Why should he fortify a heathen +in his crimes? If a revelation is of any importance whatever, it is +to eradicate prejudices from the human mind. It should be a lever +with which to raise the human race. Theologians have exhausted their +ingenuity in finding excuses for God. It seems to me that they would be +better employed in finding excuses for men. They tell us that the Jews +were so cruel and ignorant that God was compelled to justify, or nearly +to justify, many of their crimes, in order to have any influence with +them whatever. They tell us that if he had declared slavery and +polygamy to be criminal, the Jews would have refused to receive the ten +commandments. They insist that, under the circumstances, God did the +best he could; that his real intention was to lead them along slowly, +step by step, so that, in a few hundred years, they would be induced to +admit that it was hardly fair to steal a babe from its mother's breast. +It has always seemed reasonable that an infinite God ought to have +been able to make man grand enough to know, even without a Special +revelation, that it is not altogether right to steal the labour, or the +wife, or the child, of another. When the whole question is thoroughly +examined, the world will find that Jehovah had the prejudices, the +hatreds and the superstitions of his day. + +If there is anything of value, it is liberty. Liberty is the air of the +soul, the sunshine of life, Without it the world is a prison and the +universe an infinite dungeon. + +If the Bible is really inspired Jehovah commanded the Jewish people to +buy the children of the strangers that sojourned among them, and ordered +that the children thus bought should be an inheritance for the children +of the Jews, and that they should be bondmen and bondwomen forever. Yet +Epictetus, a man to whom no revelation was ever made, a man whose soul +followed only the light of nature, and who had never heard of the Jewish +God, was great enough to say: "Will you not remember that your servants +are by nature your brothers, the children of God? In saying that you +have bought them, you look down on the earth, and into the pit, on the +wretched law of men long since dead, but you see not the laws of the +gods." + +We find that Jehovah, speaking to his chosen people, assured them that +their bondmen and their bondmaids must be "of the heathen that were +round about them." "Of them," said Jehovah, "shall ye buy bondman +and bondmaid." And yet Cicero, a pagan, Cicero, who had never been +enlightened by reading the Old Testament, had the moral grandeur to +declare: "They who say that we should love our fellow-citizens, but not +foreigners, destroy the universal brotherhood of mankind, with which +benevolence and justice would perish forever." + +If the Bible is inspired, Jehovah God of all worlds, actually said: "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." And yet Zeno, +founder of the Stoics, centuries before Christ was born, insisted +that no man could be the owner of another, and that the title was bad, +whether the slave had become so by conquest, or by purchase. Jehovah +ordered a Jewish general to make war, and gave, among others, this +command: "When the Lord thy God shall drive them before thee, thou shalt +smite them and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with +them, nor show mercy unto them." And yet Epictetus whom we have already +quoted, gave this marvellous rule for the guidance of human conduct: +"Live with thy inferiors as thou wouldst have thy superiors live with +thee." + +Is it possible, after all, that a being of infinite goodness and wisdom +said: "I will heap mischief upon them; I will send my arrows upon them; +they shall be burned with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and +with bitter destruction. I will send the tooth of beasts among them, +with the poison of serpents of the dust. The sword without, and terror +within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling, +also, with the man of grey hairs;" while Seneca, an uninspired Roman, +said: "The wise man will not pardon any crime that ought to be +punished, but he will accomplish, in a nobler way, all that is sought +in pardoning. He will spare some and watch over some, because of their +youth, and others on account of their ignorance. His clemency will not +fall short of justice, but will fulfil it perfectly." + +Can we believe that God ever said of any one: "Let his children be +fatherless and his wife a widow; let his children be continually +vagabonds, and beg; let them seek their bread also out of their desolate +places; let the extortioner catch all that he hath and let the stranger +spoil his labour; let there be none to extend mercy unto him, neither +let there be any to favour his fatherless children." If he ever said +these words, surely he had never heard this line, this strain of music, +from the Hindu: "Sweet is the lute to those who have not heard the +prattle of their own children." + +Jehovah, "from the clouds and darkness of Sinai" said to the Jews: "Thou +shalt have no other gods before me.... Thou shalt not bow down thyself +to them nor serve them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, +visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto the third +and fourth generation of them that hate me." Contrast these with the +words put by the Hindu in the mouth of Brahma: "I am the same to all +mankind. They who honestly serve other gods, involuntarily worship me. +I am he who partaketh of all worship, and I am the reward of all +worshippers." + +Compare these passages. The first, a dungeon where crawl the things +begot of jealous slime; the other, great as the domed firmament inlaid +with suns. + + + + +II. + +WAIVING the contradictory statements in the various books of the New +Testament; leaving out of the question the history of the manuscripts; +saying nothing about the errors in translation and the interpolations +made by the fathers; and admitting, for the time being, that the books +were all written at the times claimed, and by the persons whose names +they bear, the questions of inspiration, probability, and absurdity +still remain. + +As a rule, where several persons testify to the same transaction, while +agreeing in the main points, they will disagree upon many minor things, +and such disagreement upon minor matters is generally considered as +evidence that the witnesses have not agreed among themselves upon the +story they should tell. These differences in statement we account for +from the facts that all did not see alike, that all did not have the +same opportunity for seeing, and that all had not equally good memories. +But when we claim that the witnesses were inspired, we must admit that +he who inspired them did know exactly what occurred, and consequently +there should be no contradiction, even in the minutest detail. The +accounts should be not only substantially, but they should be actually, +the same. It is impossible to account for any differences, or any +contradictions, except from the weaknesses of human nature, and these +weaknesses cannot be predicated of divine wisdom. Why should there +be more than one correct account of anything? Why were four gospels +necessary? One inspired record of all that happened ought to be enough. + +One great objection to the Old Testament is the cruelty said to have +been commanded by God, but all the cruelties recounted in the Old +Testament ceased with death. The vengeance of Jehovah stopped at the +portal of the tomb. He never threatened to avenge himself upon the dead; +and not one word, from the first mistake in Genesis to the last curse +of Malachi, contains the slightest intimation that God will punish in +another world. It was reserved for the New Testament to make known the +frightful doctrine of eternal pain. It was the teacher of universal +benevolence who rent the veil between time and eternity, and fixed the +horrified gaze of man on the lurid gulfs of hell. Within the breast of +non-resistance was coiled the worm that never dies. + +One great objection to the New Testament is that it bases salvation upon +belief. This, at least, is true of the Gospel according to John, and of +many of the epistles. I admit that Matthew never heard of the Atonement, +and died utterly ignorant of the scheme of salvation. I also admit that +Mark never dreamed that it was necessary for a man to be born again; +that he knew nothing of the mysterious doctrine of Regeneration, and +that he never even suspected that it was necessary to believe anything. +In the sixteenth chapter of Mark, we are told that "He that believeth +and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be +damned"; but this passage has been shown to be an interpolation, and, +consequently, not a solitary word is found in the Gospel according to +Mark upon the subject of salvation by faith. The same is also true +of the Gospel of Luke. It says not one word as to the necessity of +believing on Jesus Christy not one word as to the Atonement, not one +word upon the scheme of salvation, and not the slightest hint that it is +necessary to believe anything here in order to be happy hereafter. + +And I here take occasion to say, that with most of the teachings of the +Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke I most heartily agree. The miraculous +parts must, of course, be thrown aside. I admit that the necessity of +Belief, the Atonement, and the scheme of salvation are all set forth +in the Gospel of John,--a Gospel, in my opinion, not written until long +after the others. + +According to the prevailing Christian belief, the Christian religion +rests upon the doctrine of the Atonement. If this doctrine is without +foundation, if it is repugnant to justice and mercy, the fabric falls. +We are told that the first man committed a crime for which all his +posterity are responsible,--in other words, that we are accountable, +and can be justly punished for a sin we never in fact committed. This +absurdity was the father of another, namely, that a man can be rewarded +for a good action done by another. God, according to the modern +theologians, made a law, with the penalty of eternal death for its +infraction. All men, they say, have broken that law. In the economy of +heaven, this law had to be vindicated. This could be done by damning the +whole human race. Through what is known as the Atonement, the salvation +of a few was made possible. They insist that the law--whatever that +is--demanded the extreme penalty, that justice called for its victims, +and that even mercy ceased to plead. Under these circumstances God, by +allowing the innocent to suffer, satisfactorily settled with the law, +and allowed a few of the guilty to escape. The law was satisfied with +this arrangement. To carry out this scheme, God was born as a babe into +this world. "He grew in stature and increased in knowledge." At the +age of thirty-three, after having lived a life filled with kindness, +charity, and nobility, after having practised every virtue, he was +sacrificed as an atonement for man. It is claimed that he actually took +our place, and bore our sins and our guilt; that in this way the justice +of God was satisfied, and that the blood of Christ was an atonement, an +expiation, for the sins of all who might believe on him. + +Under the Mosaic dispensation, there was no remission of sin except +through the shedding of blood. If a man committed certain sins, he +must bring to the priest a lamb, a bullock, a goat, or a pair of +turtle-doves. The priest would lay his hands upon the animal, and the +sin of the man would be transferred. Then the animal would be killed in +the place of the real sinner, and the blood thus shed and sprinkled upon +the altar would be an atonement. In this way Jehovah was satisfied. +The greater the crime, the greater the sacrifice--the more blood, the +greater the atonement. There was always a certain ratio between the +value of the animal and the enormity of the sin. The most minute +directions were given about the killing of these animals, and about +the sprinkling of their blood. Every priest became a butcher, and every +sanctuary a slaughter-house. Nothing could be more utterly shocking to +a refined and loving soul. Nothing could have been better calculated to +harden the heart than this continual shedding of innocent blood. This +terrible system is supposed to have culminated in the sacrifice of +Christ. His blood took the place of all other. It is necessary to shed +no more. The law at last is satisfied, satiated, surfeited. The idea +that God wants blood is at the bottom of the Atonement, and rests +upon the most fearful savagery. How can sin be transferred from men to +animals, and how can the shedding of the blood of animals atone for the +sins of men? + +The Church says that the sinner is in debt to God, and that the +obligation is discharged by the Saviour. The best that can possibly be +said of such a transaction is, that the debt is transferred, not paid. +The truth is, that a sinner is in debt to the person he has injured. +If a man injures his neighbour, it is not enough for him to get the +forgiveness of God, but he must have the forgiveness of his neighbour. +If a man puts his hand in the fire and God forgives him, his hand will +smart exactly the same. You must, after all, reap what you sow. No god +can give you wheat when you sow tares, and no devil can give you tares +when you sow wheat. + +There are in nature neither rewards nor punishments--there are +consequences. The life of Christ is worth its example, its moral force, +its heroism of benevolence. + +To make innocence suffer is the greatest sin; how then is it possible to +make the suffering of the innocent a justification for the criminal? Why +should a man be willing to let the innocent suffer for him? Does not +the willingness show that he is utterly unworthy of the sacrifice? +Certainly, no man would be fit for heaven who would consent that an +innocent person should suffer for his sin. What would we think of a +man who would allow another to die for a crime that he himself had +committed? What would we think of a law that allowed the innocent to +take the place of the guilty? Is it possible to vindicate a just law +by inflicting punishment on the innocent? Would not that be a second +violation instead of a vindication? + +If there was no general Atonement until the crucifixion of Christ, what +became of the countless millions who died before that time? And it must +be remembered that the blood shed by the Jews was not for other nations. +Jehovah hated foreigners. The Gentiles were left without forgiveness. +What has become of the millions who have died since, without having +heard of the Atonement? What becomes of those who have heard but have +not believed? It seems to me that the doctrine of the Atonement is +absurd, unjust, and immoral. Can a law be satisfied by the execution +of the wrong person? When a man commits a crime, the laws demands his +punishment, not that of a substitute; and there can be no law, human +or divine, that can be satisfied by the punishment of a substitute. Can +there be a Jaw that demands that the guilty be rewarded? And yet, to +reward the guilty is far nearer justice than to punish the innocent. + +According to the orthodox theology, there would have been no heaven had +no Atonement been made. All the children of men would have been cast +into hell forever. The old men bowed with grief, the smiling mothers, +the sweet babes, the loving maidens, the brave, the tender, and the +just, would have been given over to eternal pain. Man, it is claimed, +can make no Atonement for himself. If he commits one sin, and with +that exception lives a life of perfect virtue, still that one sin would +remain unexpiated, unatoned, and for that one sin he would be forever +lost To be saved by the goodness of another, to be a redeemed debtor +forever, has in it something repugnant to manhood. + +We must also remember that Jehovah took special charge of the Jewish +people; and we have always been taught that he did so for the purpose +of civilizing them. If he had succeeded in civilizing the Jews, he would +have made the damnation of the entire human race a certainty; because, +if the Jews had been a civilized people when Christ appeared,--a +people whose hearts had not been hardened by the laws and teachings of +Jehovah,--they would not have crucified him, and, as a consequence, +the world would have been lost. If the Jews had believed in religious +freedom,--in the right of thought and speech,--not a human soul could +ever have been saved. If, when Christ was on his way to Calvary\ some +brave, heroic soul had rescued him from the holy mob, he would not +only have been eternally damned for his pains, but would have rendered +impossible the salvation of any human being; and, except for the +crucifixion of her son, the Virgin Mary, if the church is right, would +be to-day among the lost. + +In countless ways the Christian world has endeavoured, for nearly two +thousand years, to explain the Atonement, and every effort has ended +in an admission that it cannot be understood, and a declaration that it +must be believed. Is it not immoral to teach that man can sin, that he +can harden his heart and pollute his soul, and that, by repenting +and believing something that he does not comprehend, he can avoid the +consequences of his crimes? Has the promise and hope of forgiveness ever +prevented the commission of a sin? Should men be taught that sin gives +happiness here; that they ought to bear the evils of a virtuous life in +this world for the sake of joy in the next; that they can repent between +the last sin and the last breath; that after repentance every stain +of the soul is washed away by the innocent blood of another; that the +serpent of regret: will not hiss in the ear of memory; that the saved +will not even pity the victims of their own crimes; that the goodness +of another can be transferred to them; and that sins forgiven cease to +affect the unhappy wretches sinned against? + +Another objection is that a certain belief is necessary to save the soul +It is often asserted that to believe is the only safe way. If you wish +to be safe, be honest. Nothing can be safer than that. No matter what +his belief may be, no man, even in the hour of death, can regret having +been honest. It never can be necessary to throw away your reason to save +your soul. A soul without reason is scarcely worth saving. There is no +more degrading doctrine than that of mental non-resistance. The soul has +a right to defend its castle--the brain, and he who waives that right +becomes a serf and slave. Neither can I admit that a man, by doing me +an injury, can place me under obligation to do him a service. To render +benefits for injuries is to ignore all distinctions between actions. He +who treats his friends and enemies alike has neither love nor justice. +The idea of non-resistance never occurred to a man with power to protect +himself. This doctrine was the child of weakness, born when resistance +was impossible. To allow a crime to be committed when you can prevent +it, is next to committing the crime yourself. And yet, under the banner +of non-resistance, the Church has shed the blood of millions, and in the +folds of her sacred Vestments have gleamed the daggers of assassination. +With her cunning hands she wove the purple for hypocrisy, and placed +the crown upon the brow of crime. For a thousand years larceny held the +scales of justice, while beggars scorned the princely sons of toil, and +ignorant fear denounced the liberty of thought. + +If Christ was in fact God, he knew all the future. Before him, like a +panorama, moved the history yet to be. He knew exactly how his words +would be interpreted. He knew what crimes, what horrors, what infamies +would be committed in his name. He knew that the fires of persecution +would climb around the limbs of countless martyrs. He knew that brave +men would languish in dungeons, in darkness, filled with pain; that the +Church would use instruments of torture, that his followers would appeal +to whip and chain. He must have seen the horizon of the future red with +the flames of the Auto-da-Fe. He knew all the creeds that would spring +like poison fungi from every text. He saw the sects waging war against +each other. He saw thousands of men, under the orders of priests, +building dungeons for their fellow-men. He saw them using instruments +of pain. He heard the groans, saw the faces white with agony, the tears, +the blood--heard the shrieks and sobs of all the moaning, martyred +multitudes. He knew that commentaries would be written on his words +with swords, to be read by the light of fagots. He knew that the +_Inquisition_ would be born of teachings attributed to him. He saw all +the interpolations and falsehoods that hypocrisy would write and +tell. He knew that above these fields of death, these dungeons, these +burnings, for a thousand years would float the dripping banner of the +cross. He knew that in his name his followers would trade in human +flesh, that cradles would be robbed, and women's breasts unbabed for +gold, and yet he died with voiceless lips. Why did he fail to speak? +Why did he not tell his disciples, and through them the world, that man +should not persecute, for opinion's sake, his fellow-man? Why did he not +cry, You shall not persecute in my name; you shall not burn and torment +those who differ from you in creed? Why did he not plainly say, I am the +Son of God? Why did he not explain the doctrine of the Trinity? Why did +he not tell the manner of baptism that was pleasing to him? Why did he +not say something positive, definite, and satisfactory about another +world? Why did he not turn the tear-stained hope of heaven to the glad +knowledge of another life? Why did he go dumbly to his death, leaving +the world to misery and to doubt? + +He came, they tell us, to make a revelation, and what did he reveal? +"Love thy neighbour as thyself"? That was in the Old Testament, "Love +God with all thy heart"? That was in the Old Testament, "Return good +for evil "? That was said by _Buddha_ seven hundred years before he was +born, "Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you"? This +was the doctrine of _Laotse_. Did he come to give a rule of action? +_Zoroaster_ had done this, long before: "Whenever thou art in doubt as +to whether an action is good or bad, abstain from it." Did he come to +teach us of another world? The immortality of the soul had been taught +by _Hindus, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans_ hundreds of years before he +was born. Long before, the world had been told by _Socrates_ that: "One +who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it +be right to do an injustice; and it is not right to return an injury, or +to do evil to any man, however much we may have suffered from him." And +_Cicero_ had said: "Let us not listen to those who think that we ought +to be angry with our enemies and who believe this to be great and manly: +nothing is more praiseworthy, nothing so clearly shows a great and noble +soul, as clemency and readiness to forgive." + +Is there anything nearer perfect than this from _Confucius_: "For +benefits return benefits; for injuries return justice without any +admixture of revenge"? + +The dogma of eternal punishment rests upon passages in the _New +Testament_, This infamous belief subverts every idea of justice. Around +the angel of immortality the Church has coiled this serpent. A finite +being can neither commit an infinite sin, nor a sin against the +infinite. A being of infinite goodness and wisdom has no right, +according to the human standard of justice, to create any being destined +to suffer eternal pain. A being of infinite wisdom would not create +a failure, and surely a man destined to everlasting agony is not a +success. + +How long, according to the universal benevolence of the New Testament, +can a man be reasonably punished in the next world for failing to +believe something unreasonable in this? Can it be possible that any +punishment can endure forever? Suppose that every flake of snow that +ever fell was a figure nine, and that the first flake was multiplied by +the second, and that product by the third, and so on to the last flake. +And then suppose that this total should be multiplied by every drop of +rain that ever fell, calling each drop a figure nine; and that total by +each blade of grass that ever helped to weave a carpet for the earth, +calling each blade a figure nine, and that again by every grain of sand +on every shore, so that the grand total would make a line of nines so +long that it would require millions upon millions of years for light, +travelling at the rate of one hundred and eighty-five thousand miles per +second, to reach the end. And suppose, further, that each unit in this +almost infinite total stood for billions of ages--still that vast and +almost endless time, measured by all the years beyond, is as one flake, +one drop, one leaf, one blade, one grain, compared with all the flakes, +and drops, and leaves, and blades, and grains. + +Upon love's breast the Church has placed the eternal asp. And yet, in +the same book in which is taught this most infamous of doctrines, we are +assured that "The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over +all his works." + +SO FAR as we know, man is the author of all books. If a book had been +found on the earth by the first man, he might have regarded it as the +work of God; but as men were here a good while before any books were +found, and as man has produced a great many books, the probability is +that the Bible is no exception. + +Most nations, at the time the Old Testament was written, believed in +slavery, polygamy, wars of extermination, and religious persecution; +and it is not wonderful that the book contained nothing contrary to such +belief. The fact that it was in exact accord with the morality of its +time proves that it was not the product of any being superior to man. +"The inspired writers" upheld or established slavery, countenanced +polygamy, commanded wars of extermination, and ordered the slaughter +of women and babes. In these respects they were precisely like the +uninspired savages by whom they were surrounded. They also taught and +commanded religious persecution as a duty, and visited the most trivial +offences with the punishment of death. In these particulars they were in +exact accord with their barbarian neighbours. They were utterly ignorant +of geology and astronomy, and knew no more of what had happened than of +what would happen; and, so far as accuracy is concerned, their history +and prophecy were about equal; in other words, they were just as +ignorant as those who lived and died in Nature's night. + +Does any Christian believe that if God were to write a book now, he +would uphold the crimes commanded in the Old Testament? Has, Jehovah +improved? Has infinite mercy become more merciful? Has infinite wisdom +intellectually advanced? Will any one claim that the passages upholding +slavery have liberated mankind; that we are indebted for our modern +homes to the texts that made polygamy a virtue; or that religious +liberty found its soil, its light, and rain, in the infamous verse +wherein the husband is commanded to stone to death the wife for +worshipping an unknown God? + +The usual answer to these objection is that no country has ever been +civilized without the Bible. + +The Jews were the only people to whom Jehovah made his will directly +known,--the only people who had the Old Testament. Other nations were +utterly neglected by their Creator. Yet, such was the effect of the Old +Testament on the Jews, that they crucified a kind, loving, and perfectly +innocent man. They could not have done much worse without a Bible. In +the crucifixion of Christ, they followed the teachings of his Father. +If, as it is now alleged by the theologians, no nation can be civilized +without a Bible, certainly God must have known the fact six thousand +years ago, as well as the theologians know it now. Why did he not +furnish every nation with a Bible? + +As to the Old Testament, I insist that all the bad passages were written +by men; that those passages were not inspired. I insist that a being of +infinite goodness never commanded man to enslave his fellow-man, never +told a mother to sell her babe, never established polygamy, never +ordered one nation to exterminate another, and never told a husband to +kill his wife because she suggested the worshipping of some other God. + +I also insist that the Old Testament would be a much better book with +all of these passages left out; and, whatever may be said of the rest, +the passages to which attention has been drawn can with vastly more +propriety be attributed to a Devil than to a God. + +Take from the New Testament all passages upholding the idea that belief +is necessary to salvation; that Christ was offered as an atonement for +the sins of the world; that the punishment of the human soul will go +on forever; that heaven is the reward of faith, and hell the penalty of +honest investigation; take from it all miraculous stories,--and I admit +that all the good passages are true. If they are true, it makes no +difference whether they are Inspired or not. Inspiration is only +necessary to give authority to that which is repugnant to human reason. + +Only that which never happened needs to be substantiated by miracles. +The universe is natural. + +The Church must cease to insist that the passages upholding the +institutions of savage men were inspired of God, The dogma of the +Atonement must be abandoned. Good deeds must take the place of faith. +The savagery of eternal punishment must be renounced. Credulity is not +a virtue, and investigation is not a crime. Miracles are the children +of mendacity. Nothing can be more wonderful than the majestic, unbroken, +sublime, and eternal procession of causes and effects. + +Reason must be the final arbiter, "Inspired" books attested by miracles +cannot stand against a demonstrated fact. A religion that does not +command the respect of the greatest minds will, in a little while, +excite the mockery of all. Every civilized man believes in the liberty +of thought. Is it possible that God is intolerant? Is an act infamous in +man one of the virtues of the Deity? Could there be progress in heaven +without intellectual liberty? Is the freedom of the future to exist only +in perdition? Is it not, after all, barely possible that a man acting +like Christ can be saved? Is a man to be eternally rewarded for +believing according to evidence, with out evidence, or against evidence? +Are we to be saved because we are good, or because another was virtuous? +Is credulity to be winged and crowned, while honest doubt is chained ana +damned? + +Do not misunderstand me. My position is that the cruel passages in +the Old Testament are not inspired; that slavery, polygamy, wars of +extermination, and religious persecution, always have been, are, and +forever will be, abhorred and cursed by the honest, the virtuous, and +the loving; that the innocent cannot justly suffer for the guilty, +and that vicarious vice and vicarious virtue are equally absurd; that +eternal punishment is eternal revenge; that only the natural can happen; +that miracles prove the dishonesty of the few and the credulity of the +many; and that, according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, salvation does not +depend upon belief, nor the Atonement, nor a "second birth," but that +these gospel are in exact harmony with the declaration of the great +Persian: "Taking the first footstep with the good thought, the second +with the good word, and the third with the good deed, I entered +paradise." + +The dogmas of the past no longer reach the level of the highest thought, +nor satisfy the hunger of the heart. While dusty faiths, embalmed and +sepulchered in ancient texts, remain the same, the sympathies of men +enlarge; the brain no longer kills its young; the happy lips give +liberty to honest thoughts; the mental firmament expands and lifts; the +broken clouds drift by; the hideous dreams, the foul, misshapen children +of the monstrous night, dissolve and fade. + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Christian Religion, by Robert G. 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