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diff --git a/39371-0.txt b/39371-0.txt index dcc1672..f08a374 100644 --- a/39371-0.txt +++ b/39371-0.txt @@ -1,28 +1,4 @@ - A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION - - -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 http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - -Title: A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion - -Author: Benjamin Offen - -Release Date: April 04, 2012 [EBook #39371] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF -FREE DISCUSSION*** - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 39371 *** Produced by David Widger. @@ -7543,372 +7519,4 @@ THE END. ———— -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE -DISCUSSION*** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39371 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. 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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 http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - -Title: A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion - -Author: Benjamin Offen - -Release Date: April 04, 2012 [EBook #39371] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF -FREE DISCUSSION*** - - - - -Produced by David Widger. - - - - - *A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION* - - _By_ - - *Benjamin Offen* - - _PRINCIPAL HISTORICAL FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE BOOKS KNOWN AS THE_ - _OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT; WITH REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE_ - - - _1846_ - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PREFACE - GENERAL INTRODUCTION - DETAILED CONTENTS - A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION - GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE - THE OLD TESTAMENT - CHAPTER I. FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE - CHAPTER II. A REVIEW OF THE DELUGE AND THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES AT - THE TOWER OF BABEL - CHAPTER III. FROM THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES TO THE BIRTH OF MOSES - CHAPTER IV. FROM THE BIRTH OF MOSES TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA - CHAPTER V. FROM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA TO THE REIGN OF SAUL - CHAPTER VI. THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON - CHAPTER VII. THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM, AND THE SEPARATION OF ISRAEL - FROM JUDAH - CHAPTER VIII. ON DIVINE INSPIRATION - THE NEW TESTAMENT - INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER on THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW - TESTAMENT - CHAPTER I. - CHAPTER. II. - CHAPTER III. - CHAPTER IV. - CHAPTER V. - CHAPTER VI. - CHAPTER VII. - CHAPTER VIII. - CHAPTER IX. - REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE - - - - -PREFACE - - -IN the following pages the author has freely discussed the claims of the -books called the Old and New Testaments, to be considered Divine -revelations. He had a _right_ so to do; and in presenting the work to -the public he gives the result of his exercise of such right. - -The right of free discussion has been questioned. It would be well for -humanity if this were all; but unhappily, the pages of history are -replete with deeds of persecution and cruelty, committed by men, in the -possession of power, on their less fortunate fellow-men, who have -presumed to exercise the right of free investigation. Cupidity has drawn -a line of demarcation; it has established boundaries for thought; and -miserable has been the fate of the unhappy wretch who, rejoicing in the -dignity of his nature, and anxious to discover the abode of Truth, has -dared to pass the Rubicon. - -What is Free Discussion? We answer, it is the exercise of the reasoning -faculties. Without Free Discussion man cannot exist. His physical -existence might indeed remain; but he could no longer be deemed a man; -and would have to take a lower rank in the scale of creation. - -Without investigation it is impossible to arrive at Truth; hence the -utility of Free Discussion. This is never denied when science is the -subject; and we have yet to learn why it should be restrained in any -case; and also _how_ and _when_ any set of men became possessed of the -right to restrain the exercise of the reasoning faculties of their -fellow-men. - -When men have not been impelled by cupidity to shackle the minds of -their fellow beings, a spirit of uncharitableness has induced them to -pursue the same line of conduct. Whoever has maintained an opinion -contrary to theirs, has been considered as being actuated, not by -mistaken, but, by dishonest motives; and has therefore been deemed a fit -subject for punishment. As this work will probably be read by many -professing Christians we will here give an extract from Dr. Blair's -sermon on _Candor_, which will, probably, make a greater impression than -any thing we could offer on that subject. - -"It is one of the misfortunes of our present situation, that some of the -good dispositions of human nature are apt to betray us into frailties -and vices. Thus it often happens, that the laudable attachment which we -contract to the country, or the church, to which we belong, or to some -political denomination under which we class ourselves, both confines our -affections within too narrow a sphere, and gives rise to violent -prejudices against such as come under an opposite description. Not -contented with being in the right ourselves, we must find all others in -the wrong. We claim an exclusive possession of goodness and wisdom: and -from approving warmly of those who join us, we proceed to condemn, with -much acrimony, not only the principles, but the _characters_, of those -from whom we differ. Hence, persons of well disposed minds are too -often, through the strength of partial good affection, involved in the -crime of uncharitable judgment They rashly extend to every individual -the severe opinion which they have unwarrantably conceived of a whole -body. This man is of a party whose principles we reckon slavish; and -therefore his whole sentiments are corrupted. That man belongs to a -religious sect which we are accustomed to deem bigoted; and therefore he -is incapable of any generous or liberal thought Another is connected -with a sect which we have been taught to account relaxed; and therefore -he can have no sanctity.--Are these the judgments of candor and charity? -Is true piety or virtue so very limited in its nature, as to be confined -to such alone as see every thing with our eyes, and follow exactly the -train of our ideas?" - -The author disclaims any intention of wounding the feelings of those who -hold opinions different to his own. For the religions hypocrite he has -no bowels of compassion; but the sincere believer in Divine revelation, -whose conduct is regulated by the universally acknowledged roles of -morality, is to him an object of sincere respect and esteem. - -Many things connected with what is called Divine revelation, have been -very freely commented on by the author; and sometimes in a style which -the Christian world will probably be disposed to condemn; but it should -be remembered that what appears sacred to one, excites the ridicule of -others. The Pagan venerates his manufactured god; the Christian views it -with contempt and indignation. - -The object of the author has been the promotion of Truth and -Benevolence. - -Should he fail to produce the effects he has contemplated, he will yet -be able to console himself with the reflection, that he has been -actuated by good intentions. The time has been when the assertion was -frequently made that "hell was paved with good intentions" had the work -appeared at that time, the author would, doubtless, have been destined, -so far as human agency could effect it, to become one of the paving -stones of that remarkable edifice: but a brighter day has dawned upon -the world; Reason is asserting her right to empire; and the cheering -spirit of benevolence is animating the nations of the earth. - -The shades of life's evening admonish the author that his sojourn in the -world will very shortly be brought to a close. He is anxious, therefore, -before his departure, to cast in his mite for the eradication of human -suffering, and the promotion of human felicity; and then, in wrapping -himself in the mantle of universal benevolence, to retire from the -transitory scene, in charity with all men. - - - - -GENERAL INTRODUCTION - - -THE main object of this book is to show that Jehovah, the God of the -Jews, is not the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, but a fictitious -being, having no real existence whatever. If the above position be -correct, it follows, that the Bible, including the Old and New -Testaments, is not a Divine Revelation. But that the reader may see, -more clearly, upon what uncertain ground divine revelation rests, the -plan pursued in the following chapters will be a review of the _facts_ -and _personages_ as recorded in the Old and New Testaments. But the -limits of this work will only admit of a mere scantling of what might be -written on the subject. - -In most Christian countries (America excepted,) this work would be -answered by either fine or imprisonment, or probably both. But -fortunately for the cause of truth and free discussion, theological -power here is so happily balanced, that persecution for religious -opinions is impracticable. The period therefore has arrived, in this -country in particular, when reason is free from the former obstacles -that every where crossed its path. Now, then, is the time for us to -examine the religion of our forefathers, and explore the regions of -human credulity. A mixture of pain and pleasure will be the -result:--_pain_, in considering what suffering has befallen the human -family, when the laudable indulgence of imagining and reasoning was -considered rebellion against God; and _pleasure_, to us who, having -escaped those dreadful evils which in former ages spread terror -throughout the world, can lessen the evils that surround us, and augment -to an almost unlimited degree our happiness. - -To those who may have the moral courage to read the following pages, I -would say, I have neither a desire to shock their feelings, nor any wish -to change their sentiments in order to gratify my vanity; for had -Christianity been productive of "peace on earth and good will towards -men," I should have been the last to have opposed it. But on the -contrary, the page of religious history is blotted with human gore. The -intolerant spirit that pervades the Old and New Testaments, has so -inoculated its followers of every sect, that while they profess to love -each other for Christ's sake, one sect (the strongest) has put to death -a weaker sect for God's sake. Nothing short of convincing men that the -Bible is not a divine revelation, can or will guarantee posterity -against a recurrence of those scenes of horror, at the very thought of -which, the heart sickens. - -From the pulpit, and in religious works, nothing is more common than to -exclaim with horror at the unblushing Infidel. Unblushing Infidel! What -cause have Infidels to blush? The blush, if any, ought to be on the face -of the Christians of every sect. They have never failed to persecute -when in power: they have been guilty of cruelties, at which the savage -cannibal would weep, and this will ever be the case so long as the Bible -is considered as coming from God; because, till all consequence is taken -away from faith, and transferred to moral rectitude, persecution is the -effect of believing that _faith_ is the sure passport to glory, while -_unbelief_ is the broad road to perdition. Men cease to be Christians -when they lose this spirit of intolerance, and become Infidels. - -Sects are not alike intolerant; but all are in some degree. The -Calvinists will not permit the Unitarians to preach in their churches. -The Unitarians, or Universalists, will not permit an Infidel lecturer to -speak in their churches,--no, not even on moral subjects. Christians, -then, will always be more or less of a persecuting disposition, and -nothing but giving up the Bible, as a Divine revelation, will destroy -that spirit. To show how a profession of Christianity, unfits men to do -justice to those who differ from them in religion, I will refer to the -treatment of Thomas Paine, author of "Common Sense." His services in the -glorious struggle that "tried men's souls" have been shamefully -forgotten. Yes! the friend of the immortal Washington, who shared in the -toils and dangers with the father of this great republic,--how have -Americans generally treated his name and efforts to erect one of the -most noble monuments of human wisdom--the _independent republic of North -America?_ For all his faithful devotedness to the independence of -America, how is his name and memory spoken of at the present time? From -the pulpit, every kind of falsehood and detraction is poured forth -concerning him. - -If he had been, a member of a church, the same fanatical priesthood -would have lauded him to the skies. Such is the nature of religious -bigotry, that the friendship of the ever to be venerated -Washington--even that, cannot shield his name from pulpit calumny. -"Bigotry, she has no head, and cannot think; she has no heart, and -cannot feel." - -But the name and services of Thomas Paine, are not, and never will be, -forgotten. Thanks to the Liberals throughout the Union, his birthday is -yearly celebrated in most of the cities and towns in the different -States. A handsome and durable monument has been erected to his memory -at New Rochelle, New York State. The thanks of-the Liberals are due to -Mr. G. Vale, Editor of the _Beacon_, published in New York, for his -untiring perseverance in urging on the completion of a monument will, in -time, command the respect of posterity. Why are the name and services of -Thomas Paine be cautiously omitted by our orators and statesmen, when -speaking of the patriotism of a Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Hancock, -and others? It would offend the church and priesthood, as well as the -whole of the Christian community; because--"_He that believeth not shall -be damned._" This is the brightest gem in the Christian's crown of -glory. If he nurse this intolerant spirit against Infidels, the -Christian considers his "_calling and election sure._" - -Sincere believers in Divine revelation are not aware what monsters the -Bible makes of them; but for which they would be humane, compared to -what they are under its influence. I am surprised that they are (the -majority of them) so just, humane, and charitable, when I take into -consideration the doctrines contained (or believed to be) in what is -called the Word of God. In addition to their own evil habits and -disregard for virtue in the common concerns of life, they have a Devil -to tempt them by a thousand ways in which they are ignorant. Again, they -have a Saviour who shed his blood to save them from the just punishment -of their deserts; so that with their own evil deeds, and being urged on -by the Devil, they become monsters in crime. They then go, as the phrase -is, to Christ, be sorry, or profess to be, for what they have done, and -are pardoned, and in the sight of Heaven are considered _superior_ to -the unconverted whom they have injured. Can you, my readers, wonder at -the crimes of God's people? According to this doctrine, a man may steal -a horse and cart, by the use of which, another man earned support for -his family; the thief sells it, and spends the amount, in connexion with -wretches like himself. He then goes to Jesus, repents, is forgiven; and, -to follow the plan throughout--if the man who lost his horse and cart is -an unbeliever, he goes to Hell, while the rogue sits singing and -laughing in Glory! - -This book is sent into society from the best of motives; hoping it will -induce Christians to practise moderation, and somewhat abate that -raging, fanatical fever, that has been so fatal to human happiness. If -you take from us the Bible, says the Christian, what will you give in -its stead? We answer, man requires nothing but what God, or Nature, has -given him. All men in common, have reason to consult, by which man will -learn the duty he owes to himself, and also to his fellow beings. The -error lies in being taught, that reason, when in full exercise, will -lead him into error. This has been his misfortune; and his punishment -has followed as a consequence. The Bible contains many good moral -precepts; but these are, by Christians, thought little of, compared with -its doctrines. Faith is all important. By faith, barbarous Calvin caused -Servetus to be burnt by a slow fire; and through faith, St. Austin, that -drunken debauchee, obtained a good report. - -The Bible is at war with man's reasoning powers; and, like a land -pirate, has held up false lights, which instead of conducting man to the -haven of happiness and safety, has caused him to make shipwreck on the -rocks and shoals of religious dogmas. Man is lost in no other sense than -that, the loss of his reason. To recover _that_, and bring it into full -exercise, is all the Saviour he needs. His moral path is as clear as -light. God, or Nature, has made it a law of man's existence that he must -love happiness, ease, and enjoyment; and also, that he must hate pain -and trouble in every stage and form. This law is forced upon him -independent of his choice. It is ever present to his senses, till he -ceases to exist, or to be rational. This is man's stock of moral -material furnished by God, or Nature. How clear, then, is his duty! He -has but to follow out this law, by the aid of his reasoning, judging, -and comparing powers. It will never lead him wrong. He requires no -Bible, no Saviour; he is never lost; he has no incomprehensible -doctrines to support or defend. Unlike the sectarian, he feels no -disposition to persecute others who differ from him in matters of faith; -he has no angry God to propel him on to fight for his glory; he can -balance up every night his moral account of the day; and if he has -followed out the law of his nature, by augmenting his own, and also the -happiness of his fellow beings, and lightened the load of human ills -around him, he in truth is the good man, be his faith little or much. -That the following work may forward moral improvement, and encourage -moderation and universal good will among the human family, is the -sincere wish of - -THE AUTHOR - - - - -DETAILED CONTENTS - - -OLD TESTAMENT - -PREFACE.--Free Discussion; the right to use it in examining the -Scriptures; its certainty in destroying error and establishing -truth--Extract from Dr. Blair's sermon on Candor--Motives of the author -in laying his work before the public. - -GENERAL INTRODUCTION.--Object of the book--Intolerance and persecution -of Christian sects--Their abuse of Infidels and calumnious treatment of -Thomas Paine--His name and services appreciated by Liberals--Pernicious -influence of the Bible upon morals--Knowledge of the laws of our -existence the only sure guide to wisdom, happiness, and virtue. - -GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE.--Character and situation of the Jews--Their -treatment by Jehovah--Why were they chosen, and did they answer the end -of their choice?--Probable reasoning of the Jewish God--Account of his -visit to Abram and Sarah, and their reception and treatment of him--The -consequences to the Jews of considering themselves the chosen -people--The five books said to have been written by Moses--Treatment of -Hagar and her child--Jehovah and the Jews. - -CHAPTER I.--From the Creation to the Deluge. - -CHAPTER II.--A Review of the Deluge and the confusion of Tongues at the -Tower of Babel. - -CHAPTER III.--From the Confusion of Tongues to the Birth of Moses. - -CHAPTER IV.--From the Birth of Moses to the Death of Joshua. - -CHAPTER V.--From the Death of Joshua to the Reign of Saul. - -CHAPTER VI.--The Reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon. - -CHAPTER VII.--The Reign of Jeroboam, and the separation of Israel from -Judah. - -CHAPTER VIII.--On Divine Inspiration. - -NEW TESTAMENT - -INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.--Jehovah's dealings with the Jews--His failure to -make them a pattern to the rest of the human family--The coming of -Christ--The manner of his introduction--his associates; language; and -conduct--Miracles--The Jews had sufficient reason, for rejecting Jesus -as the Messiah. - -CHAPTER I.--Jesus the pretended Saviour of the world, not sent from -God--Moses wrote the most minute things Connected with die system -established by himself, but Jesus left no writings whatever---Vagueness -and want of authenticity of the writings of the Evangelists--General -ignorance among Christians of what is the true Gospel--No proof of the -heavenly origin of Jesus--His baptism by John--His temptation by the -Devil--Its absurdity--Abusive language of Jesus to the Jews--His -unfitness for his mission, and failure to prove himself sent from God. - -CHAPTER II.--Casting out Devils--The case of Mary Magdalene--The -doctrine of demoniacal possession, a heathen dogma--Miracles of Jesus no -proof of his Divine origin--Evidence from the New Testament that no -miracles ever took place--Inconsistent conduct and abusive language of -Jesus--The miracle at his baptism--Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus -from the clouds--Folly of miracles and their injurious consequence. - -CHAPTER III.--Peter--Disingenuous mode adopted by Jesus to prove his -Messiahship--The introduction of his mission to the Jews--His obscure -doctrines, and disrespectful Language--Survey of his teaching, and mode -of life--Inutility of his object--His betrayal--Judas Iscariot. - -CHAPTER IV.--The Almighty Power that governs the universe not the author -of the Christian Religion--Destructive saying of Jesus--The power given -to Peter; its disastrous results--Institution of the -Sacrament--Intolerance and persecution of Sectarianism--Folly of -religious teaching. - -CHAPTER V.--Orthodox views of Christianity--Remarks on the bad effects -of believing in the existence of the Devil, and in witchcraft, doctrines -taught in the Bible--Trial and execution of two women for witchcraft in -England, in 1664--Account of the witchcraft that prevailed in England -and Scotland, in the days of Elizabeth--Anecdote of Cromwell's bargain -with the Devil. - -CHAPTER VI.--Continuation of remarks upon the supposed influence of -Satanic agency--Dreadful effects of human credulity--Sketch of the life -and tragical fate of Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans--Temptation of -Jesus. - -CHAPTER VII.--God and the Devil--Probable origin of the belief in their -existence--Mode of reasoning in ancient times by the -ignorant--Theology--Christian Religion--Account of Witchcraft in Sweden, -in 1670--Reflections. - -CHAPTER VIII.--Comprehensive view of the mission of Christ to the Jewish -nation--Plan of redemption--Willingness of the Jews to welcome the long -expected Messiah--The violence and abuse they received from Jesus--Their -condition not improved by his coming--Obscurity of his teaching--The -Jews put him to death because they believed him an impostor--Judas, in -betraying Jesus, was but the instrument to accomplish the plan of human -redemption--Unfortunate condition of the Jews--Reflections upon their -past and present treatment by Christians. - -CHAPTER IX.--Object of Christ's coming into the world, uncertain and of -doubtful utility--His obvious omission to convince the Jews that he was -the Messiah, and his neglect to order his apostles to write a history of -his life, show the Christian Religion deficient in the proof of its -Divine origin--Jesus, according to the Gospels, was a moral -reformer--Ignorance of his disciples of his Divine mission, as -manifested by Peter, at the betrayal--The Resurrection of Jesus--Sudden -departure afterward--Religious quarrels--Difficulty of defining -Christianity-Reflections on the want of proof of Christ's Divine -mission, and its insufficiency to reform the world--The Jesus of the New -Testament an imaginary being. - -CONCLUSION.--Remarks on the Morality of Nature--Pernicious effect of -religious faith--Its failure to moralize the world--Its intolerance and -persecution--Infidel morality founded in reason and the laws that govern -human beings--Its superiority over faith in promoting good works, -inducing correct conduct, and insuring human happiness and improvement. - - - - -A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION - - - - -GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE - - -BEFORE reviewing the facts and personages, as recorded in the Old and -New Testaments, it will be in order to notice the Jews, as Jehovah's -_chosen race_. The subject will not admit of demonstration; it must be -approached and examined in the same manner as the Alkoran of Mahomet. - -In order to get at the truth, so as to arrive at something like -certainty, and as Infinite Wisdom makes the choice, we must inquire--For -what end were they chosen? and did they answer the end of such choice? -If they were really chosen by the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, they -must, however strange they acted as a nation, have fulfilled the purpose -of their choice; because, whatever they did, was known to Jehovah before -the choice was made. How, then, can we reconcile expressions of regret -and disappointment by Jehovah after he had selected them as his own -peculiar people--such as, "_I have nourished and brought up children, -and they have rebelled against me?"_ And again--"_He hated his own -inheritance,_"--and also his stirring up and supporting heathen kings to -subjugate them as slaves. Is this not the language of disappointment and -regret? In fact, no learned divine can get over this striking truth that -the Bible fully holds out in the plainest manner, that Jehovah was -disappointed in his choice of the Jews as his favorite people. Were -they, then, chosen to raise up and support the religion given to them by -God himself? No, impossible! they continually rebelled against Jehovah -and worshipped strange Gods; and even Solomon himself built temples for -idolatry, contrary to express command. Jehovah says of the Jewish -nation--that he did not choose them because they were better than -others, for they were always a stiff-necked people; but because he loved -their fathers. Poor, miserable reasoning, indeed; to choose one of the -most contemptible races of men, because their ancestors, some hundreds -of years before, had superior qualities to their degenerate race. - -Again, another reason given why Jehovah continued to protect them, is, -that the promises before made to Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, bound him in -honor so to do. Did not Infinite Wisdom foresee that the seed of Abram -would not follow in the faithful footsteps of their great progenitor? If -this was not foreseen, then we can discover clearly the reason why -Jehovah complains of their rebellious conduct. It will be a vain attempt -in ministers of the gospel, to reconcile those complaints, if Jehovah -had foresight of what the seed of Abram would do. If "_God is the same -yesterday, to-day, and forever,_" how did it happen that he appeared so -regardless of the fate of mankind, as to allow some hundreds of years to -pass away from the time of the confusion of tongues at the tower of -Babel, till his visit to the tent of Abram, during which time, according -to Bible history, Jehovah had no worshippers on earth? The whole of -mankind were left to make the best of their deserted situation; to -worship the Gods of their imagination; and they founded mighty empires, -and became powerful on the earth. - -Before the Lord called on Abram and Sarah in their tent, something like -the following mode of reasoning probably took place in the mind of the -Jewish God:-- - -"I have made a world and peopled it with inhabitants; Adam and Eve -rebelled against me; their descendants followed in the footsteps of -their progenitors; I have destroyed them all (eight only excepted,) from -whom I expected better things. But, alas! they have also sinned against -me; and to such a height of wickedness did they arrive, that they began -to build a tower to reach my holy habitation. I have sent them off in -confusion: and now I have no church, no worshippers,--not even a song of -praise to my name. I possess universal empire, without even one single -subject to obey me. What is to be done? A thought has struck me:--I will -call on honest old Abram." - -And here let me remind the reader, that the Bible clearly represents the -Jewish God as being as changeable in his disposition and mode of acting -as mortals. Like man, he is sometimes in a state of inaction, towards -the fate of his offspring: at other times, he arouses from this torpor, -and is the most sensitive and active. Sometimes he appears to repent of -some failure in the calculations he has made concerning his creatures; -attempts to rectify the error, and again blunders. He at one time says: -"_fury is not in me,_" then again he is all fury. No truth is more -striking than this,--that the Jehovah of the Bible is not, cannot be, -the universal governor of the universe, but merely a creature of the -imagination, whose power is confined, having no existence without the -covers of the Bible. - -But to return to Abram:--Jehovah either goes to him, or sends to him -delegates, to acquaint him of the choice he is about to make of "_Abram -and his seed forever._" This is but the beginning of a new experiment on -the human race. And here does it not plainly appear, that Jehovah's mode -of acting, in this case, is unworthy of the governor of the world? Does -it not prove his total disregard for the welfare of the rest of mankind? -Good heavens! the believers, one and all, of such absurdities, have ever -been, and are still insane. - -These heavenly visiters find Abram and Sarah living comfortably in their -tent, watching flocks and herds. They (the angels) are treated with the -hospitality common in pastoral life. They have their feet washed; they -are invited to dine on the best; the calf is immediately killed; and -Sarah, was not slow on her part, in the cooking department, from which, -one might be induced to think, that over the door of the tent was -written: "Dinners Dressed at the Shortest Notice."--Soon after being -seated, the messengers make known their errand; Abram was much pleased; -Sarah laughed outright. The promise was now ratified that had before -been made to Abram, that _his seed should be as the sand of the sea in -number,_ for that Sarah should have _a son in her old age_. This, to say -the least of it, was good pay for a good dinner. - -Here, then, the reader will please to notice, was the final settlement -as it regards the Jews being the chosen people of God. And here the -following ceremony took place:--Three men, angels, or messengers, came -from Heaven; they had their feet washed, agreeably to eastern custom; -they sat down and did eat, and we may suppose did also drink with Abram -and Sarah; one of the three was called the Lord. - -I have here strictly adhered to the Bible history of this surprising -account; and if it be not literally true, the choice of the Jews, and -also the whole of the Jewish and Christian theology, falls prostrate. -The account winds up with the departure of the angels to Sodom; where, -after having dined with Abram, they took supper with Lot. The day -following, Sodom was burnt by fire from Heaven; Lot's wife (by way of -making the most of her) was turned into a _pillar of salt_, because she -looked back on her old habitation. What became of the angels, Heaven -only knows! - -But to return to the Jews, as a nation. For what purpose were they -chosen? It could not be to establish and support the only true religion -on earth, whereby they became the constant and obedient servants of the -Most High, because they continued to rebel against Jehovah; and in spite -of all his commands to the contrary, to worship other gods, which -conduct provoked the Lord to anger, and the most dreadful punishment -followed for their disobedience. They were not chosen to convert other -nations to the faith and worship of the God of Israel, because they were -ordered to take the property and destroy the inhabitants of towns and -cities, with whom they had not the most distant quarrel. Once -more,--Were they chosen for the purpose that Jehovah should be their -God, and that they should be his people? No, because they, time after -time, rejected his authority as their God, and worshipped strange gods, -unknown to their fathers; for which He sent "prophets and holy men" to -remonstrate with them. But they killed the prophets; and, as a nation, -never were for any length of time converted to, nor obeyed, the _God of -Israel._ - -It was promised to Abram, "_In thee and in thy seed shall all the -nations of the earth be blessed." When and how_ have the nations ever -been blessed? As for the poor Jews, no curse ever fell so heavy on -mortals as fell on them, in consequence of their considering themselves -God's chosen people, and other nations treating them as such. For -eighteen hundred years, Christians have plundered and murdered them, -because they have faithfully worshipped (since He cast them off) the God -of their fathers, against whom (when under his protection) they -continued to rebel. - -The Jews are a strange people. Strange and hard has been their fate; and -it can be easily accounted for, from their being originally cheated into -the fact that they were _God's chosen people_ to the exclusion of the -rest of the human race. Christians ask how it could have been possible -for Moses or any other person to induce them to believe that they were -so chosen, when miracles and wonders were performed in their behalf, if -no such things did in reality take place? The answer is -easy:--Christians suppose that the books of the Old Testament were -written at the time the generation lived, before whose eyes those -wonders were performed. This is a fatal mistake. Those miracles and -wonders, no doubt, were ante-dated, and brought forward to the Jews in -after times, as proofs of what Jehovah had done for their forefathers; -for it clearly appears from the internal evidence of Jewish history, -that the five books said to have been written by Moses, were not known -to the Jews, as a nation, till after the reigns of David, Solomon, and -many others. At what time the five books were first made known to the -descendants of Abram, is not ascertained; but, whenever it was, they -contained the history of the Abrahamic family, including all the -miracles and wonders performed by Jehovah in their behalf. - -It is easy to perceive, how the Jews might be brought to believe all -that was written concerning God's choice of them, as his peculiar -people. An ambitious leader and legislator could, without much -difficulty, soon establish them firmly in the conviction that they were -Jehovah's chosen people. It would flatter their vanity; and the -credulity of the human mind is such, even now, that we need not wonder -that the Jews, as a nation, gave credence to the tales of former times -concerning their being the especial favorites of Jehovah. The Jews, -then, no doubt were cheated into the firm conviction (by their early -leaders) that _they_, of all people on earth, were the chosen of Heaven. -This will account for their keeping themselves as a separate people--the -heaviest curse that could befal them, and which remains on them till -this day. - -According to the Bible, the dealings of Jehovah towards mankind in -general, and of the Jews in particular, will bear out the following -remarks:--That, after the confusion of tongues at Babel, and the -descendants of Noah were dispersed abroad on the earth, the Bible God -forsook the earth for some hundred years. He had no worshippers on -earth. He then descends and selects one family to be called after his -name. From that moment, Jehovah appears to direct his whole attention to -the family concerns of his new choice. Troubles come on in quick -succession; Abram's domestic jars claim his attention and -superintendence. Sarah and her maid servant quarrel; the maid is turned -out of doors, about a child who claimed Sarah's husband as its father. - -The Lord interfered and matters were made up. But soon another -misunderstanding arose between Sarah and Hagar about the child who had -ill-behaved himself towards Abram's wife. Sarah became enraged, and got -the better of the Lord; and Abram and she drove Hagar and her son out of -the house for good and all. The Lord again made the best of the matter -by sending an angel who took charge of Hagar's son; and Abram and Sarah -lived happy, and directed all their attention to little Isaac. - -To return to the Jews, as a nation. Did they answer the end for which -they were chosen? Most undoubtedly they did. For, as "known unto the -Lord are all his works from the beginning" whatever his dealings were -towards them, in punishing them for their rebellion and disobedience, -and whatever suffering they endured in consequence of their departure -from his commands, are included in his choice; and are the ends for -which they were chosen. Here, then, we have arrived at the ends for -which they were selected,--he knowing that they would continue to -transgress, and also that such transgression would call forth his anger; -and that punishment would follow from their disobedience. These are the -only ends that we can discover by their being chosen, and these ends -were fully answered. - -And as Jehovah is represented as acting the same as men act under -similar circumstances, the following remarks are in accordance with his -dealings with the people of his choice, namely: that after Jehovah had -driven the inhabitants of Babel abroad on the face of the earth, and not -having any church or worshippers in the world, he became weary of this -state of inaction, and, sighing for something to do, he chose the -descendants of Abram for his future operations on the earth. And from -that moment, the Jews required all his attention; his anger was always -raging: he had no repose whatever. - -In the course of his watching over them, he occasionally stirred up the -heathen against them, and suffered them to become bondmen and slaves. -Then, again, they had arms put into their hands, and he marched out in -aid of their victories; and then the "Lord of Hosts was his name." Then, -as if he had forgotten the promises made to their forefathers, he -repents of the neglect shown to them; again renews the combat and orders -them to war against nations, and _to spare neither old age nor infancy_. -So that, by turns, hating them and showing them no mercy; then again, -repenting of his severe conduct towards them, proclaiming to the world -that the Lord of Hosts or battle is his name,--the Bible account of -Jehovah confirms us, in concluding, that, he chose the family of Abram -for no other purpose than to disturb and brutalize the rest of the -world. - -The Jews, and their God, seem to be objects of pity and contempt. Pity -for the poor Jews, for their unfortunate fate; and as for Jehovah, if -the Bible be true, from the moment he adopted them as his favorites, he -became subject to rage, furious anger, grief, repenting of the choice he -had made; and finally casting them off. These, then, are some of the -glorious ends for which they were chosen. To conclude--Of all the -impositions that ever have been palmed on the inhabitants of the earth, -destructive of "peace on earth and good will towards men" that of the -Jews being God's chosen people, is one of the greatest; the Jehovah of -the Bible, being nothing but an imaginary God, to cheat the World into -the faith of his being the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe. - - - - -THE OLD TESTAMENT - - - - -CHAPTER I. FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE - - -FROM what has before been written, the reader is no doubt convinced, -that the writer of this work does not believe the Bible to have any -claim to divine authority; but is entirely, from beginning to end, a -collection of absurd tales, of historic facts, and of personages that -have no foundation in truth, which unfortunately, by being considered of -divine origin, has generated a train of calamities destructive to the -peace and welfare of the human race. And to account for its hav-ing -gained credit, and got such strong foothold in the world, we have only -to consider that _fable_ is the elder sister of history; that nations -have run a long career of incidents, mostly fabulous, before any -appearance of authentic history made its way in the world. What took -place in those days may be considered like things taking place in the -dark. - -From such fabulous materials, then, national history always commences. -Not that the writers or authors intend to deceive and impose on -posterity; they write what they believe; what they have been told, and -what is generally credited in those days. Here, then, we discover the -Bible to be of use to us, in showing to what lamentable extent poor -mortals have sincerely erred in following the legendary tales of former -times. And now, that the bandage is removed from our eyes, let us all -use our best exertions to spread knowledge among those, who, with us, -are seeking after truth, but who have till now sought it where it is not -to be found. - -The authors of the Bible, no doubt, followed in the same track as those -who are called profane writers. They wrote what had been told them by -their forefathers. Hence the miracles and wonders, credited by them, of -the most extravagant nature, that never did and never could take place; -and unfortunately, for the peace and happiness of mortals, by giving -credit to such things, they, for ages, shut up every avenue that would -otherwise have led them to the temple of truth. - -To believe the account of Adam's transgression, in connection with all -the circumstances attending it, to be a matter of fact, appears hardly -possible for any man of sane mind. Yet millions there are, who never -have had a doubt of its being literally true. Whoever first wrote it, -did so from tradition or hearsay, as this is the origin of all national -history. It is not impossible but that every nation of antiquity had a -similar commencement; because, as history did not appear till hundreds -of years after the facts related are said to have taken place, it -follows that hearsay evidence is the _best_ and _only_ evidence that can -be obtained. If this is a correct view of the strange tales related in -the Bible; then, the more strange and impossible the greater glory is -given to God, by swallowing all down, and asking no questions. - -The Bible commences, as to persons, with--first, Jehovah, Adam, and Eve, -and, according to the orthodox Christians, the Devil was near at hand. -Here, then, we have before us, according to Bible history, Jehovah, God -of all, about to form or make a world, and put on it both man and beast. -This was done without consulting in any way whatever, with Adam and Eve, -who were to be placed at the head of all creation. Every circumstance -that would take place to Adam and Eve, and their posterity, throughout -all ages, was planned, approved of, and finally settled, in the mind of -Jehovah, before they had life or being. - -Here we have a God knowing all that will take place; and arranging -circumstances favorable to its fulfilment. On the other hand, Adam and -Eve were ignorant of the past, the present, and also of the future. Only -notice the infinite difference between the two contracting parties. I -wish the reader to keep this in view, as it respects what is termed the -fall of our first parents. In all ages of the Christian superstition, -the fall of Adam has been urged as a justification of God's quarrel with -the human race. - -Let us examine this subject calmly. It is but justice that this should -be done; since from one hundred thousand pulpits in the different -nations of the earth, the priests never fail to praise and thank the -Lord for his goodness to the descendants of Adam. I, on the other hand, -will honestly, though feebly, advocate the cause of poor, _libelled, -condemned, priest-ridden Man_. If, before our first parents had been -called into life, they had been informed on what conditions _they_ and -their _posterity_ were to receive it, together with the final destiny of -ninety out of every hundred of their unfortunate race, they would no -doubt have exclaimed, "For humanity's sake, let us forever sleep in the -womb of chaos!" It is the common practice from the pulpit, as also from -the writings of the orthodox Christians, to libel the human race, by -saying, that man has rebelled against God, and turned from him; when the -truth is, that in all ages and nations, man, has been seeking after the -best God he could find, and God; has always remained the great -_Unknown_, while man, in whatever state we find him, "savage, saint, or -sage," has been endeavoring to find out God. - -This has always been his misfortune. By trying to find out the absent -and unknown God, he has, in his imagination, invented and followed a -thousand foolish whims, till, losing all correct ideas of moral -rectitude, he has died of old age without arriving at the knowledge of -_whom or what_ to worship. Whereas, if he had not troubled himself at -all about his maker, and, by the aid of his reasoning powers, had come -to the just conclusion, that as he knew not how, nor where to find God, -it would follow that it was the business of his maker, and not _his_ to -instruct in the right way to worship the true God. This mode of -reasoning will be reprobated by Christians as horrid and wicked; but in -reply, it may be asked, to what amount of knowledge have they arrived by -all their seeking after him? - -We now return to the Bible account of Adam and Eve's creation. The -position that justice, strict justice, is due on the part of God towards -his new creation, must never be lost sight of in our investigations. If -any thing like trickery or injustice on his part is recorded, we, -without hesitation, denounce it as a libel on his character, and totally -unworthy of the least credit. In reviewing the Old and New Testament, as -being considered a Divine Revelation, this criterion will be always -referred to; for, if any writings purporting to be of Divine authority, -represent their author to be any thing otherwise than a God impartial -and just, such writings will, by the author of this work, be considered -entirely unworthy of the broad seal of Heaven, and as fully deserving of -being held up to human beings as false, and a flagrant imposition on the -credulity of mankind. - -And here the reader is reminded, that we have now before us, in the -creation of man, a scene of the most surprising nature. A God, infinite -in wisdom, unbounded in power, about to bring into existence a race of -beings; he, on his part, possessing all knowledge of the past, the -present, and also of the future; and they, on their part, entirely -passive, not being consulted as to their organization, their wishes, or -the consequences that would result to their progeny. From such a -position, what ought we to expect, in order that the being about to be -made, might have a fair point from which to start in his untried career? -Would we not suppose that every advantage should have been given to the -party who had no voice concerning his future destiny, nor that of his -race? The smallest omission in providing for or securing his first -movements, would be fatal to his happiness, and also that of his race. - -That no such precaution, on the part of the God of the Bible, was -pursued towards his new made creatures, will be fully proved by the -examination of the events recorded as having taken place in the Garden -of Eden! Whatever were the passions or the inclinations included in the -physical organization of our first parents, they had not any control -over them whatever, because of the impossibility of their being -consulted in a state of non-existence. Whatever they were then, and, -also, what was to be their future destiny, was known to Jehovah only; to -Adam and Eve, it was all unknown. This, then, was the state of the -pretended Creator and the creatures. - -We will pass over the account of the six days' creation, together with -the serpent's deceiving Eve by the aid of what the Christians believe to -be the Devil. It deserves no comment, except, that from the account -given in the Bible, we may infer, that happy would it have been for Adam -if he had remained an old bachelor; for, in that case, Satan perhaps -would neither have scraped acquaintance with the serpent, nor ever -thought of lurking about the garden. But the source of all human -misfortune, according to the Old and New Testaments, is included in -Eve's eating the forbidden fruit. We may ask, why was one tree forbidden -among so many? Certainly as a trap, set to catch the inexperienced, -virtuous, and harmless Eve. What humbug! to make such a fuss about -Adam's being alone, without a help-mate; and: at the very time the rib -operation was going on, Jehovah, stood by, and knew whatever he might -say, that the woman, on leaving her ribship, would damn all that he had -declared to be good. Can we, dare we, charge the Governor of the -Universe with such trickery? It must never be lost sight of, that the -very prohibition of one tree, would be certain, in their state of -ignorance, to produce the consequence that followed: viz., to induce -Eve, from curiosity, to partake of it. Is it any thing short of insanity -to suppose that such dreadful consequences would follow so trifling an -offence? - -This forbidden tree had something in it, that, to us, seems very -strange. It was to impart knowledge; and as the fruit was inviting to -the eye, and a desire existing to obtain knowledge, Eve fell a victim to -her unfortunate curiosity. Nor was this all. Until Eve ate thereof, it -appears that the happy couple did not perceive their want of clothing. -Instantly they set to work to repair this first mishap, by sewing leaves -together to make aprons. But in this stage of the business, the Lord -seems to have some compassion left, for he, "_the Lord, made coats of -skins and clothed them_"--poor Adam and Eve being ignorant of the -strength and durability of leaf aprons. We may suppose the Lord as -thinking or saying to Adam,--"Why, this will never do; you must have -something more lasting, or else, by every wind that blows, you will be -no more than a bundle of tattered rags." Soon, therefore, by the Lord's -assistance, poor Adam and Eve jumped into a new suit of clothes! And, to -make sure of man's destruction, by taking that which was forbidden, the -serpent was permitted to point out the advantages that would follow; so -that the appearance of the fruit, and the desire to get knowledge, urged -on by the serpent, together with Eve's ignorance that any thing like -lying existed in the Garden of Eden, the disobedience of our first -parents was, by ninety-nine chances out of a hundred, secured, and the -damnation of their posterity made sure. - -Now, to ascribe such conduct to God, such barefaced design to quarrel -with his new creation, is horrid in the extreme, and would disgrace (bad -as it is said he is) the very Devil himself. And if the account is not -true, if the facts, as recorded, did not take place, but are altogether -to be considered as an allegory, then it follows, that human redemption -is an allegory, also; and the whole fabric of the Jewish and Christian -religion falls to the ground. - -In dismissing this father of humbugs, (the fall of our first parents,) -which ended in Adam and Eve's expulsion from Paradise, by way of -consolation, we may in justice say, "Farewell, Adam and Eve; you have -had but a rough beginning. God and the Devil have both conspired to make -you unhappy, But never mind, do your best; comfort and console each -other; the whole world is before you. This garden trade has proved a -failure altogether. If you can but procure a spade, a hoe, and shovel, -you will in time get on; and, as your present misfortune originated from -that unforeseen quarrel in the garden, live in peace, and share equally -in your troubles, and also in your prosperity. Things are not so bad, -after all; and if Adam's wound in the side is not yet entirely healed, -it is your duty, Eve, as a good wife, to pay particular attention to it. -It is for your interest, also; for if Jehovah should, be again offended -with you, as in the garden, and take from Adam the opposite rib from -which you sprang, and of it make a second Eve, the serpent would pay -another visit to mar your happiness, and your troubles would have no -end." - -What kind of religion there was, if any, in those days, we know not; but -Cain and Abel, Adam's sons, appear to have been worshippers of Jehovah, -notwithstanding the expulsion of their parents from Paradise. We have it -recorded that, in the course of their worship, Cain's offering was of -the "fruits of the earth," and Abel's was "a lamb with the fat thereof." -Cain's offering had no respect paid to it; but, on the other hand, -Abel's offering was respected. The reason why the one was rejected and -the other accepted, we have no means of knowing; at any rate, Jehovah -knew that murder would follow as a consequence. Here, then, we have an -account of the _first religious quarrel_, and the murderous spirit that -was connected with it. And history confirms this truth, that the same -murderous spirit has always, more or less, shown itself in all religious -disputes; but more dreadful and furious in the Jewish and Christian -religions than in any others. From Cain, the first religious murderer, -to the present day, intolerance and blood appear to have stained the -pages of Jewish and Christian history. And now, that those days of -persecution have passed away, let us do all in our power to prevent -their recurrence. - -Following the history of the antediluvians, in Genesis, chap. vi., we -are not a little surprised to find a new race of, beings on earth. We -find, that after "_men began to multiply an the face of the earthy and -daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of -men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they -chose, and they bare children unto them; the same became mighty men, -which were of old men of renown_." Here we may ask, is it possible to -believe in the truth of this account? But for its being recorded in the -Bible, no person, having one grain of common sense, would for a moment -give it the least credit. But its truth rests on the same authority as -the fall of our first parents, and no doubt is equally true. We are -told, by Christ, that in heaven, they "_neither marry nor are given in -marriage_"; but here it seems that the sons of God were tired of their -restraint, and broke loose, and came a wooing the pretty young girls of -those days: and, from the account, the courtship was short; for they -took to them, wives of all that they chose. Good heavens! how the young -men of those days must have stared to see the young ladies So pliable! -If, in those days, "bustles" were not worn by the girls, the sons of God -soon put them, one and all, in a bustle. Wonder how those gentlemen were -dressed, that the women became so soon captivated! If, in the course of -their negociations, some girl, more thoughtful than the rest, had asked -her strange lover what employment he intended to follow, he would have -been stuck fast to have given an answer. After all, if this account is -to be considered true, heaven is not in so happy a state as is -represented; for the sons of God became uneasy in their confinement, and -preferred a love frolic to Gabriel's evening song. As heaven is -considered to have the most enchanting music, perhaps the new visiters -brought with them their instruments, and began their courtship by a -heavenly jig. It does not appear that Jehovah exhibited any displeasure -on account of the sons of God leaving the blessed abodes and marrying -the daughters of men. For aught we know, it was an experiment to improve -the antediluvian race. - -But leaving this point for ministers of the gospel to settle, it seems -as if their progeny were a jolly set of fellows, and became "_men of -renown._" Taking, then, a review of the world from its creation until it -was destroyed by the deluge, we discover, that if the facts recorded are -true, and did really take place, it was one continued chapter of -blunders. First, Adam is made and set to work. It is next discovered -that he requires a partner; but, behold! no materials are left with -which to make one. Adam is then laid up in dock; taken to pieces like an -old steamboat; one of his timbers removed, and a woman appears. Things -go on well, but only for a short time. Eve soon longs for fruit; she -takes it; then, lo, and wonder! she and her husband discover, and for -the first time feel, a sense of decency. They set to work to make -aprons; this is but lost labor. The Lord, it appears by the account, was -not in the garden, but on returning, found his servants partly clothed. -He informs them of their error; sets to work and protects them from wind -and weather. To be sure, they were not turned out naked; the very ground -was cursed for their bad conduct, and thorns and thistles would spring -up to annoy them. Whether the Garden of Eden was given up altogether, or -another gardener employed to keep it, we have no account. - -This, at any rate, was paying dear for an apple, or peach. We find, -however, that our first parents did not despair; for they soon raised a -family. If this expulsion did actually take place, to talk of family -troubles is nothing, compared to this unfortunate couple. For one single -fault, to be driven as outcasts from their only known home, to wander -they did not know where, without experience or capital to begin with! Of -all the houseless wanderers, their lot seems to be the most piteous to -behold. - -Again, whether "the sons of God" Were permitted to descend and marry the -daughters of men by way of improving the race, we know not. If -improvement was Jehovah's object in this strange union, another failure, -equal to former ones, was the result. The antediluvians, one and all, -were so wicked, that "the Lord repented that he had made man on the -earth; and it grieved him at his heart." One exception only, in the -family of Noah; to whom Jehovah immediately communicated his -determination to _destroy man and beast by a flood_--Noah's family only -excepted. - -To conclude this chapter, a few remarks will suffice.--If the foregoing -account of the creation is maintained to be truly the work of Infinite -Wisdom and Power, what a picture presents itself to the mind of a -sensible and reasonable man! Can it be possible for such an one to -believe it? His mind must reject it as the most barefaced falsehood that -ever could be proposed to human credence; as impossible to be true, and -equally impossible to be credited by any person having the least claim -on common sense. And yet, in this crazy world, to give credit to it, is -to be respectable; but to deny its truth, is to be infamous, and an -object of Christian horror, unworthy to live in this world, and sure of -damnation in the next. No man living can get over this certain -conclusion, that if the Governor of the Universe did act towards Adam -and Eve, together with the rest of the antediluvians, as is recorded in -the Bible, he made them for no other apparent end than to quarrel with -them, so as to have a pretence to punish and torment creatures who had -no power to resist. And can such a Being be the object of love and -adoration? The Devil himself is not painted in colors half so black. - -But enough has been said on this subject. We turn from it in disgust, -and boldly say to all the world, that no such God ever did, nor does now -exist; nor did the facts recorded in the Bible, of Adam's fall, _ever -take place._ - - - - -CHAPTER II. A REVIEW OF THE DELUGE AND THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES AT THE -TOWER OF BABEL - - -TO destroy all mankind by drowning, because of their wickedness, seems -to us a strange reason; for, when we attentively consider it, we are -compelled to conclude that the Jewish God had banished from his moral -government the very appearance of justice. What! no compassion for the -young men and women who had been brought up under circumstances so -unfavorable to virtue, from the bad example of their fathers? What! no -mercy for the thousands of infants? What! no feeling towards the youth, -from manhood through all the gradations down to helpless infancy? None. -We know that it is common for men and women to go crazy. From so strange -a perversion of justice on the part of Jehovah, it would seem that he, -at times, has his crazy fits, also. Destroy the innocent with the -guilty--allowing the innocent no chance of escape! If this were -performed by an earthly monarch, _insanity_ would be the most charitable -allowance to be made for so atrocious an act. But when ascribed to the -all-wise and powerful God, and insisted on as an article of faith, such -doctrines are only fit for madmen to preach and idiots to hear. -Christians little think to what extent they blaspheme the God whom they -profess to adore. - -Let us bring this horrid scene nearer to our eyes:--thousands and tens -of thousands of children from six years old and up to the age of -maturity, of both sexes, imploring for mercy, cut off in the midst of -enjoyment, for crimes over which they had no control, and which their -tender age precluded them from committing: yet to them the door of mercy -was forever closed. A raging Almighty God commanding Noah to proceed, -that his vengeance might be satisfied! Only look at such a picture, so -faintly drawn; for if the deluge did really take place, this portrait -bears but a small resemblance to a scene too dreadful for the -contemplation of man, and, Oh! heavens! too unjust and cruel to ascribe -to a God. To drown the whole of the human race by a flood, is one of the -most dreadful visitations of vengeance that cruelty could execute. In -it, we discover nothing to defend. The mind shrinks back with horror at -the bare recital. It is one among hundreds of such acts recorded as -being performed by the Lord. - -Turn to what part of the history you will, where the Jewish God is about -to do something, or to interfere in any way in human affairs, the -conduct ascribed to him, either in punishment or granting favor, you -will find to be always contrary to justice and reason. If justice be the -theme, it will end in cruelty. If to show favor, it will be sure to be -ill directed and allied to favoritism. Among men, justice is the -foundation of correct moral principles. On the contrary, the Bible God -acts as if influenced by fury and almighty rage; soon, very soon, angry; -very hard to please; punishing and destroying his creatures, as if pain -were a good instead of an evil, and man died without a groan. It is not -possible to calculate the amount of evil that has taken place on the -earth, in consequence of Christians taking for their example the conduct -of their God. Let us mark the difference between any misfortune that may -befall the human race in the course of events, and the same evil -inflicted by the Lord. In the former case, man will sympathize with his -unfortunate fellow man; in the latter, however, it _appears_ cruel and -unjust. "It is just, yes, and also merciful," says the Christian, "for -God to destroy the innocent descend-, ants of his enemies, because he -has a right to do whatever he pleases with his own." - -This mode of reasoning, the believers in the divinity of the Bible -resort to, in order to shield Jehovah from the attacks of Infidels, for -bringing on the deluge; and the same mode is followed throughout, to -justify the Lord in all his warlike movements against the nations doomed -to die by the hands of his chosen people. Can we, then, wonder that both -Jews and Christians, believing in, and worshipping, a God whose acts are -so revolting to every idea of justice and humanity,--can we, ought we, -to be surprised that they have drank so deeply of that spirit of -cruelty, injustice, and intolerance, that is recorded concerning the -dealings of Jehovah with his creatures, in involving in one common ruin -the innocent with the guilty? For it is from the horrible character -given of the Lord, that both Jews and Christians have in all ages drawn -in, as by a kind of inspiration, the same spirit of cruelty and -proscription, in imitation of their God. - -It is in vain that Christians assert, that the persecution that has -attended the progress of Christianity, in all ages, is but the abuse of -it No; it has been the _thing itself_. The moral precepts of the New -Testament (and many of them are excellent) have never been strong enough -to deter men from putting each other to death on account of their -difference of faith. Cruel Calvin, with the New Testament before his -eyes, and that saying staring him in the face, "_He that hateth his -brother is a murderer_,"--with this before his eyes, he caused the -unfortunate Servetus to be burnt by a slow fire, so completely had the -doctrines of the Bible destroyed in him all compassion. - -To show what baneful influence the doctrines of the Bible have had upon -men eminent for their wisdom, justice, and humanity, the following -authentic account will fully prove:--In the year 1664, two old women -were hanged upon a charge of witchcraft, having been tried by a Jury -before three learned Judges, at the head of whom was Sir Matthew Hale, -who passed the dreadful sentence of the law, as it then stood, which was -put into execution in about two weeks afterwards. A more upright, -honest, wise, and humane Judge never sat in a court of justice; and yet, -behold! he condemned and caused two poor, ignorant, and defenceless old -women to be hanged for a crime they neither did nor could commit The -remarks made to the Jury, by Sir Matthew, in substance were the -following:--"Gentlemen of the Jury, you have nothing to do in inquiring -whether the crime of witchcraft can be committed; the Bible has settled -that subject,--but, whether the evidence you have heard is proof that -the prisoners are guilty of the charges brought against them,"--which -charges were, killing, their neighbors' children by the agency and power -of the Devil, and causing them to vomit pins and nails. Here, then, it -is clear that it was the Word of God, and not Judge Hale, that brought -about the death of those unfortunate women. Had Sir Matthew been an -_Infidel_, the page of history had never been stained by the blood of -two poor helpless beings. - -Let not Christians, then, say that persecution and intolerance are the -abuses of Christianity. Its very essence is congenial with blood and -torture in all their horrid forms. The moral precepts of the Gospel -never have nor ever will so far neutralize the doctrines of the Bible, -as to guarantee the human race in trusting power in the hands of the -disciples of Jesus. They always will, according to the New Testament, -prefer the man of orthodox faith, to men in common, however virtuous. - -Having shown the injustice and cruelty of drowning all the inhabitants -of the earth,--on account of the wickedness of some who ought to have -been made an example to society at large,--let us inquire, what end was -obtained by so universal a destruction? Have the human race been more -moral, and, on the whole, more virtuous, since the flood than before? If -they have not, (and that they have not, the Bible itself fully proves,) -it then follows, that no moral good resulted from their being destroyed; -and instead of the Lord's anger being softened down, it would rage in -all its former fury. If the Lord really said to Noah, what the Bible -records, "_that it repented him that he had made man on the earthy and -it grieved him at his heart_" it is as much as to say,--"I can bear this -distracted state of mind no longer; I will try you and your family, -Noah, and ease myself of the disappointment I have endured from the -wickedness of my creation; I will have a better race on the earth which -I have made, or man shall cease to exist." - -But did a better race succeed? No; for Noah, in time, became -intemperate, and in a fit of intoxication became an object of contempt -to one of his sons, who, so far forgot his duty to his intoxicated -father, that instead of concealing his folly and shame, he exposed it. -When Noah awoke from his slumber, and discovered what had taken place, -he began most heartily to curse his son and his posterity for ages to -come, and also to prophesy evil concerning them, which prophecy, -according to the Bible, the Lord approved of and brought to pass. Here, -again, Jehovah is disappointed; that is, if he expected a moral world -better than the one he had destroyed. - -Turning, then, with detestation from an account which represents the -Governor of the Universe as having drowned a world and repented he had -made it, and also of being grieved at heart, we will notice Noah's -preparing the ark and making ready for his singular voyage. Nothing -short of repeated miracles could have completed the embarkation of Noah, -his family, and the living cargo, or freight. A miracle must have been -wrought on all those beasts, whose savage nature had made them a terror -to man, in order that they might become tame, and be conveyed to the -vicinity of the ark. Another miracle must have been in continual -operation on all those who were engaged in procuring the beasts, birds, -and reptiles, to induce them to labor without any remuneration for their -toils, but the certainty of being left to perish by the flood. A -continuation of miracles must follow on, to induce the then population -to stand quiet, up to their necks in water, and not to make an effort to -force their way into the ark before it was closed up; and also to enable -Noah and his family to attend to feeding and keeping clean their -respective cages and dens. The water, also, to drown the world, and -cover the highest hills, must be created for this express purpose, and -then reduced again into its native nothingness. For, from an accurate -calculation, it would require one hundred and eight times as much water -as is now on the face of the earth, to cover the highest mountain, -admitting its height to be no more than twenty thousand feet, and there -are mountains still higher. It would follow, therefore, that after the -flood, one hundred and eight oceans must be annihilated, there not being -room for so much water on the earth. - -From what has been said concerning the flood, it is clear that no such -thing really took place, but that the whole is fabulous; because, the -deluge is said to be in consequence of the Lord's being grieved at the -wickedness of the antediluvians. This is no reason why he should destroy -them, even admitting the possibility of the fact. His grief could not be -lessened by so doing, as men since the flood have been equally wicked as -before; and have continued so, down to the present time. If the Lord was -grieved then, and repented at having made man, he is still unhappy and -continues to repent, because the evil that caused him then to grieve and -to repent, is not removed. - -The reader is requested not to lose sight of one thing that is equally -glaring both in the Old Testament and the New--that the Jehovah of the -Jews is always blundering and making mistakes; the choice he often makes -does not answer the end purposed, but falls short. Another and another -plan is pursued; still, some striking failures take place. The God of -the Bible is as unlike the Supreme Power that governs the material -universe, as the swarthy African is unlike the fair complexion of the -temperate zone. - -As the main object of this work is to prove, as clear as the nature of -argument will admit, that the Jehovah of the Jews is not the Supreme -Ruler of Nature, let us examine their respective characters. The God of -the Jews, in his acts, is governed by no correct principle of justice; -he is changeable, and subject to all the passions that, in turn, agitate -the minds of mortals. How different is the Ruler of the World, of whom -we know nothing, abstracted from the material universe! In the -government of the material world, we discover that "_order is heaven's -first law_"; that a regular arrangement of causes and effects pervade -every department of nature. In it, there is no doing and undoing; no -derangement in the wonderful, adaptation of cause and effect, of -principles and consequences. In the laws that rule the universe, nothing -happens that has the appearance of falling short of ends intended to be -carried out; these laws depend not on the will or conduct of mortals; -but the more we are acquainted with them, the more we are compelled to -admire the wonderful wisdom and harmony of the mighty whole. - -Is the kingdom of grace, or, in other words, does the Old and New -Testaments present to us a God any way similar to the power that rules -the world? The God of Nature, an expression used to convey no other -meaning than the power that mingles itself with the mighty whole,--does -this power show any thing like partiality to nations, or to sects and -parties? Do the general laws, by which the world is governed, indicate -any thing in their author of a vindictive or vengeful character. Any -thing like disappointment or regret? Does the prosperity of nations, or -of individuals, depend (abstractly considered) on whether they worship -one, or many Gods, or none at all? On the contrary, the Jehovah of the -Bible is depicted as being more unstable than mortals. Ye Jews and -Christians! in vain do you vindicate the character and conduct of your -God towards the human race, by saying that "he ought to do what he -pleases with his own." The conduct of the most cruel and unjust tyrant -that ever lived can with more truth and propriety be exonerated than -your God; because a tyrant, however wicked and cruel, may have to -contend with those who are capable of doing him an injury, and -self-defence on his part may form some excuse for his actions. A tyrant -may have to come in contact with others, his equals in power and -physical force. But the Christian God is above any personal injury; he -has no rivals; possessing all power, all knowledge, nothing can take -place by him unforeseen. If mortals, by their conduct, call forth his -anger, he chooses to be angry. The human race did not ask for existence; -he alone was the projector. If mortals, in the course of their career -through life, (as foreseen by him) deserve punishment, he felt happy in -punishing them. Ye ministers! prate, then, no longer against the -"*unblushing Infidel*"; for, as you maintain that the God of the Bible -is the author of the universe, we leave you to blush at the horrible -character you portray of him whom you hypocritically call a God of love! -Oh! heavens! what dreadful consequences have resulted from the Jehovah -of the Jews being worshipped as the author of nature! The worshippers of -such a God have in all ages partaken, more or less, of his character for -cruelty, injustice, and intolerance; and under this banner "whole armies -have marched forth to glut the earth with blood." - -Viewing, then, the Bible account of the deluge, in which the innocent -were destroyed with the sinner, as but a fabulous tale, had I a voice -loud enough to make all mankind hear, I would boldly and fearlessly -proclaim it a falsehood, disgraceful to God, and too foolish to obtain -credit in the present age. - - - - -CHAPTER III. FROM THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES TO THE BIRTH OF MOSES - - -THE object to be accomplished in this chapter is, to show, from the -Bible history itself, the folly and absurdity of admitting the Jehovah -of the Bible to be the Supreme Ruler of the Universe; for, after -destroying every thing that had life, by the flood, Jehovah, somewhat -like a conquering hero, returns to heaven. The war with the human race -being over, Divine vengeance is satisfied. No religious worship, that we -read of, was then known on the earth. But, behold! a new outbreak -occurs, that requires the immediate interference of the God of Israel. - -In Genesis, chapter xi., it is recorded, that the then inhabitants of -the earth began to build a tower, the top of which was to reach the -heavens, that they might make to themselves a great name, and be no more -scattered abroad on the earth. What crime it could be considered by -Jehovah, for men to unite in building a tower so lofty that the top -would reach the heavens, we know not. However ignorant the then -inhabitants of the earth were, the Lord knew that they could not annoy -him by the erection of a tower to any height they might be inclined to -raise it. The writer of the account makes it appear, that Jehovah became -uneasy at the progress the workmen were making, and at last could bear -it no longer; so he came down, as the term is, and confounded their -speech in such a manner that they could not understand each other. - -Can it be possible, for men who reflect at all, to believe such glaring -nonsense? The writers of the Bible have not only made a God unjust and -vengeful, but they have put into his head such foolish whims, as, that -after having destroyed a world by a deluge, the innocent with the -guilty, he came down from heaven to scare away carpenters and -bricklayers from their honest labor; and have made him virtually to -say--"Be off! Clear out! I will not permit you to hammer away here!" The -conduct of the Bible God towards the builders of Babel, and, in fact, -the whole of the then human family, seems to be like that of an -unfeeling father, who cares not for his children, and who is also -equally indifferent as to whether the human race worshipped him, or fell -down to worship stocks or stones; for, instead of ordering them to build -an altar to the true and living God, he ordered them off, to wander -abroad on the earth, and do the best they could. And here an opportunity -was lost of insuring their conversion; since, as they were all of one -language and speech, how easy to convert the whole race at once! Now, -here we may discover a _man-made God_. Sometimes he is all jealousy for -his own name--all fury against idolatry; at other times, he seems to -care but little for the happiness of his creatures, or the honor of his -name. After having compelled the builders of Babel to quit their -undertaking, Jehovah returns back to heaven; and from the silence of -Bible history, he does not appear to have superintended human affairs at -all, for hundreds of years after. And now, ye ministers of the Gospel of -grace, what have you to say in vindication of the very existence of such -a God? The origin of your God is of man's creation; he never had a real -existence. - -After an absence of many years, having given up, to all appearance, any -interest in human affairs, Jehovah turns his attention to Abram and his -family, and adopts them as his chosen people. And from this account, we -clearly discover the absurdity of believing the God of Abram to be the -universal sovereign; for, from the moment of the adoption of Abram and -his seed forever, from that very moment the family affairs of Abram, -Isaac and Jacob, seem to engross the attention of Jehovah; and, while I -am writing, I blush for shame at the credulity of mankind in professing -to believe such contemptible trash. What can be more weak and ridiculous -than to suppose that the Lord and two angels came to the tent of Abram, -and went through all the ceremonies of a pastoral visit,--such as -washing of feet and taking water until dinner was prepared, and that -while partaking of Abram's hospitality, they inquired for his wife, and -then renewed what before had been promised, namely--that Sarah, Abram's -wife, should have a son in her old age? - -One remarkable feature, throughout the whole of the Bible, presents -itself. It is this: that in every movement Jehovah makes among his -favorite people the Jews, and in all the correspondence he holds with -Abram and his seed, every thing is done by way of experiment on that -people; as if Jehovah did not know what would happen until he had gained -information by _actual experiment!_ In the case of the builders of the -Tower of Babel, it is said--"_And the Lord came down to see the city, -and the tower which the children of men builded._" And again--"_Go to, -let us go down, and there confound their language_." And also, in the -case of Sodom, the Lord told Abram concerning the cry of the wickedness -of the inhabitants of Sodom. The Lord said to Abram--"_I will go down -now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of -it, which is come unto me; if not, I will know._"--[Genesis xviii. 21.] -Abram, having heard of the intended destruction of the Sodomites, -remonstrates with Jehovah on the injustice of destroying the innocent -with the guilty. Then follows the pleading of Abram with the Lord, in -favor of Sodom; and from the willingness of the Lord to comply with the -request of Abram,--if the old patriarch had had the moral courage to -have gone on with one more request,--Sodom might have been saved. The -personage who communed with Abram is, by the inspired writer, called the -"_Judge of all the earth_." The same who had that day dined with Abram, -and to whom Abram said, "_Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto -the Lord, which am but dust and ashes_"! - -And now, patient reader, what have Christians to believe in reference to -this matter? Why, they must believe that the great immortal God came to -the earth from his Unknown abode, in the likeness of _man_, in company -with two angels; that he called on Abram, who was surrounded by his -flocks and herds, dwelling in a tent, perhaps inferior to our Indian -log-houses; that he, the Judge of all the earth, with two of his angels, -were (according to eastern hospitality) presented with water to drink, -and also, water to wash their feet--a practice most refreshing in a warm -climate. An invitation was given them to dine, which they accepted and -so particular is the narrative, that, what they had for dinner is -mentioned: the calf was instantly slain, and the baking commenced. - -And here we may inquire, whether or not this circumstance did really -take place, as it is recorded? If it did, then the believers in the -Bible, as a Divine Revelation, have to believe that the Great God of -all, the Universal Ruler of the Universe, came on earth to the tent of -Abram, in the form of a man, with two of the angelic host; and that they -_then and there_ had their feet washed, and sat down to a dinner of veal -and griddle cakes, and did eat thereof, and drink water. Now, if Moses, -or any other pretended inspired writer, wrote this, I ask, is not the -God of Abram a _man-made God?_ He is said to have feet that required -washing, and an appetite that required food. He had a mouth, teeth, and -also a stomach to receive food; and we may infer that he had hands, for -it is not recorded that Abram cut his victuals, or fed him or the angels -with a spoon. - -If the believers of the Bible consider that the foregoing account is -allegorical, and not to be considered as having really taken place, it -then follows that human redemption is allegorical, also; for the promise -made to Abram was, that _In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations -of the earth be blessed_. This promise included the mission of Jesus, -who was to save his people from their sins, and also to _heal the -nations, and to bring in everlasting righteousness_. Christians, then, -if they believe the Bible to be a Divine Revelation, must believe that -the Judge of the whole earth, while at dinner, in promising Abram a son, -included also, in that promise, the mission of Jesus, _the Saviour of -the world._ - -And here we may notice the views that Abram had of the Supreme Judge of -all. As he appeared to Abram in the form of a man, and as such was -treated by him, Abram brought forth water to wash the feet of the Lord, -and invited him to dine, which he did; which is proof positive that -Abram considered that the Lord was in the habit of taking refreshment, -such as eating and drinking, or he would never have thought of giving -the Lord such an invitation. If this account be true, the New Testament -must be false, when it declares that _no man hath seen God at any time, -and that none can see him and live_. But of Abram it is written, that he -saw the Lord, face to face, and also that they dined together; and, as -if to remove all doubt of its truth, it mentions what they dined on, -namely--veal and cakes. It therefore follows, that the account, as -recorded of the Lord's dining with Abram, must be taken in its plain and -literal sense; because it is connected with the destruction of Sodom and -Gomorrah, and also of Lot's wife being turned _into a pillar of salt_; -which account is referred to as having taken place, by the writers of -the New Testament. After the Lord and the two angels had retired from -dinner, the Lord informed Abram of his errand to the above cities; which -was, to find out whether their ill-fated inhabitants were as wicked as -they had been reported; as he (the Lord) was determined to know. It was -then that Abram began to plead with the Lord, and to show the injustice -of destroying the innocent with the guilty, as from the nature of the -crime for which the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were to be destroyed, -all the women and children were innocent. Abram, therefore, saw -immediately the horrid cruelty and injustice of such destruction as was -about to overtake the unfortunate inhabitants of Sodom. In the -discussion, Abram had the best of the argument, but his efforts were -unavailing. Fire came down from heaven, and they were burnt alive, -innocent and guilty together. - -From the account it appears, that after the Lord parted with Abram, he -also took his leave of the angels; and what became of the Lord, the -Bible is silent; but the angels, after having dined with Abram, took -supper with Lot. This Lot seems to be the only man in Sodom that was -worth saving; and he certainly acted very strange: for when his townsmen -insisted on knowing who the angels were, and on what business they came, -Lot offered to turn into the street his two innocent daughters, to be -dealt with according to the wishes of those vile wretches, if they would -but permit him to lodge and entertain the strangers. Certainly, the -morality of the Bible is most sublime, and the ways of the Jewish God -_past finding out!_ - -The case of Lot's wife is, to all appearance, very strange. Her crime of -looking back, would appear to us much less than that of her husband's in -turning his daughters into the street. The history of Lot winds up with -a strange account, and not very favorable to strict morality, -namely--the project of his daughters in making him drunk, and the -disgusting consequences that followed. Thus, it is clear, that Lot's -wife (bless the good old woman!) was the best, in a moral point of view, -in the whole family; and only for looking back on her beloved home, she -was treated like a dead sow, by being put into pickle. To conclude this -tirade of nonsense and folly, we will add--"_remember Lot's wife_." - -It appears from Bible history, that when Abram left his own country, he -was any thing but rich; and as his substance consisted in a few heads of -cattle, a famine soon overtook him as he journeyed, which induced him to -go down into Egypt, the then granary of the earth. To prevent any -unpleasant consequences that might result to Abram, because of the -beauty of Sarah, his wife, she was instructed to call her husband her -brother. It turned out as was expected, for she was recommended to -Pharaoh, and taken into the royal palace. Immediately, presents came -unto Abram in quick succession, consisting of "_sheep and oxen, and he -asses; men-servants and maidservants; and she asses and camels_." But -the Lord, ever watchful over Abram's affairs, troubled Pharaoh and his -house; and when Pharaoh discovered the cause of this evil, he -remonstrated with Abram for his duplicity, and returned his wife -undefiled. So kind, however, was the Lord to Abram, that the presents -were made before the cheat was discovered, and he came out of Egypt a -rich man. - -This may be said to be the beginning of Abram's good luck; and we may -suppose that in returning home to their old pasturage, Sarah would laugh -and exclaim--"See what it is to have a handsome wife!" Another famine -will make brother Abram and sister Sarah the richest couple in pastoral -life. - -In the course of events, Abram and Sarah had recourse again to the same -trick, on Abimelech, King of Gerar, which had been acted with so much -success in Egypt. Sarah, on account of her beauty, _at ninety years of -age_, was taken by the King; but the Lord, ever the guardian of Sarah's -virtue, came to Abimelech in a dream, and threatened him and all his -house with death, if Sarah was not given up to her lawful husband. The -King remonstrated with the Lord, and justified his conduct by declaring, -that both Abram and Sarah had deceived him; and said--"_In the integrity -of my hearty and innocency of hands, have I done this._" The Lord -replied--"_I know that you did it innocently, for I withheld thee from, -sinning against me; therefore, suffered I thee not to touch her._" -Again, as before, presents of cattle, men-servants, and maid-servants, -with a thousand pieces of silver into the bargain, were given to Abram, -with his wife, who is as chaste as morning dew. - -I have dwelt longer on this account than I at first intended, merely to -show the folly in believing that the Almighty Lord of all had any -concern in such contemptible fooleries as are recorded in the family -concerns of Abram. One thing, however, is omitted; and that is, the -quarrel between Sarah and Hagar. The tent or house became too hot to -hold those rival women; at last, Sarah triumphed by turning out Hagar -and her love-begotten child, which demanded the Lord's interference, and -gave poor Abram no small share of trouble. - -From the moment that Jehovah adopted the family of Abram, the Bible -account warrants us in supposing that the family concerns of that -patriarch particularly engaged the attention of Jehovah; since, for -every trifling concern that took place, the Lord was applied to in order -to settle the matter. Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau, when about -to become a mother, applied to the Lord for information respecting her -singular situation; and the Lord informed her that she would be the -mother of two celebrated nations, and satisfied her mind as to every -other inquiry she made. And here we may ask, how it was that the Lord, -in those days, was so easy of access? How every gossipping old woman -could lay her case before the Lord, and wait his advice and answer? The -reply is at hand. The whole account of the Lord's saying unto Abram, or -the Lord's saying unto Moses, and again, "_the word of the Lord came -unto Moses, saying,"_ is all humbug: no such word ever came; no such -conversation ever took place. - -Whoever wrote the Book of Genesis, has placed Jehovah in an immoral -point of view; as keeping company with unprincipled knaves, and as -acting without any regard to the strict rules of justice and mercy; as -having a system of favoritism, which does not admit of administering -impartial justice. The case of Jacob and Esau is directly opposed to -truth and impartiality. Esau was, in a moral point of view, evidently -the best of the two; but Jacob was Jehovah's choice. Esau, according to -Bible history, was a hardy, industrious, and generous man. Jacob, on the -other hand, was his mother's pet; and the deception which he and his -mother played on old Isaac, who was blind, is in strict accordance with -the conduct of all the Lord's favorites. Jacob, according to Bible -history, was, through his whole life, full of deception and trickery. He -could lie and take a false oath to deceive his blind father; and by -deceit, deprive his brother Esau of his lawful right of inheritance. And -yet the Lord was with him, and connived at all his baseness! - -But Jacob, conscious of his wickedness, and justly deserving his -brother's resentment, fled to his uncle for protection. On his way, the -Lord appeared to him in visions; and, notwithstanding his lying and -false swearing to his father, promised him divine assistance. Jacob -still acted in the same crafty manner, even with the Lord himself; -always having his own self-interest in view; for, after the Lord had -said, Genesis xxvii., 15, "_And behold, I am with thee, and will keep -thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into -this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have -spoken to thee of_"--even after this promise from the Lord, in verse 20 -it is said--"And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, if God will be with me, and -will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and -raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, -*then shall the Lord be my God*." - -Well done, Jacob! that is making a good Jew bargain. Jehovah and Jacob -both kept their word; for Jacob married his two cousins, the daughters -of his uncle Laban, and staid with him until he, by the help of the -Lord, contrived to jockey old Laban out of the best of his cattle, and -ran away back to his own father's house, taking with him, by stealth, -the gods of Laban his father. Thus did Jacob not only triumph over the -heathen gods, by carrying them off captive, but continued to adhere to -Jehovah, his own God, who did not desert him in his recreant tricks. It -is not to be wondered that the sons of Jacob should be so base in their -actions, after the example of their father; and considering what a mixed -breed they were, having so many mothers. Their conduct towards their -brother Joseph is a sample of their actions; and although Bible history -records the good fortune of Joseph, he, among the rest of his brethren, -acted the tyrant as soon as power would permit him so to do. - -This chapter will conclude with a few remarks on the life of Joseph, and -his career in Egypt. The fame and good fortune of Joseph, depended on -his gift of interpreting _dreams_, which finally made him, under -Pharaoh, _Lord of the land_; and according to his predictions, _seven -years of famine were to succeed seven years of plenty_; by which, Joseph -planned the entire subjugation of Egypt. He, by the authority of -Pharaoh, bought up all the grain left of the seven years' plenty; and -when the famine came, the grain was sold to the inhabitants at the price -that Joseph was pleased to put upon it. But the famine continued so long -that all the money was spent. The poor, half-starved people told Joseph -their situation, and offered their cattle in exchange for grain; the -cattle were taken by him; at last, all their cattle disappeared, and the -people continued in want; then, offer was made of their lands, which -Joseph also took; and with their lands, themselves; so the government -took all. But after the famine, Joseph proposed to furnish them with -seed wherewith to sow their fields, on condition that, ever after, -Pharaoh was to have one-fifth of the yearly produce. How kind of Joseph! -Now, if the Bible be true concerning this matter, I ask, could anything -be more unjust and cruel? - - - - -CHAPTER IV. FROM THE BIRTH OF MOSES TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA - - -THIS chapter will put beyond dispute all connection between the Jehovah -of Moses and the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe. Whoever drew the -picture of Jehovah, as it is recorded in the Bible, made him, in every -sense of the word, a mere man; and put him under the same necessity of -re-sorting to means for obtaining information, when the subject of -inquiry is involved in doubt. For instance: Jehovah informs Abram that -the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were reported to be wicked in the -extreme; and that he (the Lord) came down to get information on that -subject. Again, when the builders of Babel were about to commence their -lofty tower, the Lord came down to see what they were doing; and, not -being pleased with their intentions, put a stop to the work, and -performed a miracle, whereby they were driven abroad on the face of the -earth. Besides, the Lord's coming from a certain place to another place -for information, implies that, without such movement, the information -sought for could not be obtained. These instances, and hundreds of -others of the same kind, imply also that the Jewish God had a local -habitation. Again, to say that the Lord came to a place, staid there, -and then returned back again,--these are movements which are common with -men, but cannot be applied to the omnipresent God. The free access that -Moses and the Old Testament prophets had to their God will warrant the -idea that he resided next door to them, and that the Lord was obedient -to their every call. - -The children of Israel, after the death of Joseph, began to multiply so -fast that the Egyptians feared for their own safety in the event of a -war with other nations; and in consequence, ordered the mid wives to -destroy all the male children, but to save the females alive. But Moses -was saved, according to the Bible, in consequence of Pharaoh's daughter -discovering him in the river; and when he came to maturity, the Lord -selected him to go to Egypt to demand of Pharaoh, the king, to let the -Israelites go out from that state of bondage in which, for four hundred -years, they had been held. - -The departure of Moses from Egypt was not very honorable for a future -ambassador; for before his departure he murdered a man, and buried him. -To escape justice, he then fled to Midian, and became acquainted with a -pagan priest, who took him into his house, and ultimately gave him one -of his daughters in marriage, and he became his father-in-law's -shepherd; and the Lord made himself known to Moses. It was while tending -the flocks that he was chosen go to Egypt to demand the release of his -brethren, then in cruel bondage. After the Lord had given him his -instructions, and, to all appearance, Moses had started on his mission, -a remarkable circumstance took place, that must puzzle Bible -commentators to explain. It is recorded in Exodus iv., 24, "_And it came -to pass, by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him and sought to kill -him._" This meeting appears to have been accidental, for no mention is -made of the business of either of them. Here, again, we observe that the -writer, whoever he was, has spoken of the Lord as a man. It is not -possible for men of sound understandings to conceive of the reality of -the Lord's meeting Moses at an inn, if by the Lord, We understand the -Almighty Power that governs all Worlds. - -On the account as it stands recorded, and as Christians take it as -really having happened, the following remarks may reasonably be made, -namely: that after Moses had been ordered to proceed to Egypt on his -important mission, he loitered his time away in a tavern; and that the -Lord surprised him in that place, and showed anger for his contempt of -orders, given to and accepted by him. But the cause of a meeting so -extraordinary, it is difficult to unravel. It is easily conceived why -Moses might visit a tavern; but that the Lord of heaven and earth should -follow a creature into a pot-house, and show signs of anger, and a -quarrel should be the result, is very hard to believe; for it said, the -"_Lord sought to kill him_." Again, if the Lord sought to kill him, it -must be in appearance only, for he could have done it. However, Moses -started off. - -The account warrants us in supposing, that Moses had staid in the inn -long enough for his wife to overtake him, and to upbraid him with -neglect. Something is said about his son's being uncircumcised; and -taking a sharp stone, she performed that operation with a very clumsy -instrument; after which, she exclaimed, in an angry tone, "_A bloody -husband thou art, because of the circumcision_;" as if she meant to -say--"Shame on you! to leave it to me to do that which is so revolting -to my feelings!" Moses then departed for Egypt, and obeyed the Lord in -his journey to his brethren. - -We can discover neither justice nor humanity in the course that was -taken by the God of Israel, in bringing the Jews out of bondage. On the -contrary, the greatest inhumanity and injustice are discoverable in -every movement that Moses made under the authority of the Lord; which -fully proves, that Infinite Wisdom and Goodness had nothing to do in the -mighty fuss of liberating the seed of Abram from bondage. The plagues -that were inflicted on the inhabitants of Egypt, if true, make the -conduct of Jehovah more vindictive than any thing we have heard of as -proceeding from the Devil himself for the Lord had told Moses -beforehand, that he had hardened Pharaoh's heart that the people might -know the power of the Hebrew God to afflict the nation. It might have -been sport to the man made God of Moses, but not very pleasant and -comfortable to the Egyptians, to be lousy, to be stunk to death with -putrid carcasses, having frogs for bed-mates, when the Lord had hardened -the King's heart. But the worst and most infamous of all the judgments, -was the destruction of the first-born. This act would have disgraced the -very devil: to institute the Feast of the Passover. - -We may indulge in a little mirth in reference to the destroying angel -going round the streets, finding out the doors marked with the blood of -your paschal lamb, and taking care not to wring the neck of a little -Hebrew. Wonder if the destroying angel had a lantern? But, perhaps, he -had cat's eyes, and could see as well by night as at noon-day! No -wonder, ye Jews, that the inhabitants of Egypt so willingly gave you -their gold and silver ornaments to get rid of a people so detestable, -and, with them, a more detestable God. - -In a short time after the Jews had left the house of bondage, they began -to upbraid Moses that they had changed for the worse; and in the course -of their journeying, they quarrelled with him, and the Lord had -continually to interfere, and to feed them by miracles. At Mount Sinai, -Moses halted; and, according to the command of the Lord, the law was -given to the nation, as recorded in Exodus, chapter xx. And this boasted -law is said to have been given by the Lord, in the hearing of all the -Children of Israel. The first commandment contains a spirit of -intolerance, which, whether he gave it or not, has never failed to -generate in Jews and Christians a spirit of religious persecution which -has deluged the earth with blood. - -The ten commandments, given by Moses to the Children of Israel, contain, -in general, good moral precepts, with the exception of the first. The -first begins by the Lord's speaking in a language which all the people -could understand:--"_I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out -of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no -other Gods before me._" This command, which by both Jews and Christians -is considered so just and reasonable, contains in it the germ of -intolerance. Had this command been given immediately after the recorded -fall of Adam, its influence would have had a very different bearing on -the peace and happiness of society, than it had at the time, and has had -ever since it was given. It would have been both just and right in the -Lord of all to demand of his creatures to worship him, and him alone, in -the way and manner he saw fit; since in that case, no evil consequences -could have followed from a command so just and proper, as for the -creature to obey his Creator. - -But at the time the Lord gave the first commandment, the whole world -were in the practice of worshipping the gods of their forefathers: the -origin of which worship was then lost, and the worshippers were no doubt -as sincere in their devotion as the most pious Jew or Christian of the -present day. By the publication, then, of the first commandment, at a -time when every nation had its particular god, and the worshippers lived -in peace, the spirit of intolerance and religious persecution being -unknown, the great I am declared a religious war against all the gods, -and their worshippers on the face of the earth. But according to Bible -history, Jehovah permitted his creatures to wander on earth, and -appeared regardless as to what gods were worshipped; and then, after -some thousand years, he all at once began to rage against all the -religious systems then known. - -But it was otherwise with what are called heathen nations. Each had its -peculiar god, and also its different forms of worship; and they lived -happily with each other on the score of theology. And here we may -observe, how unfortunate it has been for the human race, that the Lord -did not either give his law sooner, or not at all; for it is plainly to -be seen, that if the first commandment had been given by the Lord before -men had followed other gods, idolatry would have been prevented, and -Jehovah's watchfulness over the worship he had established, would have -been productive of universal happiness. But, on the contrary, the -command being given so long after, and that, too, when religious systems -were flourishing, and temples crowded with devout worshippers, the worst -consequences have followed. - -The worshippers of Jehovah, whether Jews or Christians, have, by the -Bible itself, become intolerant and persecuting; and never have they -failed, when power would admit, to destroy the enemies of their God -without mercy: so that the first commandment, by coming too late, has -proved the greatest curse that ever afflicted the human family. And -hence the folly in believing that Infinite Wisdom and Goodness would -permit false religion to progress so long before the true one was made -known to the human race. After the moral law, or the ten commandments, -had been given by the Jewish God, on the mount, amid thunder and -lightning, we have it recorded that Moses was ordered to go up to the -top of the mount, and there, with the Lord, he staid forty days and -nights; during which time Aaron, his brother, remained with the whole of -the Children of Israel in camp, at the foot of Mount Sinai. - -And now, candid reader, prepare your mind for an account of what took -place on the mount, between Jehovah and Moses; and when you have read -it, and maturely reflected on what is recorded, then I say, ask yourself -whether there is one word of truth in the account of this strange -interview between Moses and his God? Compare it with any of the -absurdities to be found in the _Koran_ of Mahomet, and discover, if you -can, whether the latter is less true than the former. - -The Bible record states, that Moses was ordered to ascend the mount, on -private business with the Lord, and to leave Aaron in charge of his -chosen people till his return. The account clearly states, that Moses -was then and there to receive instruction how to fit up and ornament the -Tabernacle that was to accompany the Children of Israel in their journey -to the promised land. And here we may notice, "_That in six days the -Lord made heaven and earth, and all things therein_"; yet it required -forty days to plan and fit up this moveable church; and before it was -finished, the chosen people, with Aaron at their head, became idolators; -so that before the Lord and Moses (both hard at work) had completed the -church, they lost the congregation. This, to make the best of it, was a -dreadful blunder. - -After the forty days had run out, during which time Moses and his God -were hard at work, and Moses had often received the precaution, "_See -that you make all things according to the pattern given on the -mount,_"--all at once, the Lord said to Moses, "Do you know what is -going on below?" Poor Moses, full of thought, and over-joyed at the -prospect of so fine a fit-out, was altogether ignorant of the Lord's -meaning. "Why, Moses, that stubborn race you brought out of Egypt, have -set up strange gods, and have turned their backs on both you and me"! If -this story was strictly true, how Moses must feel on hearing this -unfortunate news! We must suppose he would exclaim and say, "Oh! Lord, -our forty days' labor is all knocked on the head. Is it possible, Oh! -Lord, that they have forgotten what you did for them in Egypt? What a -pity it is, Oh! Lord, that they ever got rid of the lice when they left -the house of bondage, for if they were now tormented by those nibblers, -it would remind them of the lousy miracle you performed for them in the -presence of Pharaoh. Those lice, if not destroyed, would have been 'a -forget-me-not.'" And the Lord said unto Moses, "Now let me alone, that -my wrath may wax hot against this people, for I know that they are a -stiff-necked race. I will destroy them, and from you shall a great -nation spring up." But Moses, not having at this time lost his temper, -said, "Oh! Lord God, now do not destroy them; besides, what will the -Egyptians say? And also remember what you promised to Abram, Isaac, and -Jacob: how you swore that you would give it to Abram and his seed -forever." "Well, Moses, you reason correctly. I own I was rather too -hasty; upon a second thought, I retract; I will take your advice; but go -down and see what you can make of them." - -Moses, not well pleased, left the Lord, and went down from the mount; -and when he came to the camp, he lost all patience, and, in a passion, -not knowing what he did, threw down the stones on which were written the -commandments--and written, too, with the finger of God--and they were -broken asunder. No wonder that Moses lost his temper: forty days' labor -lost; having had, during the whole time, nothing to eat; and having lost -his church members before the moveable church was complete! No one can -be surprised that he acted as he did. Moses reasoned so correctly with -the Lord, that he cooled Jehovah down, but was not so fortunate with -himself. - -Aaron, finding himself in a dilemma, excused himself by charging the -people with the fault. But Aaron's story was but a lame tale; for, when -the people demanded a god, to whom they might pay divine honors, Aaron -could have told them to have patience, and Moses would return with -proper instructions from their God. But poor, silly Aaron told Moses, -that when he threw the rings and bracelets into the fire, out came the -calf. At any rate, between the Lord, Moses, and Aaron, a sad blunder was -made; and to finish off, Moses commanded the Levites to go sword in hand -and kill every man his brother and neighbor; and three thousand were -slain, who, if things had been conducted properly, might have been -faithful worshippers of Jehovah. Finally, nothing can exceed in folly -this foolish story of Jehovah, Moses, and Aaron, except it be the folly -of believing it to contain one word of truth. - -After Moses had slain the people for their idolatry, not having been -reproved by the Lord, he was commanded to prepare two tables of stone, -in place of those that were broken, and the next morning to go up again -to the Lord, on the mount. It is then said that the Lord descended on -the mount to meet Moses; so it appears that the Lord (after the -departure of Moses to the bottom of the mount) departed also, into -heaven or to some unknown place; for it is recorded that he came down -again to meet Moses with the two new tables prepared by him. The whole -account of the Lord's interview with Moses, on the mount, implies that -Jehovah labored, talked, and acted in concert with Moses, as one man -acts with another; and that they remained together forty days and as -many nights. Whether they continued their work through the night, we -have no account; nor whether they needed candles. At all events, if it -be considered literally as a matter of fact, it was a long time for -Moses to be without food or sleep; but as Christians are compelled to -believe it to be matter of fact, we will remark on it as such. - -We begin, then, by asking if the Children of Israel were indeed the -Lord's chosen people, how can we account for the neglect in not giving -Aaron proper instruction respecting the business of Moses on the mount, -so as to prevent the people from seeking after other gods? And, also, -how came it to pass that the Lord did not inform Moses sooner of the -people's revolt, so that the three thousand that Moses caused to be -murdered, might have been saved? And lastly, is it consistent with the -attributes of the Governor of the Universe to resolve, in wrath, to do -any thing, and then repent and not perform it? - -If nothing had been recorded in the Old Testament of the sayings and -doings of the Jewish God, but that which is related concerning him in -giving the law on Mount Sinai, and of his giving instruction to Moses -how to fit out the Tabernacle, it is of itself sufficient to show the -absurdity of Jehovah's being the God of Nature. To unite in one person -the attributes of the great and all-powerful God, with the contemptible -arrangement of giving patterns for curtains, and a thousand trifling -things of no importance whatever, and to take forty days to garnish his -church, and, while so doing, to let, from sheer neglect, his people lose -sight of Moses, and then to destroy three thousand persons in -consequence of such want of foresight, is too much for credulity to -digest. - -When we notice the importance attached to rites and ceremonies the most -unimportant, and then again how lavish the Jewish God is of human life, -and totally regardless of human suffering, we dare not for a moment give -credence to the strange stories and foolish whims of the Bible God, and -palm them upon the all-bountiful Author of Nature. Moses, after coming -down the last time from the mount, begins to prepare for the priesthood, -by saying, that the firstlings of cattle, whether of the ox, or the -sheep which are of the male kind, belong to the Lord; but the firstling -of the ass was to be redeemed by substituting a lamb! But if the owner -had no lamb to offer, the neck of the ass was to be broken; as if the -Lord had said--if you have nothing better to give, I will not accept of -a young jack-ass! - -Whoever wrote the Book of Exodus, has made the God of Israel appear like -unto an old clothes-man, giving orders for a thousand ornaments for his -worship, which would disgrace a heathen temple; such as giving orders -for all kinds of brass work; likewise, gold and silver ornaments; all -kinds of oils and spices; particular patterns of cabinet work; what kind -of leather skins, and, also, of what particular color, to grace his -house withal: and even down to the cut and color of the garments: not -forgetting to give instruction concerning the making of breeches for -Aaron and his sons! In the present day, it is no uncommon thing for -ladies to wear the breeches; but in those days, when breeches were cut -by inspiration, it would have been no small crime for a woman to have -stepped into Aaron's inexpressibles, or those of his sons. How is the -dignity of the Governor of the World disgraced, by ascribing to him an -employment fitting only for a pedler in old clothes! - -Let' us compare the majestic grandeur of Jupiter, the supreme god of the -Greeks, to the peddling, gossipping concerns that the writers of the Old -Testament have palmed on Jehovah, the God of the Jews! Hear what the -poet says of Jupiter, when challenging all the gods to oppose his -power:--: - - "Let down our golden, everlasting chain, - Whose strong embrace holds heaven and earth and main; - Strive all, of mortal or immortal birth, - By this to drag the thunderer down to earth; - Ye strive in vain; if I but lift this hand, - I heave the heaven, the ocean, and the land; - 'T is thus I reign, supremely and above; - Such are men and gods compar'd to Jove!" - -The contradictions, as recorded in the Bible, concerning Jehovah, are so -barefaced, that it is impossible to reconcile them. It is said in many -parts of the Old, and also in the New Testament, that no man can see God -and live; but we are told that Moses conversed with Jehovah, face to -face, as one conversing with his friend. It is in many places recorded -that God never repents--"_For he (God) cannot lie nor repent_." In many -other places it is recorded that Jehovah has repented and taken a -contrary course in his dealings with the sons of men. I again repeat, -that if no other account had been recorded of the conduct of the Jewish -God, but what we have mentioned, it is impossible to believe Jehovah to -be any thing but a _man-made God._ - -After the death of Moses, Joshua was appointed as his successor. His -business was to complete what Moses had left undone, in subjugating or -destroying the nations on the other side of Jordan. The first exploit of -Joshua was to send spies to Jericho to examine the strength of the city. -These spies entered the house of Rahab, the harlot, where they were -treated with kindness; it being such a house as would in modern times be -termed a house of _bad fame_. That it was a house of ill-fame, the proof -is positive; because the harlot's father, mother, and all the family, -were saved when Joshua took the city, because Rahab had concealed the -spies: so no doubt remains as to the character of the house, and that it -was entirely under her control and that the whole family were supported -from the wages of prostitution. - -Viewing this account as having actually taken place, as Christians must -do, as believers in the Bible, it was a very proper house at which the -spies would resort; for it was a house at which all were welcome; where -all sorts of news could be collected. After the spies had become -somewhat familiar with Mrs. Rahab, they informed her who they were, and -the nature of their errand. All on a sudden, they were about to be -arrested by the city authorities; and when forced to depart, Rahab -extorted a promise from the spies that her whole family should be saved -when Jericho should fall. Such a promise, the spies could not well deny, -after having been so kindly treated. Rahab, consequently, let them out -by a private way; and, on returning to Joshua, they praised the Lord for -having directed them to so hospitable and honorable a mansion as the -house of the virtuous Rahab. This was the Lord's doings, as also the -exploit of the seven rams'-horn trumpets that threw down the walls of -Jericho; and it is marvellous in our eyes--_praised be his name!_ - -Here, serious reader, pause and wonder how Infinite Wisdom can bring -good out of apparent evil, by taking into his employment murderers, -thieves, and harlots! and also, how such characters have immortalized -their names, when their actions have been connected with faith in the -Jehovah of Israel! For this noble act of betraying the city of Jericho, -and giving the spies comfortable lodging, and no doubt, also, very -agreeable bedmates, Rahab secured the favor of Jehovah, and her name is -recorded in connection with many others of equal virtue; for Paul says, -in Hebrews xi., 31,--"_By faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them -that believed not, when she had received the spies in peace._" Nothing -is acceptable to the Lord, without faith,--that faith "which keeps the -souls of sinners as sweet as salt does meat." - -After the taking of Jericho and destroying every thing that had life, -(the family of Rahab excepted,) Joshua followed in the same destructive -course as had been commanded by Moses, which command Jehovah gave on the -other side of Jordan. If the warfare pursued by Moses and Joshua did -really take place, and Jehovah gave the orders, it is idle prate to talk -of a God of justice. And when the Lord is made to say that _he (the -Lord) hardened the hearts of those Kings on either side of Jordan_, that -a plausible appearance of justice in their destruction might be made -out,--for Christians to sing of a God of mercy, is horrible indeed. -Whether a God ever commanded or encouraged the Jews in their wars of -extermination, under Moses, Joshua, or any other of their generals, or -not, Christian nations, as well as individuals, have drank deep of the -spirit of religious warfare. A Lord of hosts, a fighting God, has given -a sort of license to mortals to torment each other for his glory. - -Every Infidel ought to oppose this spirit, and vindicate the Author of -Nature from the imputation of cruelty and carnage--an imputation that, -is opposed to every idea of justice, and contrary to every thing we can -conceive of the Supreme Ruler of all worlds. And hence, nothing can be -more honorable to a man or woman of good sense and kindness of heart, -than to assert that the God of the Bible is unworthy to be worshipped as -the Governor of the Universe; which in fact is to say, that to all -pretended divine revelations, they are no less than avowed Infidels--a -name that will eventually be as honorable as is now the name of -Christian. - -According to Bible history, the nations on the other side of Jordan were -so alarmed at the frightful news they received of the Jewish army, and -the ravages they committed, that five Kings, with their armies, came out -to stop their progress; and in this account, we have the climax of -divine interference on the part of Jehovah. After a desperate effort was -made by the five Kings to stop the progress of Joshua, and after -fighting the whole day, until _towards the going down of the sun_, they -retreated. At that moment Jehovah is said to have given support to his -chosen people, by causing a hail-storm to descend, and more were slain -by the hail than fell by the sword. But when the hail was exhausted, -something more was requisite to be done; Divine aid was still wanting. -Then Joshua, in sight of his army, said, "_Sun stand thou still upon -Gibeon, and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon_," and they obeyed his -command. So that, according to this miracle, the hostile armies were -completely destroyed, and the sun and moon (we suppose) were ordered to -pursue their courses. - -And now, reader, to believe this improbable, or rather impossible tale, -and hundreds of others of the same sort, even in our day, will make a -man respectable, and fit to fill any office where intelligence and -honesty are required. But to doubt it, and publicly express the doubt, -will cause him to be considered infamous, and unfit for "public trust or -private care." And this will be the case until men shall be bold enough -to express their honest convictions that it is a libel to charge the -Sovereign Ruler of the Universe with being the direct, or the indirect, -author of the Bible, or having ever chosen the Jews to be his peculiar -people. - -But to return to Joshua, who appears to be more highly favored with -miracles than Moses, as the miracle of the sun and moon standing still, -to give time to Joshua to complete his victory over the Kings that came -against him, exceeds every thing of the kind on record. The writer, -whoever he was, that mentions the sun and moon standing still in the -heavens, evidently knew nothing of astronomy; for admitting the truth of -the story, and that the sun and moon appeared to stand fixed in the -heavens, it was in reality the earth that instantly obeyed the command -of Joshua. And another miracle must have followed immediately, to -prevent the dreadful consequences of the earth's ceasing from turning -round on its axis: for we have but to consider the effects of the -earth's instantly ceasing to turn round; the shock would have been so -great that trees and houses and the armies would have been thrown high -in the air, and the battle would have immediately ended, the combatants -being destroyed. But the tale is too foolish to be credited; and it -furnishes another proof that the Jehovah of the Jews is not the Author -of Nature. In this battle, Balaam, the soothsayer, was slain; and before -finishing this chapter, we will give the account as recorded, with some -remarks on that celebrated fortune-teller. - -When the Children of Israel had left Egypt, and were marching to the -land of promise, they had to go through different kingdoms and -provinces; and their numbers, connected with the depredations they -committed in the name of Jehovah, caused the inhabitants of those -regions to be greatly alarmed; and understanding that their God fought -for them and that they were about to pass through the land of Moab, -Balak, King of Moab, having learned what had been done by them to the -Amorites, sent to Balaam to consult with him, intending, if possible, to -stop their progress, or at least, to find out what the Jewish God had -destined his people to perform. - -In the Book of Numbers, chapter xxii., the account commences. Balaam, it -appears, was then what now would be called a celebrated conjuror, or, as -country people say, a _cunning man_, by which he made a living, and a -good one, too: for, from the Bible story, he appears to be a man well -known by princes, and was attended by two servants as out-riders. Like -our present lawyers, he never gave his services until he had received a -handsome fee; for the King sent off the elders to Balaam, with the -rewards of "_divination in their hand._" Balaam received them, and -invited them to stay with him till the next day, for, (as he told them,) -he would first inquire of the Lord. - -It is then recorded, that "_God came unto Balaam, and said, what men are -those with thee?_" This inquiry of the Jewish God appears strange, when -he must have known all about it without asking; but here, as in hundreds -of other passages, the _man-made God_ appears. But, for the information -of the Lord, Balaam gives a suitable answer. The Lord then informs the -fortune-teller that he must not go to Balak, _nor curse them, for they -are blessed_. The elders then returned to the King, to inform him that -Balaam could not come, because the God of Israel had forbid him so to -do. Again, Balak sent others, more honorable than the first, with -promises of riches and honor. The Lord came again to Balaam, and told -him to go with the men to Balak, King of the Moabites, but to mind what -the Lord had said to him. Balaam went off with the princes of Moab; but -the Devil, or something else, got into the jack-ass on which the old -fortune-teller rode, and he became skittish; and although then dumb, he -seemed to say to his master, "I shall go no further." Balaam became -enraged, and laid some heavy stripes on poor jack; but still the animal -refused to go on, until neither the Lord nor jack could bear it any -longer. The beast then broke silence, and reasoned with the old prophet -on his brutality. All of a sudden, Balaam saw an angel with a drawn -sword in his hand, who told him if it had not been for jack's superior -eye-sight, he would have been a dead man. The angel then told Balaam to -go on, but to mind what he did against Israel. What contemptible humbug -is all this! two miracles performed to do nothing! The first, to send an -angel down from nobody knows where; and the second, to make a dumb ass -reprove his owner. And what was Balaam's fault? He was going on as the -Lord commanded; and to complete this solemn farce, an apostle quotes it -as a real fact that actually took place, by saying--"And the dumb ass -spake with man's voice, and forbade the madness of the prophet." - -After returning to Balak, Balaam ordered seven altars to be built, on -which were to be offered seven bullocks and seven rams: and again, the -Lord came to see the process, and in private conversation with the -fortune-teller, told him that it would not answer; Israel must not be -cursed. This was repeated by Balaam three times; so that twenty-one -bullocks, and as many rams, were offered up to no purpose: and at each -offering, the Lord came down and conversed in private with Balaam. Is it -possible that men possessed of reason can believe that in this account -there is one word of truth, as it respects the Governor of the Universe -having any thing to do with it? If this account, or any one like it, was -recorded in any other book than the Bible, no man of a sound mind would -give the least credit to it. But yet the Christian dares not doubt it; -for even the apostles of Jesus speak of it as a real fact that took -place with the miracles attending it. - -To conclude this chapter of absurdities, we beg the reader to bear in -mind--first, that Balaam was not a prophet of Jehovah, but a conjuror; -and if he professed any religion, it was that of heathenism. But he -(Balaam) had heard of the manner of sacrificing to the Jewish God, and -accordingly began by slaying seven bullocks and an equal number of rams; -and while the altars were smoking, (if the Bible be true,) the Lord of -the whole earth left his throne, and came down to see what was going on. -The old fortune-teller was hard at work, and the princes of Moab -standing by to hear the result; when lo, and behold! the Lord descends, -and we may suppose him to say--"Balaam! why, you are cooking for a large -party! Come, Balaam, before you go any further, a word with you, if you -please. Come this way. What does all this mean? We must have some -private talk about this affair." "Why, my Lord, you know my business. I -must do all I can for my employers; I thought that if sacrifice is made, -agreeably to your order of worship, you might be induced to alter your -mind towards your people: for we have heard that at times, when the fit -comes on, you give them a severe thrashing." "Yes, Balaam, there is some -truth in the report; but I tell you, once for all, that if you offer all -the bullocks in the world, and all the rams beside, you cannot, must -not, curse Israel." - -No lawyer ever stuck closer to a rich client than did Balaam to the King -of Moab; for again and again did he sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts. -Another trial, on a mountain, was made, and again Jehovah descends and -tells Balaam the same as before. The third and last effort being made, -which would incline us to think that the patience of Heaven must have -been tired out, was enough to make the doorkeeper exclaim, "Here is -Monsieur Tonson come again!" The last descent is made by the Lord, and -the prophet gives in, reluctantly. I challenge any minister of the -gospel to produce a more absurd story, in any system of theology, than -the account of Balaam, his ass, and the Lord of Hosts. - -I will not insult the reader by saying, _do not believe it;_ but rather -say, _believe it who can!_ - - - - -CHAPTER V. FROM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA TO THE REIGN OF SAUL - - -WE now come to the time when the Israelites were settled in the land of -Canaan, Moses and Joshua being dead. This period of Bible history, from -the death of Joshua to the time of Saul, their first King, is about four -hundred years. And, seeing the miracles and wonders performed in behalf -of God's chosen people, in the times of Moses and Joshua, we might -reasonably expect that the same care would be continued towards them in -succeeding generations. But, on the contrary, during the time the -different Judges presided over them, nothing but disasters and confusion -prevailed; and if their history is to be credited, it must appear as if -Jehovah had nearly given them up as a prey to his and their enemies. - -Notwithstanding all that has been said and written about Moses being the -author of the first five Books, including the Jewish worship, with the -laws, ceremonial and moral, it does not appear that the contents of -those Books were known and obeyed by the generations that followed after -his death; for it is recorded in the Book of Judges, ii., 10, that after -the death of Joshua, "_there arose another generation after them; which -knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel_." If -the mighty works had been done in behalf of God's chosen people, which -are recorded, it is impossible to believe that they should have been -forgotten or disregarded. Can we suppose, that, in a few years, the -Declaration of our Independence on the 4th of July, 1776, together with -the name of *Washington*, and the heroism of his brave companions in -arms, can be forgotten? No; it is impossible. It is then clear, that the -Books said to have been written by Moses were not known; or if known, -they were not believed in by the people. - -After the land of promise had been divided among the tribes of Israel, -instead of Jehovah's setting up some permanent form of government, and -causing his name to be adored, so as to make his chosen people happy and -prosperous, they were, to all appearance, left in the most confused and -unsettled state: and hence it is often said, "_In those days there was -no King in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own -eyes._" It is not too much to infer, that for hundreds of years after -the death of Moses and Joshua, the Jewish God, as if he had forgotten -his engagements with Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, concerning their -posterity, became indifferent to their happiness altogether. - -We will now refer to their situation. As it respects government, they -had none; it was accidental; and, although it is recorded that their God -fought for them, and caused both sun and moon (as the phrase is) to -stand still, to give them time to destroy their enemies, Jehovah's -conduct was so altered that he seemed to enjoy the troubles of his once -chosen people. With all these facts, Christian ministers prate of an -unchangeable God! We read of Jehovah's stirring up heathen Kings against -his people; and to such a deplorable state were they reduced, that an -old woman was their Chief-Justice, and also General of their army. At -that time, to say the least of it, no nation under heaven was in so -degraded a state. At times, upstart Judges arose; the Lord was with -them; and, for a while, all things appeared prosperous. At their death, -however, the troubles were renewed. Such was their situation at one -time, that they had no weapons of war, nor smiths to repair their -ploughs or harrows. Then they _cried unto the Lord_, and he sanctioned -them in every dishonorable way to out-wit or murder their oppressors. - -In such a state of subjugation were the tribes to their foes when Saul -was made King, that only two swords could be found in Israel; and the -"_Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share -and his coulter, and his axe and his mattock._" What folly, then, to -suppose, that after all that had been done for God's favorite people, -they should have been so neglected, and there should be nothing but -slaughter and blood throughout the land of promise! What madness, to -believe that the Author of the Universe should permit such carnage, and -his whole attention seem to be directed to the foolish quarrels of an -unfortunate race, who, by some imposture, had been taught to consider -their nation as his peculiar choice! - -And as to their religion, by what is recorded, it seems that their -proneness to worship the gods of their neighbors, is what brought on the -chastisements of Heaven. This is but a poor excuse, and dishonorable to -the God of the Universe, to urge on nations to make war on his people, -because he was displeased with them for worshipping strange gods. It -appears strange, _passing strange_, that Jehovah could not convert his -own people. But only substitute the term _Priest,_ instead of the -_Lord,_ and reject altogether the idea of God's having any thing to do -with their theology, and the matter is plain and clear. Admitting, -however, that the Lord of Hosts had so rebellious a race, and was a -spectator of all their departures from his laws, he must be as great a -sufferer as the Jews, because he was forever punishing; for, if anger is -to a God a punishment equal to what human beings feel under its -influence, then it follows that the God of the Jews is the greatest -sufferer. Oh! ye ministers of grace you have preached up an angry God -until you have brutalized the human race; and your intolerant spirit has -ever been, and will ever continue to be, a _burning coal_ taken from the -altar of an angry, vengeful God, to be rekindled when power is united to -your impositions. - -That the reader may form correct ideas of the Lord's fighting for -Israel, and delivering their enemies into their hands, and also of the -Lord's giving the land or towns to his favorite people that they had -taken in war, it should be observed, that it was the manner of -expressing the results of a victory among the Jews, and also with other -nations. They all claimed for themselves the interference of their -respective gods, and to them they gave sacrifice and thanks. As a key, -to understand how God fought for his favorite people, it is recorded in -Judges i., 19, "_And the Lord was with Judah, and he drove out the -inhabitants of the mountain, but could not drive out the inhabitants of -the valley because they had chariots of iron,_" The same idea is to be -carried out in explaining such passages as the following:--"_And the -angel of the Lord appeared to [such an one] in a dream"---"Thus saith -the Lord," &c._ - -Now, all that can be made of this is, that the person mentioned, dreamed -that he saw an angel, and that he said this or that. Again, it is often -repeated, that _the word of the Lord came unto Moses, saying_. Common -sense will inquire, how came the word? who brought it? Words do not pass -through the air like birds. Suppose it should be reported, that the word -of the President of the United States came to some person in New York, -saying, _do this or that_, or something uncommon and unheard of, and the -inquiry be made, _who_ brought this word, and an answer should be -required? No reasonable one could be given. It must fill the Christian -reader with astonishment to find, that during the time the Judges -presided over Israel, (some hundreds of years,) that neither the name of -Moses nor his laws are ever mentioned. On the contrary, his laws, both -moral and ceremonial, were either suspended or departed from. Neither -the Sabbath nor the Passover was observed, and the moral law said to -have been given by Jehovah, from Mount Sinai, was broken by the worship -of graven images. - -If we turn to Judges, chapter xvii., we there find, that after the death -of Samson, who judged Israel twenty years, _a young man (a Jew) stole -from his mother eleven hundred shekels of silver, which she had put by -to make a god for herself and her son's household_,--a worship contrary -to the express command of Jehovah, as given in the second commandment; -and when her son heard his mother curse most bitterly, he returned it to -her. She then loaded him with blessings, and with a part of the silver, -and gave the rest to the founder, or artist, and a graven image was made -and erected as their god, and a priest hired to perform worship. In the -13th verse of the same chapter, her son exults, and says, "Now know I -that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." - -To conclude this account of worship, the Levite asked counsel of God, -(the image,) and received a gracious answer. This image-worship was the -religion of the Danites until they were carried away captive. This, -then, is proof positive, that the five Books said to have been given by -Moses, were then unknown; and without this admission, it is not possible -to account for the silence regarding Moses and his writings for so many -hundred years. Not only were the five Books of which Moses is the -reputed author, written many hundreds of years after his death, but also -the Book of Judges could not have been written till after Kings bad -reigned in Israel; because, it is often repeated in that Book, "_And -there was no King in Israel, and every man did that which was right in -his own eyes_"; for until the end of the Judges, no King was ever -mentioned, or thought of, among the tribes. It was in consequence of the -injustice of the sons of Samuel, that the seed of Abram demanded a King, -in order to get just judgment; and in his person to secure a leader in -time of war. - -The foolish story of Samson, which commences in Judges, chapter xiii., -deserves no notice, but for its being ascribed to Jehovah, the God of -Israel. The whole silly account, when it is fathered on the God of the -Universe, will not fail to convince every man of a sane mind, how human -beings have been imposed upon, in ascribing to the Sovereign Ruler of -all worlds such contemptible trash. After the Israelites had for forty -years been subjected to the Philistines, Jehovah determined to deliver -his chosen people from bondage, by raising up a man (then unborn) to war -against their enemies. Samson was the person chosen for this business. -The story is as follows:-- - -The mother of Samson had for years lived with her husband, Manoah, but -remained childless. Her sorrow, on that account, so prevailed with the -Lord, that an angel came down from Jehovah, whom Christians believe to -be the allwise Governor of the Universe, and informed her that she -should have a son that would war against the oppressors of Israel, and -that particular care on her part must be taken during her pregnancy. She -was to drink no wine, nor strong drink, nor eat any thing unclean; and -no hair must on any account be taken from his head. The woman told her -husband the good tidings, and he was over-joyed, and prayed to the Lord -that the angel would again descend. This request was granted, and the -angel repeated to the husband what had been told to his wife. When these -instructions, given by the angel, were ended, out of gratitude to the -heavenly messenger, this joyful pair proposed to dress a kid, and -invited the angel to partake of it This request was not complied with, -but Manoah and his wife were told to sacrifice to the Lord; which they -did, and as the flame ascended, the angel went up with it, after -refusing to make known his name. - -In a few months, Sampson was born; and his parents were particular in -observing all things commanded, as it respected the child, until his -arrival to manhood; when, behold! this Samson, the gift of the Lord, who -was to deliver his countrymen out of bondage, from the galling yoke of -the Philistines--this Samson commenced his life by going down to the -Philistines, and taking up with different women. Some he took as wives, -and with others he carried on any thing but a respectable intercourse; -and in all his actions he sought a quarrel with the enemies of Israel. -All unknown to his parents, it is recorded that he possessed strength -superior to human beings, and that this strength resided in the hair of -his head. His enemies discovered this strength, and bribed his wives and -concubines to discover how he could be bound, so that they could destroy -him. After lying, and submitting to be bound, he betrayed the secret to -one of his favorite women. His head was shaved, his eyes put out and he -was cast into prison. - -In the course of his revels among his ladies, he was waring continually -with his wives' countrymen; and such was his dexterity, that he caught -three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail, and turned them into the -standing corn and burnt up their harvest. At another time, when pursued -by his enemies, it is recorded that he slew a thousand men with, the -jaw-bone of an ass; and so mighty was his strength, that the gates of a -city were by him carried away with ease, and placed on the top of a -mountain; and so terrific was his strength, that his favorite woman, by -bribery, at last found out that his almost almighty power was in his -hair, which had been from his birth untouched and unshorn; but as soon -as his hair was taken off, Jehovah withdrew his strength, and his foes -bound him with care, put out his eyes, and cast him into prison. At -length, his hair grew again on his head, and his mighty strength -returned. He then prayed to Jehovah to enable him to lift up the mighty -building in which the Lords of the Philistines were; and having -succeeded, down it came with a dreadful crash, and Samson, with all that -were within, perished in the ruins. - -Now, this is the man who is recorded to have been raised up to restore -to the seed of Abram their lost power; whose whole life was a scene of -folly and madness. Can any man, in the full exercise of his reason, -believe that the Ruler of all worlds would employ such a contemptible -creature to bring about his plan of redeeming his favorite people from -bondage? Let us take a bird's-eye view of Samson's life; and first, we -will inquire, what end was to be answered by raising up this mighty man? -Secondly, did Samson perform the intention of Jehovah towards his chosen -race? - -We proceed to the first inquiry, What end was to be answered by raising -up Samson? His whole life was one continued scene of folly and -licentiousness; shedding of blood was his practice; and the mighty -strength given him by Jehovah, was employed in doing the most wanton -mischief, such as none but a madman would perform. The object of so much -murder and bloodshed, we are informed, was to deliver the Israelites -from Philistine subjugation; in doing which, he fell a victim to his own -folly, in destroying the enemies of the Lord. Can it be possible that -the Ruler of all worlds raised up such a madman to carry out his plans? -If a story of this kind should be recorded in any other book than the -Bible, no credit would be given to it. But when it is recorded as making -a part of God's dealings with his chosen people, it is shocking to all -our ideas of Infinite Wisdom, Power, and Goodness. - -In the second place, What resulted to Israel by the efforts of Samson? -We answer, nothing at all; for in consequence of the wickedness of the -Benjamites, a war soon after commenced between the tribes, in which -thousands and tens of thousands were slain. The history of Samson, then, -is one of those fables with which the Scriptures abound, and which, if -recorded by heathen authors, no one could be found who would believe -them to be any thing but fables. But being a part of the Bible, -Christians attach consequence to them, and father them on the all-wise, -all-powerful God, the Ruler of the Universe. - -Finally, to show the folly in believing that Samson was raised up to -redeem the Israelites from serving the Philistines:--by the battle -fought immediately after the death of Samson, the Philistines gained a -complete victory over Israel, routed the whole army, and took the ark of -the Lord prisoner. - -It may be of service to the reader to give some account of the ark of -the Lord; and in this, we must be instructed by the Bible account alone. -The ark, it appears, was a chest: or box, in which the following things -were said to be kept: the book of the law, the pot with manna, and -Aaron's rod, by which the wonders were performed in Egypt On the lid or -cover were placed two cherabims with their wings somewhat extended, and -their necks turned downwards to the cover of the ark, called the -mercy-seat. This holy ark was kept in the holy of holies; and when the -priests entered in to perform sacrifice on the mercy-seat, the cloud of -smoke between the cherabims became luminous. This light was considered -by the priest as an acceptance of the offering made by him for the sins -of the people. Hence the phrase of adoration applied to the Jewish God, -"_Oh! thou God that dwelleth between the cherubims!_" - -When the Jews were in the battle with the Philistines, and about to be -routed, they brought the ark of the Lord into the camp as a protection -against a defeat, and also to encourage the Israelites to fight most -manfully: the Lord of Hosts being then in the midst of them, they -shouted for joy, as being certain of a victory over their enemies. On -the other side, the Philistines, understanding that the God of the -Hebrews had arrived in their camp, were afraid, and cried out, "_Woe -unto us! who shall deliver us ont of the hand of these mighty Gods?_" -The commanders of the Philistines then encouraged their soldiers to -battle, urging them on, so that the Jews might be vanquished; and they -slew the Israelites with a destructive slaughter, and took the ark of -the Jewish God prisoner, and killed the two sons of Eli, the High-Priest -This dreadful news so overcame the old man, who was ninety-eight years -of age, that he fell out of his chair and broke his neck. - -We may now ask, what will Christians say to God's raising up Samson? Did -he deliver the Jews out of their their bondage? But I have wasted too -much time on such a contemptible madman and fool; yet I excuse myself in -this respect by the desire of showing, that, to call Samson a servant of -the Ruler of the Universe, is too contemptible even for ridicule. A few -remarks on the fate of the ark of the Lord, will conclude this chapter. -The foregoing account is recorded in 1 Samuel, chapter iv. - -After the dreadful daughter of the Israelites, and the capture of the -ark, the Philistines were afflicted with a complaint that threatened -them with destruction; and after consulting among themselves as to the -cause of their sickness, they concluded that the capture and detention -of the ark was to them more than a counterbalance for the victory gained -over the Jews. They therefore agreed, one and all, to send it back to -its owners. Before sending it back, we may suppose something like the -following conversation took place:--We have defeated the Jews, and slain -thousands of them; and although their God was in the camp of Israel, he -could not save them from the edge of the sword. But, after all, we are -afflicted with a dreadful disorder, which, if it continues, will -exterminate our nation. Our complaint is of that nature, that we shall -drop to pieces in the streets and upon the highways. Our wives, instead -of baking bread, must be continually making poultices, to prevent our -being considered as walking pestilences: the ark must be returned. -Instead of a God for a prisoner, why, we have the Devil in the box. We -must get rid of it; it must be sent back to the Jews. Home it was -carried; and when it had arrived at Beth-shemesh, in the time of -harvest, the reapers, overjoyed to witness the safe return of the ark, -laid down their sickles and ran to look into it. The Jehovah of Israel -destroyed the honest-hearted reapers, to the number of fifty thousand -threescore and ten, for their impudence. - -Can a man on earth be found who can believe the foregoing account to be -any thing but fabulous? If this account is matter of fact, what -degrading ideas are connected with the existence of Infinite Wisdom and -Goodness! If there is any thing Divine about this foolish tale, it then -follows, that the Almighty Power that presides over all worlds,--that -astonishing Wisdom which strikes us dumb in contemplating the harmony -and surprising adaptation displayed in the universe,--associated with -such madmen and fools as Samson, and hundreds of others whose freaks are -recorded in the Bible. This is opposed to every idea that we can -possibly have of his greatness. Let those who are but little acquainted -with Astronomy, contemplate the grandeur of the universe, and ask if it -be possible that a Being who arranges all, and who governs all with that -exactness which overwhelms not only the ignorant and untaught man, but -also the most profound and learned of the human race, should thus act? -Mark well the infinite wisdom which is apparent in the vast universe of -which man forms but so small a part! For one moment reflect on boundless -space, filled with millions of millions of suns, around which revolve -innumerable worlds; all of them arranged and upheld by that Power which -Christians believe to be the author of the Bible, either directly or -indirectly. That this being should mix up with the most abandoned -characters on earth, and be forever doing and undoing; forever planning -and failing in his plans; choosing his favorites, and then repenting of -such choice; inheriting all the infirmities of fallible man; sometimes, -tired out with the follies and wickedness of his chosen people, sinking, -as it were, down into a state of inaction; again, rising in vengeance, -destroying even his chosen people without mercy; at times, appearing to -be long-suffering and merciful; at other times, revenging injuries by -destruction and death on a present generation, for the errors of another -generation long since dead and gone, is inconsistent with common sense. - -In fact, the Jehovah of the Bible, from the accounts recorded, appears -never to be at ease. Anger, rage, fury, alternately disturb him. The -smallest deviation of his chosen people in the performance of some -trifling ceremony, would at times call down the most horrid -chastisements on both the innocent and the guilty. If the Bible truly -records the movements of Jehovah, he must be the most unhappy Being in -the universe; for it is said that _he is angry every day_. The previous -description of the God of the Bible is but a scantling of what is -written concerning his dealings, even with the seed of Abram. - -Ye ministers of the gospel! look at the heavens above, and the earth -beneath! Mark well the unchangeable order which pervades the whole! How -admirably every thing is arranged! how skilfully the means are adapted -to the end intended! No arranging, and then re-arranging: no missing the -mark--no going beyond or wide of the mark. Before you talk of the -"unblushing Infidel," and deal out the vengeance of your Bible God, look -at the order, the grandeur the undisturbed harmony that governs the -whole; and then pause, and ask yourselves, if it be possible for the -Sovereign Ruler of all worlds, to have dictated the Bible, which you so -positively assert is the Word of the only true and living God? - - - - -CHAPTER VI. THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON - - -SAMUEL, the last of the Judges of Israel, when very old, appointed his -sons to judge the people--"But they took bribes and perverted judgment." -The Israelites complained to Samuel of their injustice, and demanded a -King, like other nations. Now, considering the unsettled state of the -Jews for hundreds of years, "when there was no King in Israel, and every -man did that which was right in his own eyes" the request was -reasonable; for they were tired of the unsettled state of their national -affairs. Samuel inquired of the Lord what was to be done? The reply from -the Lord was, that Samuel was to let them have a King, agreeably to -their wishes; at the same time, it displeased Jehovah, who chose Saul -without consulting the people. His choice is recorded to have been -pleasing to the Lord, who gave Saul a good character. This kingly -government seemed fair in the beginning, and we ought to expect it would -have proved a change for the better, as it was by Jehovah's own -appointment At the commencement of Saul's reign, he was ordered to go -and fight against the Amalekites. The order was thus given:--"_Thus -saith the Lord of Hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel; how -he laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt_" This -offence was given some hundred years before, when the Israelites were -passing to the land of promise; when the Amalekites opposed them, and -refused to let them go through their land. To us, this vengeance appears -cruel and unjust. This was visiting the sins of the fathers on the -children with a vengeance. At the present day, no tyrant could be found -that would imitate such base conduct as is fathered on the all-wise, -all-powerful Ruler of the World. - -The following statement will serve to make the situation of Saul clearly -understood by the readers of this work, and will show the nature of -Saul's offence for which he and his family were so severely -punished:--Some four or five hundred years before Saul was born, the -Israelites were opposed by the Amalekites passing through their land; -and when Saul was chosen King, by Jehovah, his first campaign was to go -and destroy the then inhabitants of Amalek, for an offence committed by -their forefathers long since dead and gone. Saul was ordered by Jehovah -not to save old or young, but to kill (murder) all, from the suckling to -hoary old age. He fulfilled his orders as he thought, excepting that of -taking their King prisoner, and the best of the cattle to sacrifice to -Jehovah's honor; and for this one act of mercy, Saul was deposed, and -David chosen in his stead. Now, if Jehovah knew that Saul would not obey -the orders given, why was he chosen to be their King at all? And if -Jehovah was disappointed, where was his foreknowledge? Does that Power -and Wisdom that rules the Universe, blunder in this way? What say you, -Christian ministers? - -According to what is written, the Jewish God repented that he made this -choice! Did he repent? We are told that when Saul was put down, and -David made King in his stead, that Jehovah could not, like man, repent -in putting down David, though he had done so as it respected Saul. To -father such inconsistency on the Author of Nature, is an outrage on -justice and common sense. Again, to punish with fire and sword a whole -nation, for what their forefathers had done five hundred years before; -and to make the God of the Universe the author of such a command,--if -blasphemy exists against God, this is it to perfection. - -From the short reign of Saul, we cannot form a decided opinion as to his -kingly character; but one thing is clear, from the Scriptures, that his -act of mercy towards the King of Amalek, offended Jehovah, and both -himself and family suffered grievously for it; for Samuel told Saul, -that' in consequence of his sparing Agag, the King, his royal authority -was taken from him, and _given to a man better than he_. Well might a -poet, who wrote on this subject about forty years ago, call Samuel an -impostor, and exclaim--: - - "From haunts of men be that impostor driven, - Who thinks humanity incenses heaven." - -In concluding this account of Saul, we may venture to affirm, that he -was one of the best Kings on record; his only failing appears to have -been his humanity. - -We now come to the reign of David, "_he man after God's own heart._" It -appears that his slaying Goliah, first brought him into notice; for -which act David was to be rewarded by having Saul's daughter in -marriage. Before this took place, however, it is recorded, in 1 Samuel -xviii., 10, "_And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit -from God came upon Saul_"; but David could play so well on some kind of -a musical instrument, that his performance drove the Devil out of the -old King. From this account it seems, if the evil spirit means a Devil, -that Jehovah kept Devils ready to start off from heaven to do any dirty -work; a very worthy practice to ascribe to the God of all! It appears -that Saul's troubles, and the evil spirit sent to him from the Lord, had -nearly made him crazy--and well it might: but I have no pity for him, -because there is not one word of truth in the whole silly tale. - -David now demands his wife, according to promise; but Saul puts a heavy -tax on his intended son-in-law, before his daughter could be given up. -The demand made by Saul on David, before he was permitted to marry his -daughter, is written in 1 Samuel xviii., 25, an account showing how well -cultivated Kings and Princes were in those days, but too filthy for me -to detail. Notwithstanding Saul was deposed, and David anointed King, -still Saul kept possession of the kingdom, and David was an object of -jealousy. At this time, the Israelites were in an unsettled state; and -David, although a King, had no resources. A part of the people were with -David, but the bulk of the nation adhered to Saul. - -Those two Kings, then, both of whom had been chosen by Jehovah, were -still opposing each other. Now, what folly to suppose that either of -them were appointed by the Governor of all the Earth! Even admitting the -historical part to be true, who can believe that Infinite Wisdom had any -part in so unsettled a form of government? it being like unto what -England was at one time of her history, when two parties were contending -for power. What a changeable, unsettled Being do the Scriptures make the -Jewish God! and what folly to believe him to be the Sovereign Ruler of -all! The regularity and order which is every where and at all times -manifest in nature, proclaim to all nations that the Jehovah of the -Bible is not Nature's God. - -Although David had been anointed King, to the exclusion of Saul and his -house, still the old King retained his authority, and David was -compelled to be cautious how he proceeded, as Saul was jealous of him as -a rival. Now David had recourse to the following expedient:--"_And he -collected every one that was in distress, and every one that was in -debt, and every one that was discontented, and he became a captain over -them, and there were with him about four hundred men._" David, in one of -his flights from Saul, and being in want of bread, applied to Abimelech, -the priest, for five loaves; and the priest answered David, and said, -"_There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread, -if the young men have at least kept themselves from women._" And David -answered the priest, and said unto him, "_Of a truth, women have been -kept from us about three days, since I came out._" The reader will now -see how David began his reign, as the following incident, will also -fully confirm. The above account may be found in 1 Samuel, chapter xxi. - -The following account of the progress of David and his small army, is in -1 Samuel, chapter xxv.:--David fled into the wilderness, and while -there, he heard of a rich man by the name of Nabal, who had, on a -shearing, made a feast for his shearers and friends. David embraced this -opportunity, to levy a tax on Nabal, and sent ten young men to ask for a -part of the good things prepared for the sheep shearing: "_And Nabal -answered David's servants, and said, who is David? and who is the son of -Jesse? there be many servants now-a-days that break away every man from -his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that -I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men whom I know not -whence they be?_" This answer so enraged David, that he exclaimed, "The -time my army lay in the wilderness, near to the flock of Nabal, we took -nothing from them, and also prevented others from stealing of the flock, -and now I cannot get a dinner for me and my six hundred men." "_And -David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded -on every man his sword: and David also girded on his sword: and there -went up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred abode by the -stuff._" Now, to use David's own words, he intended to slay every man -living; Nabal, sheep shearers, and all belonging to him. Don't forget -this was the man _after Jehovah's own heart!_ - -But it happened that Abigail, Nabal's wife, heard of her husband's -refusal to David's demands, and she loaded several asses with all kinds -of the best provisions, and met David as he was advancing to take -vengeance on Nabal. And when David saw her, he said, "_Blessed be the -Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me. For in very -deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth which hath kept me back from -hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted, and come to meet me, surely -there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light, any that -pisseth against the wall_." It is recorded after this, that in about ten -days, "_the Lord smote Nabal that he died._" Christians, perhaps, will -say, it served him right; because he would not give away his dinner to -the Lord's anointed. But to complete this account of David, it is -written that he married Nabal's widow, and then he had sheep, goats, and -all, although he had many wives before; but, being "_a man after Gods -own heart_" we Infidels must be silent. - -After the death of Saul, David being in favor with the people, and -strictly adhering to the worship of Jehovah, his reign bid fair to be -happy to himself, and to the nation at large: but he had too many wives, -and consequently his family troubles came on thick and fast. One son -rebelled against him, and flew to arms; and Solomon usurped the throne -after the death of his father, and put to death his elder brother by a -former wife, under a pretence the most frivolous, to secure himself a -safe possession of his usurped power. Another son ravished his -half-sister by another mother; and in return, the ravisher was murdered -by the brother of the violated virgin. In truth, if it is true as -recorded, David's whole life was one continued scene of blood and -slaughter; and on his death-bed he recommended Solomon to murder -others--as his oath prevented him from doing it in his lifetime. - -However strictly David obeyed Jehovah, and "turned not aside to worship -other gods," in a moral point of view he was a wicked man. His conduct -for licentiousness was notorious. In addition to the number of wives he -had before the death of Saul, his royal master, Nathan the prophet says -that "Jehovah gave him Saul's wives, besides"; but, not satisfied with -all this, so contemptible was his conduct, he sneaked about to obtain a -sight of an officer's wife while in the bath. Such low, cowardly -curiosity would disgrace the driver of a dung-cart. A lady's bath not to -be held sacred by this filthy, dirty animal, and yet to be called "the -man after God's own heart"! His actions would disgrace the Devil, for -Satan offered no insult to Eve: his worst crime was no more than -saying--"Madam, the fruit is good, do taste, it will do you no harm, and -you will be the wiser; after all." - -Never let us forget the artifice the Lord's anointed made use of, in -order to conceal his crime. When Uriah, his officer, came from the army -with news of importance to David, after the seduction of Bathsheba, the -cunning debauchee said, come, Uriah, do not hurry back to the camp; go -home to Bathsheba, your wife; she will be happy to see you: go home, my -faithful servant, and stay with your wife. - -But Uriah refused, by saying, the officers and the army are in the open -fields, and I will not go home to take comfort in my own house. So Uriah -slept in the gate with the servants. And when David found that he had -not been home, he made him tarry another day, and that night got him -drunk. In the meantime the King wrote a letter to Joab, the Captain of -the host, and sent it by Uriah, to place him in the front of the battle, -where he would be killed. The unsuspecting Uriah then returned; to his -duty, with his death warrant in his hand; and, according to the orders -given to Joab, the commander of the host of Israel, Uriah was placed in -that part of the engagement where he fell, covered with wounds and -glory. - -It will be seen by the orders sent to the Captain, concerning Uriah, by -the King, what cowardly artifice was used to murder his noble officer, -whose wife, unknown to him, had been seduced. David's words are, "_Set -ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him -that he may be smitten and die._" Such an act would disgrace the worst -despot on earth, but it was done by "the man after God's own heart"! -When Nathan was sent by Jehovah to David, to remind him of his -wickedness, it was done, in the way of a parable. David did not at first -discover its application: and it is recorded, that "_David's anger was -greatly kindled against the man, and he said unto Nathan as the Lord -liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die." "Thou art -the man!_" said Nathan; and David exclaimed, "_Oh! Lord, I have -sinned._" In fact, he was found out, but for which he would not have -made this acknowledgment. - -After the death of Uriah, David took her (Bathsheba) to wife, and -Jehovah made up the matter with him; first, by destroying the child, the -innocent victim who had no part in the murder; and, secondly, by saving -and pardoning David for crimes of the deepest dye: and, also, the Lord -told him, that because of his wickedness he should have discord in his -family:--"_Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against -thee, out of thine house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, -and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the -sight of this sun._" To destroy the innocent child, who had no -participation in the crime of the father, is too shocking to be -admitted, when it is recorded as the sentence of the just and impartial -God. I know Christians will reply, that the ways of God are not as our -ways, and that it is wicked in mortals to find fault with what is done -by a Being of infinite power, wisdom, and Goodness. In reply, it is -contended that the conduct pursued on this occasion by Jehovah, is -shocking when ascribed to a God impartial and just, and that it is more -becoming mortals, like ourselves, to reject the whole story as a vile -falsehood, than to father it on that Being, or that Cause, who: - - "Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, - Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees." - -To conclude these remarks on David's life and conduct, we ask, which is -the more reasonable supposition, that the whole account, so far as it -implicates a God of Justice, is, from beginning to end untrue? or, that -a Being of unbounded power, wisdom and goodness, should in any way -associate with so abandoned a character as King David? For myself, I -prefer the latter. I have omitted another account in the life of David, -that requires to be noticed. It is recorded in 2 Samuel, chapter xxiv., -that David ordered the people to be numbered. One account says that -Satan, and another account says that the Lord, moved David to number the -people: no doubt it was done to get the number of the fighting men of -Israel; for doing which, the Lord was angry with David; and three modes -of punishment were submitted for the choice of the King:--"_Seven years' -famine, or to flee three months before his enemies, or to have three -days' pestilence in the land._" The last was chosen, and it is recorded -that seventy thousand men died of the pestilence, as a punishment for -the offence of David. It is a libel on the Supreme Being to charge him -with the authorship of such injustice and cruelty. That thousands of -persons may have been cut off by plague, or pestilence, at times, and in -different nations, is highly probable--but not by a judgment for other -men's sins. - -In Homer's Iliad, we have a similar account, written, according to -historians, about nine hundred years before the Christian era. In the -account of the Trojan War, the commander of the Grecian army, in the -sacking of different towns, took many female captives, among whom was -one who was the daughter of the Priest of Apollo, one of the Grecian -gods. The venerable Priest came to the General, clothed in his robes, -bearing the sublime and awe-inspiring ensigns of his god, and demanded -the liberation of his captive daughter. The General insulted the Priest -by a positive refusal to give up his daughter, and he (the Priest) -departed, and offered the following prayer: - - "If e'er with wreaths I hung the sacred fane, - Or fed the flame with fat of oxen slain, - God of the silver bow, thy shafts employ, - Avenge my quarrel, and the Greeks destroy." - -The second General in command inquired of the Grecian Priest the cause -of such mortality among the soldiers; and the Priest returned the -following answer:--: - - "The King of men, the reverend Priest defied, - And, for the King's offence, the people died." - -The similarity between the Jehovah of the Jews, and the Apollo of the -Greeks, is very striking. Jehovah slew the Jewish army because David -numbered the people; and the Grecian god slew the soldiers because the -Priest had been insulted. The number is exactly the same, each being -seventy thousand men. The God of the Jews is said to have been the -author of the destruction of the army of the Israelites, and a heathen -god the destroyer of the Greeks. The first is believed to be a part of -Divine Revelation; the last is acknowledged to be but fiction. - -From all the accounts recorded respecting David, to me he appears to -have been a wicked man; much worse than Saul, whose worst action seems -to have been his humanity in sparing Agag, whom he took prisoner. I -cannot, therefore, believe, that the Universal Ruler of all Nature -sanctioned his actions, directly or indirectly, any more than he does -now, or ever has done, those of any other legal murderer. - -A few remarks more will conclude the life and conduct of David. In 1 -Kings, chapter i., it is recorded, that David being old and infirm, -could get no warmth in bed, and a fair young damsel was sought for -throughout the land of Israel, to wait on him by day, and sleep with him -during the night, to keep the old King warm. With her he was much -pleased, but the account states, that "David the King knew her not." -This is a strange tale, for if the sole object was, to get a young woman -to sleep with him, then not the fairest, but the fattest, plumpest girl -to be found throughout the land, would have been the most proper person -for such service; for at that time, David must have had half a score of -wives living. It is therefore clear, that warmth was only a pretence for -selecting a handsome young maiden to comfort the Lord's anointed; and we -may safely infer that David was not cured of his former tricks. - -The life and conduct of Solomon must now pass in review. When his father -was on his death-bed, he gave his son Solomon instructions to put to -death several persons who had been the subjects of David, but to whom he -(David) had sworn while living, that he would spare their lives. And -accordingly, Solomon, after the death of his father, put into execution -the orders he had received, and slew the persons mentioned by David; so -that his reign commenced in blood. - -And here it is proper to notice, that Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and -the mother of Solomon, in order to disinherit the eldest son of David by -his former wife, prevailed on David to have Solomon anointed King, in -the lifetime of his father. So that Adonijah, the real heir, was set -aside; and the better to secure the throne, Solomon had his half-brother -put to death. The cause of this execution, as is recorded, was because -Adonijah asked leave of Solomon, the King, to marry the damsel who kept -David warm in his old age! Jehovah had chosen a strange family, after -turning out Saul from the-kingdom, and Solomon was too pure to let a -brother live, after being so wicked as to ask permission to marry the -young virgin who had kept the back of his old father warm in a cold -night! - -After Solomon had slain those men according to the orders before given -by his father, he added another to the list, viz., Adonijah, his -half-brother. The Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Ask what I -shall give thee." Solomon then dreamed that he gave the following reply -to the gracious permission:--_"Give, therefore, thy servant an -understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good -and bad."_ This request is said to have pleased the Lord, who added to -it _"both riches and honor"; "and-Solomon awoke, and behold it was a -dream."_ This account is written in 1 Kings, chapter iii.; and all that -can be made of it is, that Solomon dreamed the Lord told him so, and we -have nothing but his word for it. - -The Bible record of Solomon's riches, and, in fact, the whole of his -life, is not entitled to any credit whatever. We may say, however, that -some allowance ought to be made for Solomon on account of the bad -example under which he was brought tip in the family of his father; for -if the Scripture history of the facts concerning Solomon is to be -considered true, then the whole of his reign is the most extraordinary -which ever happened in the world. Beginning with his riches, it exceeds -every thing in ancient or modern times. The feast at the opening of the -Temple was no small matter. - -Scripture informs us, that at the dedication of the Temple, Scripture -informs us, that at the dedication of the Temple, the sacrifice offered -up, was twenty-two thousand oxen, and one hundred and twenty-two -thousand sheep. This, when we consider the smallness of David's domains, -and the general poverty of his family, is incredible; but as every thing -is so wonderful, and the whole of the reign of Solomon is so -extravagant, no dependence whatever is to be placed on any of its -accounts. - -As it regards Solomon's household, the provisions named for each day are -the following:--"_Thirty measures of fine flour, threescore measures of -meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred -sheep, besides harts and roebucks, and fallow-deer, and faited fowls." -"And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and -twelve thousand horsemen."_ Now, in so small, and in many parts barren -land, where could they be raised? But Solomon had need of a plentiful -table, for it is recorded that he had seven hundred wives, and three -hundred concubines! If he had wisdom enough to regulate his house so as -to live happy, it must be owned that the Lord had given him more than a -common share; but as none but fools or madmen will believe this account, -we may let it pass without comment. - -The most astonishing inconsistency in the reign of Solo-man, is his -continual departure from the worship of Jehovah, who had been his -benefactor, and who had also repeatedly warned him of the consequences -of a departure from the God of his father. If what is recorded of his -riches be true, they were greater than those of any monarch on earth. -The gold he is said to have possessed when he built the Temple, exceeds -all calculation, and is in strict accordance, in point of magnitude, -with his feast at the dedication of the Temple, and with his daily -allowance of food for his household, and also with his seven hundred -wives, and three hundred concubines. But when we consider the poverty of -the Israelites up to the time of his father's reign, and also David's -poverty until the death of Saul, when at times, David had neither food -for himself nor army, neither had he gold nor silver wherewith to -purchase it--it may be asked, how Solomon came into the possession of -such an immense quantity of gold? and also from what vast extent of -country did he procure his horses, when but a few years before, David, -his father; could scarcely afford to keep a jackass? Again, where did he -procure such numerous herds of cattle and flocks of sheep? - -But as I have before said, the greatest inconsistency of all is, that -Solomon should worship other gods, contrary to the express command of -Jehovah, who had given him wisdom, riches, and honors. Leaving -Christians, then, to settle with Solomon, how he, with all his wisdom, -could so play the fool and madman in the face of his God, some attention -will be directed to the God of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob. It will be -recollected that Saul, the predecessor of David, had offended Jehovah by -sparing the life of Agag, a captive King. In consequence, it is recorded -that the God of Israel repented that he put Saul on the throne. He then -chose David, and his family, to succeed the house of Saul; and having -made this second choice, he declared he should not repent again. - -If this last declaration had been made by man, in his choice, after -having before been mistaken, the following mode of reasoning would aptly -apply; and Jehovah would also thus reason:--"I made choice of Saul to be -King over Israel. I sent him to smite Amalek, and not to spare any soul -alive, old age and infancy not excepted; but Saul did not obey my -orders, but spared the King and brought him a captive, which I did not -expect As I took him from driving mules, and made him a King, he ought -therefore to have obeyed my commands. I dethroned him and his family -forever. I then appointed David, a man after my own heart. In this -choice I was happy. He departed not from my worship or my law, but with -a few exceptions. It is true, David committed adultery and murder, in -the case of Bathsheba and Uriah; but he repented, and I caused the brat -to die out of the way, which made room for Solomon. Now, who could ever -have thought that Solomon would have turned out so bad? Why, the fellow, -in addition to wisdom, riches, and honor, has now seven hundred wives, -and three hundred concubines! and not content with this number, he -marries the daughters of heathens, prostrates himself before their -idols, and builds new temples to their gods; but I promised not to -repent again, yet Solomon must be punished. I will not, therefore, -depose him, but in his son's reign I will divide the kingdom, and give -the greater part of it to one of mean birth. I will not wholly take it -away from the seed of David, because I promised him that he should not -want a man to sit on his throne; but I will, for the wickedness of -Solomon, cause discord among the tribes, that will induce them to fight -against each other. It is not for the thousand women that Solomon had, -which would not fail to create discord and all manner of misery; neither -for putting to death his brother: all that I could have tolerated--but -he changed his religion, and worshipped strange gods; I will rend the -nation asunder, never more to be united. It would have been more to my -honor to have suffered Saul to continue on the throne, for he only -disobeyed my Orders once, but the son of David built temples for -idolatry, and worshipped false gods, setting my authority at defiance. -In his son's reign, therefore, I will bring on trouble in his house, -that all Israel may know how great is the sin of worshipping false gods, -and thus rebelling against the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel." - -I will now ask the Christian preachers, whether I dishonor the all-wise -Sovereign of the Universe, in not believing him to be capable of such -tomfoolery as this: in choosing, and again rejecting his former choice: -in blundering, to rectify a former blunder, and falling into one much -greater, to remedy the first: to be doing, and undoing: to have an end -to accomplish, and to make use of means that fail in its accomplishment. -Ye priests! if ye are not blind, look at the heavens above, and also on -the earth beneath, and then ask yourselves, whether the God of all is -the same personage as Jehovah, the God of Israel? - -To conclude these remarks respecting the house of David and -Solomon:--Even admitting that such personages had a real existence, I -cannot so dishonor the Supreme Governor of Nature as for a moment to -admit, that he dealt with either David or Solomon any otherwise than he -deals with every human being, and I should stand before my fellow men a -self-convicted hypocrite, were I to affect to believe. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM, AND THE SEPARATION OF ISRAEL FROM -JUDAH - - -REVIEWING the character of the three former Kings, two of whom gave -Jehovah much trouble, and David, the best of them, committed adultery -and murder, we must say, it was an unfortunate beginning of royal -government. After the death of Solomon, his son, Rehoboam, began to -reign. The people requested the new made King to ease them somewhat of -the taxes and burdens laid on them by his father, Solomon. Rehoboam -consulted with his father's old servants on that subject, and they -advised him to attend to the wishes of his people; but he, on consulting -with his own particular party, returned the following answer:--"_My -little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins: my father hath -chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions_." This -gives us a sample of Solomon's reign, and also of the course intended to -be pursued by his son. - -Rehoboam's answer produced a revolt, and the kingdom became divided. Ten -tribes broke off from Rehoboam, and proclaimed Jeroboam King of Israel, -while Rehoboam retained two tribes: so that the Israelites were divided. -The ten tribes were called the kingdom of Israel, and the other two, the -kingdom of Judah. This is the punishment that the Lord said he would -bring on the nations in consequence of the sins of Solomon. So it was -then, with the Lord's people, as it has ever been in Christian countries -where the aristocracy is every thing, and, the people are considered as -nothing. According to Jewish history, Jehovah and the Kings of his own -choosing quarrelled, and then the people had to suffer in consequence of -disputes in which they had but little or no interest; and one of the -strongest proofs that "the God of the Bible" is not that Being whom we -believe to be the only true God, is, that when the Jehovah of Moses and -the Kings quarrel, the Kings are spared alive, but the innocent people -are in some way or other murdered; thus clearly showing, that Kings are -by Jehovah worth more than those who by honest toil cultivate the earth, -and labor for the benefit of society,--a doctrine directly opposite to -all our ideas of impartial justice. - -We now proceed to examine the course pursued by Jeroboam, the fourth -King who was chosen to reign over Israel. We ought to find him fitted -for so important a station; but, on the contrary, we have again to -record another chapter of blunders, far worse than those before -mentioned. Saul, their first King, disobeyed the command in sparing -Agag, the King, after having destroyed every soul that drew breath. -David _followed the Lord with his whole heart_; that is, he never -entered into the temple of idols except to destroy them and their -worshippers; but he was guilty of two crimes, for either of which, had -he been any thing but a King, or Priest, he would have been, by the laws -of his own country, put to death. Solomon's character was marked by -every thing extravagant; but he did not wholly turn from the worship of -Jehovah, only at times, as when he espoused a heathen lady. Then, to -prove his love for his new spouse, he worshipped in the temple of -strange gods, and also built new churches to their honor. This is a -general outline of the three Kings, all of whom were chosen by Jehovah -himself. - -Jeroboam was appointed, according to what is recorded, in consequence of -Solomon's idolatry. I then ask, whether it is not reasonable to expect, -that, in the reign of Jeroboam, the worship of the God of Israel would -alone be the religion of the ten tribes who were taken from Solomon -because of his departure at times from the God of Abram, Isaac, and -Jacob? Jeroboam being then, by Jehovah, made King, in preference to all -others, and being raised in the family, of Rehoboam, Solomon's son, and -only as a servant connected with the family, we cannot suspect that ever -a new choice should have been made for the worse. Could this have been -the case if Infinite Wisdom had chosen him? No; it is impossible! No -sooner, however, did Jeroboam obtain the rule over the ten tribes, by -the direct order of Jehovah himself, than he set up a religion directly -opposite to the God who had elevated him to such honor and power. - -It is impossible for this account to be true, for two reasons that will -be given. The first is, that Jeroboam must have known the cause why -Solomon's family were excluded from reigning over the whole of the -Jewish nation, namely, because he (Solomon) did at times worship what -were called false gods. Now, Jeroboam well knew this, and also, that the -only way for him to secure his power was, never to depart at any time, -or under any circumstances, from the worship of Jehovah. But, contrary -to this, he commenced his reign by falling back into Egyptian idolatry. -Under pretence of keeping his subjects faithful to his government, by -not permitting them to go up to the Temple, at Jerusalem, Jeroboam set -up two golden calves, one at Dan, and the other at Bethel, and -proclaimed, "_These are thy Gods, O Israel who brought you up out of the -land of Egypt._" Besides, he knew that Jehovah would pardon an -adulterer, or murder, as he had done in the case of David; but on no -account did he ever forgive the sin of idolatry. - -There is nothing improbable in admitting that the tribes should split -into two kingdoms, and have different rulers. This has often been the -case; but the only way to account for the conduct of Jeroboam is, by -concluding that he knew, the whole to be a trick, and that neither -Jehovah, nor any other God, had a hand in the putting up or dethroning -of Kings. This being admitted, we can see clearly through the whole -matter. Jeroboam then would, from policy, set up a new religion, or -revive an old one, so as to keep his subjects from mixing with their old -acquaintances of the kingdom of Judah. It is utterly impossible for -Jeroboam to have acted as is recorded, if he in truth believed that the -only true and living God was his benefactor, and had raised him to regal -authority. - -The second reason why Infinite Wisdom had nothing to do in the elevation -of Jeroboam, is, because he must have foreseen that Jeroboam would have -made the matter worse, so far as idolatry was concerned; and this will -appear the more striking by the first act of his reign. As soon as -Jeroboam came to the throne, he (contrary to the law of Moses) set up -images, and made priests of the lower orders of the people, and began -himself to worship in the character and office of a priest; for which, a -prophet from Judah is sent (by the God who, it is said, gave Solomon the -kingdom of Israel) to curse the altar at the time Jeroboam was in the -act of sacrificing. Now the conduct of the prophet so sent, will enable -us to see through the whole farce. This is recorded in 1 Kings, chapter -xiii. - -The following is in substance the prophet's mission:--This man of God -was sent by Jehovah to cry against and curse the altar at the time -Jeroboam was performing sacrifice; and being at the altar, he ordered -his officers to lay hold of the prophet, at the same time pointing to -him; and instantly the King's arm became useless, and could not be drawn -into its proper place. Jeroboam then cried to the man of God to pray -that his arm might be restored. The man of God besought the Lord, and a -recovery took place. Here, then, was a miracle performed; and Jeroboam, -being grateful, invited the prophet home to reward him by an -entertainment of bread and water; but the man of God refused, by saying, -that he was ordered by the Lord not to eat bread nor to drink water--in -fact, to make no friendship whatever, but to return. Off, therefore, he -went, after he had performed two miracles; one of which was, to cause -Jeroboam to lose the use of his arm; the other, to restore it The -prophet, on his way back, was met by a man who made the same request, -namely, to go home with him, and eat and drink; but the man of God still -refused. The man who thus enticed him, further said, I am also a -prophet, and _"an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, -bring him back into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. -But he lied unto him."_ - -The lying prophet was in the service of Jeroboam, King of Israel; but -the man of God, who came to cry against the altar, belonged to the -kingdom of Judah. The man of God, who understood that his first orders -were countermanded, went home with the lying prophet, and did eat and -drink. The reader will now notice the following three verses in 1 Kings -xiii., 20, 21, 22:--"And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that -the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back: And he -cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the -Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and host -not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but -earnest back, and hast eaten bread and drank water in the place of which -the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcass -shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers." If men would but -exercise their reason, is it possible for them to believe that the -Sovereign Ruler of all had any concern in so paltry a transaction as -this? - -The sum of the whole account may be expressed in a few words. The first -prophet came to Jeroboam, by order of the Lord, to curse the altar. He -then and there performed two miracles, as proof that his commission was -Divine. He then departed. All was so far right; but, on meeting another -prophet, he was told, in so many words, that things were changed, and -that he might do now that which he was ordered not to do when he first -set out. But the old prophet of Jeroboam, we are told, was a liar; and -when they sat at meat, the word of the Lord came to the lying prophet -and gave him orders to condemn the first. So that the Lord first -employed an honest servant, who performed his errand faithfully, and -then took into his service a false prophet and a liar! Believe this who -can! - -It is possible that Jeroboam may have been King over Israel: this is not -the point in dispute; but that Infinite Wisdom appointed him, cannot -possibly be true, because he was made King in consequence of Solomon's -idolatry. Solomon did not, by sinning himself, corrupt the whole nation; -but Jeroboam set up false gods, and the people followed his example, so -that the worship of Jehovah, by the ten tribes, was entirely abandoned. -Such blundering cannot be admitted, if the true and living God is to be -considered as the projector. Besides, Jeroboam was not cured of his -error by reformation, although he had been an eye-witness of the -miracles performed on his own person. Enough, then, has been said to -prove, that the whole account of God's making Jeroboam King over Israel, -is without any solid foundation. - -We will now turn to the man of God who came to curse the altar, and we -shall be able to discover what we are to understand by the word of the -Lord coming unto this or that man, saying. And here I call on the reader -to keep in mind, that in many places in the Bible, when any thing -unfortunate occurred to Jehovah's chosen people, such as the Lord raised -up such and such enemies, and also that such misfortunes were from the -Lord: also, again, _an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul_;--all -such passages, and many others, mean no more than that the Lord -permitted such events to take place. In this sense, we may say that it -was from the Lord that Andrew Jackson destroyed a great part of the -English army; but no man is foolish enough to suppose that the Lord had -directly any thing to do in the defence of New Orleans. Again, it is -repeated in hundreds of places in the Bible, that _the word of the Lord -came to this or that person, saying._ Now, apply this interpretation to -"the word of the Lord came unto Moses," and all that can be made of it -is, that Moses ascribed every order he gave of his to the people, as -coming from the Lord. It is in several places recorded that the word of -the Lord came to one prophet of Judah, and then this said word was taken -away from the first person, and turned over to another prophet who -belonged to Israel; and in 1 Kings xxii., 24, it is recorded, that one -prophet smote another on the face, and said, "Which way went the Spirit -of the Lord from me to speak unto thee?" Nothing can be more clear, than -that the whole of the Lord's interference is out of the question. - -After Israel and Judah were divided, they continued as two separate -governments, with each a King for a leader. Sometimes they fought -against each other, calling in other Kings to assist them; at other -times, they were united and fought together to oppose the common enemy, -their heathen neighbors. In a war with the Syrians, when Jehoshaphat, -King of Judah, and Ahab, King of Israel, united their armies against the -Syrians, and being on the eve of battle, an inquiry was made of the -Lord's prophets, as to what success they would have? Ahab, the King of -Israel, called his prophets, four hundred in number, and, on being -consulted as to the result of a battle, they one and all said, go fight, -for the Lord will deliver your enemies into your hands. Jehoshaphat, -being more cautious, said, is there not another prophet of whom we may -inquire of the Lord? And the King of Israel (Ahab) said, there is; but I -do not like him, because he always foretells something to my -disadvantage. Then Micaiah, a prophet of the kingdom of Judah, was -called, and he foretold that the event of a battle would be favorable to -these kings; but that Ahab would be slain. One of Ahab's prophets then -became enraged, and smote Micaiah on the face, and sneeringly asked him, -"_Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak to thee?_" - -We have here a sample of the prophets on each side They one and all -appear to be ready to lie, and deceive each other, in the name of the -Lord, and also, to fight for their employers. In this account, it is -also recorded that the God of truth accepted of the services of a lying -spirit, to deceive four hundred prophets, in order to get rid of a -wicked king, the whole account of which is to be found in 1 Kings, -chapter xxii. - -After the tribes were separated, it was common for the prophets to -oppose each other. The kings, also, of each nation aided in the -destruction of the prophets, and were worshippers of strange gods. And -yet it is recorded, that Jehovah chose Jeroboam to be king over -Israel,--the very man who introduced the worship of idols, to the entire -exclusion of the worship of the God of Abram! This choice of Jehovah -laid the foundation of scenes of bloodshed too horrid to be ascribed to -the all-wise Author of Nature. It could not have been worse, had the -Devil been the chooser. - -For years after the Israelites became two distinct nations, we read of -little else than quarrels and bloodshed; and the prophets of Judah -(called the prophets of Jehovah) were much worse than those called false -prophets. This can be easily accounted for, as the Jewish religion was -then the most intolerant of any on earth. The Kings of Judah gave -orders, in the name of the Lord, to destroy all the heathen, as the -enemies of Jehovah. The prophets followed up the same practice; at the -same time, the prophets of the heathen gods were less cruel, and, -morally speaking, much better men. According to what is recorded, -whenever power was in the hands of the Kings of Judah, or their -prophets, no mercy was shown to the opposite party; and as to prophets, -they seemed to spring up like mushrooms, for it was often inquired by -kings, is there not a man of God here? - -A few remarks on the prophets of those times may be here made. Elijah -seems to have had delegated to him almost unlimited power; for lo! he, -under pretence of having orders from Jehovah, anointed kings agreeably -to his pretended orders. He then foretold what the Lord intended should -be done to certain kings and their families. Those kings, then, thus -anointed by the authority of Elijah, received orders to destroy such and -such families; so that after Jehovah had separated the Israelites into -two kingdoms by setting up Jeroboam, nothing but cruelty and murder -followed, in consequence of the Lord's making so bad a choice. - -It would, judging from what transpired, have been better not to have -changed the dynasty, but to let Solomon's heirs continued to have -reigned over the whole of the Israetish nation; for in this state of -Jewish history, idolatry, murder, carnage, and every bad passion was let -loose; and the kings of each nation of the Jews, by the direction of -these upstart prophets, showed no mercy to those of their brethren who -had, by the fortune of war, fallen into their power. All this horrid -state of things originated from Jeroboam being made king, and setting up -idolatry throughout the land. Can we then admit, for a moment, that the -Sovereign Ruler of all brought on such a wretched state of things, or -ascribe to him so foolish a choice as the appointment of Jeroboam to be -King of Israel? No! it is utterly impossible. - -But to return to the prophets. Elijah and Elisha were, at this time, the -Lord's servants. Elijah was foremost, and Elisha acted as his servant. -The following circumstance brought Elijah into direct conflict with the -kingdom of Israel, and the then called false prophets:--Ahaziah, then -King of Israel and Samaria, met with an accident, and was sick; and he -sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub whether he would recover or not -Now, Elijah was sent, or, he said he was sent, to say to the messenger, -"_Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to -inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?_" The King of Israel then -inquired what sort of a man it was who thus remonstrated with the -messenger? And from the account given, he found it to be Elijah, the -prophet of Judah; consequently a prophet of the Lord. Elijah was sitting -on a hill, and the king sent a captain and fifty men to bring him before -him; and this was the order:--"_Thou man of God, the king hath said, -Come down. And Elijah answered, and said to the captain of fifty, If I -be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume thee -and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and -his fifty._" And again, another captain and fifty went, and shared the -same fate. Then the third captain and fifty were sent; but the captain -of the last fifty fell on his knees before-the prophet, and begged for -his life, and for the lives of his-men. The Lord then ordered Elijah to -go down with the captain to the king. - -Now I ask the reader, if his mind is prepared to, believe that these two -slaughters, consisting of one hundred men, with their two captains, were -brought on them by fire from heaven, as a judgment? What was their -crime? They acted as they were ordered by the king. Here we may discover -the falsity of the statement; for if any punishment was to follow in -sending for the prophet, ought not Ahaziah to have been the victim? This -wanton shedding of blood, by the mere calling down from heaven -judgments, by an old fellow wrapped up in a bear's-skin, and called a -man of God, is too barefaced a lie for the present state of society. -There is not one word of truth in the whole marvellous story. Jehovah's -murdering the people for the vices of their rulers, is anti-republican; -and if men would consult their reason, and employ common sense, the -Christian priesthood would be ashamed to preach of a God of mercy, and, -at the same time, ascribe to him injustice and cruelty. - -Elijah and his man Friday, Elisha, appear to be two of the most cruel of -all the band of pretended men of God. They, according to what is -recorded, seem to have had a sort of general license to kill and destroy -every thing that came in their way. All the prophets and worshippers of -the god Baal-zebub, the then worship of the kingdom of Israel and -Samaria, were put to death by the stratagem and order of Elijah; and -after him, Elisha received an affront by being called "_old bald head_" -and for this great offence, the Lord sent two she bears out of the -woods, and devoured forty and two little children! The nonsense of the -Koran cannot come up to this account. During the lives of Elijah and -Elisha, Jehovah could attend to little else than their concerns, for -they were forever praying for something to incommode or destroy human -beings. - -What man is there, at the present day, who can believe that the Author -of Nature gave to a mortal, power to withhold the rain or the dews of -heaven from descending on the earth, as is recorded was given to Elijah, -who told Ahab, King of Israel, (1 Kings xvii., 1,) "_As the Lord God of -Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain -these years, but according to my words_"? This miracle is referred to by -a New Testament writer, but it is not the more true on that account. I -have, however, said enough of Elijah, and, as he is about to go up into -heaven, I have no wish to follow him. - -I will only mention his ascension. It appears that all the towns and -villages round about had heard, by what means I know not, that Elijah -was soon to be taken up into heaven; for wherever he and Elisha went, -the people said unto Elisha, _know you wot that Elijah is about to be -taken from you?_ and Elisha nodded an assent, and said, "_hold your -peace._" It appears as if Elijah endeavored to evade Elisha's presence -when he would be taken up; but Elisha stuck to him until up he went in a -chariot of fire, with horses of the same; and Elisha saw it, and cried -out, "_My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen -thereof!_" In going up, his mantle fell off, Elisha taking it, and with -it, the prophetic spirit of his master. Elisha then followed on in the -footsteps of his predecessor; and his first act was, to call on his God -to destroy some little children, for the enormous crime of calling so -odd a looking fellow, "_old bald head_" In truth, we discover in most of -the prophets such a spirit of intolerance and rage towards those who -were so unfortunate as to differ from or oppose them, that they ought to -be considered prophets of the Devil, and not servants of him whose -wisdom, power and goodness are stamped on all the works of this mighty -universe. - -The prophet Jonah seems to have been a man every way unfit for the -prophetic service; for when ordered to go to Nineveh, to cry against the -wickedness of its inhabitants, he ran away; and, according to the -record, his, disobedience produced a violent storm, and when the sailors -found that he was out of his road to Nineveh, they cast lots to find out -the person who had caused the storm, and the lot fell on Jonah, who -confessed himself to be the guilty person. He then told them to cast him -into the sea, as the only way to save themselves and the ship. It is -written what followed. Another blunder again in the choice of Jonah; and -miracles must be performed to cause this run-away prophet to reach his -destination. He then again made an attempt to preach repentance to the -Ninevites; and they, hearing of the destruction against them, repented, -and this made the prophet stark mad; for his consequence as a prophet -being hurt, he exclaimed, that _he was tired of life_. Poor, paltry -trash for the employment of a God, to reason with and coax a hotheaded -creature like Jonah! but, like all the rest of such tales, there is not -one word of truth in the whole concern. - -Before taking leave of the prophets of the Old Testament, a few remarks -may suffice to point out their real character. From the time that -Jehovah adopted the seed of Abram for his chosen people, nothing but -trouble and vexation on his part occurred; and on the part of the -descendants of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, one disaster after another -followed in quick succession. Under whatever form of government they -lived, they strayed from his commands, and in spite of his watchfulness, -his chosen people would worship strange gods, for which offence they -were punished. Heathen kings were stirred up against them, and their -subjugation was the consequence. They then cried unto the Lord, and -matters were made up for a while. The same scenes again took place, and -punishments followed. From the beginning of the Jewish dispensation -until it ended, there was continual quarrelling between Jehovah and his -favorites, and some of those quarrels were so contemptible that they -would disgrace a foolish old man and a peevish wife disputing how the -firebrands should be put together, by an evening fire-side. The -prophets, also, partook of the same spirit; they abused each other, and -sometimes came to blows: they would lie and deceive in the name of the -Lord. - -But the worst part of the Jewish dispensation commenced with the reign -of their kings. Saul was first chosen by Jehovah himself; and, admitting -the account to be true, the only crime that is laid to his charge is, -the sparing of Agag, the King of the Amalekites, although he had -destroyed every other being, both old and young. For this one act of -humanity, Saul and his family were rejected by Jahovah. David, his -successor, obeyed the Lord in all things respecting religious worship; -but he committed adultery and murder, thereby forfeiting his life by the -law of Moses. But he was forgiven, and the child, the fruit of his -adulterous intercourse, was, by the Lord of Hosts, destroyed. Solomon, -his son, and the son also of his companion in guilt, was made king. -Solomon worshipped idols at times, throughout his reign, and Jehovah was -angry, and resolved to try another line of kings. Jeroboam was then -anointed king over ten tribes, and the family of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob -were split in twain. - -Now, mark! This separation was in consequence of Solomon's idolatry. We -might expect, judging from Jehovah's former disappointment, that -Jeroboam would entirely devote himself and his people to the worship of -the God of Israel. But behold! Jeroboam began with setting up two golden -calves, in direct opposition, to the law of Moses, and also to the -command of Jehovah, who had raised him from a state of servitude to sit -on a throne, savage and only at times departed from the Lord, but -Jeroboam excluded every vestige of the worship of Jehovah from his -kingdom. This, then, is a just statement of the conduct of those kings -selected by the Lord of Hosts, as recorded in the Old Testament And can -it be possible that Infinite Wisdom should have been thus disappointed -by those whom he had chosen? The just conclusion, then, is, that the -Ruler of all worlds had no concern in putting up or pulling down any of -the Kings of Israel or Judah. The history is, from first to last, a -cheat on the human race, and blasphemy against the only true God. - -From the time that Jeroboam was made king until the tribes were carried -away into captivity, idolatry was the sin complained of by all the -prophets; it was the constant burden of all their prophecies; and the -prophets, one and all, intermixed with their complaints the prediction -that the Lord had not entirely cast them off, but that the time would -come when he would _raise up unto them a prophet like unto Moses_. Such -predictions, often repeated by all the prophets together with continued -references to their future renovation and restoration, is what caused a -general expectation of some mighty deliverer that would, _in the -fullness of time_, appear among them. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. ON DIVINE INSPIRATION - - -I INTENDED to conclude the review of the Old Testament by examining the -passages supposed to be prophetical of Jesus Christ, and, as such, -quoted by the writers of the New Testament; but as that has already been -done, in a masterly manner, by Mr. ---------- (Name crossed out by a -former reader. ED) and as his opinion respecting them coincides entirely -with my own, I beg leave to refer my readers to the work of that able -writer on the subject. Professing Christians believe that what are -called the five Books of Moses were given by divine inspiration. I -shall, therefore, in this chapter, consider what is to be understood by -divine inspiration, abstractly considered, and also with reference to -prophecy and miracles. It is contended that Moses wrote the account of -the Creation, and that it is true. If so, then all the particulars of -that remote age must have been given to the writer by nothing short of -Supreme Intelligence. I ask, how was this information communicated? The -Christian answers--by inspiration. This does not solve the difficulty. I -therefore ask, what is inspiration? - -Divine inspiration, according to the Christian's idea of it, must have -been the source of prophecy and miracles, and implies infinite knowledge -and power. Now, as Adam could not have given an account of his own -origin, whoever wrote the history of the creation of the world, and of -our first parents, must, if divinely inspired, have had all the -particulars of the past clearly made known to him. We are told, by the -New Testament writers, that "_all Scripture is given by inspiration_"; -and again, that "_Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy -Ghost._" Still, divine inspiration remains an inscrutable mystery as to -what it is abstractly considered; and, also, with respect to the manner -in which it is communicated. It seems strange, to say the least, that -divine revelation should be given to the human race by the means of -inspiration, and yet the mode of communication be enveloped in profound -mystery. As divine inspiration and divine revelation are closely -connected, the first being the avenue of conveyance, and the latter -being the subject communicated, I shall define, as clearly as I can, -what constitutes divine revelation; but in order, if possible, to -prevent mistake, I shall first point out what it is not. - -The developments and improvements which man effects by the exercise of -his perceptive and reflective faculties, are results which are not -obtained through the medium of divine revelation. From being a savage, -and wandering in a state of destitution in the forests, he has, by the -use of his varied faculties, made advances in civilization and the arts, -which at first sight appear superhuman, but which were, nevertheless, -unaided by divine revelation. Contrasting the present state of the -wonderful and awe-inspiring science of astronomy with that when the best -informed of the human race were but ignorant star-gazers, we can but -feel proud that we are a part of the human family. Again, when we look -back at the period when the frail little bark could not venture out of -sight of land, and then contemplate the improvements in naval -architecture of our present times, which have presented us with that -splendid floating palace, the _Great Britain steamships_ we can but see -that all this has been effected without any assistance from divine -revelation. If, at some future time, by means of improvements in the -telescope, inhabitants should be discovered in the moon, we should not -be indebted for the discovery to divine revelation. But, the discovery -not having been made, should an angel be sent from heaven to make known -the fact, such information would undoubtedly constitute a divine -revelation. So, then, it is dear that whatever improvement man may make, -by the unaided exercise of his faculties, cannot be considered as the -result of divine revelation. Divine revelation is that which man cannot -know, consequently never has known, and never will know by the aid of -his reasoning powers The Old and New Testaments collectively are called -a divine revelation; and that the information these books contain, -respecting man's duty to his Maker, came from the Almighty; Ruler of the -universe, is the Christian's view of the matter. - -We will now examine the various inlets, or avenues, by which divine -revelation is said to have been communicated to man. According to the -scriptures, the first in order is that God himself conversed with -men;--secondly, by the medium of angels;--thirdly, by inspired -prophets;--fourthly, by dreams;--fifthly, by visions;--and lastly, by -his son. These are the principal inlets. We will examine these different -modes, and make such remarks as are applicable to each. First, then, as -to the assumption that God himself, conversed with men. It is recorded -that he appeared to and conversed with, our first parents; also with -Noah, Abram, Moses, and even Balaam. The Deity's conversing with Adam -and Eve may be considered as the commencement of divine revelation. With -respect to the truth of these conversations, and the remarkable -appearances connected with them, no positive testimony can be adduced -either for or against; we must therefore take reason for our guide in -the examination. We begin, then, by observing, that if such events did -actually occur, it is clear that God was accessible to man in those -days, and that in a manner very different to what he is in our own -times; and, also, that the unknown and invisible being could be -approached on the most trifling occasions. - -No good having ever resulted to man from such visits from the Great -Author of all things, is proof presumptive that they never took place. -So far from any moral good having resulted to Adam and Eve from their -daily intercourse with Jehovah, we find in the case, of Eve, that, being -seduced, either, by the serpent, or her own vicious inclination, she ate -the forbidden fruit The ejectment of our first parents from the garden -of Eden, would seem to warrant us in believing that the Lord watched -over them for evil, and not for good. A pair of human beings brought -into existence without experience of the past, or knowledge of the -future, must stand much in need of instruction from their Creator; and -yet the result of all the recorded intercourse was, they became -disobedient; and were driven out of the garden provided for them by no -less a being than the Author of the universe. Had the Bible-makers -arranged the story so as to have made the conversations and intercourse -result in the continuance of our first parents in the garden, the -account would have borne some resemblance to truth: but to represent it -as having ended in their expulsion, is by far too large a draft upon -human credulity, unless they can believe that God is what Christians -declare the Devil to be. - -If the advocates for the authenticity of the Bible contend that the -recorded intercourse between the Lord and our first parents is literally -true, that view of the subject is attended with so many difficulties -that it is almost impossible to give credit to it But if they contend -that it is an allegory, then the probability is that the account of the -creation is altogether a fabulous tradition, consequently not a divine -inspiration. When the Lord is represented as having appeared to Abram, -or any of the renowned men of old, such appearances are not spoken of as -being of uncommon occurrence, nor is any surprise manifested. The Lord -is always represented as having appeared in a human form. Before the -sceptic can believe in the reality of these visitations, he must know -for what end they took place; and, also, why the Lord should in the -olden times be always ready to appear to, and converse with, his -favorites, and in modern times altogether discontinue his visits, as if -there were now nothing on earth worthy of his particular notice. - -The Bible informs us that three angels in the form of men appeared to -Abram, and that one of them was called the Lord, the _Judge of all the -earth_. They must have been in the likeness of men: for, they had their -feet washed; they dined with Abram, and the particular kind of food is -mentioned, which in our day would be denominated veal and griddle-cake. -And at this dinner the promise was confirmed that Abram and Sarah should -be blessed with a son in their old age, and that from his descendants -one should arise who should be for the healing of the nations. After -dinner the Lord informed Abram that he had heard that Abram's neighbors -were extremely wicked, and that he and his companions had come to -ascertain if the report were correct, and that the vengeance of Heaven -was about to fall on Sodom and Gomorrah for their crimes. The good old -man plead hard for the inhabitants, saying, "_Far be it from the Lord to -slay the righteous with the wicked,_" and thereby in a slight degree -averted the dreadful doom. The reader can peruse the account (Genesis, -chapter xviii.,) and make his own comments. The writer could as soon -believe that the moon is a large cheese, suspended in the firmament, as -give credit to this contemptible story. If it should be asked, how Moses -obtained his information as to what Abram had for dinner, the answer is, -by inspiration. - -We will here notice two remarkable appearances of the Lord: one of them -to Balaam, the other to Moses, A few remarks on each will suffice. -Balaam was a conjuror, and a person of no small consequence in his day. -He was applied to by the princes of Moab to prophesy evil against the -Israelites, That whole nation, under the guidance of Moses, being in the -act of marching through the land of Moab on their route to the land of -promise, and having the character of making too free with other people's -property, the princes of Moab hired Balaam to curse them. We are told -that the heathen prophet judged it best to procure the permission of -Jehovah, the God of the Jews, before he cursed his people. He, -therefore, erected an altar on the top of a hill, and on it sacrificed -seven bullocks and seven sheep. During the sacrifice, the Lord of heaven -and earth came down, and called the prophet aside from the presence of -the princes of Moab, and forbade him to curse his people. The sacrifice -was repeated thrice. On each occasion the Lord appeared to Balaam, -giving him leave to go with the princes, but forbidding him on any -account to curse the Israelites. The remainder of the tale is to be -found in the history of Balaam. - -Now, can it be possible, that this account contains a particle of truth? -Can we suppose, that the unknown power, whom man calls God, presented -himself at the altar of a heathen necromancer, and, whispering in his -ear, forbade him to perform his monkey tricks to the detriment of his -chosen people? And that three times he should descend from heaven to -overawe the old trickster, as if he thought him capable of doing harm to -the Israelites? This account is rendered more contemptible by being -referred to by New Testament writers, although the scripture declares in -many places that "no man can see God and live." Christians little think -how largely their credulity is taxed when they are taught to believe -that such accounts were given by divine inspiration. - -It is written in the book of Exodus, (chapter xxiv.,) that After the -giving of the moral law on Mount Sinai, the Lord called Moses to the top -of that remarkable place to give him instructions respecting the -tabernacle and its paraphernalia. Moses remained there forty days, -attending to the commands of Jehovah. The Lord, on a sudden, informed -Moses that the Israelites had forsaken him, had set up a golden calf, -and were in the act of worshipping before it and dancing for joy. Moses -was ordered to go down. Before he left the mount, however, the Lord's -anger waxed hot, and he told Moses not to plead for the wicked people. -Jehovah, being about to destroy them, Moses besought him not to cut them -off, and reminded him that, by so doing, the Egyptians would triumph and -say that their God led them into the wilderness to destroy them. - -Moses also reminded Jehovah of the promises made to Abram, Isaac, and -Jacob, respecting their posterity; and by the arguments he made use of -in favor of showing mercy to the Jewish people, at length prevailed on -the Lord to suppress his anger. Having descended from the mount, Moses -found the people half-naked, and dancing in a state of joyful excitement -before the Golden Calf. The man who had but just before plead the cause -of his brethren, and thereby prevented Jehovah's destroying the whole of -the seed of Abram, found it less difficult to quiet the fury of an angry -God, than to keep his own temper; for, when he saw their idolatrous -dancing and revelry, he lost all patience, and, throwing down the tables -of stone on which the laws were written, made the inquiry, "_Who is on -the Lord's side?_" The Levites instantly came forward and declared for -the Lord. Moses ordered every man to take his sword and slay his -neighbor and friends who had rebelled against Jehovah,--a shocking -slaughter ensued, for three thousand were slain on that day! - -If this account could be credited, it would be truly harrowing to the -reflecting mind. To believers in Christianity, we would say, can you -expect persons who depend on the exercise of their reason for the -discovery of truth and the detection of error, to believe the account of -the transactions of Jehovah and Moses on the mountain? Surely, you -cannot. We give the following reasons why it is out of our power to -believe it:--The narrative represents the Almighty Ruler of the Universe -as possessing the same frailties as his creature, man. The Creator is -forty days contriving (assisted by Moses) ornaments and decorations for -his own worship. Before these were completed, the people, who were to be -the worshippers, deserted their God, and either commenced a new religion -or revived an old one. For a considerable time, Jehovah allows Moses to -remain in ignorance of what is going on at the foot of the mountain; -then, all of a sudden, informs him of it; in a burst of passion tells -him to stand out of his way, so as to be no hindrance to him in pouring -out his wrath; and seems determined to exterminate the whole race. -Moses, less passionate than the Deity, argued strenuously in favor of -his brethren, and pointed out to Jehovah two reasons why he ought to -spare them:--first, that their extermination would break the promise -made to Abram; and secondly, that the Egyptians would exult in the -destruction of their former slaves, Jehovah losing all the honor of -having brought them out of bondage with _a mighty hand and an -outstretched arm_. - -Having thus cooled down Divine vengeance, Moses himself became the Jack -Ketch, or executioner of his brethren. - -If this account had been found in any book but the Bible, not one person -in a thousand would have believed it. It destroys the attributes of the -God of all worlds, gives the lie to his foreknowledge and immutability, -and then invests him with all the weakness, folly, and mutability of -poor, frail, erring man. - -With respect to the dreams and visions, of which we find so many -accounts in the Old and New Testaments, they are spoken of by the -prophets as being the medium of divine inspiration. One of them thus -expresses himself:--"_It shall come to pass in the last days, saith the -Lord, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and -your daughters shall prophesy, your old mm shall dream dreams, your -young men shall see visions._" (Joel, chapter ii.) Now we know that -dreams are not the result of divine inspiration. When we read that an -angel appeared to a man of God, no more can be made of it than -this:--the priest, or pretended prophet, dreamed that an angel appeared -to him, and conversed with him. - -I have many times dreamed of seeing my first wife, who died upwards of -forty years ago. If I were to insist that the dream was a reality, it -would be considered by my friends that my mind was disordered; in short, -that I was insane. From dreams, we can obtain no correct ideas of -realities. If persons, who are much subject to dreams, were to imagine -that their dreams pointed to realities, they would be all their lifetime -in pursuit of shadows. Dreams and visions would be very uncertain -channels for the conveyance of divine revelations, for the supposed -angel might be the servant of the Devil instead of a messenger from -heaven. - -The writings in the Old Testament which are called prophecies, generally -relate to the Jewish nation. How are we to know that they are -prophecies? In order that there may be no uncertainty with respect to a -prophet's pretensions, he should foretell something to come to pass in -the lifetime of the persons to whom he declares the prophecy, stating -the precise time and place, so that when fulfilled, it should be a -million to one against its being the result of guess-work. It would then -carry with it a convincing proof of being the result of divine -inspiration. - -To show the dependence that can be placed on prophecies, we may refer to -the Millerite delusion. The pretensions and extravagances of that sect -were based on the prophecies of Daniel. I have heard many preachers, of -acknowledged learning and talent, attempt to explain Daniel's prophecies -with regard to the time of the second advent; but they generally -differed in their views. About the year 1803, a preacher in London, -(England,) of first rate abilities, told his congregation, a very large -one, to keep, in mind the year 1833, for that he had, after the most -laborious calculations, arrived at the conclusion that about that -period, signs and wonders would indicate the near approach of him who is -to come again in _power and great glory_. - -There is no doubt but hundreds of learned men have, since the time that -Jesus is said to have left this world, consumed the "midnight oil" in -their researches to discover the time of the second advent, but to no -purpose. To no purpose, did I say? I mistook. In the case of Miller, it -was to a most unfortunate purpose. Thousands of his followers have been -in a state of partial insanity; many have been absolutely deranged; some -have committed suicide; others sold their lands, abandoned their -occupations, neglected their wives and children, and will never regain -their former happy homes. Can we suppose that the all-wise Ruler of the -Universe would promulgate prophecies so uncertain with respect to their -fulfilment, and so disastrous in the effects arising from their -uncertainty? I repeat, that prophecy, to answer any good purpose, should -be fulfilled in the lifetime of the persons to whom it is addressed; -otherwise, the uncertainty attending it renders it worse than useless. - -If Daniel had been divinely inspired to foretell any thing relating to -Christ, common sense suggests that it would have reference to his first -appearance on earth. Instead of this being the burden of his prophecy, -he makes no allusion to his first coming, but, according to Christian -expositors, his dreams and visions refer to the _second_ coming of -Christ, and the final judgment. Father Miller's bubble having burst, his -sincere but deluded followers are in a state of extreme wretchedness; -all of them injured either in mind or circumstances, and most of them in -both. Many of them will doubtless reject religion altogether. So much, -then, for depending on divine inspiration. - -The power to perform miracles is included in the idea of divine -inspiration, and implies the possession of a power superior to all human -power. The exhibition of a power by an individual, superior to what the -united exertions of a whole nation could perform, ought to be credited -to the exhibiter as a power _received from on high_,--a conclusion drawn -by Christian commentators, and also by Jesus himself, with respect to -his recorded miracles; for, he says--"_If I had not done among them the -works which no other man did, they would not have had sin; but now_ -[they having seen his miracles, and yet rejected him] _their sin -remaineth._" - -Miracles are uncertain evidences of divine inspiration. What an ignorant -man might deem to be a miracle, a man of intelligence and education -might know to be the result of combined natural causes. What in one age -has been currently believed to have been the effect of supernatural -agency, a succeeding and more enlightened age has known as the result of -certain operations of nature. Nothing can justly be regarded as a -miracle unless it be, past all dispute, beyond human power to perform. -To suppose that the Deity makes use of means to promote the improvement -of his creatures, which are calculated to mislead them, is to impeach -his wisdom and goodness. - -Miracles could not have been evidences of divine interposition to the -Jewish people, at the time of Christ's appearance among them, owing to -the prevailing belief that supernatural beings, called devils, could -perform wonderful things, far above man's power or comprehension; and -that some of them, more powerful than the rest, could invest mortals -with the power of performing-miracles of the same nature as those -ascribed to Jesus Christ. - -Most of the religious sects at the present day affect to be influenced -by something almost amounting to divine inspiration--their religion -consisting of feelings, not of action. In the Scriptures we read, "_If -any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his._" I have often -noticed the variety of modes in which the spirit operates on different -sects. The Methodists, while seeking the Lord, as they term it, will -sigh, moan, and howl, and immediately after be in ecstasies bordering on -insanity, and bawl so loud that a passer-by might reasonably conclude -that some dreadful accident had befallen them. Passing to the other -extreme, the Friends, or Quakers, are as dumb as mutes, and will not -allow their speakers to open their lips until impelled to do so by the -spirit. But the Jumpers, in Wales, (Great Britain,) go ahead of all, for -they often perform the journey from their homes to their churches, by -the same kind of evolution as frogs make when on their peregrinations in -search of water. All these monkey tricks are of much easier performance -than feeding the hungry, or clothing the destitute. Can, or, presuming -that they can, will the preachers please inform us, which of these three -modes of spiritual manifestation will be practised in heaven? - -In concluding this chapter, I shall make some remarks on the Mormons, -that being one of the last sects, of any importance, which have arisen, -professing the Christian faith. They also profess, or their leaders, at -least, to be specially moved by the Holy Spirit; in other words, that -they are the recipients of divine inspiration. Whatever other -denominations of Christians may think of their claims to supernatural -gifts, they are founded on quite as reasonable grounds as were the -pretensions of the prophets of old, not even excepting Moses, the Jewish -legislator; as a brief history of their rise and progress will prove. -The following account, the writer had from some of the principal -preachers of the Mormon faith:--"About the year 1827, or '28, Joseph -Smith, a young man of obscure parentage, presented to the world a -production which he called the Book of Mormon, or the Golden Bible; and -of which, according to his own account, he became possessed in the -following manner:--When about fifteen years of age, being under -religious impressions, he used to retire to the fields and thickets in -the neighborhood of his home, to exercise himself in prayer. One day, -while thus engaged, an angel appeared to him, and informed him that the -Lord had a great and important work for him to perform, but that the -time had not yet arrived for its consummation. Then, after telling him -that he would be again visited, and urging him to pursue a godly life, -disappeared. A few years after this, the angel re-visited Joseph, -repeating his declaration respecting the contemplated work, and -disappeared as before. At length, on a third appearance, the angel -directed Joseph to go to a certain spot and dig in the earth, telling -him that he would there find something of vast importance. Joseph did as -the angel commanded, and found a number of golden plates, on which were -impressed characters in a language to him altogether unknown. Having -copied a portion of the characters, he sent the copy, by a friend, to a -teacher of the dead languages, in New York, in order to ascertain the -meaning; but his friend returned without having obtained the desired -information. The Holy Spirit then enabled Joseph to translate the -inscriptions, and the translation is, denominated the 'Book of Mormon,' -being named after the person who, fourteen hundred years before, had, by -Divine command, deposited it in the earth." This book can be obtained of -the Mormon preachers. - -The progress of the Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints, as they designate -themselves, has been astonishingly rapid, their number being computed at -no less than two hundred thousand, of whom about ten thousand are -congregated in the city of Nauvoo, (or Joseph,) in the State of -Illinois. This portion of the Mormons had previously located themselves -in the State of Missouri, but after suffering great persecution, were -driven out of that State by the inhabitants. They then settled in the -western part of Illinois, and built the city of Nauvoo, and have nearly -completed a splendid temple of unique architecture. They, like the Jews, -believe that they are God's chosen people, and that, as _the earth is -the Lord's_, they shall have the honor of calling together the Jews, the -former chosen people of God, and that all who have not then embraced the -Mormon faith will be speedily cut off. As the Mormons make the Bible the -ground-work of their religious belief, and are sparing in their -allusions to the Book of Mormon, they are likely to become permanently -established, as a portion of the Christian world, and will probably -become not only a very numerous, but also a powerful sect. - -But the demon of religious persecution--let me pause for a moment. I -would not knowingly libel any thing, not even religion. Am I not -mistaken? Not in the personage, most certainly, but I may be in error -with respect to his official character. Perhaps I owe an apology to the -religious world. It may be the demon of fraud. At all events, a demon of -some description is hovering over this remarkable people, and -threatening them with vengeance. Their smoking and desolate homesteads -will furnish matter for the future historian, who, with indignation, -will record, that in the nineteenth century, in the favored land of -Illinois, the ennobling principles of liberty could boast of no better -recognition than an empty name. Give ear, ye advocates of liberty in the -down-trodden nations of Europe! A voice would address you from the land -of promise. Ten thousand men, women, and children in the State of -Illinois, can receive no protection from the Genius of Liberty, but in -the coming spring are to be driven from their peaceful happy homes, to -wend their way through a dreary wilderness, and seek a resting place on -the shores of the Pacific Ocean. "Oh! shame! where is thy blush!" Cannot -even tottering age, and helpless infancy, arrest the fell purpose? - -The present position of the Mormons, with respect to the rest of the -world, so nearly resembles that of the Jews when they were leaving -Egypt, that it is not unlikely for them to assimilate their movements in -a measure to those of the Israelites, and, believing, as they do, that -they are influenced by the Holy Ghost, their historians some centuries -hence will probably record miracles as having been performed by the -Mormons, similar to what are said to have taken place among the Jews, -when travelling under the guidance of Moses, to the promised land. -Feebleness of body reminds me that Death is shaking his arrow over me, -but surely my mind remains unclouded. Am I really living in the -enlightened nineteenth century? And if so, am I on the free soil of -America, or in barbarous Russia, and a subject of the Emperor Nicholas? - -The Mormons are to be driven out of the United States. Why? "Because -they believe themselves to be God's chosen people, and that all other -nations must become subject to them." Indeed! and do not the Jews -entertain the same belief with respect to their nation? Are they to be -driven out along with the Mormons? The Mormons are to be driven out. -Why? "Because they speak in an unknown tongue." But a few years ago, the -disciples of Irving, a celebrated preacher in London, spoke in an -unknown tongue; but so far from their being driven out of the country in -consequence, the ministrations of Irving were attended by the principal -nobility and statesmen of Great Britain. The Mormons are to be driven -out. Why? "Not on account of their religious faith, but because they are -a community of thieves." In the English navy the seamen have a very -contemptuous idea of the marines, and when a very improbable story is -told by any one, they say, "Tell that to the marines," intimating that -_they_ are weak enough to believe any thing. - -We are told that a religious community which numbers ten thousand -persons is composed of incorrigible rogues. And yet it is well known -that they are very industrious, have well cultivated farms, have built a -city, and nearly completed a splendid temple. What says the experience -of the world with respect to thieves--that they have been usually found -among the industrious, or the idle? What are we called upon to believe? -That a highly industrious religious sect, numbering ten thousand souls, -manifests such a total disregard of all moral principle that its -existence cannot be allowed in civilized society? Tell it not in Gath! -Oh! no; better tell it to the marines. - -I do believe that I am in America, and not in Russia, after all. The -film is departing from my mental vision. An idea strikes me. It is this. -In this country, under certain circumstances, _well_ understood by the -public, bills of _exceptions_ are frequently filed. Aye, now I have it -This is a Republic; and a Republic is a government intended for the -benefit of _all_, with the _exception_ of the Mormons to-day, and of -some other religious sect to-morrow; and so on, as avarice, or bigotry, -or the tyranny of a moneyed aristocracy may dictate, to the end of the -chapter. - -The republicans of the State of Illinois have determined that the -Mormons shall not remain among them. "Oh! consistency, thou art indeed a -jewel" For the benefit of persons visiting Illinois, I shall close with -a quotation from the Old Testament, not remarkable, perhaps, for -elegance of diction, but having a claim to attention for its -truthfulness. It is this:---"It is useless to search for a _jewel_ in a -swine's snout." - -END OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. - - - - -THE NEW TESTAMENT - - - - -INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER on THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT - - -TO these persons who can take, without fear, a correct view of Jehovah's -dealings with his chosen people, as recorded in the Old Testament, it -must appear, that the Jews, as a nation, did not, in any way, do honor -to his choice; for, as it regards religion, they neither were at any -length of time faithful to Jehovah, nor did they obey his laws. The -dreadful punishments inflicted on them, together with the teaching of -the Prophets, did not cure them, so as to prevent them from worshipping -other gods. - -To men of common sense, it is clear that the Jewish God undertook to -make of the seed of Abram that which never took place. The attempts to -keep them as true worshippers of Jehovah, continually failed; and he, in -the language of regret and complaint, says:--"I have nourished and -brought up children, and they have rebelled against me." And here we may -inquire, how were they brought up? The answer is at hand. They were -taught to consider themselves, as a nation, more valuable than any -people on earth; and this pride caused them to act with hostility in -their intercourse with, the Gentiles, and to rob and murder all nations -less powerful than themselves; for doing which, they had from the Lord a -direct order. To _show mercy_ was forbidden, and they were punished for -so doing. The command was--"_Thou shall do no murder._" This command had -to do with Jews only. To others it was said, "_Spare not a soul alive_." -Again, "_Thou shall not steal,_"--that is, from Jews: from all heathens, -steal all you can. "_Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife,_" &c. -Remember!--the wife of a Jew; but when the Lord commands, you must -murder other men's wives, and take their daughters for the most wicked -purposes. This is the manner the seed of Abram were brought up; and, in -these particulars, they seldom disobeyed the Lord. - -In this manner the Jews were educated by the Lord of Hosts. Can we then -wonder that they, in a moral point of view, should have been the most -cruel and wicked of any nation on earth? It follows, that they were a -disgrace to that God who selected them as his own; and the Jewish -dispensation ended in a complete failure: so that it is recorded, that -the Lord "_hateth his own inheritance._" Jehovah failed to rear up and -protect a nation who should serve as a pattern to the rest of the human -family. They axe acknowledged, by both God and man, to have been the -worst people on earth. - -We are now about to consider another attempt, on the part of the God of -Israel, to recover and convert his disobedient people to the new -covenant, or dispensation, by sending the long-expected Saviour of the -seed of Abram, according to the flesh. Here we ought to expect that a -double degree of caution will be manifest on the part of the Jewish God, -so that no mistake may happen to the Jewish nation in their reception -of, and obedience to, his Son, as an ambassador of peace and -reconciliation; because, if the mission of Jesus was not clearly -understood by the Jews, another scene of trouble, more dreadful than -their former disobedience, would follow as a consequence. We ought to -expect that Christ would be instructed so to present himself to his -brethren, that his person and his plans for their recovery would be -self-evident. No guess-work can be allowed, as it respects the vast -importance of his mission, or the identity of his person. It needs no -argument to show, that, when an end or object is to be fully obtained, -the means must be adapted to answer the end intended, or a failure is -the consequence. - -Here we may ask, for what purpose did Christ come to the Jews? Was it to -fulfil the promises made to them by Jehovah, _that he would make a new -covenant with them, and write his laws on their hearts; not according to -the covenant he made with their fathers, when he brought them out of -Egypt, but that he would write his laws on their hearts, and their sins -and iniquities remember no more, and that they should be to him a -people, and that he would be to them a God?_ In fact, we cannot admit of -the possibility of any mistake or failure to happen in Jehovah's plan of -salvation, when we consider that the seed of Abram longed for and -expected the Great Deliverer of Israel. No trickery or deception ought -to be resorted to in a case involving such dreadful consequences. It is -highly dishonorable to the God of the Universe, to admit of any -double-dealing on his part, when his people were prepared to receive the -Messiah. - -The situation of the Jews, as a nation, at the time it is said that -Christ made his appearance among them, ought to be kept in view, in -reading this introduction. They expected a king, or a deliverer, to -arrive, agreeably to what they had learned from the Old Testament. -Hence, their inquiry was, "_Art thou he that should come, or do we, or -are we, to look for another?_" As much as to say, we long for his -appearance, but we have had false Christs; and the repeated impositions -practised on our nation makes us cautious as to giving credence to any -pretender, without full proof of his being the true, the very anointed -of God. No inquiry could be more reasonable; for it is clear that the -Jewish nation were open to conviction, and ready to receive with joy the -sent of Jehovah; but repeated deception and disappointment had made them -slow to believe in the pretensions of any that came to them in the name -of the Lord. - -We need not be surprised that the seed of Abram should have been so -scrupulous in believing, until they had incontrovertible proof that the -hope of Israel had arrived. They considered that event as the end of all -their troubles; and relying on the promises made, to God's chosen people -by the prophets,--that the "_sun of, righteousness should arise with -healing in his wings_" that his identity would be as clearly known, and -all obscurity entirely removed as to his being the true Christ, the hope -and expectation of Israel. The Jews, as a nation, were not prepared for -any thing short of a full manifestation of Jehovah's promises in the -person of the Messiah, that he would be their "_Prophet, Priest, and -King_" It is not possible to conceive that a single Jew could be found -who would stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed. This, -then, was the feeling and expectation of the Jews, at the time it is -recorded that Christ came as the deliverer of Israel. It follows, then, -that the only thing the Jews required, in order to receive and obey -Christ, was, unerring proof that Jesus was the promised Messiah; for -they were earnestly waiting for that glorious event. - -We will now inquire, whether or not his introduction to the Jewish -nation was the most probable way to convince them that the long-desired, -the long-expected Redeemer of Israel was come? It must ever be kept in -mind, that the coming of Christ was to the Israelites of vast -importance, when we consider their former troubles, how they had been -forsaken by their God, sold, as it were, into severe bondage, and -scattered over the face of the earth, in consequence of their departure -from the God of their fathers. To all which, it may be added, that they -had been deceived by false Christs: so that, as a nation, they ought to, -and doubtless did, fully expect that the true Messiah, on his arrival, -would convince every real Jew that he was the sent of God, and that the -evidence would be different, in all respects, from what had before -attended impostors and cheats. Of all the embassies ever sent by one -nation to another, none ever equalled in importance the one where the -Son, the only Son of God, was the ambassador. - -In the intercourse between nations, and when a minister is sent out from -one nation to another, one thing is always provided for, and on no -account is it ever omitted, namely:--proper credentials are always -prepared and sent by one nation to another, so that the identity of the -ambassador is indisputable. This indispensable qualification appears to -have been omitted in sending Christ to the Jewish nation, and it proved -most unfortunate to those ill-fated people; for it is evident, from -Scripture, that they mistook Jesus for an impostor, since one of the -apostles admits, that if they (the Jews) had known him, "_they would not -have killed the Lord of life and glory_." - -Here, then, was the fatal mistake, the unfortunate error; and now we may -ask, for what was Jesus sent? Jehovah knew that they would not receive -him, and that a failure would be the consequence. But if Jehovah did not -know of his rejection, what then are we to say of the attributes of the -God of Israel? Taking either side, involves the greatest absurdity, and -is shocking to every idea we can have of infinite wisdom, power, and -goodness. - -If Jesus, on his arrival to the Jews as a nation, intended to prove his -divine mission by the performance of miracles, he appears to have taken -the wrong course to carry conviction to the minds of his fellow -countrymen. Instead of performing signs and wonders before the most -learned of his nation, he associated with the most ignorant classes of -society. These were chiefly fishermen, who could be easily imposed on by -any sleight of hand, performed by a dexterous juggler. It was to the -most learned and competent men of that day to whom his appeals ought to -have been made; but on the contrary, he employed such vulgar abuse -as--"_O, generation of vipers! how can ye escape the damnation of -hell?_" It may safely be inferred, that such abusive language as this -would be considered by the priests and rulers sufficient to stamp its -author as a man of low character and violent temper. - -Again, instead of opening his mission with the declaration of Jehovah's -former promises to the Jewish nation, _that the God of their fathers had -sent him to recover the lost sheep of the home of Israel_, he tells them -that the holy temple was then _a den of thieves_; and at another time, -commences with a cord, or rattan, (like a drunken man,) to drive men -from the temple. Is it possible to conceive that such could be the -conduct of him who was proclaimed to be "_Peace on earth and good will -towards men_"? - -Again, miracles, as proofs of Christ's divine mission, ought to have -been performed before the most learned and talented men among the Jews. -On the contrary, it was the ignorant and unlettered part of society who -were the witnesses of his mighty deeds; for it is impossible for men who -are unacquainted with the laws and phenomena of nature, to form any -thing like a correct judgment of those laws, so as to know what were -their natural operations, to the exclusion of divine power. So that a -performance of any thing, however wonderful to ignorant and untaught -men, would, to others, who were better acquainted with the laws of the -universe, be no miracle at all. - -In conclusion, then, so far as miracles are concerned, a miracle must be -something performed by another, that is impossible to take place without -superhuman aid; and before persons who are so fully acquainted with the -laws of the universe, that imposition would be impossible. Now the Jews, -at the time of the coming of Christ, if he did come at all, had no such -knowledge. In that age, many strange things were believed, that never -had any real existence. For instance, it was fully believed by the Jews, -and nearly throughout the world, that evil spirits or demons took -possession of the bodies of men, and ceased, not to torment them in a -thousand ways; and the casting out of these was considered a miracle. -Jesus is said to have performed many miracles of this kind. Mary -Magdalene had seven of them ejected by the Saviour. So it is recorded. - -But now, no man of science gives the least credit to such tales; so that -the fact is, no devils ever were cast out, because none ever entered the -human body. If Jesus, then, pretended to cast out devils, when he knew -there were none possessed of them, how can we exempt him from the charge -of being a deceiver? If, on the other hand, he believed that Mary -Magdalene had seven, and that they left her by his orders, in that case, -what shall we say as to his knowledge? - -At the present day, should a person apply for medical aid to cast out a -devil, such person would be considered a lunatic. This is proof positive -that Jesus partook of the superstition of the age in which he lived; and -that his pretensions to cast out devils by the power of God, were -incompatible with his mission as the Son of God, the Redeemer of Israel. - -The history of Jesus, as recorded in the four Gospels, fully represents -him as acting like most reformers in all ages and nations, namely, by -abusing men of wealth and power. But, unlike most others, Jesus -represented himself as the only Son of God, by whose authority he -(Jesus) called the priests and the rulers of Israel by names the most -offensive, thereby exciting their opposition to his mode of teaching and -acting. At the same time, the lower grades of society did then, as they -do at the present day. They considered him as a reformer, the friend of -the people, in proportion as he was lavish in his abuse of the most -violent nature. - -In concluding this chapter, we may safely infer, that if Jesus was sent -into the world to be put to death as a sacrifice for sin, his manner of -preaching to his countrymen, and his violent abuse and denunciations -against the then rulers of Israel, were calculated to bring about his -tragical end. But, on the contrary, if Jesus came from God, To _restore -the lost sheep of the home of Israel_, as the Jews, one and all, -expected the Messiah would do, it then follows, that the Jews, as a -nation, were deceived, and in putting him to death, they thought him a -blasphemer, having no claim to be considered as the true deliverer of -his nation. If Jesus came from God to the Jews, as their long-expected -Saviour and Deliverer, and every blessing, as it respected them, -depended on their giving him an obedience agreeable to his mission as an -ambassador of peace, to mistake him for an impostor, was a misfortune -more deplorable than all the misfortunes, as a nation, the Jews had ever -experienced from the call of Abram until the time that Christ is said to -have arrived in the land of Judea. If, in reality and truth, he came -from the Jehovah of that people, as they had for ages expected, then, -instead of his collecting together a few fishermen, common sense would -instruct us to suppose, that the Lord's anointed would go direct to the -priests and Jewish, rulers, and accost them in the following way:--"The -long-expected, the long-desired, is now in the midst of you. I am the -true, the very Christ, the anointed of Jehovah, of the seed of Abram. My -beloved mother will lift her hand, and swear on the altar of her God and -my God, the Father of us all, that I am the offspring of God, and that -in the absence of all earthly intercourse, she brought me forth, and -that angels announced her miraculous conception, before I saw the light; -and that I am endowed with power from on high, to do before your longing -eyes miracles and wonders, such as all former pretenders could not -perform. But, as you have before been deceived by impostors who have -forged my name, and assumed my character, believe me not for my word, -but for my works' sake. Mark well my deportment Give credit to my mighty -deeds only when they are openly addressed to your senses, that no doubts -may remain as to the identity of my person, and the high commission of -which I am the bearer; and being fully convinced of my Messiahship, obey -me as the earthly representative of your heavenly Father, while I unfold -the blessings that await you, in the fulfilment of the promises made to -Abram and his seed forever." Instead, however, of thus openly and -frankly making known the object of his message to his nation, Jesus -begins by making use of expressions the most insulting, charging the -priests and rulers with crimes of the basest description, in the worst -language possible; the direct tendency of which was, to arouse their -worst feelings, leaving them in doubt what to think of one who arrogated -to himself authority over the Mosaic law, and whose teaching was so -obscure as not to be understood even by his own disciples. In speaking -of himself and the kingdom he was about to set up, he said that his -death formed a part of the divine arrangement included in his mission; -as much as to say, I must be put to death before my plane can be -developed. At times, in the course of his preaching, Jesus referred to -his future exaltation, as the "Judge of quick and dead." At other times -he represented himself as the only true light that enlightens every man -that cometh into the world; and yet, he courted obscurity in most of his -preaching, so much so, that one of his most intimate friends (Judas) was -bribed to inform the rulers who this extraordinary man was, and where he -could be found. - -What would be thought of an ambassador, sent from America to England on -business of the first importance, if, instead of proceeding to the Court -of St. James, at London, he should be found lecturing to fishermen and -people in the lower walks of society, and at the same time, in language -of the most violent kind, abusing the British Government? In fine, such -was the preaching and acting of Jesus during his stay in the land of -Israel, that to me it appears impossible to discover the object or the -utility of his coming. No wonder, therefore, that the Jews rejected him -altogether. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - -WHATEVER may have been the moral character of the Jews, as a nation, at -the time the reputed Messiah came among them, the priests and the people -not only expected his advent, but they also considered that event as an -end to their then subjugation, and more than a renewal of their former -greatness and glory. And here the reader will perceive that they (the -Jews) had no prejudice against the appearance of such a personage; the -only thing they required was, his certain identity, that they might know -the true Messiah was among them. Nothing could have been more favorable -to his reception than such a universal expectation. This general belief -throughout the nation was on their part equivalent to their saying to -the God of Jacob, "We have long waited, and most ardently desired, the -fulfilment of the promise made to Abram and his seed forever." This -short statement is faithful, and true as to the feelings and -expectations of the whole Jewish nation. - -In this stage of our remarks, every thing appears to warrant the -conclusion, that, on the part of the descendants of Abram, no difficulty -stood in the way of their submitting to their expected Lord and Master. -To make him fully known to them, so that no mistake could possibly -happen as to his person and authority, belonged to Jehovah alone; for if -the Messiah promised, seemed in nowise to be represented in the person -of Jesus, then the Jews would have been sure to have rejected him as -another impostor of the same sort as had previously imposed on their -nation. In reviewing, then, the New Testament, the object of the writer -will be to show, that Jesus, the pretended Saviour of the world, was not -sent from God, and consequently, the New Testament is not of Divine -authority. - -In the following inquiry, I shall not dispute the existence of Jesus, -_as a man_, living about the time recorded of him, but take for granted -the history of his life, with the exception of his divine mission, as -this method will be better understood by the reader, as excluding -irrelevant matter. In the Gospel history, then, it clearly appears, that -Jesus wrote nothing of his own sayings or doings; it was all done by -others. This omission to give a clear code of morals, adapted to the -Gospel dispensation, and also rules and regulations for this new sect, -will appear strange, when we refer to the formation and regulation of -the Jewish Church. Moses, or whoever was its founder, took great pains -to record the most minute things connected with the Jewish worship; -while, on the contrary, the Christian Church is left in such a state of -uncertainty, that its author wrote not a word himself, nor, for aught we -know, did he give orders to his followers to commit to writing any thing -he did or said, not even of the miracles he so often performed. It must -appear passing strange, that a religion of such vast importance to the -whole human race should be, as it were, left to chance, as to the manner -in which it was to descend to posterity, when compared with the -minuteness of the Mosaic code. Of the four evangelists, no one in -particular had orders to write the life and doings of Christ, so that -the inference is this: that all the history of the life of Jesus, -including his death and resurrection, is but the testimony of others; -consequently, we have no certainty that Christ ever said or did those -things recorded of him. So that it amounts to this--somebody has said -that Jesus performed miracles; and the same may be said of the rest of -his sayings and doings; and we may add, that somebody has written that -he was put to death, and that on the third day he arose from the dead. - -It is from such vague and unauthenticated writings, written by nobody -knows who, nor when they made their first appearance, that the -foundation is drawn on which rests the Gospel Dispensation; and as the -different writers have given different accounts of the things said to -have taken place, no reliance can be given to any of the facts recorded -as having actually occurred. The different writers have also given rise -to doctrines so opposite to each other, that every sect can find -Scripture evidence for the support of its respective dogmas. Eighteen -hundred years have then passed away, and we are still ignorant of what -is, and what is not, Gospel. - -Is it possible that any thing can be more directly in opposition, than -the Universalists and the different sects that believe in endless -punishment in a future life? Again, can any two things be more opposite -than the doctrines concerning the person of Christ, as held by the -Unitarians and the Trinitarians; and yet, both of these doctrines are -taken from the New Testament, which contains all that is written of him. -And what is still more wonderful, each of these sects are positive with -respect to their own opinions, and are surprised at each other's -ignorance of God's Word; and even at the present day, they only want -full power, and they would soon come to blows. Not only these opinions, -but many more, equally opposed to each other, can be supported by -referring to God's unerring Word. It is a common saying, "the glorious -uncertainty of the law"; I will add, it is the glorious uncertainty of -the _Gospel_ which has made so many priests, and also, it is its -uncertainty which has been in every age of the church the cause of -thousands of honest persons meeting a violent and cruel death, for the -glory of God. - -The reader will in the following pages discover, that my main object is -to show that Jesus was no more sent from heaven to save mankind by the -sacrifice of himself for the sins of the world, than others are sent to -build houses or dig canals; and that the plan, as it is called, of human -redemption, has brutalized the human race, and stood in the way of moral -rectitude, and the development of kind and humane feelings. Although -Matthew and Luke have recorded the miraculous conception of Jesus, yet, -as it is omitted by Mark and John, I shall begin my remarks with the -baptism of John. As it respects the heavenly origin of Jesus, he never -mentions it in the course of his ministry, neither does his mother. -Jesus, in speaking of himself, said he was _the son of man_. Now, if -Joseph, or some other man, was not his father, he (Jesus) then went by a -false name; for, in that case, he was but the son of a woman. We will -leave this point of disputation with the Christians, and begin with the -baptism of John. - -After Jesus had been baptized by John, it is recorded, that there came a -voice from heaven, saying, "_Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well -pleased._" (Mark i., 11.) "_And immediately the Spirit driveth him into -the wilderness, and he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted -of Satan._" What possible end was to be obtained by this journey into -the wilderness, and what kind of spirit it was that drove him there, we -have no information. At any rate, in a forlorn state, and very hungry, -Satan made his first visit to the Messenger of Peace. Jesus seemed no -way surprised at this Satanic intrusion. They conversed together as old -friends. We may suppose Satan to open the conversation somewhat in the -following manner:-- - -"Why, Jesus! you seem to be any thing but in comfortable quarters. This -is carrying temperance rather too far; nothing to eat or drink, and -surrounded by wild beasts as hungry as yourself! I have heard that you -represent to your nation that you are sent to them from Jehovah, your -father. Now, if you have any thing to communicate to them of importance, -this secluded spot is very unfavorable to make known your mission. Come, -give over fasting, for _if you are the Son of God, command these stones -that they be made bread?_" This observation, or, as it is called, this -temptation of the Devil, caused Jesus to make this reply:--"_It is -written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that -proceedeth ont of the mouth of God. Then the Devil taketh him up into -the holy city, [or coaxed him to leave the wilderness,] and setteth him -on a pinnacle of the Temple, 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. Jesus said unto him, It -is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the -Devil taketh him up into art exceeding high mountain, and showeth him -all the kingdoms of the worlds and the glory of them; and saith unto -him, all these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall dawn and -worship me. 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. Then the Devil leaveth him, and behold angels came and ministered -unto him._" (Matthew, chapter iv.) - -To those Who are not afraid to examine this strange account, it must -appear unworthy of the least credit. In the first place, as it stands -recorded, the Devil and Jesus act as if they had been old and intimate -acquaintances. This is the first announcement we have that any such -personage as the Devil ever visited this earth, except he is the same -identical being who, upwards of four thousand years before, came to the -garden of Eden and tempted Eve, and was the cause of herself and her -husband's being expelled from that abode of innocence. If it were the -intention of the writers of the life of Jesus, that it should be -understood that the Devil had been resting quietly, and enjoying -himself, and then appeared, ripe for new schemes of mischief, and Satan -reasoning within himself was resolved again to try his hand,--is it -possible, when this account is duly considered, that one person in a -thousand can give credit to such nonsense? - -A few remarks on Christ's temptation by the Devil will suffice to show -its absurdity. In the first place, then, can we believe that a being of -Infinite Power, Wisdom, and Goodness, ever has, or does now, keep in -existence a Devil whose whole aim and happiness consist in tempting -God's creatures to rebel against their maker and benefactor; and that -God has given him power and capacity to induce men and women to commit -every sort of crime that disgraces humanity? Besides, so artful is this -Devil that man has but a poor chance to escape his cunning attacks and -devices. We are told that the Lord is angry with the wicked every day; -and yet for all that, he has made a being of immense power who possesses -unbounded malice against both God and man. Would any man, who was in his -right mind, keep in his employ a person who would daily destroy his -property, and breed discord among his steady workmen? None but a madman -could so act; and shall we suppose that the all-wise ruler of the -universe would follow in the path of a man out of his senses? - -Again, according to the account in Matthew, the Devil seems full of life -and impudence; while the reputed Saviour appears sheepish and stupid, -and seems willing to follow the Devil about at his bidding! We have no -account as to the form in which the Devil appeared, whether as a rich -man or a loafer; whether fat or lean, and how old he appeared to be; -neither are we informed in what kind of dress he walked through the -street of Jerusalem, whether it was in the costume of the age, or in the -livery of hell. At any rate, Jesus seemed rather scared at the old -serpent. Jesus commenced his mission more like a hermit than as a -messenger of peace; to God's chosen people. In fact, there is, in Jesus, -through his whole life, something so unearthly that his existence as a -man is very doubtful. In the whole account of the temptation of the -Devil, the evidence of its being a mixture of fable and falsehood is, -apparent. - -Besides, it is altogether unaccountable how Jesus and the Devil became -so well acquainted with each other; for Jesus was a Jew by nation, and -strictly obeyed the law of Moses; but Moses is completely silent as to -the existence of any such personage as the Devil. At the time when it is -said Jesus came to the Jewish nation, they had, during their captivity, -embraced the theology of their conquerors; and on their return to the -land of their nativity, brought with them the-belief in the existence of -good and bad angels, and also the doctrine of a future state of rewards -and punishments,--dogmas unknown to, and never taught by, Moses. It is -clear, then, that the very existence of a Devil never was a doctrine of -the Old Testament, but on the contrary, it was borrowed from eastern -mythology; and Jesus, finding that the Jews professed to believe it, -fell in with it, as also a heaven and a hell, and a judgment to come, -which doctrines were all of heathen origin. The Old Testament is silent -as to what constitutes orthodox Christianity. Ye Christian ministers! -your heaven and hell, by the teaching of which you gain wealth and live -like princes, is nothing but an echo of by-gone ages, which had its -origin in the imagination of the priesthood of an antiquity anterior to -the existence of Moses or of the Jewish nation! - -But to return to the temptation of Jesus by the Devil. And here it may -be asked, how it can now, or ever could, be considered a temptation at -all? If Jesus was what they say he professed to be, _the sent of God_, -he knew well that the Devil had nothing to give him by way of inducement -to distrust his Father's superintendence and care. Jesus might have said -to Satan, "You lying old Devil, you know that you have no kingdom to -bestow; you likewise well know that you have not land enough whereon to -build a hovel, in which to shelter your favorite associates, the swine!" -But, on the contrary, Jesus seems to act with great respect towards the -Devil. He made no objections to follow Satan wherever he chose to lead -him. We are ignorant of the object Jesus had in view by retiring into -the wilderness; and how the Devil came to be acquainted with his -destitute situation, we are also at a loss to conjecture. Likewise, we -have yet to learn whether Satan resided among the Jews, or dwelt in the -regions of the air, as he is called "the Prince and power of the air, -the spirit which works in the hearts of the children of disobedience." - -The number of forty years, or days, is repeatedly chosen by the writers -of the Old Testament, in which to perform something wonderful, and of -great importance. Thus, the Jews were forty years going from Egypt to -the land of promise, during which time nearly all that came out of -bondage were destroyed for their disobedience against the God of Abram, -Isaac, and Jacob. Jehovah and Moses were forty days on Mount Sinai, -preparing ornaments for the Jewish worship, during which time Aaron and -the rest of the Israelties returned back to worship the gods of their -former oppressors; so that it appears, before the church of Jehovah in -the wilderness was ready to sing his praise, and thank him for bringing -them out of bondage, both Aaron and the people were singing and dancing -before the golden calves of Egypt! The number forty has been most -unfortunate for Jehovah's plans; for, in addition to repeated failures -connected with the number forty, it is recorded that Jehovah was grieved -forty years for the transgressions of his chosen people; and Jesus, -after forty days' fasting, surrounded by devouring beasts and hungry -vultures, behold! the Devil came skulking along with brazen-faced -impudence, and Jesus, the better to get rid of him, broke up his -solitary abode. Thus, again, the number forty concluded without any -apparent object being effected. - -Whoever wrote this account of Christ's temptation, as if it was not -foolish enough, has added, that after the Devil had withdrawn from -making Jesus such tempting offers to enlist into his service, angels -came and ministered unto him. What the nature of the service was, which -they performed, we know not; but one would suppose their first inquiry -ought to have been, whether he did not wish to have his dinner as soon -as possible? The whole of this account is so contemptible, that I shall -not give it any further attention. - -If we contrast the submissive conduct and humble deportment of Jesus, -when in conversation with the Devil, with his manner and intercourse -with the rulers and priests of his own nation, he appears, in reference -to the latter, whom we should expect he would have treated with that -respectable language due to their standing in society, and consistent -with his dignity as the Messenger of Peace, to great disadvantage as a -divine teacher: for it must be ever borne in mind, that Jesus must be -considered, according to his own account, superior to all that ever came -before him, and to the imperfections found in men in common, and even in -the prophets of old, so that he must so conduct himself that his sayings -and doings must be capable of standing the most rigid moral scrutiny. -But, instead of his appealing to the Jewish rulers in the most courteous -manner--instead of his plainly stating who he was, and the vast -importance of his coming on earth, he begins by upbraiding them in a way -calculated to disgust them, and thereby frustrate the object of his -mission. He calls them "a generation of vipers" and asks them "how they -can think to escape the damnation of hell?" - -Although the chief priest and rulers were over-anxious in their -inquiries as to whom he was, and by what authority he so openly -condemned others, he treated them as unworthy of a civil reply; for, let -the moral conduct of the Jewish priests and rulers be what it might, -admitting it was very bad, nothing could justify him in the use of -insult and the most violent vituperations. What kind of reception would -an ambassador meet with in England, should he, before his' mission was -fully understood by that Court, abuse the rulers of that kingdom, and at -the same time associate with a few obscure individuals as witnesses of -such abuse? Would he be considered a fit person to represent the -authorities who sent him? for, never let us forget, that of all the -missions sent by one nation to another nation for the settlement of any -difficulties that might exist between them, none ever was of such -importance as the one which Jesus was to present to "_the lost sheep of -the house of Israel_." Let us also bear in mind, that the rulers among -the Jews made every inquiry as to whom he was, and the purport of his -coming. Yes, every effort on the part of the Jews was made to draw out -of him from whence he derived his authority: but his answers were any -thing but to the point, for, he said on one occasion, "_An evil and -adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be -given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas,_" and that was no answer -at all. - -I am well aware what Christians will say in this case: that his miracles -were sufficient evidence; but all the proof we have that he did perform -miracles, is, somebody has written that he did so. But here I shall -dispute the performance of some of his miracles, from the New Testament -account of them; and, in my next chapter, I shall show that modern -discoveries have proved, beyond dispute, that some of the miracles said -to have been performed by Jesus could not have taken place, for if any -person in the present age, were to pretend that he could perform similar -miracles, he would not only be considered an impostor, but would also be -deemed an ignoramus. - - - - -CHAPTER. II. - - -OF all the miracles said to have been wrought by Jesus, as recorded in -the Gospels, the casting out of devils are among the foremost. The case -of Mary Magdalene is often referred to by Jesus himself; it is related -that no less than seven had taken possession of her person. It is truly -wonderful, that at the time of Christ's preaching, the old Devil of all, -and a host of subordinate ones, appeared to be more active than at any -other time of which we have any account The Old Devil came forward after -an absence of more than four thousand years; for, we have no account -that he, either in person or by proxy, had visited God's chosen people, -admitting that it was he, who, by the agency of a serpent, or by any -other means, deceived Adam and Eve, by which deception, pain, and even -death, followed as a consequence. Satan might well think that he could -afford to rest awhile, till Jehovah should make some new movement to -benefit the human race. - -How the Devil came to know that Jesus was about to commence preaching -repentance for the remission of sin, we have no means of finding out; -but, when Jesus had retired into the wilderness, behold the Devil was -close at his heels, and they seemed to be as well acquainted as two old -playmates. The Devil was well fitted for discussion, for he appeared -well versed with the Old Testament. However, if he were the same Devil -who outwitted Jehovah in Paradise, he failed to obtain a victory over -the Son in the wilderness. What became of him after his defeat on the -Temple, and when he came down from the mountain, we have no account No -mention is made of his being concerned in riding the hogs into the sea. -We must, therefore, leave him, and attend to the triumph of Jesus in -ejecting them from their strong holds. - -The first in order which we shall review, as being possessed of devils, -will be Mary Magdalene, out of whom, it is recorded, Jesus cast seven -devils. This woman must be considered most grievously afflicted. How -they operated on her--whether it was by inflicting bodily pain, or a -mental disease, we know not; at any rate, she seemed incapable of -getting rid of them. The number being seven, and having dispositions -opposed to each other, they no doubt often quarrelled among themselves, -and disturbed her in her sleeping hours; at all events, her gratitude -and attachment to Jesus is proof positive that she preferred their room -to their company. - -Christians, in speaking of Mary Magdalene, convey the idea, that, -previous to the casting out of the devils, she did not bear a good -character. But this is a mistake; for, if the New Testament account of -devils taking possession of persons, be true, and that no human power -can eject them, it then follows, that Mary Magdalene was truly -unfortunate, since no less than seven of these intruders were constantly -about her. We are left to conjecture how the number seven could have -been discovered. If Mary had been compelled to have had seven teeth -extracted, the number could have been fully known to those who stood by; -but how, or in what way, it could have been known that seven devils were -cast out, unless they appeared visible to the by-standers, does not -appear. But we will not dwell too long on such sheer nonsense, as not -one word of truth is in the whole story of casting out devils; for the -best of all possible reasons, because there were none at all to cast -out. It is recorded that the Jews were troubled with devils of different -kinds, such as unclean devils, deaf and dumb devils, and, in one case, a -kind of devil which could not be cast out only by prayer and fasting. -If, at the present day, a person was to apply for medical aid, and hint -to the doctor that his wife was really possessed with (not seven) but -one devil, the doctor would consider such a man a fit subject for a -lunatic asylum. - -As it respects demoniacal possession, it is, or rather was of heathen -origin. The Jews, as a nation, believed in its truth, as did also the -surrounding nations; consequently, if a person had a complaint attended -with fits, or any thing rather out of the common way, by which human -beings were afflicted, such a disease was considered a possession of one -or more evil spirits. But now, that the laws of nature are better -understood, and medical science more fully developed, demonology, as -well as witchcraft and sorcery, are given up altogether. No doubt now -remains, but that the whole was the effect of ignorance and fraud; and -consequently the casting out of devils by Jesus and his apostles, had no -reality in it whatever. It is not possible for us to conceive why demons -or devils should have taken possession of human beings, admitting that -they have a real existence. We are ignorant as to the state of mind of -these beings. Whether in those days they took possession of men and -women out of rebellion against God, or, having no real home, were only -wanderers, and felt more comfortable when dwelling in the bodies of -animals or of human beings, we cannot determine. The latter, however, -appears to have been the case; for, an one occasion, when Jesus was -about to expel a legion, the devils _besought him to permit them to -enter into the swine_; but it is recorded, that the hogs started off -down into the sea, and were drowned. What became of the devils, we know -not. If this miracle took place, one thing is clear, namely, that the -devils, with all their cunning, made a bad calculation as to the -security they would have m the swine. - -At the time Jesus is said to have lived among the Jews, the casting out -of devils was a common occurrence; for Jesus, in reply to the charge -that he cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince or chief of devils, -says, "_If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast -them out? therefore they shall be the judges,_" So that, after all, it -follows, that what so many could do without the authority of Jesus, was -no miracle at all. It was nothing short of imposition, and failed of -being any proof of his divine mission. The truth is, that casting out -devils was a heathen practice, among many other things, of heathenish -origin; and Jesus, according to the New Testament, fell in with it, as -he did with many doctrines which the Jews brought into the land of -Israel when they returned from their long captivity. The Jews brought -back with them the belief of a future state of rewards and punishments, -the existence of the soul, a heaven for the virtuous and good, and a -hell for the wicked; also good and bad angels, and a future judgment, -over which Jesus said to the Jews he was appointed to be the judge. -Notwithstanding the silence of the Old Testament as to the tenets above -noticed, yet Jesus fell in with them, and he also threatened the Jews -that they were in danger of that very hell and damnation which they -gathered from their heathen conquerors. Ye Christian priests! your -heaven and hell, and also your devil, belong to and originated in a -heathen mythology, the beginning of which is lost in a remote antiquity. -Yes, Christian doctors! your heaven and hell, which, from the hope of -the first, and the fear of the last, you teach as divine truths, and, by -so doing, live in splendor,--these very doctrines have nothing divine -about them, and you ought to know it. - -Leaving, then, the miracles of casting out devils, which were no proof -of the divine mission of Jesus, because others, it is said, could, -without his aid, do the same, we must refer to the other miracles said -to have been performed and intended to establish his claim as being the -true Messiah, _the sent of God_. If the miracles that Jesus performed, -had been intended to remove all doubts that the Jewish nation had as to -his being an impostor, such miracles ought to have been sufficiently -convincing for that purpose; for, on such test, his reception or -rejection entirely depended. Now, from the accounts of his appealing to -his countrymen, and reproaching them for their unbelief, he does not, to -all appearance, wish nor try to convince them; for, it is said of his, -miracles, that "he did not many mighty works because of their unbelief." -Their incredulity as to his being the true Christ, is a reason why he -should have followed up miracle after miracle, until unbelief would have -been impossible on the part of the Jews; for, the reader must keep in -mind that the dispute with Jesus and the Jews was not of a moral -character: it was as to his authority in assuming to be greater than -Abram, or all the prophets of the Old Testament. - -Again, Jesus says, "_Woe unto you_ [of such a town or village,] _for if -the mighty works which have been done in you, had been done in Sodom and -Gomorrah, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes_." "Therefore -it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of -judgment, than for you." Now here we can see, that the miracles were not -of the sort to convince. Then, why not produce others more strong? -Besides, it showed Jesus to be ignorant of the human mind, his -condemning men for not believing when the evidence was not strong enough -to convince them. It is true, according to the accounts of Christ's -preaching to the Jews, that instead of argument he resorted to abuse of -the coarsest kind, and the same conduct is pursued by Christians towards -unbelievers at the present day. In some instances, Jesus charged the -persons on whom a miracle had been performed, that _they should tell -none of it._ - -Again, the evidence arising from the working of miracles must always -depend on the information possessed by those before whom such signs and -wonders were wrought. If Jesus intended to rest his Messiahship on the -wonders he intended to perform, in such a case the most learned and best -informed of the Jewish nation were the proper persons to be the judges -for, in our day, in the nineteenth century, we have daily proof that so -universal is ignorance, and so credulous is the mass of society, that -such trash and inconsistent doctrines as those taught by Joseph Smith -and his famous Golden Bible have gained thousands Of believers, and the -greatest part of them are sincere, and would suffer death sooner than -renounce what they believe to be a divine revelation to Smith, and -others of the same stamp. The most learned and intelligent of the Jews -knew this truth, as many of their ignorant people had been led away by -false Christs, and lost their all, and their lives also. No wonder, -then, that they should watch closely every movement made by Jesus, the -then reputed Messiah. There are, in the present age, many things -discovered and known to the most unlearned, that, in former times, much -less remote than the time in which Jesus is said to have lived, Would -have been thought miraculous, and the persons performing them as -possessing power more than human. So that we may safely conclude, that -Infinite Wisdom would not have made use of so uncertain a species of -evidence as miracles, to convince the Jews that the _sent of God was -come_. Other and more certain means would have been resorted to, so that -the Jews could not have mistaken the real Christ, and put him to death -for an impostor. - -If we attentively examine the life of Jesus, as written by the four -evangelists, we shall be surprised at many parts of his proceedings. His -uncourteous language to the great men of his nation must strike the -reader very forcibly. He preaches humility and meekness, and soon we -perceive him arrogating divine honors, and calling those, who came -before him, robbers and thieves. He commands his followers to _judge -not_, and the next moment he judges others, and condemns them without -ceremony; and although it is said of him, that "a bruised reed he would -not break, and smoking flax he would not quench," and that "_his voice -could not be heard in the street,_" yet we find him using something very -little short of outrage and violence. In the affair of the Temple, for -instance, it is recorded that Jesus took a cord, and began to attack -those sitting about that sacred place, "_overthrowing the tables of the -money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves,_" calling them -"_a den of thieves._" Such conduct the Jews could not expect from their -long-wished and earnestly-desired Messiah. - -Even at twelve years of age, his conduct seems to have had something -strange about it; namely, his absenting himself from his home. When his -parents found him, and told him that "_they had sought him sorrowing,_" -he said, in reply, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's -business?" This answer appears not to have been understood by his -relations; but if Joseph was not his father, his mother could not wonder -at his straying from home; she would have said to Joseph, "As you are -not his father, he has reference to the Holy Ghost." His conduct also -partook of the same strangeness at the marriage-feast. When the wine was -all out, his mother told her son of it; his reply was not very -dutiful--"_Woman_," says he, "_what have I to do with thee?_" At such a -place, on the night of a marriage ceremony, there seems something so -unearthly about him, that he never appeared at ease in any company; such -an absence of mirthful enjoyment was calculated to spread a gloom -throughout the whole party. - -But that which appears very strange in Jesus, is his using language that -even his disciples did not understand, such as, "The kingdom of heaven -is at hand;" that he "came down from heaven;" for, says Jesus, "_No man -hath ascended up into heaven, but he who came down from heaven, even the -son of man, who is in heaven._" And again, "_Repent ye, for the kingdom -of heaven is at hand;_" and to the rich man, who asked him what he was -to do to secure the kingdom of heaven, Jesus said, that in addition to -loving and fearing God, and doing his duty to his neighbor, he "_must -sell all he had, and give it to the poor._" - -The reader must ever keep in mind the true merits of the case between -Jesus and the Jews. It was not, whether they were more immoral than -their heathen neighbors, nor as to their being more or less learned than -surrounding nations; for, we do not find that Jesus ever made any -inquiries as to their mechanic arts, or the state of agriculture -practised among them. Neither do we find that Jesus interested himself -as to their progress in the science of astronomy. The last of these we -can conceive would have been very useful; and it might be supposed that -he could impart some knowledge in regard to it, since, in his passage -from heaven to earth, he must have crossed: some of the planetary -orbits, and no doubt observed their satellites then undiscovered; but to -communicate such important information was not included in his mission. -His only object was, to convince the Jews that he, and he alone, was the -true and undoubted Messiah promised by the prophets to redeem and -restore the Jews, as a nation, to their former greatness and glory. -Every either subject was useless, and only stood as an hindrance in the -way of the great purpose of his coming. - -I have before stated, that miracles must ever be considered doubtful -evidence to prove that the performer is any thing; more than what men in -all ages have pretended to be; and to pretend to do what is far beyond -human agency, presupposes that the persons who are to be the judges, -know where human power ends, and divine power begins. But for this -knowledge, no just and certain rule can be laid down; consequently, it -is folly to conceive that Infinite Wisdom would make use of means so -ill-adapted to the end m view. It would be but an attempt to prove a -doubtful truth, by means equally if not more doubtful. - -But, before closing this chapter, we will inquire into the probability -of any miracles having been performed, as mentioned by the New Testament -writers. And here our attention must be turned to the internal evidence -afforded by the New Testament itself. We shall there find internal or -indirect proof, that those miracles never took place, and that the whole -of them were ante-dated; that is, after the persons were dead who are -said to have been the performers. If this can be made out, miracles will -then receive a shock from which they never can recover. To do this, will -be the work of what remains to be done in this chapter. - -John the Baptist is the first personage we shall select. The miracle -said to have taken place at the baptism of Jesus, is recorded by John, -as follows:--"_And after Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens -were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a -dove, and lighting upon him; and, lo! a voice from heaven saying, *This -is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased._" (Matthew iii. 16, 17.) -Again, in John's Gospel, i., 36, when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he -said of him, "_Behold the Lamb of God." John also said of Jesus, that -*he knew him not till it was told him, that on whomsoever he (John) -should see the Spirit of God descend, the same is he_--meaning the true -Christ. Now here are repeated miracles to convince not only John the -Baptist, but also all that were present at the baptism of Jesus. Such -evidence ought to have stopped any future inquiries as to the real -Messiahship of Jesus; but there are strong doubts as to the truth that -any such wonders were exhibited at the time they are recorded to have -taken place. - -I shall proceed to present those doubts to the reader, as truth is my -object, and I am not afraid to follow after it:--in Matthew ii., 1, 2, -it reads, "_Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, -he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art thou he that should -come, or do we look for another?_" This question, sent by John to -Christ, shows clearly that John did not hear of the wonders wrought by -Christ until he (John) was in prison for his reproof of Herod. This -account makes it almost certain that the whole story of John's baptizing -Jesus, and also of the voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved -Son, in whom 1 am well pleased," is a fabrication altogether, and that -John had never heard of Jesus until his confinement For this conclusion, -we have twofold proof: since if John had baptized Jesus, and the wonders -were performed as recorded, John could not have required any further -evidence us to his being no pretender, but the true Messiah, the hope -and expectation of Israel. On the part of Jesus, his reply would have -been, "Why, John, what do you mean by sending a question as to whom I -am? You heard the voice from heaven when I was baptized; you also saw -the dove descend on my head; and now you send two of your disciples to -inquire of me, by saying, 'Art thou he that should come, or do we look -for another?'" - -If we consider John's question to Jesus, and also Jesus's reply, it will -be plain that John had not even seen nor heard much of Jesus, till after -he was in prison. What, then, aha** we say of those wonders at the -baptism of Jesus? The answer is at hand, which is, that there is no -truth in the story. The probability is, that it was recorded from -hearsay evidence, by some person unknown, and ante-dated so as to -correspond to the time of John the Baptist; but that such evidence was -given to John, of the identity of Jesus, as to prevent any future -inquiry, there can be no doubt, admitting it ever took place; but John's -sending his disciples to Jesus to ascertain the truth of his being the -true Messiah, fully destroys the truth of any voice being heard by John, -or the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on the head of Jesus. - -The ignorance of all the disciples of Jesus, as it regards who he really -was, is remarkable, if it be admitted that he performed what is said of -him. We will notice the Apostle Peter, as he may be fairly considered -the representative of the twelve. It is written, that when Jesus and -Peter were together, behold! old Moses and Elias (Elijah) came so near -to the earth that they held conversation with Jesus, and that Peter, -somehow or other, knew them; but he, so far from being alarmed at seeing -those two old prophets, was unwilling that they should return, and even -proposed to Jesus to prepare for their stay. Surely, that was an age of -miracles and wonders! We have an account of the old Devil's crawling out -from some hole or cave, and following Jesus into the wilderness; and, -again, we have two old prophets returned, hovering in the air, and -conversing with Jesus; one of whom is said to have died a thousand years -previous to the time of his holding this supposed conversation with -Jesus from the clouds; and the other, at nearly the same time, was taken -up into heaven in a chariot of fire! Those two strange personages must -have had business of great importance with Jesus. Are we to consider -this strange visit to have taken place, when the truth of it rests on -the same authority as all the other miracles and wonders which are -recorded concerning the mission of Jesus? If Moses and Elijah did not in -truth and reality talk to Jesus from the clouds, in the hearing of -Peter, in their real persons, or by their apparitions, it then follows, -that there is no truth in any of the miracles or wonders said to have -been performed, to prove that Jesus was _sent from God_; for all the -miracles and wonders which (it is said) took place, stand or fall -together. - -If, for instance, the Devil did not find Jesus in the wilderness, and go -with him into the city, and tempt him to throw himself from the -Temple--if this is not strictly true, why, then, it is false as to Moses -and Elijah's talking with him from the clouds. This incredible story, if -related in any book but what is called the Word of God, would not be -credited by one in ten thousand; but being found in the life of the -Redeemer, the man who rejects it and proclaims it unworthy of credit, is -considered an enemy of God, and will have the sentence of "_Go, ye -cursed_," &c. As so much importance is attached to what is called the -Word of God, we will discuss a little further the business which brought -Moses and Elijah so near to this earth. As to where Moses or Elijah -reside, we have no knowledge, and what is the nature of their -employment, we know not; but if they still live, they must have some -location, and also, we suppose, must be employed about something--but -these things we must leave to those who are better acquainted with other -worlds, while our attention will be directed to the business of the -heavenly visitors. - -If Moses had any interest in the mission of Jesus to the Jews, he could -have been serviceable to him, as he had been their former leader, and -therefore could give him useful hints concerning them. We may suppose he -would introduce the subject of Jesus's mission in the following -manner:--"I am Moses, the former leader of the seed of Abram, and -hearing that Jehovah had sent his son Jesus to convert them to the true -worship of God, and the practice of justice and truth, I come to offer -my services, as I am well acquainted with that disobedient race; and, in -truth, I had a terrible time of it with them: only think of forty years -in the wilderness, always murmuring, and worshipping strange gods, for -which, at times, they were cruelly punished; Jehovah destroyed thousands -of them for resisting my authority; but they were incurable. He would -have, at one time, so great was his wrath, destroyed them all; but I -told him what the Egyptians and the heathen in general would say, and he -altered his mind, and killed off the worst of them: for, getting a -little out of temper with them at one time, in consequence of their -murmurings, Jehovah became angry with me, and I was prevented from -enjoying full possession of the promised land. It always surprised me -how it came about that Jehovah should select them from the rest of the -human race, for in my lifetime nothing was ever made of them; they even -disgraced the God who had made them his choice. I left them in thy hands -of Joshua, as the most proper person to rule over them; but how he got -along with them, I have not heard." "Your offer, Moses, is duly -appreciated; but the Jews, as a nation, are now a different people from -what they were when you had to manage them. My course will be different -altogether from what you pursued. Farewell! Moses and Elijah." We may -suppose that Jesus would say to Peter, "As for your purposing to erect -three tabernacles in this place, one for myself, one for Moses, and -another for Elijah, it is proof that you are entirely ignorant of my -future dealings with my own nation; for, in a few months, such things -will transpire, that even you, Peter, all zealous as you are, will swear -off and deny any knowledge of me." - -Now, reader, nothing can be more extravagant than to suppose that such -conversation took place between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. But if those -two old prophets did really descend, and converse with Jesus, then what -I have supposed is no more extravagant than that two prophets, who had -not been on earth for a thousand years, should pay a visit to Jesus, and -hold converse with him. These miracles never occurred, and the world has -been imposed upon and plundered by men, who, by telling such tales, have -lived in idleness; and their quarrels about what Jesus said or somebody -said, or did, have in every age been the cause of evils of every kind, -and of rendering human beings ignorant and wretched. - -Christians, in speaking of the divine mission of Jesus, urge is miracles -as proofs that he came from God with full authority to give laws to, and -finally _to judge both quick and dead_; but the proof is wanting that he -ever performed one miracle. All the evidence we derive from the miracles -said to have been performed is not, that we know they were wrought by -Jesus, but that it is by somebody recorded that he did the mighty works -attributed to him, and which to us is no evidence at all. To believe, -then, what is written, without knowing by whom, or at what time and -place it was written, is to believe without evidence, which would be a -voluntary degradation of the noble faculties which have been conferred -upon man. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - -PETER, of all the twelve apostles, seems to have been more in the -confidence of Jesus than the rest; since when he and Peter were alone, -his inquiry of Peter was as to what the people thought of him. For he -said to Peter, "_Whom do the people say that I, the son of man, am-?_" -Peter answered him, that different opinions were abroad concerning him. -Some said one thing, and some another; but the general opinion was, that -one of the old prophets had returned. Jesus then turned to Peter and -asked him as to his own conviction, and received for answer, "_Thou art -the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto -him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not -revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven._" In -consequence of this declaration of Peter, Jesus then grants him -superhuman power. To Peter, he says--"_Upon this rock will I build my -church. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and -whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and -whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven. Then -charged he his disciples, that they should tell no man that he was Jesus -the Christ._" (Matthew xvi., 18, 19.. 20.) - -From the subsequent conduct of Peter, it is not possible for him to have -witnessed the astonishing miracles said to have been performed in his -presence. Peter was present when Moses and Elijah conversed with Jesus; -and while Peter was speaking to his Divine Master, "_Behold, a bright -cloud overshadowed them, and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, which -said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him._" -Now, if there were such a demonstration as this, (and many such proofs -Peter had been favored with,) how is it possible for us to account for -Peter's denying that he even knew Jesus at all? This ought to be -sufficient for us to conclude that the accounts of those wonders -performed in the lifetime of Jesus, are false statements, written after -the reputed resurrection of Jesus, and the death of Peter, and that -neither of them saw nor believed any thing of the kind whatever. - -In the present chapter, I shall notice the mode adopted by Jesus to -prove his Messiahship. In this investigation, we shall discover a want -of openness and plain-dealing as it relates to the communication of his -objects as the expected _hope and deliverer of Israel._ The reader must -ever keep in mind, that the object of Christ's coming, so far as the -Jews were interested, was, first, to prove, beyond the shadow of a -doubt, that the true and only Messiah had arrived among them. Until this -was settled, nothing which Jesus said or taught would be of any avail, -because, unless this point was established, none would admit his -authority to enforce any thing that appeared in opposition to Jewish -theology, or to the ceremonies of the laws of Moses, the observance of -which, the Jews could not be prevailed upon to neglect; for it clearly -appears that the Jewish priests and rulers never showed any disposition -to resist, or in any way to treat with disrespect, the _holy one of -Israel_. The Jews, then, were in a favorable state of mind to receive -him whom they had so long and so earnestly expected and desired. But, as -that nation had before been deceived, a double degree of caution became -necessary to detect deception and expose imposture; for, until Jesus had -proved, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that he had the sanction of -Heaven for all which he taught, the Jews could place no reliance on his -pretensions. - -It will now be proper to notice the introduction of the mission of Jesus -to the Jews. If he came by the divine command of the Governor of the -Universe, we ought to expect that his mission would be clearly made -known to all those who were interested. Nothing of such vast importance -must be guess-work; and the first and most important of all inquiries -would be, who are you, and by whom are you sent? for, until these -inquiries were 'finally settled, his sayings could not have their full -effect; since, as it has before been remarked, the moral state of the -Jews was not the point at issue, until his mission was made known, and -each party came to a right understanding. When, therefore, the Jews -understood who Jesus was, and the high authority under which he taught, -to correct their moral defects would make a part of his teaching, and -their minds would have been free from the obstacles that stood in the -way of attending to his precepts. - -The erratic method resorted to by Jesus, in his converse with his -nation, as recorded in the history of his life, seems very singular. So -high a personage as the _only Son of God_ to be sent on a mission of -peace and reconciliation to his chosen people, it certainly must be -expected that his steps would have been directed to the most learned men -of his nation, and that all offensive language would have been withheld, -even admitting that the Jews were immoral to a very great degree. But -the acquaintances of Jesus were the most ignorant and unlearned of the -Jews, and were, from the nature of their employment, incapable of -judging correctly of those signs and wonders which Jesus produced as -proofs of his divine authority. The learned priests and scribes were the -proper persons to have resorted to, as being alone competent to examine -and explain all those predictions which related to Christ's coming, as -foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament. What would be thought of -a Minister Extraordinary, who, being sent from Washington to London on -business of the first importance, should he, instead of repairing to -London, make known his mission, by hints and indirect sayings, to some -untaught fishermen, and, at the same time, abuse, and also make use of -the most threatening expressions towards the heads of the government to -whom he was sent? Could it be expected that such conduct would be -productive of any thing but failure? This is exactly similar to the -conduct pursued by Jesus in his intercourse with the Jewish rulers. Can -we, for a moment, admit that Infinite Wisdom could have sent such an -ambassador on the all-important subject of the salvation of the human -race? Jesus repeatedly reproaches the Jews in general, and his disciples -in particular, for their want of faith in his divine authority: at the -same time, he makes use of sayings that it was impossible for them to -understand. - -Jesus often referred to his treatment and death. How was it possible for -them to understand this prediction? It never could have entered the -minds of the descendants of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, that the true -Messiah must suffer death before he could begin to restore the Jews to -their former greatness. Instead of calling together the most talented -and the most influential of the Jewish nation, and openly making known -to them the object of his delegation, he associated with that portion of -society whose knowledge of Jewish history was very limited; and, as if -he dreaded publicity, often charged them to "tell no man that he was the -Christ"--the very opposite course to what appears to be consistent with -the important object of his coming. Taking the history of Christ's life, -and also, more particularly, that of his teaching, he seems to have no -settled plan whatever. At times, he seems to be in the strictest sense a -Jew, not only as it regards his nation, but, also, most strictly -following the law of Moses, submitting even to all its ceremonies. At -other times, he opposes his sayings to those of the law of Moses, and -openly forgives sins, without having any recourse to the offering of -sacrifice according to the Mosaic law. Sometimes, he speaks of being not -only "_Lord of all,_" but that they would "_see him coming down in the -clouds, in power and glory, to judge both quick and dead_"; and then, -again, speaking of his poverty, as "not having where to lay his head." -His living a life of wandering and mendicity, at times making a great -excitement in one place, and suddenly departing to another,--these -strange movements (admitting they occurred) entirely took off the -attention of the heads of the Jewish people, and caused him to be -considered as any thing but the promised _restorer of Israel_. In -addition to his unsettled state, his repeated attacks on the rulers, -holding them up to the scorn and contempt of the people, had generated -such feelings in the minds of the priests and scribes, that they -considered him as a pretender to the Messiahship. Besides the hostility -he showed to rich men, in speaking of the almost impossibility of their -entering that kingdom which was included in all his teachings, namely, -"_The kingdom of heaven is at hand,_" when a rich man asked him "what he -was to do to inherit eternal life?" the answer of Jesus to him was, in -addition to what the rich man had done, "Go and sell all, and give to -the poor, and follow me." We are told that the rich man refused to do -that, and Jesus then said of the rich, "how difficult it was for a rich -man to enter the kingdom of heaven." This is the wild and levelling -doctrine taught by modern prophets. Nothing can be more unreasonable and -unjust. If such doctrines as these had, in in the time of Jesus, been -practised, he would have drawn a host of idlers after him. Besides, to -teach such an unqualified practice as the one proposed to the rich man, -must, at that time, have convinced every well-informed man how very -unfit Jesus was to regulate society. I well know that Christians will -consider this mode of examination of the sayings and doings of Jesus, as -wicked and horrible; as opposing the weak judgment of man to the -infinite wisdom of God. In reply to this, I would say, it is by -investigating the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament, -that we can perceive its defects, and thereby fully discover that the -wise Ruler and Governor of all never sanctioned doctrines such as those -said to have proceeded from Jesus. - -In taking a candid survey of the teaching, manner, and life of Jesus as -it is written in the evangelists, we find that both he and his apostles -lived a wandering life. How they raised funds, we know not, but it seems -that Judas Iscariot was treasurer; and that he loved money better than -he did his master, his betraying him to the rulers for thirty pieces of -silver, fully proved. His having no fixed home, and following no regular -and permanent employment, will throw some light on the system of morals -which Jesus inculcated. Although some of his moral precepts were -undoubtedly good, and calculated to make those happy who reduced them to -practice, still others there were, which, if practised, would create -disorder---such as that which repudiates the taking any thought for the -morrow. There is a vast difference in taking prudential thought for the -morrow, and always looking at the gloomy side of what may possibly -happen. Jesus makes no distinction; but in his explanation he leaves the -subject more obscure than if he had not left any comment at all. Jesus -says, "_Consider the lilies of the field; they toil not, neither do they -spin, yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." -And again, "Take no thought for the morrow, what ye shall eat or what ye -shall drink, nor wherewithal ye shall be clothed, for your heavenly -father knoweth ye have need of all these. But seek ye first the kingdom -of heaven, and its righteousness, and all these things shall be added -unto you." Again, "If a man sue you at law and take your coat, let him -have your cloak also:_" and many more precepts of the same nature, which -are impracticable, and which must be left to prudence and common sense -to carry into practice. - -But this very imperfect code of morals could be practised better by -Jesus and his followers, considering their mode of life, than by others -who had fixed homes. How Jesus and his apostles lived, as to their means -to buy food or clothing, is unknown,--unless they lived the lives of -mendicants, or, to speak more plainly, by what they could pick up, which -is implied in the saying of Christ: "for," says he, "_foxes have holes, -and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has not where to -lay his head,_" To persons so situated, the taking thought for the -morrow would be but of little use; but by those persons who had homes, -and who, by labor, had to provide for a family, such morality could not -be practised. We will give but one instance. - -Suppose a person had business from home for some weeks, and had given -his wife orders to provide his linen, with other things, for his -journey; and when the time arrived for him to leave home, his wife had, -agreeable to the precepts of Jesus, taken no thought for the -morrow,--would such an excuse satisfy the husband? No. Prudent -forethought is connected with every thing moral; and without it, society -would be entirely broken up. But to persons living a wandering life, and -not knowing from one day to another how they should fare; and rising in -the morning ignorant how it might turn out as to where they could lie -down at night--to such, the sayings of Jesus would better apply. But to -those who were settled and had fixed homes, the _taking no thought for -the morrow_ would break up every family who should attempt it. Had we -been of the Jewish nation, and lived in the time of Jesus, in all -probability we should have considered the conduct of Christ very -strange. Sometimes, he upbraided the Jews for their unbelief; and at -others, charged his own apostles to keep as a secret that he was the -Christ. - -The only way to understand this strange history of the Messiah is, to -reject the account of his preaching altogether; and to consider the -whole of his ministry as being written by unknown persons from hearsay -only. And it is nearly proof positive that no such person as Jesus -existed, who said and did those things ascribed to him; for it is -utterly impossible by his history, admitting it to be correct, to -gather, from the evangelists' account of it, for what he came, and also -what end was answered to the Jews. They we're left in a worse state than -if Jesus had not been among them: for, as the Jews mistook the object of -his mission in consequence of the obscurity of his preaching, so the -different sects, to this day, have not decided what is Christianity. - -The history of the life and preaching of Jesus, is such a confusion of -opposite doctrines, that, after eighteen hundred years' investigation, -by men the most learned; and after thousands and tens of thousands of -volumes have been written, and commentators have endeavored to settle -the different and conflicting accounts of what he taught, it still -remains unsettled whether Christ is part God and part man, or whether he -had a natural father, and is to be considered as nothing but a man, but -of superior holiness of life. It is not settled whether Christ died for -all, or only a part of the human race. Again, it is not yet agreed on by -Christian sects whether baptism should be extended to infants, or be -administered exclusively to adults. These, and many more subjects, are -by different parties viewed differently; at the same time all and each -appeal to the New Testament in support of their respective creeds. - -I will now appeal to the reader whether a God of infinite wisdom and -power would be the author of a religion which could give rise to so many -contradictory doctrines? which in the life-time of the propagator was -not understood? and for eighteen hundred years has been a fruitful field -of discord, war, and murder, instead of producing "peace on earth and -good-will towards men?" It has never failed to be a source of war, -hatred, malice, and ill-will towards men; and nothing but the extension -of Infidel Principles can secure the human race against a recurrence of -those dreadful scenes, which, for ages, converted this otherwise happy -world into a slaughter house of human victims. To my brother Infidels, -then, I say, "Ye are the salt of the earth." If you cease from your -noble exertions, the human race may again exhibit one mass of -theological putrefaction. If Infinite wisdom and power had ever -undertaken to give a revelation to man, we should not have witnessed any -blunders or mistakes. A revelation coming from such a being, would have -been directed to some beneficial end, and, like the eternal laws of the -universe, the means made use of would not have failed to bring about the -glorious end intended. But the Bible, including the Old and New -Testaments, is not only unworthy of its pretended high authority; but it -portrays the all-wise Governor and Director of all worlds as a being -changeable, cruel, and unjust. - -In addition to the obscure manner resorted to by Jesus in his speeches, -he seldom conversed with any of his countrymen of any distinction. It -was always the lower ranks of society to whom he directed his sayings; -so that, to the most learned and opulent of the Jews, he was little -known; for when the higher powers were about to take him into custody, -to them he was unknown. It then became expedient to offer a reward to -some one to point him out to the officers appointed to arrest him. Judas -Iscariot was the man who seemed willing as well as competent, to conduct -this ungrateful business. Jesus had often said that _one of his apostles -would betray him_. There is something very strange in the saying of -Jesus, that _he had chosen twelve apostles and one would betray him_. If -Jesus came to the Jews as the promised and expected Messiah, the very -idea of betraying him implies that he did not intend that the Jews -should ever know him as _the sent of God_. At all events, Jesus, at the -time Judas made him personally known to the chief priest and rulers, -complained of the deceitfulness of Judas, which is full proof that he -did not wish at that time to be put on his trial. - -But in what did this betraying consist? The Jewish rulers wished to have -the man pointed out to them who had made so much noise and stir among -the lower order of the people. Judas took the reward, and if Jesus were -really sent by the Lord of all to his nation, this betraying was only -giving him an opportunity of openly avowing his Messiahship. Here then -was the time for him to show such signs and wonders as to prevent any -doubts as to who he was, and of the important object of his coming; for -if _he came into the world to die for the sins of mankind_, Judas then -was of vast importance in bringing about that which was before ordained -by the _determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God_. But if he (Jesus) -did not intend to suffer death, then, and only then, had he cause to -complain of Judas as a traitor. Jesus, in speaking of Judas, says, "_it -had been good for that man if he had never been born:_" but if the -salvation of mankind depended on the death of Christ, a more important -person than Judas was never born of woman. Whether such a man as Jesus -ever lived or not, it is impossible to determine; but admitting that -such a man as he is said to have been, did exist, it does appear that -his life was a scene of incongruities bordering on insanity. And the -whole of his public ministry was so erratic, that it seems as if he had -no specific object in view. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - -NOTHING can be more unreasonable than to admit, for a moment, that the -Almighty Power which governs the vast unbounded universe, should be the -author, either directly or indirectly, of a system which has produced so -much cruelty, carnage, and bloodshed, as the Christian Religion--a very -large portion of which has been brought about by the discordant -doctrines attributed to the preaching of Christ. If God is its author, -(which is more than doubtful,) if, in addition to the evils with which -human nature is afflicted, he had intended to make man's misery -complete, the Christian religion seems well adapted to secure that end, -for it is the key-stone of human wretchedness. A great amount of evil -has resulted from the different sects that have arisen from the New -Testament. - -A few particulars will suffice to show that the various doctrines, all -gathered from and founded on the sayings of Christ, have created discord -and persecution among the followers of Jesus, the pretended pacificator -of the human race. - -One of the most destructive sayings of Jesus--one which has entailed on -the human race a system of continual evil, and which bids fair to last -for ages to come, is the delegated power given to the Apostle Peter, and -which is, to the present day, claimed by his successors. Peter, being -asked by Christ as to what the Jews thought of him, answered that "some -thought that one of the old prophets had returned from the dead, while -others thought differently." But, says Jesus to Peter, "_Whom do you say -that I am?_" Give me your opinion. Peter replied, "_Thou art the Christ, -the Son of God._" This answer was responded to by Jesus, and to Peter he -said, "_Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not -revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven;" and Jesus added, -"Thou art Peter, and on this rock will I build my church, and the gates -of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys -of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall -be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be -loosed in heaven._" (Matthew xvi., 19.) - -After appearing to give Peter unlimited power, he tells him that "_the -chief priest and scribes will put him to death, and that he should be -raised the third day._" Peter, not understanding this sad reverse, and -out of regard for his master, rebuked him, but very mildly, by saying, -"_Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee._" At this, -Jesus seemed to lose his temper, and said, "_Get thee behind me, Satan, -thou art an offence to me._" Jesus then tells Peter that "_The son of -man should come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, to reward -every man according to his works,_" Jesus then adds, "_Verily, I say -unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death -till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom._" - -Now it was not possible for Peter, or any one else, to understand -Christ's meaning. He tells them things concerning his second coming, -before they understood his object as it related to his Messiahship. -Besides, what he told them would surely come to pass in their time, is -not yet fulfilled. This obscure mode of teaching runs through all his -speeches; and he continually reproaches them for their want of faith in -his doctrines. A method so incoherent appears to approach to insanity. - -But to return more immediately to the power given to Peter. A power so -undefined as was given to Peter, at a time when he did not even -comprehend the final destiny of Jesus, cannot be admitted to have been -given. But as this part of Christ's history was written long after his -leaving this earth, the writer, whoever he was, wrote from hearsay; and -there being no one to question its truth, it became, like many other -sayings, reputed as coming from Jesus. Inconsistent as it was, it became -one of the doctrines of the church; and the successors of Peter retain -it in the Catholic Church at the present day. This original power given -unto Peter is still invested in the person of the Pope of Rome, and -through him down to the rest of the clergy. This power, said to have -been given by Jesus to the church, has been productive of discord. The -Popes have held and acted upon it as a divine prerogative bequeathed by -Christ to his church, which has been denied by other sects, so that -quarrels have been the consequence. And hence both rich and poor, -learned and unlearned, have, and do still, confess to the priest their -sins, and receive pardon. - -All the evils that have resulted from such foolery, sprang from the -authority said to have been by Jesus given to Peter. What a rich harvest -have the priests reaped from this delegated power! Can men, possessing -one grain of common sense, believe that such power was ever given to -mortal man? But the different sects will say, that Jesus never intended -that it should be thus understood. This does not mend the matter at all; -for God must have foreseen what use would be made of it. The -consequences, therefore, rest with Him. But are we prepared to admit -that Infinite Wisdom would have left unguarded, doctrines of such vast -importance to the peace and harmony of his church? - -Again, the shocking consequences which have followed the institution of -the Sacrament, or Lord's Supper. Jesus, according as Christians believe, -instituted the breaking of bread and drinking of wine, as an emblem of -his body being broken, and his blood being poured out as a sacrifice for -sin. But this doctrine or ordinance, being undefined, the different -sects of Christians have practised it under the impression of its -sacredness, taking its literal meaning instead of regarding it as a -token of remembrance. The Catholic believes, or professes so to do, that -after the descendants of Peter have prayed over, and consecrated, the -bread and wine, its nature is changed into the real body and blood of -the Saviour. One horrible consequence which has resulted from such -tomfoolery, has been, the burning of hundreds of human beings at the -stake, for not admitting so important a truth. This evil, and many -others, has arisen from the obscure doctrines taught by Jesus, whom the -scriptures describe as being the light of the world. Jesus, before being -taken into heaven, told his disciples that it was for their good that he -should leave them; for, to make up for his absence, _he would send the -Holy Ghost, who would be a comforter, and would lead them into all -truth_. How far this promise has been fulfilled, we have the evidence of -eighteen hundred years; for, immediately after Jesus had left his -church, they became divided, and ever since they have butchered each -other without mercy. This is the comfort, then, that Christians have -received by the coming of the Holy Ghost. - -Another fruitful field of slaughter and blood has been thrown open in -consequence of Jesus withholding from the Christian church the real -nature of his being. So confused was he on this subject, that, even now, -Christians do not agree. Some contend for his manhood alone, and that, -like all other men, he had an earthly father,--the Unitarians, for -instance, and other sects. But the real Orthodox contend that Jesus was -born of a pure virgin, who, though a mother was yet a virgin. These -contradictory views are supported by the life and history of Jesus. Does -it require any thing more than common sense to repudiate the divinity of -a Book containing such opposite statements of the same accounts, or -facts? It is the uncertainty of what Christianity really is, which has -caused so much evil in the world; and this has arisen from the dark and -obscure mode of teaching attributed to the Son of God. Those Christians -who have embraced views so opposite to each other, but who have taken -them from the same Word of God, have, in every age, been the most -implacable enemies, and have seldom failed, when power has been in their -hands, to inflict the most cruel torments on those who differed from -them. Indeed, the history of the Christian Church is one continued -record of persecution and cruelty. - -I was, for some few months, called on by an Orthodox deacon, who -earnestly requested me to reflect on the dangerous situation I was in as -an unbeliever, being totally unprepared for a future state. I asked, if -I were in a worse state than an Unitarian? You admit, said I, that they, -many of them, are good men, and will not be excluded from heaven. He -replied, that, morally speaking, they might be good; but, he added, that -my claim to heaven stood on equal, if not superior ground to theirs, as -they did not believe in the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus for sin; -consequently, they had neither part nor lot in the matter. - -All the intolerance and persecution which have deluged the earth with -blood, have arisen from Christianity not having ever been defined. -Hundreds of different creeds have been founded on the sayings and doings -of Jesus and his apostles, as found in the New Testament; and there are -yet materials for many more. Each sect regards all other sects as being -wickedly obstinate, and resisting the truth. All this misery and -destruction, arising from the different construction of the doctrines -said to have been delivered by Jesus, would never have taken place, if -the all-wise Ruler of the Universe had dictated them; but the evils they -have brought on the world can never be reconciled as coming from a Being -of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness. If such a Being had ever given -a revelation to the human race, there is no doubt but that it would have -been adapted to man's reasoning powers; that mistakes would not have -opposed its progress; thousands of books would not have been required to -explain what Infinite Wisdom had proclaimed; no fires of martyrdom would -have been lighted, to compel men to believe what none could understand. - -If God had been the author of the Christian religion, it would, like all -his works, have been so arranged, and the means so wisely adapted, that -the intention or end would be fully answered. But the religion of the -Bible, both the Old and New Testament, is a continual trial of -experiments on man. And what has religion made of him? Is he generally -fit to be trusted, in word or action? Is he generally humane and -tender-hearted? No! very far from it. Society is, in its best state, -very defective in humanity. The accumulation of riches is the -Christian's object. Gold is the god he adores. - -It is impossible for Christians to deny that the persecutions and -burnings, the cruel torture, and every infliction of cruelty practised -by one sect towards others, who honestly differed from the most -powerful, were all in consequence of the different sects embracing and -maintaining opposite doctrines; all of which were founded on the -teaching of Jesus. Can we, then, believe that the Almighty Ruler of all -worlds would have sent his Son to teach mankind something that should -involve the human race in a never-ending quarrel, by teaching so -obscurely that two persons, equally honest and intelligent, should form -opposite opinions; knowing, as the Almighty must, that such teaching -would engender hatred and malice, and be the cause of producing unheard -of cruelty and torture? - -How dreadful it is to reflect on the mad fury of religious zeal, when -the persecutor and the persecuted are equally sincere! The first, -believing he ought to put to death those who differ from him, for the -glory of God; and the latter, considering that his crown of glory can be -obtained only by sufferings death the most horrid to bear! Poor, -unfortunate creatures! Both parties are objects of pity. The evils -resulting from the different doctrines collected from the teaching of -Jesus, have, for eighteen hundred years, converted the otherwise happy -world into a pious mad-house. The doctrine of human depravity, although -it may not have been so productive of evil as some others, is a libel on -human nature. It is taught by Jesus; the preachers repeat it weekly from -the pulpit; and the necessity of a new birth results from it. A thousand -pulpits thunder forth vengeance against man because of the hardness of -his heart. We are told that he has rebelled against his God; that he is -at enmity with him, and that he has turned his back to his Maker. - -All this is done to humble man, and to bring about his conversion. The -Scriptures also represent the Almighty as angry with poor, feeble man, -and that he will eventually pour out his wrath in never-ending torments! -These doctrines, so earnestly taught, and so fully credited, constitute -a principal part of what comes from ten thousand preachers; and if we -examine the truth of them, none can we find. As it respects man's -rebelling, and turning his back on his Creator, man's error and -misfortune has ever been in trying to find out something about his -Maker. - -This curiosity, no doubt, originated in a state of ignorance. And even -in the present day, man has yet to learn the inutility of every attempt -to discover any thing as to the being and nature of a Supreme Power that -is supposed to govern the universe. We are lost in wonder and admiration -when we contemplate the mighty universe! but of the Grand Regulator of -all, we are, and no doubt shall ever remain, in total ignorance. It is a -libel on man, then, to teach that human beings are at enmity against -God. I ask my readers, both male and female, whether they ever had those -feelings of hatred against the unknown Governor of the grand and sublime -universe? But Christian priests proclaim it; and to those who believe -it, it is a source of lamentation; and being under the belief that man -is the natural enemy of God, the minds of such persons become -prostrated, and then this otherwise happy world is despised and -neglected for a future state of supposed bliss. - -Let any one attend a Protracted Meeting, where there may be some -hundreds of persons, and among the number, many youths of both sexes; -both young and old are appealed to by the speakers, who describe them as -enemies of God, and as having turned their backs on the God of goodness. -They become alarmed, not having before conceived that they could have -been so wicked. I have seen upwards of fifty, at one time, sobbing and -crying and imploring mercy, who, poor, weak mortals, until this -foolishness of being at enmity with God was preached to them, had no -conception of their dreadful enormities and danger. By exciting the -feelings with falsehood, this process is called conversion and the work -of the Holy Ghost. At the same time that the most virtuous females are -denounced as deserving damnation for their wickedness, and told that, -without repentance, their future state will be wretched to all eternity, -should one word derogatory to the character of these females, thus -represented by the priests, be spoken by any body else, an action for -slander would be instituted. - -But as long as people will give up their reason, and be hoodwinked with -the nonsense that God is angry, and that they are every moment in danger -of falling into hell, so long will the Christian priesthood riot in -profusion and plenty, by dealing out damnation to those whose only crime -is enmity against God. So completely hoodwinked is man, that he attends -weekly, and pays well into the bargain, to hear the priest deal out -endless damnation to nine-tenths of the human race; and it is ten -chances to one that he also is included among the subjects of the Devil! -Should an Orthodox preacher, for a few Sundays, preach on moral -subjects, and consider that morality was the one thing needful in the -Christian Church, the congregation would complain that their souls -required more substantial nourishment. The preacher must return to the -old mode of teaching, and again shake them over the lake of fire! And -hence it follows, that, as the people, are not satisfied without having -the wrath of God the constant theme, the preacher gives it as they wish -to have it. An angry God; a cunning, crafty and tempting Devil; and the -enmity of man's wicked heart: this is the set of tools by which the -Christian teacher carries on his theological trade. The discordancy of -religious opinions, and all of them taken from the doctrines as taught -by Jesus and the apostles, each preacher referring to the favorite -passages which support his views, is and will be, a never-ending theme -of disputation; and at some future period, may renew the practice of -burning each other alive for God's glory. - -Nothing but the spread of Infidelity can completely stop this dreadful -evil. We have only to suppose, that, at some future time, the savages -who have been what is called converted by preachers of opposite sects, -such as the Calvinist and the Universalist, or the Trinitarians and -Unitarians, should, by some cause not now foreseen, be left by the -missionaries to support the Christian church; then the savage converts -of different sects would be very likely to fall on each other, and the -fires of Smithfield, which Infidelity, the companion of humanity, has -extinguished, may again blaze on the Islands of the Pacific Ocean. This -is a very probable case; for, in the present day, the same Bible is the -text book of all denominations, and all of them would persecute if they -had but the power. Christianity is now what it ever has been, and what -it ever will be, a persecuting religion; and, although the fires of -martyrdom cease to torment the human race, the embers are still emitting -smoke, and may again be rekindled. Nothing short of _unbelief in all -divine revelation_, openly and fearlessly avowed, can guarantee the -human family against a renewal of the religious butchery of past ages. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - -TAKING the Orthodox views of Christianity, there are four personages -connected with divine revelation, and each has a different department to -act out. The first three are the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Leaving, -for the present, the first three, our attention will, in this chapter, -be directed to the fourth and last, namely, the Devil. And so much -consequence do Christian sects attach to the existence of the Devil, -that, to deny it, or even to doubt it, would be enough to separate a -member from the church. Religious people must have a Devil; for, as the -Devil, by his incessant cunning and temptation, is the indirect author -of men's sins, so, on the other hand, the Saviour stands ready to ransom -the guilty. It then follows, that the sinner, after all, stands on -pretty good ground; for, if the Devil tempts him to commit one-half of -his crimes, and the Saviour pardons the other half, man is not in much -danger of being condemned. - -In this chapter, it will be seen, what an amount of evil has arisen to -the peace and happiness of the human race, not from what the Devil -really has done, but from what mortals have believed he has done, by -supposing him to have almost unlimited power. And here we can perceive, -what evil has transpired from what never has, nor ever could have taken -place, but from what has been believed to have really happened. This has -been in consequence of the credulity of the human mind when reason is -departed from, and man becomes the creature of imagination. It is then -that man can give credit to the most glaring absurdities, and honestly -reject the plain dictates of common sense. It is then that he leaves the -solid earth on which he treads, and launches into the region of airy -nothings; and, by the ductility of his mind, creates beings of so -terrific a nature, that, at the thought of them, the stoutest hearts -have been made to quail. This is strictly true as to the existence and -influence of the Devil. - -That the New Testament sanctions the existence of the Devil, there -remains not a doubt. The temptation of Christ is proof positive. But -that alone should not suffice. The case of Mary Magdalene, and also the -expulsion of devils by Jesus and his disciples, put all doubt out of the -question. When we consider the terrible consequences of this belief on -the peace and happiness of the human race, we can but pity the deluded -creatures, who, in different ages of Christianity, have been sufferers -for the supposed commission of a crime that never was, nor ever will be -committed. All nations, in all ages, have credited, to a lesser or a -greater extent, the existence of a being, or beings, of a malignant -nature, possessing power beyond man's conception; who, from some cause -unknown, delighted in doing mischief to the human family. And ever since -the introduction of the Christian religion, it has been credited that -such wicked spirits could delegate power to human beings equally wicked -as themselves; by which power, they, for a time, could vent their -malice, and do wonders by selling themselves, or by some infernal -contract could do harm to, or among those of, their neighbors who were -so unfortunate as to fall under their displeasure. - -This sin, which never was, and never can be committed, has ever been -thought the worst of crimes; and less mercy shown to the supposed guilty -person than if guilty of murder itself. And so extensively has it been -credited, and so great has been its influence, that laws have, in most -nations, been passed for its punishment; and thousands, and tens of -thousands have been put to death under circumstances of torture at which -the human heart sickens. Surely, if our minds are not entirely darkened -by the ignorance of past ages, we must be able to see that the Bible has -been the most destructive book that was ever written; and is unworthy to -claim infinite power, wisdom, and goodness for its author. If the belief -in witchcraft and sorcery had been confined to the ignorant and -unlearned of all nations, its evil would have been so limited that not -much misery would have followed, because men of good sense and talent -would have stood in the way of its progress. But, unfortunately, this -has not so happened. Its evil influence has ascended to the highest -classes in society. The king on his throne, and the learned judge seated -in the chair of impartial justice, have partaken of its deadly -contagion. The reader will now be presented with facts of the most -undoubted authority, showing what wretchedness has occurred from -believing in the existence and malignity of the Devil--a doctrine -supported by divine revelation. - -The first fact that is brought forward, took place at Bury, St. Edmonds, -in the County of Suffolk, (England,) in the year 1664. Amy Duny and Rose -Callender, two poor women, who were ignorant, and of the coarsest -materials, had, for eight years previous, the reputation of being -witches. So horrid were they considered, that the fishermen would not -sell them fish, and the boys in the streets were taught to fly from them -with horror. The principal charges against them were, that the children -of two families had been many times seized with fits in which they -exclaimed that they saw Amy Duny and Rose Callender coming to torment -them. They vomited, and in their vomit were often found pins, and once -or twice a two-penny nail. - -One or two of the children died. To support these allegations, a wagoner -appeared, whose wagon had been twice overturned in one morning in -consequence of the curses of one of these witches. Sir Matthew Hale -presided at the trial, assisted by Sir Thomas Brown, two of the most -able and learned Judges then in England. Those two poor women were by -the jury found guilty, and hanged on the seventeenth day of March, 1664, -one week after their trial. - -Sir Matthew Hale refused to sum up the evidence, but left it to the -jury, to whom he said, "That the Scriptures left no doubt that there was -such a thing as witchcraft; and instructed them that all they had to do, -was, first, to consider whether the children were really bewitched; and, -secondly, whether the witchcraft was sufficiently brought home to the -prisoners at the bar." The Jury found them guilty, and they were hanged -as before stated. - -Here we have a shocking account of the credulity of the human mind. The -whole English nation were laboring under a mental delusion. Here it was -not to be said, "_O, ye of little faith!_" but, "_O, ye religious -madmen! your faith has changed your nature from kindness and pity, to -perform acts of cruelty which the savage cannibal would shudder to put -into practice._" I would here remind the reader, that Judge Hale was -considered a just and humane Judge. What a dreadful state a nation must -be in, when such laws as have been referred to, were in full force, and -the jurisprudence of England was, as it were, under the influence of a -Being the supposed enemy of man! And it may in truth be said, that an -unknown and invisible world governed one that was known and visible. - -Now, in the case of those two poor women, who were really murdered, the -question arises, who were their murderers? Was it Judge Hale, or the -Jury? It was neither. It was the Bible---a book which records the -existence of a Devil, the sworn enemy of God and men. Reader! can you -withhold pity from two poor creatures in such circumstances, and can you -still praise to the skies a Book that has made the best and wisest of -men cruel brutes,--who, at the same time, were happy to have a chance to -make war against the Devil, by destroying two helpless beings whose only -crime, in all probability, was poverty and ignorance? Every humane -unbeliever must exclaim, "O God! O Nature! what havoc have ignorance and -superstition made among your works!" - -Nothing could be better calculated to give importance to the credibility -of the activity and influence of the Devil's employing and entering into -a league with wicked and ill-disposed persons, after Christianity became -established, than the Scripture account of the Devil's tempting Jesus, -and endeavoring to make a contract with him to obey and submit to his -proposals. But as the Devil was non-suited by the Saviour of mankind, it -might be expected that after Jesus had left this world, the Devil would -endeavor to enlist into his service many of those who had embraced the -religion of that Saviour whom he had tried to seduce. - -In the course of time, in the middle or dark ages, when' men's -imaginations were active, and reason was nearly banished from among -Christians, it became a matter of faith and certainty, that persons in -different towns and villages had really entered into a contract, for a -certain number of years, with the Devil himself; and to carry out and -complete this supposed covenant with the enemy of God and man, a motion -was started of the Devil's Sabbath, on which, a place being appointed, -wicked men and women could meet and contract with Old Lucifer himself; -and books were printed to show the nature of the contract After this -strange opinion became fully credited, and witchcraft was made a crime -punishable by law, those persons who were accused of witchcraft were -tortured, in order to compel them to own that they had attended the -Sabbath of the Devil. - -Another fact will now be stated, to show what ideas of the Devil's -influence prevailed in England and Scotland, in the days of Elizabeth. -James the First, of England, who, succeeding Elizabeth, was born in -1566, was the only direct heir to the Crown of Scotland, and had a -prospect of succeeding Elizabeth in England, which he did on the death -of the Queen. James had witnessed a great number of prosecutions for -witchcraft, in Scotland, in the reign of Mary; and he, as might be -expected, most firmly believed that the Devil was very active in the -country of his birth; so that, when he came to the Crown of England, his -mind was di-rected to put a stop to the prevailing crime of witchcraft -and to break up the Devil's Sabbath, he believing that numbers of his -English subjects were visitors to those unholy meetings. A circumstance -will now be mentioned which will fully prove what views the people of -England and Scotland had of the activity of the Devil in drawing persons -into his service and kingdom; for it is impossible to evade the truth, -that the existence and opposition of the Devil against the progress of -the Gospel, was strengthened by what had been recorded of the Devil in -the New Testament. - -James the First, of England, is here cited to show what was then the -prevailing opinion of the existence of witchcraft in that kingdom. And -although it is painful to reflect on the sufferings of thousands, it -may, by its recital, assist those who are still somewhat in darkness, to -discover how the human race have been deluded. James the First had fixed -his mind on a daughter of the King of Denmark. A splendid embassy was -sent from England to conclude the treaty of marriage, and to bring home -James's royal consort; but the ships met with violent storms, and -instead of arriving at the capital of Scotland, the news came that the -ship in which the Princess had taken passage, was driven back on the -coast of Norway; nothing uncommon m these seas at that, season of the -year. The King, being disappointed, sailed to the place where the -shattered ships lay, and the marriage was consummated; and the King and -Queen remained at Copenhagen, and did not arrive at Edinburgh until the -first of May, 1590. The storm was, after their return, considered to be -the result of some supernatural interference. - -The King, after his return, suspecting that witchcraft had something to -do in raising the storm which drove his intended wife on the coast of -Norway, set to work to make discoveries; and two of his female servants -were suspected of causing the storm before alluded to. Their names were -Geillis Duncan and Agnes Sampson. Both of them were put to the torture -to extort confession. These poor young women, broken down and exhausted -by so dreadful an operation, became willing to answer such questions as -this royal blockhead had prepared to put to them. Agnes Sampson told the -King, that she, in company with two hundred other witches, had sailed in -sieves from Leith to North Berwick Church; how they had there -encountered the Devil in person; how they had feasted with him, and what -obscenities had been; practised. She related, that in this voyage they -had drowned a cat, having first baptized it; and that immediately a -dreadful storm arose, and in this very storm the King's ship had been -separated from the rest of the fleet. Inconsequence of this confession, -Agnes Sampson was condemned to the flames. The system of torture -resorted to under cir-circumstances of suspicion, compelled poor -suffering creatures to answer any questions put to them to satisfy their -cruel tormentors and in many cases, after all, they were put to death. -King James the First published his Dialogues on Demonology in three -books. But many years after he renounced his belief in the real -existence of Witchcraft altogether; and in the latter part of his reign, -declared that all he had done was the effect of delusion. - -These were dreadful times for humanity. Thousands and tens of thousands -of victims suffered every kind of torture that savage, ingenuity could -devise; and what made it the more to be deplored, the ignorant creatures -who inflicted the torments were honest in their abhorrence of those -unfortunate persons, who suffered for what was, in those dark ages, -considered the worst of crimes. In what horror, then, were persons held -who could be so wicked as to have dealings with the devil? The case of -James is here recorded, to show the reader that the belief in witchcraft -was not confined to the ignorant: and unlettered portion of society; but -that England, and Scotland, and, it may be said, every Christian nation -with its government, and the army also, were all laboring under this -delusion. And the truth of its existence was then, and is now, supported -by the New Testament, and fully confirmed by the Devil's temptation of -Jesus, the Christian's _Son of God_; for the desire manifested by the -Devil to entice Jesus to enter into his service, did, in those dark -ages, strengthen persons in the conclusion that the Devil, although he -failed to seduce the Redeemer, would continue to enlist, if possible, -great numbers into his service. The firm belief of his attempts on the -_Son of God_ would dispose persons to credit the fact that people of -abandoned characters would hire themselves to the Devil. In the days of -Oliver Cromwell, a story is recorded by Echard, the historian, as -shockingly illustrative of the credulity of the age in which he lived. -It takes its date from the morning of the third of September, 1651, when -Cromwell gained the battle of Worcester against Charles the Second. It -is on the authority of Colonel Lindsey, who was senior captain in -Cromwell's own regiment. The story recorded is, "That on the morning of -the battle, Cromwell took with him Colonel Lindsey to the side of a -wood, not far from the army, and bade him alight and follow him into the -wood, and to take particular notice of what he saw and heard. And having -secured their horses, and walked some little way into the wood, Lindsey -began to turn pale, and to be seized with horror from some unknown -cause. Cromwell asked him how he felt himself? He answered, that he was -in such a trembling that he never felt the like in all the conflicts and -battles he had ever been engaged in. 'How, now,' said Cromwell, 'what! -troubled with the vapors? Come forward, man.' They had not gone far, -before Lindsey stood still, and said it was impossible for him to go one -step further. Upon which, Cromwell called him a faint hearted fool, and -bade him stand there and observe, or witness. And then the General, -advancing to some distance from him, met a grave elderly man with a roll -of parchment in his hand, who delivered it to Cromwell, and he eagerly -perused it Lindsey, a little recovered from his fear, heard several loud -words between them, particularly Cromwell said, 'this is but for seven -years, I was to have it for one and twenty.' The grave elderly man told -him positively, it could not be for more than seven. Cromwell cried with -great fierceness, 'It shall, however, be for fourteen years.' Cromwell -then took his parchment, and returning to Lindsey, 'Now, Lindsey,' said -he, 'the battle is our own, I long to be engaged.' It did then commence. -After the first charge, Lindsey deserted his post and rode away with all -speed to a friend's in the county of Suffolk, and never returned. -Cromwell offered a great reward for him, dead or alive. Cromwell died on -that day seven years, September 3, 1658." - -It is of no consequence whether this story is true or not It fully -proves that at that time it was believed, that men sold themselves to -the Devil. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - -TWO more remarkable cases will, in this chapter, be made known to the -reader, to show that for hundreds of years the Devil, or rather the -belief in his existence, was a source of terror to all Christians, and -must have operated on almost every transaction in which society were -engaged. In almost every town and village, to be surrounded with wicked -beings who had entered into a contract with Satan to be empower-ed to -perform deeds of darkness which no prudence could guard against, must -have had an influence on the peace and safety of almost every family. -But now, that the delusion has nearly passed away, and mankind are no -longer subject to such terror, we may be happy to think that our lives -are exempted from the evils which afflicted our forefathers. And nothing -but an open avowal of our unbelief in all systems which in any way -sanction the existence of a Being who has made a large portion of the -human family crazy, can prevent a recurrence of past ignorance with all -its baneful consequences. - -Joan of Arc, called the Maid of Orleans, an unfortunate creature, -demands our pity. Her tragical history ought to impel every humane -person to do all in his power to prevent mortals from again witnessing -scenes of so dreadful a nature. - -Henry the Fifth, of England, won the decisive battle of Agincourt in the -year 1415, and some time after concluded a treaty with the reigning King -of France, by which he was recognized, in case of that King's death, as -heir to the throne. Henry the Fifth died in the year 1422, and Charles -the Sixth, of France, in less than two months after. Henry the Sixth was -only nine months old, at the time of his father's death; but such was -the deplorable state of France, that he was the same year proclaimed -King in Paris, and for some years seemed to have every prospect of a -fortunate reign. John, Duke of Bedford, the King's uncle, was declared -Regent of France. The son of Charles the Sixth was reduced to the last -extremity. Orleans was the last strong town in the heart of the kingdom -which held out in his favor; and that place seemed on the point of -surrendering to the conqueror. - -"In this fearful crisis, appeared Joan of Arc, and, in the most -incredible manner, turned the whole tide of affairs. She was a servant -in a poor inn at Demremi, and was accustomed to perform the coarsest -offices, and, in particular, to ride the horses to a neighboring stream -of water. Of course, the situation of France and her hereditary King -formed the universal subject of conversation, and Joan became deeply -impressed with the lamentable state of her country, and the misfortunes -of her King. By dint of perpetual meditation, and feeling in her breast -the promptings of energy and enter-prize, she conceived the idea that -she was destined by Heaven to be the deliverer of France. Agreeably to -the state of intellectual knowledge at that period, she persuaded -herself that she saw visions and held communications with the saints. -She then had conversations with St. Margaret and St. Catherine of -Fierbois. They told her that she was commissioned by God to raise the -siege of Orleans. She then presented herself to Baudricourt, Governor of -the neighboring town of Vaucouleurs, telling him her commission, and -requiring him to send her to the King at Chinon. Baudricourt, at first, -made light of her application; but her importunity, and the ardor she -expressed, at length excited him. He put on her man's attire, gave her -arms, and sent her, under an escort of two gentlemen and their -attendants, to Chinon. Here she immediately addressed the King in -person, who had purposely hid himself behind his courtiers, that she -might not know him. She then delivered her message, and offered, in the -name of the Most High, to raise the siege of Orleans, and conduct King -Charles to Rheims to be anointed. - -"Desperate as was then the state of affairs, Charles and his ministers -immediately resolved to seize the occasion that offered, and put forward -Joan as an instrument to revive the prostrate courage of his subjects. -He had no sooner determined on this, than he pretended to submit the -truth of her mission to the most rigorous trial. He called together an -assembly of theologians and doctors, who rigorously examined Joan, and -pronounced in her favor. He referred the question to the Parliament of -Poictiers, and they who, previously to meeting, were persuaded that she -was an impostor, became convinced of her inspiration. She was mounted on -a highbred steed, furnished with a consecrated banner, and marched, -escorted by a body of five thousand men, to the relief of Orleans. The -French, strongly convinced by so plain an interposition of Heaven, -resumed the courage to which they had long been strangers. - -"Such a phenomenon was exactly suited to the superstition and credulity -of the age. The English were staggered with the rumors that every where -went before her, and struck with a degree of apprehension and terror -that they could not shake off. The garrison, informed of her approach, -made a sally on the other side of the town, and Joan and her convoy -entered without opposition. She displayed her standard in the market -place, and was received as a celestial deliverer. She appears to have -been endowed with a prudence not inferior to her courage and spirit of -enterprise. With great docility, she caught the hints of the commanders -by whom she was surrounded, and, convinced of her own want of experience -and skill, delivered them to the forces as the dictates of Heaven. Thus -the knowledge and discernment of the Generals were brought into play at -the same time that their suggestions acquired new weight when falling -from the lips of the Heaven-instructed heroine. A second convoy arrived, -the wagons and troops passed between the redoubts of the English, while -a dead, silence and astonishment reigned Among the forces so lately -enterprising and irresistible. Joan now called on the garrison no longer -to stand upon the defensive, but boldly to attack the army of the -besiegers. She took one redoubt, and then another. The English, -overwhelmed with amazement, scarcely dared to lift a hand against her. -Their veteran Generals became, spell-bound and powerless, and their -soldiers were driven before the prophetess like a flock of sheep. The -siege was raised. Joan followed the English to a fortified town which -they fixed on as the place of their retreat, and all the English were -made prisoners. The late victorious force now concentrated themselves at -Patay, in Orleanois. Joan advanced to meet them. The battle lasted not a -moment; it was rather a flight than a combat. Fastolfe, one of the -bravest of the English Generals, threw down his arms, and ran for his -life. Talbot and Scales, the other Generals, were made prisoners. - -"The siege of Orleans was raised on the eighth of May, 1429; the battle -of Patay was fought on the tenth of the following month. Joan was, at -that time, twenty-two years of age. This extraordinary turn having been -given to the affairs of the kingdom, Joan next insisted that the King -should march to Rheims, in order to be crowned. Rheims lay in a -direction expressly through the enemy's garrisons. But every thing -yielded to the marvellous fortune that attended upon the heroine. Troyes -opened its gates. Chalons followed the example. Rheims sent a -deputation, with the keys of the city, which met Charles on his march. -The proposed solemnity took place amid the ecstasies and enthusiastic -shouts of his people. It was no sooner over, than Joan stepped forward. -She said, she had now performed the whole of what God had commissioned -her to do. She was satisfied. She entreated the King to dismiss her to -the obscurity from which she had sprung. - -"The Ministers and Generals of France, however, found Joan too useful an -instrument to be willing to part with her thus early, and she yielded to -their earnest expostulations. - -"Under her guidance, they assailed Laon, Soissons, Chauteau, Thirry, -Provins, and many other places, and took them one after another. She -threw herself into Compiegne, which was besieged by the Duke of Burgundy -in conjunction with certain English commanders. The day after her -arrival, she headed a sally against the enemy; twice she repelled them, -but finding their numbers increase every moment with fresh -reinforcements, she directed a retreat. Twice she returned to her -pursuers, and made them recoil; the third time she was less fortunate. -She found herself alone, surrounded by the enemy, and having performed -prodigies of valor, she was compelled to surrender herself a prisoner. -This happened on the twenty-fifth of May, 1430. It remained to be -determined what should be the fate of this admirable woman. Both friends -and enemies agreed that her career had been attended with a supernatural -power. The French, who were so infinitely indebted to her achievements, -and who owed the sudden and glorious reverse of their affairs to her -alone, were convinced that she was immediately commissioned by God, and -vied with each other in reciting the miraculous phenomena which marked -every step in her progress. The English, who saw all the victorious -acquisitions of Henry the Fifth crumbling from their grasp, were equally -impressed with the manifest miracle, but imputed all her good fortune to -a league with the Prince of Darkness. They said, that her boasted -visions were so many delusions of the Devil. They determined to bring -her to trial for the tremendous crimes of sorcery and witchcraft. - -"They believed that if she were once convicted and led out to execution, -the prowess and valor which had hitherto marked their progress, would -return to them, and that they should obtain the same superiority over -their disheartened foes. The Devil, who had hitherto been her constant -ally, terrified at the spectacle of the flames that consumed her, would -instantly return to the infernal regions, and leave the field open to -English enterprise and energy, and to the interposition of God and his -saints. An accusation was prepared against her, and all the solemnities -of a public trial were observed. But the proofs; were so weak and -unsatisfactory, and Joan, though oppressed and treated with the utmost -severity, displayed so much acuteness and presence of mind, that the -court, not venturing to proceed to the last extremity, contented -themselves, with sentencing her to perpetual imprisonment, and to be -allowed no other nourishment than bread and water for life. Before they -yielded to this mitigation of punishment, they caused her to sign with -her mark a recantation of her offences. She acknowledged that the -enthusiasm which had guided her was an illusion, and promised never more -to listen to its suggestions. - -"The hatred of her enemies, however, was not yet appeased. They -determined in some, way to entrap her; They had clothed her in a female -garb; they insidiously laid in her way the habiliments of a man. The -fire, smothered in the bosom of the maid, revived at the sight; she was -alone, she caught up the garments, and; one by one adjusted them to her -person. Spies were set to watch for this even; they burst into her -apartment. What she had done was construed into no less offence than -that of a relapsed heretic. There was no more pardon for such confirmed -delinquency. She was brought out to be burned alive; in the market place -of Rouen, and she died embracing a crucifix, and in her last moments -calling upon the name of Jesus. A few days more than twelve months had -elapsed between the period of her first captivity and her execution." - -The preceding history of Joan of Arc, is taken from "Godwin's Lives of -the Necromancers." Reader! we see in this tragical account, the dreadful -effects of human credulity. The unfortunate; Maid of Orleans, who so -well deserved a monument for her patriotism, was thus cruelly put to -death. Her hard fate fully shows how superstition fortifies the mind -against compassion and the dictates of common sense. In that the of -religious intolerance, whole nations, had caught this theological fever. -Kings and Parliaments, Judges and Generals, from the highest to the -lowest, were alike the subjects of that awful contagion. Justice was -banished from the earth, and humanity had no existence. From whence -proceeded this state of savage barbarism? The answer is presented to us -in bold relief. It was the effects of human credulity. It was brought on -by believing without examination; and, in the New Testament, faith is -urged as the thing most pleasing to God, and unbelief as the greatest -sin. The existence of the Devil, and his enmity, to God and man, being -supported by the New Testament, to be guilty of forming a contract with -the Prince of Darkness was considered a horrid crime. The origin of -sorcery, (which consisted in holding a communion with beings from the -fabulous world of spirits,) is lost in the night and darkness of -antiquity, but all ancient-nations and people were believers in its -reality. - -It was of heathen origin, yet the Jews practised it, and individuals -followed it for a livelihood, as, for instance, the witch of Endor. -Christians have also been believers in it in connection with all the -different branches of magic. - -But that which has established its truth among Christians, is the part -performed by Jesus during his ministry. By his own temptation by the -Devil, the Existence of the Devil is put beyond all doubt And when Jesus -was about to cast out a devil, the devil is reported to have cried out -to the Saviour, "_We know who thou art, and art thou come to torment us -before the tinte?_" This mode of expression to Jesus by the Devil who -was about to be cast out, implies that when the Devil was ejected, he -had to return to hell, his native place of torment. It would lead us to -infer that devils were permitted to leave their dread abodes, and take -possession of men or animals, as a cessation of torture; but when cast -out, they had to return home, their vacation being run out Admitting -this to be warranted by the New Testament, we can account for those -devils whose names were "Legion," petitioning to _be permitted to enter -the herd of swine_. So, then, it appears that the devils had other -motives in taking possession of human beings than to rebel against God, -or to torment men. It was a fine holiday to blow off the soot and ashes, -and to get fresh air. At any rate, Jesus, by pretending to cast out -devils, fully admitted their existence. And by the temptation of Christ, -is proved a desire on the part of the Devil to enlist persons into his -service. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - -THE reader will not fail to notice, that the personage known by the name -of the Devil, Satan, &c., is treated of more fully than any other -recorded in the Old or New Testament. The reason is, because his -influence exceeds that of all the prophets, and even of the Saviour -himself. So destructive has been his supposed reign, throughout the -earth, that hundreds of volumes could be written, and still the half -would remain untold. In the conclusion of this chapter, an account will -be given of witchcraft in Sweden, which far exceeds any thing on record. -The bare recital fills the mind with horror, pity, and indignation. - -Before giving the dreadful tale, it will not be amiss to indulge in a -few thoughts on the probable origin of the existence of a Being who has -been a terror to all nations, both learned and ignorant. As the writer -is convinced that every thing pertaining to theology is of man's -creation, it may be useful to express his opinions how it has happened -that all religions have been based on two beings who have ever been -opposed to each other, namely, a God and a Devil. Their opposition to -each other is the ground-work of every system, whether it be of saint or -savage. - -To attempt to go back to the origin of theology, as to when or where it -first assumed the form of religious worship, is to begin at the -beginning of the human race. Religion may be compared to a chain, the -first link of which is hidden in the darkness of past ages. The curtain -is continually dropping; and the most that we can do is, to peep behind -one of its comers. We find ourselves connected with that link which we -call Christianity. How many preceding links there may have been, we know -not, nor have we any means of knowing. All, therefore, is but -conjecture. But carrying our ideas back to a time we know not when, to -the beginning of that theology, the basis of which is a God and Devil -opposing each other, the following memories are presented:--Before human -beings were acquainted with the laws of nature, the universe must have -presented to them appearances which surprised and alarmed them. -Receiving no ideas but through the medium of the senses, the first idea -which must strike them would be, the great contrast between a mighty -power and their own weakness. They would discover from what they saw -around them, a mighty power which no prudence could guard against, and -which no strength, which they had, could oppose. They would see, that, -if by accident, they fell into water, it would destroy life; if, by any -means, their dwellings took fire, it would consume them; that thunder -was calculated to alarm them, and that death, often followed the storm; -and also, that the slightest accident often caused severe pain, and -sickness followed, without their being acquainted with the original -cause of all these evils. The first men, then, must have been astonished -with the mighty power which every where surrounded them, when compared -with their own weakness. Sometimes tasting the sweets of life, and at -others, its evils, the first gave them pleasing sensations, the last, -pain and distress. Having, then, nothing to guide them in drawing -conclusions but the objects by which they were surrounded, they inferred -that the mighty power which was every moment visible to their senses, -and from which they received every thing that contributed to their -happiness, resided in a being like themselves, but possessing wisdom and -goodness. - -To these children of nature, who saw "God in the clouds, and heard him -in the wind," by a simple process of the mind, such conclusions were -very natural. The first theologians, then, who, by way of reasoning, we -place at the fountain head of all religious systems which have come down -to us, were convinced of the existence of a Supreme Power who governed -the destinies of the human race. Power, then, was the first idea which -man had, in the infancy of his rea-son, as to the existence of a God; -and it is all that the great-est and wisest of the human race have ever -discovered of the Being called by that name. And in this view of the -subject, there is no man living who is an Atheist. The power that -presented itself to untaught man, required no laborious investigation to -discover. It struck his senses with as equal a force as it does the -profoundest philosopher. On the contrary, the wisdom and goodness -ascribed to God, resulted from a knowledge of the order and wonderful -adaptation which pervades the universe, the investigation of which has -employed master minds in all subsequent ages. - -But untutored man must be overwhelmed with thinking of that power to -whose bounds he could set no limits. The wisdom and munificence that run -through all nature, were to him unknown. To those, therefore, from whom -theology took its rise, it was a world of confusion. Ignorant of cause -and effect in the order of nature, and their imaginations being active, -while their reasoning powers were undeveloped, every thing they saw or -felt was to them a mixture of pleasurable or painful sensations. The -pleasure, ease, or comfort which they enjoyed, would be considered as -the gift of a good power which conferred such blessings. On the other -hand, it would appear inconsistent to them to ascribe the evils -attending them to the author of good, they being incapable of judging -that good (pleasure) and evil (pain) could proceed from the same power. - -In reasoning from what they saw, they concluded that power was connected -with, and resided in, living beings, who had life and motion like -themselves. Hence they inferred, that the power from whom they received -good, existed somewhere to them unknown. Proceeding in the same track in -which they, in imagination, first set out, they conceived this power to -be a Being whose residence was in the starry heavens. Untaught man, -having imagined a Being from whom he received all the good, in following -on in the same course soon came to the certain conclusion that the God -who was the author of all his happiness, must have a location, a -dwelling above, in some of the stars--at any rate, beyond the ken of -mortals. As men's thinking powers became move expanded, but still under -the influence of imagination, they would conclude that this Being who -dwelt in the skies, would, of course, have his attendants who fulfilled -his orders, and added splendor to his habitation. - -It appears, that by such a train of thinking, under the influence of the -imagination, that the religious system which has come down to us, and -which, from time to time, has had additions and modifications, namely, -the existence of a God and of a place called Heaven, inhabited by -angels, had its origin. Ignorant of the laws of nature, the power of -imagination has produced, owing to the organization of the human mind, a -world of fiction, consisting of a God, angels, and a habitation in the -skies. By the same process of reasoning, (though feeble,) yet propelled -by an active imagination, which had fixed the habitation of a good Being -in the skies, in a splendid city, with attendants singing his praises, -and eager to execute his orders, untaught man now turned hi# attention -to the author of his misfortunes and misery. Being totally ignorant that -a portion of pain was indispensable to the full enjoyment of happiness -in his precarious life, he could not think that pleasure and pain -proceeded from the same being; which must have induced him to conclude -that an evil and malignant being existed, nearly equal in power to the -one that was good; and to such an one, he ascribed all pain and -misfortune. - -Here, then, are all the materials for a system of theology which has -been propagated and believed in by every nation under heaven, in which -have been included "saint, savage, and sage." In all the hundreds of -systems of religious worship, the before-mentioned materials have been -the ground-work, with the exception of the Jewish; for, during their -dispensation, the Devil made no part of it. But when Jesus came to -gather up "_the lost sheep of the house of Israel,_" along came Mr. -Devil to oppose him. As the imagination had created a Devil, the Father -of all evil, something was still wanting to complete the whole; and that -was, an abode of darkness and horror. Hell, then, is his dread mansion, -over which he reigns triumphant. - -It has been reserved for the Christian Religion to depict hell in all -its awful terrors. The New Testament represents hell as a place of -torment by fire never-ending, where the unfortunate occupants are -forever burning, but kept alive, and never consumed. The hell of the -Greeks and other nations is less horrible, being represented as the -abode of darkness, humiliation, and sorrow. But Christianity has a God -in heaven, and a Devil in hell, forever contending with each other, like -gladiators of old for the prize; and that prize is the human race. But -the same New Testament represents that the Devil will have by far the -greatest number of prisoners, so that, in the final winding up of this -holy war, _Old Nick_ will win the field. - -The same process of reasoning, which led man, in the infancy of his -reason, to personify the power who presided over the human race, induced -him to infer that his pain and misfortune emanated from a malignant -being, who delighted to do him harm. He then, by the simple process of -his imagination, concluded that there must be two opposing powers which -governed the affairs of mortals. The good, proceeded from a being who -showered down blessings on mortals; and all evil and pain, from a being -who took pleasure in the unhappiness of the human race; and his -residence, to correspond with his evil disposition, was by them fixed in -the gloomy regions of darkness and horror. This, then, Christians, -appears to have been the origin of your God and Heaven; and also your -Devil and Hell. That both heaven and hell are of heathen origin, there -can be no doubt; and it is also equally clear, that the Jews, when they -returned from captivity, brought these doctrines back with them into -Judea. They then made part of the Jewish faith, and Jesus embraced them; -for he pretended to cast out devils, and the Devil enticed him in the -wilderness to rebel against God and enlist into the service of his -Satanic Majesty. And this heaven, which originated in heathenism, Jesus -promised as the reward of his faithful followers; and with this very -hell he threatened the disobedient. - -What can Christians say (after this) of the divinity or the antiquity of -the New Testament? Its doctrines originated in an age unknown, among a -people more ancient than Moses, or than Adam, who is said to have been -the first man. Yes! ye ministers of grace, your heaven and hell, by the -proclaiming of which you alarm the good man, but make the wicked man -worse, have no more existence in reality than the heaven and hell of -Mahomet. But if there be a heaven, such as you preach up, and the road -to it be as difficult as Jesus declared it to be, many of you will have -to put up at the half-way house; you will never reach the end of your -journey. - -The following account of witchcraft in Sweden, is extracted from -"Godwin's Lives of the Necromancers:"--"The story of witchcraft, as it -is reported to have passed in Sweden, in the year 1670, and has many -times been reprinted in this country, (England,) is, on several -accounts, one of the most interesting and deplorable that has ever been -recorded. The scene lies in Dalecarlia, a country forever memorable as -having witnessed some of the earliest adventures of Gustavus Vasa, his -deepest humiliation, and the first commencement of his prosperous -fortune. The Dalecarlians are represented to us as the simplest, the -most faithful, and the bravest of the sons of men;--men, undebauched and -unsuspicious, but who devoted themselves in the most disinterested -manner for a cause that appeared to them worthy of support, the cause of -liberty and independence against the cruellest of tyrants. At least, -such they were in 1520, one hundred and fifty years before the date of -the story we are going to recount. The site of these events was at Mohra -and Elfdale, in the province that has just been mentioned. The -Dalecarlians, simple and ignorant, but of exemplary integrity and -honesty, who dwelt amid impracticably mountains and spacious mines of -copper and iron, were distinguished for superstition among the countries -of the north, where all were superstitious. They were probably subject, -at intervals, to the periodical visitation of alarms of witches, when -whole races of men became wild with the infection, without any one's -being able to account for it. - -"In the year 1670, and one or two preceding years, there was a great -alarm of witches in the town of Mohra. There were always two or three -witches existing in some of the obscure quarters of this place; but now -they increased in number, and showed their faces with the utmost -audacity. Their mode, on the present occasion, was, to make a journey -through the air to Blockula, an imaginary scene of retirement, which -none but the witches and their dupes had ever seen. Here they met with -feasts and various entertainments, which it seems had particular charms -for the persons who partook of them. The witches used to go into a -field, in the environs of Mohra, and cry aloud to the Devil in a -peculiar sort of recitation, "_Antecessor! come and carry us to -Blockula._" Then appeared a multitude of strange beasts: men, spits, -posts, and goats with spits run through their entrails, and projecting -behind, that all might have room. The witches mounted these beasts of -burden, as vehicles, and were conveyed through the air over high walls -and mountains, and through churches and chimneys, without perceptible -impediment, till they arrived at the place of their destination. - -"Here the Devil feasted them with various compounds and confections; -and, having feasted to their heart's content, they danced and then -fought. The Devil made them ride on spits, from which they were thrown; -and the Devil beat them with the spits and laughed at them. He then -caused them to build a house to protect them against the day of -judgment, and presently overturned the walls of the house, and derided -them again. All sorts of obscenities were reported to follow upon these -scenes. The Devil begot on the witches sons and daughters; this new -generation intermarried again, and the issue of this further conjunction -appears to have been toads and serpents. How all this pedigree -proceeded, in the two or three years in which Blockula had never been -heard of, I know not that the witches were ever called on to explain. -But what was most of all to be deplored, the Devil was not content with -seducing the witches to go and celebrate this infernal Sabbath; he -further insisted that they should bring the children of Mohra along with -them. - -"At first, he was satisfied, if each witch brought one: but now, he -demanded that each witch should bring six or seven for her quota. How -the witches managed with the minds of the children, we are at a loss to -guess. These poor, harmless innocents, steeped to the very lips in -ignorance and superstition, were, by some means, kept in continual alarm -by the wicked, or, to speak more truly, the insane old women, and said -as their prompters said. It does not appear that the children ever left -their beds, at the time they reported they had been to Blockula. Their -parents watched them with fearful anxiety. At a certain time of the -night, the children were seized with a strange shuddering; their limbs -were agitated, and their skins covered with a profuse perspiration. When -they came to themselves, they related that they had been to Blockula, -and the strange things they had seen, similar to what had already been -described by the women. Three hundred children, of various ages, are -said to have been seized with this epidemic. - -"The whole town of Mohra became subject to the infection, and were -overcome with the deepest affliction. They consulted together, and drew -up a petition to the royal counsel at Stockholm, entreating that they -would discover some remedy, and that the government would interpose its -authority to put an end to a calamity to which otherwise they could find -no limit. The King of Sweden, at that time, was Charles the Eleventh, -father of Charles the Twelfth, and was only fourteen years of age. His -council, in their wisdom, deputed two commissioners to Morah, and -furnished them with powers to examine witnesses, and take whatever -proceedings they might judge necessary to put an end to so unspeakable a -calamity. They entered on the business of their commission, on the -thirteenth of August, the ceremony having been begun with two sermons in -the great church of Mohra, in which we may be sure the damnable sin of -witchcraft was fully dilated on, and concluded with prayers to Almighty -God, that, in his mercy, he would speedily bring to an end the -tremendous misfortune with which, for their sins, he had seen fit to -afflict the poor people of Mohra. The next day they opened their -commission. Seventy witches were brought before them. They were all, at -first, steadfast in their denial, alleging that the charges were -wantonly brought against them, solely from malice and ill-will. But the -judges were earnest in pressing them, till, at length, first one, and -then another, burst into tears, and confessed all. Twenty-three were -prevailed on thus to disburden their consciences; but nearly the whole, -those who owned the justice of their sentence, as well as those who -protested their innocence to the last, were executed. Fifteen children -confessed their guilt, and were also executed. Thirty-six other -children, (who, we may infer, did confess,) between the ages of nine and -sixteen, were condemned to run the gauntlet, and to be whipped on their -hands at the church door every Sunday for a year together. Twenty others -were whipped on their hands for three Sundays." - -This is certainly a very deplorable scene; and is made the more so, by -the previous character which history has imposed on us, of the -simplicity, integrity, and generous love of liberty of the Dalecarlians. -For the children and their parents, we can feel nothing but unmingled -pity. The case of the witches is different. That three hundred children -should have been made the victims of this imaginary witchcraft, is -doubtless a grievous calamity. And that a number of women should be -found, so depraved and so barbarous, as by their incessant suggestions -to have practised on the minds of these children, so as to have robbed -them of their sober sense, to have frightened them into fits and -disease, and made them believe the most odious impossibilities, argued a -most degenerate character, and well merited severe reprobation, but not -death. Add to which, many of those women may be believed innocent; -otherwise, a great majority of those who were executed would not have -died protesting their entire freedom from what was imputed to them. Some -of the parents, no doubt from folly and ill-judgment, aided the -alienation of mind in their children, which they afterward so deeply -deplored, and gratified their senseless aversion to the old women, when -they were themselves in many cases more the real authors of the evil -than those who suffered. - -The honest and serious reader is now recommended to pause, and, for a -moment, reflect on the foregoing recital; for if ten thousand real -devils had been let loose and turned out on the earth in a visible and -bodily form, and had been permitted to do their worst against the human -race, if such a thing had actually taken place, the evils inflicted by -them would have been little compared to what has really taken place by -men's believing in the existence of an invisible Devil, who never had a -being but in the imagination of mortals. The destructive influence which -has spread over the whole earth has brought to a premature grave -thousands and tens of thousands of harmless beings, who have been -charged with holding converse with this supposed enemy of God and man. -Of all the crimes which have been committed on earth, to sin against -Orthodox faith has been considered the worst; when, in fact, it is no -sin at all. There is nothing immoral in it. To differ from any man, or -from all men, about religion, cannot be a crime. It is the inherent -right of every human being; and to rob him of that right is the worst of -felony. But to punish a man with death in addition, is to unite robbery -and murder. And what makes it worse is, that religious offenders are put -to death without pity or mercy. Few, very few tears of compassion ever -have fallen for them, where Christianity has been the prosecutor. - -The baneful influence which has spread over the world, by believing in -the existence of the Devil, is shocking to humanity. It has been -computed that as many as one million persons have suffered, in various -ways, since the commencement of the Christian era. Some have been -banished; some have been branded and imprisoned; others put to death, -after having been tortured in the most cruel manner; and thousands have -been out-lawed and driven from their peaceful homes without pity. All -this has taken place because the Scriptures teach and support the -existence of a Devil, the inveterate enemy of God and men. There is no -doctrine more fully carried out in the New Testament than the existence -and hostile activity of the Devil. Jesus, it is said, "_cast them out._" -He also was tempted to rebel against God, and to worship the Devil. In -the Book of Job, the Devil is represented as being permitted to afflict -Job. And Jesus threatens the ungodly with a punishment in connection -with the Devil and his angels. If a devil has no being whatever, why -should Jesus pretend to cast out devils? And if there be, in truth, such -a personage as the Devil, possessing such power, and, also, forever -opposing Almighty power, can it be possible that a God of goodness would -permit him to live and annoy God and men? - -We see that it is the height of folly to suppose that such a personage -ever did live, or does now; but the belief of it has been one of the -greatest curses which ever befel mankind. Here, then, let us bring up -the idea, and reflect upon it, that all the evil which has taken place, -and all the sufferings endured by the unfortunate beings in the dark -ages, may possibly again occur. The Bible is the same, and mam is the -same. The difference is in the actions of men in different ages. When -reason and the morality of things are man's guide, then he is peaceable -and humane; but when acting under the imagination, he is capable of -becoming as bad as is the Devil. - -In concluding this chapter, let us look back to those times of ignorance -and superstition. Let us place ourselves by the misortunate victims who -were put to torture and death for a crime they could not commit. Could -they, in their extreme pain, but have had a hope that a day would arrive -when a band of master spirits would arise on the shores of the Atlantic, -who, by reason and the moral fitness of things, would upset and -prostrate the systems under which they so severely suffered---could the -poor, suffering victim, with his broken heart and fractured limbs, have -had assurance, when his tortured mind was about to quit its lacerated -boundary, that a time would soon surely come when the truth of the Bible -and the existence of a Devil would cease to be made the instruments of -unspeakable misery and torment, it would have been a cheerful ray of -comfort amid the devouring flame. The time _has_ at length arrived, and -we ought to improve it. Let us, then, with untiring perseverance and -moral courage, give the death-blow to the Divinity of the Old and New -Testaments, and thereby forever obliterate, not only the incentives to, -but also the remembrance of all religious persecutions. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - -AS this work is about to be concluded, it will be of importance to the -reader that a comprehensive view be taken of the mission of Christ to -the Jewish nation. In doing which, an opportunity will be given to such -of my readers as may hitherto have been afraid to doubt the truth of the -Divine authority of the Bible, to see, at one glance, its absurdity. - -In the four Gospels, which contain the sayings and doings of Jesus -during his ministry among the Jews, and also in the Epistles of the -Apostles, it is uniformly declared and enforced, that the main purpose -of Christ's (_the anointed of God_) coming into the world was, to die. -And this death was required by the Father as an atonement for the sins -of mankind, that whosoever believed in and obeyed him, their pardon -should be sure, not for any thing which they had done as it related to -justice, chastity, or humanity, but for the ransom paid for their sins -by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. An apostle, in speaking on this -subject, says--"_He (Christ) being delivered by the determined counsel -and foreknowledge of God, ye have, by wicked hands, crucified and -slain._" This decree, then, was absolute, and every movement then made -by Jesus, and also his preaching and conversation with the Jews, was so -arranged, that die he must, to save a lost and ruined world. - -This, according to the Scriptures, was the divine arrangement between -the Father and the Son. This doctrine is taught in the New Testament. -And in such a lost condition were the human race, that Jesus _freely -gave himself as a ransom to be completed in due time_. If the New -Testament does not teach this, it is not possible to know what it does -teach. To die, then, as a sacrifice for sin, included the sum and -substance of the Gospel, or good news. - -Having laid down the ground-work of human redemption, we proceed to -carry through the plan said to be the work of mercy and goodness flowing -from the mighty God, the author of all things. In the examination of -such an arrangement, it appears impossible to conclude that the Author -of the Universe can be considered as the God of the Jews and Christians. -The Jews had always been taught to believe that they were God's favorite -people, and they retain the same faith to the present day. For ages -before the Christian era, they not only expected the coming of the -Messiah, but also, that no nation but their own would be interested in -that glorious event. It never entered their minds that he would come in -any disguise, for many impostors had appeared, who, being discovered, -their Messiahship procured them certain destruction. The Jews, -therefore, inferred, that when the proper time should arrive for the -long-expected and ardently-looked for Messiah to appear among them, -their nation would be raised to more than its former greatness, and -God's chosen people would be held up to the nations of the earth as -confirming the truth of what their ancient prophets had foretold of -their future prosperity. - -It could never, therefore, have entered the minds of the Jews, as a -nation, that the Messiah would come in any disguise. And it must have -been far from their thoughts to expect that he, when he should arrive, -would load them with violent abuse, and reproach them as being too low -to be considered as any thing else than a nation of hypocrites. If Jesus -came into this world to die, then every thing which he taught, and also -all the intercourse which he had with his own people, was preparatory to -that event. That the Messiah would come to the Jewish nation to dwell -among them, to be their leader, to exalt them above all other nations, -was what they had been taught to expect. Instead of which, he calls them -"_a generation of vipers!_" and pronounces terrible things against the -heads of the nation, commencing his denunciations with "_Woe unto you, -scribes and pharisees, hypocrites!_" Such violence and abuse surprised -them, coming from one who said "_he came to seek and to save that which -was lost._" - -Again, Jesus said that "_he came not to call the righteous, but sinners -to repentance._" But Jesus gave them no quarter, but sent them head and -heels to the Devil. The Jewish rulers must have been more than human to -have quietly taken such vulgar abuse. Sometimes, Jesus seemed to soften -down in his conduct, as when he says, "_O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! how -often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth -her chickens under her wings, but ye would not._" So erratic is Jesus -depicted, in the account we have transmitted down to us, that we are at -a loss as to forming an opinion concerning his manner of treating his -own people. But as it was "_by the determined counsel and foreknowledge -of God_" that he was to be a "_sacrifice for the sins of mankind,_" his -mode of addressing the rulers of Israel was calculated to bring about -the "_will of his Father._" - -Admitting, for the sake of argument, that Jesus was the true Messiah, -the Jews were in a worse state than if he had not appeared among them. -The statement made by Jesus of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of his -second coming, confounded all their ideas of the Messiah's kingdom. In -the twenty-third and twenty-fourth chapters of Matthew, after having -pronounced a number of dreadful predictions against them, he winds up in -chapter twenty-third as follows, "*YE SERPENTS! YE GENERATION OF VIPERS! -HOW CAN YE ESCAPE THE DAMNATION OF HELL?*" In the twenty-fourth chapter -of Matthew, Jesus gives a long account of his second coming. How was it -possible for the Jews to understand what he there describes? Their -desire was, to know if he was the Messiah promised by the prophets; and, -if so, what steps he would take for the exaltation of their nation, so -that they might enjoy all they had been induced to expect when the "_sun -of righteousness should arise with healing in his hands_." - -For Jesus to tell his disciples and the Jewish nation what would be the -signs of his second coming, before they under-stood what his object was -in coming the first time, must appear very strange. From the particular -account which Jesus gave of his second coming, the Jews must have -understood him to mean, that although he professed to be the true -Messiah, yet his stay was but short with them. As yet, his time for -operation was not come. The discourses of Jesus to his countrymen, were -all calculated to mislead and confound them. In his sermon on the Mount, -he claims an authority of his own superior to the law of Moses. Matthew, -chapter v., verse 33--"_Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by -them of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself but shall perform unto -the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto you, swear not at all_" Verse -38--"_Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a -tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil; but -whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheeky turn to him the other -also._" What could the Jewish rulers think of a man, who, without any -ceremony, set up laws in direct opposition to the laws of Moses, when, -at other times, he declared himself a follower of Moses, and that he -came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it? Such inconsistent -teaching as this, will not admit of Infinite Wisdom's being the author. - -In Matthew, chapter xiii., 10, it reads--"_And the disciples came and -said unto him, Why speaketh thou unto them in parables? He answered and -said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of -the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." Verse -13--"Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing, see -not; and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand." Verse -14--"And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By -hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see -and shall not perceive." Verse 15--"For this people's heart is waxed -gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have -closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with -their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be -converted and I should heal them_" - -Now this mode of treating the Jewish nation is perfectly in character -with the plan, in accordance with which, Jesus came to lay down his life -for sinners; for had he convinced the Jews that he was the expected -restorer of Israel, no Jewish arm would have been raised against him; -nor would it have been possible to have prevailed on the national rulers -to have attempted his life; since although the priests and Pharisees -might, in a moral point of view, have been wicked in the extreme, still -their veneration for, and their earnest expectation of the coming of, -the Messiah, would have prevented any hostile feelings against "_the -anointed of the Lord, the Holy one of Israel._" - -But if the preaching of Christ, and his arrangements, were of such a -nature that the Jews supposed the whole to be an imposture, then the -case took a different turn altogether. Instead of the Jews refusing to -receive Jesus as the sent of God, they put him to death from the hatred -which they had towards any one who they supposed had fabricated his -authority and office. If the main object of Christ's coming to the Jews -was to die for the sins of mankind, both Jew and Gentile, and thus -become a willing sacrifice for sin,--if this was the plan of human -redemption, it then follows that the Jews did that part which, in the -divine arrangement, was allotted for them to do. Then the conduct of -Jesus was consistent in keeping them ignorant, so that their part might -by them be carried out. If he had convinced them, that he was, in truth, -the sent of God, but that they must hang him on a tree, the plan of -human redemption would have failed, for they, immoral as they might be, -never would have put him to death. - -There could be no other way of bringing about the death of Christ, but -by keeping the Jewish nation ignorant that he was the Messiah. The -course that was pursued by Jesus, would imply that his orders were to so -act among them, that their condemnation would be just for rejecting him; -but on no account to perform miracles sufficient to convince them, for -in that case the Jews would not have condemned and put him to death as a -blasphemer and an impostor. Again, if Jesus came on earth to die, and -without shedding his blood there could be "_no remission of sin_" what -mockery for him to exclaim "_O Jerusalem! Jerusalem I how oft would I -have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens -under her wings, and ye would not_!" For if the Jews had sheltered -themselves under the wings of Jesus, how was he to die as a sacrifice -for sin? But he was not put to death, they knowing him to be the Christ, -but on the contrary, they condemned him for pretending to be the very -anointed of the Lord. And although the story was propagated that Jesus -arose, after his descent from the cross, the Jews as a nation did not -give credit to it, nor have they till this day. If, therefore, "_there -is no other name under heaven whereby men can be saved,_" but by -believing in Christ and in his dying for the sins of mankind, then the -Jews, ever since the death of Christ, and also the present race, are -lost and forever shut out from that pardon which was procured by the -death of Jesus, which was brought about by the instrumentality of the -Jews by the condemnation of the Messiah. - -The account of Judas, in what is called betraying his Master, is strange -indeed. In speaking of that circumstance, Jesus says, "_It would have -been better for that man if he had never been born_." Now if Jesus came -to die, Judas, by informing the authorities where he was to be found, -did no more than bring to pass what was before ordained should take -place. Judas, then, was but the instrument to accomplish the plan of -human redemption, by informing the Jewish authorities when and where -they could secure the object which they sought after. The very idea of -betraying Jesus, proves two things:--first, that Jesus was but little -known to the Jews, except from report; and, secondly, that although he -held often said he came to lay down his life for sinful man, yet he -intended to evade death as long as possible. It was owing to this -obscure method of teaching, that his disciples, although always with -him, could not understand fully what his objects were; and though he had -so often told them of "_the kingdom of heaven being at hand,_" they -understood him not. - -To bring the position of the Jews nearer, at the time of Christ's -appearance in Judea, let us suppose ourselves to have been Jews, then -living, and expecting and desiring his coming. At length, it is said, -"he is arrived." The first inquiry would very naturally be, is he the -true Messiah, or is he an impostor? If, then, to our inquiries made to -him on that point, we had received in return nothing positive, but the -vilest abuse, and threatenings of damnation in a future world, could we -be expected to view him as the promised deliverer? When the Jews heard -him denouncing them as hypocrites, and, at the same time, assuming an -authority over Moses, and the laws of Jehovah given by Moses, and -calling the Temple (for which they had so high a veneration) a den of -thieves, it must have had a tendency to shut up their minds against his -divine mission. If Jesus wished the Jews to be convinced of his being -the personage whom they had long expected, he should, in the first -place, have attended to their inquiry, "_Art thou he which should come, -or are we to look for another?_" - -This question being settled, by indisputable evidence, Jesus would have -had a foundation for correcting what was wrong, and exposing their base -conduct. But he began at the wrong-end, by upbraiding them for their -evil doings before he had 'convinced them of his being appointed to -abrogate, or, in any way, to alter, the law of Moses. We may then safely -conclude, if Jesus was divinely commissioned to the Jews, that it was -not intended they should believe in him. But who, for a moment, can -think, that, if the Almighty Ruler of the Universe had sent him, his -mission would have been marked with trickery and deception, and have -failed, and the Jews have been left in a state far worse than if he had -never been among them? Can we reasonably conclude, that a Being of -infinite wisdom and goodness would have sent his Son to the Jewish -nation, without giving them any evidence of his being the Messiah, and -then have taken advantage of their unbelief to deal out judgments -against them? - -If Jesus was sent into the world to die, and by dying, became "_a -sacrifice for the sins of mankind,_" then the Jews, by putting him to -death, brought to maturity what God had ordained should come to pass. In -that case, then, it is clear, that Jesus was so to act, that the Jews -must not be convinced that he was the true and real Messiah, for had -they believed in him as the restorer of their race, whom they had long -expected, they would not have slain the "_Lord of life and glory_." -Then, how would he have paid the "_ransom for lost sinners_"? But, on -the other hand, if Jesus was sent by God to the Jewish nation, and -gifted to perform signs and miracles to convert them, how did it happen -that they remained in sin and unbelief;--their whole race, the seed of -Abram, remaining in that state until the present time? The Jews have -surely been an unfortunate people. To the Jews, then, 1 must say, "I -know not which demands the most pity--you, or your God; for, after all -the attempts to subject you to his will, you are a race of outcasts, and -have been plundered by all the Christian nations on earth. After all the -pains taken by the Lord of Hosts to convert you, every one has failed; -but the last failure is the most to be deplored. From the time Jehovah -is said to have called Abram, your progenitor, and selected him from the -rest of the human race, and promised him and his seed forever, blessings -from which the rest of the world were excluded, Jehovah and your -generations have ever been on bad terms. You are spoken of in Scripture -as a stiff-necked, rebellious people. On the part of God, he has always -appeared as if he was angry with your conduct. Forty years together, he -says, he has been _grieved with your disobedience_. To such a height has -been his displeasure, that thousands and tens of thousands of your -nation have been cut off by the terrible judgments of the Lord. You have -been led into captivity and sold as slaves, time after time, and Jehovah -has even threatened to destroy your whole race. - -"Jehovah, in his anger, has raised heathen kings against you, and the -slaughter has been dreadful. But when you have turned to the Lord, and -humbled yourselves, he has attended to your cry, and delivered you out -of their hands. Jehovah has, at times, inspired prophets who have -foretold that you should one day have a personage appear among you, -restore you to your former greatness, be to you a God, and you should be -to him a people. This personage is said to have been among you, but _you -knew him not_. You, then, from obedience to Jehovah, rejected Jesus as -an impostor, and considered him as arrogating to himself Divine honor, -and finally put him to death. And, for eighteen hundred years, you have -suffered the most cruel treatment from every nation among whom you have -dwelt. You have been the most unfortunate people on earth; but you still -cling to your prophets, and are looking for the coming of the Messiah. - -"And what appears more unfortunate than all your past evils, is, you -have put to death, through mistake, your last refuge, the true Messiah. -There are, at the present time, upwards of one hundred millions of -Christians who maintain and believe that the same Jesus whom _ye slew -and hanged on a tree, is in truth both Lord and Christ,_ the same whom -your nation so long and so earnestly looked for. If, then, faith in that -Christ whom you rejected, has opened the kingdom of heaven to the -Christian world, while your whole race is shut ont, the Christians owe -you a debt of everlasting gratitude, for by this sacrifice they are to -enter into the Supper of the Lamb, and your unfortunate race have the -door closed against them. But do not despair, for the Infidels of the -present day are your friends. They will make all right They will, if you -attend to them, convince you that your forefathers were imposed on, when -in a state of ignorance, by some artful impostor, who persuaded them -that the seed of Abram was chosen by God to the exclusion of all other -people and nations. - -"In the infancy of your nation, Moses, or some other artful leader, took -advantage of your inexperience, and by antedating miracles said to have -been performed in behalf of your ancestors by Jehovah, but which never -were performed, and which at the time was incapable of refutation, your -nation imbibed the reality that the seed of Abram was the _chosen of the -Lord_. This conviction for thousands of years has been received, and has -been handed down from father to Son till the present time. Yes, ye seed -of Abram, (by this name I address you,) by considering yourselves the -chosen people of God, this conviction has been your perpetual curse. -Your faith in the ancient accounts of those miracles and wonders, -wrought in your behalf by Moses, has been your fatal delusion. You -consider it not possible for your fore-, fathers to have been deceived; -for, say you, the miracles and wonders were performed before your whole -nation. - -"In this consists your error. There is no certainty as to who wrote the -history of the wonders, said to have been wrought in your behalf, nor at -what time they were first recorded. But the internal evidence of the -books ascribed to Moses, fully prove him not to have been the author. -The same evidence also proves that the first five books were not written -till after the reign of the first kings of Israel. So that, by -antedating the wonders recorded to have taken place in the infancy of -your nation, and then by a cunning impostor to have been subsequently -presented for the first time to the Jews, giving them an account of -those wonders of old, an ignorant nation would be likely to believe -them; and in that case a whole people would be converted at once, giving -credit to an absurdity producing an influence in the world which has far -exceeded any imposture that ever has been Saddled on the human race. The -dreadful error into which your forefathers fell, and by handing down to -their posterity the foolish story of your being _a chosen people_, the -greatest curse which could befal you, you have, without doubt, been the -most unfortunate people on earth; for by considering yourselves _God's -chosen people_, you have despised the rest of the human race, and you -have in return been persecuted and plundered. You have been treated by -all nations as outcasts. - -"On the ground-work of your having been chosen by the supposed God of -the universe, the world has assumed an appearance very unlike to what it -would have had, if no such imposition had been practised on your -progenitors. Wars innumerable have taken place, and rivers of blood have -flowed through the earth, occasioned by theological strife. Religious -quarrels, ending in the application of the rack and torture, and -persecutions in quick succession, have been the result, and thousand of -horrid cruelties have taken place in every age, all in consequence of -that curse of all curses, the belief that _God has a chosen people_. -Although it had doubtless been thought by your nation the highest -possible honor to be chosen by the Lord, this has proved your greatest -misfortune; for from this source, Christianity has been produced. You -may exult in the idea, that you have in your sacred books, the doctrine -of but one God, notwithstanding your religion and its Christian -offspring has been more cruel and intolerant than any on earth. -According to your own books, your nation and the God who chose them, -were forever at war; your people continually rebelling and receiving -chastisement, till, at last, you are to appearance forsaken. But as has -been before mentioned, the Infidels are your friends; for, by means of -free discussion, and the diffusion of useful knowledge, they will -ultimately destroy that intolerant spirit which has been the earth's -greatest curse, and you will eventually, with the rest of the human -family, open your eyes, and discover the folly and absurdity of -believing in a God "partial, vengeful, and unjust." And then you will be -no longer _Jews_, but will become men." - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - -IN the preceding chapter we have endeavored to ascertain the object of -Christ's coming into the world, but without being able to arrive at any -positive conclusion. As it respected the Jews, they did, and they had a -right to expect, that his, coming would be to them a blessing; and not, -by any means, that it would prove disastrous in its consequences. It is, -by Christians, contended that the primary object of the Messiah's advent -was, to die for sinners; by which death he would make an atonement for -the sins of the world. In this view of the case, (and the Scriptures -seem to bear it out,) the Jews were altogether deceived, and are -therefore objects of pity. The kingdom of heaven being opened to the -world at large, to both Jew and Gentile, the Jews were unsuspectingly -shut out. That Christ did not intend to convince the Jews that he was -the Messiah, seems to be warranted from the manner of his preaching to -them; his violence, and the abusive language he used, being calculated -to prejudice them against him. And again, if Christ was to become a -sacrifice for sin by expiring On the cross, somebody must put him to -death, and the Jews are said to have been his executioners. The Jews, -therefore, did that which the divine mind intended they should do. But -such double-dealing and deception, in order to entrap the Jews, could -never have originated with the Great Eternal, the unchangeable ruler of -all things. - -In reading the history of Jesus, (written nobody knows by whom, or -whether by his authority or not,) we must judge of him by the account as -it stands. It certainly appears strange that we have no intimation that -Jesus gave any orders to his Apostles to write, or in any way to -transmit to posterity an account of his life or doctrines. And it -appears more singular, when we consider in how particular a manner the -laws of Moses were written, which, without doubt, is what kept the Jews -from being divided into a number of sects. But so neglected were the -sayings and doings of Jesus, that, soon after his death, forty or fifty -Gospels were abroad; an equal number of sects sprang up, and the various -religious dogmas were introduced, which, till the present day, have -divided the Christian world, and, at times, have produced wars, -persecutions, and blood. On so important a subject as the salvation of -the human race, it might reasonably be expected that the founder of -Christianity would have left some documents to guard against so -destructive an evil. This entire neglect, if not positive proof against -the divine mission of Jesus, must create doubts leading to the -conclusion that the Christian religion is deficient as to the evidence -of its divine origin. It appears from the Gospels that Jesus was a moral -reformer; that the priests and rulers were proud, haughty, and of wicked -dispositions; that the founder of the Christian religion exposed their -hypocritical pretensions, and that, by thus exciting their malice, he -fell a victim. This has been the fate of hundreds of moral reformers, in -different ages and nations. - -Christians, of all sects, could they be brought to reason impartially on -the mission of Jesus, would have their faith shaken, from the following -considerations:--Admitting, as all Christians do, that the Jewish -religion is of divine authority, and had for ages been by the Jews -considered as such, to set that aside and introduce another, required -authority from heaven, but such authority was never given. The bare word -of Jesus, that he was the sum and substance of the law of Moses both -moral and ceremonial, seems to be insufficient. The Jews, however base -or immoral they were, as a nation never showed a want of faithfulness -when their religion was assailed. So that it appears, that to do away -with the form of worship, and introduce a new order of things, required -something more than the obscure sayings of Jesus, who was but little -known at the time of his death. If, by the coming of Christ, a new -dispensation was to supersede the old, then the highest and the most -incontrovertible authority should be produced. But this was not the -case, for Jesus often charged those whom he had cured of some disease, -"to tell no man" how they were made whole: as much as to say, "Keep -secret with respect to the person who restored you to your former -state." We need not wonder that the Jews rejected Jesus, seeing that he -assumed an authority higher than that of Moses; for, at the giving of -the law on the mountain, it was Jehovah himself who spake to them. The -Jews, then, considered that the same God who gave the law, and he alone, -must change it, or introduce another, and not a person whose object in -coming they could not comprehend, and who taught doctrines, a very great -portion of which, were of a threatening and menacing character. - -And, finally, so little did Christ's disciples understand of his divine -mission, that, when he was betrayed, Peter, the boldest of them all, -became alarmed, and denied any knowledge of him. This was very strange -in Peter, if it was a fact that he heard Moses and Elias, at a former -time, conversing with his Divine Master. But be that as it may, Jesus is -reported to have suffered death on the cross, one of his disciples -informing against him to the rulers, for the paltry sum of thirty pieces -of silver, and another swearing he never knew him. This has often -happened, when a bold reformer has been taken into custody; his -followers would disown and forsake him; but it is not likely that Peter -would thus have acted, had he witnessed the mighty deeds said to have -been done by Jesus. I remember hearing an Unitarian minister remark, -that "If Moses could return from the dead, how he would be surprised to -read what was written of him after his death; and that he would say that -the wonderful things reported of him, he knew nothing about." This, no -doubt, would be the case with Jesus, as all his mighty works are -recorded _of_ him, but none were recorded _by_ him. - -As his resurrection was the key-stone of the Christian arch, some -observations on that all-important event will be made. Whatever Jesus -communicated to his disciples respecting his rising from the dead, -during his life, is not recorded; but it appears that his death entirely -frustrated their expectations. The resurrection of Jesus presented the -most favorable opportunity to dispel all doubts of the Messiahship of -him whom the Jews had put to death as an impostor. It will be in order, -then, to observe what steps were taken by Jesus, after his resurrection, -to convince the Jews, and the world at large, that his mission was from -heaven. This, of all times, was the fittest to convince the Jews of -their unfortunate mistake. The short account given in the Gospels, does -not afford much light on that subject. But if the Jews, as a nation, had -still retained their unbelief, such incredulity must soon have given way -by his continuing among them. - -If the Jews, from mistaken convictions, did put Jesus to death, it seems -but just that they should have had a chance to rectify their unfortunate -error. But owing to the short stay of Jesus on earth, after his -resurrection, and he being the most of that time in company with his -disciples, the Jews had not an opportunity of fully investigating the -reality of his death and re-appearance, and his deportment after it was -said he was returned to life. The greatest difficulty experienced by -Christians in defending the divine authority of the New Testament -Dispensation, is, to account for the sudden departure of Jesus, who, -according to the Scripture record, was taken up into heaven in a few -weeks after his resurrection. To an inquiring mind, there are many -objections which deserve notice. The writer does not pretend to say that -the thing is impossible, because to deny the possibility of it would be -to set limits to the power that governs the universe. - -We will examine the account of Jesus's leaving this world so soon, to -discover if possible, what end was to be obtained by his sudden -departure from the scene of his suffering and degradation. It seems -reasonable to suppose that it was of the highest importance for Jesus to -stay on earth to establish Christianity on a sure foundation. It is -written that he told his disciples that it was for their good that -things were so arranged that he should leave them, for if he went away, -he would send the comforter to them, who was to be their guide, and to -bring to their remembrance the things he had told them; and also that -the Holy Ghost, the comforter, would, to make up for his absence, lead -them into the way of truth. This is, in substance, what they were to -expect. But unfortunately it did not take place, but the reverse; for, -from the accounts which have come down to us, a great number of sects -sprang up in a few years after Jesus left the world, and numerous -gospels were extant, which, for a number of years were quoted by the -early Fathers of the Church, and were considered authentic; but were -afterwards rejected, and are now bound up together and called "The -Rejected Gospels." - -In the beginning of the fourth century, the Christian sects were not -only numerous, but began to assume a spirit of intolerance and -persecution, and when that monster, Constantine, became a convert to -Christianity, religious quarrels were of the most violent character. Not -to dwell on the particulars of these religious differences, we may ask, -what did they quarrel about? The answer is at hand. They quarrelled -about something that Jesus was reported to have said or taught. Their -disputes were not of a moral, but of a theological description. In these -disputed subjects no standard of reference could be set up. Jesus was at -the right hand of his Father, and their differences could not be settled -by him. Quarrel after quarrel followed in quick succession; the strong -persecuted the weak; and the earth was deluged with blood. Constantine, -the Roman Emperor, hoisted the banner of the cross; and after having -murdered nearly the whole of his own family, he sought consolation from -that religion which says, that "the blood of Jesus cleanses from all -sin." - -The history of Jesus, including his doctrines, and also what the -apostles taught concerning him, and the belief in his second coming; the -different opinions that have arisen concerning the person of Christ; and -also, the various dogmas collected from the writers of the gospels, all -taken from what is called divine revelation, have never ceased to -generate quarrels among the different churches professing to be -Christian. Ever since the commencement of Christianity, there has been -little else but religious animosity among the different sects--each of -them professing to have the truth, to the exclusion of all the rest; all -of them appealing to the same word of God to support their various -dogmas. We may then ask, has that proclamation ever been fulfilled, that -was made by _multitude of the "heavenly host_" namely,--"_Peace on earth -and good-will towards men"?_ But no doubt its fulfilment is, in point of -truth, equal to its ever having been given; for angels are airy -nothings, and have no existence but in the imagination. - -From what has been stated, it will be seen that the religious quarrels -which have taken place from the commencement of the Christian era, arose -from the uncertain standard appealed to by the various sects. They all -referred to some particular passage or passages recorded, either by -Christ or his apostles. Every sect had a portion of truth supported by -Scripture authority; and it has at times happened, that whole -congregations, as well as individuals, have changed their opinions -concerning what the Scriptures taught. For instance: a Church, believing -that the Scriptures taught the doctrine of the Trinity, have given up -that doctrine, and embraced Unitarianism. The Scriptures remained the -same; it was their opinions that underwent the change. In fact, every -sect has Scripture for its support; so that it is plain to be seen, that -the New Testament is not, nor ever can be, a true and certain rule to -which a reference can be made, whereby disputes can be ended. The Old -Testament was superior in this respect to the New. And now, after -eighteen hundred years' fighting; in which time, tens of thousands have -been victims, and the earth has been drenched by human blood, nothing is -certain as to what Christianity really is. Can it then be possible, that -the God of the Universe would have left that religion (to establish -which, his Son expired on the cross,) in such a wretched state of -uncertainty, by calling him so early to his holy habitation? Impossible. - -If Christ was taken from this earth, he has now a local habitation, and, -also, he must be actively employed. Can Christians conceive where he is, -and what he is doing? Is it possible he would have remained so long -absent, knowing, as he must, that the cause for which he suffered would -be so wretchedly carried on? The absence of Christ, if not the entire -cause, is one cause of all the religious wars and bloodshed among -nations, and, also, of the hostile feelings of one sect against another. -Had he remained on earth, there would have been but "_one Lord, and his -name one_." If Jesus died for the salvation of the world, common sense -would dictate, that, after his resurrection, he would dwell in that -world for whose salvation he came, and not have been taken into heaven -before his plan of redemption was arranged; so that, instead of union -and harmony prevailing in his absence, by disunion, persecution, and -religious warfare, the different churches exhibited a complete confusion -of tongues. - -If Jesus had remained on earth, all religious persecution would have -been prevented; for if his laws and regulations had been written, and to -each church a copy had been sent, it would not have been possible for -any difference of opinion to have brought on disorder so as materially -to have disturbed the peace of his church. And if any dispute had taken -place, Jesus, dwelling on any particular spot on earth, his authority -could, in such a case, have been appealed to, and the matter would have -been peaceably settled. But, after his death and resurrection, there was -nothing to which a reference could eb made, but certain Gospels written -by unknown persons. - -In summing up this matter, the following remarks may safely and truly be -made:--In a short time after Jesus arose from the dead, it was declared -by his apostles, that he had ascended into heaven, and had left orders -for the Gospel, or good news, to be proclaimed throughout the world; and -that after remaining with his disciples a few weeks, when on a journey -with some of them, a cloud intervened, and they lost sight of him. -Before his death, Jesus had told them to watch for his second coming, -for that it would be sudden and unexpected; and he also added, that -there were those standing among them that would live to see it, and that -he should then appear in glory, attended by angels, judge the world, and -reward every man acccording to his deeds. The apostles taught this, -doctrine, and the early Christians looked for that event with eager -expectation. But a long and dreary night of religious intolerance has -nearly passed away, and Jesus has not yet arrived; during which night, -the world has witnessed scenes of horror unknown to the most savage ages -of antiquity. - -All this confusion and wretchedness must have been known by Jesus, and -also by his Father, at whose right hand it is recorded that he is -sitting. Now can Christians conceive where Christ has been, or what he -has been doing? Strange, indeed, does it apppear, that, during the -disorder and violence in which the Christian Church was involved for -ages, when thousands of honest, pious, and sincere Christians were put -to death, their Redeemer could sit quietly in heaven and not interfere -in their behalf! Perhaps it ought to be more strange, that it was the -will of God that Jesus should ever have left that world which was the -scene of his suffering. - -Looking at the plan of human redemption, from the time of the birth of -Jesus, and the incomplete finish made of it by his being taken up into -heaven, leaving his followers ignorant of what he meant during his -preaching on earth;--knowing, too, that the various sects have kept the -world in an uproar, destroying each other by thousands, and that all -these evils have taken place in consequence of Jesus being quietly -seated by the right hand of God,--these considerations, and many others -not noticed in this work, convince me, that the mission of Christ was -not of Divine authority. - -The following remarks will contain, in substance, the strongest -objection against the divinity of Christ's mission; and are given by the -author as presenting his final conclusions on that subject And here he -would ask--If the God of the Bible is, as Christians believe, the Author -of the universe, what are we to understand by the assertion, "_That -Jesus is seated at his right hand?_" God is a spirit pervading all -space, of whom one of the Scripture writers says, "_In him we live, and -move, and have our being._" The same idea was expressed by the Greeks in -reference to their supreme God,--"All things are full of Jupiter." How, -then, can it be believed that the unknown power who is the God of all -creation has a local dwelling place? - -Jesus, after his resurrection, declared that he had "_flesh and bone._" -How, then, he can be located with an universal spirit, is beyond human -conception As Jesus is a being possessed of a tangible form, he must -have a place of residence; and it is impossible that he can dwell with -_his God and Father_ in any other than a local habitation. The -supposition, then, that the Almighty Ruler of all worlds has a palace on -some fixed star, or planet, where Jesus has for eighteen hundred years -resided in company with the Infinite Creator, surrounded by angels -conversing and singing; the Devil, during the same time, "_going about -like a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour_" while Christians were -cutting each other's throats in consequence of their disputes about the -meaning of what Christ said, or the object of his performances on earth, -is very unlikely, to say the least of it. - -It seems astonishing that men, possessed of the noble faculty of reason, -can believe that Jesus is now alive in some unknown world, and in -company with the Sovereign Ruler of nature. In conclusion, the author of -this work (over whose head seventy-three summers' suns have passed,) -would say that he does not, _cannot_ believe that the Jesus of the -Christians has any existence but in the imagination of his followers. - - - - -REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE - - -HAVING concluded my remarks on the Old and New Testaments, I have -thought it proper to give a chapter on Morality. I do this to prevent -the reader from concluding that, because I am not a believer in the -Divine authority of the Old and New Testaments, I disregard all moral -obligation, and do not hold myself accountable to God, Nature, or my -fellow beings. Nothing can be further from truth than such a conclusion. -If no such being as God exists, who will judge every man at the final -day of accounts; and if no such judgment will ever take place, admitting -all this, even then should I stand in the same relation to my fellow -beings in a moral point of view. - -Christian preachers, generally, teach their hearers the entire -worthlessness of good works, without they are connected with faith in -the Gospel. This mode of treating unbelievers has a bad effect on the -minds of church members, who, giving full credit to the pastor of the -flock, are taught to consider that the person, or persons (however just, -humane and virtuous they may be in all their actions,) who do not come -up to the standard of their faith, are wicked, and will, at the day of -judgment, be condemned, and their sentence will be, "_Go, ye cursed, -into everlasting fire._" &c. We need not wonder, therefore, at the -intolerant spirit which is so active among all professing the Christian -name. Notwithstanding the moral precepts taught by Jesus, his followers, -at the present day, pay but little regard to them. To believe in the -Saviour, and consider him as the endorser of their sins, and presenting -their claims at the throne of the Eternal, form an easy way for -expiating a life of wickedness and cant. If we compare the moral -character of professing Christians with the precepts taught by Jesus, we -shall be surprised at the vast discordance between their profession and -their practice. We find that, in practice, Christianity is hostile to -justice and humanity. - -This is easy to be accounted for. It is because the Scriptures represent -our most virtuous actions as worthless in the sight of God, and without -faith we are told it is impossible to please him; and this is not all: -much depends on what kind of faith it is. The followers of John Calvin -think the faith of the disciples of John Wesley but little better than -the faith of devils, "_who believe and tremble._" It has been because -men have judged by their faith, and not by moral rectitude, that one -Christian sect has persecuted even to death, others who have borne the -Christian name. It was this spirit of intolerance that propelled John -Calvin to cause Servetus to be burnt by a slow fire, not because he was -a wicked man, nor was it for want of faith in the Christian religion, -but because the faith of Servetus did not agree with the faith of John -Calvin. Had moral excellence been the standard of their friendship, and -virtue the bond of their union, Servetus would have died in peace, and -Calvin would not have been handed down to posterity as a cold-hearted -murderer. - -It is the common practice of Christians, when in conversation with -Infidels, to boast of the purity of Christ's moral precepts; but in all -their sayings and doings with Infidels, the want of faith is the -unpardonable crime which induces them to fix the badge of infamy on the -head of the unbeliever. No doubt cruel Calvin would very good-naturedly -shake hands with a brother of his own church and creed, and love him for -Christ's sake; but at the same time torment poor Servetus to death, as -the enemy of God, for God's sake. Oh! ye persecuting Christians! your -prayers ought ever to be opposed to a day of judgment, and your constant -hope should be, that it will never take place, for "_how can you escape -the damnation of hell?_" - -It is the high estimation of faith, enforced by Christ, and also -insisted on (as the sure passport to glory) by his followers, that -compels them to consider virtue as worthless, when it is not in -connection with what is called saving faith, which makes it clear to be -seen that Christianity in its practice is not favorable to morality; for -as the Scriptures truly say that "_no man can serve two masters,_" so -faith will be always uppermost, and justice and humanity be placed in -the background. On this principle, hard-hearted Calvin acted towards -Servetus. Christians are commanded to do good for evil. "_If your enemy -hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink._" This is pure morality. -Thus we see that morality has no chance of justice when faith is the -prosecutor. The moral precepts of the New Testament have never been -strong enough to neutralize the violent and intolerant spirit that runs -throughout the Scriptures, and which is the very life of the Christian -faith. Had Servetus been a criminal of the worst kind, condemned to die -by the laws of Geneva, Calvin, no doubt, would have had feelings of pity -for him; but his crime came under the dominion of faith, which will not, -which cannot admit of one grain of mercy. - -On the contrary, Infidel morality has no alloy. It is unadulterated. -Like pure gold, it is current at all times, and in all places. Like the -bright orb of day, it shines by its own native brightness. Its principal -attribute is humanity, which, in its exercise, is not confined to -creeds, or professions; but like the bountiful hand of nature, it -dispenses its blessings even to the unthankful and unworthy. If justice -demands its aid, the balance is held even without regard to color or -clime. I have often been reminded, that if we did not take the -Scriptures for our guide, we should then have no rule to regulate our -actions. This remark would be more conclusive, if Christians generally -acted up to what they profess; but this is not the case; nor will it -ever be, so long as faith is the only sure passport to the Christian -heaven, for it is a fact that many preachers of the Gospel are the worst -characters in society. At the same time that they are preaching up -holiness of life, it is discovered that they for years have been living -in the indulgence of the most filthy of vices; and thus while they are -thundering against the Devil as the enemy of souls, they are only -abusing their betters. - -This being the truth, it is time that morality should be dissevered from -all religious creeds, and stand on its own intrinsic merits. Religion -has taught man that he is poor and helpless; that he has no power to -act; that he has no desire to perform virtuous actions, and that he -himself and his fellow beings are, by some (to him unaccountable) -destiny, thrown at so vast a distance from his Creator, that he can -approach him only by the means of kneeling and prostration, and that he -is so far indebted to his Maker, who will have full payment to the last -cent. Being ignorant of his real situation in the universe, and also of -the resources of his mind, he overlooks or undervalues the strength he -possesses, and neglects the means which God or nature puts within his -reach to be both virtuous and happy. - -In this state of mind, he seeks for happiness in a religion the author -of which is depicted as a being like himself. It is, then, the vast -importance which has been attached to faith in the Redeemer, which has -made the path to heaven so smooth, and easy for the Christian traveller, -that moral rectitude has been thought of but little consideration in his -road to glory. Let me, says the Christian, make sure of my interest in -Christ, and my salvation is sure. Hence, we often find, that even Gospel -ministers are men of the basest description; at the same time their -hearers are consoled, with believing that their immoral pastor is sound -in the faith, resting firmly on the "_rock of ages_." - -The importance of faith is not the abuse of Christianity; it is the -thing itself. Jesus taught it to his disciples, and blames them for -having so little. But when Peter, his trusty servant, in a passion, cut -off a man's ear, his divine Master only gave him a gentle rebuke, -telling him to be careful how he used the sword, for he might have to go -in mourning for his own ears. - -The consistent Infidel, who renounces all religious creeds, and who -views the whole human family as beings possessing the same faculties, -subject to the same wants, and liable to the same misfortunes as -himself, can, by the use of his reason, without the aid of revelation, -discover the duties which he owes to himself, and also the true relation -in which he stands to his fellow mortals. He, by what he observes around -him, and by what he feels within himself, can see clearly the correct -line of duty, and can, at any time, draw a just conclusion as to his -moral standing in society. But it is far otherwise with the Christian, -whose whole dependence is on what his Saviour has done for him. He is -alternately disturbed with doubts and fears as to the ground on which he -stands; and being taught, that his best efforts to attain a moral -elevation by a steady course of virtuous actions, is considered by his -Maker worse than nothing, he loses sight of the high responsibility he -stands in, in relation to his fellow man. - -In proportion, then, as faith is considered superior to moral virtue, -the first is sought after, and highly valued, and the latter is -neglected as of little consideration in securing happiness in this life -or in that which is to come. We need not, therefore, be surprised that -Christians, as a class, fall far below Infidels in point of moral -rectitude. Christianity, at best, is a cold-hearted system; its -followers are generally unsocial. They are taught to "_love not the -world nor the things of the world._" Jesus himself says to his -disciples, "_Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world; but -because I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth -you._" Pride and intolerance are leading features in the conduct of -Christians generally. These defects among professors of religion, arise -from the belief that faith in Christ, as their Redeemer, secures them -heaven; and as it respects the duties of life, they hold them very -lightly, regarding them as, matters of little or no weight in the -article of salvation. - -Professors of the Christian religion, at the same time that they -consider that faith in the divine mission of Jesus secures them an -acceptance with God, and that moral rectitude without faith in the -Redeemer, is worthless in the sight of God, are compelled to admit, that -where good works and virtuous conduct are wanting, the faith of the -individual not being supported by Justice, Humanity, and Chastity, with -all the virtues which adorn human nature, the damnation of such an one -is doubly sure. So that, after all, this thing called faith borrows all -its brightness and real value from moral rectitude. Faith, like a -planet, is in itself a dark body, and has no light but what it receives -from the bright sun of moral excellency. - -The very nature and spirit of the Christian religion, is intolerant. It -says, "_Whosoever believes, shall be saved; and he that believeth not, -shall be damned._" This is the firm ground on which the Christian -stands, and where he must continue to stand. If he quits this strong -hold, he ceases to be a Christian, and, of necessity, becomes an -Infidel. It follows, then, that believers in the Divine authority of the -Bible must continue to be, what they always have been, intolerant and -persecuting. How differently do those feel who have given up all ideas -of Divine Revelation! They attach no consequence to faith, whatever. -They have no disposition even to blame, much less to injure persons who -believe in the most absurd inconsistencies. They, on the contrary, feel -the most lively interest in their happiness, knowing that no one can -control the honest convictions of the mind. - -The Infidel, then, has the advantage, in a moral point of view, over the -Christian, for the following reasons:--The Infidel has not to defend the -character nor the actions of any God or Gods, particularly of a God -"partial, vengeful, and unjust." He imbibes no angry feelings, by -believing in a God of cruelty and carnage. The Infidel has divested his -mind of the nonsense and inconsistency of considering unbelief as a -crime; and, also, of the fallacy that men can credit absurdities on -insufficient evidence. He perceives that every man's religion is, to a -very large extent, a consequence of the circumstances of his situation -in early life, and the influences which surrounded him at his birth. The -Infidel, therefore, has no inducement whatever to injure those who -differ from him in opinion; for, by detaching all importance from faith, -and referring entirely to good and virtuous actions, he escapes all -those angry theological quarrels in which Christians are more or less -involved. So that the mind of an unbeliever is in a sound and calm -state, not harrowed up by the terrors of an avenging God, and the -thoughts of endless damnation. - -These evils, and many more, the Infidel is not exposed to; consequently -his mind is at rest; his sense of degradation is not because he is -taught to believe that he is a poor lost sinner; he feels degraded only -in proportion as he neglects the duties which he owes to his fellow men. -The unbeliever, then, being free from the terror of doubting that which -he feels it is impossible for him to credit, commences to walk in the -path of moral rectitude, considering his own nature, and the connection -he occupies in relation to society, composed of beings like himself. He -listens to the voice of reason, and clearly understands that which God -or nature has done for him, and also that which remains for him to do -for himself. Leaving forever all religious dogmas, calculated to -bewilder his mind, his moral path is as clear as light. No longer -standing on the fearful precipice of faith, trembling at every step, or -chain-bound in a state of inaction, the Infidel cheerfully travels on in -the practice of justice and humanity with a calmness of mind to which -the Christian is a stranger. He has no angry God to dread, nor any -tempting Devil, against whom the Christian must forever be on the watch. - -All human beings on arriving at maturity, find themselves placed by an -unknown power in a world, in which they will have to enjoy pleasure or -happiness, and also to endure pain. This is the destiny of all, without -exception. The same power which propelled us into existence, has made it -a law of our nature to dread or shrink from pain, and also to desire and -love ease and pleasure. And here we can at once discover what God or -nature has done for us, and likewise what is left for us to perform for -ourselves. This, then, is the stock of moral material with which mortals -commence a life of pleasure and pain. The same unknown power has also -given man and woman reason, by the exercise of which they can augment -their pleasure, and reduce their pain. By the use of man's rational -powers, he can plainly discover his duty towards beings like himself. He -loves happiness, ease, and every thing which makes life worth having; so -also, do his fellow beings. He hates and retreats from positive pain; so -does every being which has life, animals not excepted. What revelation, -then, but this, does man want to teach him that which he owes to -himself, and likewise those things he ought to practise to every being -that has life and feeling? - -And the voice of God, or nature, calls to every rational being in -language which, but for false religion, all would understand. Mortals! -attend to what is done for your permanent happiness. Ignorance and -neglect are the causes of most of the evils which, torment you. You are -made to love happiness; you are also made to shrink from and hate pain. -Every human being is subject to the same laws; only attend to the moral -this contains. You have no excuse for inflicting pain on any living -creature, because you know that every being possessing life is governed -by the same feelings as yourself. God, or nature, has so arranged things -as to induce mortals to practise virtue, and to be kind to every thing -that possesses life and feeling; because, by acting agreeably to the -laws of your own organization, you become happy in yourself, and have -the additional pleasure of making others happy also. What excuse, then, -can men have for neglecting the duties they owe to every thing that has -life and feeling? Do they need a revelation to inform them that they -ought to be just and humane? Do they require information from heaven to -inform them that cruelty to man or animals is wicked? Let them but -consult their own feelings; full information is at hand calling on them -to practise kindness and compassion. - -Do men and women need the Bible to learn the duty incumbent on them -toward their offspring? Must we read the pretended word of God in order -to discover that the husband ought to be kind and in every way faithful -to his wife, (making allowance for her weakness, either of body or -mind,) and perform every duty connected with her permanent happiness? -Man requires no Divine aid, beyond the exercise of his reason, to inform -him that, in order to be happy in this life, he must be _just, -peaceable, sober, and temperate in all things; chaste, a lover of truth, -kind, and humane_ to all beings who possess life. Let every human being, -then, turn to the laws of his own organization, namely, to his love of -happiness, and aversion to pain. These laws will give him unerring -instruction as to the duties which he has to perform, and also as to -what evils he is to avoid. - -This is indeed a Divine revelation, which will never deceive or lead -astray. Man carries it within himself. It differs from all pretended -Divine revelation. It is suitable at all times, and in all places. It -requires no priest to explain it. It changes not with times and -circumstances. These laws of our nature (the love of happiness and -aversion to pain) are a never-failing revelation, to which we can always -refer with entire confidence, as a true revelation of God or nature. -Away, then, with the childish question, "If you take away the Bible, -what will you give us in its stead"? The short and final answer to which -is, study the laws of your organization, and direct your reason to their -interpretation, and let the priest read his Bible, and exclaim against -unbelief. The reader will now understand the views the Infidels have of -moral rectitude; and if the principles are faithfully carried out in our -journey through life, the end of all will be peace. These moral -principles were enforced (for upwards of eight years) in Tammany Hall. -They are now spreading far and wide, and instead of producing evil in -society, they are calculated to ensure "_peace on earth and good-will -towards men._" - -It is because the Christian world have been taught to depend on a -Saviour for the pardon of the worst of crimes, believing that the price -was paid by Christ as a ransom from the captivity of the Devil, that it -is destructive of pure morality. The apostles maintained this doctrine; -and from them, till now, the true and Orthodox faith is, that moral -rectitude has nothing to do, abstractly considered, with the salvation -of the soul, but faith in what Christ has done and suffered. This -doctrine is not only unfavorable to virtue, but it places the basest of -mankind in a superior point of view to those whose whole lives have been -distinguished by the practice of correct moral actions. That divines -view and act on the vicarious sacrifice of Christ as being alone -sufficient in the last hour to save sinners, we need but to refer to the -attention paid by them to criminals up to the last moments of their -lives. It is faith in the Redeemer, which gives a passport to glory to a -wretch, who but a few days before had murdered perhaps a good father and -mother. No matter what his crimes, or how large the number, only let him -believe in the Saviour, and, although the guilty criminal is considered -unworthy to live one hour longer on earth, yet according to the Gospel -plan of salvation, he is promised, and induced to believe that he will -in the evening of the same day join in the song of angels and chant the -praises of the Great Eternal. - -If the doctrine of saving faith be true, the thief or murderer, if the -law lays hold of him, and the fear of the gallows induces him to rely on -Jesus, goes directly to heaven; whereas, if he had been honest and -virtuous, but had not faith in Christ, he might have died in his sins -and gone to hell! Oh! how consistent is Orthodox salvation with justice -and truth! In one case, the Orthodox Christian is in truth consistent. -It is this: that in this life, even in New York, a man will not be -admitted as a church member, however virtuous. He must be a sinner, or -he cannot be admitted. So, also, in heaven, a good man must not enter. -It would be no injustice to say that every religious society should have -it written in large capitals over the door-way of its building--"_No -honest men admitted as members here--sinners are always welcome._" The -same should be posted at the gate of heaven. Although this statement may -to some appear wicked and untrue, it is correct in the Christian spirit, -and also true to the letter. Honest men have no business in Christian -churches, as they will also be rejected in heaven. The worst of -characters make the best Christians, if they can bring one grain of -mustard-seed faith to the altar of Jehovah. - -The Christian who depends for salvation and acceptance, in a future -life, is never at rest in this. He has no correct standard whereby to -judge whether he has saving faith. His hopes and his fears are regulated -by his feelings, not by his conduct. If, for instance, his animal -spirits are depressed, he desponds, and considers that the Lord has -withdrawn from him the light of his countenance. He trembles, and in the -agony of his mind, cries out, "_I believe, O Lord, help thou mine -unbelief._" Let him become cheerful, and his mind become buoyant, he -then considers himself sure that he has, what is called, an interest in -Christ. - -Moral rectitude is out of the question. All the moral virtues combined, -and brought into action, are as nothing, in the sight of the Christian's -God. The sinner's debt is paid, by the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. -So that, according to the plan of human redemption, if Jesus had been -acquitted on his trial, the whole human race would die (as the Scripture -phrase is) in their sins. It then follows, that, as man's acceptance -with God, and the salvation of his soul, is in consequence of the -sacrifice made by Christ on the cross, his moral rectitude is of little -consequence. The all-important state of the believer is, not the -soundness of his morals, but the relying by faith on Jesus for what he -has done by his suffering on the "accursed tree." This doctrine is the -consolation of the murderer at the gallows; and the same reliance on -what Jesus has suffered for the human race, was what consoled and -supported Andrew Jackson in his last moments, as reported by the -newspapers. - -The Christian religion, by teaching believers to trust in a Saviour for -the pardon of crimes of the worst description, has been an obstacle in -the way of attaining to that moral excellence which is calculated to -dignify human nature.. Faith, the "_pearl of great price,_" has, ever -since the introduction of Christian theology, obscured the path of -virtue, and invested its haughty possessor with an intolerant -disposition, accountable only to the tribunal of faith; and, having -broken loose from the restraints of moral obligation, has, as it were, -laughed to scorn the principles of justice, of chastity and humanity. -And yet, one and all, who profess Christianity, charge those who -consider moral worth superior to faith, with demoralizing youth, and -corrupting the manners of the age in which they live. - -Before concluding this chapter, it will be useful to inquire, in what -way the world has been benefitted by propagating the heaven-born -doctrine of faith in the Redeemer's kingdom? The page of history bears -witness, that, for eighteen hundred years, with but short intervals of -rest, a large portion of the earth has been the theatre of _crime and -war, cruelty and murder_; and this state of things has been brought -about by the uncertainty of what Christianity is. When the reputed -Founder of the Christian faith was about to leave this world, to sit at -the right hand of his Father, he told them that his absence would be to -his followers a real blessing; for it is recorded, that he said to them -that "_the Comforter_" would abundantly supply his place--that is, or -was to be, the Holy Ghost, who would "_lead them into alt truth, and -bring to their remembrance all things which he had told them._" But this -promise, if ever made, proved a total failure; for soon after Christ, -their Divine Master, left this earth, upwards of forty different sects -arose, and began to dispute and quarrel about what Jesus, while on -earth, taught, concerning the kingdom of heaven. Sect opposed sect, -party opposed party, and Christianity became involved in mystery. -Conventions were formed, and the worst passions soon gave proof that the -multitude of angels, who, at the birth of Christ proclaimed, that -"_peace on earth, and good-will towards men_" would be realized, were -sadly mistaken. Nothing but one continual scene of war, destruction, and -slaughter, between Christian nations, and in society, and and even in -families, ensued; peace and harmony were unknown. The Holy Ghost, that -was to be the comforter, soon made them any thing but comfortable! - -This good news, or Gospel, proved to be most unfortunate news to the -inhabitants of this world. Thousands and tens of thousands of human -beings came to a premature or violent death by rack and torture; the -fires of martyrdom were lighted up, and millions of madmen gave glory to -God. This is but a mere outline of the horrors arising from faith in the -glorious plan of human redemption; and thus mortals when they became -believers in the Redeemer's kingdom, ceased to act as men, and became -downright devils. If, instead of teaching him the doctrines of the -Christian religion, the laws which God or nature had stamped on every -human being (which are always present, and which, at every moment of his -existence, call on him to attend to the lessons which they teach) had -been pointed out to him, man would have learned how to live in peace and -happiness, in a society of beings organized like himself, and governed -by the same laws, always loving happiness and dreading pain. - -To the reader, then, I recommend attention to the hints here given; and -in order to form a correct judgment how he should perform the duties -which he owes to himself, and also to his fellow mortals, to study and -always appeal to the laws of his organization. Let him bring every -action to that never-failing index of his nature, the love of happiness -and the aversion to pain. Let him sum up every day his moral accounts by -this unerring rule, and this mode will never fail to make his moral path -as clear as light; for as he knows that, according to the laws of his -nature, he is compelled to love happiness, and to shrink from pain, so -also, is every one that has life, governed by the laws of pleasure and -pain. The laws of our organization, and the voice of reason united, -proclaim to every human being, that the whole of man's duty towards his -fellow man consists at all times, and in all places, in increasing his -happiness, and reducing his pain. - -To know this, so easy to be known, and strictly to practise it, is all -the revelation which man requires. But pretended revelation has either -obscured moral light, or held out lights that are false and delusive. -The false light presented to man, called revealed religion, instead of -conducting him safely into the haven of happiness, has continually -tossed him, without rudder or compass, on the roaring billows of -theology, on which troubled ocean he has met with little else than -robbers and pirates. - -Never, then, let us forget, that the best men or women are they, whose -whole lives are directed to the promotion of the permanent happiness of -every thing having life and feeling, and to the reduction of misery -wherever it may be found; and that whoever shall thus act, will be not -only the best, but also the happiest, of the human race. - -THE END. - - - - - ---- - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE -DISCUSSION*** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39371 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the <a class="reference internal" href="#project-gutenberg-license">Project Gutenberg License</a> -included with this eBook or online at -<a class="reference external" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license</a>.</p> -<p class="noindent pnext"></p> -<div class="noindent vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<div class="align-None container noindent white-space-pre-line" id="pg-machine-header"> -<p class="noindent pfirst white-space-pre-line"><span class="white-space-pre-line">Title: A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion<br /> -<br /> -Author: Benjamin Offen<br /> -<br /> -Release Date: April 04, 2012 [EBook #39371]<br /> -<br /> -Language: English<br /> -<br /> -Character set encoding: UTF-8</span></p> -</div> -<div class="noindent vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-start-line">*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK <span>A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION</span>***</p> <div class="noindent vspace" style="height: 4em"> </div> <p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-produced-by"><span>Produced by David Widger.</span></p> @@ -7527,347 +7502,6 @@ only the best, but also the happiest, of the human race.</p> <!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> <div class="backmatter"> </div> -<p class="pfirst" id="pg-end-line">*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK <span>A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION</span>***</p> -<div class="cleardoublepage"> -</div> -</div> -<div class="language-en level-2 pgfooter section" id="a-word-from-project-gutenberg" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> -<span id="pg-footer"></span><h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title">A Word from Project Gutenberg</h2> -<p class="pfirst">We will update this book if we find any errors.</p> -<p class="pnext">This book can be found under: <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39371"><span>http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39371</span></a></p> -<p class="pnext">Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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-
-.. meta::
- :PG.Id: 39371
- :PG.Title: A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion
- :PG.Released: 2012-04-04
- :PG.Rights: Public Domain
- :PG.Producer: David Widger
- :DC.Creator: Benjamin Offen
- :DC.Title: A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion
- :DC.Language: en
- :DC.Created: 1846
-
-
-
-.. role:: xlarge-bold
- :class: x-large bold
-
-.. role:: large
- :class: large
-
-.. role:: small-caps
- :class: small-caps
-
-
-
-
-==========================================
-A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION
-==========================================
-
-.. pgheader::
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-
-.. class:: center
-
- | :xlarge-bold:`A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION`
- |
- | `By`
- |
- | :xlarge-bold:`Benjamin Offen`
- |
- | :small-caps:`PRINCIPAL HISTORICAL FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE BOOKS KNOWN AS THE`
- | :small-caps:`OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT; WITH REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE`
- |
- |
- | :small-caps:`1846`
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-
-.. contents:: CONTENTS
- :depth: 1
- :backlinks: entry
-
-
-
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-PREFACE
-=======
-
-.. dropcap:: I IN
-
-
-IN the following pages the author has freely discussed the claims of
-the books called the Old and New Testaments, to be considered Divine
-revelations. He had a *right* so to do; and in presenting the work to
-the public he gives the result of his exercise of such right.
-
-The right of free discussion has been questioned. It would be well
-for humanity if this were all; but unhappily, the pages of history are
-replete with deeds of persecution and cruelty, committed by men, in
-the possession of power, on their less fortunate fellow-men, who have
-presumed to exercise the right of free investigation. Cupidity has drawn
-a line of demarcation; it has established boundaries for thought; and
-miserable has been the fate of the unhappy wretch who, rejoicing in the
-dignity of his nature, and anxious to discover the abode of Truth, has
-dared to pass the Rubicon.
-
-What is Free Discussion? We answer, it is the exercise of the reasoning
-faculties. Without Free Discussion man cannot exist. His physical
-existence might indeed remain; but he could no longer be deemed a man;
-and would have to take a lower rank in the scale of creation.
-
-Without investigation it is impossible to arrive at Truth; hence the
-utility of Free Discussion. This is never denied when science is the
-subject; and we have yet to learn why it should be restrained in any
-case; and also *how* and *when* any set of men became possessed of
-the right to restrain the exercise of the reasoning faculties of their
-fellow-men.
-
-When men have not been impelled by cupidity to shackle the minds of
-their fellow beings, a spirit of uncharitableness has induced them
-to pursue the same line of conduct. Whoever has maintained an opinion
-contrary to theirs, has been considered as being actuated, not by
-mistaken, but, by dishonest motives; and has therefore been deemed a
-fit subject for punishment. As this work will probably be read by many
-professing Christians we will here give an extract from Dr. Blair’s
-sermon on *Candor*, which will, probably, make a greater impression than
-any thing we could offer on that subject.
-
-“It is one of the misfortunes of our present situation, that some
-of the good dispositions of human nature are apt to betray us into
-frailties and vices. Thus it often happens, that the laudable attachment
-which we contract to the country, or the church, to which we belong,
-or to some political denomination under which we class ourselves, both
-confines our affections within too narrow a sphere, and gives rise to
-violent prejudices against such as come under an opposite description.
-Not contented with being in the right ourselves, we must find all others
-in the wrong. We claim an exclusive possession of goodness and wisdom:
-and from approving warmly of those who join us, we proceed to condemn,
-with much acrimony, not only the principles, but the *characters*, of
-those from whom we differ. Hence, persons of well disposed minds are too
-often, through the strength of partial good affection, involved in the
-crime of uncharitable judgment They rashly extend to every individual
-the severe opinion which they have unwarrantably conceived of a whole
-body. This man is of a party whose principles we reckon slavish; and
-therefore his whole sentiments are corrupted. That man belongs to a
-religious sect which we are accustomed to deem bigoted; and therefore
-he is incapable of any generous or liberal thought Another is connected
-with a sect which we have been taught to account relaxed; and therefore
-he can have no sanctity.—Are these the judgments of candor and
-charity? Is true piety or virtue so very limited in its nature, as to
-be confined to such alone as see every thing with our eyes, and follow
-exactly the train of our ideas?”
-
-The author disclaims any intention of wounding the feelings of those who
-hold opinions different to his own. For the religions hypocrite he has
-no bowels of compassion; but the sincere believer in Divine revelation,
-whose conduct is regulated by the universally acknowledged roles of
-morality, is to him an object of sincere respect and esteem.
-
-Many things connected with what is called Divine revelation, have been
-very freely commented on by the author; and sometimes in a style which
-the Christian world will probably be disposed to condemn; but it should
-be remembered that what appears sacred to one, excites the ridicule of
-others. The Pagan venerates his manufactured god; the Christian views it
-with contempt and indignation.
-
-The object of the author has been the promotion of Truth and
-Benevolence.
-
-Should he fail to produce the effects he has contemplated, he will
-yet be able to console himself with the reflection, that he has been
-actuated by good intentions. The time has been when the assertion was
-frequently made that “hell was paved with good intentions” had the work
-appeared at that time, the author would, doubtless, have been destined,
-so far as human agency could effect it, to become one of the paving
-stones of that remarkable edifice: but a brighter day has dawned upon
-the world; Reason is asserting her right to empire; and the cheering
-spirit of benevolence is animating the nations of the earth.
-
-The shades of life’s evening admonish the author that his sojourn
-in the world will very shortly be brought to a close. He is anxious,
-therefore, before his departure, to cast in his mite for the eradication
-of human suffering, and the promotion of human felicity; and then, in
-wrapping himself in the mantle of universal benevolence, to retire from
-the transitory scene, in charity with all men.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-GENERAL INTRODUCTION
-====================
-
-.. dropcap:: T THE
-
-
-THE main object of this book is to show that Jehovah, the God of the
-Jews, is not the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, but a fictitious
-being, having no real existence whatever. If the above position
-be correct, it follows, that the Bible, including the Old and New
-Testaments, is not a Divine Revelation. But that the reader may see,
-more clearly, upon what uncertain ground divine revelation rests, the
-plan pursued in the following chapters will be a review of the *facts*
-and *personages* as recorded in the Old and New Testaments. But the
-limits of this work will only admit of a mere scantling of what might be
-written on the subject.
-
-In most Christian countries (America excepted,) this work would
-be answered by either fine or imprisonment, or probably both. But
-fortunately for the cause of truth and free discussion, theological
-power here is so happily balanced, that persecution for religious
-opinions is impracticable. The period therefore has arrived, in this
-country in particular, when reason is free from the former obstacles
-that every where crossed its path. Now, then, is the time for us to
-examine the religion of our forefathers, and explore the regions
-of human credulity. A mixture of pain and pleasure will be the
-result:—*pain*, in considering what suffering has befallen the human
-family, when the laudable indulgence of imagining and reasoning was
-considered rebellion against God; and *pleasure*, to us who, having
-escaped those dreadful evils which in former ages spread terror
-throughout the world, can lessen the evils that surround us, and augment
-to an almost unlimited degree our happiness.
-
-To those who may have the moral courage to read the following pages, I
-would say, I have neither a desire to shock their feelings, nor any
-wish to change their sentiments in order to gratify my vanity; for had
-Christianity been productive of “peace on earth and good will towards
-men,” I should have been the last to have opposed it. But on the
-contrary, the page of religious history is blotted with human gore.
-The intolerant spirit that pervades the Old and New Testaments, has so
-inoculated its followers of every sect, that while they profess to
-love each other for Christ’s sake, one sect (the strongest) has put
-to death a weaker sect for God’s sake. Nothing short of convincing
-men that the Bible is not a divine revelation, can or will guarantee
-posterity against a recurrence of those scenes of horror, at the very
-thought of which, the heart sickens.
-
-From the pulpit, and in religious works, nothing is more common than to
-exclaim with horror at the unblushing Infidel. Unblushing Infidel! What
-cause have Infidels to blush? The blush, if any, ought to be on the face
-of the Christians of every sect. They have never failed to persecute
-when in power: they have been guilty of cruelties, at which the savage
-cannibal would weep, and this will ever be the case so long as the Bible
-is considered as coming from God; because, till all consequence is taken
-away from faith, and transferred to moral rectitude, persecution is the
-effect of believing that *faith* is the sure passport to glory, while
-*unbelief* is the broad road to perdition. Men cease to be Christians
-when they lose this spirit of intolerance, and become Infidels.
-
-Sects are not alike intolerant; but all are in some degree. The
-Calvinists will not permit the Unitarians to preach in their churches.
-The Unitarians, or Universalists, will not permit an Infidel lecturer to
-speak in their churches,—no, not even on moral subjects. Christians,
-then, will always be more or less of a persecuting disposition, and
-nothing but giving up the Bible, as a Divine revelation, will destroy
-that spirit. To show how a profession of Christianity, unfits men to do
-justice to those who differ from them in religion, I will refer to the
-treatment of Thomas Paine, author of “Common Sense.” His services
-in the glorious struggle that “tried men’s souls” have been
-shamefully forgotten. Yes! the friend of the immortal Washington,
-who shared in the toils and dangers with the father of this great
-republic,—how have Americans generally treated his name and efforts to
-erect one of the most noble monuments of human wisdom—the *independent
-republic of North America?* For all his faithful devotedness to the
-independence of America, how is his name and memory spoken of at the
-present time? From the pulpit, every kind of falsehood and detraction is
-poured forth concerning him.
-
-If he had been, a member of a church, the same fanatical priesthood
-would have lauded him to the skies. Such is the nature of
-religious bigotry, that the friendship of the ever to be venerated
-Washington—even that, cannot shield his name from pulpit calumny.
-“Bigotry, she has no head, and cannot think; she has no heart, and
-cannot feel.”
-
-But the name and services of Thomas Paine, are not, and never will be,
-forgotten. Thanks to the Liberals throughout the Union, his birthday
-is yearly celebrated in most of the cities and towns in the different
-States. A handsome and durable monument has been erected to his memory
-at New Rochelle, New York State. The thanks of-the Liberals are due
-to Mr. G. Vale, Editor of the *Beacon*, published in New York, for his
-untiring perseverance in urging on the completion of a monument will, in
-time, command the respect of posterity. Why are the name and services
-of Thomas Paine be cautiously omitted by our orators and statesmen,
-when speaking of the patriotism of a Washington, Jefferson, Adams,
-Hancock, and others? It would offend the church and priesthood, as well
-as the whole of the Christian community; because—“*He that believeth
-not shall be damned.*” This is the brightest gem in the Christian’s
-crown of glory. If he nurse this intolerant spirit against Infidels, the
-Christian considers his “*calling and election sure.*”
-
-Sincere believers in Divine revelation are not aware what monsters the
-Bible makes of them; but for which they would be humane, compared to
-what they are under its influence. I am surprised that they are (the
-majority of them) so just, humane, and charitable, when I take into
-consideration the doctrines contained (or believed to be) in what
-is called the Word of God. In addition to their own evil habits and
-disregard for virtue in the common concerns of life, they have a Devil
-to tempt them by a thousand ways in which they are ignorant. Again, they
-have a Saviour who shed his blood to save them from the just punishment
-of their deserts; so that with their own evil deeds, and being urged on
-by the Devil, they become monsters in crime. They then go, as the phrase
-is, to Christ, be sorry, or profess to be, for what they have done, and
-are pardoned, and in the sight of Heaven are considered *superior* to
-the unconverted whom they have injured. Can you, my readers, wonder
-at the crimes of God’s people? According to this doctrine, a man may
-steal a horse and cart, by the use of which, another man earned support
-for his family; the thief sells it, and spends the amount, in connexion
-with wretches like himself. He then goes to Jesus, repents, is forgiven;
-and, to follow the plan throughout—if the man who lost his horse and
-cart is an unbeliever, he goes to Hell, while the rogue sits singing and
-laughing in Glory!
-
-This book is sent into society from the best of motives; hoping it
-will induce Christians to practise moderation, and somewhat abate that
-raging, fanatical fever, that has been so fatal to human happiness. If
-you take from us the Bible, says the Christian, what will you give in
-its stead? We answer, man requires nothing but what God, or Nature, has
-given him. All men in common, have reason to consult, by which man will
-learn the duty he owes to himself, and also to his fellow beings. The
-error lies in being taught, that reason, when in full exercise, will
-lead him into error. This has been his misfortune; and his punishment
-has followed as a consequence. The Bible contains many good moral
-precepts; but these are, by Christians, thought little of, compared with
-its doctrines. Faith is all important. By faith, barbarous Calvin caused
-Servetus to be burnt by a slow fire; and through faith, St. Austin, that
-drunken debauchee, obtained a good report.
-
-The Bible is at war with man’s reasoning powers; and, like a land
-pirate, has held up false lights, which instead of conducting man to the
-haven of happiness and safety, has caused him to make shipwreck on the
-rocks and shoals of religious dogmas. Man is lost in no other sense than
-that, the loss of his reason. To recover *that*, and bring it into full
-exercise, is all the Saviour he needs. His moral path is as clear as
-light. God, or Nature, has made it a law of man’s existence that he
-must love happiness, ease, and enjoyment; and also, that he must hate
-pain and trouble in every stage and form. This law is forced upon him
-independent of his choice. It is ever present to his senses, till he
-ceases to exist, or to be rational. This is man’s stock of moral
-material furnished by God, or Nature. How clear, then, is his duty! He
-has but to follow out this law, by the aid of his reasoning, judging,
-and comparing powers. It will never lead him wrong. He requires
-no Bible, no Saviour; he is never lost; he has no incomprehensible
-doctrines to support or defend. Unlike the sectarian, he feels no
-disposition to persecute others who differ from him in matters of faith;
-he has no angry God to propel him on to fight for his glory; he can
-balance up every night his moral account of the day; and if he has
-followed out the law of his nature, by augmenting his own, and also the
-happiness of his fellow beings, and lightened the load of human ills
-around him, he in truth is the good man, be his faith little or much.
-That the following work may forward moral improvement, and encourage
-moderation and universal good will among the human family, is the
-sincere wish of
-
-THE AUTHOR
-
-
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-DETAILED CONTENTS
-==================
-
-
-
-OLD TESTAMENT
-
-
-PREFACE.—Free Discussion; the right to use it in examining the
-Scriptures; its certainty in destroying error and establishing
-truth—Extract from Dr. Blair’s sermon on Candor—Motives of the
-author in laying his work before the public.
-
-GENERAL INTRODUCTION.—Object of the book—Intolerance and persecution
-of Christian sects—Their abuse of Infidels and calumnious treatment
-of Thomas Paine—His name and services appreciated by
-Liberals—Pernicious influence of the Bible upon morals—Knowledge of
-the laws of our existence the only sure guide to wisdom, happiness, and
-virtue.
-
-GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE.—Character and situation of the Jews—Their
-treatment by Jehovah—Why were they chosen, and did they answer the end
-of their choice?—Probable reasoning of the Jewish God—Account of his
-visit to Abram and Sarah, and their reception and treatment of
-him—The consequences to the Jews of considering themselves the chosen
-people—The five books said to have been written by Moses—Treatment
-of Hagar and her child—Jehovah and the Jews.
-
-CHAPTER I.—From the Creation to the Deluge.
-
-CHAPTER II.—A Review of the Deluge and the confusion of Tongues at the
-Tower of Babel.
-
-CHAPTER III.—From the Confusion of Tongues to the Birth of Moses.
-
-CHAPTER IV.—From the Birth of Moses to the Death of Joshua.
-
-CHAPTER V.—From the Death of Joshua to the Reign of Saul.
-
-CHAPTER VI.—The Reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon.
-
-CHAPTER VII.—The Reign of Jeroboam, and the separation of Israel from
-Judah.
-
-CHAPTER VIII.—On Divine Inspiration.
-
-
-NEW TESTAMENT
-
-
-INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.—Jehovah’s dealings with the Jews—His failure
-to make them a pattern to the rest of the human family—The coming of
-Christ—The manner of his introduction—his associates; language; and
-conduct—Miracles—The Jews had sufficient reason, for rejecting Jesus
-as the Messiah.
-
-CHAPTER I.—Jesus the pretended Saviour of the world, not sent from
-God—Moses wrote the most minute things Connected with die system
-established by himself, but Jesus left no writings whatever-—Vagueness
-and want of authenticity of the writings of the Evangelists—General
-ignorance among Christians of what is the true Gospel—No proof of the
-heavenly origin of Jesus—His baptism by John—His temptation by the
-Devil—Its absurdity—Abusive language of Jesus to the Jews—His
-unfitness for his mission, and failure to prove himself sent from God.
-
-CHAPTER II.—Casting out Devils—The case of Mary Magdalene—The
-doctrine of demoniacal possession, a heathen dogma—Miracles of Jesus
-no proof of his Divine origin—Evidence from the New Testament that no
-miracles ever took place—Inconsistent conduct and abusive language of
-Jesus—The miracle at his baptism—Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus
-from the clouds—Folly of miracles and their injurious consequence.
-
-CHAPTER III.—Peter—Disingenuous mode adopted by Jesus to prove his
-Messiahship—The introduction of his mission to the Jews—His obscure
-doctrines, and disrespectful Language—Survey of his teaching, and mode
-of life—Inutility of his object—His betrayal—Judas Iscariot.
-
-CHAPTER IV.—The Almighty Power that governs the universe not the
-author of the Christian Religion—Destructive saying of Jesus—The
-power given to Peter; its disastrous results—Institution of the
-Sacrament—Intolerance and persecution of Sectarianism—Folly of
-religious teaching.
-
-CHAPTER V.—Orthodox views of Christianity—Remarks on the bad effects
-of believing in the existence of the Devil, and in witchcraft, doctrines
-taught in the Bible—Trial and execution of two women for witchcraft in
-England, in 1664—Account of the witchcraft that prevailed in England
-and Scotland, in the days of Elizabeth—Anecdote of Cromwell’s
-bargain with the Devil.
-
-CHAPTER VI.—Continuation of remarks upon the supposed influence of
-Satanic agency—Dreadful effects of human credulity—Sketch of the
-life and tragical fate of Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans—Temptation
-of Jesus.
-
-CHAPTER VII.—God and the Devil—Probable origin of the belief
-in their existence—Mode of reasoning in ancient times by the
-ignorant—Theology—Christian Religion—Account of Witchcraft in
-Sweden, in 1670—Reflections.
-
-CHAPTER VIII.—Comprehensive view of the mission of Christ to the
-Jewish nation—Plan of redemption—Willingness of the Jews to welcome
-the long expected Messiah—The violence and abuse they received from
-Jesus—Their condition not improved by his coming—Obscurity of
-his teaching—The Jews put him to death because they believed him
-an impostor—Judas, in betraying Jesus, was but the instrument to
-accomplish the plan of human redemption—Unfortunate condition of the
-Jews—Reflections upon their past and present treatment by Christians.
-
-CHAPTER IX.—Object of Christ’s coming into the world, uncertain and
-of doubtful utility—His obvious omission to convince the Jews that
-he was the Messiah, and his neglect to order his apostles to write a
-history of his life, show the Christian Religion deficient in the proof
-of its Divine origin—Jesus, according to the Gospels, was a moral
-reformer—Ignorance of his disciples of his Divine mission,
-as manifested by Peter, at the betrayal—The Resurrection of
-Jesus—Sudden departure afterward—Religious quarrels—Difficulty
-of defining Christianity-Reflections on the want of proof of Christ’s
-Divine mission, and its insufficiency to reform the world—The Jesus of
-the New Testament an imaginary being.
-
-CONCLUSION.—Remarks on the Morality of Nature—Pernicious effect of
-religious faith—Its failure to moralize the world—Its intolerance
-and persecution—Infidel morality founded in reason and the laws that
-govern human beings—Its superiority over faith in promoting good
-works, inducing correct conduct, and insuring human happiness and
-improvement.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-
-
-A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION
-==========================================
-
-
-GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE
-===================
-
-.. dropcap:: B BEFORE
-
-
-BEFORE reviewing the facts and personages, as recorded in the Old and
-New Testaments, it will be in order to notice the Jews, as Jehovah’s
-*chosen race*. The subject will not admit of demonstration; it must be
-approached and examined in the same manner as the Alkoran of Mahomet.
-
-In order to get at the truth, so as to arrive at something like
-certainty, and as Infinite Wisdom makes the choice, we must
-inquire—For what end were they chosen? and did they answer the end of
-such choice? If they were really chosen by the Sovereign Ruler of
-the Universe, they must, however strange they acted as a nation, have
-fulfilled the purpose of their choice; because, whatever they did, was
-known to Jehovah before the choice was made. How, then, can we reconcile
-expressions of regret and disappointment by Jehovah after he had
-selected them as his own peculiar people—such as, “*I have nourished
-and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me?”* And
-again—“*He hated his own inheritance,*”—and also his stirring
-up and supporting heathen kings to subjugate them as slaves. Is this not
-the language of disappointment and regret? In fact, no learned divine
-can get over this striking truth that the Bible fully holds out in the
-plainest manner, that Jehovah was disappointed in his choice of the Jews
-as his favorite people. Were they, then, chosen to raise up and
-support the religion given to them by God himself? No, impossible! they
-continually rebelled against Jehovah and worshipped strange Gods; and
-even Solomon himself built temples for idolatry, contrary to express
-command. Jehovah says of the Jewish nation—that he did not choose
-them because they were better than others, for they were always a
-stiff-necked people; but because he loved their fathers. Poor, miserable
-reasoning, indeed; to choose one of the most contemptible races of men,
-because their ancestors, some hundreds of years before, had superior
-qualities to their degenerate race.
-
-Again, another reason given why Jehovah continued to protect them, is,
-that the promises before made to Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, bound him in
-honor so to do. Did not Infinite Wisdom foresee that the seed of Abram
-would not follow in the faithful footsteps of their great progenitor?
-If this was not foreseen, then we can discover clearly the reason why
-Jehovah complains of their rebellious conduct. It will be a vain attempt
-in ministers of the gospel, to reconcile those complaints, if Jehovah
-had foresight of what the seed of Abram would do. If “*God is the same
-yesterday, to-day, and forever,*” how did it happen that he appeared
-so regardless of the fate of mankind, as to allow some hundreds of years
-to pass away from the time of the confusion of tongues at the tower of
-Babel, till his visit to the tent of Abram, during which time, according
-to Bible history, Jehovah had no worshippers on earth? The whole of
-mankind were left to make the best of their deserted situation; to
-worship the Gods of their imagination; and they founded mighty empires,
-and became powerful on the earth.
-
-Before the Lord called on Abram and Sarah in their tent, something like
-the following mode of reasoning probably took place in the mind of the
-Jewish God:—
-
-“I have made a world and peopled it with inhabitants; Adam and Eve
-rebelled against me; their descendants followed in the footsteps of
-their progenitors; I have destroyed them all (eight only excepted,) from
-whom I expected better things. But, alas! they have also sinned against
-me; and to such a height of wickedness did they arrive, that they began
-to build a tower to reach my holy habitation. I have sent them off in
-confusion: and now I have no church, no worshippers,—not even a song
-of praise to my name. I possess universal empire, without even one
-single subject to obey me. What is to be done? A thought has struck
-me:—I will call on honest old Abram.”
-
-And here let me remind the reader, that the Bible clearly represents the
-Jewish God as being as changeable in his disposition and mode of acting
-as mortals. Like man, he is sometimes in a state of inaction, towards
-the fate of his offspring: at other times, he arouses from this torpor,
-and is the most sensitive and active. Sometimes he appears to repent of
-some failure in the calculations he has made concerning his creatures;
-attempts to rectify the error, and again blunders. He at one time says:
-“*fury is not in me,*” then again he is all fury. No truth is more
-striking than this,—that the Jehovah of the Bible is not, cannot be,
-the universal governor of the universe, but merely a creature of the
-imagination, whose power is confined, having no existence without the
-covers of the Bible.
-
-But to return to Abram:—Jehovah either goes to him, or sends to
-him delegates, to acquaint him of the choice he is about to make of
-“*Abram and his seed forever.*” This is but the beginning of a new
-experiment on the human race. And here does it not plainly appear, that
-Jehovah’s mode of acting, in this case, is unworthy of the governor of
-the world? Does it not prove his total disregard for the welfare of
-the rest of mankind? Good heavens! the believers, one and all, of such
-absurdities, have ever been, and are still insane.
-
-These heavenly visiters find Abram and Sarah living comfortably in their
-tent, watching flocks and herds. They (the angels) are treated with the
-hospitality common in pastoral life. They have their feet washed; they
-are invited to dine on the best; the calf is immediately killed; and
-Sarah, was not slow on her part, in the cooking department, from which,
-one might be induced to think, that over the door of the tent was
-written: “Dinners Dressed at the Shortest Notice.”—Soon after
-being seated, the messengers make known their errand; Abram was much
-pleased; Sarah laughed outright. The promise was now ratified that had
-before been made to Abram, that *his seed should be as the sand of the
-sea in number,* for that Sarah should have *a son in her old age*. This,
-to say the least of it, was good pay for a good dinner.
-
-Here, then, the reader will please to notice, was the final settlement
-as it regards the Jews being the chosen people of God. And here the
-following ceremony took place:—Three men, angels, or messengers, came
-from Heaven; they had their feet washed, agreeably to eastern custom;
-they sat down and did eat, and we may suppose did also drink with Abram
-and Sarah; one of the three was called the Lord.
-
-I have here strictly adhered to the Bible history of this surprising
-account; and if it be not literally true, the choice of the Jews, and
-also the whole of the Jewish and Christian theology, falls prostrate.
-The account winds up with the departure of the angels to Sodom; where,
-after having dined with Abram, they took supper with Lot. The day
-following, Sodom was burnt by fire from Heaven; Lot’s wife (by way of
-making the most of her) was turned into a *pillar of salt*, because she
-looked back on her old habitation. What became of the angels, Heaven
-only knows!
-
-But to return to the Jews, as a nation. For what purpose were they
-chosen? It could not be to establish and support the only true religion
-on earth, whereby they became the constant and obedient servants of the
-Most High, because they continued to rebel against Jehovah; and in
-spite of all his commands to the contrary, to worship other gods, which
-conduct provoked the Lord to anger, and the most dreadful punishment
-followed for their disobedience. They were not chosen to convert other
-nations to the faith and worship of the God of Israel, because they were
-ordered to take the property and destroy the inhabitants of towns
-and cities, with whom they had not the most distant quarrel. Once
-more,—Were they chosen for the purpose that Jehovah should be their
-God, and that they should be his people? No, because they, time after
-time, rejected his authority as their God, and worshipped strange gods,
-unknown to their fathers; for which He sent “prophets and holy men”
-to remonstrate with them. But they killed the prophets; and, as a
-nation, never were for any length of time converted to, nor obeyed, the
-*God of Israel.*
-
-It was promised to Abram, “*In thee and in thy seed shall all the
-nations of the earth be blessed.” When and how* have the nations
-ever been blessed? As for the poor Jews, no curse ever fell so heavy on
-mortals as fell on them, in consequence of their considering themselves
-God’s chosen people, and other nations treating them as such. For
-eighteen hundred years, Christians have plundered and murdered them,
-because they have faithfully worshipped (since He cast them off) the
-God of their fathers, against whom (when under his protection) they
-continued to rebel.
-
-The Jews are a strange people. Strange and hard has been their fate; and
-it can be easily accounted for, from their being originally cheated into
-the fact that they were *God’s chosen people* to the exclusion of the
-rest of the human race. Christians ask how it could have been possible
-for Moses or any other person to induce them to believe that they were
-so chosen, when miracles and wonders were performed in their behalf,
-if no such things did in reality take place? The answer is
-easy:—Christians suppose that the books of the Old Testament were
-written at the time the generation lived, before whose eyes those
-wonders were performed. This is a fatal mistake. Those miracles and
-wonders, no doubt, were ante-dated, and brought forward to the Jews in
-after times, as proofs of what Jehovah had done for their forefathers;
-for it clearly appears from the internal evidence of Jewish history,
-that the five books said to have been written by Moses, were not known
-to the Jews, as a nation, till after the reigns of David, Solomon, and
-many others. At what time the five books were first made known to the
-descendants of Abram, is not ascertained; but, whenever it was, they
-contained the history of the Abrahamic family, including all the
-miracles and wonders performed by Jehovah in their behalf.
-
-It is easy to perceive, how the Jews might be brought to believe all
-that was written concerning God’s choice of them, as his peculiar
-people. An ambitious leader and legislator could, without much
-difficulty, soon establish them firmly in the conviction that they
-were Jehovah’s chosen people. It would flatter their vanity; and the
-credulity of the human mind is such, even now, that we need not wonder
-that the Jews, as a nation, gave credence to the tales of former times
-concerning their being the especial favorites of Jehovah. The Jews,
-then, no doubt were cheated into the firm conviction (by their early
-leaders) that *they*, of all people on earth, were the chosen of
-Heaven. This will account for their keeping themselves as a separate
-people—the heaviest curse that could befal them, and which remains on
-them till this day.
-
-According to the Bible, the dealings of Jehovah towards mankind in
-general, and of the Jews in particular, will bear out the following
-remarks:—That, after the confusion of tongues at Babel, and the
-descendants of Noah were dispersed abroad on the earth, the Bible God
-forsook the earth for some hundred years. He had no worshippers on
-earth. He then descends and selects one family to be called after his
-name. From that moment, Jehovah appears to direct his whole attention
-to the family concerns of his new choice. Troubles come on in
-quick succession; Abram’s domestic jars claim his attention and
-superintendence. Sarah and her maid servant quarrel; the maid is turned
-out of doors, about a child who claimed Sarah’s husband as its father.
-
-The Lord interfered and matters were made up. But soon another
-misunderstanding arose between Sarah and Hagar about the child who had
-ill-behaved himself towards Abram’s wife. Sarah became enraged, and
-got the better of the Lord; and Abram and she drove Hagar and her son
-out of the house for good and all. The Lord again made the best of the
-matter by sending an angel who took charge of Hagar’s son; and Abram
-and Sarah lived happy, and directed all their attention to little Isaac.
-
-To return to the Jews, as a nation. Did they answer the end for which
-they were chosen? Most undoubtedly they did. For, as “known unto the
-Lord are all his works from the beginning” whatever his dealings were
-towards them, in punishing them for their rebellion and disobedience,
-and whatever suffering they endured in consequence of their departure
-from his commands, are included in his choice; and are the ends for
-which they were chosen. Here, then, we have arrived at the ends for
-which they were selected,—he knowing that they would continue to
-transgress, and also that such transgression would call forth his anger;
-and that punishment would follow from their disobedience. These are the
-only ends that we can discover by their being chosen, and these ends
-were fully answered.
-
-And as Jehovah is represented as acting the same as men act under
-similar circumstances, the following remarks are in accordance with his
-dealings with the people of his choice, namely: that after Jehovah had
-driven the inhabitants of Babel abroad on the face of the earth, and not
-having any church or worshippers in the world, he became weary of
-this state of inaction, and, sighing for something to do, he chose the
-descendants of Abram for his future operations on the earth. And from
-that moment, the Jews required all his attention; his anger was always
-raging: he had no repose whatever.
-
-In the course of his watching over them, he occasionally stirred up the
-heathen against them, and suffered them to become bondmen and slaves.
-Then, again, they had arms put into their hands, and he marched out in
-aid of their victories; and then the “Lord of Hosts was his name.”
-Then, as if he had forgotten the promises made to their forefathers, he
-repents of the neglect shown to them; again renews the combat and orders
-them to war against nations, and *to spare neither old age nor infancy*.
-So that, by turns, hating them and showing them no mercy; then again,
-repenting of his severe conduct towards them, proclaiming to the world
-that the Lord of Hosts or battle is his name,—the Bible account of
-Jehovah confirms us, in concluding, that, he chose the family of Abram
-for no other purpose than to disturb and brutalize the rest of the
-world.
-
-The Jews, and their God, seem to be objects of pity and contempt. Pity
-for the poor Jews, for their unfortunate fate; and as for Jehovah, if
-the Bible be true, from the moment he adopted them as his favorites, he
-became subject to rage, furious anger, grief, repenting of the choice
-he had made; and finally casting them off. These, then, are some of
-the glorious ends for which they were chosen. To conclude—Of all the
-impositions that ever have been palmed on the inhabitants of the earth,
-destructive of “peace on earth and good will towards men” that
-of the Jews being God’s chosen people, is one of the greatest; the
-Jehovah of the Bible, being nothing but an imaginary God, to cheat the
-World into the faith of his being the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-THE OLD TESTAMENT
-=================
-
-
-CHAPTER I. FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE
-==========================================
-
-.. dropcap:: F FROM
-
-
-FROM what has before been written, the reader is no doubt convinced,
-that the writer of this work does not believe the Bible to have any
-claim to divine authority; but is entirely, from beginning to end, a
-collection of absurd tales, of historic facts, and of personages that
-have no foundation in truth, which unfortunately, by being considered
-of divine origin, has generated a train of calamities destructive to
-the peace and welfare of the human race. And to account for its hav-ing
-gained credit, and got such strong foothold in the world, we have only
-to consider that *fable* is the elder sister of history; that nations
-have run a long career of incidents, mostly fabulous, before any
-appearance of authentic history made its way in the world. What took
-place in those days may be considered like things taking place in the
-dark.
-
-From such fabulous materials, then, national history always commences.
-Not that the writers or authors intend to deceive and impose on
-posterity; they write what they believe; what they have been told, and
-what is generally credited in those days. Here, then, we discover the
-Bible to be of use to us, in showing to what lamentable extent poor
-mortals have sincerely erred in following the legendary tales of former
-times. And now, that the bandage is removed from our eyes, let us all
-use our best exertions to spread knowledge among those, who, with us,
-are seeking after truth, but who have till now sought it where it is not
-to be found.
-
-The authors of the Bible, no doubt, followed in the same track as those
-who are called profane writers. They wrote what had been told them by
-their forefathers. Hence the miracles and wonders, credited by them, of
-the most extravagant nature, that never did and never could take place;
-and unfortunately, for the peace and happiness of mortals, by giving
-credit to such things, they, for ages, shut up every avenue that would
-otherwise have led them to the temple of truth.
-
-To believe the account of Adam’s transgression, in connection with all
-the circumstances attending it, to be a matter of fact, appears hardly
-possible for any man of sane mind. Yet millions there are, who never
-have had a doubt of its being literally true. Whoever first wrote it,
-did so from tradition or hearsay, as this is the origin of all national
-history. It is not impossible but that every nation of antiquity had a
-similar commencement; because, as history did not appear till hundreds
-of years after the facts related are said to have taken place, it
-follows that hearsay evidence is the *best* and *only* evidence that can
-be obtained. If this is a correct view of the strange tales related in
-the Bible; then, the more strange and impossible the greater glory is
-given to God, by swallowing all down, and asking no questions.
-
-The Bible commences, as to persons, with—first, Jehovah, Adam, and
-Eve, and, according to the orthodox Christians, the Devil was near
-at hand. Here, then, we have before us, according to Bible history,
-Jehovah, God of all, about to form or make a world, and put on it both
-man and beast. This was done without consulting in any way whatever,
-with Adam and Eve, who were to be placed at the head of all creation.
-Every circumstance that would take place to Adam and Eve, and their
-posterity, throughout all ages, was planned, approved of, and finally
-settled, in the mind of Jehovah, before they had life or being.
-
-Here we have a God knowing all that will take place; and arranging
-circumstances favorable to its fulfilment. On the other hand, Adam and
-Eve were ignorant of the past, the present, and also of the future. Only
-notice the infinite difference between the two contracting parties. I
-wish the reader to keep this in view, as it respects what is termed the
-fall of our first parents. In all ages of the Christian superstition,
-the fall of Adam has been urged as a justification of God’s quarrel
-with the human race.
-
-Let us examine this subject calmly. It is but justice that this should
-be done; since from one hundred thousand pulpits in the different
-nations of the earth, the priests never fail to praise and thank the
-Lord for his goodness to the descendants of Adam. I, on the other hand,
-will honestly, though feebly, advocate the cause of poor, *libelled,
-condemned, priest-ridden Man*. If, before our first parents had been
-called into life, they had been informed on what conditions *they* and
-their *posterity* were to receive it, together with the final destiny
-of ninety out of every hundred of their unfortunate race, they would no
-doubt have exclaimed, “For humanity’s sake, let us forever sleep in
-the womb of chaos!” It is the common practice from the pulpit, as also
-from the writings of the orthodox Christians, to libel the human race,
-by saying, that man has rebelled against God, and turned from him; when
-the truth is, that in all ages and nations, man, has been seeking after
-the best God he could find, and God; has always remained the great
-*Unknown*, while man, in whatever state we find him, “savage, saint,
-or sage,” has been endeavoring to find out God.
-
-This has always been his misfortune. By trying to find out the absent
-and unknown God, he has, in his imagination, invented and followed
-a thousand foolish whims, till, losing all correct ideas of moral
-rectitude, he has died of old age without arriving at the knowledge of
-*whom or what* to worship. Whereas, if he had not troubled himself at
-all about his maker, and, by the aid of his reasoning powers, had come
-to the just conclusion, that as he knew not how, nor where to find God,
-it would follow that it was the business of his maker, and not *his*
-to instruct in the right way to worship the true God. This mode of
-reasoning will be reprobated by Christians as horrid and wicked; but in
-reply, it may be asked, to what amount of knowledge have they arrived by
-all their seeking after him?
-
-We now return to the Bible account of Adam and Eve’s creation. The
-position that justice, strict justice, is due on the part of God towards
-his new creation, must never be lost sight of in our investigations.
-If any thing like trickery or injustice on his part is recorded, we,
-without hesitation, denounce it as a libel on his character, and totally
-unworthy of the least credit. In reviewing the Old and New Testament,
-as being considered a Divine Revelation, this criterion will be always
-referred to; for, if any writings purporting to be of Divine authority,
-represent their author to be any thing otherwise than a God impartial
-and just, such writings will, by the author of this work, be considered
-entirely unworthy of the broad seal of Heaven, and as fully deserving of
-being held up to human beings as false, and a flagrant imposition on the
-credulity of mankind.
-
-And here the reader is reminded, that we have now before us, in the
-creation of man, a scene of the most surprising nature. A God, infinite
-in wisdom, unbounded in power, about to bring into existence a race
-of beings; he, on his part, possessing all knowledge of the past, the
-present, and also of the future; and they, on their part, entirely
-passive, not being consulted as to their organization, their wishes,
-or the consequences that would result to their progeny. From such a
-position, what ought we to expect, in order that the being about to be
-made, might have a fair point from which to start in his untried career?
-Would we not suppose that every advantage should have been given to the
-party who had no voice concerning his future destiny, nor that of his
-race? The smallest omission in providing for or securing his first
-movements, would be fatal to his happiness, and also that of his race.
-
-That no such precaution, on the part of the God of the Bible, was
-pursued towards his new made creatures, will be fully proved by the
-examination of the events recorded as having taken place in the Garden
-of Eden! Whatever were the passions or the inclinations included in the
-physical organization of our first parents, they had not any control
-over them whatever, because of the impossibility of their being
-consulted in a state of non-existence. Whatever they were then, and,
-also, what was to be their future destiny, was known to Jehovah only;
-to Adam and Eve, it was all unknown. This, then, was the state of the
-pretended Creator and the creatures.
-
-We will pass over the account of the six days’ creation, together with
-the serpent’s deceiving Eve by the aid of what the Christians believe
-to be the Devil. It deserves no comment, except, that from the account
-given in the Bible, we may infer, that happy would it have been for Adam
-if he had remained an old bachelor; for, in that case, Satan perhaps
-would neither have scraped acquaintance with the serpent, nor ever
-thought of lurking about the garden. But the source of all human
-misfortune, according to the Old and New Testaments, is included
-in Eve’s eating the forbidden fruit. We may ask, why was one
-tree forbidden among so many? Certainly as a trap, set to catch the
-inexperienced, virtuous, and harmless Eve. What humbug! to make such a
-fuss about Adam’s being alone, without a help-mate; and: at the
-very time the rib operation was going on, Jehovah, stood by, and knew
-whatever he might say, that the woman, on leaving her ribship, would
-damn all that he had declared to be good. Can we, dare we, charge the
-Governor of the Universe with such trickery? It must never be lost sight
-of, that the very prohibition of one tree, would be certain, in their
-state of ignorance, to produce the consequence that followed: viz., to
-induce Eve, from curiosity, to partake of it. Is it any thing short
-of insanity to suppose that such dreadful consequences would follow so
-trifling an offence?
-
-This forbidden tree had something in it, that, to us, seems very
-strange. It was to impart knowledge; and as the fruit was inviting to
-the eye, and a desire existing to obtain knowledge, Eve fell a victim to
-her unfortunate curiosity. Nor was this all. Until Eve ate thereof, it
-appears that the happy couple did not perceive their want of clothing.
-Instantly they set to work to repair this first mishap, by sewing leaves
-together to make aprons. But in this stage of the business, the Lord
-seems to have some compassion left, for he, “*the Lord, made coats
-of skins and clothed them*”—poor Adam and Eve being ignorant of
-the strength and durability of leaf aprons. We may suppose the Lord as
-thinking or saying to Adam,—“Why, this will never do; you must have
-something more lasting, or else, by every wind that blows, you will
-be no more than a bundle of tattered rags.” Soon, therefore, by
-the Lord’s assistance, poor Adam and Eve jumped into a new suit of
-clothes! And, to make sure of man’s destruction, by taking that which
-was forbidden, the serpent was permitted to point out the advantages
-that would follow; so that the appearance of the fruit, and the desire
-to get knowledge, urged on by the serpent, together with Eve’s
-ignorance that any thing like lying existed in the Garden of Eden, the
-disobedience of our first parents was, by ninety-nine chances out of a
-hundred, secured, and the damnation of their posterity made sure.
-
-Now, to ascribe such conduct to God, such barefaced design to quarrel
-with his new creation, is horrid in the extreme, and would disgrace (bad
-as it is said he is) the very Devil himself. And if the account is not
-true, if the facts, as recorded, did not take place, but are altogether
-to be considered as an allegory, then it follows, that human redemption
-is an allegory, also; and the whole fabric of the Jewish and Christian
-religion falls to the ground.
-
-In dismissing this father of humbugs, (the fall of our first parents,)
-which ended in Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Paradise, by way of
-consolation, we may in justice say, “Farewell, Adam and Eve; you have
-had but a rough beginning. God and the Devil have both conspired to
-make you unhappy, But never mind, do your best; comfort and console each
-other; the whole world is before you. This garden trade has proved a
-failure altogether. If you can but procure a spade, a hoe, and shovel,
-you will in time get on; and, as your present misfortune originated from
-that unforeseen quarrel in the garden, live in peace, and share equally
-in your troubles, and also in your prosperity. Things are not so bad,
-after all; and if Adam’s wound in the side is not yet entirely healed,
-it is your duty, Eve, as a good wife, to pay particular attention to it.
-It is for your interest, also; for if Jehovah should, be again offended
-with you, as in the garden, and take from Adam the opposite rib from
-which you sprang, and of it make a second Eve, the serpent would pay
-another visit to mar your happiness, and your troubles would have no
-end.”
-
-What kind of religion there was, if any, in those days, we know not;
-but Cain and Abel, Adam’s sons, appear to have been worshippers of
-Jehovah, notwithstanding the expulsion of their parents from Paradise.
-We have it recorded that, in the course of their worship, Cain’s
-offering was of the “fruits of the earth,” and Abel’s was “a
-lamb with the fat thereof.” Cain’s offering had no respect paid to
-it; but, on the other hand, Abel’s offering was respected. The reason
-why the one was rejected and the other accepted, we have no means
-of knowing; at any rate, Jehovah knew that murder would follow as a
-consequence. Here, then, we have an account of the *first religious
-quarrel*, and the murderous spirit that was connected with it. And
-history confirms this truth, that the same murderous spirit has always,
-more or less, shown itself in all religious disputes; but more dreadful
-and furious in the Jewish and Christian religions than in any others.
-From Cain, the first religious murderer, to the present day, intolerance
-and blood appear to have stained the pages of Jewish and Christian
-history. And now, that those days of persecution have passed away, let
-us do all in our power to prevent their recurrence.
-
-Following the history of the antediluvians, in Genesis, chap. vi., we
-are not a little surprised to find a new race of, beings on earth. We
-find, that after “*men began to multiply an the face of the earthy and
-daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters
-of men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they
-chose, and they bare children unto them; the same became mighty men,
-which were of old men of renown*.” Here we may ask, is it possible to
-believe in the truth of this account? But for its being recorded in the
-Bible, no person, having one grain of common sense, would for a moment
-give it the least credit. But its truth rests on the same authority
-as the fall of our first parents, and no doubt is equally true. We are
-told, by Christ, that in heaven, they “*neither marry nor are given in
-marriage*”; but here it seems that the sons of God were tired of their
-restraint, and broke loose, and came a wooing the pretty young girls
-of those days: and, from the account, the courtship was short; for they
-took to them, wives of all that they chose. Good heavens! how the young
-men of those days must have stared to see the young ladies So pliable!
-If, in those days, “bustles” were not worn by the girls, the sons of
-God soon put them, one and all, in a bustle. Wonder how those gentlemen
-were dressed, that the women became so soon captivated! If, in the
-course of their negociations, some girl, more thoughtful than the rest,
-had asked her strange lover what employment he intended to follow, he
-would have been stuck fast to have given an answer. After all, if this
-account is to be considered true, heaven is not in so happy a state as
-is represented; for the sons of God became uneasy in their confinement,
-and preferred a love frolic to Gabriel’s evening song. As heaven is
-considered to have the most enchanting music, perhaps the new visiters
-brought with them their instruments, and began their courtship by a
-heavenly jig. It does not appear that Jehovah exhibited any displeasure
-on account of the sons of God leaving the blessed abodes and marrying
-the daughters of men. For aught we know, it was an experiment to improve
-the antediluvian race.
-
-But leaving this point for ministers of the gospel to settle, it seems
-as if their progeny were a jolly set of fellows, and became “*men of
-renown.*” Taking, then, a review of the world from its creation until
-it was destroyed by the deluge, we discover, that if the facts recorded
-are true, and did really take place, it was one continued chapter of
-blunders. First, Adam is made and set to work. It is next discovered
-that he requires a partner; but, behold! no materials are left with
-which to make one. Adam is then laid up in dock; taken to pieces like an
-old steamboat; one of his timbers removed, and a woman appears. Things
-go on well, but only for a short time. Eve soon longs for fruit; she
-takes it; then, lo, and wonder! she and her husband discover, and
-for the first time feel, a sense of decency. They set to work to make
-aprons; this is but lost labor. The Lord, it appears by the account, was
-not in the garden, but on returning, found his servants partly clothed.
-He informs them of their error; sets to work and protects them from wind
-and weather. To be sure, they were not turned out naked; the very ground
-was cursed for their bad conduct, and thorns and thistles would spring
-up to annoy them. Whether the Garden of Eden was given up altogether, or
-another gardener employed to keep it, we have no account.
-
-This, at any rate, was paying dear for an apple, or peach. We find,
-however, that our first parents did not despair; for they soon raised
-a family. If this expulsion did actually take place, to talk of family
-troubles is nothing, compared to this unfortunate couple. For one single
-fault, to be driven as outcasts from their only known home, to wander
-they did not know where, without experience or capital to begin with! Of
-all the houseless wanderers, their lot seems to be the most piteous to
-behold.
-
-Again, whether “the sons of God” Were permitted to descend and
-marry the daughters of men by way of improving the race, we know not.
-If improvement was Jehovah’s object in this strange union, another
-failure, equal to former ones, was the result. The antediluvians, one
-and all, were so wicked, that “the Lord repented that he had made man
-on the earth; and it grieved him at his heart.” One exception only,
-in the family of Noah; to whom Jehovah immediately communicated his
-determination to *destroy man and beast by a flood*—Noah’s family
-only excepted.
-
-To conclude this chapter, a few remarks will suffice.—If the foregoing
-account of the creation is maintained to be truly the work of Infinite
-Wisdom and Power, what a picture presents itself to the mind of a
-sensible and reasonable man! Can it be possible for such an one to
-believe it? His mind must reject it as the most barefaced falsehood that
-ever could be proposed to human credence; as impossible to be true, and
-equally impossible to be credited by any person having the least claim
-on common sense. And yet, in this crazy world, to give credit to it,
-is to be respectable; but to deny its truth, is to be infamous, and an
-object of Christian horror, unworthy to live in this world, and sure
-of damnation in the next. No man living can get over this certain
-conclusion, that if the Governor of the Universe did act towards Adam
-and Eve, together with the rest of the antediluvians, as is recorded in
-the Bible, he made them for no other apparent end than to quarrel with
-them, so as to have a pretence to punish and torment creatures who
-had no power to resist. And can such a Being be the object of love and
-adoration? The Devil himself is not painted in colors half so black.
-
-But enough has been said on this subject. We turn from it in disgust,
-and boldly say to all the world, that no such God ever did, nor does now
-exist; nor did the facts recorded in the Bible, of Adam’s fall, *ever
-take place.*
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER II. A REVIEW OF THE DELUGE AND THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES AT THE TOWER OF BABEL
-=====================================================================================
-
-.. dropcap:: T TO
-
-
-TO destroy all mankind by drowning, because of their wickedness, seems
-to us a strange reason; for, when we attentively consider it, we are
-compelled to conclude that the Jewish God had banished from his moral
-government the very appearance of justice. What! no compassion for
-the young men and women who had been brought up under circumstances so
-unfavorable to virtue, from the bad example of their fathers? What! no
-mercy for the thousands of infants? What! no feeling towards the youth,
-from manhood through all the gradations down to helpless infancy? None.
-We know that it is common for men and women to go crazy. From so strange
-a perversion of justice on the part of Jehovah, it would seem that
-he, at times, has his crazy fits, also. Destroy the innocent with
-the guilty—allowing the innocent no chance of escape! If this were
-performed by an earthly monarch, *insanity* would be the most charitable
-allowance to be made for so atrocious an act. But when ascribed to the
-all-wise and powerful God, and insisted on as an article of faith,
-such doctrines are only fit for madmen to preach and idiots to hear.
-Christians little think to what extent they blaspheme the God whom they
-profess to adore.
-
-Let us bring this horrid scene nearer to our eyes:—thousands and
-tens of thousands of children from six years old and up to the age of
-maturity, of both sexes, imploring for mercy, cut off in the midst of
-enjoyment, for crimes over which they had no control, and which their
-tender age precluded them from committing: yet to them the door of mercy
-was forever closed. A raging Almighty God commanding Noah to proceed,
-that his vengeance might be satisfied! Only look at such a picture, so
-faintly drawn; for if the deluge did really take place, this portrait
-bears but a small resemblance to a scene too dreadful for the
-contemplation of man, and, Oh! heavens! too unjust and cruel to ascribe
-to a God. To drown the whole of the human race by a flood, is one of the
-most dreadful visitations of vengeance that cruelty could execute. In
-it, we discover nothing to defend. The mind shrinks back with horror
-at the bare recital. It is one among hundreds of such acts recorded as
-being performed by the Lord.
-
-Turn to what part of the history you will, where the Jewish God is
-about to do something, or to interfere in any way in human affairs, the
-conduct ascribed to him, either in punishment or granting favor, you
-will find to be always contrary to justice and reason. If justice be the
-theme, it will end in cruelty. If to show favor, it will be sure to
-be ill directed and allied to favoritism. Among men, justice is the
-foundation of correct moral principles. On the contrary, the Bible God
-acts as if influenced by fury and almighty rage; soon, very soon, angry;
-very hard to please; punishing and destroying his creatures, as if pain
-were a good instead of an evil, and man died without a groan. It is not
-possible to calculate the amount of evil that has taken place on the
-earth, in consequence of Christians taking for their example the conduct
-of their God. Let us mark the difference between any misfortune that
-may befall the human race in the course of events, and the same evil
-inflicted by the Lord. In the former case, man will sympathize with his
-unfortunate fellow man; in the latter, however, it *appears* cruel and
-unjust. “It is just, yes, and also merciful,” says the Christian,
-“for God to destroy the innocent descend-, ants of his enemies,
-because he has a right to do whatever he pleases with his own.”
-
-This mode of reasoning, the believers in the divinity of the Bible
-resort to, in order to shield Jehovah from the attacks of Infidels, for
-bringing on the deluge; and the same mode is followed throughout, to
-justify the Lord in all his warlike movements against the nations doomed
-to die by the hands of his chosen people. Can we, then, wonder that both
-Jews and Christians, believing in, and worshipping, a God whose acts are
-so revolting to every idea of justice and humanity,—can we, ought
-we, to be surprised that they have drank so deeply of that spirit of
-cruelty, injustice, and intolerance, that is recorded concerning the
-dealings of Jehovah with his creatures, in involving in one common ruin
-the innocent with the guilty? For it is from the horrible character
-given of the Lord, that both Jews and Christians have in all ages
-drawn in, as by a kind of inspiration, the same spirit of cruelty and
-proscription, in imitation of their God.
-
-It is in vain that Christians assert, that the persecution that has
-attended the progress of Christianity, in all ages, is but the abuse
-of it No; it has been the *thing itself*. The moral precepts of the New
-Testament (and many of them are excellent) have never been strong
-enough to deter men from putting each other to death on account of their
-difference of faith. Cruel Calvin, with the New Testament before his
-eyes, and that saying staring him in the face, “*He that hateth his
-brother is a murderer*,”—with this before his eyes, he caused the
-unfortunate Servetus to be burnt by a slow fire, so completely had the
-doctrines of the Bible destroyed in him all compassion.
-
-To show what baneful influence the doctrines of the Bible have had
-upon men eminent for their wisdom, justice, and humanity, the following
-authentic account will fully prove:—In the year 1664, two old women
-were hanged upon a charge of witchcraft, having been tried by a Jury
-before three learned Judges, at the head of whom was Sir Matthew Hale,
-who passed the dreadful sentence of the law, as it then stood, which
-was put into execution in about two weeks afterwards. A more upright,
-honest, wise, and humane Judge never sat in a court of justice; and yet,
-behold! he condemned and caused two poor, ignorant, and defenceless old
-women to be hanged for a crime they neither did nor could commit
-The remarks made to the Jury, by Sir Matthew, in substance were the
-following:—“Gentlemen of the Jury, you have nothing to do in
-inquiring whether the crime of witchcraft can be committed; the Bible
-has settled that subject,—but, whether the evidence you have heard
-is proof that the prisoners are guilty of the charges brought against
-them,”—which charges were, killing, their neighbors’ children by
-the agency and power of the Devil, and causing them to vomit pins and
-nails. Here, then, it is clear that it was the Word of God, and not
-Judge Hale, that brought about the death of those unfortunate women.
-Had Sir Matthew been an *Infidel*, the page of history had never been
-stained by the blood of two poor helpless beings.
-
-Let not Christians, then, say that persecution and intolerance are the
-abuses of Christianity. Its very essence is congenial with blood and
-torture in all their horrid forms. The moral precepts of the Gospel
-never have nor ever will so far neutralize the doctrines of the Bible,
-as to guarantee the human race in trusting power in the hands of the
-disciples of Jesus. They always will, according to the New Testament,
-prefer the man of orthodox faith, to men in common, however virtuous.
-
-Having shown the injustice and cruelty of drowning all the inhabitants
-of the earth,—on account of the wickedness of some who ought to have
-been made an example to society at large,—let us inquire, what end was
-obtained by so universal a destruction? Have the human race been more
-moral, and, on the whole, more virtuous, since the flood than before? If
-they have not, (and that they have not, the Bible itself fully proves,)
-it then follows, that no moral good resulted from their being destroyed;
-and instead of the Lord’s anger being softened down, it would rage
-in all its former fury. If the Lord really said to Noah, what the Bible
-records, “*that it repented him that he had made man on the earthy and
-it grieved him at his heart*” it is as much as to say,—“I can bear
-this distracted state of mind no longer; I will try you and your family,
-Noah, and ease myself of the disappointment I have endured from the
-wickedness of my creation; I will have a better race on the earth which
-I have made, or man shall cease to exist.”
-
-But did a better race succeed? No; for Noah, in time, became
-intemperate, and in a fit of intoxication became an object of contempt
-to one of his sons, who, so far forgot his duty to his intoxicated
-father, that instead of concealing his folly and shame, he exposed it.
-When Noah awoke from his slumber, and discovered what had taken place,
-he began most heartily to curse his son and his posterity for ages
-to come, and also to prophesy evil concerning them, which prophecy,
-according to the Bible, the Lord approved of and brought to pass. Here,
-again, Jehovah is disappointed; that is, if he expected a moral world
-better than the one he had destroyed.
-
-Turning, then, with detestation from an account which represents the
-Governor of the Universe as having drowned a world and repented he had
-made it, and also of being grieved at heart, we will notice Noah’s
-preparing the ark and making ready for his singular voyage. Nothing
-short of repeated miracles could have completed the embarkation of Noah,
-his family, and the living cargo, or freight. A miracle must have been
-wrought on all those beasts, whose savage nature had made them a terror
-to man, in order that they might become tame, and be conveyed to
-the vicinity of the ark. Another miracle must have been in continual
-operation on all those who were engaged in procuring the beasts, birds,
-and reptiles, to induce them to labor without any remuneration for
-their toils, but the certainty of being left to perish by the flood. A
-continuation of miracles must follow on, to induce the then population
-to stand quiet, up to their necks in water, and not to make an effort to
-force their way into the ark before it was closed up; and also to
-enable Noah and his family to attend to feeding and keeping clean their
-respective cages and dens. The water, also, to drown the world, and
-cover the highest hills, must be created for this express purpose, and
-then reduced again into its native nothingness. For, from an accurate
-calculation, it would require one hundred and eight times as much water
-as is now on the face of the earth, to cover the highest mountain,
-admitting its height to be no more than twenty thousand feet, and there
-are mountains still higher. It would follow, therefore, that after the
-flood, one hundred and eight oceans must be annihilated, there not being
-room for so much water on the earth.
-
-From what has been said concerning the flood, it is clear that no such
-thing really took place, but that the whole is fabulous; because, the
-deluge is said to be in consequence of the Lord’s being grieved at the
-wickedness of the antediluvians. This is no reason why he should destroy
-them, even admitting the possibility of the fact. His grief could not be
-lessened by so doing, as men since the flood have been equally wicked as
-before; and have continued so, down to the present time. If the Lord was
-grieved then, and repented at having made man, he is still unhappy and
-continues to repent, because the evil that caused him then to grieve and
-to repent, is not removed.
-
-The reader is requested not to lose sight of one thing that is equally
-glaring both in the Old Testament and the New—that the Jehovah of the
-Jews is always blundering and making mistakes; the choice he often makes
-does not answer the end purposed, but falls short. Another and another
-plan is pursued; still, some striking failures take place. The God
-of the Bible is as unlike the Supreme Power that governs the material
-universe, as the swarthy African is unlike the fair complexion of the
-temperate zone.
-
-As the main object of this work is to prove, as clear as the nature of
-argument will admit, that the Jehovah of the Jews is not the Supreme
-Ruler of Nature, let us examine their respective characters. The God of
-the Jews, in his acts, is governed by no correct principle of justice;
-he is changeable, and subject to all the passions that, in turn, agitate
-the minds of mortals. How different is the Ruler of the World, of
-whom we know nothing, abstracted from the material universe! In the
-government of the material world, we discover that “*order is heaven's
-first law*”; that a regular arrangement of causes and effects pervade
-every department of nature. In it, there is no doing and undoing;
-no derangement in the wonderful, adaptation of cause and effect, of
-principles and consequences. In the laws that rule the universe, nothing
-happens that has the appearance of falling short of ends intended to be
-carried out; these laws depend not on the will or conduct of mortals;
-but the more we are acquainted with them, the more we are compelled to
-admire the wonderful wisdom and harmony of the mighty whole.
-
-Is the kingdom of grace, or, in other words, does the Old and New
-Testaments present to us a God any way similar to the power that rules
-the world? The God of Nature, an expression used to convey no other
-meaning than the power that mingles itself with the mighty whole,—does
-this power show any thing like partiality to nations, or to sects and
-parties? Do the general laws, by which the world is governed, indicate
-any thing in their author of a vindictive or vengeful character. Any
-thing like disappointment or regret? Does the prosperity of nations, or
-of individuals, depend (abstractly considered) on whether they worship
-one, or many Gods, or none at all? On the contrary, the Jehovah of
-the Bible is depicted as being more unstable than mortals. Ye Jews and
-Christians! in vain do you vindicate the character and conduct of your
-God towards the human race, by saying that “he ought to do what he
-pleases with his own.” The conduct of the most cruel and unjust tyrant
-that ever lived can with more truth and propriety be exonerated than
-your God; because a tyrant, however wicked and cruel, may have
-to contend with those who are capable of doing him an injury, and
-self-defence on his part may form some excuse for his actions. A
-tyrant may have to come in contact with others, his equals in power and
-physical force. But the Christian God is above any personal injury; he
-has no rivals; possessing all power, all knowledge, nothing can take
-place by him unforeseen. If mortals, by their conduct, call forth his
-anger, he chooses to be angry. The human race did not ask for existence;
-he alone was the projector. If mortals, in the course of their career
-through life, (as foreseen by him) deserve punishment, he felt happy
-in punishing them. Ye ministers! prate, then, no longer against the
-“**unblushing Infidel**”; for, as you maintain that the God of
-the Bible is the author of the universe, we leave you to blush at the
-horrible character you portray of him whom you hypocritically call a God
-of love! Oh! heavens! what dreadful consequences have resulted from
-the Jehovah of the Jews being worshipped as the author of nature! The
-worshippers of such a God have in all ages partaken, more or less, of
-his character for cruelty, injustice, and intolerance; and under
-this banner “whole armies have marched forth to glut the earth with
-blood.”
-
-Viewing, then, the Bible account of the deluge, in which the innocent
-were destroyed with the sinner, as but a fabulous tale, had I a voice
-loud enough to make all mankind hear, I would boldly and fearlessly
-proclaim it a falsehood, disgraceful to God, and too foolish to obtain
-credit in the present age.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER III. FROM THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES TO THE BIRTH OF MOSES
-================================================================
-
-.. dropcap:: T THE
-
-
-THE object to be accomplished in this chapter is, to show, from the
-Bible history itself, the folly and absurdity of admitting the Jehovah
-of the Bible to be the Supreme Ruler of the Universe; for, after
-destroying every thing that had life, by the flood, Jehovah, somewhat
-like a conquering hero, returns to heaven. The war with the human race
-being over, Divine vengeance is satisfied. No religious worship, that
-we read of, was then known on the earth. But, behold! a new outbreak
-occurs, that requires the immediate interference of the God of Israel.
-
-In Genesis, chapter xi., it is recorded, that the then inhabitants of
-the earth began to build a tower, the top of which was to reach the
-heavens, that they might make to themselves a great name, and be no
-more scattered abroad on the earth. What crime it could be considered
-by Jehovah, for men to unite in building a tower so lofty that the
-top would reach the heavens, we know not. However ignorant the then
-inhabitants of the earth were, the Lord knew that they could not annoy
-him by the erection of a tower to any height they might be inclined to
-raise it. The writer of the account makes it appear, that Jehovah became
-uneasy at the progress the workmen were making, and at last could bear
-it no longer; so he came down, as the term is, and confounded their
-speech in such a manner that they could not understand each other.
-
-Can it be possible, for men who reflect at all, to believe such glaring
-nonsense? The writers of the Bible have not only made a God unjust and
-vengeful, but they have put into his head such foolish whims, as,
-that after having destroyed a world by a deluge, the innocent with
-the guilty, he came down from heaven to scare away carpenters and
-bricklayers from their honest labor; and have made him virtually
-to say—“Be off! Clear out! I will not permit you to hammer away
-here!” The conduct of the Bible God towards the builders of Babel,
-and, in fact, the whole of the then human family, seems to be like that
-of an unfeeling father, who cares not for his children, and who is also
-equally indifferent as to whether the human race worshipped him, or fell
-down to worship stocks or stones; for, instead of ordering them to build
-an altar to the true and living God, he ordered them off, to wander
-abroad on the earth, and do the best they could. And here an opportunity
-was lost of insuring their conversion; since, as they were all of one
-language and speech, how easy to convert the whole race at once! Now,
-here we may discover a *man-made God*. Sometimes he is all jealousy for
-his own name—all fury against idolatry; at other times, he seems to
-care but little for the happiness of his creatures, or the honor of
-his name. After having compelled the builders of Babel to quit their
-undertaking, Jehovah returns back to heaven; and from the silence of
-Bible history, he does not appear to have superintended human affairs at
-all, for hundreds of years after. And now, ye ministers of the Gospel of
-grace, what have you to say in vindication of the very existence of such
-a God? The origin of your God is of man’s creation; he never had a
-real existence.
-
-After an absence of many years, having given up, to all appearance, any
-interest in human affairs, Jehovah turns his attention to Abram and his
-family, and adopts them as his chosen people. And from this account, we
-clearly discover the absurdity of believing the God of Abram to be the
-universal sovereign; for, from the moment of the adoption of Abram and
-his seed forever, from that very moment the family affairs of Abram,
-Isaac and Jacob, seem to engross the attention of Jehovah; and, while I
-am writing, I blush for shame at the credulity of mankind in professing
-to believe such contemptible trash. What can be more weak and ridiculous
-than to suppose that the Lord and two angels came to the tent of Abram,
-and went through all the ceremonies of a pastoral visit,—such as
-washing of feet and taking water until dinner was prepared, and that
-while partaking of Abram’s hospitality, they inquired for his wife,
-and then renewed what before had been promised, namely—that Sarah,
-Abram’s wife, should have a son in her old age?
-
-One remarkable feature, throughout the whole of the Bible, presents
-itself. It is this: that in every movement Jehovah makes among his
-favorite people the Jews, and in all the correspondence he holds with
-Abram and his seed, every thing is done by way of experiment on that
-people; as if Jehovah did not know what would happen until he had gained
-information by *actual experiment!* In the case of the builders of the
-Tower of Babel, it is said—“*And the Lord came down to see the city,
-and the tower which the children of men builded.*” And again—"*Go
-to, let us go down, and there confound their language*.” And also,
-in the case of Sodom, the Lord told Abram concerning the cry of the
-wickedness of the inhabitants of Sodom. The Lord said to Abram—"*I
-will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according
-to the cry of it, which is come unto me; if not, I will
-know.*”—[Genesis xviii. 21.] Abram, having heard of the intended
-destruction of the Sodomites, remonstrates with Jehovah on the injustice
-of destroying the innocent with the guilty. Then follows the pleading of
-Abram with the Lord, in favor of Sodom; and from the willingness of the
-Lord to comply with the request of Abram,—if the old patriarch had had
-the moral courage to have gone on with one more request,—Sodom might
-have been saved. The personage who communed with Abram is, by the
-inspired writer, called the “*Judge of all the earth*.” The same who
-had that day dined with Abram, and to whom Abram said, “*Behold, now
-I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and
-ashes*”!
-
-And now, patient reader, what have Christians to believe in reference to
-this matter? Why, they must believe that the great immortal God came to
-the earth from his Unknown abode, in the likeness of *man*, in company
-with two angels; that he called on Abram, who was surrounded by his
-flocks and herds, dwelling in a tent, perhaps inferior to our Indian
-log-houses; that he, the Judge of all the earth, with two of his angels,
-were (according to eastern hospitality) presented with water to drink,
-and also, water to wash their feet—a practice most refreshing in a
-warm climate. An invitation was given them to dine, which they accepted
-and so particular is the narrative, that, what they had for dinner is
-mentioned: the calf was instantly slain, and the baking commenced.
-
-And here we may inquire, whether or not this circumstance did really
-take place, as it is recorded? If it did, then the believers in the
-Bible, as a Divine Revelation, have to believe that the Great God of
-all, the Universal Ruler of the Universe, came on earth to the tent of
-Abram, in the form of a man, with two of the angelic host; and that they
-*then and there* had their feet washed, and sat down to a dinner of veal
-and griddle cakes, and did eat thereof, and drink water. Now, if Moses,
-or any other pretended inspired writer, wrote this, I ask, is not the
-God of Abram a *man-made God?* He is said to have feet that required
-washing, and an appetite that required food. He had a mouth, teeth, and
-also a stomach to receive food; and we may infer that he had hands, for
-it is not recorded that Abram cut his victuals, or fed him or the angels
-with a spoon.
-
-If the believers of the Bible consider that the foregoing account is
-allegorical, and not to be considered as having really taken place, it
-then follows that human redemption is allegorical, also; for the promise
-made to Abram was, that *In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations
-of the earth be blessed*. This promise included the mission of Jesus,
-who was to save his people from their sins, and also to *heal the
-nations, and to bring in everlasting righteousness*. Christians, then,
-if they believe the Bible to be a Divine Revelation, must believe that
-the Judge of the whole earth, while at dinner, in promising Abram a son,
-included also, in that promise, the mission of Jesus, *the Saviour of
-the world.*
-
-And here we may notice the views that Abram had of the Supreme Judge
-of all. As he appeared to Abram in the form of a man, and as such was
-treated by him, Abram brought forth water to wash the feet of the Lord,
-and invited him to dine, which he did; which is proof positive that
-Abram considered that the Lord was in the habit of taking refreshment,
-such as eating and drinking, or he would never have thought of giving
-the Lord such an invitation. If this account be true, the New Testament
-must be false, when it declares that *no man hath seen God at any time,
-and that none can see him and live*. But of Abram it is written, that he
-saw the Lord, face to face, and also that they dined together; and, as
-if to remove all doubt of its truth, it mentions what they dined on,
-namely—veal and cakes. It therefore follows, that the account, as
-recorded of the Lord’s dining with Abram, must be taken in its plain
-and literal sense; because it is connected with the destruction of Sodom
-and Gomorrah, and also of Lot’s wife being turned *into a pillar
-of salt*; which account is referred to as having taken place, by the
-writers of the New Testament. After the Lord and the two angels had
-retired from dinner, the Lord informed Abram of his errand to the above
-cities; which was, to find out whether their ill-fated inhabitants were
-as wicked as they had been reported; as he (the Lord) was determined to
-know. It was then that Abram began to plead with the Lord, and to show
-the injustice of destroying the innocent with the guilty, as from the
-nature of the crime for which the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were
-to be destroyed, all the women and children were innocent. Abram,
-therefore, saw immediately the horrid cruelty and injustice of such
-destruction as was about to overtake the unfortunate inhabitants of
-Sodom. In the discussion, Abram had the best of the argument, but his
-efforts were unavailing. Fire came down from heaven, and they were burnt
-alive, innocent and guilty together.
-
-From the account it appears, that after the Lord parted with Abram,
-he also took his leave of the angels; and what became of the Lord, the
-Bible is silent; but the angels, after having dined with Abram, took
-supper with Lot. This Lot seems to be the only man in Sodom that was
-worth saving; and he certainly acted very strange: for when his townsmen
-insisted on knowing who the angels were, and on what business they came,
-Lot offered to turn into the street his two innocent daughters, to be
-dealt with according to the wishes of those vile wretches, if they would
-but permit him to lodge and entertain the strangers. Certainly, the
-morality of the Bible is most sublime, and the ways of the Jewish God
-*past finding out!*
-
-The case of Lot’s wife is, to all appearance, very strange. Her
-crime of looking back, would appear to us much less than that of her
-husband’s in turning his daughters into the street. The history of
-Lot winds up with a strange account, and not very favorable to strict
-morality, namely—the project of his daughters in making him drunk,
-and the disgusting consequences that followed. Thus, it is clear, that
-Lot’s wife (bless the good old woman!) was the best, in a moral point
-of view, in the whole family; and only for looking back on her beloved
-home, she was treated like a dead sow, by being put into pickle. To
-conclude this tirade of nonsense and folly, we will add—“*remember
-Lot’s wife*.”
-
-It appears from Bible history, that when Abram left his own country, he
-was any thing but rich; and as his substance consisted in a few heads of
-cattle, a famine soon overtook him as he journeyed, which induced him
-to go down into Egypt, the then granary of the earth. To prevent any
-unpleasant consequences that might result to Abram, because of the
-beauty of Sarah, his wife, she was instructed to call her husband her
-brother. It turned out as was expected, for she was recommended to
-Pharaoh, and taken into the royal palace. Immediately, presents came
-unto Abram in quick succession, consisting of “*sheep and oxen, and he
-asses; men-servants and maidservants; and she asses and camels*.” But
-the Lord, ever watchful over Abram’s affairs, troubled Pharaoh and
-his house; and when Pharaoh discovered the cause of this evil, he
-remonstrated with Abram for his duplicity, and returned his wife
-undefiled. So kind, however, was the Lord to Abram, that the presents
-were made before the cheat was discovered, and he came out of Egypt a
-rich man.
-
-This may be said to be the beginning of Abram’s good luck; and we may
-suppose that in returning home to their old pasturage, Sarah would laugh
-and exclaim—“See what it is to have a handsome wife!” Another
-famine will make brother Abram and sister Sarah the richest couple in
-pastoral life.
-
-In the course of events, Abram and Sarah had recourse again to the same
-trick, on Abimelech, King of Gerar, which had been acted with so much
-success in Egypt. Sarah, on account of her beauty, *at ninety years
-of age*, was taken by the King; but the Lord, ever the guardian of
-Sarah’s virtue, came to Abimelech in a dream, and threatened him
-and all his house with death, if Sarah was not given up to her lawful
-husband. The King remonstrated with the Lord, and justified his
-conduct by declaring, that both Abram and Sarah had deceived him; and
-said—“*In the integrity of my hearty and innocency of hands, have I
-done this.*” The Lord replied—“*I know that you did it innocently,
-for I withheld thee from, sinning against me; therefore, suffered I
-thee not to touch her.*” Again, as before, presents of cattle,
-men-servants, and maid-servants, with a thousand pieces of silver into
-the bargain, were given to Abram, with his wife, who is as chaste as
-morning dew.
-
-I have dwelt longer on this account than I at first intended, merely
-to show the folly in believing that the Almighty Lord of all had any
-concern in such contemptible fooleries as are recorded in the family
-concerns of Abram. One thing, however, is omitted; and that is, the
-quarrel between Sarah and Hagar. The tent or house became too hot to
-hold those rival women; at last, Sarah triumphed by turning out Hagar
-and her love-begotten child, which demanded the Lord’s interference,
-and gave poor Abram no small share of trouble.
-
-From the moment that Jehovah adopted the family of Abram, the Bible
-account warrants us in supposing that the family concerns of that
-patriarch particularly engaged the attention of Jehovah; since, for
-every trifling concern that took place, the Lord was applied to in order
-to settle the matter. Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau, when about
-to become a mother, applied to the Lord for information respecting her
-singular situation; and the Lord informed her that she would be the
-mother of two celebrated nations, and satisfied her mind as to every
-other inquiry she made. And here we may ask, how it was that the Lord,
-in those days, was so easy of access? How every gossipping old woman
-could lay her case before the Lord, and wait his advice and answer? The
-reply is at hand. The whole account of the Lord’s saying unto Abram,
-or the Lord’s saying unto Moses, and again, “*the word of the Lord
-came unto Moses, saying,”* is all humbug: no such word ever came; no
-such conversation ever took place.
-
-Whoever wrote the Book of Genesis, has placed Jehovah in an immoral
-point of view; as keeping company with unprincipled knaves, and as
-acting without any regard to the strict rules of justice and mercy; as
-having a system of favoritism, which does not admit of administering
-impartial justice. The case of Jacob and Esau is directly opposed to
-truth and impartiality. Esau was, in a moral point of view, evidently
-the best of the two; but Jacob was Jehovah’s choice. Esau, according
-to Bible history, was a hardy, industrious, and generous man. Jacob, on
-the other hand, was his mother’s pet; and the deception which he and
-his mother played on old Isaac, who was blind, is in strict accordance
-with the conduct of all the Lord’s favorites. Jacob, according to
-Bible history, was, through his whole life, full of deception and
-trickery. He could lie and take a false oath to deceive his blind
-father; and by deceit, deprive his brother Esau of his lawful right
-of inheritance. And yet the Lord was with him, and connived at all his
-baseness!
-
-But Jacob, conscious of his wickedness, and justly deserving his
-brother’s resentment, fled to his uncle for protection. On his way,
-the Lord appeared to him in visions; and, notwithstanding his lying
-and false swearing to his father, promised him divine assistance. Jacob
-still acted in the same crafty manner, even with the Lord himself;
-always having his own self-interest in view; for, after the Lord had
-said, Genesis xxvii., 15, “*And behold, I am with thee, and will keep
-thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into
-this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have
-spoken to thee of*”—even after this promise from the Lord, in verse
-20 it is said—“And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, if God will be with
-me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to
-eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in
-peace, **then shall the Lord be my God**.”
-
-Well done, Jacob! that is making a good Jew bargain. Jehovah and Jacob
-both kept their word; for Jacob married his two cousins, the daughters
-of his uncle Laban, and staid with him until he, by the help of the
-Lord, contrived to jockey old Laban out of the best of his cattle, and
-ran away back to his own father’s house, taking with him, by stealth,
-the gods of Laban his father. Thus did Jacob not only triumph over the
-heathen gods, by carrying them off captive, but continued to adhere to
-Jehovah, his own God, who did not desert him in his recreant tricks. It
-is not to be wondered that the sons of Jacob should be so base in their
-actions, after the example of their father; and considering what a mixed
-breed they were, having so many mothers. Their conduct towards their
-brother Joseph is a sample of their actions; and although Bible history
-records the good fortune of Joseph, he, among the rest of his brethren,
-acted the tyrant as soon as power would permit him so to do.
-
-This chapter will conclude with a few remarks on the life of Joseph, and
-his career in Egypt. The fame and good fortune of Joseph, depended
-on his gift of interpreting *dreams*, which finally made him, under
-Pharaoh, *Lord of the land*; and according to his predictions, *seven
-years of famine were to succeed seven years of plenty*; by which,
-Joseph planned the entire subjugation of Egypt. He, by the authority of
-Pharaoh, bought up all the grain left of the seven years’ plenty; and
-when the famine came, the grain was sold to the inhabitants at the price
-that Joseph was pleased to put upon it. But the famine continued so long
-that all the money was spent. The poor, half-starved people told Joseph
-their situation, and offered their cattle in exchange for grain; the
-cattle were taken by him; at last, all their cattle disappeared, and
-the people continued in want; then, offer was made of their lands, which
-Joseph also took; and with their lands, themselves; so the government
-took all. But after the famine, Joseph proposed to furnish them with
-seed wherewith to sow their fields, on condition that, ever after,
-Pharaoh was to have one-fifth of the yearly produce. How kind of Joseph!
-Now, if the Bible be true concerning this matter, I ask, could anything
-be more unjust and cruel?
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER IV. FROM THE BIRTH OF MOSES TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA
-==========================================================
-
-.. dropcap:: T THIS
-
-
-THIS chapter will put beyond dispute all connection between the Jehovah
-of Moses and the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe. Whoever drew the
-picture of Jehovah, as it is recorded in the Bible, made him, in every
-sense of the word, a mere man; and put him under the same necessity
-of re-sorting to means for obtaining information, when the subject of
-inquiry is involved in doubt. For instance: Jehovah informs Abram that
-the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were reported to be wicked in the
-extreme; and that he (the Lord) came down to get information on that
-subject. Again, when the builders of Babel were about to commence their
-lofty tower, the Lord came down to see what they were doing; and,
-not being pleased with their intentions, put a stop to the work, and
-performed a miracle, whereby they were driven abroad on the face of
-the earth. Besides, the Lord’s coming from a certain place to
-another place for information, implies that, without such movement,
-the information sought for could not be obtained. These instances, and
-hundreds of others of the same kind, imply also that the Jewish God had
-a local habitation. Again, to say that the Lord came to a place, staid
-there, and then returned back again,—these are movements which are
-common with men, but cannot be applied to the omnipresent God. The free
-access that Moses and the Old Testament prophets had to their God will
-warrant the idea that he resided next door to them, and that the Lord
-was obedient to their every call.
-
-The children of Israel, after the death of Joseph, began to multiply so
-fast that the Egyptians feared for their own safety in the event of a
-war with other nations; and in consequence, ordered the mid wives to
-destroy all the male children, but to save the females alive. But
-Moses was saved, according to the Bible, in consequence of Pharaoh’s
-daughter discovering him in the river; and when he came to maturity, the
-Lord selected him to go to Egypt to demand of Pharaoh, the king, to
-let the Israelites go out from that state of bondage in which, for four
-hundred years, they had been held.
-
-The departure of Moses from Egypt was not very honorable for a future
-ambassador; for before his departure he murdered a man, and buried him.
-To escape justice, he then fled to Midian, and became acquainted with a
-pagan priest, who took him into his house, and ultimately gave him
-one of his daughters in marriage, and he became his father-in-law’s
-shepherd; and the Lord made himself known to Moses. It was while tending
-the flocks that he was chosen go to Egypt to demand the release of
-his brethren, then in cruel bondage. After the Lord had given him his
-instructions, and, to all appearance, Moses had started on his
-mission, a remarkable circumstance took place, that must puzzle Bible
-commentators to explain. It is recorded in Exodus iv., 24, “*And it
-came to pass, by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him and sought
-to kill him.*” This meeting appears to have been accidental, for
-no mention is made of the business of either of them. Here, again, we
-observe that the writer, whoever he was, has spoken of the Lord as a
-man. It is not possible for men of sound understandings to conceive of
-the reality of the Lord’s meeting Moses at an inn, if by the Lord, We
-understand the Almighty Power that governs all Worlds.
-
-On the account as it stands recorded, and as Christians take it as
-really having happened, the following remarks may reasonably be made,
-namely: that after Moses had been ordered to proceed to Egypt on his
-important mission, he loitered his time away in a tavern; and that the
-Lord surprised him in that place, and showed anger for his contempt of
-orders, given to and accepted by him. But the cause of a meeting so
-extraordinary, it is difficult to unravel. It is easily conceived why
-Moses might visit a tavern; but that the Lord of heaven and earth should
-follow a creature into a pot-house, and show signs of anger, and a
-quarrel should be the result, is very hard to believe; for it said, the
-“*Lord sought to kill him*.” Again, if the Lord sought to kill him, it
-must be in appearance only, for he could have done it. However, Moses
-started off.
-
-The account warrants us in supposing, that Moses had staid in the
-inn long enough for his wife to overtake him, and to upbraid him with
-neglect. Something is said about his son’s being uncircumcised; and
-taking a sharp stone, she performed that operation with a very clumsy
-instrument; after which, she exclaimed, in an angry tone, “*A bloody
-husband thou art, because of the circumcision*;” as if she meant
-to say—“Shame on you! to leave it to me to do that which is so
-revolting to my feelings!” Moses then departed for Egypt, and obeyed
-the Lord in his journey to his brethren.
-
-We can discover neither justice nor humanity in the course that was
-taken by the God of Israel, in bringing the Jews out of bondage. On
-the contrary, the greatest inhumanity and injustice are discoverable in
-every movement that Moses made under the authority of the Lord; which
-fully proves, that Infinite Wisdom and Goodness had nothing to do in the
-mighty fuss of liberating the seed of Abram from bondage. The plagues
-that were inflicted on the inhabitants of Egypt, if true, make the
-conduct of Jehovah more vindictive than any thing we have heard of
-as proceeding from the Devil himself for the Lord had told Moses
-beforehand, that he had hardened Pharaoh's heart that the people might
-know the power of the Hebrew God to afflict the nation. It might have
-been sport to the man made God of Moses, but not very pleasant and
-comfortable to the Egyptians, to be lousy, to be stunk to death with
-putrid carcasses, having frogs for bed-mates, when the Lord had hardened
-the King's heart. But the worst and most infamous of all the judgments,
-was the destruction of the first-born. This act would have disgraced the
-very devil: to institute the Feast of the Passover.
-
-We may indulge in a little mirth in reference to the destroying angel
-going round the streets, finding out the doors marked with the blood
-of your paschal lamb, and taking care not to wring the neck of a little
-Hebrew. Wonder if the destroying angel had a lantern? But, perhaps,
-he had cat’s eyes, and could see as well by night as at noon-day! No
-wonder, ye Jews, that the inhabitants of Egypt so willingly gave you
-their gold and silver ornaments to get rid of a people so detestable,
-and, with them, a more detestable God.
-
-In a short time after the Jews had left the house of bondage, they began
-to upbraid Moses that they had changed for the worse; and in the
-course of their journeying, they quarrelled with him, and the Lord had
-continually to interfere, and to feed them by miracles. At Mount Sinai,
-Moses halted; and, according to the command of the Lord, the law was
-given to the nation, as recorded in Exodus, chapter xx. And this boasted
-law is said to have been given by the Lord, in the hearing of all
-the Children of Israel. The first commandment contains a spirit of
-intolerance, which, whether he gave it or not, has never failed to
-generate in Jews and Christians a spirit of religious persecution which
-has deluged the earth with blood.
-
-The ten commandments, given by Moses to the Children of Israel, contain,
-in general, good moral precepts, with the exception of the first. The
-first begins by the Lord’s speaking in a language which all the people
-could understand:—“*I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee
-out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt
-have no other Gods before me.*” This command, which by both Jews and
-Christians is considered so just and reasonable, contains in it the
-germ of intolerance. Had this command been given immediately after the
-recorded fall of Adam, its influence would have had a very different
-bearing on the peace and happiness of society, than it had at the time,
-and has had ever since it was given. It would have been both just and
-right in the Lord of all to demand of his creatures to worship him, and
-him alone, in the way and manner he saw fit; since in that case, no evil
-consequences could have followed from a command so just and proper, as
-for the creature to obey his Creator.
-
-But at the time the Lord gave the first commandment, the whole world
-were in the practice of worshipping the gods of their forefathers: the
-origin of which worship was then lost, and the worshippers were no doubt
-as sincere in their devotion as the most pious Jew or Christian of the
-present day. By the publication, then, of the first commandment, at a
-time when every nation had its particular god, and the worshippers lived
-in peace, the spirit of intolerance and religious persecution being
-unknown, the great I am declared a religious war against all the gods,
-and their worshippers on the face of the earth. But according to
-Bible history, Jehovah permitted his creatures to wander on earth, and
-appeared regardless as to what gods were worshipped; and then, after
-some thousand years, he all at once began to rage against all the
-religious systems then known.
-
-But it was otherwise with what are called heathen nations. Each had its
-peculiar god, and also its different forms of worship; and they lived
-happily with each other on the score of theology. And here we may
-observe, how unfortunate it has been for the human race, that the Lord
-did not either give his law sooner, or not at all; for it is plainly to
-be seen, that if the first commandment had been given by the Lord before
-men had followed other gods, idolatry would have been prevented, and
-Jehovah’s watchfulness over the worship he had established, would
-have been productive of universal happiness. But, on the contrary, the
-command being given so long after, and that, too, when religious systems
-were flourishing, and temples crowded with devout worshippers, the worst
-consequences have followed.
-
-The worshippers of Jehovah, whether Jews or Christians, have, by the
-Bible itself, become intolerant and persecuting; and never have they
-failed, when power would admit, to destroy the enemies of their God
-without mercy: so that the first commandment, by coming too late, has
-proved the greatest curse that ever afflicted the human family. And
-hence the folly in believing that Infinite Wisdom and Goodness would
-permit false religion to progress so long before the true one was made
-known to the human race. After the moral law, or the ten commandments,
-had been given by the Jewish God, on the mount, amid thunder and
-lightning, we have it recorded that Moses was ordered to go up to the
-top of the mount, and there, with the Lord, he staid forty days and
-nights; during which time Aaron, his brother, remained with the whole of
-the Children of Israel in camp, at the foot of Mount Sinai.
-
-And now, candid reader, prepare your mind for an account of what took
-place on the mount, between Jehovah and Moses; and when you have read
-it, and maturely reflected on what is recorded, then I say, ask yourself
-whether there is one word of truth in the account of this strange
-interview between Moses and his God? Compare it with any of the
-absurdities to be found in the *Koran* of Mahomet, and discover, if you
-can, whether the latter is less true than the former.
-
-The Bible record states, that Moses was ordered to ascend the mount,
-on private business with the Lord, and to leave Aaron in charge of his
-chosen people till his return. The account clearly states, that Moses
-was then and there to receive instruction how to fit up and ornament the
-Tabernacle that was to accompany the Children of Israel in their journey
-to the promised land. And here we may notice, “*That in six days the
-Lord made heaven and earth, and all things therein*”; yet it required
-forty days to plan and fit up this moveable church; and before it was
-finished, the chosen people, with Aaron at their head, became idolators;
-so that before the Lord and Moses (both hard at work) had completed the
-church, they lost the congregation. This, to make the best of it, was a
-dreadful blunder.
-
-After the forty days had run out, during which time Moses and his God
-were hard at work, and Moses had often received the precaution,
-“*See that you make all things according to the pattern given on the
-mount,*”—all at once, the Lord said to Moses, “Do you know what
-is going on below?” Poor Moses, full of thought, and over-joyed at the
-prospect of so fine a fit-out, was altogether ignorant of the Lord’s
-meaning. “Why, Moses, that stubborn race you brought out of Egypt,
-have set up strange gods, and have turned their backs on both you and
-me”! If this story was strictly true, how Moses must feel on hearing
-this unfortunate news! We must suppose he would exclaim and say, “Oh!
-Lord, our forty days' labor is all knocked on the head. Is it possible,
-Oh! Lord, that they have forgotten what you did for them in Egypt? What
-a pity it is, Oh! Lord, that they ever got rid of the lice when they
-left the house of bondage, for if they were now tormented by those
-nibblers, it would remind them of the lousy miracle you performed for
-them in the presence of Pharaoh. Those lice, if not destroyed, would
-have been ‘a forget-me-not.’” And the Lord said unto Moses, “Now
-let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against this people, for I know
-that they are a stiff-necked race. I will destroy them, and from you
-shall a great nation spring up.” But Moses, not having at this
-time lost his temper, said, “Oh! Lord God, now do not destroy them;
-besides, what will the Egyptians say? And also remember what you
-promised to Abram, Isaac, and Jacob: how you swore that you would
-give it to Abram and his seed forever.” “Well, Moses, you reason
-correctly. I own I was rather too hasty; upon a second thought, I
-retract; I will take your advice; but go down and see what you can make
-of them.”
-
-Moses, not well pleased, left the Lord, and went down from the mount;
-and when he came to the camp, he lost all patience, and, in a passion,
-not knowing what he did, threw down the stones on which were written the
-commandments—and written, too, with the finger of God—and they were
-broken asunder. No wonder that Moses lost his temper: forty days’
-labor lost; having had, during the whole time, nothing to eat; and
-having lost his church members before the moveable church was complete!
-No one can be surprised that he acted as he did. Moses reasoned so
-correctly with the Lord, that he cooled Jehovah down, but was not so
-fortunate with himself.
-
-Aaron, finding himself in a dilemma, excused himself by charging the
-people with the fault. But Aaron’s story was but a lame tale; for,
-when the people demanded a god, to whom they might pay divine honors,
-Aaron could have told them to have patience, and Moses would return with
-proper instructions from their God. But poor, silly Aaron told Moses,
-that when he threw the rings and bracelets into the fire, out came the
-calf. At any rate, between the Lord, Moses, and Aaron, a sad blunder was
-made; and to finish off, Moses commanded the Levites to go sword in hand
-and kill every man his brother and neighbor; and three thousand were
-slain, who, if things had been conducted properly, might have been
-faithful worshippers of Jehovah. Finally, nothing can exceed in folly
-this foolish story of Jehovah, Moses, and Aaron, except it be the folly
-of believing it to contain one word of truth.
-
-After Moses had slain the people for their idolatry, not having been
-reproved by the Lord, he was commanded to prepare two tables of stone,
-in place of those that were broken, and the next morning to go up again
-to the Lord, on the mount. It is then said that the Lord descended
-on the mount to meet Moses; so it appears that the Lord (after the
-departure of Moses to the bottom of the mount) departed also, into
-heaven or to some unknown place; for it is recorded that he came down
-again to meet Moses with the two new tables prepared by him. The whole
-account of the Lord’s interview with Moses, on the mount, implies that
-Jehovah labored, talked, and acted in concert with Moses, as one man
-acts with another; and that they remained together forty days and as
-many nights. Whether they continued their work through the night, we
-have no account; nor whether they needed candles. At all events, if
-it be considered literally as a matter of fact, it was a long time for
-Moses to be without food or sleep; but as Christians are compelled to
-believe it to be matter of fact, we will remark on it as such.
-
-We begin, then, by asking if the Children of Israel were indeed the
-Lord’s chosen people, how can we account for the neglect in not giving
-Aaron proper instruction respecting the business of Moses on the mount,
-so as to prevent the people from seeking after other gods? And, also,
-how came it to pass that the Lord did not inform Moses sooner of the
-people’s revolt, so that the three thousand that Moses caused to be
-murdered, might have been saved? And lastly, is it consistent with the
-attributes of the Governor of the Universe to resolve, in wrath, to do
-any thing, and then repent and not perform it?
-
-If nothing had been recorded in the Old Testament of the sayings and
-doings of the Jewish God, but that which is related concerning him in
-giving the law on Mount Sinai, and of his giving instruction to Moses
-how to fit out the Tabernacle, it is of itself sufficient to show the
-absurdity of Jehovah’s being the God of Nature. To unite in one person
-the attributes of the great and all-powerful God, with the contemptible
-arrangement of giving patterns for curtains, and a thousand trifling
-things of no importance whatever, and to take forty days to garnish his
-church, and, while so doing, to let, from sheer neglect, his people
-lose sight of Moses, and then to destroy three thousand persons in
-consequence of such want of foresight, is too much for credulity to
-digest.
-
-When we notice the importance attached to rites and ceremonies the most
-unimportant, and then again how lavish the Jewish God is of human life,
-and totally regardless of human suffering, we dare not for a moment give
-credence to the strange stories and foolish whims of the Bible God, and
-palm them upon the all-bountiful Author of Nature. Moses, after coming
-down the last time from the mount, begins to prepare for the priesthood,
-by saying, that the firstlings of cattle, whether of the ox, or the
-sheep which are of the male kind, belong to the Lord; but the firstling
-of the ass was to be redeemed by substituting a lamb! But if the owner
-had no lamb to offer, the neck of the ass was to be broken; as if the
-Lord had said—if you have nothing better to give, I will not accept of
-a young jack-ass!
-
-Whoever wrote the Book of Exodus, has made the God of Israel appear like
-unto an old clothes-man, giving orders for a thousand ornaments for his
-worship, which would disgrace a heathen temple; such as giving orders
-for all kinds of brass work; likewise, gold and silver ornaments; all
-kinds of oils and spices; particular patterns of cabinet work; what
-kind of leather skins, and, also, of what particular color, to grace his
-house withal: and even down to the cut and color of the garments: not
-forgetting to give instruction concerning the making of breeches for
-Aaron and his sons! In the present day, it is no uncommon thing for
-ladies to wear the breeches; but in those days, when breeches were cut
-by inspiration, it would have been no small crime for a woman to have
-stepped into Aaron’s inexpressibles, or those of his sons. How is the
-dignity of the Governor of the World disgraced, by ascribing to him an
-employment fitting only for a pedler in old clothes!
-
-Let' us compare the majestic grandeur of Jupiter, the supreme god of the
-Greeks, to the peddling, gossipping concerns that the writers of the
-Old Testament have palmed on Jehovah, the God of the Jews! Hear what
-the poet says of Jupiter, when challenging all the gods to oppose his
-power:—::
-
- “Let down our golden, everlasting chain,
- Whose strong embrace holds heaven and earth and main;
- Strive all, of mortal or immortal birth,
- By this to drag the thunderer down to earth;
- Ye strive in vain; if I but lift this hand,
- I heave the heaven, the ocean, and the land;
- ’T is thus I reign, supremely and above;
- Such are men and gods compar’d to Jove!”
-
-The contradictions, as recorded in the Bible, concerning Jehovah, are so
-barefaced, that it is impossible to reconcile them. It is said in many
-parts of the Old, and also in the New Testament, that no man can see
-God and live; but we are told that Moses conversed with Jehovah, face to
-face, as one conversing with his friend. It is in many places recorded
-that God never repents—“*For he (God) cannot lie nor repent*.” In
-many other places it is recorded that Jehovah has repented and taken a
-contrary course in his dealings with the sons of men. I again repeat,
-that if no other account had been recorded of the conduct of the Jewish
-God, but what we have mentioned, it is impossible to believe Jehovah to
-be any thing but a *man-made God.*
-
-After the death of Moses, Joshua was appointed as his successor. His
-business was to complete what Moses had left undone, in subjugating or
-destroying the nations on the other side of Jordan. The first exploit of
-Joshua was to send spies to Jericho to examine the strength of the city.
-These spies entered the house of Rahab, the harlot, where they were
-treated with kindness; it being such a house as would in modern times be
-termed a house of *bad fame*. That it was a house of ill-fame, the proof
-is positive; because the harlot’s father, mother, and all the family,
-were saved when Joshua took the city, because Rahab had concealed the
-spies: so no doubt remains as to the character of the house, and that it
-was entirely under her control and that the whole family were supported
-from the wages of prostitution.
-
-Viewing this account as having actually taken place, as Christians must
-do, as believers in the Bible, it was a very proper house at which the
-spies would resort; for it was a house at which all were welcome;
-where all sorts of news could be collected. After the spies had become
-somewhat familiar with Mrs. Rahab, they informed her who they were,
-and the nature of their errand. All on a sudden, they were about to
-be arrested by the city authorities; and when forced to depart, Rahab
-extorted a promise from the spies that her whole family should be saved
-when Jericho should fall. Such a promise, the spies could not well deny,
-after having been so kindly treated. Rahab, consequently, let them out
-by a private way; and, on returning to Joshua, they praised the Lord
-for having directed them to so hospitable and honorable a mansion as the
-house of the virtuous Rahab. This was the Lord’s doings, as also the
-exploit of the seven rams’-horn trumpets that threw down the walls of
-Jericho; and it is marvellous in our eyes—*praised be his name!*
-
-Here, serious reader, pause and wonder how Infinite Wisdom can bring
-good out of apparent evil, by taking into his employment murderers,
-thieves, and harlots! and also, how such characters have immortalized
-their names, when their actions have been connected with faith in the
-Jehovah of Israel! For this noble act of betraying the city of Jericho,
-and giving the spies comfortable lodging, and no doubt, also, very
-agreeable bedmates, Rahab secured the favor of Jehovah, and her name is
-recorded in connection with many others of equal virtue; for Paul says,
-in Hebrews xi., 31,—“*By faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them
-that believed not, when she had received the spies in peace.*” Nothing
-is acceptable to the Lord, without faith,—that faith “which keeps the
-souls of sinners as sweet as salt does meat.”
-
-After the taking of Jericho and destroying every thing that had life,
-(the family of Rahab excepted,) Joshua followed in the same destructive
-course as had been commanded by Moses, which command Jehovah gave on
-the other side of Jordan. If the warfare pursued by Moses and Joshua did
-really take place, and Jehovah gave the orders, it is idle prate to
-talk of a God of justice. And when the Lord is made to say that *he (the
-Lord) hardened the hearts of those Kings on either side of Jordan*, that
-a plausible appearance of justice in their destruction might be made
-out,—for Christians to sing of a God of mercy, is horrible indeed.
-Whether a God ever commanded or encouraged the Jews in their wars of
-extermination, under Moses, Joshua, or any other of their generals, or
-not, Christian nations, as well as individuals, have drank deep of the
-spirit of religious warfare. A Lord of hosts, a fighting God, has given
-a sort of license to mortals to torment each other for his glory.
-
-Every Infidel ought to oppose this spirit, and vindicate the Author of
-Nature from the imputation of cruelty and carnage—an imputation that,
-is opposed to every idea of justice, and contrary to every thing we can
-conceive of the Supreme Ruler of all worlds. And hence, nothing can be
-more honorable to a man or woman of good sense and kindness of heart,
-than to assert that the God of the Bible is unworthy to be worshipped
-as the Governor of the Universe; which in fact is to say, that to all
-pretended divine revelations, they are no less than avowed Infidels—a
-name that will eventually be as honorable as is now the name of
-Christian.
-
-According to Bible history, the nations on the other side of Jordan were
-so alarmed at the frightful news they received of the Jewish army, and
-the ravages they committed, that five Kings, with their armies, came
-out to stop their progress; and in this account, we have the climax of
-divine interference on the part of Jehovah. After a desperate effort
-was made by the five Kings to stop the progress of Joshua, and after
-fighting the whole day, until *towards the going down of the sun*, they
-retreated. At that moment Jehovah is said to have given support to his
-chosen people, by causing a hail-storm to descend, and more were slain
-by the hail than fell by the sword. But when the hail was exhausted,
-something more was requisite to be done; Divine aid was still wanting.
-Then Joshua, in sight of his army, said, “*Sun stand thou still upon
-Gibeon, and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon*,” and they obeyed
-his command. So that, according to this miracle, the hostile armies were
-completely destroyed, and the sun and moon (we suppose) were ordered to
-pursue their courses.
-
-And now, reader, to believe this improbable, or rather impossible tale,
-and hundreds of others of the same sort, even in our day, will make
-a man respectable, and fit to fill any office where intelligence and
-honesty are required. But to doubt it, and publicly express the doubt,
-will cause him to be considered infamous, and unfit for “public trust
-or private care.” And this will be the case until men shall be bold
-enough to express their honest convictions that it is a libel to charge
-the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe with being the direct, or the
-indirect, author of the Bible, or having ever chosen the Jews to be his
-peculiar people.
-
-But to return to Joshua, who appears to be more highly favored with
-miracles than Moses, as the miracle of the sun and moon standing still,
-to give time to Joshua to complete his victory over the Kings that came
-against him, exceeds every thing of the kind on record. The writer,
-whoever he was, that mentions the sun and moon standing still in the
-heavens, evidently knew nothing of astronomy; for admitting the truth
-of the story, and that the sun and moon appeared to stand fixed in the
-heavens, it was in reality the earth that instantly obeyed the command
-of Joshua. And another miracle must have followed immediately, to
-prevent the dreadful consequences of the earth’s ceasing from turning
-round on its axis: for we have but to consider the effects of the
-earth’s instantly ceasing to turn round; the shock would have been so
-great that trees and houses and the armies would have been thrown high
-in the air, and the battle would have immediately ended, the combatants
-being destroyed. But the tale is too foolish to be credited; and it
-furnishes another proof that the Jehovah of the Jews is not the Author
-of Nature. In this battle, Balaam, the soothsayer, was slain; and before
-finishing this chapter, we will give the account as recorded, with some
-remarks on that celebrated fortune-teller.
-
-When the Children of Israel had left Egypt, and were marching to
-the land of promise, they had to go through different kingdoms and
-provinces; and their numbers, connected with the depredations they
-committed in the name of Jehovah, caused the inhabitants of those
-regions to be greatly alarmed; and understanding that their God fought
-for them and that they were about to pass through the land of Moab,
-Balak, King of Moab, having learned what had been done by them to the
-Amorites, sent to Balaam to consult with him, intending, if possible,
-to stop their progress, or at least, to find out what the Jewish God had
-destined his people to perform.
-
-In the Book of Numbers, chapter xxii., the account commences. Balaam, it
-appears, was then what now would be called a celebrated conjuror, or,
-as country people say, a *cunning man*, by which he made a living, and
-a good one, too: for, from the Bible story, he appears to be a man well
-known by princes, and was attended by two servants as out-riders. Like
-our present lawyers, he never gave his services until he had received
-a handsome fee; for the King sent off the elders to Balaam, with the
-rewards of “*divination in their hand.*” Balaam received them, and
-invited them to stay with him till the next day, for, (as he told them,)
-he would first inquire of the Lord.
-
-It is then recorded, that “*God came unto Balaam, and said, what men
-are those with thee?*” This inquiry of the Jewish God appears strange,
-when he must have known all about it without asking; but here, as in
-hundreds of other passages, the *man-made God* appears. But, for the
-information of the Lord, Balaam gives a suitable answer. The Lord then
-informs the fortune-teller that he must not go to Balak, *nor curse
-them, for they are blessed*. The elders then returned to the King, to
-inform him that Balaam could not come, because the God of Israel had
-forbid him so to do. Again, Balak sent others, more honorable than the
-first, with promises of riches and honor. The Lord came again to Balaam,
-and told him to go with the men to Balak, King of the Moabites, but to
-mind what the Lord had said to him. Balaam went off with the princes of
-Moab; but the Devil, or something else, got into the jack-ass on which
-the old fortune-teller rode, and he became skittish; and although then
-dumb, he seemed to say to his master, “I shall go no further.”
-Balaam became enraged, and laid some heavy stripes on poor jack; but
-still the animal refused to go on, until neither the Lord nor jack could
-bear it any longer. The beast then broke silence, and reasoned with the
-old prophet on his brutality. All of a sudden, Balaam saw an angel with
-a drawn sword in his hand, who told him if it had not been for jack’s
-superior eye-sight, he would have been a dead man. The angel then
-told Balaam to go on, but to mind what he did against Israel. What
-contemptible humbug is all this! two miracles performed to do nothing!
-The first, to send an angel down from nobody knows where; and the
-second, to make a dumb ass reprove his owner. And what was Balaam’s
-fault? He was going on as the Lord commanded; and to complete this
-solemn farce, an apostle quotes it as a real fact that actually took
-place, by saying—“And the dumb ass spake with man's voice, and
-forbade the madness of the prophet.”
-
-After returning to Balak, Balaam ordered seven altars to be built, on
-which were to be offered seven bullocks and seven rams: and again,
-the Lord came to see the process, and in private conversation with the
-fortune-teller, told him that it would not answer; Israel must not be
-cursed. This was repeated by Balaam three times; so that twenty-one
-bullocks, and as many rams, were offered up to no purpose: and at each
-offering, the Lord came down and conversed in private with Balaam. Is it
-possible that men possessed of reason can believe that in this account
-there is one word of truth, as it respects the Governor of the Universe
-having any thing to do with it? If this account, or any one like it, was
-recorded in any other book than the Bible, no man of a sound mind would
-give the least credit to it. But yet the Christian dares not doubt it;
-for even the apostles of Jesus speak of it as a real fact that took
-place with the miracles attending it.
-
-To conclude this chapter of absurdities, we beg the reader to bear in
-mind—first, that Balaam was not a prophet of Jehovah, but a conjuror;
-and if he professed any religion, it was that of heathenism. But he
-(Balaam) had heard of the manner of sacrificing to the Jewish God, and
-accordingly began by slaying seven bullocks and an equal number of rams;
-and while the altars were smoking, (if the Bible be true,) the Lord of
-the whole earth left his throne, and came down to see what was going
-on. The old fortune-teller was hard at work, and the princes of Moab
-standing by to hear the result; when lo, and behold! the Lord descends,
-and we may suppose him to say—“Balaam! why, you are cooking for a
-large party! Come, Balaam, before you go any further, a word with you,
-if you please. Come this way. What does all this mean? We must have
-some private talk about this affair.” “Why, my Lord, you know
-my business. I must do all I can for my employers; I thought that if
-sacrifice is made, agreeably to your order of worship, you might be
-induced to alter your mind towards your people: for we have heard that
-at times, when the fit comes on, you give them a severe thrashing.”
-“Yes, Balaam, there is some truth in the report; but I tell you, once
-for all, that if you offer all the bullocks in the world, and all the
-rams beside, you cannot, must not, curse Israel.”
-
-No lawyer ever stuck closer to a rich client than did Balaam to the
-King of Moab; for again and again did he sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts.
-Another trial, on a mountain, was made, and again Jehovah descends and
-tells Balaam the same as before. The third and last effort being made,
-which would incline us to think that the patience of Heaven must have
-been tired out, was enough to make the doorkeeper exclaim, “Here is
-Monsieur Tonson come again!” The last descent is made by the Lord,
-and the prophet gives in, reluctantly. I challenge any minister of the
-gospel to produce a more absurd story, in any system of theology, than
-the account of Balaam, his ass, and the Lord of Hosts.
-
-I will not insult the reader by saying, *do not believe it;* but rather
-say, *believe it who can!*
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER V. FROM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA TO THE REIGN OF SAUL
-========================================================
-
-.. dropcap:: W WE
-
-
-WE now come to the time when the Israelites were settled in the land of
-Canaan, Moses and Joshua being dead. This period of Bible history, from
-the death of Joshua to the time of Saul, their first King, is about four
-hundred years. And, seeing the miracles and wonders performed in behalf
-of God’s chosen people, in the times of Moses and Joshua, we might
-reasonably expect that the same care would be continued towards them
-in succeeding generations. But, on the contrary, during the time the
-different Judges presided over them, nothing but disasters and confusion
-prevailed; and if their history is to be credited, it must appear as if
-Jehovah had nearly given them up as a prey to his and their enemies.
-
-Notwithstanding all that has been said and written about Moses being the
-author of the first five Books, including the Jewish worship, with the
-laws, ceremonial and moral, it does not appear that the contents of
-those Books were known and obeyed by the generations that followed after
-his death; for it is recorded in the Book of Judges, ii., 10, that after
-the death of Joshua, “*there arose another generation after them;
-which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for
-Israel*.” If the mighty works had been done in behalf of God’s
-chosen people, which are recorded, it is impossible to believe that they
-should have been forgotten or disregarded. Can we suppose, that, in a
-few years, the Declaration of our Independence on the 4th of July, 1776,
-together with the name of **Washington**, and the heroism of his brave
-companions in arms, can be forgotten? No; it is impossible. It is then
-clear, that the Books said to have been written by Moses were not known;
-or if known, they were not believed in by the people.
-
-After the land of promise had been divided among the tribes of Israel,
-instead of Jehovah’s setting up some permanent form of government, and
-causing his name to be adored, so as to make his chosen people happy and
-prosperous, they were, to all appearance, left in the most confused and
-unsettled state: and hence it is often said, “*In those days there
-was no King in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own
-eyes.*” It is not too much to infer, that for hundreds of years after
-the death of Moses and Joshua, the Jewish God, as if he had forgotten
-his engagements with Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, concerning their
-posterity, became indifferent to their happiness altogether.
-
-We will now refer to their situation. As it respects government, they
-had none; it was accidental; and, although it is recorded that their
-God fought for them, and caused both sun and moon (as the phrase is)
-to stand still, to give them time to destroy their enemies, Jehovah’s
-conduct was so altered that he seemed to enjoy the troubles of his once
-chosen people. With all these facts, Christian ministers prate of an
-unchangeable God! We read of Jehovah’s stirring up heathen Kings
-against his people; and to such a deplorable state were they reduced,
-that an old woman was their Chief-Justice, and also General of their
-army. At that time, to say the least of it, no nation under heaven was
-in so degraded a state. At times, upstart Judges arose; the Lord was
-with them; and, for a while, all things appeared prosperous. At their
-death, however, the troubles were renewed. Such was their situation at
-one time, that they had no weapons of war, nor smiths to repair their
-ploughs or harrows. Then they *cried unto the Lord*, and he sanctioned
-them in every dishonorable way to out-wit or murder their oppressors.
-
-In such a state of subjugation were the tribes to their foes when Saul
-was made King, that only two swords could be found in Israel; and the
-“*Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his
-share and his coulter, and his axe and his mattock.*” What folly,
-then, to suppose, that after all that had been done for God’s favorite
-people, they should have been so neglected, and there should be nothing
-but slaughter and blood throughout the land of promise! What madness, to
-believe that the Author of the Universe should permit such carnage, and
-his whole attention seem to be directed to the foolish quarrels of an
-unfortunate race, who, by some imposture, had been taught to consider
-their nation as his peculiar choice!
-
-And as to their religion, by what is recorded, it seems that their
-proneness to worship the gods of their neighbors, is what brought on the
-chastisements of Heaven. This is but a poor excuse, and dishonorable to
-the God of the Universe, to urge on nations to make war on his people,
-because he was displeased with them for worshipping strange gods. It
-appears strange, *passing strange*, that Jehovah could not convert
-his own people. But only substitute the term *Priest,* instead of the
-*Lord,* and reject altogether the idea of God’s having any thing to
-do with their theology, and the matter is plain and clear. Admitting,
-however, that the Lord of Hosts had so rebellious a race, and was a
-spectator of all their departures from his laws, he must be as great a
-sufferer as the Jews, because he was forever punishing; for, if anger
-is to a God a punishment equal to what human beings feel under its
-influence, then it follows that the God of the Jews is the greatest
-sufferer. Oh! ye ministers of grace you have preached up an angry God
-until you have brutalized the human race; and your intolerant spirit has
-ever been, and will ever continue to be, a *burning coal* taken from the
-altar of an angry, vengeful God, to be rekindled when power is united to
-your impositions.
-
-That the reader may form correct ideas of the Lord's fighting for
-Israel, and delivering their enemies into their hands, and also of the
-Lord’s giving the land or towns to his favorite people that they
-had taken in war, it should be observed, that it was the manner of
-expressing the results of a victory among the Jews, and also with other
-nations. They all claimed for themselves the interference of their
-respective gods, and to them they gave sacrifice and thanks. As a key,
-to understand how God fought for his favorite people, it is recorded
-in Judges i., 19, “*And the Lord was with Judah, and he drove out the
-inhabitants of the mountain, but could not drive out the inhabitants of
-the valley because they had chariots of iron,*” The same idea is to be
-carried out in explaining such passages as the following:—“*And the
-angel of the Lord appeared to [such an one] in a dream”-—“Thus
-saith the Lord,” &c.*
-
-Now, all that can be made of this is, that the person mentioned, dreamed
-that he saw an angel, and that he said this or that. Again, it is often
-repeated, that *the word of the Lord came unto Moses, saying*. Common
-sense will inquire, how came the word? who brought it? Words do not pass
-through the air like birds. Suppose it should be reported, that the word
-of the President of the United States came to some person in New York,
-saying, *do this or that*, or something uncommon and unheard of, and
-the inquiry be made, *who* brought this word, and an answer should be
-required? No reasonable one could be given. It must fill the Christian
-reader with astonishment to find, that during the time the Judges
-presided over Israel, (some hundreds of years,) that neither the name of
-Moses nor his laws are ever mentioned. On the contrary, his laws, both
-moral and ceremonial, were either suspended or departed from. Neither
-the Sabbath nor the Passover was observed, and the moral law said to
-have been given by Jehovah, from Mount Sinai, was broken by the worship
-of graven images.
-
-If we turn to Judges, chapter xvii., we there find, that after the death
-of Samson, who judged Israel twenty years, *a young man (a Jew) stole
-from his mother eleven hundred shekels of silver, which she had put by
-to make a god for herself and her son's household*,—a worship contrary
-to the express command of Jehovah, as given in the second commandment;
-and when her son heard his mother curse most bitterly, he returned it to
-her. She then loaded him with blessings, and with a part of the silver,
-and gave the rest to the founder, or artist, and a graven image was made
-and erected as their god, and a priest hired to perform worship. In the
-13th verse of the same chapter, her son exults, and says, “Now know I
-that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.”
-
-To conclude this account of worship, the Levite asked counsel of God,
-(the image,) and received a gracious answer. This image-worship was
-the religion of the Danites until they were carried away captive. This,
-then, is proof positive, that the five Books said to have been given by
-Moses, were then unknown; and without this admission, it is not possible
-to account for the silence regarding Moses and his writings for so
-many hundred years. Not only were the five Books of which Moses is the
-reputed author, written many hundreds of years after his death, but
-also the Book of Judges could not have been written till after Kings bad
-reigned in Israel; because, it is often repeated in that Book, “*And
-there was no King in Israel, and every man did that which was right
-in his own eyes*”; for until the end of the Judges, no King was ever
-mentioned, or thought of, among the tribes. It was in consequence of the
-injustice of the sons of Samuel, that the seed of Abram demanded a King,
-in order to get just judgment; and in his person to secure a leader in
-time of war.
-
-The foolish story of Samson, which commences in Judges, chapter xiii.,
-deserves no notice, but for its being ascribed to Jehovah, the God of
-Israel. The whole silly account, when it is fathered on the God of the
-Universe, will not fail to convince every man of a sane mind, how human
-beings have been imposed upon, in ascribing to the Sovereign Ruler of
-all worlds such contemptible trash. After the Israelites had for forty
-years been subjected to the Philistines, Jehovah determined to deliver
-his chosen people from bondage, by raising up a man (then unborn) to war
-against their enemies. Samson was the person chosen for this business.
-The story is as follows:—
-
-The mother of Samson had for years lived with her husband, Manoah, but
-remained childless. Her sorrow, on that account, so prevailed with the
-Lord, that an angel came down from Jehovah, whom Christians believe
-to be the allwise Governor of the Universe, and informed her that she
-should have a son that would war against the oppressors of Israel, and
-that particular care on her part must be taken during her pregnancy. She
-was to drink no wine, nor strong drink, nor eat any thing unclean; and
-no hair must on any account be taken from his head. The woman told her
-husband the good tidings, and he was over-joyed, and prayed to the Lord
-that the angel would again descend. This request was granted, and the
-angel repeated to the husband what had been told to his wife. When
-these instructions, given by the angel, were ended, out of gratitude to
-the heavenly messenger, this joyful pair proposed to dress a kid, and
-invited the angel to partake of it This request was not complied with,
-but Manoah and his wife were told to sacrifice to the Lord; which
-they did, and as the flame ascended, the angel went up with it, after
-refusing to make known his name.
-
-In a few months, Sampson was born; and his parents were particular in
-observing all things commanded, as it respected the child, until his
-arrival to manhood; when, behold! this Samson, the gift of the Lord, who
-was to deliver his countrymen out of bondage, from the galling yoke of
-the Philistines—this Samson commenced his life by going down to the
-Philistines, and taking up with different women. Some he took as wives,
-and with others he carried on any thing but a respectable intercourse;
-and in all his actions he sought a quarrel with the enemies of Israel.
-All unknown to his parents, it is recorded that he possessed strength
-superior to human beings, and that this strength resided in the hair of
-his head. His enemies discovered this strength, and bribed his wives and
-concubines to discover how he could be bound, so that they could destroy
-him. After lying, and submitting to be bound, he betrayed the secret to
-one of his favorite women. His head was shaved, his eyes put out and he
-was cast into prison.
-
-In the course of his revels among his ladies, he was waring continually
-with his wives’ countrymen; and such was his dexterity, that he caught
-three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail, and turned them into the
-standing corn and burnt up their harvest. At another time, when pursued
-by his enemies, it is recorded that he slew a thousand men with, the
-jaw-bone of an ass; and so mighty was his strength, that the gates of
-a city were by him carried away with ease, and placed on the top of a
-mountain; and so terrific was his strength, that his favorite woman,
-by bribery, at last found out that his almost almighty power was in his
-hair, which had been from his birth untouched and unshorn; but as soon
-as his hair was taken off, Jehovah withdrew his strength, and his foes
-bound him with care, put out his eyes, and cast him into prison.
-At length, his hair grew again on his head, and his mighty strength
-returned. He then prayed to Jehovah to enable him to lift up the
-mighty building in which the Lords of the Philistines were; and having
-succeeded, down it came with a dreadful crash, and Samson, with all that
-were within, perished in the ruins.
-
-Now, this is the man who is recorded to have been raised up to restore
-to the seed of Abram their lost power; whose whole life was a scene
-of folly and madness. Can any man, in the full exercise of his reason,
-believe that the Ruler of all worlds would employ such a contemptible
-creature to bring about his plan of redeeming his favorite people from
-bondage? Let us take a bird’s-eye view of Samson’s life; and first,
-we will inquire, what end was to be answered by raising up this mighty
-man? Secondly, did Samson perform the intention of Jehovah towards his
-chosen race?
-
-We proceed to the first inquiry, What end was to be answered by
-raising up Samson? His whole life was one continued scene of folly
-and licentiousness; shedding of blood was his practice; and the mighty
-strength given him by Jehovah, was employed in doing the most wanton
-mischief, such as none but a madman would perform. The object of so much
-murder and bloodshed, we are informed, was to deliver the Israelites
-from Philistine subjugation; in doing which, he fell a victim to his own
-folly, in destroying the enemies of the Lord. Can it be possible that
-the Ruler of all worlds raised up such a madman to carry out his plans?
-If a story of this kind should be recorded in any other book than the
-Bible, no credit would be given to it. But when it is recorded as making
-a part of God’s dealings with his chosen people, it is shocking to all
-our ideas of Infinite Wisdom, Power, and Goodness.
-
-In the second place, What resulted to Israel by the efforts of Samson?
-We answer, nothing at all; for in consequence of the wickedness of the
-Benjamites, a war soon after commenced between the tribes, in which
-thousands and tens of thousands were slain. The history of Samson, then,
-is one of those fables with which the Scriptures abound, and which, if
-recorded by heathen authors, no one could be found who would believe
-them to be any thing but fables. But being a part of the Bible,
-Christians attach consequence to them, and father them on the all-wise,
-all-powerful God, the Ruler of the Universe.
-
-Finally, to show the folly in believing that Samson was raised up to
-redeem the Israelites from serving the Philistines:—by the battle
-fought immediately after the death of Samson, the Philistines gained a
-complete victory over Israel, routed the whole army, and took the ark of
-the Lord prisoner.
-
-It may be of service to the reader to give some account of the ark of
-the Lord; and in this, we must be instructed by the Bible account alone.
-The ark, it appears, was a chest: or box, in which the following things
-were said to be kept: the book of the law, the pot with manna, and
-Aaron’s rod, by which the wonders were performed in Egypt On the lid
-or cover were placed two cherabims with their wings somewhat extended,
-and their necks turned downwards to the cover of the ark, called the
-mercy-seat. This holy ark was kept in the holy of holies; and when the
-priests entered in to perform sacrifice on the mercy-seat, the cloud of
-smoke between the cherabims became luminous. This light was considered
-by the priest as an acceptance of the offering made by him for the sins
-of the people. Hence the phrase of adoration applied to the Jewish God,
-“*Oh! thou God that dwelleth between the cherubims!*”
-
-When the Jews were in the battle with the Philistines, and about to be
-routed, they brought the ark of the Lord into the camp as a protection
-against a defeat, and also to encourage the Israelites to fight most
-manfully: the Lord of Hosts being then in the midst of them, they
-shouted for joy, as being certain of a victory over their enemies.
-On the other side, the Philistines, understanding that the God of the
-Hebrews had arrived in their camp, were afraid, and cried out, “*Woe
-unto us! who shall deliver us ont of the hand of these mighty Gods?*”
-The commanders of the Philistines then encouraged their soldiers to
-battle, urging them on, so that the Jews might be vanquished; and they
-slew the Israelites with a destructive slaughter, and took the ark of
-the Jewish God prisoner, and killed the two sons of Eli, the High-Priest
-This dreadful news so overcame the old man, who was ninety-eight years
-of age, that he fell out of his chair and broke his neck.
-
-We may now ask, what will Christians say to God’s raising up Samson?
-Did he deliver the Jews out of their their bondage? But I have wasted
-too much time on such a contemptible madman and fool; yet I excuse
-myself in this respect by the desire of showing, that, to call Samson
-a servant of the Ruler of the Universe, is too contemptible even
-for ridicule. A few remarks on the fate of the ark of the Lord, will
-conclude this chapter. The foregoing account is recorded in 1 Samuel,
-chapter iv.
-
-After the dreadful daughter of the Israelites, and the capture of the
-ark, the Philistines were afflicted with a complaint that threatened
-them with destruction; and after consulting among themselves as to the
-cause of their sickness, they concluded that the capture and detention
-of the ark was to them more than a counterbalance for the victory gained
-over the Jews. They therefore agreed, one and all, to send it back to
-its owners. Before sending it back, we may suppose something like the
-following conversation took place:—We have defeated the Jews, and
-slain thousands of them; and although their God was in the camp of
-Israel, he could not save them from the edge of the sword. But, after
-all, we are afflicted with a dreadful disorder, which, if it continues,
-will exterminate our nation. Our complaint is of that nature, that we
-shall drop to pieces in the streets and upon the highways. Our wives,
-instead of baking bread, must be continually making poultices, to
-prevent our being considered as walking pestilences: the ark must be
-returned. Instead of a God for a prisoner, why, we have the Devil in the
-box. We must get rid of it; it must be sent back to the Jews. Home it
-was carried; and when it had arrived at Beth-shemesh, in the time of
-harvest, the reapers, overjoyed to witness the safe return of the ark,
-laid down their sickles and ran to look into it. The Jehovah of Israel
-destroyed the honest-hearted reapers, to the number of fifty thousand
-threescore and ten, for their impudence.
-
-Can a man on earth be found who can believe the foregoing account to
-be any thing but fabulous? If this account is matter of fact, what
-degrading ideas are connected with the existence of Infinite Wisdom and
-Goodness! If there is any thing Divine about this foolish tale, it then
-follows, that the Almighty Power that presides over all worlds,—that
-astonishing Wisdom which strikes us dumb in contemplating the harmony
-and surprising adaptation displayed in the universe,—associated with
-such madmen and fools as Samson, and hundreds of others whose freaks
-are recorded in the Bible. This is opposed to every idea that we can
-possibly have of his greatness. Let those who are but little acquainted
-with Astronomy, contemplate the grandeur of the universe, and ask if it
-be possible that a Being who arranges all, and who governs all with that
-exactness which overwhelms not only the ignorant and untaught man, but
-also the most profound and learned of the human race, should thus act?
-Mark well the infinite wisdom which is apparent in the vast universe of
-which man forms but so small a part! For one moment reflect on boundless
-space, filled with millions of millions of suns, around which revolve
-innumerable worlds; all of them arranged and upheld by that Power which
-Christians believe to be the author of the Bible, either directly
-or indirectly. That this being should mix up with the most abandoned
-characters on earth, and be forever doing and undoing; forever planning
-and failing in his plans; choosing his favorites, and then repenting of
-such choice; inheriting all the infirmities of fallible man; sometimes,
-tired out with the follies and wickedness of his chosen people, sinking,
-as it were, down into a state of inaction; again, rising in vengeance,
-destroying even his chosen people without mercy; at times, appearing to
-be long-suffering and merciful; at other times, revenging injuries by
-destruction and death on a present generation, for the errors of another
-generation long since dead and gone, is inconsistent with common sense.
-
-In fact, the Jehovah of the Bible, from the accounts recorded, appears
-never to be at ease. Anger, rage, fury, alternately disturb him. The
-smallest deviation of his chosen people in the performance of
-some trifling ceremony, would at times call down the most horrid
-chastisements on both the innocent and the guilty. If the Bible truly
-records the movements of Jehovah, he must be the most unhappy Being in
-the universe; for it is said that *he is angry every day*. The previous
-description of the God of the Bible is but a scantling of what is
-written concerning his dealings, even with the seed of Abram.
-
-Ye ministers of the gospel! look at the heavens above, and the earth
-beneath! Mark well the unchangeable order which pervades the whole! How
-admirably every thing is arranged! how skilfully the means are adapted
-to the end intended! No arranging, and then re-arranging: no missing
-the mark—no going beyond or wide of the mark. Before you talk of the
-“unblushing Infidel,” and deal out the vengeance of your Bible God,
-look at the order, the grandeur the undisturbed harmony that governs
-the whole; and then pause, and ask yourselves, if it be possible for the
-Sovereign Ruler of all worlds, to have dictated the Bible, which you so
-positively assert is the Word of the only true and living God?
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER VI. THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON
-==================================================
-
-.. dropcap:: S SAMUEL,
-
-
-SAMUEL, the last of the Judges of Israel, when very old, appointed
-his sons to judge the people—“But they took bribes and perverted
-judgment.” The Israelites complained to Samuel of their injustice,
-and demanded a King, like other nations. Now, considering the unsettled
-state of the Jews for hundreds of years, “when there was no King in
-Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes” the
-request was reasonable; for they were tired of the unsettled state of
-their national affairs. Samuel inquired of the Lord what was to be done?
-The reply from the Lord was, that Samuel was to let them have a King,
-agreeably to their wishes; at the same time, it displeased Jehovah, who
-chose Saul without consulting the people. His choice is recorded to have
-been pleasing to the Lord, who gave Saul a good character. This kingly
-government seemed fair in the beginning, and we ought to expect it
-would have proved a change for the better, as it was by Jehovah’s own
-appointment At the commencement of Saul’s reign, he was ordered to go
-and fight against the Amalekites. The order was thus given:—“*Thus
-saith the Lord of Hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel;
-how he laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt*” This
-offence was given some hundred years before, when the Israelites were
-passing to the land of promise; when the Amalekites opposed them, and
-refused to let them go through their land. To us, this vengeance appears
-cruel and unjust. This was visiting the sins of the fathers on the
-children with a vengeance. At the present day, no tyrant could be found
-that would imitate such base conduct as is fathered on the all-wise,
-all-powerful Ruler of the World.
-
-The following statement will serve to make the situation of Saul clearly
-understood by the readers of this work, and will show the nature
-of Saul’s offence for which he and his family were so severely
-punished:—Some four or five hundred years before Saul was born, the
-Israelites were opposed by the Amalekites passing through their land;
-and when Saul was chosen King, by Jehovah, his first campaign was to go
-and destroy the then inhabitants of Amalek, for an offence committed by
-their forefathers long since dead and gone. Saul was ordered by Jehovah
-not to save old or young, but to kill (murder) all, from the suckling to
-hoary old age. He fulfilled his orders as he thought, excepting that of
-taking their King prisoner, and the best of the cattle to sacrifice to
-Jehovah’s honor; and for this one act of mercy, Saul was deposed, and
-David chosen in his stead. Now, if Jehovah knew that Saul would not
-obey the orders given, why was he chosen to be their King at all? And if
-Jehovah was disappointed, where was his foreknowledge? Does that Power
-and Wisdom that rules the Universe, blunder in this way? What say you,
-Christian ministers?
-
-According to what is written, the Jewish God repented that he made this
-choice! Did he repent? We are told that when Saul was put down, and
-David made King in his stead, that Jehovah could not, like man, repent
-in putting down David, though he had done so as it respected Saul. To
-father such inconsistency on the Author of Nature, is an outrage on
-justice and common sense. Again, to punish with fire and sword a whole
-nation, for what their forefathers had done five hundred years before;
-and to make the God of the Universe the author of such a command,—if
-blasphemy exists against God, this is it to perfection.
-
-From the short reign of Saul, we cannot form a decided opinion as to his
-kingly character; but one thing is clear, from the Scriptures, that
-his act of mercy towards the King of Amalek, offended Jehovah, and both
-himself and family suffered grievously for it; for Samuel told Saul,
-that' in consequence of his sparing Agag, the King, his royal authority
-was taken from him, and *given to a man better than he*. Well might a
-poet, who wrote on this subject about forty years ago, call Samuel an
-impostor, and exclaim—::
-
- “From haunts of men be that impostor driven,
- Who thinks humanity incenses heaven.”
-
-In concluding this account of Saul, we may venture to affirm, that he
-was one of the best Kings on record; his only failing appears to have
-been his humanity.
-
-We now come to the reign of David, “*he man after God’s own
-heart.*” It appears that his slaying Goliah, first brought him into
-notice; for which act David was to be rewarded by having Saul’s
-daughter in marriage. Before this took place, however, it is recorded,
-in 1 Samuel xviii., 10, “*And it came to pass on the morrow, that the
-evil spirit from God came upon Saul*”; but David could play so well on
-some kind of a musical instrument, that his performance drove the Devil
-out of the old King. From this account it seems, if the evil spirit
-means a Devil, that Jehovah kept Devils ready to start off from heaven
-to do any dirty work; a very worthy practice to ascribe to the God of
-all! It appears that Saul’s troubles, and the evil spirit sent to him
-from the Lord, had nearly made him crazy—and well it might: but I have
-no pity for him, because there is not one word of truth in the whole
-silly tale.
-
-David now demands his wife, according to promise; but Saul puts a heavy
-tax on his intended son-in-law, before his daughter could be given up.
-The demand made by Saul on David, before he was permitted to marry his
-daughter, is written in 1 Samuel xviii., 25, an account showing how well
-cultivated Kings and Princes were in those days, but too filthy for me
-to detail. Notwithstanding Saul was deposed, and David anointed King,
-still Saul kept possession of the kingdom, and David was an object of
-jealousy. At this time, the Israelites were in an unsettled state; and
-David, although a King, had no resources. A part of the people were with
-David, but the bulk of the nation adhered to Saul.
-
-Those two Kings, then, both of whom had been chosen by Jehovah, were
-still opposing each other. Now, what folly to suppose that either of
-them were appointed by the Governor of all the Earth! Even admitting the
-historical part to be true, who can believe that Infinite Wisdom had
-any part in so unsettled a form of government? it being like unto what
-England was at one time of her history, when two parties were contending
-for power. What a changeable, unsettled Being do the Scriptures make the
-Jewish God! and what folly to believe him to be the Sovereign Ruler
-of all! The regularity and order which is every where and at all times
-manifest in nature, proclaim to all nations that the Jehovah of the
-Bible is not Nature’s God.
-
-Although David had been anointed King, to the exclusion of Saul and
-his house, still the old King retained his authority, and David was
-compelled to be cautious how he proceeded, as Saul was jealous of him as
-a rival. Now David had recourse to the following expedient:—“*And
-he collected every one that was in distress, and every one that was in
-debt, and every one that was discontented, and he became a captain over
-them, and there were with him about four hundred men.*” David, in
-one of his flights from Saul, and being in want of bread, applied to
-Abimelech, the priest, for five loaves; and the priest answered David,
-and said, “*There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is
-hallowed bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from
-women.*” And David answered the priest, and said unto him, “*Of
-a truth, women have been kept from us about three days, since I came
-out.*” The reader will now see how David began his reign, as the
-following incident, will also fully confirm. The above account may be
-found in 1 Samuel, chapter xxi.
-
-The following account of the progress of David and his small army, is
-in 1 Samuel, chapter xxv.:—David fled into the wilderness, and while
-there, he heard of a rich man by the name of Nabal, who had, on a
-shearing, made a feast for his shearers and friends. David embraced this
-opportunity, to levy a tax on Nabal, and sent ten young men to ask for a
-part of the good things prepared for the sheep shearing: “*And Nabal
-answered David's servants, and said, who is David? and who is the son of
-Jesse? there be many servants now-a-days that break away every man from
-his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that
-I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men whom I know not
-whence they be?*” This answer so enraged David, that he exclaimed,
-“The time my army lay in the wilderness, near to the flock of Nabal,
-we took nothing from them, and also prevented others from stealing
-of the flock, and now I cannot get a dinner for me and my six hundred
-men.” “*And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword.
-And they girded on every man his sword: and David also girded on his
-sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men, and two
-hundred abode by the stuff.*” Now, to use David’s own words, he
-intended to slay every man living; Nabal, sheep shearers, and all
-belonging to him. Don’t forget this was the man *after Jehovah's own
-heart!*
-
-But it happened that Abigail, Nabal’s wife, heard of her husband’s
-refusal to David’s demands, and she loaded several asses with all
-kinds of the best provisions, and met David as he was advancing to take
-vengeance on Nabal. And when David saw her, he said, “*Blessed be the
-Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me. For in very
-deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth which hath kept me back from
-hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted, and come to meet me, surely
-there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light, any that
-pisseth against the wall*.” It is recorded after this, that in about
-ten days, “*the Lord smote Nabal that he died.*” Christians,
-perhaps, will say, it served him right; because he would not give away
-his dinner to the Lord’s anointed. But to complete this account of
-David, it is written that he married Nabal’s widow, and then he had
-sheep, goats, and all, although he had many wives before; but, being
-“*a man after Gods own heart*” we Infidels must be silent.
-
-After the death of Saul, David being in favor with the people, and
-strictly adhering to the worship of Jehovah, his reign bid fair to be
-happy to himself, and to the nation at large: but he had too many wives,
-and consequently his family troubles came on thick and fast. One son
-rebelled against him, and flew to arms; and Solomon usurped the throne
-after the death of his father, and put to death his elder brother by a
-former wife, under a pretence the most frivolous, to secure himself
-a safe possession of his usurped power. Another son ravished his
-half-sister by another mother; and in return, the ravisher was murdered
-by the brother of the violated virgin. In truth, if it is true as
-recorded, David’s whole life was one continued scene of blood and
-slaughter; and on his death-bed he recommended Solomon to murder
-others—as his oath prevented him from doing it in his lifetime.
-
-However strictly David obeyed Jehovah, and “turned not aside to
-worship other gods,” in a moral point of view he was a wicked man. His
-conduct for licentiousness was notorious. In addition to the number
-of wives he had before the death of Saul, his royal master, Nathan the
-prophet says that “Jehovah gave him Saul’s wives, besides”; but,
-not satisfied with all this, so contemptible was his conduct, he sneaked
-about to obtain a sight of an officer’s wife while in the bath. Such
-low, cowardly curiosity would disgrace the driver of a dung-cart. A
-lady’s bath not to be held sacred by this filthy, dirty animal, and
-yet to be called “the man after God’s own heart”! His actions
-would disgrace the Devil, for Satan offered no insult to Eve: his worst
-crime was no more than saying—“Madam, the fruit is good, do taste,
-it will do you no harm, and you will be the wiser; after all.”
-
-Never let us forget the artifice the Lord’s anointed made use of, in
-order to conceal his crime. When Uriah, his officer, came from the army
-with news of importance to David, after the seduction of Bathsheba, the
-cunning debauchee said, come, Uriah, do not hurry back to the camp; go
-home to Bathsheba, your wife; she will be happy to see you: go home, my
-faithful servant, and stay with your wife.
-
-But Uriah refused, by saying, the officers and the army are in the open
-fields, and I will not go home to take comfort in my own house. So Uriah
-slept in the gate with the servants. And when David found that he had
-not been home, he made him tarry another day, and that night got him
-drunk. In the meantime the King wrote a letter to Joab, the Captain of
-the host, and sent it by Uriah, to place him in the front of the battle,
-where he would be killed. The unsuspecting Uriah then returned; to his
-duty, with his death warrant in his hand; and, according to the orders
-given to Joab, the commander of the host of Israel, Uriah was placed
-in that part of the engagement where he fell, covered with wounds and
-glory.
-
-It will be seen by the orders sent to the Captain, concerning Uriah, by
-the King, what cowardly artifice was used to murder his noble officer,
-whose wife, unknown to him, had been seduced. David’s words are,
-“*Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye
-from him that he may be smitten and die.*” Such an act would disgrace
-the worst despot on earth, but it was done by “the man after God’s
-own heart”! When Nathan was sent by Jehovah to David, to remind him of
-his wickedness, it was done, in the way of a parable. David did not at
-first discover its application: and it is recorded, that “*David’s
-anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said unto Nathan as
-the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die.”
-“Thou art the man!*” said Nathan; and David exclaimed, “*Oh! Lord,
-I have sinned.*” In fact, he was found out, but for which he would not
-have made this acknowledgment.
-
-After the death of Uriah, David took her (Bathsheba) to wife, and
-Jehovah made up the matter with him; first, by destroying the child, the
-innocent victim who had no part in the murder; and, secondly, by saving
-and pardoning David for crimes of the deepest dye: and, also, the Lord
-told him, that because of his wickedness he should have discord in his
-family:—“*Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against
-thee, out of thine house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes,
-and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in
-the sight of this sun.*” To destroy the innocent child, who had
-no participation in the crime of the father, is too shocking to be
-admitted, when it is recorded as the sentence of the just and impartial
-God. I know Christians will reply, that the ways of God are not as our
-ways, and that it is wicked in mortals to find fault with what is done
-by a Being of infinite power, wisdom, and Goodness. In reply, it is
-contended that the conduct pursued on this occasion by Jehovah, is
-shocking when ascribed to a God impartial and just, and that it is more
-becoming mortals, like ourselves, to reject the whole story as a vile
-falsehood, than to father it on that Being, or that Cause, who::
-
- “Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
- Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees.”
-
-To conclude these remarks on David’s life and conduct, we ask, which
-is the more reasonable supposition, that the whole account, so far as it
-implicates a God of Justice, is, from beginning to end untrue? or,
-that a Being of unbounded power, wisdom and goodness, should in any way
-associate with so abandoned a character as King David? For myself, I
-prefer the latter. I have omitted another account in the life of David,
-that requires to be noticed. It is recorded in 2 Samuel, chapter xxiv.,
-that David ordered the people to be numbered. One account says that
-Satan, and another account says that the Lord, moved David to number the
-people: no doubt it was done to get the number of the fighting men of
-Israel; for doing which, the Lord was angry with David; and three modes
-of punishment were submitted for the choice of the King:—“*Seven
-years' famine, or to flee three months before his enemies, or to have
-three days' pestilence in the land.*” The last was chosen, and it
-is recorded that seventy thousand men died of the pestilence, as a
-punishment for the offence of David. It is a libel on the Supreme Being
-to charge him with the authorship of such injustice and cruelty. That
-thousands of persons may have been cut off by plague, or pestilence,
-at times, and in different nations, is highly probable—but not by a
-judgment for other men’s sins.
-
-In Homer’s Iliad, we have a similar account, written, according to
-historians, about nine hundred years before the Christian era. In the
-account of the Trojan War, the commander of the Grecian army, in the
-sacking of different towns, took many female captives, among whom was
-one who was the daughter of the Priest of Apollo, one of the Grecian
-gods. The venerable Priest came to the General, clothed in his robes,
-bearing the sublime and awe-inspiring ensigns of his god, and demanded
-the liberation of his captive daughter. The General insulted the Priest
-by a positive refusal to give up his daughter, and he (the Priest)
-departed, and offered the following prayer::
-
- “If e’er with wreaths I hung the sacred fane,
- Or fed the flame with fat of oxen slain,
- God of the silver bow, thy shafts employ,
- Avenge my quarrel, and the Greeks destroy.”
-
-The second General in command inquired of the Grecian Priest the cause
-of such mortality among the soldiers; and the Priest returned the
-following answer:—::
-
- “The King of men, the reverend Priest defied,
- And, for the King's offence, the people died.”
-
-The similarity between the Jehovah of the Jews, and the Apollo of the
-Greeks, is very striking. Jehovah slew the Jewish army because David
-numbered the people; and the Grecian god slew the soldiers because the
-Priest had been insulted. The number is exactly the same, each being
-seventy thousand men. The God of the Jews is said to have been the
-author of the destruction of the army of the Israelites, and a heathen
-god the destroyer of the Greeks. The first is believed to be a part of
-Divine Revelation; the last is acknowledged to be but fiction.
-
-From all the accounts recorded respecting David, to me he appears to
-have been a wicked man; much worse than Saul, whose worst action seems
-to have been his humanity in sparing Agag, whom he took prisoner. I
-cannot, therefore, believe, that the Universal Ruler of all Nature
-sanctioned his actions, directly or indirectly, any more than he does
-now, or ever has done, those of any other legal murderer.
-
-A few remarks more will conclude the life and conduct of David. In 1
-Kings, chapter i., it is recorded, that David being old and infirm,
-could get no warmth in bed, and a fair young damsel was sought for
-throughout the land of Israel, to wait on him by day, and sleep with
-him during the night, to keep the old King warm. With her he was much
-pleased, but the account states, that “David the King knew her not.”
-This is a strange tale, for if the sole object was, to get a young woman
-to sleep with him, then not the fairest, but the fattest, plumpest girl
-to be found throughout the land, would have been the most proper person
-for such service; for at that time, David must have had half a score of
-wives living. It is therefore clear, that warmth was only a pretence for
-selecting a handsome young maiden to comfort the Lord’s anointed; and
-we may safely infer that David was not cured of his former tricks.
-
-The life and conduct of Solomon must now pass in review. When his father
-was on his death-bed, he gave his son Solomon instructions to put to
-death several persons who had been the subjects of David, but to whom
-he (David) had sworn while living, that he would spare their lives. And
-accordingly, Solomon, after the death of his father, put into execution
-the orders he had received, and slew the persons mentioned by David; so
-that his reign commenced in blood.
-
-And here it is proper to notice, that Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and
-the mother of Solomon, in order to disinherit the eldest son of David
-by his former wife, prevailed on David to have Solomon anointed King,
-in the lifetime of his father. So that Adonijah, the real heir, was set
-aside; and the better to secure the throne, Solomon had his half-brother
-put to death. The cause of this execution, as is recorded, was because
-Adonijah asked leave of Solomon, the King, to marry the damsel who kept
-David warm in his old age! Jehovah had chosen a strange family, after
-turning out Saul from the-kingdom, and Solomon was too pure to let a
-brother live, after being so wicked as to ask permission to marry the
-young virgin who had kept the back of his old father warm in a cold
-night!
-
-After Solomon had slain those men according to the orders before
-given by his father, he added another to the list, viz., Adonijah, his
-half-brother. The Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, “Ask what
-I shall give thee.” Solomon then dreamed that he gave the following
-reply to the gracious permission:—*“Give, therefore, thy servant
-an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between
-good and bad.”* This request is said to have pleased the Lord, who
-added to it *“both riches and honor”; “and-Solomon awoke, and
-behold it was a dream.”* This account is written in 1 Kings, chapter
-iii.; and all that can be made of it is, that Solomon dreamed the Lord
-told him so, and we have nothing but his word for it.
-
-The Bible record of Solomon’s riches, and, in fact, the whole of his
-life, is not entitled to any credit whatever. We may say, however,
-that some allowance ought to be made for Solomon on account of the bad
-example under which he was brought tip in the family of his father;
-for if the Scripture history of the facts concerning Solomon is to be
-considered true, then the whole of his reign is the most extraordinary
-which ever happened in the world. Beginning with his riches, it exceeds
-every thing in ancient or modern times. The feast at the opening of the
-Temple was no small matter.
-
-Scripture informs us, that at the dedication of the Temple, Scripture
-informs us, that at the dedication of the Temple, the sacrifice offered
-up, was twenty-two thousand oxen, and one hundred and twenty-two
-thousand sheep. This, when we consider the smallness of David’s
-domains, and the general poverty of his family, is incredible; but as
-every thing is so wonderful, and the whole of the reign of Solomon is
-so extravagant, no dependence whatever is to be placed on any of its
-accounts.
-
-As it regards Solomon’s household, the provisions named for each
-day are the following:—“*Thirty measures of fine flour, threescore
-measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures,
-and an hundred sheep, besides harts and roebucks, and fallow-deer, and
-faited fowls.” “And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for
-his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.”* Now, in so small, and in
-many parts barren land, where could they be raised? But Solomon had
-need of a plentiful table, for it is recorded that he had seven hundred
-wives, and three hundred concubines! If he had wisdom enough to regulate
-his house so as to live happy, it must be owned that the Lord had given
-him more than a common share; but as none but fools or madmen will
-believe this account, we may let it pass without comment.
-
-The most astonishing inconsistency in the reign of Solo-man, is his
-continual departure from the worship of Jehovah, who had been his
-benefactor, and who had also repeatedly warned him of the consequences
-of a departure from the God of his father. If what is recorded of his
-riches be true, they were greater than those of any monarch on earth.
-The gold he is said to have possessed when he built the Temple, exceeds
-all calculation, and is in strict accordance, in point of magnitude,
-with his feast at the dedication of the Temple, and with his daily
-allowance of food for his household, and also with his seven hundred
-wives, and three hundred concubines. But when we consider the poverty
-of the Israelites up to the time of his father’s reign, and also
-David’s poverty until the death of Saul, when at times, David had
-neither food for himself nor army, neither had he gold nor silver
-wherewith to purchase it—it may be asked, how Solomon came into the
-possession of such an immense quantity of gold? and also from what
-vast extent of country did he procure his horses, when but a few years
-before, David, his father; could scarcely afford to keep a jackass?
-Again, where did he procure such numerous herds of cattle and flocks of
-sheep?
-
-But as I have before said, the greatest inconsistency of all is, that
-Solomon should worship other gods, contrary to the express command
-of Jehovah, who had given him wisdom, riches, and honors. Leaving
-Christians, then, to settle with Solomon, how he, with all his wisdom,
-could so play the fool and madman in the face of his God, some attention
-will be directed to the God of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob. It will be
-recollected that Saul, the predecessor of David, had offended Jehovah by
-sparing the life of Agag, a captive King. In consequence, it is recorded
-that the God of Israel repented that he put Saul on the throne. He then
-chose David, and his family, to succeed the house of Saul; and having
-made this second choice, he declared he should not repent again.
-
-If this last declaration had been made by man, in his choice, after
-having before been mistaken, the following mode of reasoning would aptly
-apply; and Jehovah would also thus reason:—“I made choice of Saul
-to be King over Israel. I sent him to smite Amalek, and not to spare any
-soul alive, old age and infancy not excepted; but Saul did not obey my
-orders, but spared the King and brought him a captive, which I did not
-expect As I took him from driving mules, and made him a King, he ought
-therefore to have obeyed my commands. I dethroned him and his family
-forever. I then appointed David, a man after my own heart. In this
-choice I was happy. He departed not from my worship or my law, but with
-a few exceptions. It is true, David committed adultery and murder, in
-the case of Bathsheba and Uriah; but he repented, and I caused the brat
-to die out of the way, which made room for Solomon. Now, who could ever
-have thought that Solomon would have turned out so bad? Why, the fellow,
-in addition to wisdom, riches, and honor, has now seven hundred wives,
-and three hundred concubines! and not content with this number, he
-marries the daughters of heathens, prostrates himself before their
-idols, and builds new temples to their gods; but I promised not to
-repent again, yet Solomon must be punished. I will not, therefore,
-depose him, but in his son’s reign I will divide the kingdom, and give
-the greater part of it to one of mean birth. I will not wholly take it
-away from the seed of David, because I promised him that he should
-not want a man to sit on his throne; but I will, for the wickedness of
-Solomon, cause discord among the tribes, that will induce them to fight
-against each other. It is not for the thousand women that Solomon had,
-which would not fail to create discord and all manner of misery; neither
-for putting to death his brother: all that I could have tolerated—but
-he changed his religion, and worshipped strange gods; I will rend the
-nation asunder, never more to be united. It would have been more to
-my honor to have suffered Saul to continue on the throne, for he
-only disobeyed my Orders once, but the son of David built temples for
-idolatry, and worshipped false gods, setting my authority at defiance.
-In his son’s reign, therefore, I will bring on trouble in his house,
-that all Israel may know how great is the sin of worshipping false gods,
-and thus rebelling against the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel.”
-
-I will now ask the Christian preachers, whether I dishonor the all-wise
-Sovereign of the Universe, in not believing him to be capable of such
-tomfoolery as this: in choosing, and again rejecting his former choice:
-in blundering, to rectify a former blunder, and falling into one much
-greater, to remedy the first: to be doing, and undoing: to have an end
-to accomplish, and to make use of means that fail in its accomplishment.
-Ye priests! if ye are not blind, look at the heavens above, and also on
-the earth beneath, and then ask yourselves, whether the God of all is
-the same personage as Jehovah, the God of Israel?
-
-To conclude these remarks respecting the house of David and
-Solomon:—Even admitting that such personages had a real existence,
-I cannot so dishonor the Supreme Governor of Nature as for a moment to
-admit, that he dealt with either David or Solomon any otherwise than he
-deals with every human being, and I should stand before my fellow men a
-self-convicted hypocrite, were I to affect to believe.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER VII. THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM, AND THE SEPARATION OF ISRAEL FROM JUDAH
-===========================================================================
-
-.. dropcap:: R REVIEWING
-
-
-REVIEWING the character of the three former Kings, two of whom gave
-Jehovah much trouble, and David, the best of them, committed adultery
-and murder, we must say, it was an unfortunate beginning of royal
-government. After the death of Solomon, his son, Rehoboam, began to
-reign. The people requested the new made King to ease them somewhat
-of the taxes and burdens laid on them by his father, Solomon. Rehoboam
-consulted with his father’s old servants on that subject, and they
-advised him to attend to the wishes of his people; but he, on consulting
-with his own particular party, returned the following answer:—“*My
-little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins: my father hath
-chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions*.”
-This gives us a sample of Solomon’s reign, and also of the course
-intended to be pursued by his son.
-
-Rehoboam’s answer produced a revolt, and the kingdom became divided.
-Ten tribes broke off from Rehoboam, and proclaimed Jeroboam King of
-Israel, while Rehoboam retained two tribes: so that the Israelites were
-divided. The ten tribes were called the kingdom of Israel, and the other
-two, the kingdom of Judah. This is the punishment that the Lord said he
-would bring on the nations in consequence of the sins of Solomon. So
-it was then, with the Lord’s people, as it has ever been in Christian
-countries where the aristocracy is every thing, and, the people are
-considered as nothing. According to Jewish history, Jehovah and the
-Kings of his own choosing quarrelled, and then the people had to suffer
-in consequence of disputes in which they had but little or no interest;
-and one of the strongest proofs that “the God of the Bible” is not
-that Being whom we believe to be the only true God, is, that when the
-Jehovah of Moses and the Kings quarrel, the Kings are spared alive,
-but the innocent people are in some way or other murdered; thus clearly
-showing, that Kings are by Jehovah worth more than those who by honest
-toil cultivate the earth, and labor for the benefit of society,—a
-doctrine directly opposite to all our ideas of impartial justice.
-
-We now proceed to examine the course pursued by Jeroboam, the fourth
-King who was chosen to reign over Israel. We ought to find him fitted
-for so important a station; but, on the contrary, we have again
-to record another chapter of blunders, far worse than those before
-mentioned. Saul, their first King, disobeyed the command in sparing
-Agag, the King, after having destroyed every soul that drew breath.
-David *followed the Lord with his whole heart*; that is, he never
-entered into the temple of idols except to destroy them and their
-worshippers; but he was guilty of two crimes, for either of which, had
-he been any thing but a King, or Priest, he would have been, by the laws
-of his own country, put to death. Solomon’s character was marked by
-every thing extravagant; but he did not wholly turn from the worship
-of Jehovah, only at times, as when he espoused a heathen lady. Then,
-to prove his love for his new spouse, he worshipped in the temple of
-strange gods, and also built new churches to their honor. This is a
-general outline of the three Kings, all of whom were chosen by Jehovah
-himself.
-
-Jeroboam was appointed, according to what is recorded, in consequence
-of Solomon’s idolatry. I then ask, whether it is not reasonable to
-expect, that, in the reign of Jeroboam, the worship of the God of
-Israel would alone be the religion of the ten tribes who were taken from
-Solomon because of his departure at times from the God of Abram, Isaac,
-and Jacob? Jeroboam being then, by Jehovah, made King, in preference
-to all others, and being raised in the family, of Rehoboam, Solomon’s
-son, and only as a servant connected with the family, we cannot suspect
-that ever a new choice should have been made for the worse. Could
-this have been the case if Infinite Wisdom had chosen him? No; it is
-impossible! No sooner, however, did Jeroboam obtain the rule over the
-ten tribes, by the direct order of Jehovah himself, than he set up a
-religion directly opposite to the God who had elevated him to such honor
-and power.
-
-It is impossible for this account to be true, for two reasons that will
-be given. The first is, that Jeroboam must have known the cause why
-Solomon’s family were excluded from reigning over the whole of the
-Jewish nation, namely, because he (Solomon) did at times worship what
-were called false gods. Now, Jeroboam well knew this, and also, that the
-only way for him to secure his power was, never to depart at any time,
-or under any circumstances, from the worship of Jehovah. But, contrary
-to this, he commenced his reign by falling back into Egyptian idolatry.
-Under pretence of keeping his subjects faithful to his government, by
-not permitting them to go up to the Temple, at Jerusalem, Jeroboam
-set up two golden calves, one at Dan, and the other at Bethel, and
-proclaimed, “*These are thy Gods, O Israel who brought you up out of
-the land of Egypt.*” Besides, he knew that Jehovah would pardon an
-adulterer, or murder, as he had done in the case of David; but on no
-account did he ever forgive the sin of idolatry.
-
-There is nothing improbable in admitting that the tribes should split
-into two kingdoms, and have different rulers. This has often been the
-case; but the only way to account for the conduct of Jeroboam is, by
-concluding that he knew, the whole to be a trick, and that neither
-Jehovah, nor any other God, had a hand in the putting up or dethroning
-of Kings. This being admitted, we can see clearly through the whole
-matter. Jeroboam then would, from policy, set up a new religion, or
-revive an old one, so as to keep his subjects from mixing with their
-old acquaintances of the kingdom of Judah. It is utterly impossible for
-Jeroboam to have acted as is recorded, if he in truth believed that the
-only true and living God was his benefactor, and had raised him to regal
-authority.
-
-The second reason why Infinite Wisdom had nothing to do in the elevation
-of Jeroboam, is, because he must have foreseen that Jeroboam would have
-made the matter worse, so far as idolatry was concerned; and this will
-appear the more striking by the first act of his reign. As soon as
-Jeroboam came to the throne, he (contrary to the law of Moses) set up
-images, and made priests of the lower orders of the people, and began
-himself to worship in the character and office of a priest; for which, a
-prophet from Judah is sent (by the God who, it is said, gave Solomon the
-kingdom of Israel) to curse the altar at the time Jeroboam was in the
-act of sacrificing. Now the conduct of the prophet so sent, will enable
-us to see through the whole farce. This is recorded in 1 Kings, chapter
-xiii.
-
-The following is in substance the prophet’s mission:—This man of
-God was sent by Jehovah to cry against and curse the altar at the time
-Jeroboam was performing sacrifice; and being at the altar, he ordered
-his officers to lay hold of the prophet, at the same time pointing to
-him; and instantly the King’s arm became useless, and could not be
-drawn into its proper place. Jeroboam then cried to the man of God to
-pray that his arm might be restored. The man of God besought the Lord,
-and a recovery took place. Here, then, was a miracle performed; and
-Jeroboam, being grateful, invited the prophet home to reward him by an
-entertainment of bread and water; but the man of God refused, by saying,
-that he was ordered by the Lord not to eat bread nor to drink water—in
-fact, to make no friendship whatever, but to return. Off, therefore, he
-went, after he had performed two miracles; one of which was, to cause
-Jeroboam to lose the use of his arm; the other, to restore it The
-prophet, on his way back, was met by a man who made the same request,
-namely, to go home with him, and eat and drink; but the man of God
-still refused. The man who thus enticed him, further said, I am also a
-prophet, and *“an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying,
-bring him back into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.
-But he lied unto him.”*
-
-The lying prophet was in the service of Jeroboam, King of Israel; but
-the man of God, who came to cry against the altar, belonged to the
-kingdom of Judah. The man of God, who understood that his first orders
-were countermanded, went home with the lying prophet, and did eat and
-drink. The reader will now notice the following three verses in 1 Kings
-xiii., 20, 21, 22:—“And it came to pass, as they sat at the table,
-that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back:
-And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus
-saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord,
-and host not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,
-but earnest back, and hast eaten bread and drank water in the place of
-which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy
-carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.” If men
-would but exercise their reason, is it possible for them to believe that
-the Sovereign Ruler of all had any concern in so paltry a transaction as
-this?
-
-The sum of the whole account may be expressed in a few words. The first
-prophet came to Jeroboam, by order of the Lord, to curse the altar. He
-then and there performed two miracles, as proof that his commission was
-Divine. He then departed. All was so far right; but, on meeting another
-prophet, he was told, in so many words, that things were changed, and
-that he might do now that which he was ordered not to do when he first
-set out. But the old prophet of Jeroboam, we are told, was a liar; and
-when they sat at meat, the word of the Lord came to the lying prophet
-and gave him orders to condemn the first. So that the Lord first
-employed an honest servant, who performed his errand faithfully, and
-then took into his service a false prophet and a liar! Believe this who
-can!
-
-It is possible that Jeroboam may have been King over Israel: this is
-not the point in dispute; but that Infinite Wisdom appointed him, cannot
-possibly be true, because he was made King in consequence of Solomon’s
-idolatry. Solomon did not, by sinning himself, corrupt the whole nation;
-but Jeroboam set up false gods, and the people followed his example, so
-that the worship of Jehovah, by the ten tribes, was entirely abandoned.
-Such blundering cannot be admitted, if the true and living God is to
-be considered as the projector. Besides, Jeroboam was not cured of
-his error by reformation, although he had been an eye-witness of the
-miracles performed on his own person. Enough, then, has been said to
-prove, that the whole account of God’s making Jeroboam King over
-Israel, is without any solid foundation.
-
-We will now turn to the man of God who came to curse the altar, and we
-shall be able to discover what we are to understand by the word of the
-Lord coming unto this or that man, saying. And here I call on the
-reader to keep in mind, that in many places in the Bible, when any thing
-unfortunate occurred to Jehovah’s chosen people, such as the Lord
-raised up such and such enemies, and also that such misfortunes were
-from the Lord: also, again, *an evil spirit from the Lord came on
-Saul*;—all such passages, and many others, mean no more than that the
-Lord permitted such events to take place. In this sense, we may say that
-it was from the Lord that Andrew Jackson destroyed a great part of the
-English army; but no man is foolish enough to suppose that the Lord had
-directly any thing to do in the defence of New Orleans. Again, it is
-repeated in hundreds of places in the Bible, that *the word of the Lord
-came to this or that person, saying.* Now, apply this interpretation to
-“the word of the Lord came unto Moses,” and all that can be made of
-it is, that Moses ascribed every order he gave of his to the people, as
-coming from the Lord. It is in several places recorded that the word of
-the Lord came to one prophet of Judah, and then this said word was
-taken away from the first person, and turned over to another prophet who
-belonged to Israel; and in 1 Kings xxii., 24, it is recorded, that
-one prophet smote another on the face, and said, “Which way went the
-Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee?” Nothing can be more
-clear, than that the whole of the Lord’s interference is out of the
-question.
-
-After Israel and Judah were divided, they continued as two separate
-governments, with each a King for a leader. Sometimes they fought
-against each other, calling in other Kings to assist them; at other
-times, they were united and fought together to oppose the common enemy,
-their heathen neighbors. In a war with the Syrians, when Jehoshaphat,
-King of Judah, and Ahab, King of Israel, united their armies against
-the Syrians, and being on the eve of battle, an inquiry was made of the
-Lord’s prophets, as to what success they would have? Ahab, the King
-of Israel, called his prophets, four hundred in number, and, on being
-consulted as to the result of a battle, they one and all said, go fight,
-for the Lord will deliver your enemies into your hands. Jehoshaphat,
-being more cautious, said, is there not another prophet of whom we may
-inquire of the Lord? And the King of Israel (Ahab) said, there is; but
-I do not like him, because he always foretells something to my
-disadvantage. Then Micaiah, a prophet of the kingdom of Judah, was
-called, and he foretold that the event of a battle would be favorable to
-these kings; but that Ahab would be slain. One of Ahab’s prophets then
-became enraged, and smote Micaiah on the face, and sneeringly asked him,
-“*Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak to thee?*”
-
-We have here a sample of the prophets on each side They one and all
-appear to be ready to lie, and deceive each other, in the name of the
-Lord, and also, to fight for their employers. In this account, it is
-also recorded that the God of truth accepted of the services of a lying
-spirit, to deceive four hundred prophets, in order to get rid of a
-wicked king, the whole account of which is to be found in 1 Kings,
-chapter xxii.
-
-After the tribes were separated, it was common for the prophets
-to oppose each other. The kings, also, of each nation aided in the
-destruction of the prophets, and were worshippers of strange gods.
-And yet it is recorded, that Jehovah chose Jeroboam to be king over
-Israel,—the very man who introduced the worship of idols, to the
-entire exclusion of the worship of the God of Abram! This choice of
-Jehovah laid the foundation of scenes of bloodshed too horrid to be
-ascribed to the all-wise Author of Nature. It could not have been worse,
-had the Devil been the chooser.
-
-For years after the Israelites became two distinct nations, we read
-of little else than quarrels and bloodshed; and the prophets of Judah
-(called the prophets of Jehovah) were much worse than those called false
-prophets. This can be easily accounted for, as the Jewish religion
-was then the most intolerant of any on earth. The Kings of Judah gave
-orders, in the name of the Lord, to destroy all the heathen, as the
-enemies of Jehovah. The prophets followed up the same practice; at
-the same time, the prophets of the heathen gods were less cruel, and,
-morally speaking, much better men. According to what is recorded,
-whenever power was in the hands of the Kings of Judah, or their
-prophets, no mercy was shown to the opposite party; and as to prophets,
-they seemed to spring up like mushrooms, for it was often inquired by
-kings, is there not a man of God here?
-
-A few remarks on the prophets of those times may be here made. Elijah
-seems to have had delegated to him almost unlimited power; for lo! he,
-under pretence of having orders from Jehovah, anointed kings agreeably
-to his pretended orders. He then foretold what the Lord intended should
-be done to certain kings and their families. Those kings, then, thus
-anointed by the authority of Elijah, received orders to destroy such and
-such families; so that after Jehovah had separated the Israelites into
-two kingdoms by setting up Jeroboam, nothing but cruelty and murder
-followed, in consequence of the Lord’s making so bad a choice.
-
-It would, judging from what transpired, have been better not to have
-changed the dynasty, but to let Solomon’s heirs continued to have
-reigned over the whole of the Israetish nation; for in this state of
-Jewish history, idolatry, murder, carnage, and every bad passion was
-let loose; and the kings of each nation of the Jews, by the direction of
-these upstart prophets, showed no mercy to those of their brethren who
-had, by the fortune of war, fallen into their power. All this horrid
-state of things originated from Jeroboam being made king, and setting up
-idolatry throughout the land. Can we then admit, for a moment, that the
-Sovereign Ruler of all brought on such a wretched state of things, or
-ascribe to him so foolish a choice as the appointment of Jeroboam to be
-King of Israel? No! it is utterly impossible.
-
-But to return to the prophets. Elijah and Elisha were, at this time, the
-Lord’s servants. Elijah was foremost, and Elisha acted as his servant.
-The following circumstance brought Elijah into direct conflict with the
-kingdom of Israel, and the then called false prophets:—Ahaziah, then
-King of Israel and Samaria, met with an accident, and was sick; and he
-sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub whether he would recover or not
-Now, Elijah was sent, or, he said he was sent, to say to the messenger,
-“*Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to
-inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?*” The King of Israel then
-inquired what sort of a man it was who thus remonstrated with the
-messenger? And from the account given, he found it to be Elijah, the
-prophet of Judah; consequently a prophet of the Lord. Elijah was sitting
-on a hill, and the king sent a captain and fifty men to bring him before
-him; and this was the order:—“*Thou man of God, the king hath said,
-Come down. And Elijah answered, and said to the captain of fifty, If I
-be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume thee
-and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and
-his fifty.*” And again, another captain and fifty went, and shared the
-same fate. Then the third captain and fifty were sent; but the captain
-of the last fifty fell on his knees before-the prophet, and begged for
-his life, and for the lives of his-men. The Lord then ordered Elijah to
-go down with the captain to the king.
-
-Now I ask the reader, if his mind is prepared to, believe that these two
-slaughters, consisting of one hundred men, with their two captains,
-were brought on them by fire from heaven, as a judgment? What was their
-crime? They acted as they were ordered by the king. Here we may discover
-the falsity of the statement; for if any punishment was to follow in
-sending for the prophet, ought not Ahaziah to have been the victim?
-This wanton shedding of blood, by the mere calling down from heaven
-judgments, by an old fellow wrapped up in a bear’s-skin, and called
-a man of God, is too barefaced a lie for the present state of
-society. There is not one word of truth in the whole marvellous story.
-Jehovah’s murdering the people for the vices of their rulers, is
-anti-republican; and if men would consult their reason, and employ
-common sense, the Christian priesthood would be ashamed to preach of
-a God of mercy, and, at the same time, ascribe to him injustice and
-cruelty.
-
-Elijah and his man Friday, Elisha, appear to be two of the most cruel
-of all the band of pretended men of God. They, according to what is
-recorded, seem to have had a sort of general license to kill and destroy
-every thing that came in their way. All the prophets and worshippers
-of the god Baal-zebub, the then worship of the kingdom of Israel and
-Samaria, were put to death by the stratagem and order of Elijah; and
-after him, Elisha received an affront by being called “*old bald
-head*” and for this great offence, the Lord sent two she bears out of
-the woods, and devoured forty and two little children! The nonsense of
-the Koran cannot come up to this account. During the lives of Elijah
-and Elisha, Jehovah could attend to little else than their concerns, for
-they were forever praying for something to incommode or destroy human
-beings.
-
-What man is there, at the present day, who can believe that the Author
-of Nature gave to a mortal, power to withhold the rain or the dews of
-heaven from descending on the earth, as is recorded was given to Elijah,
-who told Ahab, King of Israel, (1 Kings xvii., 1,) “*As the Lord God
-of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain
-these years, but according to my words*”? This miracle is referred to
-by a New Testament writer, but it is not the more true on that account.
-I have, however, said enough of Elijah, and, as he is about to go up
-into heaven, I have no wish to follow him.
-
-I will only mention his ascension. It appears that all the towns and
-villages round about had heard, by what means I know not, that Elijah
-was soon to be taken up into heaven; for wherever he and Elisha went,
-the people said unto Elisha, *know you wot that Elijah is about to be
-taken from you?* and Elisha nodded an assent, and said, “*hold your
-peace.*” It appears as if Elijah endeavored to evade Elisha’s
-presence when he would be taken up; but Elisha stuck to him until up he
-went in a chariot of fire, with horses of the same; and Elisha saw it,
-and cried out, “*My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the
-horsemen thereof!*” In going up, his mantle fell off, Elisha taking
-it, and with it, the prophetic spirit of his master. Elisha then
-followed on in the footsteps of his predecessor; and his first act was,
-to call on his God to destroy some little children, for the enormous
-crime of calling so odd a looking fellow, “*old bald head*” In
-truth, we discover in most of the prophets such a spirit of intolerance
-and rage towards those who were so unfortunate as to differ from or
-oppose them, that they ought to be considered prophets of the Devil,
-and not servants of him whose wisdom, power and goodness are stamped on
-all the works of this mighty universe.
-
-The prophet Jonah seems to have been a man every way unfit for the
-prophetic service; for when ordered to go to Nineveh, to cry against
-the wickedness of its inhabitants, he ran away; and, according to the
-record, his, disobedience produced a violent storm, and when the sailors
-found that he was out of his road to Nineveh, they cast lots to find
-out the person who had caused the storm, and the lot fell on Jonah, who
-confessed himself to be the guilty person. He then told them to cast
-him into the sea, as the only way to save themselves and the ship. It is
-written what followed. Another blunder again in the choice of Jonah; and
-miracles must be performed to cause this run-away prophet to reach his
-destination. He then again made an attempt to preach repentance to the
-Ninevites; and they, hearing of the destruction against them, repented,
-and this made the prophet stark mad; for his consequence as a prophet
-being hurt, he exclaimed, that *he was tired of life*. Poor, paltry
-trash for the employment of a God, to reason with and coax a hotheaded
-creature like Jonah! but, like all the rest of such tales, there is not
-one word of truth in the whole concern.
-
-Before taking leave of the prophets of the Old Testament, a few remarks
-may suffice to point out their real character. From the time that
-Jehovah adopted the seed of Abram for his chosen people, nothing but
-trouble and vexation on his part occurred; and on the part of the
-descendants of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, one disaster after another
-followed in quick succession. Under whatever form of government
-they lived, they strayed from his commands, and in spite of his
-watchfulness, his chosen people would worship strange gods, for which
-offence they were punished. Heathen kings were stirred up against them,
-and their subjugation was the consequence. They then cried unto the
-Lord, and matters were made up for a while. The same scenes again
-took place, and punishments followed. From the beginning of the Jewish
-dispensation until it ended, there was continual quarrelling between
-Jehovah and his favorites, and some of those quarrels were so
-contemptible that they would disgrace a foolish old man and a peevish
-wife disputing how the firebrands should be put together, by an evening
-fire-side. The prophets, also, partook of the same spirit; they abused
-each other, and sometimes came to blows: they would lie and deceive in
-the name of the Lord.
-
-But the worst part of the Jewish dispensation commenced with the reign
-of their kings. Saul was first chosen by Jehovah himself; and, admitting
-the account to be true, the only crime that is laid to his charge
-is, the sparing of Agag, the King of the Amalekites, although he had
-destroyed every other being, both old and young. For this one act of
-humanity, Saul and his family were rejected by Jahovah. David, his
-successor, obeyed the Lord in all things respecting religious worship;
-but he committed adultery and murder, thereby forfeiting his life by
-the law of Moses. But he was forgiven, and the child, the fruit of his
-adulterous intercourse, was, by the Lord of Hosts, destroyed. Solomon,
-his son, and the son also of his companion in guilt, was made king.
-Solomon worshipped idols at times, throughout his reign, and Jehovah
-was angry, and resolved to try another line of kings. Jeroboam was then
-anointed king over ten tribes, and the family of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob
-were split in twain.
-
-Now, mark! This separation was in consequence of Solomon’s idolatry.
-We might expect, judging from Jehovah’s former disappointment, that
-Jeroboam would entirely devote himself and his people to the worship of
-the God of Israel. But behold! Jeroboam began with setting up two golden
-calves, in direct opposition, to the law of Moses, and also to the
-command of Jehovah, who had raised him from a state of servitude to
-sit on a throne, savage and only at times departed from the Lord, but
-Jeroboam excluded every vestige of the worship of Jehovah from his
-kingdom. This, then, is a just statement of the conduct of those kings
-selected by the Lord of Hosts, as recorded in the Old Testament And can
-it be possible that Infinite Wisdom should have been thus disappointed
-by those whom he had chosen? The just conclusion, then, is, that the
-Ruler of all worlds had no concern in putting up or pulling down any
-of the Kings of Israel or Judah. The history is, from first to last, a
-cheat on the human race, and blasphemy against the only true God.
-
-From the time that Jeroboam was made king until the tribes were carried
-away into captivity, idolatry was the sin complained of by all the
-prophets; it was the constant burden of all their prophecies; and the
-prophets, one and all, intermixed with their complaints the prediction
-that the Lord had not entirely cast them off, but that the time would
-come when he would *raise up unto them a prophet like unto Moses*. Such
-predictions, often repeated by all the prophets together with continued
-references to their future renovation and restoration, is what caused
-a general expectation of some mighty deliverer that would, *in the
-fullness of time*, appear among them.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER VIII. ON DIVINE INSPIRATION
-===================================
-
-.. dropcap:: I I INTENDED
-
-
-I INTENDED to conclude the review of the Old Testament by examining
-the passages supposed to be prophetical of Jesus Christ, and, as such,
-quoted by the writers of the New Testament; but as that has already been
-done, in a masterly manner, by Mr. ---------- (Name crossed out by a
-former reader. ED) and as his opinion respecting them coincides entirely
-with my own, I beg leave to refer my readers to the work of that able
-writer on the subject. Professing Christians believe that what are
-called the five Books of Moses were given by divine inspiration. I
-shall, therefore, in this chapter, consider what is to be understood by
-divine inspiration, abstractly considered, and also with reference to
-prophecy and miracles. It is contended that Moses wrote the account of
-the Creation, and that it is true. If so, then all the particulars of
-that remote age must have been given to the writer by nothing short of
-Supreme Intelligence. I ask, how was this information communicated? The
-Christian answers—by inspiration. This does not solve the difficulty.
-I therefore ask, what is inspiration?
-
-Divine inspiration, according to the Christian’s idea of it, must have
-been the source of prophecy and miracles, and implies infinite knowledge
-and power. Now, as Adam could not have given an account of his own
-origin, whoever wrote the history of the creation of the world, and
-of our first parents, must, if divinely inspired, have had all the
-particulars of the past clearly made known to him. We are told, by
-the New Testament writers, that “*all Scripture is given by
-inspiration*”; and again, that “*Holy men of old spake as they
-were moved by the Holy Ghost.*” Still, divine inspiration remains an
-inscrutable mystery as to what it is abstractly considered; and,
-also, with respect to the manner in which it is communicated. It seems
-strange, to say the least, that divine revelation should be given to
-the human race by the means of inspiration, and yet the mode of
-communication be enveloped in profound mystery. As divine inspiration
-and divine revelation are closely connected, the first being the avenue
-of conveyance, and the latter being the subject communicated, I shall
-define, as clearly as I can, what constitutes divine revelation; but in
-order, if possible, to prevent mistake, I shall first point out what it
-is not.
-
-The developments and improvements which man effects by the exercise
-of his perceptive and reflective faculties, are results which are not
-obtained through the medium of divine revelation. From being a savage,
-and wandering in a state of destitution in the forests, he has, by the
-use of his varied faculties, made advances in civilization and the arts,
-which at first sight appear superhuman, but which were, nevertheless,
-unaided by divine revelation. Contrasting the present state of the
-wonderful and awe-inspiring science of astronomy with that when the best
-informed of the human race were but ignorant star-gazers, we can but
-feel proud that we are a part of the human family. Again, when we look
-back at the period when the frail little bark could not venture out
-of sight of land, and then contemplate the improvements in naval
-architecture of our present times, which have presented us with that
-splendid floating palace, the *Great Britain steamships* we can but
-see that all this has been effected without any assistance from divine
-revelation. If, at some future time, by means of improvements in the
-telescope, inhabitants should be discovered in the moon, we should not
-be indebted for the discovery to divine revelation. But, the discovery
-not having been made, should an angel be sent from heaven to make
-known the fact, such information would undoubtedly constitute a divine
-revelation. So, then, it is dear that whatever improvement man may make,
-by the unaided exercise of his faculties, cannot be considered as the
-result of divine revelation. Divine revelation is that which man cannot
-know, consequently never has known, and never will know by the aid of
-his reasoning powers The Old and New Testaments collectively are called
-a divine revelation; and that the information these books contain,
-respecting man’s duty to his Maker, came from the Almighty; Ruler of
-the universe, is the Christian’s view of the matter.
-
-We will now examine the various inlets, or avenues, by which divine
-revelation is said to have been communicated to man. According to
-the scriptures, the first in order is that God himself conversed
-with men;—secondly, by the medium of angels;—thirdly, by inspired
-prophets;—fourthly, by dreams;—fifthly, by visions;—and lastly, by
-his son. These are the principal inlets. We will examine these different
-modes, and make such remarks as are applicable to each. First, then, as
-to the assumption that God himself, conversed with men. It is recorded
-that he appeared to and conversed with, our first parents; also with
-Noah, Abram, Moses, and even Balaam. The Deity’s conversing with Adam
-and Eve may be considered as the commencement of divine revelation.
-With respect to the truth of these conversations, and the remarkable
-appearances connected with them, no positive testimony can be adduced
-either for or against; we must therefore take reason for our guide in
-the examination. We begin, then, by observing, that if such events did
-actually occur, it is clear that God was accessible to man in those
-days, and that in a manner very different to what he is in our own
-times; and, also, that the unknown and invisible being could be
-approached on the most trifling occasions.
-
-No good having ever resulted to man from such visits from the Great
-Author of all things, is proof presumptive that they never took place.
-So far from any moral good having resulted to Adam and Eve from their
-daily intercourse with Jehovah, we find in the case, of Eve, that, being
-seduced, either, by the serpent, or her own vicious inclination, she ate
-the forbidden fruit The ejectment of our first parents from the garden
-of Eden, would seem to warrant us in believing that the Lord watched
-over them for evil, and not for good. A pair of human beings brought
-into existence without experience of the past, or knowledge of the
-future, must stand much in need of instruction from their Creator;
-and yet the result of all the recorded intercourse was, they became
-disobedient; and were driven out of the garden provided for them by
-no less a being than the Author of the universe. Had the Bible-makers
-arranged the story so as to have made the conversations and intercourse
-result in the continuance of our first parents in the garden, the
-account would have borne some resemblance to truth: but to represent
-it as having ended in their expulsion, is by far too large a draft upon
-human credulity, unless they can believe that God is what Christians
-declare the Devil to be.
-
-If the advocates for the authenticity of the Bible contend that the
-recorded intercourse between the Lord and our first parents is literally
-true, that view of the subject is attended with so many difficulties
-that it is almost impossible to give credit to it But if they contend
-that it is an allegory, then the probability is that the account of the
-creation is altogether a fabulous tradition, consequently not a divine
-inspiration. When the Lord is represented as having appeared to Abram,
-or any of the renowned men of old, such appearances are not spoken of as
-being of uncommon occurrence, nor is any surprise manifested. The Lord
-is always represented as having appeared in a human form. Before the
-sceptic can believe in the reality of these visitations, he must know
-for what end they took place; and, also, why the Lord should in the
-olden times be always ready to appear to, and converse with, his
-favorites, and in modern times altogether discontinue his visits, as if
-there were now nothing on earth worthy of his particular notice.
-
-The Bible informs us that three angels in the form of men appeared to
-Abram, and that one of them was called the Lord, the *Judge of all the
-earth*. They must have been in the likeness of men: for, they had their
-feet washed; they dined with Abram, and the particular kind of food is
-mentioned, which in our day would be denominated veal and griddle-cake.
-And at this dinner the promise was confirmed that Abram and Sarah should
-be blessed with a son in their old age, and that from his descendants
-one should arise who should be for the healing of the nations. After
-dinner the Lord informed Abram that he had heard that Abram’s
-neighbors were extremely wicked, and that he and his companions had
-come to ascertain if the report were correct, and that the vengeance
-of Heaven was about to fall on Sodom and Gomorrah for their crimes. The
-good old man plead hard for the inhabitants, saying, “*Far be it from
-the Lord to slay the righteous with the wicked,*” and thereby in
-a slight degree averted the dreadful doom. The reader can peruse the
-account (Genesis, chapter xviii.,) and make his own comments. The writer
-could as soon believe that the moon is a large cheese, suspended in the
-firmament, as give credit to this contemptible story. If it should
-be asked, how Moses obtained his information as to what Abram had for
-dinner, the answer is, by inspiration.
-
-We will here notice two remarkable appearances of the Lord: one of
-them to Balaam, the other to Moses, A few remarks on each will suffice.
-Balaam was a conjuror, and a person of no small consequence in his day.
-He was applied to by the princes of Moab to prophesy evil against the
-Israelites, That whole nation, under the guidance of Moses, being in the
-act of marching through the land of Moab on their route to the land
-of promise, and having the character of making too free with other
-people’s property, the princes of Moab hired Balaam to curse them.
-We are told that the heathen prophet judged it best to procure the
-permission of Jehovah, the God of the Jews, before he cursed his
-people. He, therefore, erected an altar on the top of a hill, and on
-it sacrificed seven bullocks and seven sheep. During the sacrifice, the
-Lord of heaven and earth came down, and called the prophet aside from
-the presence of the princes of Moab, and forbade him to curse his
-people. The sacrifice was repeated thrice. On each occasion the Lord
-appeared to Balaam, giving him leave to go with the princes, but
-forbidding him on any account to curse the Israelites. The remainder of
-the tale is to be found in the history of Balaam.
-
-Now, can it be possible, that this account contains a particle of truth?
-Can we suppose, that the unknown power, whom man calls God, presented
-himself at the altar of a heathen necromancer, and, whispering in his
-ear, forbade him to perform his monkey tricks to the detriment of his
-chosen people? And that three times he should descend from heaven to
-overawe the old trickster, as if he thought him capable of doing harm
-to the Israelites? This account is rendered more contemptible by being
-referred to by New Testament writers, although the scripture declares
-in many places that “no man can see God and live.” Christians little
-think how largely their credulity is taxed when they are taught to
-believe that such accounts were given by divine inspiration.
-
-It is written in the book of Exodus, (chapter xxiv.,) that After the
-giving of the moral law on Mount Sinai, the Lord called Moses to the
-top of that remarkable place to give him instructions respecting the
-tabernacle and its paraphernalia. Moses remained there forty days,
-attending to the commands of Jehovah. The Lord, on a sudden, informed
-Moses that the Israelites had forsaken him, had set up a golden calf,
-and were in the act of worshipping before it and dancing for joy. Moses
-was ordered to go down. Before he left the mount, however, the Lord’s
-anger waxed hot, and he told Moses not to plead for the wicked people.
-Jehovah, being about to destroy them, Moses besought him not to cut them
-off, and reminded him that, by so doing, the Egyptians would triumph and
-say that their God led them into the wilderness to destroy them.
-
-Moses also reminded Jehovah of the promises made to Abram, Isaac, and
-Jacob, respecting their posterity; and by the arguments he made use of
-in favor of showing mercy to the Jewish people, at length prevailed on
-the Lord to suppress his anger. Having descended from the mount, Moses
-found the people half-naked, and dancing in a state of joyful excitement
-before the Golden Calf. The man who had but just before plead the cause
-of his brethren, and thereby prevented Jehovah’s destroying the whole
-of the seed of Abram, found it less difficult to quiet the fury of
-an angry God, than to keep his own temper; for, when he saw their
-idolatrous dancing and revelry, he lost all patience, and, throwing down
-the tables of stone on which the laws were written, made the inquiry,
-“*Who is on the Lord’s side?*” The Levites instantly came forward
-and declared for the Lord. Moses ordered every man to take his sword
-and slay his neighbor and friends who had rebelled against Jehovah,—a
-shocking slaughter ensued, for three thousand were slain on that day!
-
-If this account could be credited, it would be truly harrowing to the
-reflecting mind. To believers in Christianity, we would say, can you
-expect persons who depend on the exercise of their reason for the
-discovery of truth and the detection of error, to believe the account
-of the transactions of Jehovah and Moses on the mountain? Surely, you
-cannot. We give the following reasons why it is out of our power
-to believe it:—The narrative represents the Almighty Ruler of the
-Universe as possessing the same frailties as his creature, man. The
-Creator is forty days contriving (assisted by Moses) ornaments and
-decorations for his own worship. Before these were completed, the
-people, who were to be the worshippers, deserted their God, and either
-commenced a new religion or revived an old one. For a considerable time,
-Jehovah allows Moses to remain in ignorance of what is going on at the
-foot of the mountain; then, all of a sudden, informs him of it; in
-a burst of passion tells him to stand out of his way, so as to be no
-hindrance to him in pouring out his wrath; and seems determined to
-exterminate the whole race. Moses, less passionate than the Deity,
-argued strenuously in favor of his brethren, and pointed out to
-Jehovah two reasons why he ought to spare them:—first, that their
-extermination would break the promise made to Abram; and secondly, that
-the Egyptians would exult in the destruction of their former slaves,
-Jehovah losing all the honor of having brought them out of bondage with
-*a mighty hand and an outstretched arm*.
-
-Having thus cooled down Divine vengeance, Moses himself became the Jack
-Ketch, or executioner of his brethren.
-
-If this account had been found in any book but the Bible, not one person
-in a thousand would have believed it. It destroys the attributes of the
-God of all worlds, gives the lie to his foreknowledge and immutability,
-and then invests him with all the weakness, folly, and mutability of
-poor, frail, erring man.
-
-With respect to the dreams and visions, of which we find so many
-accounts in the Old and New Testaments, they are spoken of by the
-prophets as being the medium of divine inspiration. One of them thus
-expresses himself:—“*It shall come to pass in the last days, saith
-the Lord, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons
-and your daughters shall prophesy, your old mm shall dream dreams, your
-young men shall see visions.*” (Joel, chapter ii.) Now we know that
-dreams are not the result of divine inspiration. When we read that
-an angel appeared to a man of God, no more can be made of it than
-this:—the priest, or pretended prophet, dreamed that an angel appeared
-to him, and conversed with him.
-
-I have many times dreamed of seeing my first wife, who died upwards of
-forty years ago. If I were to insist that the dream was a reality, it
-would be considered by my friends that my mind was disordered; in
-short, that I was insane. From dreams, we can obtain no correct ideas of
-realities. If persons, who are much subject to dreams, were to imagine
-that their dreams pointed to realities, they would be all their lifetime
-in pursuit of shadows. Dreams and visions would be very uncertain
-channels for the conveyance of divine revelations, for the supposed
-angel might be the servant of the Devil instead of a messenger from
-heaven.
-
-The writings in the Old Testament which are called prophecies,
-generally relate to the Jewish nation. How are we to know that they are
-prophecies? In order that there may be no uncertainty with respect to a
-prophet’s pretensions, he should foretell something to come to pass
-in the lifetime of the persons to whom he declares the prophecy, stating
-the precise time and place, so that when fulfilled, it should be a
-million to one against its being the result of guess-work. It would
-then carry with it a convincing proof of being the result of divine
-inspiration.
-
-To show the dependence that can be placed on prophecies, we may refer to
-the Millerite delusion. The pretensions and extravagances of that sect
-were based on the prophecies of Daniel. I have heard many preachers,
-of acknowledged learning and talent, attempt to explain Daniel’s
-prophecies with regard to the time of the second advent; but they
-generally differed in their views. About the year 1803, a preacher in
-London, (England,) of first rate abilities, told his congregation, a
-very large one, to keep, in mind the year 1833, for that he had, after
-the most laborious calculations, arrived at the conclusion that about
-that period, signs and wonders would indicate the near approach of him
-who is to come again in *power and great glory*.
-
-There is no doubt but hundreds of learned men have, since the time that
-Jesus is said to have left this world, consumed the “midnight oil”
-in their researches to discover the time of the second advent, but to no
-purpose. To no purpose, did I say? I mistook. In the case of Miller, it
-was to a most unfortunate purpose. Thousands of his followers have been
-in a state of partial insanity; many have been absolutely deranged;
-some have committed suicide; others sold their lands, abandoned their
-occupations, neglected their wives and children, and will never regain
-their former happy homes. Can we suppose that the all-wise Ruler of the
-Universe would promulgate prophecies so uncertain with respect to
-their fulfilment, and so disastrous in the effects arising from their
-uncertainty? I repeat, that prophecy, to answer any good purpose, should
-be fulfilled in the lifetime of the persons to whom it is addressed;
-otherwise, the uncertainty attending it renders it worse than useless.
-
-If Daniel had been divinely inspired to foretell any thing relating to
-Christ, common sense suggests that it would have reference to his first
-appearance on earth. Instead of this being the burden of his prophecy,
-he makes no allusion to his first coming, but, according to Christian
-expositors, his dreams and visions refer to the *second* coming of
-Christ, and the final judgment. Father Miller’s bubble having
-burst, his sincere but deluded followers are in a state of extreme
-wretchedness; all of them injured either in mind or circumstances,
-and most of them in both. Many of them will doubtless reject religion
-altogether. So much, then, for depending on divine inspiration.
-
-The power to perform miracles is included in the idea of divine
-inspiration, and implies the possession of a power superior to all human
-power. The exhibition of a power by an individual, superior to what the
-united exertions of a whole nation could perform, ought to be credited
-to the exhibiter as a power *received from on high*,—a conclusion
-drawn by Christian commentators, and also by Jesus himself, with respect
-to his recorded miracles; for, he says—“*If I had not done among
-them the works which no other man did, they would not have had sin; but
-now* [they having seen his miracles, and yet rejected him] *their sin
-remaineth.*”
-
-Miracles are uncertain evidences of divine inspiration. What an ignorant
-man might deem to be a miracle, a man of intelligence and education
-might know to be the result of combined natural causes. What in one
-age has been currently believed to have been the effect of supernatural
-agency, a succeeding and more enlightened age has known as the result
-of certain operations of nature. Nothing can justly be regarded as a
-miracle unless it be, past all dispute, beyond human power to perform.
-To suppose that the Deity makes use of means to promote the improvement
-of his creatures, which are calculated to mislead them, is to impeach
-his wisdom and goodness.
-
-Miracles could not have been evidences of divine interposition to the
-Jewish people, at the time of Christ’s appearance among them, owing
-to the prevailing belief that supernatural beings, called devils, could
-perform wonderful things, far above man’s power or comprehension; and
-that some of them, more powerful than the rest, could invest mortals
-with the power of performing-miracles of the same nature as those
-ascribed to Jesus Christ.
-
-Most of the religious sects at the present day affect to be influenced
-by something almost amounting to divine inspiration—their religion
-consisting of feelings, not of action. In the Scriptures we read, “*If
-any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.*” I have
-often noticed the variety of modes in which the spirit operates on
-different sects. The Methodists, while seeking the Lord, as they term
-it, will sigh, moan, and howl, and immediately after be in ecstasies
-bordering on insanity, and bawl so loud that a passer-by might
-reasonably conclude that some dreadful accident had befallen them.
-Passing to the other extreme, the Friends, or Quakers, are as dumb
-as mutes, and will not allow their speakers to open their lips until
-impelled to do so by the spirit. But the Jumpers, in Wales, (Great
-Britain,) go ahead of all, for they often perform the journey from
-their homes to their churches, by the same kind of evolution as frogs
-make when on their peregrinations in search of water. All these monkey
-tricks are of much easier performance than feeding the hungry, or
-clothing the destitute. Can, or, presuming that they can, will the
-preachers please inform us, which of these three modes of spiritual
-manifestation will be practised in heaven?
-
-In concluding this chapter, I shall make some remarks on the Mormons,
-that being one of the last sects, of any importance, which have arisen,
-professing the Christian faith. They also profess, or their leaders, at
-least, to be specially moved by the Holy Spirit; in other words,
-that they are the recipients of divine inspiration. Whatever other
-denominations of Christians may think of their claims to supernatural
-gifts, they are founded on quite as reasonable grounds as were the
-pretensions of the prophets of old, not even excepting Moses, the Jewish
-legislator; as a brief history of their rise and progress will prove.
-The following account, the writer had from some of the principal
-preachers of the Mormon faith:—“About the year 1827, or ’28,
-Joseph Smith, a young man of obscure parentage, presented to the world a
-production which he called the Book of Mormon, or the Golden Bible;
-and of which, according to his own account, he became possessed in
-the following manner:—When about fifteen years of age, being under
-religious impressions, he used to retire to the fields and thickets in
-the neighborhood of his home, to exercise himself in prayer. One day,
-while thus engaged, an angel appeared to him, and informed him that the
-Lord had a great and important work for him to perform, but that the
-time had not yet arrived for its consummation. Then, after telling him
-that he would be again visited, and urging him to pursue a godly life,
-disappeared. A few years after this, the angel re-visited Joseph,
-repeating his declaration respecting the contemplated work, and
-disappeared as before. At length, on a third appearance, the angel
-directed Joseph to go to a certain spot and dig in the earth, telling
-him that he would there find something of vast importance. Joseph did as
-the angel commanded, and found a number of golden plates, on which were
-impressed characters in a language to him altogether unknown. Having
-copied a portion of the characters, he sent the copy, by a friend, to
-a teacher of the dead languages, in New York, in order to ascertain the
-meaning; but his friend returned without having obtained the desired
-information. The Holy Spirit then enabled Joseph to translate the
-inscriptions, and the translation is, denominated the ‘Book of
-Mormon,’ being named after the person who, fourteen hundred years
-before, had, by Divine command, deposited it in the earth.” This book
-can be obtained of the Mormon preachers.
-
-The progress of the Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints, as they designate
-themselves, has been astonishingly rapid, their number being computed
-at no less than two hundred thousand, of whom about ten thousand
-are congregated in the city of Nauvoo, (or Joseph,) in the State of
-Illinois. This portion of the Mormons had previously located themselves
-in the State of Missouri, but after suffering great persecution, were
-driven out of that State by the inhabitants. They then settled in the
-western part of Illinois, and built the city of Nauvoo, and have nearly
-completed a splendid temple of unique architecture. They, like the Jews,
-believe that they are God’s chosen people, and that, as *the earth
-is the Lord's*, they shall have the honor of calling together the Jews,
-the former chosen people of God, and that all who have not then embraced
-the Mormon faith will be speedily cut off. As the Mormons make the Bible
-the ground-work of their religious belief, and are sparing in their
-allusions to the Book of Mormon, they are likely to become permanently
-established, as a portion of the Christian world, and will probably
-become not only a very numerous, but also a powerful sect.
-
-But the demon of religious persecution—let me pause for a moment.
-I would not knowingly libel any thing, not even religion. Am I not
-mistaken? Not in the personage, most certainly, but I may be in error
-with respect to his official character. Perhaps I owe an apology to the
-religious world. It may be the demon of fraud. At all events, a demon
-of some description is hovering over this remarkable people, and
-threatening them with vengeance. Their smoking and desolate homesteads
-will furnish matter for the future historian, who, with indignation,
-will record, that in the nineteenth century, in the favored land of
-Illinois, the ennobling principles of liberty could boast of no better
-recognition than an empty name. Give ear, ye advocates of liberty in the
-down-trodden nations of Europe! A voice would address you from the
-land of promise. Ten thousand men, women, and children in the State of
-Illinois, can receive no protection from the Genius of Liberty, but in
-the coming spring are to be driven from their peaceful happy homes, to
-wend their way through a dreary wilderness, and seek a resting place on
-the shores of the Pacific Ocean. “Oh! shame! where is thy blush!”
-Cannot even tottering age, and helpless infancy, arrest the fell
-purpose?
-
-The present position of the Mormons, with respect to the rest of the
-world, so nearly resembles that of the Jews when they were leaving
-Egypt, that it is not unlikely for them to assimilate their movements in
-a measure to those of the Israelites, and, believing, as they do, that
-they are influenced by the Holy Ghost, their historians some centuries
-hence will probably record miracles as having been performed by the
-Mormons, similar to what are said to have taken place among the Jews,
-when travelling under the guidance of Moses, to the promised land.
-Feebleness of body reminds me that Death is shaking his arrow over
-me, but surely my mind remains unclouded. Am I really living in the
-enlightened nineteenth century? And if so, am I on the free soil of
-America, or in barbarous Russia, and a subject of the Emperor Nicholas?
-
-The Mormons are to be driven out of the United States. Why? “Because
-they believe themselves to be God’s chosen people, and that all other
-nations must become subject to them.” Indeed! and do not the Jews
-entertain the same belief with respect to their nation? Are they to be
-driven out along with the Mormons? The Mormons are to be driven out.
-Why? “Because they speak in an unknown tongue.” But a few years ago,
-the disciples of Irving, a celebrated preacher in London, spoke in an
-unknown tongue; but so far from their being driven out of the country in
-consequence, the ministrations of Irving were attended by the principal
-nobility and statesmen of Great Britain. The Mormons are to be driven
-out. Why? “Not on account of their religious faith, but because they
-are a community of thieves.” In the English navy the seamen have a
-very contemptuous idea of the marines, and when a very improbable story
-is told by any one, they say, “Tell that to the marines,” intimating
-that *they* are weak enough to believe any thing.
-
-We are told that a religious community which numbers ten thousand
-persons is composed of incorrigible rogues. And yet it is well known
-that they are very industrious, have well cultivated farms, have built
-a city, and nearly completed a splendid temple. What says the experience
-of the world with respect to thieves—that they have been usually found
-among the industrious, or the idle? What are we called upon to believe?
-That a highly industrious religious sect, numbering ten thousand
-souls, manifests such a total disregard of all moral principle that its
-existence cannot be allowed in civilized society? Tell it not in Gath!
-Oh! no; better tell it to the marines.
-
-I do believe that I am in America, and not in Russia, after all. The
-film is departing from my mental vision. An idea strikes me. It is this.
-In this country, under certain circumstances, *well* understood by the
-public, bills of *exceptions* are frequently filed. Aye, now I have
-it This is a Republic; and a Republic is a government intended for the
-benefit of *all*, with the *exception* of the Mormons to-day, and of
-some other religious sect to-morrow; and so on, as avarice, or bigotry,
-or the tyranny of a moneyed aristocracy may dictate, to the end of the
-chapter.
-
-The republicans of the State of Illinois have determined that the
-Mormons shall not remain among them. “Oh! consistency, thou art indeed
-a jewel” For the benefit of persons visiting Illinois, I shall close
-with a quotation from the Old Testament, not remarkable, perhaps,
-for elegance of diction, but having a claim to attention for its
-truthfulness. It is this:—-“It is useless to search for a *jewel* in
-a swine’s snout.”
-
-END OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-THE NEW TESTAMENT
-=================
-
-
-INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER on THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
-=====================================================================
-
-.. dropcap:: T TO
-
-
-TO these persons who can take, without fear, a correct view of
-Jehovah’s dealings with his chosen people, as recorded in the Old
-Testament, it must appear, that the Jews, as a nation, did not, in any
-way, do honor to his choice; for, as it regards religion, they neither
-were at any length of time faithful to Jehovah, nor did they obey his
-laws. The dreadful punishments inflicted on them, together with the
-teaching of the Prophets, did not cure them, so as to prevent them from
-worshipping other gods.
-
-To men of common sense, it is clear that the Jewish God undertook to
-make of the seed of Abram that which never took place. The attempts to
-keep them as true worshippers of Jehovah, continually failed; and he,
-in the language of regret and complaint, says:—“I have nourished and
-brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.” And here we
-may inquire, how were they brought up? The answer is at hand. They were
-taught to consider themselves, as a nation, more valuable than any
-people on earth; and this pride caused them to act with hostility in
-their intercourse with, the Gentiles, and to rob and murder all nations
-less powerful than themselves; for doing which, they had from the Lord a
-direct order. To *show mercy* was forbidden, and they were punished
-for so doing. The command was—“*Thou shall do no murder.*” This
-command had to do with Jews only. To others it was said, “*Spare not
-a soul alive*.” Again, “*Thou shall not steal,*”—that is, from
-Jews: from all heathens, steal all you can. “*Thou shalt not covet thy
-neighbor’s wife,*” &c. Remember!—the wife of a Jew; but when
-the Lord commands, you must murder other men’s wives, and take their
-daughters for the most wicked purposes. This is the manner the seed of
-Abram were brought up; and, in these particulars, they seldom disobeyed
-the Lord.
-
-In this manner the Jews were educated by the Lord of Hosts. Can we then
-wonder that they, in a moral point of view, should have been the most
-cruel and wicked of any nation on earth? It follows, that they were
-a disgrace to that God who selected them as his own; and the Jewish
-dispensation ended in a complete failure: so that it is recorded, that
-the Lord “*hateth his own inheritance.*” Jehovah failed to rear up
-and protect a nation who should serve as a pattern to the rest of the
-human family. They axe acknowledged, by both God and man, to have been
-the worst people on earth.
-
-We are now about to consider another attempt, on the part of the God
-of Israel, to recover and convert his disobedient people to the new
-covenant, or dispensation, by sending the long-expected Saviour of the
-seed of Abram, according to the flesh. Here we ought to expect that a
-double degree of caution will be manifest on the part of the Jewish God,
-so that no mistake may happen to the Jewish nation in their reception
-of, and obedience to, his Son, as an ambassador of peace and
-reconciliation; because, if the mission of Jesus was not clearly
-understood by the Jews, another scene of trouble, more dreadful than
-their former disobedience, would follow as a consequence. We ought to
-expect that Christ would be instructed so to present himself to his
-brethren, that his person and his plans for their recovery would be
-self-evident. No guess-work can be allowed, as it respects the vast
-importance of his mission, or the identity of his person. It needs no
-argument to show, that, when an end or object is to be fully obtained,
-the means must be adapted to answer the end intended, or a failure is
-the consequence.
-
-Here we may ask, for what purpose did Christ come to the Jews? Was it to
-fulfil the promises made to them by Jehovah, *that he would make a new
-covenant with them, and write his laws on their hearts; not according
-to the covenant he made with their fathers, when he brought them out of
-Egypt, but that he would write his laws on their hearts, and their
-sins and iniquities remember no more, and that they should be to him a
-people, and that he would be to them a God?* In fact, we cannot admit of
-the possibility of any mistake or failure to happen in Jehovah’s plan
-of salvation, when we consider that the seed of Abram longed for and
-expected the Great Deliverer of Israel. No trickery or deception ought
-to be resorted to in a case involving such dreadful consequences. It
-is highly dishonorable to the God of the Universe, to admit of any
-double-dealing on his part, when his people were prepared to receive the
-Messiah.
-
-The situation of the Jews, as a nation, at the time it is said that
-Christ made his appearance among them, ought to be kept in view, in
-reading this introduction. They expected a king, or a deliverer, to
-arrive, agreeably to what they had learned from the Old Testament.
-Hence, their inquiry was, “*Art thou he that should come, or do we,
-or are we, to look for another?*” As much as to say, we long for his
-appearance, but we have had false Christs; and the repeated impositions
-practised on our nation makes us cautious as to giving credence to any
-pretender, without full proof of his being the true, the very anointed
-of God. No inquiry could be more reasonable; for it is clear that the
-Jewish nation were open to conviction, and ready to receive with joy the
-sent of Jehovah; but repeated deception and disappointment had made them
-slow to believe in the pretensions of any that came to them in the name
-of the Lord.
-
-We need not be surprised that the seed of Abram should have been so
-scrupulous in believing, until they had incontrovertible proof that the
-hope of Israel had arrived. They considered that event as the end of
-all their troubles; and relying on the promises made, to God’s chosen
-people by the prophets,—that the “*sun of, righteousness should
-arise with healing in his wings*” that his identity would be as
-clearly known, and all obscurity entirely removed as to his being the
-true Christ, the hope and expectation of Israel. The Jews, as a nation,
-were not prepared for any thing short of a full manifestation of
-Jehovah’s promises in the person of the Messiah, that he would be
-their “*Prophet, Priest, and King*” It is not possible to conceive
-that a single Jew could be found who would stretch forth his hand
-against the Lord’s anointed. This, then, was the feeling and
-expectation of the Jews, at the time it is recorded that Christ came as
-the deliverer of Israel. It follows, then, that the only thing the Jews
-required, in order to receive and obey Christ, was, unerring proof that
-Jesus was the promised Messiah; for they were earnestly waiting for that
-glorious event.
-
-We will now inquire, whether or not his introduction to the Jewish
-nation was the most probable way to convince them that the long-desired,
-the long-expected Redeemer of Israel was come? It must ever be kept
-in mind, that the coming of Christ was to the Israelites of vast
-importance, when we consider their former troubles, how they had been
-forsaken by their God, sold, as it were, into severe bondage, and
-scattered over the face of the earth, in consequence of their departure
-from the God of their fathers. To all which, it may be added, that they
-had been deceived by false Christs: so that, as a nation, they ought to,
-and doubtless did, fully expect that the true Messiah, on his arrival,
-would convince every real Jew that he was the sent of God, and that
-the evidence would be different, in all respects, from what had before
-attended impostors and cheats. Of all the embassies ever sent by one
-nation to another, none ever equalled in importance the one where the
-Son, the only Son of God, was the ambassador.
-
-In the intercourse between nations, and when a minister is sent out
-from one nation to another, one thing is always provided for, and on
-no account is it ever omitted, namely:—proper credentials are always
-prepared and sent by one nation to another, so that the identity of the
-ambassador is indisputable. This indispensable qualification appears to
-have been omitted in sending Christ to the Jewish nation, and it proved
-most unfortunate to those ill-fated people; for it is evident, from
-Scripture, that they mistook Jesus for an impostor, since one of the
-apostles admits, that if they (the Jews) had known him, “*they would
-not have killed the Lord of life and glory*.”
-
-Here, then, was the fatal mistake, the unfortunate error; and now we may
-ask, for what was Jesus sent? Jehovah knew that they would not receive
-him, and that a failure would be the consequence. But if Jehovah did not
-know of his rejection, what then are we to say of the attributes of the
-God of Israel? Taking either side, involves the greatest absurdity, and
-is shocking to every idea we can have of infinite wisdom, power, and
-goodness.
-
-If Jesus, on his arrival to the Jews as a nation, intended to prove his
-divine mission by the performance of miracles, he appears to have
-taken the wrong course to carry conviction to the minds of his fellow
-countrymen. Instead of performing signs and wonders before the most
-learned of his nation, he associated with the most ignorant classes of
-society. These were chiefly fishermen, who could be easily imposed on
-by any sleight of hand, performed by a dexterous juggler. It was to the
-most learned and competent men of that day to whom his appeals ought
-to have been made; but on the contrary, he employed such vulgar abuse
-as—“*O, generation of vipers! how can ye escape the damnation of
-hell?*” It may safely be inferred, that such abusive language as this
-would be considered by the priests and rulers sufficient to stamp its
-author as a man of low character and violent temper.
-
-Again, instead of opening his mission with the declaration of
-Jehovah’s former promises to the Jewish nation, *that the God of their
-fathers had sent him to recover the lost sheep of the home of Israel*,
-he tells them that the holy temple was then *a den of thieves*; and at
-another time, commences with a cord, or rattan, (like a drunken man,) to
-drive men from the temple. Is it possible to conceive that such could be
-the conduct of him who was proclaimed to be “*Peace on earth and good
-will towards men*”?
-
-Again, miracles, as proofs of Christ’s divine mission, ought to have
-been performed before the most learned and talented men among the Jews.
-On the contrary, it was the ignorant and unlettered part of society who
-were the witnesses of his mighty deeds; for it is impossible for men
-who are unacquainted with the laws and phenomena of nature, to form any
-thing like a correct judgment of those laws, so as to know what were
-their natural operations, to the exclusion of divine power. So that a
-performance of any thing, however wonderful to ignorant and untaught
-men, would, to others, who were better acquainted with the laws of the
-universe, be no miracle at all.
-
-In conclusion, then, so far as miracles are concerned, a miracle must be
-something performed by another, that is impossible to take place without
-superhuman aid; and before persons who are so fully acquainted with the
-laws of the universe, that imposition would be impossible. Now the Jews,
-at the time of the coming of Christ, if he did come at all, had no such
-knowledge. In that age, many strange things were believed, that never
-had any real existence. For instance, it was fully believed by the
-Jews, and nearly throughout the world, that evil spirits or demons took
-possession of the bodies of men, and ceased, not to torment them in a
-thousand ways; and the casting out of these was considered a miracle.
-Jesus is said to have performed many miracles of this kind. Mary
-Magdalene had seven of them ejected by the Saviour. So it is recorded.
-
-But now, no man of science gives the least credit to such tales; so that
-the fact is, no devils ever were cast out, because none ever entered the
-human body. If Jesus, then, pretended to cast out devils, when he knew
-there were none possessed of them, how can we exempt him from the
-charge of being a deceiver? If, on the other hand, he believed that Mary
-Magdalene had seven, and that they left her by his orders, in that case,
-what shall we say as to his knowledge?
-
-At the present day, should a person apply for medical aid to cast out a
-devil, such person would be considered a lunatic. This is proof positive
-that Jesus partook of the superstition of the age in which he lived;
-and that his pretensions to cast out devils by the power of God, were
-incompatible with his mission as the Son of God, the Redeemer of Israel.
-
-The history of Jesus, as recorded in the four Gospels, fully represents
-him as acting like most reformers in all ages and nations, namely,
-by abusing men of wealth and power. But, unlike most others, Jesus
-represented himself as the only Son of God, by whose authority he
-(Jesus) called the priests and the rulers of Israel by names the most
-offensive, thereby exciting their opposition to his mode of teaching and
-acting. At the same time, the lower grades of society did then, as they
-do at the present day. They considered him as a reformer, the friend
-of the people, in proportion as he was lavish in his abuse of the most
-violent nature.
-
-In concluding this chapter, we may safely infer, that if Jesus was sent
-into the world to be put to death as a sacrifice for sin, his manner
-of preaching to his countrymen, and his violent abuse and denunciations
-against the then rulers of Israel, were calculated to bring about his
-tragical end. But, on the contrary, if Jesus came from God, To *restore
-the lost sheep of the home of Israel*, as the Jews, one and all,
-expected the Messiah would do, it then follows, that the Jews, as a
-nation, were deceived, and in putting him to death, they thought him a
-blasphemer, having no claim to be considered as the true deliverer of
-his nation. If Jesus came from God to the Jews, as their long-expected
-Saviour and Deliverer, and every blessing, as it respected them,
-depended on their giving him an obedience agreeable to his mission as
-an ambassador of peace, to mistake him for an impostor, was a misfortune
-more deplorable than all the misfortunes, as a nation, the Jews had ever
-experienced from the call of Abram until the time that Christ is said
-to have arrived in the land of Judea. If, in reality and truth, he came
-from the Jehovah of that people, as they had for ages expected, then,
-instead of his collecting together a few fishermen, common sense would
-instruct us to suppose, that the Lord’s anointed would go direct
-to the priests and Jewish, rulers, and accost them in the following
-way:—“The long-expected, the long-desired, is now in the midst of
-you. I am the true, the very Christ, the anointed of Jehovah, of the
-seed of Abram. My beloved mother will lift her hand, and swear on
-the altar of her God and my God, the Father of us all, that I am the
-offspring of God, and that in the absence of all earthly intercourse,
-she brought me forth, and that angels announced her miraculous
-conception, before I saw the light; and that I am endowed with power
-from on high, to do before your longing eyes miracles and wonders, such
-as all former pretenders could not perform. But, as you have before been
-deceived by impostors who have forged my name, and assumed my character,
-believe me not for my word, but for my works’ sake. Mark well my
-deportment Give credit to my mighty deeds only when they are openly
-addressed to your senses, that no doubts may remain as to the identity
-of my person, and the high commission of which I am the bearer;
-and being fully convinced of my Messiahship, obey me as the earthly
-representative of your heavenly Father, while I unfold the blessings
-that await you, in the fulfilment of the promises made to Abram and his
-seed forever.” Instead, however, of thus openly and frankly making
-known the object of his message to his nation, Jesus begins by making
-use of expressions the most insulting, charging the priests and rulers
-with crimes of the basest description, in the worst language possible;
-the direct tendency of which was, to arouse their worst feelings,
-leaving them in doubt what to think of one who arrogated to himself
-authority over the Mosaic law, and whose teaching was so obscure as not
-to be understood even by his own disciples. In speaking of himself and
-the kingdom he was about to set up, he said that his death formed a part
-of the divine arrangement included in his mission; as much as to say, I
-must be put to death before my plane can be developed. At times, in the
-course of his preaching, Jesus referred to his future exaltation, as the
-“Judge of quick and dead.” At other times he represented himself
-as the only true light that enlightens every man that cometh into the
-world; and yet, he courted obscurity in most of his preaching, so much
-so, that one of his most intimate friends (Judas) was bribed to inform
-the rulers who this extraordinary man was, and where he could be found.
-
-What would be thought of an ambassador, sent from America to England on
-business of the first importance, if, instead of proceeding to the Court
-of St. James, at London, he should be found lecturing to fishermen and
-people in the lower walks of society, and at the same time, in language
-of the most violent kind, abusing the British Government? In fine, such
-was the preaching and acting of Jesus during his stay in the land of
-Israel, that to me it appears impossible to discover the object or the
-utility of his coming. No wonder, therefore, that the Jews rejected him
-altogether.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER I.
-==========
-
-.. dropcap:: W WHATEVER
-
-
-WHATEVER may have been the moral character of the Jews, as a nation, at
-the time the reputed Messiah came among them, the priests and the people
-not only expected his advent, but they also considered that event as an
-end to their then subjugation, and more than a renewal of their former
-greatness and glory. And here the reader will perceive that they (the
-Jews) had no prejudice against the appearance of such a personage; the
-only thing they required was, his certain identity, that they might know
-the true Messiah was among them. Nothing could have been more favorable
-to his reception than such a universal expectation. This general belief
-throughout the nation was on their part equivalent to their saying to
-the God of Jacob, “We have long waited, and most ardently desired, the
-fulfilment of the promise made to Abram and his seed forever.”
-This short statement is faithful, and true as to the feelings and
-expectations of the whole Jewish nation.
-
-In this stage of our remarks, every thing appears to warrant the
-conclusion, that, on the part of the descendants of Abram, no difficulty
-stood in the way of their submitting to their expected Lord and Master.
-To make him fully known to them, so that no mistake could possibly
-happen as to his person and authority, belonged to Jehovah alone; for if
-the Messiah promised, seemed in nowise to be represented in the person
-of Jesus, then the Jews would have been sure to have rejected him as
-another impostor of the same sort as had previously imposed on their
-nation. In reviewing, then, the New Testament, the object of the writer
-will be to show, that Jesus, the pretended Saviour of the world, was
-not sent from God, and consequently, the New Testament is not of Divine
-authority.
-
-In the following inquiry, I shall not dispute the existence of Jesus,
-*as a man*, living about the time recorded of him, but take for granted
-the history of his life, with the exception of his divine mission,
-as this method will be better understood by the reader, as excluding
-irrelevant matter. In the Gospel history, then, it clearly appears, that
-Jesus wrote nothing of his own sayings or doings; it was all done by
-others. This omission to give a clear code of morals, adapted to the
-Gospel dispensation, and also rules and regulations for this new sect,
-will appear strange, when we refer to the formation and regulation of
-the Jewish Church. Moses, or whoever was its founder, took great pains
-to record the most minute things connected with the Jewish worship;
-while, on the contrary, the Christian Church is left in such a state of
-uncertainty, that its author wrote not a word himself, nor, for aught we
-know, did he give orders to his followers to commit to writing any thing
-he did or said, not even of the miracles he so often performed. It must
-appear passing strange, that a religion of such vast importance to the
-whole human race should be, as it were, left to chance, as to the
-manner in which it was to descend to posterity, when compared with
-the minuteness of the Mosaic code. Of the four evangelists, no one in
-particular had orders to write the life and doings of Christ, so that
-the inference is this: that all the history of the life of Jesus,
-including his death and resurrection, is but the testimony of others;
-consequently, we have no certainty that Christ ever said or did those
-things recorded of him. So that it amounts to this—somebody has said
-that Jesus performed miracles; and the same may be said of the rest of
-his sayings and doings; and we may add, that somebody has written that
-he was put to death, and that on the third day he arose from the dead.
-
-It is from such vague and unauthenticated writings, written by
-nobody knows who, nor when they made their first appearance, that the
-foundation is drawn on which rests the Gospel Dispensation; and as the
-different writers have given different accounts of the things said to
-have taken place, no reliance can be given to any of the facts recorded
-as having actually occurred. The different writers have also given
-rise to doctrines so opposite to each other, that every sect can find
-Scripture evidence for the support of its respective dogmas. Eighteen
-hundred years have then passed away, and we are still ignorant of what
-is, and what is not, Gospel.
-
-Is it possible that any thing can be more directly in opposition,
-than the Universalists and the different sects that believe in endless
-punishment in a future life? Again, can any two things be more opposite
-than the doctrines concerning the person of Christ, as held by the
-Unitarians and the Trinitarians; and yet, both of these doctrines are
-taken from the New Testament, which contains all that is written of him.
-And what is still more wonderful, each of these sects are positive
-with respect to their own opinions, and are surprised at each other’s
-ignorance of God’s Word; and even at the present day, they only want
-full power, and they would soon come to blows. Not only these opinions,
-but many more, equally opposed to each other, can be supported by
-referring to God’s unerring Word. It is a common saying, “the
-glorious uncertainty of the law”; I will add, it is the glorious
-uncertainty of the *Gospel* which has made so many priests, and also, it
-is its uncertainty which has been in every age of the church the cause
-of thousands of honest persons meeting a violent and cruel death, for
-the glory of God.
-
-The reader will in the following pages discover, that my main object is
-to show that Jesus was no more sent from heaven to save mankind by the
-sacrifice of himself for the sins of the world, than others are sent to
-build houses or dig canals; and that the plan, as it is called, of human
-redemption, has brutalized the human race, and stood in the way of moral
-rectitude, and the development of kind and humane feelings. Although
-Matthew and Luke have recorded the miraculous conception of Jesus, yet,
-as it is omitted by Mark and John, I shall begin my remarks with the
-baptism of John. As it respects the heavenly origin of Jesus, he never
-mentions it in the course of his ministry, neither does his mother.
-Jesus, in speaking of himself, said he was *the son of man*. Now, if
-Joseph, or some other man, was not his father, he (Jesus) then went by
-a false name; for, in that case, he was but the son of a woman. We will
-leave this point of disputation with the Christians, and begin with the
-baptism of John.
-
-After Jesus had been baptized by John, it is recorded, that there came a
-voice from heaven, saying, “*Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well
-pleased.*” (Mark i., 11.) “*And immediately the Spirit driveth him
-into the wilderness, and he was there in the wilderness forty days,
-tempted of Satan.*” What possible end was to be obtained by this
-journey into the wilderness, and what kind of spirit it was that drove
-him there, we have no information. At any rate, in a forlorn state, and
-very hungry, Satan made his first visit to the Messenger of Peace.
-Jesus seemed no way surprised at this Satanic intrusion. They conversed
-together as old friends. We may suppose Satan to open the conversation
-somewhat in the following manner:—
-
-“Why, Jesus! you seem to be any thing but in comfortable quarters.
-This is carrying temperance rather too far; nothing to eat or drink, and
-surrounded by wild beasts as hungry as yourself! I have heard that you
-represent to your nation that you are sent to them from Jehovah, your
-father. Now, if you have any thing to communicate to them of importance,
-this secluded spot is very unfavorable to make known your mission. Come,
-give over fasting, for *if you are the Son of God, command these
-stones that they be made bread?*” This observation, or, as it
-is called, this temptation of the Devil, caused Jesus to make this
-reply:—“*It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but
-by every word that proceedeth ont of the mouth of God. Then the
-Devil taketh him up into the holy city, [or coaxed him to leave the
-wilderness,] and setteth him on a pinnacle of the Temple, 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.
-Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the
-Lord thy God. Again, the Devil taketh him up into art exceeding high
-mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the worlds and the glory
-of them; and saith unto him, all these things will I give thee, if
-thou wilt fall dawn and worship me. 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. Then the Devil leaveth him, and behold
-angels came and ministered unto him.*” (Matthew, chapter iv.)
-
-To those Who are not afraid to examine this strange account, it must
-appear unworthy of the least credit. In the first place, as it stands
-recorded, the Devil and Jesus act as if they had been old and intimate
-acquaintances. This is the first announcement we have that any such
-personage as the Devil ever visited this earth, except he is the same
-identical being who, upwards of four thousand years before, came to the
-garden of Eden and tempted Eve, and was the cause of herself and her
-husband’s being expelled from that abode of innocence. If it were
-the intention of the writers of the life of Jesus, that it should
-be understood that the Devil had been resting quietly, and enjoying
-himself, and then appeared, ripe for new schemes of mischief, and Satan
-reasoning within himself was resolved again to try his hand,—is it
-possible, when this account is duly considered, that one person in a
-thousand can give credit to such nonsense?
-
-A few remarks on Christ’s temptation by the Devil will suffice to show
-its absurdity. In the first place, then, can we believe that a being
-of Infinite Power, Wisdom, and Goodness, ever has, or does now, keep
-in existence a Devil whose whole aim and happiness consist in tempting
-God’s creatures to rebel against their maker and benefactor; and that
-God has given him power and capacity to induce men and women to commit
-every sort of crime that disgraces humanity? Besides, so artful is this
-Devil that man has but a poor chance to escape his cunning attacks and
-devices. We are told that the Lord is angry with the wicked every day;
-and yet for all that, he has made a being of immense power who possesses
-unbounded malice against both God and man. Would any man, who was in
-his right mind, keep in his employ a person who would daily destroy his
-property, and breed discord among his steady workmen? None but a madman
-could so act; and shall we suppose that the all-wise ruler of the
-universe would follow in the path of a man out of his senses?
-
-Again, according to the account in Matthew, the Devil seems full of life
-and impudence; while the reputed Saviour appears sheepish and stupid,
-and seems willing to follow the Devil about at his bidding! We have no
-account as to the form in which the Devil appeared, whether as a rich
-man or a loafer; whether fat or lean, and how old he appeared to be;
-neither are we informed in what kind of dress he walked through the
-street of Jerusalem, whether it was in the costume of the age, or in
-the livery of hell. At any rate, Jesus seemed rather scared at the
-old serpent. Jesus commenced his mission more like a hermit than as
-a messenger of peace; to God’s chosen people. In fact, there is, in
-Jesus, through his whole life, something so unearthly that his existence
-as a man is very doubtful. In the whole account of the temptation of the
-Devil, the evidence of its being a mixture of fable and falsehood is,
-apparent.
-
-Besides, it is altogether unaccountable how Jesus and the Devil became
-so well acquainted with each other; for Jesus was a Jew by nation, and
-strictly obeyed the law of Moses; but Moses is completely silent as to
-the existence of any such personage as the Devil. At the time when it is
-said Jesus came to the Jewish nation, they had, during their captivity,
-embraced the theology of their conquerors; and on their return to the
-land of their nativity, brought with them the-belief in the existence of
-good and bad angels, and also the doctrine of a future state of rewards
-and punishments,—dogmas unknown to, and never taught by, Moses. It is
-clear, then, that the very existence of a Devil never was a doctrine
-of the Old Testament, but on the contrary, it was borrowed from eastern
-mythology; and Jesus, finding that the Jews professed to believe it,
-fell in with it, as also a heaven and a hell, and a judgment to come,
-which doctrines were all of heathen origin. The Old Testament is silent
-as to what constitutes orthodox Christianity. Ye Christian ministers!
-your heaven and hell, by the teaching of which you gain wealth and live
-like princes, is nothing but an echo of by-gone ages, which had its
-origin in the imagination of the priesthood of an antiquity anterior to
-the existence of Moses or of the Jewish nation!
-
-But to return to the temptation of Jesus by the Devil. And here it may
-be asked, how it can now, or ever could, be considered a temptation at
-all? If Jesus was what they say he professed to be, *the sent of God*,
-he knew well that the Devil had nothing to give him by way of inducement
-to distrust his Father’s superintendence and care. Jesus might have
-said to Satan, “You lying old Devil, you know that you have no kingdom
-to bestow; you likewise well know that you have not land enough whereon
-to build a hovel, in which to shelter your favorite associates, the
-swine!” But, on the contrary, Jesus seems to act with great respect
-towards the Devil. He made no objections to follow Satan wherever he
-chose to lead him. We are ignorant of the object Jesus had in view by
-retiring into the wilderness; and how the Devil came to be acquainted
-with his destitute situation, we are also at a loss to conjecture.
-Likewise, we have yet to learn whether Satan resided among the Jews, or
-dwelt in the regions of the air, as he is called “the Prince and power
-of the air, the spirit which works in the hearts of the children of
-disobedience.”
-
-The number of forty years, or days, is repeatedly chosen by the writers
-of the Old Testament, in which to perform something wonderful, and of
-great importance. Thus, the Jews were forty years going from Egypt
-to the land of promise, during which time nearly all that came out of
-bondage were destroyed for their disobedience against the God of Abram,
-Isaac, and Jacob. Jehovah and Moses were forty days on Mount Sinai,
-preparing ornaments for the Jewish worship, during which time Aaron and
-the rest of the Israelties returned back to worship the gods of their
-former oppressors; so that it appears, before the church of Jehovah in
-the wilderness was ready to sing his praise, and thank him for bringing
-them out of bondage, both Aaron and the people were singing and dancing
-before the golden calves of Egypt! The number forty has been most
-unfortunate for Jehovah’s plans; for, in addition to repeated failures
-connected with the number forty, it is recorded that Jehovah was grieved
-forty years for the transgressions of his chosen people; and Jesus,
-after forty days’ fasting, surrounded by devouring beasts and hungry
-vultures, behold! the Devil came skulking along with brazen-faced
-impudence, and Jesus, the better to get rid of him, broke up his
-solitary abode. Thus, again, the number forty concluded without any
-apparent object being effected.
-
-Whoever wrote this account of Christ’s temptation, as if it was not
-foolish enough, has added, that after the Devil had withdrawn from
-making Jesus such tempting offers to enlist into his service, angels
-came and ministered unto him. What the nature of the service was, which
-they performed, we know not; but one would suppose their first inquiry
-ought to have been, whether he did not wish to have his dinner as soon
-as possible? The whole of this account is so contemptible, that I shall
-not give it any further attention.
-
-If we contrast the submissive conduct and humble deportment of Jesus,
-when in conversation with the Devil, with his manner and intercourse
-with the rulers and priests of his own nation, he appears, in reference
-to the latter, whom we should expect he would have treated with that
-respectable language due to their standing in society, and consistent
-with his dignity as the Messenger of Peace, to great disadvantage as a
-divine teacher: for it must be ever borne in mind, that Jesus must be
-considered, according to his own account, superior to all that ever came
-before him, and to the imperfections found in men in common, and even in
-the prophets of old, so that he must so conduct himself that his sayings
-and doings must be capable of standing the most rigid moral scrutiny.
-But, instead of his appealing to the Jewish rulers in the most courteous
-manner—instead of his plainly stating who he was, and the vast
-importance of his coming on earth, he begins by upbraiding them in a
-way calculated to disgust them, and thereby frustrate the object of his
-mission. He calls them “a generation of vipers” and asks them “how
-they can think to escape the damnation of hell?”
-
-Although the chief priest and rulers were over-anxious in their
-inquiries as to whom he was, and by what authority he so openly
-condemned others, he treated them as unworthy of a civil reply; for,
-let the moral conduct of the Jewish priests and rulers be what it might,
-admitting it was very bad, nothing could justify him in the use of
-insult and the most violent vituperations. What kind of reception would
-an ambassador meet with in England, should he, before his' mission was
-fully understood by that Court, abuse the rulers of that kingdom, and at
-the same time associate with a few obscure individuals as witnesses
-of such abuse? Would he be considered a fit person to represent the
-authorities who sent him? for, never let us forget, that of all the
-missions sent by one nation to another nation for the settlement of
-any difficulties that might exist between them, none ever was of such
-importance as the one which Jesus was to present to "*the lost sheep of
-the house of Israel*.” Let us also bear in mind, that the rulers among
-the Jews made every inquiry as to whom he was, and the purport of his
-coming. Yes, every effort on the part of the Jews was made to draw out
-of him from whence he derived his authority: but his answers were any
-thing but to the point, for, he said on one occasion, “*An evil and
-adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign
-be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas,*” and that was no
-answer at all.
-
-I am well aware what Christians will say in this case: that his miracles
-were sufficient evidence; but all the proof we have that he did perform
-miracles, is, somebody has written that he did so. But here I shall
-dispute the performance of some of his miracles, from the New Testament
-account of them; and, in my next chapter, I shall show that modern
-discoveries have proved, beyond dispute, that some of the miracles said
-to have been performed by Jesus could not have taken place, for if any
-person in the present age, were to pretend that he could perform similar
-miracles, he would not only be considered an impostor, but would also be
-deemed an ignoramus.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER. II.
-============
-
-.. dropcap:: O OF
-
-
-OF all the miracles said to have been wrought by Jesus, as recorded in
-the Gospels, the casting out of devils are among the foremost. The case
-of Mary Magdalene is often referred to by Jesus himself; it is related
-that no less than seven had taken possession of her person. It is truly
-wonderful, that at the time of Christ’s preaching, the old Devil of
-all, and a host of subordinate ones, appeared to be more active than at
-any other time of which we have any account The Old Devil came forward
-after an absence of more than four thousand years; for, we have no
-account that he, either in person or by proxy, had visited God’s
-chosen people, admitting that it was he, who, by the agency of a
-serpent, or by any other means, deceived Adam and Eve, by which
-deception, pain, and even death, followed as a consequence. Satan might
-well think that he could afford to rest awhile, till Jehovah should make
-some new movement to benefit the human race.
-
-How the Devil came to know that Jesus was about to commence preaching
-repentance for the remission of sin, we have no means of finding out;
-but, when Jesus had retired into the wilderness, behold the Devil was
-close at his heels, and they seemed to be as well acquainted as two old
-playmates. The Devil was well fitted for discussion, for he appeared
-well versed with the Old Testament. However, if he were the same Devil
-who outwitted Jehovah in Paradise, he failed to obtain a victory over
-the Son in the wilderness. What became of him after his defeat on the
-Temple, and when he came down from the mountain, we have no account No
-mention is made of his being concerned in riding the hogs into the sea.
-We must, therefore, leave him, and attend to the triumph of Jesus in
-ejecting them from their strong holds.
-
-The first in order which we shall review, as being possessed of devils,
-will be Mary Magdalene, out of whom, it is recorded, Jesus cast seven
-devils. This woman must be considered most grievously afflicted. How
-they operated on her—whether it was by inflicting bodily pain, or
-a mental disease, we know not; at any rate, she seemed incapable of
-getting rid of them. The number being seven, and having dispositions
-opposed to each other, they no doubt often quarrelled among themselves,
-and disturbed her in her sleeping hours; at all events, her gratitude
-and attachment to Jesus is proof positive that she preferred their room
-to their company.
-
-Christians, in speaking of Mary Magdalene, convey the idea, that,
-previous to the casting out of the devils, she did not bear a good
-character. But this is a mistake; for, if the New Testament account of
-devils taking possession of persons, be true, and that no human
-power can eject them, it then follows, that Mary Magdalene was truly
-unfortunate, since no less than seven of these intruders were constantly
-about her. We are left to conjecture how the number seven could have
-been discovered. If Mary had been compelled to have had seven teeth
-extracted, the number could have been fully known to those who stood by;
-but how, or in what way, it could have been known that seven devils
-were cast out, unless they appeared visible to the by-standers, does not
-appear. But we will not dwell too long on such sheer nonsense, as not
-one word of truth is in the whole story of casting out devils; for the
-best of all possible reasons, because there were none at all to cast
-out. It is recorded that the Jews were troubled with devils of different
-kinds, such as unclean devils, deaf and dumb devils, and, in one case,
-a kind of devil which could not be cast out only by prayer and fasting.
-If, at the present day, a person was to apply for medical aid, and hint
-to the doctor that his wife was really possessed with (not seven) but
-one devil, the doctor would consider such a man a fit subject for a
-lunatic asylum.
-
-As it respects demoniacal possession, it is, or rather was of heathen
-origin. The Jews, as a nation, believed in its truth, as did also the
-surrounding nations; consequently, if a person had a complaint attended
-with fits, or any thing rather out of the common way, by which human
-beings were afflicted, such a disease was considered a possession of
-one or more evil spirits. But now, that the laws of nature are better
-understood, and medical science more fully developed, demonology, as
-well as witchcraft and sorcery, are given up altogether. No doubt now
-remains, but that the whole was the effect of ignorance and fraud; and
-consequently the casting out of devils by Jesus and his apostles, had no
-reality in it whatever. It is not possible for us to conceive why demons
-or devils should have taken possession of human beings, admitting that
-they have a real existence. We are ignorant as to the state of mind
-of these beings. Whether in those days they took possession of men and
-women out of rebellion against God, or, having no real home, were only
-wanderers, and felt more comfortable when dwelling in the bodies of
-animals or of human beings, we cannot determine. The latter, however,
-appears to have been the case; for, an one occasion, when Jesus was
-about to expel a legion, the devils *besought him to permit them to
-enter into the swine*; but it is recorded, that the hogs started off
-down into the sea, and were drowned. What became of the devils, we know
-not. If this miracle took place, one thing is clear, namely, that
-the devils, with all their cunning, made a bad calculation as to the
-security they would have m the swine.
-
-At the time Jesus is said to have lived among the Jews, the casting out
-of devils was a common occurrence; for Jesus, in reply to the charge
-that he cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince or chief of devils,
-says, “*If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast
-them out? therefore they shall be the judges,*” So that, after all, it
-follows, that what so many could do without the authority of Jesus, was
-no miracle at all. It was nothing short of imposition, and failed of
-being any proof of his divine mission. The truth is, that casting out
-devils was a heathen practice, among many other things, of heathenish
-origin; and Jesus, according to the New Testament, fell in with it,
-as he did with many doctrines which the Jews brought into the land of
-Israel when they returned from their long captivity. The Jews brought
-back with them the belief of a future state of rewards and punishments,
-the existence of the soul, a heaven for the virtuous and good, and a
-hell for the wicked; also good and bad angels, and a future judgment,
-over which Jesus said to the Jews he was appointed to be the judge.
-Notwithstanding the silence of the Old Testament as to the tenets above
-noticed, yet Jesus fell in with them, and he also threatened the Jews
-that they were in danger of that very hell and damnation which they
-gathered from their heathen conquerors. Ye Christian priests! your
-heaven and hell, and also your devil, belong to and originated in a
-heathen mythology, the beginning of which is lost in a remote antiquity.
-Yes, Christian doctors! your heaven and hell, which, from the hope of
-the first, and the fear of the last, you teach as divine truths, and, by
-so doing, live in splendor,—these very doctrines have nothing divine
-about them, and you ought to know it.
-
-Leaving, then, the miracles of casting out devils, which were no proof
-of the divine mission of Jesus, because others, it is said, could,
-without his aid, do the same, we must refer to the other miracles said
-to have been performed and intended to establish his claim as being the
-true Messiah, *the sent of God*. If the miracles that Jesus performed,
-had been intended to remove all doubts that the Jewish nation had as
-to his being an impostor, such miracles ought to have been sufficiently
-convincing for that purpose; for, on such test, his reception or
-rejection entirely depended. Now, from the accounts of his appealing to
-his countrymen, and reproaching them for their unbelief, he does not, to
-all appearance, wish nor try to convince them; for, it is said of
-his, miracles, that “he did not many mighty works because of their
-unbelief.” Their incredulity as to his being the true Christ, is
-a reason why he should have followed up miracle after miracle, until
-unbelief would have been impossible on the part of the Jews; for, the
-reader must keep in mind that the dispute with Jesus and the Jews was
-not of a moral character: it was as to his authority in assuming to be
-greater than Abram, or all the prophets of the Old Testament.
-
-Again, Jesus says, “*Woe unto you* [of such a town or village,] *for
-if the mighty works which have been done in you, had been done in
-Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes*.”
-“Therefore it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the
-day of judgment, than for you.” Now here we can see, that the miracles
-were not of the sort to convince. Then, why not produce others more
-strong? Besides, it showed Jesus to be ignorant of the human mind, his
-condemning men for not believing when the evidence was not strong enough
-to convince them. It is true, according to the accounts of Christ’s
-preaching to the Jews, that instead of argument he resorted to abuse of
-the coarsest kind, and the same conduct is pursued by Christians towards
-unbelievers at the present day. In some instances, Jesus charged the
-persons on whom a miracle had been performed, that *they should tell
-none of it.*
-
-Again, the evidence arising from the working of miracles must always
-depend on the information possessed by those before whom such signs and
-wonders were wrought. If Jesus intended to rest his Messiahship on the
-wonders he intended to perform, in such a case the most learned and best
-informed of the Jewish nation were the proper persons to be the judges
-for, in our day, in the nineteenth century, we have daily proof that so
-universal is ignorance, and so credulous is the mass of society, that
-such trash and inconsistent doctrines as those taught by Joseph Smith
-and his famous Golden Bible have gained thousands Of believers, and the
-greatest part of them are sincere, and would suffer death sooner than
-renounce what they believe to be a divine revelation to Smith, and
-others of the same stamp. The most learned and intelligent of the Jews
-knew this truth, as many of their ignorant people had been led away
-by false Christs, and lost their all, and their lives also. No wonder,
-then, that they should watch closely every movement made by Jesus,
-the then reputed Messiah. There are, in the present age, many things
-discovered and known to the most unlearned, that, in former times, much
-less remote than the time in which Jesus is said to have lived, Would
-have been thought miraculous, and the persons performing them as
-possessing power more than human. So that we may safely conclude, that
-Infinite Wisdom would not have made use of so uncertain a species of
-evidence as miracles, to convince the Jews that the *sent of God was
-come*. Other and more certain means would have been resorted to, so that
-the Jews could not have mistaken the real Christ, and put him to death
-for an impostor.
-
-If we attentively examine the life of Jesus, as written by the four
-evangelists, we shall be surprised at many parts of his proceedings.
-His uncourteous language to the great men of his nation must strike the
-reader very forcibly. He preaches humility and meekness, and soon we
-perceive him arrogating divine honors, and calling those, who came
-before him, robbers and thieves. He commands his followers to *judge
-not*, and the next moment he judges others, and condemns them without
-ceremony; and although it is said of him, that “a bruised reed he
-would not break, and smoking flax he would not quench,” and that
-“*his voice could not be heard in the street,*” yet we find him using
-something very little short of outrage and violence. In the affair of
-the Temple, for instance, it is recorded that Jesus took a cord, and
-began to attack those sitting about that sacred place, “*overthrowing
-the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold
-doves,*” calling them “*a den of thieves.*” Such conduct the Jews
-could not expect from their long-wished and earnestly-desired Messiah.
-
-Even at twelve years of age, his conduct seems to have had something
-strange about it; namely, his absenting himself from his home. When
-his parents found him, and told him that “*they had sought him
-sorrowing,*” he said, in reply, “Wist ye not that I must be about my
-Father’s business?” This answer appears not to have been understood
-by his relations; but if Joseph was not his father, his mother could not
-wonder at his straying from home; she would have said to Joseph, “As
-you are not his father, he has reference to the Holy Ghost.” His
-conduct also partook of the same strangeness at the marriage-feast. When
-the wine was all out, his mother told her son of it; his reply was
-not very dutiful—“*Woman*,” says he, “*what have I to do with
-thee?*” At such a place, on the night of a marriage ceremony, there
-seems something so unearthly about him, that he never appeared at ease
-in any company; such an absence of mirthful enjoyment was calculated to
-spread a gloom throughout the whole party.
-
-But that which appears very strange in Jesus, is his using language that
-even his disciples did not understand, such as, “The kingdom of heaven
-is at hand;” that he “came down from heaven;” for, says Jesus,
-“*No man hath ascended up into heaven, but he who came down from
-heaven, even the son of man, who is in heaven.*” And again, “*Repent
-ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand;*” and to the rich man, who
-asked him what he was to do to secure the kingdom of heaven, Jesus said,
-that in addition to loving and fearing God, and doing his duty to his
-neighbor, he “*must sell all he had, and give it to the poor.*”
-
-The reader must ever keep in mind the true merits of the case between
-Jesus and the Jews. It was not, whether they were more immoral than
-their heathen neighbors, nor as to their being more or less learned
-than surrounding nations; for, we do not find that Jesus ever made
-any inquiries as to their mechanic arts, or the state of agriculture
-practised among them. Neither do we find that Jesus interested himself
-as to their progress in the science of astronomy. The last of these we
-can conceive would have been very useful; and it might be supposed that
-he could impart some knowledge in regard to it, since, in his passage
-from heaven to earth, he must have crossed: some of the planetary
-orbits, and no doubt observed their satellites then undiscovered; but to
-communicate such important information was not included in his mission.
-His only object was, to convince the Jews that he, and he alone, was
-the true and undoubted Messiah promised by the prophets to redeem and
-restore the Jews, as a nation, to their former greatness and glory.
-Every either subject was useless, and only stood as an hindrance in the
-way of the great purpose of his coming.
-
-I have before stated, that miracles must ever be considered doubtful
-evidence to prove that the performer is any thing; more than what men in
-all ages have pretended to be; and to pretend to do what is far beyond
-human agency, presupposes that the persons who are to be the judges,
-know where human power ends, and divine power begins. But for this
-knowledge, no just and certain rule can be laid down; consequently, it
-is folly to conceive that Infinite Wisdom would make use of means so
-ill-adapted to the end m view. It would be but an attempt to prove a
-doubtful truth, by means equally if not more doubtful.
-
-But, before closing this chapter, we will inquire into the probability
-of any miracles having been performed, as mentioned by the New Testament
-writers. And here our attention must be turned to the internal evidence
-afforded by the New Testament itself. We shall there find internal or
-indirect proof, that those miracles never took place, and that the whole
-of them were ante-dated; that is, after the persons were dead who are
-said to have been the performers. If this can be made out, miracles will
-then receive a shock from which they never can recover. To do this, will
-be the work of what remains to be done in this chapter.
-
-John the Baptist is the first personage we shall select. The miracle
-said to have taken place at the baptism of Jesus, is recorded by John,
-as follows:—“*And after Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens
-were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like
-a dove, and lighting upon him; and, lo! a voice from heaven saying,
-*This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.*” (Matthew iii.
-16, 17.) Again, in John’s Gospel, i., 36, when John the Baptist saw
-Jesus, he said of him, “*Behold the Lamb of God.” John also said of
-Jesus, that *he knew him not till it was told him, that on whomsoever he
-(John) should see the Spirit of God descend, the same is he*—meaning
-the true Christ. Now here are repeated miracles to convince not only
-John the Baptist, but also all that were present at the baptism of
-Jesus. Such evidence ought to have stopped any future inquiries as to
-the real Messiahship of Jesus; but there are strong doubts as to
-the truth that any such wonders were exhibited at the time they are
-recorded to have taken place.
-
-I shall proceed to present those doubts to the reader, as truth is my
-object, and I am not afraid to follow after it:—in Matthew ii., 1, 2,
-it reads, “*Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ,
-he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art thou he that should
-come, or do we look for another?*” This question, sent by John to
-Christ, shows clearly that John did not hear of the wonders wrought
-by Christ until he (John) was in prison for his reproof of Herod.
-This account makes it almost certain that the whole story of John’s
-baptizing Jesus, and also of the voice from heaven, saying, “This
-is my beloved Son, in whom 1 am well pleased,” is a fabrication
-altogether, and that John had never heard of Jesus until his confinement
-For this conclusion, we have twofold proof: since if John had baptized
-Jesus, and the wonders were performed as recorded, John could not have
-required any further evidence us to his being no pretender, but the true
-Messiah, the hope and expectation of Israel. On the part of Jesus,
-his reply would have been, “Why, John, what do you mean by sending
-a question as to whom I am? You heard the voice from heaven when I was
-baptized; you also saw the dove descend on my head; and now you send two
-of your disciples to inquire of me, by saying, ‘Art thou he that
-should come, or do we look for another?’”
-
-If we consider John’s question to Jesus, and also Jesus’s reply, it
-will be plain that John had not even seen nor heard much of Jesus, till
-after he was in prison. What, then, aha** we say of those wonders at
-the baptism of Jesus? The answer is at hand, which is, that there is
-no truth in the story. The probability is, that it was recorded from
-hearsay evidence, by some person unknown, and ante-dated so as to
-correspond to the time of John the Baptist; but that such evidence
-was given to John, of the identity of Jesus, as to prevent any future
-inquiry, there can be no doubt, admitting it ever took place; but
-John’s sending his disciples to Jesus to ascertain the truth of his
-being the true Messiah, fully destroys the truth of any voice being
-heard by John, or the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on the head of
-Jesus.
-
-The ignorance of all the disciples of Jesus, as it regards who he really
-was, is remarkable, if it be admitted that he performed what is said of
-him. We will notice the Apostle Peter, as he may be fairly considered
-the representative of the twelve. It is written, that when Jesus and
-Peter were together, behold! old Moses and Elias (Elijah) came so near
-to the earth that they held conversation with Jesus, and that Peter,
-somehow or other, knew them; but he, so far from being alarmed at seeing
-those two old prophets, was unwilling that they should return, and even
-proposed to Jesus to prepare for their stay. Surely, that was an age of
-miracles and wonders! We have an account of the old Devil’s crawling
-out from some hole or cave, and following Jesus into the wilderness;
-and, again, we have two old prophets returned, hovering in the air, and
-conversing with Jesus; one of whom is said to have died a thousand years
-previous to the time of his holding this supposed conversation with
-Jesus from the clouds; and the other, at nearly the same time, was taken
-up into heaven in a chariot of fire! Those two strange personages must
-have had business of great importance with Jesus. Are we to consider
-this strange visit to have taken place, when the truth of it rests
-on the same authority as all the other miracles and wonders which are
-recorded concerning the mission of Jesus? If Moses and Elijah did not
-in truth and reality talk to Jesus from the clouds, in the hearing of
-Peter, in their real persons, or by their apparitions, it then follows,
-that there is no truth in any of the miracles or wonders said to have
-been performed, to prove that Jesus was *sent from God*; for all the
-miracles and wonders which (it is said) took place, stand or fall
-together.
-
-If, for instance, the Devil did not find Jesus in the wilderness, and
-go with him into the city, and tempt him to throw himself from the
-Temple—if this is not strictly true, why, then, it is false as to
-Moses and Elijah’s talking with him from the clouds. This incredible
-story, if related in any book but what is called the Word of God, would
-not be credited by one in ten thousand; but being found in the life
-of the Redeemer, the man who rejects it and proclaims it unworthy of
-credit, is considered an enemy of God, and will have the sentence of
-“*Go, ye cursed*,” &c. As so much importance is attached to what is
-called the Word of God, we will discuss a little further the business
-which brought Moses and Elijah so near to this earth. As to where Moses
-or Elijah reside, we have no knowledge, and what is the nature of their
-employment, we know not; but if they still live, they must have some
-location, and also, we suppose, must be employed about something—but
-these things we must leave to those who are better acquainted with other
-worlds, while our attention will be directed to the business of the
-heavenly visitors.
-
-If Moses had any interest in the mission of Jesus to the Jews, he could
-have been serviceable to him, as he had been their former leader, and
-therefore could give him useful hints concerning them. We may suppose
-he would introduce the subject of Jesus’s mission in the following
-manner:—“I am Moses, the former leader of the seed of Abram, and
-hearing that Jehovah had sent his son Jesus to convert them to the true
-worship of God, and the practice of justice and truth, I come to offer
-my services, as I am well acquainted with that disobedient race; and, in
-truth, I had a terrible time of it with them: only think of forty years
-in the wilderness, always murmuring, and worshipping strange gods, for
-which, at times, they were cruelly punished; Jehovah destroyed thousands
-of them for resisting my authority; but they were incurable. He would
-have, at one time, so great was his wrath, destroyed them all; but I
-told him what the Egyptians and the heathen in general would say, and
-he altered his mind, and killed off the worst of them: for, getting
-a little out of temper with them at one time, in consequence of their
-murmurings, Jehovah became angry with me, and I was prevented from
-enjoying full possession of the promised land. It always surprised me
-how it came about that Jehovah should select them from the rest of the
-human race, for in my lifetime nothing was ever made of them; they even
-disgraced the God who had made them his choice. I left them in thy hands
-of Joshua, as the most proper person to rule over them; but how he got
-along with them, I have not heard.” “Your offer, Moses, is duly
-appreciated; but the Jews, as a nation, are now a different people from
-what they were when you had to manage them. My course will be different
-altogether from what you pursued. Farewell! Moses and Elijah.” We may
-suppose that Jesus would say to Peter, “As for your purposing to
-erect three tabernacles in this place, one for myself, one for Moses,
-and another for Elijah, it is proof that you are entirely ignorant of
-my future dealings with my own nation; for, in a few months, such things
-will transpire, that even you, Peter, all zealous as you are, will swear
-off and deny any knowledge of me.”
-
-Now, reader, nothing can be more extravagant than to suppose that such
-conversation took place between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. But if those
-two old prophets did really descend, and converse with Jesus, then what
-I have supposed is no more extravagant than that two prophets, who had
-not been on earth for a thousand years, should pay a visit to Jesus, and
-hold converse with him. These miracles never occurred, and the world has
-been imposed upon and plundered by men, who, by telling such tales, have
-lived in idleness; and their quarrels about what Jesus said or somebody
-said, or did, have in every age been the cause of evils of every kind,
-and of rendering human beings ignorant and wretched.
-
-Christians, in speaking of the divine mission of Jesus, urge is miracles
-as proofs that he came from God with full authority to give laws to, and
-finally *to judge both quick and dead*; but the proof is wanting that he
-ever performed one miracle. All the evidence we derive from the miracles
-said to have been performed is not, that we know they were wrought by
-Jesus, but that it is by somebody recorded that he did the mighty works
-attributed to him, and which to us is no evidence at all. To believe,
-then, what is written, without knowing by whom, or at what time and
-place it was written, is to believe without evidence, which would be a
-voluntary degradation of the noble faculties which have been conferred
-upon man.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER III.
-============
-
-.. dropcap:: P PETER
-
-
-PETER, of all the twelve apostles, seems to have been more in the
-confidence of Jesus than the rest; since when he and Peter were alone,
-his inquiry of Peter was as to what the people thought of him. For
-he said to Peter, “*Whom do the people say that I, the son of man,
-am-?*” Peter answered him, that different opinions were abroad
-concerning him. Some said one thing, and some another; but the general
-opinion was, that one of the old prophets had returned. Jesus then
-turned to Peter and asked him as to his own conviction, and received for
-answer, “*Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
-answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh
-and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in
-heaven.*” In consequence of this declaration of Peter, Jesus then
-grants him superhuman power. To Peter, he says—“*Upon this rock will
-I build my church. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom
-of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in
-heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in
-heaven. Then charged he his disciples, that they should tell no man that
-he was Jesus the Christ.*” (Matthew xvi., 18, 19.. 20.)
-
-From the subsequent conduct of Peter, it is not possible for him to have
-witnessed the astonishing miracles said to have been performed in his
-presence. Peter was present when Moses and Elijah conversed with Jesus;
-and while Peter was speaking to his Divine Master, “*Behold, a bright
-cloud overshadowed them, and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, which
-said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye
-him.*” Now, if there were such a demonstration as this, (and many
-such proofs Peter had been favored with,) how is it possible for us to
-account for Peter’s denying that he even knew Jesus at all? This ought
-to be sufficient for us to conclude that the accounts of those wonders
-performed in the lifetime of Jesus, are false statements, written after
-the reputed resurrection of Jesus, and the death of Peter, and that
-neither of them saw nor believed any thing of the kind whatever.
-
-In the present chapter, I shall notice the mode adopted by Jesus to
-prove his Messiahship. In this investigation, we shall discover a want
-of openness and plain-dealing as it relates to the communication of his
-objects as the expected *hope and deliverer of Israel.* The reader must
-ever keep in mind, that the object of Christ’s coming, so far as
-the Jews were interested, was, first, to prove, beyond the shadow of a
-doubt, that the true and only Messiah had arrived among them. Until this
-was settled, nothing which Jesus said or taught would be of any avail,
-because, unless this point was established, none would admit his
-authority to enforce any thing that appeared in opposition to Jewish
-theology, or to the ceremonies of the laws of Moses, the observance of
-which, the Jews could not be prevailed upon to neglect; for it clearly
-appears that the Jewish priests and rulers never showed any disposition
-to resist, or in any way to treat with disrespect, the *holy one of
-Israel*. The Jews, then, were in a favorable state of mind to receive
-him whom they had so long and so earnestly expected and desired. But, as
-that nation had before been deceived, a double degree of caution became
-necessary to detect deception and expose imposture; for, until Jesus had
-proved, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that he had the sanction of
-Heaven for all which he taught, the Jews could place no reliance on his
-pretensions.
-
-It will now be proper to notice the introduction of the mission of Jesus
-to the Jews. If he came by the divine command of the Governor of the
-Universe, we ought to expect that his mission would be clearly made
-known to all those who were interested. Nothing of such vast importance
-must be guess-work; and the first and most important of all inquiries
-would be, who are you, and by whom are you sent? for, until these
-inquiries were 'finally settled, his sayings could not have their full
-effect; since, as it has before been remarked, the moral state of the
-Jews was not the point at issue, until his mission was made known, and
-each party came to a right understanding. When, therefore, the Jews
-understood who Jesus was, and the high authority under which he taught,
-to correct their moral defects would make a part of his teaching, and
-their minds would have been free from the obstacles that stood in the
-way of attending to his precepts.
-
-The erratic method resorted to by Jesus, in his converse with his
-nation, as recorded in the history of his life, seems very singular.
-So high a personage as the *only Son of God* to be sent on a mission
-of peace and reconciliation to his chosen people, it certainly must be
-expected that his steps would have been directed to the most learned men
-of his nation, and that all offensive language would have been withheld,
-even admitting that the Jews were immoral to a very great degree. But
-the acquaintances of Jesus were the most ignorant and unlearned of
-the Jews, and were, from the nature of their employment, incapable of
-judging correctly of those signs and wonders which Jesus produced as
-proofs of his divine authority. The learned priests and scribes were the
-proper persons to have resorted to, as being alone competent to examine
-and explain all those predictions which related to Christ’s coming, as
-foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament. What would be thought of
-a Minister Extraordinary, who, being sent from Washington to London on
-business of the first importance, should he, instead of repairing to
-London, make known his mission, by hints and indirect sayings, to some
-untaught fishermen, and, at the same time, abuse, and also make use of
-the most threatening expressions towards the heads of the government
-to whom he was sent? Could it be expected that such conduct would be
-productive of any thing but failure? This is exactly similar to the
-conduct pursued by Jesus in his intercourse with the Jewish rulers. Can
-we, for a moment, admit that Infinite Wisdom could have sent such an
-ambassador on the all-important subject of the salvation of the human
-race? Jesus repeatedly reproaches the Jews in general, and his disciples
-in particular, for their want of faith in his divine authority: at the
-same time, he makes use of sayings that it was impossible for them to
-understand.
-
-Jesus often referred to his treatment and death. How was it possible
-for them to understand this prediction? It never could have entered
-the minds of the descendants of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, that the true
-Messiah must suffer death before he could begin to restore the Jews to
-their former greatness. Instead of calling together the most talented
-and the most influential of the Jewish nation, and openly making known
-to them the object of his delegation, he associated with that portion of
-society whose knowledge of Jewish history was very limited; and, as if
-he dreaded publicity, often charged them to “tell no man that he
-was the Christ”—the very opposite course to what appears to be
-consistent with the important object of his coming. Taking the history
-of Christ’s life, and also, more particularly, that of his teaching,
-he seems to have no settled plan whatever. At times, he seems to be in
-the strictest sense a Jew, not only as it regards his nation, but, also,
-most strictly following the law of Moses, submitting even to all its
-ceremonies. At other times, he opposes his sayings to those of the law
-of Moses, and openly forgives sins, without having any recourse to the
-offering of sacrifice according to the Mosaic law. Sometimes, he speaks
-of being not only “*Lord of all,*” but that they would “*see him
-coming down in the clouds, in power and glory, to judge both quick and
-dead*”; and then, again, speaking of his poverty, as “not having
-where to lay his head.” His living a life of wandering and mendicity,
-at times making a great excitement in one place, and suddenly departing
-to another,—these strange movements (admitting they occurred) entirely
-took off the attention of the heads of the Jewish people, and caused him
-to be considered as any thing but the promised *restorer of Israel*.
-In addition to his unsettled state, his repeated attacks on the rulers,
-holding them up to the scorn and contempt of the people, had generated
-such feelings in the minds of the priests and scribes, that they
-considered him as a pretender to the Messiahship. Besides the hostility
-he showed to rich men, in speaking of the almost impossibility of their
-entering that kingdom which was included in all his teachings, namely,
-“*The kingdom of heaven is at hand,*” when a rich man asked him
-“what he was to do to inherit eternal life?” the answer of Jesus to
-him was, in addition to what the rich man had done, “Go and sell all,
-and give to the poor, and follow me.” We are told that the rich man
-refused to do that, and Jesus then said of the rich, “how difficult it
-was for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” This is the wild
-and levelling doctrine taught by modern prophets. Nothing can be more
-unreasonable and unjust. If such doctrines as these had, in in the time
-of Jesus, been practised, he would have drawn a host of idlers after
-him. Besides, to teach such an unqualified practice as the one proposed
-to the rich man, must, at that time, have convinced every well-informed
-man how very unfit Jesus was to regulate society. I well know that
-Christians will consider this mode of examination of the sayings and
-doings of Jesus, as wicked and horrible; as opposing the weak judgment
-of man to the infinite wisdom of God. In reply to this, I would say,
-it is by investigating the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the New
-Testament, that we can perceive its defects, and thereby fully discover
-that the wise Ruler and Governor of all never sanctioned doctrines such
-as those said to have proceeded from Jesus.
-
-In taking a candid survey of the teaching, manner, and life of Jesus as
-it is written in the evangelists, we find that both he and his apostles
-lived a wandering life. How they raised funds, we know not, but it seems
-that Judas Iscariot was treasurer; and that he loved money better than
-he did his master, his betraying him to the rulers for thirty pieces of
-silver, fully proved. His having no fixed home, and following no regular
-and permanent employment, will throw some light on the system of
-morals which Jesus inculcated. Although some of his moral precepts were
-undoubtedly good, and calculated to make those happy who reduced them
-to practice, still others there were, which, if practised, would create
-disorder-—such as that which repudiates the taking any thought for the
-morrow. There is a vast difference in taking prudential thought for
-the morrow, and always looking at the gloomy side of what may possibly
-happen. Jesus makes no distinction; but in his explanation he leaves the
-subject more obscure than if he had not left any comment at all. Jesus
-says, “*Consider the lilies of the field; they toil not, neither do
-they spin, yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
-these.” And again, “Take no thought for the morrow, what ye shall
-eat or what ye shall drink, nor wherewithal ye shall be clothed, for
-your heavenly father knoweth ye have need of all these. But seek ye
-first the kingdom of heaven, and its righteousness, and all these things
-shall be added unto you." Again, “If a man sue you at law and take
-your coat, let him have your cloak also:*” and many more precepts
-of the same nature, which are impracticable, and which must be left to
-prudence and common sense to carry into practice.
-
-But this very imperfect code of morals could be practised better by
-Jesus and his followers, considering their mode of life, than by others
-who had fixed homes. How Jesus and his apostles lived, as to their means
-to buy food or clothing, is unknown,—unless they lived the lives of
-mendicants, or, to speak more plainly, by what they could pick up, which
-is implied in the saying of Christ: “for,” says he, “*foxes have
-holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has not
-where to lay his head,*” To persons so situated, the taking thought
-for the morrow would be but of little use; but by those persons who had
-homes, and who, by labor, had to provide for a family, such morality
-could not be practised. We will give but one instance.
-
-Suppose a person had business from home for some weeks, and had given
-his wife orders to provide his linen, with other things, for his
-journey; and when the time arrived for him to leave home, his wife
-had, agreeable to the precepts of Jesus, taken no thought for the
-morrow,—would such an excuse satisfy the husband? No. Prudent
-forethought is connected with every thing moral; and without it, society
-would be entirely broken up. But to persons living a wandering life, and
-not knowing from one day to another how they should fare; and rising in
-the morning ignorant how it might turn out as to where they could lie
-down at night—to such, the sayings of Jesus would better apply. But to
-those who were settled and had fixed homes, the *taking no thought for
-the morrow* would break up every family who should attempt it. Had
-we been of the Jewish nation, and lived in the time of Jesus, in
-all probability we should have considered the conduct of Christ very
-strange. Sometimes, he upbraided the Jews for their unbelief; and at
-others, charged his own apostles to keep as a secret that he was the
-Christ.
-
-The only way to understand this strange history of the Messiah is, to
-reject the account of his preaching altogether; and to consider the
-whole of his ministry as being written by unknown persons from hearsay
-only. And it is nearly proof positive that no such person as Jesus
-existed, who said and did those things ascribed to him; for it is
-utterly impossible by his history, admitting it to be correct, to
-gather, from the evangelists’ account of it, for what he came, and
-also what end was answered to the Jews. They we're left in a worse state
-than if Jesus had not been among them: for, as the Jews mistook the
-object of his mission in consequence of the obscurity of his preaching,
-so the different sects, to this day, have not decided what is
-Christianity.
-
-The history of the life and preaching of Jesus, is such a confusion of
-opposite doctrines, that, after eighteen hundred years’ investigation,
-by men the most learned; and after thousands and tens of thousands of
-volumes have been written, and commentators have endeavored to settle
-the different and conflicting accounts of what he taught, it still
-remains unsettled whether Christ is part God and part man, or whether he
-had a natural father, and is to be considered as nothing but a man, but
-of superior holiness of life. It is not settled whether Christ died for
-all, or only a part of the human race. Again, it is not yet agreed on
-by Christian sects whether baptism should be extended to infants, or be
-administered exclusively to adults. These, and many more subjects, are
-by different parties viewed differently; at the same time all and each
-appeal to the New Testament in support of their respective creeds.
-
-I will now appeal to the reader whether a God of infinite wisdom and
-power would be the author of a religion which could give rise to so many
-contradictory doctrines? which in the life-time of the propagator was
-not understood? and for eighteen hundred years has been a fruitful field
-of discord, war, and murder, instead of producing “peace on earth and
-good-will towards men?” It has never failed to be a source of war,
-hatred, malice, and ill-will towards men; and nothing but the extension
-of Infidel Principles can secure the human race against a recurrence of
-those dreadful scenes, which, for ages, converted this otherwise happy
-world into a slaughter house of human victims. To my brother Infidels,
-then, I say, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” If you cease from
-your noble exertions, the human race may again exhibit one mass
-of theological putrefaction. If Infinite wisdom and power had ever
-undertaken to give a revelation to man, we should not have witnessed any
-blunders or mistakes. A revelation coming from such a being, would have
-been directed to some beneficial end, and, like the eternal laws of the
-universe, the means made use of would not have failed to bring about
-the glorious end intended. But the Bible, including the Old and New
-Testaments, is not only unworthy of its pretended high authority; but
-it portrays the all-wise Governor and Director of all worlds as a being
-changeable, cruel, and unjust.
-
-In addition to the obscure manner resorted to by Jesus in his speeches,
-he seldom conversed with any of his countrymen of any distinction. It
-was always the lower ranks of society to whom he directed his sayings;
-so that, to the most learned and opulent of the Jews, he was little
-known; for when the higher powers were about to take him into custody,
-to them he was unknown. It then became expedient to offer a reward to
-some one to point him out to the officers appointed to arrest him. Judas
-Iscariot was the man who seemed willing as well as competent, to conduct
-this ungrateful business. Jesus had often said that *one of his apostles
-would betray him*. There is something very strange in the saying of
-Jesus, that *he had chosen twelve apostles and one would betray him*.
-If Jesus came to the Jews as the promised and expected Messiah, the
-very idea of betraying him implies that he did not intend that the Jews
-should ever know him as *the sent of God*. At all events, Jesus, at the
-time Judas made him personally known to the chief priest and rulers,
-complained of the deceitfulness of Judas, which is full proof that he
-did not wish at that time to be put on his trial.
-
-But in what did this betraying consist? The Jewish rulers wished to have
-the man pointed out to them who had made so much noise and stir among
-the lower order of the people. Judas took the reward, and if Jesus were
-really sent by the Lord of all to his nation, this betraying was only
-giving him an opportunity of openly avowing his Messiahship. Here then
-was the time for him to show such signs and wonders as to prevent any
-doubts as to who he was, and of the important object of his coming; for
-if *he came into the world to die for the sins of mankind*, Judas then
-was of vast importance in bringing about that which was before ordained
-by the *determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God*. But if he (Jesus)
-did not intend to suffer death, then, and only then, had he cause to
-complain of Judas as a traitor. Jesus, in speaking of Judas, says,
-“*it had been good for that man if he had never been born:*” but
-if the salvation of mankind depended on the death of Christ, a more
-important person than Judas was never born of woman. Whether such a man
-as Jesus ever lived or not, it is impossible to determine; but admitting
-that such a man as he is said to have been, did exist, it does appear
-that his life was a scene of incongruities bordering on insanity. And
-the whole of his public ministry was so erratic, that it seems as if he
-had no specific object in view.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-===========
-
-.. dropcap:: N NOTHING
-
-
-NOTHING can be more unreasonable than to admit, for a moment, that the
-Almighty Power which governs the vast unbounded universe, should be the
-author, either directly or indirectly, of a system which has produced so
-much cruelty, carnage, and bloodshed, as the Christian Religion—a
-very large portion of which has been brought about by the discordant
-doctrines attributed to the preaching of Christ. If God is its author,
-(which is more than doubtful,) if, in addition to the evils with which
-human nature is afflicted, he had intended to make man’s misery
-complete, the Christian religion seems well adapted to secure that end,
-for it is the key-stone of human wretchedness. A great amount of evil
-has resulted from the different sects that have arisen from the New
-Testament.
-
-A few particulars will suffice to show that the various doctrines, all
-gathered from and founded on the sayings of Christ, have created discord
-and persecution among the followers of Jesus, the pretended pacificator
-of the human race.
-
-One of the most destructive sayings of Jesus—one which has entailed on
-the human race a system of continual evil, and which bids fair to last
-for ages to come, is the delegated power given to the Apostle Peter, and
-which is, to the present day, claimed by his successors. Peter, being
-asked by Christ as to what the Jews thought of him, answered that
-“some thought that one of the old prophets had returned from the dead,
-while others thought differently.” But, says Jesus to Peter, “*Whom
-do you say that I am?*” Give me your opinion. Peter replied, “*Thou
-art the Christ, the Son of God.*” This answer was responded to by
-Jesus, and to Peter he said, “*Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for
-flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in
-heaven;” and Jesus added, “Thou art Peter, and on this rock will I
-build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And
-I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever
-thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou
-shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.*” (Matthew xvi., 19.)
-
-After appearing to give Peter unlimited power, he tells him that “*the
-chief priest and scribes will put him to death, and that he should be
-raised the third day.*” Peter, not understanding this sad reverse, and
-out of regard for his master, rebuked him, but very mildly, by saying,
-“*Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee.*” At
-this, Jesus seemed to lose his temper, and said, “*Get thee behind
-me, Satan, thou art an offence to me.*” Jesus then tells Peter that
-“*The son of man should come in the glory of his Father, with his
-angels, to reward every man according to his works,*” Jesus then adds,
-“*Verily, I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not
-taste of death till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom.*”
-
-Now it was not possible for Peter, or any one else, to understand
-Christ’s meaning. He tells them things concerning his second coming,
-before they understood his object as it related to his Messiahship.
-Besides, what he told them would surely come to pass in their time, is
-not yet fulfilled. This obscure mode of teaching runs through all his
-speeches; and he continually reproaches them for their want of faith in
-his doctrines. A method so incoherent appears to approach to insanity.
-
-But to return more immediately to the power given to Peter. A power
-so undefined as was given to Peter, at a time when he did not even
-comprehend the final destiny of Jesus, cannot be admitted to have been
-given. But as this part of Christ’s history was written long after his
-leaving this earth, the writer, whoever he was, wrote from hearsay; and
-there being no one to question its truth, it became, like many other
-sayings, reputed as coming from Jesus. Inconsistent as it was, it became
-one of the doctrines of the church; and the successors of Peter retain
-it in the Catholic Church at the present day. This original power given
-unto Peter is still invested in the person of the Pope of Rome, and
-through him down to the rest of the clergy. This power, said to have
-been given by Jesus to the church, has been productive of discord. The
-Popes have held and acted upon it as a divine prerogative bequeathed
-by Christ to his church, which has been denied by other sects, so
-that quarrels have been the consequence. And hence both rich and poor,
-learned and unlearned, have, and do still, confess to the priest their
-sins, and receive pardon.
-
-All the evils that have resulted from such foolery, sprang from the
-authority said to have been by Jesus given to Peter. What a rich harvest
-have the priests reaped from this delegated power! Can men, possessing
-one grain of common sense, believe that such power was ever given to
-mortal man? But the different sects will say, that Jesus never intended
-that it should be thus understood. This does not mend the matter at
-all; for God must have foreseen what use would be made of it. The
-consequences, therefore, rest with Him. But are we prepared to admit
-that Infinite Wisdom would have left unguarded, doctrines of such vast
-importance to the peace and harmony of his church?
-
-Again, the shocking consequences which have followed the institution
-of the Sacrament, or Lord’s Supper. Jesus, according as Christians
-believe, instituted the breaking of bread and drinking of wine, as an
-emblem of his body being broken, and his blood being poured out as a
-sacrifice for sin. But this doctrine or ordinance, being undefined, the
-different sects of Christians have practised it under the impression of
-its sacredness, taking its literal meaning instead of regarding it as a
-token of remembrance. The Catholic believes, or professes so to do, that
-after the descendants of Peter have prayed over, and consecrated, the
-bread and wine, its nature is changed into the real body and blood
-of the Saviour. One horrible consequence which has resulted from such
-tomfoolery, has been, the burning of hundreds of human beings at the
-stake, for not admitting so important a truth. This evil, and many
-others, has arisen from the obscure doctrines taught by Jesus, whom the
-scriptures describe as being the light of the world. Jesus, before being
-taken into heaven, told his disciples that it was for their good that he
-should leave them; for, to make up for his absence, *he would send
-the Holy Ghost, who would be a comforter, and would lead them into all
-truth*. How far this promise has been fulfilled, we have the evidence
-of eighteen hundred years; for, immediately after Jesus had left his
-church, they became divided, and ever since they have butchered each
-other without mercy. This is the comfort, then, that Christians have
-received by the coming of the Holy Ghost.
-
-Another fruitful field of slaughter and blood has been thrown open in
-consequence of Jesus withholding from the Christian church the real
-nature of his being. So confused was he on this subject, that, even now,
-Christians do not agree. Some contend for his manhood alone, and that,
-like all other men, he had an earthly father,—the Unitarians, for
-instance, and other sects. But the real Orthodox contend that Jesus
-was born of a pure virgin, who, though a mother was yet a virgin. These
-contradictory views are supported by the life and history of Jesus. Does
-it require any thing more than common sense to repudiate the divinity
-of a Book containing such opposite statements of the same accounts, or
-facts? It is the uncertainty of what Christianity really is, which has
-caused so much evil in the world; and this has arisen from the dark and
-obscure mode of teaching attributed to the Son of God. Those Christians
-who have embraced views so opposite to each other, but who have taken
-them from the same Word of God, have, in every age, been the most
-implacable enemies, and have seldom failed, when power has been in their
-hands, to inflict the most cruel torments on those who differed from
-them. Indeed, the history of the Christian Church is one continued
-record of persecution and cruelty.
-
-I was, for some few months, called on by an Orthodox deacon, who
-earnestly requested me to reflect on the dangerous situation I was in as
-an unbeliever, being totally unprepared for a future state. I asked, if
-I were in a worse state than an Unitarian? You admit, said I, that they,
-many of them, are good men, and will not be excluded from heaven. He
-replied, that, morally speaking, they might be good; but, he added, that
-my claim to heaven stood on equal, if not superior ground to theirs,
-as they did not believe in the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus for sin;
-consequently, they had neither part nor lot in the matter.
-
-All the intolerance and persecution which have deluged the earth with
-blood, have arisen from Christianity not having ever been defined.
-Hundreds of different creeds have been founded on the sayings and doings
-of Jesus and his apostles, as found in the New Testament; and there are
-yet materials for many more. Each sect regards all other sects as
-being wickedly obstinate, and resisting the truth. All this misery and
-destruction, arising from the different construction of the doctrines
-said to have been delivered by Jesus, would never have taken place, if
-the all-wise Ruler of the Universe had dictated them; but the evils they
-have brought on the world can never be reconciled as coming from a Being
-of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness. If such a Being had ever given
-a revelation to the human race, there is no doubt but that it would have
-been adapted to man’s reasoning powers; that mistakes would not have
-opposed its progress; thousands of books would not have been required to
-explain what Infinite Wisdom had proclaimed; no fires of martyrdom would
-have been lighted, to compel men to believe what none could understand.
-
-If God had been the author of the Christian religion, it would, like all
-his works, have been so arranged, and the means so wisely adapted, that
-the intention or end would be fully answered. But the religion of
-the Bible, both the Old and New Testament, is a continual trial of
-experiments on man. And what has religion made of him? Is he generally
-fit to be trusted, in word or action? Is he generally humane and
-tender-hearted? No! very far from it. Society is, in its best
-state, very defective in humanity. The accumulation of riches is the
-Christian’s object. Gold is the god he adores.
-
-It is impossible for Christians to deny that the persecutions and
-burnings, the cruel torture, and every infliction of cruelty practised
-by one sect towards others, who honestly differed from the most
-powerful, were all in consequence of the different sects embracing
-and maintaining opposite doctrines; all of which were founded on the
-teaching of Jesus. Can we, then, believe that the Almighty Ruler of all
-worlds would have sent his Son to teach mankind something that should
-involve the human race in a never-ending quarrel, by teaching so
-obscurely that two persons, equally honest and intelligent, should form
-opposite opinions; knowing, as the Almighty must, that such teaching
-would engender hatred and malice, and be the cause of producing unheard
-of cruelty and torture?
-
-How dreadful it is to reflect on the mad fury of religious zeal, when
-the persecutor and the persecuted are equally sincere! The first,
-believing he ought to put to death those who differ from him, for the
-glory of God; and the latter, considering that his crown of glory can
-be obtained only by sufferings death the most horrid to bear! Poor,
-unfortunate creatures! Both parties are objects of pity. The evils
-resulting from the different doctrines collected from the teaching of
-Jesus, have, for eighteen hundred years, converted the otherwise happy
-world into a pious mad-house. The doctrine of human depravity, although
-it may not have been so productive of evil as some others, is a libel on
-human nature. It is taught by Jesus; the preachers repeat it weekly from
-the pulpit; and the necessity of a new birth results from it. A thousand
-pulpits thunder forth vengeance against man because of the hardness of
-his heart. We are told that he has rebelled against his God; that he is
-at enmity with him, and that he has turned his back to his Maker.
-
-All this is done to humble man, and to bring about his conversion. The
-Scriptures also represent the Almighty as angry with poor, feeble man,
-and that he will eventually pour out his wrath in never-ending torments!
-These doctrines, so earnestly taught, and so fully credited, constitute
-a principal part of what comes from ten thousand preachers; and if we
-examine the truth of them, none can we find. As it respects man’s
-rebelling, and turning his back on his Creator, man’s error and
-misfortune has ever been in trying to find out something about his
-Maker.
-
-This curiosity, no doubt, originated in a state of ignorance. And even
-in the present day, man has yet to learn the inutility of every attempt
-to discover any thing as to the being and nature of a Supreme Power that
-is supposed to govern the universe. We are lost in wonder and admiration
-when we contemplate the mighty universe! but of the Grand Regulator of
-all, we are, and no doubt shall ever remain, in total ignorance. It is
-a libel on man, then, to teach that human beings are at enmity against
-God. I ask my readers, both male and female, whether they ever had those
-feelings of hatred against the unknown Governor of the grand and sublime
-universe? But Christian priests proclaim it; and to those who believe
-it, it is a source of lamentation; and being under the belief that
-man is the natural enemy of God, the minds of such persons become
-prostrated, and then this otherwise happy world is despised and
-neglected for a future state of supposed bliss.
-
-Let any one attend a Protracted Meeting, where there may be some
-hundreds of persons, and among the number, many youths of both sexes;
-both young and old are appealed to by the speakers, who describe them as
-enemies of God, and as having turned their backs on the God of goodness.
-They become alarmed, not having before conceived that they could have
-been so wicked. I have seen upwards of fifty, at one time, sobbing
-and crying and imploring mercy, who, poor, weak mortals, until this
-foolishness of being at enmity with God was preached to them, had no
-conception of their dreadful enormities and danger. By exciting the
-feelings with falsehood, this process is called conversion and the work
-of the Holy Ghost. At the same time that the most virtuous females are
-denounced as deserving damnation for their wickedness, and told that,
-without repentance, their future state will be wretched to all eternity,
-should one word derogatory to the character of these females, thus
-represented by the priests, be spoken by any body else, an action for
-slander would be instituted.
-
-But as long as people will give up their reason, and be hoodwinked with
-the nonsense that God is angry, and that they are every moment in danger
-of falling into hell, so long will the Christian priesthood riot in
-profusion and plenty, by dealing out damnation to those whose only crime
-is enmity against God. So completely hoodwinked is man, that he attends
-weekly, and pays well into the bargain, to hear the priest deal out
-endless damnation to nine-tenths of the human race; and it is ten
-chances to one that he also is included among the subjects of the
-Devil! Should an Orthodox preacher, for a few Sundays, preach on moral
-subjects, and consider that morality was the one thing needful in the
-Christian Church, the congregation would complain that their souls
-required more substantial nourishment. The preacher must return to the
-old mode of teaching, and again shake them over the lake of fire! And
-hence it follows, that, as the people, are not satisfied without having
-the wrath of God the constant theme, the preacher gives it as they wish
-to have it. An angry God; a cunning, crafty and tempting Devil; and the
-enmity of man’s wicked heart: this is the set of tools by which the
-Christian teacher carries on his theological trade. The discordancy of
-religious opinions, and all of them taken from the doctrines as taught
-by Jesus and the apostles, each preacher referring to the favorite
-passages which support his views, is and will be, a never-ending theme
-of disputation; and at some future period, may renew the practice of
-burning each other alive for God’s glory.
-
-Nothing but the spread of Infidelity can completely stop this dreadful
-evil. We have only to suppose, that, at some future time, the savages
-who have been what is called converted by preachers of opposite sects,
-such as the Calvinist and the Universalist, or the Trinitarians and
-Unitarians, should, by some cause not now foreseen, be left by the
-missionaries to support the Christian church; then the savage converts
-of different sects would be very likely to fall on each other, and the
-fires of Smithfield, which Infidelity, the companion of humanity, has
-extinguished, may again blaze on the Islands of the Pacific Ocean. This
-is a very probable case; for, in the present day, the same Bible is the
-text book of all denominations, and all of them would persecute if they
-had but the power. Christianity is now what it ever has been, and what
-it ever will be, a persecuting religion; and, although the fires of
-martyrdom cease to torment the human race, the embers are still emitting
-smoke, and may again be rekindled. Nothing short of *unbelief in all
-divine revelation*, openly and fearlessly avowed, can guarantee the
-human family against a renewal of the religious butchery of past ages.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER V.
-==========
-
-.. dropcap:: T TAKING
-
-
-TAKING the Orthodox views of Christianity, there are four personages
-connected with divine revelation, and each has a different department to
-act out. The first three are the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Leaving,
-for the present, the first three, our attention will, in this chapter,
-be directed to the fourth and last, namely, the Devil. And so much
-consequence do Christian sects attach to the existence of the Devil,
-that, to deny it, or even to doubt it, would be enough to separate a
-member from the church. Religious people must have a Devil; for, as the
-Devil, by his incessant cunning and temptation, is the indirect author
-of men’s sins, so, on the other hand, the Saviour stands ready to
-ransom the guilty. It then follows, that the sinner, after all, stands
-on pretty good ground; for, if the Devil tempts him to commit one-half
-of his crimes, and the Saviour pardons the other half, man is not in
-much danger of being condemned.
-
-In this chapter, it will be seen, what an amount of evil has arisen
-to the peace and happiness of the human race, not from what the Devil
-really has done, but from what mortals have believed he has done, by
-supposing him to have almost unlimited power. And here we can perceive,
-what evil has transpired from what never has, nor ever could have taken
-place, but from what has been believed to have really happened. This has
-been in consequence of the credulity of the human mind when reason is
-departed from, and man becomes the creature of imagination. It is then
-that man can give credit to the most glaring absurdities, and honestly
-reject the plain dictates of common sense. It is then that he leaves
-the solid earth on which he treads, and launches into the region of
-airy nothings; and, by the ductility of his mind, creates beings of so
-terrific a nature, that, at the thought of them, the stoutest hearts
-have been made to quail. This is strictly true as to the existence and
-influence of the Devil.
-
-That the New Testament sanctions the existence of the Devil, there
-remains not a doubt. The temptation of Christ is proof positive. But
-that alone should not suffice. The case of Mary Magdalene, and also the
-expulsion of devils by Jesus and his disciples, put all doubt out of the
-question. When we consider the terrible consequences of this belief on
-the peace and happiness of the human race, we can but pity the deluded
-creatures, who, in different ages of Christianity, have been sufferers
-for the supposed commission of a crime that never was, nor ever will
-be committed. All nations, in all ages, have credited, to a lesser or
-a greater extent, the existence of a being, or beings, of a malignant
-nature, possessing power beyond man’s conception; who, from some cause
-unknown, delighted in doing mischief to the human family. And ever since
-the introduction of the Christian religion, it has been credited that
-such wicked spirits could delegate power to human beings equally wicked
-as themselves; by which power, they, for a time, could vent their
-malice, and do wonders by selling themselves, or by some infernal
-contract could do harm to, or among those of, their neighbors who were
-so unfortunate as to fall under their displeasure.
-
-This sin, which never was, and never can be committed, has ever been
-thought the worst of crimes; and less mercy shown to the supposed guilty
-person than if guilty of murder itself. And so extensively has it been
-credited, and so great has been its influence, that laws have, in most
-nations, been passed for its punishment; and thousands, and tens of
-thousands have been put to death under circumstances of torture at which
-the human heart sickens. Surely, if our minds are not entirely darkened
-by the ignorance of past ages, we must be able to see that the Bible has
-been the most destructive book that was ever written; and is unworthy to
-claim infinite power, wisdom, and goodness for its author. If the
-belief in witchcraft and sorcery had been confined to the ignorant and
-unlearned of all nations, its evil would have been so limited that not
-much misery would have followed, because men of good sense and talent
-would have stood in the way of its progress. But, unfortunately, this
-has not so happened. Its evil influence has ascended to the highest
-classes in society. The king on his throne, and the learned judge
-seated in the chair of impartial justice, have partaken of its deadly
-contagion. The reader will now be presented with facts of the most
-undoubted authority, showing what wretchedness has occurred from
-believing in the existence and malignity of the Devil—a doctrine
-supported by divine revelation.
-
-The first fact that is brought forward, took place at Bury, St. Edmonds,
-in the County of Suffolk, (England,) in the year 1664. Amy Duny and
-Rose Callender, two poor women, who were ignorant, and of the coarsest
-materials, had, for eight years previous, the reputation of being
-witches. So horrid were they considered, that the fishermen would not
-sell them fish, and the boys in the streets were taught to fly from them
-with horror. The principal charges against them were, that the children
-of two families had been many times seized with fits in which they
-exclaimed that they saw Amy Duny and Rose Callender coming to torment
-them. They vomited, and in their vomit were often found pins, and once
-or twice a two-penny nail.
-
-One or two of the children died. To support these allegations, a wagoner
-appeared, whose wagon had been twice overturned in one morning in
-consequence of the curses of one of these witches. Sir Matthew Hale
-presided at the trial, assisted by Sir Thomas Brown, two of the most
-able and learned Judges then in England. Those two poor women were by
-the jury found guilty, and hanged on the seventeenth day of March, 1664,
-one week after their trial.
-
-Sir Matthew Hale refused to sum up the evidence, but left it to the
-jury, to whom he said, “That the Scriptures left no doubt that there
-was such a thing as witchcraft; and instructed them that all they had to
-do, was, first, to consider whether the children were really bewitched;
-and, secondly, whether the witchcraft was sufficiently brought home to
-the prisoners at the bar.” The Jury found them guilty, and they were
-hanged as before stated.
-
-Here we have a shocking account of the credulity of the human mind. The
-whole English nation were laboring under a mental delusion. Here it was
-not to be said, “*O, ye of little faith!*” but, “*O, ye religious
-madmen! your faith has changed your nature from kindness and pity, to
-perform acts of cruelty which the savage cannibal would shudder to put
-into practice.*” I would here remind the reader, that Judge Hale was
-considered a just and humane Judge. What a dreadful state a nation must
-be in, when such laws as have been referred to, were in full force, and
-the jurisprudence of England was, as it were, under the influence of a
-Being the supposed enemy of man! And it may in truth be said, that an
-unknown and invisible world governed one that was known and visible.
-
-Now, in the case of those two poor women, who were really murdered, the
-question arises, who were their murderers? Was it Judge Hale, or the
-Jury? It was neither. It was the Bible-—a book which records the
-existence of a Devil, the sworn enemy of God and men. Reader! can you
-withhold pity from two poor creatures in such circumstances, and can you
-still praise to the skies a Book that has made the best and wisest of
-men cruel brutes,—who, at the same time, were happy to have a chance
-to make war against the Devil, by destroying two helpless beings whose
-only crime, in all probability, was poverty and ignorance? Every humane
-unbeliever must exclaim, “O God! O Nature! what havoc have ignorance
-and superstition made among your works!”
-
-Nothing could be better calculated to give importance to the credibility
-of the activity and influence of the Devil’s employing and entering
-into a league with wicked and ill-disposed persons, after Christianity
-became established, than the Scripture account of the Devil’s tempting
-Jesus, and endeavoring to make a contract with him to obey and submit
-to his proposals. But as the Devil was non-suited by the Saviour of
-mankind, it might be expected that after Jesus had left this world, the
-Devil would endeavor to enlist into his service many of those who had
-embraced the religion of that Saviour whom he had tried to seduce.
-
-In the course of time, in the middle or dark ages, when' men’s
-imaginations were active, and reason was nearly banished from among
-Christians, it became a matter of faith and certainty, that persons in
-different towns and villages had really entered into a contract, for a
-certain number of years, with the Devil himself; and to carry out and
-complete this supposed covenant with the enemy of God and man, a motion
-was started of the Devil’s Sabbath, on which, a place being appointed,
-wicked men and women could meet and contract with Old Lucifer himself;
-and books were printed to show the nature of the contract After this
-strange opinion became fully credited, and witchcraft was made a crime
-punishable by law, those persons who were accused of witchcraft were
-tortured, in order to compel them to own that they had attended the
-Sabbath of the Devil.
-
-Another fact will now be stated, to show what ideas of the Devil’s
-influence prevailed in England and Scotland, in the days of Elizabeth.
-James the First, of England, who, succeeding Elizabeth, was born in
-1566, was the only direct heir to the Crown of Scotland, and had a
-prospect of succeeding Elizabeth in England, which he did on the death
-of the Queen. James had witnessed a great number of prosecutions for
-witchcraft, in Scotland, in the reign of Mary; and he, as might be
-expected, most firmly believed that the Devil was very active in the
-country of his birth; so that, when he came to the Crown of England, his
-mind was di-rected to put a stop to the prevailing crime of witchcraft
-and to break up the Devil’s Sabbath, he believing that numbers of his
-English subjects were visitors to those unholy meetings. A circumstance
-will now be mentioned which will fully prove what views the people of
-England and Scotland had of the activity of the Devil in drawing persons
-into his service and kingdom; for it is impossible to evade the truth,
-that the existence and opposition of the Devil against the progress of
-the Gospel, was strengthened by what had been recorded of the Devil in
-the New Testament.
-
-James the First, of England, is here cited to show what was then the
-prevailing opinion of the existence of witchcraft in that kingdom. And
-although it is painful to reflect on the sufferings of thousands, it
-may, by its recital, assist those who are still somewhat in darkness, to
-discover how the human race have been deluded. James the First had fixed
-his mind on a daughter of the King of Denmark. A splendid embassy was
-sent from England to conclude the treaty of marriage, and to bring home
-James’s royal consort; but the ships met with violent storms, and
-instead of arriving at the capital of Scotland, the news came that the
-ship in which the Princess had taken passage, was driven back on the
-coast of Norway; nothing uncommon m these seas at that, season of
-the year. The King, being disappointed, sailed to the place where the
-shattered ships lay, and the marriage was consummated; and the King and
-Queen remained at Copenhagen, and did not arrive at Edinburgh until the
-first of May, 1590. The storm was, after their return, considered to be
-the result of some supernatural interference.
-
-The King, after his return, suspecting that witchcraft had something to
-do in raising the storm which drove his intended wife on the coast of
-Norway, set to work to make discoveries; and two of his female servants
-were suspected of causing the storm before alluded to. Their names were
-Geillis Duncan and Agnes Sampson. Both of them were put to the torture
-to extort confession. These poor young women, broken down and exhausted
-by so dreadful an operation, became willing to answer such questions as
-this royal blockhead had prepared to put to them. Agnes Sampson told the
-King, that she, in company with two hundred other witches, had sailed
-in sieves from Leith to North Berwick Church; how they had there
-encountered the Devil in person; how they had feasted with him, and what
-obscenities had been; practised. She related, that in this voyage they
-had drowned a cat, having first baptized it; and that immediately a
-dreadful storm arose, and in this very storm the King’s ship had been
-separated from the rest of the fleet. Inconsequence of this confession,
-Agnes Sampson was condemned to the flames. The system of torture
-resorted to under cir-circumstances of suspicion, compelled poor
-suffering creatures to answer any questions put to them to satisfy their
-cruel tormentors and in many cases, after all, they were put to death.
-King James the First published his Dialogues on Demonology in three
-books. But many years after he renounced his belief in the real
-existence of Witchcraft altogether; and in the latter part of his reign,
-declared that all he had done was the effect of delusion.
-
-These were dreadful times for humanity. Thousands and tens of thousands
-of victims suffered every kind of torture that savage, ingenuity could
-devise; and what made it the more to be deplored, the ignorant creatures
-who inflicted the torments were honest in their abhorrence of those
-unfortunate persons, who suffered for what was, in those dark ages,
-considered the worst of crimes. In what horror, then, were persons held
-who could be so wicked as to have dealings with the devil? The case of
-James is here recorded, to show the reader that the belief in witchcraft
-was not confined to the ignorant: and unlettered portion of society; but
-that England, and Scotland, and, it may be said, every Christian nation
-with its government, and the army also, were all laboring under this
-delusion. And the truth of its existence was then, and is now, supported
-by the New Testament, and fully confirmed by the Devil’s temptation of
-Jesus, the Christian’s *Son of God*; for the desire manifested by
-the Devil to entice Jesus to enter into his service, did, in those dark
-ages, strengthen persons in the conclusion that the Devil, although he
-failed to seduce the Redeemer, would continue to enlist, if possible,
-great numbers into his service. The firm belief of his attempts on the
-*Son of God* would dispose persons to credit the fact that people of
-abandoned characters would hire themselves to the Devil. In the days
-of Oliver Cromwell, a story is recorded by Echard, the historian, as
-shockingly illustrative of the credulity of the age in which he lived.
-It takes its date from the morning of the third of September, 1651, when
-Cromwell gained the battle of Worcester against Charles the Second.
-It is on the authority of Colonel Lindsey, who was senior captain in
-Cromwell’s own regiment. The story recorded is, “That on the morning
-of the battle, Cromwell took with him Colonel Lindsey to the side of a
-wood, not far from the army, and bade him alight and follow him into the
-wood, and to take particular notice of what he saw and heard. And having
-secured their horses, and walked some little way into the wood, Lindsey
-began to turn pale, and to be seized with horror from some unknown
-cause. Cromwell asked him how he felt himself? He answered, that he was
-in such a trembling that he never felt the like in all the conflicts
-and battles he had ever been engaged in. ‘How, now,’ said Cromwell,
-‘what! troubled with the vapors? Come forward, man.’ They had not
-gone far, before Lindsey stood still, and said it was impossible for him
-to go one step further. Upon which, Cromwell called him a faint hearted
-fool, and bade him stand there and observe, or witness. And then the
-General, advancing to some distance from him, met a grave elderly man
-with a roll of parchment in his hand, who delivered it to Cromwell, and
-he eagerly perused it Lindsey, a little recovered from his fear, heard
-several loud words between them, particularly Cromwell said, ‘this is
-but for seven years, I was to have it for one and twenty.’ The grave
-elderly man told him positively, it could not be for more than seven.
-Cromwell cried with great fierceness, ‘It shall, however, be for
-fourteen years.’ Cromwell then took his parchment, and returning to
-Lindsey, ‘Now, Lindsey,’ said he, ‘the battle is our own, I long to be
-engaged.’ It did then commence. After the first charge, Lindsey deserted
-his post and rode away with all speed to a friend’s in the county of
-Suffolk, and never returned. Cromwell offered a great reward for him,
-dead or alive. Cromwell died on that day seven years, September 3,
-1658.”
-
-It is of no consequence whether this story is true or not It fully
-proves that at that time it was believed, that men sold themselves to
-the Devil.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-===========
-
-.. dropcap:: T TWO
-
-
-TWO more remarkable cases will, in this chapter, be made known to the
-reader, to show that for hundreds of years the Devil, or rather the
-belief in his existence, was a source of terror to all Christians, and
-must have operated on almost every transaction in which society were
-engaged. In almost every town and village, to be surrounded with wicked
-beings who had entered into a contract with Satan to be empower-ed to
-perform deeds of darkness which no prudence could guard against, must
-have had an influence on the peace and safety of almost every family.
-But now, that the delusion has nearly passed away, and mankind are no
-longer subject to such terror, we may be happy to think that our lives
-are exempted from the evils which afflicted our forefathers. And nothing
-but an open avowal of our unbelief in all systems which in any way
-sanction the existence of a Being who has made a large portion of the
-human family crazy, can prevent a recurrence of past ignorance with all
-its baneful consequences.
-
-Joan of Arc, called the Maid of Orleans, an unfortunate creature,
-demands our pity. Her tragical history ought to impel every humane
-person to do all in his power to prevent mortals from again witnessing
-scenes of so dreadful a nature.
-
-Henry the Fifth, of England, won the decisive battle of Agincourt in the
-year 1415, and some time after concluded a treaty with the reigning King
-of France, by which he was recognized, in case of that King’s death,
-as heir to the throne. Henry the Fifth died in the year 1422, and
-Charles the Sixth, of France, in less than two months after. Henry the
-Sixth was only nine months old, at the time of his father’s death;
-but such was the deplorable state of France, that he was the same
-year proclaimed King in Paris, and for some years seemed to have every
-prospect of a fortunate reign. John, Duke of Bedford, the King’s
-uncle, was declared Regent of France. The son of Charles the Sixth was
-reduced to the last extremity. Orleans was the last strong town in the
-heart of the kingdom which held out in his favor; and that place seemed
-on the point of surrendering to the conqueror.
-
-“In this fearful crisis, appeared Joan of Arc, and, in the most
-incredible manner, turned the whole tide of affairs. She was a servant
-in a poor inn at Demremi, and was accustomed to perform the coarsest
-offices, and, in particular, to ride the horses to a neighboring stream
-of water. Of course, the situation of France and her hereditary King
-formed the universal subject of conversation, and Joan became deeply
-impressed with the lamentable state of her country, and the misfortunes
-of her King. By dint of perpetual meditation, and feeling in her breast
-the promptings of energy and enter-prize, she conceived the idea that
-she was destined by Heaven to be the deliverer of France. Agreeably
-to the state of intellectual knowledge at that period, she persuaded
-herself that she saw visions and held communications with the saints.
-She then had conversations with St. Margaret and St. Catherine of
-Fierbois. They told her that she was commissioned by God to raise the
-siege of Orleans. She then presented herself to Baudricourt, Governor
-of the neighboring town of Vaucouleurs, telling him her commission, and
-requiring him to send her to the King at Chinon. Baudricourt, at first,
-made light of her application; but her importunity, and the ardor she
-expressed, at length excited him. He put on her man’s attire, gave
-her arms, and sent her, under an escort of two gentlemen and their
-attendants, to Chinon. Here she immediately addressed the King in
-person, who had purposely hid himself behind his courtiers, that she
-might not know him. She then delivered her message, and offered, in the
-name of the Most High, to raise the siege of Orleans, and conduct King
-Charles to Rheims to be anointed.
-
-“Desperate as was then the state of affairs, Charles and his ministers
-immediately resolved to seize the occasion that offered, and put forward
-Joan as an instrument to revive the prostrate courage of his subjects.
-He had no sooner determined on this, than he pretended to submit the
-truth of her mission to the most rigorous trial. He called together an
-assembly of theologians and doctors, who rigorously examined Joan, and
-pronounced in her favor. He referred the question to the Parliament of
-Poictiers, and they who, previously to meeting, were persuaded that she
-was an impostor, became convinced of her inspiration. She was mounted
-on a highbred steed, furnished with a consecrated banner, and marched,
-escorted by a body of five thousand men, to the relief of Orleans.
-The French, strongly convinced by so plain an interposition of Heaven,
-resumed the courage to which they had long been strangers.
-
-“Such a phenomenon was exactly suited to the superstition and
-credulity of the age. The English were staggered with the rumors that
-every where went before her, and struck with a degree of apprehension
-and terror that they could not shake off. The garrison, informed of her
-approach, made a sally on the other side of the town, and Joan and her
-convoy entered without opposition. She displayed her standard in the
-market place, and was received as a celestial deliverer. She appears to
-have been endowed with a prudence not inferior to her courage and
-spirit of enterprise. With great docility, she caught the hints of the
-commanders by whom she was surrounded, and, convinced of her own want
-of experience and skill, delivered them to the forces as the dictates of
-Heaven. Thus the knowledge and discernment of the Generals were brought
-into play at the same time that their suggestions acquired new weight
-when falling from the lips of the Heaven-instructed heroine. A second
-convoy arrived, the wagons and troops passed between the redoubts of the
-English, while a dead, silence and astonishment reigned Among the forces
-so lately enterprising and irresistible. Joan now called on the garrison
-no longer to stand upon the defensive, but boldly to attack the army
-of the besiegers. She took one redoubt, and then another. The English,
-overwhelmed with amazement, scarcely dared to lift a hand against her.
-Their veteran Generals became, spell-bound and powerless, and their
-soldiers were driven before the prophetess like a flock of sheep. The
-siege was raised. Joan followed the English to a fortified town which
-they fixed on as the place of their retreat, and all the English were
-made prisoners. The late victorious force now concentrated themselves at
-Patay, in Orleanois. Joan advanced to meet them. The battle lasted not
-a moment; it was rather a flight than a combat. Fastolfe, one of the
-bravest of the English Generals, threw down his arms, and ran for his
-life. Talbot and Scales, the other Generals, were made prisoners.
-
-“The siege of Orleans was raised on the eighth of May, 1429; the battle
-of Patay was fought on the tenth of the following month. Joan was, at
-that time, twenty-two years of age. This extraordinary turn having been
-given to the affairs of the kingdom, Joan next insisted that the
-King should march to Rheims, in order to be crowned. Rheims lay in a
-direction expressly through the enemy’s garrisons. But every thing
-yielded to the marvellous fortune that attended upon the heroine.
-Troyes opened its gates. Chalons followed the example. Rheims sent a
-deputation, with the keys of the city, which met Charles on his march.
-The proposed solemnity took place amid the ecstasies and enthusiastic
-shouts of his people. It was no sooner over, than Joan stepped forward.
-She said, she had now performed the whole of what God had commissioned
-her to do. She was satisfied. She entreated the King to dismiss her to
-the obscurity from which she had sprung.
-
-“The Ministers and Generals of France, however, found Joan too useful
-an instrument to be willing to part with her thus early, and she yielded
-to their earnest expostulations.
-
-“Under her guidance, they assailed Laon, Soissons, Chauteau, Thirry,
-Provins, and many other places, and took them one after another. She
-threw herself into Compiegne, which was besieged by the Duke of Burgundy
-in conjunction with certain English commanders. The day after her
-arrival, she headed a sally against the enemy; twice she repelled
-them, but finding their numbers increase every moment with fresh
-reinforcements, she directed a retreat. Twice she returned to her
-pursuers, and made them recoil; the third time she was less fortunate.
-She found herself alone, surrounded by the enemy, and having performed
-prodigies of valor, she was compelled to surrender herself a prisoner.
-This happened on the twenty-fifth of May, 1430. It remained to be
-determined what should be the fate of this admirable woman. Both friends
-and enemies agreed that her career had been attended with a supernatural
-power. The French, who were so infinitely indebted to her achievements,
-and who owed the sudden and glorious reverse of their affairs to her
-alone, were convinced that she was immediately commissioned by God, and
-vied with each other in reciting the miraculous phenomena which marked
-every step in her progress. The English, who saw all the victorious
-acquisitions of Henry the Fifth crumbling from their grasp, were equally
-impressed with the manifest miracle, but imputed all her good fortune
-to a league with the Prince of Darkness. They said, that her boasted
-visions were so many delusions of the Devil. They determined to bring
-her to trial for the tremendous crimes of sorcery and witchcraft.
-
-“They believed that if she were once convicted and led out to
-execution, the prowess and valor which had hitherto marked their
-progress, would return to them, and that they should obtain the same
-superiority over their disheartened foes. The Devil, who had hitherto
-been her constant ally, terrified at the spectacle of the flames that
-consumed her, would instantly return to the infernal regions, and
-leave the field open to English enterprise and energy, and to the
-interposition of God and his saints. An accusation was prepared against
-her, and all the solemnities of a public trial were observed. But the
-proofs; were so weak and unsatisfactory, and Joan, though oppressed
-and treated with the utmost severity, displayed so much acuteness and
-presence of mind, that the court, not venturing to proceed to the
-last extremity, contented themselves, with sentencing her to perpetual
-imprisonment, and to be allowed no other nourishment than bread and
-water for life. Before they yielded to this mitigation of punishment,
-they caused her to sign with her mark a recantation of her offences. She
-acknowledged that the enthusiasm which had guided her was an illusion,
-and promised never more to listen to its suggestions.
-
-“The hatred of her enemies, however, was not yet appeased. They
-determined in some, way to entrap her; They had clothed her in a female
-garb; they insidiously laid in her way the habiliments of a man. The
-fire, smothered in the bosom of the maid, revived at the sight; she was
-alone, she caught up the garments, and; one by one adjusted them to
-her person. Spies were set to watch for this even; they burst into her
-apartment. What she had done was construed into no less offence than
-that of a relapsed heretic. There was no more pardon for such confirmed
-delinquency. She was brought out to be burned alive; in the market place
-of Rouen, and she died embracing a crucifix, and in her last moments
-calling upon the name of Jesus. A few days more than twelve months had
-elapsed between the period of her first captivity and her execution.”
-
-The preceding history of Joan of Arc, is taken from “Godwin’s Lives
-of the Necromancers.” Reader! we see in this tragical account, the
-dreadful effects of human credulity. The unfortunate; Maid of Orleans,
-who so well deserved a monument for her patriotism, was thus cruelly put
-to death. Her hard fate fully shows how superstition fortifies the mind
-against compassion and the dictates of common sense. In that the of
-religious intolerance, whole nations, had caught this theological
-fever. Kings and Parliaments, Judges and Generals, from the highest to
-the lowest, were alike the subjects of that awful contagion. Justice
-was banished from the earth, and humanity had no existence. From whence
-proceeded this state of savage barbarism? The answer is presented to us
-in bold relief. It was the effects of human credulity. It was brought
-on by believing without examination; and, in the New Testament, faith
-is urged as the thing most pleasing to God, and unbelief as the greatest
-sin. The existence of the Devil, and his enmity, to God and man, being
-supported by the New Testament, to be guilty of forming a contract with
-the Prince of Darkness was considered a horrid crime. The origin of
-sorcery, (which consisted in holding a communion with beings from
-the fabulous world of spirits,) is lost in the night and darkness of
-antiquity, but all ancient-nations and people were believers in its
-reality.
-
-It was of heathen origin, yet the Jews practised it, and individuals
-followed it for a livelihood, as, for instance, the witch of Endor.
-Christians have also been believers in it in connection with all the
-different branches of magic.
-
-But that which has established its truth among Christians, is the part
-performed by Jesus during his ministry. By his own temptation by the
-Devil, the Existence of the Devil is put beyond all doubt And when Jesus
-was about to cast out a devil, the devil is reported to have cried out
-to the Saviour, “*We know who thou art, and art thou come to torment
-us before the tinte?*” This mode of expression to Jesus by the Devil
-who was about to be cast out, implies that when the Devil was ejected,
-he had to return to hell, his native place of torment. It would lead
-us to infer that devils were permitted to leave their dread abodes, and
-take possession of men or animals, as a cessation of torture; but when
-cast out, they had to return home, their vacation being run out Admitting
-this to be warranted by the New Testament, we can account for those
-devils whose names were “Legion,” petitioning to *be permitted to
-enter the herd of swine*. So, then, it appears that the devils had other
-motives in taking possession of human beings than to rebel against God,
-or to torment men. It was a fine holiday to blow off the soot and ashes,
-and to get fresh air. At any rate, Jesus, by pretending to cast out
-devils, fully admitted their existence. And by the temptation of Christ,
-is proved a desire on the part of the Devil to enlist persons into his
-service.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-============
-
-.. dropcap:: T THE
-
-
-THE reader will not fail to notice, that the personage known by the
-name of the Devil, Satan, &c., is treated of more fully than any
-other recorded in the Old or New Testament. The reason is, because his
-influence exceeds that of all the prophets, and even of the Saviour
-himself. So destructive has been his supposed reign, throughout the
-earth, that hundreds of volumes could be written, and still the half
-would remain untold. In the conclusion of this chapter, an account will
-be given of witchcraft in Sweden, which far exceeds any thing on record.
-The bare recital fills the mind with horror, pity, and indignation.
-
-Before giving the dreadful tale, it will not be amiss to indulge in a
-few thoughts on the probable origin of the existence of a Being who has
-been a terror to all nations, both learned and ignorant. As the writer
-is convinced that every thing pertaining to theology is of man’s
-creation, it may be useful to express his opinions how it has happened
-that all religions have been based on two beings who have ever been
-opposed to each other, namely, a God and a Devil. Their opposition to
-each other is the ground-work of every system, whether it be of saint or
-savage.
-
-To attempt to go back to the origin of theology, as to when or where
-it first assumed the form of religious worship, is to begin at the
-beginning of the human race. Religion may be compared to a chain, the
-first link of which is hidden in the darkness of past ages. The curtain
-is continually dropping; and the most that we can do is, to peep behind
-one of its comers. We find ourselves connected with that link which we
-call Christianity. How many preceding links there may have been, we
-know not, nor have we any means of knowing. All, therefore, is but
-conjecture. But carrying our ideas back to a time we know not when, to
-the beginning of that theology, the basis of which is a God and Devil
-opposing each other, the following memories are presented:—Before
-human beings were acquainted with the laws of nature, the universe must
-have presented to them appearances which surprised and alarmed them.
-Receiving no ideas but through the medium of the senses, the first idea
-which must strike them would be, the great contrast between a mighty
-power and their own weakness. They would discover from what they saw
-around them, a mighty power which no prudence could guard against, and
-which no strength, which they had, could oppose. They would see, that,
-if by accident, they fell into water, it would destroy life; if, by any
-means, their dwellings took fire, it would consume them; that thunder
-was calculated to alarm them, and that death, often followed the storm;
-and also, that the slightest accident often caused severe pain, and
-sickness followed, without their being acquainted with the original
-cause of all these evils. The first men, then, must have been astonished
-with the mighty power which every where surrounded them, when compared
-with their own weakness. Sometimes tasting the sweets of life, and at
-others, its evils, the first gave them pleasing sensations, the last,
-pain and distress. Having, then, nothing to guide them in drawing
-conclusions but the objects by which they were surrounded, they inferred
-that the mighty power which was every moment visible to their senses,
-and from which they received every thing that contributed to their
-happiness, resided in a being like themselves, but possessing wisdom and
-goodness.
-
-To these children of nature, who saw “God in the clouds, and heard him
-in the wind,” by a simple process of the mind, such conclusions were
-very natural. The first theologians, then, who, by way of reasoning, we
-place at the fountain head of all religious systems which have come down
-to us, were convinced of the existence of a Supreme Power who governed
-the destinies of the human race. Power, then, was the first idea which
-man had, in the infancy of his rea-son, as to the existence of a God;
-and it is all that the great-est and wisest of the human race have ever
-discovered of the Being called by that name. And in this view of the
-subject, there is no man living who is an Atheist. The power that
-presented itself to untaught man, required no laborious investigation
-to discover. It struck his senses with as equal a force as it does
-the profoundest philosopher. On the contrary, the wisdom and goodness
-ascribed to God, resulted from a knowledge of the order and wonderful
-adaptation which pervades the universe, the investigation of which has
-employed master minds in all subsequent ages.
-
-But untutored man must be overwhelmed with thinking of that power to
-whose bounds he could set no limits. The wisdom and munificence that run
-through all nature, were to him unknown. To those, therefore, from whom
-theology took its rise, it was a world of confusion. Ignorant of cause
-and effect in the order of nature, and their imaginations being active,
-while their reasoning powers were undeveloped, every thing they saw or
-felt was to them a mixture of pleasurable or painful sensations. The
-pleasure, ease, or comfort which they enjoyed, would be considered as
-the gift of a good power which conferred such blessings. On the
-other hand, it would appear inconsistent to them to ascribe the evils
-attending them to the author of good, they being incapable of judging
-that good (pleasure) and evil (pain) could proceed from the same power.
-
-In reasoning from what they saw, they concluded that power was connected
-with, and resided in, living beings, who had life and motion like
-themselves. Hence they inferred, that the power from whom they received
-good, existed somewhere to them unknown. Proceeding in the same track in
-which they, in imagination, first set out, they conceived this power
-to be a Being whose residence was in the starry heavens. Untaught man,
-having imagined a Being from whom he received all the good, in following
-on in the same course soon came to the certain conclusion that the
-God who was the author of all his happiness, must have a location, a
-dwelling above, in some of the stars—at any rate, beyond the ken of
-mortals. As men’s thinking powers became move expanded, but still
-under the influence of imagination, they would conclude that this
-Being who dwelt in the skies, would, of course, have his attendants who
-fulfilled his orders, and added splendor to his habitation.
-
-It appears, that by such a train of thinking, under the influence of the
-imagination, that the religious system which has come down to us, and
-which, from time to time, has had additions and modifications, namely,
-the existence of a God and of a place called Heaven, inhabited by
-angels, had its origin. Ignorant of the laws of nature, the power of
-imagination has produced, owing to the organization of the human mind,
-a world of fiction, consisting of a God, angels, and a habitation in the
-skies. By the same process of reasoning, (though feeble,) yet propelled
-by an active imagination, which had fixed the habitation of a good Being
-in the skies, in a splendid city, with attendants singing his praises,
-and eager to execute his orders, untaught man now turned hi# attention
-to the author of his misfortunes and misery. Being totally ignorant that
-a portion of pain was indispensable to the full enjoyment of happiness
-in his precarious life, he could not think that pleasure and pain
-proceeded from the same being; which must have induced him to conclude
-that an evil and malignant being existed, nearly equal in power to
-the one that was good; and to such an one, he ascribed all pain and
-misfortune.
-
-Here, then, are all the materials for a system of theology which has
-been propagated and believed in by every nation under heaven, in which
-have been included “saint, savage, and sage.” In all the hundreds of
-systems of religious worship, the before-mentioned materials have been
-the ground-work, with the exception of the Jewish; for, during their
-dispensation, the Devil made no part of it. But when Jesus came to
-gather up “*the lost sheep of the house of Israel,*” along came Mr.
-Devil to oppose him. As the imagination had created a Devil, the Father
-of all evil, something was still wanting to complete the whole; and that
-was, an abode of darkness and horror. Hell, then, is his dread mansion,
-over which he reigns triumphant.
-
-It has been reserved for the Christian Religion to depict hell in all
-its awful terrors. The New Testament represents hell as a place of
-torment by fire never-ending, where the unfortunate occupants are
-forever burning, but kept alive, and never consumed. The hell of the
-Greeks and other nations is less horrible, being represented as the
-abode of darkness, humiliation, and sorrow. But Christianity has a God
-in heaven, and a Devil in hell, forever contending with each other, like
-gladiators of old for the prize; and that prize is the human race. But
-the same New Testament represents that the Devil will have by far the
-greatest number of prisoners, so that, in the final winding up of this
-holy war, *Old Nick* will win the field.
-
-The same process of reasoning, which led man, in the infancy of his
-reason, to personify the power who presided over the human race, induced
-him to infer that his pain and misfortune emanated from a malignant
-being, who delighted to do him harm. He then, by the simple process of
-his imagination, concluded that there must be two opposing powers which
-governed the affairs of mortals. The good, proceeded from a being who
-showered down blessings on mortals; and all evil and pain, from a
-being who took pleasure in the unhappiness of the human race; and his
-residence, to correspond with his evil disposition, was by them fixed
-in the gloomy regions of darkness and horror. This, then, Christians,
-appears to have been the origin of your God and Heaven; and also your
-Devil and Hell. That both heaven and hell are of heathen origin, there
-can be no doubt; and it is also equally clear, that the Jews, when they
-returned from captivity, brought these doctrines back with them into
-Judea. They then made part of the Jewish faith, and Jesus embraced them;
-for he pretended to cast out devils, and the Devil enticed him in the
-wilderness to rebel against God and enlist into the service of his
-Satanic Majesty. And this heaven, which originated in heathenism, Jesus
-promised as the reward of his faithful followers; and with this very
-hell he threatened the disobedient.
-
-What can Christians say (after this) of the divinity or the antiquity of
-the New Testament? Its doctrines originated in an age unknown, among a
-people more ancient than Moses, or than Adam, who is said to have been
-the first man. Yes! ye ministers of grace, your heaven and hell, by the
-proclaiming of which you alarm the good man, but make the wicked man
-worse, have no more existence in reality than the heaven and hell of
-Mahomet. But if there be a heaven, such as you preach up, and the road
-to it be as difficult as Jesus declared it to be, many of you will have
-to put up at the half-way house; you will never reach the end of your
-journey.
-
-The following account of witchcraft in Sweden, is extracted from
-“Godwin’s Lives of the Necromancers:”—“The story of
-witchcraft, as it is reported to have passed in Sweden, in the year
-1670, and has many times been reprinted in this country, (England,) is,
-on several accounts, one of the most interesting and deplorable that
-has ever been recorded. The scene lies in Dalecarlia, a country forever
-memorable as having witnessed some of the earliest adventures of
-Gustavus Vasa, his deepest humiliation, and the first commencement of
-his prosperous fortune. The Dalecarlians are represented to us as the
-simplest, the most faithful, and the bravest of the sons of men;—men,
-undebauched and unsuspicious, but who devoted themselves in the most
-disinterested manner for a cause that appeared to them worthy of
-support, the cause of liberty and independence against the cruellest of
-tyrants. At least, such they were in 1520, one hundred and fifty years
-before the date of the story we are going to recount. The site of these
-events was at Mohra and Elfdale, in the province that has just been
-mentioned. The Dalecarlians, simple and ignorant, but of exemplary
-integrity and honesty, who dwelt amid impracticably mountains and
-spacious mines of copper and iron, were distinguished for superstition
-among the countries of the north, where all were superstitious. They
-were probably subject, at intervals, to the periodical visitation
-of alarms of witches, when whole races of men became wild with the
-infection, without any one’s being able to account for it.
-
-“In the year 1670, and one or two preceding years, there was a great
-alarm of witches in the town of Mohra. There were always two or three
-witches existing in some of the obscure quarters of this place; but
-now they increased in number, and showed their faces with the utmost
-audacity. Their mode, on the present occasion, was, to make a journey
-through the air to Blockula, an imaginary scene of retirement, which
-none but the witches and their dupes had ever seen. Here they met with
-feasts and various entertainments, which it seems had particular charms
-for the persons who partook of them. The witches used to go into
-a field, in the environs of Mohra, and cry aloud to the Devil in a
-peculiar sort of recitation, “*Antecessor! come and carry us to
-Blockula.*” Then appeared a multitude of strange beasts: men, spits,
-posts, and goats with spits run through their entrails, and projecting
-behind, that all might have room. The witches mounted these beasts of
-burden, as vehicles, and were conveyed through the air over high walls
-and mountains, and through churches and chimneys, without perceptible
-impediment, till they arrived at the place of their destination.
-
-“Here the Devil feasted them with various compounds and confections;
-and, having feasted to their heart’s content, they danced and then
-fought. The Devil made them ride on spits, from which they were thrown;
-and the Devil beat them with the spits and laughed at them. He then
-caused them to build a house to protect them against the day of
-judgment, and presently overturned the walls of the house, and derided
-them again. All sorts of obscenities were reported to follow upon these
-scenes. The Devil begot on the witches sons and daughters; this new
-generation intermarried again, and the issue of this further conjunction
-appears to have been toads and serpents. How all this pedigree
-proceeded, in the two or three years in which Blockula had never been
-heard of, I know not that the witches were ever called on to explain.
-But what was most of all to be deplored, the Devil was not content
-with seducing the witches to go and celebrate this infernal Sabbath; he
-further insisted that they should bring the children of Mohra along with
-them.
-
-“At first, he was satisfied, if each witch brought one: but now, he
-demanded that each witch should bring six or seven for her quota. How
-the witches managed with the minds of the children, we are at a loss
-to guess. These poor, harmless innocents, steeped to the very lips in
-ignorance and superstition, were, by some means, kept in continual alarm
-by the wicked, or, to speak more truly, the insane old women, and said
-as their prompters said. It does not appear that the children ever left
-their beds, at the time they reported they had been to Blockula. Their
-parents watched them with fearful anxiety. At a certain time of the
-night, the children were seized with a strange shuddering; their limbs
-were agitated, and their skins covered with a profuse perspiration. When
-they came to themselves, they related that they had been to Blockula,
-and the strange things they had seen, similar to what had already been
-described by the women. Three hundred children, of various ages, are
-said to have been seized with this epidemic.
-
-“The whole town of Mohra became subject to the infection, and were
-overcome with the deepest affliction. They consulted together, and drew
-up a petition to the royal counsel at Stockholm, entreating that they
-would discover some remedy, and that the government would interpose its
-authority to put an end to a calamity to which otherwise they could find
-no limit. The King of Sweden, at that time, was Charles the Eleventh,
-father of Charles the Twelfth, and was only fourteen years of age.
-His council, in their wisdom, deputed two commissioners to Morah, and
-furnished them with powers to examine witnesses, and take whatever
-proceedings they might judge necessary to put an end to so unspeakable
-a calamity. They entered on the business of their commission, on the
-thirteenth of August, the ceremony having been begun with two sermons in
-the great church of Mohra, in which we may be sure the damnable sin of
-witchcraft was fully dilated on, and concluded with prayers to
-Almighty God, that, in his mercy, he would speedily bring to an end the
-tremendous misfortune with which, for their sins, he had seen fit
-to afflict the poor people of Mohra. The next day they opened their
-commission. Seventy witches were brought before them. They were all,
-at first, steadfast in their denial, alleging that the charges were
-wantonly brought against them, solely from malice and ill-will. But the
-judges were earnest in pressing them, till, at length, first one, and
-then another, burst into tears, and confessed all. Twenty-three were
-prevailed on thus to disburden their consciences; but nearly the whole,
-those who owned the justice of their sentence, as well as those who
-protested their innocence to the last, were executed. Fifteen children
-confessed their guilt, and were also executed. Thirty-six other
-children, (who, we may infer, did confess,) between the ages of nine and
-sixteen, were condemned to run the gauntlet, and to be whipped on their
-hands at the church door every Sunday for a year together. Twenty others
-were whipped on their hands for three Sundays.”
-
-This is certainly a very deplorable scene; and is made the more so,
-by the previous character which history has imposed on us, of the
-simplicity, integrity, and generous love of liberty of the Dalecarlians.
-For the children and their parents, we can feel nothing but unmingled
-pity. The case of the witches is different. That three hundred children
-should have been made the victims of this imaginary witchcraft, is
-doubtless a grievous calamity. And that a number of women should be
-found, so depraved and so barbarous, as by their incessant suggestions
-to have practised on the minds of these children, so as to have robbed
-them of their sober sense, to have frightened them into fits and
-disease, and made them believe the most odious impossibilities, argued a
-most degenerate character, and well merited severe reprobation, but
-not death. Add to which, many of those women may be believed innocent;
-otherwise, a great majority of those who were executed would not have
-died protesting their entire freedom from what was imputed to them.
-Some of the parents, no doubt from folly and ill-judgment, aided the
-alienation of mind in their children, which they afterward so deeply
-deplored, and gratified their senseless aversion to the old women, when
-they were themselves in many cases more the real authors of the evil
-than those who suffered.
-
-The honest and serious reader is now recommended to pause, and, for
-a moment, reflect on the foregoing recital; for if ten thousand real
-devils had been let loose and turned out on the earth in a visible and
-bodily form, and had been permitted to do their worst against the human
-race, if such a thing had actually taken place, the evils inflicted by
-them would have been little compared to what has really taken place by
-men’s believing in the existence of an invisible Devil, who never had
-a being but in the imagination of mortals. The destructive influence
-which has spread over the whole earth has brought to a premature grave
-thousands and tens of thousands of harmless beings, who have been
-charged with holding converse with this supposed enemy of God and man.
-Of all the crimes which have been committed on earth, to sin against
-Orthodox faith has been considered the worst; when, in fact, it is no
-sin at all. There is nothing immoral in it. To differ from any man,
-or from all men, about religion, cannot be a crime. It is the inherent
-right of every human being; and to rob him of that right is the worst of
-felony. But to punish a man with death in addition, is to unite robbery
-and murder. And what makes it worse is, that religious offenders are put
-to death without pity or mercy. Few, very few tears of compassion ever
-have fallen for them, where Christianity has been the prosecutor.
-
-The baneful influence which has spread over the world, by believing
-in the existence of the Devil, is shocking to humanity. It has been
-computed that as many as one million persons have suffered, in various
-ways, since the commencement of the Christian era. Some have been
-banished; some have been branded and imprisoned; others put to death,
-after having been tortured in the most cruel manner; and thousands have
-been out-lawed and driven from their peaceful homes without pity.
-All this has taken place because the Scriptures teach and support the
-existence of a Devil, the inveterate enemy of God and men. There is no
-doctrine more fully carried out in the New Testament than the existence
-and hostile activity of the Devil. Jesus, it is said, “*cast them
-out.*” He also was tempted to rebel against God, and to worship the
-Devil. In the Book of Job, the Devil is represented as being permitted
-to afflict Job. And Jesus threatens the ungodly with a punishment
-in connection with the Devil and his angels. If a devil has no being
-whatever, why should Jesus pretend to cast out devils? And if there be,
-in truth, such a personage as the Devil, possessing such power, and,
-also, forever opposing Almighty power, can it be possible that a God of
-goodness would permit him to live and annoy God and men?
-
-We see that it is the height of folly to suppose that such a personage
-ever did live, or does now; but the belief of it has been one of the
-greatest curses which ever befel mankind. Here, then, let us bring up
-the idea, and reflect upon it, that all the evil which has taken place,
-and all the sufferings endured by the unfortunate beings in the dark
-ages, may possibly again occur. The Bible is the same, and mam is the
-same. The difference is in the actions of men in different ages.
-When reason and the morality of things are man’s guide, then he is
-peaceable and humane; but when acting under the imagination, he is
-capable of becoming as bad as is the Devil.
-
-In concluding this chapter, let us look back to those times of ignorance
-and superstition. Let us place ourselves by the misortunate victims who
-were put to torture and death for a crime they could not commit. Could
-they, in their extreme pain, but have had a hope that a day would arrive
-when a band of master spirits would arise on the shores of the Atlantic,
-who, by reason and the moral fitness of things, would upset and
-prostrate the systems under which they so severely suffered-—could the
-poor, suffering victim, with his broken heart and fractured limbs, have
-had assurance, when his tortured mind was about to quit its lacerated
-boundary, that a time would soon surely come when the truth of the Bible
-and the existence of a Devil would cease to be made the instruments of
-unspeakable misery and torment, it would have been a cheerful ray of
-comfort amid the devouring flame. The time *has* at length arrived, and
-we ought to improve it. Let us, then, with untiring perseverance and
-moral courage, give the death-blow to the Divinity of the Old and New
-Testaments, and thereby forever obliterate, not only the incentives to,
-but also the remembrance of all religious persecutions.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-=============
-
-.. dropcap:: A AS
-
-
-AS this work is about to be concluded, it will be of importance to the
-reader that a comprehensive view be taken of the mission of Christ to
-the Jewish nation. In doing which, an opportunity will be given to such
-of my readers as may hitherto have been afraid to doubt the truth of the
-Divine authority of the Bible, to see, at one glance, its absurdity.
-
-In the four Gospels, which contain the sayings and doings of Jesus
-during his ministry among the Jews, and also in the Epistles of the
-Apostles, it is uniformly declared and enforced, that the main purpose
-of Christ’s (*the anointed of God*) coming into the world was, to die.
-And this death was required by the Father as an atonement for the sins
-of mankind, that whosoever believed in and obeyed him, their pardon
-should be sure, not for any thing which they had done as it related to
-justice, chastity, or humanity, but for the ransom paid for their sins
-by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. An apostle, in speaking on
-this subject, says—“*He (Christ) being delivered by the determined
-counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have, by wicked hands, crucified
-and slain.*” This decree, then, was absolute, and every movement then
-made by Jesus, and also his preaching and conversation with the Jews,
-was so arranged, that die he must, to save a lost and ruined world.
-
-This, according to the Scriptures, was the divine arrangement between
-the Father and the Son. This doctrine is taught in the New Testament.
-And in such a lost condition were the human race, that Jesus *freely
-gave himself as a ransom to be completed in due time*. If the New
-Testament does not teach this, it is not possible to know what it
-does teach. To die, then, as a sacrifice for sin, included the sum and
-substance of the Gospel, or good news.
-
-Having laid down the ground-work of human redemption, we proceed to
-carry through the plan said to be the work of mercy and goodness flowing
-from the mighty God, the author of all things. In the examination of
-such an arrangement, it appears impossible to conclude that the Author
-of the Universe can be considered as the God of the Jews and Christians.
-The Jews had always been taught to believe that they were God’s
-favorite people, and they retain the same faith to the present day. For
-ages before the Christian era, they not only expected the coming of the
-Messiah, but also, that no nation but their own would be interested in
-that glorious event. It never entered their minds that he would come in
-any disguise, for many impostors had appeared, who, being discovered,
-their Messiahship procured them certain destruction. The Jews,
-therefore, inferred, that when the proper time should arrive for the
-long-expected and ardently-looked for Messiah to appear among them,
-their nation would be raised to more than its former greatness, and
-God’s chosen people would be held up to the nations of the earth as
-confirming the truth of what their ancient prophets had foretold of
-their future prosperity.
-
-It could never, therefore, have entered the minds of the Jews, as a
-nation, that the Messiah would come in any disguise. And it must have
-been far from their thoughts to expect that he, when he should arrive,
-would load them with violent abuse, and reproach them as being too low
-to be considered as any thing else than a nation of hypocrites. If Jesus
-came into this world to die, then every thing which he taught, and also
-all the intercourse which he had with his own people, was preparatory
-to that event. That the Messiah would come to the Jewish nation to dwell
-among them, to be their leader, to exalt them above all other nations,
-was what they had been taught to expect. Instead of which, he calls them
-“*a generation of vipers!*” and pronounces terrible things against
-the heads of the nation, commencing his denunciations with “*Woe unto
-you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites!*” Such violence and abuse
-surprised them, coming from one who said “*he came to seek and to save
-that which was lost.*”
-
-Again, Jesus said that “*he came not to call the righteous, but
-sinners to repentance.*” But Jesus gave them no quarter, but sent them
-head and heels to the Devil. The Jewish rulers must have been more than
-human to have quietly taken such vulgar abuse. Sometimes, Jesus seemed
-to soften down in his conduct, as when he says, “*O Jerusalem!
-Jerusalem! how often would I have gathered thy children together, as
-a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not.*” So
-erratic is Jesus depicted, in the account we have transmitted down to
-us, that we are at a loss as to forming an opinion concerning his manner
-of treating his own people. But as it was “*by the determined counsel
-and foreknowledge of God*” that he was to be a “*sacrifice for the
-sins of mankind,*” his mode of addressing the rulers of Israel was
-calculated to bring about the “*will of his Father.*”
-
-Admitting, for the sake of argument, that Jesus was the true Messiah,
-the Jews were in a worse state than if he had not appeared among them.
-The statement made by Jesus of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of his
-second coming, confounded all their ideas of the Messiah’s kingdom.
-In the twenty-third and twenty-fourth chapters of Matthew, after having
-pronounced a number of dreadful predictions against them, he winds up
-in chapter twenty-third as follows, “**YE SERPENTS! YE GENERATION
-OF VIPERS! HOW CAN YE ESCAPE THE DAMNATION OF HELL?**” In the
-twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, Jesus gives a long account of his
-second coming. How was it possible for the Jews to understand what
-he there describes? Their desire was, to know if he was the Messiah
-promised by the prophets; and, if so, what steps he would take for the
-exaltation of their nation, so that they might enjoy all they had been
-induced to expect when the “*sun of righteousness should arise with
-healing in his hands*.”
-
-For Jesus to tell his disciples and the Jewish nation what would be the
-signs of his second coming, before they under-stood what his object was
-in coming the first time, must appear very strange. From the particular
-account which Jesus gave of his second coming, the Jews must have
-understood him to mean, that although he professed to be the true
-Messiah, yet his stay was but short with them. As yet, his time for
-operation was not come. The discourses of Jesus to his countrymen, were
-all calculated to mislead and confound them. In his sermon on the Mount,
-he claims an authority of his own superior to the law of Moses. Matthew,
-chapter v., verse 33—“*Again, ye have heard that it hath been said
-by them of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself but shall perform
-unto the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto you, swear not at all*”
-Verse 38—“*Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye,
-and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil;
-but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheeky turn to him the other
-also.*” What could the Jewish rulers think of a man, who, without any
-ceremony, set up laws in direct opposition to the laws of Moses, when,
-at other times, he declared himself a follower of Moses, and that
-he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it? Such inconsistent
-teaching as this, will not admit of Infinite Wisdom’s being the
-author.
-
-In Matthew, chapter xiii., 10, it reads—“*And the disciples came and
-said unto him, Why speaketh thou unto them in parables? He answered and
-said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries
-of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” Verse
-13—“Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing, see
-not; and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand.” Verse
-14—“And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By
-hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see
-and shall not perceive.” Verse 15—“For this people's heart is waxed
-gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have
-closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear
-with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be
-converted and I should heal them*”
-
-Now this mode of treating the Jewish nation is perfectly in character
-with the plan, in accordance with which, Jesus came to lay down his
-life for sinners; for had he convinced the Jews that he was the expected
-restorer of Israel, no Jewish arm would have been raised against him;
-nor would it have been possible to have prevailed on the national rulers
-to have attempted his life; since although the priests and Pharisees
-might, in a moral point of view, have been wicked in the extreme, still
-their veneration for, and their earnest expectation of the coming of,
-the Messiah, would have prevented any hostile feelings against “*the
-anointed of the Lord, the Holy one of Israel.*”
-
-But if the preaching of Christ, and his arrangements, were of such a
-nature that the Jews supposed the whole to be an imposture, then the
-case took a different turn altogether. Instead of the Jews refusing to
-receive Jesus as the sent of God, they put him to death from the hatred
-which they had towards any one who they supposed had fabricated his
-authority and office. If the main object of Christ’s coming to the
-Jews was to die for the sins of mankind, both Jew and Gentile, and thus
-become a willing sacrifice for sin,—if this was the plan of human
-redemption, it then follows that the Jews did that part which, in the
-divine arrangement, was allotted for them to do. Then the conduct of
-Jesus was consistent in keeping them ignorant, so that their part might
-by them be carried out. If he had convinced them, that he was, in truth,
-the sent of God, but that they must hang him on a tree, the plan of
-human redemption would have failed, for they, immoral as they might be,
-never would have put him to death.
-
-There could be no other way of bringing about the death of Christ,
-but by keeping the Jewish nation ignorant that he was the Messiah. The
-course that was pursued by Jesus, would imply that his orders were to so
-act among them, that their condemnation would be just for rejecting him;
-but on no account to perform miracles sufficient to convince them, for
-in that case the Jews would not have condemned and put him to death as
-a blasphemer and an impostor. Again, if Jesus came on earth to die, and
-without shedding his blood there could be “*no remission of sin*”
-what mockery for him to exclaim “*O Jerusalem! Jerusalem I how oft
-would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her
-chickens under her wings, and ye would not*!” For if the Jews had
-sheltered themselves under the wings of Jesus, how was he to die as a
-sacrifice for sin? But he was not put to death, they knowing him to be
-the Christ, but on the contrary, they condemned him for pretending to
-be the very anointed of the Lord. And although the story was propagated
-that Jesus arose, after his descent from the cross, the Jews as a nation
-did not give credit to it, nor have they till this day. If, therefore,
-“*there is no other name under heaven whereby men can be saved,*”
-but by believing in Christ and in his dying for the sins of mankind,
-then the Jews, ever since the death of Christ, and also the present
-race, are lost and forever shut out from that pardon which was procured
-by the death of Jesus, which was brought about by the instrumentality of
-the Jews by the condemnation of the Messiah.
-
-The account of Judas, in what is called betraying his Master, is strange
-indeed. In speaking of that circumstance, Jesus says, “*It would have
-been better for that man if he had never been born*.” Now if Jesus
-came to die, Judas, by informing the authorities where he was to be
-found, did no more than bring to pass what was before ordained should
-take place. Judas, then, was but the instrument to accomplish the plan
-of human redemption, by informing the Jewish authorities when and where
-they could secure the object which they sought after. The very idea of
-betraying Jesus, proves two things:—first, that Jesus was but little
-known to the Jews, except from report; and, secondly, that although
-he held often said he came to lay down his life for sinful man, yet
-he intended to evade death as long as possible. It was owing to this
-obscure method of teaching, that his disciples, although always with
-him, could not understand fully what his objects were; and though he had
-so often told them of “*the kingdom of heaven being at hand,*” they
-understood him not.
-
-To bring the position of the Jews nearer, at the time of Christ’s
-appearance in Judea, let us suppose ourselves to have been Jews, then
-living, and expecting and desiring his coming. At length, it is said,
-“he is arrived.” The first inquiry would very naturally be, is he
-the true Messiah, or is he an impostor? If, then, to our inquiries made
-to him on that point, we had received in return nothing positive, but
-the vilest abuse, and threatenings of damnation in a future world, could
-we be expected to view him as the promised deliverer? When the Jews
-heard him denouncing them as hypocrites, and, at the same time, assuming
-an authority over Moses, and the laws of Jehovah given by Moses, and
-calling the Temple (for which they had so high a veneration) a den of
-thieves, it must have had a tendency to shut up their minds against his
-divine mission. If Jesus wished the Jews to be convinced of his being
-the personage whom they had long expected, he should, in the first
-place, have attended to their inquiry, “*Art thou he which should
-come, or are we to look for another?*”
-
-This question being settled, by indisputable evidence, Jesus would have
-had a foundation for correcting what was wrong, and exposing their base
-conduct. But he began at the wrong-end, by upbraiding them for their
-evil doings before he had ‘convinced them of his being appointed to
-abrogate, or, in any way, to alter, the law of Moses. We may then safely
-conclude, if Jesus was divinely commissioned to the Jews, that it was
-not intended they should believe in him. But who, for a moment, can
-think, that, if the Almighty Ruler of the Universe had sent him, his
-mission would have been marked with trickery and deception, and have
-failed, and the Jews have been left in a state far worse than if he
-had never been among them? Can we reasonably conclude, that a Being
-of infinite wisdom and goodness would have sent his Son to the Jewish
-nation, without giving them any evidence of his being the Messiah,
-and then have taken advantage of their unbelief to deal out judgments
-against them?
-
-If Jesus was sent into the world to die, and by dying, became “*a
-sacrifice for the sins of mankind,*” then the Jews, by putting him to
-death, brought to maturity what God had ordained should come to pass.
-In that case, then, it is clear, that Jesus was so to act, that the Jews
-must not be convinced that he was the true and real Messiah, for had
-they believed in him as the restorer of their race, whom they had long
-expected, they would not have slain the “*Lord of life and glory*.”
-Then, how would he have paid the “*ransom for lost sinners*”? But,
-on the other hand, if Jesus was sent by God to the Jewish nation, and
-gifted to perform signs and miracles to convert them, how did it happen
-that they remained in sin and unbelief;—their whole race, the seed
-of Abram, remaining in that state until the present time? The Jews have
-surely been an unfortunate people. To the Jews, then, 1 must say, “I
-know not which demands the most pity—you, or your God; for, after all
-the attempts to subject you to his will, you are a race of outcasts, and
-have been plundered by all the Christian nations on earth. After all the
-pains taken by the Lord of Hosts to convert you, every one has failed;
-but the last failure is the most to be deplored. From the time Jehovah
-is said to have called Abram, your progenitor, and selected him from the
-rest of the human race, and promised him and his seed forever, blessings
-from which the rest of the world were excluded, Jehovah and your
-generations have ever been on bad terms. You are spoken of in Scripture
-as a stiff-necked, rebellious people. On the part of God, he has always
-appeared as if he was angry with your conduct. Forty years together, he
-says, he has been *grieved with your disobedience*. To such a height
-has been his displeasure, that thousands and tens of thousands of your
-nation have been cut off by the terrible judgments of the Lord. You have
-been led into captivity and sold as slaves, time after time, and Jehovah
-has even threatened to destroy your whole race.
-
-“Jehovah, in his anger, has raised heathen kings against you, and the
-slaughter has been dreadful. But when you have turned to the Lord, and
-humbled yourselves, he has attended to your cry, and delivered you
-out of their hands. Jehovah has, at times, inspired prophets who have
-foretold that you should one day have a personage appear among you,
-restore you to your former greatness, be to you a God, and you should be
-to him a people. This personage is said to have been among you, but *you
-knew him not*. You, then, from obedience to Jehovah, rejected Jesus as
-an impostor, and considered him as arrogating to himself Divine honor,
-and finally put him to death. And, for eighteen hundred years, you have
-suffered the most cruel treatment from every nation among whom you have
-dwelt. You have been the most unfortunate people on earth; but you still
-cling to your prophets, and are looking for the coming of the Messiah.
-
-“And what appears more unfortunate than all your past evils, is, you
-have put to death, through mistake, your last refuge, the true Messiah.
-There are, at the present time, upwards of one hundred millions of
-Christians who maintain and believe that the same Jesus whom *ye slew
-and hanged on a tree, is in truth both Lord and Christ,* the same whom
-your nation so long and so earnestly looked for. If, then, faith in
-that Christ whom you rejected, has opened the kingdom of heaven to the
-Christian world, while your whole race is shut ont, the Christians owe
-you a debt of everlasting gratitude, for by this sacrifice they are to
-enter into the Supper of the Lamb, and your unfortunate race have the
-door closed against them. But do not despair, for the Infidels of the
-present day are your friends. They will make all right They will, if you
-attend to them, convince you that your forefathers were imposed on, when
-in a state of ignorance, by some artful impostor, who persuaded them
-that the seed of Abram was chosen by God to the exclusion of all other
-people and nations.
-
-“In the infancy of your nation, Moses, or some other artful leader,
-took advantage of your inexperience, and by antedating miracles said to
-have been performed in behalf of your ancestors by Jehovah, but which
-never were performed, and which at the time was incapable of refutation,
-your nation imbibed the reality that the seed of Abram was the *chosen
-of the Lord*. This conviction for thousands of years has been received,
-and has been handed down from father to Son till the present time.
-Yes, ye seed of Abram, (by this name I address you,) by considering
-yourselves the chosen people of God, this conviction has been your
-perpetual curse. Your faith in the ancient accounts of those miracles
-and wonders, wrought in your behalf by Moses, has been your fatal
-delusion. You consider it not possible for your fore-, fathers to have
-been deceived; for, say you, the miracles and wonders were performed
-before your whole nation.
-
-“In this consists your error. There is no certainty as to who wrote
-the history of the wonders, said to have been wrought in your behalf,
-nor at what time they were first recorded. But the internal evidence
-of the books ascribed to Moses, fully prove him not to have been the
-author. The same evidence also proves that the first five books were not
-written till after the reign of the first kings of Israel. So that, by
-antedating the wonders recorded to have taken place in the infancy of
-your nation, and then by a cunning impostor to have been subsequently
-presented for the first time to the Jews, giving them an account of
-those wonders of old, an ignorant nation would be likely to believe
-them; and in that case a whole people would be converted at once, giving
-credit to an absurdity producing an influence in the world which has far
-exceeded any imposture that ever has been Saddled on the human race. The
-dreadful error into which your forefathers fell, and by handing down to
-their posterity the foolish story of your being *a chosen people*, the
-greatest curse which could befal you, you have, without doubt, been the
-most unfortunate people on earth; for by considering yourselves *God’s
-chosen people*, you have despised the rest of the human race, and you
-have in return been persecuted and plundered. You have been treated by
-all nations as outcasts.
-
-“On the ground-work of your having been chosen by the supposed God of
-the universe, the world has assumed an appearance very unlike to what
-it would have had, if no such imposition had been practised on your
-progenitors. Wars innumerable have taken place, and rivers of blood have
-flowed through the earth, occasioned by theological strife. Religious
-quarrels, ending in the application of the rack and torture, and
-persecutions in quick succession, have been the result, and thousand of
-horrid cruelties have taken place in every age, all in consequence of
-that curse of all curses, the belief that *God has a chosen people*.
-Although it had doubtless been thought by your nation the highest
-possible honor to be chosen by the Lord, this has proved your greatest
-misfortune; for from this source, Christianity has been produced. You
-may exult in the idea, that you have in your sacred books, the doctrine
-of but one God, notwithstanding your religion and its Christian
-offspring has been more cruel and intolerant than any on earth.
-According to your own books, your nation and the God who chose them,
-were forever at war; your people continually rebelling and receiving
-chastisement, till, at last, you are to appearance forsaken. But as has
-been before mentioned, the Infidels are your friends; for, by means
-of free discussion, and the diffusion of useful knowledge, they will
-ultimately destroy that intolerant spirit which has been the earth’s
-greatest curse, and you will eventually, with the rest of the human
-family, open your eyes, and discover the folly and absurdity of
-believing in a God “partial, vengeful, and unjust.” And then you
-will be no longer *Jews*, but will become men.”
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-CHAPTER IX.
-===========
-
-.. dropcap:: I IN
-
-
-IN the preceding chapter we have endeavored to ascertain the object of
-Christ’s coming into the world, but without being able to arrive at
-any positive conclusion. As it respected the Jews, they did, and they
-had a right to expect, that his, coming would be to them a blessing; and
-not, by any means, that it would prove disastrous in its consequences.
-It is, by Christians, contended that the primary object of the
-Messiah’s advent was, to die for sinners; by which death he would make
-an atonement for the sins of the world. In this view of the case, (and
-the Scriptures seem to bear it out,) the Jews were altogether deceived,
-and are therefore objects of pity. The kingdom of heaven being opened
-to the world at large, to both Jew and Gentile, the Jews were
-unsuspectingly shut out. That Christ did not intend to convince the Jews
-that he was the Messiah, seems to be warranted from the manner of his
-preaching to them; his violence, and the abusive language he used, being
-calculated to prejudice them against him. And again, if Christ was to
-become a sacrifice for sin by expiring On the cross, somebody must put
-him to death, and the Jews are said to have been his executioners. The
-Jews, therefore, did that which the divine mind intended they should
-do. But such double-dealing and deception, in order to entrap the Jews,
-could never have originated with the Great Eternal, the unchangeable
-ruler of all things.
-
-In reading the history of Jesus, (written nobody knows by whom, or
-whether by his authority or not,) we must judge of him by the account as
-it stands. It certainly appears strange that we have no intimation
-that Jesus gave any orders to his Apostles to write, or in any way
-to transmit to posterity an account of his life or doctrines. And it
-appears more singular, when we consider in how particular a manner the
-laws of Moses were written, which, without doubt, is what kept the Jews
-from being divided into a number of sects. But so neglected were the
-sayings and doings of Jesus, that, soon after his death, forty or fifty
-Gospels were abroad; an equal number of sects sprang up, and the various
-religious dogmas were introduced, which, till the present day, have
-divided the Christian world, and, at times, have produced wars,
-persecutions, and blood. On so important a subject as the salvation
-of the human race, it might reasonably be expected that the founder
-of Christianity would have left some documents to guard against so
-destructive an evil. This entire neglect, if not positive proof
-against the divine mission of Jesus, must create doubts leading to the
-conclusion that the Christian religion is deficient as to the evidence
-of its divine origin. It appears from the Gospels that Jesus was a moral
-reformer; that the priests and rulers were proud, haughty, and of wicked
-dispositions; that the founder of the Christian religion exposed their
-hypocritical pretensions, and that, by thus exciting their malice, he
-fell a victim. This has been the fate of hundreds of moral reformers, in
-different ages and nations.
-
-Christians, of all sects, could they be brought to reason impartially on
-the mission of Jesus, would have their faith shaken, from the following
-considerations:—Admitting, as all Christians do, that the Jewish
-religion is of divine authority, and had for ages been by the Jews
-considered as such, to set that aside and introduce another, required
-authority from heaven, but such authority was never given. The bare word
-of Jesus, that he was the sum and substance of the law of Moses both
-moral and ceremonial, seems to be insufficient. The Jews, however base
-or immoral they were, as a nation never showed a want of faithfulness
-when their religion was assailed. So that it appears, that to do away
-with the form of worship, and introduce a new order of things, required
-something more than the obscure sayings of Jesus, who was but little
-known at the time of his death. If, by the coming of Christ, a new
-dispensation was to supersede the old, then the highest and the most
-incontrovertible authority should be produced. But this was not the
-case, for Jesus often charged those whom he had cured of some disease,
-“to tell no man” how they were made whole: as much as to say,
-“Keep secret with respect to the person who restored you to your
-former state.” We need not wonder that the Jews rejected Jesus, seeing
-that he assumed an authority higher than that of Moses; for, at the
-giving of the law on the mountain, it was Jehovah himself who spake to
-them. The Jews, then, considered that the same God who gave the law, and
-he alone, must change it, or introduce another, and not a person whose
-object in coming they could not comprehend, and who taught doctrines,
-a very great portion of which, were of a threatening and menacing
-character.
-
-And, finally, so little did Christ’s disciples understand of his
-divine mission, that, when he was betrayed, Peter, the boldest of them
-all, became alarmed, and denied any knowledge of him. This was very
-strange in Peter, if it was a fact that he heard Moses and Elias, at a
-former time, conversing with his Divine Master. But be that as it
-may, Jesus is reported to have suffered death on the cross, one of his
-disciples informing against him to the rulers, for the paltry sum of
-thirty pieces of silver, and another swearing he never knew him. This
-has often happened, when a bold reformer has been taken into custody;
-his followers would disown and forsake him; but it is not likely that
-Peter would thus have acted, had he witnessed the mighty deeds said
-to have been done by Jesus. I remember hearing an Unitarian minister
-remark, that “If Moses could return from the dead, how he would be
-surprised to read what was written of him after his death; and that he
-would say that the wonderful things reported of him, he knew nothing
-about.” This, no doubt, would be the case with Jesus, as all his
-mighty works are recorded *of* him, but none were recorded *by* him.
-
-As his resurrection was the key-stone of the Christian arch, some
-observations on that all-important event will be made. Whatever Jesus
-communicated to his disciples respecting his rising from the dead,
-during his life, is not recorded; but it appears that his death entirely
-frustrated their expectations. The resurrection of Jesus presented the
-most favorable opportunity to dispel all doubts of the Messiahship of
-him whom the Jews had put to death as an impostor. It will be in order,
-then, to observe what steps were taken by Jesus, after his resurrection,
-to convince the Jews, and the world at large, that his mission was from
-heaven. This, of all times, was the fittest to convince the Jews of
-their unfortunate mistake. The short account given in the Gospels, does
-not afford much light on that subject. But if the Jews, as a nation, had
-still retained their unbelief, such incredulity must soon have given way
-by his continuing among them.
-
-If the Jews, from mistaken convictions, did put Jesus to death, it seems
-but just that they should have had a chance to rectify their unfortunate
-error. But owing to the short stay of Jesus on earth, after his
-resurrection, and he being the most of that time in company with his
-disciples, the Jews had not an opportunity of fully investigating the
-reality of his death and re-appearance, and his deportment after it was
-said he was returned to life. The greatest difficulty experienced
-by Christians in defending the divine authority of the New Testament
-Dispensation, is, to account for the sudden departure of Jesus, who,
-according to the Scripture record, was taken up into heaven in a few
-weeks after his resurrection. To an inquiring mind, there are many
-objections which deserve notice. The writer does not pretend to say that
-the thing is impossible, because to deny the possibility of it would be
-to set limits to the power that governs the universe.
-
-We will examine the account of Jesus’s leaving this world so soon,
-to discover if possible, what end was to be obtained by his sudden
-departure from the scene of his suffering and degradation. It seems
-reasonable to suppose that it was of the highest importance for Jesus
-to stay on earth to establish Christianity on a sure foundation. It
-is written that he told his disciples that it was for their good that
-things were so arranged that he should leave them, for if he went away,
-he would send the comforter to them, who was to be their guide, and to
-bring to their remembrance the things he had told them; and also that
-the Holy Ghost, the comforter, would, to make up for his absence, lead
-them into the way of truth. This is, in substance, what they were to
-expect. But unfortunately it did not take place, but the reverse; for,
-from the accounts which have come down to us, a great number of sects
-sprang up in a few years after Jesus left the world, and numerous
-gospels were extant, which, for a number of years were quoted by the
-early Fathers of the Church, and were considered authentic; but were
-afterwards rejected, and are now bound up together and called “The
-Rejected Gospels.”
-
-In the beginning of the fourth century, the Christian sects were
-not only numerous, but began to assume a spirit of intolerance and
-persecution, and when that monster, Constantine, became a convert to
-Christianity, religious quarrels were of the most violent character. Not
-to dwell on the particulars of these religious differences, we may ask,
-what did they quarrel about? The answer is at hand. They quarrelled
-about something that Jesus was reported to have said or taught. Their
-disputes were not of a moral, but of a theological description. In these
-disputed subjects no standard of reference could be set up. Jesus was
-at the right hand of his Father, and their differences could not be
-settled by him. Quarrel after quarrel followed in quick succession;
-the strong persecuted the weak; and the earth was deluged with blood.
-Constantine, the Roman Emperor, hoisted the banner of the cross; and
-after having murdered nearly the whole of his own family, he sought
-consolation from that religion which says, that “the blood of Jesus
-cleanses from all sin.”
-
-The history of Jesus, including his doctrines, and also what the
-apostles taught concerning him, and the belief in his second coming; the
-different opinions that have arisen concerning the person of Christ; and
-also, the various dogmas collected from the writers of the gospels,
-all taken from what is called divine revelation, have never ceased
-to generate quarrels among the different churches professing to be
-Christian. Ever since the commencement of Christianity, there has been
-little else but religious animosity among the different sects—each of
-them professing to have the truth, to the exclusion of all the rest;
-all of them appealing to the same word of God to support their various
-dogmas. We may then ask, has that proclamation ever been fulfilled, that
-was made by *multitude of the “heavenly host*” namely,—“*Peace
-on earth and good-will towards men”?* But no doubt its fulfilment is,
-in point of truth, equal to its ever having been given; for angels are
-airy nothings, and have no existence but in the imagination.
-
-From what has been stated, it will be seen that the religious quarrels
-which have taken place from the commencement of the Christian era, arose
-from the uncertain standard appealed to by the various sects. They all
-referred to some particular passage or passages recorded, either by
-Christ or his apostles. Every sect had a portion of truth supported
-by Scripture authority; and it has at times happened, that whole
-congregations, as well as individuals, have changed their opinions
-concerning what the Scriptures taught. For instance: a Church, believing
-that the Scriptures taught the doctrine of the Trinity, have given up
-that doctrine, and embraced Unitarianism. The Scriptures remained the
-same; it was their opinions that underwent the change. In fact, every
-sect has Scripture for its support; so that it is plain to be seen, that
-the New Testament is not, nor ever can be, a true and certain rule to
-which a reference can be made, whereby disputes can be ended. The
-Old Testament was superior in this respect to the New. And now, after
-eighteen hundred years’ fighting; in which time, tens of thousands
-have been victims, and the earth has been drenched by human blood,
-nothing is certain as to what Christianity really is. Can it then be
-possible, that the God of the Universe would have left that religion (to
-establish which, his Son expired on the cross,) in such a wretched
-state of uncertainty, by calling him so early to his holy habitation?
-Impossible.
-
-If Christ was taken from this earth, he has now a local habitation, and,
-also, he must be actively employed. Can Christians conceive where he
-is, and what he is doing? Is it possible he would have remained so long
-absent, knowing, as he must, that the cause for which he suffered would
-be so wretchedly carried on? The absence of Christ, if not the entire
-cause, is one cause of all the religious wars and bloodshed among
-nations, and, also, of the hostile feelings of one sect against another.
-Had he remained on earth, there would have been but “*one Lord, and
-his name one*.” If Jesus died for the salvation of the world, common
-sense would dictate, that, after his resurrection, he would dwell in
-that world for whose salvation he came, and not have been taken into
-heaven before his plan of redemption was arranged; so that, instead of
-union and harmony prevailing in his absence, by disunion, persecution,
-and religious warfare, the different churches exhibited a complete
-confusion of tongues.
-
-If Jesus had remained on earth, all religious persecution would have
-been prevented; for if his laws and regulations had been written, and
-to each church a copy had been sent, it would not have been possible for
-any difference of opinion to have brought on disorder so as materially
-to have disturbed the peace of his church. And if any dispute had taken
-place, Jesus, dwelling on any particular spot on earth, his authority
-could, in such a case, have been appealed to, and the matter would have
-been peaceably settled. But, after his death and resurrection, there was
-nothing to which a reference could eb made, but certain Gospels written
-by unknown persons.
-
-In summing up this matter, the following remarks may safely and truly be
-made:—In a short time after Jesus arose from the dead, it was declared
-by his apostles, that he had ascended into heaven, and had left orders
-for the Gospel, or good news, to be proclaimed throughout the world; and
-that after remaining with his disciples a few weeks, when on a journey
-with some of them, a cloud intervened, and they lost sight of him.
-Before his death, Jesus had told them to watch for his second coming,
-for that it would be sudden and unexpected; and he also added, that
-there were those standing among them that would live to see it, and that
-he should then appear in glory, attended by angels, judge the world,
-and reward every man acccording to his deeds. The apostles taught this,
-doctrine, and the early Christians looked for that event with eager
-expectation. But a long and dreary night of religious intolerance has
-nearly passed away, and Jesus has not yet arrived; during which night,
-the world has witnessed scenes of horror unknown to the most savage ages
-of antiquity.
-
-All this confusion and wretchedness must have been known by Jesus,
-and also by his Father, at whose right hand it is recorded that he is
-sitting. Now can Christians conceive where Christ has been, or what
-he has been doing? Strange, indeed, does it apppear, that, during the
-disorder and violence in which the Christian Church was involved for
-ages, when thousands of honest, pious, and sincere Christians were put
-to death, their Redeemer could sit quietly in heaven and not interfere
-in their behalf! Perhaps it ought to be more strange, that it was the
-will of God that Jesus should ever have left that world which was the
-scene of his suffering.
-
-Looking at the plan of human redemption, from the time of the birth of
-Jesus, and the incomplete finish made of it by his being taken up into
-heaven, leaving his followers ignorant of what he meant during his
-preaching on earth;—knowing, too, that the various sects have kept
-the world in an uproar, destroying each other by thousands, and that
-all these evils have taken place in consequence of Jesus being quietly
-seated by the right hand of God,—these considerations, and many others
-not noticed in this work, convince me, that the mission of Christ was
-not of Divine authority.
-
-The following remarks will contain, in substance, the strongest
-objection against the divinity of Christ’s mission; and are given by
-the author as presenting his final conclusions on that subject And here
-he would ask—If the God of the Bible is, as Christians believe, the
-Author of the universe, what are we to understand by the assertion,
-“*That Jesus is seated at his right hand?*” God is a spirit
-pervading all space, of whom one of the Scripture writers says, “*In
-him we live, and move, and have our being.*” The same idea was
-expressed by the Greeks in reference to their supreme God,—“All
-things are full of Jupiter.” How, then, can it be believed that the
-unknown power who is the God of all creation has a local dwelling place?
-
-Jesus, after his resurrection, declared that he had “*flesh and
-bone.*” How, then, he can be located with an universal spirit, is
-beyond human conception As Jesus is a being possessed of a tangible
-form, he must have a place of residence; and it is impossible that
-he can dwell with *his God and Father* in any other than a local
-habitation. The supposition, then, that the Almighty Ruler of all worlds
-has a palace on some fixed star, or planet, where Jesus has for eighteen
-hundred years resided in company with the Infinite Creator, surrounded
-by angels conversing and singing; the Devil, during the same time,
-“*going about like a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour*”
-while Christians were cutting each other’s throats in consequence of
-their disputes about the meaning of what Christ said, or the object of
-his performances on earth, is very unlikely, to say the least of it.
-
-It seems astonishing that men, possessed of the noble faculty of reason,
-can believe that Jesus is now alive in some unknown world, and in
-company with the Sovereign Ruler of nature. In conclusion, the author of
-this work (over whose head seventy-three summers’ suns have passed,)
-would say that he does not, *cannot* believe that the Jesus of the
-Christians has any existence but in the imagination of his followers.
-
-
-.. clearpage::
-
-REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE
-=================================
-
-.. dropcap:: H HAVING
-
-
-HAVING concluded my remarks on the Old and New Testaments, I have
-thought it proper to give a chapter on Morality. I do this to prevent
-the reader from concluding that, because I am not a believer in the
-Divine authority of the Old and New Testaments, I disregard all moral
-obligation, and do not hold myself accountable to God, Nature, or my
-fellow beings. Nothing can be further from truth than such a conclusion.
-If no such being as God exists, who will judge every man at the final
-day of accounts; and if no such judgment will ever take place, admitting
-all this, even then should I stand in the same relation to my fellow
-beings in a moral point of view.
-
-Christian preachers, generally, teach their hearers the entire
-worthlessness of good works, without they are connected with faith in
-the Gospel. This mode of treating unbelievers has a bad effect on the
-minds of church members, who, giving full credit to the pastor of the
-flock, are taught to consider that the person, or persons (however just,
-humane and virtuous they may be in all their actions,) who do not come
-up to the standard of their faith, are wicked, and will, at the day of
-judgment, be condemned, and their sentence will be, “*Go, ye cursed,
-into everlasting fire.*” &c. We need not wonder, therefore, at the
-intolerant spirit which is so active among all professing the Christian
-name. Notwithstanding the moral precepts taught by Jesus, his followers,
-at the present day, pay but little regard to them. To believe in the
-Saviour, and consider him as the endorser of their sins, and presenting
-their claims at the throne of the Eternal, form an easy way for
-expiating a life of wickedness and cant. If we compare the moral
-character of professing Christians with the precepts taught by Jesus, we
-shall be surprised at the vast discordance between their profession and
-their practice. We find that, in practice, Christianity is hostile to
-justice and humanity.
-
-This is easy to be accounted for. It is because the Scriptures represent
-our most virtuous actions as worthless in the sight of God, and without
-faith we are told it is impossible to please him; and this is not all:
-much depends on what kind of faith it is. The followers of John Calvin
-think the faith of the disciples of John Wesley but little better
-than the faith of devils, “*who believe and tremble.*” It has been
-because men have judged by their faith, and not by moral rectitude, that
-one Christian sect has persecuted even to death, others who have borne
-the Christian name. It was this spirit of intolerance that propelled
-John Calvin to cause Servetus to be burnt by a slow fire, not because
-he was a wicked man, nor was it for want of faith in the Christian
-religion, but because the faith of Servetus did not agree with the
-faith of John Calvin. Had moral excellence been the standard of their
-friendship, and virtue the bond of their union, Servetus would have died
-in peace, and Calvin would not have been handed down to posterity as a
-cold-hearted murderer.
-
-It is the common practice of Christians, when in conversation with
-Infidels, to boast of the purity of Christ’s moral precepts; but in
-all their sayings and doings with Infidels, the want of faith is the
-unpardonable crime which induces them to fix the badge of infamy on the
-head of the unbeliever. No doubt cruel Calvin would very good-naturedly
-shake hands with a brother of his own church and creed, and love him for
-Christ’s sake; but at the same time torment poor Servetus to death, as
-the enemy of God, for God’s sake. Oh! ye persecuting Christians! your
-prayers ought ever to be opposed to a day of judgment, and your constant
-hope should be, that it will never take place, for “*how can you
-escape the damnation of hell?*”
-
-It is the high estimation of faith, enforced by Christ, and also
-insisted on (as the sure passport to glory) by his followers, that
-compels them to consider virtue as worthless, when it is not in
-connection with what is called saving faith, which makes it clear to be
-seen that Christianity in its practice is not favorable to morality; for
-as the Scriptures truly say that “*no man can serve two masters,*”
-so faith will be always uppermost, and justice and humanity be placed
-in the background. On this principle, hard-hearted Calvin acted towards
-Servetus. Christians are commanded to do good for evil. “*If your
-enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink.*” This is pure
-morality. Thus we see that morality has no chance of justice when faith
-is the prosecutor. The moral precepts of the New Testament have never
-been strong enough to neutralize the violent and intolerant spirit
-that runs throughout the Scriptures, and which is the very life of
-the Christian faith. Had Servetus been a criminal of the worst kind,
-condemned to die by the laws of Geneva, Calvin, no doubt, would have
-had feelings of pity for him; but his crime came under the dominion of
-faith, which will not, which cannot admit of one grain of mercy.
-
-On the contrary, Infidel morality has no alloy. It is unadulterated.
-Like pure gold, it is current at all times, and in all places. Like the
-bright orb of day, it shines by its own native brightness. Its principal
-attribute is humanity, which, in its exercise, is not confined to
-creeds, or professions; but like the bountiful hand of nature, it
-dispenses its blessings even to the unthankful and unworthy. If justice
-demands its aid, the balance is held even without regard to color
-or clime. I have often been reminded, that if we did not take the
-Scriptures for our guide, we should then have no rule to regulate our
-actions. This remark would be more conclusive, if Christians generally
-acted up to what they profess; but this is not the case; nor will it
-ever be, so long as faith is the only sure passport to the Christian
-heaven, for it is a fact that many preachers of the Gospel are the
-worst characters in society. At the same time that they are preaching up
-holiness of life, it is discovered that they for years have been living
-in the indulgence of the most filthy of vices; and thus while they
-are thundering against the Devil as the enemy of souls, they are only
-abusing their betters.
-
-This being the truth, it is time that morality should be dissevered from
-all religious creeds, and stand on its own intrinsic merits. Religion
-has taught man that he is poor and helpless; that he has no power to
-act; that he has no desire to perform virtuous actions, and that he
-himself and his fellow beings are, by some (to him unaccountable)
-destiny, thrown at so vast a distance from his Creator, that he can
-approach him only by the means of kneeling and prostration, and that he
-is so far indebted to his Maker, who will have full payment to the last
-cent. Being ignorant of his real situation in the universe, and also of
-the resources of his mind, he overlooks or undervalues the strength he
-possesses, and neglects the means which God or nature puts within his
-reach to be both virtuous and happy.
-
-In this state of mind, he seeks for happiness in a religion the author
-of which is depicted as a being like himself. It is, then, the vast
-importance which has been attached to faith in the Redeemer, which has
-made the path to heaven so smooth, and easy for the Christian traveller,
-that moral rectitude has been thought of but little consideration in his
-road to glory. Let me, says the Christian, make sure of my interest in
-Christ, and my salvation is sure. Hence, we often find, that even Gospel
-ministers are men of the basest description; at the same time their
-hearers are consoled, with believing that their immoral pastor is sound
-in the faith, resting firmly on the “*rock of ages*.”
-
-The importance of faith is not the abuse of Christianity; it is the
-thing itself. Jesus taught it to his disciples, and blames them for
-having so little. But when Peter, his trusty servant, in a passion,
-cut off a man’s ear, his divine Master only gave him a gentle rebuke,
-telling him to be careful how he used the sword, for he might have to go
-in mourning for his own ears.
-
-The consistent Infidel, who renounces all religious creeds, and who
-views the whole human family as beings possessing the same faculties,
-subject to the same wants, and liable to the same misfortunes as
-himself, can, by the use of his reason, without the aid of revelation,
-discover the duties which he owes to himself, and also the true relation
-in which he stands to his fellow mortals. He, by what he observes around
-him, and by what he feels within himself, can see clearly the correct
-line of duty, and can, at any time, draw a just conclusion as to his
-moral standing in society. But it is far otherwise with the Christian,
-whose whole dependence is on what his Saviour has done for him. He is
-alternately disturbed with doubts and fears as to the ground on which
-he stands; and being taught, that his best efforts to attain a moral
-elevation by a steady course of virtuous actions, is considered by his
-Maker worse than nothing, he loses sight of the high responsibility he
-stands in, in relation to his fellow man.
-
-In proportion, then, as faith is considered superior to moral virtue,
-the first is sought after, and highly valued, and the latter is
-neglected as of little consideration in securing happiness in this life
-or in that which is to come. We need not, therefore, be surprised
-that Christians, as a class, fall far below Infidels in point of
-moral rectitude. Christianity, at best, is a cold-hearted system; its
-followers are generally unsocial. They are taught to “*love not
-the world nor the things of the world.*” Jesus himself says to his
-disciples, “*Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world;
-but because I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
-hateth you.*” Pride and intolerance are leading features in the
-conduct of Christians generally. These defects among professors of
-religion, arise from the belief that faith in Christ, as their Redeemer,
-secures them heaven; and as it respects the duties of life, they hold
-them very lightly, regarding them as, matters of little or no weight in
-the article of salvation.
-
-Professors of the Christian religion, at the same time that they
-consider that faith in the divine mission of Jesus secures them an
-acceptance with God, and that moral rectitude without faith in the
-Redeemer, is worthless in the sight of God, are compelled to admit,
-that where good works and virtuous conduct are wanting, the faith of the
-individual not being supported by Justice, Humanity, and Chastity, with
-all the virtues which adorn human nature, the damnation of such an one
-is doubly sure. So that, after all, this thing called faith borrows
-all its brightness and real value from moral rectitude. Faith, like a
-planet, is in itself a dark body, and has no light but what it receives
-from the bright sun of moral excellency.
-
-The very nature and spirit of the Christian religion, is intolerant. It
-says, “*Whosoever believes, shall be saved; and he that believeth
-not, shall be damned.*” This is the firm ground on which the Christian
-stands, and where he must continue to stand. If he quits this strong
-hold, he ceases to be a Christian, and, of necessity, becomes an
-Infidel. It follows, then, that believers in the Divine authority of the
-Bible must continue to be, what they always have been, intolerant and
-persecuting. How differently do those feel who have given up all ideas
-of Divine Revelation! They attach no consequence to faith, whatever.
-They have no disposition even to blame, much less to injure persons who
-believe in the most absurd inconsistencies. They, on the contrary, feel
-the most lively interest in their happiness, knowing that no one can
-control the honest convictions of the mind.
-
-The Infidel, then, has the advantage, in a moral point of view, over the
-Christian, for the following reasons:—The Infidel has not to defend
-the character nor the actions of any God or Gods, particularly of a God
-“partial, vengeful, and unjust.” He imbibes no angry feelings, by
-believing in a God of cruelty and carnage. The Infidel has divested
-his mind of the nonsense and inconsistency of considering unbelief as
-a crime; and, also, of the fallacy that men can credit absurdities on
-insufficient evidence. He perceives that every man’s religion is, to
-a very large extent, a consequence of the circumstances of his situation
-in early life, and the influences which surrounded him at his birth.
-The Infidel, therefore, has no inducement whatever to injure those who
-differ from him in opinion; for, by detaching all importance from faith,
-and referring entirely to good and virtuous actions, he escapes all
-those angry theological quarrels in which Christians are more or less
-involved. So that the mind of an unbeliever is in a sound and calm
-state, not harrowed up by the terrors of an avenging God, and the
-thoughts of endless damnation.
-
-These evils, and many more, the Infidel is not exposed to; consequently
-his mind is at rest; his sense of degradation is not because he is
-taught to believe that he is a poor lost sinner; he feels degraded only
-in proportion as he neglects the duties which he owes to his fellow men.
-The unbeliever, then, being free from the terror of doubting that which
-he feels it is impossible for him to credit, commences to walk in the
-path of moral rectitude, considering his own nature, and the connection
-he occupies in relation to society, composed of beings like himself. He
-listens to the voice of reason, and clearly understands that which God
-or nature has done for him, and also that which remains for him to
-do for himself. Leaving forever all religious dogmas, calculated to
-bewilder his mind, his moral path is as clear as light. No longer
-standing on the fearful precipice of faith, trembling at every step, or
-chain-bound in a state of inaction, the Infidel cheerfully travels on
-in the practice of justice and humanity with a calmness of mind to
-which the Christian is a stranger. He has no angry God to dread, nor any
-tempting Devil, against whom the Christian must forever be on the watch.
-
-All human beings on arriving at maturity, find themselves placed by an
-unknown power in a world, in which they will have to enjoy pleasure or
-happiness, and also to endure pain. This is the destiny of all, without
-exception. The same power which propelled us into existence, has made it
-a law of our nature to dread or shrink from pain, and also to desire
-and love ease and pleasure. And here we can at once discover what God or
-nature has done for us, and likewise what is left for us to perform for
-ourselves. This, then, is the stock of moral material with which mortals
-commence a life of pleasure and pain. The same unknown power has also
-given man and woman reason, by the exercise of which they can augment
-their pleasure, and reduce their pain. By the use of man’s rational
-powers, he can plainly discover his duty towards beings like himself. He
-loves happiness, ease, and every thing which makes life worth having; so
-also, do his fellow beings. He hates and retreats from positive pain; so
-does every being which has life, animals not excepted. What revelation,
-then, but this, does man want to teach him that which he owes to
-himself, and likewise those things he ought to practise to every being
-that has life and feeling?
-
-And the voice of God, or nature, calls to every rational being in
-language which, but for false religion, all would understand. Mortals!
-attend to what is done for your permanent happiness. Ignorance and
-neglect are the causes of most of the evils which, torment you. You are
-made to love happiness; you are also made to shrink from and hate pain.
-Every human being is subject to the same laws; only attend to the moral
-this contains. You have no excuse for inflicting pain on any living
-creature, because you know that every being possessing life is governed
-by the same feelings as yourself. God, or nature, has so arranged things
-as to induce mortals to practise virtue, and to be kind to every thing
-that possesses life and feeling; because, by acting agreeably to the
-laws of your own organization, you become happy in yourself, and have
-the additional pleasure of making others happy also. What excuse, then,
-can men have for neglecting the duties they owe to every thing that has
-life and feeling? Do they need a revelation to inform them that they
-ought to be just and humane? Do they require information from heaven
-to inform them that cruelty to man or animals is wicked? Let them but
-consult their own feelings; full information is at hand calling on them
-to practise kindness and compassion.
-
-Do men and women need the Bible to learn the duty incumbent on them
-toward their offspring? Must we read the pretended word of God in order
-to discover that the husband ought to be kind and in every way faithful
-to his wife, (making allowance for her weakness, either of body or
-mind,) and perform every duty connected with her permanent happiness?
-Man requires no Divine aid, beyond the exercise of his reason, to
-inform him that, in order to be happy in this life, he must be *just,
-peaceable, sober, and temperate in all things; chaste, a lover of truth,
-kind, and humane* to all beings who possess life. Let every human being,
-then, turn to the laws of his own organization, namely, to his love
-of happiness, and aversion to pain. These laws will give him unerring
-instruction as to the duties which he has to perform, and also as to
-what evils he is to avoid.
-
-This is indeed a Divine revelation, which will never deceive or lead
-astray. Man carries it within himself. It differs from all pretended
-Divine revelation. It is suitable at all times, and in all places.
-It requires no priest to explain it. It changes not with times and
-circumstances. These laws of our nature (the love of happiness and
-aversion to pain) are a never-failing revelation, to which we can always
-refer with entire confidence, as a true revelation of God or nature.
-Away, then, with the childish question, “If you take away the Bible,
-what will you give us in its stead”? The short and final answer to
-which is, study the laws of your organization, and direct your reason
-to their interpretation, and let the priest read his Bible, and exclaim
-against unbelief. The reader will now understand the views the Infidels
-have of moral rectitude; and if the principles are faithfully carried
-out in our journey through life, the end of all will be peace. These
-moral principles were enforced (for upwards of eight years) in Tammany
-Hall. They are now spreading far and wide, and instead of producing
-evil in society, they are calculated to ensure “*peace on earth and
-good-will towards men.*”
-
-It is because the Christian world have been taught to depend on a
-Saviour for the pardon of the worst of crimes, believing that the price
-was paid by Christ as a ransom from the captivity of the Devil, that it
-is destructive of pure morality. The apostles maintained this doctrine;
-and from them, till now, the true and Orthodox faith is, that moral
-rectitude has nothing to do, abstractly considered, with the salvation
-of the soul, but faith in what Christ has done and suffered. This
-doctrine is not only unfavorable to virtue, but it places the basest of
-mankind in a superior point of view to those whose whole lives have been
-distinguished by the practice of correct moral actions. That divines
-view and act on the vicarious sacrifice of Christ as being alone
-sufficient in the last hour to save sinners, we need but to refer to
-the attention paid by them to criminals up to the last moments of their
-lives. It is faith in the Redeemer, which gives a passport to glory to a
-wretch, who but a few days before had murdered perhaps a good father and
-mother. No matter what his crimes, or how large the number, only let him
-believe in the Saviour, and, although the guilty criminal is considered
-unworthy to live one hour longer on earth, yet according to the Gospel
-plan of salvation, he is promised, and induced to believe that he will
-in the evening of the same day join in the song of angels and chant the
-praises of the Great Eternal.
-
-If the doctrine of saving faith be true, the thief or murderer, if the
-law lays hold of him, and the fear of the gallows induces him to rely
-on Jesus, goes directly to heaven; whereas, if he had been honest and
-virtuous, but had not faith in Christ, he might have died in his sins
-and gone to hell! Oh! how consistent is Orthodox salvation with justice
-and truth! In one case, the Orthodox Christian is in truth consistent.
-It is this: that in this life, even in New York, a man will not be
-admitted as a church member, however virtuous. He must be a sinner, or
-he cannot be admitted. So, also, in heaven, a good man must not enter.
-It would be no injustice to say that every religious society should have
-it written in large capitals over the door-way of its building—“*No
-honest men admitted as members here—sinners are always welcome.*”
-The same should be posted at the gate of heaven. Although this statement
-may to some appear wicked and untrue, it is correct in the Christian
-spirit, and also true to the letter. Honest men have no business in
-Christian churches, as they will also be rejected in heaven. The worst
-of characters make the best Christians, if they can bring one grain of
-mustard-seed faith to the altar of Jehovah.
-
-The Christian who depends for salvation and acceptance, in a future
-life, is never at rest in this. He has no correct standard whereby to
-judge whether he has saving faith. His hopes and his fears are regulated
-by his feelings, not by his conduct. If, for instance, his animal
-spirits are depressed, he desponds, and considers that the Lord has
-withdrawn from him the light of his countenance. He trembles, and in
-the agony of his mind, cries out, “*I believe, O Lord, help thou mine
-unbelief.*” Let him become cheerful, and his mind become buoyant, he
-then considers himself sure that he has, what is called, an interest in
-Christ.
-
-Moral rectitude is out of the question. All the moral virtues
-combined, and brought into action, are as nothing, in the sight of the
-Christian’s God. The sinner’s debt is paid, by the sufferings of
-Jesus on the cross. So that, according to the plan of human redemption,
-if Jesus had been acquitted on his trial, the whole human race would die
-(as the Scripture phrase is) in their sins. It then follows, that,
-as man’s acceptance with God, and the salvation of his soul, is in
-consequence of the sacrifice made by Christ on the cross, his moral
-rectitude is of little consequence. The all-important state of the
-believer is, not the soundness of his morals, but the relying by faith
-on Jesus for what he has done by his suffering on the “accursed
-tree.” This doctrine is the consolation of the murderer at the
-gallows; and the same reliance on what Jesus has suffered for the
-human race, was what consoled and supported Andrew Jackson in his last
-moments, as reported by the newspapers.
-
-The Christian religion, by teaching believers to trust in a Saviour for
-the pardon of crimes of the worst description, has been an obstacle in
-the way of attaining to that moral excellence which is calculated to
-dignify human nature.. Faith, the “*pearl of great price,*” has,
-ever since the introduction of Christian theology, obscured the path
-of virtue, and invested its haughty possessor with an intolerant
-disposition, accountable only to the tribunal of faith; and, having
-broken loose from the restraints of moral obligation, has, as it were,
-laughed to scorn the principles of justice, of chastity and humanity.
-And yet, one and all, who profess Christianity, charge those who
-consider moral worth superior to faith, with demoralizing youth, and
-corrupting the manners of the age in which they live.
-
-Before concluding this chapter, it will be useful to inquire, in
-what way the world has been benefitted by propagating the heaven-born
-doctrine of faith in the Redeemer’s kingdom? The page of history bears
-witness, that, for eighteen hundred years, with but short intervals of
-rest, a large portion of the earth has been the theatre of *crime and
-war, cruelty and murder*; and this state of things has been brought
-about by the uncertainty of what Christianity is. When the reputed
-Founder of the Christian faith was about to leave this world, to sit at
-the right hand of his Father, he told them that his absence would be to
-his followers a real blessing; for it is recorded, that he said to them
-that “*the Comforter*” would abundantly supply his place—that is,
-or was to be, the Holy Ghost, who would “*lead them into alt truth,
-and bring to their remembrance all things which he had told them.*”
-But this promise, if ever made, proved a total failure; for soon after
-Christ, their Divine Master, left this earth, upwards of forty different
-sects arose, and began to dispute and quarrel about what Jesus, while
-on earth, taught, concerning the kingdom of heaven. Sect opposed sect,
-party opposed party, and Christianity became involved in mystery.
-Conventions were formed, and the worst passions soon gave proof that
-the multitude of angels, who, at the birth of Christ proclaimed, that
-“*peace on earth, and good-will towards men*” would be realized,
-were sadly mistaken. Nothing but one continual scene of war,
-destruction, and slaughter, between Christian nations, and in society,
-and and even in families, ensued; peace and harmony were unknown. The
-Holy Ghost, that was to be the comforter, soon made them any thing but
-comfortable!
-
-This good news, or Gospel, proved to be most unfortunate news to the
-inhabitants of this world. Thousands and tens of thousands of human
-beings came to a premature or violent death by rack and torture; the
-fires of martyrdom were lighted up, and millions of madmen gave glory to
-God. This is but a mere outline of the horrors arising from faith in
-the glorious plan of human redemption; and thus mortals when they became
-believers in the Redeemer’s kingdom, ceased to act as men, and became
-downright devils. If, instead of teaching him the doctrines of the
-Christian religion, the laws which God or nature had stamped on every
-human being (which are always present, and which, at every moment of
-his existence, call on him to attend to the lessons which they teach)
-had been pointed out to him, man would have learned how to live in
-peace and happiness, in a society of beings organized like himself, and
-governed by the same laws, always loving happiness and dreading pain.
-
-To the reader, then, I recommend attention to the hints here given; and
-in order to form a correct judgment how he should perform the duties
-which he owes to himself, and also to his fellow mortals, to study
-and always appeal to the laws of his organization. Let him bring every
-action to that never-failing index of his nature, the love of happiness
-and the aversion to pain. Let him sum up every day his moral accounts by
-this unerring rule, and this mode will never fail to make his moral path
-as clear as light; for as he knows that, according to the laws of his
-nature, he is compelled to love happiness, and to shrink from pain, so
-also, is every one that has life, governed by the laws of pleasure and
-pain. The laws of our organization, and the voice of reason united,
-proclaim to every human being, that the whole of man’s duty towards
-his fellow man consists at all times, and in all places, in increasing
-his happiness, and reducing his pain.
-
-To know this, so easy to be known, and strictly to practise it, is all
-the revelation which man requires. But pretended revelation has either
-obscured moral light, or held out lights that are false and delusive.
-The false light presented to man, called revealed religion, instead
-of conducting him safely into the haven of happiness, has continually
-tossed him, without rudder or compass, on the roaring billows of
-theology, on which troubled ocean he has met with little else than
-robbers and pirates.
-
-Never, then, let us forget, that the best men or women are they, whose
-whole lives are directed to the promotion of the permanent happiness
-of every thing having life and feeling, and to the reduction of misery
-wherever it may be found; and that whoever shall thus act, will be not
-only the best, but also the happiest, of the human race.
-
-THE END.
-
-
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diff --git a/39371.txt b/39371.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 344e96c..0000000 --- a/39371.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7926 +0,0 @@ - A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION - - -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 http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - -Title: A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion - -Author: Benjamin Offen - -Release Date: April 04, 2012 [EBook #39371] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF -FREE DISCUSSION*** - - - - -Produced by David Widger. - - - - - *A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION* - - _By_ - - *Benjamin Offen* - - _PRINCIPAL HISTORICAL FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE BOOKS KNOWN AS THE_ - _OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT; WITH REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE_ - - - _1846_ - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PREFACE - GENERAL INTRODUCTION - DETAILED CONTENTS - A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION - GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE - THE OLD TESTAMENT - CHAPTER I. FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE - CHAPTER II. A REVIEW OF THE DELUGE AND THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES AT - THE TOWER OF BABEL - CHAPTER III. FROM THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES TO THE BIRTH OF MOSES - CHAPTER IV. FROM THE BIRTH OF MOSES TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA - CHAPTER V. FROM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA TO THE REIGN OF SAUL - CHAPTER VI. THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON - CHAPTER VII. THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM, AND THE SEPARATION OF ISRAEL - FROM JUDAH - CHAPTER VIII. ON DIVINE INSPIRATION - THE NEW TESTAMENT - INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER on THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW - TESTAMENT - CHAPTER I. - CHAPTER. II. - CHAPTER III. - CHAPTER IV. - CHAPTER V. - CHAPTER VI. - CHAPTER VII. - CHAPTER VIII. - CHAPTER IX. - REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE - - - - -PREFACE - - -IN the following pages the author has freely discussed the claims of the -books called the Old and New Testaments, to be considered Divine -revelations. He had a _right_ so to do; and in presenting the work to -the public he gives the result of his exercise of such right. - -The right of free discussion has been questioned. It would be well for -humanity if this were all; but unhappily, the pages of history are -replete with deeds of persecution and cruelty, committed by men, in the -possession of power, on their less fortunate fellow-men, who have -presumed to exercise the right of free investigation. Cupidity has drawn -a line of demarcation; it has established boundaries for thought; and -miserable has been the fate of the unhappy wretch who, rejoicing in the -dignity of his nature, and anxious to discover the abode of Truth, has -dared to pass the Rubicon. - -What is Free Discussion? We answer, it is the exercise of the reasoning -faculties. Without Free Discussion man cannot exist. His physical -existence might indeed remain; but he could no longer be deemed a man; -and would have to take a lower rank in the scale of creation. - -Without investigation it is impossible to arrive at Truth; hence the -utility of Free Discussion. This is never denied when science is the -subject; and we have yet to learn why it should be restrained in any -case; and also _how_ and _when_ any set of men became possessed of the -right to restrain the exercise of the reasoning faculties of their -fellow-men. - -When men have not been impelled by cupidity to shackle the minds of -their fellow beings, a spirit of uncharitableness has induced them to -pursue the same line of conduct. Whoever has maintained an opinion -contrary to theirs, has been considered as being actuated, not by -mistaken, but, by dishonest motives; and has therefore been deemed a fit -subject for punishment. As this work will probably be read by many -professing Christians we will here give an extract from Dr. Blair's -sermon on _Candor_, which will, probably, make a greater impression than -any thing we could offer on that subject. - -"It is one of the misfortunes of our present situation, that some of the -good dispositions of human nature are apt to betray us into frailties -and vices. Thus it often happens, that the laudable attachment which we -contract to the country, or the church, to which we belong, or to some -political denomination under which we class ourselves, both confines our -affections within too narrow a sphere, and gives rise to violent -prejudices against such as come under an opposite description. Not -contented with being in the right ourselves, we must find all others in -the wrong. We claim an exclusive possession of goodness and wisdom: and -from approving warmly of those who join us, we proceed to condemn, with -much acrimony, not only the principles, but the _characters_, of those -from whom we differ. Hence, persons of well disposed minds are too -often, through the strength of partial good affection, involved in the -crime of uncharitable judgment They rashly extend to every individual -the severe opinion which they have unwarrantably conceived of a whole -body. This man is of a party whose principles we reckon slavish; and -therefore his whole sentiments are corrupted. That man belongs to a -religious sect which we are accustomed to deem bigoted; and therefore he -is incapable of any generous or liberal thought Another is connected -with a sect which we have been taught to account relaxed; and therefore -he can have no sanctity.--Are these the judgments of candor and charity? -Is true piety or virtue so very limited in its nature, as to be confined -to such alone as see every thing with our eyes, and follow exactly the -train of our ideas?" - -The author disclaims any intention of wounding the feelings of those who -hold opinions different to his own. For the religions hypocrite he has -no bowels of compassion; but the sincere believer in Divine revelation, -whose conduct is regulated by the universally acknowledged roles of -morality, is to him an object of sincere respect and esteem. - -Many things connected with what is called Divine revelation, have been -very freely commented on by the author; and sometimes in a style which -the Christian world will probably be disposed to condemn; but it should -be remembered that what appears sacred to one, excites the ridicule of -others. The Pagan venerates his manufactured god; the Christian views it -with contempt and indignation. - -The object of the author has been the promotion of Truth and -Benevolence. - -Should he fail to produce the effects he has contemplated, he will yet -be able to console himself with the reflection, that he has been -actuated by good intentions. The time has been when the assertion was -frequently made that "hell was paved with good intentions" had the work -appeared at that time, the author would, doubtless, have been destined, -so far as human agency could effect it, to become one of the paving -stones of that remarkable edifice: but a brighter day has dawned upon -the world; Reason is asserting her right to empire; and the cheering -spirit of benevolence is animating the nations of the earth. - -The shades of life's evening admonish the author that his sojourn in the -world will very shortly be brought to a close. He is anxious, therefore, -before his departure, to cast in his mite for the eradication of human -suffering, and the promotion of human felicity; and then, in wrapping -himself in the mantle of universal benevolence, to retire from the -transitory scene, in charity with all men. - - - - -GENERAL INTRODUCTION - - -THE main object of this book is to show that Jehovah, the God of the -Jews, is not the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, but a fictitious -being, having no real existence whatever. If the above position be -correct, it follows, that the Bible, including the Old and New -Testaments, is not a Divine Revelation. But that the reader may see, -more clearly, upon what uncertain ground divine revelation rests, the -plan pursued in the following chapters will be a review of the _facts_ -and _personages_ as recorded in the Old and New Testaments. But the -limits of this work will only admit of a mere scantling of what might be -written on the subject. - -In most Christian countries (America excepted,) this work would be -answered by either fine or imprisonment, or probably both. But -fortunately for the cause of truth and free discussion, theological -power here is so happily balanced, that persecution for religious -opinions is impracticable. The period therefore has arrived, in this -country in particular, when reason is free from the former obstacles -that every where crossed its path. Now, then, is the time for us to -examine the religion of our forefathers, and explore the regions of -human credulity. A mixture of pain and pleasure will be the -result:--_pain_, in considering what suffering has befallen the human -family, when the laudable indulgence of imagining and reasoning was -considered rebellion against God; and _pleasure_, to us who, having -escaped those dreadful evils which in former ages spread terror -throughout the world, can lessen the evils that surround us, and augment -to an almost unlimited degree our happiness. - -To those who may have the moral courage to read the following pages, I -would say, I have neither a desire to shock their feelings, nor any wish -to change their sentiments in order to gratify my vanity; for had -Christianity been productive of "peace on earth and good will towards -men," I should have been the last to have opposed it. But on the -contrary, the page of religious history is blotted with human gore. The -intolerant spirit that pervades the Old and New Testaments, has so -inoculated its followers of every sect, that while they profess to love -each other for Christ's sake, one sect (the strongest) has put to death -a weaker sect for God's sake. Nothing short of convincing men that the -Bible is not a divine revelation, can or will guarantee posterity -against a recurrence of those scenes of horror, at the very thought of -which, the heart sickens. - -From the pulpit, and in religious works, nothing is more common than to -exclaim with horror at the unblushing Infidel. Unblushing Infidel! What -cause have Infidels to blush? The blush, if any, ought to be on the face -of the Christians of every sect. They have never failed to persecute -when in power: they have been guilty of cruelties, at which the savage -cannibal would weep, and this will ever be the case so long as the Bible -is considered as coming from God; because, till all consequence is taken -away from faith, and transferred to moral rectitude, persecution is the -effect of believing that _faith_ is the sure passport to glory, while -_unbelief_ is the broad road to perdition. Men cease to be Christians -when they lose this spirit of intolerance, and become Infidels. - -Sects are not alike intolerant; but all are in some degree. The -Calvinists will not permit the Unitarians to preach in their churches. -The Unitarians, or Universalists, will not permit an Infidel lecturer to -speak in their churches,--no, not even on moral subjects. Christians, -then, will always be more or less of a persecuting disposition, and -nothing but giving up the Bible, as a Divine revelation, will destroy -that spirit. To show how a profession of Christianity, unfits men to do -justice to those who differ from them in religion, I will refer to the -treatment of Thomas Paine, author of "Common Sense." His services in the -glorious struggle that "tried men's souls" have been shamefully -forgotten. Yes! the friend of the immortal Washington, who shared in the -toils and dangers with the father of this great republic,--how have -Americans generally treated his name and efforts to erect one of the -most noble monuments of human wisdom--the _independent republic of North -America?_ For all his faithful devotedness to the independence of -America, how is his name and memory spoken of at the present time? From -the pulpit, every kind of falsehood and detraction is poured forth -concerning him. - -If he had been, a member of a church, the same fanatical priesthood -would have lauded him to the skies. Such is the nature of religious -bigotry, that the friendship of the ever to be venerated -Washington--even that, cannot shield his name from pulpit calumny. -"Bigotry, she has no head, and cannot think; she has no heart, and -cannot feel." - -But the name and services of Thomas Paine, are not, and never will be, -forgotten. Thanks to the Liberals throughout the Union, his birthday is -yearly celebrated in most of the cities and towns in the different -States. A handsome and durable monument has been erected to his memory -at New Rochelle, New York State. The thanks of-the Liberals are due to -Mr. G. Vale, Editor of the _Beacon_, published in New York, for his -untiring perseverance in urging on the completion of a monument will, in -time, command the respect of posterity. Why are the name and services of -Thomas Paine be cautiously omitted by our orators and statesmen, when -speaking of the patriotism of a Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Hancock, -and others? It would offend the church and priesthood, as well as the -whole of the Christian community; because--"_He that believeth not shall -be damned._" This is the brightest gem in the Christian's crown of -glory. If he nurse this intolerant spirit against Infidels, the -Christian considers his "_calling and election sure._" - -Sincere believers in Divine revelation are not aware what monsters the -Bible makes of them; but for which they would be humane, compared to -what they are under its influence. I am surprised that they are (the -majority of them) so just, humane, and charitable, when I take into -consideration the doctrines contained (or believed to be) in what is -called the Word of God. In addition to their own evil habits and -disregard for virtue in the common concerns of life, they have a Devil -to tempt them by a thousand ways in which they are ignorant. Again, they -have a Saviour who shed his blood to save them from the just punishment -of their deserts; so that with their own evil deeds, and being urged on -by the Devil, they become monsters in crime. They then go, as the phrase -is, to Christ, be sorry, or profess to be, for what they have done, and -are pardoned, and in the sight of Heaven are considered _superior_ to -the unconverted whom they have injured. Can you, my readers, wonder at -the crimes of God's people? According to this doctrine, a man may steal -a horse and cart, by the use of which, another man earned support for -his family; the thief sells it, and spends the amount, in connexion with -wretches like himself. He then goes to Jesus, repents, is forgiven; and, -to follow the plan throughout--if the man who lost his horse and cart is -an unbeliever, he goes to Hell, while the rogue sits singing and -laughing in Glory! - -This book is sent into society from the best of motives; hoping it will -induce Christians to practise moderation, and somewhat abate that -raging, fanatical fever, that has been so fatal to human happiness. If -you take from us the Bible, says the Christian, what will you give in -its stead? We answer, man requires nothing but what God, or Nature, has -given him. All men in common, have reason to consult, by which man will -learn the duty he owes to himself, and also to his fellow beings. The -error lies in being taught, that reason, when in full exercise, will -lead him into error. This has been his misfortune; and his punishment -has followed as a consequence. The Bible contains many good moral -precepts; but these are, by Christians, thought little of, compared with -its doctrines. Faith is all important. By faith, barbarous Calvin caused -Servetus to be burnt by a slow fire; and through faith, St. Austin, that -drunken debauchee, obtained a good report. - -The Bible is at war with man's reasoning powers; and, like a land -pirate, has held up false lights, which instead of conducting man to the -haven of happiness and safety, has caused him to make shipwreck on the -rocks and shoals of religious dogmas. Man is lost in no other sense than -that, the loss of his reason. To recover _that_, and bring it into full -exercise, is all the Saviour he needs. His moral path is as clear as -light. God, or Nature, has made it a law of man's existence that he must -love happiness, ease, and enjoyment; and also, that he must hate pain -and trouble in every stage and form. This law is forced upon him -independent of his choice. It is ever present to his senses, till he -ceases to exist, or to be rational. This is man's stock of moral -material furnished by God, or Nature. How clear, then, is his duty! He -has but to follow out this law, by the aid of his reasoning, judging, -and comparing powers. It will never lead him wrong. He requires no -Bible, no Saviour; he is never lost; he has no incomprehensible -doctrines to support or defend. Unlike the sectarian, he feels no -disposition to persecute others who differ from him in matters of faith; -he has no angry God to propel him on to fight for his glory; he can -balance up every night his moral account of the day; and if he has -followed out the law of his nature, by augmenting his own, and also the -happiness of his fellow beings, and lightened the load of human ills -around him, he in truth is the good man, be his faith little or much. -That the following work may forward moral improvement, and encourage -moderation and universal good will among the human family, is the -sincere wish of - -THE AUTHOR - - - - -DETAILED CONTENTS - - -OLD TESTAMENT - -PREFACE.--Free Discussion; the right to use it in examining the -Scriptures; its certainty in destroying error and establishing -truth--Extract from Dr. Blair's sermon on Candor--Motives of the author -in laying his work before the public. - -GENERAL INTRODUCTION.--Object of the book--Intolerance and persecution -of Christian sects--Their abuse of Infidels and calumnious treatment of -Thomas Paine--His name and services appreciated by Liberals--Pernicious -influence of the Bible upon morals--Knowledge of the laws of our -existence the only sure guide to wisdom, happiness, and virtue. - -GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE.--Character and situation of the Jews--Their -treatment by Jehovah--Why were they chosen, and did they answer the end -of their choice?--Probable reasoning of the Jewish God--Account of his -visit to Abram and Sarah, and their reception and treatment of him--The -consequences to the Jews of considering themselves the chosen -people--The five books said to have been written by Moses--Treatment of -Hagar and her child--Jehovah and the Jews. - -CHAPTER I.--From the Creation to the Deluge. - -CHAPTER II.--A Review of the Deluge and the confusion of Tongues at the -Tower of Babel. - -CHAPTER III.--From the Confusion of Tongues to the Birth of Moses. - -CHAPTER IV.--From the Birth of Moses to the Death of Joshua. - -CHAPTER V.--From the Death of Joshua to the Reign of Saul. - -CHAPTER VI.--The Reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon. - -CHAPTER VII.--The Reign of Jeroboam, and the separation of Israel from -Judah. - -CHAPTER VIII.--On Divine Inspiration. - -NEW TESTAMENT - -INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.--Jehovah's dealings with the Jews--His failure to -make them a pattern to the rest of the human family--The coming of -Christ--The manner of his introduction--his associates; language; and -conduct--Miracles--The Jews had sufficient reason, for rejecting Jesus -as the Messiah. - -CHAPTER I.--Jesus the pretended Saviour of the world, not sent from -God--Moses wrote the most minute things Connected with die system -established by himself, but Jesus left no writings whatever---Vagueness -and want of authenticity of the writings of the Evangelists--General -ignorance among Christians of what is the true Gospel--No proof of the -heavenly origin of Jesus--His baptism by John--His temptation by the -Devil--Its absurdity--Abusive language of Jesus to the Jews--His -unfitness for his mission, and failure to prove himself sent from God. - -CHAPTER II.--Casting out Devils--The case of Mary Magdalene--The -doctrine of demoniacal possession, a heathen dogma--Miracles of Jesus no -proof of his Divine origin--Evidence from the New Testament that no -miracles ever took place--Inconsistent conduct and abusive language of -Jesus--The miracle at his baptism--Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus -from the clouds--Folly of miracles and their injurious consequence. - -CHAPTER III.--Peter--Disingenuous mode adopted by Jesus to prove his -Messiahship--The introduction of his mission to the Jews--His obscure -doctrines, and disrespectful Language--Survey of his teaching, and mode -of life--Inutility of his object--His betrayal--Judas Iscariot. - -CHAPTER IV.--The Almighty Power that governs the universe not the author -of the Christian Religion--Destructive saying of Jesus--The power given -to Peter; its disastrous results--Institution of the -Sacrament--Intolerance and persecution of Sectarianism--Folly of -religious teaching. - -CHAPTER V.--Orthodox views of Christianity--Remarks on the bad effects -of believing in the existence of the Devil, and in witchcraft, doctrines -taught in the Bible--Trial and execution of two women for witchcraft in -England, in 1664--Account of the witchcraft that prevailed in England -and Scotland, in the days of Elizabeth--Anecdote of Cromwell's bargain -with the Devil. - -CHAPTER VI.--Continuation of remarks upon the supposed influence of -Satanic agency--Dreadful effects of human credulity--Sketch of the life -and tragical fate of Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans--Temptation of -Jesus. - -CHAPTER VII.--God and the Devil--Probable origin of the belief in their -existence--Mode of reasoning in ancient times by the -ignorant--Theology--Christian Religion--Account of Witchcraft in Sweden, -in 1670--Reflections. - -CHAPTER VIII.--Comprehensive view of the mission of Christ to the Jewish -nation--Plan of redemption--Willingness of the Jews to welcome the long -expected Messiah--The violence and abuse they received from Jesus--Their -condition not improved by his coming--Obscurity of his teaching--The -Jews put him to death because they believed him an impostor--Judas, in -betraying Jesus, was but the instrument to accomplish the plan of human -redemption--Unfortunate condition of the Jews--Reflections upon their -past and present treatment by Christians. - -CHAPTER IX.--Object of Christ's coming into the world, uncertain and of -doubtful utility--His obvious omission to convince the Jews that he was -the Messiah, and his neglect to order his apostles to write a history of -his life, show the Christian Religion deficient in the proof of its -Divine origin--Jesus, according to the Gospels, was a moral -reformer--Ignorance of his disciples of his Divine mission, as -manifested by Peter, at the betrayal--The Resurrection of Jesus--Sudden -departure afterward--Religious quarrels--Difficulty of defining -Christianity-Reflections on the want of proof of Christ's Divine -mission, and its insufficiency to reform the world--The Jesus of the New -Testament an imaginary being. - -CONCLUSION.--Remarks on the Morality of Nature--Pernicious effect of -religious faith--Its failure to moralize the world--Its intolerance and -persecution--Infidel morality founded in reason and the laws that govern -human beings--Its superiority over faith in promoting good works, -inducing correct conduct, and insuring human happiness and improvement. - - - - -A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE DISCUSSION - - - - -GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE - - -BEFORE reviewing the facts and personages, as recorded in the Old and -New Testaments, it will be in order to notice the Jews, as Jehovah's -_chosen race_. The subject will not admit of demonstration; it must be -approached and examined in the same manner as the Alkoran of Mahomet. - -In order to get at the truth, so as to arrive at something like -certainty, and as Infinite Wisdom makes the choice, we must inquire--For -what end were they chosen? and did they answer the end of such choice? -If they were really chosen by the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, they -must, however strange they acted as a nation, have fulfilled the purpose -of their choice; because, whatever they did, was known to Jehovah before -the choice was made. How, then, can we reconcile expressions of regret -and disappointment by Jehovah after he had selected them as his own -peculiar people--such as, "_I have nourished and brought up children, -and they have rebelled against me?"_ And again--"_He hated his own -inheritance,_"--and also his stirring up and supporting heathen kings to -subjugate them as slaves. Is this not the language of disappointment and -regret? In fact, no learned divine can get over this striking truth that -the Bible fully holds out in the plainest manner, that Jehovah was -disappointed in his choice of the Jews as his favorite people. Were -they, then, chosen to raise up and support the religion given to them by -God himself? No, impossible! they continually rebelled against Jehovah -and worshipped strange Gods; and even Solomon himself built temples for -idolatry, contrary to express command. Jehovah says of the Jewish -nation--that he did not choose them because they were better than -others, for they were always a stiff-necked people; but because he loved -their fathers. Poor, miserable reasoning, indeed; to choose one of the -most contemptible races of men, because their ancestors, some hundreds -of years before, had superior qualities to their degenerate race. - -Again, another reason given why Jehovah continued to protect them, is, -that the promises before made to Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, bound him in -honor so to do. Did not Infinite Wisdom foresee that the seed of Abram -would not follow in the faithful footsteps of their great progenitor? If -this was not foreseen, then we can discover clearly the reason why -Jehovah complains of their rebellious conduct. It will be a vain attempt -in ministers of the gospel, to reconcile those complaints, if Jehovah -had foresight of what the seed of Abram would do. If "_God is the same -yesterday, to-day, and forever,_" how did it happen that he appeared so -regardless of the fate of mankind, as to allow some hundreds of years to -pass away from the time of the confusion of tongues at the tower of -Babel, till his visit to the tent of Abram, during which time, according -to Bible history, Jehovah had no worshippers on earth? The whole of -mankind were left to make the best of their deserted situation; to -worship the Gods of their imagination; and they founded mighty empires, -and became powerful on the earth. - -Before the Lord called on Abram and Sarah in their tent, something like -the following mode of reasoning probably took place in the mind of the -Jewish God:-- - -"I have made a world and peopled it with inhabitants; Adam and Eve -rebelled against me; their descendants followed in the footsteps of -their progenitors; I have destroyed them all (eight only excepted,) from -whom I expected better things. But, alas! they have also sinned against -me; and to such a height of wickedness did they arrive, that they began -to build a tower to reach my holy habitation. I have sent them off in -confusion: and now I have no church, no worshippers,--not even a song of -praise to my name. I possess universal empire, without even one single -subject to obey me. What is to be done? A thought has struck me:--I will -call on honest old Abram." - -And here let me remind the reader, that the Bible clearly represents the -Jewish God as being as changeable in his disposition and mode of acting -as mortals. Like man, he is sometimes in a state of inaction, towards -the fate of his offspring: at other times, he arouses from this torpor, -and is the most sensitive and active. Sometimes he appears to repent of -some failure in the calculations he has made concerning his creatures; -attempts to rectify the error, and again blunders. He at one time says: -"_fury is not in me,_" then again he is all fury. No truth is more -striking than this,--that the Jehovah of the Bible is not, cannot be, -the universal governor of the universe, but merely a creature of the -imagination, whose power is confined, having no existence without the -covers of the Bible. - -But to return to Abram:--Jehovah either goes to him, or sends to him -delegates, to acquaint him of the choice he is about to make of "_Abram -and his seed forever._" This is but the beginning of a new experiment on -the human race. And here does it not plainly appear, that Jehovah's mode -of acting, in this case, is unworthy of the governor of the world? Does -it not prove his total disregard for the welfare of the rest of mankind? -Good heavens! the believers, one and all, of such absurdities, have ever -been, and are still insane. - -These heavenly visiters find Abram and Sarah living comfortably in their -tent, watching flocks and herds. They (the angels) are treated with the -hospitality common in pastoral life. They have their feet washed; they -are invited to dine on the best; the calf is immediately killed; and -Sarah, was not slow on her part, in the cooking department, from which, -one might be induced to think, that over the door of the tent was -written: "Dinners Dressed at the Shortest Notice."--Soon after being -seated, the messengers make known their errand; Abram was much pleased; -Sarah laughed outright. The promise was now ratified that had before -been made to Abram, that _his seed should be as the sand of the sea in -number,_ for that Sarah should have _a son in her old age_. This, to say -the least of it, was good pay for a good dinner. - -Here, then, the reader will please to notice, was the final settlement -as it regards the Jews being the chosen people of God. And here the -following ceremony took place:--Three men, angels, or messengers, came -from Heaven; they had their feet washed, agreeably to eastern custom; -they sat down and did eat, and we may suppose did also drink with Abram -and Sarah; one of the three was called the Lord. - -I have here strictly adhered to the Bible history of this surprising -account; and if it be not literally true, the choice of the Jews, and -also the whole of the Jewish and Christian theology, falls prostrate. -The account winds up with the departure of the angels to Sodom; where, -after having dined with Abram, they took supper with Lot. The day -following, Sodom was burnt by fire from Heaven; Lot's wife (by way of -making the most of her) was turned into a _pillar of salt_, because she -looked back on her old habitation. What became of the angels, Heaven -only knows! - -But to return to the Jews, as a nation. For what purpose were they -chosen? It could not be to establish and support the only true religion -on earth, whereby they became the constant and obedient servants of the -Most High, because they continued to rebel against Jehovah; and in spite -of all his commands to the contrary, to worship other gods, which -conduct provoked the Lord to anger, and the most dreadful punishment -followed for their disobedience. They were not chosen to convert other -nations to the faith and worship of the God of Israel, because they were -ordered to take the property and destroy the inhabitants of towns and -cities, with whom they had not the most distant quarrel. Once -more,--Were they chosen for the purpose that Jehovah should be their -God, and that they should be his people? No, because they, time after -time, rejected his authority as their God, and worshipped strange gods, -unknown to their fathers; for which He sent "prophets and holy men" to -remonstrate with them. But they killed the prophets; and, as a nation, -never were for any length of time converted to, nor obeyed, the _God of -Israel._ - -It was promised to Abram, "_In thee and in thy seed shall all the -nations of the earth be blessed." When and how_ have the nations ever -been blessed? As for the poor Jews, no curse ever fell so heavy on -mortals as fell on them, in consequence of their considering themselves -God's chosen people, and other nations treating them as such. For -eighteen hundred years, Christians have plundered and murdered them, -because they have faithfully worshipped (since He cast them off) the God -of their fathers, against whom (when under his protection) they -continued to rebel. - -The Jews are a strange people. Strange and hard has been their fate; and -it can be easily accounted for, from their being originally cheated into -the fact that they were _God's chosen people_ to the exclusion of the -rest of the human race. Christians ask how it could have been possible -for Moses or any other person to induce them to believe that they were -so chosen, when miracles and wonders were performed in their behalf, if -no such things did in reality take place? The answer is -easy:--Christians suppose that the books of the Old Testament were -written at the time the generation lived, before whose eyes those -wonders were performed. This is a fatal mistake. Those miracles and -wonders, no doubt, were ante-dated, and brought forward to the Jews in -after times, as proofs of what Jehovah had done for their forefathers; -for it clearly appears from the internal evidence of Jewish history, -that the five books said to have been written by Moses, were not known -to the Jews, as a nation, till after the reigns of David, Solomon, and -many others. At what time the five books were first made known to the -descendants of Abram, is not ascertained; but, whenever it was, they -contained the history of the Abrahamic family, including all the -miracles and wonders performed by Jehovah in their behalf. - -It is easy to perceive, how the Jews might be brought to believe all -that was written concerning God's choice of them, as his peculiar -people. An ambitious leader and legislator could, without much -difficulty, soon establish them firmly in the conviction that they were -Jehovah's chosen people. It would flatter their vanity; and the -credulity of the human mind is such, even now, that we need not wonder -that the Jews, as a nation, gave credence to the tales of former times -concerning their being the especial favorites of Jehovah. The Jews, -then, no doubt were cheated into the firm conviction (by their early -leaders) that _they_, of all people on earth, were the chosen of Heaven. -This will account for their keeping themselves as a separate people--the -heaviest curse that could befal them, and which remains on them till -this day. - -According to the Bible, the dealings of Jehovah towards mankind in -general, and of the Jews in particular, will bear out the following -remarks:--That, after the confusion of tongues at Babel, and the -descendants of Noah were dispersed abroad on the earth, the Bible God -forsook the earth for some hundred years. He had no worshippers on -earth. He then descends and selects one family to be called after his -name. From that moment, Jehovah appears to direct his whole attention to -the family concerns of his new choice. Troubles come on in quick -succession; Abram's domestic jars claim his attention and -superintendence. Sarah and her maid servant quarrel; the maid is turned -out of doors, about a child who claimed Sarah's husband as its father. - -The Lord interfered and matters were made up. But soon another -misunderstanding arose between Sarah and Hagar about the child who had -ill-behaved himself towards Abram's wife. Sarah became enraged, and got -the better of the Lord; and Abram and she drove Hagar and her son out of -the house for good and all. The Lord again made the best of the matter -by sending an angel who took charge of Hagar's son; and Abram and Sarah -lived happy, and directed all their attention to little Isaac. - -To return to the Jews, as a nation. Did they answer the end for which -they were chosen? Most undoubtedly they did. For, as "known unto the -Lord are all his works from the beginning" whatever his dealings were -towards them, in punishing them for their rebellion and disobedience, -and whatever suffering they endured in consequence of their departure -from his commands, are included in his choice; and are the ends for -which they were chosen. Here, then, we have arrived at the ends for -which they were selected,--he knowing that they would continue to -transgress, and also that such transgression would call forth his anger; -and that punishment would follow from their disobedience. These are the -only ends that we can discover by their being chosen, and these ends -were fully answered. - -And as Jehovah is represented as acting the same as men act under -similar circumstances, the following remarks are in accordance with his -dealings with the people of his choice, namely: that after Jehovah had -driven the inhabitants of Babel abroad on the face of the earth, and not -having any church or worshippers in the world, he became weary of this -state of inaction, and, sighing for something to do, he chose the -descendants of Abram for his future operations on the earth. And from -that moment, the Jews required all his attention; his anger was always -raging: he had no repose whatever. - -In the course of his watching over them, he occasionally stirred up the -heathen against them, and suffered them to become bondmen and slaves. -Then, again, they had arms put into their hands, and he marched out in -aid of their victories; and then the "Lord of Hosts was his name." Then, -as if he had forgotten the promises made to their forefathers, he -repents of the neglect shown to them; again renews the combat and orders -them to war against nations, and _to spare neither old age nor infancy_. -So that, by turns, hating them and showing them no mercy; then again, -repenting of his severe conduct towards them, proclaiming to the world -that the Lord of Hosts or battle is his name,--the Bible account of -Jehovah confirms us, in concluding, that, he chose the family of Abram -for no other purpose than to disturb and brutalize the rest of the -world. - -The Jews, and their God, seem to be objects of pity and contempt. Pity -for the poor Jews, for their unfortunate fate; and as for Jehovah, if -the Bible be true, from the moment he adopted them as his favorites, he -became subject to rage, furious anger, grief, repenting of the choice he -had made; and finally casting them off. These, then, are some of the -glorious ends for which they were chosen. To conclude--Of all the -impositions that ever have been palmed on the inhabitants of the earth, -destructive of "peace on earth and good will towards men" that of the -Jews being God's chosen people, is one of the greatest; the Jehovah of -the Bible, being nothing but an imaginary God, to cheat the World into -the faith of his being the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe. - - - - -THE OLD TESTAMENT - - - - -CHAPTER I. FROM THE CREATION TO THE DELUGE - - -FROM what has before been written, the reader is no doubt convinced, -that the writer of this work does not believe the Bible to have any -claim to divine authority; but is entirely, from beginning to end, a -collection of absurd tales, of historic facts, and of personages that -have no foundation in truth, which unfortunately, by being considered of -divine origin, has generated a train of calamities destructive to the -peace and welfare of the human race. And to account for its hav-ing -gained credit, and got such strong foothold in the world, we have only -to consider that _fable_ is the elder sister of history; that nations -have run a long career of incidents, mostly fabulous, before any -appearance of authentic history made its way in the world. What took -place in those days may be considered like things taking place in the -dark. - -From such fabulous materials, then, national history always commences. -Not that the writers or authors intend to deceive and impose on -posterity; they write what they believe; what they have been told, and -what is generally credited in those days. Here, then, we discover the -Bible to be of use to us, in showing to what lamentable extent poor -mortals have sincerely erred in following the legendary tales of former -times. And now, that the bandage is removed from our eyes, let us all -use our best exertions to spread knowledge among those, who, with us, -are seeking after truth, but who have till now sought it where it is not -to be found. - -The authors of the Bible, no doubt, followed in the same track as those -who are called profane writers. They wrote what had been told them by -their forefathers. Hence the miracles and wonders, credited by them, of -the most extravagant nature, that never did and never could take place; -and unfortunately, for the peace and happiness of mortals, by giving -credit to such things, they, for ages, shut up every avenue that would -otherwise have led them to the temple of truth. - -To believe the account of Adam's transgression, in connection with all -the circumstances attending it, to be a matter of fact, appears hardly -possible for any man of sane mind. Yet millions there are, who never -have had a doubt of its being literally true. Whoever first wrote it, -did so from tradition or hearsay, as this is the origin of all national -history. It is not impossible but that every nation of antiquity had a -similar commencement; because, as history did not appear till hundreds -of years after the facts related are said to have taken place, it -follows that hearsay evidence is the _best_ and _only_ evidence that can -be obtained. If this is a correct view of the strange tales related in -the Bible; then, the more strange and impossible the greater glory is -given to God, by swallowing all down, and asking no questions. - -The Bible commences, as to persons, with--first, Jehovah, Adam, and Eve, -and, according to the orthodox Christians, the Devil was near at hand. -Here, then, we have before us, according to Bible history, Jehovah, God -of all, about to form or make a world, and put on it both man and beast. -This was done without consulting in any way whatever, with Adam and Eve, -who were to be placed at the head of all creation. Every circumstance -that would take place to Adam and Eve, and their posterity, throughout -all ages, was planned, approved of, and finally settled, in the mind of -Jehovah, before they had life or being. - -Here we have a God knowing all that will take place; and arranging -circumstances favorable to its fulfilment. On the other hand, Adam and -Eve were ignorant of the past, the present, and also of the future. Only -notice the infinite difference between the two contracting parties. I -wish the reader to keep this in view, as it respects what is termed the -fall of our first parents. In all ages of the Christian superstition, -the fall of Adam has been urged as a justification of God's quarrel with -the human race. - -Let us examine this subject calmly. It is but justice that this should -be done; since from one hundred thousand pulpits in the different -nations of the earth, the priests never fail to praise and thank the -Lord for his goodness to the descendants of Adam. I, on the other hand, -will honestly, though feebly, advocate the cause of poor, _libelled, -condemned, priest-ridden Man_. If, before our first parents had been -called into life, they had been informed on what conditions _they_ and -their _posterity_ were to receive it, together with the final destiny of -ninety out of every hundred of their unfortunate race, they would no -doubt have exclaimed, "For humanity's sake, let us forever sleep in the -womb of chaos!" It is the common practice from the pulpit, as also from -the writings of the orthodox Christians, to libel the human race, by -saying, that man has rebelled against God, and turned from him; when the -truth is, that in all ages and nations, man, has been seeking after the -best God he could find, and God; has always remained the great -_Unknown_, while man, in whatever state we find him, "savage, saint, or -sage," has been endeavoring to find out God. - -This has always been his misfortune. By trying to find out the absent -and unknown God, he has, in his imagination, invented and followed a -thousand foolish whims, till, losing all correct ideas of moral -rectitude, he has died of old age without arriving at the knowledge of -_whom or what_ to worship. Whereas, if he had not troubled himself at -all about his maker, and, by the aid of his reasoning powers, had come -to the just conclusion, that as he knew not how, nor where to find God, -it would follow that it was the business of his maker, and not _his_ to -instruct in the right way to worship the true God. This mode of -reasoning will be reprobated by Christians as horrid and wicked; but in -reply, it may be asked, to what amount of knowledge have they arrived by -all their seeking after him? - -We now return to the Bible account of Adam and Eve's creation. The -position that justice, strict justice, is due on the part of God towards -his new creation, must never be lost sight of in our investigations. If -any thing like trickery or injustice on his part is recorded, we, -without hesitation, denounce it as a libel on his character, and totally -unworthy of the least credit. In reviewing the Old and New Testament, as -being considered a Divine Revelation, this criterion will be always -referred to; for, if any writings purporting to be of Divine authority, -represent their author to be any thing otherwise than a God impartial -and just, such writings will, by the author of this work, be considered -entirely unworthy of the broad seal of Heaven, and as fully deserving of -being held up to human beings as false, and a flagrant imposition on the -credulity of mankind. - -And here the reader is reminded, that we have now before us, in the -creation of man, a scene of the most surprising nature. A God, infinite -in wisdom, unbounded in power, about to bring into existence a race of -beings; he, on his part, possessing all knowledge of the past, the -present, and also of the future; and they, on their part, entirely -passive, not being consulted as to their organization, their wishes, or -the consequences that would result to their progeny. From such a -position, what ought we to expect, in order that the being about to be -made, might have a fair point from which to start in his untried career? -Would we not suppose that every advantage should have been given to the -party who had no voice concerning his future destiny, nor that of his -race? The smallest omission in providing for or securing his first -movements, would be fatal to his happiness, and also that of his race. - -That no such precaution, on the part of the God of the Bible, was -pursued towards his new made creatures, will be fully proved by the -examination of the events recorded as having taken place in the Garden -of Eden! Whatever were the passions or the inclinations included in the -physical organization of our first parents, they had not any control -over them whatever, because of the impossibility of their being -consulted in a state of non-existence. Whatever they were then, and, -also, what was to be their future destiny, was known to Jehovah only; to -Adam and Eve, it was all unknown. This, then, was the state of the -pretended Creator and the creatures. - -We will pass over the account of the six days' creation, together with -the serpent's deceiving Eve by the aid of what the Christians believe to -be the Devil. It deserves no comment, except, that from the account -given in the Bible, we may infer, that happy would it have been for Adam -if he had remained an old bachelor; for, in that case, Satan perhaps -would neither have scraped acquaintance with the serpent, nor ever -thought of lurking about the garden. But the source of all human -misfortune, according to the Old and New Testaments, is included in -Eve's eating the forbidden fruit. We may ask, why was one tree forbidden -among so many? Certainly as a trap, set to catch the inexperienced, -virtuous, and harmless Eve. What humbug! to make such a fuss about -Adam's being alone, without a help-mate; and: at the very time the rib -operation was going on, Jehovah, stood by, and knew whatever he might -say, that the woman, on leaving her ribship, would damn all that he had -declared to be good. Can we, dare we, charge the Governor of the -Universe with such trickery? It must never be lost sight of, that the -very prohibition of one tree, would be certain, in their state of -ignorance, to produce the consequence that followed: viz., to induce -Eve, from curiosity, to partake of it. Is it any thing short of insanity -to suppose that such dreadful consequences would follow so trifling an -offence? - -This forbidden tree had something in it, that, to us, seems very -strange. It was to impart knowledge; and as the fruit was inviting to -the eye, and a desire existing to obtain knowledge, Eve fell a victim to -her unfortunate curiosity. Nor was this all. Until Eve ate thereof, it -appears that the happy couple did not perceive their want of clothing. -Instantly they set to work to repair this first mishap, by sewing leaves -together to make aprons. But in this stage of the business, the Lord -seems to have some compassion left, for he, "_the Lord, made coats of -skins and clothed them_"--poor Adam and Eve being ignorant of the -strength and durability of leaf aprons. We may suppose the Lord as -thinking or saying to Adam,--"Why, this will never do; you must have -something more lasting, or else, by every wind that blows, you will be -no more than a bundle of tattered rags." Soon, therefore, by the Lord's -assistance, poor Adam and Eve jumped into a new suit of clothes! And, to -make sure of man's destruction, by taking that which was forbidden, the -serpent was permitted to point out the advantages that would follow; so -that the appearance of the fruit, and the desire to get knowledge, urged -on by the serpent, together with Eve's ignorance that any thing like -lying existed in the Garden of Eden, the disobedience of our first -parents was, by ninety-nine chances out of a hundred, secured, and the -damnation of their posterity made sure. - -Now, to ascribe such conduct to God, such barefaced design to quarrel -with his new creation, is horrid in the extreme, and would disgrace (bad -as it is said he is) the very Devil himself. And if the account is not -true, if the facts, as recorded, did not take place, but are altogether -to be considered as an allegory, then it follows, that human redemption -is an allegory, also; and the whole fabric of the Jewish and Christian -religion falls to the ground. - -In dismissing this father of humbugs, (the fall of our first parents,) -which ended in Adam and Eve's expulsion from Paradise, by way of -consolation, we may in justice say, "Farewell, Adam and Eve; you have -had but a rough beginning. God and the Devil have both conspired to make -you unhappy, But never mind, do your best; comfort and console each -other; the whole world is before you. This garden trade has proved a -failure altogether. If you can but procure a spade, a hoe, and shovel, -you will in time get on; and, as your present misfortune originated from -that unforeseen quarrel in the garden, live in peace, and share equally -in your troubles, and also in your prosperity. Things are not so bad, -after all; and if Adam's wound in the side is not yet entirely healed, -it is your duty, Eve, as a good wife, to pay particular attention to it. -It is for your interest, also; for if Jehovah should, be again offended -with you, as in the garden, and take from Adam the opposite rib from -which you sprang, and of it make a second Eve, the serpent would pay -another visit to mar your happiness, and your troubles would have no -end." - -What kind of religion there was, if any, in those days, we know not; but -Cain and Abel, Adam's sons, appear to have been worshippers of Jehovah, -notwithstanding the expulsion of their parents from Paradise. We have it -recorded that, in the course of their worship, Cain's offering was of -the "fruits of the earth," and Abel's was "a lamb with the fat thereof." -Cain's offering had no respect paid to it; but, on the other hand, -Abel's offering was respected. The reason why the one was rejected and -the other accepted, we have no means of knowing; at any rate, Jehovah -knew that murder would follow as a consequence. Here, then, we have an -account of the _first religious quarrel_, and the murderous spirit that -was connected with it. And history confirms this truth, that the same -murderous spirit has always, more or less, shown itself in all religious -disputes; but more dreadful and furious in the Jewish and Christian -religions than in any others. From Cain, the first religious murderer, -to the present day, intolerance and blood appear to have stained the -pages of Jewish and Christian history. And now, that those days of -persecution have passed away, let us do all in our power to prevent -their recurrence. - -Following the history of the antediluvians, in Genesis, chap. vi., we -are not a little surprised to find a new race of, beings on earth. We -find, that after "_men began to multiply an the face of the earthy and -daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of -men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they -chose, and they bare children unto them; the same became mighty men, -which were of old men of renown_." Here we may ask, is it possible to -believe in the truth of this account? But for its being recorded in the -Bible, no person, having one grain of common sense, would for a moment -give it the least credit. But its truth rests on the same authority as -the fall of our first parents, and no doubt is equally true. We are -told, by Christ, that in heaven, they "_neither marry nor are given in -marriage_"; but here it seems that the sons of God were tired of their -restraint, and broke loose, and came a wooing the pretty young girls of -those days: and, from the account, the courtship was short; for they -took to them, wives of all that they chose. Good heavens! how the young -men of those days must have stared to see the young ladies So pliable! -If, in those days, "bustles" were not worn by the girls, the sons of God -soon put them, one and all, in a bustle. Wonder how those gentlemen were -dressed, that the women became so soon captivated! If, in the course of -their negociations, some girl, more thoughtful than the rest, had asked -her strange lover what employment he intended to follow, he would have -been stuck fast to have given an answer. After all, if this account is -to be considered true, heaven is not in so happy a state as is -represented; for the sons of God became uneasy in their confinement, and -preferred a love frolic to Gabriel's evening song. As heaven is -considered to have the most enchanting music, perhaps the new visiters -brought with them their instruments, and began their courtship by a -heavenly jig. It does not appear that Jehovah exhibited any displeasure -on account of the sons of God leaving the blessed abodes and marrying -the daughters of men. For aught we know, it was an experiment to improve -the antediluvian race. - -But leaving this point for ministers of the gospel to settle, it seems -as if their progeny were a jolly set of fellows, and became "_men of -renown._" Taking, then, a review of the world from its creation until it -was destroyed by the deluge, we discover, that if the facts recorded are -true, and did really take place, it was one continued chapter of -blunders. First, Adam is made and set to work. It is next discovered -that he requires a partner; but, behold! no materials are left with -which to make one. Adam is then laid up in dock; taken to pieces like an -old steamboat; one of his timbers removed, and a woman appears. Things -go on well, but only for a short time. Eve soon longs for fruit; she -takes it; then, lo, and wonder! she and her husband discover, and for -the first time feel, a sense of decency. They set to work to make -aprons; this is but lost labor. The Lord, it appears by the account, was -not in the garden, but on returning, found his servants partly clothed. -He informs them of their error; sets to work and protects them from wind -and weather. To be sure, they were not turned out naked; the very ground -was cursed for their bad conduct, and thorns and thistles would spring -up to annoy them. Whether the Garden of Eden was given up altogether, or -another gardener employed to keep it, we have no account. - -This, at any rate, was paying dear for an apple, or peach. We find, -however, that our first parents did not despair; for they soon raised a -family. If this expulsion did actually take place, to talk of family -troubles is nothing, compared to this unfortunate couple. For one single -fault, to be driven as outcasts from their only known home, to wander -they did not know where, without experience or capital to begin with! Of -all the houseless wanderers, their lot seems to be the most piteous to -behold. - -Again, whether "the sons of God" Were permitted to descend and marry the -daughters of men by way of improving the race, we know not. If -improvement was Jehovah's object in this strange union, another failure, -equal to former ones, was the result. The antediluvians, one and all, -were so wicked, that "the Lord repented that he had made man on the -earth; and it grieved him at his heart." One exception only, in the -family of Noah; to whom Jehovah immediately communicated his -determination to _destroy man and beast by a flood_--Noah's family only -excepted. - -To conclude this chapter, a few remarks will suffice.--If the foregoing -account of the creation is maintained to be truly the work of Infinite -Wisdom and Power, what a picture presents itself to the mind of a -sensible and reasonable man! Can it be possible for such an one to -believe it? His mind must reject it as the most barefaced falsehood that -ever could be proposed to human credence; as impossible to be true, and -equally impossible to be credited by any person having the least claim -on common sense. And yet, in this crazy world, to give credit to it, is -to be respectable; but to deny its truth, is to be infamous, and an -object of Christian horror, unworthy to live in this world, and sure of -damnation in the next. No man living can get over this certain -conclusion, that if the Governor of the Universe did act towards Adam -and Eve, together with the rest of the antediluvians, as is recorded in -the Bible, he made them for no other apparent end than to quarrel with -them, so as to have a pretence to punish and torment creatures who had -no power to resist. And can such a Being be the object of love and -adoration? The Devil himself is not painted in colors half so black. - -But enough has been said on this subject. We turn from it in disgust, -and boldly say to all the world, that no such God ever did, nor does now -exist; nor did the facts recorded in the Bible, of Adam's fall, _ever -take place._ - - - - -CHAPTER II. A REVIEW OF THE DELUGE AND THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES AT THE -TOWER OF BABEL - - -TO destroy all mankind by drowning, because of their wickedness, seems -to us a strange reason; for, when we attentively consider it, we are -compelled to conclude that the Jewish God had banished from his moral -government the very appearance of justice. What! no compassion for the -young men and women who had been brought up under circumstances so -unfavorable to virtue, from the bad example of their fathers? What! no -mercy for the thousands of infants? What! no feeling towards the youth, -from manhood through all the gradations down to helpless infancy? None. -We know that it is common for men and women to go crazy. From so strange -a perversion of justice on the part of Jehovah, it would seem that he, -at times, has his crazy fits, also. Destroy the innocent with the -guilty--allowing the innocent no chance of escape! If this were -performed by an earthly monarch, _insanity_ would be the most charitable -allowance to be made for so atrocious an act. But when ascribed to the -all-wise and powerful God, and insisted on as an article of faith, such -doctrines are only fit for madmen to preach and idiots to hear. -Christians little think to what extent they blaspheme the God whom they -profess to adore. - -Let us bring this horrid scene nearer to our eyes:--thousands and tens -of thousands of children from six years old and up to the age of -maturity, of both sexes, imploring for mercy, cut off in the midst of -enjoyment, for crimes over which they had no control, and which their -tender age precluded them from committing: yet to them the door of mercy -was forever closed. A raging Almighty God commanding Noah to proceed, -that his vengeance might be satisfied! Only look at such a picture, so -faintly drawn; for if the deluge did really take place, this portrait -bears but a small resemblance to a scene too dreadful for the -contemplation of man, and, Oh! heavens! too unjust and cruel to ascribe -to a God. To drown the whole of the human race by a flood, is one of the -most dreadful visitations of vengeance that cruelty could execute. In -it, we discover nothing to defend. The mind shrinks back with horror at -the bare recital. It is one among hundreds of such acts recorded as -being performed by the Lord. - -Turn to what part of the history you will, where the Jewish God is about -to do something, or to interfere in any way in human affairs, the -conduct ascribed to him, either in punishment or granting favor, you -will find to be always contrary to justice and reason. If justice be the -theme, it will end in cruelty. If to show favor, it will be sure to be -ill directed and allied to favoritism. Among men, justice is the -foundation of correct moral principles. On the contrary, the Bible God -acts as if influenced by fury and almighty rage; soon, very soon, angry; -very hard to please; punishing and destroying his creatures, as if pain -were a good instead of an evil, and man died without a groan. It is not -possible to calculate the amount of evil that has taken place on the -earth, in consequence of Christians taking for their example the conduct -of their God. Let us mark the difference between any misfortune that may -befall the human race in the course of events, and the same evil -inflicted by the Lord. In the former case, man will sympathize with his -unfortunate fellow man; in the latter, however, it _appears_ cruel and -unjust. "It is just, yes, and also merciful," says the Christian, "for -God to destroy the innocent descend-, ants of his enemies, because he -has a right to do whatever he pleases with his own." - -This mode of reasoning, the believers in the divinity of the Bible -resort to, in order to shield Jehovah from the attacks of Infidels, for -bringing on the deluge; and the same mode is followed throughout, to -justify the Lord in all his warlike movements against the nations doomed -to die by the hands of his chosen people. Can we, then, wonder that both -Jews and Christians, believing in, and worshipping, a God whose acts are -so revolting to every idea of justice and humanity,--can we, ought we, -to be surprised that they have drank so deeply of that spirit of -cruelty, injustice, and intolerance, that is recorded concerning the -dealings of Jehovah with his creatures, in involving in one common ruin -the innocent with the guilty? For it is from the horrible character -given of the Lord, that both Jews and Christians have in all ages drawn -in, as by a kind of inspiration, the same spirit of cruelty and -proscription, in imitation of their God. - -It is in vain that Christians assert, that the persecution that has -attended the progress of Christianity, in all ages, is but the abuse of -it No; it has been the _thing itself_. The moral precepts of the New -Testament (and many of them are excellent) have never been strong enough -to deter men from putting each other to death on account of their -difference of faith. Cruel Calvin, with the New Testament before his -eyes, and that saying staring him in the face, "_He that hateth his -brother is a murderer_,"--with this before his eyes, he caused the -unfortunate Servetus to be burnt by a slow fire, so completely had the -doctrines of the Bible destroyed in him all compassion. - -To show what baneful influence the doctrines of the Bible have had upon -men eminent for their wisdom, justice, and humanity, the following -authentic account will fully prove:--In the year 1664, two old women -were hanged upon a charge of witchcraft, having been tried by a Jury -before three learned Judges, at the head of whom was Sir Matthew Hale, -who passed the dreadful sentence of the law, as it then stood, which was -put into execution in about two weeks afterwards. A more upright, -honest, wise, and humane Judge never sat in a court of justice; and yet, -behold! he condemned and caused two poor, ignorant, and defenceless old -women to be hanged for a crime they neither did nor could commit The -remarks made to the Jury, by Sir Matthew, in substance were the -following:--"Gentlemen of the Jury, you have nothing to do in inquiring -whether the crime of witchcraft can be committed; the Bible has settled -that subject,--but, whether the evidence you have heard is proof that -the prisoners are guilty of the charges brought against them,"--which -charges were, killing, their neighbors' children by the agency and power -of the Devil, and causing them to vomit pins and nails. Here, then, it -is clear that it was the Word of God, and not Judge Hale, that brought -about the death of those unfortunate women. Had Sir Matthew been an -_Infidel_, the page of history had never been stained by the blood of -two poor helpless beings. - -Let not Christians, then, say that persecution and intolerance are the -abuses of Christianity. Its very essence is congenial with blood and -torture in all their horrid forms. The moral precepts of the Gospel -never have nor ever will so far neutralize the doctrines of the Bible, -as to guarantee the human race in trusting power in the hands of the -disciples of Jesus. They always will, according to the New Testament, -prefer the man of orthodox faith, to men in common, however virtuous. - -Having shown the injustice and cruelty of drowning all the inhabitants -of the earth,--on account of the wickedness of some who ought to have -been made an example to society at large,--let us inquire, what end was -obtained by so universal a destruction? Have the human race been more -moral, and, on the whole, more virtuous, since the flood than before? If -they have not, (and that they have not, the Bible itself fully proves,) -it then follows, that no moral good resulted from their being destroyed; -and instead of the Lord's anger being softened down, it would rage in -all its former fury. If the Lord really said to Noah, what the Bible -records, "_that it repented him that he had made man on the earthy and -it grieved him at his heart_" it is as much as to say,--"I can bear this -distracted state of mind no longer; I will try you and your family, -Noah, and ease myself of the disappointment I have endured from the -wickedness of my creation; I will have a better race on the earth which -I have made, or man shall cease to exist." - -But did a better race succeed? No; for Noah, in time, became -intemperate, and in a fit of intoxication became an object of contempt -to one of his sons, who, so far forgot his duty to his intoxicated -father, that instead of concealing his folly and shame, he exposed it. -When Noah awoke from his slumber, and discovered what had taken place, -he began most heartily to curse his son and his posterity for ages to -come, and also to prophesy evil concerning them, which prophecy, -according to the Bible, the Lord approved of and brought to pass. Here, -again, Jehovah is disappointed; that is, if he expected a moral world -better than the one he had destroyed. - -Turning, then, with detestation from an account which represents the -Governor of the Universe as having drowned a world and repented he had -made it, and also of being grieved at heart, we will notice Noah's -preparing the ark and making ready for his singular voyage. Nothing -short of repeated miracles could have completed the embarkation of Noah, -his family, and the living cargo, or freight. A miracle must have been -wrought on all those beasts, whose savage nature had made them a terror -to man, in order that they might become tame, and be conveyed to the -vicinity of the ark. Another miracle must have been in continual -operation on all those who were engaged in procuring the beasts, birds, -and reptiles, to induce them to labor without any remuneration for their -toils, but the certainty of being left to perish by the flood. A -continuation of miracles must follow on, to induce the then population -to stand quiet, up to their necks in water, and not to make an effort to -force their way into the ark before it was closed up; and also to enable -Noah and his family to attend to feeding and keeping clean their -respective cages and dens. The water, also, to drown the world, and -cover the highest hills, must be created for this express purpose, and -then reduced again into its native nothingness. For, from an accurate -calculation, it would require one hundred and eight times as much water -as is now on the face of the earth, to cover the highest mountain, -admitting its height to be no more than twenty thousand feet, and there -are mountains still higher. It would follow, therefore, that after the -flood, one hundred and eight oceans must be annihilated, there not being -room for so much water on the earth. - -From what has been said concerning the flood, it is clear that no such -thing really took place, but that the whole is fabulous; because, the -deluge is said to be in consequence of the Lord's being grieved at the -wickedness of the antediluvians. This is no reason why he should destroy -them, even admitting the possibility of the fact. His grief could not be -lessened by so doing, as men since the flood have been equally wicked as -before; and have continued so, down to the present time. If the Lord was -grieved then, and repented at having made man, he is still unhappy and -continues to repent, because the evil that caused him then to grieve and -to repent, is not removed. - -The reader is requested not to lose sight of one thing that is equally -glaring both in the Old Testament and the New--that the Jehovah of the -Jews is always blundering and making mistakes; the choice he often makes -does not answer the end purposed, but falls short. Another and another -plan is pursued; still, some striking failures take place. The God of -the Bible is as unlike the Supreme Power that governs the material -universe, as the swarthy African is unlike the fair complexion of the -temperate zone. - -As the main object of this work is to prove, as clear as the nature of -argument will admit, that the Jehovah of the Jews is not the Supreme -Ruler of Nature, let us examine their respective characters. The God of -the Jews, in his acts, is governed by no correct principle of justice; -he is changeable, and subject to all the passions that, in turn, agitate -the minds of mortals. How different is the Ruler of the World, of whom -we know nothing, abstracted from the material universe! In the -government of the material world, we discover that "_order is heaven's -first law_"; that a regular arrangement of causes and effects pervade -every department of nature. In it, there is no doing and undoing; no -derangement in the wonderful, adaptation of cause and effect, of -principles and consequences. In the laws that rule the universe, nothing -happens that has the appearance of falling short of ends intended to be -carried out; these laws depend not on the will or conduct of mortals; -but the more we are acquainted with them, the more we are compelled to -admire the wonderful wisdom and harmony of the mighty whole. - -Is the kingdom of grace, or, in other words, does the Old and New -Testaments present to us a God any way similar to the power that rules -the world? The God of Nature, an expression used to convey no other -meaning than the power that mingles itself with the mighty whole,--does -this power show any thing like partiality to nations, or to sects and -parties? Do the general laws, by which the world is governed, indicate -any thing in their author of a vindictive or vengeful character. Any -thing like disappointment or regret? Does the prosperity of nations, or -of individuals, depend (abstractly considered) on whether they worship -one, or many Gods, or none at all? On the contrary, the Jehovah of the -Bible is depicted as being more unstable than mortals. Ye Jews and -Christians! in vain do you vindicate the character and conduct of your -God towards the human race, by saying that "he ought to do what he -pleases with his own." The conduct of the most cruel and unjust tyrant -that ever lived can with more truth and propriety be exonerated than -your God; because a tyrant, however wicked and cruel, may have to -contend with those who are capable of doing him an injury, and -self-defence on his part may form some excuse for his actions. A tyrant -may have to come in contact with others, his equals in power and -physical force. But the Christian God is above any personal injury; he -has no rivals; possessing all power, all knowledge, nothing can take -place by him unforeseen. If mortals, by their conduct, call forth his -anger, he chooses to be angry. The human race did not ask for existence; -he alone was the projector. If mortals, in the course of their career -through life, (as foreseen by him) deserve punishment, he felt happy in -punishing them. Ye ministers! prate, then, no longer against the -"*unblushing Infidel*"; for, as you maintain that the God of the Bible -is the author of the universe, we leave you to blush at the horrible -character you portray of him whom you hypocritically call a God of love! -Oh! heavens! what dreadful consequences have resulted from the Jehovah -of the Jews being worshipped as the author of nature! The worshippers of -such a God have in all ages partaken, more or less, of his character for -cruelty, injustice, and intolerance; and under this banner "whole armies -have marched forth to glut the earth with blood." - -Viewing, then, the Bible account of the deluge, in which the innocent -were destroyed with the sinner, as but a fabulous tale, had I a voice -loud enough to make all mankind hear, I would boldly and fearlessly -proclaim it a falsehood, disgraceful to God, and too foolish to obtain -credit in the present age. - - - - -CHAPTER III. FROM THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES TO THE BIRTH OF MOSES - - -THE object to be accomplished in this chapter is, to show, from the -Bible history itself, the folly and absurdity of admitting the Jehovah -of the Bible to be the Supreme Ruler of the Universe; for, after -destroying every thing that had life, by the flood, Jehovah, somewhat -like a conquering hero, returns to heaven. The war with the human race -being over, Divine vengeance is satisfied. No religious worship, that we -read of, was then known on the earth. But, behold! a new outbreak -occurs, that requires the immediate interference of the God of Israel. - -In Genesis, chapter xi., it is recorded, that the then inhabitants of -the earth began to build a tower, the top of which was to reach the -heavens, that they might make to themselves a great name, and be no more -scattered abroad on the earth. What crime it could be considered by -Jehovah, for men to unite in building a tower so lofty that the top -would reach the heavens, we know not. However ignorant the then -inhabitants of the earth were, the Lord knew that they could not annoy -him by the erection of a tower to any height they might be inclined to -raise it. The writer of the account makes it appear, that Jehovah became -uneasy at the progress the workmen were making, and at last could bear -it no longer; so he came down, as the term is, and confounded their -speech in such a manner that they could not understand each other. - -Can it be possible, for men who reflect at all, to believe such glaring -nonsense? The writers of the Bible have not only made a God unjust and -vengeful, but they have put into his head such foolish whims, as, that -after having destroyed a world by a deluge, the innocent with the -guilty, he came down from heaven to scare away carpenters and -bricklayers from their honest labor; and have made him virtually to -say--"Be off! Clear out! I will not permit you to hammer away here!" The -conduct of the Bible God towards the builders of Babel, and, in fact, -the whole of the then human family, seems to be like that of an -unfeeling father, who cares not for his children, and who is also -equally indifferent as to whether the human race worshipped him, or fell -down to worship stocks or stones; for, instead of ordering them to build -an altar to the true and living God, he ordered them off, to wander -abroad on the earth, and do the best they could. And here an opportunity -was lost of insuring their conversion; since, as they were all of one -language and speech, how easy to convert the whole race at once! Now, -here we may discover a _man-made God_. Sometimes he is all jealousy for -his own name--all fury against idolatry; at other times, he seems to -care but little for the happiness of his creatures, or the honor of his -name. After having compelled the builders of Babel to quit their -undertaking, Jehovah returns back to heaven; and from the silence of -Bible history, he does not appear to have superintended human affairs at -all, for hundreds of years after. And now, ye ministers of the Gospel of -grace, what have you to say in vindication of the very existence of such -a God? The origin of your God is of man's creation; he never had a real -existence. - -After an absence of many years, having given up, to all appearance, any -interest in human affairs, Jehovah turns his attention to Abram and his -family, and adopts them as his chosen people. And from this account, we -clearly discover the absurdity of believing the God of Abram to be the -universal sovereign; for, from the moment of the adoption of Abram and -his seed forever, from that very moment the family affairs of Abram, -Isaac and Jacob, seem to engross the attention of Jehovah; and, while I -am writing, I blush for shame at the credulity of mankind in professing -to believe such contemptible trash. What can be more weak and ridiculous -than to suppose that the Lord and two angels came to the tent of Abram, -and went through all the ceremonies of a pastoral visit,--such as -washing of feet and taking water until dinner was prepared, and that -while partaking of Abram's hospitality, they inquired for his wife, and -then renewed what before had been promised, namely--that Sarah, Abram's -wife, should have a son in her old age? - -One remarkable feature, throughout the whole of the Bible, presents -itself. It is this: that in every movement Jehovah makes among his -favorite people the Jews, and in all the correspondence he holds with -Abram and his seed, every thing is done by way of experiment on that -people; as if Jehovah did not know what would happen until he had gained -information by _actual experiment!_ In the case of the builders of the -Tower of Babel, it is said--"_And the Lord came down to see the city, -and the tower which the children of men builded._" And again--"_Go to, -let us go down, and there confound their language_." And also, in the -case of Sodom, the Lord told Abram concerning the cry of the wickedness -of the inhabitants of Sodom. The Lord said to Abram--"_I will go down -now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of -it, which is come unto me; if not, I will know._"--[Genesis xviii. 21.] -Abram, having heard of the intended destruction of the Sodomites, -remonstrates with Jehovah on the injustice of destroying the innocent -with the guilty. Then follows the pleading of Abram with the Lord, in -favor of Sodom; and from the willingness of the Lord to comply with the -request of Abram,--if the old patriarch had had the moral courage to -have gone on with one more request,--Sodom might have been saved. The -personage who communed with Abram is, by the inspired writer, called the -"_Judge of all the earth_." The same who had that day dined with Abram, -and to whom Abram said, "_Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto -the Lord, which am but dust and ashes_"! - -And now, patient reader, what have Christians to believe in reference to -this matter? Why, they must believe that the great immortal God came to -the earth from his Unknown abode, in the likeness of _man_, in company -with two angels; that he called on Abram, who was surrounded by his -flocks and herds, dwelling in a tent, perhaps inferior to our Indian -log-houses; that he, the Judge of all the earth, with two of his angels, -were (according to eastern hospitality) presented with water to drink, -and also, water to wash their feet--a practice most refreshing in a warm -climate. An invitation was given them to dine, which they accepted and -so particular is the narrative, that, what they had for dinner is -mentioned: the calf was instantly slain, and the baking commenced. - -And here we may inquire, whether or not this circumstance did really -take place, as it is recorded? If it did, then the believers in the -Bible, as a Divine Revelation, have to believe that the Great God of -all, the Universal Ruler of the Universe, came on earth to the tent of -Abram, in the form of a man, with two of the angelic host; and that they -_then and there_ had their feet washed, and sat down to a dinner of veal -and griddle cakes, and did eat thereof, and drink water. Now, if Moses, -or any other pretended inspired writer, wrote this, I ask, is not the -God of Abram a _man-made God?_ He is said to have feet that required -washing, and an appetite that required food. He had a mouth, teeth, and -also a stomach to receive food; and we may infer that he had hands, for -it is not recorded that Abram cut his victuals, or fed him or the angels -with a spoon. - -If the believers of the Bible consider that the foregoing account is -allegorical, and not to be considered as having really taken place, it -then follows that human redemption is allegorical, also; for the promise -made to Abram was, that _In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations -of the earth be blessed_. This promise included the mission of Jesus, -who was to save his people from their sins, and also to _heal the -nations, and to bring in everlasting righteousness_. Christians, then, -if they believe the Bible to be a Divine Revelation, must believe that -the Judge of the whole earth, while at dinner, in promising Abram a son, -included also, in that promise, the mission of Jesus, _the Saviour of -the world._ - -And here we may notice the views that Abram had of the Supreme Judge of -all. As he appeared to Abram in the form of a man, and as such was -treated by him, Abram brought forth water to wash the feet of the Lord, -and invited him to dine, which he did; which is proof positive that -Abram considered that the Lord was in the habit of taking refreshment, -such as eating and drinking, or he would never have thought of giving -the Lord such an invitation. If this account be true, the New Testament -must be false, when it declares that _no man hath seen God at any time, -and that none can see him and live_. But of Abram it is written, that he -saw the Lord, face to face, and also that they dined together; and, as -if to remove all doubt of its truth, it mentions what they dined on, -namely--veal and cakes. It therefore follows, that the account, as -recorded of the Lord's dining with Abram, must be taken in its plain and -literal sense; because it is connected with the destruction of Sodom and -Gomorrah, and also of Lot's wife being turned _into a pillar of salt_; -which account is referred to as having taken place, by the writers of -the New Testament. After the Lord and the two angels had retired from -dinner, the Lord informed Abram of his errand to the above cities; which -was, to find out whether their ill-fated inhabitants were as wicked as -they had been reported; as he (the Lord) was determined to know. It was -then that Abram began to plead with the Lord, and to show the injustice -of destroying the innocent with the guilty, as from the nature of the -crime for which the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were to be destroyed, -all the women and children were innocent. Abram, therefore, saw -immediately the horrid cruelty and injustice of such destruction as was -about to overtake the unfortunate inhabitants of Sodom. In the -discussion, Abram had the best of the argument, but his efforts were -unavailing. Fire came down from heaven, and they were burnt alive, -innocent and guilty together. - -From the account it appears, that after the Lord parted with Abram, he -also took his leave of the angels; and what became of the Lord, the -Bible is silent; but the angels, after having dined with Abram, took -supper with Lot. This Lot seems to be the only man in Sodom that was -worth saving; and he certainly acted very strange: for when his townsmen -insisted on knowing who the angels were, and on what business they came, -Lot offered to turn into the street his two innocent daughters, to be -dealt with according to the wishes of those vile wretches, if they would -but permit him to lodge and entertain the strangers. Certainly, the -morality of the Bible is most sublime, and the ways of the Jewish God -_past finding out!_ - -The case of Lot's wife is, to all appearance, very strange. Her crime of -looking back, would appear to us much less than that of her husband's in -turning his daughters into the street. The history of Lot winds up with -a strange account, and not very favorable to strict morality, -namely--the project of his daughters in making him drunk, and the -disgusting consequences that followed. Thus, it is clear, that Lot's -wife (bless the good old woman!) was the best, in a moral point of view, -in the whole family; and only for looking back on her beloved home, she -was treated like a dead sow, by being put into pickle. To conclude this -tirade of nonsense and folly, we will add--"_remember Lot's wife_." - -It appears from Bible history, that when Abram left his own country, he -was any thing but rich; and as his substance consisted in a few heads of -cattle, a famine soon overtook him as he journeyed, which induced him to -go down into Egypt, the then granary of the earth. To prevent any -unpleasant consequences that might result to Abram, because of the -beauty of Sarah, his wife, she was instructed to call her husband her -brother. It turned out as was expected, for she was recommended to -Pharaoh, and taken into the royal palace. Immediately, presents came -unto Abram in quick succession, consisting of "_sheep and oxen, and he -asses; men-servants and maidservants; and she asses and camels_." But -the Lord, ever watchful over Abram's affairs, troubled Pharaoh and his -house; and when Pharaoh discovered the cause of this evil, he -remonstrated with Abram for his duplicity, and returned his wife -undefiled. So kind, however, was the Lord to Abram, that the presents -were made before the cheat was discovered, and he came out of Egypt a -rich man. - -This may be said to be the beginning of Abram's good luck; and we may -suppose that in returning home to their old pasturage, Sarah would laugh -and exclaim--"See what it is to have a handsome wife!" Another famine -will make brother Abram and sister Sarah the richest couple in pastoral -life. - -In the course of events, Abram and Sarah had recourse again to the same -trick, on Abimelech, King of Gerar, which had been acted with so much -success in Egypt. Sarah, on account of her beauty, _at ninety years of -age_, was taken by the King; but the Lord, ever the guardian of Sarah's -virtue, came to Abimelech in a dream, and threatened him and all his -house with death, if Sarah was not given up to her lawful husband. The -King remonstrated with the Lord, and justified his conduct by declaring, -that both Abram and Sarah had deceived him; and said--"_In the integrity -of my hearty and innocency of hands, have I done this._" The Lord -replied--"_I know that you did it innocently, for I withheld thee from, -sinning against me; therefore, suffered I thee not to touch her._" -Again, as before, presents of cattle, men-servants, and maid-servants, -with a thousand pieces of silver into the bargain, were given to Abram, -with his wife, who is as chaste as morning dew. - -I have dwelt longer on this account than I at first intended, merely to -show the folly in believing that the Almighty Lord of all had any -concern in such contemptible fooleries as are recorded in the family -concerns of Abram. One thing, however, is omitted; and that is, the -quarrel between Sarah and Hagar. The tent or house became too hot to -hold those rival women; at last, Sarah triumphed by turning out Hagar -and her love-begotten child, which demanded the Lord's interference, and -gave poor Abram no small share of trouble. - -From the moment that Jehovah adopted the family of Abram, the Bible -account warrants us in supposing that the family concerns of that -patriarch particularly engaged the attention of Jehovah; since, for -every trifling concern that took place, the Lord was applied to in order -to settle the matter. Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau, when about -to become a mother, applied to the Lord for information respecting her -singular situation; and the Lord informed her that she would be the -mother of two celebrated nations, and satisfied her mind as to every -other inquiry she made. And here we may ask, how it was that the Lord, -in those days, was so easy of access? How every gossipping old woman -could lay her case before the Lord, and wait his advice and answer? The -reply is at hand. The whole account of the Lord's saying unto Abram, or -the Lord's saying unto Moses, and again, "_the word of the Lord came -unto Moses, saying,"_ is all humbug: no such word ever came; no such -conversation ever took place. - -Whoever wrote the Book of Genesis, has placed Jehovah in an immoral -point of view; as keeping company with unprincipled knaves, and as -acting without any regard to the strict rules of justice and mercy; as -having a system of favoritism, which does not admit of administering -impartial justice. The case of Jacob and Esau is directly opposed to -truth and impartiality. Esau was, in a moral point of view, evidently -the best of the two; but Jacob was Jehovah's choice. Esau, according to -Bible history, was a hardy, industrious, and generous man. Jacob, on the -other hand, was his mother's pet; and the deception which he and his -mother played on old Isaac, who was blind, is in strict accordance with -the conduct of all the Lord's favorites. Jacob, according to Bible -history, was, through his whole life, full of deception and trickery. He -could lie and take a false oath to deceive his blind father; and by -deceit, deprive his brother Esau of his lawful right of inheritance. And -yet the Lord was with him, and connived at all his baseness! - -But Jacob, conscious of his wickedness, and justly deserving his -brother's resentment, fled to his uncle for protection. On his way, the -Lord appeared to him in visions; and, notwithstanding his lying and -false swearing to his father, promised him divine assistance. Jacob -still acted in the same crafty manner, even with the Lord himself; -always having his own self-interest in view; for, after the Lord had -said, Genesis xxvii., 15, "_And behold, I am with thee, and will keep -thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into -this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have -spoken to thee of_"--even after this promise from the Lord, in verse 20 -it is said--"And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, if God will be with me, and -will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and -raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, -*then shall the Lord be my God*." - -Well done, Jacob! that is making a good Jew bargain. Jehovah and Jacob -both kept their word; for Jacob married his two cousins, the daughters -of his uncle Laban, and staid with him until he, by the help of the -Lord, contrived to jockey old Laban out of the best of his cattle, and -ran away back to his own father's house, taking with him, by stealth, -the gods of Laban his father. Thus did Jacob not only triumph over the -heathen gods, by carrying them off captive, but continued to adhere to -Jehovah, his own God, who did not desert him in his recreant tricks. It -is not to be wondered that the sons of Jacob should be so base in their -actions, after the example of their father; and considering what a mixed -breed they were, having so many mothers. Their conduct towards their -brother Joseph is a sample of their actions; and although Bible history -records the good fortune of Joseph, he, among the rest of his brethren, -acted the tyrant as soon as power would permit him so to do. - -This chapter will conclude with a few remarks on the life of Joseph, and -his career in Egypt. The fame and good fortune of Joseph, depended on -his gift of interpreting _dreams_, which finally made him, under -Pharaoh, _Lord of the land_; and according to his predictions, _seven -years of famine were to succeed seven years of plenty_; by which, Joseph -planned the entire subjugation of Egypt. He, by the authority of -Pharaoh, bought up all the grain left of the seven years' plenty; and -when the famine came, the grain was sold to the inhabitants at the price -that Joseph was pleased to put upon it. But the famine continued so long -that all the money was spent. The poor, half-starved people told Joseph -their situation, and offered their cattle in exchange for grain; the -cattle were taken by him; at last, all their cattle disappeared, and the -people continued in want; then, offer was made of their lands, which -Joseph also took; and with their lands, themselves; so the government -took all. But after the famine, Joseph proposed to furnish them with -seed wherewith to sow their fields, on condition that, ever after, -Pharaoh was to have one-fifth of the yearly produce. How kind of Joseph! -Now, if the Bible be true concerning this matter, I ask, could anything -be more unjust and cruel? - - - - -CHAPTER IV. FROM THE BIRTH OF MOSES TO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA - - -THIS chapter will put beyond dispute all connection between the Jehovah -of Moses and the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe. Whoever drew the -picture of Jehovah, as it is recorded in the Bible, made him, in every -sense of the word, a mere man; and put him under the same necessity of -re-sorting to means for obtaining information, when the subject of -inquiry is involved in doubt. For instance: Jehovah informs Abram that -the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were reported to be wicked in the -extreme; and that he (the Lord) came down to get information on that -subject. Again, when the builders of Babel were about to commence their -lofty tower, the Lord came down to see what they were doing; and, not -being pleased with their intentions, put a stop to the work, and -performed a miracle, whereby they were driven abroad on the face of the -earth. Besides, the Lord's coming from a certain place to another place -for information, implies that, without such movement, the information -sought for could not be obtained. These instances, and hundreds of -others of the same kind, imply also that the Jewish God had a local -habitation. Again, to say that the Lord came to a place, staid there, -and then returned back again,--these are movements which are common with -men, but cannot be applied to the omnipresent God. The free access that -Moses and the Old Testament prophets had to their God will warrant the -idea that he resided next door to them, and that the Lord was obedient -to their every call. - -The children of Israel, after the death of Joseph, began to multiply so -fast that the Egyptians feared for their own safety in the event of a -war with other nations; and in consequence, ordered the mid wives to -destroy all the male children, but to save the females alive. But Moses -was saved, according to the Bible, in consequence of Pharaoh's daughter -discovering him in the river; and when he came to maturity, the Lord -selected him to go to Egypt to demand of Pharaoh, the king, to let the -Israelites go out from that state of bondage in which, for four hundred -years, they had been held. - -The departure of Moses from Egypt was not very honorable for a future -ambassador; for before his departure he murdered a man, and buried him. -To escape justice, he then fled to Midian, and became acquainted with a -pagan priest, who took him into his house, and ultimately gave him one -of his daughters in marriage, and he became his father-in-law's -shepherd; and the Lord made himself known to Moses. It was while tending -the flocks that he was chosen go to Egypt to demand the release of his -brethren, then in cruel bondage. After the Lord had given him his -instructions, and, to all appearance, Moses had started on his mission, -a remarkable circumstance took place, that must puzzle Bible -commentators to explain. It is recorded in Exodus iv., 24, "_And it came -to pass, by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him and sought to kill -him._" This meeting appears to have been accidental, for no mention is -made of the business of either of them. Here, again, we observe that the -writer, whoever he was, has spoken of the Lord as a man. It is not -possible for men of sound understandings to conceive of the reality of -the Lord's meeting Moses at an inn, if by the Lord, We understand the -Almighty Power that governs all Worlds. - -On the account as it stands recorded, and as Christians take it as -really having happened, the following remarks may reasonably be made, -namely: that after Moses had been ordered to proceed to Egypt on his -important mission, he loitered his time away in a tavern; and that the -Lord surprised him in that place, and showed anger for his contempt of -orders, given to and accepted by him. But the cause of a meeting so -extraordinary, it is difficult to unravel. It is easily conceived why -Moses might visit a tavern; but that the Lord of heaven and earth should -follow a creature into a pot-house, and show signs of anger, and a -quarrel should be the result, is very hard to believe; for it said, the -"_Lord sought to kill him_." Again, if the Lord sought to kill him, it -must be in appearance only, for he could have done it. However, Moses -started off. - -The account warrants us in supposing, that Moses had staid in the inn -long enough for his wife to overtake him, and to upbraid him with -neglect. Something is said about his son's being uncircumcised; and -taking a sharp stone, she performed that operation with a very clumsy -instrument; after which, she exclaimed, in an angry tone, "_A bloody -husband thou art, because of the circumcision_;" as if she meant to -say--"Shame on you! to leave it to me to do that which is so revolting -to my feelings!" Moses then departed for Egypt, and obeyed the Lord in -his journey to his brethren. - -We can discover neither justice nor humanity in the course that was -taken by the God of Israel, in bringing the Jews out of bondage. On the -contrary, the greatest inhumanity and injustice are discoverable in -every movement that Moses made under the authority of the Lord; which -fully proves, that Infinite Wisdom and Goodness had nothing to do in the -mighty fuss of liberating the seed of Abram from bondage. The plagues -that were inflicted on the inhabitants of Egypt, if true, make the -conduct of Jehovah more vindictive than any thing we have heard of as -proceeding from the Devil himself for the Lord had told Moses -beforehand, that he had hardened Pharaoh's heart that the people might -know the power of the Hebrew God to afflict the nation. It might have -been sport to the man made God of Moses, but not very pleasant and -comfortable to the Egyptians, to be lousy, to be stunk to death with -putrid carcasses, having frogs for bed-mates, when the Lord had hardened -the King's heart. But the worst and most infamous of all the judgments, -was the destruction of the first-born. This act would have disgraced the -very devil: to institute the Feast of the Passover. - -We may indulge in a little mirth in reference to the destroying angel -going round the streets, finding out the doors marked with the blood of -your paschal lamb, and taking care not to wring the neck of a little -Hebrew. Wonder if the destroying angel had a lantern? But, perhaps, he -had cat's eyes, and could see as well by night as at noon-day! No -wonder, ye Jews, that the inhabitants of Egypt so willingly gave you -their gold and silver ornaments to get rid of a people so detestable, -and, with them, a more detestable God. - -In a short time after the Jews had left the house of bondage, they began -to upbraid Moses that they had changed for the worse; and in the course -of their journeying, they quarrelled with him, and the Lord had -continually to interfere, and to feed them by miracles. At Mount Sinai, -Moses halted; and, according to the command of the Lord, the law was -given to the nation, as recorded in Exodus, chapter xx. And this boasted -law is said to have been given by the Lord, in the hearing of all the -Children of Israel. The first commandment contains a spirit of -intolerance, which, whether he gave it or not, has never failed to -generate in Jews and Christians a spirit of religious persecution which -has deluged the earth with blood. - -The ten commandments, given by Moses to the Children of Israel, contain, -in general, good moral precepts, with the exception of the first. The -first begins by the Lord's speaking in a language which all the people -could understand:--"_I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out -of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no -other Gods before me._" This command, which by both Jews and Christians -is considered so just and reasonable, contains in it the germ of -intolerance. Had this command been given immediately after the recorded -fall of Adam, its influence would have had a very different bearing on -the peace and happiness of society, than it had at the time, and has had -ever since it was given. It would have been both just and right in the -Lord of all to demand of his creatures to worship him, and him alone, in -the way and manner he saw fit; since in that case, no evil consequences -could have followed from a command so just and proper, as for the -creature to obey his Creator. - -But at the time the Lord gave the first commandment, the whole world -were in the practice of worshipping the gods of their forefathers: the -origin of which worship was then lost, and the worshippers were no doubt -as sincere in their devotion as the most pious Jew or Christian of the -present day. By the publication, then, of the first commandment, at a -time when every nation had its particular god, and the worshippers lived -in peace, the spirit of intolerance and religious persecution being -unknown, the great I am declared a religious war against all the gods, -and their worshippers on the face of the earth. But according to Bible -history, Jehovah permitted his creatures to wander on earth, and -appeared regardless as to what gods were worshipped; and then, after -some thousand years, he all at once began to rage against all the -religious systems then known. - -But it was otherwise with what are called heathen nations. Each had its -peculiar god, and also its different forms of worship; and they lived -happily with each other on the score of theology. And here we may -observe, how unfortunate it has been for the human race, that the Lord -did not either give his law sooner, or not at all; for it is plainly to -be seen, that if the first commandment had been given by the Lord before -men had followed other gods, idolatry would have been prevented, and -Jehovah's watchfulness over the worship he had established, would have -been productive of universal happiness. But, on the contrary, the -command being given so long after, and that, too, when religious systems -were flourishing, and temples crowded with devout worshippers, the worst -consequences have followed. - -The worshippers of Jehovah, whether Jews or Christians, have, by the -Bible itself, become intolerant and persecuting; and never have they -failed, when power would admit, to destroy the enemies of their God -without mercy: so that the first commandment, by coming too late, has -proved the greatest curse that ever afflicted the human family. And -hence the folly in believing that Infinite Wisdom and Goodness would -permit false religion to progress so long before the true one was made -known to the human race. After the moral law, or the ten commandments, -had been given by the Jewish God, on the mount, amid thunder and -lightning, we have it recorded that Moses was ordered to go up to the -top of the mount, and there, with the Lord, he staid forty days and -nights; during which time Aaron, his brother, remained with the whole of -the Children of Israel in camp, at the foot of Mount Sinai. - -And now, candid reader, prepare your mind for an account of what took -place on the mount, between Jehovah and Moses; and when you have read -it, and maturely reflected on what is recorded, then I say, ask yourself -whether there is one word of truth in the account of this strange -interview between Moses and his God? Compare it with any of the -absurdities to be found in the _Koran_ of Mahomet, and discover, if you -can, whether the latter is less true than the former. - -The Bible record states, that Moses was ordered to ascend the mount, on -private business with the Lord, and to leave Aaron in charge of his -chosen people till his return. The account clearly states, that Moses -was then and there to receive instruction how to fit up and ornament the -Tabernacle that was to accompany the Children of Israel in their journey -to the promised land. And here we may notice, "_That in six days the -Lord made heaven and earth, and all things therein_"; yet it required -forty days to plan and fit up this moveable church; and before it was -finished, the chosen people, with Aaron at their head, became idolators; -so that before the Lord and Moses (both hard at work) had completed the -church, they lost the congregation. This, to make the best of it, was a -dreadful blunder. - -After the forty days had run out, during which time Moses and his God -were hard at work, and Moses had often received the precaution, "_See -that you make all things according to the pattern given on the -mount,_"--all at once, the Lord said to Moses, "Do you know what is -going on below?" Poor Moses, full of thought, and over-joyed at the -prospect of so fine a fit-out, was altogether ignorant of the Lord's -meaning. "Why, Moses, that stubborn race you brought out of Egypt, have -set up strange gods, and have turned their backs on both you and me"! If -this story was strictly true, how Moses must feel on hearing this -unfortunate news! We must suppose he would exclaim and say, "Oh! Lord, -our forty days' labor is all knocked on the head. Is it possible, Oh! -Lord, that they have forgotten what you did for them in Egypt? What a -pity it is, Oh! Lord, that they ever got rid of the lice when they left -the house of bondage, for if they were now tormented by those nibblers, -it would remind them of the lousy miracle you performed for them in the -presence of Pharaoh. Those lice, if not destroyed, would have been 'a -forget-me-not.'" And the Lord said unto Moses, "Now let me alone, that -my wrath may wax hot against this people, for I know that they are a -stiff-necked race. I will destroy them, and from you shall a great -nation spring up." But Moses, not having at this time lost his temper, -said, "Oh! Lord God, now do not destroy them; besides, what will the -Egyptians say? And also remember what you promised to Abram, Isaac, and -Jacob: how you swore that you would give it to Abram and his seed -forever." "Well, Moses, you reason correctly. I own I was rather too -hasty; upon a second thought, I retract; I will take your advice; but go -down and see what you can make of them." - -Moses, not well pleased, left the Lord, and went down from the mount; -and when he came to the camp, he lost all patience, and, in a passion, -not knowing what he did, threw down the stones on which were written the -commandments--and written, too, with the finger of God--and they were -broken asunder. No wonder that Moses lost his temper: forty days' labor -lost; having had, during the whole time, nothing to eat; and having lost -his church members before the moveable church was complete! No one can -be surprised that he acted as he did. Moses reasoned so correctly with -the Lord, that he cooled Jehovah down, but was not so fortunate with -himself. - -Aaron, finding himself in a dilemma, excused himself by charging the -people with the fault. But Aaron's story was but a lame tale; for, when -the people demanded a god, to whom they might pay divine honors, Aaron -could have told them to have patience, and Moses would return with -proper instructions from their God. But poor, silly Aaron told Moses, -that when he threw the rings and bracelets into the fire, out came the -calf. At any rate, between the Lord, Moses, and Aaron, a sad blunder was -made; and to finish off, Moses commanded the Levites to go sword in hand -and kill every man his brother and neighbor; and three thousand were -slain, who, if things had been conducted properly, might have been -faithful worshippers of Jehovah. Finally, nothing can exceed in folly -this foolish story of Jehovah, Moses, and Aaron, except it be the folly -of believing it to contain one word of truth. - -After Moses had slain the people for their idolatry, not having been -reproved by the Lord, he was commanded to prepare two tables of stone, -in place of those that were broken, and the next morning to go up again -to the Lord, on the mount. It is then said that the Lord descended on -the mount to meet Moses; so it appears that the Lord (after the -departure of Moses to the bottom of the mount) departed also, into -heaven or to some unknown place; for it is recorded that he came down -again to meet Moses with the two new tables prepared by him. The whole -account of the Lord's interview with Moses, on the mount, implies that -Jehovah labored, talked, and acted in concert with Moses, as one man -acts with another; and that they remained together forty days and as -many nights. Whether they continued their work through the night, we -have no account; nor whether they needed candles. At all events, if it -be considered literally as a matter of fact, it was a long time for -Moses to be without food or sleep; but as Christians are compelled to -believe it to be matter of fact, we will remark on it as such. - -We begin, then, by asking if the Children of Israel were indeed the -Lord's chosen people, how can we account for the neglect in not giving -Aaron proper instruction respecting the business of Moses on the mount, -so as to prevent the people from seeking after other gods? And, also, -how came it to pass that the Lord did not inform Moses sooner of the -people's revolt, so that the three thousand that Moses caused to be -murdered, might have been saved? And lastly, is it consistent with the -attributes of the Governor of the Universe to resolve, in wrath, to do -any thing, and then repent and not perform it? - -If nothing had been recorded in the Old Testament of the sayings and -doings of the Jewish God, but that which is related concerning him in -giving the law on Mount Sinai, and of his giving instruction to Moses -how to fit out the Tabernacle, it is of itself sufficient to show the -absurdity of Jehovah's being the God of Nature. To unite in one person -the attributes of the great and all-powerful God, with the contemptible -arrangement of giving patterns for curtains, and a thousand trifling -things of no importance whatever, and to take forty days to garnish his -church, and, while so doing, to let, from sheer neglect, his people lose -sight of Moses, and then to destroy three thousand persons in -consequence of such want of foresight, is too much for credulity to -digest. - -When we notice the importance attached to rites and ceremonies the most -unimportant, and then again how lavish the Jewish God is of human life, -and totally regardless of human suffering, we dare not for a moment give -credence to the strange stories and foolish whims of the Bible God, and -palm them upon the all-bountiful Author of Nature. Moses, after coming -down the last time from the mount, begins to prepare for the priesthood, -by saying, that the firstlings of cattle, whether of the ox, or the -sheep which are of the male kind, belong to the Lord; but the firstling -of the ass was to be redeemed by substituting a lamb! But if the owner -had no lamb to offer, the neck of the ass was to be broken; as if the -Lord had said--if you have nothing better to give, I will not accept of -a young jack-ass! - -Whoever wrote the Book of Exodus, has made the God of Israel appear like -unto an old clothes-man, giving orders for a thousand ornaments for his -worship, which would disgrace a heathen temple; such as giving orders -for all kinds of brass work; likewise, gold and silver ornaments; all -kinds of oils and spices; particular patterns of cabinet work; what kind -of leather skins, and, also, of what particular color, to grace his -house withal: and even down to the cut and color of the garments: not -forgetting to give instruction concerning the making of breeches for -Aaron and his sons! In the present day, it is no uncommon thing for -ladies to wear the breeches; but in those days, when breeches were cut -by inspiration, it would have been no small crime for a woman to have -stepped into Aaron's inexpressibles, or those of his sons. How is the -dignity of the Governor of the World disgraced, by ascribing to him an -employment fitting only for a pedler in old clothes! - -Let' us compare the majestic grandeur of Jupiter, the supreme god of the -Greeks, to the peddling, gossipping concerns that the writers of the Old -Testament have palmed on Jehovah, the God of the Jews! Hear what the -poet says of Jupiter, when challenging all the gods to oppose his -power:--: - - "Let down our golden, everlasting chain, - Whose strong embrace holds heaven and earth and main; - Strive all, of mortal or immortal birth, - By this to drag the thunderer down to earth; - Ye strive in vain; if I but lift this hand, - I heave the heaven, the ocean, and the land; - 'T is thus I reign, supremely and above; - Such are men and gods compar'd to Jove!" - -The contradictions, as recorded in the Bible, concerning Jehovah, are so -barefaced, that it is impossible to reconcile them. It is said in many -parts of the Old, and also in the New Testament, that no man can see God -and live; but we are told that Moses conversed with Jehovah, face to -face, as one conversing with his friend. It is in many places recorded -that God never repents--"_For he (God) cannot lie nor repent_." In many -other places it is recorded that Jehovah has repented and taken a -contrary course in his dealings with the sons of men. I again repeat, -that if no other account had been recorded of the conduct of the Jewish -God, but what we have mentioned, it is impossible to believe Jehovah to -be any thing but a _man-made God._ - -After the death of Moses, Joshua was appointed as his successor. His -business was to complete what Moses had left undone, in subjugating or -destroying the nations on the other side of Jordan. The first exploit of -Joshua was to send spies to Jericho to examine the strength of the city. -These spies entered the house of Rahab, the harlot, where they were -treated with kindness; it being such a house as would in modern times be -termed a house of _bad fame_. That it was a house of ill-fame, the proof -is positive; because the harlot's father, mother, and all the family, -were saved when Joshua took the city, because Rahab had concealed the -spies: so no doubt remains as to the character of the house, and that it -was entirely under her control and that the whole family were supported -from the wages of prostitution. - -Viewing this account as having actually taken place, as Christians must -do, as believers in the Bible, it was a very proper house at which the -spies would resort; for it was a house at which all were welcome; where -all sorts of news could be collected. After the spies had become -somewhat familiar with Mrs. Rahab, they informed her who they were, and -the nature of their errand. All on a sudden, they were about to be -arrested by the city authorities; and when forced to depart, Rahab -extorted a promise from the spies that her whole family should be saved -when Jericho should fall. Such a promise, the spies could not well deny, -after having been so kindly treated. Rahab, consequently, let them out -by a private way; and, on returning to Joshua, they praised the Lord for -having directed them to so hospitable and honorable a mansion as the -house of the virtuous Rahab. This was the Lord's doings, as also the -exploit of the seven rams'-horn trumpets that threw down the walls of -Jericho; and it is marvellous in our eyes--_praised be his name!_ - -Here, serious reader, pause and wonder how Infinite Wisdom can bring -good out of apparent evil, by taking into his employment murderers, -thieves, and harlots! and also, how such characters have immortalized -their names, when their actions have been connected with faith in the -Jehovah of Israel! For this noble act of betraying the city of Jericho, -and giving the spies comfortable lodging, and no doubt, also, very -agreeable bedmates, Rahab secured the favor of Jehovah, and her name is -recorded in connection with many others of equal virtue; for Paul says, -in Hebrews xi., 31,--"_By faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them -that believed not, when she had received the spies in peace._" Nothing -is acceptable to the Lord, without faith,--that faith "which keeps the -souls of sinners as sweet as salt does meat." - -After the taking of Jericho and destroying every thing that had life, -(the family of Rahab excepted,) Joshua followed in the same destructive -course as had been commanded by Moses, which command Jehovah gave on the -other side of Jordan. If the warfare pursued by Moses and Joshua did -really take place, and Jehovah gave the orders, it is idle prate to talk -of a God of justice. And when the Lord is made to say that _he (the -Lord) hardened the hearts of those Kings on either side of Jordan_, that -a plausible appearance of justice in their destruction might be made -out,--for Christians to sing of a God of mercy, is horrible indeed. -Whether a God ever commanded or encouraged the Jews in their wars of -extermination, under Moses, Joshua, or any other of their generals, or -not, Christian nations, as well as individuals, have drank deep of the -spirit of religious warfare. A Lord of hosts, a fighting God, has given -a sort of license to mortals to torment each other for his glory. - -Every Infidel ought to oppose this spirit, and vindicate the Author of -Nature from the imputation of cruelty and carnage--an imputation that, -is opposed to every idea of justice, and contrary to every thing we can -conceive of the Supreme Ruler of all worlds. And hence, nothing can be -more honorable to a man or woman of good sense and kindness of heart, -than to assert that the God of the Bible is unworthy to be worshipped as -the Governor of the Universe; which in fact is to say, that to all -pretended divine revelations, they are no less than avowed Infidels--a -name that will eventually be as honorable as is now the name of -Christian. - -According to Bible history, the nations on the other side of Jordan were -so alarmed at the frightful news they received of the Jewish army, and -the ravages they committed, that five Kings, with their armies, came out -to stop their progress; and in this account, we have the climax of -divine interference on the part of Jehovah. After a desperate effort was -made by the five Kings to stop the progress of Joshua, and after -fighting the whole day, until _towards the going down of the sun_, they -retreated. At that moment Jehovah is said to have given support to his -chosen people, by causing a hail-storm to descend, and more were slain -by the hail than fell by the sword. But when the hail was exhausted, -something more was requisite to be done; Divine aid was still wanting. -Then Joshua, in sight of his army, said, "_Sun stand thou still upon -Gibeon, and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon_," and they obeyed his -command. So that, according to this miracle, the hostile armies were -completely destroyed, and the sun and moon (we suppose) were ordered to -pursue their courses. - -And now, reader, to believe this improbable, or rather impossible tale, -and hundreds of others of the same sort, even in our day, will make a -man respectable, and fit to fill any office where intelligence and -honesty are required. But to doubt it, and publicly express the doubt, -will cause him to be considered infamous, and unfit for "public trust or -private care." And this will be the case until men shall be bold enough -to express their honest convictions that it is a libel to charge the -Sovereign Ruler of the Universe with being the direct, or the indirect, -author of the Bible, or having ever chosen the Jews to be his peculiar -people. - -But to return to Joshua, who appears to be more highly favored with -miracles than Moses, as the miracle of the sun and moon standing still, -to give time to Joshua to complete his victory over the Kings that came -against him, exceeds every thing of the kind on record. The writer, -whoever he was, that mentions the sun and moon standing still in the -heavens, evidently knew nothing of astronomy; for admitting the truth of -the story, and that the sun and moon appeared to stand fixed in the -heavens, it was in reality the earth that instantly obeyed the command -of Joshua. And another miracle must have followed immediately, to -prevent the dreadful consequences of the earth's ceasing from turning -round on its axis: for we have but to consider the effects of the -earth's instantly ceasing to turn round; the shock would have been so -great that trees and houses and the armies would have been thrown high -in the air, and the battle would have immediately ended, the combatants -being destroyed. But the tale is too foolish to be credited; and it -furnishes another proof that the Jehovah of the Jews is not the Author -of Nature. In this battle, Balaam, the soothsayer, was slain; and before -finishing this chapter, we will give the account as recorded, with some -remarks on that celebrated fortune-teller. - -When the Children of Israel had left Egypt, and were marching to the -land of promise, they had to go through different kingdoms and -provinces; and their numbers, connected with the depredations they -committed in the name of Jehovah, caused the inhabitants of those -regions to be greatly alarmed; and understanding that their God fought -for them and that they were about to pass through the land of Moab, -Balak, King of Moab, having learned what had been done by them to the -Amorites, sent to Balaam to consult with him, intending, if possible, to -stop their progress, or at least, to find out what the Jewish God had -destined his people to perform. - -In the Book of Numbers, chapter xxii., the account commences. Balaam, it -appears, was then what now would be called a celebrated conjuror, or, as -country people say, a _cunning man_, by which he made a living, and a -good one, too: for, from the Bible story, he appears to be a man well -known by princes, and was attended by two servants as out-riders. Like -our present lawyers, he never gave his services until he had received a -handsome fee; for the King sent off the elders to Balaam, with the -rewards of "_divination in their hand._" Balaam received them, and -invited them to stay with him till the next day, for, (as he told them,) -he would first inquire of the Lord. - -It is then recorded, that "_God came unto Balaam, and said, what men are -those with thee?_" This inquiry of the Jewish God appears strange, when -he must have known all about it without asking; but here, as in hundreds -of other passages, the _man-made God_ appears. But, for the information -of the Lord, Balaam gives a suitable answer. The Lord then informs the -fortune-teller that he must not go to Balak, _nor curse them, for they -are blessed_. The elders then returned to the King, to inform him that -Balaam could not come, because the God of Israel had forbid him so to -do. Again, Balak sent others, more honorable than the first, with -promises of riches and honor. The Lord came again to Balaam, and told -him to go with the men to Balak, King of the Moabites, but to mind what -the Lord had said to him. Balaam went off with the princes of Moab; but -the Devil, or something else, got into the jack-ass on which the old -fortune-teller rode, and he became skittish; and although then dumb, he -seemed to say to his master, "I shall go no further." Balaam became -enraged, and laid some heavy stripes on poor jack; but still the animal -refused to go on, until neither the Lord nor jack could bear it any -longer. The beast then broke silence, and reasoned with the old prophet -on his brutality. All of a sudden, Balaam saw an angel with a drawn -sword in his hand, who told him if it had not been for jack's superior -eye-sight, he would have been a dead man. The angel then told Balaam to -go on, but to mind what he did against Israel. What contemptible humbug -is all this! two miracles performed to do nothing! The first, to send an -angel down from nobody knows where; and the second, to make a dumb ass -reprove his owner. And what was Balaam's fault? He was going on as the -Lord commanded; and to complete this solemn farce, an apostle quotes it -as a real fact that actually took place, by saying--"And the dumb ass -spake with man's voice, and forbade the madness of the prophet." - -After returning to Balak, Balaam ordered seven altars to be built, on -which were to be offered seven bullocks and seven rams: and again, the -Lord came to see the process, and in private conversation with the -fortune-teller, told him that it would not answer; Israel must not be -cursed. This was repeated by Balaam three times; so that twenty-one -bullocks, and as many rams, were offered up to no purpose: and at each -offering, the Lord came down and conversed in private with Balaam. Is it -possible that men possessed of reason can believe that in this account -there is one word of truth, as it respects the Governor of the Universe -having any thing to do with it? If this account, or any one like it, was -recorded in any other book than the Bible, no man of a sound mind would -give the least credit to it. But yet the Christian dares not doubt it; -for even the apostles of Jesus speak of it as a real fact that took -place with the miracles attending it. - -To conclude this chapter of absurdities, we beg the reader to bear in -mind--first, that Balaam was not a prophet of Jehovah, but a conjuror; -and if he professed any religion, it was that of heathenism. But he -(Balaam) had heard of the manner of sacrificing to the Jewish God, and -accordingly began by slaying seven bullocks and an equal number of rams; -and while the altars were smoking, (if the Bible be true,) the Lord of -the whole earth left his throne, and came down to see what was going on. -The old fortune-teller was hard at work, and the princes of Moab -standing by to hear the result; when lo, and behold! the Lord descends, -and we may suppose him to say--"Balaam! why, you are cooking for a large -party! Come, Balaam, before you go any further, a word with you, if you -please. Come this way. What does all this mean? We must have some -private talk about this affair." "Why, my Lord, you know my business. I -must do all I can for my employers; I thought that if sacrifice is made, -agreeably to your order of worship, you might be induced to alter your -mind towards your people: for we have heard that at times, when the fit -comes on, you give them a severe thrashing." "Yes, Balaam, there is some -truth in the report; but I tell you, once for all, that if you offer all -the bullocks in the world, and all the rams beside, you cannot, must -not, curse Israel." - -No lawyer ever stuck closer to a rich client than did Balaam to the King -of Moab; for again and again did he sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts. -Another trial, on a mountain, was made, and again Jehovah descends and -tells Balaam the same as before. The third and last effort being made, -which would incline us to think that the patience of Heaven must have -been tired out, was enough to make the doorkeeper exclaim, "Here is -Monsieur Tonson come again!" The last descent is made by the Lord, and -the prophet gives in, reluctantly. I challenge any minister of the -gospel to produce a more absurd story, in any system of theology, than -the account of Balaam, his ass, and the Lord of Hosts. - -I will not insult the reader by saying, _do not believe it;_ but rather -say, _believe it who can!_ - - - - -CHAPTER V. FROM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA TO THE REIGN OF SAUL - - -WE now come to the time when the Israelites were settled in the land of -Canaan, Moses and Joshua being dead. This period of Bible history, from -the death of Joshua to the time of Saul, their first King, is about four -hundred years. And, seeing the miracles and wonders performed in behalf -of God's chosen people, in the times of Moses and Joshua, we might -reasonably expect that the same care would be continued towards them in -succeeding generations. But, on the contrary, during the time the -different Judges presided over them, nothing but disasters and confusion -prevailed; and if their history is to be credited, it must appear as if -Jehovah had nearly given them up as a prey to his and their enemies. - -Notwithstanding all that has been said and written about Moses being the -author of the first five Books, including the Jewish worship, with the -laws, ceremonial and moral, it does not appear that the contents of -those Books were known and obeyed by the generations that followed after -his death; for it is recorded in the Book of Judges, ii., 10, that after -the death of Joshua, "_there arose another generation after them; which -knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel_." If -the mighty works had been done in behalf of God's chosen people, which -are recorded, it is impossible to believe that they should have been -forgotten or disregarded. Can we suppose, that, in a few years, the -Declaration of our Independence on the 4th of July, 1776, together with -the name of *Washington*, and the heroism of his brave companions in -arms, can be forgotten? No; it is impossible. It is then clear, that the -Books said to have been written by Moses were not known; or if known, -they were not believed in by the people. - -After the land of promise had been divided among the tribes of Israel, -instead of Jehovah's setting up some permanent form of government, and -causing his name to be adored, so as to make his chosen people happy and -prosperous, they were, to all appearance, left in the most confused and -unsettled state: and hence it is often said, "_In those days there was -no King in Israel, and every man did that which was right in his own -eyes._" It is not too much to infer, that for hundreds of years after -the death of Moses and Joshua, the Jewish God, as if he had forgotten -his engagements with Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, concerning their -posterity, became indifferent to their happiness altogether. - -We will now refer to their situation. As it respects government, they -had none; it was accidental; and, although it is recorded that their God -fought for them, and caused both sun and moon (as the phrase is) to -stand still, to give them time to destroy their enemies, Jehovah's -conduct was so altered that he seemed to enjoy the troubles of his once -chosen people. With all these facts, Christian ministers prate of an -unchangeable God! We read of Jehovah's stirring up heathen Kings against -his people; and to such a deplorable state were they reduced, that an -old woman was their Chief-Justice, and also General of their army. At -that time, to say the least of it, no nation under heaven was in so -degraded a state. At times, upstart Judges arose; the Lord was with -them; and, for a while, all things appeared prosperous. At their death, -however, the troubles were renewed. Such was their situation at one -time, that they had no weapons of war, nor smiths to repair their -ploughs or harrows. Then they _cried unto the Lord_, and he sanctioned -them in every dishonorable way to out-wit or murder their oppressors. - -In such a state of subjugation were the tribes to their foes when Saul -was made King, that only two swords could be found in Israel; and the -"_Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share -and his coulter, and his axe and his mattock._" What folly, then, to -suppose, that after all that had been done for God's favorite people, -they should have been so neglected, and there should be nothing but -slaughter and blood throughout the land of promise! What madness, to -believe that the Author of the Universe should permit such carnage, and -his whole attention seem to be directed to the foolish quarrels of an -unfortunate race, who, by some imposture, had been taught to consider -their nation as his peculiar choice! - -And as to their religion, by what is recorded, it seems that their -proneness to worship the gods of their neighbors, is what brought on the -chastisements of Heaven. This is but a poor excuse, and dishonorable to -the God of the Universe, to urge on nations to make war on his people, -because he was displeased with them for worshipping strange gods. It -appears strange, _passing strange_, that Jehovah could not convert his -own people. But only substitute the term _Priest,_ instead of the -_Lord,_ and reject altogether the idea of God's having any thing to do -with their theology, and the matter is plain and clear. Admitting, -however, that the Lord of Hosts had so rebellious a race, and was a -spectator of all their departures from his laws, he must be as great a -sufferer as the Jews, because he was forever punishing; for, if anger is -to a God a punishment equal to what human beings feel under its -influence, then it follows that the God of the Jews is the greatest -sufferer. Oh! ye ministers of grace you have preached up an angry God -until you have brutalized the human race; and your intolerant spirit has -ever been, and will ever continue to be, a _burning coal_ taken from the -altar of an angry, vengeful God, to be rekindled when power is united to -your impositions. - -That the reader may form correct ideas of the Lord's fighting for -Israel, and delivering their enemies into their hands, and also of the -Lord's giving the land or towns to his favorite people that they had -taken in war, it should be observed, that it was the manner of -expressing the results of a victory among the Jews, and also with other -nations. They all claimed for themselves the interference of their -respective gods, and to them they gave sacrifice and thanks. As a key, -to understand how God fought for his favorite people, it is recorded in -Judges i., 19, "_And the Lord was with Judah, and he drove out the -inhabitants of the mountain, but could not drive out the inhabitants of -the valley because they had chariots of iron,_" The same idea is to be -carried out in explaining such passages as the following:--"_And the -angel of the Lord appeared to [such an one] in a dream"---"Thus saith -the Lord," &c._ - -Now, all that can be made of this is, that the person mentioned, dreamed -that he saw an angel, and that he said this or that. Again, it is often -repeated, that _the word of the Lord came unto Moses, saying_. Common -sense will inquire, how came the word? who brought it? Words do not pass -through the air like birds. Suppose it should be reported, that the word -of the President of the United States came to some person in New York, -saying, _do this or that_, or something uncommon and unheard of, and the -inquiry be made, _who_ brought this word, and an answer should be -required? No reasonable one could be given. It must fill the Christian -reader with astonishment to find, that during the time the Judges -presided over Israel, (some hundreds of years,) that neither the name of -Moses nor his laws are ever mentioned. On the contrary, his laws, both -moral and ceremonial, were either suspended or departed from. Neither -the Sabbath nor the Passover was observed, and the moral law said to -have been given by Jehovah, from Mount Sinai, was broken by the worship -of graven images. - -If we turn to Judges, chapter xvii., we there find, that after the death -of Samson, who judged Israel twenty years, _a young man (a Jew) stole -from his mother eleven hundred shekels of silver, which she had put by -to make a god for herself and her son's household_,--a worship contrary -to the express command of Jehovah, as given in the second commandment; -and when her son heard his mother curse most bitterly, he returned it to -her. She then loaded him with blessings, and with a part of the silver, -and gave the rest to the founder, or artist, and a graven image was made -and erected as their god, and a priest hired to perform worship. In the -13th verse of the same chapter, her son exults, and says, "Now know I -that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." - -To conclude this account of worship, the Levite asked counsel of God, -(the image,) and received a gracious answer. This image-worship was the -religion of the Danites until they were carried away captive. This, -then, is proof positive, that the five Books said to have been given by -Moses, were then unknown; and without this admission, it is not possible -to account for the silence regarding Moses and his writings for so many -hundred years. Not only were the five Books of which Moses is the -reputed author, written many hundreds of years after his death, but also -the Book of Judges could not have been written till after Kings bad -reigned in Israel; because, it is often repeated in that Book, "_And -there was no King in Israel, and every man did that which was right in -his own eyes_"; for until the end of the Judges, no King was ever -mentioned, or thought of, among the tribes. It was in consequence of the -injustice of the sons of Samuel, that the seed of Abram demanded a King, -in order to get just judgment; and in his person to secure a leader in -time of war. - -The foolish story of Samson, which commences in Judges, chapter xiii., -deserves no notice, but for its being ascribed to Jehovah, the God of -Israel. The whole silly account, when it is fathered on the God of the -Universe, will not fail to convince every man of a sane mind, how human -beings have been imposed upon, in ascribing to the Sovereign Ruler of -all worlds such contemptible trash. After the Israelites had for forty -years been subjected to the Philistines, Jehovah determined to deliver -his chosen people from bondage, by raising up a man (then unborn) to war -against their enemies. Samson was the person chosen for this business. -The story is as follows:-- - -The mother of Samson had for years lived with her husband, Manoah, but -remained childless. Her sorrow, on that account, so prevailed with the -Lord, that an angel came down from Jehovah, whom Christians believe to -be the allwise Governor of the Universe, and informed her that she -should have a son that would war against the oppressors of Israel, and -that particular care on her part must be taken during her pregnancy. She -was to drink no wine, nor strong drink, nor eat any thing unclean; and -no hair must on any account be taken from his head. The woman told her -husband the good tidings, and he was over-joyed, and prayed to the Lord -that the angel would again descend. This request was granted, and the -angel repeated to the husband what had been told to his wife. When these -instructions, given by the angel, were ended, out of gratitude to the -heavenly messenger, this joyful pair proposed to dress a kid, and -invited the angel to partake of it This request was not complied with, -but Manoah and his wife were told to sacrifice to the Lord; which they -did, and as the flame ascended, the angel went up with it, after -refusing to make known his name. - -In a few months, Sampson was born; and his parents were particular in -observing all things commanded, as it respected the child, until his -arrival to manhood; when, behold! this Samson, the gift of the Lord, who -was to deliver his countrymen out of bondage, from the galling yoke of -the Philistines--this Samson commenced his life by going down to the -Philistines, and taking up with different women. Some he took as wives, -and with others he carried on any thing but a respectable intercourse; -and in all his actions he sought a quarrel with the enemies of Israel. -All unknown to his parents, it is recorded that he possessed strength -superior to human beings, and that this strength resided in the hair of -his head. His enemies discovered this strength, and bribed his wives and -concubines to discover how he could be bound, so that they could destroy -him. After lying, and submitting to be bound, he betrayed the secret to -one of his favorite women. His head was shaved, his eyes put out and he -was cast into prison. - -In the course of his revels among his ladies, he was waring continually -with his wives' countrymen; and such was his dexterity, that he caught -three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail, and turned them into the -standing corn and burnt up their harvest. At another time, when pursued -by his enemies, it is recorded that he slew a thousand men with, the -jaw-bone of an ass; and so mighty was his strength, that the gates of a -city were by him carried away with ease, and placed on the top of a -mountain; and so terrific was his strength, that his favorite woman, by -bribery, at last found out that his almost almighty power was in his -hair, which had been from his birth untouched and unshorn; but as soon -as his hair was taken off, Jehovah withdrew his strength, and his foes -bound him with care, put out his eyes, and cast him into prison. At -length, his hair grew again on his head, and his mighty strength -returned. He then prayed to Jehovah to enable him to lift up the mighty -building in which the Lords of the Philistines were; and having -succeeded, down it came with a dreadful crash, and Samson, with all that -were within, perished in the ruins. - -Now, this is the man who is recorded to have been raised up to restore -to the seed of Abram their lost power; whose whole life was a scene of -folly and madness. Can any man, in the full exercise of his reason, -believe that the Ruler of all worlds would employ such a contemptible -creature to bring about his plan of redeeming his favorite people from -bondage? Let us take a bird's-eye view of Samson's life; and first, we -will inquire, what end was to be answered by raising up this mighty man? -Secondly, did Samson perform the intention of Jehovah towards his chosen -race? - -We proceed to the first inquiry, What end was to be answered by raising -up Samson? His whole life was one continued scene of folly and -licentiousness; shedding of blood was his practice; and the mighty -strength given him by Jehovah, was employed in doing the most wanton -mischief, such as none but a madman would perform. The object of so much -murder and bloodshed, we are informed, was to deliver the Israelites -from Philistine subjugation; in doing which, he fell a victim to his own -folly, in destroying the enemies of the Lord. Can it be possible that -the Ruler of all worlds raised up such a madman to carry out his plans? -If a story of this kind should be recorded in any other book than the -Bible, no credit would be given to it. But when it is recorded as making -a part of God's dealings with his chosen people, it is shocking to all -our ideas of Infinite Wisdom, Power, and Goodness. - -In the second place, What resulted to Israel by the efforts of Samson? -We answer, nothing at all; for in consequence of the wickedness of the -Benjamites, a war soon after commenced between the tribes, in which -thousands and tens of thousands were slain. The history of Samson, then, -is one of those fables with which the Scriptures abound, and which, if -recorded by heathen authors, no one could be found who would believe -them to be any thing but fables. But being a part of the Bible, -Christians attach consequence to them, and father them on the all-wise, -all-powerful God, the Ruler of the Universe. - -Finally, to show the folly in believing that Samson was raised up to -redeem the Israelites from serving the Philistines:--by the battle -fought immediately after the death of Samson, the Philistines gained a -complete victory over Israel, routed the whole army, and took the ark of -the Lord prisoner. - -It may be of service to the reader to give some account of the ark of -the Lord; and in this, we must be instructed by the Bible account alone. -The ark, it appears, was a chest: or box, in which the following things -were said to be kept: the book of the law, the pot with manna, and -Aaron's rod, by which the wonders were performed in Egypt On the lid or -cover were placed two cherabims with their wings somewhat extended, and -their necks turned downwards to the cover of the ark, called the -mercy-seat. This holy ark was kept in the holy of holies; and when the -priests entered in to perform sacrifice on the mercy-seat, the cloud of -smoke between the cherabims became luminous. This light was considered -by the priest as an acceptance of the offering made by him for the sins -of the people. Hence the phrase of adoration applied to the Jewish God, -"_Oh! thou God that dwelleth between the cherubims!_" - -When the Jews were in the battle with the Philistines, and about to be -routed, they brought the ark of the Lord into the camp as a protection -against a defeat, and also to encourage the Israelites to fight most -manfully: the Lord of Hosts being then in the midst of them, they -shouted for joy, as being certain of a victory over their enemies. On -the other side, the Philistines, understanding that the God of the -Hebrews had arrived in their camp, were afraid, and cried out, "_Woe -unto us! who shall deliver us ont of the hand of these mighty Gods?_" -The commanders of the Philistines then encouraged their soldiers to -battle, urging them on, so that the Jews might be vanquished; and they -slew the Israelites with a destructive slaughter, and took the ark of -the Jewish God prisoner, and killed the two sons of Eli, the High-Priest -This dreadful news so overcame the old man, who was ninety-eight years -of age, that he fell out of his chair and broke his neck. - -We may now ask, what will Christians say to God's raising up Samson? Did -he deliver the Jews out of their their bondage? But I have wasted too -much time on such a contemptible madman and fool; yet I excuse myself in -this respect by the desire of showing, that, to call Samson a servant of -the Ruler of the Universe, is too contemptible even for ridicule. A few -remarks on the fate of the ark of the Lord, will conclude this chapter. -The foregoing account is recorded in 1 Samuel, chapter iv. - -After the dreadful daughter of the Israelites, and the capture of the -ark, the Philistines were afflicted with a complaint that threatened -them with destruction; and after consulting among themselves as to the -cause of their sickness, they concluded that the capture and detention -of the ark was to them more than a counterbalance for the victory gained -over the Jews. They therefore agreed, one and all, to send it back to -its owners. Before sending it back, we may suppose something like the -following conversation took place:--We have defeated the Jews, and slain -thousands of them; and although their God was in the camp of Israel, he -could not save them from the edge of the sword. But, after all, we are -afflicted with a dreadful disorder, which, if it continues, will -exterminate our nation. Our complaint is of that nature, that we shall -drop to pieces in the streets and upon the highways. Our wives, instead -of baking bread, must be continually making poultices, to prevent our -being considered as walking pestilences: the ark must be returned. -Instead of a God for a prisoner, why, we have the Devil in the box. We -must get rid of it; it must be sent back to the Jews. Home it was -carried; and when it had arrived at Beth-shemesh, in the time of -harvest, the reapers, overjoyed to witness the safe return of the ark, -laid down their sickles and ran to look into it. The Jehovah of Israel -destroyed the honest-hearted reapers, to the number of fifty thousand -threescore and ten, for their impudence. - -Can a man on earth be found who can believe the foregoing account to be -any thing but fabulous? If this account is matter of fact, what -degrading ideas are connected with the existence of Infinite Wisdom and -Goodness! If there is any thing Divine about this foolish tale, it then -follows, that the Almighty Power that presides over all worlds,--that -astonishing Wisdom which strikes us dumb in contemplating the harmony -and surprising adaptation displayed in the universe,--associated with -such madmen and fools as Samson, and hundreds of others whose freaks are -recorded in the Bible. This is opposed to every idea that we can -possibly have of his greatness. Let those who are but little acquainted -with Astronomy, contemplate the grandeur of the universe, and ask if it -be possible that a Being who arranges all, and who governs all with that -exactness which overwhelms not only the ignorant and untaught man, but -also the most profound and learned of the human race, should thus act? -Mark well the infinite wisdom which is apparent in the vast universe of -which man forms but so small a part! For one moment reflect on boundless -space, filled with millions of millions of suns, around which revolve -innumerable worlds; all of them arranged and upheld by that Power which -Christians believe to be the author of the Bible, either directly or -indirectly. That this being should mix up with the most abandoned -characters on earth, and be forever doing and undoing; forever planning -and failing in his plans; choosing his favorites, and then repenting of -such choice; inheriting all the infirmities of fallible man; sometimes, -tired out with the follies and wickedness of his chosen people, sinking, -as it were, down into a state of inaction; again, rising in vengeance, -destroying even his chosen people without mercy; at times, appearing to -be long-suffering and merciful; at other times, revenging injuries by -destruction and death on a present generation, for the errors of another -generation long since dead and gone, is inconsistent with common sense. - -In fact, the Jehovah of the Bible, from the accounts recorded, appears -never to be at ease. Anger, rage, fury, alternately disturb him. The -smallest deviation of his chosen people in the performance of some -trifling ceremony, would at times call down the most horrid -chastisements on both the innocent and the guilty. If the Bible truly -records the movements of Jehovah, he must be the most unhappy Being in -the universe; for it is said that _he is angry every day_. The previous -description of the God of the Bible is but a scantling of what is -written concerning his dealings, even with the seed of Abram. - -Ye ministers of the gospel! look at the heavens above, and the earth -beneath! Mark well the unchangeable order which pervades the whole! How -admirably every thing is arranged! how skilfully the means are adapted -to the end intended! No arranging, and then re-arranging: no missing the -mark--no going beyond or wide of the mark. Before you talk of the -"unblushing Infidel," and deal out the vengeance of your Bible God, look -at the order, the grandeur the undisturbed harmony that governs the -whole; and then pause, and ask yourselves, if it be possible for the -Sovereign Ruler of all worlds, to have dictated the Bible, which you so -positively assert is the Word of the only true and living God? - - - - -CHAPTER VI. THE REIGNS OF SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON - - -SAMUEL, the last of the Judges of Israel, when very old, appointed his -sons to judge the people--"But they took bribes and perverted judgment." -The Israelites complained to Samuel of their injustice, and demanded a -King, like other nations. Now, considering the unsettled state of the -Jews for hundreds of years, "when there was no King in Israel, and every -man did that which was right in his own eyes" the request was -reasonable; for they were tired of the unsettled state of their national -affairs. Samuel inquired of the Lord what was to be done? The reply from -the Lord was, that Samuel was to let them have a King, agreeably to -their wishes; at the same time, it displeased Jehovah, who chose Saul -without consulting the people. His choice is recorded to have been -pleasing to the Lord, who gave Saul a good character. This kingly -government seemed fair in the beginning, and we ought to expect it would -have proved a change for the better, as it was by Jehovah's own -appointment At the commencement of Saul's reign, he was ordered to go -and fight against the Amalekites. The order was thus given:--"_Thus -saith the Lord of Hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel; how -he laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt_" This -offence was given some hundred years before, when the Israelites were -passing to the land of promise; when the Amalekites opposed them, and -refused to let them go through their land. To us, this vengeance appears -cruel and unjust. This was visiting the sins of the fathers on the -children with a vengeance. At the present day, no tyrant could be found -that would imitate such base conduct as is fathered on the all-wise, -all-powerful Ruler of the World. - -The following statement will serve to make the situation of Saul clearly -understood by the readers of this work, and will show the nature of -Saul's offence for which he and his family were so severely -punished:--Some four or five hundred years before Saul was born, the -Israelites were opposed by the Amalekites passing through their land; -and when Saul was chosen King, by Jehovah, his first campaign was to go -and destroy the then inhabitants of Amalek, for an offence committed by -their forefathers long since dead and gone. Saul was ordered by Jehovah -not to save old or young, but to kill (murder) all, from the suckling to -hoary old age. He fulfilled his orders as he thought, excepting that of -taking their King prisoner, and the best of the cattle to sacrifice to -Jehovah's honor; and for this one act of mercy, Saul was deposed, and -David chosen in his stead. Now, if Jehovah knew that Saul would not obey -the orders given, why was he chosen to be their King at all? And if -Jehovah was disappointed, where was his foreknowledge? Does that Power -and Wisdom that rules the Universe, blunder in this way? What say you, -Christian ministers? - -According to what is written, the Jewish God repented that he made this -choice! Did he repent? We are told that when Saul was put down, and -David made King in his stead, that Jehovah could not, like man, repent -in putting down David, though he had done so as it respected Saul. To -father such inconsistency on the Author of Nature, is an outrage on -justice and common sense. Again, to punish with fire and sword a whole -nation, for what their forefathers had done five hundred years before; -and to make the God of the Universe the author of such a command,--if -blasphemy exists against God, this is it to perfection. - -From the short reign of Saul, we cannot form a decided opinion as to his -kingly character; but one thing is clear, from the Scriptures, that his -act of mercy towards the King of Amalek, offended Jehovah, and both -himself and family suffered grievously for it; for Samuel told Saul, -that' in consequence of his sparing Agag, the King, his royal authority -was taken from him, and _given to a man better than he_. Well might a -poet, who wrote on this subject about forty years ago, call Samuel an -impostor, and exclaim--: - - "From haunts of men be that impostor driven, - Who thinks humanity incenses heaven." - -In concluding this account of Saul, we may venture to affirm, that he -was one of the best Kings on record; his only failing appears to have -been his humanity. - -We now come to the reign of David, "_he man after God's own heart._" It -appears that his slaying Goliah, first brought him into notice; for -which act David was to be rewarded by having Saul's daughter in -marriage. Before this took place, however, it is recorded, in 1 Samuel -xviii., 10, "_And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit -from God came upon Saul_"; but David could play so well on some kind of -a musical instrument, that his performance drove the Devil out of the -old King. From this account it seems, if the evil spirit means a Devil, -that Jehovah kept Devils ready to start off from heaven to do any dirty -work; a very worthy practice to ascribe to the God of all! It appears -that Saul's troubles, and the evil spirit sent to him from the Lord, had -nearly made him crazy--and well it might: but I have no pity for him, -because there is not one word of truth in the whole silly tale. - -David now demands his wife, according to promise; but Saul puts a heavy -tax on his intended son-in-law, before his daughter could be given up. -The demand made by Saul on David, before he was permitted to marry his -daughter, is written in 1 Samuel xviii., 25, an account showing how well -cultivated Kings and Princes were in those days, but too filthy for me -to detail. Notwithstanding Saul was deposed, and David anointed King, -still Saul kept possession of the kingdom, and David was an object of -jealousy. At this time, the Israelites were in an unsettled state; and -David, although a King, had no resources. A part of the people were with -David, but the bulk of the nation adhered to Saul. - -Those two Kings, then, both of whom had been chosen by Jehovah, were -still opposing each other. Now, what folly to suppose that either of -them were appointed by the Governor of all the Earth! Even admitting the -historical part to be true, who can believe that Infinite Wisdom had any -part in so unsettled a form of government? it being like unto what -England was at one time of her history, when two parties were contending -for power. What a changeable, unsettled Being do the Scriptures make the -Jewish God! and what folly to believe him to be the Sovereign Ruler of -all! The regularity and order which is every where and at all times -manifest in nature, proclaim to all nations that the Jehovah of the -Bible is not Nature's God. - -Although David had been anointed King, to the exclusion of Saul and his -house, still the old King retained his authority, and David was -compelled to be cautious how he proceeded, as Saul was jealous of him as -a rival. Now David had recourse to the following expedient:--"_And he -collected every one that was in distress, and every one that was in -debt, and every one that was discontented, and he became a captain over -them, and there were with him about four hundred men._" David, in one of -his flights from Saul, and being in want of bread, applied to Abimelech, -the priest, for five loaves; and the priest answered David, and said, -"_There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread, -if the young men have at least kept themselves from women._" And David -answered the priest, and said unto him, "_Of a truth, women have been -kept from us about three days, since I came out._" The reader will now -see how David began his reign, as the following incident, will also -fully confirm. The above account may be found in 1 Samuel, chapter xxi. - -The following account of the progress of David and his small army, is in -1 Samuel, chapter xxv.:--David fled into the wilderness, and while -there, he heard of a rich man by the name of Nabal, who had, on a -shearing, made a feast for his shearers and friends. David embraced this -opportunity, to levy a tax on Nabal, and sent ten young men to ask for a -part of the good things prepared for the sheep shearing: "_And Nabal -answered David's servants, and said, who is David? and who is the son of -Jesse? there be many servants now-a-days that break away every man from -his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that -I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men whom I know not -whence they be?_" This answer so enraged David, that he exclaimed, "The -time my army lay in the wilderness, near to the flock of Nabal, we took -nothing from them, and also prevented others from stealing of the flock, -and now I cannot get a dinner for me and my six hundred men." "_And -David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded -on every man his sword: and David also girded on his sword: and there -went up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred abode by the -stuff._" Now, to use David's own words, he intended to slay every man -living; Nabal, sheep shearers, and all belonging to him. Don't forget -this was the man _after Jehovah's own heart!_ - -But it happened that Abigail, Nabal's wife, heard of her husband's -refusal to David's demands, and she loaded several asses with all kinds -of the best provisions, and met David as he was advancing to take -vengeance on Nabal. And when David saw her, he said, "_Blessed be the -Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me. For in very -deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth which hath kept me back from -hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted, and come to meet me, surely -there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light, any that -pisseth against the wall_." It is recorded after this, that in about ten -days, "_the Lord smote Nabal that he died._" Christians, perhaps, will -say, it served him right; because he would not give away his dinner to -the Lord's anointed. But to complete this account of David, it is -written that he married Nabal's widow, and then he had sheep, goats, and -all, although he had many wives before; but, being "_a man after Gods -own heart_" we Infidels must be silent. - -After the death of Saul, David being in favor with the people, and -strictly adhering to the worship of Jehovah, his reign bid fair to be -happy to himself, and to the nation at large: but he had too many wives, -and consequently his family troubles came on thick and fast. One son -rebelled against him, and flew to arms; and Solomon usurped the throne -after the death of his father, and put to death his elder brother by a -former wife, under a pretence the most frivolous, to secure himself a -safe possession of his usurped power. Another son ravished his -half-sister by another mother; and in return, the ravisher was murdered -by the brother of the violated virgin. In truth, if it is true as -recorded, David's whole life was one continued scene of blood and -slaughter; and on his death-bed he recommended Solomon to murder -others--as his oath prevented him from doing it in his lifetime. - -However strictly David obeyed Jehovah, and "turned not aside to worship -other gods," in a moral point of view he was a wicked man. His conduct -for licentiousness was notorious. In addition to the number of wives he -had before the death of Saul, his royal master, Nathan the prophet says -that "Jehovah gave him Saul's wives, besides"; but, not satisfied with -all this, so contemptible was his conduct, he sneaked about to obtain a -sight of an officer's wife while in the bath. Such low, cowardly -curiosity would disgrace the driver of a dung-cart. A lady's bath not to -be held sacred by this filthy, dirty animal, and yet to be called "the -man after God's own heart"! His actions would disgrace the Devil, for -Satan offered no insult to Eve: his worst crime was no more than -saying--"Madam, the fruit is good, do taste, it will do you no harm, and -you will be the wiser; after all." - -Never let us forget the artifice the Lord's anointed made use of, in -order to conceal his crime. When Uriah, his officer, came from the army -with news of importance to David, after the seduction of Bathsheba, the -cunning debauchee said, come, Uriah, do not hurry back to the camp; go -home to Bathsheba, your wife; she will be happy to see you: go home, my -faithful servant, and stay with your wife. - -But Uriah refused, by saying, the officers and the army are in the open -fields, and I will not go home to take comfort in my own house. So Uriah -slept in the gate with the servants. And when David found that he had -not been home, he made him tarry another day, and that night got him -drunk. In the meantime the King wrote a letter to Joab, the Captain of -the host, and sent it by Uriah, to place him in the front of the battle, -where he would be killed. The unsuspecting Uriah then returned; to his -duty, with his death warrant in his hand; and, according to the orders -given to Joab, the commander of the host of Israel, Uriah was placed in -that part of the engagement where he fell, covered with wounds and -glory. - -It will be seen by the orders sent to the Captain, concerning Uriah, by -the King, what cowardly artifice was used to murder his noble officer, -whose wife, unknown to him, had been seduced. David's words are, "_Set -ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him -that he may be smitten and die._" Such an act would disgrace the worst -despot on earth, but it was done by "the man after God's own heart"! -When Nathan was sent by Jehovah to David, to remind him of his -wickedness, it was done, in the way of a parable. David did not at first -discover its application: and it is recorded, that "_David's anger was -greatly kindled against the man, and he said unto Nathan as the Lord -liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die." "Thou art -the man!_" said Nathan; and David exclaimed, "_Oh! Lord, I have -sinned._" In fact, he was found out, but for which he would not have -made this acknowledgment. - -After the death of Uriah, David took her (Bathsheba) to wife, and -Jehovah made up the matter with him; first, by destroying the child, the -innocent victim who had no part in the murder; and, secondly, by saving -and pardoning David for crimes of the deepest dye: and, also, the Lord -told him, that because of his wickedness he should have discord in his -family:--"_Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against -thee, out of thine house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, -and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the -sight of this sun._" To destroy the innocent child, who had no -participation in the crime of the father, is too shocking to be -admitted, when it is recorded as the sentence of the just and impartial -God. I know Christians will reply, that the ways of God are not as our -ways, and that it is wicked in mortals to find fault with what is done -by a Being of infinite power, wisdom, and Goodness. In reply, it is -contended that the conduct pursued on this occasion by Jehovah, is -shocking when ascribed to a God impartial and just, and that it is more -becoming mortals, like ourselves, to reject the whole story as a vile -falsehood, than to father it on that Being, or that Cause, who: - - "Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, - Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees." - -To conclude these remarks on David's life and conduct, we ask, which is -the more reasonable supposition, that the whole account, so far as it -implicates a God of Justice, is, from beginning to end untrue? or, that -a Being of unbounded power, wisdom and goodness, should in any way -associate with so abandoned a character as King David? For myself, I -prefer the latter. I have omitted another account in the life of David, -that requires to be noticed. It is recorded in 2 Samuel, chapter xxiv., -that David ordered the people to be numbered. One account says that -Satan, and another account says that the Lord, moved David to number the -people: no doubt it was done to get the number of the fighting men of -Israel; for doing which, the Lord was angry with David; and three modes -of punishment were submitted for the choice of the King:--"_Seven years' -famine, or to flee three months before his enemies, or to have three -days' pestilence in the land._" The last was chosen, and it is recorded -that seventy thousand men died of the pestilence, as a punishment for -the offence of David. It is a libel on the Supreme Being to charge him -with the authorship of such injustice and cruelty. That thousands of -persons may have been cut off by plague, or pestilence, at times, and in -different nations, is highly probable--but not by a judgment for other -men's sins. - -In Homer's Iliad, we have a similar account, written, according to -historians, about nine hundred years before the Christian era. In the -account of the Trojan War, the commander of the Grecian army, in the -sacking of different towns, took many female captives, among whom was -one who was the daughter of the Priest of Apollo, one of the Grecian -gods. The venerable Priest came to the General, clothed in his robes, -bearing the sublime and awe-inspiring ensigns of his god, and demanded -the liberation of his captive daughter. The General insulted the Priest -by a positive refusal to give up his daughter, and he (the Priest) -departed, and offered the following prayer: - - "If e'er with wreaths I hung the sacred fane, - Or fed the flame with fat of oxen slain, - God of the silver bow, thy shafts employ, - Avenge my quarrel, and the Greeks destroy." - -The second General in command inquired of the Grecian Priest the cause -of such mortality among the soldiers; and the Priest returned the -following answer:--: - - "The King of men, the reverend Priest defied, - And, for the King's offence, the people died." - -The similarity between the Jehovah of the Jews, and the Apollo of the -Greeks, is very striking. Jehovah slew the Jewish army because David -numbered the people; and the Grecian god slew the soldiers because the -Priest had been insulted. The number is exactly the same, each being -seventy thousand men. The God of the Jews is said to have been the -author of the destruction of the army of the Israelites, and a heathen -god the destroyer of the Greeks. The first is believed to be a part of -Divine Revelation; the last is acknowledged to be but fiction. - -From all the accounts recorded respecting David, to me he appears to -have been a wicked man; much worse than Saul, whose worst action seems -to have been his humanity in sparing Agag, whom he took prisoner. I -cannot, therefore, believe, that the Universal Ruler of all Nature -sanctioned his actions, directly or indirectly, any more than he does -now, or ever has done, those of any other legal murderer. - -A few remarks more will conclude the life and conduct of David. In 1 -Kings, chapter i., it is recorded, that David being old and infirm, -could get no warmth in bed, and a fair young damsel was sought for -throughout the land of Israel, to wait on him by day, and sleep with him -during the night, to keep the old King warm. With her he was much -pleased, but the account states, that "David the King knew her not." -This is a strange tale, for if the sole object was, to get a young woman -to sleep with him, then not the fairest, but the fattest, plumpest girl -to be found throughout the land, would have been the most proper person -for such service; for at that time, David must have had half a score of -wives living. It is therefore clear, that warmth was only a pretence for -selecting a handsome young maiden to comfort the Lord's anointed; and we -may safely infer that David was not cured of his former tricks. - -The life and conduct of Solomon must now pass in review. When his father -was on his death-bed, he gave his son Solomon instructions to put to -death several persons who had been the subjects of David, but to whom he -(David) had sworn while living, that he would spare their lives. And -accordingly, Solomon, after the death of his father, put into execution -the orders he had received, and slew the persons mentioned by David; so -that his reign commenced in blood. - -And here it is proper to notice, that Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and -the mother of Solomon, in order to disinherit the eldest son of David by -his former wife, prevailed on David to have Solomon anointed King, in -the lifetime of his father. So that Adonijah, the real heir, was set -aside; and the better to secure the throne, Solomon had his half-brother -put to death. The cause of this execution, as is recorded, was because -Adonijah asked leave of Solomon, the King, to marry the damsel who kept -David warm in his old age! Jehovah had chosen a strange family, after -turning out Saul from the-kingdom, and Solomon was too pure to let a -brother live, after being so wicked as to ask permission to marry the -young virgin who had kept the back of his old father warm in a cold -night! - -After Solomon had slain those men according to the orders before given -by his father, he added another to the list, viz., Adonijah, his -half-brother. The Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Ask what I -shall give thee." Solomon then dreamed that he gave the following reply -to the gracious permission:--_"Give, therefore, thy servant an -understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good -and bad."_ This request is said to have pleased the Lord, who added to -it _"both riches and honor"; "and-Solomon awoke, and behold it was a -dream."_ This account is written in 1 Kings, chapter iii.; and all that -can be made of it is, that Solomon dreamed the Lord told him so, and we -have nothing but his word for it. - -The Bible record of Solomon's riches, and, in fact, the whole of his -life, is not entitled to any credit whatever. We may say, however, that -some allowance ought to be made for Solomon on account of the bad -example under which he was brought tip in the family of his father; for -if the Scripture history of the facts concerning Solomon is to be -considered true, then the whole of his reign is the most extraordinary -which ever happened in the world. Beginning with his riches, it exceeds -every thing in ancient or modern times. The feast at the opening of the -Temple was no small matter. - -Scripture informs us, that at the dedication of the Temple, Scripture -informs us, that at the dedication of the Temple, the sacrifice offered -up, was twenty-two thousand oxen, and one hundred and twenty-two -thousand sheep. This, when we consider the smallness of David's domains, -and the general poverty of his family, is incredible; but as every thing -is so wonderful, and the whole of the reign of Solomon is so -extravagant, no dependence whatever is to be placed on any of its -accounts. - -As it regards Solomon's household, the provisions named for each day are -the following:--"_Thirty measures of fine flour, threescore measures of -meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred -sheep, besides harts and roebucks, and fallow-deer, and faited fowls." -"And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and -twelve thousand horsemen."_ Now, in so small, and in many parts barren -land, where could they be raised? But Solomon had need of a plentiful -table, for it is recorded that he had seven hundred wives, and three -hundred concubines! If he had wisdom enough to regulate his house so as -to live happy, it must be owned that the Lord had given him more than a -common share; but as none but fools or madmen will believe this account, -we may let it pass without comment. - -The most astonishing inconsistency in the reign of Solo-man, is his -continual departure from the worship of Jehovah, who had been his -benefactor, and who had also repeatedly warned him of the consequences -of a departure from the God of his father. If what is recorded of his -riches be true, they were greater than those of any monarch on earth. -The gold he is said to have possessed when he built the Temple, exceeds -all calculation, and is in strict accordance, in point of magnitude, -with his feast at the dedication of the Temple, and with his daily -allowance of food for his household, and also with his seven hundred -wives, and three hundred concubines. But when we consider the poverty of -the Israelites up to the time of his father's reign, and also David's -poverty until the death of Saul, when at times, David had neither food -for himself nor army, neither had he gold nor silver wherewith to -purchase it--it may be asked, how Solomon came into the possession of -such an immense quantity of gold? and also from what vast extent of -country did he procure his horses, when but a few years before, David, -his father; could scarcely afford to keep a jackass? Again, where did he -procure such numerous herds of cattle and flocks of sheep? - -But as I have before said, the greatest inconsistency of all is, that -Solomon should worship other gods, contrary to the express command of -Jehovah, who had given him wisdom, riches, and honors. Leaving -Christians, then, to settle with Solomon, how he, with all his wisdom, -could so play the fool and madman in the face of his God, some attention -will be directed to the God of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob. It will be -recollected that Saul, the predecessor of David, had offended Jehovah by -sparing the life of Agag, a captive King. In consequence, it is recorded -that the God of Israel repented that he put Saul on the throne. He then -chose David, and his family, to succeed the house of Saul; and having -made this second choice, he declared he should not repent again. - -If this last declaration had been made by man, in his choice, after -having before been mistaken, the following mode of reasoning would aptly -apply; and Jehovah would also thus reason:--"I made choice of Saul to be -King over Israel. I sent him to smite Amalek, and not to spare any soul -alive, old age and infancy not excepted; but Saul did not obey my -orders, but spared the King and brought him a captive, which I did not -expect As I took him from driving mules, and made him a King, he ought -therefore to have obeyed my commands. I dethroned him and his family -forever. I then appointed David, a man after my own heart. In this -choice I was happy. He departed not from my worship or my law, but with -a few exceptions. It is true, David committed adultery and murder, in -the case of Bathsheba and Uriah; but he repented, and I caused the brat -to die out of the way, which made room for Solomon. Now, who could ever -have thought that Solomon would have turned out so bad? Why, the fellow, -in addition to wisdom, riches, and honor, has now seven hundred wives, -and three hundred concubines! and not content with this number, he -marries the daughters of heathens, prostrates himself before their -idols, and builds new temples to their gods; but I promised not to -repent again, yet Solomon must be punished. I will not, therefore, -depose him, but in his son's reign I will divide the kingdom, and give -the greater part of it to one of mean birth. I will not wholly take it -away from the seed of David, because I promised him that he should not -want a man to sit on his throne; but I will, for the wickedness of -Solomon, cause discord among the tribes, that will induce them to fight -against each other. It is not for the thousand women that Solomon had, -which would not fail to create discord and all manner of misery; neither -for putting to death his brother: all that I could have tolerated--but -he changed his religion, and worshipped strange gods; I will rend the -nation asunder, never more to be united. It would have been more to my -honor to have suffered Saul to continue on the throne, for he only -disobeyed my Orders once, but the son of David built temples for -idolatry, and worshipped false gods, setting my authority at defiance. -In his son's reign, therefore, I will bring on trouble in his house, -that all Israel may know how great is the sin of worshipping false gods, -and thus rebelling against the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel." - -I will now ask the Christian preachers, whether I dishonor the all-wise -Sovereign of the Universe, in not believing him to be capable of such -tomfoolery as this: in choosing, and again rejecting his former choice: -in blundering, to rectify a former blunder, and falling into one much -greater, to remedy the first: to be doing, and undoing: to have an end -to accomplish, and to make use of means that fail in its accomplishment. -Ye priests! if ye are not blind, look at the heavens above, and also on -the earth beneath, and then ask yourselves, whether the God of all is -the same personage as Jehovah, the God of Israel? - -To conclude these remarks respecting the house of David and -Solomon:--Even admitting that such personages had a real existence, I -cannot so dishonor the Supreme Governor of Nature as for a moment to -admit, that he dealt with either David or Solomon any otherwise than he -deals with every human being, and I should stand before my fellow men a -self-convicted hypocrite, were I to affect to believe. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM, AND THE SEPARATION OF ISRAEL FROM -JUDAH - - -REVIEWING the character of the three former Kings, two of whom gave -Jehovah much trouble, and David, the best of them, committed adultery -and murder, we must say, it was an unfortunate beginning of royal -government. After the death of Solomon, his son, Rehoboam, began to -reign. The people requested the new made King to ease them somewhat of -the taxes and burdens laid on them by his father, Solomon. Rehoboam -consulted with his father's old servants on that subject, and they -advised him to attend to the wishes of his people; but he, on consulting -with his own particular party, returned the following answer:--"_My -little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins: my father hath -chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions_." This -gives us a sample of Solomon's reign, and also of the course intended to -be pursued by his son. - -Rehoboam's answer produced a revolt, and the kingdom became divided. Ten -tribes broke off from Rehoboam, and proclaimed Jeroboam King of Israel, -while Rehoboam retained two tribes: so that the Israelites were divided. -The ten tribes were called the kingdom of Israel, and the other two, the -kingdom of Judah. This is the punishment that the Lord said he would -bring on the nations in consequence of the sins of Solomon. So it was -then, with the Lord's people, as it has ever been in Christian countries -where the aristocracy is every thing, and, the people are considered as -nothing. According to Jewish history, Jehovah and the Kings of his own -choosing quarrelled, and then the people had to suffer in consequence of -disputes in which they had but little or no interest; and one of the -strongest proofs that "the God of the Bible" is not that Being whom we -believe to be the only true God, is, that when the Jehovah of Moses and -the Kings quarrel, the Kings are spared alive, but the innocent people -are in some way or other murdered; thus clearly showing, that Kings are -by Jehovah worth more than those who by honest toil cultivate the earth, -and labor for the benefit of society,--a doctrine directly opposite to -all our ideas of impartial justice. - -We now proceed to examine the course pursued by Jeroboam, the fourth -King who was chosen to reign over Israel. We ought to find him fitted -for so important a station; but, on the contrary, we have again to -record another chapter of blunders, far worse than those before -mentioned. Saul, their first King, disobeyed the command in sparing -Agag, the King, after having destroyed every soul that drew breath. -David _followed the Lord with his whole heart_; that is, he never -entered into the temple of idols except to destroy them and their -worshippers; but he was guilty of two crimes, for either of which, had -he been any thing but a King, or Priest, he would have been, by the laws -of his own country, put to death. Solomon's character was marked by -every thing extravagant; but he did not wholly turn from the worship of -Jehovah, only at times, as when he espoused a heathen lady. Then, to -prove his love for his new spouse, he worshipped in the temple of -strange gods, and also built new churches to their honor. This is a -general outline of the three Kings, all of whom were chosen by Jehovah -himself. - -Jeroboam was appointed, according to what is recorded, in consequence of -Solomon's idolatry. I then ask, whether it is not reasonable to expect, -that, in the reign of Jeroboam, the worship of the God of Israel would -alone be the religion of the ten tribes who were taken from Solomon -because of his departure at times from the God of Abram, Isaac, and -Jacob? Jeroboam being then, by Jehovah, made King, in preference to all -others, and being raised in the family, of Rehoboam, Solomon's son, and -only as a servant connected with the family, we cannot suspect that ever -a new choice should have been made for the worse. Could this have been -the case if Infinite Wisdom had chosen him? No; it is impossible! No -sooner, however, did Jeroboam obtain the rule over the ten tribes, by -the direct order of Jehovah himself, than he set up a religion directly -opposite to the God who had elevated him to such honor and power. - -It is impossible for this account to be true, for two reasons that will -be given. The first is, that Jeroboam must have known the cause why -Solomon's family were excluded from reigning over the whole of the -Jewish nation, namely, because he (Solomon) did at times worship what -were called false gods. Now, Jeroboam well knew this, and also, that the -only way for him to secure his power was, never to depart at any time, -or under any circumstances, from the worship of Jehovah. But, contrary -to this, he commenced his reign by falling back into Egyptian idolatry. -Under pretence of keeping his subjects faithful to his government, by -not permitting them to go up to the Temple, at Jerusalem, Jeroboam set -up two golden calves, one at Dan, and the other at Bethel, and -proclaimed, "_These are thy Gods, O Israel who brought you up out of the -land of Egypt._" Besides, he knew that Jehovah would pardon an -adulterer, or murder, as he had done in the case of David; but on no -account did he ever forgive the sin of idolatry. - -There is nothing improbable in admitting that the tribes should split -into two kingdoms, and have different rulers. This has often been the -case; but the only way to account for the conduct of Jeroboam is, by -concluding that he knew, the whole to be a trick, and that neither -Jehovah, nor any other God, had a hand in the putting up or dethroning -of Kings. This being admitted, we can see clearly through the whole -matter. Jeroboam then would, from policy, set up a new religion, or -revive an old one, so as to keep his subjects from mixing with their old -acquaintances of the kingdom of Judah. It is utterly impossible for -Jeroboam to have acted as is recorded, if he in truth believed that the -only true and living God was his benefactor, and had raised him to regal -authority. - -The second reason why Infinite Wisdom had nothing to do in the elevation -of Jeroboam, is, because he must have foreseen that Jeroboam would have -made the matter worse, so far as idolatry was concerned; and this will -appear the more striking by the first act of his reign. As soon as -Jeroboam came to the throne, he (contrary to the law of Moses) set up -images, and made priests of the lower orders of the people, and began -himself to worship in the character and office of a priest; for which, a -prophet from Judah is sent (by the God who, it is said, gave Solomon the -kingdom of Israel) to curse the altar at the time Jeroboam was in the -act of sacrificing. Now the conduct of the prophet so sent, will enable -us to see through the whole farce. This is recorded in 1 Kings, chapter -xiii. - -The following is in substance the prophet's mission:--This man of God -was sent by Jehovah to cry against and curse the altar at the time -Jeroboam was performing sacrifice; and being at the altar, he ordered -his officers to lay hold of the prophet, at the same time pointing to -him; and instantly the King's arm became useless, and could not be drawn -into its proper place. Jeroboam then cried to the man of God to pray -that his arm might be restored. The man of God besought the Lord, and a -recovery took place. Here, then, was a miracle performed; and Jeroboam, -being grateful, invited the prophet home to reward him by an -entertainment of bread and water; but the man of God refused, by saying, -that he was ordered by the Lord not to eat bread nor to drink water--in -fact, to make no friendship whatever, but to return. Off, therefore, he -went, after he had performed two miracles; one of which was, to cause -Jeroboam to lose the use of his arm; the other, to restore it The -prophet, on his way back, was met by a man who made the same request, -namely, to go home with him, and eat and drink; but the man of God still -refused. The man who thus enticed him, further said, I am also a -prophet, and _"an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, -bring him back into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. -But he lied unto him."_ - -The lying prophet was in the service of Jeroboam, King of Israel; but -the man of God, who came to cry against the altar, belonged to the -kingdom of Judah. The man of God, who understood that his first orders -were countermanded, went home with the lying prophet, and did eat and -drink. The reader will now notice the following three verses in 1 Kings -xiii., 20, 21, 22:--"And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that -the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back: And he -cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the -Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and host -not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but -earnest back, and hast eaten bread and drank water in the place of which -the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcass -shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers." If men would but -exercise their reason, is it possible for them to believe that the -Sovereign Ruler of all had any concern in so paltry a transaction as -this? - -The sum of the whole account may be expressed in a few words. The first -prophet came to Jeroboam, by order of the Lord, to curse the altar. He -then and there performed two miracles, as proof that his commission was -Divine. He then departed. All was so far right; but, on meeting another -prophet, he was told, in so many words, that things were changed, and -that he might do now that which he was ordered not to do when he first -set out. But the old prophet of Jeroboam, we are told, was a liar; and -when they sat at meat, the word of the Lord came to the lying prophet -and gave him orders to condemn the first. So that the Lord first -employed an honest servant, who performed his errand faithfully, and -then took into his service a false prophet and a liar! Believe this who -can! - -It is possible that Jeroboam may have been King over Israel: this is not -the point in dispute; but that Infinite Wisdom appointed him, cannot -possibly be true, because he was made King in consequence of Solomon's -idolatry. Solomon did not, by sinning himself, corrupt the whole nation; -but Jeroboam set up false gods, and the people followed his example, so -that the worship of Jehovah, by the ten tribes, was entirely abandoned. -Such blundering cannot be admitted, if the true and living God is to be -considered as the projector. Besides, Jeroboam was not cured of his -error by reformation, although he had been an eye-witness of the -miracles performed on his own person. Enough, then, has been said to -prove, that the whole account of God's making Jeroboam King over Israel, -is without any solid foundation. - -We will now turn to the man of God who came to curse the altar, and we -shall be able to discover what we are to understand by the word of the -Lord coming unto this or that man, saying. And here I call on the reader -to keep in mind, that in many places in the Bible, when any thing -unfortunate occurred to Jehovah's chosen people, such as the Lord raised -up such and such enemies, and also that such misfortunes were from the -Lord: also, again, _an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul_;--all -such passages, and many others, mean no more than that the Lord -permitted such events to take place. In this sense, we may say that it -was from the Lord that Andrew Jackson destroyed a great part of the -English army; but no man is foolish enough to suppose that the Lord had -directly any thing to do in the defence of New Orleans. Again, it is -repeated in hundreds of places in the Bible, that _the word of the Lord -came to this or that person, saying._ Now, apply this interpretation to -"the word of the Lord came unto Moses," and all that can be made of it -is, that Moses ascribed every order he gave of his to the people, as -coming from the Lord. It is in several places recorded that the word of -the Lord came to one prophet of Judah, and then this said word was taken -away from the first person, and turned over to another prophet who -belonged to Israel; and in 1 Kings xxii., 24, it is recorded, that one -prophet smote another on the face, and said, "Which way went the Spirit -of the Lord from me to speak unto thee?" Nothing can be more clear, than -that the whole of the Lord's interference is out of the question. - -After Israel and Judah were divided, they continued as two separate -governments, with each a King for a leader. Sometimes they fought -against each other, calling in other Kings to assist them; at other -times, they were united and fought together to oppose the common enemy, -their heathen neighbors. In a war with the Syrians, when Jehoshaphat, -King of Judah, and Ahab, King of Israel, united their armies against the -Syrians, and being on the eve of battle, an inquiry was made of the -Lord's prophets, as to what success they would have? Ahab, the King of -Israel, called his prophets, four hundred in number, and, on being -consulted as to the result of a battle, they one and all said, go fight, -for the Lord will deliver your enemies into your hands. Jehoshaphat, -being more cautious, said, is there not another prophet of whom we may -inquire of the Lord? And the King of Israel (Ahab) said, there is; but I -do not like him, because he always foretells something to my -disadvantage. Then Micaiah, a prophet of the kingdom of Judah, was -called, and he foretold that the event of a battle would be favorable to -these kings; but that Ahab would be slain. One of Ahab's prophets then -became enraged, and smote Micaiah on the face, and sneeringly asked him, -"_Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak to thee?_" - -We have here a sample of the prophets on each side They one and all -appear to be ready to lie, and deceive each other, in the name of the -Lord, and also, to fight for their employers. In this account, it is -also recorded that the God of truth accepted of the services of a lying -spirit, to deceive four hundred prophets, in order to get rid of a -wicked king, the whole account of which is to be found in 1 Kings, -chapter xxii. - -After the tribes were separated, it was common for the prophets to -oppose each other. The kings, also, of each nation aided in the -destruction of the prophets, and were worshippers of strange gods. And -yet it is recorded, that Jehovah chose Jeroboam to be king over -Israel,--the very man who introduced the worship of idols, to the entire -exclusion of the worship of the God of Abram! This choice of Jehovah -laid the foundation of scenes of bloodshed too horrid to be ascribed to -the all-wise Author of Nature. It could not have been worse, had the -Devil been the chooser. - -For years after the Israelites became two distinct nations, we read of -little else than quarrels and bloodshed; and the prophets of Judah -(called the prophets of Jehovah) were much worse than those called false -prophets. This can be easily accounted for, as the Jewish religion was -then the most intolerant of any on earth. The Kings of Judah gave -orders, in the name of the Lord, to destroy all the heathen, as the -enemies of Jehovah. The prophets followed up the same practice; at the -same time, the prophets of the heathen gods were less cruel, and, -morally speaking, much better men. According to what is recorded, -whenever power was in the hands of the Kings of Judah, or their -prophets, no mercy was shown to the opposite party; and as to prophets, -they seemed to spring up like mushrooms, for it was often inquired by -kings, is there not a man of God here? - -A few remarks on the prophets of those times may be here made. Elijah -seems to have had delegated to him almost unlimited power; for lo! he, -under pretence of having orders from Jehovah, anointed kings agreeably -to his pretended orders. He then foretold what the Lord intended should -be done to certain kings and their families. Those kings, then, thus -anointed by the authority of Elijah, received orders to destroy such and -such families; so that after Jehovah had separated the Israelites into -two kingdoms by setting up Jeroboam, nothing but cruelty and murder -followed, in consequence of the Lord's making so bad a choice. - -It would, judging from what transpired, have been better not to have -changed the dynasty, but to let Solomon's heirs continued to have -reigned over the whole of the Israetish nation; for in this state of -Jewish history, idolatry, murder, carnage, and every bad passion was let -loose; and the kings of each nation of the Jews, by the direction of -these upstart prophets, showed no mercy to those of their brethren who -had, by the fortune of war, fallen into their power. All this horrid -state of things originated from Jeroboam being made king, and setting up -idolatry throughout the land. Can we then admit, for a moment, that the -Sovereign Ruler of all brought on such a wretched state of things, or -ascribe to him so foolish a choice as the appointment of Jeroboam to be -King of Israel? No! it is utterly impossible. - -But to return to the prophets. Elijah and Elisha were, at this time, the -Lord's servants. Elijah was foremost, and Elisha acted as his servant. -The following circumstance brought Elijah into direct conflict with the -kingdom of Israel, and the then called false prophets:--Ahaziah, then -King of Israel and Samaria, met with an accident, and was sick; and he -sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub whether he would recover or not -Now, Elijah was sent, or, he said he was sent, to say to the messenger, -"_Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to -inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?_" The King of Israel then -inquired what sort of a man it was who thus remonstrated with the -messenger? And from the account given, he found it to be Elijah, the -prophet of Judah; consequently a prophet of the Lord. Elijah was sitting -on a hill, and the king sent a captain and fifty men to bring him before -him; and this was the order:--"_Thou man of God, the king hath said, -Come down. And Elijah answered, and said to the captain of fifty, If I -be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume thee -and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and -his fifty._" And again, another captain and fifty went, and shared the -same fate. Then the third captain and fifty were sent; but the captain -of the last fifty fell on his knees before-the prophet, and begged for -his life, and for the lives of his-men. The Lord then ordered Elijah to -go down with the captain to the king. - -Now I ask the reader, if his mind is prepared to, believe that these two -slaughters, consisting of one hundred men, with their two captains, were -brought on them by fire from heaven, as a judgment? What was their -crime? They acted as they were ordered by the king. Here we may discover -the falsity of the statement; for if any punishment was to follow in -sending for the prophet, ought not Ahaziah to have been the victim? This -wanton shedding of blood, by the mere calling down from heaven -judgments, by an old fellow wrapped up in a bear's-skin, and called a -man of God, is too barefaced a lie for the present state of society. -There is not one word of truth in the whole marvellous story. Jehovah's -murdering the people for the vices of their rulers, is anti-republican; -and if men would consult their reason, and employ common sense, the -Christian priesthood would be ashamed to preach of a God of mercy, and, -at the same time, ascribe to him injustice and cruelty. - -Elijah and his man Friday, Elisha, appear to be two of the most cruel of -all the band of pretended men of God. They, according to what is -recorded, seem to have had a sort of general license to kill and destroy -every thing that came in their way. All the prophets and worshippers of -the god Baal-zebub, the then worship of the kingdom of Israel and -Samaria, were put to death by the stratagem and order of Elijah; and -after him, Elisha received an affront by being called "_old bald head_" -and for this great offence, the Lord sent two she bears out of the -woods, and devoured forty and two little children! The nonsense of the -Koran cannot come up to this account. During the lives of Elijah and -Elisha, Jehovah could attend to little else than their concerns, for -they were forever praying for something to incommode or destroy human -beings. - -What man is there, at the present day, who can believe that the Author -of Nature gave to a mortal, power to withhold the rain or the dews of -heaven from descending on the earth, as is recorded was given to Elijah, -who told Ahab, King of Israel, (1 Kings xvii., 1,) "_As the Lord God of -Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain -these years, but according to my words_"? This miracle is referred to by -a New Testament writer, but it is not the more true on that account. I -have, however, said enough of Elijah, and, as he is about to go up into -heaven, I have no wish to follow him. - -I will only mention his ascension. It appears that all the towns and -villages round about had heard, by what means I know not, that Elijah -was soon to be taken up into heaven; for wherever he and Elisha went, -the people said unto Elisha, _know you wot that Elijah is about to be -taken from you?_ and Elisha nodded an assent, and said, "_hold your -peace._" It appears as if Elijah endeavored to evade Elisha's presence -when he would be taken up; but Elisha stuck to him until up he went in a -chariot of fire, with horses of the same; and Elisha saw it, and cried -out, "_My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen -thereof!_" In going up, his mantle fell off, Elisha taking it, and with -it, the prophetic spirit of his master. Elisha then followed on in the -footsteps of his predecessor; and his first act was, to call on his God -to destroy some little children, for the enormous crime of calling so -odd a looking fellow, "_old bald head_" In truth, we discover in most of -the prophets such a spirit of intolerance and rage towards those who -were so unfortunate as to differ from or oppose them, that they ought to -be considered prophets of the Devil, and not servants of him whose -wisdom, power and goodness are stamped on all the works of this mighty -universe. - -The prophet Jonah seems to have been a man every way unfit for the -prophetic service; for when ordered to go to Nineveh, to cry against the -wickedness of its inhabitants, he ran away; and, according to the -record, his, disobedience produced a violent storm, and when the sailors -found that he was out of his road to Nineveh, they cast lots to find out -the person who had caused the storm, and the lot fell on Jonah, who -confessed himself to be the guilty person. He then told them to cast him -into the sea, as the only way to save themselves and the ship. It is -written what followed. Another blunder again in the choice of Jonah; and -miracles must be performed to cause this run-away prophet to reach his -destination. He then again made an attempt to preach repentance to the -Ninevites; and they, hearing of the destruction against them, repented, -and this made the prophet stark mad; for his consequence as a prophet -being hurt, he exclaimed, that _he was tired of life_. Poor, paltry -trash for the employment of a God, to reason with and coax a hotheaded -creature like Jonah! but, like all the rest of such tales, there is not -one word of truth in the whole concern. - -Before taking leave of the prophets of the Old Testament, a few remarks -may suffice to point out their real character. From the time that -Jehovah adopted the seed of Abram for his chosen people, nothing but -trouble and vexation on his part occurred; and on the part of the -descendants of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, one disaster after another -followed in quick succession. Under whatever form of government they -lived, they strayed from his commands, and in spite of his watchfulness, -his chosen people would worship strange gods, for which offence they -were punished. Heathen kings were stirred up against them, and their -subjugation was the consequence. They then cried unto the Lord, and -matters were made up for a while. The same scenes again took place, and -punishments followed. From the beginning of the Jewish dispensation -until it ended, there was continual quarrelling between Jehovah and his -favorites, and some of those quarrels were so contemptible that they -would disgrace a foolish old man and a peevish wife disputing how the -firebrands should be put together, by an evening fire-side. The -prophets, also, partook of the same spirit; they abused each other, and -sometimes came to blows: they would lie and deceive in the name of the -Lord. - -But the worst part of the Jewish dispensation commenced with the reign -of their kings. Saul was first chosen by Jehovah himself; and, admitting -the account to be true, the only crime that is laid to his charge is, -the sparing of Agag, the King of the Amalekites, although he had -destroyed every other being, both old and young. For this one act of -humanity, Saul and his family were rejected by Jahovah. David, his -successor, obeyed the Lord in all things respecting religious worship; -but he committed adultery and murder, thereby forfeiting his life by the -law of Moses. But he was forgiven, and the child, the fruit of his -adulterous intercourse, was, by the Lord of Hosts, destroyed. Solomon, -his son, and the son also of his companion in guilt, was made king. -Solomon worshipped idols at times, throughout his reign, and Jehovah was -angry, and resolved to try another line of kings. Jeroboam was then -anointed king over ten tribes, and the family of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob -were split in twain. - -Now, mark! This separation was in consequence of Solomon's idolatry. We -might expect, judging from Jehovah's former disappointment, that -Jeroboam would entirely devote himself and his people to the worship of -the God of Israel. But behold! Jeroboam began with setting up two golden -calves, in direct opposition, to the law of Moses, and also to the -command of Jehovah, who had raised him from a state of servitude to sit -on a throne, savage and only at times departed from the Lord, but -Jeroboam excluded every vestige of the worship of Jehovah from his -kingdom. This, then, is a just statement of the conduct of those kings -selected by the Lord of Hosts, as recorded in the Old Testament And can -it be possible that Infinite Wisdom should have been thus disappointed -by those whom he had chosen? The just conclusion, then, is, that the -Ruler of all worlds had no concern in putting up or pulling down any of -the Kings of Israel or Judah. The history is, from first to last, a -cheat on the human race, and blasphemy against the only true God. - -From the time that Jeroboam was made king until the tribes were carried -away into captivity, idolatry was the sin complained of by all the -prophets; it was the constant burden of all their prophecies; and the -prophets, one and all, intermixed with their complaints the prediction -that the Lord had not entirely cast them off, but that the time would -come when he would _raise up unto them a prophet like unto Moses_. Such -predictions, often repeated by all the prophets together with continued -references to their future renovation and restoration, is what caused a -general expectation of some mighty deliverer that would, _in the -fullness of time_, appear among them. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. ON DIVINE INSPIRATION - - -I INTENDED to conclude the review of the Old Testament by examining the -passages supposed to be prophetical of Jesus Christ, and, as such, -quoted by the writers of the New Testament; but as that has already been -done, in a masterly manner, by Mr. ---------- (Name crossed out by a -former reader. ED) and as his opinion respecting them coincides entirely -with my own, I beg leave to refer my readers to the work of that able -writer on the subject. Professing Christians believe that what are -called the five Books of Moses were given by divine inspiration. I -shall, therefore, in this chapter, consider what is to be understood by -divine inspiration, abstractly considered, and also with reference to -prophecy and miracles. It is contended that Moses wrote the account of -the Creation, and that it is true. If so, then all the particulars of -that remote age must have been given to the writer by nothing short of -Supreme Intelligence. I ask, how was this information communicated? The -Christian answers--by inspiration. This does not solve the difficulty. I -therefore ask, what is inspiration? - -Divine inspiration, according to the Christian's idea of it, must have -been the source of prophecy and miracles, and implies infinite knowledge -and power. Now, as Adam could not have given an account of his own -origin, whoever wrote the history of the creation of the world, and of -our first parents, must, if divinely inspired, have had all the -particulars of the past clearly made known to him. We are told, by the -New Testament writers, that "_all Scripture is given by inspiration_"; -and again, that "_Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy -Ghost._" Still, divine inspiration remains an inscrutable mystery as to -what it is abstractly considered; and, also, with respect to the manner -in which it is communicated. It seems strange, to say the least, that -divine revelation should be given to the human race by the means of -inspiration, and yet the mode of communication be enveloped in profound -mystery. As divine inspiration and divine revelation are closely -connected, the first being the avenue of conveyance, and the latter -being the subject communicated, I shall define, as clearly as I can, -what constitutes divine revelation; but in order, if possible, to -prevent mistake, I shall first point out what it is not. - -The developments and improvements which man effects by the exercise of -his perceptive and reflective faculties, are results which are not -obtained through the medium of divine revelation. From being a savage, -and wandering in a state of destitution in the forests, he has, by the -use of his varied faculties, made advances in civilization and the arts, -which at first sight appear superhuman, but which were, nevertheless, -unaided by divine revelation. Contrasting the present state of the -wonderful and awe-inspiring science of astronomy with that when the best -informed of the human race were but ignorant star-gazers, we can but -feel proud that we are a part of the human family. Again, when we look -back at the period when the frail little bark could not venture out of -sight of land, and then contemplate the improvements in naval -architecture of our present times, which have presented us with that -splendid floating palace, the _Great Britain steamships_ we can but see -that all this has been effected without any assistance from divine -revelation. If, at some future time, by means of improvements in the -telescope, inhabitants should be discovered in the moon, we should not -be indebted for the discovery to divine revelation. But, the discovery -not having been made, should an angel be sent from heaven to make known -the fact, such information would undoubtedly constitute a divine -revelation. So, then, it is dear that whatever improvement man may make, -by the unaided exercise of his faculties, cannot be considered as the -result of divine revelation. Divine revelation is that which man cannot -know, consequently never has known, and never will know by the aid of -his reasoning powers The Old and New Testaments collectively are called -a divine revelation; and that the information these books contain, -respecting man's duty to his Maker, came from the Almighty; Ruler of the -universe, is the Christian's view of the matter. - -We will now examine the various inlets, or avenues, by which divine -revelation is said to have been communicated to man. According to the -scriptures, the first in order is that God himself conversed with -men;--secondly, by the medium of angels;--thirdly, by inspired -prophets;--fourthly, by dreams;--fifthly, by visions;--and lastly, by -his son. These are the principal inlets. We will examine these different -modes, and make such remarks as are applicable to each. First, then, as -to the assumption that God himself, conversed with men. It is recorded -that he appeared to and conversed with, our first parents; also with -Noah, Abram, Moses, and even Balaam. The Deity's conversing with Adam -and Eve may be considered as the commencement of divine revelation. With -respect to the truth of these conversations, and the remarkable -appearances connected with them, no positive testimony can be adduced -either for or against; we must therefore take reason for our guide in -the examination. We begin, then, by observing, that if such events did -actually occur, it is clear that God was accessible to man in those -days, and that in a manner very different to what he is in our own -times; and, also, that the unknown and invisible being could be -approached on the most trifling occasions. - -No good having ever resulted to man from such visits from the Great -Author of all things, is proof presumptive that they never took place. -So far from any moral good having resulted to Adam and Eve from their -daily intercourse with Jehovah, we find in the case, of Eve, that, being -seduced, either, by the serpent, or her own vicious inclination, she ate -the forbidden fruit The ejectment of our first parents from the garden -of Eden, would seem to warrant us in believing that the Lord watched -over them for evil, and not for good. A pair of human beings brought -into existence without experience of the past, or knowledge of the -future, must stand much in need of instruction from their Creator; and -yet the result of all the recorded intercourse was, they became -disobedient; and were driven out of the garden provided for them by no -less a being than the Author of the universe. Had the Bible-makers -arranged the story so as to have made the conversations and intercourse -result in the continuance of our first parents in the garden, the -account would have borne some resemblance to truth: but to represent it -as having ended in their expulsion, is by far too large a draft upon -human credulity, unless they can believe that God is what Christians -declare the Devil to be. - -If the advocates for the authenticity of the Bible contend that the -recorded intercourse between the Lord and our first parents is literally -true, that view of the subject is attended with so many difficulties -that it is almost impossible to give credit to it But if they contend -that it is an allegory, then the probability is that the account of the -creation is altogether a fabulous tradition, consequently not a divine -inspiration. When the Lord is represented as having appeared to Abram, -or any of the renowned men of old, such appearances are not spoken of as -being of uncommon occurrence, nor is any surprise manifested. The Lord -is always represented as having appeared in a human form. Before the -sceptic can believe in the reality of these visitations, he must know -for what end they took place; and, also, why the Lord should in the -olden times be always ready to appear to, and converse with, his -favorites, and in modern times altogether discontinue his visits, as if -there were now nothing on earth worthy of his particular notice. - -The Bible informs us that three angels in the form of men appeared to -Abram, and that one of them was called the Lord, the _Judge of all the -earth_. They must have been in the likeness of men: for, they had their -feet washed; they dined with Abram, and the particular kind of food is -mentioned, which in our day would be denominated veal and griddle-cake. -And at this dinner the promise was confirmed that Abram and Sarah should -be blessed with a son in their old age, and that from his descendants -one should arise who should be for the healing of the nations. After -dinner the Lord informed Abram that he had heard that Abram's neighbors -were extremely wicked, and that he and his companions had come to -ascertain if the report were correct, and that the vengeance of Heaven -was about to fall on Sodom and Gomorrah for their crimes. The good old -man plead hard for the inhabitants, saying, "_Far be it from the Lord to -slay the righteous with the wicked,_" and thereby in a slight degree -averted the dreadful doom. The reader can peruse the account (Genesis, -chapter xviii.,) and make his own comments. The writer could as soon -believe that the moon is a large cheese, suspended in the firmament, as -give credit to this contemptible story. If it should be asked, how Moses -obtained his information as to what Abram had for dinner, the answer is, -by inspiration. - -We will here notice two remarkable appearances of the Lord: one of them -to Balaam, the other to Moses, A few remarks on each will suffice. -Balaam was a conjuror, and a person of no small consequence in his day. -He was applied to by the princes of Moab to prophesy evil against the -Israelites, That whole nation, under the guidance of Moses, being in the -act of marching through the land of Moab on their route to the land of -promise, and having the character of making too free with other people's -property, the princes of Moab hired Balaam to curse them. We are told -that the heathen prophet judged it best to procure the permission of -Jehovah, the God of the Jews, before he cursed his people. He, -therefore, erected an altar on the top of a hill, and on it sacrificed -seven bullocks and seven sheep. During the sacrifice, the Lord of heaven -and earth came down, and called the prophet aside from the presence of -the princes of Moab, and forbade him to curse his people. The sacrifice -was repeated thrice. On each occasion the Lord appeared to Balaam, -giving him leave to go with the princes, but forbidding him on any -account to curse the Israelites. The remainder of the tale is to be -found in the history of Balaam. - -Now, can it be possible, that this account contains a particle of truth? -Can we suppose, that the unknown power, whom man calls God, presented -himself at the altar of a heathen necromancer, and, whispering in his -ear, forbade him to perform his monkey tricks to the detriment of his -chosen people? And that three times he should descend from heaven to -overawe the old trickster, as if he thought him capable of doing harm to -the Israelites? This account is rendered more contemptible by being -referred to by New Testament writers, although the scripture declares in -many places that "no man can see God and live." Christians little think -how largely their credulity is taxed when they are taught to believe -that such accounts were given by divine inspiration. - -It is written in the book of Exodus, (chapter xxiv.,) that After the -giving of the moral law on Mount Sinai, the Lord called Moses to the top -of that remarkable place to give him instructions respecting the -tabernacle and its paraphernalia. Moses remained there forty days, -attending to the commands of Jehovah. The Lord, on a sudden, informed -Moses that the Israelites had forsaken him, had set up a golden calf, -and were in the act of worshipping before it and dancing for joy. Moses -was ordered to go down. Before he left the mount, however, the Lord's -anger waxed hot, and he told Moses not to plead for the wicked people. -Jehovah, being about to destroy them, Moses besought him not to cut them -off, and reminded him that, by so doing, the Egyptians would triumph and -say that their God led them into the wilderness to destroy them. - -Moses also reminded Jehovah of the promises made to Abram, Isaac, and -Jacob, respecting their posterity; and by the arguments he made use of -in favor of showing mercy to the Jewish people, at length prevailed on -the Lord to suppress his anger. Having descended from the mount, Moses -found the people half-naked, and dancing in a state of joyful excitement -before the Golden Calf. The man who had but just before plead the cause -of his brethren, and thereby prevented Jehovah's destroying the whole of -the seed of Abram, found it less difficult to quiet the fury of an angry -God, than to keep his own temper; for, when he saw their idolatrous -dancing and revelry, he lost all patience, and, throwing down the tables -of stone on which the laws were written, made the inquiry, "_Who is on -the Lord's side?_" The Levites instantly came forward and declared for -the Lord. Moses ordered every man to take his sword and slay his -neighbor and friends who had rebelled against Jehovah,--a shocking -slaughter ensued, for three thousand were slain on that day! - -If this account could be credited, it would be truly harrowing to the -reflecting mind. To believers in Christianity, we would say, can you -expect persons who depend on the exercise of their reason for the -discovery of truth and the detection of error, to believe the account of -the transactions of Jehovah and Moses on the mountain? Surely, you -cannot. We give the following reasons why it is out of our power to -believe it:--The narrative represents the Almighty Ruler of the Universe -as possessing the same frailties as his creature, man. The Creator is -forty days contriving (assisted by Moses) ornaments and decorations for -his own worship. Before these were completed, the people, who were to be -the worshippers, deserted their God, and either commenced a new religion -or revived an old one. For a considerable time, Jehovah allows Moses to -remain in ignorance of what is going on at the foot of the mountain; -then, all of a sudden, informs him of it; in a burst of passion tells -him to stand out of his way, so as to be no hindrance to him in pouring -out his wrath; and seems determined to exterminate the whole race. -Moses, less passionate than the Deity, argued strenuously in favor of -his brethren, and pointed out to Jehovah two reasons why he ought to -spare them:--first, that their extermination would break the promise -made to Abram; and secondly, that the Egyptians would exult in the -destruction of their former slaves, Jehovah losing all the honor of -having brought them out of bondage with _a mighty hand and an -outstretched arm_. - -Having thus cooled down Divine vengeance, Moses himself became the Jack -Ketch, or executioner of his brethren. - -If this account had been found in any book but the Bible, not one person -in a thousand would have believed it. It destroys the attributes of the -God of all worlds, gives the lie to his foreknowledge and immutability, -and then invests him with all the weakness, folly, and mutability of -poor, frail, erring man. - -With respect to the dreams and visions, of which we find so many -accounts in the Old and New Testaments, they are spoken of by the -prophets as being the medium of divine inspiration. One of them thus -expresses himself:--"_It shall come to pass in the last days, saith the -Lord, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and -your daughters shall prophesy, your old mm shall dream dreams, your -young men shall see visions._" (Joel, chapter ii.) Now we know that -dreams are not the result of divine inspiration. When we read that an -angel appeared to a man of God, no more can be made of it than -this:--the priest, or pretended prophet, dreamed that an angel appeared -to him, and conversed with him. - -I have many times dreamed of seeing my first wife, who died upwards of -forty years ago. If I were to insist that the dream was a reality, it -would be considered by my friends that my mind was disordered; in short, -that I was insane. From dreams, we can obtain no correct ideas of -realities. If persons, who are much subject to dreams, were to imagine -that their dreams pointed to realities, they would be all their lifetime -in pursuit of shadows. Dreams and visions would be very uncertain -channels for the conveyance of divine revelations, for the supposed -angel might be the servant of the Devil instead of a messenger from -heaven. - -The writings in the Old Testament which are called prophecies, generally -relate to the Jewish nation. How are we to know that they are -prophecies? In order that there may be no uncertainty with respect to a -prophet's pretensions, he should foretell something to come to pass in -the lifetime of the persons to whom he declares the prophecy, stating -the precise time and place, so that when fulfilled, it should be a -million to one against its being the result of guess-work. It would then -carry with it a convincing proof of being the result of divine -inspiration. - -To show the dependence that can be placed on prophecies, we may refer to -the Millerite delusion. The pretensions and extravagances of that sect -were based on the prophecies of Daniel. I have heard many preachers, of -acknowledged learning and talent, attempt to explain Daniel's prophecies -with regard to the time of the second advent; but they generally -differed in their views. About the year 1803, a preacher in London, -(England,) of first rate abilities, told his congregation, a very large -one, to keep, in mind the year 1833, for that he had, after the most -laborious calculations, arrived at the conclusion that about that -period, signs and wonders would indicate the near approach of him who is -to come again in _power and great glory_. - -There is no doubt but hundreds of learned men have, since the time that -Jesus is said to have left this world, consumed the "midnight oil" in -their researches to discover the time of the second advent, but to no -purpose. To no purpose, did I say? I mistook. In the case of Miller, it -was to a most unfortunate purpose. Thousands of his followers have been -in a state of partial insanity; many have been absolutely deranged; some -have committed suicide; others sold their lands, abandoned their -occupations, neglected their wives and children, and will never regain -their former happy homes. Can we suppose that the all-wise Ruler of the -Universe would promulgate prophecies so uncertain with respect to their -fulfilment, and so disastrous in the effects arising from their -uncertainty? I repeat, that prophecy, to answer any good purpose, should -be fulfilled in the lifetime of the persons to whom it is addressed; -otherwise, the uncertainty attending it renders it worse than useless. - -If Daniel had been divinely inspired to foretell any thing relating to -Christ, common sense suggests that it would have reference to his first -appearance on earth. Instead of this being the burden of his prophecy, -he makes no allusion to his first coming, but, according to Christian -expositors, his dreams and visions refer to the _second_ coming of -Christ, and the final judgment. Father Miller's bubble having burst, his -sincere but deluded followers are in a state of extreme wretchedness; -all of them injured either in mind or circumstances, and most of them in -both. Many of them will doubtless reject religion altogether. So much, -then, for depending on divine inspiration. - -The power to perform miracles is included in the idea of divine -inspiration, and implies the possession of a power superior to all human -power. The exhibition of a power by an individual, superior to what the -united exertions of a whole nation could perform, ought to be credited -to the exhibiter as a power _received from on high_,--a conclusion drawn -by Christian commentators, and also by Jesus himself, with respect to -his recorded miracles; for, he says--"_If I had not done among them the -works which no other man did, they would not have had sin; but now_ -[they having seen his miracles, and yet rejected him] _their sin -remaineth._" - -Miracles are uncertain evidences of divine inspiration. What an ignorant -man might deem to be a miracle, a man of intelligence and education -might know to be the result of combined natural causes. What in one age -has been currently believed to have been the effect of supernatural -agency, a succeeding and more enlightened age has known as the result of -certain operations of nature. Nothing can justly be regarded as a -miracle unless it be, past all dispute, beyond human power to perform. -To suppose that the Deity makes use of means to promote the improvement -of his creatures, which are calculated to mislead them, is to impeach -his wisdom and goodness. - -Miracles could not have been evidences of divine interposition to the -Jewish people, at the time of Christ's appearance among them, owing to -the prevailing belief that supernatural beings, called devils, could -perform wonderful things, far above man's power or comprehension; and -that some of them, more powerful than the rest, could invest mortals -with the power of performing-miracles of the same nature as those -ascribed to Jesus Christ. - -Most of the religious sects at the present day affect to be influenced -by something almost amounting to divine inspiration--their religion -consisting of feelings, not of action. In the Scriptures we read, "_If -any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his._" I have often -noticed the variety of modes in which the spirit operates on different -sects. The Methodists, while seeking the Lord, as they term it, will -sigh, moan, and howl, and immediately after be in ecstasies bordering on -insanity, and bawl so loud that a passer-by might reasonably conclude -that some dreadful accident had befallen them. Passing to the other -extreme, the Friends, or Quakers, are as dumb as mutes, and will not -allow their speakers to open their lips until impelled to do so by the -spirit. But the Jumpers, in Wales, (Great Britain,) go ahead of all, for -they often perform the journey from their homes to their churches, by -the same kind of evolution as frogs make when on their peregrinations in -search of water. All these monkey tricks are of much easier performance -than feeding the hungry, or clothing the destitute. Can, or, presuming -that they can, will the preachers please inform us, which of these three -modes of spiritual manifestation will be practised in heaven? - -In concluding this chapter, I shall make some remarks on the Mormons, -that being one of the last sects, of any importance, which have arisen, -professing the Christian faith. They also profess, or their leaders, at -least, to be specially moved by the Holy Spirit; in other words, that -they are the recipients of divine inspiration. Whatever other -denominations of Christians may think of their claims to supernatural -gifts, they are founded on quite as reasonable grounds as were the -pretensions of the prophets of old, not even excepting Moses, the Jewish -legislator; as a brief history of their rise and progress will prove. -The following account, the writer had from some of the principal -preachers of the Mormon faith:--"About the year 1827, or '28, Joseph -Smith, a young man of obscure parentage, presented to the world a -production which he called the Book of Mormon, or the Golden Bible; and -of which, according to his own account, he became possessed in the -following manner:--When about fifteen years of age, being under -religious impressions, he used to retire to the fields and thickets in -the neighborhood of his home, to exercise himself in prayer. One day, -while thus engaged, an angel appeared to him, and informed him that the -Lord had a great and important work for him to perform, but that the -time had not yet arrived for its consummation. Then, after telling him -that he would be again visited, and urging him to pursue a godly life, -disappeared. A few years after this, the angel re-visited Joseph, -repeating his declaration respecting the contemplated work, and -disappeared as before. At length, on a third appearance, the angel -directed Joseph to go to a certain spot and dig in the earth, telling -him that he would there find something of vast importance. Joseph did as -the angel commanded, and found a number of golden plates, on which were -impressed characters in a language to him altogether unknown. Having -copied a portion of the characters, he sent the copy, by a friend, to a -teacher of the dead languages, in New York, in order to ascertain the -meaning; but his friend returned without having obtained the desired -information. The Holy Spirit then enabled Joseph to translate the -inscriptions, and the translation is, denominated the 'Book of Mormon,' -being named after the person who, fourteen hundred years before, had, by -Divine command, deposited it in the earth." This book can be obtained of -the Mormon preachers. - -The progress of the Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints, as they designate -themselves, has been astonishingly rapid, their number being computed at -no less than two hundred thousand, of whom about ten thousand are -congregated in the city of Nauvoo, (or Joseph,) in the State of -Illinois. This portion of the Mormons had previously located themselves -in the State of Missouri, but after suffering great persecution, were -driven out of that State by the inhabitants. They then settled in the -western part of Illinois, and built the city of Nauvoo, and have nearly -completed a splendid temple of unique architecture. They, like the Jews, -believe that they are God's chosen people, and that, as _the earth is -the Lord's_, they shall have the honor of calling together the Jews, the -former chosen people of God, and that all who have not then embraced the -Mormon faith will be speedily cut off. As the Mormons make the Bible the -ground-work of their religious belief, and are sparing in their -allusions to the Book of Mormon, they are likely to become permanently -established, as a portion of the Christian world, and will probably -become not only a very numerous, but also a powerful sect. - -But the demon of religious persecution--let me pause for a moment. I -would not knowingly libel any thing, not even religion. Am I not -mistaken? Not in the personage, most certainly, but I may be in error -with respect to his official character. Perhaps I owe an apology to the -religious world. It may be the demon of fraud. At all events, a demon of -some description is hovering over this remarkable people, and -threatening them with vengeance. Their smoking and desolate homesteads -will furnish matter for the future historian, who, with indignation, -will record, that in the nineteenth century, in the favored land of -Illinois, the ennobling principles of liberty could boast of no better -recognition than an empty name. Give ear, ye advocates of liberty in the -down-trodden nations of Europe! A voice would address you from the land -of promise. Ten thousand men, women, and children in the State of -Illinois, can receive no protection from the Genius of Liberty, but in -the coming spring are to be driven from their peaceful happy homes, to -wend their way through a dreary wilderness, and seek a resting place on -the shores of the Pacific Ocean. "Oh! shame! where is thy blush!" Cannot -even tottering age, and helpless infancy, arrest the fell purpose? - -The present position of the Mormons, with respect to the rest of the -world, so nearly resembles that of the Jews when they were leaving -Egypt, that it is not unlikely for them to assimilate their movements in -a measure to those of the Israelites, and, believing, as they do, that -they are influenced by the Holy Ghost, their historians some centuries -hence will probably record miracles as having been performed by the -Mormons, similar to what are said to have taken place among the Jews, -when travelling under the guidance of Moses, to the promised land. -Feebleness of body reminds me that Death is shaking his arrow over me, -but surely my mind remains unclouded. Am I really living in the -enlightened nineteenth century? And if so, am I on the free soil of -America, or in barbarous Russia, and a subject of the Emperor Nicholas? - -The Mormons are to be driven out of the United States. Why? "Because -they believe themselves to be God's chosen people, and that all other -nations must become subject to them." Indeed! and do not the Jews -entertain the same belief with respect to their nation? Are they to be -driven out along with the Mormons? The Mormons are to be driven out. -Why? "Because they speak in an unknown tongue." But a few years ago, the -disciples of Irving, a celebrated preacher in London, spoke in an -unknown tongue; but so far from their being driven out of the country in -consequence, the ministrations of Irving were attended by the principal -nobility and statesmen of Great Britain. The Mormons are to be driven -out. Why? "Not on account of their religious faith, but because they are -a community of thieves." In the English navy the seamen have a very -contemptuous idea of the marines, and when a very improbable story is -told by any one, they say, "Tell that to the marines," intimating that -_they_ are weak enough to believe any thing. - -We are told that a religious community which numbers ten thousand -persons is composed of incorrigible rogues. And yet it is well known -that they are very industrious, have well cultivated farms, have built a -city, and nearly completed a splendid temple. What says the experience -of the world with respect to thieves--that they have been usually found -among the industrious, or the idle? What are we called upon to believe? -That a highly industrious religious sect, numbering ten thousand souls, -manifests such a total disregard of all moral principle that its -existence cannot be allowed in civilized society? Tell it not in Gath! -Oh! no; better tell it to the marines. - -I do believe that I am in America, and not in Russia, after all. The -film is departing from my mental vision. An idea strikes me. It is this. -In this country, under certain circumstances, _well_ understood by the -public, bills of _exceptions_ are frequently filed. Aye, now I have it -This is a Republic; and a Republic is a government intended for the -benefit of _all_, with the _exception_ of the Mormons to-day, and of -some other religious sect to-morrow; and so on, as avarice, or bigotry, -or the tyranny of a moneyed aristocracy may dictate, to the end of the -chapter. - -The republicans of the State of Illinois have determined that the -Mormons shall not remain among them. "Oh! consistency, thou art indeed a -jewel" For the benefit of persons visiting Illinois, I shall close with -a quotation from the Old Testament, not remarkable, perhaps, for -elegance of diction, but having a claim to attention for its -truthfulness. It is this:---"It is useless to search for a _jewel_ in a -swine's snout." - -END OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. - - - - -THE NEW TESTAMENT - - - - -INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER on THE FACTS AND PERSONAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT - - -TO these persons who can take, without fear, a correct view of Jehovah's -dealings with his chosen people, as recorded in the Old Testament, it -must appear, that the Jews, as a nation, did not, in any way, do honor -to his choice; for, as it regards religion, they neither were at any -length of time faithful to Jehovah, nor did they obey his laws. The -dreadful punishments inflicted on them, together with the teaching of -the Prophets, did not cure them, so as to prevent them from worshipping -other gods. - -To men of common sense, it is clear that the Jewish God undertook to -make of the seed of Abram that which never took place. The attempts to -keep them as true worshippers of Jehovah, continually failed; and he, in -the language of regret and complaint, says:--"I have nourished and -brought up children, and they have rebelled against me." And here we may -inquire, how were they brought up? The answer is at hand. They were -taught to consider themselves, as a nation, more valuable than any -people on earth; and this pride caused them to act with hostility in -their intercourse with, the Gentiles, and to rob and murder all nations -less powerful than themselves; for doing which, they had from the Lord a -direct order. To _show mercy_ was forbidden, and they were punished for -so doing. The command was--"_Thou shall do no murder._" This command had -to do with Jews only. To others it was said, "_Spare not a soul alive_." -Again, "_Thou shall not steal,_"--that is, from Jews: from all heathens, -steal all you can. "_Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife,_" &c. -Remember!--the wife of a Jew; but when the Lord commands, you must -murder other men's wives, and take their daughters for the most wicked -purposes. This is the manner the seed of Abram were brought up; and, in -these particulars, they seldom disobeyed the Lord. - -In this manner the Jews were educated by the Lord of Hosts. Can we then -wonder that they, in a moral point of view, should have been the most -cruel and wicked of any nation on earth? It follows, that they were a -disgrace to that God who selected them as his own; and the Jewish -dispensation ended in a complete failure: so that it is recorded, that -the Lord "_hateth his own inheritance._" Jehovah failed to rear up and -protect a nation who should serve as a pattern to the rest of the human -family. They axe acknowledged, by both God and man, to have been the -worst people on earth. - -We are now about to consider another attempt, on the part of the God of -Israel, to recover and convert his disobedient people to the new -covenant, or dispensation, by sending the long-expected Saviour of the -seed of Abram, according to the flesh. Here we ought to expect that a -double degree of caution will be manifest on the part of the Jewish God, -so that no mistake may happen to the Jewish nation in their reception -of, and obedience to, his Son, as an ambassador of peace and -reconciliation; because, if the mission of Jesus was not clearly -understood by the Jews, another scene of trouble, more dreadful than -their former disobedience, would follow as a consequence. We ought to -expect that Christ would be instructed so to present himself to his -brethren, that his person and his plans for their recovery would be -self-evident. No guess-work can be allowed, as it respects the vast -importance of his mission, or the identity of his person. It needs no -argument to show, that, when an end or object is to be fully obtained, -the means must be adapted to answer the end intended, or a failure is -the consequence. - -Here we may ask, for what purpose did Christ come to the Jews? Was it to -fulfil the promises made to them by Jehovah, _that he would make a new -covenant with them, and write his laws on their hearts; not according to -the covenant he made with their fathers, when he brought them out of -Egypt, but that he would write his laws on their hearts, and their sins -and iniquities remember no more, and that they should be to him a -people, and that he would be to them a God?_ In fact, we cannot admit of -the possibility of any mistake or failure to happen in Jehovah's plan of -salvation, when we consider that the seed of Abram longed for and -expected the Great Deliverer of Israel. No trickery or deception ought -to be resorted to in a case involving such dreadful consequences. It is -highly dishonorable to the God of the Universe, to admit of any -double-dealing on his part, when his people were prepared to receive the -Messiah. - -The situation of the Jews, as a nation, at the time it is said that -Christ made his appearance among them, ought to be kept in view, in -reading this introduction. They expected a king, or a deliverer, to -arrive, agreeably to what they had learned from the Old Testament. -Hence, their inquiry was, "_Art thou he that should come, or do we, or -are we, to look for another?_" As much as to say, we long for his -appearance, but we have had false Christs; and the repeated impositions -practised on our nation makes us cautious as to giving credence to any -pretender, without full proof of his being the true, the very anointed -of God. No inquiry could be more reasonable; for it is clear that the -Jewish nation were open to conviction, and ready to receive with joy the -sent of Jehovah; but repeated deception and disappointment had made them -slow to believe in the pretensions of any that came to them in the name -of the Lord. - -We need not be surprised that the seed of Abram should have been so -scrupulous in believing, until they had incontrovertible proof that the -hope of Israel had arrived. They considered that event as the end of all -their troubles; and relying on the promises made, to God's chosen people -by the prophets,--that the "_sun of, righteousness should arise with -healing in his wings_" that his identity would be as clearly known, and -all obscurity entirely removed as to his being the true Christ, the hope -and expectation of Israel. The Jews, as a nation, were not prepared for -any thing short of a full manifestation of Jehovah's promises in the -person of the Messiah, that he would be their "_Prophet, Priest, and -King_" It is not possible to conceive that a single Jew could be found -who would stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed. This, -then, was the feeling and expectation of the Jews, at the time it is -recorded that Christ came as the deliverer of Israel. It follows, then, -that the only thing the Jews required, in order to receive and obey -Christ, was, unerring proof that Jesus was the promised Messiah; for -they were earnestly waiting for that glorious event. - -We will now inquire, whether or not his introduction to the Jewish -nation was the most probable way to convince them that the long-desired, -the long-expected Redeemer of Israel was come? It must ever be kept in -mind, that the coming of Christ was to the Israelites of vast -importance, when we consider their former troubles, how they had been -forsaken by their God, sold, as it were, into severe bondage, and -scattered over the face of the earth, in consequence of their departure -from the God of their fathers. To all which, it may be added, that they -had been deceived by false Christs: so that, as a nation, they ought to, -and doubtless did, fully expect that the true Messiah, on his arrival, -would convince every real Jew that he was the sent of God, and that the -evidence would be different, in all respects, from what had before -attended impostors and cheats. Of all the embassies ever sent by one -nation to another, none ever equalled in importance the one where the -Son, the only Son of God, was the ambassador. - -In the intercourse between nations, and when a minister is sent out from -one nation to another, one thing is always provided for, and on no -account is it ever omitted, namely:--proper credentials are always -prepared and sent by one nation to another, so that the identity of the -ambassador is indisputable. This indispensable qualification appears to -have been omitted in sending Christ to the Jewish nation, and it proved -most unfortunate to those ill-fated people; for it is evident, from -Scripture, that they mistook Jesus for an impostor, since one of the -apostles admits, that if they (the Jews) had known him, "_they would not -have killed the Lord of life and glory_." - -Here, then, was the fatal mistake, the unfortunate error; and now we may -ask, for what was Jesus sent? Jehovah knew that they would not receive -him, and that a failure would be the consequence. But if Jehovah did not -know of his rejection, what then are we to say of the attributes of the -God of Israel? Taking either side, involves the greatest absurdity, and -is shocking to every idea we can have of infinite wisdom, power, and -goodness. - -If Jesus, on his arrival to the Jews as a nation, intended to prove his -divine mission by the performance of miracles, he appears to have taken -the wrong course to carry conviction to the minds of his fellow -countrymen. Instead of performing signs and wonders before the most -learned of his nation, he associated with the most ignorant classes of -society. These were chiefly fishermen, who could be easily imposed on by -any sleight of hand, performed by a dexterous juggler. It was to the -most learned and competent men of that day to whom his appeals ought to -have been made; but on the contrary, he employed such vulgar abuse -as--"_O, generation of vipers! how can ye escape the damnation of -hell?_" It may safely be inferred, that such abusive language as this -would be considered by the priests and rulers sufficient to stamp its -author as a man of low character and violent temper. - -Again, instead of opening his mission with the declaration of Jehovah's -former promises to the Jewish nation, _that the God of their fathers had -sent him to recover the lost sheep of the home of Israel_, he tells them -that the holy temple was then _a den of thieves_; and at another time, -commences with a cord, or rattan, (like a drunken man,) to drive men -from the temple. Is it possible to conceive that such could be the -conduct of him who was proclaimed to be "_Peace on earth and good will -towards men_"? - -Again, miracles, as proofs of Christ's divine mission, ought to have -been performed before the most learned and talented men among the Jews. -On the contrary, it was the ignorant and unlettered part of society who -were the witnesses of his mighty deeds; for it is impossible for men who -are unacquainted with the laws and phenomena of nature, to form any -thing like a correct judgment of those laws, so as to know what were -their natural operations, to the exclusion of divine power. So that a -performance of any thing, however wonderful to ignorant and untaught -men, would, to others, who were better acquainted with the laws of the -universe, be no miracle at all. - -In conclusion, then, so far as miracles are concerned, a miracle must be -something performed by another, that is impossible to take place without -superhuman aid; and before persons who are so fully acquainted with the -laws of the universe, that imposition would be impossible. Now the Jews, -at the time of the coming of Christ, if he did come at all, had no such -knowledge. In that age, many strange things were believed, that never -had any real existence. For instance, it was fully believed by the Jews, -and nearly throughout the world, that evil spirits or demons took -possession of the bodies of men, and ceased, not to torment them in a -thousand ways; and the casting out of these was considered a miracle. -Jesus is said to have performed many miracles of this kind. Mary -Magdalene had seven of them ejected by the Saviour. So it is recorded. - -But now, no man of science gives the least credit to such tales; so that -the fact is, no devils ever were cast out, because none ever entered the -human body. If Jesus, then, pretended to cast out devils, when he knew -there were none possessed of them, how can we exempt him from the charge -of being a deceiver? If, on the other hand, he believed that Mary -Magdalene had seven, and that they left her by his orders, in that case, -what shall we say as to his knowledge? - -At the present day, should a person apply for medical aid to cast out a -devil, such person would be considered a lunatic. This is proof positive -that Jesus partook of the superstition of the age in which he lived; and -that his pretensions to cast out devils by the power of God, were -incompatible with his mission as the Son of God, the Redeemer of Israel. - -The history of Jesus, as recorded in the four Gospels, fully represents -him as acting like most reformers in all ages and nations, namely, by -abusing men of wealth and power. But, unlike most others, Jesus -represented himself as the only Son of God, by whose authority he -(Jesus) called the priests and the rulers of Israel by names the most -offensive, thereby exciting their opposition to his mode of teaching and -acting. At the same time, the lower grades of society did then, as they -do at the present day. They considered him as a reformer, the friend of -the people, in proportion as he was lavish in his abuse of the most -violent nature. - -In concluding this chapter, we may safely infer, that if Jesus was sent -into the world to be put to death as a sacrifice for sin, his manner of -preaching to his countrymen, and his violent abuse and denunciations -against the then rulers of Israel, were calculated to bring about his -tragical end. But, on the contrary, if Jesus came from God, To _restore -the lost sheep of the home of Israel_, as the Jews, one and all, -expected the Messiah would do, it then follows, that the Jews, as a -nation, were deceived, and in putting him to death, they thought him a -blasphemer, having no claim to be considered as the true deliverer of -his nation. If Jesus came from God to the Jews, as their long-expected -Saviour and Deliverer, and every blessing, as it respected them, -depended on their giving him an obedience agreeable to his mission as an -ambassador of peace, to mistake him for an impostor, was a misfortune -more deplorable than all the misfortunes, as a nation, the Jews had ever -experienced from the call of Abram until the time that Christ is said to -have arrived in the land of Judea. If, in reality and truth, he came -from the Jehovah of that people, as they had for ages expected, then, -instead of his collecting together a few fishermen, common sense would -instruct us to suppose, that the Lord's anointed would go direct to the -priests and Jewish, rulers, and accost them in the following way:--"The -long-expected, the long-desired, is now in the midst of you. I am the -true, the very Christ, the anointed of Jehovah, of the seed of Abram. My -beloved mother will lift her hand, and swear on the altar of her God and -my God, the Father of us all, that I am the offspring of God, and that -in the absence of all earthly intercourse, she brought me forth, and -that angels announced her miraculous conception, before I saw the light; -and that I am endowed with power from on high, to do before your longing -eyes miracles and wonders, such as all former pretenders could not -perform. But, as you have before been deceived by impostors who have -forged my name, and assumed my character, believe me not for my word, -but for my works' sake. Mark well my deportment Give credit to my mighty -deeds only when they are openly addressed to your senses, that no doubts -may remain as to the identity of my person, and the high commission of -which I am the bearer; and being fully convinced of my Messiahship, obey -me as the earthly representative of your heavenly Father, while I unfold -the blessings that await you, in the fulfilment of the promises made to -Abram and his seed forever." Instead, however, of thus openly and -frankly making known the object of his message to his nation, Jesus -begins by making use of expressions the most insulting, charging the -priests and rulers with crimes of the basest description, in the worst -language possible; the direct tendency of which was, to arouse their -worst feelings, leaving them in doubt what to think of one who arrogated -to himself authority over the Mosaic law, and whose teaching was so -obscure as not to be understood even by his own disciples. In speaking -of himself and the kingdom he was about to set up, he said that his -death formed a part of the divine arrangement included in his mission; -as much as to say, I must be put to death before my plane can be -developed. At times, in the course of his preaching, Jesus referred to -his future exaltation, as the "Judge of quick and dead." At other times -he represented himself as the only true light that enlightens every man -that cometh into the world; and yet, he courted obscurity in most of his -preaching, so much so, that one of his most intimate friends (Judas) was -bribed to inform the rulers who this extraordinary man was, and where he -could be found. - -What would be thought of an ambassador, sent from America to England on -business of the first importance, if, instead of proceeding to the Court -of St. James, at London, he should be found lecturing to fishermen and -people in the lower walks of society, and at the same time, in language -of the most violent kind, abusing the British Government? In fine, such -was the preaching and acting of Jesus during his stay in the land of -Israel, that to me it appears impossible to discover the object or the -utility of his coming. No wonder, therefore, that the Jews rejected him -altogether. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - -WHATEVER may have been the moral character of the Jews, as a nation, at -the time the reputed Messiah came among them, the priests and the people -not only expected his advent, but they also considered that event as an -end to their then subjugation, and more than a renewal of their former -greatness and glory. And here the reader will perceive that they (the -Jews) had no prejudice against the appearance of such a personage; the -only thing they required was, his certain identity, that they might know -the true Messiah was among them. Nothing could have been more favorable -to his reception than such a universal expectation. This general belief -throughout the nation was on their part equivalent to their saying to -the God of Jacob, "We have long waited, and most ardently desired, the -fulfilment of the promise made to Abram and his seed forever." This -short statement is faithful, and true as to the feelings and -expectations of the whole Jewish nation. - -In this stage of our remarks, every thing appears to warrant the -conclusion, that, on the part of the descendants of Abram, no difficulty -stood in the way of their submitting to their expected Lord and Master. -To make him fully known to them, so that no mistake could possibly -happen as to his person and authority, belonged to Jehovah alone; for if -the Messiah promised, seemed in nowise to be represented in the person -of Jesus, then the Jews would have been sure to have rejected him as -another impostor of the same sort as had previously imposed on their -nation. In reviewing, then, the New Testament, the object of the writer -will be to show, that Jesus, the pretended Saviour of the world, was not -sent from God, and consequently, the New Testament is not of Divine -authority. - -In the following inquiry, I shall not dispute the existence of Jesus, -_as a man_, living about the time recorded of him, but take for granted -the history of his life, with the exception of his divine mission, as -this method will be better understood by the reader, as excluding -irrelevant matter. In the Gospel history, then, it clearly appears, that -Jesus wrote nothing of his own sayings or doings; it was all done by -others. This omission to give a clear code of morals, adapted to the -Gospel dispensation, and also rules and regulations for this new sect, -will appear strange, when we refer to the formation and regulation of -the Jewish Church. Moses, or whoever was its founder, took great pains -to record the most minute things connected with the Jewish worship; -while, on the contrary, the Christian Church is left in such a state of -uncertainty, that its author wrote not a word himself, nor, for aught we -know, did he give orders to his followers to commit to writing any thing -he did or said, not even of the miracles he so often performed. It must -appear passing strange, that a religion of such vast importance to the -whole human race should be, as it were, left to chance, as to the manner -in which it was to descend to posterity, when compared with the -minuteness of the Mosaic code. Of the four evangelists, no one in -particular had orders to write the life and doings of Christ, so that -the inference is this: that all the history of the life of Jesus, -including his death and resurrection, is but the testimony of others; -consequently, we have no certainty that Christ ever said or did those -things recorded of him. So that it amounts to this--somebody has said -that Jesus performed miracles; and the same may be said of the rest of -his sayings and doings; and we may add, that somebody has written that -he was put to death, and that on the third day he arose from the dead. - -It is from such vague and unauthenticated writings, written by nobody -knows who, nor when they made their first appearance, that the -foundation is drawn on which rests the Gospel Dispensation; and as the -different writers have given different accounts of the things said to -have taken place, no reliance can be given to any of the facts recorded -as having actually occurred. The different writers have also given rise -to doctrines so opposite to each other, that every sect can find -Scripture evidence for the support of its respective dogmas. Eighteen -hundred years have then passed away, and we are still ignorant of what -is, and what is not, Gospel. - -Is it possible that any thing can be more directly in opposition, than -the Universalists and the different sects that believe in endless -punishment in a future life? Again, can any two things be more opposite -than the doctrines concerning the person of Christ, as held by the -Unitarians and the Trinitarians; and yet, both of these doctrines are -taken from the New Testament, which contains all that is written of him. -And what is still more wonderful, each of these sects are positive with -respect to their own opinions, and are surprised at each other's -ignorance of God's Word; and even at the present day, they only want -full power, and they would soon come to blows. Not only these opinions, -but many more, equally opposed to each other, can be supported by -referring to God's unerring Word. It is a common saying, "the glorious -uncertainty of the law"; I will add, it is the glorious uncertainty of -the _Gospel_ which has made so many priests, and also, it is its -uncertainty which has been in every age of the church the cause of -thousands of honest persons meeting a violent and cruel death, for the -glory of God. - -The reader will in the following pages discover, that my main object is -to show that Jesus was no more sent from heaven to save mankind by the -sacrifice of himself for the sins of the world, than others are sent to -build houses or dig canals; and that the plan, as it is called, of human -redemption, has brutalized the human race, and stood in the way of moral -rectitude, and the development of kind and humane feelings. Although -Matthew and Luke have recorded the miraculous conception of Jesus, yet, -as it is omitted by Mark and John, I shall begin my remarks with the -baptism of John. As it respects the heavenly origin of Jesus, he never -mentions it in the course of his ministry, neither does his mother. -Jesus, in speaking of himself, said he was _the son of man_. Now, if -Joseph, or some other man, was not his father, he (Jesus) then went by a -false name; for, in that case, he was but the son of a woman. We will -leave this point of disputation with the Christians, and begin with the -baptism of John. - -After Jesus had been baptized by John, it is recorded, that there came a -voice from heaven, saying, "_Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well -pleased._" (Mark i., 11.) "_And immediately the Spirit driveth him into -the wilderness, and he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted -of Satan._" What possible end was to be obtained by this journey into -the wilderness, and what kind of spirit it was that drove him there, we -have no information. At any rate, in a forlorn state, and very hungry, -Satan made his first visit to the Messenger of Peace. Jesus seemed no -way surprised at this Satanic intrusion. They conversed together as old -friends. We may suppose Satan to open the conversation somewhat in the -following manner:-- - -"Why, Jesus! you seem to be any thing but in comfortable quarters. This -is carrying temperance rather too far; nothing to eat or drink, and -surrounded by wild beasts as hungry as yourself! I have heard that you -represent to your nation that you are sent to them from Jehovah, your -father. Now, if you have any thing to communicate to them of importance, -this secluded spot is very unfavorable to make known your mission. Come, -give over fasting, for _if you are the Son of God, command these stones -that they be made bread?_" This observation, or, as it is called, this -temptation of the Devil, caused Jesus to make this reply:--"_It is -written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that -proceedeth ont of the mouth of God. Then the Devil taketh him up into -the holy city, [or coaxed him to leave the wilderness,] and setteth him -on a pinnacle of the Temple, 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. Jesus said unto him, It -is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the -Devil taketh him up into art exceeding high mountain, and showeth him -all the kingdoms of the worlds and the glory of them; and saith unto -him, all these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall dawn and -worship me. 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. Then the Devil leaveth him, and behold angels came and ministered -unto him._" (Matthew, chapter iv.) - -To those Who are not afraid to examine this strange account, it must -appear unworthy of the least credit. In the first place, as it stands -recorded, the Devil and Jesus act as if they had been old and intimate -acquaintances. This is the first announcement we have that any such -personage as the Devil ever visited this earth, except he is the same -identical being who, upwards of four thousand years before, came to the -garden of Eden and tempted Eve, and was the cause of herself and her -husband's being expelled from that abode of innocence. If it were the -intention of the writers of the life of Jesus, that it should be -understood that the Devil had been resting quietly, and enjoying -himself, and then appeared, ripe for new schemes of mischief, and Satan -reasoning within himself was resolved again to try his hand,--is it -possible, when this account is duly considered, that one person in a -thousand can give credit to such nonsense? - -A few remarks on Christ's temptation by the Devil will suffice to show -its absurdity. In the first place, then, can we believe that a being of -Infinite Power, Wisdom, and Goodness, ever has, or does now, keep in -existence a Devil whose whole aim and happiness consist in tempting -God's creatures to rebel against their maker and benefactor; and that -God has given him power and capacity to induce men and women to commit -every sort of crime that disgraces humanity? Besides, so artful is this -Devil that man has but a poor chance to escape his cunning attacks and -devices. We are told that the Lord is angry with the wicked every day; -and yet for all that, he has made a being of immense power who possesses -unbounded malice against both God and man. Would any man, who was in his -right mind, keep in his employ a person who would daily destroy his -property, and breed discord among his steady workmen? None but a madman -could so act; and shall we suppose that the all-wise ruler of the -universe would follow in the path of a man out of his senses? - -Again, according to the account in Matthew, the Devil seems full of life -and impudence; while the reputed Saviour appears sheepish and stupid, -and seems willing to follow the Devil about at his bidding! We have no -account as to the form in which the Devil appeared, whether as a rich -man or a loafer; whether fat or lean, and how old he appeared to be; -neither are we informed in what kind of dress he walked through the -street of Jerusalem, whether it was in the costume of the age, or in the -livery of hell. At any rate, Jesus seemed rather scared at the old -serpent. Jesus commenced his mission more like a hermit than as a -messenger of peace; to God's chosen people. In fact, there is, in Jesus, -through his whole life, something so unearthly that his existence as a -man is very doubtful. In the whole account of the temptation of the -Devil, the evidence of its being a mixture of fable and falsehood is, -apparent. - -Besides, it is altogether unaccountable how Jesus and the Devil became -so well acquainted with each other; for Jesus was a Jew by nation, and -strictly obeyed the law of Moses; but Moses is completely silent as to -the existence of any such personage as the Devil. At the time when it is -said Jesus came to the Jewish nation, they had, during their captivity, -embraced the theology of their conquerors; and on their return to the -land of their nativity, brought with them the-belief in the existence of -good and bad angels, and also the doctrine of a future state of rewards -and punishments,--dogmas unknown to, and never taught by, Moses. It is -clear, then, that the very existence of a Devil never was a doctrine of -the Old Testament, but on the contrary, it was borrowed from eastern -mythology; and Jesus, finding that the Jews professed to believe it, -fell in with it, as also a heaven and a hell, and a judgment to come, -which doctrines were all of heathen origin. The Old Testament is silent -as to what constitutes orthodox Christianity. Ye Christian ministers! -your heaven and hell, by the teaching of which you gain wealth and live -like princes, is nothing but an echo of by-gone ages, which had its -origin in the imagination of the priesthood of an antiquity anterior to -the existence of Moses or of the Jewish nation! - -But to return to the temptation of Jesus by the Devil. And here it may -be asked, how it can now, or ever could, be considered a temptation at -all? If Jesus was what they say he professed to be, _the sent of God_, -he knew well that the Devil had nothing to give him by way of inducement -to distrust his Father's superintendence and care. Jesus might have said -to Satan, "You lying old Devil, you know that you have no kingdom to -bestow; you likewise well know that you have not land enough whereon to -build a hovel, in which to shelter your favorite associates, the swine!" -But, on the contrary, Jesus seems to act with great respect towards the -Devil. He made no objections to follow Satan wherever he chose to lead -him. We are ignorant of the object Jesus had in view by retiring into -the wilderness; and how the Devil came to be acquainted with his -destitute situation, we are also at a loss to conjecture. Likewise, we -have yet to learn whether Satan resided among the Jews, or dwelt in the -regions of the air, as he is called "the Prince and power of the air, -the spirit which works in the hearts of the children of disobedience." - -The number of forty years, or days, is repeatedly chosen by the writers -of the Old Testament, in which to perform something wonderful, and of -great importance. Thus, the Jews were forty years going from Egypt to -the land of promise, during which time nearly all that came out of -bondage were destroyed for their disobedience against the God of Abram, -Isaac, and Jacob. Jehovah and Moses were forty days on Mount Sinai, -preparing ornaments for the Jewish worship, during which time Aaron and -the rest of the Israelties returned back to worship the gods of their -former oppressors; so that it appears, before the church of Jehovah in -the wilderness was ready to sing his praise, and thank him for bringing -them out of bondage, both Aaron and the people were singing and dancing -before the golden calves of Egypt! The number forty has been most -unfortunate for Jehovah's plans; for, in addition to repeated failures -connected with the number forty, it is recorded that Jehovah was grieved -forty years for the transgressions of his chosen people; and Jesus, -after forty days' fasting, surrounded by devouring beasts and hungry -vultures, behold! the Devil came skulking along with brazen-faced -impudence, and Jesus, the better to get rid of him, broke up his -solitary abode. Thus, again, the number forty concluded without any -apparent object being effected. - -Whoever wrote this account of Christ's temptation, as if it was not -foolish enough, has added, that after the Devil had withdrawn from -making Jesus such tempting offers to enlist into his service, angels -came and ministered unto him. What the nature of the service was, which -they performed, we know not; but one would suppose their first inquiry -ought to have been, whether he did not wish to have his dinner as soon -as possible? The whole of this account is so contemptible, that I shall -not give it any further attention. - -If we contrast the submissive conduct and humble deportment of Jesus, -when in conversation with the Devil, with his manner and intercourse -with the rulers and priests of his own nation, he appears, in reference -to the latter, whom we should expect he would have treated with that -respectable language due to their standing in society, and consistent -with his dignity as the Messenger of Peace, to great disadvantage as a -divine teacher: for it must be ever borne in mind, that Jesus must be -considered, according to his own account, superior to all that ever came -before him, and to the imperfections found in men in common, and even in -the prophets of old, so that he must so conduct himself that his sayings -and doings must be capable of standing the most rigid moral scrutiny. -But, instead of his appealing to the Jewish rulers in the most courteous -manner--instead of his plainly stating who he was, and the vast -importance of his coming on earth, he begins by upbraiding them in a way -calculated to disgust them, and thereby frustrate the object of his -mission. He calls them "a generation of vipers" and asks them "how they -can think to escape the damnation of hell?" - -Although the chief priest and rulers were over-anxious in their -inquiries as to whom he was, and by what authority he so openly -condemned others, he treated them as unworthy of a civil reply; for, let -the moral conduct of the Jewish priests and rulers be what it might, -admitting it was very bad, nothing could justify him in the use of -insult and the most violent vituperations. What kind of reception would -an ambassador meet with in England, should he, before his' mission was -fully understood by that Court, abuse the rulers of that kingdom, and at -the same time associate with a few obscure individuals as witnesses of -such abuse? Would he be considered a fit person to represent the -authorities who sent him? for, never let us forget, that of all the -missions sent by one nation to another nation for the settlement of any -difficulties that might exist between them, none ever was of such -importance as the one which Jesus was to present to "_the lost sheep of -the house of Israel_." Let us also bear in mind, that the rulers among -the Jews made every inquiry as to whom he was, and the purport of his -coming. Yes, every effort on the part of the Jews was made to draw out -of him from whence he derived his authority: but his answers were any -thing but to the point, for, he said on one occasion, "_An evil and -adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be -given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas,_" and that was no answer -at all. - -I am well aware what Christians will say in this case: that his miracles -were sufficient evidence; but all the proof we have that he did perform -miracles, is, somebody has written that he did so. But here I shall -dispute the performance of some of his miracles, from the New Testament -account of them; and, in my next chapter, I shall show that modern -discoveries have proved, beyond dispute, that some of the miracles said -to have been performed by Jesus could not have taken place, for if any -person in the present age, were to pretend that he could perform similar -miracles, he would not only be considered an impostor, but would also be -deemed an ignoramus. - - - - -CHAPTER. II. - - -OF all the miracles said to have been wrought by Jesus, as recorded in -the Gospels, the casting out of devils are among the foremost. The case -of Mary Magdalene is often referred to by Jesus himself; it is related -that no less than seven had taken possession of her person. It is truly -wonderful, that at the time of Christ's preaching, the old Devil of all, -and a host of subordinate ones, appeared to be more active than at any -other time of which we have any account The Old Devil came forward after -an absence of more than four thousand years; for, we have no account -that he, either in person or by proxy, had visited God's chosen people, -admitting that it was he, who, by the agency of a serpent, or by any -other means, deceived Adam and Eve, by which deception, pain, and even -death, followed as a consequence. Satan might well think that he could -afford to rest awhile, till Jehovah should make some new movement to -benefit the human race. - -How the Devil came to know that Jesus was about to commence preaching -repentance for the remission of sin, we have no means of finding out; -but, when Jesus had retired into the wilderness, behold the Devil was -close at his heels, and they seemed to be as well acquainted as two old -playmates. The Devil was well fitted for discussion, for he appeared -well versed with the Old Testament. However, if he were the same Devil -who outwitted Jehovah in Paradise, he failed to obtain a victory over -the Son in the wilderness. What became of him after his defeat on the -Temple, and when he came down from the mountain, we have no account No -mention is made of his being concerned in riding the hogs into the sea. -We must, therefore, leave him, and attend to the triumph of Jesus in -ejecting them from their strong holds. - -The first in order which we shall review, as being possessed of devils, -will be Mary Magdalene, out of whom, it is recorded, Jesus cast seven -devils. This woman must be considered most grievously afflicted. How -they operated on her--whether it was by inflicting bodily pain, or a -mental disease, we know not; at any rate, she seemed incapable of -getting rid of them. The number being seven, and having dispositions -opposed to each other, they no doubt often quarrelled among themselves, -and disturbed her in her sleeping hours; at all events, her gratitude -and attachment to Jesus is proof positive that she preferred their room -to their company. - -Christians, in speaking of Mary Magdalene, convey the idea, that, -previous to the casting out of the devils, she did not bear a good -character. But this is a mistake; for, if the New Testament account of -devils taking possession of persons, be true, and that no human power -can eject them, it then follows, that Mary Magdalene was truly -unfortunate, since no less than seven of these intruders were constantly -about her. We are left to conjecture how the number seven could have -been discovered. If Mary had been compelled to have had seven teeth -extracted, the number could have been fully known to those who stood by; -but how, or in what way, it could have been known that seven devils were -cast out, unless they appeared visible to the by-standers, does not -appear. But we will not dwell too long on such sheer nonsense, as not -one word of truth is in the whole story of casting out devils; for the -best of all possible reasons, because there were none at all to cast -out. It is recorded that the Jews were troubled with devils of different -kinds, such as unclean devils, deaf and dumb devils, and, in one case, a -kind of devil which could not be cast out only by prayer and fasting. -If, at the present day, a person was to apply for medical aid, and hint -to the doctor that his wife was really possessed with (not seven) but -one devil, the doctor would consider such a man a fit subject for a -lunatic asylum. - -As it respects demoniacal possession, it is, or rather was of heathen -origin. The Jews, as a nation, believed in its truth, as did also the -surrounding nations; consequently, if a person had a complaint attended -with fits, or any thing rather out of the common way, by which human -beings were afflicted, such a disease was considered a possession of one -or more evil spirits. But now, that the laws of nature are better -understood, and medical science more fully developed, demonology, as -well as witchcraft and sorcery, are given up altogether. No doubt now -remains, but that the whole was the effect of ignorance and fraud; and -consequently the casting out of devils by Jesus and his apostles, had no -reality in it whatever. It is not possible for us to conceive why demons -or devils should have taken possession of human beings, admitting that -they have a real existence. We are ignorant as to the state of mind of -these beings. Whether in those days they took possession of men and -women out of rebellion against God, or, having no real home, were only -wanderers, and felt more comfortable when dwelling in the bodies of -animals or of human beings, we cannot determine. The latter, however, -appears to have been the case; for, an one occasion, when Jesus was -about to expel a legion, the devils _besought him to permit them to -enter into the swine_; but it is recorded, that the hogs started off -down into the sea, and were drowned. What became of the devils, we know -not. If this miracle took place, one thing is clear, namely, that the -devils, with all their cunning, made a bad calculation as to the -security they would have m the swine. - -At the time Jesus is said to have lived among the Jews, the casting out -of devils was a common occurrence; for Jesus, in reply to the charge -that he cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince or chief of devils, -says, "_If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast -them out? therefore they shall be the judges,_" So that, after all, it -follows, that what so many could do without the authority of Jesus, was -no miracle at all. It was nothing short of imposition, and failed of -being any proof of his divine mission. The truth is, that casting out -devils was a heathen practice, among many other things, of heathenish -origin; and Jesus, according to the New Testament, fell in with it, as -he did with many doctrines which the Jews brought into the land of -Israel when they returned from their long captivity. The Jews brought -back with them the belief of a future state of rewards and punishments, -the existence of the soul, a heaven for the virtuous and good, and a -hell for the wicked; also good and bad angels, and a future judgment, -over which Jesus said to the Jews he was appointed to be the judge. -Notwithstanding the silence of the Old Testament as to the tenets above -noticed, yet Jesus fell in with them, and he also threatened the Jews -that they were in danger of that very hell and damnation which they -gathered from their heathen conquerors. Ye Christian priests! your -heaven and hell, and also your devil, belong to and originated in a -heathen mythology, the beginning of which is lost in a remote antiquity. -Yes, Christian doctors! your heaven and hell, which, from the hope of -the first, and the fear of the last, you teach as divine truths, and, by -so doing, live in splendor,--these very doctrines have nothing divine -about them, and you ought to know it. - -Leaving, then, the miracles of casting out devils, which were no proof -of the divine mission of Jesus, because others, it is said, could, -without his aid, do the same, we must refer to the other miracles said -to have been performed and intended to establish his claim as being the -true Messiah, _the sent of God_. If the miracles that Jesus performed, -had been intended to remove all doubts that the Jewish nation had as to -his being an impostor, such miracles ought to have been sufficiently -convincing for that purpose; for, on such test, his reception or -rejection entirely depended. Now, from the accounts of his appealing to -his countrymen, and reproaching them for their unbelief, he does not, to -all appearance, wish nor try to convince them; for, it is said of his, -miracles, that "he did not many mighty works because of their unbelief." -Their incredulity as to his being the true Christ, is a reason why he -should have followed up miracle after miracle, until unbelief would have -been impossible on the part of the Jews; for, the reader must keep in -mind that the dispute with Jesus and the Jews was not of a moral -character: it was as to his authority in assuming to be greater than -Abram, or all the prophets of the Old Testament. - -Again, Jesus says, "_Woe unto you_ [of such a town or village,] _for if -the mighty works which have been done in you, had been done in Sodom and -Gomorrah, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes_." "Therefore -it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of -judgment, than for you." Now here we can see, that the miracles were not -of the sort to convince. Then, why not produce others more strong? -Besides, it showed Jesus to be ignorant of the human mind, his -condemning men for not believing when the evidence was not strong enough -to convince them. It is true, according to the accounts of Christ's -preaching to the Jews, that instead of argument he resorted to abuse of -the coarsest kind, and the same conduct is pursued by Christians towards -unbelievers at the present day. In some instances, Jesus charged the -persons on whom a miracle had been performed, that _they should tell -none of it._ - -Again, the evidence arising from the working of miracles must always -depend on the information possessed by those before whom such signs and -wonders were wrought. If Jesus intended to rest his Messiahship on the -wonders he intended to perform, in such a case the most learned and best -informed of the Jewish nation were the proper persons to be the judges -for, in our day, in the nineteenth century, we have daily proof that so -universal is ignorance, and so credulous is the mass of society, that -such trash and inconsistent doctrines as those taught by Joseph Smith -and his famous Golden Bible have gained thousands Of believers, and the -greatest part of them are sincere, and would suffer death sooner than -renounce what they believe to be a divine revelation to Smith, and -others of the same stamp. The most learned and intelligent of the Jews -knew this truth, as many of their ignorant people had been led away by -false Christs, and lost their all, and their lives also. No wonder, -then, that they should watch closely every movement made by Jesus, the -then reputed Messiah. There are, in the present age, many things -discovered and known to the most unlearned, that, in former times, much -less remote than the time in which Jesus is said to have lived, Would -have been thought miraculous, and the persons performing them as -possessing power more than human. So that we may safely conclude, that -Infinite Wisdom would not have made use of so uncertain a species of -evidence as miracles, to convince the Jews that the _sent of God was -come_. Other and more certain means would have been resorted to, so that -the Jews could not have mistaken the real Christ, and put him to death -for an impostor. - -If we attentively examine the life of Jesus, as written by the four -evangelists, we shall be surprised at many parts of his proceedings. His -uncourteous language to the great men of his nation must strike the -reader very forcibly. He preaches humility and meekness, and soon we -perceive him arrogating divine honors, and calling those, who came -before him, robbers and thieves. He commands his followers to _judge -not_, and the next moment he judges others, and condemns them without -ceremony; and although it is said of him, that "a bruised reed he would -not break, and smoking flax he would not quench," and that "_his voice -could not be heard in the street,_" yet we find him using something very -little short of outrage and violence. In the affair of the Temple, for -instance, it is recorded that Jesus took a cord, and began to attack -those sitting about that sacred place, "_overthrowing the tables of the -money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves,_" calling them -"_a den of thieves._" Such conduct the Jews could not expect from their -long-wished and earnestly-desired Messiah. - -Even at twelve years of age, his conduct seems to have had something -strange about it; namely, his absenting himself from his home. When his -parents found him, and told him that "_they had sought him sorrowing,_" -he said, in reply, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's -business?" This answer appears not to have been understood by his -relations; but if Joseph was not his father, his mother could not wonder -at his straying from home; she would have said to Joseph, "As you are -not his father, he has reference to the Holy Ghost." His conduct also -partook of the same strangeness at the marriage-feast. When the wine was -all out, his mother told her son of it; his reply was not very -dutiful--"_Woman_," says he, "_what have I to do with thee?_" At such a -place, on the night of a marriage ceremony, there seems something so -unearthly about him, that he never appeared at ease in any company; such -an absence of mirthful enjoyment was calculated to spread a gloom -throughout the whole party. - -But that which appears very strange in Jesus, is his using language that -even his disciples did not understand, such as, "The kingdom of heaven -is at hand;" that he "came down from heaven;" for, says Jesus, "_No man -hath ascended up into heaven, but he who came down from heaven, even the -son of man, who is in heaven._" And again, "_Repent ye, for the kingdom -of heaven is at hand;_" and to the rich man, who asked him what he was -to do to secure the kingdom of heaven, Jesus said, that in addition to -loving and fearing God, and doing his duty to his neighbor, he "_must -sell all he had, and give it to the poor._" - -The reader must ever keep in mind the true merits of the case between -Jesus and the Jews. It was not, whether they were more immoral than -their heathen neighbors, nor as to their being more or less learned than -surrounding nations; for, we do not find that Jesus ever made any -inquiries as to their mechanic arts, or the state of agriculture -practised among them. Neither do we find that Jesus interested himself -as to their progress in the science of astronomy. The last of these we -can conceive would have been very useful; and it might be supposed that -he could impart some knowledge in regard to it, since, in his passage -from heaven to earth, he must have crossed: some of the planetary -orbits, and no doubt observed their satellites then undiscovered; but to -communicate such important information was not included in his mission. -His only object was, to convince the Jews that he, and he alone, was the -true and undoubted Messiah promised by the prophets to redeem and -restore the Jews, as a nation, to their former greatness and glory. -Every either subject was useless, and only stood as an hindrance in the -way of the great purpose of his coming. - -I have before stated, that miracles must ever be considered doubtful -evidence to prove that the performer is any thing; more than what men in -all ages have pretended to be; and to pretend to do what is far beyond -human agency, presupposes that the persons who are to be the judges, -know where human power ends, and divine power begins. But for this -knowledge, no just and certain rule can be laid down; consequently, it -is folly to conceive that Infinite Wisdom would make use of means so -ill-adapted to the end m view. It would be but an attempt to prove a -doubtful truth, by means equally if not more doubtful. - -But, before closing this chapter, we will inquire into the probability -of any miracles having been performed, as mentioned by the New Testament -writers. And here our attention must be turned to the internal evidence -afforded by the New Testament itself. We shall there find internal or -indirect proof, that those miracles never took place, and that the whole -of them were ante-dated; that is, after the persons were dead who are -said to have been the performers. If this can be made out, miracles will -then receive a shock from which they never can recover. To do this, will -be the work of what remains to be done in this chapter. - -John the Baptist is the first personage we shall select. The miracle -said to have taken place at the baptism of Jesus, is recorded by John, -as follows:--"_And after Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens -were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a -dove, and lighting upon him; and, lo! a voice from heaven saying, *This -is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased._" (Matthew iii. 16, 17.) -Again, in John's Gospel, i., 36, when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he -said of him, "_Behold the Lamb of God." John also said of Jesus, that -*he knew him not till it was told him, that on whomsoever he (John) -should see the Spirit of God descend, the same is he_--meaning the true -Christ. Now here are repeated miracles to convince not only John the -Baptist, but also all that were present at the baptism of Jesus. Such -evidence ought to have stopped any future inquiries as to the real -Messiahship of Jesus; but there are strong doubts as to the truth that -any such wonders were exhibited at the time they are recorded to have -taken place. - -I shall proceed to present those doubts to the reader, as truth is my -object, and I am not afraid to follow after it:--in Matthew ii., 1, 2, -it reads, "_Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, -he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art thou he that should -come, or do we look for another?_" This question, sent by John to -Christ, shows clearly that John did not hear of the wonders wrought by -Christ until he (John) was in prison for his reproof of Herod. This -account makes it almost certain that the whole story of John's baptizing -Jesus, and also of the voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved -Son, in whom 1 am well pleased," is a fabrication altogether, and that -John had never heard of Jesus until his confinement For this conclusion, -we have twofold proof: since if John had baptized Jesus, and the wonders -were performed as recorded, John could not have required any further -evidence us to his being no pretender, but the true Messiah, the hope -and expectation of Israel. On the part of Jesus, his reply would have -been, "Why, John, what do you mean by sending a question as to whom I -am? You heard the voice from heaven when I was baptized; you also saw -the dove descend on my head; and now you send two of your disciples to -inquire of me, by saying, 'Art thou he that should come, or do we look -for another?'" - -If we consider John's question to Jesus, and also Jesus's reply, it will -be plain that John had not even seen nor heard much of Jesus, till after -he was in prison. What, then, aha** we say of those wonders at the -baptism of Jesus? The answer is at hand, which is, that there is no -truth in the story. The probability is, that it was recorded from -hearsay evidence, by some person unknown, and ante-dated so as to -correspond to the time of John the Baptist; but that such evidence was -given to John, of the identity of Jesus, as to prevent any future -inquiry, there can be no doubt, admitting it ever took place; but John's -sending his disciples to Jesus to ascertain the truth of his being the -true Messiah, fully destroys the truth of any voice being heard by John, -or the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on the head of Jesus. - -The ignorance of all the disciples of Jesus, as it regards who he really -was, is remarkable, if it be admitted that he performed what is said of -him. We will notice the Apostle Peter, as he may be fairly considered -the representative of the twelve. It is written, that when Jesus and -Peter were together, behold! old Moses and Elias (Elijah) came so near -to the earth that they held conversation with Jesus, and that Peter, -somehow or other, knew them; but he, so far from being alarmed at seeing -those two old prophets, was unwilling that they should return, and even -proposed to Jesus to prepare for their stay. Surely, that was an age of -miracles and wonders! We have an account of the old Devil's crawling out -from some hole or cave, and following Jesus into the wilderness; and, -again, we have two old prophets returned, hovering in the air, and -conversing with Jesus; one of whom is said to have died a thousand years -previous to the time of his holding this supposed conversation with -Jesus from the clouds; and the other, at nearly the same time, was taken -up into heaven in a chariot of fire! Those two strange personages must -have had business of great importance with Jesus. Are we to consider -this strange visit to have taken place, when the truth of it rests on -the same authority as all the other miracles and wonders which are -recorded concerning the mission of Jesus? If Moses and Elijah did not in -truth and reality talk to Jesus from the clouds, in the hearing of -Peter, in their real persons, or by their apparitions, it then follows, -that there is no truth in any of the miracles or wonders said to have -been performed, to prove that Jesus was _sent from God_; for all the -miracles and wonders which (it is said) took place, stand or fall -together. - -If, for instance, the Devil did not find Jesus in the wilderness, and go -with him into the city, and tempt him to throw himself from the -Temple--if this is not strictly true, why, then, it is false as to Moses -and Elijah's talking with him from the clouds. This incredible story, if -related in any book but what is called the Word of God, would not be -credited by one in ten thousand; but being found in the life of the -Redeemer, the man who rejects it and proclaims it unworthy of credit, is -considered an enemy of God, and will have the sentence of "_Go, ye -cursed_," &c. As so much importance is attached to what is called the -Word of God, we will discuss a little further the business which brought -Moses and Elijah so near to this earth. As to where Moses or Elijah -reside, we have no knowledge, and what is the nature of their -employment, we know not; but if they still live, they must have some -location, and also, we suppose, must be employed about something--but -these things we must leave to those who are better acquainted with other -worlds, while our attention will be directed to the business of the -heavenly visitors. - -If Moses had any interest in the mission of Jesus to the Jews, he could -have been serviceable to him, as he had been their former leader, and -therefore could give him useful hints concerning them. We may suppose he -would introduce the subject of Jesus's mission in the following -manner:--"I am Moses, the former leader of the seed of Abram, and -hearing that Jehovah had sent his son Jesus to convert them to the true -worship of God, and the practice of justice and truth, I come to offer -my services, as I am well acquainted with that disobedient race; and, in -truth, I had a terrible time of it with them: only think of forty years -in the wilderness, always murmuring, and worshipping strange gods, for -which, at times, they were cruelly punished; Jehovah destroyed thousands -of them for resisting my authority; but they were incurable. He would -have, at one time, so great was his wrath, destroyed them all; but I -told him what the Egyptians and the heathen in general would say, and he -altered his mind, and killed off the worst of them: for, getting a -little out of temper with them at one time, in consequence of their -murmurings, Jehovah became angry with me, and I was prevented from -enjoying full possession of the promised land. It always surprised me -how it came about that Jehovah should select them from the rest of the -human race, for in my lifetime nothing was ever made of them; they even -disgraced the God who had made them his choice. I left them in thy hands -of Joshua, as the most proper person to rule over them; but how he got -along with them, I have not heard." "Your offer, Moses, is duly -appreciated; but the Jews, as a nation, are now a different people from -what they were when you had to manage them. My course will be different -altogether from what you pursued. Farewell! Moses and Elijah." We may -suppose that Jesus would say to Peter, "As for your purposing to erect -three tabernacles in this place, one for myself, one for Moses, and -another for Elijah, it is proof that you are entirely ignorant of my -future dealings with my own nation; for, in a few months, such things -will transpire, that even you, Peter, all zealous as you are, will swear -off and deny any knowledge of me." - -Now, reader, nothing can be more extravagant than to suppose that such -conversation took place between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. But if those -two old prophets did really descend, and converse with Jesus, then what -I have supposed is no more extravagant than that two prophets, who had -not been on earth for a thousand years, should pay a visit to Jesus, and -hold converse with him. These miracles never occurred, and the world has -been imposed upon and plundered by men, who, by telling such tales, have -lived in idleness; and their quarrels about what Jesus said or somebody -said, or did, have in every age been the cause of evils of every kind, -and of rendering human beings ignorant and wretched. - -Christians, in speaking of the divine mission of Jesus, urge is miracles -as proofs that he came from God with full authority to give laws to, and -finally _to judge both quick and dead_; but the proof is wanting that he -ever performed one miracle. All the evidence we derive from the miracles -said to have been performed is not, that we know they were wrought by -Jesus, but that it is by somebody recorded that he did the mighty works -attributed to him, and which to us is no evidence at all. To believe, -then, what is written, without knowing by whom, or at what time and -place it was written, is to believe without evidence, which would be a -voluntary degradation of the noble faculties which have been conferred -upon man. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - -PETER, of all the twelve apostles, seems to have been more in the -confidence of Jesus than the rest; since when he and Peter were alone, -his inquiry of Peter was as to what the people thought of him. For he -said to Peter, "_Whom do the people say that I, the son of man, am-?_" -Peter answered him, that different opinions were abroad concerning him. -Some said one thing, and some another; but the general opinion was, that -one of the old prophets had returned. Jesus then turned to Peter and -asked him as to his own conviction, and received for answer, "_Thou art -the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto -him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not -revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven._" In -consequence of this declaration of Peter, Jesus then grants him -superhuman power. To Peter, he says--"_Upon this rock will I build my -church. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and -whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and -whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven. Then -charged he his disciples, that they should tell no man that he was Jesus -the Christ._" (Matthew xvi., 18, 19.. 20.) - -From the subsequent conduct of Peter, it is not possible for him to have -witnessed the astonishing miracles said to have been performed in his -presence. Peter was present when Moses and Elijah conversed with Jesus; -and while Peter was speaking to his Divine Master, "_Behold, a bright -cloud overshadowed them, and, behold, a voice out of the cloud, which -said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him._" -Now, if there were such a demonstration as this, (and many such proofs -Peter had been favored with,) how is it possible for us to account for -Peter's denying that he even knew Jesus at all? This ought to be -sufficient for us to conclude that the accounts of those wonders -performed in the lifetime of Jesus, are false statements, written after -the reputed resurrection of Jesus, and the death of Peter, and that -neither of them saw nor believed any thing of the kind whatever. - -In the present chapter, I shall notice the mode adopted by Jesus to -prove his Messiahship. In this investigation, we shall discover a want -of openness and plain-dealing as it relates to the communication of his -objects as the expected _hope and deliverer of Israel._ The reader must -ever keep in mind, that the object of Christ's coming, so far as the -Jews were interested, was, first, to prove, beyond the shadow of a -doubt, that the true and only Messiah had arrived among them. Until this -was settled, nothing which Jesus said or taught would be of any avail, -because, unless this point was established, none would admit his -authority to enforce any thing that appeared in opposition to Jewish -theology, or to the ceremonies of the laws of Moses, the observance of -which, the Jews could not be prevailed upon to neglect; for it clearly -appears that the Jewish priests and rulers never showed any disposition -to resist, or in any way to treat with disrespect, the _holy one of -Israel_. The Jews, then, were in a favorable state of mind to receive -him whom they had so long and so earnestly expected and desired. But, as -that nation had before been deceived, a double degree of caution became -necessary to detect deception and expose imposture; for, until Jesus had -proved, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that he had the sanction of -Heaven for all which he taught, the Jews could place no reliance on his -pretensions. - -It will now be proper to notice the introduction of the mission of Jesus -to the Jews. If he came by the divine command of the Governor of the -Universe, we ought to expect that his mission would be clearly made -known to all those who were interested. Nothing of such vast importance -must be guess-work; and the first and most important of all inquiries -would be, who are you, and by whom are you sent? for, until these -inquiries were 'finally settled, his sayings could not have their full -effect; since, as it has before been remarked, the moral state of the -Jews was not the point at issue, until his mission was made known, and -each party came to a right understanding. When, therefore, the Jews -understood who Jesus was, and the high authority under which he taught, -to correct their moral defects would make a part of his teaching, and -their minds would have been free from the obstacles that stood in the -way of attending to his precepts. - -The erratic method resorted to by Jesus, in his converse with his -nation, as recorded in the history of his life, seems very singular. So -high a personage as the _only Son of God_ to be sent on a mission of -peace and reconciliation to his chosen people, it certainly must be -expected that his steps would have been directed to the most learned men -of his nation, and that all offensive language would have been withheld, -even admitting that the Jews were immoral to a very great degree. But -the acquaintances of Jesus were the most ignorant and unlearned of the -Jews, and were, from the nature of their employment, incapable of -judging correctly of those signs and wonders which Jesus produced as -proofs of his divine authority. The learned priests and scribes were the -proper persons to have resorted to, as being alone competent to examine -and explain all those predictions which related to Christ's coming, as -foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament. What would be thought of -a Minister Extraordinary, who, being sent from Washington to London on -business of the first importance, should he, instead of repairing to -London, make known his mission, by hints and indirect sayings, to some -untaught fishermen, and, at the same time, abuse, and also make use of -the most threatening expressions towards the heads of the government to -whom he was sent? Could it be expected that such conduct would be -productive of any thing but failure? This is exactly similar to the -conduct pursued by Jesus in his intercourse with the Jewish rulers. Can -we, for a moment, admit that Infinite Wisdom could have sent such an -ambassador on the all-important subject of the salvation of the human -race? Jesus repeatedly reproaches the Jews in general, and his disciples -in particular, for their want of faith in his divine authority: at the -same time, he makes use of sayings that it was impossible for them to -understand. - -Jesus often referred to his treatment and death. How was it possible for -them to understand this prediction? It never could have entered the -minds of the descendants of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, that the true -Messiah must suffer death before he could begin to restore the Jews to -their former greatness. Instead of calling together the most talented -and the most influential of the Jewish nation, and openly making known -to them the object of his delegation, he associated with that portion of -society whose knowledge of Jewish history was very limited; and, as if -he dreaded publicity, often charged them to "tell no man that he was the -Christ"--the very opposite course to what appears to be consistent with -the important object of his coming. Taking the history of Christ's life, -and also, more particularly, that of his teaching, he seems to have no -settled plan whatever. At times, he seems to be in the strictest sense a -Jew, not only as it regards his nation, but, also, most strictly -following the law of Moses, submitting even to all its ceremonies. At -other times, he opposes his sayings to those of the law of Moses, and -openly forgives sins, without having any recourse to the offering of -sacrifice according to the Mosaic law. Sometimes, he speaks of being not -only "_Lord of all,_" but that they would "_see him coming down in the -clouds, in power and glory, to judge both quick and dead_"; and then, -again, speaking of his poverty, as "not having where to lay his head." -His living a life of wandering and mendicity, at times making a great -excitement in one place, and suddenly departing to another,--these -strange movements (admitting they occurred) entirely took off the -attention of the heads of the Jewish people, and caused him to be -considered as any thing but the promised _restorer of Israel_. In -addition to his unsettled state, his repeated attacks on the rulers, -holding them up to the scorn and contempt of the people, had generated -such feelings in the minds of the priests and scribes, that they -considered him as a pretender to the Messiahship. Besides the hostility -he showed to rich men, in speaking of the almost impossibility of their -entering that kingdom which was included in all his teachings, namely, -"_The kingdom of heaven is at hand,_" when a rich man asked him "what he -was to do to inherit eternal life?" the answer of Jesus to him was, in -addition to what the rich man had done, "Go and sell all, and give to -the poor, and follow me." We are told that the rich man refused to do -that, and Jesus then said of the rich, "how difficult it was for a rich -man to enter the kingdom of heaven." This is the wild and levelling -doctrine taught by modern prophets. Nothing can be more unreasonable and -unjust. If such doctrines as these had, in in the time of Jesus, been -practised, he would have drawn a host of idlers after him. Besides, to -teach such an unqualified practice as the one proposed to the rich man, -must, at that time, have convinced every well-informed man how very -unfit Jesus was to regulate society. I well know that Christians will -consider this mode of examination of the sayings and doings of Jesus, as -wicked and horrible; as opposing the weak judgment of man to the -infinite wisdom of God. In reply to this, I would say, it is by -investigating the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament, -that we can perceive its defects, and thereby fully discover that the -wise Ruler and Governor of all never sanctioned doctrines such as those -said to have proceeded from Jesus. - -In taking a candid survey of the teaching, manner, and life of Jesus as -it is written in the evangelists, we find that both he and his apostles -lived a wandering life. How they raised funds, we know not, but it seems -that Judas Iscariot was treasurer; and that he loved money better than -he did his master, his betraying him to the rulers for thirty pieces of -silver, fully proved. His having no fixed home, and following no regular -and permanent employment, will throw some light on the system of morals -which Jesus inculcated. Although some of his moral precepts were -undoubtedly good, and calculated to make those happy who reduced them to -practice, still others there were, which, if practised, would create -disorder---such as that which repudiates the taking any thought for the -morrow. There is a vast difference in taking prudential thought for the -morrow, and always looking at the gloomy side of what may possibly -happen. Jesus makes no distinction; but in his explanation he leaves the -subject more obscure than if he had not left any comment at all. Jesus -says, "_Consider the lilies of the field; they toil not, neither do they -spin, yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." -And again, "Take no thought for the morrow, what ye shall eat or what ye -shall drink, nor wherewithal ye shall be clothed, for your heavenly -father knoweth ye have need of all these. But seek ye first the kingdom -of heaven, and its righteousness, and all these things shall be added -unto you." Again, "If a man sue you at law and take your coat, let him -have your cloak also:_" and many more precepts of the same nature, which -are impracticable, and which must be left to prudence and common sense -to carry into practice. - -But this very imperfect code of morals could be practised better by -Jesus and his followers, considering their mode of life, than by others -who had fixed homes. How Jesus and his apostles lived, as to their means -to buy food or clothing, is unknown,--unless they lived the lives of -mendicants, or, to speak more plainly, by what they could pick up, which -is implied in the saying of Christ: "for," says he, "_foxes have holes, -and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has not where to -lay his head,_" To persons so situated, the taking thought for the -morrow would be but of little use; but by those persons who had homes, -and who, by labor, had to provide for a family, such morality could not -be practised. We will give but one instance. - -Suppose a person had business from home for some weeks, and had given -his wife orders to provide his linen, with other things, for his -journey; and when the time arrived for him to leave home, his wife had, -agreeable to the precepts of Jesus, taken no thought for the -morrow,--would such an excuse satisfy the husband? No. Prudent -forethought is connected with every thing moral; and without it, society -would be entirely broken up. But to persons living a wandering life, and -not knowing from one day to another how they should fare; and rising in -the morning ignorant how it might turn out as to where they could lie -down at night--to such, the sayings of Jesus would better apply. But to -those who were settled and had fixed homes, the _taking no thought for -the morrow_ would break up every family who should attempt it. Had we -been of the Jewish nation, and lived in the time of Jesus, in all -probability we should have considered the conduct of Christ very -strange. Sometimes, he upbraided the Jews for their unbelief; and at -others, charged his own apostles to keep as a secret that he was the -Christ. - -The only way to understand this strange history of the Messiah is, to -reject the account of his preaching altogether; and to consider the -whole of his ministry as being written by unknown persons from hearsay -only. And it is nearly proof positive that no such person as Jesus -existed, who said and did those things ascribed to him; for it is -utterly impossible by his history, admitting it to be correct, to -gather, from the evangelists' account of it, for what he came, and also -what end was answered to the Jews. They we're left in a worse state than -if Jesus had not been among them: for, as the Jews mistook the object of -his mission in consequence of the obscurity of his preaching, so the -different sects, to this day, have not decided what is Christianity. - -The history of the life and preaching of Jesus, is such a confusion of -opposite doctrines, that, after eighteen hundred years' investigation, -by men the most learned; and after thousands and tens of thousands of -volumes have been written, and commentators have endeavored to settle -the different and conflicting accounts of what he taught, it still -remains unsettled whether Christ is part God and part man, or whether he -had a natural father, and is to be considered as nothing but a man, but -of superior holiness of life. It is not settled whether Christ died for -all, or only a part of the human race. Again, it is not yet agreed on by -Christian sects whether baptism should be extended to infants, or be -administered exclusively to adults. These, and many more subjects, are -by different parties viewed differently; at the same time all and each -appeal to the New Testament in support of their respective creeds. - -I will now appeal to the reader whether a God of infinite wisdom and -power would be the author of a religion which could give rise to so many -contradictory doctrines? which in the life-time of the propagator was -not understood? and for eighteen hundred years has been a fruitful field -of discord, war, and murder, instead of producing "peace on earth and -good-will towards men?" It has never failed to be a source of war, -hatred, malice, and ill-will towards men; and nothing but the extension -of Infidel Principles can secure the human race against a recurrence of -those dreadful scenes, which, for ages, converted this otherwise happy -world into a slaughter house of human victims. To my brother Infidels, -then, I say, "Ye are the salt of the earth." If you cease from your -noble exertions, the human race may again exhibit one mass of -theological putrefaction. If Infinite wisdom and power had ever -undertaken to give a revelation to man, we should not have witnessed any -blunders or mistakes. A revelation coming from such a being, would have -been directed to some beneficial end, and, like the eternal laws of the -universe, the means made use of would not have failed to bring about the -glorious end intended. But the Bible, including the Old and New -Testaments, is not only unworthy of its pretended high authority; but it -portrays the all-wise Governor and Director of all worlds as a being -changeable, cruel, and unjust. - -In addition to the obscure manner resorted to by Jesus in his speeches, -he seldom conversed with any of his countrymen of any distinction. It -was always the lower ranks of society to whom he directed his sayings; -so that, to the most learned and opulent of the Jews, he was little -known; for when the higher powers were about to take him into custody, -to them he was unknown. It then became expedient to offer a reward to -some one to point him out to the officers appointed to arrest him. Judas -Iscariot was the man who seemed willing as well as competent, to conduct -this ungrateful business. Jesus had often said that _one of his apostles -would betray him_. There is something very strange in the saying of -Jesus, that _he had chosen twelve apostles and one would betray him_. If -Jesus came to the Jews as the promised and expected Messiah, the very -idea of betraying him implies that he did not intend that the Jews -should ever know him as _the sent of God_. At all events, Jesus, at the -time Judas made him personally known to the chief priest and rulers, -complained of the deceitfulness of Judas, which is full proof that he -did not wish at that time to be put on his trial. - -But in what did this betraying consist? The Jewish rulers wished to have -the man pointed out to them who had made so much noise and stir among -the lower order of the people. Judas took the reward, and if Jesus were -really sent by the Lord of all to his nation, this betraying was only -giving him an opportunity of openly avowing his Messiahship. Here then -was the time for him to show such signs and wonders as to prevent any -doubts as to who he was, and of the important object of his coming; for -if _he came into the world to die for the sins of mankind_, Judas then -was of vast importance in bringing about that which was before ordained -by the _determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God_. But if he (Jesus) -did not intend to suffer death, then, and only then, had he cause to -complain of Judas as a traitor. Jesus, in speaking of Judas, says, "_it -had been good for that man if he had never been born:_" but if the -salvation of mankind depended on the death of Christ, a more important -person than Judas was never born of woman. Whether such a man as Jesus -ever lived or not, it is impossible to determine; but admitting that -such a man as he is said to have been, did exist, it does appear that -his life was a scene of incongruities bordering on insanity. And the -whole of his public ministry was so erratic, that it seems as if he had -no specific object in view. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - -NOTHING can be more unreasonable than to admit, for a moment, that the -Almighty Power which governs the vast unbounded universe, should be the -author, either directly or indirectly, of a system which has produced so -much cruelty, carnage, and bloodshed, as the Christian Religion--a very -large portion of which has been brought about by the discordant -doctrines attributed to the preaching of Christ. If God is its author, -(which is more than doubtful,) if, in addition to the evils with which -human nature is afflicted, he had intended to make man's misery -complete, the Christian religion seems well adapted to secure that end, -for it is the key-stone of human wretchedness. A great amount of evil -has resulted from the different sects that have arisen from the New -Testament. - -A few particulars will suffice to show that the various doctrines, all -gathered from and founded on the sayings of Christ, have created discord -and persecution among the followers of Jesus, the pretended pacificator -of the human race. - -One of the most destructive sayings of Jesus--one which has entailed on -the human race a system of continual evil, and which bids fair to last -for ages to come, is the delegated power given to the Apostle Peter, and -which is, to the present day, claimed by his successors. Peter, being -asked by Christ as to what the Jews thought of him, answered that "some -thought that one of the old prophets had returned from the dead, while -others thought differently." But, says Jesus to Peter, "_Whom do you say -that I am?_" Give me your opinion. Peter replied, "_Thou art the Christ, -the Son of God._" This answer was responded to by Jesus, and to Peter he -said, "_Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not -revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven;" and Jesus added, -"Thou art Peter, and on this rock will I build my church, and the gates -of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys -of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall -be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be -loosed in heaven._" (Matthew xvi., 19.) - -After appearing to give Peter unlimited power, he tells him that "_the -chief priest and scribes will put him to death, and that he should be -raised the third day._" Peter, not understanding this sad reverse, and -out of regard for his master, rebuked him, but very mildly, by saying, -"_Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee._" At this, -Jesus seemed to lose his temper, and said, "_Get thee behind me, Satan, -thou art an offence to me._" Jesus then tells Peter that "_The son of -man should come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, to reward -every man according to his works,_" Jesus then adds, "_Verily, I say -unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death -till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom._" - -Now it was not possible for Peter, or any one else, to understand -Christ's meaning. He tells them things concerning his second coming, -before they understood his object as it related to his Messiahship. -Besides, what he told them would surely come to pass in their time, is -not yet fulfilled. This obscure mode of teaching runs through all his -speeches; and he continually reproaches them for their want of faith in -his doctrines. A method so incoherent appears to approach to insanity. - -But to return more immediately to the power given to Peter. A power so -undefined as was given to Peter, at a time when he did not even -comprehend the final destiny of Jesus, cannot be admitted to have been -given. But as this part of Christ's history was written long after his -leaving this earth, the writer, whoever he was, wrote from hearsay; and -there being no one to question its truth, it became, like many other -sayings, reputed as coming from Jesus. Inconsistent as it was, it became -one of the doctrines of the church; and the successors of Peter retain -it in the Catholic Church at the present day. This original power given -unto Peter is still invested in the person of the Pope of Rome, and -through him down to the rest of the clergy. This power, said to have -been given by Jesus to the church, has been productive of discord. The -Popes have held and acted upon it as a divine prerogative bequeathed by -Christ to his church, which has been denied by other sects, so that -quarrels have been the consequence. And hence both rich and poor, -learned and unlearned, have, and do still, confess to the priest their -sins, and receive pardon. - -All the evils that have resulted from such foolery, sprang from the -authority said to have been by Jesus given to Peter. What a rich harvest -have the priests reaped from this delegated power! Can men, possessing -one grain of common sense, believe that such power was ever given to -mortal man? But the different sects will say, that Jesus never intended -that it should be thus understood. This does not mend the matter at all; -for God must have foreseen what use would be made of it. The -consequences, therefore, rest with Him. But are we prepared to admit -that Infinite Wisdom would have left unguarded, doctrines of such vast -importance to the peace and harmony of his church? - -Again, the shocking consequences which have followed the institution of -the Sacrament, or Lord's Supper. Jesus, according as Christians believe, -instituted the breaking of bread and drinking of wine, as an emblem of -his body being broken, and his blood being poured out as a sacrifice for -sin. But this doctrine or ordinance, being undefined, the different -sects of Christians have practised it under the impression of its -sacredness, taking its literal meaning instead of regarding it as a -token of remembrance. The Catholic believes, or professes so to do, that -after the descendants of Peter have prayed over, and consecrated, the -bread and wine, its nature is changed into the real body and blood of -the Saviour. One horrible consequence which has resulted from such -tomfoolery, has been, the burning of hundreds of human beings at the -stake, for not admitting so important a truth. This evil, and many -others, has arisen from the obscure doctrines taught by Jesus, whom the -scriptures describe as being the light of the world. Jesus, before being -taken into heaven, told his disciples that it was for their good that he -should leave them; for, to make up for his absence, _he would send the -Holy Ghost, who would be a comforter, and would lead them into all -truth_. How far this promise has been fulfilled, we have the evidence of -eighteen hundred years; for, immediately after Jesus had left his -church, they became divided, and ever since they have butchered each -other without mercy. This is the comfort, then, that Christians have -received by the coming of the Holy Ghost. - -Another fruitful field of slaughter and blood has been thrown open in -consequence of Jesus withholding from the Christian church the real -nature of his being. So confused was he on this subject, that, even now, -Christians do not agree. Some contend for his manhood alone, and that, -like all other men, he had an earthly father,--the Unitarians, for -instance, and other sects. But the real Orthodox contend that Jesus was -born of a pure virgin, who, though a mother was yet a virgin. These -contradictory views are supported by the life and history of Jesus. Does -it require any thing more than common sense to repudiate the divinity of -a Book containing such opposite statements of the same accounts, or -facts? It is the uncertainty of what Christianity really is, which has -caused so much evil in the world; and this has arisen from the dark and -obscure mode of teaching attributed to the Son of God. Those Christians -who have embraced views so opposite to each other, but who have taken -them from the same Word of God, have, in every age, been the most -implacable enemies, and have seldom failed, when power has been in their -hands, to inflict the most cruel torments on those who differed from -them. Indeed, the history of the Christian Church is one continued -record of persecution and cruelty. - -I was, for some few months, called on by an Orthodox deacon, who -earnestly requested me to reflect on the dangerous situation I was in as -an unbeliever, being totally unprepared for a future state. I asked, if -I were in a worse state than an Unitarian? You admit, said I, that they, -many of them, are good men, and will not be excluded from heaven. He -replied, that, morally speaking, they might be good; but, he added, that -my claim to heaven stood on equal, if not superior ground to theirs, as -they did not believe in the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus for sin; -consequently, they had neither part nor lot in the matter. - -All the intolerance and persecution which have deluged the earth with -blood, have arisen from Christianity not having ever been defined. -Hundreds of different creeds have been founded on the sayings and doings -of Jesus and his apostles, as found in the New Testament; and there are -yet materials for many more. Each sect regards all other sects as being -wickedly obstinate, and resisting the truth. All this misery and -destruction, arising from the different construction of the doctrines -said to have been delivered by Jesus, would never have taken place, if -the all-wise Ruler of the Universe had dictated them; but the evils they -have brought on the world can never be reconciled as coming from a Being -of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness. If such a Being had ever given -a revelation to the human race, there is no doubt but that it would have -been adapted to man's reasoning powers; that mistakes would not have -opposed its progress; thousands of books would not have been required to -explain what Infinite Wisdom had proclaimed; no fires of martyrdom would -have been lighted, to compel men to believe what none could understand. - -If God had been the author of the Christian religion, it would, like all -his works, have been so arranged, and the means so wisely adapted, that -the intention or end would be fully answered. But the religion of the -Bible, both the Old and New Testament, is a continual trial of -experiments on man. And what has religion made of him? Is he generally -fit to be trusted, in word or action? Is he generally humane and -tender-hearted? No! very far from it. Society is, in its best state, -very defective in humanity. The accumulation of riches is the -Christian's object. Gold is the god he adores. - -It is impossible for Christians to deny that the persecutions and -burnings, the cruel torture, and every infliction of cruelty practised -by one sect towards others, who honestly differed from the most -powerful, were all in consequence of the different sects embracing and -maintaining opposite doctrines; all of which were founded on the -teaching of Jesus. Can we, then, believe that the Almighty Ruler of all -worlds would have sent his Son to teach mankind something that should -involve the human race in a never-ending quarrel, by teaching so -obscurely that two persons, equally honest and intelligent, should form -opposite opinions; knowing, as the Almighty must, that such teaching -would engender hatred and malice, and be the cause of producing unheard -of cruelty and torture? - -How dreadful it is to reflect on the mad fury of religious zeal, when -the persecutor and the persecuted are equally sincere! The first, -believing he ought to put to death those who differ from him, for the -glory of God; and the latter, considering that his crown of glory can be -obtained only by sufferings death the most horrid to bear! Poor, -unfortunate creatures! Both parties are objects of pity. The evils -resulting from the different doctrines collected from the teaching of -Jesus, have, for eighteen hundred years, converted the otherwise happy -world into a pious mad-house. The doctrine of human depravity, although -it may not have been so productive of evil as some others, is a libel on -human nature. It is taught by Jesus; the preachers repeat it weekly from -the pulpit; and the necessity of a new birth results from it. A thousand -pulpits thunder forth vengeance against man because of the hardness of -his heart. We are told that he has rebelled against his God; that he is -at enmity with him, and that he has turned his back to his Maker. - -All this is done to humble man, and to bring about his conversion. The -Scriptures also represent the Almighty as angry with poor, feeble man, -and that he will eventually pour out his wrath in never-ending torments! -These doctrines, so earnestly taught, and so fully credited, constitute -a principal part of what comes from ten thousand preachers; and if we -examine the truth of them, none can we find. As it respects man's -rebelling, and turning his back on his Creator, man's error and -misfortune has ever been in trying to find out something about his -Maker. - -This curiosity, no doubt, originated in a state of ignorance. And even -in the present day, man has yet to learn the inutility of every attempt -to discover any thing as to the being and nature of a Supreme Power that -is supposed to govern the universe. We are lost in wonder and admiration -when we contemplate the mighty universe! but of the Grand Regulator of -all, we are, and no doubt shall ever remain, in total ignorance. It is a -libel on man, then, to teach that human beings are at enmity against -God. I ask my readers, both male and female, whether they ever had those -feelings of hatred against the unknown Governor of the grand and sublime -universe? But Christian priests proclaim it; and to those who believe -it, it is a source of lamentation; and being under the belief that man -is the natural enemy of God, the minds of such persons become -prostrated, and then this otherwise happy world is despised and -neglected for a future state of supposed bliss. - -Let any one attend a Protracted Meeting, where there may be some -hundreds of persons, and among the number, many youths of both sexes; -both young and old are appealed to by the speakers, who describe them as -enemies of God, and as having turned their backs on the God of goodness. -They become alarmed, not having before conceived that they could have -been so wicked. I have seen upwards of fifty, at one time, sobbing and -crying and imploring mercy, who, poor, weak mortals, until this -foolishness of being at enmity with God was preached to them, had no -conception of their dreadful enormities and danger. By exciting the -feelings with falsehood, this process is called conversion and the work -of the Holy Ghost. At the same time that the most virtuous females are -denounced as deserving damnation for their wickedness, and told that, -without repentance, their future state will be wretched to all eternity, -should one word derogatory to the character of these females, thus -represented by the priests, be spoken by any body else, an action for -slander would be instituted. - -But as long as people will give up their reason, and be hoodwinked with -the nonsense that God is angry, and that they are every moment in danger -of falling into hell, so long will the Christian priesthood riot in -profusion and plenty, by dealing out damnation to those whose only crime -is enmity against God. So completely hoodwinked is man, that he attends -weekly, and pays well into the bargain, to hear the priest deal out -endless damnation to nine-tenths of the human race; and it is ten -chances to one that he also is included among the subjects of the Devil! -Should an Orthodox preacher, for a few Sundays, preach on moral -subjects, and consider that morality was the one thing needful in the -Christian Church, the congregation would complain that their souls -required more substantial nourishment. The preacher must return to the -old mode of teaching, and again shake them over the lake of fire! And -hence it follows, that, as the people, are not satisfied without having -the wrath of God the constant theme, the preacher gives it as they wish -to have it. An angry God; a cunning, crafty and tempting Devil; and the -enmity of man's wicked heart: this is the set of tools by which the -Christian teacher carries on his theological trade. The discordancy of -religious opinions, and all of them taken from the doctrines as taught -by Jesus and the apostles, each preacher referring to the favorite -passages which support his views, is and will be, a never-ending theme -of disputation; and at some future period, may renew the practice of -burning each other alive for God's glory. - -Nothing but the spread of Infidelity can completely stop this dreadful -evil. We have only to suppose, that, at some future time, the savages -who have been what is called converted by preachers of opposite sects, -such as the Calvinist and the Universalist, or the Trinitarians and -Unitarians, should, by some cause not now foreseen, be left by the -missionaries to support the Christian church; then the savage converts -of different sects would be very likely to fall on each other, and the -fires of Smithfield, which Infidelity, the companion of humanity, has -extinguished, may again blaze on the Islands of the Pacific Ocean. This -is a very probable case; for, in the present day, the same Bible is the -text book of all denominations, and all of them would persecute if they -had but the power. Christianity is now what it ever has been, and what -it ever will be, a persecuting religion; and, although the fires of -martyrdom cease to torment the human race, the embers are still emitting -smoke, and may again be rekindled. Nothing short of _unbelief in all -divine revelation_, openly and fearlessly avowed, can guarantee the -human family against a renewal of the religious butchery of past ages. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - -TAKING the Orthodox views of Christianity, there are four personages -connected with divine revelation, and each has a different department to -act out. The first three are the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Leaving, -for the present, the first three, our attention will, in this chapter, -be directed to the fourth and last, namely, the Devil. And so much -consequence do Christian sects attach to the existence of the Devil, -that, to deny it, or even to doubt it, would be enough to separate a -member from the church. Religious people must have a Devil; for, as the -Devil, by his incessant cunning and temptation, is the indirect author -of men's sins, so, on the other hand, the Saviour stands ready to ransom -the guilty. It then follows, that the sinner, after all, stands on -pretty good ground; for, if the Devil tempts him to commit one-half of -his crimes, and the Saviour pardons the other half, man is not in much -danger of being condemned. - -In this chapter, it will be seen, what an amount of evil has arisen to -the peace and happiness of the human race, not from what the Devil -really has done, but from what mortals have believed he has done, by -supposing him to have almost unlimited power. And here we can perceive, -what evil has transpired from what never has, nor ever could have taken -place, but from what has been believed to have really happened. This has -been in consequence of the credulity of the human mind when reason is -departed from, and man becomes the creature of imagination. It is then -that man can give credit to the most glaring absurdities, and honestly -reject the plain dictates of common sense. It is then that he leaves the -solid earth on which he treads, and launches into the region of airy -nothings; and, by the ductility of his mind, creates beings of so -terrific a nature, that, at the thought of them, the stoutest hearts -have been made to quail. This is strictly true as to the existence and -influence of the Devil. - -That the New Testament sanctions the existence of the Devil, there -remains not a doubt. The temptation of Christ is proof positive. But -that alone should not suffice. The case of Mary Magdalene, and also the -expulsion of devils by Jesus and his disciples, put all doubt out of the -question. When we consider the terrible consequences of this belief on -the peace and happiness of the human race, we can but pity the deluded -creatures, who, in different ages of Christianity, have been sufferers -for the supposed commission of a crime that never was, nor ever will be -committed. All nations, in all ages, have credited, to a lesser or a -greater extent, the existence of a being, or beings, of a malignant -nature, possessing power beyond man's conception; who, from some cause -unknown, delighted in doing mischief to the human family. And ever since -the introduction of the Christian religion, it has been credited that -such wicked spirits could delegate power to human beings equally wicked -as themselves; by which power, they, for a time, could vent their -malice, and do wonders by selling themselves, or by some infernal -contract could do harm to, or among those of, their neighbors who were -so unfortunate as to fall under their displeasure. - -This sin, which never was, and never can be committed, has ever been -thought the worst of crimes; and less mercy shown to the supposed guilty -person than if guilty of murder itself. And so extensively has it been -credited, and so great has been its influence, that laws have, in most -nations, been passed for its punishment; and thousands, and tens of -thousands have been put to death under circumstances of torture at which -the human heart sickens. Surely, if our minds are not entirely darkened -by the ignorance of past ages, we must be able to see that the Bible has -been the most destructive book that was ever written; and is unworthy to -claim infinite power, wisdom, and goodness for its author. If the belief -in witchcraft and sorcery had been confined to the ignorant and -unlearned of all nations, its evil would have been so limited that not -much misery would have followed, because men of good sense and talent -would have stood in the way of its progress. But, unfortunately, this -has not so happened. Its evil influence has ascended to the highest -classes in society. The king on his throne, and the learned judge seated -in the chair of impartial justice, have partaken of its deadly -contagion. The reader will now be presented with facts of the most -undoubted authority, showing what wretchedness has occurred from -believing in the existence and malignity of the Devil--a doctrine -supported by divine revelation. - -The first fact that is brought forward, took place at Bury, St. Edmonds, -in the County of Suffolk, (England,) in the year 1664. Amy Duny and Rose -Callender, two poor women, who were ignorant, and of the coarsest -materials, had, for eight years previous, the reputation of being -witches. So horrid were they considered, that the fishermen would not -sell them fish, and the boys in the streets were taught to fly from them -with horror. The principal charges against them were, that the children -of two families had been many times seized with fits in which they -exclaimed that they saw Amy Duny and Rose Callender coming to torment -them. They vomited, and in their vomit were often found pins, and once -or twice a two-penny nail. - -One or two of the children died. To support these allegations, a wagoner -appeared, whose wagon had been twice overturned in one morning in -consequence of the curses of one of these witches. Sir Matthew Hale -presided at the trial, assisted by Sir Thomas Brown, two of the most -able and learned Judges then in England. Those two poor women were by -the jury found guilty, and hanged on the seventeenth day of March, 1664, -one week after their trial. - -Sir Matthew Hale refused to sum up the evidence, but left it to the -jury, to whom he said, "That the Scriptures left no doubt that there was -such a thing as witchcraft; and instructed them that all they had to do, -was, first, to consider whether the children were really bewitched; and, -secondly, whether the witchcraft was sufficiently brought home to the -prisoners at the bar." The Jury found them guilty, and they were hanged -as before stated. - -Here we have a shocking account of the credulity of the human mind. The -whole English nation were laboring under a mental delusion. Here it was -not to be said, "_O, ye of little faith!_" but, "_O, ye religious -madmen! your faith has changed your nature from kindness and pity, to -perform acts of cruelty which the savage cannibal would shudder to put -into practice._" I would here remind the reader, that Judge Hale was -considered a just and humane Judge. What a dreadful state a nation must -be in, when such laws as have been referred to, were in full force, and -the jurisprudence of England was, as it were, under the influence of a -Being the supposed enemy of man! And it may in truth be said, that an -unknown and invisible world governed one that was known and visible. - -Now, in the case of those two poor women, who were really murdered, the -question arises, who were their murderers? Was it Judge Hale, or the -Jury? It was neither. It was the Bible---a book which records the -existence of a Devil, the sworn enemy of God and men. Reader! can you -withhold pity from two poor creatures in such circumstances, and can you -still praise to the skies a Book that has made the best and wisest of -men cruel brutes,--who, at the same time, were happy to have a chance to -make war against the Devil, by destroying two helpless beings whose only -crime, in all probability, was poverty and ignorance? Every humane -unbeliever must exclaim, "O God! O Nature! what havoc have ignorance and -superstition made among your works!" - -Nothing could be better calculated to give importance to the credibility -of the activity and influence of the Devil's employing and entering into -a league with wicked and ill-disposed persons, after Christianity became -established, than the Scripture account of the Devil's tempting Jesus, -and endeavoring to make a contract with him to obey and submit to his -proposals. But as the Devil was non-suited by the Saviour of mankind, it -might be expected that after Jesus had left this world, the Devil would -endeavor to enlist into his service many of those who had embraced the -religion of that Saviour whom he had tried to seduce. - -In the course of time, in the middle or dark ages, when' men's -imaginations were active, and reason was nearly banished from among -Christians, it became a matter of faith and certainty, that persons in -different towns and villages had really entered into a contract, for a -certain number of years, with the Devil himself; and to carry out and -complete this supposed covenant with the enemy of God and man, a motion -was started of the Devil's Sabbath, on which, a place being appointed, -wicked men and women could meet and contract with Old Lucifer himself; -and books were printed to show the nature of the contract After this -strange opinion became fully credited, and witchcraft was made a crime -punishable by law, those persons who were accused of witchcraft were -tortured, in order to compel them to own that they had attended the -Sabbath of the Devil. - -Another fact will now be stated, to show what ideas of the Devil's -influence prevailed in England and Scotland, in the days of Elizabeth. -James the First, of England, who, succeeding Elizabeth, was born in -1566, was the only direct heir to the Crown of Scotland, and had a -prospect of succeeding Elizabeth in England, which he did on the death -of the Queen. James had witnessed a great number of prosecutions for -witchcraft, in Scotland, in the reign of Mary; and he, as might be -expected, most firmly believed that the Devil was very active in the -country of his birth; so that, when he came to the Crown of England, his -mind was di-rected to put a stop to the prevailing crime of witchcraft -and to break up the Devil's Sabbath, he believing that numbers of his -English subjects were visitors to those unholy meetings. A circumstance -will now be mentioned which will fully prove what views the people of -England and Scotland had of the activity of the Devil in drawing persons -into his service and kingdom; for it is impossible to evade the truth, -that the existence and opposition of the Devil against the progress of -the Gospel, was strengthened by what had been recorded of the Devil in -the New Testament. - -James the First, of England, is here cited to show what was then the -prevailing opinion of the existence of witchcraft in that kingdom. And -although it is painful to reflect on the sufferings of thousands, it -may, by its recital, assist those who are still somewhat in darkness, to -discover how the human race have been deluded. James the First had fixed -his mind on a daughter of the King of Denmark. A splendid embassy was -sent from England to conclude the treaty of marriage, and to bring home -James's royal consort; but the ships met with violent storms, and -instead of arriving at the capital of Scotland, the news came that the -ship in which the Princess had taken passage, was driven back on the -coast of Norway; nothing uncommon m these seas at that, season of the -year. The King, being disappointed, sailed to the place where the -shattered ships lay, and the marriage was consummated; and the King and -Queen remained at Copenhagen, and did not arrive at Edinburgh until the -first of May, 1590. The storm was, after their return, considered to be -the result of some supernatural interference. - -The King, after his return, suspecting that witchcraft had something to -do in raising the storm which drove his intended wife on the coast of -Norway, set to work to make discoveries; and two of his female servants -were suspected of causing the storm before alluded to. Their names were -Geillis Duncan and Agnes Sampson. Both of them were put to the torture -to extort confession. These poor young women, broken down and exhausted -by so dreadful an operation, became willing to answer such questions as -this royal blockhead had prepared to put to them. Agnes Sampson told the -King, that she, in company with two hundred other witches, had sailed in -sieves from Leith to North Berwick Church; how they had there -encountered the Devil in person; how they had feasted with him, and what -obscenities had been; practised. She related, that in this voyage they -had drowned a cat, having first baptized it; and that immediately a -dreadful storm arose, and in this very storm the King's ship had been -separated from the rest of the fleet. Inconsequence of this confession, -Agnes Sampson was condemned to the flames. The system of torture -resorted to under cir-circumstances of suspicion, compelled poor -suffering creatures to answer any questions put to them to satisfy their -cruel tormentors and in many cases, after all, they were put to death. -King James the First published his Dialogues on Demonology in three -books. But many years after he renounced his belief in the real -existence of Witchcraft altogether; and in the latter part of his reign, -declared that all he had done was the effect of delusion. - -These were dreadful times for humanity. Thousands and tens of thousands -of victims suffered every kind of torture that savage, ingenuity could -devise; and what made it the more to be deplored, the ignorant creatures -who inflicted the torments were honest in their abhorrence of those -unfortunate persons, who suffered for what was, in those dark ages, -considered the worst of crimes. In what horror, then, were persons held -who could be so wicked as to have dealings with the devil? The case of -James is here recorded, to show the reader that the belief in witchcraft -was not confined to the ignorant: and unlettered portion of society; but -that England, and Scotland, and, it may be said, every Christian nation -with its government, and the army also, were all laboring under this -delusion. And the truth of its existence was then, and is now, supported -by the New Testament, and fully confirmed by the Devil's temptation of -Jesus, the Christian's _Son of God_; for the desire manifested by the -Devil to entice Jesus to enter into his service, did, in those dark -ages, strengthen persons in the conclusion that the Devil, although he -failed to seduce the Redeemer, would continue to enlist, if possible, -great numbers into his service. The firm belief of his attempts on the -_Son of God_ would dispose persons to credit the fact that people of -abandoned characters would hire themselves to the Devil. In the days of -Oliver Cromwell, a story is recorded by Echard, the historian, as -shockingly illustrative of the credulity of the age in which he lived. -It takes its date from the morning of the third of September, 1651, when -Cromwell gained the battle of Worcester against Charles the Second. It -is on the authority of Colonel Lindsey, who was senior captain in -Cromwell's own regiment. The story recorded is, "That on the morning of -the battle, Cromwell took with him Colonel Lindsey to the side of a -wood, not far from the army, and bade him alight and follow him into the -wood, and to take particular notice of what he saw and heard. And having -secured their horses, and walked some little way into the wood, Lindsey -began to turn pale, and to be seized with horror from some unknown -cause. Cromwell asked him how he felt himself? He answered, that he was -in such a trembling that he never felt the like in all the conflicts and -battles he had ever been engaged in. 'How, now,' said Cromwell, 'what! -troubled with the vapors? Come forward, man.' They had not gone far, -before Lindsey stood still, and said it was impossible for him to go one -step further. Upon which, Cromwell called him a faint hearted fool, and -bade him stand there and observe, or witness. And then the General, -advancing to some distance from him, met a grave elderly man with a roll -of parchment in his hand, who delivered it to Cromwell, and he eagerly -perused it Lindsey, a little recovered from his fear, heard several loud -words between them, particularly Cromwell said, 'this is but for seven -years, I was to have it for one and twenty.' The grave elderly man told -him positively, it could not be for more than seven. Cromwell cried with -great fierceness, 'It shall, however, be for fourteen years.' Cromwell -then took his parchment, and returning to Lindsey, 'Now, Lindsey,' said -he, 'the battle is our own, I long to be engaged.' It did then commence. -After the first charge, Lindsey deserted his post and rode away with all -speed to a friend's in the county of Suffolk, and never returned. -Cromwell offered a great reward for him, dead or alive. Cromwell died on -that day seven years, September 3, 1658." - -It is of no consequence whether this story is true or not It fully -proves that at that time it was believed, that men sold themselves to -the Devil. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - -TWO more remarkable cases will, in this chapter, be made known to the -reader, to show that for hundreds of years the Devil, or rather the -belief in his existence, was a source of terror to all Christians, and -must have operated on almost every transaction in which society were -engaged. In almost every town and village, to be surrounded with wicked -beings who had entered into a contract with Satan to be empower-ed to -perform deeds of darkness which no prudence could guard against, must -have had an influence on the peace and safety of almost every family. -But now, that the delusion has nearly passed away, and mankind are no -longer subject to such terror, we may be happy to think that our lives -are exempted from the evils which afflicted our forefathers. And nothing -but an open avowal of our unbelief in all systems which in any way -sanction the existence of a Being who has made a large portion of the -human family crazy, can prevent a recurrence of past ignorance with all -its baneful consequences. - -Joan of Arc, called the Maid of Orleans, an unfortunate creature, -demands our pity. Her tragical history ought to impel every humane -person to do all in his power to prevent mortals from again witnessing -scenes of so dreadful a nature. - -Henry the Fifth, of England, won the decisive battle of Agincourt in the -year 1415, and some time after concluded a treaty with the reigning King -of France, by which he was recognized, in case of that King's death, as -heir to the throne. Henry the Fifth died in the year 1422, and Charles -the Sixth, of France, in less than two months after. Henry the Sixth was -only nine months old, at the time of his father's death; but such was -the deplorable state of France, that he was the same year proclaimed -King in Paris, and for some years seemed to have every prospect of a -fortunate reign. John, Duke of Bedford, the King's uncle, was declared -Regent of France. The son of Charles the Sixth was reduced to the last -extremity. Orleans was the last strong town in the heart of the kingdom -which held out in his favor; and that place seemed on the point of -surrendering to the conqueror. - -"In this fearful crisis, appeared Joan of Arc, and, in the most -incredible manner, turned the whole tide of affairs. She was a servant -in a poor inn at Demremi, and was accustomed to perform the coarsest -offices, and, in particular, to ride the horses to a neighboring stream -of water. Of course, the situation of France and her hereditary King -formed the universal subject of conversation, and Joan became deeply -impressed with the lamentable state of her country, and the misfortunes -of her King. By dint of perpetual meditation, and feeling in her breast -the promptings of energy and enter-prize, she conceived the idea that -she was destined by Heaven to be the deliverer of France. Agreeably to -the state of intellectual knowledge at that period, she persuaded -herself that she saw visions and held communications with the saints. -She then had conversations with St. Margaret and St. Catherine of -Fierbois. They told her that she was commissioned by God to raise the -siege of Orleans. She then presented herself to Baudricourt, Governor of -the neighboring town of Vaucouleurs, telling him her commission, and -requiring him to send her to the King at Chinon. Baudricourt, at first, -made light of her application; but her importunity, and the ardor she -expressed, at length excited him. He put on her man's attire, gave her -arms, and sent her, under an escort of two gentlemen and their -attendants, to Chinon. Here she immediately addressed the King in -person, who had purposely hid himself behind his courtiers, that she -might not know him. She then delivered her message, and offered, in the -name of the Most High, to raise the siege of Orleans, and conduct King -Charles to Rheims to be anointed. - -"Desperate as was then the state of affairs, Charles and his ministers -immediately resolved to seize the occasion that offered, and put forward -Joan as an instrument to revive the prostrate courage of his subjects. -He had no sooner determined on this, than he pretended to submit the -truth of her mission to the most rigorous trial. He called together an -assembly of theologians and doctors, who rigorously examined Joan, and -pronounced in her favor. He referred the question to the Parliament of -Poictiers, and they who, previously to meeting, were persuaded that she -was an impostor, became convinced of her inspiration. She was mounted on -a highbred steed, furnished with a consecrated banner, and marched, -escorted by a body of five thousand men, to the relief of Orleans. The -French, strongly convinced by so plain an interposition of Heaven, -resumed the courage to which they had long been strangers. - -"Such a phenomenon was exactly suited to the superstition and credulity -of the age. The English were staggered with the rumors that every where -went before her, and struck with a degree of apprehension and terror -that they could not shake off. The garrison, informed of her approach, -made a sally on the other side of the town, and Joan and her convoy -entered without opposition. She displayed her standard in the market -place, and was received as a celestial deliverer. She appears to have -been endowed with a prudence not inferior to her courage and spirit of -enterprise. With great docility, she caught the hints of the commanders -by whom she was surrounded, and, convinced of her own want of experience -and skill, delivered them to the forces as the dictates of Heaven. Thus -the knowledge and discernment of the Generals were brought into play at -the same time that their suggestions acquired new weight when falling -from the lips of the Heaven-instructed heroine. A second convoy arrived, -the wagons and troops passed between the redoubts of the English, while -a dead, silence and astonishment reigned Among the forces so lately -enterprising and irresistible. Joan now called on the garrison no longer -to stand upon the defensive, but boldly to attack the army of the -besiegers. She took one redoubt, and then another. The English, -overwhelmed with amazement, scarcely dared to lift a hand against her. -Their veteran Generals became, spell-bound and powerless, and their -soldiers were driven before the prophetess like a flock of sheep. The -siege was raised. Joan followed the English to a fortified town which -they fixed on as the place of their retreat, and all the English were -made prisoners. The late victorious force now concentrated themselves at -Patay, in Orleanois. Joan advanced to meet them. The battle lasted not a -moment; it was rather a flight than a combat. Fastolfe, one of the -bravest of the English Generals, threw down his arms, and ran for his -life. Talbot and Scales, the other Generals, were made prisoners. - -"The siege of Orleans was raised on the eighth of May, 1429; the battle -of Patay was fought on the tenth of the following month. Joan was, at -that time, twenty-two years of age. This extraordinary turn having been -given to the affairs of the kingdom, Joan next insisted that the King -should march to Rheims, in order to be crowned. Rheims lay in a -direction expressly through the enemy's garrisons. But every thing -yielded to the marvellous fortune that attended upon the heroine. Troyes -opened its gates. Chalons followed the example. Rheims sent a -deputation, with the keys of the city, which met Charles on his march. -The proposed solemnity took place amid the ecstasies and enthusiastic -shouts of his people. It was no sooner over, than Joan stepped forward. -She said, she had now performed the whole of what God had commissioned -her to do. She was satisfied. She entreated the King to dismiss her to -the obscurity from which she had sprung. - -"The Ministers and Generals of France, however, found Joan too useful an -instrument to be willing to part with her thus early, and she yielded to -their earnest expostulations. - -"Under her guidance, they assailed Laon, Soissons, Chauteau, Thirry, -Provins, and many other places, and took them one after another. She -threw herself into Compiegne, which was besieged by the Duke of Burgundy -in conjunction with certain English commanders. The day after her -arrival, she headed a sally against the enemy; twice she repelled them, -but finding their numbers increase every moment with fresh -reinforcements, she directed a retreat. Twice she returned to her -pursuers, and made them recoil; the third time she was less fortunate. -She found herself alone, surrounded by the enemy, and having performed -prodigies of valor, she was compelled to surrender herself a prisoner. -This happened on the twenty-fifth of May, 1430. It remained to be -determined what should be the fate of this admirable woman. Both friends -and enemies agreed that her career had been attended with a supernatural -power. The French, who were so infinitely indebted to her achievements, -and who owed the sudden and glorious reverse of their affairs to her -alone, were convinced that she was immediately commissioned by God, and -vied with each other in reciting the miraculous phenomena which marked -every step in her progress. The English, who saw all the victorious -acquisitions of Henry the Fifth crumbling from their grasp, were equally -impressed with the manifest miracle, but imputed all her good fortune to -a league with the Prince of Darkness. They said, that her boasted -visions were so many delusions of the Devil. They determined to bring -her to trial for the tremendous crimes of sorcery and witchcraft. - -"They believed that if she were once convicted and led out to execution, -the prowess and valor which had hitherto marked their progress, would -return to them, and that they should obtain the same superiority over -their disheartened foes. The Devil, who had hitherto been her constant -ally, terrified at the spectacle of the flames that consumed her, would -instantly return to the infernal regions, and leave the field open to -English enterprise and energy, and to the interposition of God and his -saints. An accusation was prepared against her, and all the solemnities -of a public trial were observed. But the proofs; were so weak and -unsatisfactory, and Joan, though oppressed and treated with the utmost -severity, displayed so much acuteness and presence of mind, that the -court, not venturing to proceed to the last extremity, contented -themselves, with sentencing her to perpetual imprisonment, and to be -allowed no other nourishment than bread and water for life. Before they -yielded to this mitigation of punishment, they caused her to sign with -her mark a recantation of her offences. She acknowledged that the -enthusiasm which had guided her was an illusion, and promised never more -to listen to its suggestions. - -"The hatred of her enemies, however, was not yet appeased. They -determined in some, way to entrap her; They had clothed her in a female -garb; they insidiously laid in her way the habiliments of a man. The -fire, smothered in the bosom of the maid, revived at the sight; she was -alone, she caught up the garments, and; one by one adjusted them to her -person. Spies were set to watch for this even; they burst into her -apartment. What she had done was construed into no less offence than -that of a relapsed heretic. There was no more pardon for such confirmed -delinquency. She was brought out to be burned alive; in the market place -of Rouen, and she died embracing a crucifix, and in her last moments -calling upon the name of Jesus. A few days more than twelve months had -elapsed between the period of her first captivity and her execution." - -The preceding history of Joan of Arc, is taken from "Godwin's Lives of -the Necromancers." Reader! we see in this tragical account, the dreadful -effects of human credulity. The unfortunate; Maid of Orleans, who so -well deserved a monument for her patriotism, was thus cruelly put to -death. Her hard fate fully shows how superstition fortifies the mind -against compassion and the dictates of common sense. In that the of -religious intolerance, whole nations, had caught this theological fever. -Kings and Parliaments, Judges and Generals, from the highest to the -lowest, were alike the subjects of that awful contagion. Justice was -banished from the earth, and humanity had no existence. From whence -proceeded this state of savage barbarism? The answer is presented to us -in bold relief. It was the effects of human credulity. It was brought on -by believing without examination; and, in the New Testament, faith is -urged as the thing most pleasing to God, and unbelief as the greatest -sin. The existence of the Devil, and his enmity, to God and man, being -supported by the New Testament, to be guilty of forming a contract with -the Prince of Darkness was considered a horrid crime. The origin of -sorcery, (which consisted in holding a communion with beings from the -fabulous world of spirits,) is lost in the night and darkness of -antiquity, but all ancient-nations and people were believers in its -reality. - -It was of heathen origin, yet the Jews practised it, and individuals -followed it for a livelihood, as, for instance, the witch of Endor. -Christians have also been believers in it in connection with all the -different branches of magic. - -But that which has established its truth among Christians, is the part -performed by Jesus during his ministry. By his own temptation by the -Devil, the Existence of the Devil is put beyond all doubt And when Jesus -was about to cast out a devil, the devil is reported to have cried out -to the Saviour, "_We know who thou art, and art thou come to torment us -before the tinte?_" This mode of expression to Jesus by the Devil who -was about to be cast out, implies that when the Devil was ejected, he -had to return to hell, his native place of torment. It would lead us to -infer that devils were permitted to leave their dread abodes, and take -possession of men or animals, as a cessation of torture; but when cast -out, they had to return home, their vacation being run out Admitting -this to be warranted by the New Testament, we can account for those -devils whose names were "Legion," petitioning to _be permitted to enter -the herd of swine_. So, then, it appears that the devils had other -motives in taking possession of human beings than to rebel against God, -or to torment men. It was a fine holiday to blow off the soot and ashes, -and to get fresh air. At any rate, Jesus, by pretending to cast out -devils, fully admitted their existence. And by the temptation of Christ, -is proved a desire on the part of the Devil to enlist persons into his -service. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - -THE reader will not fail to notice, that the personage known by the name -of the Devil, Satan, &c., is treated of more fully than any other -recorded in the Old or New Testament. The reason is, because his -influence exceeds that of all the prophets, and even of the Saviour -himself. So destructive has been his supposed reign, throughout the -earth, that hundreds of volumes could be written, and still the half -would remain untold. In the conclusion of this chapter, an account will -be given of witchcraft in Sweden, which far exceeds any thing on record. -The bare recital fills the mind with horror, pity, and indignation. - -Before giving the dreadful tale, it will not be amiss to indulge in a -few thoughts on the probable origin of the existence of a Being who has -been a terror to all nations, both learned and ignorant. As the writer -is convinced that every thing pertaining to theology is of man's -creation, it may be useful to express his opinions how it has happened -that all religions have been based on two beings who have ever been -opposed to each other, namely, a God and a Devil. Their opposition to -each other is the ground-work of every system, whether it be of saint or -savage. - -To attempt to go back to the origin of theology, as to when or where it -first assumed the form of religious worship, is to begin at the -beginning of the human race. Religion may be compared to a chain, the -first link of which is hidden in the darkness of past ages. The curtain -is continually dropping; and the most that we can do is, to peep behind -one of its comers. We find ourselves connected with that link which we -call Christianity. How many preceding links there may have been, we know -not, nor have we any means of knowing. All, therefore, is but -conjecture. But carrying our ideas back to a time we know not when, to -the beginning of that theology, the basis of which is a God and Devil -opposing each other, the following memories are presented:--Before human -beings were acquainted with the laws of nature, the universe must have -presented to them appearances which surprised and alarmed them. -Receiving no ideas but through the medium of the senses, the first idea -which must strike them would be, the great contrast between a mighty -power and their own weakness. They would discover from what they saw -around them, a mighty power which no prudence could guard against, and -which no strength, which they had, could oppose. They would see, that, -if by accident, they fell into water, it would destroy life; if, by any -means, their dwellings took fire, it would consume them; that thunder -was calculated to alarm them, and that death, often followed the storm; -and also, that the slightest accident often caused severe pain, and -sickness followed, without their being acquainted with the original -cause of all these evils. The first men, then, must have been astonished -with the mighty power which every where surrounded them, when compared -with their own weakness. Sometimes tasting the sweets of life, and at -others, its evils, the first gave them pleasing sensations, the last, -pain and distress. Having, then, nothing to guide them in drawing -conclusions but the objects by which they were surrounded, they inferred -that the mighty power which was every moment visible to their senses, -and from which they received every thing that contributed to their -happiness, resided in a being like themselves, but possessing wisdom and -goodness. - -To these children of nature, who saw "God in the clouds, and heard him -in the wind," by a simple process of the mind, such conclusions were -very natural. The first theologians, then, who, by way of reasoning, we -place at the fountain head of all religious systems which have come down -to us, were convinced of the existence of a Supreme Power who governed -the destinies of the human race. Power, then, was the first idea which -man had, in the infancy of his rea-son, as to the existence of a God; -and it is all that the great-est and wisest of the human race have ever -discovered of the Being called by that name. And in this view of the -subject, there is no man living who is an Atheist. The power that -presented itself to untaught man, required no laborious investigation to -discover. It struck his senses with as equal a force as it does the -profoundest philosopher. On the contrary, the wisdom and goodness -ascribed to God, resulted from a knowledge of the order and wonderful -adaptation which pervades the universe, the investigation of which has -employed master minds in all subsequent ages. - -But untutored man must be overwhelmed with thinking of that power to -whose bounds he could set no limits. The wisdom and munificence that run -through all nature, were to him unknown. To those, therefore, from whom -theology took its rise, it was a world of confusion. Ignorant of cause -and effect in the order of nature, and their imaginations being active, -while their reasoning powers were undeveloped, every thing they saw or -felt was to them a mixture of pleasurable or painful sensations. The -pleasure, ease, or comfort which they enjoyed, would be considered as -the gift of a good power which conferred such blessings. On the other -hand, it would appear inconsistent to them to ascribe the evils -attending them to the author of good, they being incapable of judging -that good (pleasure) and evil (pain) could proceed from the same power. - -In reasoning from what they saw, they concluded that power was connected -with, and resided in, living beings, who had life and motion like -themselves. Hence they inferred, that the power from whom they received -good, existed somewhere to them unknown. Proceeding in the same track in -which they, in imagination, first set out, they conceived this power to -be a Being whose residence was in the starry heavens. Untaught man, -having imagined a Being from whom he received all the good, in following -on in the same course soon came to the certain conclusion that the God -who was the author of all his happiness, must have a location, a -dwelling above, in some of the stars--at any rate, beyond the ken of -mortals. As men's thinking powers became move expanded, but still under -the influence of imagination, they would conclude that this Being who -dwelt in the skies, would, of course, have his attendants who fulfilled -his orders, and added splendor to his habitation. - -It appears, that by such a train of thinking, under the influence of the -imagination, that the religious system which has come down to us, and -which, from time to time, has had additions and modifications, namely, -the existence of a God and of a place called Heaven, inhabited by -angels, had its origin. Ignorant of the laws of nature, the power of -imagination has produced, owing to the organization of the human mind, a -world of fiction, consisting of a God, angels, and a habitation in the -skies. By the same process of reasoning, (though feeble,) yet propelled -by an active imagination, which had fixed the habitation of a good Being -in the skies, in a splendid city, with attendants singing his praises, -and eager to execute his orders, untaught man now turned hi# attention -to the author of his misfortunes and misery. Being totally ignorant that -a portion of pain was indispensable to the full enjoyment of happiness -in his precarious life, he could not think that pleasure and pain -proceeded from the same being; which must have induced him to conclude -that an evil and malignant being existed, nearly equal in power to the -one that was good; and to such an one, he ascribed all pain and -misfortune. - -Here, then, are all the materials for a system of theology which has -been propagated and believed in by every nation under heaven, in which -have been included "saint, savage, and sage." In all the hundreds of -systems of religious worship, the before-mentioned materials have been -the ground-work, with the exception of the Jewish; for, during their -dispensation, the Devil made no part of it. But when Jesus came to -gather up "_the lost sheep of the house of Israel,_" along came Mr. -Devil to oppose him. As the imagination had created a Devil, the Father -of all evil, something was still wanting to complete the whole; and that -was, an abode of darkness and horror. Hell, then, is his dread mansion, -over which he reigns triumphant. - -It has been reserved for the Christian Religion to depict hell in all -its awful terrors. The New Testament represents hell as a place of -torment by fire never-ending, where the unfortunate occupants are -forever burning, but kept alive, and never consumed. The hell of the -Greeks and other nations is less horrible, being represented as the -abode of darkness, humiliation, and sorrow. But Christianity has a God -in heaven, and a Devil in hell, forever contending with each other, like -gladiators of old for the prize; and that prize is the human race. But -the same New Testament represents that the Devil will have by far the -greatest number of prisoners, so that, in the final winding up of this -holy war, _Old Nick_ will win the field. - -The same process of reasoning, which led man, in the infancy of his -reason, to personify the power who presided over the human race, induced -him to infer that his pain and misfortune emanated from a malignant -being, who delighted to do him harm. He then, by the simple process of -his imagination, concluded that there must be two opposing powers which -governed the affairs of mortals. The good, proceeded from a being who -showered down blessings on mortals; and all evil and pain, from a being -who took pleasure in the unhappiness of the human race; and his -residence, to correspond with his evil disposition, was by them fixed in -the gloomy regions of darkness and horror. This, then, Christians, -appears to have been the origin of your God and Heaven; and also your -Devil and Hell. That both heaven and hell are of heathen origin, there -can be no doubt; and it is also equally clear, that the Jews, when they -returned from captivity, brought these doctrines back with them into -Judea. They then made part of the Jewish faith, and Jesus embraced them; -for he pretended to cast out devils, and the Devil enticed him in the -wilderness to rebel against God and enlist into the service of his -Satanic Majesty. And this heaven, which originated in heathenism, Jesus -promised as the reward of his faithful followers; and with this very -hell he threatened the disobedient. - -What can Christians say (after this) of the divinity or the antiquity of -the New Testament? Its doctrines originated in an age unknown, among a -people more ancient than Moses, or than Adam, who is said to have been -the first man. Yes! ye ministers of grace, your heaven and hell, by the -proclaiming of which you alarm the good man, but make the wicked man -worse, have no more existence in reality than the heaven and hell of -Mahomet. But if there be a heaven, such as you preach up, and the road -to it be as difficult as Jesus declared it to be, many of you will have -to put up at the half-way house; you will never reach the end of your -journey. - -The following account of witchcraft in Sweden, is extracted from -"Godwin's Lives of the Necromancers:"--"The story of witchcraft, as it -is reported to have passed in Sweden, in the year 1670, and has many -times been reprinted in this country, (England,) is, on several -accounts, one of the most interesting and deplorable that has ever been -recorded. The scene lies in Dalecarlia, a country forever memorable as -having witnessed some of the earliest adventures of Gustavus Vasa, his -deepest humiliation, and the first commencement of his prosperous -fortune. The Dalecarlians are represented to us as the simplest, the -most faithful, and the bravest of the sons of men;--men, undebauched and -unsuspicious, but who devoted themselves in the most disinterested -manner for a cause that appeared to them worthy of support, the cause of -liberty and independence against the cruellest of tyrants. At least, -such they were in 1520, one hundred and fifty years before the date of -the story we are going to recount. The site of these events was at Mohra -and Elfdale, in the province that has just been mentioned. The -Dalecarlians, simple and ignorant, but of exemplary integrity and -honesty, who dwelt amid impracticably mountains and spacious mines of -copper and iron, were distinguished for superstition among the countries -of the north, where all were superstitious. They were probably subject, -at intervals, to the periodical visitation of alarms of witches, when -whole races of men became wild with the infection, without any one's -being able to account for it. - -"In the year 1670, and one or two preceding years, there was a great -alarm of witches in the town of Mohra. There were always two or three -witches existing in some of the obscure quarters of this place; but now -they increased in number, and showed their faces with the utmost -audacity. Their mode, on the present occasion, was, to make a journey -through the air to Blockula, an imaginary scene of retirement, which -none but the witches and their dupes had ever seen. Here they met with -feasts and various entertainments, which it seems had particular charms -for the persons who partook of them. The witches used to go into a -field, in the environs of Mohra, and cry aloud to the Devil in a -peculiar sort of recitation, "_Antecessor! come and carry us to -Blockula._" Then appeared a multitude of strange beasts: men, spits, -posts, and goats with spits run through their entrails, and projecting -behind, that all might have room. The witches mounted these beasts of -burden, as vehicles, and were conveyed through the air over high walls -and mountains, and through churches and chimneys, without perceptible -impediment, till they arrived at the place of their destination. - -"Here the Devil feasted them with various compounds and confections; -and, having feasted to their heart's content, they danced and then -fought. The Devil made them ride on spits, from which they were thrown; -and the Devil beat them with the spits and laughed at them. He then -caused them to build a house to protect them against the day of -judgment, and presently overturned the walls of the house, and derided -them again. All sorts of obscenities were reported to follow upon these -scenes. The Devil begot on the witches sons and daughters; this new -generation intermarried again, and the issue of this further conjunction -appears to have been toads and serpents. How all this pedigree -proceeded, in the two or three years in which Blockula had never been -heard of, I know not that the witches were ever called on to explain. -But what was most of all to be deplored, the Devil was not content with -seducing the witches to go and celebrate this infernal Sabbath; he -further insisted that they should bring the children of Mohra along with -them. - -"At first, he was satisfied, if each witch brought one: but now, he -demanded that each witch should bring six or seven for her quota. How -the witches managed with the minds of the children, we are at a loss to -guess. These poor, harmless innocents, steeped to the very lips in -ignorance and superstition, were, by some means, kept in continual alarm -by the wicked, or, to speak more truly, the insane old women, and said -as their prompters said. It does not appear that the children ever left -their beds, at the time they reported they had been to Blockula. Their -parents watched them with fearful anxiety. At a certain time of the -night, the children were seized with a strange shuddering; their limbs -were agitated, and their skins covered with a profuse perspiration. When -they came to themselves, they related that they had been to Blockula, -and the strange things they had seen, similar to what had already been -described by the women. Three hundred children, of various ages, are -said to have been seized with this epidemic. - -"The whole town of Mohra became subject to the infection, and were -overcome with the deepest affliction. They consulted together, and drew -up a petition to the royal counsel at Stockholm, entreating that they -would discover some remedy, and that the government would interpose its -authority to put an end to a calamity to which otherwise they could find -no limit. The King of Sweden, at that time, was Charles the Eleventh, -father of Charles the Twelfth, and was only fourteen years of age. His -council, in their wisdom, deputed two commissioners to Morah, and -furnished them with powers to examine witnesses, and take whatever -proceedings they might judge necessary to put an end to so unspeakable a -calamity. They entered on the business of their commission, on the -thirteenth of August, the ceremony having been begun with two sermons in -the great church of Mohra, in which we may be sure the damnable sin of -witchcraft was fully dilated on, and concluded with prayers to Almighty -God, that, in his mercy, he would speedily bring to an end the -tremendous misfortune with which, for their sins, he had seen fit to -afflict the poor people of Mohra. The next day they opened their -commission. Seventy witches were brought before them. They were all, at -first, steadfast in their denial, alleging that the charges were -wantonly brought against them, solely from malice and ill-will. But the -judges were earnest in pressing them, till, at length, first one, and -then another, burst into tears, and confessed all. Twenty-three were -prevailed on thus to disburden their consciences; but nearly the whole, -those who owned the justice of their sentence, as well as those who -protested their innocence to the last, were executed. Fifteen children -confessed their guilt, and were also executed. Thirty-six other -children, (who, we may infer, did confess,) between the ages of nine and -sixteen, were condemned to run the gauntlet, and to be whipped on their -hands at the church door every Sunday for a year together. Twenty others -were whipped on their hands for three Sundays." - -This is certainly a very deplorable scene; and is made the more so, by -the previous character which history has imposed on us, of the -simplicity, integrity, and generous love of liberty of the Dalecarlians. -For the children and their parents, we can feel nothing but unmingled -pity. The case of the witches is different. That three hundred children -should have been made the victims of this imaginary witchcraft, is -doubtless a grievous calamity. And that a number of women should be -found, so depraved and so barbarous, as by their incessant suggestions -to have practised on the minds of these children, so as to have robbed -them of their sober sense, to have frightened them into fits and -disease, and made them believe the most odious impossibilities, argued a -most degenerate character, and well merited severe reprobation, but not -death. Add to which, many of those women may be believed innocent; -otherwise, a great majority of those who were executed would not have -died protesting their entire freedom from what was imputed to them. Some -of the parents, no doubt from folly and ill-judgment, aided the -alienation of mind in their children, which they afterward so deeply -deplored, and gratified their senseless aversion to the old women, when -they were themselves in many cases more the real authors of the evil -than those who suffered. - -The honest and serious reader is now recommended to pause, and, for a -moment, reflect on the foregoing recital; for if ten thousand real -devils had been let loose and turned out on the earth in a visible and -bodily form, and had been permitted to do their worst against the human -race, if such a thing had actually taken place, the evils inflicted by -them would have been little compared to what has really taken place by -men's believing in the existence of an invisible Devil, who never had a -being but in the imagination of mortals. The destructive influence which -has spread over the whole earth has brought to a premature grave -thousands and tens of thousands of harmless beings, who have been -charged with holding converse with this supposed enemy of God and man. -Of all the crimes which have been committed on earth, to sin against -Orthodox faith has been considered the worst; when, in fact, it is no -sin at all. There is nothing immoral in it. To differ from any man, or -from all men, about religion, cannot be a crime. It is the inherent -right of every human being; and to rob him of that right is the worst of -felony. But to punish a man with death in addition, is to unite robbery -and murder. And what makes it worse is, that religious offenders are put -to death without pity or mercy. Few, very few tears of compassion ever -have fallen for them, where Christianity has been the prosecutor. - -The baneful influence which has spread over the world, by believing in -the existence of the Devil, is shocking to humanity. It has been -computed that as many as one million persons have suffered, in various -ways, since the commencement of the Christian era. Some have been -banished; some have been branded and imprisoned; others put to death, -after having been tortured in the most cruel manner; and thousands have -been out-lawed and driven from their peaceful homes without pity. All -this has taken place because the Scriptures teach and support the -existence of a Devil, the inveterate enemy of God and men. There is no -doctrine more fully carried out in the New Testament than the existence -and hostile activity of the Devil. Jesus, it is said, "_cast them out._" -He also was tempted to rebel against God, and to worship the Devil. In -the Book of Job, the Devil is represented as being permitted to afflict -Job. And Jesus threatens the ungodly with a punishment in connection -with the Devil and his angels. If a devil has no being whatever, why -should Jesus pretend to cast out devils? And if there be, in truth, such -a personage as the Devil, possessing such power, and, also, forever -opposing Almighty power, can it be possible that a God of goodness would -permit him to live and annoy God and men? - -We see that it is the height of folly to suppose that such a personage -ever did live, or does now; but the belief of it has been one of the -greatest curses which ever befel mankind. Here, then, let us bring up -the idea, and reflect upon it, that all the evil which has taken place, -and all the sufferings endured by the unfortunate beings in the dark -ages, may possibly again occur. The Bible is the same, and mam is the -same. The difference is in the actions of men in different ages. When -reason and the morality of things are man's guide, then he is peaceable -and humane; but when acting under the imagination, he is capable of -becoming as bad as is the Devil. - -In concluding this chapter, let us look back to those times of ignorance -and superstition. Let us place ourselves by the misortunate victims who -were put to torture and death for a crime they could not commit. Could -they, in their extreme pain, but have had a hope that a day would arrive -when a band of master spirits would arise on the shores of the Atlantic, -who, by reason and the moral fitness of things, would upset and -prostrate the systems under which they so severely suffered---could the -poor, suffering victim, with his broken heart and fractured limbs, have -had assurance, when his tortured mind was about to quit its lacerated -boundary, that a time would soon surely come when the truth of the Bible -and the existence of a Devil would cease to be made the instruments of -unspeakable misery and torment, it would have been a cheerful ray of -comfort amid the devouring flame. The time _has_ at length arrived, and -we ought to improve it. Let us, then, with untiring perseverance and -moral courage, give the death-blow to the Divinity of the Old and New -Testaments, and thereby forever obliterate, not only the incentives to, -but also the remembrance of all religious persecutions. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - -AS this work is about to be concluded, it will be of importance to the -reader that a comprehensive view be taken of the mission of Christ to -the Jewish nation. In doing which, an opportunity will be given to such -of my readers as may hitherto have been afraid to doubt the truth of the -Divine authority of the Bible, to see, at one glance, its absurdity. - -In the four Gospels, which contain the sayings and doings of Jesus -during his ministry among the Jews, and also in the Epistles of the -Apostles, it is uniformly declared and enforced, that the main purpose -of Christ's (_the anointed of God_) coming into the world was, to die. -And this death was required by the Father as an atonement for the sins -of mankind, that whosoever believed in and obeyed him, their pardon -should be sure, not for any thing which they had done as it related to -justice, chastity, or humanity, but for the ransom paid for their sins -by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. An apostle, in speaking on this -subject, says--"_He (Christ) being delivered by the determined counsel -and foreknowledge of God, ye have, by wicked hands, crucified and -slain._" This decree, then, was absolute, and every movement then made -by Jesus, and also his preaching and conversation with the Jews, was so -arranged, that die he must, to save a lost and ruined world. - -This, according to the Scriptures, was the divine arrangement between -the Father and the Son. This doctrine is taught in the New Testament. -And in such a lost condition were the human race, that Jesus _freely -gave himself as a ransom to be completed in due time_. If the New -Testament does not teach this, it is not possible to know what it does -teach. To die, then, as a sacrifice for sin, included the sum and -substance of the Gospel, or good news. - -Having laid down the ground-work of human redemption, we proceed to -carry through the plan said to be the work of mercy and goodness flowing -from the mighty God, the author of all things. In the examination of -such an arrangement, it appears impossible to conclude that the Author -of the Universe can be considered as the God of the Jews and Christians. -The Jews had always been taught to believe that they were God's favorite -people, and they retain the same faith to the present day. For ages -before the Christian era, they not only expected the coming of the -Messiah, but also, that no nation but their own would be interested in -that glorious event. It never entered their minds that he would come in -any disguise, for many impostors had appeared, who, being discovered, -their Messiahship procured them certain destruction. The Jews, -therefore, inferred, that when the proper time should arrive for the -long-expected and ardently-looked for Messiah to appear among them, -their nation would be raised to more than its former greatness, and -God's chosen people would be held up to the nations of the earth as -confirming the truth of what their ancient prophets had foretold of -their future prosperity. - -It could never, therefore, have entered the minds of the Jews, as a -nation, that the Messiah would come in any disguise. And it must have -been far from their thoughts to expect that he, when he should arrive, -would load them with violent abuse, and reproach them as being too low -to be considered as any thing else than a nation of hypocrites. If Jesus -came into this world to die, then every thing which he taught, and also -all the intercourse which he had with his own people, was preparatory to -that event. That the Messiah would come to the Jewish nation to dwell -among them, to be their leader, to exalt them above all other nations, -was what they had been taught to expect. Instead of which, he calls them -"_a generation of vipers!_" and pronounces terrible things against the -heads of the nation, commencing his denunciations with "_Woe unto you, -scribes and pharisees, hypocrites!_" Such violence and abuse surprised -them, coming from one who said "_he came to seek and to save that which -was lost._" - -Again, Jesus said that "_he came not to call the righteous, but sinners -to repentance._" But Jesus gave them no quarter, but sent them head and -heels to the Devil. The Jewish rulers must have been more than human to -have quietly taken such vulgar abuse. Sometimes, Jesus seemed to soften -down in his conduct, as when he says, "_O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! how -often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth -her chickens under her wings, but ye would not._" So erratic is Jesus -depicted, in the account we have transmitted down to us, that we are at -a loss as to forming an opinion concerning his manner of treating his -own people. But as it was "_by the determined counsel and foreknowledge -of God_" that he was to be a "_sacrifice for the sins of mankind,_" his -mode of addressing the rulers of Israel was calculated to bring about -the "_will of his Father._" - -Admitting, for the sake of argument, that Jesus was the true Messiah, -the Jews were in a worse state than if he had not appeared among them. -The statement made by Jesus of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of his -second coming, confounded all their ideas of the Messiah's kingdom. In -the twenty-third and twenty-fourth chapters of Matthew, after having -pronounced a number of dreadful predictions against them, he winds up in -chapter twenty-third as follows, "*YE SERPENTS! YE GENERATION OF VIPERS! -HOW CAN YE ESCAPE THE DAMNATION OF HELL?*" In the twenty-fourth chapter -of Matthew, Jesus gives a long account of his second coming. How was it -possible for the Jews to understand what he there describes? Their -desire was, to know if he was the Messiah promised by the prophets; and, -if so, what steps he would take for the exaltation of their nation, so -that they might enjoy all they had been induced to expect when the "_sun -of righteousness should arise with healing in his hands_." - -For Jesus to tell his disciples and the Jewish nation what would be the -signs of his second coming, before they under-stood what his object was -in coming the first time, must appear very strange. From the particular -account which Jesus gave of his second coming, the Jews must have -understood him to mean, that although he professed to be the true -Messiah, yet his stay was but short with them. As yet, his time for -operation was not come. The discourses of Jesus to his countrymen, were -all calculated to mislead and confound them. In his sermon on the Mount, -he claims an authority of his own superior to the law of Moses. Matthew, -chapter v., verse 33--"_Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by -them of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself but shall perform unto -the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto you, swear not at all_" Verse -38--"_Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a -tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil; but -whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheeky turn to him the other -also._" What could the Jewish rulers think of a man, who, without any -ceremony, set up laws in direct opposition to the laws of Moses, when, -at other times, he declared himself a follower of Moses, and that he -came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it? Such inconsistent -teaching as this, will not admit of Infinite Wisdom's being the author. - -In Matthew, chapter xiii., 10, it reads--"_And the disciples came and -said unto him, Why speaketh thou unto them in parables? He answered and -said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of -the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." Verse -13--"Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing, see -not; and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand." Verse -14--"And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By -hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see -and shall not perceive." Verse 15--"For this people's heart is waxed -gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have -closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with -their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be -converted and I should heal them_" - -Now this mode of treating the Jewish nation is perfectly in character -with the plan, in accordance with which, Jesus came to lay down his life -for sinners; for had he convinced the Jews that he was the expected -restorer of Israel, no Jewish arm would have been raised against him; -nor would it have been possible to have prevailed on the national rulers -to have attempted his life; since although the priests and Pharisees -might, in a moral point of view, have been wicked in the extreme, still -their veneration for, and their earnest expectation of the coming of, -the Messiah, would have prevented any hostile feelings against "_the -anointed of the Lord, the Holy one of Israel._" - -But if the preaching of Christ, and his arrangements, were of such a -nature that the Jews supposed the whole to be an imposture, then the -case took a different turn altogether. Instead of the Jews refusing to -receive Jesus as the sent of God, they put him to death from the hatred -which they had towards any one who they supposed had fabricated his -authority and office. If the main object of Christ's coming to the Jews -was to die for the sins of mankind, both Jew and Gentile, and thus -become a willing sacrifice for sin,--if this was the plan of human -redemption, it then follows that the Jews did that part which, in the -divine arrangement, was allotted for them to do. Then the conduct of -Jesus was consistent in keeping them ignorant, so that their part might -by them be carried out. If he had convinced them, that he was, in truth, -the sent of God, but that they must hang him on a tree, the plan of -human redemption would have failed, for they, immoral as they might be, -never would have put him to death. - -There could be no other way of bringing about the death of Christ, but -by keeping the Jewish nation ignorant that he was the Messiah. The -course that was pursued by Jesus, would imply that his orders were to so -act among them, that their condemnation would be just for rejecting him; -but on no account to perform miracles sufficient to convince them, for -in that case the Jews would not have condemned and put him to death as a -blasphemer and an impostor. Again, if Jesus came on earth to die, and -without shedding his blood there could be "_no remission of sin_" what -mockery for him to exclaim "_O Jerusalem! Jerusalem I how oft would I -have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens -under her wings, and ye would not_!" For if the Jews had sheltered -themselves under the wings of Jesus, how was he to die as a sacrifice -for sin? But he was not put to death, they knowing him to be the Christ, -but on the contrary, they condemned him for pretending to be the very -anointed of the Lord. And although the story was propagated that Jesus -arose, after his descent from the cross, the Jews as a nation did not -give credit to it, nor have they till this day. If, therefore, "_there -is no other name under heaven whereby men can be saved,_" but by -believing in Christ and in his dying for the sins of mankind, then the -Jews, ever since the death of Christ, and also the present race, are -lost and forever shut out from that pardon which was procured by the -death of Jesus, which was brought about by the instrumentality of the -Jews by the condemnation of the Messiah. - -The account of Judas, in what is called betraying his Master, is strange -indeed. In speaking of that circumstance, Jesus says, "_It would have -been better for that man if he had never been born_." Now if Jesus came -to die, Judas, by informing the authorities where he was to be found, -did no more than bring to pass what was before ordained should take -place. Judas, then, was but the instrument to accomplish the plan of -human redemption, by informing the Jewish authorities when and where -they could secure the object which they sought after. The very idea of -betraying Jesus, proves two things:--first, that Jesus was but little -known to the Jews, except from report; and, secondly, that although he -held often said he came to lay down his life for sinful man, yet he -intended to evade death as long as possible. It was owing to this -obscure method of teaching, that his disciples, although always with -him, could not understand fully what his objects were; and though he had -so often told them of "_the kingdom of heaven being at hand,_" they -understood him not. - -To bring the position of the Jews nearer, at the time of Christ's -appearance in Judea, let us suppose ourselves to have been Jews, then -living, and expecting and desiring his coming. At length, it is said, -"he is arrived." The first inquiry would very naturally be, is he the -true Messiah, or is he an impostor? If, then, to our inquiries made to -him on that point, we had received in return nothing positive, but the -vilest abuse, and threatenings of damnation in a future world, could we -be expected to view him as the promised deliverer? When the Jews heard -him denouncing them as hypocrites, and, at the same time, assuming an -authority over Moses, and the laws of Jehovah given by Moses, and -calling the Temple (for which they had so high a veneration) a den of -thieves, it must have had a tendency to shut up their minds against his -divine mission. If Jesus wished the Jews to be convinced of his being -the personage whom they had long expected, he should, in the first -place, have attended to their inquiry, "_Art thou he which should come, -or are we to look for another?_" - -This question being settled, by indisputable evidence, Jesus would have -had a foundation for correcting what was wrong, and exposing their base -conduct. But he began at the wrong-end, by upbraiding them for their -evil doings before he had 'convinced them of his being appointed to -abrogate, or, in any way, to alter, the law of Moses. We may then safely -conclude, if Jesus was divinely commissioned to the Jews, that it was -not intended they should believe in him. But who, for a moment, can -think, that, if the Almighty Ruler of the Universe had sent him, his -mission would have been marked with trickery and deception, and have -failed, and the Jews have been left in a state far worse than if he had -never been among them? Can we reasonably conclude, that a Being of -infinite wisdom and goodness would have sent his Son to the Jewish -nation, without giving them any evidence of his being the Messiah, and -then have taken advantage of their unbelief to deal out judgments -against them? - -If Jesus was sent into the world to die, and by dying, became "_a -sacrifice for the sins of mankind,_" then the Jews, by putting him to -death, brought to maturity what God had ordained should come to pass. In -that case, then, it is clear, that Jesus was so to act, that the Jews -must not be convinced that he was the true and real Messiah, for had -they believed in him as the restorer of their race, whom they had long -expected, they would not have slain the "_Lord of life and glory_." -Then, how would he have paid the "_ransom for lost sinners_"? But, on -the other hand, if Jesus was sent by God to the Jewish nation, and -gifted to perform signs and miracles to convert them, how did it happen -that they remained in sin and unbelief;--their whole race, the seed of -Abram, remaining in that state until the present time? The Jews have -surely been an unfortunate people. To the Jews, then, 1 must say, "I -know not which demands the most pity--you, or your God; for, after all -the attempts to subject you to his will, you are a race of outcasts, and -have been plundered by all the Christian nations on earth. After all the -pains taken by the Lord of Hosts to convert you, every one has failed; -but the last failure is the most to be deplored. From the time Jehovah -is said to have called Abram, your progenitor, and selected him from the -rest of the human race, and promised him and his seed forever, blessings -from which the rest of the world were excluded, Jehovah and your -generations have ever been on bad terms. You are spoken of in Scripture -as a stiff-necked, rebellious people. On the part of God, he has always -appeared as if he was angry with your conduct. Forty years together, he -says, he has been _grieved with your disobedience_. To such a height has -been his displeasure, that thousands and tens of thousands of your -nation have been cut off by the terrible judgments of the Lord. You have -been led into captivity and sold as slaves, time after time, and Jehovah -has even threatened to destroy your whole race. - -"Jehovah, in his anger, has raised heathen kings against you, and the -slaughter has been dreadful. But when you have turned to the Lord, and -humbled yourselves, he has attended to your cry, and delivered you out -of their hands. Jehovah has, at times, inspired prophets who have -foretold that you should one day have a personage appear among you, -restore you to your former greatness, be to you a God, and you should be -to him a people. This personage is said to have been among you, but _you -knew him not_. You, then, from obedience to Jehovah, rejected Jesus as -an impostor, and considered him as arrogating to himself Divine honor, -and finally put him to death. And, for eighteen hundred years, you have -suffered the most cruel treatment from every nation among whom you have -dwelt. You have been the most unfortunate people on earth; but you still -cling to your prophets, and are looking for the coming of the Messiah. - -"And what appears more unfortunate than all your past evils, is, you -have put to death, through mistake, your last refuge, the true Messiah. -There are, at the present time, upwards of one hundred millions of -Christians who maintain and believe that the same Jesus whom _ye slew -and hanged on a tree, is in truth both Lord and Christ,_ the same whom -your nation so long and so earnestly looked for. If, then, faith in that -Christ whom you rejected, has opened the kingdom of heaven to the -Christian world, while your whole race is shut ont, the Christians owe -you a debt of everlasting gratitude, for by this sacrifice they are to -enter into the Supper of the Lamb, and your unfortunate race have the -door closed against them. But do not despair, for the Infidels of the -present day are your friends. They will make all right They will, if you -attend to them, convince you that your forefathers were imposed on, when -in a state of ignorance, by some artful impostor, who persuaded them -that the seed of Abram was chosen by God to the exclusion of all other -people and nations. - -"In the infancy of your nation, Moses, or some other artful leader, took -advantage of your inexperience, and by antedating miracles said to have -been performed in behalf of your ancestors by Jehovah, but which never -were performed, and which at the time was incapable of refutation, your -nation imbibed the reality that the seed of Abram was the _chosen of the -Lord_. This conviction for thousands of years has been received, and has -been handed down from father to Son till the present time. Yes, ye seed -of Abram, (by this name I address you,) by considering yourselves the -chosen people of God, this conviction has been your perpetual curse. -Your faith in the ancient accounts of those miracles and wonders, -wrought in your behalf by Moses, has been your fatal delusion. You -consider it not possible for your fore-, fathers to have been deceived; -for, say you, the miracles and wonders were performed before your whole -nation. - -"In this consists your error. There is no certainty as to who wrote the -history of the wonders, said to have been wrought in your behalf, nor at -what time they were first recorded. But the internal evidence of the -books ascribed to Moses, fully prove him not to have been the author. -The same evidence also proves that the first five books were not written -till after the reign of the first kings of Israel. So that, by -antedating the wonders recorded to have taken place in the infancy of -your nation, and then by a cunning impostor to have been subsequently -presented for the first time to the Jews, giving them an account of -those wonders of old, an ignorant nation would be likely to believe -them; and in that case a whole people would be converted at once, giving -credit to an absurdity producing an influence in the world which has far -exceeded any imposture that ever has been Saddled on the human race. The -dreadful error into which your forefathers fell, and by handing down to -their posterity the foolish story of your being _a chosen people_, the -greatest curse which could befal you, you have, without doubt, been the -most unfortunate people on earth; for by considering yourselves _God's -chosen people_, you have despised the rest of the human race, and you -have in return been persecuted and plundered. You have been treated by -all nations as outcasts. - -"On the ground-work of your having been chosen by the supposed God of -the universe, the world has assumed an appearance very unlike to what it -would have had, if no such imposition had been practised on your -progenitors. Wars innumerable have taken place, and rivers of blood have -flowed through the earth, occasioned by theological strife. Religious -quarrels, ending in the application of the rack and torture, and -persecutions in quick succession, have been the result, and thousand of -horrid cruelties have taken place in every age, all in consequence of -that curse of all curses, the belief that _God has a chosen people_. -Although it had doubtless been thought by your nation the highest -possible honor to be chosen by the Lord, this has proved your greatest -misfortune; for from this source, Christianity has been produced. You -may exult in the idea, that you have in your sacred books, the doctrine -of but one God, notwithstanding your religion and its Christian -offspring has been more cruel and intolerant than any on earth. -According to your own books, your nation and the God who chose them, -were forever at war; your people continually rebelling and receiving -chastisement, till, at last, you are to appearance forsaken. But as has -been before mentioned, the Infidels are your friends; for, by means of -free discussion, and the diffusion of useful knowledge, they will -ultimately destroy that intolerant spirit which has been the earth's -greatest curse, and you will eventually, with the rest of the human -family, open your eyes, and discover the folly and absurdity of -believing in a God "partial, vengeful, and unjust." And then you will be -no longer _Jews_, but will become men." - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - -IN the preceding chapter we have endeavored to ascertain the object of -Christ's coming into the world, but without being able to arrive at any -positive conclusion. As it respected the Jews, they did, and they had a -right to expect, that his, coming would be to them a blessing; and not, -by any means, that it would prove disastrous in its consequences. It is, -by Christians, contended that the primary object of the Messiah's advent -was, to die for sinners; by which death he would make an atonement for -the sins of the world. In this view of the case, (and the Scriptures -seem to bear it out,) the Jews were altogether deceived, and are -therefore objects of pity. The kingdom of heaven being opened to the -world at large, to both Jew and Gentile, the Jews were unsuspectingly -shut out. That Christ did not intend to convince the Jews that he was -the Messiah, seems to be warranted from the manner of his preaching to -them; his violence, and the abusive language he used, being calculated -to prejudice them against him. And again, if Christ was to become a -sacrifice for sin by expiring On the cross, somebody must put him to -death, and the Jews are said to have been his executioners. The Jews, -therefore, did that which the divine mind intended they should do. But -such double-dealing and deception, in order to entrap the Jews, could -never have originated with the Great Eternal, the unchangeable ruler of -all things. - -In reading the history of Jesus, (written nobody knows by whom, or -whether by his authority or not,) we must judge of him by the account as -it stands. It certainly appears strange that we have no intimation that -Jesus gave any orders to his Apostles to write, or in any way to -transmit to posterity an account of his life or doctrines. And it -appears more singular, when we consider in how particular a manner the -laws of Moses were written, which, without doubt, is what kept the Jews -from being divided into a number of sects. But so neglected were the -sayings and doings of Jesus, that, soon after his death, forty or fifty -Gospels were abroad; an equal number of sects sprang up, and the various -religious dogmas were introduced, which, till the present day, have -divided the Christian world, and, at times, have produced wars, -persecutions, and blood. On so important a subject as the salvation of -the human race, it might reasonably be expected that the founder of -Christianity would have left some documents to guard against so -destructive an evil. This entire neglect, if not positive proof against -the divine mission of Jesus, must create doubts leading to the -conclusion that the Christian religion is deficient as to the evidence -of its divine origin. It appears from the Gospels that Jesus was a moral -reformer; that the priests and rulers were proud, haughty, and of wicked -dispositions; that the founder of the Christian religion exposed their -hypocritical pretensions, and that, by thus exciting their malice, he -fell a victim. This has been the fate of hundreds of moral reformers, in -different ages and nations. - -Christians, of all sects, could they be brought to reason impartially on -the mission of Jesus, would have their faith shaken, from the following -considerations:--Admitting, as all Christians do, that the Jewish -religion is of divine authority, and had for ages been by the Jews -considered as such, to set that aside and introduce another, required -authority from heaven, but such authority was never given. The bare word -of Jesus, that he was the sum and substance of the law of Moses both -moral and ceremonial, seems to be insufficient. The Jews, however base -or immoral they were, as a nation never showed a want of faithfulness -when their religion was assailed. So that it appears, that to do away -with the form of worship, and introduce a new order of things, required -something more than the obscure sayings of Jesus, who was but little -known at the time of his death. If, by the coming of Christ, a new -dispensation was to supersede the old, then the highest and the most -incontrovertible authority should be produced. But this was not the -case, for Jesus often charged those whom he had cured of some disease, -"to tell no man" how they were made whole: as much as to say, "Keep -secret with respect to the person who restored you to your former -state." We need not wonder that the Jews rejected Jesus, seeing that he -assumed an authority higher than that of Moses; for, at the giving of -the law on the mountain, it was Jehovah himself who spake to them. The -Jews, then, considered that the same God who gave the law, and he alone, -must change it, or introduce another, and not a person whose object in -coming they could not comprehend, and who taught doctrines, a very great -portion of which, were of a threatening and menacing character. - -And, finally, so little did Christ's disciples understand of his divine -mission, that, when he was betrayed, Peter, the boldest of them all, -became alarmed, and denied any knowledge of him. This was very strange -in Peter, if it was a fact that he heard Moses and Elias, at a former -time, conversing with his Divine Master. But be that as it may, Jesus is -reported to have suffered death on the cross, one of his disciples -informing against him to the rulers, for the paltry sum of thirty pieces -of silver, and another swearing he never knew him. This has often -happened, when a bold reformer has been taken into custody; his -followers would disown and forsake him; but it is not likely that Peter -would thus have acted, had he witnessed the mighty deeds said to have -been done by Jesus. I remember hearing an Unitarian minister remark, -that "If Moses could return from the dead, how he would be surprised to -read what was written of him after his death; and that he would say that -the wonderful things reported of him, he knew nothing about." This, no -doubt, would be the case with Jesus, as all his mighty works are -recorded _of_ him, but none were recorded _by_ him. - -As his resurrection was the key-stone of the Christian arch, some -observations on that all-important event will be made. Whatever Jesus -communicated to his disciples respecting his rising from the dead, -during his life, is not recorded; but it appears that his death entirely -frustrated their expectations. The resurrection of Jesus presented the -most favorable opportunity to dispel all doubts of the Messiahship of -him whom the Jews had put to death as an impostor. It will be in order, -then, to observe what steps were taken by Jesus, after his resurrection, -to convince the Jews, and the world at large, that his mission was from -heaven. This, of all times, was the fittest to convince the Jews of -their unfortunate mistake. The short account given in the Gospels, does -not afford much light on that subject. But if the Jews, as a nation, had -still retained their unbelief, such incredulity must soon have given way -by his continuing among them. - -If the Jews, from mistaken convictions, did put Jesus to death, it seems -but just that they should have had a chance to rectify their unfortunate -error. But owing to the short stay of Jesus on earth, after his -resurrection, and he being the most of that time in company with his -disciples, the Jews had not an opportunity of fully investigating the -reality of his death and re-appearance, and his deportment after it was -said he was returned to life. The greatest difficulty experienced by -Christians in defending the divine authority of the New Testament -Dispensation, is, to account for the sudden departure of Jesus, who, -according to the Scripture record, was taken up into heaven in a few -weeks after his resurrection. To an inquiring mind, there are many -objections which deserve notice. The writer does not pretend to say that -the thing is impossible, because to deny the possibility of it would be -to set limits to the power that governs the universe. - -We will examine the account of Jesus's leaving this world so soon, to -discover if possible, what end was to be obtained by his sudden -departure from the scene of his suffering and degradation. It seems -reasonable to suppose that it was of the highest importance for Jesus to -stay on earth to establish Christianity on a sure foundation. It is -written that he told his disciples that it was for their good that -things were so arranged that he should leave them, for if he went away, -he would send the comforter to them, who was to be their guide, and to -bring to their remembrance the things he had told them; and also that -the Holy Ghost, the comforter, would, to make up for his absence, lead -them into the way of truth. This is, in substance, what they were to -expect. But unfortunately it did not take place, but the reverse; for, -from the accounts which have come down to us, a great number of sects -sprang up in a few years after Jesus left the world, and numerous -gospels were extant, which, for a number of years were quoted by the -early Fathers of the Church, and were considered authentic; but were -afterwards rejected, and are now bound up together and called "The -Rejected Gospels." - -In the beginning of the fourth century, the Christian sects were not -only numerous, but began to assume a spirit of intolerance and -persecution, and when that monster, Constantine, became a convert to -Christianity, religious quarrels were of the most violent character. Not -to dwell on the particulars of these religious differences, we may ask, -what did they quarrel about? The answer is at hand. They quarrelled -about something that Jesus was reported to have said or taught. Their -disputes were not of a moral, but of a theological description. In these -disputed subjects no standard of reference could be set up. Jesus was at -the right hand of his Father, and their differences could not be settled -by him. Quarrel after quarrel followed in quick succession; the strong -persecuted the weak; and the earth was deluged with blood. Constantine, -the Roman Emperor, hoisted the banner of the cross; and after having -murdered nearly the whole of his own family, he sought consolation from -that religion which says, that "the blood of Jesus cleanses from all -sin." - -The history of Jesus, including his doctrines, and also what the -apostles taught concerning him, and the belief in his second coming; the -different opinions that have arisen concerning the person of Christ; and -also, the various dogmas collected from the writers of the gospels, all -taken from what is called divine revelation, have never ceased to -generate quarrels among the different churches professing to be -Christian. Ever since the commencement of Christianity, there has been -little else but religious animosity among the different sects--each of -them professing to have the truth, to the exclusion of all the rest; all -of them appealing to the same word of God to support their various -dogmas. We may then ask, has that proclamation ever been fulfilled, that -was made by _multitude of the "heavenly host_" namely,--"_Peace on earth -and good-will towards men"?_ But no doubt its fulfilment is, in point of -truth, equal to its ever having been given; for angels are airy -nothings, and have no existence but in the imagination. - -From what has been stated, it will be seen that the religious quarrels -which have taken place from the commencement of the Christian era, arose -from the uncertain standard appealed to by the various sects. They all -referred to some particular passage or passages recorded, either by -Christ or his apostles. Every sect had a portion of truth supported by -Scripture authority; and it has at times happened, that whole -congregations, as well as individuals, have changed their opinions -concerning what the Scriptures taught. For instance: a Church, believing -that the Scriptures taught the doctrine of the Trinity, have given up -that doctrine, and embraced Unitarianism. The Scriptures remained the -same; it was their opinions that underwent the change. In fact, every -sect has Scripture for its support; so that it is plain to be seen, that -the New Testament is not, nor ever can be, a true and certain rule to -which a reference can be made, whereby disputes can be ended. The Old -Testament was superior in this respect to the New. And now, after -eighteen hundred years' fighting; in which time, tens of thousands have -been victims, and the earth has been drenched by human blood, nothing is -certain as to what Christianity really is. Can it then be possible, that -the God of the Universe would have left that religion (to establish -which, his Son expired on the cross,) in such a wretched state of -uncertainty, by calling him so early to his holy habitation? Impossible. - -If Christ was taken from this earth, he has now a local habitation, and, -also, he must be actively employed. Can Christians conceive where he is, -and what he is doing? Is it possible he would have remained so long -absent, knowing, as he must, that the cause for which he suffered would -be so wretchedly carried on? The absence of Christ, if not the entire -cause, is one cause of all the religious wars and bloodshed among -nations, and, also, of the hostile feelings of one sect against another. -Had he remained on earth, there would have been but "_one Lord, and his -name one_." If Jesus died for the salvation of the world, common sense -would dictate, that, after his resurrection, he would dwell in that -world for whose salvation he came, and not have been taken into heaven -before his plan of redemption was arranged; so that, instead of union -and harmony prevailing in his absence, by disunion, persecution, and -religious warfare, the different churches exhibited a complete confusion -of tongues. - -If Jesus had remained on earth, all religious persecution would have -been prevented; for if his laws and regulations had been written, and to -each church a copy had been sent, it would not have been possible for -any difference of opinion to have brought on disorder so as materially -to have disturbed the peace of his church. And if any dispute had taken -place, Jesus, dwelling on any particular spot on earth, his authority -could, in such a case, have been appealed to, and the matter would have -been peaceably settled. But, after his death and resurrection, there was -nothing to which a reference could eb made, but certain Gospels written -by unknown persons. - -In summing up this matter, the following remarks may safely and truly be -made:--In a short time after Jesus arose from the dead, it was declared -by his apostles, that he had ascended into heaven, and had left orders -for the Gospel, or good news, to be proclaimed throughout the world; and -that after remaining with his disciples a few weeks, when on a journey -with some of them, a cloud intervened, and they lost sight of him. -Before his death, Jesus had told them to watch for his second coming, -for that it would be sudden and unexpected; and he also added, that -there were those standing among them that would live to see it, and that -he should then appear in glory, attended by angels, judge the world, and -reward every man acccording to his deeds. The apostles taught this, -doctrine, and the early Christians looked for that event with eager -expectation. But a long and dreary night of religious intolerance has -nearly passed away, and Jesus has not yet arrived; during which night, -the world has witnessed scenes of horror unknown to the most savage ages -of antiquity. - -All this confusion and wretchedness must have been known by Jesus, and -also by his Father, at whose right hand it is recorded that he is -sitting. Now can Christians conceive where Christ has been, or what he -has been doing? Strange, indeed, does it apppear, that, during the -disorder and violence in which the Christian Church was involved for -ages, when thousands of honest, pious, and sincere Christians were put -to death, their Redeemer could sit quietly in heaven and not interfere -in their behalf! Perhaps it ought to be more strange, that it was the -will of God that Jesus should ever have left that world which was the -scene of his suffering. - -Looking at the plan of human redemption, from the time of the birth of -Jesus, and the incomplete finish made of it by his being taken up into -heaven, leaving his followers ignorant of what he meant during his -preaching on earth;--knowing, too, that the various sects have kept the -world in an uproar, destroying each other by thousands, and that all -these evils have taken place in consequence of Jesus being quietly -seated by the right hand of God,--these considerations, and many others -not noticed in this work, convince me, that the mission of Christ was -not of Divine authority. - -The following remarks will contain, in substance, the strongest -objection against the divinity of Christ's mission; and are given by the -author as presenting his final conclusions on that subject And here he -would ask--If the God of the Bible is, as Christians believe, the Author -of the universe, what are we to understand by the assertion, "_That -Jesus is seated at his right hand?_" God is a spirit pervading all -space, of whom one of the Scripture writers says, "_In him we live, and -move, and have our being._" The same idea was expressed by the Greeks in -reference to their supreme God,--"All things are full of Jupiter." How, -then, can it be believed that the unknown power who is the God of all -creation has a local dwelling place? - -Jesus, after his resurrection, declared that he had "_flesh and bone._" -How, then, he can be located with an universal spirit, is beyond human -conception As Jesus is a being possessed of a tangible form, he must -have a place of residence; and it is impossible that he can dwell with -_his God and Father_ in any other than a local habitation. The -supposition, then, that the Almighty Ruler of all worlds has a palace on -some fixed star, or planet, where Jesus has for eighteen hundred years -resided in company with the Infinite Creator, surrounded by angels -conversing and singing; the Devil, during the same time, "_going about -like a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour_" while Christians were -cutting each other's throats in consequence of their disputes about the -meaning of what Christ said, or the object of his performances on earth, -is very unlikely, to say the least of it. - -It seems astonishing that men, possessed of the noble faculty of reason, -can believe that Jesus is now alive in some unknown world, and in -company with the Sovereign Ruler of nature. In conclusion, the author of -this work (over whose head seventy-three summers' suns have passed,) -would say that he does not, _cannot_ believe that the Jesus of the -Christians has any existence but in the imagination of his followers. - - - - -REMARKS ON THE MORALITY OF NATURE - - -HAVING concluded my remarks on the Old and New Testaments, I have -thought it proper to give a chapter on Morality. I do this to prevent -the reader from concluding that, because I am not a believer in the -Divine authority of the Old and New Testaments, I disregard all moral -obligation, and do not hold myself accountable to God, Nature, or my -fellow beings. Nothing can be further from truth than such a conclusion. -If no such being as God exists, who will judge every man at the final -day of accounts; and if no such judgment will ever take place, admitting -all this, even then should I stand in the same relation to my fellow -beings in a moral point of view. - -Christian preachers, generally, teach their hearers the entire -worthlessness of good works, without they are connected with faith in -the Gospel. This mode of treating unbelievers has a bad effect on the -minds of church members, who, giving full credit to the pastor of the -flock, are taught to consider that the person, or persons (however just, -humane and virtuous they may be in all their actions,) who do not come -up to the standard of their faith, are wicked, and will, at the day of -judgment, be condemned, and their sentence will be, "_Go, ye cursed, -into everlasting fire._" &c. We need not wonder, therefore, at the -intolerant spirit which is so active among all professing the Christian -name. Notwithstanding the moral precepts taught by Jesus, his followers, -at the present day, pay but little regard to them. To believe in the -Saviour, and consider him as the endorser of their sins, and presenting -their claims at the throne of the Eternal, form an easy way for -expiating a life of wickedness and cant. If we compare the moral -character of professing Christians with the precepts taught by Jesus, we -shall be surprised at the vast discordance between their profession and -their practice. We find that, in practice, Christianity is hostile to -justice and humanity. - -This is easy to be accounted for. It is because the Scriptures represent -our most virtuous actions as worthless in the sight of God, and without -faith we are told it is impossible to please him; and this is not all: -much depends on what kind of faith it is. The followers of John Calvin -think the faith of the disciples of John Wesley but little better than -the faith of devils, "_who believe and tremble._" It has been because -men have judged by their faith, and not by moral rectitude, that one -Christian sect has persecuted even to death, others who have borne the -Christian name. It was this spirit of intolerance that propelled John -Calvin to cause Servetus to be burnt by a slow fire, not because he was -a wicked man, nor was it for want of faith in the Christian religion, -but because the faith of Servetus did not agree with the faith of John -Calvin. Had moral excellence been the standard of their friendship, and -virtue the bond of their union, Servetus would have died in peace, and -Calvin would not have been handed down to posterity as a cold-hearted -murderer. - -It is the common practice of Christians, when in conversation with -Infidels, to boast of the purity of Christ's moral precepts; but in all -their sayings and doings with Infidels, the want of faith is the -unpardonable crime which induces them to fix the badge of infamy on the -head of the unbeliever. No doubt cruel Calvin would very good-naturedly -shake hands with a brother of his own church and creed, and love him for -Christ's sake; but at the same time torment poor Servetus to death, as -the enemy of God, for God's sake. Oh! ye persecuting Christians! your -prayers ought ever to be opposed to a day of judgment, and your constant -hope should be, that it will never take place, for "_how can you escape -the damnation of hell?_" - -It is the high estimation of faith, enforced by Christ, and also -insisted on (as the sure passport to glory) by his followers, that -compels them to consider virtue as worthless, when it is not in -connection with what is called saving faith, which makes it clear to be -seen that Christianity in its practice is not favorable to morality; for -as the Scriptures truly say that "_no man can serve two masters,_" so -faith will be always uppermost, and justice and humanity be placed in -the background. On this principle, hard-hearted Calvin acted towards -Servetus. Christians are commanded to do good for evil. "_If your enemy -hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink._" This is pure morality. -Thus we see that morality has no chance of justice when faith is the -prosecutor. The moral precepts of the New Testament have never been -strong enough to neutralize the violent and intolerant spirit that runs -throughout the Scriptures, and which is the very life of the Christian -faith. Had Servetus been a criminal of the worst kind, condemned to die -by the laws of Geneva, Calvin, no doubt, would have had feelings of pity -for him; but his crime came under the dominion of faith, which will not, -which cannot admit of one grain of mercy. - -On the contrary, Infidel morality has no alloy. It is unadulterated. -Like pure gold, it is current at all times, and in all places. Like the -bright orb of day, it shines by its own native brightness. Its principal -attribute is humanity, which, in its exercise, is not confined to -creeds, or professions; but like the bountiful hand of nature, it -dispenses its blessings even to the unthankful and unworthy. If justice -demands its aid, the balance is held even without regard to color or -clime. I have often been reminded, that if we did not take the -Scriptures for our guide, we should then have no rule to regulate our -actions. This remark would be more conclusive, if Christians generally -acted up to what they profess; but this is not the case; nor will it -ever be, so long as faith is the only sure passport to the Christian -heaven, for it is a fact that many preachers of the Gospel are the worst -characters in society. At the same time that they are preaching up -holiness of life, it is discovered that they for years have been living -in the indulgence of the most filthy of vices; and thus while they are -thundering against the Devil as the enemy of souls, they are only -abusing their betters. - -This being the truth, it is time that morality should be dissevered from -all religious creeds, and stand on its own intrinsic merits. Religion -has taught man that he is poor and helpless; that he has no power to -act; that he has no desire to perform virtuous actions, and that he -himself and his fellow beings are, by some (to him unaccountable) -destiny, thrown at so vast a distance from his Creator, that he can -approach him only by the means of kneeling and prostration, and that he -is so far indebted to his Maker, who will have full payment to the last -cent. Being ignorant of his real situation in the universe, and also of -the resources of his mind, he overlooks or undervalues the strength he -possesses, and neglects the means which God or nature puts within his -reach to be both virtuous and happy. - -In this state of mind, he seeks for happiness in a religion the author -of which is depicted as a being like himself. It is, then, the vast -importance which has been attached to faith in the Redeemer, which has -made the path to heaven so smooth, and easy for the Christian traveller, -that moral rectitude has been thought of but little consideration in his -road to glory. Let me, says the Christian, make sure of my interest in -Christ, and my salvation is sure. Hence, we often find, that even Gospel -ministers are men of the basest description; at the same time their -hearers are consoled, with believing that their immoral pastor is sound -in the faith, resting firmly on the "_rock of ages_." - -The importance of faith is not the abuse of Christianity; it is the -thing itself. Jesus taught it to his disciples, and blames them for -having so little. But when Peter, his trusty servant, in a passion, cut -off a man's ear, his divine Master only gave him a gentle rebuke, -telling him to be careful how he used the sword, for he might have to go -in mourning for his own ears. - -The consistent Infidel, who renounces all religious creeds, and who -views the whole human family as beings possessing the same faculties, -subject to the same wants, and liable to the same misfortunes as -himself, can, by the use of his reason, without the aid of revelation, -discover the duties which he owes to himself, and also the true relation -in which he stands to his fellow mortals. He, by what he observes around -him, and by what he feels within himself, can see clearly the correct -line of duty, and can, at any time, draw a just conclusion as to his -moral standing in society. But it is far otherwise with the Christian, -whose whole dependence is on what his Saviour has done for him. He is -alternately disturbed with doubts and fears as to the ground on which he -stands; and being taught, that his best efforts to attain a moral -elevation by a steady course of virtuous actions, is considered by his -Maker worse than nothing, he loses sight of the high responsibility he -stands in, in relation to his fellow man. - -In proportion, then, as faith is considered superior to moral virtue, -the first is sought after, and highly valued, and the latter is -neglected as of little consideration in securing happiness in this life -or in that which is to come. We need not, therefore, be surprised that -Christians, as a class, fall far below Infidels in point of moral -rectitude. Christianity, at best, is a cold-hearted system; its -followers are generally unsocial. They are taught to "_love not the -world nor the things of the world._" Jesus himself says to his -disciples, "_Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world; but -because I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth -you._" Pride and intolerance are leading features in the conduct of -Christians generally. These defects among professors of religion, arise -from the belief that faith in Christ, as their Redeemer, secures them -heaven; and as it respects the duties of life, they hold them very -lightly, regarding them as, matters of little or no weight in the -article of salvation. - -Professors of the Christian religion, at the same time that they -consider that faith in the divine mission of Jesus secures them an -acceptance with God, and that moral rectitude without faith in the -Redeemer, is worthless in the sight of God, are compelled to admit, that -where good works and virtuous conduct are wanting, the faith of the -individual not being supported by Justice, Humanity, and Chastity, with -all the virtues which adorn human nature, the damnation of such an one -is doubly sure. So that, after all, this thing called faith borrows all -its brightness and real value from moral rectitude. Faith, like a -planet, is in itself a dark body, and has no light but what it receives -from the bright sun of moral excellency. - -The very nature and spirit of the Christian religion, is intolerant. It -says, "_Whosoever believes, shall be saved; and he that believeth not, -shall be damned._" This is the firm ground on which the Christian -stands, and where he must continue to stand. If he quits this strong -hold, he ceases to be a Christian, and, of necessity, becomes an -Infidel. It follows, then, that believers in the Divine authority of the -Bible must continue to be, what they always have been, intolerant and -persecuting. How differently do those feel who have given up all ideas -of Divine Revelation! They attach no consequence to faith, whatever. -They have no disposition even to blame, much less to injure persons who -believe in the most absurd inconsistencies. They, on the contrary, feel -the most lively interest in their happiness, knowing that no one can -control the honest convictions of the mind. - -The Infidel, then, has the advantage, in a moral point of view, over the -Christian, for the following reasons:--The Infidel has not to defend the -character nor the actions of any God or Gods, particularly of a God -"partial, vengeful, and unjust." He imbibes no angry feelings, by -believing in a God of cruelty and carnage. The Infidel has divested his -mind of the nonsense and inconsistency of considering unbelief as a -crime; and, also, of the fallacy that men can credit absurdities on -insufficient evidence. He perceives that every man's religion is, to a -very large extent, a consequence of the circumstances of his situation -in early life, and the influences which surrounded him at his birth. The -Infidel, therefore, has no inducement whatever to injure those who -differ from him in opinion; for, by detaching all importance from faith, -and referring entirely to good and virtuous actions, he escapes all -those angry theological quarrels in which Christians are more or less -involved. So that the mind of an unbeliever is in a sound and calm -state, not harrowed up by the terrors of an avenging God, and the -thoughts of endless damnation. - -These evils, and many more, the Infidel is not exposed to; consequently -his mind is at rest; his sense of degradation is not because he is -taught to believe that he is a poor lost sinner; he feels degraded only -in proportion as he neglects the duties which he owes to his fellow men. -The unbeliever, then, being free from the terror of doubting that which -he feels it is impossible for him to credit, commences to walk in the -path of moral rectitude, considering his own nature, and the connection -he occupies in relation to society, composed of beings like himself. He -listens to the voice of reason, and clearly understands that which God -or nature has done for him, and also that which remains for him to do -for himself. Leaving forever all religious dogmas, calculated to -bewilder his mind, his moral path is as clear as light. No longer -standing on the fearful precipice of faith, trembling at every step, or -chain-bound in a state of inaction, the Infidel cheerfully travels on in -the practice of justice and humanity with a calmness of mind to which -the Christian is a stranger. He has no angry God to dread, nor any -tempting Devil, against whom the Christian must forever be on the watch. - -All human beings on arriving at maturity, find themselves placed by an -unknown power in a world, in which they will have to enjoy pleasure or -happiness, and also to endure pain. This is the destiny of all, without -exception. The same power which propelled us into existence, has made it -a law of our nature to dread or shrink from pain, and also to desire and -love ease and pleasure. And here we can at once discover what God or -nature has done for us, and likewise what is left for us to perform for -ourselves. This, then, is the stock of moral material with which mortals -commence a life of pleasure and pain. The same unknown power has also -given man and woman reason, by the exercise of which they can augment -their pleasure, and reduce their pain. By the use of man's rational -powers, he can plainly discover his duty towards beings like himself. He -loves happiness, ease, and every thing which makes life worth having; so -also, do his fellow beings. He hates and retreats from positive pain; so -does every being which has life, animals not excepted. What revelation, -then, but this, does man want to teach him that which he owes to -himself, and likewise those things he ought to practise to every being -that has life and feeling? - -And the voice of God, or nature, calls to every rational being in -language which, but for false religion, all would understand. Mortals! -attend to what is done for your permanent happiness. Ignorance and -neglect are the causes of most of the evils which, torment you. You are -made to love happiness; you are also made to shrink from and hate pain. -Every human being is subject to the same laws; only attend to the moral -this contains. You have no excuse for inflicting pain on any living -creature, because you know that every being possessing life is governed -by the same feelings as yourself. God, or nature, has so arranged things -as to induce mortals to practise virtue, and to be kind to every thing -that possesses life and feeling; because, by acting agreeably to the -laws of your own organization, you become happy in yourself, and have -the additional pleasure of making others happy also. What excuse, then, -can men have for neglecting the duties they owe to every thing that has -life and feeling? Do they need a revelation to inform them that they -ought to be just and humane? Do they require information from heaven to -inform them that cruelty to man or animals is wicked? Let them but -consult their own feelings; full information is at hand calling on them -to practise kindness and compassion. - -Do men and women need the Bible to learn the duty incumbent on them -toward their offspring? Must we read the pretended word of God in order -to discover that the husband ought to be kind and in every way faithful -to his wife, (making allowance for her weakness, either of body or -mind,) and perform every duty connected with her permanent happiness? -Man requires no Divine aid, beyond the exercise of his reason, to inform -him that, in order to be happy in this life, he must be _just, -peaceable, sober, and temperate in all things; chaste, a lover of truth, -kind, and humane_ to all beings who possess life. Let every human being, -then, turn to the laws of his own organization, namely, to his love of -happiness, and aversion to pain. These laws will give him unerring -instruction as to the duties which he has to perform, and also as to -what evils he is to avoid. - -This is indeed a Divine revelation, which will never deceive or lead -astray. Man carries it within himself. It differs from all pretended -Divine revelation. It is suitable at all times, and in all places. It -requires no priest to explain it. It changes not with times and -circumstances. These laws of our nature (the love of happiness and -aversion to pain) are a never-failing revelation, to which we can always -refer with entire confidence, as a true revelation of God or nature. -Away, then, with the childish question, "If you take away the Bible, -what will you give us in its stead"? The short and final answer to which -is, study the laws of your organization, and direct your reason to their -interpretation, and let the priest read his Bible, and exclaim against -unbelief. The reader will now understand the views the Infidels have of -moral rectitude; and if the principles are faithfully carried out in our -journey through life, the end of all will be peace. These moral -principles were enforced (for upwards of eight years) in Tammany Hall. -They are now spreading far and wide, and instead of producing evil in -society, they are calculated to ensure "_peace on earth and good-will -towards men._" - -It is because the Christian world have been taught to depend on a -Saviour for the pardon of the worst of crimes, believing that the price -was paid by Christ as a ransom from the captivity of the Devil, that it -is destructive of pure morality. The apostles maintained this doctrine; -and from them, till now, the true and Orthodox faith is, that moral -rectitude has nothing to do, abstractly considered, with the salvation -of the soul, but faith in what Christ has done and suffered. This -doctrine is not only unfavorable to virtue, but it places the basest of -mankind in a superior point of view to those whose whole lives have been -distinguished by the practice of correct moral actions. That divines -view and act on the vicarious sacrifice of Christ as being alone -sufficient in the last hour to save sinners, we need but to refer to the -attention paid by them to criminals up to the last moments of their -lives. It is faith in the Redeemer, which gives a passport to glory to a -wretch, who but a few days before had murdered perhaps a good father and -mother. No matter what his crimes, or how large the number, only let him -believe in the Saviour, and, although the guilty criminal is considered -unworthy to live one hour longer on earth, yet according to the Gospel -plan of salvation, he is promised, and induced to believe that he will -in the evening of the same day join in the song of angels and chant the -praises of the Great Eternal. - -If the doctrine of saving faith be true, the thief or murderer, if the -law lays hold of him, and the fear of the gallows induces him to rely on -Jesus, goes directly to heaven; whereas, if he had been honest and -virtuous, but had not faith in Christ, he might have died in his sins -and gone to hell! Oh! how consistent is Orthodox salvation with justice -and truth! In one case, the Orthodox Christian is in truth consistent. -It is this: that in this life, even in New York, a man will not be -admitted as a church member, however virtuous. He must be a sinner, or -he cannot be admitted. So, also, in heaven, a good man must not enter. -It would be no injustice to say that every religious society should have -it written in large capitals over the door-way of its building--"_No -honest men admitted as members here--sinners are always welcome._" The -same should be posted at the gate of heaven. Although this statement may -to some appear wicked and untrue, it is correct in the Christian spirit, -and also true to the letter. Honest men have no business in Christian -churches, as they will also be rejected in heaven. The worst of -characters make the best Christians, if they can bring one grain of -mustard-seed faith to the altar of Jehovah. - -The Christian who depends for salvation and acceptance, in a future -life, is never at rest in this. He has no correct standard whereby to -judge whether he has saving faith. His hopes and his fears are regulated -by his feelings, not by his conduct. If, for instance, his animal -spirits are depressed, he desponds, and considers that the Lord has -withdrawn from him the light of his countenance. He trembles, and in the -agony of his mind, cries out, "_I believe, O Lord, help thou mine -unbelief._" Let him become cheerful, and his mind become buoyant, he -then considers himself sure that he has, what is called, an interest in -Christ. - -Moral rectitude is out of the question. All the moral virtues combined, -and brought into action, are as nothing, in the sight of the Christian's -God. The sinner's debt is paid, by the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. -So that, according to the plan of human redemption, if Jesus had been -acquitted on his trial, the whole human race would die (as the Scripture -phrase is) in their sins. It then follows, that, as man's acceptance -with God, and the salvation of his soul, is in consequence of the -sacrifice made by Christ on the cross, his moral rectitude is of little -consequence. The all-important state of the believer is, not the -soundness of his morals, but the relying by faith on Jesus for what he -has done by his suffering on the "accursed tree." This doctrine is the -consolation of the murderer at the gallows; and the same reliance on -what Jesus has suffered for the human race, was what consoled and -supported Andrew Jackson in his last moments, as reported by the -newspapers. - -The Christian religion, by teaching believers to trust in a Saviour for -the pardon of crimes of the worst description, has been an obstacle in -the way of attaining to that moral excellence which is calculated to -dignify human nature.. Faith, the "_pearl of great price,_" has, ever -since the introduction of Christian theology, obscured the path of -virtue, and invested its haughty possessor with an intolerant -disposition, accountable only to the tribunal of faith; and, having -broken loose from the restraints of moral obligation, has, as it were, -laughed to scorn the principles of justice, of chastity and humanity. -And yet, one and all, who profess Christianity, charge those who -consider moral worth superior to faith, with demoralizing youth, and -corrupting the manners of the age in which they live. - -Before concluding this chapter, it will be useful to inquire, in what -way the world has been benefitted by propagating the heaven-born -doctrine of faith in the Redeemer's kingdom? The page of history bears -witness, that, for eighteen hundred years, with but short intervals of -rest, a large portion of the earth has been the theatre of _crime and -war, cruelty and murder_; and this state of things has been brought -about by the uncertainty of what Christianity is. When the reputed -Founder of the Christian faith was about to leave this world, to sit at -the right hand of his Father, he told them that his absence would be to -his followers a real blessing; for it is recorded, that he said to them -that "_the Comforter_" would abundantly supply his place--that is, or -was to be, the Holy Ghost, who would "_lead them into alt truth, and -bring to their remembrance all things which he had told them._" But this -promise, if ever made, proved a total failure; for soon after Christ, -their Divine Master, left this earth, upwards of forty different sects -arose, and began to dispute and quarrel about what Jesus, while on -earth, taught, concerning the kingdom of heaven. Sect opposed sect, -party opposed party, and Christianity became involved in mystery. -Conventions were formed, and the worst passions soon gave proof that the -multitude of angels, who, at the birth of Christ proclaimed, that -"_peace on earth, and good-will towards men_" would be realized, were -sadly mistaken. Nothing but one continual scene of war, destruction, and -slaughter, between Christian nations, and in society, and and even in -families, ensued; peace and harmony were unknown. The Holy Ghost, that -was to be the comforter, soon made them any thing but comfortable! - -This good news, or Gospel, proved to be most unfortunate news to the -inhabitants of this world. Thousands and tens of thousands of human -beings came to a premature or violent death by rack and torture; the -fires of martyrdom were lighted up, and millions of madmen gave glory to -God. This is but a mere outline of the horrors arising from faith in the -glorious plan of human redemption; and thus mortals when they became -believers in the Redeemer's kingdom, ceased to act as men, and became -downright devils. If, instead of teaching him the doctrines of the -Christian religion, the laws which God or nature had stamped on every -human being (which are always present, and which, at every moment of his -existence, call on him to attend to the lessons which they teach) had -been pointed out to him, man would have learned how to live in peace and -happiness, in a society of beings organized like himself, and governed -by the same laws, always loving happiness and dreading pain. - -To the reader, then, I recommend attention to the hints here given; and -in order to form a correct judgment how he should perform the duties -which he owes to himself, and also to his fellow mortals, to study and -always appeal to the laws of his organization. Let him bring every -action to that never-failing index of his nature, the love of happiness -and the aversion to pain. Let him sum up every day his moral accounts by -this unerring rule, and this mode will never fail to make his moral path -as clear as light; for as he knows that, according to the laws of his -nature, he is compelled to love happiness, and to shrink from pain, so -also, is every one that has life, governed by the laws of pleasure and -pain. The laws of our organization, and the voice of reason united, -proclaim to every human being, that the whole of man's duty towards his -fellow man consists at all times, and in all places, in increasing his -happiness, and reducing his pain. - -To know this, so easy to be known, and strictly to practise it, is all -the revelation which man requires. But pretended revelation has either -obscured moral light, or held out lights that are false and delusive. -The false light presented to man, called revealed religion, instead of -conducting him safely into the haven of happiness, has continually -tossed him, without rudder or compass, on the roaring billows of -theology, on which troubled ocean he has met with little else than -robbers and pirates. - -Never, then, let us forget, that the best men or women are they, whose -whole lives are directed to the promotion of the permanent happiness of -every thing having life and feeling, and to the reduction of misery -wherever it may be found; and that whoever shall thus act, will be not -only the best, but also the happiest, of the human race. - -THE END. - - - - - ---- - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LEGACY TO THE FRIENDS OF FREE -DISCUSSION*** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39371 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. 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