The Christian Religion Part 1

The Christian Religion.

by Robert G. Ingersoll.

INTRODUCTION.

ENGLAND is now for the first time offering to the toiling portion of its people a fair modic.u.m of the education which was in old time the exclusive privilege of the rich. In doing so it has acted with a keen eye to self-preservation, for the history of every fallen nation shows that the unaided ignorance of the ma.s.ses has been a princ.i.p.al and fatal element in its downfall.

This truth would seem to be not yet fully realized by all of higher education in the country; for the teaching that many of them counsel for the poor is clogged with ignorance and clouded with error from which their own higher culture has long been free. It is distressing to see men who no longer regard the Bible as anything more than a curious and interesting record, a compound of reflections of ancient myths and poetry, commingled with a considerable amount of fabulous history and absurd theology--to see any such man still arguing that for the poor and for the young it is a necessary subject of study, and (for them) a useful article of belief!

Do those who argue thus deem the light of reason too clear, too pure, too delightful, for mankind at large; or is it that they trust that the useful ignorance of the workers will continue to supply them with unmerited or unworthy luxuries?

In neither case can the position endure. The refinement of Rome might loftily echo

Odi profanum vulgus et arceo:

but Rome has herself fallen; and not on the portals of future science or of humanity shall any such motto be written. Freedom of Knowledge is the corollary to Freedom of Thought: in the society of the future no hierarchy or oligarchy of intellect will close its doors upon the ma.s.ses; none will find delight in either sensuous or intellectual pleasure obtained at the cost of the baser condition of others.

The following Reprint will be found a clear exposition of the incongruities of creed and record and dogma taught to the poor as a system of ethics for the whole of their life; and held as a convenient thing up to a certain age for the young, and especially the female young, of the moneyed cla.s.ses.

It is time that such warfare as this should be aggressive; that such books as the present should be part of the food of our children. Our truest feelings and our tenderest years have been enslaved to blind faith, unreasoning credulity and degrading fear; our infant lips have been trained to link in loving accents the gentle and holy names of Mother and of Father with that of a G.o.d of jealousy, of vengeance, and brutality; our growing mind has been warned to look to a Hebrew ascetic as the n.o.blest type of the divine, and to a Hebrew profligate and murderer as the highest type of the human. As the opening thought of youth has striven to turn to the light of reason, it has been constantly threatened back and thrust back into the dark of superst.i.tion. It has been told that eternal misery is the doom of those who leave the paths of dogma; and it has been falsely and persistently taught that Free-thinkers are evil and unclean, men without care for right, scoffers at every good thing.

But it is not scoffers who wage this war of the rational against the supernatural: let none deceive themselves with that vain thought, or perpetuate the incorrect a.s.sertion. Of such books as the present, such writings as the present, some at least are the words of men and women who have been born to, and striven toward a G.o.dly life, with intense effort, with groanings not to be uttered: who, nursed in the bosom of the Church, and partakers in all her most sacred ordinances, crushed down as unholy the first and the repeated breathings of doubt and of reasoning their minds; who held to the falseness of their early teachings,--till there came that final struggle, when they wrestled with G.o.d,--to hold him,--not to lose him; gasping with fevered lips and shut teeth and scalding eyelids, "I will not let thee go ": and who won a blessing they knew not of in that they proved the Jehovah of Hebraism, the G.o.d of Christianity, to be an Apollyon of Superst.i.tion: who cast him off in disgust, in loathing, in half despair; who lay faint and bleeding through a night of darkness: but to whom, with the dawn, has come the free and bracing air of reason, and then the deep warm glow of true life, and humanity, and universal love,--love given this time not to a fetish, but to every fellow being, to man and beast, to tree and moss, to stone and star.

With a great price obtained we this freedom, and we will that our Sons and that our Daughters be free born. To such a liberator as Robert G.

Ingersoll the thanks of present parents are lovingly offered; his name will be cherished by our children, and his memory hallowed in the grat.i.tude of generations yet unborn.

B. E.

Rudyard:

9th Month, 1881.

BOUQUET GARNI.

It is the curse of England that its intellect can see truths which its heart will not embody.

--Laurence Oliphant

The root of all tyranny and oppression, of all social and human ills, is found in witholding from the ma.s.ses of each community mental culture, or knowledge that may be conferred on all.

--Rd. Carlile.

Atheism leaves to man reason, philosophy, natural piety, laws, reputation, and every thing that can serve to conduct him to virtue; but superst.i.tion destroys all these, and erects itself into tyranny over the understandings of men.

--Bacon.

A healthy poetic nature wants, as you yourself say, no Moral Law, no Rights of Man, no Political Metaphysics. You might have added as well, it wants no Deity, no Immortality, to stay and uphold itself withal.

--Letter from Schiller to Goethe.

Never to blend our pleasure or our pride With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels.

--Wordsworth.

* A Bouquet Garni is a little bundle of herbs, some bitter some sweet, but all salutary.

THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION

I.

A PROFOUND change has taken place in the world of thought, The pews are trying to set themselves somewhat above the pulpit. The layman discusses theology with the minister, and smiles. _Christians_ excuse themselves for belonging to the Church, by denying a part of the creed. The idea is abroad that they who know the most of nature believe the least about theology. The sciences are regarded as infidels, and facts as scoffers.

Thousands of most excellent people avoid churches, and, with few exceptions, only those attend prayer-meetings who wish to be alone. The pulpit is losing because the people are growing.

Of course it is still claimed that we are a _Christian_ people, indebted to something called _Christianity_ for all the progress we have made.

There is still a vast difference of opinion as to what _Christianity_ really is, although many warring sects have been discussing that question, with fire and sword, through centuries of creed and crime.

Every new sect has been denounced at its birth as illegitimate, as a something born out of orthodox wedlock and that should have been allowed to perish on the steps where it was found. Of the relative merits of the various denominations, it is sufficient to say that each claims to be right Among the evangelical churches there is a substantial agreement upon what they consider the fundamental truths of the _Gospel_. These "fundamental truths," as I understand them, are:

That there is a personal _G.o.d_, the creator of the material universe; that he made man of the dust, and woman from part of the man; that the man and woman were tempted by the _Devil_; that they were turned out of the garden of _Eden_; that, about fifteen hundred years afterward, _G.o.d's_ patience having been exhausted by the wickedness of mankind, he drowned his children with the exception of eight persons; that afterward he selected from their descendants _Abraham_, and through him the _Jewish_ people; that he gave laws to these people, and tried to govern them in all things; that he made known his will in many Ways; that he wrought a vast number of miracles; that he inspired men to write the _Bible_; that, in the fulness of time, it having been found impossible to reform man, this _G.o.d_ came upon earth as a child born of the _Virgin Mary_; that he lived in _Palestine_; that he preached for about three years, going from place to place, Occasionally raising the dead, curing the blind and the halt; that he was crucified--for the crime of blasphemy, as the _Jews_ supposed, but that, as a matter of fact, he was offered as a sacrifice for the sins of all who might have faith in him; that he was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven where he now is, making intercession for his followers; that he will forgive the sins of all who believe on him, and that those who do not believe will be consigned to the dungeons of eternal pain. These--it may be with the addition of the sacraments of _Baptism_ and the _Last Supper_--const.i.tute what is generally known as the _Christian_ religion.

It is most cheerfully admitted that a vast number of people not only believe these things, but hold them in exceeding reverence, and imagine them to be of the utmost importance to mankind. They regard the Bible as the only light that G.o.d has given for the guidance of his children; that it is the one star in nature's sky--the foundation of all morality, of all law, of all order, and of all individual and national progress. They regard it as the only means we have for ascertaining the will of G.o.d, the origin of man, and the destiny of the soul.

It is needless to enquire into the causes that have led so many people, to believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures. In my opinion, they were and are mistaken, and the mistake has hindered, in countless ways, the civilization of man. The Bible has been the fortress and defence of nearly every crime. No civilized country could re-enact its laws, and in many respects its moral code is abhorrent to every good and tender man.

It is admitted that many of its precepts are pure, that many of its laws are wise and just, and that many of its statements are absolutely true.

Without desiring to hurt the feelings of anybody, I propose to give a few reasons for thinking that a few pa.s.sages, at least, in the _Old Testament_ are the product of a barbarous people, In all civilized countries it is not only admitted, but it is pa.s.sionately a.s.serted, that slavery is and always was a hideous crime; that a war of conquest is simply murder; that polygamy is the enslavement of woman, the degradation of man, and the destruction of home; that nothing is more infamous than the slaughter of decrepit men, of helpless women, and of prattling babes; that captured maidens should not be given to soldiers; that wives should not be stoned to death on account of their religious opinions, and that the death penalty ought not to be inflicted for a violation of the _Sabbath_. We know that there was a time, in the history of almost every nation, when slavery, polygamy, and wars of extermination were regarded as divine inst.i.tutions; when women were looked upon as beasts of burden, and when, among some people, it was considered the duty of the husband to murder the wife for differing with him on the subject of religion. Nations that entertain these views to-day are regarded as savage, and, probably, with the exception of the _South Sea Islanders_, the _Feejees_, some citizens of _Delaware_, and a few tribes in _Central Africa_, no human beings can be found degraded enough to agree upon these subjects with the _Jehovah_ of the ancient _Jews_. The only evidence we have, or can have, that a nation has ceased to be savage is the fact that it has abandoned these doctrines. To every one, except the theologian, it is perfectly easy to account for the mistakes, atrocities, and crimes of the past, by saying that civilization is a slow and painful growth; that the moral perceptions are cultivated through ages of tyranny, of want, of crime, and of heroism; that it requires centuries for man to put out the eyes of self and hold in lofty and in equal poise the scales of justice; that conscience is born of suffering; that mercy is the child of the imagination---of the power to put oneself in the sufferer's place, and that man advances only as he becomes acquainted with his surroundings, with the mutual obligations of life, and learns to take advantage of the forces of nature.

But the believer in the inspiration of the Bible is compelled to declare that there was a time when slavery was right--when men could buy, and women could sell, their babes. He is compelled to insist that there was a time when polygamy was the highest form of virtue; when wars of extermination were waged with the sword of mercy; when religious toleration was a crime, and when death was the just penalty for having expressed an honest thought. He must maintain that Jehovah is just as bad now as he was four thousand years ago, or that he was just as good then as he is now, but that human conditions have so changed that slavery, polygamy, religious persecutions, and wars of conquest are now perfectly devilish. Once they were right--once they were commanded by G.o.d himself; now, they are prohibited. There has been such a change in the conditions of man that, at the present time, the Devil is in favour of slavery, polygamy, religious persecution, and wars of conquest. That is to say, the Devil entertains the same opinion to-day that Jehovah held four thousand years ago, but in the meantime Jehovah has remained exactly the same--changeless and incapable of change.

We find that other nations beside the Jews had similar laws and ideas; that they believed in and practised slavery and polygamy, murdered women and children, and exterminated their neighbours to the extent of their power. It is not claimed that they received a revelation. It is admitted that they had no knowledge of the true G.o.d. And yet, by a strange coincidence, they practised the same crimes, of their own motion, that the Jews did by the command of Jehovah. From this it would seem that man can do wrong without a special revelation. It will hardly be claimed, at this day, that the pa.s.sages in the Bible upholding slavery, polygamy, war, and religious persecution are evidences of the inspiration of that book. Suppose that there had been nothing in the Old Testament upholding these crimes, would any modern Christian suspect that it was not inspired, on account of the omission? Suppose that there had been nothing in the Old Testament but laws in favour of these crimes, would any intelligent Christian now contend that it was the work of the true G.o.d? If the Devil had inspired a book, will some believer in the doctrine of inspiration tell us in what respect, on the subjects of slavery, polygamy, war, and liberty, it would have differed from some parts of the Old Testament? Suppose that we should now discover a Hindu book of equal antiquity with the Old Testament, containing a defence of slavery, polygamy, wars of extermination, and religious persecution, would we regard it as evidence that the writers were inspired by an infinitely wise and merciful G.o.d? As most other nations at that time practised these crimes, and as the Jews would have practised them all, even if left to themselves, one can hardly see the necessity of any inspired commands upon these subjects. Is there a believer in the Bible who does not wish that G.o.d, amid the thunders and lightnings of Sinai, had distinctly said to Moses that man should not own his fellow-man; that women should not sell their babes; that men should be allowed to think and investigate for themselves, and that the sword should never be unsheathed to shed the blood of honest men? Is there a believer in the world, who would not be delighted to find that every one of these infamous pa.s.sages are interpolations, and that the skirts of G.o.d were never reddened by the blood of maiden, wife, or babe? Is there a believer who does not regret that G.o.d commanded a husband to stone his wife to death for suggesting the wors.h.i.+p of the sun or moon? Surely, the light of experience is enough to tell us that slavery is wrong, that polygamy is infamous, and that murder is not a virtue. No one will now contend that it was worth G.o.d's while to impart the information to Moses or to Joshua, or to anybody else, that the Jewish people might purchase slaves of the heathen, or that it was their duty to exterminate the natives of the Holy Land. The deists have contended that the Old Testament is too cruel and barbarous to be the work of a wise and loving G.o.d, To this, the theologians have replied, that nature is just as cruel; that the earthquake, the volcano, the pestilence and storm, are just as savage as the Jewish G.o.d; and to my mind this is a perfect answer.

Suppose that we knew that after "inspired" men had finished the Bible, the Devil got possession of it, and wrote a few pa.s.sages; what part of the sacred Scriptures would Chris-tians now pick out as being probably his work? Which of the following pa.s.sages would naturally be selected as having been written by the Devil--"Love thy neighbour as thyself," or, "Kill all the males among the little ones, and kill every woman; but all the women children keep alive for yourselves"?

It may be that the best way to ill.u.s.trate what I have said of the Old Testament is to compare some of the supposed teachings of Jehovah with those of persons who never read an "inspired" line, and who lived and died without having received the light of revelation. Nothing can be more suggestive than a comparison of the ideas of Jehovah--the inspired words of the one claimed to be the infinite G.o.d, as recorded in the Bible--with those that have been expressed by men who, all admit, received no help from heaven.

In all ages of which any record has been preserved, there have been those who gave their ideas of justice, charity, liberty, love, and law. Now, if the Bible is really the work of G.o.d, it should contain the grandest and sublimest truths. It should, in all respects, excel the works of man. Within that book should be found the best and loftiest definitions of justice; the truest conceptions of human liberty; the clearest outlines of duty; the tenderest, the highest, and the n.o.blest thoughts,--not that the human mind has produced, but that the human mind is capable of receiving. Upon every page should be found the luminous evidence of its divine origin. Unless it contains grander and more wonderful things than man has written, we are not only justified in saying, but we are compelled to say, that it was written by no being superior to man. It may be said that it is unfair to call attention to certain bad things in the Bible, while the good are not so much as mentioned. To this it may be replied that a divine being would not put bad things in a book. Certainly a being of infinite intelligence, power, and goodness could never fall below the ideal of "depraved and barbarous" man. It will not do, after we find that the Bible upholds what we now call crimes, to say that it is not verbally inspired. If the words are not inspired, what is? It may be said that the thoughts are inspired. But this would include only the thoughts expressed without words If ideas are inspired they must be contained in and expressed only by inspired words; that is, to say, the arrangement of the words, with relation, to each other, must have been inspired For the purpose of this perfect; arrangement, the writers, according to the Christian world, were inspired. Were some sculptor inspired, of G.o.d to make a statue perfect in its every part, we would not say that the marble was inspired, but the statue--the relation of part to part, the married; harmony of form and function. The language, the words, take the place of the marble, and it is the arrangement of these words that Christians claim to be inspired. If there is one uninspired word,--that is, one word in the wrong place, or a word that ought not to be there,--to that extent the Bible is an uninspired book. The moment it is admitted that some words are not, in their arrangement as to other words, inspired, then, unless with absolute certainty these words can be pointed out, a doubt is cast on all the words the book contains. If it was worth G.o.d's while to make a revelation to man at all, it was certainly worth his while to see to it that it was correctly made. He would not have allowed the ideas and mistakes of pretended prophets and designing priests to become so mingled with the original text that it is impossible to tell where he ceased and where the priests and prophets began. Neither will it do to say that G.o.d adapted his revelation to the prejudices of mankind. Of course it was necessary for an infinite being to adapt his revelation to the intellectual capacity of man; but why should G.o.d confirm a barbarian in his prejudices? Why should he fortify a heathen in his crimes? If a revelation is of any importance whatever, it is to eradicate prejudices from the human mind. It should be a lever with which to raise the human race. Theologians have exhausted their ingenuity in finding excuses for G.o.d. It seems to me that they would be better employed in finding excuses for men. They tell us that the Jews were so cruel and ignorant that G.o.d was compelled to justify, or nearly to justify, many of their crimes, in order to have any influence with them whatever. They tell us that if he had declared slavery and polygamy to be criminal, the Jews would have refused to receive the ten commandments. They insist that, under the circ.u.mstances, G.o.d did the best he could; that his real intention was to lead them along slowly, step by step, so that, in a few hundred years, they would be induced to admit that it was hardly fair to steal a babe from its mother's breast.

It has always seemed reasonable that an infinite G.o.d ought to have been able to make man grand enough to know, even without a Special revelation, that it is not altogether right to steal the labour, or the wife, or the child, of another. When the whole question is thoroughly examined, the world will find that Jehovah had the prejudices, the hatreds and the superst.i.tions of his day.

If there is anything of value, it is liberty. Liberty is the air of the soul, the suns.h.i.+ne of life, Without it the world is a prison and the universe an infinite dungeon.

If the Bible is really inspired Jehovah commanded the Jewish people to buy the children of the strangers that sojourned among them, and ordered that the children thus bought should be an inheritance for the children of the Jews, and that they should be bondmen and bondwomen forever. Yet Epictetus, a man to whom no revelation was ever made, a man whose soul followed only the light of nature, and who had never heard of the Jewish G.o.d, was great enough to say: "Will you not remember that your servants are by nature your brothers, the children of G.o.d? In saying that you have bought them, you look down on the earth, and into the pit, on the wretched law of men long since dead, but you see not the laws of the G.o.ds."

We find that Jehovah, speaking to his chosen people, a.s.sured them that their bondmen and their bondmaids must be "of the heathen that were round about them." "Of them," said Jehovah, "shall ye buy bondman and bondmaid." And yet Cicero, a pagan, Cicero, who had never been enlightened by reading the Old Testament, had the moral grandeur to declare: "They who say that we should love our fellow-citizens, but not foreigners, destroy the universal brotherhood of mankind, with which benevolence and justice would perish forever."