260. The Real Bible
The real Bible is not the work of inspired men, nor prophets, nor evangelists, nor of Christs. The real Bible has not yet been written, but is being written. Every man who finds a fact adds a word to this great book.
261. The Bad Pa.s.sages in the Bible not Inspired
The bad pa.s.sages in the Bible are not inspired. No G.o.d ever upheld human slavery, polygamy or a war of extermination. No G.o.d ever ordered a soldier to sheathe his sword in the breast of a mother. No G.o.d ever ordered a warrior to butcher a smiling, prattling babe. No G.o.d ever upheld tyranny. No G.o.d ever said, be subject to the powers that be. No G.o.d ever endeavored to make man a slave and woman a beast of burden.
There are thousands of good pa.s.sages in the Bible. Many of them are true.
There are in it wise laws, good customs, some lofty and splendid things.
And I do not care whether they are inspired or not, so they are true.
But what I do insist upon is that the bad is not inspired.
262. Too much Pictorial
There is no hope for you. It is just as bad to deny h.e.l.l as it is to deny heaven. Prof. Swing says the Bible is a poem. Dr. Ryder says it is a picture. The Garden of Eden is pictorial; a pictorial snake and a pictorial woman, I suppose, and a pictorial man, and may be it was a pictorial sin. And only a pictorial atonement!
263. One Plow worth a Million Sermons
Man must learn to rely upon himself. Reading Bibles will not protect him from the blasts of winter, but houses, fire and clothing will. To prevent famine one plow is worth a million sermons, and even patent medicines will cure more diseases than all the prayers uttered since the beginning of the world.
INFIDELS
264. The Infidels of 1776
By the efforts of these infidels--Paine, Jefferson and Franklin--the name of G.o.d was left out of the Const.i.tution of the United States. They knew that if an infinite being was put in, no room would be left for the people. They knew that if any church was made the mistress of the state, that mistress, like all others, would corrupt, weaken, and destroy.
Washington wished a church, established by law, in Virginia. He was prevented by Thomas Jefferson. It was only a little while ago that people were compelled to attend church by law in the Eastern States, and taxes were raised for the support of churches the same as for the construction of highways and bridges. The great principle enunciated in the Const.i.tution has silently repealed most of these laws. In the presence of this great instrument the const.i.tutions of the States grew small and mean, and in a few years every law that puts a chain upon the mind, except in Delaware, will be repealed, and for these our children may thank the infidels of 1776.
265. The Legitimate Influence of Religion
Religion should have the influence upon mankind that its goodness, that its morality, its justice, its charity, its reason and its argument give it, and no more. Religion should have the effect upon mankind that it necessarily has, and no more.
266. Infidels the Flowers of the World
The infidels have been the brave and thoughtful men; the flower of all the world; the pioneers and heralds of the blessed day of liberty and love; the generous spirits of the unworthy past; the seers and prophets of our race; the great chivalric souls, proud victors on the battle-fields of thought, the creditors of all the years to be.
267. The n.o.blest Sons of, Earth
Who at the present day can imagine the courage, the devotion to principle, the intellectual and moral grandeur it once required to be an infidel, to brave the Church, her racks, her f.a.gots, her dungeons, her tongues of fire--to defy and scorn her heaven and her h.e.l.l--her devil and her G.o.d? They were the n.o.blest sons of earth. They were the real saviors of our race, the destroyers of superst.i.tion, and the creators of Science. They were the real t.i.tans who bared their grand foreheads to all the thunderbolts of all the G.o.ds.
268. How Ingersoll became an Infidel
I may say right here that the Christian idea that any G.o.d can make me His friend by killing mine is about as great a mistake as could be made.
They seem to have the idea that just as soon as G.o.d kills all the people that a person loves, he will then begin to love the Lord. What drew my attention first to these questions was the doctrine of eternal punishment. This was so abhorrent to my mind that I began to hate the book in which it was taught. Then, in reading law, going back to find the origin of laws, I found one had to go but a little way before the legislator and priest united. This led me to study a good many of the religions of the world. At first I was greatly astonished to find most of them better than ours. I then studied our own system to the best of my ability, and found that people were palming off upon children and upon one another as the inspired words of G.o.d a book that upheld slavery, polygamy, and almost every other crime. Whether I am right or wrong, I became convinced that the Bible is not an inspired book, and then the only question for me to settle was as to whether I should say what I believed or not. This realty was not the question in my mind, because, before even thinking of such a question, I expressed my belief, and I simply claim that right, and expect to exercise it as long as I live. I may be d.a.m.ned for it in the next world, but it is a great source of pleasure to me in this.
269. Why Should Infidels Die in Fear?
Why should it be taken for granted that the men who devoted their lives to the liberation of their fellowmen should have been hissed at in the hour of death by the snakes of conscience, while men who defended slavery--practiced polygamy--justified the stealing of babes from the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of mothers, and lashed the naked back of unpaid labor, are supposed to have pa.s.sed smilingly from earth to the embraces of the angels? Why should we think that the brave thinkers, the investigators, the honest men must have left the crumbling sh.o.r.e of time in dread and fear, while the instigators of the ma.s.sacre of St. Bartholomew, the inventors and users of thumb screws, of iron boots and racks, the burners and tearers of human flesh, the stealers, the whippers, and the enslavers of men, the buyers and beaters of maidens, mothers, and babes, the founders of the inquisition, the makers of chains, the builders of dungeons, the calumniators of the living, the slanderers of the dead, and even the murderers of Jesus Christ, all died in the odor of sanct.i.ty, with white, forgiven hands folded upon the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of peace, while the destroyers of prejudice, the breakers of fetters, the creators of light, died surrounded by the fierce fiends of G.o.d?
270. Infidelity is Liberty
Infidelity is liberty; all religion is slavery. In every creed man is the slave of G.o.d--woman is the slave of man and the sweet children are the slaves of all. We do not want creeds; we want knowledge--we want happiness.
271. The World in Debt to Infidels
What would the world be if infidels had never been? Let us be honest.
Did all the priests of Rome increase the mental wealth of man as much as Bruno? Did all the priests of France do as great a work for the civilization of the world as Diderot and Voltaire? Did all the ministers of Scotland add as much to the sum of human knowledge as David Hume?
Have all the clergymen, monks, friars, ministers, priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes, from the day of Pentecost to the last election, done as much for human liberty as Thomas Paine?