Every new sect has been denounced at its birth as illegitimate, as something born out of orthodox wedlock, and that should have been allowed to perish on the steps where it was found.
415. Summary of Evangelical Belief
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 fullness of time, it having been found impossible to reform mankind, 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.
416. A Profound Change in the World of Thought
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 rising.
417. The Believer in the Inspiration of the Bible has too Much to Believe
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 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 favor 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.
418. A Frank Admission
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. In my opinion they were mistaken. The mistake has hindered in countless ways the civilization of man.
419. The Bible Should be Better than any other Book
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.
420. A Serious Charge
The Bible has been the fortress and the defense 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, however, 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.
421. If the Bible is Not Verbally Inspired, What Then?
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 the 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.
422. A Hindu Example
Suppose that we should now discover a Hindu book of equal antiquity with the Old Testament, containing a defense 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?
423. A Test Fairly Applied
Suppose we knew that after "inspired" men had finished the Bible, the devil had got possession of it and wrote a few pa.s.sages, what part of the sacred Scriptures would Christians 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 neighbor as thyself," or "Kill all the males among the little ones, and kill every woman; but all the women children keep alive for yourselves?"
424. Suppose!
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 that omission?
Suppose that there had been nothing in the Old Testament but laws in favor of these crimes, would any intelligent Christian now contend that it was the work of the true G.o.d?
425. Proofs of Civilization
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 sufferers 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.
426. A Persian Gospel
Do not misunderstand me. My position is that the cruel pa.s.sages in the Old Testament are not inspired; that slavery, polygamy, wars of extermination, and religious persecution always have been, are, and forever will be, abhorred and cursed by the honest, virtuous, and the loving; that the innocent cannot justly suffer for the guilty, and that vicarious vice and vicarious virtue are equally absurd; that eternal punishment is eternal revenge; that only the natural can happen; that miracles prove the dishonesty of the few and the credulity of the many; and that, according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, salvation does not depend upon belief, nor the atonement, nor a "second birth," but that these gospels are in exact harmony with the declaration of the great Persian: "Taking the first footstep with the good thought, the second with the good word, and the third with the good deed, I entered paradise." The dogmas of the past no longer reach the level of the highest thought, nor satisfy the hunger of the heart. While dusty faiths, embalmed and sepulchered in ancient texts, remain the same, the sympathies of men enlarge; the brain no longer kills its young; the happy lips give liberty to honest thoughts; the mental firmament expands and lifts; the broken clouds drift by; the hideous dreams, the foul, misshapen children of the monstrous night, dissolve and fade.
427. Man the Author of all Books
So far as we know, man is the author of all books. If a book had been found on the earth by the first man, he might have regarded it as the work of G.o.d; but as men were here a good while before any books were found, and as man has produced a great many books, the probability is that the Bible is no exception.