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private judgment only in the examination and rejec- tion of other books than the Bible.
_Question_. Is he a Catholic?
_Answer_. I cannot answer blasphemy! Let me tell you that G.o.d will "laugh at your calamity, and "will mock when your fear cometh." You will be accursed.
_Question_. Why do you curse infidels?
_Answer_. Because I am a Christian.
_Question_. Did not Christ say that we ought to "bless those who curse us," and that we should "love our enemies"?
_Answer_. Yes, but he cursed the Pharisees and called them "hypocrites" and "vipers."
_Question_. How do you account for that?
_Answer_. It simply shows the difference between theory and practice.
_Question_. What do you consider the best way to answer infidels.
_Answer_. The old way is the best. You should say that their arguments are ancient, and have been answered over and over again. If this does not satisfy your hearers, then you should attack the character of the infidel--then that of his parents-- then that of his children.
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_Question_. Suppose that the infidel is a good man, how will you answer him then?
_Answer_. But an infidel cannot be a good man.
Even if he is, it is better that he should lose his reputation, than that thousands should lose their souls. We know that all infidels are vile and infa- mous. We may not have the evidence, but we know that it exists.
_Question_. How should infidels be treated? Should Christians try to convert them?
_Answer_. Christians should have nothing to do with infidels. It is not safe even to converse with them. They are always talking about reason, and facts, and experience. They are filled with sophistry and should be avoided.
_Question_. Should Christians pray for the con- version of infidels?
_Answer_. Yes; but such prayers should be made in public and the name of the infidel should be given and his vile and hideous heart portrayed so that the young may be warned.
_Question_. Whom do you regard as infidels?
_Answer_. The scientists--the geologists, the as- tronomers, the naturalists, the philosophers. No one can overestimate the evil that has been wrought
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by Laplace, Humboldt, Darwin, Huxley, Haeckel, Renan, Emerson, Strauss, Bikhner, Tyndall, and their wretched followers. These men pretended to know more than Moses and the prophets. They were "dogs baying at the moon." They were "wolves" and "fools." They tried to "a.s.sa.s.sinate "G.o.d," and worse than all, they actually laughed at the clergy,
_Question_. Do you think they did, and are doing great harm?
_Answer_. Certainly. Of what use are all the sciences, if you lose your own soul? People in h.e.l.l will care nothing about education. The rich man said nothing about science, he wanted water.
Neither will they care about books and theories in heaven. If a man is perfectly happy, it makes no difference how ignorant he is.
_Question_. But how can he answer these scientists?
_Answer_. Well, my advice is to let their argu- ments alone. Of course, you will deny all their facts; but the most effective way is to attack their character.
_Question_. But suppose they are good men,-- what then?
_Answer_. The better they are, the worse they are.
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We cannot admit that the infidel is really good. He may appear to be good, and it is our duty to strip the mask of appearance from the face of unbelief. If a man is not a Christian, he is totally depraved, and why should we hesitate to make a misstatement about a man whom G.o.d is going to make miserable forever?
_Question_. Are we not commanded to love our enemies?
_Answer_. Yes, but not the enemies of G.o.d.
_Question_. Do you fear the final triumph of infi- delity?
_Answer_. No. We have no fear. We believe that the Bible can be revised often enough to agree with anything that may really be necessary to the preservation of the church. We can always rely upon revision. Let me tell you that the Bible is the most peculiar of books. At the time G.o.d inspired his holy prophets to write it, he knew exactly what the discoveries and demonstrations of the future would be, and he wrote his Bible in such a way that the words could always be interpreted in accordance with the intelligence of each age, and so that the words used are capable of several meanings, so that, no matter what may hereafter be discovered, the Bible
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will be found to agree with it,--for the reason that the knowledge of Hebrew will grow in the exact proportion that discoveries are made in other depart- ments of knowledge. You will therefore see, that all efforts of infidelity to destroy the Bible will simply result in giving a better translation.
_Question_. What do you consider is the strongest argument in favor of the inspiration of the Scrip- tures?
_Answer_. The dying words of Christians.
_Question_. What do you consider the strongest argument against the truth of infidelity?
_Answer_. The dying words of infidels. You know how terrible were the death-bed scenes of Hume, Voltaire, Paine and Hobbes, as described by hundreds of persons who were not present; while all Christians have died with the utmost serenity, and with their last words have testified to the sustaining power of faith in the goodness of G.o.d.
_Question_. What were the last words of Jesus Christ?
_Answer_. "My G.o.d, my G.o.d, why hast thou for- "saken me?"
A VINDICATION OF THOMAS PAINE.
_"To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, is like administering medicine to the dead."--Thomas Paine._
Peoria, October 8, 1877.