II.
IF this "sacred" book teaches man to enslave his brother, it is not inspired. A G.o.d who would establish slavery is as cruel and heartless as any devil could be.
"Moreover, of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land, and they shall be your possession.
"And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession. They shall be your bondmen forever.
"Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, _shall be_ of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids."--Leviticus xxv.
This is white slavery. This allows one white man to buy another, to buy a woman, to separate families and rob a mother of her child. This makes the whip upon the naked backs of men and women a legal tender for labor performed. This is the kind of slavery established by the most merciful G.o.d. The reason given for all this, is, that the persons whom they enslaved were heathen. You may enslave them because they are not orthodox. If you can find anybody who does not believe in me, the G.o.d of the Jews, you may steal his wife from his arms, and her babe from the cradle. If you can find a woman that does not believe in the Hebrew Jehovah, you may steal her prattling child from her breast. Can any one conceive of anything more infamous? Can any one find in the literature of this world more frightful words ascribed even to a demon? And all this is found in that most beautiful and poetic chapter known as the 25th of Leviticus--from the Bible--from this sacred gift of G.o.d--this "Magna Charta of human freedom."
2. "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
3. "If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.
4. "If his master have given him a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master"s, and he shall go out by himself.
5. "And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and children; I w ill not go out free:
6. "Then his master shall bring him unto the judges: he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever."--_Exodus, xxi._
The slave is allowed to have his liberty if he will give up his wife and children. He must remain in slavery for the sake of wife and child. This is another of the laws of the most merciful G.o.d. This G.o.d changes even love into a chain. Children are used by him as manacles and fetters, and wives become the keepers of prisons. Any man who believes that such hideous laws were made by an infinitely wise and benevolent G.o.d is, in my judgment, insane or totally depraved.
These are the doctrines of the Old Testament. What is the doctrine of the New? What message had he who came from heaven"s throne for the oppressed of earth? What words of sympathy, what words of cheer, for those who labored and toiled without reward? Let us see:
"Servants, be obedient to them that are _your_ masters, according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ."--_Ephesians, vi._
This is the salutation of the most merciful G.o.d to a slave, to a woman who has been robbed of her child--to a man tracked by hounds through lonely swamps--to a girl with flesh torn and bleeding--to a mother weeping above an empty cradle.
"Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the fro ward."--_I Peter ii., 18_.
"For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward G.o.d endure grief, suffering wrongfully."--_I Peter ii., 19_.
It certainly must be an immense pleasure to G.o.d to see a man work patiently for nothing. It must please the Most High to see a slave with his wife and child sold upon the auction block. If this slave escapes from slavery and is pursued, how musical the baying of the bloodhound must be to the ears of this most merciful G.o.d. All this is simply infamous. On the throne of this universe there sits no such monster.
"Servants, obey in all things your masters, according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing G.o.d."--_Col. iii., 22_.
The apostle here seems afraid that the slave would not work every moment that his strength permitted. He really seems to have feared that he might not at all times do the very best he could to promote the interests of the thief who claimed to own him. And speaking to all slaves, in the name of the Father of All, this apostle says: "Obey in all things your masters, not with eye-service, but with singleness of heart, fearing G.o.d." He says to them in substance, There is no way you can so well please G.o.d as to work honestly for a thief.
1. "Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of G.o.d and _his_ doctrine be not blasphemed."
Think of serving G.o.d by honoring a robber! Think of bringing the name and doctrine of G.o.d into universal contempt by claiming to own yourself!
2. "And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort."
That is to say, do not despise Christians who steal the labor of others.
Do not hold in contempt the "faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit," who turn the cross of Christ into a whipping post.
3. "If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words _even_ to words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to G.o.dliness.
4. "He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
5. "Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and dest.i.tute of the truth, supposing that gain is G.o.dliness: from such withdraw thyself."
This seems to be the opinion the apostles entertained of the early abolitionists. Seeking to give human beings their rights, seeking to give labor its just reward, seeking to clothe all men with that divine garment of the soul, Liberty,--all this was denounced by the apostle as a simple strife of words, whereof cometh envy, railings, evil surmisings and perverse disputing, dest.i.tute of truth.
6. "But G.o.dliness with contentment is great gain.
7. "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8. "And having food and raiment let us be therewith content."--_I Tim., vi._
This was intended to make a slave satisfied to hear the clanking of his chains. This is the reason he should never try to better his condition.
He should be contented simply with the right to work for nothing. If he only had food and raiment, and a thief to work for, he should be contented. He should solace himself with the apostolic reflection, that as he brought nothing into the world, he could carry nothing out, and that when dead he would be as happily situated as his master.
In order to show you what the inspired writer meant by the word _servant_, I will read from the 21st chapter of Exodus, verses 20 and 21:
"And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.
"Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he _is_ his money."
Yet, notwithstanding these pa.s.sages the _Christian Advocate_ says, "the Bible is the Magna Charta of our liberty."
After reading that, I was not surprised by the following in the same paper:
"We regret to record that Ingersoll is on a low plane of infidelity and atheism, not less offensive to good morals than have been the teachings of infidelity during the last century. France has been cursed with such teachings for a hundred years, and because of it, to-day her citizens are incapable of self-government."
What was the condition of France a century ago? Were they capable of self-government then? For fourteen hundred years the common people of France had suffered. For fourteen hundred years they had been robbed by the altar and by the throne. They had been the prey of priests and n.o.bles. All were exempt from taxation, except the common people. The cup of their suffering was full, and the French people arose in fury and frenzy, and tore the drapery from the altars of G.o.d, and filled the air with the dust of thrones.
Surely, the slavery of fourteen centuries had not been produced by the teachings of Voltaire. I stood only a little while ago at the place where once stood the Bastile. In my imagination I saw that prison standing as it stood of yore. I could see it attacked by the populace.
I could see their stormy faces and hear their cries. And I saw that ancient fortification of tyranny go down forever. And now where once stood the Bastile stands the Column of July. Upon its summit is a magnificent statue of Liberty, holding in one hand a banner, in the other a broken chain, and upon its shining forehead is the star of progress. There it stands where once stood the Bastile. And France is as much superior to what it was when Voltaire was born, as that statue, surmounting the Column of July, is more beautiful than the Bastile that stood there once with its cells of darkness, and its dungeons of horror.
And yet we are now told that the French people have rendered themselves incapable of government, simply because they have listened to the voice of progress. There are magnificent men in France. From that country have come to the human race some of the grandest and holiest messages the ear of man has ever heard. The French people have given to history some of the most touching acts of self-sacrifice ever performed beneath the amazed stars.
For my part, I admire the French people. I cannot forget the Rue San Antoine, nor the red cap of liberty. I can never cease to remember that the tricolor was held aloft in Paris, while Europe was in chains, and while liberty, with a bleeding breast, was in the Inquisition of Spain.
And yet we are now told by a religious paper, that France is not capable of self-government. I suppose it was capable of self-government under the old regime, at the time of the ma.s.sacre of St. Bartholomew. I suppose it was capable of self-government when women were seen yoked with cattle pulling plows. I suppose it was capable of self-government when all who labored were in a condition of slavery.
In the old times, even among the priests, there were some good, some sincere and most excellent men. I have read somewhere of a sermon preached by one of these in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. This old priest, among other things, said that the soul of a beggar was as dear to G.o.d as the soul of the richest of his people, and that Jesus Christ died as much for a beggar as for a prince. One French peasant, rough with labor, cried out: "I propose three cheers for Jesus Christ." I like such things. I like to hear of them. I like to repeat them. Paris has been a kind of volcano, and has made the heavens lurid with its lava of hatred, but it has also contributed more than any other city to the intellectual development of man. France has produced some infamous men, among others John Calvin, but for one Calvin, she has produced a thousand benefactors of the human race.
The moment the French people rise above the superst.i.tions of the church, they will be in the highest sense capable of self-government. The moment France succeeds in releasing herself from the coils of Catholicism--from the shadows of superst.i.tion--from the foolish forms and mummeries of the church--from the intellectual tyranny of a thousand years--she will not only be capable of self-government, but will govern herself. Let the priests be usefully employed. We want no overseers of the mind; no slave-drivers for the soul. We cannot afford to pay hypocrites for depriving us of liberty. It is a waste of money to pay priests to frighten our children, and paralyze the intellect of women.
WAS THE WORLD CREATED IN SIX DAYS?
III.
FOR hundreds of years it was contended by all Christians that the earth was made in six days, literal days of twenty-four hours each, and that on the seventh day the Lord rested from his labor. Geologists have driven the church from this position, and it is now claimed that the days mentioned in the Bible are periods of time. This is a simple evasion, not in any way supported by the Scriptures. The Bible distinctly and clearly says that the world was created in six days.
There is not within its lids a clearer statement. It does not say six periods. It was made according to that book in six days: