_Fifth_. Religious persecution.
_Sixth_. The divine right of kings--an idea that rests upon the inequality of human rights, and insists that people should be governed without their con- sent; that the right of one man to govern another comes from God, and not from the consent of the governed. This is caste--one of the most odious forms of slavery.
_Seventh_. A belief in malicious supernatural be- ings--devils, witches, and wizards.
_Eighth_. A belief in an infinite being who or- dered, commanded, established and approved all these evils.
_Ninth_. The idea that one man can be good for another, or bad for another--that is to say, that one can be rewarded for the goodness of another, or justly punished for the sins of another.
_Tenth_. The dogma that a finite being can commit an infinite sin, and thereby incur the eternal dis- pleasure of an infinitely good being, and be justly subjected to eternal torment.
My principal objection to the Bible is that it sus- tains all of these ten evils--that it is the advocate of
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human slavery, the friend of polygamy; that within its pages I find the command to wage wars of ex- termination; that I find also that the Jews were taught to hate foreigners--to consider all human beings as inferior to themselves; I also find persecu- tion commanded as a religious duty; that kings were seated upon their thrones by the direct act of God, and that to rebel against a king was rebellion against God. I object to the Bible also because I find within its pages the infamous spirit of caste--I see the sons of Levi set apart as the perpetual beggars and governors of a people; because I find the air filled with demons seeking to injure and betray the sons of men; because this book is the fountain of modern superstition, the bulwark of tyranny and the fortress of caste. This book also subverts the idea of justice by threatening infinite punishment for the sins of a finite being.
At the same time, I admit--as I always have ad- mitted--that there are good passages in the Bible-- good laws, good teachings, with now and then a true line of history. But when it is asserted that every word was written by inspiration--that a being of in- finite wisdom and goodness is its author,--then I raise the standard of revolt.
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_Question_. What do you think of the declaration of Mr. Talmage that the Bible will be read in heaven throughout all the endless ages of eternity?
_Answer_. Of course I know but very little as to what is or will be done in heaven. My knowledge of that country is somewhat limited, and it may be possible that the angels will spend most of their time in turning over the sacred leaves of the Old Testa- ment. I can not positively deny the statement of the Reverend Mr. Talmage as I have but very little idea as to how the angels manage to kill time.
The Reverend Mr. Spurgeon stated in a sermon that some people wondered what they would do through all eternity in heaven. He said that, as for himself, for the first hundred thousand years he would look at the wound in one of the Savior's feet, and for the next hundred thousand years he would look at the wound in his other foot, and for the next hundred thousand years he would look at the wound in one of his hands, and for the next hundred thousand years he would look at the wound in the other hand, and for the next hundred thousand years he would look at the wound in his side.
Surely, nothing could be more delightful than this
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A man capable of being happy in such employment, could of course take great delight in reading even the genealogies of the Old Testament. It is very easy to see what a glow of joy would naturally over- spread the face of an angel while reading the history of the Jewish wars, how the seraphim and cherubim would clasp their rosy palms in ecstasy over the fate of Korah and his company, and what laughter would wake the echoes of the New Jerusalem as some one told again the story of the children and the bears; and what happy groups, with folded pinions, would smilingly listen to the 109th Psalm.
[Illustration: 371]
An orthodox "state of mind"
THE TALMAGIAN CATECHISM.
_As Mr. Talmage delivered the series of sermons referred to in these interviews, for the purpose of furnishing arguments to the young, so that they might not be misled by the sophistry of modern infi-delity, I have thought it best to set forth, for use in Sunday schools, the pith and marrow of what he has been pleased to say, in the form of_
A SHORTER CATECHISM.
_Question_. Who made you?
_Answer_. Jehovah, the original Presbyterian.
_Question_. What else did he make?
_Answer_. He made the world and all things.
_Question_. Did he make the world out of nothing?
_Answer_. No.
_Question_. What did he make it out of?
_Answer_. Out of his "omnipotence." Many infidels have pretended that if God made the universe, and if there was nothing until he did make it, he had nothing to make it out of. Of course this is perfectly absurd when we remember that he always had his "omnipo- tence and that is, undoubtedly, the material used.
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_Question_. Did he create his own "omnipotence"?
_Answer_. Certainly not, he was always omnipo- tent.
_Question_. Then if he always had "omnipotence,"
he did not "create" the material of which the uni- verse is made; he simply took a portion of his "omnipotence" and changed it to "universe"?
_Answer_. Certainly, that is the way I under- stand it.
_Question_. Is he still omnipotent, and has he as much "omnipotence" now as he ever had?
_Answer_. Well, I suppose he has.
_Question_. How long did it take God to make the universe?
_Answer_. Six "good-whiles."
_Question_. How long is a "good-while"?
_Answer_. That will depend upon the future dis- coveries of geologists. "Good-whiles" are of such a nature that they can be pulled out, or pushed up; and it is utterly impossible for any infidel, or scien- tific geologist, to make any period that a "good-while"
won't fit.
_Question_. What do you understand by "the "morning and evening" of a "good-while"?
_Answer_. Of course the words "morning and
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"evening" are used figuratively, and mean simply the beginning and the ending, of each "good-while."
_Question_. On what day did God make vegetation?
_Answer_. On the third day.