Origin of Idolatry.—Here we deem it proper to speak more directly and specifically of the primary origin of idolatry, or image-worship, than is disclosed in the preceding pages. After the primitive inhabitants of the earth had conceived the notion that the sun, moon, and stars are moved in their orbits through the heavens by beings who occupied them (as has already been shown), they were in the habit of gazing upon these tower-lights of the Elvsian fields (the home of the Gods) with the most intense delight, the most reverential awe and devotion. But ever and anon this pleasing reverie was interrupted, and subjected to sad suspense, by "the departure of the heavenly host to other and distant lands." First of all, the solar God, mounted upon his gem-wheeled chariot drawn by his fleet steeds, after plowing his way through the deep-blue vault of the sky, was off on his swift-sped journey behind the western hills, but followed almost immediately by the whole retinue of stellar orbs (the homes of the lesser Gods), who danced along in his wake; but, ever true to the line of march, followed on apace, and were soon beyond the bounds of human vision. This left an aching void in their devout minds. Hence the invention and construction of images as imaginary likenesses of the Gods, to serve as substitutes for them, to be venerated in their stead daring their absence, as we secure the likeness of a friend when about to leave us for a journey, or to be long absent. And here we may date the primary origin of idolatry, which is nothing more nor less than the first rude germination of man's religious nature.
It seems most strikingly strange that atheism and idolatry should be considered by the orthodox representatives of the Christian faith as "the most God-defying and heaven-daring sins that man can be guilty of" (as one Christian writer represents them to be), when there is not a professor of the Christian faith, and never has been, who was not guilty most unquestionably of one of these sins. It requires but a few words to prove this statement. Nearly all the early Christian writers defined atheism to be "disbelief in a personal God," and idolatry as "image-making."
How obtuse must have been their perceptions that they could not see that their definition of these terms made them all either atheists or idolaters, and that it is impossible to escape one of these charges without becoming obnoxious to the other! No person can believe in a personal God without forming an image of him in the mind; and this is just as much idolatry as though that mental image should find expression in wood or stone or brass, as shown in the preceding chapter. On the other hand, to believe in an infinite and spiritual God, instead of a personal God, is, as shown above, atheism. It will be seen, then, to believe in a personal, organized Deity is, to all intents and purposes, idolatry; while to reject this anthropomorphic and sensuous idea, and accept the belief in a spiritual God in its stead, is atheism. And thus the position is reduced to a demonstrated problem, that all Christians are either atheists or idolaters.
The Hindoos, Egyptians, Persians, Chaldeans, Jews, and Mahomedans, and various other nations, claim to have had a special revelation of God's will communicated to them for the benefit of the whole human race. But the following facts and arguments will tend to show that no such revelations have ever been made, and that there is none necessary:—
We will inquire, in the first place, what a divine revelation would be. Coming from a perfect being, it would of course be perfect, and perfectly adapted to the moral and spiritual wants of the whole human race. Such a revelation would be so clear, explicit, and unequivocal in its language with respect to every doctrine, principle, and precept, and every statement of fact, that no person of ordinary mind could possibly misunderstand it; and no two persons could differ for a moment with respect to the meaning of any text embraced in it. It would need no priest and no commentator to explain it; and, if any attempt should be made to explain it, it would only "darken counsel," render the matter more obscure, and would amount to the blasphemous assumption that Omniscience can be enlightened, and his works improved. And adivinerevelation should be communicated to the whole human race; for, if restricted to one nation, it would render God obnoxious to the charge of partiality. And, in order to make it practicable to communicate it to all nations, it would be necessary to comprehend it in a universal language constructed for the purpose, or else impart it to the world through all the three thousand languages in use by different nations and tribes. But, as such a revelation has never been made or known on the earth, it is at once evident that no such revelation has ever been communicated to man by Infinite Wisdom.
A revelation issued two or three thousand years ago could be no revelation for this age. The Rev. Jeremiah Jones admits that "a revelation can only be a revelation to him who receives it," and can not be made use of to convince another (Canon, p. 51). Bishop Burnet admits that a revelation to one man is no revelation to another. You can neither see nor feel a revelation made to another person. You can merely see the marks on the paper on which he has recorded what he claims to have been a revelation to him. And this is all the proof you can have in the case, which is no proof at all.
I know that God has inscribed a revelation on my brain called reason, as it is ever present with me. Hence I know that it wasdesigned for me. But I can not have this testimony with regard to a written revelation, as it was not communicated to me. Hence, as a matter of certainty and safety, I should hold to my own revelation in preferenceto any other.
I can only be certain of my own revelation. Indeed I can not know that any other revelation was designed for me, because a dozen revelations are brought forward by different nations for my acceptance; and I can not determine to an absolute certainty which is divine and which is human. To settle the matter, I must have another revelation made expressly to me to inform me which is the true revelation. To save this extra labor, I might as well have had the original revelation itself.
As an idiot can not be made to understand a revelation, it is evident that a revelation presupposes a rational mind for its reception; otherwise the revelation would be perfectly useless. Hence it is evident the brain must be right before the revelation is given, or it will not be able to understand it. This makes the brain superior to, and of higher authority, than revelation.
The moment we begin to reason on the revelation of the Bible, which we are compelled to do to determine which is the true one, that moment we transfer the authority of the Bible to the brain, and the brain thus becomes its judge and jury. The reason sits in judgment over the Bible, and is thus proved to be superior to it. This is realized in the experience of every man who is superior to an idiot; and thus the question of Bible authority and superiority is at once and for ever settled. It is proved to be inferior to reason, and subordinate to it, and dare not advance a step beyond it.
A Bible or revelation could only be infallible to a man or woman of infallible understanding; that is, to an infallible being. And, as no such being has ever existed, it is evident that no infallible revelation has ever been issued.
No infallible revelation could be of any practical use to any person unless all the circumstances connected with it were infallible. The language in which it is written must be infallible; the person receiving it must be infallible; and the reader, or his understanding, must also be infallible. But, as no such state of things has ever existed, it follows that no infallible revelation has ever been given to man, and is absolutely impracticable.
A divine revelation must be miraculously inspired; and then it must be miraculously preserved from the slightest alteration by the translator or the transcriber, and from any error on the part of the printer. And, finally, the reader's mind and understanding and judgment must be miraculously guarded from any mistake or misunderstanding or wrong conclusions relative to every text in the book. Otherwise there is no absolute certainty that the revelation is a true one, or superior to s mere human production.
VIII. OUR MORAL AND RELIGIOUS DUTIES CAN NOT BE LEARNED FROM ANY BIBLE OR REVELATION.
A critical investigation of the matter will show that our moral and religious duties are not half of them enumerated in the Bible; and to suppose that God would reveal only a portion of them, and leave us in the dark with respect to others, and compel us to find them out by chance and conjecture, is to trifle with Omniscience, and assume that he is short-sighted and imperfect.
As the circumstances of each case of moral duty differ from every other case, so our courses of action must be different. Hence revelation, to be of any practical use, should have foreseen those circumstances, pointed them out, and instructed us how to act in the case. But this is not done in any case. We will illustrate: We are enjoined by the Bible to "bring up a child in the way he should go;" but that way is not pointed out or defined. We are not told which one of the thousand churches he should join; we are not told, when a man's leg is broken, how it should be mended; we are not told what means we should use to restore the sick to health, nor instructed as to the best means to be used for the preservation of health and life. And, as these are among the first and most important duties, we should have been instructed as to the best means to be used for that purpose; but these things are omitted, and left to the province of reason. There is no case in which we are not compelled to make reason our supreme judge to decide how we shall practice the duties of revelation; and thus revelation is made a servant or subsidiary agent.
Christians sometimes tell us, "Give us something better in the place of our religion before you take it from us." But the Bible tells them, "Cease to do evil [before you] learn to do well." Doom error to destruction, and truth will spring out of the ashes. What would you think of a man who should say to a physician, "Stop, sir! before you administer that medicine to my child, I want to know what you are going to let it have in place of its pains and aches"? We do not propose or desire to destroy any religion as a whole, but only the deleterious weeds which are choking and poisoning the healthy plants. We do not wish to put down or arrest the progress of any truth.
The clergy sometimes assert that "we could not distinguish right from wrong, but for the Bible." And was nothing known to the world about right and wrong, or the means of distinguishing between them, during the two thousand years which elapsed before the Bible was written? Christians place Moses, its first writer, about fourteen hundred years before Christ, while the Bible dates back 4004 B.C. And then what about those millions of the inhabitants of the globe who never had our Bible? And millions of them never had a Bible of any kind. Are they destitute of moral perception? On the contrary, reliable authority, and even Christian writers, assure us that the morals of many of those nations will put to shame the morals of any nation professing the religion of Christ. Take, for example, the Kalaos tribe of Africa, who appear to have no formal religion whatever; and yet, as Dr. Livingstone informs us, they maintain strict honesty in all their dealings with each other, and have made considerable progress in the arts and manufactures. They have never had a Bible or revelation of any kind. Look also at the inhabitants of the Arru Islands. "These people," says Dr. Livingstone, "appear to have no religion whatever; and yet they live in brotherly peace, and respect each other's rights,"—the rights of property in the fullest sense. The Rev. W. H. Clark, speaking of the Yoruba nation in Central Africa, says, "Their moral and even their civil rights in some respects would put to shame any Christian nation in the world." We might present a hundred more cases of this kind; but these three cases are sufficient to show that nations witt no Bible, no revelation, and even no religion, transcend any Christian nation with respect to strict honesty and a practical sense of right and wrong. How absurd, therefore, is the idea shown to be, that a knowledge of the Christian Bible is essential to the knowledge and practice of good morals! (See chap. 50.)
There is not a moral or religious duty that is not inscribed on the tablet of man's soul or consciousness which he would not soon learn if his attention were not constantly directed to, and his mind occupied with, the erroneous theories of the dark, illiterate ages.
The God of nature has endowed every human being with two sensations,—one of pleasure, and the other of pain,—which serve as guides in all his actions, both physical and moral. They stand as sentinels at the door of his soul to warn him of the approach of evil of every kind. The moment their kingdom is invaded, they raise an alarm, which he soon learns he must heed or suffer a penalty. If he drinks intoxicating drinks, or improperly indulges his appetites and propensities in any way, he learns, by suffering, that is the penalty affixed to the violation of the law of health, and that he can not escape it, and that no one can suffer for him, or make any "atonement for his sins." If he attempts to handle fire, he is soon apprized that he is meddling with something that will injure him; if he commits a moral wrong against a neighbor, it re-acts upon himself in various ways, as explained in Chap. 46. It thus acts as a two-edged sword, which cuts both ways, punishes both the victim and the perpetrator. Man learns by experience that crime will not only injure him, but, in many cases, will destroy him.
On the other hand, when he practices virtue, she greets him with her smiles, and fills his soul with pleasure. Let me illustrate:
The bells in some city toll the alarm of fire at midnight. In a few minutes thousands of men and boys are congregated on the spot, many of them half-dressed, and without hats or shoes, in order to aid a fellow-being in rescuing his dwelling from the all-devouring element. What prompts them to this act? It is not an injunction of their Bible. No: it was the well-spring of philanthropy leaping up through their souls that prompted to the deed, and not a written Bible. Again: why is a mother's loving, watchful care ever exercised for the protection and welfare of her child? She will endure almost any hardship or privation which its welfare requires. Why does she do this?
Her Bible is silent on the subject. It is the impulse of nature welling up from the fountain of maternal affection which prompts to these acts of loving care,—to this moral duty. And this is true of all the other moral duties of life. They are all imbibed al her fountain,—at the fountain of Nature. A man with a good moral development needs no revelation to teach him what is right, no Bible to prompt him to the performance of his duties. We rejoice "with joy unspeakable" that the world is fast learning this moral axiom. The Bible truly teaches us that our moral duties are revealed in the book of nature (Chap. 14). And Christian writers also admit this. Tertullian says, "Why pain yourselves in searching for a divine law while you have that which is common to mankind, and engraven upon the tablet of nature?" This is a wonderful admission for a Christian writer to make, as it virtually concedes there is no moral or religious necessity for a written Bible or revelation.
One argument against the belief in a divine revelation is found in the fact that it would tend to paralyze human effort, and thus make man a mental sloth. If a man could find all his moral and religious duties "cut and dried," and laid out before him, he would be thus robbed of the motive to study and learn his duties by the exercise of his mental powers. And having no incentives to healthy, energetic action, he would become a drone and mental sloth. We can not believe God ever made such a blunder as this.
It is admitted that no revelation was ever given to man for more than two thousand years after creation. This would imply that it was forgotten by Infinite Wisdom, or else the moral necessity for it overlooked. Either assumption would make God an imperfect and short-sighted being. It would appear like an after-thought. After man had lived so many years upon the earth, it just occurred to God that he had not given him a written revelation instructing him what to do and believe. The assumption of a divine revelation presupposes such a blunder as this on the part of Omniscience, and is therefore derogatory to his character.
Now, we ask seriously, Do not the foregoing facts and arguments show that there is no moral or religious necessity for a divine revelation to man? Let the believers in the necessity of the Bible, or a divine revelation, show their fallacy, or for ever abandon the old mythological assumption that it is necessary.
Another conclusive argument: A mind that could comprehend a truth divinely revealed could originate that truth. We will give an illustrative proof: A teacher works out a mathematical problem on the blackboard for the benefit of his school. Now, every teacher and every logical mind will admit that every pupil, possessing the mental capacity to understand the mathematical truth thus revealed, could, by his own unaided powers, have developed it himself sooner or later. In like manner, the mind that could comprehend a truth revealed from God, could originate it without the aid of revelation. Hence revelation would be worse than useless, as it would furnish a pretext for mental or intellectual sloth, and thus have a tendency to stop human progress by doing for us what we could and should do ourselves. A logical investigation of the case will show that we possess the mental capacity to discoverevery truth we need, whether it be scientific, moral, orreligious; and such exercise furnishes the only means to keep the mind in a healthy condition. And thus the problem is proved again.
The tradition so universally prevalent among the disciples of all the Oriental systems of religious faith, as well as those of a more modern origin, and which is still a conspicuous element of the Christian system,—that man commenced his career in a state of moral perfection,—is so obviously at war with every principle of anthropology, and every page of human history tending to demonstrate the moral character of the primitive inhabitants of the earth, that I shall employ but little time and space in exposing its absurdity and falsity.
1. All the organic remains of theearliesttypes of the human species that have been found demonstrate conclusively that man started on the animal plane with animal feelings, propensities, and habits, almost totally devoid of moral feelings, and "consequently victim to his passions, propensities, and lusts."
Where, then, were his moral purity and angelic holiness? The idea is a mere chimera.
2. It is now a settled problem in mental science that the character of every species of animate being corresponds with its organization; that the organic structure of the being, whether dead or alive, always indicates its true character. If it possesses the form and type of the tiger it will always be found with the disposition and habits of the tiger; or, if it is a sheep in form, it will be a sheep in character. There is no deviation from this rule. Hence, when we find the bones of the early types of the human species resembling those of the lower order of animals, there is no escaping the conclusion that they possessed an analogous character.
3. Look, then, at the fact that the skulls and facial bones of human beings, found embedded in the rocks of Gibraltar, belonging to a race which naturalists have decided existed upon the earth sixty-five thousand years ago, closely approximate those of an animal. They possessed retreating foreheads, prognathous jaws, extremely coarse features, and skulls nearly an inch in thickness; hands resembling those of a monkey, feet resembling those of a bear, and cranial receptacle showing a very small amount of moral brain. Now, it is evident that this early race, with such a gross, brutal organization, could not have possessed fine moral sensibilities and lofty virtue, purity, and perfection.
4. And we find that nations whose organizations indicate a higher moral character are of more modern origin, as shown by their organic remains being found in more recently formed strata,—the tertiary formation. It is thus scientifically demonstrated that man's tendency toward moral perfection is inversely to the remoteness of time,—that, the nearer we retrace his history to his origin, the lower position he occupies in the scale of morals.
5. We will cite one more historical fact to establish this theory The existence of a tribe of negroes has been traced (as stated in Chap. 16.) to near the date of Noah's flood, whose organization indicates a very near approach to the animal; thus showing, that, if they are descendants of Adam, he himself must have possessed an inferior or defective moral organization and character.
6. Let the reader, after noting these facts, read the history of the practical lives of the earliest races or nations whose deeds have been recorded, and he will find they sustain the same proportion; that their defective moral character corresponds (ceteris paribus) to the remoteness of the era in which they lived. The history of the Jews themselves illustrates and corroborates the proposition, as the character of the modern Jews is far superior to those of the era of Abraham and Moses.
7. Once more: The fact that the moral character of nearly all nations is constantly improving, proves beyond question that man once occupied a much lower plane, and that, instead of falling from a state of moral purity, he is constantly ascending toward that condition.
8. The current belief of man's primitive moral perfection is easily traced to its origin. Nearly all the Oriental nations had a tradition of a "golden age," when the most sublime and unalloyed bliss was the lot and enjoyment of thegenus homo. But the serpent that beguiled Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit in Eden, the serpent who stole the recipe of immortal life in Assyria, the entering of Typhon into the golden paradise of Osirus in Egypt, the opening of Pandora's box in Greece, the piercing of the evil egg by Ahrimanes in Chaldea, the machinations of the snake in India, of the lizard in Persia, and the demon in Mexico, seem to have all had an agency in defeating the omniscient designs of Deity, and placing the reins of government in the hands of the world's omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient evil genius, thus prostrating for ever the great and glorious plans of Infinite Wisdom.
Having shown that man commenced his earthly career on a low moral and intellectual plane, and that therefore the assumption of his original moral perfection is a fallacy, the correlative dogma of his fall into a state of moral depravity falls to the ground of its own weight. It would be a work of supererogation to attempt to show that man never fell in a moral sense, after having shown that he never occupied an elevated moral position to fall from. It is self-evident that he could not fall if there was no lower position for him to fall to; and this has been shown. Nevertheless we will expose its absurdity from other logical stand-points. According to the Westminster Catechism, "God placed man in the garden of Eden, and forbade him to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge; and, because he disobeyed, he became the victim of God's eternal wrath, an accursed and totally depraved being." Such doctrine is not only morally revolting, but replete with logical absurdities. We will recount some of them:—
1. God formed and fashioned man, according to the Bible, after his own image, the product of his infinite wisdom; and if he had not possessed infinite wisdom, which must enable him to do every thing to perfection, he had had an eternity to study the matter, and get it fully matured, so as to make every thing work in harmony, and endow every sentient being with happiness.
2. And, as happiness is the highest end and aim of every living being, it is hence evident that, where there is a want of happiness, there is a want of perfection in the being who established such a state of things; and such a being could not by any possibility be infinitely good and infinitely wise.
3. A few points considered will show very clearly, that, if man sinned and fell, God has to sustain the responsibility of it. We are told that God made man; and, being all-wise, he would, of course, endow him with exactly such faculties and inclinations and appetites as were best adapted to his situation, and calculated to make him happy. But, according to orthodoxy, God had planted a tree near the spot where he placed Adam, and furnished it with some beautiful and luscious fruit, and implanted in man an appetite and relish for it, and, as if to tantalize him with perpetual hanger, forbade him to eat the fruit; and apparently, for fear Adam would obey his command and abstain from eating the fruit, he created a serpent-devil to persuade him (or rather his wife) with bland smiles (assuming that a snake can smile, which is rather doubtful) to partake of the fruit, and satisfy their appetites. All this appear's to have been the work of their Creator, and not theirs. But the conspicuous features of the absurdity do not stop here.
4. We are told that the prohibition to eat the fruit was issued to Adam before Eve was released from her imprisonment in Adam's side, or from performing the functions of a rib-bone, before she became a woman and a wife; and it is not even implied that it was intended to extend to her. Why, then, in the name of God, should such curses be heaped upon her devoted head for eating the fruit when she had not been forbidden to do so? And it does not appear to have been wrong in any sense, only that Jehovah had issued an order forbidding it.
5. Jehovah professed great sympathy for Adam's lonely condition, and made a help meet for him; and yet the first meat she helped him to, it would seem, damned him and his posterity for ever. In view of this fact, it is probable Adam would have preferred to let her remain a bone in his side.
6. Here let it be noted that Adam and Eve were ignorant and inexperienced beings. They had had no experience in any thing, and hence could not know that such an act, or any other act, was wrong and sinful.
7. Nor could Adam know what the word "die" meant when Jehovah told him he would die the day he ate the fruit, as he had seen nothing die.
8. It may here be said in reply, that they should, in their ignorance, have obeyed the command which was given them To this we reply, they did obey the command of one being. God told them not to eat, and the serpent told them to eat, the fruit; and, not having lived with or had any experience with either of those omnipresent beings, how could they know what would be the consequence of obeying or disobeying either of them? This question of itself is sufficient to settle the matter. They could not possibly know, with no experience in either case, that the consequence would be more serious or more fatal in disobeying Jehovah than the serpent.
9. And as they got their eyes open by eating the fruit, and did not die as Jehovah told them they would (while the serpent told them they would not), it is not to be wondered at that ever after they and their posterity should be more inclined to serve the serpent-devil than Jehovah, seeing that all the happy consequences which the former predicted as the result of eating the fruit were realized, while those of Jehovah were falsified. For proof see chap. 53.
10. The most artful sophistry can not disguise the fact that the doctrine of moral depravity is a slanderous imputation upon divine mercy, goodness, and justice, and challenges not only his goodness, but his good sense.
11. And every page of history and every principle of science demonstrate it to be both false and demoralizing.
Manfell up, and notdown.
It is alleged by the orthodox world that man's moral nature and reasoning faculties, both became depraved by the fall. "Totally depraved" has been the doctrine; but the gradual expansion and enlightenment of the mind by progressive science have modified the doctrine with some of the churches, and they have substituted "moral depravity" for "total depravity."
But neither assumption can be scientifically or logically sustained. The assumption that our reason is depraved is made the pretext for urging the superiority of revelation, and making reason subordinate to it. We are told, that, as our reason is depraved, we can not safely rely upon it to judge and criticise the Bible or the doctrine of the churches. Mr. Moody recently exclaimed, in a religious controversy, "I never reason on religion. None but the disciples of devils reason. It is dangerous to reason on religion." Unconscious of his ignorance, Mr. Moody assumed a very ludicrous position.—By theexerciseof his reason on religion, Mr. Moody came to the conclusion that it iswrongto reason on religion, thus committing the very sin he condemns in others. Hereasonson religion to convince people that it iswrongto reason on religion, and thus violates his own principles. His case is analogous to that of the town council which attempted to keep the prisoners of the county in the old jail while they erected a new jail with the timbers of the old one,—rather a difficult task to achieve, but not more so than Mr. Moody's attempt to keep his reason in chains while he is trying to exercise it. Or, rather, he insults his auditors by saying to them virtually, "I will use my reason on matters of religion, but you must not useyours." As a reasoning being he reasons with reasonable beings, and addresses their reason to convince them they ought not to reason on certain subjects. He uses logic to prove that logic is dangerous, and should not be used. By reasoning against reason he pullsboth ways, like the Scotchman who attempted to lift himself by his ears. He commits logical suicide when he attempts to show there is any case in which reason should not be used. The truth is, a person can notthinkon the subject of religion without beginning toreasonon it, because hisreasoning faculties and his thinking faculties are both one. Hethinkswith his intellect, and hereasonswith his intellect; and, the very momenthe begins to think, he begins to reason. And therefore, if it iswrong to reason on religion, it is wrong to have any religion. We should not allow it to occupy our thoughts for a single moment, and thus we would banish religion from the world; which, however, would be no great loss if it is too absurd to bear the test of reason. And, if it is wrong toreason on religion, it is wrong toreason on any subject. The moreimportantthe subject, the morenecessaryto use reason upon it, that we may make no mistakes in regard to it. The truth is, reason is theonly facultywith which a man can comprehend religion, revelation, or the Bible. This would prove again that it iswrong to have any religion, if it is wrong to submit it to the judgment, and test it by our reasoning faculties. Reason is the principal faculty which distinguishes us from the brute; and, therefore, to discard it if to approximate to the condition of the brute. What a pity Mr. Moody had not been consulted in his creation that he might have had his reasoning faculties left out! then he would not be under the necessity of sinning daily by exercising his reason in his attempts to stop its exercise. And then there are other serious difficulties growing out of the reverend gentleman's position. His reason being "depraved," we can place no confidence in its exercise or decision in this case, so as to assume that his judgment and conclusions are correct when he declares against reason. If he reaches his conclusions through a depraved reason, they can be of no account. The verdict can not transcend the judge or court which makes it. The reasoner being depraved, his reasoning and decision in the case must be depraved also, and therefore worthless. Verily the gentleman is in a bad position, and rather a serious quandary; and every struggle to get out only sinks him deeper. He is in the predicament of a dog running round after his tail. And then we should like to ask the gentleman, If our reason is not to be depended upon in matters of religion, how is it to be depended upon in any case? And how does he know, or how can he know, but that, his reason being depraved, it has lead him off the track, in this case, in his attempts to put it in chains? Will the reverend gentleman furnish a rule by which we can know in what case our reason can be trusted, and in what cases we are to doff our moral manhood, and lie prostrate in the dust with the brute? And then the rule, being the product of a depraved reason, could not be relied upon. Really the reverend gentleman is in an inextricable quandary. The case furnishes an illustrative proof of the extent a man can make a fool of himself when he attempts to shipwreck his reason, and a proof that orthodoxy is a conglomeration of absurdities, and is entirely out of place in an age of progressive thought, and an age of reason and science. The only evidence we have ever had of the truth of the depravity of human reason is found in the fact that men professing to have common sense and reason can believe it to be true. And the fact that our moral sense instinctively repels the doctrine of total depravity or moral depravity, and our reason rises up in rebellion against it, is proof positive of its absurdity.
The thought is here suggested, that, if God could not get along without the adoption of an expedient calculated to corrupt our moral nature and deprave our reason, he should not and would not have implanted in us such an instinctive horror to the doctrine. This natural feeling of repugnance is alone sufficient to condemn it, and prove that it is a slander upon Infinite Wisdom, and a libel upon human nature, to assume its existence. And such doctrine is evidently calculated to demoralize society. An old Roman proverb teaches us, "Call a man a dog, and he will be a dog." Call a child depraved, and it will feel depraved; and, feeling so, it will act so. On the other hand, teach the child he possesses the grand principle and feeling of an inherent nobility, and he will rise to the dignity of moral manhood. Such is the difference in the moral value of the two doctrines.
One of the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith is the free agency of man; but the very term is a logical contradiction. An agent must act in accordance with the will and wishes of his employer, or he will be called to account, and perhaps dismissed. Where, then, is his moral freedom? It may be assumed that his employer licenses him to take his own course; but this must be with certain conditions, or else he will act for himself, and be no agent at all. Certain alternatives are placed before an agent, which he is privileged to choose; but that does not make him free in any rational or practical sense. If he does not act as required or desired, he will be either punished or dismissed. That is a singular kind of freedom. It is the freedom of a slave, which is no freedom at all; and this is exactly the kind of freedom orthodoxy grants to the sinner, and to the whole human race. It marks out the road to heaven, and says, "This is the road to eternal bliss; and you must walk in it, or eternal misery will be your portion." And, to escape such a terrible doom, millions tremblingly travel the road impelled and propelled by fear. And this painful alternative Christians are pleased to term free agency, or moral freedom. It is simply the freedom of a slave to clank his chains. It is a perversion of language to apply the term "free agency" to such a case. The orthodox give us our choice to accept their terms of salvation or reject them; but they attach to the consequence of rejecting them the most awful penalties. We will illustrate: A father says to his son some sabbath morning, "John, I am going to leave you free to-day either to go to church or go a-fishing." He instantly darts away to the river or the lake with the glee of a humming-bird, and is seen no more until nightfall. As he approaches the door, his father says to him, "John, where have you been to-day?"—"Why, father, I have been fishing, to be sure."—"Well now, John, I am going to give you one of the most terrible floggings you ever had in your life for not going to church."—"Why, father, you told me I might take my choice, and go either to church, or go a-fishing."—"That is true, John; but it was with the implied understanding that, ifyou did not chooseto go to church, I would give you an unmerciful whipping." This is free agency indeed! It is the free agency of orthodoxy illustrated, and applied to practice. Free agency coupled with a penalty is moral slavery and moral tyranny. There is no moral freedom about it. You are simply free to take your choice between two systems of slavery and two systems of punishment or suffering. A hare pursued by a hound enjoys a similar kind of freedom,—the freedom to stand and be caught, or the freedom to run. Of all the absurdities that ever entered the brain of a human being, that of setting God and the Devil both after man, as orthodoxy does, and then call him a free agent, is not excelled. We are told that we can not think a thought of ourselves. All our good thoughts and actions are prompted by a good being; and all our bad thoughts' and actions by a bad being (God and the Devil). Where, then, is our moral freedom or our moral accountability, if neither our thoughts nor our actions are our own, as they can not be if they are prompted by other beings? When a man performs a good act, it is assumed that God is the author of it; and he is told that he must give God praise for it. On the other hand, all wicked actions are assigned to the Devil. He is thus a target between these two cross-fires. Such an assumption sweeps away the last vestige of free agency and moral accountability. Some Christian professors accept the doctrine of free agency to escape the dreaded alternative of assuming man to be a mere machine, which they call fatality. But here you have fatality to repletion. If to place man between two all-powerful beings, and have them both trying to direct his actions at once, don't make him a machine, then we have no use for the word. It is strange that Christian professors have never discovered that, according to the teachings of the Bible, God himself is not a free agent. A free agent is one who can have things as he wills or wishes, so far as he has the power to make them so. Look, then, at the fact that, according to their own Bible, God himself does not enjoy this desirable boon. It is declared by that book that "God wills not the death (destruction) of the sinner, but that all shall be saved." And it is elsewhere declared that "strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto life; and few there be that find it." According to the first text, God desires to save all; but, according to the second, he succeeds in saving but very few. Hence, not having things as he desires or wishes them to be, it is evident he is not a free agent, according to the orthodox or technical sense of that term. Why, then, talk of men being free agents, if a being with infinite power can not be a free agent?
To make man a free agent strictly or truly, he should have been consulted beforehand as to how, when, and where he would be born, or whether he would be born at all or not. Douglas Jerrold significantly remarks that, "if I had foreknown that a portion of mankind would be born to be damned, I'll be d——d if I would have been born at all." This expression, although profane, contains a good moral. Certainly nothing could be more preposterous or unreasonable than to hold one being accountable to another when the former had no agency in creating his mind or originating his inclinations, out of which all his actions grow. True accountability can only appertain to beings who created their own natural inclinations, or consented to receive those they are in possession of. This is clear and unanswerable logic. If man was made by God, or Infinite Wisdom, as Christians affirm, then common sense would teach that God alone is accountable for his actions. The man would be a fool who should blame a watch for not running right, knowing that the maker conferred upon it all the properties and powers it possessed. The maker of the watch alone is held responsible for all its perfections and imperfections. And, if man has a maker, it is a very clear case that that maker is equally responsible for his running wrong. There is no resisting this conclusion. The true assumption in the case is, that man has no creator in the orthodox sense, and is only responsible to himself, and to society so far as he is a voluntary member of it. But orthodoxy makes his salvation depend not only upon his resisting the natural inclinations implanted in his system, but also upon the position of his birth. As an argument in favor of sending the Bible to the heathen, they declare that millions perish every year because they have not the opportunity of reading that "Holy Book," and learning the name of Jesus. This makes their salvation depend upon the locality of their birth; as some sections furnish the opportunity, and others do not, of becoming acquainted with their Bible, and the name of their Savior.
We must imagine, therefore, in "the day of judgment" every human being will have a geographical question to answer. After being interrogated as to their conduct and practical lives, the next question will be, "Where were you born?" If the answer is, "In Arabia," the reply of the judge will be, "Oh yes! you are a Mahomedan. Our religion only saves those born in Christian countries. I must therefore set you aside among the goats." If the applicant is from India, he will be rejected from the kingdom, and consigned to perdition, because he is a "heathen." And thus Christianity is shown to be a geographical system of salvation, and makes a man's eternal destiny depend upon whether he is born in this country or that country, which strips it of all claim to either justice, impartiality, or good sense. The doctrine of free agency and moral accountability is one in a long list of Geological absurdities, which originated in an age of scientific ignorance, when nothing was known of the natural powers, or the philosophy of the human mind, or the laws which control its action.
Moral Accountability.—What is it? and where is it? It is certainly one of the greatest moral puzzles ever submitted to a philosopher, as to how a being, forced into existence by an omnipotent creative power, without his consultation or consent, can be responsible to that creative power for his conduct, when he had no agency and no volition in his own creation, and no power of resisting it, or in shaping its conditions. If God possesses omnipotent power and infinite wisdom, andis a creator, he could and should have made man to act just as he wished him to act; and, if he did not do so, common sense would suggest that it was his own fault. It will be seen from the force of this logic, that Christians must either give up the doctrine of a voluntary personal creator, or that of moral accountability. The two doctrinescan notbe made to harmonize together.