thing in advance of their day; if they had pluckedfrom the night of ignorance one star of truth, wemight have admitted the claim of inspiration; butthe Scriptures did not rise above their source, didnot rise above their ignorant authors—above thepeople who believed in wars of extermination, inpolygamy, in concubinage, in slavery, and who taughtthese things in their "sacred Scriptures."The greatest men in the scientific world have notbeen, and are not, believers in the inspiration of theScriptures. There has been no greater astronomerthan Laplace. There is no greater name thanHumboldt. There is no living scientist who standshigher than Charles Darwin. All the professors inall the religious colleges in this country rolled intoone, would not equal Charles Darwin. All the cow-ardly apologists for the cosmogony of Moses do notamount to as much in the world of thought as ErnstHaeckel. There is no orthodox scientist the equalof Tyndall or Huxley. There is not one in thiscountry the equal of John Fiske. I insist, that the212foremost men to-day in the scientific world reject thedogma of inspiration. They reject the science of theBible, and hold in utter contempt the astronomy ofJoshua, and the geology of Moses.Mr. Talmage tells us "that Science is a boy and"Revelation is a man." Of course, like the most hesays, it is substantially the other way. Revelation,so-called, was the boy. Religion was the lullaby ofthe cradle, the ghost-story told by the old woman,Superstition. Science is the man. Science asks fordemonstration. Science impels us to investigation,and to verify everything for ourselves. Most pro-fessors of American colleges, if they were not afraidof losing their places, if they did not know thatChristians were bad enough now to take the breadfrom their mouths, would tell their students that theBible is not a scientific book.I admit that I have said:1. That the Bible is cruel.2. That in many passages it is impure.3. That it is contradictory.4. That it is unscientific.Let me now prove these propositions one by one.First. The Bible is cruel.I have opened it at random, and the very first213chapter that has struck my eye is the sixth of FirstSamuel. In the nineteenth verse of that chapter, Ifind the following:"And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because"they had looked into the ark of the Lord; even he"smote of the people fifty thousand and three-score"and ten men."All this slaughter was because some people hadlooked into a box that was carried upon a cart. Wasthat cruel?I find, also, in the twenty-fourth chapter of SecondSamuel, that David was moved by God to numberIsrael and Judah. God put it into his heart to takea census of his people, and thereupon David said toJoab, the captain of his host:"Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from"Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people,"that I may know the number of the people."At the end of nine months and twenty days, Joabgave the number of the people to the king, andthere were at that time, according to that census,"eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the"sword," in Israel, and in Judah, "five hundred"thousand men," making a total of thirteen hundredthousand men of war. The moment this census was214taken, the wrath of the Lord waxed hot againstDavid, and thereupon he sent a seer, by the name ofGad, to David, and asked him to choose whether hewould have seven years of famine, or fly threemonths before his enemies, or have three days ofpestilence. David concluded that as God was somerciful as to give him a choice, he would be moremerciful than man, and he chose the pestilence.Now, it must be remembered that the sin of takingthe census had not been committed by the people,but by David himself, inspired by God, yet thepeople were to be punished for David's sin. So,,when David chose the pestilence, God immediatelykilled "seventy thousand men, from Dan even to"Beersheba.""And when the angel stretched out his hand upon"Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of"the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the"people, It is enough; stay now thine hand."Was this cruel?Why did a God of infinite mercy destroy seventythousand men? Why did he fill his land with widowsand orphans, because King David had taken the cen-sus? If he wanted to kill anybody, why did he notkill David? I will tell you why. Because at that215time, the people were considered as the property ofthe king. He killed the people precisely as he killedthe cattle. And yet, I am told that the Bible is not acruel book.In the twenty-first chapter of Second Samuel, Ifind that there were three years of famine in the daysof David, and that David inquired of the Lord thereason of the famine; and the Lord told him that itwas because Saul had slain the Gibeonites. Why didnot God punish Saul instead of the people? AndDavid asked the Gibeonites how he should makeatonement, and the Gibeonites replied that theywanted no silver nor gold, but they asked that sevenof the sons of Saul might be delivered unto them, sothat they could hang them before the Lord, in Gibeah.And David agreed to the proposition, and thereuponhe delivered to the Gibeonites the two sons of Rizpah,Saul's concubine, and the five sons of Michal, thedaughter of Saul, and the Gibeonites hanged allseven of them together. And Rizpah, more tenderthan them all, with a woman's heart of love keptlonely vigil by the dead, "from the beginning of har-"vest until water dropped upon them out of heaven,"and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest upon"them by day, nor the beast of the field by night."216I want to know if the following, from the fifteenthchapter of First Samuel, is inspired:"Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I remember that"which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for"him in the way when he came up from Egypt. Now"go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that"they have, and spare them not, but slay both man"and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep,"camel and ass."We must remember that those he was commandedto slay had done nothing to Israel. It was somethingdone by their forefathers, hundreds of years before;and yet they are commanded to slay the women andchildren and even the animals, and to spare none.It seems that Saul only partially carried into exe-cution this merciful command of Jehovah. He sparedthe life of the king. He "utterly destroyed all the"people with the edge of the sword," but he keptalive the best of the sheep and oxen and of the fat-lings and lambs. Then God spake unto Samuel andtold him that he was very sorry he had made Saulking, because he had not killed all the animals, andbecause he had spared Agag; and Samuel askedSaul: "What meaneth this bleating of sheep in mine"ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"217Are stories like this calculated to make soldiersmerciful?So I read in the sixth chapter of Joshua, the fateof the city of Jericho: "And they utterly destroyed"all that was in the city, both man and woman,"young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the"edge of the sword. And they burnt the city with"fire, and all that was therein." But we are told thatone family was saved by Joshua, out of the generaldestruction: "And Joshua saved Rahab, the harlot,"alive, and her father's household, and all that she"had." Was this fearful destruction an act ofmercy?It seems that they saved the money of theirvictims: "the silver and gold and the vessels of brass"and of iron they put into the treasury of the house"of the Lord."After all this pillage and carnage, it appearsthat there was a suspicion in Joshua's mind thatsomebody was keeping back a part of the treasure.Search was made, and a man by the name of Achanadmitted that he had sinned against the Lord, that hehad seen a Babylonish garment among the spoils, andtwo hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold offifty shekels' weight, and that he took them and hid2l8them in his tent. For this atrocious crime it seemsthat the Lord denied any victories to the Jews untilthey found out the wicked criminal. When they dis-covered poor Achan, "they took him and his sons"and his daughters, and his oxen and his asses and"his sheep, and all that he had, and brought them unto"the valley of Achor; and all Israel stoned him with"stones and burned them with fire after they had"stoned them with stones."After Achan and his sons and his daughters andhis herds had been stoned and burned to death, weare told that "the Lord turned from the fierceness of"his anger."And yet it is insisted that this God "is merciful,"and that his loving-kindness is over all his works."In the eighth chapter of this same book, the infi-nite God, "creator of heaven and earth and all that is"therein," told his general, Joshua, to lay an ambushfor a city—to "lie in wait against the city, even be-"hind the city; go not very far from the city, but be"ye all ready." He told him to make an attack andthen to run, as though he had been beaten, in orderthat the inhabitants of the city might follow, andthereupon his reserves that he had ambushed mightrush into the city and set it on fire. God Almighty219planned the battle. God himself laid the snare. Thewhole programme was carried out. Joshua madebelieve that he was beaten, and fled, and then thesoldiers in ambush rose out of their places, enter-ed the city, and set it on fire. Then came theslaughter. They "utterly destroyed all the inhabit-"ants of Ai," men and maidens, women and babes,sparing only their king till evening, when theyhanged him on a tree, then "took his carcase down"from the tree and cast it at the entering of the"gate, and raised thereon a great heap of stones"which remaineth unto this day." After havingdone all this, "Joshua built an altar unto the Lord"God of Israel, and offered burnt offerings unto the"Lord." I ask again, was this cruel?Again I ask, was the treatment of the Gibeonitescruel when they sought to make peace but weredenied, and cursed instead; and although permittedto live, were yet made slaves? Read the mandateconsigning them to bondage: "Now therefore ye"are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed"from being bondmen and hewers of wood and"drawers of water for the house of my God."Is it possible, as recorded in the tenth chapter ofJoshua, that the Lord took part in these battles, and220cast down great hail-stones from the battlements ofheaven upon the enemies of the Israelites, so that"they were more who died with hail-stones, than"they whom the children of Israel slew with the"sword"?Is it possible that a being of infinite power wouldexercise it in that way instead of in the interest ofkindness and peace?I find, also, in this same chapter, that Joshua tookMakkedah and smote it with the edge of the sword,that he utterly destroyed all the souls that weretherein, that he allowed none to remain.I find that he fought against Libnah, and smoteit with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyedall the souls that were therein, and allowed none toremain, and did unto the king as he did unto the kingof Jericho.I find that he also encamped against Lachish, andthat God gave him that city, and that he "smote it"with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that"were therein," sparing neither old nor young, help-less women nor prattling babes.He also vanquished Horam, King of Gezer, "and"smote him and his people until he left him none"remaining."221He encamped against the city of Eglon, and killedevery soul that was in it, at the edge of the sword,just as he had done to Lachish and all the others.He fought against Hebron, "and took it and"smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king"thereof,"—and it appears that several cities, theirnumber not named, were included in this slaughter,for Hebron "and all the cities thereof and all the"souls that were therein," were utterly destroyed.He then waged war against Debir and took it, andmore unnumbered cities with it, and all the souls thatwere therein shared the same horrible fate—he didnot leave a soul alive.And this chapter of horrors concludes with thissong of victory:"So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and"of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs,"and all their kings: he left none remaining, but"utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord"God of Israel commanded. And Joshua smote"them from Kadeshbarnea even unto Gaza, and all the"country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon. And all these"kings and their land did Joshua take at one time,"because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel."Was God, at that time, merciful?222I find, also, in the twenty-first chapter that manyIcings met, with their armies, for the purpose ofoverwhelming Israel, and the Lord said unto Joshua:"Be not afraid because of them, for to-morrow about"this time I will deliver them all slain before Israel."I will hough their horses and burn their chariots"with fire." Were animals so treated by the com-mand of a merciful God?Joshua captured Razor, and smote all the soulsthat were therein with the edge of the sword, therewas not one left to breathe; and he took all thecities of all the kings that took up arms against him,and utterly destroyed all the inhabitants thereof.He took the cattle and spoils as prey unto himself,and smote every man with the edge of the sword;and not only so, but left not a human being tobreathe.I find the following directions given to the Israel-ites who were waging a war of conquest. They arein the twentieth chapter of Deuteronomy, from thetenth to the eighteenth verses:"When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight"against it, then proclaim peace unto it. And it"shall be, if it make thee an answer of peace, and"open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people223"that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee,"and they shall serve thee. And if it will make no"peace with thee, but will war against thee, then"thou shalt besiege it. And when the Lord thy"God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt"smite every male thereof with the edge of the"sword; but the women, and the little ones, and"the cattle, and all that is in the city, even the spoil"thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou"shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the"Lord thy God hath given thee. Thus shalt thou"do unto all the cities which are very far off from"thee, which are not of the cities of these nations."It will be seen from this that people could taketheir choice between death and slavery, providedthese people lived a good ways from the Israelites.Now, let us see how they were to treat the inhabit-ants of the cities near to them:"But of the cities of these people which the Lord"thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou"shalt save alive nothing that breatheth. But thou"shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites,"and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites,"the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord thy God"hath commanded thee."224It never occurred to this merciful God to sendmissionaries to these people. He built them noschoolhouses, taught them no alphabet, gave themno book; they were not supplied even with a copy ofthe Ten Commandments. He did not say "Reform,"but "Kill;" not "Educate," but "Destroy." He gavethem no Bible, built them no church, sent them nopreachers. He knew when he made them that hewould have to have them murdered. When hecreated them he knew that they were not fit to live;and yet, this is the infinite God who is infinitelymerciful and loves his children better than an earthlymother loves her babe.In order to find just how merciful God is, read thetwenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, and see whathe promises to do with people who do not keep all ofhis commandments and all of his statutes. He cursesthem in their basket and store, in the fruit of theirbody, in the fruit of their land, in the increase of theircattle and sheep. He curses them in the city and inthe field, in their coming in and their going out. Hecurses them with pestilence, with consumption, withfever, with inflammation, with extreme burning, withsword, with blasting, with mildew. He tells themthat the heavens shall be as brass over their heads225and the earth as iron under their feet; that the rainshall be powder and dust and shall come down onthem and destroy them; that they shall flee sevenways before their enemies; that their carcasses shallbe meat for the fowls of the air, and the beasts of theearth; that he will smite them with the botch ofEgypt, and with the scab, and with the itch, and withmadness and blindness and astonishment; that hewill make them grope at noonday; that they shall beoppressed and spoiled evermore; that one shall be-troth a wife and another shall have her; that theyshall build a house and not dwell in it; plant a vine-yard and others shall eat the grapes; that theirsons and daughters shall be given to their enemies;that he will make them mad for the sight of theireyes; that he will smite them in the knees and in thelegs with a sore botch that cannot be healed, andfrom the sole of the foot to the top of the head;that they shall be a by-word among all nations; thatthey shall sow much seed and gather but little; thatthe locusts shall consume their crops; that they shallplant vineyards and drink no wine,—that they shallgather grapes, but worms shall eat them; that theyshall raise olives but have no oil; beget sons anddaughters, but they shall go into captivity; that all226the trees and fruit of the land shall be devoured bylocusts, and that all these curses shall pursue themand overtake them, until they be destroyed; that theyshall be slaves to their enemies, and be constantly inhunger and thirst and nakedness, and in want of allthings. And as though this were not enough, theLord tells them that he will bring a nation againstthem swift as eagles, a nation fierce and savage, thatwill show no mercy and no favor to old or young,and leave them neither corn, nor wine, nor oil, norflocks, nor herds; and this nation shall besiege themin their cities until they are reduced to the necessityof eating the flesh of their own sons and daughters;so that the men would eat their wives and theirchildren, and women eat their husbands and theirown sons and daughters, and their own babes.All these curses God pronounced upon them if theydid not observe to do all the words of the law thatwere written in his book.This same merciful God threatened that he wouldbring upon them all the diseases of Egypt—everysickness and every plague; that he would scatterthem from one end of the earth to the other; thatthey should find no rest; that their lives should hangin perpetual doubt; that in the morning they would227say: Would God it were evening! and in the even-ing, Would God it were morning! and that he wouldfinally take them back to Egypt where they shouldbe again sold for bondmen and bondwomen.This curse, the foundation of theAnathemamaranatha; this curse, used by the pope of Rome toprevent the spread of thought; this curse used evenby the Protestant Church; this curse born of barba-rism and of infinite cruelty, is now said to haveissued from the lips of an infinitely merciful God. Onewould suppose that Jehovah had gone insane; thathe had divided his kingdom like Lear, and from thedarkness of insanity had launched his curses upon aworld.In order that there may be no doubt as to themercy of Jehovah, read the thirteenth chapter ofDeuteronomy:"If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy"son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or"thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee"secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods,"which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers;" * * * thou shalt not consent unto him, nor"hearken unto him; neither shall thine eyes pity him,"neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal228"him; but thou shalt surely kill him: thine hand"shall be first upon him to put him to death, and"afterwards the hand of all the people; and thou"shalt stone him with stones that he die, because he"hath sought to entice thee away from the Lord thy"God."This, according to Mr. Talmage, is a commandmentof the infinite God. According to him, God ordereda man to murder his own son, his own wife, his ownbrother, his own daughter, if they dared even to sug-gest the worship of some other God than Jehovah.For my part, it is impossible not to despise sucha God—a God not willing that one should worshipwhat he must. No one can control his admiration,and if a savage at sunrise falls upon his knees andoffers homage to the great light of the East, he can-not help it. If he worships the moon, he cannot helpit. If he worships fire, it is because he cannot controlhis own spirit. A picture is beautiful to me in spiteof myself. A statue compels the applause of mybrain. The worship of the sun was an exceedinglynatural religion, and why should a man or woman bedestroyed for kneeling at the fireside of the world?No wonder that this same God, in the very nextchapter of Deuteronomy to that quoted, says to his229chosen people: "Ye shall not eat of anything that"dieth of itself: thou shalt give it unto the stranger"that is within thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou"mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art a holy"people unto the Lord thy God."What a mingling of heartlessness and thrift—thereligion of sword and trade!In the seventh chapter of Deuteronomy, Jehovahgives his own character. He tells the Israelites thatthere are seven nations greater and mightier thanthemselves, but that he will deliver them to his chosenpeople, and that they shall smite them and utterlydestroy them; and having some fear that a drop ofpity might remain in the Jewish heart, he says:"Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor"show mercy unto them. * * * Know therefore"that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God,"which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that"love him and keep his commandments to a thousand"generations, and repayeth them that hate him to"their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to"him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face."This is the description which the merciful, long-suffer-ing Jehovah gives of himself.So, he promises great prosperity to the Jews if230they will only obey his commandments, and says:"And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness,"and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt"upon thee, but will lay them upon all them that"hate thee. And thou shalt consume all the people"which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine"eye shall have no pity upon them."Under the immediate government of Jehovah,mercy was a crime. According to the law of God,pity was weakness, tenderness was treason, kindnesswas blasphemy, while hatred and massacre werevirtues.In the second chapter of Deuteronomy we findanother account tending to prove that Jehovah is amerciful God. We find that Sihon, king of Heshbon,would not let the Hebrews pass by him, and thereason given is, that "the Lord God hardened his"spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might"deliver him into the hand" of the Hebrews. Sihon,his heart having been hardened by God, came outagainst the chosen people, and God delivered him tothem, and "they smote him, and his sons, and all his"people, and took all his cities, and utterly destroyed"the men and the women, and the little ones of"every city: they left none to remain." And in this231same chapter this same God promises that the dreadand fear of his chosen people should be "upon all the"nations that are under the whole heaven," and that"they should "tremble and be in anguish because of"the Hebrews.Read the thirty-first chapter of Numbers, and seehow the Midianites were slain. You will find that"the children of Israel took all the women of Midian"captives, and their little ones," that they took "all"their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods,"that they slew all the males, and burnt all their citiesand castles with fire, that they brought the captivesand the prey and the spoil unto Moses and Eleazarthe priest; that Moses was wroth with the officersof his host because they had saved all the womenalive, and thereupon this order was given: "Kill"every male among the little ones, and kill every"woman, * * * but all the women children"keep alive for yourselves."After this, God himself spake unto Moses, andsaid: "Take the sum of the prey that was taken,"both of man and of beast, thou and Eleazar the"priest * * * and divide the prey into two"parts, between those who went to war, and between"all the congregation, and levy a tribute unto the232"Lord, one soul of five hundred of the persons,"and the cattle; take it of their half and give it to"the priest for an offering * * * and of the"children of Israel's half, take one portion of fifty of"the persons and the animals and give them unto"the Levites. * * * And Moses and the priest"did as the Lord had commanded." It seems thatthey had taken six hundred and seventy-five thou-sand sheep, seventy-two thousand beeves, sixty-onethousand asses, and thirty-two thousand womenchildren and maidens. And it seems, by the fortiethverse,that the Lord's tribute of the maidens was thirty-two,—the rest were given to the soldiers and to thecongregation of the Lord.Was anything more infamous ever recorded in theannals of barbarism? And yet we are told that theBible is an inspired book, that it is not a cruel book,and that Jehovah is a being of infinite mercy.In the twenty-fifth chapter of Numbers we findthat the Israelites had joined themselves unto Baal-Peor, and thereupon the anger of the Lord waskindled against them, as usual. No being ever losthis temper more frequently than this Jehovah. Uponthis particular occasion, "the Lord said unto Moses,"Take all the heads of the people, and hang them233"up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce"anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel."And thereupon "Moses said unto the judges of Israel,"Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto"Baal-peor."Just as soon as these people were killed, and theirheads hung up before the Lord against the sun, anda horrible double murder of a too merciful Israeliteand a Midianitish woman, had been committed byPhinehas, the son of Eleazar, "the plague was stayed"from the children of Israel." Twenty-four thousandhad died. Thereupon, "the Lord spake unto Moses"and said"—and it is a very merciful commandment—"Vex the Midianites and smite them."In the twenty-first chapter of Numbers is more evi-dence that God is merciful and compassionate.The children of Israel had become discouraged.They had wandered so long in the desert that theyfinally cried out: "Wherefore have ye brought us"up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There"is no bread, there is no water, and our soul loatheth"this light bread." Of course they were hungry andthirsty. Who would not complain under similar cir-cumstances? And yet, on account of this complaint,the God of infinite tenderness and compassion sent234serpents among them, and these serpents bit them—bit the cheeks of children, the breasts of maidens,and the withered faces of age. Why would a Goddo such an infamous thing? Why did he not, as theleader of this people, his chosen children, feed thembetter? Certainly an infinite God had the powerto satisfy their hunger and to quench their thirst.He who overwhelmed a world with water, certainlycould have made a few brooks, cool and babbling,to follow his chosen people through all their jour-neying. He could have supplied them with miracu-lous food.How fortunate for the Jews that Jehovah was notrevengeful, that he was so slow to anger, so patient,so easily pleased. What would they have done hadhe been exacting, easily incensed, revengeful, cruel,or blood-thirsty?In the sixteenth chapter of Numbers, an account isgiven of a rebellion. It seems that Korah, Dathanand Abiram got tired of Moses and Aaron. Theythought the priests were taking a little too muchupon themselves. So Moses told them to have twohundred and fifty of their men bring their censersand put incense in them before the Lord, and standin the door of the tabernacle of the congregation235with Moses and Aaron. That being done, the Lordappeared, and told Moses and Aaron to separatethemselves from the people, that he might consumethem all in a moment. Moses and Aaron, having alittle compassion, begged God not to kill everybody.The people were then divided, and Dathan andAbiram came out and stood in the door of theirtents with their wives and their sons and their littlechildren. And Moses said:"Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent"me to do all these works; for I have not done them"of my mine own mind. If these men die the"common death of all men, or if they be visited"after the common visitation of all men, then the"Lord hath not sent me. But if the Lord make a"new thing, and the earth open her mouth and"swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them,"and they go down quick into the pit, then ye shall"understand that these men have provoked the"Lord." The moment he ceased speaking, "the"ground clave asunder that was under them; and"the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up,"and their houses, and all the men that appertained"unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that"appertained to them went down alive into the pit,236"and the earth closed upon them, and they perished"from among the congregation."This, according to Mr. Talmage, was the act of anexceedingly merciful God, prompted by infinite kind-ness, and moved by eternal pity. What would hehave done had he acted from motives of revenge?What would he Jiave done had he been remorse-lessly cruel and wicked?In addition to those swallowed by the earth, thetwo hundred and fifty men that offered the incensewere consumed by "a fire that came out from the"Lord." And not only this, but the same mercifulJehovah wished to consume all the people, and hewould have consumed them all, only that Moses pre-vailed upon Aaron to take a censer and put firetherein from off the altar of incense and go quicklyto the congregation and make an atonement for them.He was not quick enough. The plague had alreadybegun; and before he could possibly get the censersand incense among the people, fourteen thousand andseven hundred had died of the plague. How manymore might have died, if Jehovah had not been soslow to anger and so merciful and tender to hischildren, we have no means of knowing.In the thirteenth chapter of the same book of237Numbers, we find that some spies were sent overinto the promised land, and that they brought backgrapes and figs and pomegranates, and reported thatthe whole land was flowing with milk and honey, butthat the people were strong, that the cities werewalled, and that the nations in the promised landwere mightier than the Hebrews. They reported thatall the people they met were men of a great stature,that they had seen "the giants, the sons of Anak"which come of giants," compared with whom theIsraelites were "in their own sight as grasshoppers,"and so were we in their sight." Entirely discour-aged by these reports, "all the congregation lifted up"their voice and cried, and the people wept that"night * * * and murmured against Moses and"against Aaron, and said unto them: Would God"that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would"God we had died in this wilderness!" Some ofthem thought that it would be better to go back,—that they might as well be slaves in Egypt as to befood for giants in the promised land. They did notwant their bones crunched between the teeth of thesons of Anak.Jehovah got angry again, and said to Moses:"How long will these people provoke me? * * *238"I will smite them with pestilence, and disinherit"them." But Moses said: Lord, if you do this,the Egyptians will hear of it, and they will say thatyou were not able to bring your people into thepromised land. Then he proceeded to flatter him bytelling him how merciful and long-suffering he hadbeen. Finally, Jehovah concluded to pardon thepeople this time, but his pardon depended upon theviolation of his promise, for he said: "They shall"not see the land which I sware unto their fathers,"neither shall any of them that provoked me see it;"but my servant Caleb, * * * him will I bring"into the land." And Jehovah said to the people:"Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all"that were numbered of you according to your"whole number, from twenty years old and upward,"which have murmured against me, ye shall not"come into the land concerning which I sware to"make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of"Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your"little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them"will I bring in, and they shall know the land"which ye have despised. But as for you, your"carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. And your"children shall wander in the wilderness forty239"years * * * until your carcasses be wasted in"the wilderness."And all this because the people were afraid ofgiants, compared with whom they were but as grass-hoppers.So we find that at one time the people becameexceedingly hungry. They had no flesh to eat.There were six hundred thousand men of war, andthey had nothing to feed on but manna. Theynaturally murmured and complained, and thereupon awind from the Lord went forth and brought quailsfrom the sea, (quails are generally found in the sea,)"and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's"journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey"on the other side, round about the camp, and as it"were two cubits high upon the face of the earth."And the people stood up all that day, and all that"night, and all the next day, and they gathered the"quails. * * * And while the flesh was yet be-"tween their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of"the Lord was kindled against the people, and the"Lord smote the people with a very great plague."Yet he is slow to anger, long-suffering, mercifuland just.In the thirty-second chapter of Exodus, is the ac-240count of the golden calf. It must be borne in mindthat the worship of this calf by the people was beforethe Ten Commandments had been given to them.Christians now insist that these commandments musthave been inspired, because no human being couldhave constructed them,—could have conceived ofthem.It seems, according to this account, that Moses hadbeen up in the mount with God, getting the Ten Com-mandments, and that while he was there the peoplehad made the golden calf. When he came down andsaw them, and found what they had done, having inhis hands the two tables, the work of God, he castthe tables out of his hands, and broke them beneaththe mount. He then took the calf which they hadmade, ground it to powder, strewed it in the water,and made the children of Israel drink of it. And in thetwenty-seventh verse we are told what the Lord did:"Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Put every man"his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate"to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man"his brother, and every man his companion, and"every man his neighbor. And the children of Levi"did according to the word of Moses; and there fell"of the people that day about three thousand men."241The reason for this slaughter is thus given: "For"Moses had said: Consecrate yourselves to-day to"the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon" his brother, that he may bestow upon you a blessing"this day."Now, it must be remembered that there had notbeen as yet a promulgation of the commandmentu Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Thiswas a punishment for the infraction of a law beforethe law was known—before the commandment hadbeen given. Was it cruel, or unjust?Does the following sound as though spoken by aGod of mercy: "I will make mine arrows drunk"with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh"?And yet this is but a small part of the vengeance anddestruction which God threatens to his enemies, asrecorded in the thirty-second chapter of the book ofDeuteronomy.In the sixty-eighth Psalm is found this mercifulpassage: "That thy foot may be dipped in the blood"of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the"same.So we find in the eleventh chapter of Joshua thereason why the Canaanites and other nations madewar upon the Jews. It is as follows: "For it was of242"the Lord to harden their hearts that they should"come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy"them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but"that he might destroy them."Read the thirtieth chapter of Exodus and you willfind that God gave to Moses a recipe for makingthe oil of holy anointment, and in the thirty-secondverse we find that no one was to make any oil like itand in the next verse it is declared that whoevercompounded any like it, or whoever put any of it ona stranger, should be cut off from the Lord's people.In the same chapter, a recipe is given for per-fumery, and it is declared that whoever shall makeany like it, or that smells like it, shall suffer death.In the next chapter, it is decreed that if any one failsto keep the Sabbath "he shall be surely put to death."There are in the Pentateuch hundreds and hun-dreds of passages showing the cruelty of Jehovah.What could have been more cruel than the flood?What more heartless than to overwhelm a world?What more merciless than to cover a shoreless seawith the corpses of men, women and children?The Pentateuch is filled with anathemas, withcurses, with words of vengeance, of jealousy, ofhatred, and brutality. By reason of these passages,243millions of people have plucked from their hearts theflowers of pity and justified the murder of womenand the assassination of babes.In the second chapter of Second Kings we findthat the prophet Elisha was on his way to a placecalled Bethel, and as he was going, there came forthlittle children out of the city and mocked him andsaid: "Go up thou bald head; Go up thou bald"head! And he turned back and looked on them"and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And"there came forth two she bears out of the wood and"tare forty and two children of them."Of course he obtained his miraculous power fromJehovah; and there must have been some communi-cation between Jehovah and the bears. Why did thebears come? How did they happen to be there?Here is a prophet of God cursing children in thename of the Lord, and thereupon these childrenare torn in fragments by wild beasts.This is the mercy of Jehovah; and yet I am toldthat the Bible has nothing cruel in it; that it preachesonly mercy, justice, charity, peace; that all heartsare softened by reading it; that the savage nature ofman is melted into tenderness and pity by it, and thatonly the totally depraved can find evil in it.244And so I might go on, page after page, book afterbook, in the Old Testament, and describe the crueltiescommitted in accordance with the commands ofJehovah.But all the cruelties in the Old Testament are ab-solute mercies compared with the hell of the NewTestament. In the Old Testament God stops withthe grave. He seems to have been satisfied when hesaw his enemies dead, when he saw their flesh rottingin the open air, or in the beaks of birds, or in the teethof wild beasts. But in the New Testament, ven-geance does not stop with the grave. It begins there,and stops never. The enemies of Jehovah are to bepursued through all the ages of eternity. There is tobe no forgiveness—no cessation, no mercy, nothingbut everlasting pain.And yet we are told that the author of hell is abeing of infinite mercy.Second; All intelligent Christians will admit thatthere are many passages in the Bible that, if found inthe Koran, they would regard as impure and immoral.It is not necessary for me to specify the passages,nor to call the attention of the public to such things.I am willing to trust the judgment of every honestreader, and the memory of every biblical student.245The Old Testament upholds polygamy. That isinfinitely impure. It sanctions concubinage. Thatis impure; nothing could or can be worse. Hun-dreds of things are publicly told that should have re-mained unsaid. No one is made better by readingthe history of Tamar, or the biography of Lot, orthe memoirs of Noah, of Dinah, of Sarah andAbraham, or of Jacob and Leah and Rachel and othersthat I do not care to mention. No one is improvedin his morals by reading these things.All I mean to say is, that the Bible is like otherbooks produced by other nations in the same stageof civilization. What one age considers pure, thenext considers impure. What one age may considerjust, the next may look upon as infamous. Civiliza-tion is a growth. It is continually dying, and continu-ally being born. Old branches rot and fall, new budsappear. It is a perpetual twilight, and a perpetualdawn—the death of the old, and the birth of the new.I do not say, throw away the Bible because thereare some foolish passages in it, but I say, throw awaythe foolish passages. Don't throw away wisdombecause it is found in company with folly; but do notsay that folly is wisdom, because it is found in itscompany. All that is true in the Bible is true whether246it is inspired or not. All that is true did not need tobe inspired. Only that which is not true needs theassistance of miracles and wonders. I read the Bibleas I read other books. What I believe to be good,I admit is good; what I think is bad, I say is bad;what I believe to be true, I say is true, and what Ibelieve to be false, I denounce as false.Third. Let us see whether there are any contra-dictions in the Bible.A little book has been published, called "Self"Contradictions of the Bible," by J. P. Mendum, ofThe Boston Investigator. I find many of the apparentcontradictions of the Bible noted in this book.We all know that the Pentateuch is filled with thecommandments of God upon the subject of sacrificinganimals. We know that God declared, again andagain, that the smell of burning flesh was a sweetsavor to him. Chapter after chapter is filled with direc-tions how to kill the beasts that were set apart forsacrifices; what to do with their blood, their flesh andtheir fat. And yet, in the seventh chapter of Jeremiah,all this is expressly denied, in the following language:"For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded"them in the day that I brought them out of the land"of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices."247And in the sixth chapter of Jeremiah, the sameJehovah says; "Your burnt offerings are not ac-"ceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me."In the Psalms, Jehovah derides the idea ofsacrifices, and says: "Will I eat of the flesh of"bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God"thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most"High."So I find in Isaiah the following: "Bring no more"vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me;"the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of as-"semblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even"the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your"appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a trouble"to me; I am weary to bear them." "To what"purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?"saith the Lord. I am full of the burnt offerings of"rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not"in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats."When ye come to appear before me, who hath re-"quired this at your hand?"So I find in James: "Let no man say when he is"tempted: I am tempted of God; for God cannot be"tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man;"and yet in the twenty-second chapter of Genesis I248find this: "And it came to pass after these things,"that God did tempt Abraham."In Second Samuel we see that he tempted David.He also tempted Job, and Jeremiah says: "O Lord,"thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived." Tosuch an extent was Jeremiah deceived, that in thefourteenth chapter and eighteenth verse we find himcrying out to the Lord: "Wilt thou be altogether"unto me as a liar?"So in Second Thessalonians: "For these things"God shall send them strong delusions, that they"should believe a lie."So in First Kings, twenty-second chapter: "Behold,"the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all"these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil"concerning thee."So in Ezekiel: "And if the prophet be deceived"when he hath spoken a thing, I, the Lord, have de-"ceived that prophet."So I find: "Thou shalt not bear false witness;"and in the book of Revelation: "All liars shall have"their part in the lake which burneth with fire and"brimstone;" yet in First Kings, twenty-secondchapter, I find the following: "And the Lord said:"Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and249"fall at Ramoth-Gilead? And one said on this"manner, and another said on that manner. And"there came forth a spirit and stood before the Lord,"and said: I will persuade him. And the Lord said"unto him: Wherewith? And he said: I will go"forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all"his prophets. And he said: Thou shalt persuade"him, and prevail also. Go forth, and do so."In the Old Testament we find contradictory lawsabout the same thing, and contradictory accounts ofthe same occurrences.In the twentieth chapter of Exodus we find the firstaccount of the giving of the Ten Commandments. Inthe thirty-fourth chapter another account of the sametransaction is given. These two accounts could nothave been written by the same person. Read them,and you will be forced to admit that both of themcannot by any possibility be true. They differ in somany particulars, and the commandments themselvesare so different, that it is impossible that both can betrue.So there are two histories of the creation. If youwill read the first and second chapters of Genesis,you will find two accounts inconsistent with eachother, both of which cannot be true. The first account250ends with the third verse of the second chapter ofGenesis. By the first account, man and woman weremade at the same time, and made last of all. In thesecond account, not to be too critical, all the beastsof the field were made before Eve was, and Adamwas made before the beasts of the field; whereas inthe first account, God made all the animals before hemade Adam. In the first account there is nothingabout the rib or the bone or the side,—that is onlyfound in the second account. In the first account,