Orthodoxy. Special Providence : SPECIAL PROVIDENCE. The next thing that gave the church a blow was Statistics. We found by taking statistics that we could tell the average length of human life; that this human life did not depend upon infinite caprice; that it depended upon conditions, circumstances, laws and facts, and th...
Some Reasons Why. Xi : XI Will any one claim that the passages upholding slavery have liberated mankind? Are we indebted to polygamy for our modern homes? Was religious liberty born of that infamous verse in which the husband is commanded to kill his wife for worshiping an unknown God? The usual answer to these...
Some Reasons Why. Ii. Duties To God : II DUTIES TO GOD. RELIGION is supposed to consist in a discharge of the duties we owe to God. In other words, we are taught that God is exceedingly anxious that we should believe a certain thing. For my part, I do not believe that there is any infinite being to whom we owe anything. The reason I...
Orthodoxy. The Reign Of Truth And Love : THE REIGN OF TRUTH AND LOVE. I also find in this creed the following: "We believe that Jesus Christ come to establish among men the Kingdom of God, the reign of truth and love, of righteousness and peace." Well, that may have been the object of Jesus Christ. I do not deny it. But what w...
Orthodoxy. Casting Out Devils : CASTING OUT DEVILS. Most of the miracles said to have been wrought by Christ were recorded to show his power over evil spirits. On many occasions, he is said to have "cast out devils"--devils who could speak, and devils who were dumb. For many years belief in the existence of evil spirits has been...
Orthodoxy. The Blows That Have Shattered : THE BLOWS THAT HAVE SHATTERED THE SHIELD AND SHIVERED THE LANCE OF SUPERSTITION. Mohammed wrested from the disciples of the cross the finest part of Europe. It was known that he was an impostor, and that fact sowed the seeds of distrust and infidelity in the Christian world. Christians made...
Some Reasons Why. Viii. The New Testament : VIII. THE NEW TESTAMENT. One great objection to the Old Testament is the cruelty said to have been commanded by God. All these cruelties ceased with death. The vengeance of Jehovah stopped at the tomb. He never threatened to punish the dead; and there is not one word, from the first mistake...
Orthodoxy. No Bible, No Civilization : "NO BIBLE, NO CIVILIZATION." They tell me that there never would have been any civilization if it had not been for this Bible. The Jews had a Bible; the Romans had not. Which had the greater and the grander government? Let us be honest. Which of those nations produced the greatest poets...
Orthodoxy. Inspiration : INSPIRATION. What is the next thing in this great creed? "We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the record of God's revelation of Himself in the work of redemption; that they were written by man under the special guidance of the holy spirit; that they are able to make...
Orthodoxy. Eternal Punishment : ETERNAL PUNISHMENT. Now I come to the last part of this creed--the doctrine of eternal punishment. I have concluded that I will never deliver a lecture in which I will not attack the doctrine of eternal pain. That part of the Congregational creed would disgrace the lowest savage that crouches...
Orthodoxy. More Miracles : MORE MIRACLES. There is another miracle I do not believe,--the resurrection. I want to speak about it as we would about any ordinary transaction. In the first place, I do not believe that any miracle was ever performed, and if there was, you cannot prove it. Why? Because it is altogether more...
Orthodoxy. The Creeds : THE CREEDS. Often, after having delivered a lecture, I have met some good, religious person who has said to me: "You do not tell it as we believe it." "Well, but I tell it as you have it written in your creed." "Oh, we don't mind the creed any more." "Then, why do you not change it?" "Oh, well, we...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xviii. Dampness : XVIII DAMPNESS "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them. "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. "And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive...
Myth And Miracle. Ix : IX For thousands of generations the myths have been taught and the miracles believed. Every mother was a missionary and told with loving care the falsehoods of "faith" to her babe. The poison of superstition was in the mother's milk. She was honest and affectionate and her character, her goodness...
Myth And Miracle. Vii : VII If we abandon myth and miracle, if we discard the supernatural and the scheme of redemption, how are we to civilize the world? Is falsehood a reforming power? Is credulity the mother of virtue? Is there any saving grace in the impossible and absurd? Did wisdom perish with the dead? Must...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. I. He Who Endeavors : I HE WHO ENDEAVORS TO CONTROL THE MIND BY FORCE IS A TYRANT, HE WHO SUBMITS IS A SLAVE. I want to do what little I can to make my country truly free, to broaden the intellectual horizon of our people, to destroy the prejudices born of ignorance and fear, to do away with the blind worship...
Orthodoxy. Miracles Of The New Testament : MIRACLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. There are many things in the New Testament that I cannot accept as true. I cannot believe in the miraculous origin of Jesus Christ. I believe he was the son of Joseph and Mary; that Joseph and Mary had been duly and legally married; that he was the legitimate...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xvi. The Garden : XVI THE GARDEN. In the first account we are told that God made man, male and female, and said to them "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it." In the second account only the man is made, and he is put in a garden "to dress it and to keep it." He is not told to subdue...
Orthodoxy. The Resurrection : THE RESURRECTION. Does anybody believe that, who has the courage to think for himself? Here is a man, for instance, that weighs 200 pounds and gets sick and dies weighing 120; how much will he weigh in the morning of the resurrection? Here is a cannibal, who eats another man; and we know th...
Orthodoxy. The Ascension : THE ASCENSION. I cannot believe in the miracle of the ascension, in the bodily ascension of Jesus Christ. Where was he going? In the light shed upon this question by the telescope, I again ask, where was he going? The New Jerusalem is not above us. The abode of the gods is not there. Where was he...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xvii. The Fall : XVII THE FALL. We are told that the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, that he had a conversation with Eve, in which he gave his opinion about the effect of eating certain fruit; that he assured her it was good to eat, that it was pleasant to the eye, that it would make her wise;...
Myth And Miracle. Ii : II And yet all of these religions--these "sacred books," these priests, have been naturally produced. From the dens and caves of savagery to the palaces of civilization men have traveled by the necessary paths and roads. Back of every step has been the efficient cause. In the history of the world...
Orthodoxy. Some Who Are Damned : SOME WHO ARE DAMNED. We are told "God so loved the world" that he is going to damn almost everybody. If this orthodox religion be true, some of the greatest, and grandest, and best who ever lived are suffering God's torments to-night. It does not appear to make much difference with the members...
Some Reasons Why. Vii : VII. It is claimed by the Christian world that one of the great reasons for giving an inspired book to the Jews was, that through them the world might learn there is but one God. This piece of information has been supposed to be of infinite value. As a mater of fact, long before Moses was born...
Some Reasons Why. X. Eternal Pain : X ETERNAL PAIN. Upon passages in the New Testament rests the doctrine of eternal pain. This doctrine subverts every idea of justice. A finite being can neither commit an infinite sin, nor a sin against the Infinite. A being of infinite goodness and wisdom has no right to create any being whose life...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. X. He Made The Stars Also : X "HE MADE THE STARS ALSO." Moses came very near forgetting about the stars and only gave five words to all the hosts of heaven. Can it be possible that he knew anything about the stars beyond the mere fact that he saw them shining above him? Did he know that the nearest star, the one we ought...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Ix. Thursday : IX THURSDAY. After the world was covered with vegetation, it occurred to Moses that it was about time to make a sun and moon; and so we are told that on the fourth day God said, "Let there be light in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs...
Myth And Miracle. Iii : III In all probability the first religion was Sun-worship. Nothing could have been more natural. Light was life and warmth and love. The sun was the fireside of the world. The sun was the "all-seeing"--the "Sky Father." Darkness was grief and death, and in the shadows crawled the serpents...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xxv. 'inspired' Slavery : XXV "INSPIRED" SLAVERY. Perhaps the bible was inspired upon the subject of human slavery. Is there, in the civilized world, to-day, a clergyman who believes in the divinity of slavery? Docs the bible teach man to enslave his brother? If it does, is it not blasphemous to say that it is inspired...
Myth And Miracle. Vi : VI For many ages religion has been tried. For countless centuries man has sought for help from heaven. To soften the heart of God, mothers sacrificed their babes! but the God did not hear, did not see, and did not help. Naked savages were devoured by beasts, bitten by serpents, killed by flood...
Some Reasons Why. Vi. A Comparison Of Books : VI. A COMPARISON OF BOOKS. Let us compare the gems of Jehovah with Pagan paste. It may be that the best way to illustrate what I have said, is to compare the supposed teachings of Jehovah with those of persons who never wrote an inspired line. In all ages of which any record has been preserved, men...
Myth And Miracle. V : V A few years ago a few men began to think, to investigate, to reason. They began to doubt the legends of the church, the miracles of the past. They began to notice what happened. They found that eclipses came at certain intervals and that their coming could be foretold. They became satisfied th...
Orthodoxy. A Fable : A FABLE. There is the fable of Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice had been captured and taken to the infernal regions, and Orpheus went after her, taking with him his harp and playing as he went. When he came to Pluto's realm he began to play, and Sysiphus, charmed by the music, sat down upon the stone...
Orthodoxy. Another Objection : ANOTHER OBJECTION. My objection to orthodox religion is that it destroys human love, and tells us that the love of this world is not necessary to make a heaven in the next. No matter about your wife, your children, your brother, your sister--no matter about all the affections of the hum...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xxvii. 'inspired' War : XXVII "INSPIRED" WAR. If the Bible be true, God commanded his chosen people to destroy men simply for the crime of defending their native land. They were not allowed to spare trembling and white-haired age, nor dimpled babes clasped in the mothers' arms. they were ordered to kill women...
Orthodoxy. The Love Of God : THE LOVE OF GOD. What is the next thing I find in this creed? "We believe that man was made in the image of God, that he might know, love, and obey God, and enjoy him forever." I do not believe that anybody ever did love God, because nobody ever knew anything about him. We love each other. We love...
Some Reasons Why. Iv. God's Experiment With : IV GOD'S EXPERIMENT WITH THE JEWS. The Bible tells us that men became so bad that God destroyed them all with the exception of eight persons; that afterwards he chose Abraham and some of his kindred, a wandering tribe, for the purpose of seeing whether or no they could be civilized. He had no time...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. V. The Pentateuch : V THE PENTATEUCH. The first five books in our Bible are known as the Pentateuch. For a long time it was supposed that Moses was the author, and among the ignorant the supposition still prevails. As a matter of fact, it seems to be well settled that Moses had nothing to do with these books, and th...
Orthodoxy. Religious Deaths And Births : RELIGIOUS DEATHS AND BIRTHS. We must remember that this is a world of progress, a world of perpetual change--a succession of coffins and cradles. There is perpetual death, and there is perpetual birth. By the grave of the old, forever stand youth and joy; and when an old religion dies, a better one...
Some Reasons Why. Ix. Christ's Mission : IX CHRIST'S MISSION. Christ came, they tell us, to make a revelation, and what did he reveal? "Love thy neighbor as thyself"? That was in the Old Testament. "Love God with all thy heart"? That was in the Old Testament. "Return good for evil"? That was said by Buddha, seven hundred years before...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xix. Bacchus And Babel : XIX BACCHUS AND BABEL. As soon as Noah had disembarked, he proceeded to plant a vineyard, and began to be a husbandman; and when the grapes were ripe he made wine and drank of it to excess; cursed his grandson, blessed Shem and Japheth, and after that lived for three hundred and fifty years. Wh...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xxvi. 'inspired' Marriage : XXVI "INSPIRED" MARRIAGE. Is there an orthodox clergyman in the world, who will now declare that he believes the institution of polygamy to be right? Is there one who will publicly declare that, in his judgment, that institution ever was right? Was there ever a time in the history of the world when...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Iv. Man And Woman : IV MAN AND WOMAN. Let us forget that we are Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Presbyterians, or Freethinkers, and remember only that we are men and women. After all, man and woman are the highest possible titles. All other names belittle us, and show that we have, to a certain extent, given up our...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xxiv. Confess And Avoid : XXIV CONFESS AND AVOID. The scientific Christians now admit that the Bible is not inspired in its astronomy, geology, botany, zoology, nor in any science. In other words, they admit that on these subjects, the Bible cannot be depended upon. If all the statements in the scriptures were true, there...
Some Reasons Why. I : SOME REASONS WHY. (1881) I RELIGION makes enemies instead of friends. That one word, "religion," covers all the horizon of memory with visions of war, of outrage, of persecution, of tyranny, and death. That one word brings to the mind every instrument with which man has tortured man. In that one...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Ii. Free Schools : II FREE SCHOOLS. It is also my desire to free the schools. When a professor in a college finds a fact, he should make it known, even if it is inconsistent with something Moses said. Public opinion must not compel the professor to hide a fact, and, "like the base Indian, throw the pearl away." With...
Some Reasons Why. Iii. Inspiration : III INSPIRATION. We are told that we have in our possession the inspired will of God. What is meant by the word "inspired" is not exactly known; but whatever else it may mean, certainly it means that the "inspired" must be the true. If it is true, there is, in fact, no need of its being...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xxviii. 'inspired' : XXVIII "INSPIRED" RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. According to the Bible, God selected the Jewish people through whom to make known the great fact, that he was the only true and living God. For this purpose, he appeared on several occasions to Moses--came down to Sinai's top clothed in cloud and fire...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Iii. The Politicians : III THE POLITICIANS. I would like also to liberate the politician. At present, the successful office-seeker is a good deal like the center of the earth; he weighs nothing himself but draws everything else to him. There are so many societies, so many churches, so many isms, that it is almost...
Orthodoxy. Orthodox Religion Dying Out : ORTHODOX RELIGION DYING OUT. It gives me immense pleasure to say to this audience that orthodox religion is dying out of the civilized world. It is a sick man. It has been attacked with two diseases--softening of the brain and ossification of the heart. It is a religion that no longer satisfies...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xii. Saturday : XII SATURDAY. On this, the last day of creation, God said: "Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping things and beast of the earth after his kind; and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xx. Faith In Filth : XX FAITH IN FILTH. No light whatever is shed upon what passed in the world after the confounding of language at Babel, until the birth of Abraham. But, before speaking of the history of the Jewish people, it may be proper for me to say that many things are recounted in Genesis, and other books...
Orthodoxy. Preface : ORTHODOXY (1884) It is utterly inconceivable that any man believing in the truth of the Christian religion should publicly deny it, because he who believes in that religion would believe that, by a public denial, he would peril the eternal salvation of his soul. It is conceivable, and without any...
Orthodoxy. The Discovery Of America : THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. What was the next blow that this church received? The discovery of America. The Holy Ghost who inspired men to write the Bible did not know of the existence of this continent, never dreamed of the Western Hemisphere. The Bible left out half the world. The Holy Ghost did...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Preface : SOME MISTAKES OF MOSES (1879) PREFACE For many years I have regarded the Pentateuch simply as a record of a barbarous people, in which are found a great number of the ceremonies of savagery, many absurd and unjust laws, and thousands of ideas inconsistent with known and demonstrated facts. To me it...
Orthodoxy. Pious Evasions : PIOUS EVASIONS! When the clergy are caught, they give a different meaning to the words and say the world was not made in seven days. They say "good whiles"--"epochs." And in this same Confession of Faith and in this creed they say that the Lord's day is holy--every seventh day. Suppose you lived...
Orthodoxy. God As A Governor : GOD AS A GOVERNOR. So, too, I find the following: "We believe that the Providence of God, by which he executes his eternal purposes in the government of the world, is in and over all events." Is God the governor of the world? Is this established by the history of nations? What evidence: can you...
Orthodoxy. Necessity Of Belief : NECESSITY OF BELIEF. Does belief depend upon evidence? I think it does somewhat in some cases. How is it when a jury is sworn to try a case, hearing all the evidence, hearing both sides, hearing the charge of the judge, hearing the law, are upon their oaths equally divided. six for the plaintiff...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xxix. Conclusion : XXIX CONCLUSION. If the Pentateuch is not inspired in its astronomy, geology, geography, history or philosophy, if it is not inspired concerning slavery, polygamy, war, law, religious or political liberty, or the rights of men, women and children, what is it inspired in, or about? The unity...
Myth And Miracle. Viii : VIII Will the unknown, the mysteries of life and death, the world that lies beyond the limitations of the mind, forever furnish food for superstition? Will the gods and ghosts perish or simply retreat before the advancing hosts of science, and continue to crouch and lurk just beyond the horiz...
Orthodoxy. Immortality : IMMORTALITY. They tell me that the next terrible thing I do is to take away the hope of immortality! I do not, I would not, I could not. Immortality was first dreamed of by human love; and yet the church is going to take human love out of immortality. We love, therefore we wish to live. A loved one...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xxiii. The Flight : XXIII THE FLIGHT. Three millions of people, with their flocks and herds, with borrowed jewelry and raiment, with unleavened dough in kneading troughs bound in their clothe upon their shoulders, in one night commenced their journey for the land of promise. We are not told how they were informed...
Myth And Miracle. I : MYTH AND MIRACLE (1885) ROBERT GREEN INGERSOLL I Happiness is the true end and aim of life. It is the task of intelligence to ascertain the conditions of happiness, and when found the truly wise will live in accordance with them. By happiness is meant not simply the joy of eating and drinking...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xxi. The Hebrews : XXI THE HEBREWS. After language had been confounded and the people scattered, there appeared in the land of Canaan a tribe of Hebrews ruled by a chief or sheik called Abraham. They had a few cattle, lived in tents, practiced polygamy, wandered from place to place, and were the only folks...
Orthodoxy. The Atonement : THE ATONEMENT. We are further told that: "All believe that the love of God to sinful man has found its highest expression in the redemptive work of his Son, who became man, uniting his divine nature with our human nature in one person; who was tempted like other men and yet without sin, and by his...
Some Reasons Why. V. Civilized Countries : V CIVILIZED COUNTRIES. In all civilized countries, it is now passionately asserted that slavery is a crime; that a war of conquest is murder; that polygamy enslaves woman, degrades man and destroys home; that nothing is more infamous than the slaughter of decrepid men, of helpless mothers...
Myth And Miracle. Iv : IV We must remember that there is a great difference between a myth and a miracle. A myth is the idealization of a fact. A miracle is the counterfeit of a fact. There is the same difference between a myth and a miracle that there is between fiction and falsehood--between poetry and perjury...
Orthodoxy. The Fall Of Man : THE FALL OF MAN. The Congregational Church has not outgrown the doctrine of "original sin." We are told that: "Our first parents, by disobedience, fell under the condemnation of God, and that all men are so alienated from God that there is no salvation from guilt and power of sin except through...
Orthodoxy. The Destruction Of Art : THE DESTRUCTION OF ART. You know that when Christianity came into power it destroyed every statue it could lay its ignorant hands upon. It defaced and obliterated every painting; it destroyed every beautiful building; it burned the manuscripts, both Greek and Latin; it destroyed all the history...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xiii. Let Us Make Man : XIII LET US MAKE MAN. We are next informed by the author of the Pentateuch that God said "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness," and that "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him--male and female created he them." If this account means anything, it means...
Title Page : Dresden Edition THE WORKS OF ROBERT G. INGERSOLL "THE CLERGY KNOW, THAT I KNOW, THAT THEY KNOW, THAT THEY DO NOT KNOW." IN TWELVE VOLUMES VOLUME II. LECTURES NEW YORK THE DRESDEN PUBLISHING CO., C. P. FARRELL [1901] Copyright, 1900 by C. P. Farrell Copyright, 1901 by THE DRESDEN PUBLISHING CO.
Orthodoxy. The Second Birth : THE SECOND BIRTH. The church insists that we must be "born again," and that all who are not the subjects of this second birth are heirs of everlasting fire. Would it not have been much better to have made another Adam and Eve? Would it not have been better to change Noah and his people, so th...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xiv. Sunday : XIV SUNDAY. "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." The great work had been...
Some Mistakes Of Moses. Xxii. The Plagues : XXII THE PLAGUES. Three millions of people were in slavery. They were treated with the utmost rigor, and so fearful were their masters that they might, in time, increase in numbers sufficient to avenge themselves. that they took from the arms of mothers all the male children and destroyed them. If...
Orthodoxy. The Religion Of Reciprocity : THE RELIGION OF RECIPROCITY. Supernatural religion will fade from this world, and in its place we shall have reason. In the place of the worship of something we know not of, will be the religion of mutual love and assistance--the great religion of reciprocity. Superstition must go. Science will...
Orthodoxy. Charles Darwin : CHARLES DARWIN. This century will be called Darwin's century. He was one of the greatest men who ever touched this globe. He has explained more of the phenomena of life than all of the religious teachers. Write the name of Charles Darwin on the one hand and the name of every theologian who ever...
Orthodoxy. The Judgement Day : THE JUDGEMENT-DAY. And what is the next thing? "We believe in a final judgement, the issues of which are everlasting punishment and everlasting life." At the final judgment all of us will be there. The thousands, and millions, and billions, and trillions, and quadrillions that have died will he...
Orthodoxy. The Latest Creed : THE LATEST CREED. But I find that I have correctly interpreted the creeds. There was put into my hands the new Congregational creed. I have read it, and I will call your attention to it to-night, to find whether that church has made any advance; to find whether the sun of science has risen...
Orthodoxy. What I Believe : WHAT I BELIEVE. I think it is better to love your children than to love God, a thousand times better, because you can help them, and I am inclined to think that God can get along without you. Certainly we cannot help a being without body, parts, or passions! I believe in the religion of the family...
