REESE LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 No. 
 
One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 By 
 
 Ross Winans 
 n 
 
 " / believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and 
 Earth, and of all Things Visible and Invisible." 
 
 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 THIRD EDITION 
 
 With an Introduction by 
 Rev. Charles Voysey, B.A 
 
 Founder of the Theistic Church of London 
 
 G. P. Putnam's Sons 
 
 New York and London 
 3be fmicfeerbocfeer 
 1903 
 
w r 
 
 REESE 
 
 - 
 
 ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 
 
 ROSS WINANS 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Maryland 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1903 
 
 BY 
 WALTER WINANS 
 
 Unicfcecbocfter pre0, flew 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY THE REV. CHARLES VOYSEY 
 
 IN reproducing a book on Religion written about thirty 
 years ago by Mr. Ross Winans, his grandson, Mr. 
 Walter Winans, is doing a great service to this generation. 
 Under the title of One Religion: Many Creeds, the author's 
 aim has been chiefly to encourage independent thought 
 and to insist upon the duty of it and the necessity for it. 
 If that necessity existed then, it is even more obvious to- 
 day. If ever it was a duty to investigate the grounds of 
 religious belief and the various forms which it has as- 
 sumed, that duty is more imperative than ever. One 
 cannot listen with patience to those who cry out to the 
 reformers that they are only "slaying the slain." 
 
 Creeds which ought to pass away into oblivion are still 
 holding their ground in spite of the havoc made in their 
 foundations. Dogmas, openly at variance with science 
 and with assured knowledge, still stalk the regions of 
 Christendom to terrify and enslave the weak. It is true 
 that much of their asperity has been softened down, 
 some of them are receding from the utterances of 
 preachers, or are only seldom referred to in such seasons 
 as Advent and Lent. The everlasting fire of Hell is 
 nearly extinguished at least in Protestant Churches and 
 sects. The so-called "atonement " by Christ's sufferings 
 and death is no longer taught in its ancient integrity, 
 while those who still cling to any idea of it wrangle 
 among themselves as to its real meaning and have only 
 very vague notions of its practical efficacy. 
 
 The poor Devil, too, who has had so large a share in 
 the construction of Christian dogmas and without whom 
 
 
iv Introduction 
 
 the "scheme of salvation " would be meaningless, is now 
 relegated to a very back-seat and is seldom mentioned in 
 a manner worthy of his prestige. 
 
 Other great changes might be mentioned in connexion 
 with the infallibility and divine authority of the Bible, 
 arising partly out of modern criticism and still more out 
 of the natural revolt of the reason, conscience, and 
 thought of man; nevertheless, these great and significant 
 changes in thought have not been accompanied as they 
 ought to have been by corresponding changes in the 
 words of the creeds, the liturgies, the hymns, and the 
 doctrinal formularies still in use and still technically re- 
 garded as the standards of belief and the legal documents 
 by which preachers and teachers are bound. 
 
 Only the other day a striking instance of this incon- 
 sistency occurred, in the proceedings of the Synod of the 
 Free Church of Scotland, when an heroic effort was made 
 to get rid of objectionable clauses in the Westminster 
 Confession of Faith, or to relax the bonds of conformity 
 to it. But a party which proved to be the stronger, 
 while acknowledging the premises of the promoters, 
 wriggled out of the dilemma by retaining the Confession 
 as it stands and declaring that its terms were only to be 
 "interpreted " and taught according to their agreement 
 with "Holy Scripture." Anything more evasive and 
 disingenuous it would be difficult to invent. All felt the 
 moral and religious objections to the Confession of Faith, 
 yet the majority had not the courage to take the only 
 honest and straightforward course of rejecting and re- 
 pudiating whatever in the Confession was false and injuri- 
 ous to religion. 
 
 Other Churches are in the same plight. No man is 
 bold enough to come forward and say openly: "This or 
 that is not true, and ought to be expunged from our 
 creeds and worship." Every item remains as before. 
 Not a word in the creeds has been struck out. In the 
 
Introduction v 
 
 liturgies there are the same old prayers, "From Thy wrath 
 and from everlasting damnation, Good Lord, deliver us." 
 Still the lips of men who do not believe in it have to 
 pray: "By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation, by thy 
 holy nativity and circumcision ; by thy baptism, fasting, 
 and temptation ; by thine agony and bloody sweat, by 
 thy cross and passion, by thy precious death and burial, 
 by thy glorious resurrection and ascension, Good Lord, 
 deliver us." 
 
 Scarcely a clergyman could be found who believes in 
 the literal truth of the ascension of Jesus as recorded in 
 the Acts of the Apostles, and yet in his creeds and in his 
 very prayers he is still bound to say he believes it. 
 
 Our rejoicing in the progress of thought and in the 
 gradual release of the human mind from error and super- 
 stition is considerably modified by the humiliating fact 
 that all the old forms are still retained and not one word 
 of them has been altered to suit the later convictions. 
 Worse still is the spectacle of the Demon of "Interpreta- 
 tion," whose skill and subtlety are invoked to put new 
 and false meanings into the old terms, so that any word 
 may mean anything you please. A popular London 
 clergyman, now dead, preached a sermon in my hearing, 
 on "the resurrection of the body," in which he scientific- 
 ally demolished that idea and proved it to be an im- 
 possibility. But he wound up his discourse with these 
 memorable words: "And this is what we mean when we 
 say, 'I believe in the resurrection of the body.' ' 
 
 An honest man would have said: " This is the exact 
 opposite of what we mean when we say, ' I believe in the 
 resurrection of the body.' ' 
 
 We do not want "interpretations." We want strong 
 affirmations and strong denials. We want common rever- 
 ence for truth. We want our teachers and clergymen to 
 say: "This is true," "That is not true," or a third thing 
 "is doubtful"; and to give their reasons for it. The 
 
vi Introduction 
 
 Demon of Interpretation is the father of lies, misleading 
 the people and corrupting the heart of the preacher. 
 And to quicken this sense of honesty of mind and tongue 
 in clergy and laity, it is absolutely needful to investigate, 
 to scrutinise, examine, criticise, without fear or hesitation, 
 everything which has been palmed off upon us in the past 
 as "Divine Revelation." God is calling us to our senses, 
 to wake up and fulfil the responsibilities of manhood, to 
 put away childish things and many things still worse than 
 childish which we have blindly hugged as precious and 
 helpful. 
 
 We may begin where we like and where our interest 
 seems to invite us. We may begin with the latest modern 
 cry of the better class of Christians who have shaken off 
 some of their fetters "Back to Christ," and set our- 
 selves to inquire, from the only sources of any knowledge 
 of him (i. e., the Gospels), who and what he was, and what 
 he taught, and how he behaved, and what tempers he dis- 
 played ; or we may begin with the old story of the crea- 
 tion and fall of man, the curse of God against the race, 
 the Devil's share in it, the need for a Saviour, and all the 
 dogmas which have grown out of the first childish mis- 
 take : but wherever we may begin we shall find in this 
 book, One Religion : Many Creeds, something to help us, 
 something to fasten upon as definite truth and fact, some- 
 thing which commends itself as good and true to those 
 native faculties which God has given to us for the per- 
 ception of truth and the attainment of godliness. I do 
 not pretend to write as a critic of the book. Whatever 
 defects may be ascribed to it, its merits and its value out- 
 weigh them all. Its aim is singularly pure and good. It 
 is all for truth and reason and righteousness, and it is 
 pervaded by a reverent love for God which overflows the 
 author's own heart and is the best guarantee of his laud- 
 able designs. 
 
 Its chief value in my eyes is that if the principles here 
 
Introduction vii 
 
 laid down in regard to free and reverent inquiry as to the 
 truth of the Christian religion more accurately to say 
 the Christian religions, it will help every reader to 
 prepare himself for the great conflict that is coming the 
 battle of Armageddon, between those who directly and 
 personally trust in God and those who rely on the medi- 
 ation of Christ or a Church or a living priest, or put the 
 Bible in place of God. 
 
 The core and kernel of this mighty conflict is the ques- 
 tion of "salvation." Do we need to be saved from any 
 consequences of sin which have been appointed by a 
 righteous and loving God? 
 
 If we do need to be rescued from Him or in any sense 
 "ransomed " or "bought off " or "redeemed " from any 
 penalty decreed by God against sinners, then there is 
 room for a "Saviour" and for the absurd and impious 
 dogmas which cluster round his name and person ; and, 
 pushed to its extremity, we need a living priest on earth 
 to guide us and to rule us, to impose upon us any creed 
 he chooses, to hear our confessions of our secret sins, and 
 to pronounce a divine forgiveness or to send us to endless 
 hell for our disobedience to his authority. He is God's 
 representative on earth and to him our sole allegiance 
 is due, and without his aid and his incantations and his 
 sacraments we shall doubtless perish everlastingly. 
 
 But if, contrary to all this, God so loves us all that we 
 have no need to be afraid of Him, that every penalty He 
 inflicts or decrees is only sent to do us good, to correct 
 our faults, and to improve our character ; if it would be 
 a grievous loss to evade or escape one of His judgments, 
 then your "Saviour" is not only superfluous, but mis- 
 chievous, not our true friend but our enemy, not one to 
 reconcile our shrinking hearts to our righteous, loving, 
 and compassionate Father, but to keep us back from 
 Him, to hide and distort His face, and to make it forever 
 impossible to learn what His goodness is, and to be so 
 
viii Introduction 
 
 degraded and enslaved that our very praises of Him are 
 a mockery and our worship is turned into idolatry. 
 
 And if we need no Christ to save us, no New Testa- 
 ment to tell us of his unwarranted interference, no Church 
 to be the channels of his grace or the means of our "sal- 
 vation " from a danger that never existed, neither shall 
 we need the poor benighted priest to strut before us with 
 the airs of Divine authority and to usurp the very throne 
 of God Himself in our consciences and hearts. 
 
 We shall then be close to God and inseparable from 
 Him, trusting, loving, adoring Him only, and living in a 
 region of peace and joy far above the turmoil of the world 
 and absolutely free from the tyrannies of priestcraft and 
 superstition. 
 
 On these great issues will turn the religion of the future 
 and the awful conflict which will determine the struggle 
 between the Christian hierarchy and the great world at 
 large. 
 
 Mr. Winans's book has helped many a soul to find light 
 and liberty already. It will soon, we trust, help many 
 more. 
 
 The value of this book is vastly increased by an Ap- 
 pendix containing copious extracts from the documents 
 of other creeds besides the Jewish and the Christian. No 
 other book that I know of gives anything approaching in 
 detail and completeness such a representation of the 
 various beliefs and moral codes of the great religions of 
 the ancient world. Here we have a summary of Zoroas- 
 trian, Mahommedan, Buddhist, Burmese, Hindu, Con- 
 fucian tenets from the Eastern world. Fr.om the West 
 Mr. Winans has gathered the less known but deeply in- 
 teresting records of the primitive faiths of Mexico and 
 Peru. Next come extracts from the Talmud, from 
 Egyptian records, from the Greek schools of thought, 
 and even the religion of Iceland is not forgotten. 
 
 Quite apart from the researches here involved and the 
 
Introduction ix 
 
 value of such knowledge in these days, the author has 
 conferred a lasting benefit on his readers by putting be- 
 fore them in a concise form the testimony which each re- 
 ligion can give of itself and in its own words. 
 
 To all this is added a most valuable account of the dis- 
 sensions within the Christian Church, dissensions never 
 wholly absent and often accompanied by bloody strifes; 
 and as a natural sequence an account is given of the 
 crimes perpetrated in the name and for the sake of Christ 
 himself. Under this category we have an account of 
 the Crusades, the persistent persecution of the Jews, the 
 outrages perpetrated by the Spaniards in South America, 
 and the tortures inflicted upon heretics by the "Holy " 
 Inquisition. 
 
 For all this the reader will be most heartily grateful to 
 the author, because it brings within the compass of one 
 book an amount of knowledge which only the rarest few 
 are able to acquire by their own exertions and which is 
 absolutely beyond reach of the many. 
 
 C. V. 
 
 ANNESLEY LODGE, HAMPSTEAD, 
 LONDON, July, 1903. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 IN offering to the public, now put together in form, 
 what was originally a series of papers, we desire, at 
 the beginning, to set ourselves right as to its originality 
 be it more or less. We are equally anxious to avoid 
 the imputation of having used any other man's thoughts 
 without acknowledgment, and of having perverted to our 
 own ends any borrowed ideas or language. The neces- 
 sity for some explanation on this point will, perhaps, be 
 made more obvious, and the explanation more easy, if we 
 state simply and candidly the circumstances under which 
 what follows was composed or compiled. 
 
 In the course of contemplating man's duty to his 
 Maker, to his fellow-man, and to himself, we drew the 
 conclusions that are embodied in the following pages. 
 These were at times committed to writing, but without 
 any view to publication. They were in the main definite 
 enough ; but, coming from a pen unused to literary labour, 
 they were lacking in method and finish. At a later 
 period, and during a residence in Europe, we fell in with 
 a variety of books on kindred topics, full of research and 
 scholarship, well arranged, well argued, cogent, convinc- 
 ing. Recognising their value in the available information 
 they contained, and the striking manner in which it was 
 conveyed, we extracted without ceremony here a pas- 
 sage and there a phrase, and wove them in among our 
 own. It was not so much that we were impressed with 
 the force and novelty of the ideas of others, we were 
 glad rather to find ready at hand the means of expressing 
 and elucidating what we had thought and felt. In parts, 
 
xii Preface 
 
 even where the very language of some popular author 
 has been adopted as eminently fit to serve our purpose, 
 it will be seen that our conclusions are essentially differ- 
 ent from his. To have given him credit, therefore, at the 
 moment, by footnote or otherwise, might have laid us 
 open to the charge of having garbled or misrepresented 
 him. Besides, at the time when we availed ourselves of 
 the facilities then open before us, we made no memoran- 
 dum of the sources whence we borrowed. At a still later 
 period, and with a view to completing and publishing the 
 papers here expanded into a volume, we sought the occa- 
 sional aid of pens more methodical and facile than our 
 own. The result has been that the original portions 
 became inextricably mingled with what was borrowed 
 and what was amended. If we would separate them, we 
 should find it difficult if not impossible, remote as we 
 are from the libraries to which we resorted. 
 
 In short, we beg to state without reserve, that we have 
 borrowed freely from any quarter, when we held that the 
 cause of truth could be served thereby. Furthermore, we 
 shall endeavour, by aid of inquiry and memory, to make 
 out and publish, at the end of this work, a complete list 
 of the authors to whom we have been indebted. 
 
 R. W. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION BY THE REV. CHARLES VOYSEY . iii 
 
 PREFACE . . xi 
 
 INTRODUCTORY xix 
 
 Man's intuitive conviction ..... i 
 Signs and creeds at variance ..... 3 
 Little progress amongst the Jews .... 5 
 
 Result of Jesus' protest 7 
 
 Councils assume infallible power .... 9 
 Psychological source of legends . . . .11 
 Legends concerning children . . . . .13 
 Incredible statements of Old Testament . . 15 
 
 The same claimed for Godama . . . 17 
 
 The Divinity of Jesus not believed . . . .19. 
 Mythology of the Virgin Mary . . . .21 
 
 Influence of the printing press 23 
 
 Progress of the sciences ...... 25 
 
 Modern preaching 27 
 
 Science undermining theology 29 
 
 A protest against theologies . . . . 31 
 
 Affirmation necessary 35 
 
 God's revelation to man 37 
 
 Labour pain ........ 39 
 
 Man's wonderful organisation 41 
 
 Instances of instinct 43 
 
 Instinct in vegetation ...... 45 
 
 Recuperative powers of nature .... 47 
 
 Church method of salvation 49 
 
 God's method of salvation 51 
 
 xiii 
 
xiv Contents 
 
 Disregard of natural laws 53 
 
 God's laws all-sufficient ...... 57 
 
 God's beneficence 59 
 
 Man an agent in God's purposes . . . .61 
 
 Prayer for recovery 63 
 
 The God of Moses 65 
 
 Priestcraft 67 
 
 Influence of the true religion 69 
 
 Man's predisposition to credulity . . . 71 
 God's goodness and man's happiness 73 
 
 Time is not the measure of the soul 75 
 
 Animal instinct 77 
 
 The light that guides 79 
 
 Brought into existence for eternity . . . .81 
 
 Spontaneous faith 83 
 
 Spontaneous belief .85 
 
 Study of other theologies 87 
 
 Innate promptings of the heart .... 89 
 
 The devil . -91 
 
 God's perfection 93 
 
 Happiness of this life 95 
 
 Man's trust in God 97 
 
 Pain a blessing 99 
 
 Man's individuality hereafter 101 
 
 Instinct and reason 103 
 
 Supposed saviours 105 
 
 Jesus' second coming 109 
 
 Man's craving for truth .in 
 
 Yearnings of the human soul 113 
 
 Belief in a Supreme Power 115 
 
 God's laws . -u/ 
 
 Conscience .119 
 
 Man's confidence in nature 123 
 
 The moral law 129 
 
 Constancy of nature's laws 131 
 
 Providential interference 133 
 
Contents xv 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Heaven and hell 135 
 
 A primary conviction 137 
 
 God and man 139 
 
 No remission of penalties 141 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE CRITICISM . . .143 
 
 Vagueness of prophecies 145 
 
 Supernatural inspiration incredible .... 147 
 
 Failure of precise predictions . . . . 149 
 
 Parable of the Prodigal Son 151 
 
 Erroneous deductions 153 
 
 Love to God and man 155 
 
 Simplicity of true religion 157 
 
 Christ's real teachings 159 
 
 God's evil passions 161 
 
 God likened to man corporeally 165 
 
 Blind reliance on Scripture 167-*" 
 
 Man's perfection 169 
 
 Intimation of redemption 171 
 
 The story of the Fall of Man 173 
 
 Bible account of the Fall of Man . . . .177 
 
 Man's original condition 179 
 
 Instant change in animal life . . . . .181 
 
 Death indispensable 183 
 
 The food of animals 185 
 
 Beautiful laws of nature 187 
 
 God's original laws unchanged . . . .189 
 
 Adam's sin 191 
 
 Eternal life on earth 193 
 
 Salvation not spiritual 195 
 
 One article of faith 197 
 
 Jesus the Christ 199 
 
 Some miracles explained 201 - 
 
 Further explanations 203 
 
 Different miracles . 205 
 
 Jewish tests of the Messiahship .... 207 
 
Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The throne of David 211 
 
 A kingdom to be established 213 
 
 Jesus the Messiah 215 
 
 Object of Christ and Apostles 217 
 
 Teaching against hypocrisy . . . . .219 
 
 Hatred of the priesthood 221 
 
 Jesus repudiates sacrifice . 223 
 The Old Testament on sacrifice . . . .225 
 
 The New Testament on sacrifice .... 227 
 
 Christ denounces sacrifice 231 
 
 Obscurity of the Bible 233 
 
 Sectarian recrimination the result . . . . 235 
 
 Jesus and the supernatural 237 
 
 The Divinity of Jesus 239 
 
 The means of proof 241 
 
 Texts in favour of one God only . . . . 243 
 
 Further proof . . 247 
 
 Jesus and the Father 249 
 
 Church doctrine 251 
 
 Faith and good works 253 
 
 St. Paul's teaching 255 
 
 Jesus never claimed Divinity 257 
 
 Jesus' mission 259 
 
 Character of Jesus' precepts 261 
 
 Ananias and Sapphira 267 
 
 Rational explanation 269 
 
 Unjustifiable teachings 271 
 
 Restlessness of the soul 273 
 
 Inferences 275 
 
 Belief in Jesus 277 
 
 Jesus as a teacher 279 
 
 No good results from this belief . . . .281 
 
 Working of miracles 285 
 
 Jesus' teaching impracticable 287 
 
 Jesus' code visionary 291 
 
 The arrest of Jesus 293 
 
Contents xvii 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 His crucifixion 295 
 
 The coming kingdom 297 
 
 The kingdom of God in the soul .... 299 
 
 Jesus and the Apostles 301 
 
 God the only Saviour 330 
 
 Worship of Jesus . 305 
 
 Ceremonies ........ 307 
 
 Jesus' teaching not uniform 309 
 
 Man's destiny . . 311 
 
 315 
 
 Zoroastrianism 316 
 
 Mohammedanism ....... 322 
 
 Buddhism 331 
 
 The Burmese . . . . . . . 345 
 
 The Hindoos 356 
 
 Confucianism 366 
 
 Mexico and Peru 382 
 
 The Talmud 391 
 
 Egyptian history 396 
 
 Stoicism 400 
 
 Classical antiquity ....... 402 
 
 Cicero 403 
 
 Pindar 405 
 
 Plato . 406 
 
 Epicurus ......... 407 
 
 Socrates . 408 
 
 Xenophanes 410 
 
 Herakleitus 411 
 
 Protagoras 411 
 
 Grecian history 411 
 
 Sacred book of the Mexicans 412 
 
 Extracts from Popol Vuh .412 
 
 Beliefs of the American Indians . . . -415 
 
 Belief of the New Hollanders 416 
 
 Belief of the Icelanders 416 
 
xviii Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Christian theology no restraint . 4 1 / 
 
 Contentions of the early Church . . .418 
 
 Later crimes of the Church ... .421 
 
 The Crusades . 4 2 $ 
 
 The persecution of the Jews . . 43 1 
 
 Albigensian War .... . 434 
 
 Persecution of the heretics . . 437 
 
 The Massacre of St. Bartholomew . . 44 
 
 The Spaniards in Mexico . . 44 1 
 
 The Spaniards in Peru ... . 444 
 
 Civilisation and theology .... . 447 
 
 Printing and civilisation ... . 448 
 
 LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED 45 l 
 
INTRODUCTORY 
 
 WHAT is here presented we desire shall be viewed 
 and considered as an inquiry on behalf of truth. 
 Our standpoint is the omnipotence and perfection of the 
 One God, a sense of whose existence is an instinct com- 
 mon to our race, and who governs man solely by the 
 properties originally implanted in him. Our belief is, 
 that man being thus governed and trained through time 
 and during eternity, a good and happy result must ensue 
 to each individual. 
 
 The history of the human race shows that various and 
 widely varying forms of worship, creeds, doctrines, dog- 
 mas, and theologies have been propounded, preached, and 
 pressed upon the attention of man at different times and 
 in different countries. We believe, however, that there is 
 but one religion existing in any country or in any age, 
 that is acceptable to God ; that whatever else takes upon 
 it the name, form, or guise of religion is -of no practical 
 value. 
 
 The sense of true religion as well as every other 
 faculty and power of the mind and soul of man is 
 implanted in each and every one born into the world. 
 Out of it, as from a germ, comes and ever will come, 
 spontaneously, as the tree comes from the acorn, all 
 that man ever has been, or ever will be. It makes him 
 what he is, and gives him what he has, whether of 
 morals, science, arts, civilisation, or anything else that 
 pertains to his mental or spiritual being. And this one 
 and only true religion God has so indelibly engraved on 
 the heart and conscience of every accountable human 
 
xx Introductory 
 
 being as to ensure that all men shall eventually worship 
 Him acceptably, and be made happy themselves, not- 
 withstanding many adverse appearances here. 
 
 History shows that this religion of the heart and con- 
 science is intermingled with all the different theological 
 systems of which we have knowledge. This also is the 
 only ingredient that is common to them all ; whence it 
 may be inferred that it is best adapted for man's wants 
 and God's requirements ; in short, that it is the only 
 religion ordained and approved by God. Nor can any 
 amount of false teaching eradicate, or render it inop- 
 erative. Moreover, since God never changes, it will 
 never change. It operates, as God willed it should, to 
 shape the lives and conduct of men, and to restrain them 
 within the limits prescribed by the free agency which He 
 has granted to them. Whatever worship or reverence 
 man renders to God whatever morality or goodness he 
 manifests in his intercourse with men all are derived 
 from this source and prompting alone. Whatever of ir- 
 reverence, immorality, impiety, or wrong-doing he prac- 
 tises, in spite of this religion, finds no restraint in any 
 other ; no, not even in that which makes use of the threat 
 of eternal punishment to intimidate him. Further, we 
 believe that the Divine government was made perfect 
 from the first, and therefore, not being subject to altera- 
 tion or amendment, there are no such things as special, 
 or supernatural providences, all occurrences taking place 
 under guidance of the never-varying laws of Nature. 
 Again : we believe that all rewards and punishments are 
 alike benevolently intended ; that the latter, though 
 never vindictive, are never relaxed, and that both are 
 designed by God for the sole purpose of training man to 
 the destiny marked out for him. The training, which 
 begins on this side of the grave, continues beyond it, and 
 during eternity, to the end that every human being shall 
 become more and more godlike, and capable of appre- 
 
Introductory xxi 
 
 ciating God's glory and rendering Him higher praise and 
 worship. 
 
 From these remarks it will be seen that while we 
 accept every portion of the Bible that is in accordance 
 with the Bible written in men's hearts, or, in other 
 words, with natural religion, we repudiate all that pro- 
 fesses to be based upon its supernatural or special in- 
 spiration. 
 
 We object to what the Church demands, an unbounded 
 and unjustifiable confidence in the infallibility of the 
 writings of Moses and the Prophets, and the Evangelists 
 and the Apostles. We dissent from a sentimental attach- 
 ment to an impossible compound of God and man. We 
 protest that Christian theology, as we have it, is not 
 taught by God Himself, or by Christ himself, nor is it 
 consistent with established facts, nor is it comprehensible 
 by our reason. We would show you that Christianity 
 as taught among us is no better than other systems 
 taught in other than Christian countries, and in some 
 respects not so good. 
 
 These are the objects of this publication. If, in the 
 course of presenting our views, anything should be said 
 which may be deemed offensive or disrespectful to those 
 who hold contrary opinions, certainly no such offence or 
 disrespect is intended. We write under an honest con- 
 viction of the truth, and yield nothing to preconceived 
 views. Truth is truth, and will find its way to the sur- 
 face. Shrieks and lamentations over the scepticism and 
 free-thinking of the nineteenth century will not serve 
 the purpose of concealing it. Nor is it desirable that it 
 should be concealed. We must believe, not what it is 
 convenient, or comfortable, or customary to believe, but 
 what is most in accordance with truth. Truth, and not 
 what is called orthodoxy, should be our prime object. 
 It is not enough to maintain what we believe ; we must 
 believe what we maintain. Any one may bring himself 
 
xxii Introductory 
 
 to give blind assent to that which he is inclined to believe, 
 or thinks it becoming or expedient to believe, but this is 
 not genuine belief. It is one thing to wish to have truth 
 on our side, and another to wish, in all sincerity, to be on 
 the side of truth. If the conclusions at which we arrive 
 have the weight of evidence in their favour, we have no 
 alternative but to accept them and bide the results. 
 Neither is there occasion to contemplate with uneasiness 
 the admission of truth, or the result of being governed by 
 it, in any matters whatsoever, and more particularly in 
 those pertaining to religion. God did not endow us with 
 perceptive and reasoning faculties, in order that they 
 might be employed upon all other subjects, and remain 
 torpid in relation to that one subject only. We hold to 
 it, therefore, that the truth must be accepted at all haz- 
 ards, even if it lead to a denial of the supernatural inspir- 
 ation of Scripture and all dogmas connected therewith, 
 which we are fully persuaded it will do. 
 
 Nor, we repeat it, need the prospect of this alarm 
 the most timid. God, the Father, who alone governed 
 the world from the first, governs it now, and will ever 
 govern it. No broader foundation for the faith of all 
 men in their eternal welfare is possible than that laid by 
 God Himself when He established his never-changing 
 laws ; and when He so constituted and endowed man, 
 that under the influence and effect of such unvarying laws 
 he should be conducted to the happy destiny designed for 
 him from the first. The only fear in these matters, 
 becoming to man, is a fear lest he fail in watchfulness to 
 guard against violations of God's laws pertaining to his 
 being ; lest he fail in any portion of his duty to God and 
 to his fellow-creatures. All else may be implicitly left 
 to his Maker and benefactor. 
 
 In all countries, whether civilised or uncivilised, the 
 popular system of theology has invariably been claimed 
 to be based on some supernatural revelation from God. 
 
Introductory xxiii 
 
 The founders or acknowledged heads of these systems 
 have claimed, or it has been claimed for them by their 
 followers, that they were supernaturally inspired, and 
 miraculously and specially endowed and commissioned of 
 God to make His will and word known to mankind. 
 Among the persons claiming to have been so inspired and 
 commissioned, or for whom such claim has been made, and 
 who have gained extensive credence in such claim, are the 
 following : Moses, the great leader, historian, and Prophet 
 of the Jews, fourteen or fifteen hundred years before 
 Christ ; Zoroaster, who founded the theology that prevails 
 among the Parsees, certainly not less than twelve hun- 
 dred years before Christ ; Confucius, born five hundred and 
 fifty-one years before Christ, the most eminent teacher of 
 natural religion in the great Chinese nation ; Buddha, 
 who founded a system of worship in India, called Buddh- 
 ism, five hundred years before Christ ; Godama, who, 
 also about five hundred years before Christ, founded the 
 system of worship which now prevails in the Burmese 
 Empire ; Christ, the claimed basis of the Christian theo- 
 logy ; and Mohammed, the founder of the Mohammedan 
 creed. 
 
 Among the so-called sacred books embodying systems 
 of theology, and said to be derived from supernatural in- 
 spiration, are the following : The Old Testament of the 
 Jews ; the Zend-Avesta of the Parsees ; the Great Learn- 
 ing of the Chinese ; the Rig-Veda of the Hindoos ; the 
 Vini Pidimot of the Burmese Empire ; the Christian 
 Bible ; and the Koran. 
 
 All or most of the Church dogmas, legends, fables, and 
 traditions, in relation to the miraculous conception, birth, 
 miracles, and other pretended supernatural circumstances 
 connected with the history of Jesus are borrowed from 
 or find their counterpart in the several systems of wor- 
 ship founded and practised from four to twelve centuries 
 before his birth. 
 
xxiv Introductory 
 
 The historic part of the Bible, in relation to the crea- 
 tion of the world, has its counterpart also in the several 
 systems of theology here mentioned. They all had their 
 cosmologies, based on equally good authority and equally 
 wide of the truth as that recorded in the Bible. This 
 will appear hereafter when we come to look into the 
 history of the ancient creeds just mentioned. The time 
 and manner of the creation no man has ever known, or 
 ever will know, in this life ; nor is such knowledge of 
 importance in preparing ourselves for the life to come. 
 
ONE RELIGION : MANY CREEDS 
 
ONE RELIGION: MANY CREEDS 
 
 MAN needs no teaching to be convinced that there is 
 a God, the creator, the sustain er, the preserver, and 
 the governor of the universe. The idea is innate, impera- 
 tive, and essential, and declares itself in the mind and 
 conscience as soon as the human being begins to observe, 
 to compare, and to reason. There is no one, however rude 
 or ignorant unless he be idiotic, or otherwise incapable 
 of consecutive thought who has not some notion, how- 
 ever vague, of this great and almighty Being. There is 
 no one in the exercise of his intellectual faculties, who 
 would not recognise the existence of a God as an absolute 
 and necessary truth, even if there had been no other 
 book to teach it than the great book of Nature. The 
 earth, the sea, the sun, the moon, and all the hosts of 
 heaven, spread out before him in their infinite beauty 
 and majesty, each silently but eloquently and irresistibly 
 proclaims that they have had a divine, omnipotent, 
 eternal, and infinite cause and maker. Man has, more- 
 over, not alone an intuitive conviction of the existence 
 of an overruling Spirit, he is conscious that he has 
 within himself a soul, in affinity in a limited sense 
 with that great overruling Spirit. 
 
 But while all men are thus conscious not only that 
 God is, but that God must be, and that the spirit of man 
 bears a certain relation to Him, some men, pretending 
 
2 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 to be preternaturally and directly inspired by God to 
 declare His will and to explain His nature and His 
 attributes, have made assertions and propounded doc- 
 trines, at various times and among various nations, that 
 have greatly bewildered the minds of their fellow-men. 
 These artificial teachings and vain imaginings whether 
 they be called mythologies, theologies, religions, faiths, 
 or systems of belief contradict each other on the most 
 vital and fundamental points. Some of them assert that 
 there is but one God, and that He is not only spiritual, 
 but physical and material, having a body and organs 
 like a man. Some have exalted human attributes, cloth- 
 ing humanity in beautiful or majestic forms, and have 
 deified their own production. Some have adopted a pre- 
 cisely opposite course, and have invented fantastic and 
 hideous divinities. Some deny God's personality, and 
 teach that all nature is the body, of which He is the 
 animating soul. Some say that there are two Gods, one 
 the God of good, the other the God of evil, and that the 
 two are constantly at war with each other. Others main- 
 tain that there are three Gods, co-eternal and co-equal in 
 power, in wisdom, and in glory, and that these three 
 are one, and must be worshipped as one. The second 
 person say they in this triune Divinity stands toward 
 the first in the relation of the Son to the Father ; while 
 the third also is a person, arid proceeds from the Father 
 and the Son. The earliest nations appear to have been 
 taught, either that the sun the most glorious lumi- 
 nary, visible to the unassisted human eye was God, or 
 that the number of the gods was as infinite as the 
 manifestations of Nature. Even Abraham and Moses, 
 who believed and taught the unity of God, attributed 
 to this all-wise, all-just, all-good, all-knowing, and al- 
 mighty being the form of a man. Moses pretended to 
 have talked with him face to face " as a man talketh 
 with his friend," and declared that he had been permitted 
 

 Signs and Creeds at Varian 
 
 to see His " back parts." In the Pentateuch, and indeed 
 throughout both the Old and New Testaments, God is 
 described as being ignorant and short-sighted, and pos- 
 sessing many of the passions of the human creatures 
 whom He Himself has made. 
 
 Creeds and modes of worship have been many and 
 various ; but there is not one of them now accepted in 
 the world which has not, however pure and lofty some 
 may be in their moral teachings, promulgated and endeav- 
 oured to palm upon popular credence the most astounding 
 scientific and historical errors and untruths. Thus they 
 have acted, to some extent, as a drag upon the intellect, 
 and an impediment to the progress of mankind. They 
 were written for the most part by priests of the various 
 theologies and forms of faith which they were designed to 
 uphold, and often with the too palpable purpose of keep- 
 ing the people in ignorance and of maintaining the priest- 
 hood as a privileged class. All of them of Asiatic origin 
 and authorship, and declared in their several countries to 
 be the direct, infallible, unerring utterances of God, they 
 have given currency to the most vulgar and debasing 
 fictions, and represented God as something like an Orien- 
 tal Caliph or Sultan, subject to lusts and vices and fits 
 of cruel anger, and constantly liable to be thwarted in 
 His designs by powers of evil whom He desired, but was 
 not able, to destroy. 
 
 All these myths and dreams have varied in different 
 ages and countries, according to the character of the 
 nations which adopted and nominally believed them, and 
 they have come down to us from an antiquity so remote 
 as to be impenetrable. They are partly to be traced to 
 the most ancient civilisation, the record of which has 
 been preserved by tradition and sepulchral monuments 
 and notably to India, Assyria, Phoenicia, and Egypt. 
 In their orginal forms these mythologies have perished 
 except in India and non-Mohammedan Asia, where they 
 
4 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 are still accepted by the unreasoning multitudes of half 
 the human race. 
 
 A portion, however, of these fables, greatly modified 
 in form and detail, was borrowed from the Egyptians, 
 first by the Jews under Moses, and secondly by the Ara- 
 bians under Mahomet. So far as the books attributed to 
 Moses and other priests and prophets of the Hebrews 
 are concerned, these fables are held forth to this day as 
 grounds for belief and guides for conduct to all the 
 so-called Christian nations of the world. We, as Christ- 
 ians according to the common acceptation of the term 
 and sharers in the advancing civilisation of the nineteenth 
 century, are interested mainly in the theology and doc- 
 trines of Moses and Jesus. All other systems of belief, 
 except natural religion, which is universal, being accepted 
 by all men in all places, modern civilisation has agreed 
 to condemn. Even the most devout Christian laughs at 
 the grotesque stories, and speaks with contemptuous pity 
 of the superstitious absurdities of all mythologies except 
 his own. But let his own rules of criticism be applied to 
 the Old and New Testaments, and they will immediately 
 be condemned as heretical ; and the critic himself will be 
 accused of impiety and infidelity. This very state of 
 things prevails in Asia, where the teachings of Moses and 
 Christ receive as little respect from the priests of Oriental 
 theologies, as Christians bestow upon the myths of the 
 Hindoos, or the nihilism improperly attributed to the 
 Buddhists. 
 
 Up to the birth of Jesus, the Jews had their cosmogony 
 and theology entirely to themselves. The outer world 
 knew nothing of their sacred books, and, indeed, knew 
 the Jews themselves only as a small and peculiar people, 
 in whom there was nothing to esteem or imitate. No 
 one challenged their doctrine, for the reason that no 
 one understood or cared anything about it. Whatever 
 schism or difference of opinion may have existed among 
 
Little Progress amongst the Jews 5 
 
 them, in their own little country, was on minor matters, 
 and Moses and the Prophets seemingly reigned supreme. 
 But a different state of things was about to prevail. 
 Jesus, known during his life as the son of a carpenter, 
 and claiming direct royal descent from David and Solomon, 
 challenged the truth of this ancient system, and became a 
 most conspicuous reformer. He protested chiefly against 
 the superstitious ceremonies of the Mosaic ritual. His 
 protest was indeed partial, though, as far as it went, strong 
 and decided. It was a very important movement towards 
 separating that which was claimed to be religion from 
 that which was and is really religion between that which 
 causes contention and that which all agree upon. 
 
 But very little progress had been made amongst the 
 Jews in the arts and sciences indeed very little was 
 made for a long time after the introduction of Christianity. 
 The printing press, that grand medium for the dissemina- 
 tion of knowledge, is comparatively a modern invention, 
 not having been introduced until the middle of the fif- 
 teenth century. There were no microscopes to reveal to 
 the delighted intellect of man the wonders that lie con- 
 cealed in apparent nothingness ; no telescopes to unveil 
 to him the countless worlds and planetary systems which, 
 but for it, never would have been discovered. The law 
 of gravitation that universal, infinite, governing power 
 by which the whole universe is sustained was unsus- 
 pected. Electricity, known probably to some extent, was 
 employed only in tricks and artifices to startle and sur- 
 prise those who were ignorant of its effects. The science 
 of geology was very imperfect. Astrology was far more 
 esteemed than astronomy. The earth was thought by 
 all nations to be the centre of the universe. The sun was 
 looked upon as nothing more than a lamp hung in the 
 heavens to give light to this superior orb. Indeed it was 
 not even known to be an orb ; the idea prevailed that it 
 was a vast extended plane without visible limits. 
 
6 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Under these circumstances, Jesus could make no pro- 
 test against the Mosaic history or tradition. He was ne- 
 cessarily compelled to accept these as he found them. 
 Rejecting the Mosaic notion of the character and attri- 
 butes of God, he earnestly protested against the doctrine 
 that the Deity, whose gospel he preached, was a God of 
 hatred or anger, or subject to the passions or imperfections 
 of humanity. He loudly proclaimed in the highways and 
 the byways, and to all descriptions of people but chiefly 
 to the poor and the unhappy that God is a God of 
 love, a Spirit to be worshipped in spirit and in truth, a 
 God who demands of His creatures no vain observances, 
 no heavy burdens of ceremonials, but a cheerful, happy 
 enjoyment of life, provided they keep within the limits 
 of the divine laws, which are neither galling nor heavy, 
 but easy, light, and good. He adopted so much of the 
 Ten Commandments as accords with natural religion. He 
 very wisely rejected all that does not teach the two great 
 duties, love to God and love to man. u If thou wilt enter 
 into life," said he to one who already professed to be per- 
 forming this part of his duty, " keep the commandments : 
 Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adul- 
 tery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false wit- 
 ness, Honour thy father and thy mother, and, Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour as thyself." To the lawyer also who 
 asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, " Mas- 
 ter, which is the great commandment in the law?" Je- 
 sus replied, *' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
 thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 
 This is the first and great commandment. And the 
 second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 thyself." He thus reduced the detail of the code, leaving 
 in it all that he considered essential, and summing it up 
 in the two general duties pertaining to God and man. It 
 may be noticed in passing, that he struck out altogether 
 the commandment that pertains to the Sabbath day, the 
 
Result of Jesus' Protest 7 
 
 violation of which Moses, with a bloodthirstiness peculiar 
 to the early Jews, considered more of a crime against 
 God than any other. In fact, he considered it the great 
 crime of all others, and visited upon him who should dare 
 to break it, the penalty of death. In this matter, the 
 Christian Church of our day sets Moses above Christ, 
 since, notwithstanding the abrogation of the law by Jesus, 
 his professed disciples still adhere to it, and look upon 
 the breach of it as one of the most heinous sins that can 
 be committed. 
 
 The result of the enlightened protestantism of Jesus 
 was his death upon the cross. He became a martyr to 
 divine truth. But he left a noble legacy to his Apostles, 
 and to the world, in his advocacy of the sublime teach- 
 ings of natural religion. In discarding all theology and 
 all dogmas, he cleared away much of the mist and fog 
 that enshrouded religion, and made himself a benefactor 
 to his race. But, unfortunately, his disciples were not 
 only Jews, they were prejudiced in favour of Jewish ob- 
 servances. The leaven of their original faith fermented 
 in their minds, and was too strongly at work to permit 
 them to follow their Master in the divine simplicity of 
 his early teaching. They accepted the historic and scien- 
 tific record of Moses, erroneous as it was, because nothing 
 in disproof had been brought to bear against it, whereas 
 the Church of our day maintains its dogmas in the face 
 of scientifically established truths. The ancient religion 
 was miraculous ; so also should that be which was advo- 
 cated by Jesus. And therefore, by degrees, they and 
 their successors engrafted a mythology upon the religion 
 which Jesus advocated, having no warrant whatever in 
 the words or deeds of their Master. We cannot tell at 
 what exact period after his death were concocted the 
 many marvellous stories related of him, such as that of 
 his supernatural birth ; of the visit of the wise men from 
 the East, led to his cradle by a star ; of his having been 
 
8 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 begotten by the Holy Ghost, and of the consequent aban- 
 donment of the pretension set up as to his royal descent 
 from David and Solomon ; of his miracles ; and of his 
 resurrection on the third day after his crucifixion. It is, 
 we say, difficult, and all but impossible, to discover when 
 these fables were intermingled with the ordinary human 
 portion of the narrative of his life and teachings. As to 
 their being found in the four Gospels now held to be 
 canonical, that is no warrant of their authenticity. These 
 four Gospels form but a small portion of the " Gospels " 
 that were in possession of the Christians of the third and 
 fourth centuries ; nor is there any absolute and satisfac- 
 tory proof that they were ever written by the persons 
 whose names they bear, and that they passed, unaltered, 
 from generation to generation through the hands of honest 
 custodians and faithful transcribers. Indeed it appears 
 that at the Council of Laodicea, A.D. 363, there were 
 two hundred varied versions of the adopted Evangelists, 
 and fifty-four several Gospels, all differing essentially 
 from each other, and each purporting to be a true account 
 of Jesus. From these our four Gospels were selected. 
 But it must be borne in mind that the present Gospels 
 are not originals, but taken from copies of the sixth cent- 
 ury, which in turn were taken from some other unknown 
 copies. There are no copies in existence, bearing a date 
 nearer to the time of Jesus than five hundred years. 
 
 And this question of the origin and authenticity of the 
 Scriptures appears to have been a grave matter of doubt 
 in the Christian Church. Nearly twelve hundred years 
 after the meeting of the Council at Laodicea, that is, 
 A.D. 1545, another Council assembled at Trent and de- 
 cided and ordered what was and what was not genuine. 
 It is not pretended, we believe, that the prelates who 
 composed this Council were themselves inspired by the 
 Holy Ghost. Nevertheless, being fallible men, they dealt 
 in summary fashion with spiritual affairs, and declared 
 
Councils Assume Infallible Power 9 
 
 that their own infallibility was beyond doubt. The first- 
 named conclave having made its selection of the four 
 Gospels, this one picked out a special version of the 
 Bible, termed the Vulgate, and pronounced it the only 
 true one ; made the Apocrypha an integral part of it ; 
 proclaimed that the Church alone was at liberty to inter- 
 pret whatever might be doubtful ; and added the extra- 
 ordinary edict, that tradition was to be, equally with the 
 Bible, a rule of faith. Under this rule was comprised 
 that incomprehensible and much-disputed doctrine of the 
 Trinity, which is now held to be essential to man's sal- 
 vation, although no warrant for it can be found in the 
 Christian's text-book, the Bible. Its reception as an 
 indispensable part of the creed had been disputed with 
 the acrimony that distinguishes all combatants for faith 
 of man's invention, as the records of other famous ec- 
 clesiastical Councils show notably that of Nice, A.D. 325. 
 Its worth, however, and its binding character, ought not 
 to be much enhanced, even in the view of Christians 
 themselves, by remembrance of the fact that at least 
 three centuries elapsed after Jesus' death before the doc- 
 trine of the Trinity obtained a hold upon the worshippers 
 of his name. But Councils were omnipotent as witness 
 the second one at Nice, A.D. 787, that declared the wor- 
 ship of images and of the cross to be sanctioned by the 
 Holy Scriptures. 
 
 These astounding assumptions of irresponsible and in- 
 fallible power, by men pretending to deal with divine 
 things, would be deemed impious and disgusting, if time 
 and habit and the artful management of the priesthood 
 had not tended to make men impervious to historical 
 truth and logical argument. We ask, then, with reference 
 to the Scriptures, whether, if a similar claim of divine 
 origin and unquestionable authenticity were put forward 
 on behalf of the sacred books of any other sect which 
 Christians agree in condemning, they would be accepted 
 
io One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 as aught else than fiction. Take, for example, Mat- 
 thew's story of the great convulsion of nature at the 
 crucifixion, when the earth is said to have been shaken 
 and many bodies of the saints to have risen from their 
 graves and appeared unto many. Such a story could 
 scarcely have been told in the hearing of any one, 
 whether Jew or Roman, who had been a contemporary 
 of Jesus; and it has no place in Roman or Jewish his- 
 tory. Again, as to the slaughter of all the male infants 
 of Judea, in order that the youthful Christ might be 
 destroyed, commonly called the Massacre of the Inno- 
 cents, what corroborative evidence have we of any such 
 act of atrocity having been committed by Herod ? If 
 Herod was chargeable with such an act of barbarity, it 
 cannot be doubted that Josephus would have made some 
 mention of it. But his very silence is the best evidence 
 we could have to the contrary. He fills thirty-seven 
 chapters with the history of Herod, and has treated 
 minutely of all the principal cruelties for which he is 
 responsible ; but of this special massacre he makes no 
 mention. Philo, also, who lived at the time, and the 
 Rabbins who were assiduous to blacken Herod's mem- 
 ory gi ve not the slightest hint of so monstrous a decree. 
 Indeed we find that the three Evangelists, Mark, Luke, 
 and John, agree with the historians of those times in 
 their total silence on this subject. It is, however, a 
 curious and most noteworthy coincidence, that in the 
 sacred writings of the Hindoos there is a similar story 
 related of the tyrant Kanga, in connection with the birth 
 of the Hindoo god, Crishna. Sir William Jones bears test- 
 imony to the remarkable similarity that exists between 
 Crishna's life and actions and the life and actions of Jesus, 
 declaring expressly that it is impossible to deny it. He 
 says that Crishna's name and the general traditions con- 
 cerning him were extant long anterior to the birth of 
 Jesus, and probably anterior also to the time of Homer. 
 
Psychological Source of Legends 1 1 
 
 The celebrated poem Bkagavat, which contains an ac- 
 count of Crishna's life, is filled with a narrative of the 
 most extraordinary kind. The incarnate Deity was cra- 
 dled among herdsmen or shepherds. A tyrant, at the 
 time of his birth, ordered all new-born males to be slain ; 
 and yet this new-born babe was preserved in the most 
 wonderful manner. He performed amazing miracles in 
 his infancy, and at the age of seven years held up a moun- 
 tain on the tip of his finger ; he saved multitudes by his mi- 
 raculous powers ; and he raised the dead. But he was the 
 meekest and mildest of created beings ; he washed the feet 
 of the Brahmins, and preached very nobly and sublimely. 
 He was pure, and chaste, and benevolent, and tender. 
 
 Again, to show how prone the popular imagination of 
 the ancients was to fictions of this kind, we borrow some 
 illustrations from the pages of Strauss. He points out 
 that the life of a child destined for great objects, who 
 is endangered and miraculously preserved, is one of the 
 fundamental themes of all heroic legends, and found re- 
 curring in those of the Hebrews, the Persians, and the 
 Romans. To say nothing of the dangers which threat- 
 ened the life of Zeus, or of Hercules, and of the mode in 
 which they were averted, something similar occurs in the 
 history of the infancy of Moses, in the Pentateuch ; of 
 Isaac, in a later Jewish legend ; of Cyrus, in Herodotus ; 
 of Romulus, in Livy; of the childhood of the first 
 Roman Emperor, according to Suetonius, himself living 
 in the century that saw the birth and death of Jesus ; 
 and then in that of the Christian Messiah, in the Gospel 
 of Matthew. The idea is carried out in all these in- 
 stances in a manner so similar that it is impossible to 
 doubt the influence of one legend upon the other, or to 
 overlook the common psychological source of all. This 
 source is that peculiar propensity which leads men to 
 make the value of a good or great man the more sensibly 
 felt by setting forth on one side the near approach of his 
 
12 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 possible loss, and on the other the care of Providence for 
 his preservation. The combined influence of the two 
 that is to say, the inherent desire to enhance the value of 
 what was esteemed, and the multiplicity of the examples 
 around may well account for these fables of imminent 
 danger and supernatural protection, as introduced into the 
 life of Jesus. 
 
 In the record of the infancy of Jesus, the mode in 
 which the danger is brought about is also peculiar. The 
 cause of it is a Star, which appears in heaven and 
 guides certain Eastern Magi to Jerusalem, where their 
 inquiries after the new-born King of the Jews attract the 
 attention of Herod the Great. Thus the Star appears as 
 the means of the endangerment of Jesus' life. Still, this 
 portion of the legend had an object of its own. There is 
 a belief, reaching from remote antiquity even to our own 
 times, that new appearances of stars, particularly comets, 
 coming unexpectedly and vanishing again, prognosticate 
 revolutions in human affairs, and the birth and death 
 of great men. Men start from the supposition that so 
 striking a phenomenon in the heavens must have, corre- 
 sponding to it, a similar one on earth, affecting mankind. 
 Thus, when an historical event happens which it is 
 wished particularly to distinguish, some extraordinary 
 natural phenomenon that never took place is invented 
 to chime in with it. Thus we read in Rubeni, a rabbini- 
 cal author, that at the moment of Abraham's birth a star 
 stood in the East, which swallowed up four other stars, 
 each appearing in one of the four quarters of the heavens. 
 Justin also tells another of these fictitious tales about 
 Mithridates, to the effect that in the year in which he was 
 born, and in that of his accession, a comet appeared, and 
 continued visible on each occasion for four hours during 
 every day, and for seventy successive days. It was of so 
 large a size, and so bright, that it occupied a quarter of 
 the sky, and outshone the brightness of the sun. Before 
 
Legends Concerning Children 13 
 
 the birth of Augustus, it was said to have been progno- 
 sticated at Rome, by a prodigy, that Nature was pregnant 
 with a King for the Roman people. According to Jewish 
 writings, the account of the peril which threatened the 
 life of the Lawgiver had its parallel also in the history 
 of the Patriarch of the nation. In this case Pharaoh is 
 Nimrod. In one account, Nimrod sees a star in a dream ; 
 this star, according to the other account, actually appears 
 in the sky, and his sages explain it to him to mean that a 
 son is at that moment born to Tharah, from whom shall 
 come a mighty nation destined to inherit the present and 
 the future world. Observe also that when, at length, the 
 same embellishment had been introduced into the history 
 of the infancy of Jesus, it was introduced into the history 
 of the infancy of John the Baptist, who, having been 
 endangered by the massacre at Bethlehem, was also said 
 to have been preserved by a miracle. 
 
 Now, in the legends of Cyrus, Romulus, and Abraham 
 the tyrants give special orders for murdering only the 
 children who are pointed out as dangerous to them. The 
 narratives concerning Moses, Augustus, and Jesus resem- 
 ble each other in this that the potentates seek to catch 
 the destined infant, who is unknown to them personally, 
 in a wide net, together with others. The story, then, in 
 relation to the wholesale massacre by Herod is totally 
 unworthy of credence or historical consideration, as before 
 remarked. Neither will it stand the test of criticism, 
 when considered in relation to the justice and omniscience 
 of the Almighty ; for if God specially interposed to blind 
 the mind of Herod by suggesting to the Magi that they 
 should not return to Jerusalem to notify him of the cir- 
 cumstances, why did He not inspire them to proceed, in 
 the first instance, direct to Bethlehem? Herod would 
 thus have been in ignorance of the child's existence, and 
 this cruel and unnecessary massacre would have been 
 entirely avoided that is, if it ever occurred. 
 
14 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 The date when these fables were introduced into the 
 New Testament is not of much importance, even if it 
 were possible to discover it. We know, however, that 
 the early Christians not only accepted the mythology of 
 Moses, but that they superadded a mythology of their 
 own, of which these extraordinary stories form a part, 
 and that the result of the union was a system of theology 
 or belief, in which the teachings of Moses and of the 
 Apostles and Jesus were blended, and for upwards of 
 fourteen hundred years not improperly called the " Dark 
 Ages" were taught and accepted as a part and parcel 
 of Christianity. No one, during these dark ages, was 
 allowed to separate the history and the mythology from 
 the doctrine. They were denied the liberty of rejecting 
 the one and accepting the other, under the severest pen- 
 alties in this world, and the threat of eternal damnation 
 in the next. He who accepted the doctrines of Christ- 
 ianity was compelled also to accept, or pretend so to do, 
 the most senseless fables and theories that were presented 
 to him, or be anathematised. He was required to believe 
 the most incredible statements ; among them, that this 
 earth, together with the planetary system, of which it is 
 a member, was created only about four thousand years 
 before the birth of Jesus. Even as late as toward the 
 end of the fifteenth century Columbus, the discoverer of 
 this continent, was excommunicated and branded as a 
 heretic by one of the boasted successors of St. Peter, for 
 advancing the theory that the earth is spherical, in op- 
 position to the idea that it is a mere extended plane. 
 
 It was also incumbent that he should believe a thou- 
 sand other absurdities : that the sun revolved round the 
 earth ; that God dwells in a local habitation, a place called 
 Heaven, and the Devil in a place called Hell ; that God 
 made a man and a woman, and placed them in a garden, 
 intending that they and their progeny should live forever 
 in this world happy, innocent, naked, and having no- 
 
Incredible Statements of Old Testament 15 
 
 thing to do ; that in this purpose, however, God was 
 thwarted by Satan, or the Devil, who, in the form of a 
 serpent, persuaded the woman to eat of the fruit of a tree 
 called the Tree of Knowledge, of which God had forbid- 
 den them to eat, under penalty of death ; that they did 
 eat, and that they fell from their state of innocence, 
 happiness, and nudity ; that God, offended at their dis- 
 obedience, drove them out of the garden, imposed labour 
 upon them as a curse, and taught them the use of clothes ; 
 that the first two men, born of this original pair, quarrelled 
 because God was better pleased to accept a sacrifice of fat 
 cattle roasted with fire upon an altar, from Abel, than a 
 bloodless offering of herbs and fruits from Cain, and that 
 Cain, therefore, slew his brother in a fit of anger ; that the 
 race of men, born of Adam and Eve, becoming utterly 
 corrupt and wicked, God repented that He had made 
 such ungrateful and abominable creatures, and resolved to 
 drown the whole race of men, as well as the beasts of the 
 field and the fowls of the air, which had not offended 
 Him ; that He spared but one man and his family, saved 
 in an ark, together with a single pair of all created ani- 
 mals and birds ; that the progeny of these miraculously 
 preserved men and women afterwards divided the earth 
 among themselves, but were in no degree better than the 
 progeny of Adam and Eve, and continually vexed the 
 Almighty, and stirred Him to fierce wrath by their fear- 
 ful wickedness; that a man named Nimrod, a great king 
 and hunter, conceived the idea that Heaven, the abode of 
 God, was just above or in the clouds, and not more diffi- 
 cult of access than the tops of the highest mountains, 
 and that he could build a tower to reach to God's throne ; 
 that God, apprehensive that he might succeed in the at- 
 tempt, defeated his sacrilegious purpose by confounding 
 the language of the men who wrought upon it, so that 
 they could not understand each other, and had to desist 
 from their labours whereas all that was necessary to be 
 
1 6 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 done was to leave Nimrod and the ignorant work-people 
 alone, until their means and patience were exhausted ; 
 that God chose the Jews for his peculiar people out of 
 His mere grace and favour, and for no good that they 
 had ever done ; but that Moses never could make the 
 Jews understand who God was, or in what respect He was 
 wiser than, or superior to, the pretended gods of neigh- 
 bouring nations ; that this people was enslaved by the 
 Egyptians, remained in slavery for several hundred years, 
 and was miraculously freed from bondage after God had 
 caused the death of all the first-born male children of 
 Egypt, and afflicted the land and the people with in- 
 numerable plagues not on account of the sins of the 
 Egyptians, but solely on account of the stubbornness of 
 Pharaoh, their king, who as often as he relented had his 
 heart hardened by God Himself, in order that he might 
 be further plagued and punished ; that the Jews, when 
 they had established themselves in Canaan, by the mas- 
 sacre of the original possessors of the land, grew weary of 
 a priestly government, and demanded to have a king, 
 like their neighbours; that God endeavoured, but in vain, 
 to dissuade them from their purpose, and, yielding at last 
 to their importunity, chose a king for them in the person 
 of Saul, for no other recorded reason than that he was 
 taller, by the head and shoulders, than any of his people ; 
 that Saul reigned indifferently well over the Jews, but 
 offended God past all hope of forgiveness because he was 
 more merciful than his Maker, and would not, after he 
 had conquered and overthrown his enemies in fair battle, 
 rip up the bellies of women with child, put all the child- 
 ren, male and female, to the sword, and destroy all their 
 horses, oxen, sheep, and other cattle ; that Joshua made 
 the sun to stand still at his bidding an event which, if it 
 could have occurred, would have reduced the solar system 
 to chaos. All these and many other stories, which it is 
 needless to recapitulate, evidently mythological, and 
 
The Same Claimed for Godama 1 7 
 
 many of them allegorical, Christianity now, as then, 
 requires to be literally accepted as positively and divine- 
 ly true, under penalty of all the plethora of curses, tem- 
 poral and eternal, that angry priestcraft can pronounce. 
 
 And the mythology of the New Testament is imposed 
 as ruthlessly upon the believer as that of the Old. Indeed 
 the former was engrafted upon the latter ; and both must 
 be accepted, without question or hesitation, as equally 
 true. As man had fallen under Adam, he was to be 
 lifted up under Jesus ; but as God required a sacrifice 
 before He could forgive the human race for the trans- 
 gression of Adam and Eve, Jesus, being himself God, 
 offered himself a sacrifice to his Father, who was also 
 God, though there was but one God, and the sacrifice 
 was accepted. As an evidence of this, it is asserted that 
 when he died upon the cross all nature was convulsed by 
 the event ; the earth upheaved, and the dead rose out of 
 their graves and walked through the streets, in sight of 
 the awestricken multitudes. This was a marvel and a 
 mystery, which no human being could understand ; but it 
 was to be received as a dogma and an article of faith, 
 without believing in which, no one could enjoy the bene- 
 fit of the transcendent sacrifice, or live in the next world, 
 except in fire and brimstone and eternal torment. For 
 the purpose of teaching the new theology and of perform- 
 ing this sacrifice, God, in the person of the man Jesus, 
 came into the world and wrought many miracles to con- 
 vince the people of the Divinity alike of his character and 
 mission. But so also was it claimed by and for Godama, 
 who founded the theological system which now prevails 
 in the Burmese Empire. " I, a god," said he, " having 
 departed out of this world, will preserve my laws and my 
 disciples in it for the space of five thousand years." 
 Again, the people of Judea believed that the diseases of 
 the human body were to a great extent due to the agency 
 of devils the number of the devils being infinite and 
 
1 8 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 that they entered corporeally into the blood, the bones, 
 the brain, and the intestines of epileptics, cataleptics, 
 apoplectics, lepers, lunatics, maniacs, and other unhappy 
 persons afflicted with bodily or mental disorders. As 
 Jesus was represented in the new mythology as casting 
 out devils by an effort of his volition, and sometimes as 
 speaking to them while in the bodies of tormented per- 
 sons, and ordering them to come out, the Christians of 
 the Dark Ages were of necessity taught to believe that 
 such devils really existed, and that diseases were the 
 results of their agency, rather than of natural or heredi- 
 tary causes, or of the contravention of the laws of health 
 by the afflicted persons themselves. The early Christians 
 were also taught to believe that the arch-devil, the lord 
 and king of all these minor devils, the Satan and Beelze- 
 bub of the Jews, the Ahrimanes of the Persians, the Luci- 
 fer of the poets, ignorant of the fact that Jesus was God, 
 and believing that he was only an able and ambitious 
 man, took him up into a high mountain and showed him 
 all the kingdoms of the world which he could not have 
 done from the top of any mountain, however lofty and 
 promised him dominion over them, on the sole condition 
 that he, who was God, should kneel down and worship 
 him, who was Devil ; that Jesus, without making himself 
 known to him, refused the offer, saying, " Get thee 
 behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me." More- 
 over, they were required to believe that Jesus raised the 
 dead from the grave ; walked upon the waters of the sea ; 
 stilled the raging of the tempest by a motion of his hand 
 or word of his mouth ; fed thousands of people, once with 
 five, and once with seven loaves of bread and a few small 
 fishes the unconsumed remnants of both, after the mul- 
 titude had freely partaken, being immensely greater than 
 the original bulk of the articles provided ; and that he 
 performed other miracles, all of which were of a bene- 
 ficent, but more or less startling character, according to 
 
The Divinity of Jesus Not Believed 19 
 
 the circumstances. But the most remarkable thing is 
 that, notwithstanding he is said to have performed such 
 wonderful things as we have enumerated, he never 
 succeeded in persuading either the Romans or the 
 Jewish people, or the many thousands who witnessed 
 them, or even his own immediate followers and disciples, 
 that his mission was to introduce a new and spiritual 
 religion, or that he was indeed God, or the son of God, in 
 any other sense than that in which all men are God's 
 children. This is a most significant fact ; and a fact it 
 must be acknowledged by the Christian Church, inasmuch 
 as it is borne out by the Scriptures themselves. The in- 
 difference of the Romans is shown in Pilate's washing his 
 hands of Christ's blood, and in the temperate dealings of 
 Festus and Agrippa with Paul. How Christ impressed 
 the leading Jews is proved by the manner in which they 
 persecuted him and put him to death. What the multi- 
 tudes thought of him may be gathered from the reiterated 
 testimony of the Evangelists, to the effect that the people 
 " understood not his sayings," that they " marvelled 
 greatly," that they were " astonished at his doctrine," 
 that they were " very attentive to hear him," and that 
 the fullest extent of their conviction went no further than 
 this : " they rejoiced at all the glorious things that were 
 done by him." It is nowhere recorded that they looked 
 upon him as the veritable son of God, co-equal with God, 
 and voluntarily sacrificing himself as an expiation for 
 Adam's original sin nor did he claim this himself. As 
 to the immediate contemporaries, followers, and intimate 
 attendants upon Christ, it is only needful to remind the 
 reader of what happened when all his personal influence 
 and all the effect of his whole career culminated in his 
 final interview with the eleven disciples, after his resur- 
 rection. St. Mark says that he upbraided them for their 
 unbelief and hardness of heart. Yet St. Matthew says, 
 with a candour that is absolutely killing in reference also 
 
20 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 to Jesus' last intercourse with those favoured individuals 
 " but some doubted ! " The disciples, therefore, in the 
 presence of their risen Master, were very far from exhib- 
 iting an implicit and unreserved faith, at the moment of 
 all others when they should have experienced it to the 
 innermost core. What, we ask, has the Church done to 
 make belief in all these stories acceptable to us in these 
 days, when we find them less and less able to bear the 
 test of calm and critical examination ? 
 
 It was only after Christ's death that Christianity, un- 
 der a new phase, began to develop itself and to dispossess 
 the previously existing paganism of the Roman Empire. 
 Then it was that the priests and the popes who had charge 
 of the new doctrine, arrogated to themselves and to their 
 " Saints," both living and dead, the miraculous and super- 
 natural powers which they at first claimed only for their 
 Divine Master. A new series of wonders was invented 
 suitable for the credulous and ignorant multitudes. These 
 found ready credence in an age when kings and emperors 
 could not even read or write ; indeed, when there were 
 no books, and but very few accessible manuscripts ; and 
 when the mass of mankind were sunk in the deepest 
 mental darkness impenetrable even to such rays of light 
 as gleamed and flashed from the lustrous learning and 
 eloquence of the Greek and Roman philosophers. Know- 
 ledge was trodden down by the furious wars that followed 
 the fall of the Roman Empire. What little remained of 
 it the priests possessed, and used as priests invariably 
 do to enslave the intellect of the people. And thus, 
 in process of time, a third mythology was superadded 
 to the mythology of the Pentateuch and the four Gos- 
 pels, fully as marvellous and as contrary to the laws of 
 nature and to all human experience as its predecessors. 
 In this mythology, Mary the "Mother of God" is 
 raised to the Divine rank of Queen of Heaven, and plays 
 a most conspicuous part in the Church which bears the 
 
Mythology of the Virgin Mary 2 1 
 
 name of her Son. In fact, it is said that she enacts won- 
 ders more wonderful than any attributed to him. She 
 condescends to enter into images and statues carved in 
 her honour ; and, as an incontrovertible evidence of her 
 presence therein, she makes them wink their eyes, and 
 shed real tears over the agonies of those penitents who 
 supplicate her mercy and her mediation with her blessed 
 Son. Her pictures, too, work miraculous cures on the 
 deaf, the dumb, and the blind, provided they are touched 
 in a properly reverential and confiding spirit. She ap- 
 pears visibly to the eyes of men and women, and promises 
 her intercession with her Son in Heaven, for the forgive- 
 ness of all who truly believe in herself and in him. Nor 
 this alone ; the relics of real or supposed saints and 
 martyrs are also endowed with virtue to heal diseases. 
 Nay, even pieces of the wood of the cross on which Jesus 
 had suffered that was supposed to have been discovered 
 in a heap of ancient and indistinguishable rubbish in the 
 Golgotha of Jerusalem, through the pious agencies of 
 the Empress Helena, more than three hundred years 
 after the crucifixion were also endowed with similar 
 powers and attributes of divinity. Mr. Charles Mackay, 
 in his Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular D elusions , says 
 that it is among ".the traditions of the Romish Church 
 that the Empress Helen, the mother of Constantine the 
 Great, first discovered the veritable ' True Cross/ in her 
 pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Emperor Theodosius made 
 a present of the greater part of it to St. Ambrose, Bishop 
 of Milan, by whom it was studded with precious stones, 
 and deposited in the principal church of that city. It 
 was carried away by the Huns, by whom it was burnt 
 after they had extracted the valuable jewels it contained. 
 Fragments purporting to have been cut from it were, in 
 the eleventh and twelfth centuries, to be found in almost 
 every church in Europe, and would, if collected together 
 in one place, have been almost sufficient to have built a 
 
22 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 cathedral. Happy was the sinner who could get a sight 
 of one of them ; happier he who possessed one. To ob- 
 tain them, the greatest dangers were cheerfully braved. 
 They were thought to preserve from all evils, and to cure 
 the most inveterate diseases. Annual pilgrimages were 
 made to the shrines that contained them, and consider- 
 able revenues were collected from the devotees." Tears 
 of Jesus, of the Virgin Mary, of John the beloved disci- 
 ple, and even of Peter, who denied his Master when he 
 fell into trouble and suspicion, were also discovered in 
 Judea, where they had been divinely and miraculously 
 preserved for centuries, and brought to Europe at the 
 time of the Crusades. They were kept in churches and 
 cathedrals, to be exhibited on great occasions, and when 
 there was any chance of making money by the exhibition 
 or sale of them to the faithful. For, be it observed, the 
 laws of evaporation and absorption must, ever since they 
 were shed, have been miraculously suspended. These 
 tears work supernatural cures, too, when enshrined in 
 little glass beads and worn on the bosom, or even if the 
 beads that contain them are held in the hand or pressed 
 to the lips of the devout Christian. But to continue. 
 The nails with which the hands and feet of Jesus were 
 pierced to fasten him on the cross, and even the thorns of 
 the crown with which he was mockingly arrayed by his 
 persecutors, found their way to Europe in large quanti- 
 ties. It has been alleged by historians that there was 
 iron enough in all these nails, if collected and thrown into 
 the furnace, to have made a thousand ploughshares. And 
 yet each nail was supposed to be divinely endowed with 
 the power of working miracles to prove the truth of the 
 Christian doctrine ! 
 
 But while this new mythology was growing and expand- 
 ing and exercising its pernicious sway over the intellect 
 of men and especially of women, who are always the 
 greatest upholders of the churches, in all parts of the 
 
Influence of the Printing Press 23 
 
 world and in all ages the printing press came into opera- 
 tion. By its influence in stimulating men to increased 
 mental and physical activity, and facilitating the opera- 
 tion of many minds one upon another for the good of the 
 whole, it aimed a heavy blow at superstition and priest- 
 craft. From that era and from that invention went forth 
 an impetus in the affairs of mankind, a rapidity of ad- 
 vancement in the arts, sciences, and civilisation, unpre- 
 cedented in the history of the world, ensuring a far more 
 splendid inheritance to those who come after us than 
 that to which we have ourselves succeeded. One of its 
 first results was the multiplication of copies of the Old 
 and New Testaments, which were translated into the 
 English, German, French, and other European languages, 
 and placed for the first time in the hands of other people 
 than the clergy. A second result was the growth of a 
 conviction that the new mythology of the Romish priest- 
 hood, that had grown up in the Dark Ages, was an ex- 
 crescence upon Christianity, formed no part of its spirit 
 or teaching, and was not to be believed or accepted as 
 truth. Many men came to the conclusion that the first 
 two mythologies those of M.oses and the Gospels were 
 quite sufficient for belief, and were to be accepted on ac- 
 count of their venerable antiquity. They rejected the 
 third mythology, and made up their minds that its mira- 
 cles performed by winking Virgins, pieces of the True 
 Cross, and toe-nails of the Saints, were no miracles at all, 
 but cheats, shams, and impostures, only invented to prop 
 up an ecclesiastical system which had degenerated into a 
 trade, to impose and prey upon the less gifted and cult- 
 ivated, and to perpetuate the physical power and intel- 
 lectual domination of the priesthood. The prevalence of 
 free thought increased in an advancing ratio ; and about 
 this time what is termed the Reformation took place. 
 The protest on this occasion was strong so far as it went ; 
 but it was partial and incomplete. It protested against the 
 
24 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 truth of the modern, not of the ancient miracles ; against 
 the Pope, not against the historical and scientific false- 
 hoods and errors inherited by him and his predecessors 
 from the original Christians, or by the original Christians 
 from the so-called sacred Books ascribed to Moses and the 
 Evangelists. The Protestantism of that dawning day 
 protested against all doctrine but that contained in the 
 BOOK, and built up a new idol, a new divinity, a new 
 God, in the shape of the BIBLE, which they set on high 
 in the face of men, to be worshipped by all who would 
 escape eternal perdition. It rejected one third of a false 
 system, and took the other two thirds to its heart, and 
 enshrined them there as infallible, unerring, perpetual, and 
 divine. Yet this partial protest was of inestimable value 
 to future generations. It was the thin end of the wedge 
 introduced into the hard block of superstition. He who 
 protests a little to-day may protest a great deal to-morrow. 
 The very fact of a protest amounts to a declaration of 
 independence in thought ; and Protestantism as soon 
 as it had begun to protest deprived itself of the power 
 of saying to any clearer-sighted, better-informed, and 
 more courageous protestant than itself : " Thus far shalt 
 thou protest, and no farther ! " This was a mighty ad- 
 vantage ; and the Romish Church, with the keen instinct 
 of self-preservation, felt and knew it to be so, and waged 
 war to the death against the bold, democratic, and in- 
 novating movement that threatened to hurl it from its 
 throne. 
 
 The disciples of the reformed faith, as cheerfully as the 
 earlier Christians of the days of St. Paul and St. Peter, 
 went to the block and the stake, to seal with blood their 
 belief in the conscientious protest which they had made. 
 Meanwhile the great printing press was busily at work. 
 Every succeeding year gave it new power for good and an 
 increased momentum in well-doing. The priests were no 
 longer the sole depositories of learning. The outer world 
 
Progress of the Sciences 25 
 
 penetrated into all the pretended holy mysteries of the 
 clergy. The intellect of mankind was liberated ; and no 
 longer confining itself to questions of Theology as in the 
 Dark Ages, grappled bravely with Mechanics, Physics, Op- 
 tics, Astronomy, Chemistry all the Arts and Sciences 
 and became, under this active exercise, too vigorous and 
 penetrating to be longer held under the domination of 
 priestcraft. The cheat was detected ; spurious teaching 
 and doctrines began to be thrown overboard as useless 
 lumber, or clogs to that true religion which is founded on 
 the real Bible, or Book of God, the true revelation of the 
 Creator, to be read in His works, terrestrial and celestial, 
 and in His impress upon man, and not in the writings of 
 ignorant and erring, though possibly well-meaning men. 
 The law of Gravitation suspected by Dante and Shake- 
 speare, and perhaps others, but only reduced to a formula 
 and a proof positive by Newton the earlier invention 
 of the telescope, and the later invention of the micro- 
 scope the discovery of the eternal and sublime forces 
 sometimes called Galvanism, Magnetism, and Electric- 
 ity all these things worked together for the exposition 
 to mankind of a thousand unsuspected truths of the Di- 
 vine government of the world, whereof the theologies and 
 mythologies had never dreamed. All of these were con- 
 sistent with each other, but inconsistent with the truth 
 of the theologies and mythologies, however seemingly 
 sacred in the estimation of mankind the latter might be. 
 
 These discoveries, these teachings, these expositions, 
 these promulgations, continued during the seventeenth, 
 eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, without producing 
 any very obvious effect upon the mythological Christ- 
 ianity, based upon the fables of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments. The mass of professing Protestants accepted the 
 new facts, but gave themselves no trouble to reconcile 
 them with the old traditions. Nevertheless, the spirit of 
 inquiry which was so busily at work had, and could not 
 
26 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 but have, its effect upon the intellect of the generations 
 that were growing up in the light of these discoveries ; 
 and a spirit of what is called " Infidelity " pervaded the 
 upper and educated classes. " Infidelity " is an easy word. 
 To the Mohammedans all Christians are infidels. To 
 Christians all Mohammedans, Jews, Buddhists, Parsees, 
 and believers in Mumbo Jumbo are equally " infidels." 
 Infidelity is no reproach. The various theologies, inter- 
 mingled with what is true in worship, in different quar- 
 ters of the world, are the creatures of circumstance rather 
 than of pure, unmitigated, and conscientious belief. If 
 Martin Luther had been born in China or Japan, he would 
 not have been a champion of Protestant Christianity. If 
 Mohammed had been born in Scandinavia, where Odin was 
 worshipped, he might have established a new and peculiar 
 theology ; but it would not have been such a one as 
 that which now goes under his name. In this sense, the 
 stigma of " Infidelity," affixed by one class who think for 
 themselves in religious matters upon others who think 
 with quite as much if not more learning and earnestness 
 to back them, is but an idle word. It is more despicable 
 than an idle word, when applied to those who worship 
 God after the dictates of their own hearts and consciences, 
 believing that love to God and good works constitute 
 the whole duty of man. The Church may vent its ana- 
 themas ever so vehemently, now as heretofore ; yet let it 
 not close its eyes to the fact that this religion has so 
 deep a root in men's natures that it will ere long dis- 
 perse the cloud of theology with which the Church has 
 endeavoured to overshadow it. In fact it has already done 
 so to a much larger extent than appears on the surface, 
 among the learned, scientific, thinking, and reasoning 
 men of our country. Nor will it long be confined to the 
 learned and scientific ; while, as for the thinking and 
 reasoning classes with the avenues of knowledge now 
 opening to them, they will soon become the majority, 
 
Modern Preaching 27 
 
 and will then not hesitate to declare themselves openly 
 in favour of the first and only religion. 
 
 Indeed its influence has spread even to the clergy 
 themselves. Even their minds, usurped as they are in 
 most instances by the prejudices of education and the 
 emoluments of their profession, are very much expanded 
 by the developments of scientific investigation, acting 
 upon and co-operating with their own innate conscious- 
 ness of truth. The effect is, that while they do not preach 
 with the enthusiasm of olden times on such subjects as 
 eternal punishment, the personality, power, and influence 
 of the devil, man's total degeneracy, the vengeance of the 
 Almighty, and so forth those of them who do not drawl 
 out their commonplace sermons as if they neither them- 
 selves believed them nor intended others to believe them, 
 are a little more rational in their course. If they are not 
 bold enough to enunciate principles directly in accordance 
 with natural truths, they tread lightly on the subject, and 
 confine themselves to such themes as will enable them to 
 make a compromise with scientific developments. The 
 reign of terror, which the pulpit once exercised, has de- 
 parted " Ichabod" is written upon it. It has a rival in 
 the press, which now occupies the intellectual throne, and 
 has things to say whereto the pulpit must succumb. And 
 whenever the two come in conflict, it is not the pulpit 
 that is finally appealed to, as it once was. It is the judg- 
 ment of public opinion through the potent medium, the 
 press, that obtains the mastery. 
 
 Internal dissensions, too, are vastly weakening to the 
 cause of dogmatic Christianity. Sects are everywhere 
 multiplied, and are multiplying ; but theology is neither 
 strengthened nor increased thereby. In fact, it loses 
 ground every time there is a split made in it. This is as 
 though another blow were struck upon the wedge intro- 
 duced into the block of error. It is an addition to the 
 force that is destined to rive theology asunder and beat 
 
28 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 it into fragments, so that it may be ground into powder 
 and scattered to the four winds. It is its own destruction 
 not the destruction merely of one of its parts, because 
 every sect, however much it may differ from or denounce 
 its rival, derives its authority from Moses or the Gospels. 
 Even Mormonism, the last gasping effort of modern 
 civilisation to establish a religion upon the Bible, finds a 
 sufficient justification for polygamy in the practice of 
 Abraham and the Jewish patriarchs, who therein de- 
 clared to be not only the true servants of God, but most 
 favoured by Him are the very men that most indulged 
 in it. The great majority of those who accept Christi- 
 anity, consists of the poor. They go to church and hear 
 it announced that it is to them that the gospel is preached, 
 and that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of 
 a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom 
 of heaven. They are told that heaven is a place where 
 the poor of this world are recompensed for their poverty 
 and misery ; a place wherein they themselves will be rich 
 and powerful ; wherein they will wear white robes and 
 golden crowns, and whence they will be graciously per- 
 mitted to look down with the greatest complacency not 
 altogether unmixed with human or even with inhuman 
 satisfaction upon the misery of those Dives in hell, who 
 did not give them all they had in this world, now in vain 
 asking them for a drop of water to cool their burning 
 tongues. Of this class we say the Church is largely made 
 up, because of the encouragement and consolation they 
 derive or imagine they derive from the above description of 
 teaching. Others go to church for fashion's sake, recrea- 
 tion, excitement, and novelty in short, more to see than to 
 hear, and to be amused by the priest flaunting before their 
 eyes his embroidered garments, the frippery of stole and 
 vestment, and all the paraphernalia of ecclesiastical mil- 
 linery. In Roman Catholic countries the churches are 
 left almost wholly to the women ; in Protestant countries 
 
Science Undermining Theology 29 
 
 a minority of men still attend, but mostly as a duty en- 
 forced by custom and fashion, or with the hope of being 
 entertained if the preacher be what is called a popular 
 one. If not, and they think it adds to their respectabil- 
 ity, they go and listen with what insomnolency they can 
 to an uninteresting discourse, which tells them nothing 
 they did not know before, and too much that flatly con- 
 tradicts the pure truths of science and common-sense 
 facts. But this state of things must soon fall into decay. 
 Indeed we find that even those who are in high places, 
 and receiving large emoluments from the ecclesiastical 
 system to which they are attached, are dropping off, one 
 by one, from the decaying old tree that has supplied 
 them with shelter and support, and are coming out boldly 
 in defence of the right. Their reason becomes too strong 
 for that dead faith which was instilled into them, and 
 which they have been trying to instil into others, until 
 their better sense and better judgment, aided by other 
 minds and genuine truths, have compelled them to 
 abandon it. 
 
 In the first place, they have removed out of the way 
 that greatest of all stumbling-blocks, the Pentateuch, 
 which, when tested by the truths of geological discovery, 
 is shown to be a mass of crude absurdities. 
 
 And now, in the next place, not only is the rest of the 
 Old Testament to be submitted to the same and similar 
 tests, but the New Testament also must submit to go 
 through the crucible of investigation, and stand or fall by 
 the ordeal. Everywhere there is fermentation of thought. 
 Science, we admit, has not yet overthrown theology and 
 mythology vi et armis, by battering at their ancient 
 walls ; but she has been and is still quietly and slowly, 
 yet perceptibly sapping and mining them to the very 
 foundation. She is proving her own truths, as well as 
 that great and divine principle that no one truth, great 
 or small, can ever be hostile to, contradict, or disprove 
 
30 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 another. She is showing, by an examination of every- 
 thing in nature, that God is infinite in goodness, infinite 
 in wisdom, and infinite in truth; that He cannot be 
 what the Pentateuch proclaims Him to be a God who 
 has fits of anger, who errs and repents of it ; who can be 
 at one time what He is not at another. Geology has 
 demonstrated that the earth must be more than six thou- 
 sand years old. It may be six hundred thousand, or six 
 hundred millions, or as much longer as the imagination 
 can stretch, for all that we know. But one thing is cer- 
 tain it is proved as conclusively as by a mathematical 
 demonstration, that there is no semblance of truth in the 
 Jewish computation that it was called into existence so 
 recently as the Scriptures assert. Astronomy, too, has 
 proved that, so far from the earth being the most impor- 
 tant body in our solar system, it is one of the least three ; 
 that our solar system itself the majestic sun and all the 
 orbs that circle around him is but a comparative speck 
 in the infinite immensity of the sidereal universe ; and that 
 the faint light of the great nebula in Orion, seen in the 
 summer sky, takes sixty-seven thousand years to travel 
 from that remote portion of the universe to our little 
 globe, and become visible to the eyes of men. In fact 
 the world has come, or is fast coming, to that advanced 
 state of progress, when the men who really think for 
 themselves in spiritual matters as independently as they 
 compare and judge in the actual business of their lives 
 will subject all the so-called sacred books of all creeds to 
 thorough examination, and relegate them to the same 
 pedestals as are occupied by the Iliad and the Odyssey, or 
 the early histories of ancient nations. They will believe 
 all that is credible, and reject all that is manifestly, mathe- 
 matically, and positively false. To those and they in- 
 clude many of the leading minds of our time who are 
 too timid, and to some who are not too timid to declare 
 themselves, as well as the vast numbers who show their 
 
A Protest against Theologies 3 1 
 
 new faith, or rather the rejection of their old faith, by the 
 negative process of refusing to lend any public counte- 
 nance to it, the conviction has become too strong to be 
 avoided that God has revealed Himself to mankind only 
 through His works as exhibited by the external world, and 
 through the inherent intuitions, faculties, and perceptions, 
 placed in the soul and mind of each individual. He holds 
 no one accountable for a belief in the written or spoken 
 words of any man or any set of men. Men are to be 
 relied upon only so far as they describe the physical, 
 moral, and intellectual laws of God, in accordance with 
 other natural truths. 
 
 In view of this advancement of the human race, and 
 of the numerous discoveries of modern science, each one 
 of which is consistent with the other and with the bene- 
 ficent nature and unchanging and unchangeable laws and 
 purposes of the Creator in view of the hollowness of 
 the religious systems, through which endeavours have 
 been made for many ages back to impose upon mankind 
 a belief in stories and traditions that it is impossible to 
 accept in view of the attempted disparagement of the 
 religion of nature and conscience, which these efforts have 
 produced, as well as the vast amount of hypocrisy which 
 they have caused amongst the multitude of ordinary men, 
 who pretend to believe for fashion's sake, or to save 
 themselves the trouble and inconvenience of standing out 
 against any established system in view of all this, the 
 time seems to have arrived for protesting against all false 
 cosmogonies, theologies, and mythologies, through which 
 the designing have held more or less pernicious sway 
 over the mind and means of the many for so long a 
 period. As long as these attempts are permitted to 
 trammel the minds and influence the conduct of men and 
 debase true religion, they act as fetters upon the intellect 
 and impede the progress of mankind. A protest, to be 
 in accordance with the intelligence of the day, must be 
 
32 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 one against the idea that death is a new-comer, or that 
 the inhabitants of the earth, from man downward to the 
 lowest animalcule, were not intended for death from the 
 beginning. It must protest against the idea that death 
 is an evil, or anything but a blessing, and a step of the 
 soul in its infinite progression from good to better. It 
 must protest against the idea that there is any evil, 
 except that which is caused by man's ignorant or wilful 
 breach of Divine laws, inasmuch as all else which seems 
 to be evil appears so only on account of our imperfect 
 knowledge, and must be good in the ulterior purposes of 
 a God who is all perfection. It must protest against the 
 idea that labour is a curse imposed upon man in conse- 
 quence of transgression, and assert, on the contrary, that 
 it is a prime and chief blessing, the educator of the body, 
 the elevator of the mind, the sweetener and enhancer 
 of the multifarious enjoyments of life. It must protest 
 against the idea inculcated in the Old Testament of the 
 Jews, and thence conveyed into the New Testament of 
 the Christians, that God's purpose was ever changed by 
 man's transgression, or by man's intercession, or by any 
 other agency whatsoever. It must protest as Christ pro- 
 tested, and reject the barbarous and bloodthirsty creed of 
 the Jews, and especially those portions of that creed which 
 have corrupted that which Jesus taught, and which were 
 introduced into it after his crucifixion by his ignorant 
 disciples, and form no portion of the divine doctrine that 
 God is infinite in goodness and wisdom, and that it is the 
 duty of men to love God and one another. It must pro- 
 test against the idea that it is any part of God's purpose 
 out of revenge, or from any other motive to punish 
 man in everlasting fire, or by any other torment beyond 
 the grave, for the deeds done in the body, such a doctrine 
 being totally inconsistent with God's goodness. It must 
 protest against the idea that God, out of His mere grace 
 or favour, has elected a remnant of mankind to be saved, 
 
A Protest against Theologies 33 
 
 to the exclusion of the majority, as being inconsistent 
 with His even-handed justice. It must protest against 
 the idea that man can commit any sin for which God has 
 not provided adequate punishment, that is inflicted on 
 the offender, not vicariously or vindictively, but to the end 
 that God had in view, at the creation and this end was 
 that, under the training provided for the purpose, all men 
 should, eventually, be brought to understand and do His 
 will. It must protest that God is never moved to anger, 
 nor can He be surprised or disappointed by anything that 
 man may do, for He observes with perfect complacency 
 all His works, all His creatures, and all their doings, 
 knowing that by the gradual fulfilment of His original 
 purposes all things will work together in a manner en- 
 tirely consistent therewith. It must protest against the 
 idea that any man's fate is altered by the prayers of 
 the Church, either before or after his decease this being 
 inconsistent with God's foreknowledge, and His ability 
 to provide for all possible contingencies from the first. 
 It must protest against all teaching which is contrary to 
 this view. It must protest against receiving the facts 
 recorded by either Moses or the Apostles, as other than 
 mere statements resting upon human testimony, to be 
 judged of as evidence is judged of in a court of justice, 
 and to be credited only when consistent with each other, 
 with nature, with probability, and with the goodness of 
 God. In fine, it must protest against everything which 
 is not in accordance with the substance of these following 
 propositions, derived from natural teaching, and confirmed 
 by an innate consciousness of their truth : That it is no 
 part of religion to entertain any other faith or belief, 
 than that there is but one God ; that this one God is 
 omnipotent, and that His perfections are infinite ; that 
 He rules all things by laws, which, like Himself, are un- 
 changeable ; that all men are alike amenable to His laws 
 in person ; and that He requires that we should exercise 
 
34 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 ourselves in good offices one toward another, and toward 
 all sentient beings. All faiths and beliefs which are in- 
 consistent with these broad axioms are more or less per- 
 nicious. And most undoubtedly all faiths and beliefs 
 respecting God, which are propounded for the entertain- 
 ment of men, and which are not consistent with His 
 infinite power, knowledge, goodness, and impartial justice, 
 are untrue and to be deprecated. 
 
 God's perfections are the touchstone by which to test 
 the genuineness of our faith. In working out His plans 
 and designs, He needs not, nor did He contemplate, the 
 assistance of any such persons as Christ and the Holy 
 Ghost, who are called Divine ; or of the Virgin Mary, who 
 is said to be immaculate and the mother of God. There 
 is no personal nor imaginary Devil ; nor is it possible 
 that there can be any. Man is as God originally created 
 him, and as God originally intended and provided he 
 should be, to the end that all shall in good time adore 
 Him from a sense of His goodness to each and all. God's 
 perfections are proof positive that the laws which He 
 established for the government of all things are absolute 
 and incapable of amendment, and therefore must endure 
 perpetually. They can neither be changed nor made 
 better. Hence, neither Jesus nor his disciples, nor any 
 other creature ever had, by any special providence, the 
 power either inherent or granted for the working of mira- 
 cles. Any pretended occurrence or phenomenon, not in 
 accordance with the ordinary course of nature, is falla- 
 cious. There is much in the Bible, in relation to God 
 and His attributes, which is inconsistent with His per- 
 fections, and therefore must be untrue ; hence the Bible 
 cannot be said to be infallible. 
 
 In speaking of the Church, we use the word, in every 
 instance, in its broad sense, not as applying to any par- 
 ticular denomination or sect, but to all alike who make 
 any part of their doctrine or creed to consist of any one 
 
Affirmation Necessary 35 
 
 or more of the things here cited as being inconsistent 
 with God's perfect attributes. Any one of the many 
 sects may denounce the doctrines of the others, with 
 whom they do not agree. We claim the same privilege, 
 and shall address ourselves against any and all who hold 
 to dogmas and theologies which we conceive to be not in 
 accordance with the nature, and perfections, and omni- 
 potence of God. *r 
 The new protest must avoid the shortcomings and 
 errors of its predecessors. It is not enough, in our day, 
 to protest against that which is false in theology; it is 
 essentially necessary to affirm that which is true. In 
 addition to what is done spontaneously by the heart and 
 conscience, it has hitherto been the office of poets, rather 
 than of preachers, to " vindicate the ways of God to 
 man " ; but science has now stepped into the arena, and 
 has become a more powerful vindicator of God's good- 
 ness and wisdom than either priest or poet. Science and 
 theology may be antagonistic powers ; but science and the 
 religion of the heart march together, side by side, and 
 together they will achieve a signal victory over the errors 
 and false teachings that have trammelled the minds of 
 men from the earliest ages. The intelligent and un- 
 shackled inquirer studies the so-called sacred books of 
 the Jews and Christians, and finds what of Divine truth 
 there is in them so overridden and contradicted by, and 
 so subordinated to, human, dogmas repugnant alike to 
 intuitive religion, conscience, and common sense that no 
 consolation or healing for the soul, or satisfaction for the 
 intellect, can be extracted therefrom. He who hungers 
 and thirsts for the true bread and water of life which 
 leads man heavenward, will hunger and thirst in vain, if 
 he expects to find it in the Bible or in the doctrines of the 
 Church. But when the truly religious man studies the 
 great open volume of Nature, he discovers nothing to 
 weaken or contradict ; everything in it tends to strengthen 
 
36 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 and confirm the great and fundamental idea the only 
 possible basis of a true and living religion that God is 
 infinite, eternal, unchangeable, and all-wise. Nothing 
 can eradicate the impression which it makes upon us, to 
 the effect that He is good and kind to all His creatures, 
 and that He cannot have created man in order to make 
 him miserable either here or hereafter. The diligent 
 student of this sublime book whether he gathers instruc- 
 tion from the little globe of which man is the noblest 
 inhabitant, or whether he seeks it with a devout and 
 reverential spirit from the gorgeous host of suns and 
 planetary systems that fill the remotest regions of space, 
 and by their number and magnitude reduce this globe of 
 ours comparatively to the dimensions of a grain of sand 
 on the seashore of creation will observe in it, through- 
 out, the universality of law and the most perfect mathe- 
 matical consistency. Every newly discovered truth will 
 be found to be in perfect harmony with the whole. He 
 will recognise, as a principle and as a fact, that the laws 
 of God, which are perfect and invariable now, must have 
 been perfect and invariable from the first, and that in 
 this world as in the countless worlds of all the galaxies 
 of space they accomplish everlastingly the exact original 
 purpose of their Divine Author. He will also recognise 
 that God's intention in creating the universe, and placing 
 man upon the earth and, for all we know, in millions of 
 other worlds even more glorious than this cannot have 
 been thwarted by any agency, mortal or immortal. It 
 has been carried out from the beginning; and it will be 
 carried out in exact conformity with His will and fore- 
 knowledge throughout all eternity. Every atom of mat- 
 ter, and the faintest flickering of mind that ever existed, 
 was made subservient to the accomplishment of a definite 
 purpose, and was endowed, from the creation, with all 
 the properties, qualities, forces, and faculties necessary to 
 fulfil that purpose, without any further supervision. 
 
God's Revelation to Man 37 
 
 Among the agencies which perform important offices in 
 the production of the various phenomena of Nature are 
 light and darkness, heat and cold, negative and positive 
 electricity, magnetism, the centripetal and centrifugal 
 forces, chemical affinities and repulsions, gravitation, at- 
 traction, and probably other instrumentalities of which sci- 
 ence has not yet discovered the secret. These agencies 
 are perceptible to man only through their action on 4 
 visible and tangible matter. It required the accumulated 
 experience of centuries, and a high state of mental cult- 
 ure in succeeding generations, before Philosophy could 
 either discover or comprehend them even to the present 
 limited extent. 
 
 Man has never had any true conception of God or His 
 attributes, except through the medium of His creation. 
 By means of the phenomena presented to man through 
 the material world, through the action of infinite mind 
 upon inorganic matter, through life as exhibited in ani- 
 mals and plants, and through the emotions and aspira- 
 tions of the human soul, God has revealed Himself to 
 man and thus only. By these means, the revelation is 
 abundantly sufficient to enable all men to fulfil God's 
 will and purpose. By these means, to the full extent 
 of their intelligence and their needs, will they be enabled 
 to perform the duties that are required of them so long as 
 they remain in this world ; and, by analogy, it may be 
 concluded that, after they have, quitted it, they will be 
 similarly aided, through some means not revealed to us. 
 With this great and glorious revelation open before him 
 the Divine instruction written on the soul of man how 
 can he fail to keep within the bounds of duty and love to 
 God? 
 
 Three words, which theologians employ in a sense at 
 variance with truth and with God's wisdom in creating 
 the world, and by which the minds of men have been 
 enthralled to their damage, are " Labour," " Pain," and 
 
38 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 " Death." They have been represented as evils, and as 
 forming no part of God's original purpose in placing man 
 upon the earth. A great portion of the human race has 
 been taught for thousands of years, that for man's disobedi- 
 ence to a supposed command which God never can have 
 given, with the threatened penalties for a breach of it, 
 and under all the circumstances claimed by the Church 
 labour was imposed upon him as a curse ; that pain was 
 introduced as a punishment instigated by God's anger ; 
 and that death no part of God's first intention was 
 made the doom of every living thing. And this ancient 
 fable still exercises a pernicious influence, although men 
 are gradually beginning to understand, as regards labour 
 and pain, that they are by no means evils, but a part of 
 the economy of God's will toward man in this world. 
 Instead of being a curse, labour, to a legitimate extent, is 
 found to be a blessing ; and this law refers not alone 
 to man and the earth, but to the whole universe. We 
 admit that excess of labour is an evil ; but so, also, is 
 excess in anything. It is beneficial to eat and to drink ; 
 but prejudicial to eat and drink too much. It is delight- 
 ful to labour ; but disagreeable to exhaust one's self in 
 doing in one day the work of two or three days. It is 
 labour, labour alone, that raises man to his true position. 
 It is imposed upon him for no angry or revengeful pur- 
 pose, if such were possible to God, but with the kindest 
 intention. It was instituted to promote his happiness, in 
 order that he might be induced to improve his faculties, 
 physical, moral, and intellectual. He is born naked ; out 
 of his necessities come mental and physical cultivation, 
 civilisation, and all the ennobling arts and graces that 
 follow in its train. In the gratification of man's wants 
 consists the enjoyment of life ; for if he had no wants in 
 this life he would have no pleasures. Were he to draw 
 his food out of the atmosphere by the act of breathing, 
 had he no call to cultivate the earth or to labour for shelter 
 
Labour Pain 39 
 
 or covering, he would be without that stimulant and that 
 incentive to do and be doing without that prompting to 
 activity of body and spirit which is indispensable to 
 buoyancy, and health, and the giving zest to life. Action 
 is the order of nature. The air sweeps over hill and dale. 
 It dallies wantonly with the foliage, and on the surface of 
 the waters. It rustles in the trees, plays with the grass 
 and the flowers of the fields, and fans the waving grain 
 that sways gracefully before its breath. The clouds move 
 majestically about from one part of the heavens to another. 
 The sea uplifts its waves for joy, and embraces again and 
 again the rock-bound shore, leaving its impress and its 
 bounds in circles on the sands, as it daily ebbs and flows. 
 The animals participate in this general law of existence. 
 They are ever busy, providing for and protecting them- 
 selves in every emergency. And thus we see that all 
 nature is alive with activity. 
 
 Stop the wheels of Nature, 
 And Nature will cease to be. 
 
 Let stagnation lay her hand upon the earth, and this 
 fair and lovely Paradise, now instinct with movement 
 and health, will become the dreary seat of sterility and 
 death. 
 
 In like manner, pain, thought to be a curse secondary 
 only to death, is not only useful, but necessary and bene- 
 ficent. It is a special warning to us that something has 
 gone wrong, and may go further wrong, in this our curious 
 and mysterious physical constitution, if we do not see to 
 it to set the wrong right. 
 
 Pain is the friend and guardian of the wise. 
 
 Wouldst place thy hand 
 In the consuming and destroying fire, 
 And ask it not to burn ? Wouldst fall from heights 
 Upon the strong bosom of the earth, 
 
40 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 And ask it not to bruise ? Wouldst break the laws 
 That govern and uphold the universe, 
 The modulation of harmonious Heaven, 
 And, without knowledge of thy sacrifice, 
 Destroy thy being ? Wise, and good, and just 
 Are all the laws and purposes of God. 
 
 Death is naturally the dread of all, to the end that all 
 may cling to life while they may ; yet death is no more 
 an evil than pain or labour. The world was constituted 
 and prepared for death from the beginning. Millions of 
 years ago, as geology has discovered, there were life and 
 death on this globe ; life and death in the waters, and on 
 the dry land. A square inch of the chalky cliffs of Dover 
 or the Isle of Wight contains the shells of myriads of 
 minute sea-fish, that must have lived and died hundreds 
 of thousands of centuries ago even before the world was 
 ready for the habitation of man, and consequently before 
 man's transgression could have involved this supposed 
 penalty. 
 
 Death is no evil. Cease, O foolish man, 
 Thy querulous moaning, and consider death 
 No longer as thy foe. A ministering saint, 
 Her hand shall lead thee step by step to God. 
 Be worthy of her; and so learn to live, 
 That every incarnation of thy soul 
 In other worlds, and spheres, and firmaments, 
 Shall be more perfect. God's eternity 
 Is thine to live. 
 
 This we hold to be man's destiny hereafter; and it 
 is his high privilege to participate in working out the 
 supreme happiness in store for him. Discarding, there- 
 fore, all these obsolete and unworthy ideas of labour, pain, 
 and death, products of the early want of knowledge by 
 man, and the erroneous teaching of theologians, and 
 
Man's Wonderful Organisation 4 1 
 
 investigating fairly and candidly the capabilities of man, 
 and the purposes of God in creating him, it will be found 
 by the study of natural laws that man is especially 
 charged, within certain limits, with the guardianship of 
 himself. God intended that man should participate in 
 taking care of both his soul and his body ; that he should 
 look to the preservation and perpetuation of his kind ; 
 and both morally and physically so perform the duties 
 imposed upon him as to conduce to his own well-being 
 and the well-being of his fellow-men, both in time and in 
 eternity. The numerous instincts, appetites, senses, and 
 other faculties with which he is endowed, God has given 
 him as guides for this purpose. Without these guides, 
 he might fail in the great duty of self-preservation, and 
 the procreation of his kind, so as to endanger the continu- 
 ance of his race. Without the cravings of appetite and 
 the pleasure which its gratification affords, he might fail 
 to supply himself with the food and drink requisite to 
 preserve life. But for the suffering, which is the penalty 
 of neglect, he might not be sufficiently vigilant in pro- 
 tecting himself from injury. But for the pain and dis- 
 comfort which are the necessary and wholesome monitors 
 of excess, he might habitually indulge in eating and 
 drinking too much. But God's goodness and care do not 
 stop here. Besides these checks and admonitions given 
 to him for his improvement, there are offices to be per- 
 formed on his behalf, over which he has little or no 
 control, and some over which he has no supervision 
 whatever. There are chemical and mechanical processes 
 continually in operation within him, about which he 
 knows very little, and of which God has altogether taken 
 charge. These are so completely provided for in his 
 organisation, that they go on while he is unmindful of 
 them. Such are the circulation of the blood, the draw- 
 ing of the breath, the generation of vital heat, the diges- 
 tion of food, and the distribution of the nourishment thus 
 
4 2 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 obtained to all parts of the body, to promote growth and 
 serve for the repair of the system. To subserve these 
 ends, and to give rest to the body and spirit, in order to 
 prevent the too rapid expenditure of vital energy, and the 
 consequent premature decay of the beautiful and complex 
 human machine, it is indispensable that the active brain 
 and intellect should, at certain periods, not too far apart, 
 be brought to that state of quiet and repose which sleep 
 alone can superinduce. Hence it is put out of man's 
 power to resist sleep to any considerable extent, without 
 injury or death. And thus God's laws are constantly 
 operating for man's benefit, though man is unconscious 
 or unmindful of the kindly despotism by which, for his 
 own good, those laws are imposed upon him. 
 
 How beautiful and full of goodness, not only to man, 
 but to all living creatures, are what are called the 
 instincts ! The new-born babe is taught by this Divine 
 prompting, the moment it comes into the world, to 
 seek its nourishment at the mother's breast. All living 
 things the bees, the ants, the beavers, the birds, the 
 wild animals of whatever description, the flocks and herds 
 belonging to men, even the flowers and herbs are gov- 
 erned and govern themselves by the instincts which God 
 has given them, and are preserved to life and enjoyment 
 by their obedience thereto. This is in accordance with 
 logic of the highest order ; and yet these happy creat- 
 ures do not reason on the subject, any more than the 
 infant at the breast. Instinct is as divine a gift as reason 
 itself. It is the gift of God to every living thing. It 
 is implanted in each according to its kind at creation, 
 and transmitted without alteration to the feeble and the 
 strong alike. God's superior intelligence, thus made 
 manifest and available in all created beings, is necessary 
 to the Divine purpose. Without it, no living creature on 
 the earth could exist. All those beings that people the 
 air, the earth, or the waters various as they may be in 
 
Instances of Instinct 43 
 
 their forms and organisation have each their own set 
 of laws, instincts, and intuitions, which are especially 
 adapted to them, and harmonise in the most minute par- 
 ticular with their structure and mode of life, the kind and 
 variety of their food, the means of supply, the perpetua- 
 tion and nourishment of their kind, their self-protection, 
 and whatever is necessary to their existence and enjoy- 
 ment. Eagles, vultures, hawks, owls, and other birds 
 which feed upon flesh, have beaks and claws especially 
 adapted for capturing and killing their prey and for 
 dividing asunder their food into convenient quantities to 
 be readily devoured. They are led by their appetites to 
 crave such food as is appropriate to their nature; and 
 under the influence of their instincts they exercise won- 
 drous perseverance and adroitness in the pursuit of it. 
 Birds that feed upon carrion have the power of scenting 
 it from all but incredible distances. The hare, rabbit, 
 and many other animals, which from their structure and 
 propensities are not well fitted for self-defence, fly from 
 danger, and employ sometimes speed, and sometimes 
 stratagem for the purpose. The deprivation of one quality 
 is compensated for by the gift of another that is equally 
 available for the intended object. There are many species 
 of insects that would become extinct, if instinct had not 
 taught them to shield themselves from the frost of winter 
 by burrowing in the earth. The means are present ; but, 
 to make burrowing sufficient to the end in view, it must 
 be done at proper times, and in anticipation of the frost. 
 This is ensured by inherent instructions from God. 
 Wolves and various other carnivorous animals pursue a 
 prey which leaves a scent or trail upon the earth, with a 
 marvellous acuteness of smell, while animals that labour 
 under no similar need are gifted with no such capacity. 
 The dog is enabled to scent his master along the paved 
 streets of populous cities, and to distinguish his trail from 
 that of others crossing or intermingled with it, even 
 
44 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 though hours may have elapsed between the tread of his 
 master's foot and the pursuit. The instinct of self-pre- 
 servation sometimes assumes the form of cunning. Some 
 animals feign death in the presence of their foe. Many 
 insects do the same. The skunk, when alarmed for its 
 safety, emits a disagreeable odour that repels or disgusts 
 its pursuer. The cuttle-fish when in peril discharges a 
 black liquid that discolours the water for a considerable 
 distance around it, and prevents, by obscuration, the eye 
 of its enemy from tracing the course, upward or down- 
 ward or lateral, by which it effects its escape. The hare, 
 in the long winters of far northern latitudes, changes the 
 summer colour of its coat to that of the snow amid which 
 it lives, and is thus enabled to elude the keen glance of 
 the bird of prey high up in the air, which otherwise would 
 be better able to single out, pounce upon, and destroy it. 
 The feathers of the grouse that feed upon the moor are of 
 the colour of the moor and the heather ; while the plumage 
 of the ptarmigan, that dwells among the granite peaks of 
 the highest mountains of Scotland and Norway, resem- 
 bles granite even when seen from a short distance. The 
 pheasant, the better to shield her young and helpless 
 brood from approaching danger, feigns to be crippled, and 
 flutters away from her chicks that hide themselves in 
 such a way as to draw off the intruder from her charge by 
 pretending to be, herself, an easy prey. The domestic 
 hen gathers her chickens under her wings when the hawk 
 or falcon soars above, a mere speck in the sky. She does 
 this by a peculiar call, which the young birds understand 
 and obey instinctively. The lamb knows the bleat of its 
 mother among all the sheep of a flock, however numer- 
 ous ; and the mother in like manner distinguishes the cry 
 of her own progeny, though scores of lambs may be 
 bleating simultaneously. Thus, manifestly do the wisdom 
 and goodness of God support and train every living creature 
 that He has made, throughout the whole range of creation. 
 
Instinct in Vegetation 45 
 
 But all these wonderful provisions in nature, which har- 
 monise so beautifully with the peculiar constitution, appe- 
 tites, means of support, and protection of life that we 
 observe in animals, are a most emphatic contradiction to 
 the Christian theory, that, before the Fall, these crea- 
 tures were not antagonistic to each other, and that God 
 did not contemplate death in His original plan at the 
 creation. 
 
 Neither the physical nor the spiritual eye of man can 
 penetrate any department of Nature without discovering 
 objects to excite wonder, admiration, and worship. Even 
 the members of the vegetable world have been endowed 
 with something analogous to the instincts of the animal 
 creation. The roots of trees and plants are attracted 
 from considerable distances to the spot where the nour- 
 ishment that best suits them is found in greatest abund- 
 ance, and can be made available for their growth and 
 development. Trees that grow on the plains, unsheltered 
 by other trees or objects, have wider and deeper-spread- 
 ing roots and a firmer hold on the earth, in order to meet 
 their greater needs, and put out their strongest roots 
 in the direction whence come the prevailing winds and 
 rudest blasts. Trees in the dense forest vie with each 
 other, as men do in crowded communities, each striving 
 to tower above its neighbour in quest of that abundance 
 of sunlight and fresh air, so essential to its existence and 
 growth. The ivy and the vine, which depend on their 
 sturdier and more earth-fast neighbours for support, when 
 they rear their delicate foliage to the light, and put forth 
 their tendrils as though they were fingers, seem to discern 
 and choose the friends on which to lean, and straightway 
 incline their stems and train their course thitherward. 
 And if God has given instincts to the trees, the grass, and 
 the flowers, by which they preserve their existence and 
 conform to the laws of their well-being, it is difficult not 
 to believe that to them also, in one sense, is given a 
 
46 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 certain amount of enjoyment. The sunshine and the 
 rain must give them pleasure ; and the rose, the lily, and 
 the violet may know that they are beautiful, and take 
 pleasure in the fact, not as sensitively, perhaps, as the 
 beautiful of our own species, yet in a degree. It may 
 not be altogether a fancy of the poet, but an unsuspected 
 truth, that the trees, which quiver to the summer wind, or 
 bend or moan in the wintry blast, 
 
 to men unknown 
 
 Have pleasures of their own, 
 And feel sweet sympathies with all dear Nature's moods. 
 
 We deem that all the leaves, 
 
 In morns, or noons, or eves, 
 Or in the starry stillness of the night, 
 
 May point to Heaven in prayer, 
 
 Or bend to earth and share 
 Some joy of sense, some natural delight ; 
 
 That root, and branch, and stem, 
 
 Partake the joy with them, 
 And feel, through all their sap, God's goodness infinite. 
 
 God's laws provide not only for the incessant repro- 
 duction or recomposition of vegetable and animal life, so 
 as to compensate for the decay which time has been com- 
 missioned to operate on all that lives, thus keeping the 
 face of nature forever fresh and beautiful, but He has 
 provided that the earth itself, however venerably old, 
 shall always be young, always fruitful, always bountiful, 
 always lovely. The same recuperative power that exists 
 in man and animals exists through all nature. The wav- 
 ing fields of corn and grass, when too rudely pressed by 
 the gale or storm, or disfigured by the trail of man or 
 beast, are in a brief space, under the genial influence of 
 the sun, the breezes, and the inscrutable laws of nature 
 which train plants heavenward put to rights, if such a 
 
Recuperative Powers of Nature 47 
 
 phrase may be used, and restored to their original beauty. 
 The majestic oak, shattered by the lightning, and deprived 
 of vitality, does not forever stand a gloomy object in the 
 landscape. The ivy, 4< friend and adorner of decay," as 
 if in sympathy with its fate, binds up, as it were, its 
 wounds, its nakedness, its seared old trunk and limbs, 
 and renders it beautiful with its own life, turning its 
 helplessness to cheerful purposes. Even at the fall of the 
 leaf, and in the old age of the year, when the landscape 
 is disrobed of its verdure, Nature does not cease to be 
 lovely. She bestows upon each season its own compen- 
 sations in the present for what it may have lost in the 
 past. The howling winds, the drifting snow forming 
 into graceful undulations, slopes, and curves, and mant- 
 ling the landscape with their beauty ; the icy gems that 
 attach themselves to every tree, and bush, and herb, and 
 sparkle in the sunlight like precious stones these do 
 not impress the soul with gloom, but with a never-wearied 
 sense of the grandeur, the goodness, and the beauty of 
 all God's works and ways. 
 
 And while God is thus careful for His creatures, He is 
 equally careful in preserving and beautifying the earth 
 for their enjoyment. For is not the earth itself as much 
 the object of His goodness and Divine government as the 
 living things that He has placed upon it ? There are 
 laws pertaining to its affairs, of which if any one became 
 inoperative, the destruction of all animal and vegetable 
 life would speedily ensue. Among these may be named 
 evaporation and condensation, cohesive attraction, fric- 
 tion, gravitation, and the centrifugal and centripetal 
 forces. If there were no such laws as evaporation and 
 condensation at work, the watery vapour that floats in the 
 atmosphere would not be liquefied, and consequently we 
 should have no rain to water the earth ; it would become 
 parched for want of moisture, and the streams and rivers 
 would cease to flow. If the effect of cohesion and friction 
 
48 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 were wanting, the particles of matter of which the hills 
 and mountains are composed would descend into the 
 valleys; and under the same law by which the waters of 
 the rivers now flow into the sea the whole surface of 
 the globe would assume a perfectly spherical shape, be 
 covered with water, and become uninhabitable for men, 
 beasts, birds, or any other creatures except fishes and 
 sea reptiles. Without the law of gravitation, the whole 
 material of our globe would fly asunder, and be scattered 
 in space. Without centrifugal force, the earth would 
 gravitate to the sun and be destroyed. Without centri- 
 petal force, or gravity, the earth would leave its orbit, 
 wander from the planetary system, be deprived of the 
 heat and light of the sun, and be rendered unfit for either 
 animal or vegetable life. 
 
 The next great point to be considered is of even more 
 importance than any that we have yet touched upon. If 
 the study of nature in all its varied moods and manifest- 
 ations proves that God's goodness extends in this world 
 to all that He has placed within it, and even to the world 
 itself which He governs and sustains, shall not the Divine 
 Goodness be extended to the soul of man through all 
 eternity ? God may be continually employed in creating 
 new worlds and new systems ; but never, if the foregoing 
 arguments be sound, can He be employed in correcting 
 such mistakes as are implied in the Bible history of the 
 fall of man, and the Church doctrine of his consequent 
 damnation if he do not believe the incredible. The laws 
 which He laid down at the beginning, for the preserva- 
 tion and government of the physical universe, must be 
 equally beneficent, wise and unchangeable, when applied 
 to our spiritual life, not alone in time, but in eternity. 
 Their application to tangible matter may be more appar- 
 ent ; but the spirit feels internal evidence that God's 
 goodness and care are ever shielding the immortal as well 
 as the mortal part of man. It would be past the compre- 
 
Church Method of Salvation 49 
 
 hension of the wisest, if this were not the case, and incon- 
 sistent with God's character, as exhibited throughout the 
 universe, so far as man has been enabled to study it. It 
 would be irrational to believe that God did not take 
 care at the creation to ordain, establish, and put in oper- 
 tion to be transmitted unimpaired to all mankind 
 instincts, intuitions, inspirations, and whatever proper- 
 ties may be essential to the soul's need in time and eter- 
 nity, equal at least to His care in provision made for the 
 body ! 
 
 None will deny that the provision pertaining to man's 
 physical nature was as full and effectual at first, as now. 
 Yet those who uphold the doctrine of the Fall of Man, 
 and that of Christ's Divinity and mission, must be held 
 to say that God omitted at the beginning to make pro- 
 vision for conducting the soul of man through time with 
 sufficient definiteness to answer the purposes of His crea- 
 tion ; and that, upon afterthought, suggested and necessi- 
 tated by man's unexpected perverseness, He had to make 
 further provision to meet the emergency. 
 
 This idea of afterthought, though not palpable at first 
 view, is nevertheless inseparable from Church teaching, 
 and no sophistry can rescue it from the charge of being 
 irreligious, absurd, and inconsistent with God's infinite 
 perfections. It presupposes that all mankind who lived 
 and died before the advent of Jesus, and all those who 
 have not heard or shall not hear of salvation through his 
 crucifixion, were and are without the benefit of that love 
 which, it is claimed, was only vouchsafed to man through 
 his Divinity. According to such a doctrine as this, if a 
 man lives a life of purity and charity and benevolence 
 in fine, just such a life as Jesus recommended in his early 
 teachings it will avail him nothing. He must have faith 
 in a dogma which reason cannot understand, and which 
 contradicts the idea of both God's wisdom and goodness. 
 To reconcile this belief w'ith a belief in God's goodness, 
 
50 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 it is claimed that, for those who have never heard or 
 never will hear of redemption through Christ, God has a 
 mode of salvation which the Church fails to specify, but 
 which answers all practical purposes. If this be so, it is 
 difficult to see in what, as regards the soul of man, the 
 benefit of the new mode consists. It is impossible, as we 
 have shewn, for man not to have faith in the existence of 
 a Supreme Being, who is infinite in wisdom, infinite in 
 power, and infinite in goodness. True religion, therefore, 
 does not consist in dogmatic beliefs or superstitious theo- 
 ries. It consists in reverence and gratitude to the Divine 
 Being, and the proper discharge, by each one of us, of his 
 duty to himself, his fellow-man, and every creature with 
 which he may have relations, and whose condition may 
 be improved by his good offices and kindness. 
 
 This leads us to the consideration of what is called 
 moral evil. Of physical evil there is in reality none. 
 That which is so called under the names of Labour, 
 Pain, and Death we have already disposed of. God, in 
 the creation of man, did not expect him to fulfil all his 
 duties without running counter to many of the irrevoca- 
 ble and unchangeable laws to which he is amenable. This 
 is conclusively proved by the peculiar constitution of man, 
 which must have been his condition at the time of his 
 creation. He is gifted with such capacities as would have 
 been of no practical use to him unless to educate and 
 guard him against violating laws, the effect of which he 
 can better understand, and the importance of conforming 
 to which he can better realise, when once he has broken 
 them. This relates to the moral and spiritual, as well as 
 to the physical nature of man. Man's body suffers pain 
 when he has violated the laws of bodily health ; his spirit 
 is degraded when he has violated those which pertain to 
 the spirit ; and, if the violation be persisted in, the pun- 
 ishment will be repeated accordingly. These pains are 
 sent in mercy to man, for the purpose of bringing him 
 
God's Method of Salvation 51 
 
 back to the path of law and duty, guiding him therein, 
 and admonishing him to be more careful in future. These 
 means of educating man, and of making God's care, jus- 
 tice, and goodness available to him to the extent of his 
 needs, short-sighted as he is, were provided for at his 
 creation. This view, we are aware, is in all respects at 
 variance with the idea that God created man sufficiently 
 perfect to keep all His laws unbroken, or that God ex- 
 pected him to do so. 
 
 The existence of moral evil leads mankind the better 
 to understand and to practise moral good. Men, in the 
 aggregate, do vastly more good than evil ; and they 
 whose bad actions preponderate largely, or even moder- 
 ately, over their good ones, are comparatively very few. 
 Good deeds make but little noise in the world ; bad ones 
 a great deal. The life of a considerable majority of man- 
 kind is largely made up of the practice of small virtues. 
 Even so little a thing as a kind word, or a kind look, has 
 soothed the aching heart, and caused the eye of the sor- 
 rowing and disconsolate to glisten with hope and happi- 
 ness. These may seem trifles, when viewed separately ; 
 but, when taken in the mass, they form a monument of 
 praise, just as mountains raise their heads to heaven, 
 though composed of individual atoms of earth. Con- 
 spicuous virtues are no more acceptable to God than 
 humble ones, and the smallest act of obedience to law is 
 as meritorious as the greatest. The widow's mite is as 
 acceptable as the rich man's offering, and has its equal 
 reward. Thankfulness and duty are the only roads to 
 happiness. All God's blessings and good gifts were pre- 
 pared, and the conditions on which they were attainable 
 prescribed, from the first. Man should be thankful for 
 the abundance and excellence of these gifts ; and espec- 
 ially thankful that they are not capriciously distributed, 
 but are attainable upon the principle that like cause pro- 
 duces like effect. 
 
52 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 And although those which man in his short-sighted- 
 ness may deem the most precious blessings do not fall 
 profusely on every individual, yet, if we take men collec- 
 tively, they will be found to be as much in accordance 
 with their welfare as is consistent with their future des- 
 tiny. Every man, whether he be rich or poor, whatever 
 his joys, whatever his sufferings, is as happy as is well 
 for him under existing circumstances. What may seem 
 to be a man's partial loss, in one way, may be more 
 than compensated for in another manner. The fact is 
 constantly exemplified. The possessor of wealth and 
 indulger in luxury sometimes injures his health, impairs 
 his faculty for sound sleep, and disturbs the serenity of 
 his mind by over-indulgence ; while a poor man, who 
 leads an active life and avoids excess, is rewarded by the 
 priceless blessing of health of body and mind, which all 
 the gold in the world could not purchase. In this, God's 
 goodness and justice are most conspicuously apparent. 
 
 We now approach the apparently difficult, but in reality 
 the simple, subject of prayer, as offered by individuals 
 and by the churches. We have already said that God's 
 good gifts are to be obtained only on the terms prescribed 
 at the creation terms which are never modified or al- 
 tered to suit the pleasure or supposed necessity of any 
 one individual or of all mankind combined. Even if the 
 whole human family should, at the same instant, pray 
 most devoutly for the slightest change in God's original 
 ordinances or purposes toward mankind, none could take 
 place. The rain cannot be made to fall because man 
 prays for it. The pestilence cannot be removed by sup- 
 plication to God, but by conformity to those physical 
 laws, the breach of which produced the pestilence. This 
 view is admirably illustrated and argued out by Mr. 
 Buckle in his History of Civilisation in England, from 
 which we make a long but very interesting extract. 
 
 " In the year 1853, tne cholera, after having committed 
 
Disregard of Natural Laws 53 
 
 serious ravages in many parts of Europe, visited Scotland. 
 There it was sure to find numerous victims among a 
 badly fed, badly housed, and not over-cleanly people. 
 For, if there is one thing better established than another 
 respecting this disease, it is that it invariably attacks, 
 with the greatest effect, those classes who, from poverty 
 or from sloth, are imperfectly nourished, neglect their 
 persons, and live in dirty, ill-drained, or ill-ventilated 
 dwellings. In Scotland, such classes are very numerous. 
 In Scotland, therefore, the cholera must needs be very 
 fatal. . . . Under these circumstances, it must have 
 been evident, not merely to men of science, but to all 
 men of plain, sound understanding, who would apply 
 their minds to the matter without prejudice, that the 
 Scotch had only one way of successfully grappling with 
 their terrible enemy. It behooved them to feed their poor, 
 to cleanse their cesspools, and to ventilate their houses. 
 If they had done this, and done it quickly, thousands of 
 lives would have been spared. But they neglected it, 
 and the country was thrown into mourning. Nay, they 
 not only neglected it, but, moved by the dire superstition 
 which sits like an incubus upon them, they adopted a 
 course which, if it had been carried into full operation, 
 would have aggravated the calamity to a frightful extent. 
 It is well known that, whenever an epidemic is raging, 
 physical exhaustion and mental depression make the 
 human frame more liable to it, and are therefore espec- 
 ially to be guarded against. But, though this is a mat- 
 ter of common notoriety, the Scotch clergy, backed, sad 
 to say, by the general voice of the Scotch people, wished 
 the public authorities to take a step which was certain 
 to cause physical exhaustion, and to encourage mental 
 depression. In the name of religion, whose offices they 
 thus abused and perverted to the detriment of man 
 instead of employing them for his benefit, they insisted 
 on the propriety of ordering a national fast, which in so 
 
54 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 superstitious a country was sure to be rigidly kept, and, 
 being rigidly kept, was equally sure to enfeeble thousands 
 of delicate persons, and before twenty-four hours were 
 passed prepare them to receive that deadly poison which 
 was already lurking around them, and which hitherto 
 they had just strength enough to resist. The public fast 
 was also to be accompanied by a public humiliation, in 
 order that nothing might be wanting to appeal to the 
 mind and fill it with terror. . . . 
 
 " This was the scheme projected by the Scotch clergy ; 
 and they were determined to put it into execution. To 
 give greater effect to it, they called upon England to help 
 them, and, in the autumn of 1853, tne Presbytery of 
 Edinburgh caused their Moderator to address a letter, 
 ostensibly to the English Minister, but in reality to the 
 English nation, enquiring whether the Queen contem- 
 plated appointing a national fast-day. 
 
 " The letter, which, through the medium of the press, 
 was sure to become well known and to be widely read, 
 was evidently intended to act on public opinion in Eng- 
 land. It was, in fact, a covert reproach on the English 
 Government for having neglected its spiritual duties, and 
 for not having perceived that fasting was the most 
 effectual way of stopping an epidemic. In Scotland 
 generally it received great praise, and was regarded as a 
 dignified rebuke addressed to the irreligious habits of the 
 English people, who, seeing the cholera at their doors, 
 merely occupied themselves with sanitary measures, and 
 carnal devices to improve the public health, showing 
 thereby that they trusted too much to the arm of the 
 flesh. In England, on the other hand, this manifesto of 
 the Scotch Church was met with almost universal ridicule, 
 and indeed found no favourers, except among the most 
 ignorant and credulous part of the nation. The Minister 
 to whom it was addressed was Lord Palmerston, a man 
 of vast experience, and perhaps better acquainted with 
 
U;; Ty 
 
 Disregard of Natural Laws ^x 55 
 
 public opinion than any politician of his time. He, being 
 well aware that notions which the Scotch deemed re- 
 ligious the English deemed fanatical, . . . directed 
 a letter to be sent to the Presbytery of Edinburgh, which, 
 unless I am greatly mistaken, will in future ages be 
 quoted as an interesting document for illustrating the 
 history of the progress of public opinion. A century 
 ago, any statesman who had written such a letter would 
 have been driven from office by a storm of general indig- 
 nation. Two centuries ago, the consequences to him 
 would have been still more disastrous, and would indeed 
 have ruined him socially, as well as politically. For in 
 it he sets at defiance those superstitious fancies respect- 
 ing the origin of disease, which were once universally 
 cherished as an essential part of every religious creed. 
 Traditions, the memory of which is preserved in the 
 theological literature of all pagan countries, of all Catho- 
 lic countries, and of all Protestant countries, are quietly 
 put aside, as if they were matters of no moment, and as 
 if it were not worth while to discuss them. The Scotch 
 clergy, occupying the old ground on which the members 
 of their profession had always been accustomed to stand, 
 took for granted that the cholera was the result of Divine 
 anger, and was intended to chastise our sins. In the 
 reply which they now received from the English Govern- 
 ment, a doctrine was enunciated, which to Englishmen 
 seems right enough, but which to Scotchmen sounded 
 very profane. The Presbytery were informed that the 
 affairs of this world are regulated by natural laws, on 
 the observance or neglect of which the weal or woe 
 of mankind depends. One of those laws connects dis- 
 ease with the exhalations of bodies ; and it is by virtue 
 of this law that contagion spreads, either in crowded 
 cities, or in places where vegetable decomposition is 
 going on. Man, by exerting himself, can disperse or 
 neutralise these noxious influences. The appearance of 
 
56 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 the cholera proves that he has not exerted himself. 
 The towns have not been purified ; hence the root of the 
 evil. The Home Secretary, therefore, advised the Pres- 
 bytery of Edinburgh, that it was better to cleanse than 
 to fast. He thought that, the plague being upon them, 
 activity was preferable to humiliation. It was now 
 autumn, and before the hot weather would return a con- 
 siderable period must elapse. That period should be 
 employed in destroying the causes of disease by improv- 
 ing the abodes of the poor. If this were done, all would 
 go well. Otherwise, pestilence would be sure to revisit 
 them ' in spite ' I quote the words of the English 
 Minister 'in spite of all the prayers and fastings of a 
 united but inactive nation.' 
 
 " This correspondence between the Scotch clergy and 
 the English statesman is not to be regarded as a mere 
 passing episode, of light or temporary interest. On the 
 contrary, it represents that terrible struggle between the- 
 ology and science, which, having begun in the persecu- 
 tion of science and in the martyrdom of scientific men, 
 has, in these later days, taken a happier turn, and is now 
 manifestly destroying that old theological spirit which has 
 brought so much misery and ruin upon the world." 
 
 If God is perfect in knowledge, any attempt of priest- 
 craft to dictate to Him, by means of prayer, what He 
 should do, is pitiable ignorance or gross blasphemy. Jesus 
 himself says, " Your Father knoweth what things ye 
 have need of before ye ask Him." God's laws are all- 
 sufficient ; and man's only business is to understand and 
 obey them. To pray publicly or privately may soothe 
 the spirit of man, and raise him to a state of mental 
 excitement and exaltation ; but it can have no effect on 
 God's will. It may be asked how God's goodness is to 
 benefit man, if he is to be subjected and amenable to 
 inflexible laws, which no prayer can mitigate or turn 
 aside. The answer is easy. God organised and incor- 
 
God's Laws All-Sufficient 57 
 
 porated in man's system or nature, from the first, such 
 qualities, faculties, and functions as were necessary to fit 
 him for being the medium and dispenser of God's blessings 
 to himself and to his fellows. God placed within him con- 
 science, " the voice of God," the innate sense of right 
 and wrong. He gave him also his reason and reflective 
 faculties, together with instincts and intuitions, all of 
 which point and lead to a belief in the immortality of the 
 soul. All these, and others of a similar character, enable 
 him to thread his way among the unchangeable and 
 eternal laws of God, with a success which answers God's 
 purpose in relation to his existence here and hereafter, 
 and ought to secure thankfulness from him for the glori- 
 ous bestowal of such a boon. He has been endowed, too, 
 with such faculties as enable him, if he will, to under- 
 stand the rationale of God's laws whenever he studies 
 them, and to recognise the harmony with which they all 
 co-operate to work out a Divine purpose. All animate 
 and inanimate beings and things, it would seem, are 
 allowed a certain free-will, and vacillate between two 
 restraining laws which keep them within their proper 
 bounds. The planets are prevented from getting too near 
 the sun by centrifugal force, and from getting too far from 
 him by that other restraining force called centripetal. 
 These laws balance each other, and maintain and support 
 the equilibrium of the universe. 
 
 The intellect of man is able to appreciate the utility of 
 this, and of all God's laws. Hence it is clear that God 
 has so constituted man, that, to a certain extent, he has 
 the means of interpreting aright God's ways here upon 
 earth. Thus he is allowed to enter into fellowship with 
 his Divine Maker, and enabled to argue from the things 
 of time to those of eternity. Let him do this, and he 
 will find abundant reason for the consolatory belief that 
 not one human creature will be permitted to stray so far 
 from the path of duty as to bring upon himself utter and 
 
58 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 endless misery. He cannot help but have faith that God 
 has made laws to restrain, and which ever will restrain 
 humanity, as the planets and other heavenly bodies are re- 
 strained within their prescribed bounds. Thus instructed, 
 he cannot ignore the impressions which he has received 
 from the unmistakable manifestations of God's goodness 
 toward him, or give his faith to a pretended revelation of 
 God's character that consigns him to everlasting torment 
 if he do not accept a faith inconsistent with itself. Why 
 should God enable man to see and feel His goodness in 
 this world of time, if He had no such goodness in store for 
 him in the world of eternity? In this mortal state man 
 has been so constituted, and his agency or control over 
 his own acts has been so limited, that notwithstanding 
 his lack of sufficient knowledge to enable him to conform 
 to all the laws to which he is amenable, he is not per- 
 mitted to depart so far from the right path as to make 
 it impossible for him eventually to attain the high state 
 of bliss designed for him. He may bring upon himself 
 penalties that may injure or kill his body ; but he cannot 
 forfeit his soul to everlasting misery. God has loved 
 man too well to put it in his power to do this ; and too 
 well not to put it in his power to work out for himself a 
 higher degree of happiness in eternity than he can in this 
 world, or than his limited faculties can conceive. All 
 this may be fairly deduced from God's manifestations of 
 goodness throughout all nature, and the faith He has im- 
 planted in man's reason, conscience, and instinct, that his 
 existence shall be not a curse, or even a blank, but a 
 transcendent blessing. 
 
 God's knowledge in relation to man is perfect. Man's 
 liability to err, and the bounds which are set thereto, and 
 the penalties which are attached to each breach of the 
 law, are alike of God's ordaining. Who, then, remember- 
 ing these things, shall doubt that God has so adjusted one 
 to the other, that the punishment on the other side of 
 
God's Beneficence 59 
 
 the grave shall be, as here, for man's further education, 
 and for his best interests and happiness? By analogy 
 this should be so ; and it is fair to infer that it is so, since 
 the same God that has tempered and adjusted all things, 
 so as to make life happy here, shall be equally our God 
 the God of goodness and wisdom throughout all eternity. 
 
 The human soul is so attuned to what the ancients 
 called "the music of the spheres," that all nature draws 
 it to the contemplation of a higher existence. Every 
 living and every inanimate thing, and all the wondrous 
 phenomena of the visible universe, seem to whisper to man 
 to aspire and to be thankful. The moan of the wind, 
 the blustering of the storm, the falling of the rain, the 
 flash of the lightning, the rolling of the thunder, the lowing 
 of the herd, the hum of the bee, the song of the bird, the 
 fragrant loveliness of the flowers, the roar of the sea upon 
 the shore, the gloomy grandeur of the ocean, the gurgling 
 of the stream, the sigh of the forest leaves and branches, 
 the sublimity of the snow-covered mountain-tops, the se- 
 rene beauty of the morning and the evening, the maj- 
 esty of night, the harmony of truth, the transcendent 
 bliss when two souls are fused into one when one heart 
 beats in two bosoms, when the same soul is eloquent in 
 mutual eyes love to children, love to parents, the kind 
 emotions and sympathies of the human family one to an- 
 other, and to other living things, these multifarious joys 
 all preach the immutable truth that God's beneficence 
 pervades the universe, and that all tends to develop man's 
 innate belief in His goodness, and prompts to praise and 
 worship Him. Praise is joy ; and the best worship is the 
 obedience which, in its turn, produces the happiness of 
 the worshipper. This is man's experience in time ; and, 
 if it be not destined to be his experience throughout eter- 
 nity, God's goodness would be finite, which it is impossible 
 to believe. 
 
 It has been urged by the preachers of Christianity and 
 
60 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 of nearly all known systems of theology that, however 
 good God may be, He permits the existence of evil ; and 
 that man may prevail upon God, by sacrifice and prayer, 
 to remove and lighten its load. Most modern sects have 
 discarded the idea of sacrifices for this purpose ; but all 
 insist, not only upon the efficacy, but upon the absolute 
 necessity of prayer. These phases of belief originate in 
 erroneous ideas of God's goodness. 
 
 Physical evil is but another name for pain ; and pain, 
 as has already been shewn, is in its purpose entirely 
 benevolent a warning that we have transgressed some 
 law imposed upon us for our good. Moral evil is, in like 
 manner, but another name for disobedience. If it were 
 impossible for man to disobey any physical or moral law 
 of God, he would be deprived, not alone of free-will, but 
 of the capacity for improvement and mental growth. 
 He would be unable even to aspire to a better state of 
 existence, or to qualify himself to enter it. There would 
 be no propriety in his being placed in this world in a 
 state of probation. There can be no probation, where it 
 is impossible to go wrong. It is sometimes asked, how 
 the injustice so often committed by man on man is to be 
 reconciled with the shield which God has thrown around 
 him, and all the inferior animals, for self-protection ? The 
 reply is, that so far as the corporeal part of man is con- 
 cerned, and so far as intellectual agencies operate in this 
 life, the protection is not perfect, else man's free agency 
 would have no office. The protection provided is efficient 
 only up to the boundary that circumscribes man's free 
 will. Within that boundary man can work out for him- 
 self a higher or lower degree of happiness, according as 
 he understands and conforms to God's laws ; and it may 
 be that the trials and vexations of this life will serve, by 
 contrast, to increase the joys and happiness of the next. 
 In fact, we can scarcely conceive what enjoyment would 
 be, if we had no idea of the reverse. As regards the 
 
Man an Agent in God's Purposes 61 
 
 liability of man to encroach upon the rights of others, it 
 must not be forgotten that God has given him various 
 qualities, propensities, and incentives to action, in order 
 that he may be used as an instrument, within certain limits, 
 for carrying out God's purposes. These are, in the first 
 place, that all men shall contribute to the happiness and 
 welfare of each other by kind offices and social inter- 
 course ; and, secondly, that every individual shall secure a 
 greater or less degree of happiness in this life and the life 
 to come, according as he deserves more or less by his 
 obedience. Now, while each individual may, in the 
 exercise of his free-will, perform his part more or less 
 perfectly, yet so strong in the right direction are the pro- 
 pensities established within him as motives to his con- 
 duct, that man, by the exercise of his free-will within its 
 prescribed limits, accomplishes God's purpose while in the 
 pursuit of his own happiness. This accounts for some of 
 man's propensities being vastly stronger than others. 
 Among the things which man has an agency in perform- 
 ing, and which God will not permit to fail, are, the per- 
 petuation of the race of men, and the preparation of the 
 soul of each man for the enjoyment of at least some de- 
 gree of happiness in time, and a high degree of happiness 
 in eternity. Hence God has given man unusually strong 
 propensities in relation to these two great duties of life. 
 These press with resistless force to the accomplishment 
 of their objects ; and it sometimes happens, in impetuous 
 natures, that they overstep their proper boundaries in 
 these respects and run riot. But it is better for a man to 
 be over-selfish, than to fail in the indulgence of these pro- 
 pensities to the extent of neglect in taking due care of 
 his life and happiness, Thus the minor evil is consequent 
 upon the ample means taken to ensure the greater good. 
 Man, in his early ignorance that pain was not of itself 
 an evil, but a necessary part of the Divine government of 
 the universe, was induced to pray to the Supreme Being 
 
62 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 for its removal. The custom still prevails ; and it there- 
 fore becomes proper to inquire how it is that men should 
 continue to ask God to perform miracles or acts of special 
 providence in their favour, and sometimes on very frivol- 
 ous pretexts. Did any man ever have proof positive that 
 any prayer was answered? Events sometimes happen 
 seemingly at the instance of prayer ; but it is impossible 
 to be assured, beyond the possibility of mistake, that the 
 event in question would not have taken place, entirely 
 independent of any prayer. 
 
 In the infancy of the race, when mental and material 
 progress was naturally slow, the first idea of God, the 
 Divine Father, was based upon that of the human father, 
 who tenderly supplied the wants of the child even before 
 the wants were made known, and who always listened 
 with attention to the supplications of His offspring when 
 those supplications were for such blessings, benefits, or 
 necessities as ought to be supplied. In the manhood of 
 the individual these supplications cease ; and each person 
 arriving at maturity learns, as his father did before him, 
 to depend upon his own exertions, in conformity with the 
 laws of nature, and to provide himself and those depend- 
 ent upon him with food, raiment, and shelter. In the 
 manhood of the race the same results ensue though 
 they are not acknowledged and man practically per- 
 ceives, though he may not admit the fact theoretically, 
 that prayer to God for the supply of our wants is wholly 
 unnecessary, inasmuch as God has provided beforehand 
 for all things which pertain to man's happiness and en- 
 joyment, with a profusion and variety greater than most 
 of us can conceive. Man having outgrown his moral 
 childhood should, therefore, be manly and mature enough 
 in his intellect to understand and act upon the know- 
 ledge that God's favours and gifts can be had only by 
 conforming to the conditions prescribed for all that live. 
 
 It is not insisted that prayer to God to raise us miracu- 
 
Prayer for Recovery 63 
 
 lously from a bed of sickness, or to give us clearer views 
 of His will and pleasure that we may serve Him the 
 better, may not have some beneficial effect upon the 
 mind of him who prays, though the act be irrational. In 
 the case of sickness, if the means of recovery by nature's 
 appointed mode are properly applied, an unfounded faith 
 that God will specially interpose may excite a livelier 
 hope of recovery, and thus indirectly be of benefit to the 
 sufferer, for the reason that hope is half the cure, and 
 tranquillity and buoyancy of spirit are healthful to the 
 flesh. On the other hand, there is danger that faith in 
 prayer as if that were the only panacea and specific 
 may lead to the systematic neglect of the true means of 
 recovery. The man who asks God to stimulate him to 
 worship and obedience by supernatural means, or who 
 asks Him for health, or wealth, or length of life, or any 
 other especial grace or favour, acts in effect as if God had 
 been unmindful of him, and had not provided for his 
 needs ; and thereby virtually accuses his Maker of igno- 
 rance or neglect. It may be said, however, in defence of 
 this man's conduct, that his prayer, though unanswered, 
 is not without spiritual uses. Were a man in a floating 
 boat to pull at a rope attached to the shore, having all 
 the time perfect faith that he is pulling the shore to the 
 boat, instead of hauling the boat to the shore, it would 
 make no difference with him which was the result, so that 
 the boat and shore came together at last. So, while a 
 man prays God to come to him, he may be unwittingly 
 drawing himself to God, through God's originally ap- 
 pointed or natural means, independent of prayer while 
 he imagines that God is coming to him by supernatural 
 means, that is, at the instance of prayer. In this way 
 man may conceive himself benefited by the usual mode 
 of prayer, and thus fail to recognise the true source of 
 the benefit. But it is important to the highest worship 
 of God that man should have full faith that God originally 
 
64 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 provided for whatever is needful for him, so that he 
 may understand that if he fail to enjoy these provisions 
 on the terms primarily prescribed by God, it is through 
 his own mistake or neglect, and not God's as man's 
 irrational prayer would imply. 
 
 Prayer is not worship ; and the only worship that can 
 be acceptable to God consists in obedience to His Divine 
 and beneficial laws, and in thankfulness and gratitude for 
 the gifts so lavishly showered upon us. 
 
 The religion, which the spiritual necessities of mankind 
 require, finds its only foundation in the teachings of God 
 to all men, and is aptly illustrated in the precepts and 
 pure teachings of Jesus, when disencumbered of Judaism 
 and all the Mosaic mythology, to wit, adoration of God, 
 and love and duty to man. This is the one true religion 
 established in the hearts, consciences, and souls of all 
 men from the beginning, which ever has been, and ever 
 will be sufficient to the end, that, through God's wisdom, 
 goodness, and justice, the existence of each member of 
 the human family shall result in the glorification of the 
 Creator and the happiness of His creatures be the path 
 travelled ever so tortuous or rough. 
 
 By the persistency with which Christian teachers of 
 all denominations and sects from the pope down to the 
 elected minister of the poorest chapel or meeting-house- 
 continue to dwell on the allegory of the Fall of Man, and 
 the consequent supposed necessity of Christ's sacrifice, 
 all people of emancipated intellect are driven from the 
 churches in despair and weariness of spirit. The multi- 
 tude, like those who followed Jesus to the mountain, 
 hunger for the bread of life, and are presented with a 
 theological stone, in which there is no mental or spiritual 
 nutriment. God, according to the teachings of Moses, is 
 a God of anger and to be feared, who could not be pro- 
 pitiated but with sacrifices and burnt offerings. God, 
 according to His own teachings, is a God of perfect 
 
The God of Moses 65 
 
 goodness, who requires no sacrifice from His creatures ; 
 nothing but faith and cheerful obedience to the benevolent 
 laws which He instituted for their spiritual and physical 
 happiness. The God of Moses did not know, and could 
 not foresee, anything that was to happen in His own 
 creation. The God of all is all-wise ; and from His omni- 
 science nothing is hidden, in the past, the present, or 
 the future. To reconcile these two systems, or to en- 
 graft one upon the other, as all the Christian Churches 
 have attempted to do for more than eighteen centuries, 
 is impossible. They are antagonistic, discordant, and 
 irreconcilable. If one be true, the other must be false. 
 If a theory supposed to be true at one time ceased to 
 be true at another, it can never have been true at all ; 
 for God's truths are eternal as Himself. The doctrine 
 taught by God from the beginning, and which is ever 
 being echoed and re-echoed in the souls of all men 
 that He is infinite in goodness as in all things, and that 
 man's highest duty is to cultivate the sublime germ of 
 love to God and man within himself, so that its legitimate 
 fruits may be produced by contributing, as far as it is 
 consistent with his duty to himself, to the happiness 
 and well-being of all God's creatures this doctrine, 
 this religion, this teaching, needs no support from Moses 
 or his theology. It is the only known religion that may 
 be safely stripped of all externals, and left in its beautiful 
 simplicity, to appeal to the heart and intellect of the 
 humblest, as well as of the most exalted of mankind. 
 The mischief is that this religion has been adulterated 
 with falsehoods, which, under the disguise of vital truths, 
 have, as Jesus said, not brought peace into the world, 
 but continual strife, and the sword, and theological dis- 
 sensions ; and probably these dissensions will never cease 
 until religion is thoroughly purged of all false theology. 
 
 All the Christian Churches, following Moses and the 
 Old Testament, in one breath declare God to be a God of 
 
66 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Love to which all His works bear witness and in the 
 next that He is wrathful, revengeful, and cruel ; that He 
 is a God who has determined to inflict, everlastingly, the 
 most horrible torture on every individual of the human 
 race who shall in the course of his life commit a single 
 sin, or fail to observe the least of His laws. Further 
 than this, they declare that the human race merits this 
 punishment, even though personally they commit no sin, 
 because Adam, the first man, sinned ; and that God's 
 love is shewn by His permitting Jesus himself God to 
 atone for Adam's transgression, though the benefits of 
 this atonement are not to be extended to any one who 
 does not have entire faith in its efficacy. This doctrine 
 is so utterly at variance with the never-ceasing logic of 
 Nature, and with the constant manifestations of God's 
 goodness and justice, that to escape the dilemma, they 
 who teach it are led to resort to various subterfuges to 
 make the faith acceptable to those on whom they would 
 impose it. Out of these falsehoods and contradictions 
 have grown the never-ending disagreements, disputes, 
 and contentions of religious sects and their spiritual 
 instructors " blind leaders of the blind." It was these 
 very contradictions and dissensions that brought about, 
 not only the crucifixion of Jesus, but all the wars that 
 have been waged in the world for opinion's sake in rela- 
 tion to theological matters, since the days of Moses and 
 the Prophets. Jesus said that he came not to send peace, 
 but a sword. And it has been calculated that the wars 
 which have been waged on account of the differences of 
 opinion in or on doctrinal points have cost the lives of 
 above two millions of people. Those engaged in, to 
 establish Christianity, and those persevered in, against 
 the Turks concerning the Holy Land, have cost many 
 millions more. The wars of Charlemagne to Christianise 
 the Saxons, and of the Spaniards to convert the Moors 
 and Americans, have deluged the earth with innocent 
 
Priestcraft 67 
 
 blood. And the Inquisition alone, since its foundation in 
 the fourteenth century, has burnt above one hundred 
 thousand persons of both sexes, besides destroying twice 
 that number by torture and the dungeon. To this point 
 we shall have occasion to refer hereafter. 
 
 It may be asked whether what the Christian Churches 
 preach and claim to be indispensable to man's salvation 
 is altogether wrong. This is not asserted. No teaching 
 addressed to man's religious nature can be entirely in 
 error which obtains such an ascendency over the minds 
 of men. It has much truth, but a great deal of error; and 
 what it has of truth is mixed up with error in such a way 
 as to render it extremely difficult for the mass of man- 
 kind to separate the one from the other. Priestcraft is 
 fully aware of the value of theological fable as a means 
 of strengthening and consolidating its power over human 
 affairs ; and, lest the simple truths of Nature, which all 
 may study, should have their legitimate effect in assign- 
 ing to the every-day duties of life their legitimate import- 
 ance in making up the sum of man's religious duty, the 
 Christian Churches all insist that, if man's thankfulness to 
 the one God be ever so great, and all the duties of life be 
 ever so well performed, yet, if faith in the necessity and 
 efficacy of Christ's atonement for sin be lacking, he must 
 suffer everlasting torment in hell-fire. Each sect claims to 
 be the exclusive exponent of the means appointed by God 
 to enable man to escape from this torment. Out of, and by 
 means of, this vast fraud and shameless inroad upon men's 
 credulity, priests and governments that support them have 
 filched from the toiling people millions of treasure to sup- 
 port them in the exercise of their trade or profession. 
 
 The idea of hell, hell-fire, and eternal torment, when 
 properly considered, is an idea that is alike blasphemous 
 and illogical. Not so with the idea of eternal progress 
 toward infinite knowledge and happiness, which is a 
 natural deduction from our earthly experience. 
 
68 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 It is manifest from the nature of man, that if he could, 
 in advance, read the future with certainty, it would unfit 
 him for the affairs of this life and, by inference, for the 
 part assigned him in the next. It is illogical to insist 
 that God, in giving man his various faculties, did not 
 intend that he should use those faculties to the best 
 advantage in all things pertaining to his duty, his happi- 
 ness, and his welfare, both in relation to this life and the 
 life to come. It is insisted, however, by the priesthood 
 that man must ignore his common sense and reasoning 
 faculties when he comes to deal with the affairs of the 
 future life. The maintenance of this requirement can 
 only be accounted for upon the idea that the Churches 
 well know that, if man were to use all faculties for the 
 acquisition of knowledge and the ascertainment of truth 
 in relation to his duty to his Maker, the hold which they 
 have on the purses of the people would be weakened, or 
 perhaps, entirely lost. The only religion which has exer- 
 cised its influence over the minds and conduct of men 
 from first to last whether recognised or not is that 
 here advocated ; and it will continue to exercise that 
 influence, notwithstanding all the false teachings and 
 adverse influences that have been, or may be, brought to 
 bear against it. 
 
 A ship is swept along by the Gulf Stream on the way 
 to its destination, although those on board may not be 
 aware of the causes that are impelling it onward. They 
 might, indeed, from a want of knowledge on the subject, 
 ascribe their onward course towards the wished-for haven 
 to a cause totally different from the true one even to a 
 cause that was in reality retarding them, as theology 
 retards religion. And more especially might this be the 
 case with a portion of the voyagers if there were others 
 on board who from selfish motives were using means to 
 deceive their fellow-travellers as to the true source of 
 their progress. In the same way, are not mankind car- 
 
Influence of the True Religion 69 
 
 ried onward by the vast stream of influences set in 
 motion by God, from the first, upon which all the human 
 family have been or will be embarked ? This tide, bear- 
 ing man to the final home which God has prepared for 
 him, no human power can stay. Man may, from short- 
 sightedness, or false teaching, or both, be unmindful, or 
 even unconscious of the true channel through which God's 
 blessings are continually conferred upon him ; yet they 
 flow on incessantly. God makes ample allowance for 
 man's want of knowledge and is patient and forbearing, 
 ever educating him to broader truths, and leading him to 
 a higher state. He has made sure, too, that under the 
 influence of Nature's teachings, he will at last come 
 within the fold prepared for him, and be enabled to 
 appreciate aright the justice and wisdom of his great 
 Benefactor. And He has further made sure that the true 
 light, deep down in man's soul, and the faith and hope 
 based upon the idea of one God, the Great First Cause of 
 all, shall never be extinguished. Not all the false teach- 
 ings or injurious influences of human power that were 
 ever put in motion shall disturb this firm foundation. It 
 is a germ of truth in the soul of man, which will most 
 surely bring forth its legitimate fruits in God's own good 
 time. It is nurtured and watered by Him, and it will 
 enable man more and more to understand and appreciate 
 His goodness and advance nearer and nearer toward His 
 perfections. The germ in the seed of the fig tree, the 
 vine, and every other plant and herb, is especially cared 
 for by God, to the end that its vitality shall be preserved. 
 In process of time, under the influences with which God 
 has surrounded it, it is quickened and springs up into life. 
 It is fostered and cherished by God, through Nature, and 
 it flourishes and seemingly rejoices in the sunlight and 
 the balmy air, ever pushing forward with increasing en- 
 ergy to the fulfilment of its destined office in the world. 
 No human power can thwart God's purpose in this. He 
 
70 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 has willed and His will is law that the earth shall 
 bring forth trees, shrubs, herbs, plants, flowers, and fruit, 
 in order that this Eden in which He has placed man 
 may be filled with beauty for his sight and with abun- 
 dance for his taste. But in this, as in other things, His 
 bounty comes not single-handed. Through the same pro- 
 cess by which He administers to man's sense of the sub- 
 lime and beautiful, He supplies the physical necessities of 
 all His creatures. Now, if He has so protected the germ 
 in the mustard seed, and trained it with certainty to fulfil 
 His design, shall He do less for man ? Yet, according to 
 the teaching of the Churches, we are asked to believe 
 that of all the things created by God man was left in 
 the most precarious condition, placed in the greatest 
 jeopardy, least likely to fulfil the intentions of his Maker, 
 and condemned, for no fault of his own, to be eternally 
 punished with torments too horrible to comprehend. 
 How utterly inconsistent and at variance with all the 
 dispensations of God's providence which man meets at 
 every turn in his life and experience, is this idea ! God's 
 goodness and His tender care of man are manifest in thou- 
 sands of ways ; and the mildness of the punishment for 
 a breach of His laws, and the evidently benign intention 
 of such punishment, declare most emphatically that God, 
 represented in any other light than as infinite goodness, 
 is not the God who reveals Himself to the heart, the con- 
 science, and the intellect of all men, at all times. 
 
 So far as man's career is traced which is no farther 
 than the grave no discoverable advantage accrues to those 
 who assent to the doctrine of the Fall of Man through 
 Adam and his restoration through Christ ; and no discov- 
 erable disadvantage befalls those who have not arrived at 
 such a belief. Those who belong to the latter class, and 
 who make up the great majority, or more than three 
 fourths of the human race, are as good citizens, as good 
 husbands, as good wives, as good parents, as good chil- 
 
Man's Predisposition to Credulity 7 1 
 
 dren, as good neighbours, and are equally as cheerful, 
 equally as happy, and equally as honest as the small 
 remnant who believe, or who pretend to believe, in the 
 Fall of Man through Adam. The Christian proclaims 
 that all who do not embrace the dogmas on which the 
 Churches are built are under the condemnation of God 
 and are not allowed to participate in the benefits of His 
 goodness in the world to come. Now, since there is no 
 apparent difference in the distribution of such benefits in 
 this world, it is fair to infer there is none in the other. 
 But since we cannot trace man thither except by logical 
 induction, which is not subject to positive confirmation, 
 the Churches make the most of man's ignorance in this 
 respect an ignorance no greater than their own and 
 promise him transcendent benefits in eternity as the 
 reward of his faith, and for his support of the churches. 
 
 Man, by nature and for wise purposes, has a predisposi- 
 tion to credulity. He loves the marvellous and the mys- 
 terious. From this phase of his character proceeds the 
 wonderful influence which the false doctrine of super- 
 natural revelation has so long maintained over the human 
 mind through the incomprehensible mysteries contained 
 in the Bible, based upon prophecy and miracles. The less 
 man's reasoning faculties are developed, the greater is the 
 attraction which the marvellous and miraculous have for 
 him ; and the readier is the credence he gives to them. 
 Hence it is the least enlightened of our race, both in this 
 and every other age of the world, who are the most liable 
 to be led astray by tales of sorcery, witchcraft, and ghosts. 
 And have not witchcraft and supernatural appearances of 
 departed spirits as great a claim on our credulity as the 
 miracles of the Bible? The existing generation of men 
 has advanced toward mental manhood so far as to discard 
 many of the superstitious fictions of the incipient stage 
 of the human race, and would emancipate itself still 
 more rapidly and completely than it is doing, but for the 
 
72 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 struggle made against it by the Churches. And they are 
 now the only obstacle to man's entire deliverance from 
 such a thraldom. Seeing, however, how much their in- 
 fluence and their gain are endangered by the spread of 
 learning and intelligence, they are the more tenacious 
 and persistent in their efforts to uphold, and to root more 
 deeply still into the minds of the people a superstitious 
 belief in the mysteries of the Bible. But this once mighty 
 influence is on the wane. The light of irrefutable truth 
 has dawned upon the mental vision of all the civilised 
 nations upon earth, and the darkness of theological error 
 will soon be forever dispersed. Let the Churches, if they 
 be wise, look to this matter in time. The true and last- 
 ing interest of the clergy lies in conforming without 
 delay to the imperative intellectual demands of the age. 
 Unadulterated truth must be taught from the pulpit 
 if anything at all. The people will not much longer 
 continue to listen to doctrines and dogmas, for the belief 
 of which there exists in man not one single innate fac- 
 ulty commending them either to the judgment or to the 
 heart, but which, on the contrary, cause his whole nature 
 to revolt. 
 
 The Churches tell us that man cannot answer the just 
 demands of God, and that, therefore, by necessity, he 
 merits God's everlasting condemnation, and his own utter 
 destruction ; but the heart of man rejects the blasphemy, 
 and realises that God knows exactly how much and what 
 allowances to make in behalf of man's short-sightedness. 
 Man is so far inferior to his Maker that He will make 
 every allowance in calling man to account for his mis- 
 deeds. Indeed, God's justice demands that man's free 
 agency, to which He Himself has set limits, should not 
 be so far extended as that man's existence could possibly 
 become a curse to him, or anything else than a blessing, 
 either in time or in eternity. His manifest goodness in 
 this world, to us and to all the various forms of animated 
 
God's Goodness and Man's Happiness 73 
 
 life, is so self-evident, that all who honestly investigate 
 the blessings and beauties of nature, and correctly reason 
 upon them, must be convinced of it. As we mount from 
 nature up to nature's God, we find not only that " what- 
 ever is, is right," and must be right, but that whatever is, 
 is good, and must be good. Were it not for that which 
 we ignorantly designate as evil, good would not be known 
 to us, and would not be properly appreciated. So far as 
 we are imperfect beings, we are sure to make mistakes 
 and to suffer for them ; but the very correction must be 
 seen to be beneficial to us ; because it teaches us not to 
 offend against God's laws again ; and in this way the 
 seeming evil is made instrumental in the training of man 
 to his best estate. The same kindness, therefore, which 
 is so eminently bestowed upon man in this world, will, 
 we infer, be continued to him in the next. This we are 
 bound to believe, because we know that God's goodness, 
 like Himself, is infinite, and cannot fail or be withdrawn 
 from any of His creatures unless we admit God to be of 
 changeable purposes, which we cannot do without denying 
 His wisdom and perfection. 
 
 The most obvious and natural idea of the happiness 
 reserved for man in eternity is, that it shall be a con- 
 tinuation and an augmentation of the purest and most 
 ennobling joys which he has experienced in time ; that 
 his soul, perpetually thirsting for truth and knowledge, 
 shall be permitted to see and understand those great 
 mysteries of God which have been partially concealed 
 from him on earth ; and that he shall forever approach 
 nearer and nearer to the Divine perfections, to which, how- 
 ever, he can never wholly attain ; and that every step of 
 his infinite progression shall be attended with loftier de- 
 lights than the constitution of his physical frame could 
 ever have permitted him to enjoy while on earth. God 
 hath endowed man with various qualities and capacities, 
 adapted to his present life ; and made each a ministering 
 
74 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 angel to his happiness. Is not this an evidence that He 
 will endow him in the future life with higher qualities 
 and more enlarged capacities to comprehend, appreciate* 
 and enjoy God's wisdom, goodness, and glory, in an ever- 
 advancing degree? The spirit of all men seems so to 
 whisper ; and God has given them faith that the high 
 poetic reveries of the soul shall not be disappointed. 
 These are things which God, indeed, has not permitted 
 us to know; but on the other hand He has not permitted 
 us to be without a lively hope that we shall at some time 
 enjoy them. There is no complete, positive, or mathe- 
 matical proof that what we call the soul is immortal. 
 All that we can learn about it comes through our intui- 
 tions, our instincts, and an innate consciousness of it, 
 corroborated by the belief of all men, in all ages and in 
 all countries, that a glorious eternity of some sort lies 
 before us. If this be not the fact, as we fondly deem, 
 then God has given to every human being a delusive faith 
 in His kindness ; an abiding trust in His goodness, never 
 to be realised. This is inconceivable ; it is at total vari- 
 ance with God's benign dispensations on our behalf here ; 
 and with the indubitable fact that it is impossible to de- 
 stroy the smallest atom of matter that was ever created. 
 Matter may be changed and transformed, but it cannot 
 be annihilated ; and if this eternity is the appanage of the 
 physical substances and elements of which the universe is 
 composed, shall it not also be the appanage of the soul ? 
 We cannot believe otherwise. We accept the proofs with 
 as much faith and as thorough a conviction as we have 
 in accepting proofs of mathematical science, though they 
 are not based so entirely upon mere reason as upon 
 something which we feel to be superior to reason and a 
 more direct utterance of the voice of God. This cannot 
 be a vain imagining. The unwritten poetry that whis- 
 pers to us of a life beyond the grave, pervades all nature, 
 and even comes to us more audibly from the starry uni- 
 
Time Is Not the Measure of the Soul 75 
 
 verse than from the earth proclaims that time, which is 
 but the turning of the small globe upon which we live, is 
 not the measure of that far-seeing soul and that ample 
 intellect which, though imprisoned for a while within the 
 flesh, has so far transcended its carnal limits as to discover 
 stars and whole systems so deep in the infinitudes of 
 space that the light projected by them, according to sci- 
 entific calculation, takes a time almost beyond man's 
 comprehension to travel from their place in creation to 
 ours. Such facts and such discoveries teach us that the 
 soul, which aspires so high, is justified in aspiring; that 
 it came from God, and must approach nearer to Him for 
 ever. The line of that eternal progression is influenced, 
 in some degree, by the operation of causes within man's 
 own control. 
 
 Let those learned men who are the chief dignitaries of 
 the churches look to the intellectual development of our 
 times. They should be the allies, and not the foes, of 
 human intellect. To them all the truths of science should 
 be welcome, because they are divine. That true religion 
 which exists in the heart as well as in the soul needs no 
 fables to recommend it to our acceptance. The so-called 
 Sacred Books, to'which they still call upon us to yield a 
 slavish faith, should be acknowledged by them to be 
 without that sanctity which cannot attach to them if 
 they be contradicted by geology and by astronomy and 
 by every new discovery of natural and physical truths. 
 The stars alone are a perpetual reproof to the ignorant 
 mythologies with which the clergy still endeavour to mis- 
 lead the people. Newton, Laplace, Leverrier, and Rosse 
 were greater teachers of religion than any pope or bishop, 
 or other ecclesiastic who ever lived or preached. If, in- 
 stead of theological and doctrinal discourses founded 
 upon historical errors and false ideas of God, the preachers 
 and teachers, accepting the great truths of science, would 
 preach God in all His works and religion in its purity, 
 
76 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 conformably to the intelligence of the age let the im- 
 mediate consequences" be what they might their efforts 
 would prove beneficial in the highest degree. Jesus so 
 taught religion in the two commandments ; for which 
 teaching he was crucified. God is ever teaching it in its 
 fulness. The time is ripening for this development. 
 Uneasiness and doubt sit within the assemblies of all 
 mythological worshippers. It is not only the sheep, but 
 the shepherds, who see the approaching change, and know 
 it to be inevitable. 
 
 Great thoughts are heaving in the world's wide breast; 
 The time is heaving with a mighty birth; 
 
 The old ideas fall: 
 
 Men wander up and down in wild unrest; 
 A sense of change preparing for the Earth 
 Broods over all! 
 
 But not to me oh, not to me appear 
 
 Perpetual glooms; I see the heavenly ray; 
 I feel the healthful motion of the sphere; 
 I see the splendour of a brighter day. 
 Ever since infant Time began, 
 More or less darkness has been over man, 
 It rolls and shrivels up. It melts away! 
 
 The intellectual culture of the many, who are yearning 
 for good, is more than a match for the learned priestcraft 
 that domineered over the too credulous of former ages. 
 The printing press now speaks to the masses, and rescues 
 them from the thraldom of the oracles that spoke of old. 
 
 Theologians declare that, in order to make man conform 
 to God's will, he must have that will proclaimed to him 
 in special language either by speech or writing, and hence 
 infer the necessity for a Bible. Let us probe a little into 
 this assumed necessity. 
 
 The most casual observer of animal life, if brought for 
 
Animal Instinct 77 
 
 a moment to dwell seriously on the subject, could not fail 
 to acknowledge that God has a mode of instructing His 
 creatures which amply suffices for their requirements 
 and His own glory. And if this be evident to the care- 
 less looker-on, the closer student will find a thousand 
 curious proofs, alike in fulness and minuteness, that the 
 original instructor must have been Divine. But the 
 routine of animal life being so far known and noted as to 
 acquire among us the distinctive appellation of " natural," 
 neither ordinary observer nor critical student dreams of 
 attributing supernatural causes to any part of it. We 
 speak of it as the course of Nature, the ordinance of the 
 Almighty ; and there let it rest. No one imagines that a 
 special revelation tells the migratory race of birds when 
 and where the seasons are propitious for them, or that an 
 inspired messenger goes down to the depths to warn cer- 
 tain fish at certain periods that it were well for them to 
 change their waters. We call it all, in a general way, 
 " instinct "; while a few thinkers, perhaps, recognise in 
 this selfsame instinct the marvellous power and resources 
 of God. 
 
 Now, we hold that instinct is implanted in man, no less 
 than in the brute creation. But the instincts which apply 
 to man's spiritual nature are of an essentially different or- 
 der. Animal instinct concerns itself only with life and the 
 means of living ; and this being its sole end, it is restricted 
 thereto ; and the routine is limited, each after its kind. 
 
 Instinct in man is, we say, of far higher quality. That 
 it is not confined to a mere making provision for the 
 flesh as is the case with animals is manifest from 
 the infinite variety of human pursuits and the constant 
 changes in human condition. That it reaches up to 
 something above and beyond this, to something intel- 
 lectual and spiritual, to some mysterious but existing link 
 between creature and Creator, is palpable, inasmuch as 
 the recognition of an over-ruling Providence has been 
 
8o One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 various antagonistic creeds, theologies, and dogmas there 
 are propounded for the mere faith of man, each sect 
 claiming the monopoly of the road to bliss, man is being 
 so quietly conducted along the true path to his welfare and 
 happiness, by a religion which admits of no antagonism 
 by laws that cannot clash, but which co-operate har- 
 moniously, and move on majestically and silently to the 
 accomplishment of God's purposes that the means by 
 which the result is reached are unobserved. Such is the 
 case in relation to the motion of the earth, of which we 
 all partake ; and yet we perceive it not, except through 
 its results. It produces the various seasons, day and 
 night, seed-time and harvest, summer and winter ; and 
 by it the panorama of the heavens passes in succession 
 before the delighted gaze of the whole human family. 
 All alike enjoy these sights and blessings, whether they 
 are aware that the immediate cause of them is due to the 
 motions of the earth, or not. 
 
 Some may not recognise the law that guides them ; 
 and, to this extent, their knowledge being more limited, 
 their enjoyment may not be as full as that of others. 
 But when applied to spiritual things, this is but a matter 
 of time ; every human soul will, sooner or later, arrive at 
 such a knowledge and experience of God's goodness, wis- 
 dom, and glory as to induce all to thank and praise and 
 worship Him with all their hearts and powers. Our 
 capacity for happiness will increase with our training and 
 education ; and as all must pass under God through the 
 same process of training, all must at last arrive at the 
 same appreciation of His goodness and glory some, it 
 maybe, by a more tortuous course and by the experience 
 of greater trials and afflictions ; but none the less effect- 
 tually to the accomplishment of God's design. What we 
 mean is, that God's mode of training can never fail to 
 accomplish the end He has in view. It must prove ef- 
 fectual. All will experience the same results by having 
 
Brought into Existence for Eternity 81 
 
 been made obedient to the same laws. The same causes, 
 which operate upon all alike, will produce the same ef- 
 fects in all ; else God would not be that impartial Being 
 that we conceive Him to be, which is impossible. When 
 a human soul is brought into existence, it is brought into 
 existence for eternity, and however little progress it may 
 make in the right direction during its sojourn on earth 
 whether it be taken hence in infancy or old age, or 
 whether it has advanced .tardily or rapidly in this state 
 of probation it matters not, this being, as we said, but 
 a matter of time. God has ensured that it cannot fail in 
 being brought to know and worship Him according to His 
 good-will and pleasure, and to the attainment of supreme 
 bliss. And as to the mode whereby man is called upon, 
 while here, to exhibit his gratitude for the blessings and 
 bounties bestowed upon him by his Maker, let us see 
 what sort of gratitude is the most acceptable to 
 God. 
 
 Jesus, whom we admit to have been a very good 
 teacher of natural religion, and who will be taken by 
 most readers as excellent authority in this respect, has 
 given us some advice through his teaching to the scribes 
 and Pharisees. When he was asked : " Why walk not thy 
 disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat 
 bread with unwashen hands ? " his reply was : " Well hath 
 Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written. 
 This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart 
 is far from me. Howbeit, in vain do they worship me, 
 teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For 
 laying aside the commandments of God, ye hold the tra- 
 dition of men, as the washing of pots and cups and 
 many other such like things ye do. Ye reject the com- 
 mandment of God that ye may keep your own tradition, 
 making the word of God of none effect through your 
 tradition which ye have delivered ; and many such like 
 things do ye." 
 
 6 
 
82 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 From this we should infer that this mere lip-service 
 this religion of mere ceremonies is not only not the 
 worship which God requires, but that it is a hindrance 
 thereto. Forms and ceremonies may be well as mere 
 preliminaries or stepping-stones to worship. They may 
 tend to quicken and train to good acts the germ in man's 
 soul whence all his goodness springs. But if they do not 
 exercise a beneficial influence on him in relation to the 
 right performance of the every-day duties of life if they 
 do not incite him to the actual achievement of good 
 deeds they are of no avail in the sight of God. Under 
 their influence the religious sentiments may expand ; but 
 if they be not productive of something more, they are not 
 in accordance with God's high purposes in relation to 
 man. Can man expect to be the recipient of God's boun- 
 ties without his doing the work which God has required 
 of him? Action is the order of nature, and an active 
 life of good works the doing to others as we would be 
 done by, with a profound sense of dependence upon God 
 is the whole duty of man. The line between that which 
 is mere church-form and that which is the substance of a 
 religious life should be distinctly marked. Instead of 
 this the non-essentials are put in the foreground ; hence, 
 man's religious instincts and common sense should turn 
 him from mere barren ceremonies to the legitimate field 
 of action. The worship dictated by nature alone meets 
 the spiritual wants of man. This is really the only com- 
 mon ground on which all can stand harmonious. It 
 has an inherent vitality and force, which will, under the 
 enlarging civilisation and mental progress of the day, 
 drive superstition and priestcraft from the field, and dis- 
 perse the dark clouds which have so long and so gloomily 
 overshadowed the true light. 
 
 There exists in man an innate or spontaneous faith in 
 the eternal goodness and justice of the Divine Ruler a 
 conviction that man's best interest is forwarded by his 
 
Spontaneous Faith 83 
 
 serving God according to His universal teachings. No 
 power on earth can obliterate these teachings, or mate- 
 rially retard their influence, however they may seem to 
 be smothered in some by the mass of theological dogmas. 
 It still governs all men's actions, whether they acknow- 
 ledge it or not, or whether they are aware or not that it is 
 the sole controlling influence which is actuating them for 
 good and restraining them from evil. The work of the 
 age upon which we have entered is not to found a re- 
 ligion God did that effectually at the first ; it is to expose 
 the errors which it has been attempted to substitute 
 for true religion. Every year furnishes additional proof, 
 and carries conviction to increased numbers of the rising 
 generation, that the Bible is full of untruths. This, irre- 
 sistibly, leads to free and increased inquiry in relation to 
 all that is recorded therein. A new spirit is abroad. 
 Men no longer ignore their common sense in judging of 
 the claims of the Bible to reliability. Under this mode 
 of scrutiny, conclusions and convictions adverse to Bible 
 record are accumulating year after year. Learning, scien- 
 tific research, and free thought are fast opening the eyes 
 of all classes to the imposition to which they have been 
 subjected by the teachings of a mere dogmatical faith. 
 Those who say that the Bible must be taken in all its 
 parts as the only revealed Word of God say also that 
 man's natural faculties are utterly corrupt, depraved, and 
 at enmity with God. If this be so if man's mind is so 
 wholly corrupt, and all his conclusions in relation to re- 
 ligion are so wholly unreliable how can he comprehend 
 aright the doctrines of the Bible and the Churches, which 
 are not only at variance with all his intellectual faculties, 
 but are instinctively repulsive? How is this innate con- 
 viction of the fallacy of the Bible doctrines to be over- 
 come ? Any proofs offered to man's reason, or any 
 appeals made to his conscience, are ineffectual if the 
 faculties to which they are addressed are as vicious and 
 
84 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 incapable of sound conclusions as they are represented to 
 be by the Church. 
 
 The Church doctrines carry with them their own 
 refutation, if logically examined. If addressed for the 
 first time to a mature, well-balanced, and cultivated mind, 
 would they not, at once, be rejected as unworthy of the 
 slightest credence ? This is well understood ; hence, the 
 effort, which is constantly being made, to imbue with 
 them the minds of children and of others equally un- 
 suspecting and pliable. 
 
 If the natural consciousness of mankind is the true basis 
 of religion and the hope of a blessed immortality, then it 
 has a foundation that defies criticism and which is 
 beyond all possible apprehension of ever being disturbed. 
 No higher foundation than God, the Father of all, is 
 possible ; and no faith can be so satisfying and thorough 
 as that which is the inevitable result of the promptings 
 of that innate consciousness which is most assuredly of 
 God. All faith based on ideas or conceptions derived 
 from traditions of the supernatural is but as chaff in 
 comparison with that derived from the immediate 
 promptings of God to each individual. It is inconceiv- 
 able how it is possible to doubt this ; or that the in- 
 struction which God has given to all alike is not the true 
 guide to faith and to the doing of His will by His creat- 
 ures. In fact, there is no faith or belief contrary to this 
 which has sufficient substance in it to control any man 
 materially or to modify his conceptions of his religious 
 duties. Hence all the faiths which men have founded 
 on other than the intuitions of the soul go for nothing, 
 and are impotent in respect to the eventual happiness of 
 the soul. They are the result of education, of the instill- 
 ing of error into the minds of men from early childhood, 
 and had their origin in the greed for power and money. 
 All views in relation to religion derived from the Bible and 
 other sources, and which cannot be deduced from man's 
 

 Spontaneous Belief 85 
 
 natural faculties independent of the Bible, must of neces- 
 sity be open to the critical investigation of history. The 
 closest, most advanced, and the most learned investigation 
 is the most fatal to such doctrines. As an example of this, 
 let the works of the Bishop of Natal be consulted. He 
 establishes most conclusively that the first six books of 
 the Bible the corner-stone of the whole Canon were not 
 written by their supposed author, and that they are not 
 historically true, much less Divinely inspired and infal- 
 lible. 
 
 Bishop Colenso's work can hardly be overestimated 
 for importance, when we consider its inevitable influence 
 on the opinions of the masses. Of course, the fact of his 
 established ability, his personal character, and his posi- 
 tion as a dignitary of the Church has had considerable 
 influence in adding to the immediate publicity of his 
 work. 
 
 Religion founded on human consciousness brings into 
 requisition, and into harmonious union for its right 
 understanding and practice, all the faculties and func- 
 tions of our nature ; not so with the theology founded on 
 the Bible. A blind faith is there demanded in relation to 
 doctrines which neither the head, the heart, nor the con- 
 science can take any part in confirming. A conception 
 of God formed through all the faculties and functions of 
 man acting in conjunction presents Him as a Being whom 
 to believe in is to adore, and whom to adore is to obey. 
 
 While all men have a love of the novel and the mar- 
 vellous, few men naturally give credence to the miraculous 
 and supernatural. The human mind, in virtue of a con- 
 stitutional bias, is prepared from the first to count on the 
 constancy of nature's sequences which experience ever 
 confirms. Similar causes always produce similar effects. 
 This is indispensable to the being led through experience 
 to any system of truth by which to guide our actions ; yet 
 those who under the teaching of the Church from child- 
 
86 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 hood, have given a tacit assent to doctrine of especial 
 enactments of God at the instance of prayer or other 
 cause, to provide for certain emergencies, have not even 
 in this our enlightened day the moral courage to deny 
 altogether what they could not bring themselves to 
 believe that is to say, what did not appear to them to 
 be in harmony with the dictates of reason, and the laws 
 of nature. In order to know what man is by nature and 
 apart from erroneous teaching, we ought to know what 
 he has been under the various theological teachings that 
 have prevailed in different ages and in the several quart- 
 ers of the earth. The history of these distant ages and 
 distant men apparently so foreign to our modern inter- 
 ests assumes a new charm as soon as we know that it 
 tells us the story of our own race, of our own family 
 nay, of our own selves. History gives us the thread which 
 connects the present with the past. Many scenes, it is 
 true, are lost beyond the hope of recovery ; and the most 
 interesting of all, the opening scenes of the childhood of 
 the human race, are known to us by such small frag- 
 ments only, that they do but make the more welcome 
 every word that bears the impress of the early days of 
 mankind. So far as we can trace back the footsteps of 
 man, even on the lowest strata of history, we see that the 
 Divine gift of a sound and sober intellect and all the kind 
 and gentle emotions belonged to him from the very first. 
 The human mind has an inborn reverence for the past, 
 that it may the better divine the future, to ferret out 
 which is the ruling passion of man, since the vast won- 
 drous ways of God lie before him, and God as a magnet 
 is ever drawing him thither. As man the more and more 
 obeys this Divine incentive, he the more and more per- 
 ceives God's goodness, and discards formers false views, 
 and discharges many myths because they are not in har- 
 mony with his purer conceptions of God, and therefore 
 must be false. 
 
Study of Other Theologies 87 
 
 The mythic form of expression which prevailed in 
 earlier ages is giving way before comparative philology, 
 which has placed in our hands a telescope of such power 
 that the mist which the theologians would hold before 
 our eyes is too thin to prevent God's perfections appear- 
 ing the more and more to us. He is no longer a God of 
 vengeance, but a God of infinite goodness. 
 
 Paul says : " Prove all things ; hold fast that which is 
 good." Many are the advantages to be derived from a 
 careful study of other theologies, creeds, and faiths than 
 our own ; but the greatest of all is, that it teaches us to 
 appreciate more truly what it is that constitutes true re- 
 ligion. Let us see what other nations as well as our own 
 have had and still have in the place of religion ; let us 
 examine the prayers, the worship, the theology even of 
 the most highly civilised races, the Greeks, the Romans, 
 the Hindoos, the Persians, and we shall then understand 
 more thoroughly what it is that they all agree upon as 
 true, and what it is that they differ in, and in this way 
 be enabled to discriminate between the essential and 
 the non-essential in the diversified things which have 
 been deemed worship at various times and in various 
 countries. 
 
 Those who would limit the riches of God's goodness, 
 and would hand over the largest portion of the human 
 race to inevitable perdition, without having made them- 
 selves acquainted with the religion of those they con- 
 demn, do at the same time impute to God injustice, upon 
 no better evidence than theology originating in super- 
 stition and priestcraft they use ignorance as evidence, 
 as though it were knowledge. It is true that until very 
 lately the sacred books of three of the most important 
 systems of faith, those of the Brahmans, the Buddhists, 
 and the Parsees, were totally unknown in Europe, but this 
 furnishes no valid excuse for those who consign all who 
 do not embrace their own theology to eternal torment. 
 
88 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 The sincere and earnest seeker after truth (though he 
 may have a deference for the Christian theology) as he 
 becomes acquainted with the history and habits of the 
 various great nations into which mankind is divided, can- 
 not but ask himself the question whether if the heathen 
 (as they are disparagingly termed) should judge of us 
 as the Christians judge of them by the worst phases of 
 human character (and that exaggerated), if we would 
 stand any better in their estimation than they do in the 
 estimation of the Christians. 
 
 If the Indians had formed their notions of the influ- 
 ence of Christianity on man from the soldiers of Cortez 
 and Pizarro, or if the Hindoos had studied the principles 
 of Christian morality in the lives of Clive and Warren 
 Hastings, or, to take a less extreme case, if a Mohamme- 
 dan or Buddhist living in Christian countries were to 
 test the practical working of Christian charity by the 
 spirit displayed in the journals of our various religious 
 parties, their notions of Christianity would be about as 
 correct as the ideas which thousands of educated Christ- 
 ians entertain of the character of the heathen religion. 
 Even Christianity has been depraved into Jesuitism and 
 Mormonism, and if we claim the right to appeal to the 
 gospel as the only test by which our faith is to be judged, 
 we must grant a similar privilege to Mohammedans and 
 Buddhists, and to all who possess a written, and, as they 
 believe, supernaturally revealed authority for the articles 
 of their faith. 
 
 We cannot comprehend how any one who worships God 
 in spirit and in truth, who holds that He is perfect in all 
 things, that His goodness knows no bounds, can subscribe 
 to the dogma that God determined from the first to elect 
 a chosen few as the recipients of everlasting bliss, and 
 consigned much the largest portion of mankind to per- 
 petual torment, for no fault of their own, but at the in- 
 stance of an arbitrary will, the justice of which no man 
 
Innate Promptings of the Heart 89 
 
 can comprehend. If the holding of such faith, if ascrib- 
 ing such character to God, is not sinning against Him 
 and debasing ourselves, we cannot conceive what is. God 
 is a God of infinite goodness, not of vengeance ; to be 
 loved, not to be feared ; to be worshipped for love's sake, 
 not through fear of everlasting punishment. 
 
 How beautiful does this incentive to the worship of 
 God appear, in comparison with that which wrings assent 
 from us by the threat of torment ! And more particularly 
 when we take into consideration, that this threat of tor- 
 ment involves only a faith coming to us from uncertain 
 authority, and repugnant alike to our innate perceptions 
 of love and duty. 
 
 To present so dark and hideous a picture of God and 
 of His mode of drawing men to Him, presupposes that 
 there is not enough in the picture that God presents of 
 Himself to win man to love and worship Him. 
 
 The law implanted within the nature of man to regu- 
 late his physical system is expressed by the sensations, 
 propensities, promptings, appetites, tastes, and checks 
 that God originally gave him, and that are indispensable 
 to the perpetuity of the human race. In like manner, 
 the soul of each individual must be guided, in its pursuit 
 after happiness and well-being, by similar laws, which 
 God has implanted within his moral nature ; namely, by 
 the innate, instinctive, irresistible promptings of the heart 
 and spirit after what is good, and true, and just, and kind, 
 and lovely. Indeed, we all know by the necessity of the 
 case that man has a consciousness and conviction within 
 him that he possesses these perceptions and incentives, 
 and that they are the infallible guides which God has 
 placed there for his instruction and warning. The more 
 faithful he is, therefore, to these instructions and warnings, 
 the more happy he will be just as the more faithful he is 
 to the rules regulating the health of his body, the more 
 sound will be his constitution and the freer he will be 
 
90 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 from disease. To love God is to love His attributes ; and 
 the germs of that love being within us, all we have to do 
 is to cultivate them and to make them active. To strive 
 to imitate Him, or, rather, to inculcate in our hearts a love 
 of truth, justice, and goodness the prime traits of char- 
 acter in the Almighty is the worship and homage that 
 are most acceptable to Him. But God is represented in 
 the Bible, and by those who adhere to its teachings, as be- 
 ing endowed with attributes, purposes, and modes of act- 
 ion wholly inconsistent with the existence of such laws 
 and incentives to the acquisition and cultivation of virtue 
 in the heart of man. The Bible is, moreover, utterly 
 irreconcilable with itself. The Old and New Testaments, 
 particularly, are at variance with each other, and on some 
 of the most vital points. God Himself is represented as a/ 
 Being endowed with the most opposite traits of character. 
 In some places He is said to be a God of infinite good- 
 ness, love, and justice ; in others a God of hatred, revenge, 
 cruelty, and injustice. He is represented as so unjust as 
 to consign to everlasting punishment all those who are not 
 His favourites ; or, who will not, or cannot, believe in the 
 very impracticable doctrine that Jesus must save them, 
 and that in a way which they cannot understand. And 
 yet such incongruities are the very opposite to the doc- 
 trines of Jesus, whom Christian theologians profess to rely 
 upon as the best and most infallible guide to man. For, 
 with the exception of some ideas which he entertained 
 toward the latter part of his career, to the effect that he 
 was the Messiah, and that he would come again at some 
 future time to take possession of his kingdom, and reward 
 his followers, and punish his enemies by bidding them to 
 depart forever from his presence and province, which he 
 denominated everlasting punishment apart from this, 
 we say, his religion was as much in unison with that 
 written on man's heart and nature as it could be. It was 
 in perfect accordance with that which has just been ad- 
 
The Devil 91 
 
 vocated, and which is innate in man, and only needs to be 
 developed by stimulation and cultivation. It was a re- 
 flection of God's laws, operating in the hearts of men. 
 Whatever of good there is in man comes from this source 
 and teaching, and from no other. 
 
 Again, the idea of the existence of a devil, and of the 
 baneful influence ascribed to him over the minds, conduct, 
 and happiness of man, is in direct contradiction to God's 
 infinite power, justice, and goodness. 
 
 If God created man with a free will; and in His good- 
 ness allowed him the exercise of his free will by setting 
 before him things, all good in themselves, but by the use 
 or abuse of which he would experience good or evil 
 results ; and if in the exercise of his free agency man some- 
 times chooses the evil this is but the result of his short- 
 sightedness and the abuse of his free agency. It furnishes 
 no grounds for the idea of the existence of such an evil 
 spirit as that which is said to run counter to the nature of 
 God, and to tempt man to sin against Him. The idea of 
 a Supreme Devil, or God of Evil, originated with the 
 Persians, centuries before the Christian Theology was ever 
 thought of. Yet it is curious to notice, in passing, how 
 differently the Church has treated the Persian Div, and the 
 Cre God, who is common to all faiths. Out of the one 
 true God, it has made a triform and triune Deity, scarcely 
 less fantastic than certain divinities worshipped by Pagans ; 
 while the Div, or Satan, is allowed to maintain his poten- 
 tial unity, and figures in the Church's cheerful programme 
 for this world as going about like a roaring lion seeking 
 whom he may devour ; and in the next, as executioner- 
 in-chief to an extremely wrathful judge. 
 
 Now it is against all reason to suppose, for a moment, 
 that there is such an evil principle so embodied, and there- 
 fore Div cannot be admitted as a medium of temptation 
 to man. When man errs, it is not the result of an innate 
 viciousness ; nor because he has anything placed before 
 
 
92 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 him which contains properties that are evil in themselves. 
 It is because he is either ignorant of the nature of those 
 properties, or because being careless or reckless in the ex- 
 ercise of his free agency, he indulges too freely in their 
 use. Education only in addition to his innate percep- 
 tions can regulate him in this matter. And to this end 
 God has ordained that, whenever man oversteps the 
 bounds of propriety, he shall suffer for it at once ; or 
 within such time that the punishment for delinquencies 
 that are incident to man while in the flesh may serve the 
 purpose of correction and warning. In this way, God's 
 punishments, termed by the Church, " the vengeance of 
 the Almighty," are all applied in mercy. There would be 
 confusion and inconsistency and injustice in the idea that 
 man is to be chastised in a future state of existence for 
 crimes committed in this ; there can be no temptation be- 
 yond the grave to commit crimes that specially appertain 
 to this life ; and, therefore, such punishment would be 
 retrospective and totally useless for God's sole end of 
 training and improvement. His is not punishment de- 
 ferred. Neither is punishment by His laws appropriate 
 after the offender has corrected himself. God's punish- 
 ment, we repeat, is for the correction of the fault com- 
 mitted, with reference to future amendment. It is not 
 it would be absurd to say that it is eternal punishment 
 for faults which God notes down, and that He inflicts it 
 in a revengeful spirit at some future time when it may be 
 presumed that even the memory of their committal has 
 passed away. No, this is unworthy of infinite goodness ; 
 and we hold it to be entirely irrational. The bare idea 
 that God could for any offence, or for any cause whatso- 
 ever, determine that any of His creatures should be irre- 
 coverably tormented upsets at once the idea of the whole 
 nature and perfections of God, and makes Him not what 
 the Bible describes Him to be, in some places, a God of 
 love, but what it describes Him to be in other places 
 
God's Perfection 93 
 
 " a consuming fire," a revengeful, hateful, and malignant 
 monster. How Christian people who have any appreci- 
 ation of the goodness and beauty of His character can so 
 debase Him, we are at a loss to understand. We can en- 
 tertain no possible idea, in relation to God, other than 
 that of His perfection. Hence, as perfection embraces all 
 goodness, justice, and order, and as man's conception of 
 these qualities is of God's creating, it follows that man's 
 ideas of good and evil, which are indissolubly associated 
 with these qualities, are, in the main, in accordance with 
 God's own teaching. 
 
 All the creeds and theologies of the Bible and the 
 Churches which man's conscience rejects, and in which all 
 the faculties of his mind combined fail to recognise God's 
 goodness, must, of necessity, be untrue. Shall traditional 
 authority alone reverse all this ? God has decreed other- 
 wise. Men deceive themselves when they give a formal 
 or pretended adherence to such teachings. They will 
 not be of the slightest service to men, either here or here- 
 after. Whenever such errors cease to be instilled into 
 the pliant minds of children, and others who are not ac- 
 customed to think for themselves, then will they be con- 
 signed to oblivion their proper place. Then will the 
 religion which is an integral part of man, and which 
 nature stimulates with never-failing effect, be left unadul- 
 terated with such unseemly dross as the theologians 
 would heap upon it. 
 
 That happiness is the true and normal condition of life, 
 and misery the exception, is evidenced in a thousand 
 ways. All animated beings, whether rational or irrational, 
 seek it intuitively. As a rule of almost universal appli- 
 cation, those who live the most joyful, buoyant, and 
 happy lives, live the longest. Pleasurable sensations 
 also, both mental and physical, not only attend all the 
 duties and functions of life, but the legitimate exercise of 
 every faculty affords its own peculiar pleasure ; pain may 
 
94 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 sometimes result ; but this is the extraordinary, and not 
 the ordinary, rule. In the aggregate, the preponderance is 
 largely in favour of pleasure. Pleasure resulting from the 
 performance of the duties of life evidently springs from a 
 double source. First, it is a spontaneous emanation from 
 Divine Goodness, as a free-will gift to His creatures; and 
 secondly, it is an incentive and guide to the requirements 
 of peace and self-preservation and to the practice of 
 benevolence, love, friendship, and all other kindly im- 
 pulses. 
 
 The happiness that man realises from conscious exist- 
 ence may rationally be taken as a guarantee that it is his 
 normal condition ; and whatever God addresses to His 
 reason is never in vain or without a beneficent object. 
 Man has implanted within him, by God, a religious in- 
 stinct or tendency to glorify Him. To live an innocent 
 and joyous life is one mode of thanking God for existence. 
 The insects that sport in the sunshine, the lambs that 
 gambol in the fields, the birds that warble their merry or 
 plaintive songs in the trees, and the children in their 
 bright and gladsome spirits while at play, all thank God 
 for their existence in His own appointed way. With re- 
 gard to these last, God has provided, through the laws of 
 nature, for their guidance and care in a more marked man- 
 ner ; and man, who has come to riper years and is more 
 under the control of reason, may well learn a lesson from 
 them. To inculcate the idea that a melancholy spirit and 
 a gloomy walk through life are more acceptable to God 
 than the cheerful heart which God is ever, in ten thou- 
 sand ways, exhilarating is an impediment to true religion. 
 God intended that all His creatures should live serene and 
 happy lives. This is pre-eminently apparent from the 
 allurements so lavishly strewed in the path of all to win 
 them back from gloom and sorrow to sunshine and glad- 
 ness. Cheerfulness begets cheerfulness ; pain is exhaustive, 
 tends to its own cessation. The action of the organs in 
 

 Happiness of this Life 95 
 
 the production of pleasure is promotive of their develop- 
 ment and increased capacity. The same cannot be said 
 of pain ; therein the reverse is the rule. Pleasure tends 
 to its own augmentation and perpetuity. Pain benumbs 
 the nerves, and works its own diminution or extinc- 
 tion. Pain gives warning of impending dangers to life and 
 happiness. Pleasure trains to religion and a blissful eter- 
 nity. Such is the voice of God within us, and such is the 
 voice of nature without us. But let it be borne in mind 
 that the happiness here spoken of is that which is con- 
 sistent with virtue, when indulged in to a rational or legiti- 
 mate extent. Man may run into excess in the pursuit of 
 happiness, or he may indulge in vice and dissipation, 
 thinking happiness lies therein. In either case, the result 
 will be the reverse of what he expects, for the choicest 
 blessings of life are only precious when used in moderation. 
 The vital and unextinguishable sense of right and wrong, 
 the love of good, and the abhorrence of evil, which God 
 has implanted in man's nature, together with the system 
 of perpetual training through rewards and punishments 
 which He has established, must and will ultimately pre- 
 vail, and ensure the ascendency and triumph of the good, 
 the right, and the true, against all adverse influences. 
 Any other idea than this is an imputation against the 
 righteousness of God's purpose and the perfection of His 
 work in creating man. When man brings to bear all the 
 faculties of his mind reason as well as instinct with a 
 view of ascertaining God's will and purposes in relation to 
 him, and his proper duty to God, the result must be a 
 more satisfying, a sounder, and a more abiding faith in the 
 correctness of the conclusions arrived at than can possibly 
 be the case when his several faculties are at variance on 
 the subject. A faith predicated on the infallibility of the 
 Bible, which in many instances runs counter to itself, is not 
 a safe guide to the future destiny of an immortal spirit, 
 thirsting for enlarged supplies of knowledge and holiness. 
 
9 6 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 What is termed evil in connection with the spiritual or 
 mental part of man results from his not being perfect, as 
 God is perfect. This is a necessity. The creature must 
 be lower than the Creator. But the inquiry not unnatu- 
 rally presents itself why has God placed man so low? 
 Why has He allowed so much seeming evil to exist that 
 man's happiness and well-being are apparently put in 
 jeopardy ? Why was man not endowed, at his creation, 
 with a free agency so limited as materially to diminish the 
 evil that now attends him ? These are questions which 
 are altogether beyond our present understanding. The 
 proper answer is known only to God ; but that it is best 
 to be as it is, there can be no doubt. It is inconceivable 
 that what God has done involves other than the greatest 
 possible good. Man is to comprehend so much of God's 
 purposes or ways as is necessary for his good and hap- 
 piness while in this life in order to prepare him for the 
 next. God's infinite perfections guarantee this ; and His 
 benevolent purposes, in creating man, are beyond the 
 possibility of question. To feel such trust in God as this 
 acknowledgment implies, is man's highest privilege and 
 his indispensable solace. God has given him this abiding 
 confidence, with its attendant charm of reliance, through 
 such means as admit of no failure. A majority of man- 
 kind may never proclaim it in words ; but nevertheless 
 each and every human being that ever came to con- 
 sciousness proclaims it in thousands of ways that are 
 pleasing to God. The multitudes of cheerful spirits and 
 bright and happy upturned faces that we meet daily ex- 
 hibit a never-flagging hope of better things to come. 
 This blessed hope is an emanation from God, to cheer us 
 onward ; and it betokens more and more precious treas- 
 ures in store for us hereafter. For God can neither de- 
 ceive, nor engender delusive hopes, to cheat or mislead 
 His creatures. 
 
 Time, with its never-ceasing tread, hurries man to his 
 
Man's Trust in God 97 
 
 unseen destiny, and yet he trembles not, nor fears. Let 
 all bless God in their hearts that such is the glorious re- 
 ward of this implicit trust founded in the depths of each 
 human soul, echoed from heart to heart, and chimed 
 throughout all nature by its every aspect and mood. It 
 must all be well for those who have the great, the just, the 
 perfect God for their pilot and sponsor ; and, vast as is the 
 difference between the perfection of God and the frailty 
 of short-sighted man, yet man is still encouraged to make 
 efforts though feeble they may be to approach God's 
 goodness and knowledge, and to start on the high career 
 of assimilating himself to God's perfection. He finds 
 that at each step he gains new accessions of strength, 
 brighter light, and stronger aspirations and impulses to 
 press onward. This encouragement and this help come 
 from Him who knows the vastness of the object aimed at, 
 the means to be used, and the degree of success that awaits 
 the seemingly futile effort. These conceptions open to 
 our view a prospect of stupendous magnificence and glory. 
 They show that it is in reserve for man to progress through 
 countless ages, adding knowledge to knowledge, and ex- 
 cellence to excellence, and to be ever approaching nearer 
 and nearer to God's perfect holiness. They intimate that 
 man is permitted to be an active and free agent, under 
 God's supervision, in contributing to his own advance- 
 ment and the carrying out of God's benign purposes. 
 May not this view, to some extent, illustrate the wisdom 
 of God in placing man so low, and with such a glorious 
 career before him ? May not the sum total of man's happi- 
 ness be greater as he is ever emerging from a dimmer to a 
 brighter light, from one stage of happiness to another 
 still higher, ever advancing in his aims and longings for 
 an existence far above and superior to this, where he will 
 be blessed with an increased knowledge of the mysteries 
 of creation and God's wondrous ways ? Does not this ac- 
 cord with what we know of our own natures and expe- 
 
98 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 rience here? Is not our appreciation of the things around 
 us assisted by contrast? Are not our very pleasures 
 heightened by expectation ? Each aim we have accom- 
 plished begets higher aims, nobler purposes, and increased 
 energies, if we are but true to ourselves and our innate 
 promptings and inspirations. Each and every gloomy, 
 dark foreboding that lies in the path of life will ultimately, 
 under God's inscrutable providence, be made subservient 
 to our welfare and happiness. This is constantly being 
 illustrated during our brief sojourn on earth ; and to an ex- 
 tent and in ways so mysterious and unlooked-for that the 
 evidence of our senses leads us to the same conclusions as 
 does faith, based upon God's wisdom, goodness, and just- 
 ice, and manifested throughout all His works. God seems 
 to take delight in making darkness available and subserv- 
 ient to the appreciation of the splendour of His works, 
 and to a reverence and worship of Himself. The high 
 sense of beauty and the pious emotions that spring up 
 within us on viewing the countless stars spangling the 
 firmament would be lost to us, but from being con- 
 trasted with the darkness of the night. Viewed from the 
 shaded side of earth and of life, the true glory of heaven 
 is better seen, and the value of God's goodness and wis- 
 dom is more appreciated. 
 
 That species of evil which is denominated pain, and 
 which relates to the physical, or material part of man, is 
 unmistakably ordained of God for man's ultimate good. 
 Matter, unlike the mind or spirit of man, is destined to 
 dissolution and to a return to dust. Man, by his intui- 
 tions and by the other faculties of his mind, desires and 
 is led to the preservation of the body to the fullest extent 
 practicable. Without the instrumentality of pain, man 
 would not be able to do his body the good offices and serv- 
 ices which he does now, and which are indispensable to 
 the continuation of his species, even for but a very brief 
 space of time. Each and every sensation of bodily pain 
 
Pain A Blessing 99 
 
 is a warning that the welfare of the body is endangered 
 and requires the good offices of its co-partner the intel- 
 lect in its behalf. This monitor, pain, therefore, of all 
 others, is the one most likely to be recognised and obeyed ; 
 and, in general, as the danger is more imminent, so is the 
 monitor more persistent in his demands for an immediate 
 attention to his warnings. As a general rule, whatever 
 pertains to the health, vigour, and preservation of the body 
 is attended with more or less pleasure ; while whatever 
 tends to its destruction is painful. We not only, there- 
 fore, have a sleepless sentinel on duty, to proclaim ap- 
 proaching danger ; we have premiums offered for attending 
 to the legitimate wants of our own bodies, and for striving 
 to promote our own happiness. How beautifully and forci- 
 bly does this illustrate God's benevolence and more than 
 fatherly care over us ! The contemplation of it adds con- 
 firmation to confirmation and faith to faith if such a 
 thing be possible that man's greatest ultimate good is 
 perfectly consistent with his seemingly lowly and appar- 
 ently unfortunate condition here, moral and physical. It 
 is an unmistakable evidence that God's consummate wis- 
 dom can bring beauty out of seeming uncomeliness, and 
 clear up and disperse all the apparent gloom and imperfec- 
 tion, in His infinite perfection and brightness. 
 
 In the present world, man so far as his body is con- 
 cerned is subject to casualty and the destructive powers 
 of nature, equally with the lower animals. But as this 
 life is only the beginning of an existence that will never 
 end, and is under the Divine guidance, one can but have 
 faith that it matters little at what period of time the 
 transit to the higher life takes place. If it were import- 
 ant, life would not have been subject to the numerous 
 contingencies that now beset it. And yet the teaching of 
 God through our instincts is to cling to life while we may, 
 leaving the time of our departure to casualties beyond our 
 control. In reflecting upon this, how comforting it is to 
 
ioo One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 know that we are the objects of God's goodness and care ! 
 We see but the threshold of our destined existence. We 
 have but to strive unceasingly, and never to weary in 
 well-doing, confidently leaving the issue to God. 
 
 But this subject of our existence here and hereafter, and 
 of the connection between the two periods, may well bear 
 to be further contemplated. This life, then, and this 
 earth are but the time and place, the when and where, 
 each human soul embarks for eternity. The longest life 
 is as but a moment of time in comparison with the soul's 
 duration. The earth is but the stage whereon each hu- 
 man soul, among the myriads that are launched into 
 eternity, is moulded, and like the person individually 
 endowed with an identity peculiar to itself and resem- 
 bling none other precisely. The belief that our individual- 
 ity and identity in this world shall be preserved to us in 
 the world to come that we shall connect the conscious- 
 ness of ourselves beyond the grave with that of ourselves 
 here, and be so recognisable by others is corroborated 
 by a fact in our human experience that cannot be gain- 
 said. Millions upon millions of inhabitants come and 
 go upon the face of the earth ; and yet no two among 
 them bear such close resemblance as to prevent intimate 
 acquaintances singling them out from all others. And as 
 with the body, so with the soul. We none of us have an 
 exact spiritual counterpart a fact that is obvious to all 
 students of the inner man, though not palpable at a mo- 
 ment's glance, as is the corporeal divergence. Now this 
 being the case, the extreme difference between the most 
 dissimilar persons being so small that they may be classed 
 as a whole, and yet so distinctly marked that each stands 
 out as it were alone, is it possible not to see herein a pur- 
 posed design of God ? And to what purpose can this 
 point, more rational and more in accordance with His per- 
 fect plans than that the probation intended to lead man 
 heavenward, and barely dawning here on the longest- 
 
Man's Individuality Hereafter 101 
 
 lived, shall continue when we go hence, through what 
 is our morning, up to the splendour of an everlasting 
 day ? The more we contemplate God's wisdom and the 
 harmonious workings of His systems, the more are we 
 confirmed in this view. It is at least more probable that 
 God will give the being whom He Himself created an 
 opportunity of learning to comprehend His mysteries, and 
 of rendering Him homage, than that, after a mere com- 
 parative spasm of existence, man is at once promoted to a 
 region of eternal bliss, or plunged into everlasting torment. 
 That this cannot be so and be consistent with God's just- 
 ice, is the more manifest when we remember that a large 
 portion of the human race have their sojourn upon earth 
 curtailed by causes beyond their own control to the 
 hundredth part of that of others, and that surrounding 
 circumstances must often alone determine man's progress 
 towards the heaven or the hell which the theologians 
 flaunt before him. We know that these same churchmen 
 have great difficulty in reconciling this, their peculiar 
 phase of God's character, with the other attributes wherein 
 they clothe Him. The true solution of this whole diffi- 
 culty is to clear away church theology and substitute in 
 its 'place a wholesome belief that God has assigned etern- 
 ity for the endless education, and as the mode and manner 
 of it is of God's ordaining, who shall doubt its bringing all 
 men to supreme bliss in God's good time ? 
 
 Since no man can be wise, as God is wise, and since 
 neither human reason nor experience can supply the de- 
 ficiency in working out his destiny under his free agency, 
 instinct makes up for what he lacks in other respects. But 
 since man, as now constituted and endowed, is always li- 
 able to deviate from right, and so bring more or less mental 
 or bodily pain upon himself and others, some might say, 
 why not have prevented the possibility of evil if evil 
 it be by giving man such instincts as would have made it 
 entirely unnecessary that he should be constituted a free 
 
102 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 and consequently an accountable agent ? But will any 
 one say that he would have preferred this ? Would he 
 not rather say : " The present system of limited agency 
 is far more satisfactory to me ? To have no control over 
 my destiny annihilates my individuality. Rather let me 
 have the responsibility which attaches to free agency, than 
 the degradation which is involved in not having any 
 share in shaping out my present life and future destiny. 
 Rather let me, under the influence of volition and by ac- 
 tions that are my own, enter into the joys, sympathies, 
 and griefs of life as it is. This best satisfies my nature 
 and the cravings of my spirit. Let me be loved because 
 of the peculiarity and personality which is the result 
 of my own volition and acts ; and let me love those whom 
 I may love because they have had a share in the making 
 up of their own peculiar personality. In this is the crown- 
 ing joy of life." 
 
 May not the crowning joys of Eternity be considered in 
 a somewhat similar light ? May not influences in a meas- 
 ure akin to this ultimately prevail in perfecting man's 
 love of his Maker ? Intuition as we have frequent occa- 
 sion to remark renders it imperative that man should 
 acknowledge a God above him. So far, there is no exer- 
 cise of free will. It is only an acquaintance with God's 
 works and an insight into His dealings with man that 
 can convert this knowledge into reverence. Herein the 
 free will is partially exercised. But it is only a thorough 
 appreciation of God's infinite loveliness that can impart 
 full impulse to volition and transform this reverence into 
 love that is worthy of its object. Nature endues a mother 
 with affection for the child born of her unattractive, 
 ugly, peevish, troublesome though it be. This is instinct. 
 How much more intense is her attachment if the little 
 being be supremely fair and gifted with every infantile 
 grace ! This is love. So it may be with man hereafter, 
 when, in another stage of his existence, the marvellous 
 
Instinct and Reason 103 
 
 beauty of God's character and attributes is gradually re- 
 vealed to him. We believe, indeed, that God has prede- 
 termined to make His self-constituted and self-sustained 
 perfection apparent to all men. 
 
 We believe that every man will eventually love Him, 
 and strive more and more to serve Him not alone from 
 those spontaneous movements within that impose no re- 
 straint on his own free agency, but also from these emo- 
 tions that emanate from his own free will. 
 
 The instincts of man which have reference to his spir- 
 itual or divine nature are the primary foundation of 
 man's religion. The office of the reasoning faculties is 
 distinct from that of the instincts. The instincts are more 
 necessary, because they are ever shedding upon our on- 
 ward path a light indispensable to us in groping our way 
 through this chequered scene. They are the inexhaust- 
 ible fountain whence is drawn every noble purpose, every 
 incentive to good, kind, and generous deeds. Man, as a 
 free agent, acting under and by force of his reason and all 
 his faculties, other than instinct, would stumble, fall, and 
 utterly fail in his progress through life ; but as it is, he 
 has ever with him a safe pilot a guardian angel, as it 
 were, guided by a higher mind than his own. There are 
 certain duties that God has assigned to man during his 
 stewardship here, the proper performance of which is too 
 important and too difficult of understanding to be en- 
 trusted to man's reasoning faculties alone, even when of 
 the highest order and fully matured, much less when the 
 reverse is the case. Instinct is indispensable to the wel- 
 fare both of the body and soul. It is given by God to 
 ensure that, while man is to a certain extent entrusted 
 with working out his own destiny, God's benevolent pur- 
 pose towards him shall ultimately prevail. And while 
 there is, judging from observation here, a vast difference 
 in the endowment of individuals in relation to all those 
 faculties of the mind which are subject to cultivation and 
 
102 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 and consequently an accountable agent ? But will any 
 one say that he would have preferred this ? Would he 
 not rather say : " The present system of limited agency 
 is far more satisfactory to me ? To have no control over 
 my destiny annihilates my individuality. Rather let me 
 have the responsibility which attaches to free agency, than 
 the degradation which is involved in not having any 
 share in shaping out my present life and future destiny. 
 Rather let me, under the influence of volition and by ac- 
 tions that are my own, enter into the joys, sympathies, 
 and griefs of life as it is. This best satisfies my nature 
 and the cravings of my spirit. Let me be loved because 
 of the peculiarity and personality which is the result 
 of my own volition and acts ; and let me love those whom 
 I may love because they have had a share in the making 
 up of their own peculiar personality. In this is the crown- 
 ing joy of life." 
 
 May not the crowning joys of Eternity be considered in 
 a somewhat similar light ? May not influences in a meas- 
 ure akin to this ultimately prevail in perfecting man's 
 love of his Maker ? Intuition as we have frequent occa- 
 sion to remark renders it imperative that man should 
 acknowledge a God above him. So far, there is no exer- 
 cise of free will. It is only an acquaintance with God's 
 works and an insight into His dealings with man that 
 can convert this knowledge into reverence. Herein the 
 free will is partially exercised. But it is only a thorough 
 appreciation of God's infinite loveliness that can impart 
 full impulse to volition and transform this reverence into 
 love that is worthy of its object. Nature endues a mother 
 with affection for the child born of her unattractive, 
 ugly, peevish, troublesome though it be. This is instinct. 
 How much more intense is her attachment if the little 
 being be supremely fair and gifted with every infantile 
 grace ! This is love. So it may be with man hereafter, 
 when, in another stage of his existence, the marvellous 
 
Instinct and Reason 103 
 
 beauty of God's character and attributes is gradually re- 
 vealed to him. We believe, indeed, that God has prede- 
 termined to make His self-constituted and self-sustained 
 perfection apparent to all men. 
 
 We believe that every man will eventually love Him, 
 and strive more and more to serve Him not alone from 
 those spontaneous movements within that impose no re- 
 straint on his own free agency, but also from these emo- 
 tions that emanate from his own free will. 
 
 The instincts of man which have reference to his spir- 
 itual or divine nature are the primary foundation of 
 man's religion. The office of the reasoning faculties is 
 distinct from that of the instincts. The instincts are more 
 necessary, because they are ever shedding upon our on- 
 ward path a light indispensable to us in groping our way 
 through this chequered scene. They are the inexhaust- 
 ible fountain whence is drawn every noble purpose, every 
 incentive to good, kind, and generous deeds. Man, as a 
 free agent, acting under and by force of his reason and all 
 his faculties, other than instinct, would stumble, fall, and 
 utterly fail in his progress through life ; but as it is, he 
 has ever with him a safe pilot a guardian angel, as it 
 were, guided by a higher mind than his own. There are 
 certain duties that. God has assigned to man during his 
 stewardship here, the proper performance of which is too 
 important and too difficult of understanding to be en- 
 trusted to man's reasoning faculties alone, even when of 
 the highest order and fully matured, much less when the 
 reverse is the case. Instinct is indispensable to the wel- 
 fare both of the body and soul. It is given by God to 
 ensure that, while man is to a certain extent entrusted 
 with working out his own destiny, God's benevolent pur- 
 pose towards him shall ultimately prevail. And while 
 there is, judging from observation here, a vast difference 
 in the endowment of individuals in relation to all those 
 faculties of the mind which are subject to cultivation and 
 
104 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 improvement, there is little or no difference in relation to 
 instinct the office of which is so important that all 
 God's living creatures have it, in ample strength and in 
 ample time. This is not the case with those other facul- 
 ties called mental. These are developed, in process of 
 time, according to our advantages, by observation, by ex- 
 perience, by comparison, and by study. This being so, 
 the improvement of them exhibits itself at different 
 periods and in different degrees in different individuals. 
 This is manifest to all men. We all recognise it in this 
 life, however it may be in the next. 
 
 Does God govern mankind entirely by laws established 
 at the first coeval with the creation of man ; or has He 
 subsequently, and from time to time, enacted and made 
 operative new laws to meet unforeseen contingencies? Is 
 God moved from day to day and from hour to hour by 
 prayer, or otherwise, to reverse or modify His general laws 
 for the government of men, by means of what are termed 
 special providences? If men are to be held accountable 
 for the breach of God's law, justice demands that the law 
 should be stable and sure, not vacillating or shifting, the 
 same deed being right to-day, and wrong to-morrow, and 
 vice versa; otherwise, man is without a reliable rule of 
 conduct, and his never-varying instinct and innate percep- 
 tion of right and wrong have no parallel in the laws of 
 God, no immovable standard of moral right by which he 
 can constantly direct his course. 
 
 Now, plain and undeniable as seem the conclusions here 
 suggested, they are directly in the face of those of Christian 
 theology ; they cannot both be true ; and if the Christian 
 theology be true, then God contrary to Bible phrase- 
 ology is a Being of change; and this makes the infer- 
 ence irresistible that He was not equal to adjusting all 
 things aright from the first, but only after trial, observa- 
 tion, and second thought. If this view of God is to be 
 taken as glorifying and worshipping Him, we not only 
 
Supposed Saviours 105 
 
 fail to perceive that such is the fact, but deem such view 
 most irreverent. 
 
 With a view to bringing the light to be derived from 
 history to bear on the question as to whether God's gov- 
 ernment was perfect from the first, or required subsequent 
 radical amendments and a never-ending round of adjust- 
 ments called special providences, by way of testing the 
 rationale of what is termed supernatural revelation, we 
 will state a supposed example. Let us say that five per- 
 sons have appeared upon the earth at various periods, but 
 all after many generations of men had lived and died 
 thereon. Each of these persons claimed to be entrusted 
 by God with a message of vital importance to every 
 member of the human family ; the character and import 
 of which had never before been made known to man. 
 The pretended new communication from God was to the 
 effect that every individual must have an unwavering 
 belief that a certain person, who was then, or had been, or 
 was to come, upon the earth, was the only medium through 
 which men could be saved ; that all who had this faith 
 would receive eternal happiness, and all who had it not, 
 eternal damnation. Up to this point, each of these five 
 persons delivered similar messages ; but here they di- 
 verged. Each now personally, or by followers, was de- 
 clared to be designated by God as the one to whom the 
 faith in question must be given in order to obtain salva- 
 tion. Suppose that these five messengers were named 
 respectively, Christ, Zoroaster, Buddha, Godama, and 
 Mohammed, each claiming to be the only Saviour of 
 mankind. 
 
 Now this supposed case furnishes substantially the facts 
 that have actually taken place among men ; and the re- 
 sult is that faith, more or less strong, has been divided 
 between the several persons named as Saviours. The 
 number professing faith in Jesus or living in so-called 
 Christian countries comprises about one third of the 
 
io6 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 inhabitants of the globe. This being the case, is there 
 any tenable reason why the Christian theology should be 
 held right, and all the others wrong ? We deem them all 
 alike fallacious. God sends His laws for the government 
 of mankind into the world by each and every inhabitant 
 thereof each being his own messenger; and as the law 
 enjoined by this message is of the same import at all 
 times and in all places, this message demands our faith in 
 preference to any other. 
 
 Again : if a man claims that he was the first person to 
 whom God made known a new law, to be added to His 
 former laws for the government of mankind which had 
 answered their purpose for generation after generation of 
 men, but which now required amendment and addition, 
 we cannot credit him. We have unbounded and unex- 
 tinguishable faith that God is perfect and unchangeable, 
 and that His laws to govern man must have been perfect 
 and all-sufficient from the first. We cannot put faith in 
 any one who pretends that God added to His original 
 code a vital and imperative law for man's government, 
 long after many men had lived and died. None, we say, 
 who hold that God is perfect and unchangeable, can pos- 
 sibly credit such a story ; neither can they reconcile it to 
 their views that God, who makes sure that all His ways 
 are perfect, should confide to a single individual an all-im- 
 portant message intended for the benefit of each one of 
 the human race. 
 
 To those whose conception of God is no higher than 
 one involving additional enactments, alterations, and espe- 
 cial providences, as unforeseen occasions may require for 
 the government of the world, another difficulty presents 
 itself. If, according to their theory, it become necessary 
 for God to bring forward the especial messenger, for 
 the regulation of man's relations with his Maker ; and if 
 two persons appear simultaneously, each claiming to be 
 from God, both giving contradictory versions of the 
 
Supposed Saviours 107 
 
 claimed will of God how, under these circumstances, are 
 the advocates for the supernatural to determine which is 
 the true and which the lying messenger? The Bible itself 
 certainly will not give them much aid in distinguishing 
 the false from the true, if we may judge by its many warn- 
 ings. Ahab consulted four hundred prophets ; they were 
 all impostors, with the exception of Micaiah. " The pro- 
 phets," saith the Lord to Jeremiah, " prophesy lies in my 
 name ; I sent them not, neither have I commanded them ; 
 neither spake I unto them : they prophesy unto you a 
 false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the 
 deceit of their heart " ; and elsewhere, " Thus saith the 
 Lord of hosts, hearken not unto the words of the prophets 
 that prophesy unto you ; they make you vain ; they speak 
 a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of 
 the Lord." Jesus himself did not implicitly rely upon 
 His own universal recognition. " Then," said he, " if any 
 man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, be- 
 lieve it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false 
 prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders ; inso- 
 much that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very 
 elect." 
 
 Christian theology, then, has no other foundation than 
 the conflicting claims of numerous prophets and miracle- 
 workers ; a majority of whom, according to Bible narrat- 
 ive, are false. We fail to perceive that any one of them 
 has more claims to be credited than another ; and must 
 consequently conclude that they are all alike incredible. 
 
 Saying we believe in Jesus is unintelligible, unless we 
 specify the nature of our belief, inasmuch as various de- 
 scriptions of belief have been connected with the name of 
 Jesus. During the few years of his public career, he as- 
 sumed three distinct positions before the world, while 
 during the first half-century after his death, yet another 
 and totally distinct position was assigned to him. 
 
 Belief in Jesus has therefore been construed to signify 
 
io8 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 in the first place, that he was a teacher of the way to 
 the inheritance of eternal life ; secondly, that he was the 
 Messiah, the person designated by the prophets to rule 
 over the Jews for ever on earth ; thirdly, that he was de- 
 stined to reign for ever over a new world after the destruc- 
 tion of the old one to be inhabited by the righteous only ; 
 fourthly and lastly, that he is co-equal with God, and the 
 Saviour of all men who entertain this belief. 
 
 Now these several offices three of which were assumed 
 by Jesus, while the fourth was thrust upon him after his 
 death differed so essentially from each other, as to render 
 it absolutely impossible that they could all have been ful- 
 filled. Passing by Jesus' first and unobjectionable position 
 that of a teacher of divine truths, or in other words, of 
 natural religion we ask, how could he reign everlastingly 
 as King of the Jews on the earth that then was, and yet 
 reign everlastingly also on a new earth which he was to 
 build up from the ashes of the old one ? It is just as plain 
 that Jesus has never ruled here in any Kingship as that 
 the earth never has been destroyed according to his pre- 
 diction. What he predicted therefore, with so much 
 eloquent earnestness, is both impossible according to 
 reason, and flatly contradicted by facts. Adding to this 
 the fourth office thrust upon Jesus, the puzzle is complete. 
 Where shall we turn for a reliable guide to true belief? 
 We say that men should turn to the One God, Jehovah. 
 He points unmistakably to the first and only religion, 
 which Jesus taught with signal effect, and which embraced 
 his true mission, and the only rational portion of his 
 course. 
 
 All the early followers of Jesus clung to the first and 
 third of the beliefs enumerated above, and confidently 
 looked for the destruction of the earth that was to be re- 
 placed by a new one, and for Jesus' second coming to 
 rule over them for ever thereupon. They clung to this 
 belief and this expectation up to and long after the time 
 
Jesus' Second Coming 109 
 
 predicted by Jesus for its fulfilment. In fact, the expecta- 
 tion of a coming millennium, so-called, upon earth, over 
 which Jesus is to rule for ever, has not yet entirely died 
 out. The belief and expectation no doubt originated in 
 the declarations of Jesus himself, which assumed a very 
 definite form, as he drew toward the close of his career. 
 " For," said he, " as the lightning cometh out of the east, 
 and shineth even unto the west ; so shall also the coming 
 of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcass is, 
 there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately 
 after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be dark- 
 ened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars 
 shall fall from Heaven, and the powers of the heavens 
 shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the 
 Son of man in Heaven ; and then shall all the tribes of the 
 earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming 
 in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory. And 
 he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet ; 
 and they shall gather together his elect from the four 
 winds, from one end of Heaven to the other. Now learn 
 a parable of the fig-tree : When his branch is yet tender, 
 and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. 
 So, likewise, ye, when ye shall see all these things, know 
 that it is near, even at the doors. Verily, I say unto you, 
 This generation shall not pass till all these things be ful- 
 filled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words 
 shall not pass away." 
 
 These citations embody Jesus' reply to the question of 
 his disciples : ** Tell us, when shall these things be ? and 
 what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of 
 the world." Jesus, moreover, elsewhere likened his com- 
 ing Kingdom of Heaven to a net which is made instru- 
 mental in dividing the godly from the ungodly. Some 
 further light is also thrown upon the literal signification 
 of Jesus' announcement by Peter's words in his second 
 Epistle : u But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in 
 
no One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 the night ; in the which the heavens shall pass away with 
 a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
 heat ; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall 
 be burned up. . . . Nevertheless, we, according to 
 his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein 
 dwelleth righteousness." 
 
 With reference to the expected destruction and renova- 
 tion of the earth, Mr. Lecky, in his History of European 
 Morals, has a comprehensive footnote : " The belief/' 
 says he, "that the world was just about to end, was, as is 
 well known, very general among the early Christians, and 
 greatly affected their lives. It appears in the New Testa- 
 ment, and, very clearly, in the epistle ascribed to Barna- 
 bas in the first century. The persecutions of the second 
 and third centuries revived it, and both Tertullian and 
 Cyprian strongly assert it. With the triumph of Christ- 
 ianity, the apprehension for a time subsided ; but it reap- 
 peared with great force when the dissolution of the empire 
 was manifestly impending, when it was accomplished, 
 and in the prolonged anarchy and suffering that ensued. 
 Gregory of Tours, writing in the latter part of the sixth 
 century, speaks of it as very prevalent ; and St. Gregory 
 the Great, about the same time, constantly expresses it. 
 The panic that filled Europe at the end of the tenth cent- 
 ury has been often described." The fulfilment of these 
 predictions of Jesus and his disciples in relation to the 
 destruction of the world by fire, like those in respect to 
 his second coming, has been so long delayed beyond the 
 expected time that the theologians have been obliged 
 either to abandon them as fallacious, or to assign to them 
 a meaning totally different from the obvious and origin- 
 ally received one, deduced from the plain meaning of 
 words. The new world is still to be created, just as Jesus' 
 promised throne of David remains still unoccupied. 
 
 The great craving of man's spirit is for the discovery 
 of truth. To gain an insight into the mysteries of the 
 
Man's Craving for Truth in 
 
 universe gives other and higher delight than merely to 
 admire its beauties. The first faint symptoms of this 
 passion for such it is are exhibited in early childhood. 
 The inquisitive boy either cuts the bellows, to see where 
 the wind comes from, or takes a watch to pieces, to find 
 what makes it tick. During adolescence and maturity, 
 the zest for knowledge increases in intensity with the 
 discovery of each new truth ; and as truths are ascer- 
 tained, and multiply, and their wonderful harmony with 
 each other is observed, the dawning of light within the 
 soul gains strength and becomes more luminous. 
 
 The poetical part of man's nature has its foundation 
 in truth and harmony the great characteristics of God. 
 The poetic instinct is the legitimate offspring of the in- 
 tuitions that apply to man's higher nature and destiny ; 
 and these, in conjunction with his other faculties, form 
 the ladder, as it were, upon which he ascends heaven- 
 ward. When the spirit soars into the higher regions of 
 imagination, under the excitement of a sense of the beau- 
 tiful, harmonious, and truthful, it is but God's mode of 
 giving man a ray of that sublime light which shines 
 brighter and brighter as he presses forward in the right 
 direction an indication that the soul is capable of a 
 more exalted state of existence and happiness than it has 
 yet realised, or than the things of this earth can reveal. 
 It is the whispering of God, to allure man to the sure 
 path that leads to his more congenial abode to his true 
 destiny. This perception and natural leaning, by and 
 through our instincts, to the well-being and happiness of 
 ourselves and our species, is analogous to that which 
 incites the bird of passage to mount upon its wings, and 
 speed its way from colder regions to the warmer climes 
 of the South, there to pass the winter season, and then 
 again to return to the North, the better to rear its young. 
 The still, small voice, that charms the bird hither and 
 thither, communicates not an idle tale ; it is truth, big 
 
ii2 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 with utility, involving life and death. The bird that pours 
 forth its tuneful strains, perched upon the tree-top, sings 
 not in vain ; in Nature's good time, his mate, the harbin- 
 ger of love and gladness and fruitfulness, will come, and 
 God's all-wise and benevolent purposes will be answered. 
 And so of that chant of love which Nature causes to 
 vibrate in the virgin and unwedded heart. It is but the 
 budding of the highest bliss that earth has in store for 
 humanity. It is God's mode of making His children sub- 
 servient to the accomplishment of His great ends. All 
 Nature is full of melody, to those who know how to listen. 
 Music, sometimes the more enchanting for being dimly 
 audible, is ever attuning the emotional soul to the lovely 
 and the sublime, and training it to a higher and higher 
 estate. Unwritten poetry, we say, pervades all nature. 
 Man is attuned to its harmony and its inspiration. The 
 infinite fancies and fond imaginings of man are not with- 
 out an actually existing object, either here or elsewhere ; 
 neither are they without utility. They contribute im- 
 measurably to the charms of life. They foster hope, that 
 blessed boon to man. They stimulate to nobler deeds, 
 and lead to loftier aspirations. Fiction and poetry, which 
 transport and thrill the soul in books, do but portray 
 some truth or truths recognised already as existing in 
 nature. If not, the spirit heedeth not ; the charm is 
 wanting, and the springs of life go still unquickened. 
 Poetry may, not inaptly, be likened to the flowers that 
 contain the embryo of luscious fruit, and that are all the 
 sweeter and more attractive because they promise some- 
 thing more valuable than the present sense enjoys. Not 
 that the flowers themselves are without real utility. By 
 their fragrance and beauty, they furnish a feast to some 
 of the organs of man, no less than does the fruit to others. 
 There is no quality or organ of man's nature, either of 
 body or mind, that is devoid of utility. No such anom- 
 aly can emanate from the Deity. Man's body, it is true, 
 
Yearnings of the Human Soul 113 
 
 cannot subsist on music, but music furnishes a rich feast to 
 his higher being. It can, and does, feed that part of his 
 nature, wherewith he is enabled to appreciate and enjoy 
 the harmony of God's works. As truth after truth is 
 added to the store of man's knowledge in relation to God 
 and His works, the more and deeper is he impressed with 
 the glory of the Author of the universe and the wonderful 
 harmony and accord of all created things. 
 
 This advance in knowledge and appreciation of God's 
 greatness and goodness, we deem, will be without end. 
 The lower animals and the physical part of man's being 
 find the means of satisfying their wants and cravings in 
 things pertaining to earth. Not so with the human soul ; 
 it has longings not satisfied in this life, qualities and 
 powers for the enjoyment of a nobler and higher exist- 
 ence, which find not the means of their realisation here. 
 There is nothing waste and nothing meaningless in the 
 feelings and faculties wherewith living creatures are en- 
 dowed. For each desire there is a corresponding object; 
 for each faculty there is room and opportunity for exer- 
 cise, either in the present life or in futurity. But for the 
 immortality of the soul, man's endowments would not be 
 in harmony with his destiny. He would be an exception 
 to God's universal order and fulness of all things an 
 anomaly in nature irreconcilable with the known and only 
 conceivable attributes and ways of God. 
 
 It is evident from the widespread and extensive practice 
 of using idols in devotional service, that it proceeds from 
 some strong, legitimate trait in human nature. All the 
 prominent errors of man so proceed. Among the power- 
 ful propensities which God has given to man is a restless 
 desire to search after, and penetrate into, the wonderful 
 mysteries of the spiritual and physical universe. But for 
 this thirst for, and advancement in, and acquaintance 
 with the knowledge and ways of God, man would fail to 
 prepare himself for his future destiny as God intended he 
 
ii4 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 should. Man, in his eagerness to see God, climbs the 
 tree, as did Zaccheus, or builds a tower as did Nimrod. 
 In primitive times the lowly in intellect and culture en- 
 deavoured to portray God, the incomprehensible, by the 
 help of tangible things ; and having singled out a figure 
 or symbol, availed themselves of it as giving some idea of 
 God. They, then, through such a symbol, poured out 
 their spontaneous adoration to that mysterious Being, 
 whose wisdom, through His works, they saw pervading all 
 things, yet not otherwise visible to the physical eye. 
 God, however, designed man for development and ad- 
 vancement, as He did the child in his progress from in- 
 fancy to manhood. The appliances and helps suited to 
 these ends for one age and stage of growth are unsuited 
 to a more advanced one. The present state of knowledge, 
 cultivation, and intellectual development in all civilised 
 nations is such that man should now allow nothing to 
 stand in the way between his own spiritual eye and the 
 great Spirit which fills the universe. 
 
 There is no room or occasion for a second or third 
 person in the Godhead. The Spirit of God pervades the 
 universe. It is an Infinite Mind, and must, of necessity, 
 be a unit. What God wills to do, and what God executes, 
 is without effort. No other idea is consistent with In- 
 finity. The utility or possibility of there being two or 
 three co-equal infinite Gods is as incomprehensible to 
 man as that there can be two or three infinite divisions of 
 space ; or that there can be two or three independent 
 existences of time. Yet two, and even three, co-equal 
 Gods are claimed as the Rock on which the Christian 
 Church is founded. This is idolatry. 
 
 The Christian Church claims, too, the infallibility of 
 the Bible, notwithstanding irrefutable evidence to the 
 contrary, and thereby again sets up an idol. The worship 
 of Jesus and the Virgin Mary is as much idolatry as is 
 the worship of the sun, the moon, the stars, and other 
 
Belief in a Supreme Power 115 
 
 objects worshipped by what are called idolatrous nations. 
 They who worship God through these material objects, 
 which are symbolical of the true light emanating from 
 Him who is infinite and ineffable Light itself, are much 
 more excusable, in view of the greater intelligence claimed 
 by Christians in these later times. 
 
 The various trains of thought and reasoning which lead 
 men from a consideration of the natural world to a con- 
 viction of the existence, the power, the providence of God, 
 do not require, for the most part, any long or laboured 
 deduction, to give them their effect on the mind. The 
 notion of such supremacy is universal and innate. In 
 many nations, in many periods, this persuasion has been 
 mixed up with much that was erroneous and perverse. 
 But the opinions of the intellect or the fictions of the 
 fancy do not weaken the force of such conviction. The 
 belief in a Supreme and Presiding Power runs through all 
 these errors ; and while the perversions are manifestly the 
 work of caprice and illusion, and vanish at the first ray of 
 sober enquiry, the belief itself is substantial and consist- 
 ent, and grows in strength upon every new examination. 
 It is an assurance that the mere existence of a law, con- 
 necting and governing any class of phenomena, implies 
 a Presiding Intelligence which has preconceived and estab- 
 lished the law. We cannot, then, represent to ourselves 
 the universe governed by general laws, otherwise than by 
 conceiving an intelligent and conscious Deity, by whom 
 any such laws were originally contemplated, established, 
 and applied. 
 
 The impression which thus arises, of design and inten- 
 tion exercised in the formation of the world, or of the 
 reality of a Prime Cause, operates on men's minds so 
 generally, and increases so constantly on every additional 
 examination of the phenomena of the universe, that we 
 cannot but suppose such a belief to have a deep and stable 
 foundation. Indeed, science shows us, far more clearly 
 
n6 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 than the conceptions of every-day reason, at what an im- 
 measurable distance we are from any faculty of conceiving 
 how the universe, material and moral, is the work of the 
 Deity. But with regard to the material world, we can 
 at least go so far as this : we can perceive that events 
 are brought about, not by insulated interpositions of 
 Divine power, exerted in each particular case, but by the 
 establishment of general laws. This, which is the view 
 of the universe proper to science, whose office it is to 
 search out these laws, is also the view which, throughout 
 this work, we have endeavoured to keep present to the 
 mind of the reader. We have attempted to show that it 
 combines itself most readily and harmoniously with the 
 doctrines of Natural Religion, that the arguments for 
 those doctrines are strengthened, the difficulties which 
 affect them removed, by keeping it steadily before us. 
 We conceive, therefore, that the religious philosopher will 
 do well to bear this conception in his mind. God is the 
 Author and Governor of the universe, through the laws 
 which He has given to its parts, the properties which He 
 has impressed upon its constituent elements ; these laws 
 and properties are, as we have already said, the instru- 
 ments with which He works ; the institution of such laws, 
 the selection of the quantities which they involve, their 
 combination and application, are the modes in which He 
 exerts and manifests His power, His wisdom, and His 
 goodness ; through these attributes, thus exercised, the 
 Creator of all shapes, moves, sustains, and guides the 
 visible creation. 
 
 How strongly then does science represent God to us as 
 incomprehensible ! His attributes as unfathomable ! His 
 power, His wisdom, His goodness, appear in each of the 
 provinces of nature which are thus brought before us ; 
 and in each, the more we study them the more impress- 
 ive, the more admirable do they appear. When then we 
 find these qualities manifested in each of so many sue- 
 
God's Laws 117 
 
 cessive ways, and each manifestation rising above the 
 preceding by unknown degrees, and through a progression 
 of unknown extent, what other language can we use 
 concerning such attributes, than that they are infinite? 
 What mode of expression can the most cautious philo- 
 sophy suggest, other than that He, whom we thus en- 
 deavour to approach, is infinitely wise, powerful, and good ? 
 
 But with sense and consciousness, the history of liv- 
 ing things only begins. They have instincts, affections, 
 passions, will. How entirely lost and bewildered do we 
 find ourselves, when we endeavour to conceive these 
 faculties communicated by means of general laws ! Yet 
 they are so communicated from God, and of such laws 
 He is the Law-giver. At what an immeasurable interval 
 is He thus placed above everything which the creation of 
 the inanimate world alone would imply ; and how far 
 must He transcend all ideas founded on such laws as we 
 find there! But we have still to go farther, and far 
 higher. The world of reason and of morality is a part of 
 the same creation as the world of matter and of sense. 
 The will of man is swayed by rational motives ; its work- 
 ings are inevitably compared with a rule of action ; he has 
 a conscience which speaks of right and wrong. These are 
 laws of man's nature no less than the laws of his material 
 existence, or his animal impulses. 
 
 All the laws which govern the moral world are expres- 
 sions of the thought and intentions of our Supreme Ruler 
 in relation to man. All the contrivances for moral no 
 less than for physical good ; for the peace of mind and 
 other rewards of virtue, for the elevation and purification 
 of individual character; for the civilisation and refine- 
 ment of States, their advancement in intellect and virtue ; 
 for the diffusion of good and the repression of evil ; all the 
 blessings that wait on perseverance and energy in a good 
 cause; on unquenchable love of mankind, and uncon- 
 querable devotedness to truth ; on purity and self-denial ; 
 
n8 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 on faith, hope, and charity all these things are indica- 
 tions of the will and future intentions of that God of 
 whom we have endeavoured to track the footsteps upon 
 earth, and to show His handiwork in the heavens. " This 
 God is our God, for ever and ever." And if, in endeavour- 
 ing to trace the plan of the vast labyrinth of laws by 
 which the universe is governed, we are sometimes lost 
 and bewildered, and can scarcely, or not at all, discern the 
 lines by which sorrow and vice and injustice from man 
 to man fall in with a scheme directed to the strictest 
 right and greatest good, we yet find no room to faint or 
 falter, knowing that these are the darkest and most 
 tangled recesses of our knowledge ; that into them science 
 has as yet cast no ray of light ; that in them reason has 
 as yet caught sight of no general law by which we may 
 securely hold : while, in those regions where we can see 
 clearly ; where science has thrown her strongest illumina- 
 tion upon the scheme of creation ; where we have had 
 displayed to us the general laws which give rise to all the 
 multifarious variety of particular facts, we find all full 
 of wisdom and harmony and beauty ; and all this wise 
 selection of means, this harmonious combination of laws, 
 this beautiful symmetry of relations, directed, with no ex 
 ception which human investigation has yet discovered, to 
 the preservation, the diffusion, the well-being of those 
 living things, which, though of their nature we know so 
 little, we cannot doubt to be the worthiest objects of the 
 Creator's care. We find if we never experienced pain, 
 we should be every moment injuring ourselves without 
 perceiving it. Without the excitement of uneasiness, 
 without some sensation of pain, we should perform no 
 function of life, should never communicate it, and should 
 have none of its pleasures. Hunger, which compels us 
 to take our required nourishment, is the commencement 
 of pain. Ennui, which stimulates us to exercise and 
 occupation, is a pain. Love itself is a longing which 
 
Conscience 119 
 
 becomes painful until it is met with corresponding at- 
 tachment. In a word, every desire is a want, a longing, 
 a beginning of pain. Pain is therefore the mainspring of 
 all the actions of animated beings. Inasmuch as want 
 involves pain, and since all our pleasures proceed from 
 the gratification of our legitimate wants, it is apparent 
 that God can, and does, cause even pain and want to pave 
 the way to man's happiness and well-being. 
 
 That all-foreseeing Power, who is the guardian of our 
 infirmities, has supplied to human weakness what human 
 wants required. There is a principle in our mind, which, 
 to us, is like a constant protector. It may slumber, in- 
 deed, but it slumbers only at seasons when its vigilance 
 would be useless. It awakes at the first intimation of dan- 
 ger ; and it becomes more watchful and vigorous in propor- 
 tion to the violence of the attack which it has to dread. 
 
 It is well that man is constituted independently of his 
 own will, and that he has so little power in shaping the 
 circumstances amid which he moves. He would have 
 needed a far more comprehensive view than he is equal 
 to, both of what is best for men in a community, and for 
 man as an individual, had he a creature of such brief 
 and narrow survey been left with the fixing either of his 
 own principles of action, or of his relation with the ex- 
 ternal world. That constitutional shame, that quick and 
 trembling delicacy, a prompt and ever-present guardian, 
 appearing as it does in very early childhood, is most 
 assuredly not the result of our anticipating either present 
 or distant consequences. Thus with reference to our 
 animal instincts, to which we have already alluded. 
 Other forces than those of human prudence and human 
 principle seem to have been necessary for restraining 
 within legitimate bounds a most powerful and fascinating 
 incentive, which, when improperly indulged, is deteriorat- 
 ing to the moral character ; and which, when once permitted 
 to lord it over the habits, so often terminates in the cruel 
 
120 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 disruption of families and the irretrievable ruin and dis- 
 grace of the offender. It is not by any prospective cal- 
 culation of ours that natural modesty acts herein as a 
 strong precautionary check. It is directly implanted by 
 One who sees the end from the beginning, and has made 
 it available to all men at all times by a monitor set up 
 within us. Conscience, as the supreme arbiter of all our 
 actions, superintends all our senses, passions, and appe- 
 tites, and judges how far each of them is either to be 
 indulged or restrained. When conscience prevails over 
 the other principles of our nature, then every man is led, 
 by the very make and mechanism of his internal economy, 
 to feel that this is as it ought to be ; or if these others 
 prevail over conscience, that this is not as it ought to be. 
 The object of conscience is the subordination of the whole 
 inner man to its dictates, and its proper, its legitimate 
 business, is to .prescribe what man shall be and what he 
 shall do. 
 
 Righteousness, it is felt, would not have been so en- 
 throned in the moral system of man, had it not been 
 previously enthroned in the system of the universe. This 
 is not a local or geographical notion. It is not, therefore, 
 the peculiarity of one creed, or of one country. It circu- 
 lates at large throughout the family of man. We can 
 trace it in the religion of savage life where theology has 
 not found its way ; it maintains its authority over the 
 artificial theology of a more complex and idolatrous pa- 
 ganism. Neither crime nor civilisation can extinguish it ; 
 and whether we find it in the fierce and frenzied Cataline, 
 or in the tranquil contemplative musings of Socrates and 
 Cicero, we find the impression of at once a righteous and 
 a reigning Sovereign. 
 
 The law of conscience may be regarded as comprising 
 all those virtues which the hand of the Deity has inscribed 
 on the tablet of the human heart ; and it is an argument 
 for these being the very virtues which characterise and 
 
Conscience 121 
 
 adorn Himself, that they must have been transcribed 
 from the prior tablet of His own nature. 
 
 Conscience speaks the same language, and owns one 
 and the same moral directory all the world over. True to 
 her office she gives forth the same lessons in all the coun- 
 tries of the earth. Let the mists of passion and artificial 
 education be only cleared away, and the moral attributes 
 of goodness and righteousness and truth will be seen 
 undistorted, and in their own proper guise and there is 
 not a heart or a conscience throughout earth's teeming 
 population which could refuse to do them homage. In 
 spite of the occasional diversity of moral judgments, which 
 are vastly less wide and numerous than is generally sup- 
 posed, there is a fixed standard of morals, to the greater 
 principles of which a full and unanimous homage is rend- 
 ered from every quarter of the globe. On the whole, 
 then, it is evident that conscience is founded on human 
 nature, and forms a constituent part of it, and may be 
 regarded as a faithful witness for God, the Author of that 
 nature, and as rendering to His character a consistent 
 testimony. This ascendant faculty of man, which may 
 be termed the divinity within us, notwithstanding the 
 occasional sophistry of the passions, is on the whole, 
 representative of the Divinity above us. Whenever an 
 act of iniquity or an outrage is done to the law of con- 
 science, there is felt a reaction within, which tells that 
 the outrage is resented. Then it is that conscience 
 makes most emphatic assertion of its high prerogative, 
 and, instead of coming forth as the benign and generous 
 dispenser of its rewards to the obedient, it comes forth 
 like an offended monarch in the character of a severe 
 avenger. In that instant pleasure and instant pain 
 wherewith conscience follows up the doings of man, we 
 behold not only a present judgment, but a present execu- 
 tion of the sentence, to the end that immediate repentance 
 and amended ways may follow. 
 
122 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 God is the rewarder of virtue. He has so constituted 
 our nature that in the very flow and exercise of the good 
 affections there shall be the oil of gladness. There is 
 instant delight in the first conception of benevolence. 
 There is sustained delight in its continued exercise. 
 There is consummated delight in its happy, smiling, and 
 prosperous result. Kindness and honesty and truth are 
 of themselves and irrespective of their Tightness, sweet 
 unto the taste of the inner man. Malice, envy, falsehood, 
 injustice, irrespective of their wrongness, have of them- 
 selves the bitterness of gall and wormwood. 
 
 It is thus manifest that a state of well-doing stands asso- 
 ciated with a state of well-being. The special virtue of 
 temperance is not more closely associated with the health 
 of the body, than the general habit of virtue is with 
 a wholesome and well-conditioned state of the soul. 
 There is then no derangement, as it were, in the system 
 of our nature all the powers, whether superior or sub- 
 ordinate, being in their right places, and all moving with- 
 out discord and without dislocation. In short, God has 
 so framed the creatures of His will that their perfect 
 goodness and perfect happiness are one. 
 
 To educate and win man to his greatest happiness and 
 true destiny God has spread diversified loveliness over the 
 panorama of visible things ; thrown innumerable walks of 
 enchantment around us ; turned the sights and sounds of 
 rural scenery into the ministers of exquisite enjoyment ; 
 and caused the outer world of matter to image forth in 
 profusion those various qualities which please or power- 
 fully affect us in the inner world of consciousness and 
 thought. God, we say, has thus multiplied our enjoy- 
 ments and invested them with such qualities as suit the 
 constitution of the human mind. He has pencilled them 
 with the very colours or moulded them into the very 
 shapes which suggest either the graceful or the noble of 
 the human character. 
 
Man's Confidence in Nature 123 
 
 He has so formed our mental constitution, and so 
 adapted the whole economy of external things to the 
 stable and everlasting principles of virtue, that in effect 
 the greatest virtue and the greatest happiness go hand in 
 hand. But the union of these two does not constitute 
 their unity. Virtue is not right because it is useful ; but 
 God has made it useful because it is right. He both 
 wills virtue and wills the happiness of His creatures this 
 benevolence of will being itself not the whole but one of 
 the brightest moralities in the character of the Godhead. 
 He wills the happiness of man but wills his virtue more ; 
 and accordingly has so constructed both the system of 
 humanity and the system of eternal nature, that only 
 through the medium of virtue can any substantial or last- 
 ing happiness be realised. Finally, it is worthy of special 
 note that while conscience exercises the same authority 
 and gives the same lessons, approves and disapproves of 
 the same things all the world over, it never condemns in 
 matters concerning the thousands of disputed creeds and 
 theologies abroad in the world ; may not this be taken as 
 proof positive that dogmas and doctrines form no part of 
 genuine religion ? 
 
 The Christian theology being entirely based upon super- 
 natural or special providences in contradistinction to the 
 absolutely stable and unalterable laws of God, we cite a 
 passage hereupon from the writings of Dr. Chalmers. It 
 will be seen that the views here expressed are completely 
 adverse to the idea of vacillating and shifting laws, such 
 as theologians pretend to recognise in God's government 
 of the affairs of this world. 
 
 " This disposition to count on the uniformity of Nature, 
 or even to anticipate the same consequents from the same 
 antecedents, is not the fruit of experience but anterior to 
 it ; or at least anterior to the very earliest of those of her 
 lessons which can be traced backward in the history of an 
 infant mind. Indeed, it has been well observed by Dr. 
 
124 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Thomas Brown, that the future constancy of Nature is a 
 lesson which no observation of its past constancy or no 
 experience could have taught us." 
 
 At whatever stage of the experience the inference may 
 be made, whether longer or shorter, whether often or 
 seldom repeated the conversion of the past into the 
 future seems to require a distinct and independent prin- 
 ciple of belief ; and it is a principle which, to all appear- 
 ance, is as vigorous in childhood as in the full maturity 
 of the human understanding. The child who strikes the 
 table with a spoon for the first time, and is regaled by the 
 noise, will strike again with as confident an expectation 
 of the same result as if the succession had been familiar 
 to it for years. There is the expectation before the ex- 
 perience of Nature's constancy ; and still the topic of our 
 wonder and gratitude is, that this instinctive and universal 
 faith in the heart should be responded to by objective 
 nature in one wide and universal fulfilment. 
 
 The proper office of experience in this matter is very 
 generally misapprehended, and this has mystified the real 
 principle and philosophy of the subject. Her office is not 
 to tell or to reassure us of the constancy of Nature ; but 
 to tell what the terms of her unalterable progressions act- 
 ually are. 
 
 The human mind from its first outset, and in virtue of 
 a constitutional bias coeval with the earliest dawn of the 
 understanding, is prepared and that before experience 
 has begun her lessons to count on the constancy of Na- 
 ture's sequences. But at that time it is profoundly ignor- 
 ant of the sequences in themselves. It is the proper 
 business of experience to give this information ; but it 
 may require many lessons before her disciples are 
 made to understand what are the distinct terms even of 
 but one sequence. Nature presents us with her pheno- 
 mena in complex assemblages ; and it is often difficult, in 
 the work of disentangling her trains from each other, to 
 
Man's Confidence in Nature 125 
 
 single out the proper and causal antecedent with its re- 
 sulting consequent from among the crowd of accessory 
 or accidental circumstances by which they are sur- 
 rounded. There is never any uncertainty as to the 
 invariableness of Nature's successions. The only uncer- 
 tainty is as to the steps of each succession, and the distinct 
 achievement of experience is to ascertain these steps. 
 And many mistakes are committed in this course of edu- 
 cation, from our disposition to confound the similarities 
 with the samenesses of Nature. We never misgive in our 
 general confidence that the same antecedent will be fol- 
 lowed by the same consequent ; but we often mistake the 
 semblance for the reality and are as often disappointed in 
 the expectations that we form. This is the real account 
 of that growing confidence wherewith we anticipate the 
 same results in th same apparent circumstances, the 
 oftener that that result has in these circumstances been 
 observed by us as of a high-water about twice every 
 day or of a sunrise every morning. It is not that we need 
 to be more assured than we are already of the constancy 
 of Nature, in the sense that every result must always be 
 the sure effect of its strict and causal antecedent. But 
 we need to be assured of the real presence of this ante- 
 cedent in that mass of contemporaneous things under 
 which the result has taken place hitherto ; and of this we 
 are more and more satisfied with every new occurrence of 
 the same event in the same apparent circumstances. This 
 is too our real object in the repetition of experiments. Not 
 that we suspect that Nature will ever vacillate from her 
 constancy for if by one decisive experiment we should 
 fix the real terms of any succession, this experiment were 
 to us as good as a thousand. But each succession in Na- 
 ture is so liable to be obscured and complicated by other 
 influences that we must be quite sure, ere we can proclaim 
 our discovery of some new sequence, that we have pro- 
 perly disentangled her separate trains from each other. 
 
i26 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 For this purpose we have often to question Nature in 
 many different ways ; we have to combine and apply her 
 elements variously ; we have sometimes to detach one 
 ingredient, or to add another, or to alter the proportions 
 of a third and all in order, not to ascertain the invaria- 
 bleness of Nature, for of this we have had instinctive cer- 
 tainty from the beginning, but in order to ascertain what 
 the actual footsteps of her progressions are, so as to con- 
 nect each effect in the history of Nature's changes with 
 its strict and proper cause. Meanwhile, amid all the 
 suspense and the frequent disappointments which attend 
 this search into the processes of Nature, our confidence in 
 the rigid and inviolable uniformity of these processes re- 
 mains unshaken a confidence not learned from ex- 
 perience but amply confirmed and accorded to by 
 experience. For this instinctive expectation is never 
 once refuted in the whole course of our subsequent re- 
 searches. Nature, though stretched on a rack, or put to 
 the torture by the inquisitions of science, never falters 
 from her immutability; but persists, unseduced and un- 
 wearied, in the same response to the same question ; or 
 gives forth, by a spark, or an explosion, or an effervesc- 
 ence, or some other definite phenomenon, the same re- 
 sult to the same circumstances or combination of data. 
 The anticipations of infancy meet with their glorious 
 verification in all the findings of manhood ; and a truth 
 which would seem to require Omniscience for its grasp, as 
 co-extensive with all Nature and all history, is deposited 
 by the hand of God in the little cell of a nursling's cogit- 
 ations. In the instinctive, the universal faith of Nature's 
 constancy we behold a promise. In the actual constancy 
 of Nature we behold its fulfilment. When the two are 
 viewed in connection, then, to be told that Nature never 
 recedes from her constancy is to be told that the God 
 of Nature never recedes from His faithfulness. If not by 
 a whisper from His voice, at least by the impress of His 
 
Man's Confidence in Nature 127 
 
 hand, He has deposited a silent expectation in every 
 heart ; and He makes all Nature and all history conspire 
 to realise it. He has not only enabled man to retain in 
 his memory a faithful transcript of the past, but, by 
 means of this constitutional tendency, this instinct of the 
 understanding, as it has been termed, to look with pro- 
 phetic eye upon the future. It is the link by which we 
 connect experience with anticipation a power or exer- 
 cise of the mind coeval with the first dawnings of con- 
 sciousness or observation, because obviously that to which 
 we owe the confidence so early acquired and so firmly 
 established in the information of our senses. Nature 
 never disappoints, or, which is equivalent to this, the 
 Author of Nature never deceives us. The generality of 
 Nature's laws is indispensable, both to the formation of 
 any system of truth for the understanding and to the 
 guidance of our actions. But ere we can make use of it, 
 the sense and the confident expectation of this generality 
 must be previously in our minds ; and the concurrence, 
 the contingent harmony of these two elements ; the 
 requisite adaptation of the objective to the subjective, 
 with the manifest utilities to which it is subservient ; the 
 palpable and perfect meetness which subsists between 
 this intellectual propensity in man, and all the processes 
 of the outward universe while they afford incontestable 
 evidence to the existence and unity of that design 
 which must have adjusted the mental and the material 
 formations to each other, speak most decisively, in our 
 estimation, both for the truth and the wisdom of God. 
 
 We have long felt this close and unexcepted while at 
 the same time contingent harmony between the actual 
 constancy of Nature and man's faith in that constancy to 
 be an effectual preservative against that scepticism which 
 would represent the whole system of our thoughts and 
 perceptions to be founded on an illusion. Certain it is, 
 that besides an indefinite number of truths received by 
 
128 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 the understanding as the conclusions of proof more or less 
 lengthened, there are truths recognised without proof by 
 an instant act of intuition not the results of a reasoning 
 process but themselves the first principles of all reasoning. 
 
 There is a comfort in being enabled to vindicate the 
 confidence which Nature has inspired as in those cases 
 where some original principle of hers admits of being 
 clearly and decidedly tested. And it is so of our faith 
 in the constancy of Nature, met and responded to, 
 throughout all her dominions, by nature's actual con- 
 stancy, the one being the expectation, the other its rigid 
 and invariable fulfilment. This perhaps is the most palp- 
 able instance which can be quoted of a belief anterior 
 to experience, yet of which experience affords a wide and 
 unexcepted verification. It proves at least of one of our 
 implanted instincts that it is unerring; and that, over 
 against a subjective tendency in the mind, there is a 
 great objective reality in circumambient nature to which 
 it corresponds. This may well convince us that we live, 
 not in a world of imaginations but in a world of realities. 
 It is a noble example of the harmony which obtains 
 between the original make and constitution of the human 
 spirit upon the one hand, and the constitution of external 
 things upon the other ; and nobly accredits the faithful- 
 ness of Him, who, as the Creator of both, ordained this 
 happy and 'wondrous adaptation. That we are never 
 misled in our instinctive belief in Nature's uniformity, 
 demonstrates the perfect safety wherewith we may com- 
 mit ourselves to the guidance of our original principles, 
 whether intellectual or moral assured that, instead of 
 occupying a land of shadows, a region of universal doubt 
 and derision, they are the stabilities, both of an everlast- 
 ing truth and an everlasting righteousness with which we 
 have to do. This is directly opposed to special provid- 
 ences, without which Christian theology is baseless. 
 
 Our ideas of the moral attributes of God must be 
 
The Moral Law 129 
 
 derived from our own moral perceptions. It is only by 
 attending to these that we can form a conception of what 
 His attributes are ; and it is in this way we are furnished 
 with the strongest proofs that they really belong to Him. 
 The peculiar sentiment of approbation with which we 
 regard the virtue of beneficence in others, the peculiar 
 satisfaction with which we reflect on each of our own ac- 
 tions that have contributed to the happiness of mankind, 
 and we may add, the exquisite pleasure accompanying the 
 exercise of all the kind affections, naturally lead us to 
 consider benevolence or goodness as the supreme attribute 
 of the Deity. It is difficult, indeed, to conceive what 
 other motive could have induced a Being, completely and 
 independently happy, to have called His creatures into 
 existence. The evils which we suffer are parts of a great 
 system conducted by Almighty power under the direction 
 of infinite wisdom and goodness. 
 
 The creation of beings endowed with free-will, and 
 consequently liable to moral delinquency, and the govern- 
 ment of the world by general laws from which occa- 
 sional evils must result furnish no solid objection to the 
 perfection of the universe. When man, ignorantly or 
 knowingly, violates any of God's laws, he receives the 
 punishment consequent upon his action and best for his 
 ultimate welfare. Such punishment is therefore in accord- 
 ance with God's goodness and justice utility being the 
 sole principle of action, as well in regard to punishments 
 as rewards. 
 
 The various duties of life agree with each other in one 
 common quality, that of being obligatory on rational and 
 voluntary agents ; and they are all enjoined by the same 
 authority the authority of conscience. These duties, 
 therefore, are but different articles of one law, which is 
 properly expressed by the word Virtue ; or still more 
 unequivocally by the phrase, The Moral Law. 
 
 The practice of morality is facilitated by repeated acts ; 
 
130 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 and, therefore, the word Virtue may with propriety be 
 employed to express that habit of mind which it is the 
 great object of a good man to confirm. " He that ruleth 
 his spirit feels himself greater than he that taketh a city." 
 " It is pleasant," says Dr. Tillotson, " to be virtuous and 
 good, because that is to excel many others. It is pleasant 
 to grow better, because that is to excel ourselves." We 
 are under an obligation to right, which is antecedent, and, 
 in order and nature, superior to all other. 
 
 Dr. Clarke has expressed himself nearly to the same 
 purpose. " The judgment and conscience of a man's own 
 mind concerning the reasonableness and fitness of a thing, 
 is the truest and most formal obligation, for whoever acts 
 contrary to this sense and conscience of his own mind, is 
 necessarily self-condemned, and the greatest and strong- 
 est of all obligations is that which a man cannot break 
 through without condemning himself. So far, therefore, 
 as men are conscious of what is right and wrong, so far 
 they are under an obligation to act accordingly." This 
 view of human nature is the most simple, so it is the 
 most ancient which occurs in the history of moral science. 
 It was the doctrine of the Pythagorean school, as appears 
 from a fragment of Theages, a Pythagorean writer, pub- 
 lished in Gale's Opuscula Mythologica. It is also explained 
 by Plato, in some of his dialogues. Adam Smith says : 
 " Upon whatever we suppose our moral faculties to be 
 founded, whether upon a certain modification of reason, 
 upon an original instinct called a moral sense, or upon 
 some other principle of our nature, it cannot be doubted 
 that they are given us for the direction of our conduct in 
 this life. They carry along with them the most evident 
 badges of their authority, which denote that they were 
 set up within us to be the supreme arbiters of all our 
 actions ; to superintend all our senses, passions, and ap- 
 petites ; and to judge how far each of them was to be 
 either indulged or restrained. Since these, therefore, were 
 

 Constancy of Nature's Laws 131 
 
 plainly intended to be the governing principles of human 
 nature, the rules which they prescribe are to be regarded 
 as the commands and laws of the Deity, promulgated by 
 those vicegerents which He has thus set up within us. 
 . . . By acting according to their dictates, we may be 
 said, in some sense, to co-operate with the Deity, and 
 to advance, as far as in our power, the plan of Provi- 
 dence." 
 
 Again : " Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would 
 that men should do to you, do ye even so to them ; for 
 this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew vii. 12). 
 This golden rule was embodied in the words of Confucius, 
 the Chinese sage, five hundred years before Christ ; and 
 again by Hillel, a Hebrew president, thirty years before 
 Christ. But all men have been under its influence, and 
 have been actuated by it, to a greater or less extent, since 
 the existence of man, independent of its having been 
 spoken or written. The principle upon which the saying 
 is founded is innate imperative in a degree, and none 
 can disregard it. 
 
 The generality or constancy of Nature's laws is indis- 
 pensable, both to the formation of any system of truth 
 for the understanding, and to the guidance of our actions. 
 The stability of God's law, we say, is indispensable to 
 our being educated to its observance, and yet the churches 
 inculcate that it is vacillating or being changed from day 
 to day, at the instance of prayer or other causes moving 
 God to reverse His general laws, the better to provide for 
 some special and unforeseen contingency. On this one 
 question, as to whether God's purposes and ways are 
 unchangeable or whether they are vacillating, hangs the 
 truth or fallacy of the pretended fall of man, and the 
 Christian scheme for his restoration. Mr. Buckle has 
 well observed that the ancient superstition is now slowly 
 though surely dying away, which represented the Deity 
 as being constantly moved to anger, delighting in seeing 
 
i3 2 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 His creatures abase and mortify themselves, taking pleas- 
 ure in their sacrifices and their austerities, and, notwith- 
 standing all they could do, constantly inflicting on them 
 the most grievous punishments, among which the different 
 forms of pestilence were conspicuous. It is by science, 
 and by science alone, that these horrible delusions are 
 being dissipated. Events which formerly were deemed 
 supernatural visitations, are now shown to depend upon 
 natural causes, and to be amenable to natural remedies. 
 Man can predict them, and man can deal with them. 
 Being the inevitable result of their own antecedents, no 
 room is left for the notion of their being special inflic- 
 tions. This great change in our opinions is fatal to 
 theology, but serviceable to religion. For by it, science 
 instead of being the enemy of religion becomes its ally. 
 
 That this remarkable improvement, the relieving of re- 
 ligion from dogma, is due to the progress of physical 
 science, is apparent not only from general arguments 
 which would lead us to anticipate that such must be the 
 case, but also from the historical fact that the gradual 
 destruction of the old theology is everywhere preceded by 
 the growth and diffusion of physical truths. The more 
 we know of the laws of Nature the more clearly do we 
 understand that everything which happens in the mate- 
 rial world, pestilence, earthquake, famine, or whatever it 
 may be, is the necessary result of something which has 
 previously happened. Cause produces effect, and the ef- 
 fect becomes in its turn a cause of other effects. In that 
 operation there is no gap and no pause. The chain is 
 unbroken ; the constancy of Nature is unviolated. Our 
 minds become habituated to contemplate all physical 
 phenomena as presenting an orderly, uniform, and spon- 
 taneous march, and running on in one regular and unin- 
 terrupted sequence. This is the scientific view. It is 
 also the religious view. Against it, we have the theo- 
 logical view; but that which has already lost its hold 
 
Providential Interference 133 
 
 over the intellect of men is now losing its hold over their 
 affections, and is so manifestly perishing that at present 
 no educated person ventures to defend it, without so 
 limiting and guarding his meaning as to concede to its 
 opponents nearly every point which is really at issue. 
 
 " While, however, in regard to the material world, the 
 narrow notions formerly entertained are, in the most 
 enlightened countries, almost extinct, it must be confessed 
 that in regard to the moral world, the progress of opinion 
 is less rapid. The same men who believe that Nature is 
 undisturbed by miraculous interposition, refuse to believe 
 that man is equally undisturbed. In the one case, they 
 assert the scientific doctrine of regularity ; in the other, 
 they assert the theological doctrine of irregularity. 
 
 " The doctrine that God governs the world by super- 
 natural and irregular means instead of never varying laws 
 is not only unscientific, but it is eminently irreligious. 
 It is, in fact, an impeachment of one of the noblest at- 
 tributes of the Deity. It is a slur on the omniscience of 
 God. It assumes that the fate of nations, instead of 
 being the result of preceding and surrounding events, is 
 specially subject to the control and interference of Pro- 
 vidence. It assumes that there are great public emerg- 
 encies, in which such interference is needed. It assumes 
 that, without this interference, the course of affairs could 
 not run smoothly ; that they would be jangled and out 
 of tune ; that the play and harmony of the whole would 
 be incomplete. And thus it is that the very men who at 
 one moment proclaim the Divine omniscience, do at the 
 next moment advocate a theory which reduces that om- 
 niscience to nothing, since it imputes to an All-wise Being, 
 that the scheme of human affairs, of which He must from 
 the beginning have foreseen every issue and every conse- 
 quence, is so weakly contrived as to be liable to be frus- 
 trated ; that it has not turned out as He could have 
 wished ; that it has been baffled by His own creatures ; 
 
134 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 and that, to preserve its integrity, its operations must be 
 tampered with and its disorders redressed. The great 
 Architect of the Universe, the Creator and Designer of 
 all existing things, is likened to some clumsy mechanic, 
 who knows his trade so ill that he has to be called in to 
 alter the working of his own machine, to supply its defi- 
 ciencies, to fill up its flaws, and to rectify its errors. 
 
 " Those who cling to these errors do so from the influ- 
 ence of tradition, rather than from complete and un- 
 swerving belief. From the beginning there has been no 
 discrepancy, no incongruity, no disorder, no interruption, 
 no interference ; but all the events which surround us, 
 even to the furthest limits of the material creation, are 
 but different parts of a single scheme, which is permeated 
 by one glorious principle of universal and undeviating 
 regularity." 
 
 Faith in an existence beyond the grave involves by 
 necessity the belief that man's spiritual individuality, his 
 consciousness of personal identity, is preserved to each 
 individual ; else the faith with which God has inspired 
 him in relation to happiness in another world would be 
 a delusion. Man can have no conception of future happi- 
 ness, or attach any value to the idea of it, apart from 
 associations with his present existence, or unless he blends 
 with it some recollection of his past existence, peculiar- 
 ities, and identity. Let a man contemplate his mind and 
 spirit waking up in eternity as from a sleep, with all their 
 faculties in full vigour, co-operating and performing their 
 normal functions as when united to the body here, and 
 possessing all the peculiarities that distinguished them 
 individually, yet without the slightest remembrance or 
 consciousness of his former being would such a future 
 be deemed of the smallest worth by any one ? If we are 
 not to know ourselves in the next world and to associate 
 our existence here with that of the world to come, then 
 it matters little whether it be another or ourself that se- 
 
Heaven and Hell 135 
 
 cures a more or less happy state in eternity, or any exist- 
 ence whatever beyond the grave. 
 
 In the infancy of the human race, when men were 
 slowly elaborating forms of speech to give utterance to 
 their thoughts, and communicate with their fellows, words 
 were invented that, however originally useful in them- 
 selved, have helped, in the progress of time, to circum- 
 scribe the intellect they were intended to enlarge. Such 
 words, to this day, exercise a prejudicial effect, and con- 
 vey false meanings and impressions. Thus the Bible 
 accounts of Heaven and Hell give an altogether errone- 
 ous idea of the imaginary states which they profess to pre- 
 figure. Heaven is represented as a place above the earth 
 a place heaved-up, like a vault or arch over the earth, 
 in which God is supposed to dwell. The discovery that 
 the earth is a globe, and not an extended plane, ought to 
 suggest an idea of Heaven more correctly applicable to 
 the fact; for it makes the words "up" and "down" 
 mathematically incorrect, and pertinent only to that ap- 
 parent plane commanded by the human eye. Still, how- 
 ever, not only the ignorant but the educated continue 
 to speak of " Heaven " as a place above the earth, as the 
 abode of God, a place inhabited in eternity only by 
 those who believe in certain doctrines which are incul- 
 cated here, and where the enjoyments prepared for them 
 are, according to most creeds, far more carnal than spirit- 
 ual, and pertain to the things upon which the sensual are 
 most addicted to set a value. For the faithful Christian 
 there are crowns of gold, to be worn in a city which is 
 paved with gold, whose foundations are garnished with 
 all manner of precious stones, and whose twelve gates are 
 of pearl. There are beautiful bowers and fountains, and 
 lovely " houries " for the eternal delight of the good 
 Mussulman. There are happy hunting grounds for the 
 immortalised Red Indian. 
 
 In like manner the word "Hell" which originally meant 
 
One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 a " hole/' or the " grave " has been used to create an 
 idea opposite to Heaven, the heaved-up abode of bliss, 
 and to signify a place below the earth, a place of eternal 
 punishment, the abode of the Devil, the representative 
 of the principle of evil, where unbelievers will be tor- 
 mented for ever in fire and brimstone. Astronomy ought 
 to make an end of both of these erroneous ideas, for it 
 proves that the universe is the abode of God the uni- 
 verse that embraces the earth, the stars, and every other 
 system that pervades the infinity of space. There is 
 therefore no room for Hell. The glorious universe swal- 
 lows up every atom of space that exists. If the terms 
 are admissible in any sense, Heaven is in reality a com- 
 paratively advanced state of happiness, here and here- 
 after, brought about by obedience to God's laws. Hell, 
 in like manner, is the state of mind, here and hereafter, 
 produced by disobedience to those laws. It is, within 
 certain limits, for man himself to decide or control, by his 
 own conduct, the amount of either that shall be his portion. 
 
 At every step in a train of argumentation we are in 
 the habit of affirming one thing to be true because of its 
 logical connection with another thing known to be true. 
 But, as this process of derivation must have a limit, it is 
 obvious that at the starting point to which some at least 
 of these trains of reasoning are traced back, there must 
 be truths which instead of borrowing their credibility 
 from others announce themselves immediately to the 
 mind by the original and independent and inherent evi- 
 dence pertaining to them. 
 
 Now, among those primary convictions of the under- 
 standing, those truths which come by necessity, first- 
 handed from God to man, we shall, for our present pur- 
 pose, cite only the one from which all others radiate ; to wit, 
 the existence of a God who is the Creator and Ruler of the 
 universe including man. Upon this undisputable truth 
 we claim may be founded with implicit confidence the 
 

 A Primary Conviction 137 
 
 following propositions : That He who made the universe 
 has no peer, no equal, is One and indivisible ; that He is 
 absolute in power ; that there is no devil or other being 
 disputing His sway, or at enmity with Him ; that He is 
 infinite in justice and goodness, and hence could not have 
 so ordained man and his surroundings as to permit of 
 other than eventual supreme good to each human being. 
 
 We hold that these views in relation to God naturally 
 flow from the bare contemplation of Him whose know- 
 ledge and power were and are equal to creating and sus- 
 taining the universe. We hold also that experience, 
 which shall never end, commences betimes in the life of 
 each man, to confirm him the more and more in his early 
 conceptions of God's excellence and glory. 
 
 This prime conviction of the existence of a God, and 
 the natural deductions from it, practically override all 
 false teaching, come it from whatsoever source it may, 
 and is ever confirming the true. We have said that a 
 self-evident truth, which must by necessity come to the 
 mind of every man first-hand, is the only reliable basis, 
 no less than the continuous cement of all sound reason- 
 ing. Where do the Christian Churches find this basis 
 and this cement ? Is it in their traditions, in their theo- 
 logies borrowed from the ancients, in their fabulous records 
 contradicted by history, in the unfulfilled predictions of 
 their oracles, in their miracles, which will not bear the test 
 of science, in their self-bestowed certificates of their own 
 infallibility, in the bloody doings of their hierarchy during 
 the Dark Ages, in their repulsive creed that dooms the 
 vast majority of mankind to everlasting anguish ? 
 
 Furthermore, the need of a base, or foundation, cor- 
 responding in solidity, and of universal acceptation with 
 that of the existence of a one Omnipotent and Indivisible 
 God, whereupon to rest the doctrines peculiar to the 
 Christian theology, as distinguished from natural religion, 
 is visible in the multiplicity of Christian sects, in their 
 
138 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 wars and persecutions among themselves in other times, 
 and in their divisions and heart-burnings of to-day. This 
 again brings up the question which distinguishes theology 
 from religion. 
 
 God has so constituted us that we thirst for know- 
 ledge adapted to our taste for the beautiful ; and He has 
 formed the world without to awaken echoes in the soul 
 within, so as to promote at one and the same time the 
 enlargement of the experience, the quickening of the 
 understanding, and the refinement of the feelings. 
 
 Each class of objects furnishes its quota of evidence. 
 The physical works of God give indications of power and 
 skill. The providence of God exhibits a governing and 
 controlling energy. Our spiritual natures lift us to the 
 conception of a living and spiritual God. 
 
 The phenomena which prove the existence of God 
 also demonstrate that He delights in the happiness of 
 His creatures. How delightful to find that every adapta- 
 tion indicating design also indicates benevolence, and that 
 we have as clear evidence of the goodness as of the very 
 existence of God. Let it be observed, too, that the mind, 
 as its general conceptions expand, will also have its idea 
 of God expanded. When Nature is viewed in a narrow 
 spirit it may leave the impression that there is an un- 
 seemly warfare, and that there are numberless contradic- 
 tions in the universe. The light of knowledge, as it rises, 
 dispels these phantoms, and discloses among apparent 
 incongruities and contentions a unity of being in the 
 Creator and Governor of all things. 
 
 The workings of conscience in the soul, besides furnish- 
 ing a curious subject of inquiry, carry us down into the 
 very depths of our nature, and thence upwards to some 
 of the highest of the Divine perfections. It is by this 
 light, which God has furnished to all men, and the train- 
 ing resulting from His unalterable laws, that God's good- 
 ness will become more and more apparent. 
 
God and Man 139 
 
 We have seen that in Judaism, Mohammedanism, Hin- 
 dooism, Buddhism, Christianity, and every description of 
 creed under the sun, the will of a living Being is asserted 
 as the ground of all things ; they all speak of Him as 
 declaring Himself, and as exercising a continual, not an 
 occasional, government over men. The universal recogni- 
 tion of a Divine, personal, unseen, Sovereignty; of One 
 who is not sought out by men, but who calls them to do 
 His work, is the foundation and strength of actual re- 
 ligion. He calls upon them to obey a Will ; each act of 
 obedience brings them into closer acquaintance with Him 
 who gives the command. 
 
 Man is taught that the evil which he is conscious of 
 in himself, and which he sees in others, comes from un- 
 likeness to the perfect Being in whose image he is cre- 
 ated. He has but a glimpse of the Divine purposes and 
 character, but it is such a glimpse as is suitable to his 
 necessities. He is taught that righteousness is a reality ; 
 that the government of the world is based upon it ; that 
 wrong and oppression are not meant to triumph. 
 
 But such a Revelation as this could never merely be 
 delivered to men as a book of sentences or maxims ; it 
 must come forth in a history of Divine law and human 
 acts. It must show how the Divine Will directed events 
 by means of a never varying law and disciplined men for 
 that perfect good, that knowledge of Himself which He 
 had designed for them. It must show how He cultivates 
 the faculties which He has given to His creatures, how 
 He enables them to overcome the darkness and difficult- 
 ies in the midst of which they are struggling, thus secur- 
 ing the predominance of right over wrong, and of virtue 
 over vice, and the clearer and clearer view of God's good- 
 ness and perfection. 
 
 In primitive times men in striving to comprehend the 
 characteristics of God, resorted by way of illustration to 
 those traits in human character which are quite at vari- 
 
140 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 ance with His nature. In many cases this course misleads 
 rather than edifies. Such passions and emotions, while 
 especially adapted to the necessities of finite beings of 
 limited power and knowledge and liable to err, have no 
 counterpart in God's higher nature. His infinite power, 
 knowledge, foresight, justice, goodness, in short His 
 supreme perfections preclude any such emotions, pas- 
 sions, or qualities as repentance, anger, pity, hope, fear, 
 love, mercy, hatred, forgiveness, surprise, gladness, levity, 
 revenge, disappointment, rejoicing, or jealousy. Nothing 
 can take place which God did not foresee would take 
 place at the time of establishing His perfect design, to be 
 worked out under the unalterable laws that He ordained 
 for the purpose. Since, therefore, it is man's high priv- 
 ilege to advance in the knowledge and appreciation of 
 God's goodness and perfections, in contemplation of Him 
 we should avail ourselves of the highest intellectual cult- 
 ure at our command. In this way, we confirm and add 
 to the original conception of God, taught us by natural 
 religion. This will lead us to a vastly more elevated idea 
 of God than those teachings which inculcate that He is 
 finite and vacillating, and which reduce Him to a level 
 with His dependent, short-sighted creatures. Love, mercy, 
 and forgiveness cannot apply to God in the sense in 
 which these emotions are understood and expressed by 
 man. Justice and goodness supersede them. God's 
 ordinances regulated by His infinite wisdom are such 
 that the exercise of mercy and forgiveness would be less 
 just and beneficial to man than otherwise, both in this 
 life and the life to come. It is far better for God to exact 
 to the utmost that penalty which He has attached to man's 
 misdoings, not as punishment, but as remedy inasmuch 
 as it is imposed upon him with the sole object of training 
 and fitting him to the destiny that God originally designed 
 for him. A jury sometimes recommends to the mercy of 
 the court a criminal whom they have condemned, because 
 
No Remission of Penalties 141 
 
 they are not altogether satisfied that the culprit is guilty 
 by the strict interpretation of the law, or because they 
 find mitigating circumstances in his case. Not so with 
 God He is enabled by His perfect foreknowledge and 
 wisdom to make sure that the crime and the punishment 
 are in exact fitness to each other ; and since they are so 
 adjusted for man's best interests, it would be unmerciful 
 to destroy this fitness, by the relaxation of any portion of 
 the penalty originally attached to man's misdoings. The 
 same considerations apply to love. If God's original laws 
 are strictly just, and all-sufficient for carrying out His 
 perfect purpose, and who shall doubt it, any exercise of 
 love that would alter man's original relation to those laws 
 would be unjust to him. God's justice is exact to the 
 most minute point, and admits of no amendment. Any 
 exercise of love or mercy on God's part that would 
 reverse His original decrees, presupposes God to be falli- 
 ble or unable to ordain all things aright from the first. 
 
 The parable of the Prodigal Son is intended to inculcate 
 the idea that God rejoices more over the repentance of a 
 sinner, than over the well-doing of a just man. What a 
 striking example of the unwarrantable application of 
 human passions to the Deity is this ! It is natural that a 
 father should experience an agreeable surprise and elation 
 at the return of a wayward son to duty. But God has 
 ordained that he who sins shall assuredly repent ; and 
 what God has imperatively ordained to take place can 
 afford Him no surprise or rejoicing at its consummation. 
 Every event or issue is the even flow of the purpose He 
 foresaw and intended from the beginning ; therefore the 
 parable in question is not a true illustration of the at- 
 tributes or emotions of God. Sincere repentance tends, 
 most forcibly, to turn men from their evil ways ; and 
 therefore Jesus did well when he charged his Apostles 
 to preach repentance, but inconsistently when he incul- 
 cated the idea that repentance brings remission of the 
 
142 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 penalty due to sin. This is impossible, inasmuch as 
 the punishment which sin entails is the sole cause of the 
 repentance. The effect of punishment and repentance 
 for sin were never meant to be retrospective ; but are in- 
 tended to warn us against the commission of sin in future. 
 For instance, the burnt child dreads the fire. This whole- 
 some dread in no wise assuages the pain of the burn ; but 
 it is an important lesson to the child to enable it to steer 
 clear of similar dangers, and the more effectual as the pain is 
 more severe. God's goodness and justice are here shown 
 in exacting the penalty, and thereby producing the re- 
 pentance ; since repentance leads to man's best interests. 
 
 Even the appellation of Father accorded to God by 
 Jesus much as it has done and is calculated to do in 
 giving some appreciation of God's goodness and care over 
 His creatures falls as far short of giving the true idea of 
 the extent and beneficial exercise of God's goodness as 
 weak man falls short of God's perfection. God, in dis- 
 pensing happiness to His creatures, goes to the extreme 
 bounds that is well for them, but never beyond. God, 
 knowing all things, does all things with a perfection 
 beyond man's conception. Neither Father, nor any other 
 human idea or figure of speech, can fully represent God's 
 goodness to His creatures. Jesus says truly, " there is 
 none good but God." 
 
 This view of Divine government involves a much more 
 elevated idea and worship of God than any other. The 
 perfect foreknowledge and power of God enabled Him so 
 to constitute man, and to ordain such laws for his govern- 
 ment, as to meet the exact requirements under every 
 possible contingency, without addition, amendment, alter- 
 ation, or abatement. In this perfect work is the strongest 
 possible manifestation of God's equal justice and goodness 
 to all men. The high and the humble are alike amenable 
 to His unalterable laws; and those laws are in exact 
 accordance with man's best interests. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE CRITICISM 
 
 GOD'S instructions to man through Nature, in relation 
 to his duties here, are so plain and unmistakable 
 that they cannot but be understood alike by all men, in 
 all ages of the world. Hence the inference is irresistible 
 that whatever is claimed to be a revelation from God in 
 relation to man's duty, whether in and through the Bible, 
 by miracles, or through any other means whatsoever, if 
 it be not so plain and devoid of obscurity as to be under- 
 stood, in this way, by all men, cannot have emanated 
 from God. 
 
 No man is bound to accept, as true, any averment in 
 the name of religion which is repugnant to the dictates 
 of his own conscience, or inconsistent with the justice and 
 goodness of God. It was never intended that anything 
 should be received as infallibly true, except that which 
 we perceive intuitively, or which is palpable from observa- 
 tion, or subject to unmistakable demonstration. 
 
 The character of the proof of the three following as- 
 sumptions is such that universal assent is given to them ; 
 first, the truth of the existence of the One God, Jehovah ; 
 second, the immortality of the soul ; third, that it is man's 
 duty and interest to conform to the moral and other 
 laws pertaining to his being. 
 
 Strong conclusions ought not to be drawn from im- 
 probable statements or imperfect premises. God requires 
 that we should believe only so much as can be fairly 
 deduced from the premises, or only so much as the cred- 
 ibility of the statement warrants. 
 
 143 
 
144 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 God has given us our mental faculties to enable us to 
 discriminate between truth and error, and he who makes 
 not this use of them arrives at truth, if at all, by mere 
 chance. 
 
 We cannot come to a full conviction of the truth of a 
 proposition, except on evidence which we deem full and 
 infallible. Every substantial structure must have a found- 
 ation proportionally substantial. 
 
 Maintaining these axioms, we now proceed to remark 
 upon the Bible, assuming that if in its entire scope it be 
 a true revelation from God, as Christian theology claims 
 it to be, whether its contents be derived from natural or 
 supernatural sources, or in part from each, there should 
 be perfect harmony throughout. No one can, consist- 
 ently, object to subjecting the claimed truth of the Bible 
 to the most rigid test, either by comparing its various 
 parts, one with the other, or with the established facts of 
 Nature, or with the moral consciousness of man ; or by 
 any other available mode of investigation. The Bible 
 should be able to withstand the most rigid scrutiny, 
 when viewed in connection with whatever truths may 
 serve to throw light upon it ; and it should be proof 
 against such logical deductions as may be brought to 
 bear against it. 
 
 We believe the Bible to be true only so far as its teach- 
 ings are in accordance with the teachings of God to all 
 mankind, through their natural faculties, holding that 
 there is no such thing as supernatural revelation. We 
 believe also that all pretended deviations from the order 
 which God established at the beginning are unproved, 
 and have their origin and advocacy in human ignorance 
 or fraud. Evidence of this is furnished most abundantly 
 in Bible record, as we shall attempt to show. Bible au- 
 thority will also be claimed as legitimate for the purpose 
 of controverting dogmas and doctrines that are professedly 
 founded on its contents. 
 
Vagueness of Prophecies 145 
 
 VAGUENESS OF PROPHECIES 
 
 All the prophecies, and most of the parables of Jesus, 
 are so extremely vague and uncertain in their meaning 
 (if any meaning they have) as to be susceptible of innum- 
 erable interpretations, all equally plausible, if compared 
 one with another ; and yet not one of the constructions 
 put upon the Bible text is sufficiently plain to be for a 
 moment relied on as a guide to that duty and faith upon 
 which, the Churches aver, hangs man's eternal welfare. 
 And even those portions of the Bible which are less ob- 
 scure than some to which we have alluded, are made to 
 have a far-fetched spiritual significance, totally at variance 
 with the wording. This answers a double purpose. First, it 
 rescues the dogmas, creeds, and theologies of the Churches 
 and clergy partially from discredit and overthrow ; and 
 secondly, whenever a figurative mode of expression is sub- 
 stituted for the plain meaning of words, it operates so that 
 there can be no end to equivocation and misrepresenta- 
 tion. Hence, each of the many sects finds material for a 
 specious building up its respective tenets, and each can 
 make it appear that its church is the only gate through 
 which to pass on to eternal bliss. None are wanting in 
 zeal in pushing their peculiar views (all of which depart 
 more or less from the early teachings of Jesus), solely for 
 the love of the dear people ; and yet they are ever mind- 
 ful of the toll which the wayfarer must pay at their gate. 
 Let us look at a few examples of this mode of inter- 
 pretation. 
 
 The plan of salvation taught by the Churches is through 
 faith in the Divinity of Jesus. This involves the question 
 whether the prophets were or were not supernaturally 
 endowed, and enabled to designate, centuries beforehand, 
 the identical person who afterwards was claimed to be 
 both God and man, co-equal with Jehovah ; and whether 
 Jesus was he whom they designated as that person. 
 
146 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 In order to prove that he was, resort is had to compli- 
 cated prophecies, visions, dark sayings, and dreams, all of 
 them most vague and uncertain in their interpretation 
 if indeed they have any definite meaning. This very 
 much confuses Church teaching ; but it holds church-goers 
 in wonderment and awe at the profundity of the Teacher 
 who claims to penetrate and expound this deep, and to 
 them unfathomable, system a system from which it is 
 claimed that most vital truths are extracted, and without a 
 knowledge of which truths, and the aid of their Teachers, 
 they the less knowing are led to believe that they 
 would be irrevocably lost. 
 
 As to the visions, dreams, and prophetic utterances of 
 mere men, as mediums for promulgating laws that are to 
 be accepted and binding on other men, some few remarks 
 may be pertinent. A man declares that God has super- 
 naturally revealed to him a new law, to be obeyed by all 
 other men ; and that God has attached to the neglect of 
 said law the penalty of everlasting torment. Now how 
 can we know this to be true, without supernatural revela- 
 tion to assure us that the prophet himself bears a true 
 message from God ? It is the essence of a law that he 
 who is commanded to obey should have a knowledge of 
 the authority of him who promulgates that law. But 
 there is no intuition or natural sense within us tending to 
 the recognition of these prophecies, utterances, dreams, 
 and vision, as being from God. Hence we are not bound 
 to obey what are called supernatural revelations, having no 
 reliable evidence of their truth, further than the mere 
 assertion of him who claims to have a message from God. 
 
 Now, if God ever speaks to man supernaturally (which 
 we feel assured He never does), the fact can only be known 
 by those to whom God has so spoken. No man can pos- 
 sibly bring home to another's understanding, how he can 
 have been spoken to directly and supernaturally, unless 
 the one to whom he addresses himself has also been 
 
Supernatural Inspiration Incredible 14? 
 
 spoken to supernaturally. If a man perceive the course 
 which he supposes to be proper for himself and others to 
 pursue, through his intuition, conscience, or natural sense, 
 it is easy to explain to another how God communicated 
 this, His will, because God has in like manner so commun- 
 icated with all men. In this way we can give more or 
 less credit to communications coming through others, 
 when they say that those communications were received 
 in a natural way : yet only when they bear evidence of 
 having been so received, and in proportion to the credi- 
 bility of the person ; and so far as the character of what 
 is communicated may be consistent with reason. But if 
 a man says he has been supernaturally inspired to com- 
 municate God's will to men, and he communicates that 
 which is a new thing, unheard of before by any one, 
 strange, and not in itself in conformity with man's natural 
 reason, intuitions, instincts, and conscience is it obliga- 
 tory on any second person to shape his conduct in accord- 
 ance with such pretended supernatural communication? 
 What possible claim can such a man have on the credulity 
 of others as having truly received from God a correct ex- 
 position of His will? 
 
 God has shown and beyond the ability of man to 
 throw a shadow of doubt on the subject that He makes 
 His will and laws for the government of all lower animals 
 perfectly efficient. His ends and purposes, through the 
 instincts and intuitions implanted in each respective race, 
 at the first, operating uniformly and universally, are, we 
 have a right to conclude, exactly suited to the bringing 
 about of the results which He intended at the creation. 
 That this analogy holds good in relation to man, may be 
 doubted by some, but cannot be disproved. No good 
 reason can be advanced why God should govern all the 
 lower animals by a mode entirely in accordance with His 
 perfect foreknowledge and infinite power, and yet govern 
 mankind in a way most palpably inferior, so much so as 
 
148 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 to require (according to popular theology) that each one 
 of the human family should report to God by words of 
 mouth such special amendments to His general laws as 
 they may think necessary to their individual welfare. 
 Now this is equivalent to attributing to God an absence 
 of that foresight, power, and infinite perfection which He 
 has made so manifest throughout all His work. We are, 
 therefore, under the thorough conviction that God gov- 
 erns man by His immutable laws, first established, oper- 
 ating alike upon every individual, for his best interest, 
 and requiring no alteration or amendment. This alone 
 is consistent with God's foreknowledge, justice, power, 
 goodness, and majesty. 
 
 All the prophecies which admit of a definite construc- 
 tion, both as to the things predicted and the time of their 
 coming to pass, have entirely failed to come to pass. The 
 following furnishes an example : " And as he sat upon the 
 Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, 
 saying, Tell us when shall these things be, and what 
 shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the 
 world ? " (Matthew xxiv., 3). The answer to these ques- 
 tions, we may fairly infer, is contained in the following 
 language made use of by Jesus : " Immediately after the 
 tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and 
 the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall 
 from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be 
 shaken. And then shall appear the Son of man in heaven, 
 and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they 
 shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven 
 with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels 
 with a great sound of a trumpet ; and they shall gather 
 together his elect from the four winds, from one end of 
 heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree. 
 When his branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, 
 ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye 
 shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at 
 
Failure of Precise Predictions 149 
 
 the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall 
 not pass till all these things be fulfilled " (Matthew xxiv., 
 29-34). And again : " Verily I say unto you, There be - 
 some standing here which shall not taste of death until 
 they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom " (Mat- 
 thew xvi., 28). Now these prophecies admit of no pre- 
 varication or shuffling, as is the case with most of them ; 
 and there can be no doubt that when Jesus made the 
 prediction that his second coming in person in the clouds 
 of heaven, with power and great glory, should take place 
 before the generation of men to whom he was then 
 speaking should all pass away, he fully believed it would 
 be fulfilled within the prescribed time, which is distinctly 
 marked in the most unmistakable terms. The failure is 
 complete. No person can argue to the contrary, with any 
 show of candour. This, of itself, in all fairness, is fatal to 
 the pretensions of Jesus' Divinity, and is highly damag- 
 ing to all his claims based upon the prophecies of the Old 
 Testament. Strauss remarks on this subject ; " Here we 
 stand face to face with a decisive point. The ancient 
 Church clung to this part of the doctrine of Jesus, in literal 
 signification ; nay, it was, properly speaking, built upon 
 this foundation, since without the expectation of his near 
 return, no Christian whatever would have come into ex- 
 istence. For us, Jesus exists only as a human being. To 
 a human being no such thing as he here prophesied of 
 himself could happen. If he did prophesy it of himself, 
 and expect it himself, it proves that he conceived himself 
 to be that which he was not." 
 
 " All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in 
 parables ; and without a parable spake he not unto them : 
 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, 
 saying, I will open my mouth in parables ; I will utter 
 things which have been kept secret from the foundation of 
 the world " (Matthew xiii., 34, 35). Here he, who is 
 claimed as God, is represented as making it a studied point 
 
150 One Religion: Many Creeds 
 
 to shape his conduct in accordance with prophecy. But 
 while Jesus shaped his sayings and conduct specially with 
 a view of making them thus conform, his followers put a 
 construction on them not warranted by the text, and thus 
 gained for him that credence without which he would not 
 now stand before Christendom as he does. 
 
 w, as to the parable of the Lost Sheep : " Then drew 
 near unto him all the publicans and sinners, for to hear 
 him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, 
 This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. And 
 he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, 
 having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not 
 leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after 
 that which is lost until he find it ? And when he hath 
 found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And 
 when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and 
 neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have 
 found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that 
 likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that re- 
 penteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons 
 which need no repentance " (Luke xv., 1-7). This 
 teaching is of doubtful utility, if nothing more. It indi- 
 cates that a person's character is elevated by wrong-doing. 
 God's mode of reclaiming the erring is by showing them 
 their folly through the upbraidings of conscience or by 
 other punishments, thereby producing a sense of degrada- 
 tion or pain and unhappiness. This produces repentance 
 and amended ways by necessity, sooner or later, and 
 always in God's good time, which we deem better than 
 rejoicing over the sinner, since it is God's mode of train- 
 ing to virtue. It is obvious that God's mode is directly 
 opposed to the deductions of Jesus from the parable on 
 this subject. 
 
 Again, the parable of the Prodigal Son : " Father, I 
 have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no 
 more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to 
 
Parable of the Prodigal Son 151 
 
 his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him, 
 and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And 
 bring hither the fatted calf and kill it ; and let us eat and 
 be merry. . . . Now his elder son was in the field : 
 and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard 
 music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, 
 and asked what these things meant. And he said unto 
 him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the 
 fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 
 And he was angry, and would not go in : therefore came 
 his father out and intreated him. And he answering, 
 said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, 
 neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment ; 
 and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make 
 merry with my friends. But as soon as this thy son was 
 come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou 
 hast killed for him the fatted calf " (Luke xv., 21-23, 25- 
 30). This represents wrong-doing, and repentance there- 
 for, as being more commendable than a uniform course 
 of correct conduct. This is not in accordance with 
 the self-respect which God has implanted within the 
 nature of man, neither is it in accordance with the aggre- 
 gate sense of right. The human father of the parable 
 may be supposed to be in doubt as to whether his erring 
 son would ever return to duty and to his home, and may 
 be considered as acting but the natural part of a father, 
 in rejoicing at the unexpected return of his wayward child. 
 But God, knowing and controlling all things, can never 
 (like the human father) be in doubt, can never be sur- 
 prised, can never rejoice over an unexpected occurrence. 
 Hence, the parable here in view is inappropriate when 
 applied in this way. 
 
 Furthermore : " There was in a city a judge, which 
 feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a 
 widow in that city ; and she came unto him saying, 
 Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for 
 
152 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 awhile but afterward he said within himself : Though I 
 fear not God, nor regard man, yet, because this widow 
 troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual 
 coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the 
 unjust judge saith. 
 
 " And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry 
 day and night unto him, though he bear long with them ? 
 I tell you he will avenge them speedily " (Luke xviii., 2- 
 8). 
 
 Now the prominent teaching of this parable is that 
 God will avenge only His own elect, and that for the sole 
 purpose of getting rid of the annoyance of their long- 
 continued importunities. But how much does this view 
 conflict with that unbounded goodness and long forbear- 
 ance which all Christians of the present day ascribe to 
 God ! If it be said that it was designed to applaud and 
 encourage long-continued pleading and importuning for 
 the redress of grievances, or the avenging ourselves of our 
 adversaries, then we answer that it is not in accordance 
 with the following teaching of Jesus : " Your Father 
 knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask 
 Him " ; " Use no vain repetitions " ; " Not every one 
 that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father 
 which is in heaven." All which passages go to prove that 
 it is works, and not much speaking, that are acceptable 
 to God. 
 
 And still another : When a certain rich ruler asked 
 Jesus what he must do to inherit " eternal life," his reply 
 was to this effect : " If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell 
 all that thou hast and give it to the poor, and thou shalt 
 have treasure in heaven ; and come and follow me. For, 
 verily, I say unto you, A rich man shall hardly enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven " (Matthew xix., 21, 23). 
 Again, " It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of 
 a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom 
 
Erroneous Deductions 153 
 
 of God. When his disciples heard this, they were ex- 
 ceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved ? " 
 (Matthew xix. 24, 25). And again : In the parable of the 
 rich man and Lazarus, the following occurs : ** Son, re- 
 member that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good 
 things, and likewise Lazarus evil things ; but now he is 
 comforted, and thou art tormented " (Luke xvi., 25). 
 " Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 
 " But woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received 
 your consolation " (Luke vi., 20, 24). The teaching of 
 these parables and sayings can have but one object, that 
 is, to represent poverty and suffering as virtues, and the 
 true road to Heaven, and to make riches an insurmount- 
 able obstacle to future happiness. Self-preservation is the 
 strongest law which God has implanted within man ; and 
 out of this grows the incentive to acquire, and store up 
 the necessaries and luxuries of life ; the legitimate doing 
 of which increases a man's usefulness to himself and 
 fellow-men. This is so universally recognised that the 
 instructions of Jesus on the subject are entirely disre- 
 garded by the disciples of Christianity, not excepting the 
 clergy, which practically falsifies the Bible, whereof it is 
 said every word must be received as truth. 
 
 Again : " These twelve Jesus sent forth, and com- 
 manded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gen- 
 tiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not ; 
 But go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel " 
 (Matthew x., 5, 6). " I thank thee, O Father," said 
 Jesus, " because thou hast hid these things from the wise 
 and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes " (Mat- 
 thew xi., 25). This is inconsistent with the idea that 
 Jesus' mission was to raise all who fell through Adam, 
 and of his being the Saviour of all mankind. 
 
 Again : " But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless 
 them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and 
 pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute 
 
154 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 you " (Matthew v., 44). " Ye have heard that it hath 
 been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. 
 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil ; but whoso- 
 ever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the 
 other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and 
 take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And 
 whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him 
 twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that 
 would borrow of thee turn not thou away " (Matthew 
 v., 38-42). These injunctions are at variance with the 
 well defined characteristics of human nature, and conse- 
 quently unsuited to the practices of every-day life, incon- 
 sistent with self-preservation, and a becoming dignity and 
 self-respect. 
 
 Lastly: "Now, when Jesus was risen early the first 
 day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene. 
 . . . Afterward he appeared unto the eleven. . . . 
 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and 
 preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth 
 and is baptised shall be saved, but he that believeth not 
 shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that 
 believe. In my name shall they cast out devils ; they 
 shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up 
 serpents ; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not 
 hurt them ; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they 
 shall recover " (Mark xvi., 9, 1418). Now, since nothing 
 is said to the contrary, it is fair to presume that these 
 things were spoken by Jesus as pertaining to all future 
 time. But will any one pretend that in these days there 
 is a verification of the truth of these declarations ? 
 Rather, is it not apparent that the reverse is the case ? 
 
 A man born in a Mohammedan country believes in 
 Mohammed. A Chinese believes in Confucius ; and so 
 with the followers of every other system of theology on 
 the face of the globe. All or most of the founders of the 
 different systems claim supernatural origin and endow- 
 

 Love to God and Man 155 
 
 ments for themselves, or are believed to have possessed 
 them, by their followers. People who are educated to 
 believe in a particular faith, think that on such belief 
 depends their salvation. Now, could we have any better 
 proof than this that one has as little foundation as the 
 other to rest upon not even excepting the Christian 
 theology? There is no merit or demerit, no salvation or 
 condemnation, either for belief or non-belief, in any of 
 these theologies. God is too just and good to ordain that 
 the doom of an immortal soul shall be determined by the 
 merest accidental circumstance, in no way involving the 
 voluntary action or accountability of the individual soul. 
 
 The early teachings of Jesus are comprised in His en- 
 joining the duty of love to God and man, which he 
 repeatedly says is all that is necessary for salvation. 
 These teachings, however good in themselves, had nothing 
 new or peculiar in them, but were taught, substantially 
 and with equal if not with greater force and fulness, by 
 Zoroaster, Confucius, Buddha, Mohammed, and all the 
 other founders of theology and great teachers of religion 
 and morals. Did not the Greek and Roman philosophers, 
 Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Democritus, Pythagoras, Epi- 
 curus, Pindar, and Solon, recognise as a rule of conduct 
 the great principles of moral deportment contained in the 
 early teachings of Christ, to wit, love of God and good 
 works ? Indeed, all nations on the face of the globe, as 
 far back as history will carry us, have in substance advo- 
 cated and been governed by this religion, which is com- 
 mon to all. 
 
 Every doctrine, creed, theology, dogma, or faith that 
 has ever been claimed to be, or which has gone by the 
 name of religion, other than natural religion, has been 
 embraced by a portion, only, of the different nations and 
 peoples of the earth ; springing up during one age of the 
 world, gone in the next. On the contrary, all agree, and 
 at all times and in all places, that love to God and love to 
 
156 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 man, and the conforming to the moral law, is the bounden 
 duty of every accountable member of the human family. 
 But here the boundary of harmony on religious subjects 
 is reached. This universal religion has been, and is, 
 preached and urged upon the observance of mankind, in 
 connection with thousands of different doctrines, creeds, 
 theologies, ceremonies, and forms, which are claimed as 
 essential parts of worship, each sect contending for its 
 own peculiar views, in relation to doctrines, creeds, and 
 theologies, with such pertinacity and bitterness as to 
 cause wars that have resulted in the massacre of millions 
 upon millions of human beings, and to continue to be 
 the source of most lamentable contentions and crimina- 
 tions, and of irreligious conduct generally. It is submitted, 
 therefore, whether this state of facts, which is verified by 
 history, does not indicate, unmistakably, what it is that 
 constitutes the religion which God intended and insured 
 for universal adoption by nations and individuals, or, in 
 other words, whether it does not furnish a sure criterion, 
 by means of which the wheat and the chaff may be dis- 
 tinguished each from the other. 
 
 The principal written codes connected with the wor- 
 ship of God in various countries, which have been more 
 or less the cause of disastrous wars and disgraceful feuds 
 among men, are the following : the Zend Avesta of the 
 Parsees; the Vini Pidimot of the Burmese Empire; the 
 Rig Veda of the Hindoos; the Koran of the Mohamme- 
 dans ; and the Bible of the Christians. But we would 
 ask, is it at all a part of the duty which God exacts of 
 man, to pay homage to, or to worship, any of the persons, 
 whom these books or records glorify ? Godama, Moham- 
 med, Zoroaster, Buddha, and Jesus, all claim to be either 
 gods or supernaturally endowed by God. Which of them 
 shall we acknowledge ? We would submit also, that, where- 
 as the sun, the moon, the stars, and many other symbols, 
 have been adopted by various sects, either as substantial 
 
Simplicity of True Religion 157 
 
 parts or as adjuncts of worship, so also does the Christian 
 theology require divine honour be paid to the Virgin 
 Mary, and that three Gods be worshipped instead of the 
 One living and true God. Wherein, we ask, lies the dif- 
 ference ? May there not be a good side and an evil side, 
 in all these cases alike good, inasmuch as the symbol 
 leads up to the God above it evil, whenever and wher- 
 ever devotion stops short at the symbol ? 
 
 It is very important that the truth on this subject 
 should be determined, and be set forth by those among us 
 who make a profession of teaching. But, bound by the 
 rules of their church and constrained by habit, the clergy 
 advocate a certain set of special tenets, even whilst the 
 most learned and sensible men among them acknowledge, 
 in their own hearts, that what may be called the techni- 
 calities of their faith are not based on reliable evidence. 
 Intelligent observation of God's dealings with the human 
 race around them, and a careful study of the record of 
 past ages, lead them to the just conclusion that the reli- 
 gion which God teaches is love for Himself and His laws, 
 and the golden rule, " Do unto others as you would they 
 should do unto you." Yet they lack the moral courage 
 to preach this sublime and simple doctrine, preferring, in 
 deference to custom and in fear of giving offence, to reit- 
 erate biblical stories that are disproved by investigation, 
 or that have much in common with other creeds which 
 they affect to despise. 
 
 And yet how pathetically do these same Christian 
 clergymen appeal for pecuniary aid, to the end that they 
 may convert the heathen ! Their object, meanwhile, is 
 not to promulgate the practical religion which Jesus 
 taught with such wonderful effect both by precept and 
 example, and which consists entirely of love to God and 
 good will to man ; neither is it to inculcate morals based 
 on good works taught in the law of God. It is their own 
 Christian theology which they are bent upon instilling 
 
158 One Religion: Many Creeds 
 
 into the heathen mind, its main point being a theoretical 
 belief in man's fall through Adam, and resurrection 
 through Jesus. It is evident, or it should be, indeed, to 
 all reasonable minds, that God sent His only true and 
 all-sufficient religion to the heathen in common with all 
 men. Else what becomes of all those who either never 
 heard of Jesus, or, if they did, have no more desire to 
 believe in him than a Christian has to believe in Moham- 
 med, or to become an Israelite ? 
 
 The theology for means of sending which to the 
 heathen each creed, sect, and denomination of Christians 
 so pathetically pleads consists of dogmas and theologies 
 tacked on to the pure religion of Jesus and of Nature. 
 Each has a different dogma, each has variations in its 
 faith. How are the heathen to choose between one and 
 another? 
 
 In all countries, whether heathen or Christian, there 
 are those who mingle the spurious with the good ; conse- 
 quently heathen teachers have false gods and false the- 
 ologies of their own, which they trade in, with equal 
 results, as the Christians. They see that the same is done 
 in Christian countries, and they laugh at the idea of a 
 comparatively small number of Christians dictating creeds 
 and theologies to the balance of mankind, quadrupling 
 them in number, and as likely to be right as themselves. 
 Hence it is just as reasonable to suppose that the heathen 
 should attempt to benefit Christian communities by send- 
 ing them their Bibles, which contain moral codes and 
 precepts equally as good, and, in fact, dogmas and theolo- 
 gies as ingeniously contrived, as well as authenticated, 
 and as plausible in their claim to Divine origin as the 
 Christian Bible. Their oracles, too, whose names are 
 taken to designate the various theologies which prevail 
 among them, have as valid a claim, by miracles and pro- 
 phecies, to supernatural endowments (or to Divinity 
 itself) as have the Christian Churches on behalf of Jesus. 
 
Christ's Real Teachings 159 
 
 But it is not Jesus himself who is responsible for the sys- 
 tem which has been engrafted on his name. It is his 
 professed followers who have perverted his teaching. His 
 answer was, when he was asked, " Master, which is the 
 great commandment in the law ? " " Thou shalt love the 
 Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
 and with all thy mind. This is the first and great com- 
 mandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two command- 
 ments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew xxii., 
 37-40). And when, again, he was asked, " Good Master, 
 what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? " 
 his answer was, " Why callest thou me good ? there is 
 none good but one, that is God : but if thou wilt enter 
 into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, 
 Which ? Jesus said : Thou shalt do no murder, Thou 
 shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou 
 shalt not bear false witness. Honour thy father and thy 
 mother; and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" 
 (Matthew xix., 16-19). In all this he does not require, 
 but actually declines, having any honour done to himself 
 as a condition of entering into eternal life. All that he 
 requires is, that a man should love God, the Father, and 
 do those good works which He prescribes for him to do. 
 If there had been anything else, would not Jesus have 
 told him what it was? It was a most momentous ques- 
 tion which had been asked of him. It was necessary, 
 therefore, that he should be most precise and accurate in 
 answering it ; and yet he did not say, " Believe in me ; 
 through me alone, and the shedding of my blood, canst 
 thou be saved," but simply, " Keep the commandments." 
 " Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven," said he, on another oc- 
 casion, "but he that doeth the will of my Father which is 
 in heaven" (Matthew vii., 21). And this will of the 
 Father he exemplified in his own life. He " went about 
 
160 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, 
 and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing 
 every sickness and every disease among the people " 
 (Matthew ix., 35). 
 
 The worship of the Father alone, by good works, and 
 not by praying to and worshipping him, Jesus, was the 
 requisite, as he conceived, for entering into the kingdom 
 of heaven. Jesus, in this, practised what he preached. 
 He went about diligently and zealously preaching natural 
 religion, healing the sick, and rebuking those who thought 
 that they could get to heaven by crying to him " Lord, 
 Lord ! " instead of exhibiting in their daily conduct a life 
 of good works : so that we have the express authority of 
 Jesus for saying that love to God and kind offices one 
 towards another is the whole duty of man, which again is in 
 accordance with THE FIRST AND ONLY TRUE RELIGION. 
 
 Bible descriptions of God and His attributes purport 
 to be derived from God Himself, through His super- 
 natural revelation to particular individuals. But this 
 revelation, if such it be, represents God as intensely hu- 
 man, both in form and character. It ascribes to Him 
 many of the weaknesses and faults, and much of the 
 shortsightedness, of the frailest of men ; and it is totally 
 unlike the revelation which He has made of Himself to 
 all men through the works of Nature. He has written 
 Himself upon the broad face of the universe, and in the 
 depth of men's souls, in such legible characters, and estab- 
 lished such laws in relation to man, as to ensure that His 
 will shall be done and man's happiness secured in God's 
 good time. In addition to this, he has portrayed Him- 
 self, in every phase of creation, with a beauty and 
 grandeur that man becomes more and more capable of 
 appreciating. 
 
 Now, we ask, shall this sublime record, which God has 
 made of Himself, be for a single moment tarnished by a 
 forced conjunction with views of Him that are impious ? 
 
God's Evil Passions 161 
 
 If so, let those suffer the damaging consequences who 
 teach such doctrine. Yet we are told that these descrip- 
 tions of the Almighty must be believed in as infallibly 
 true, by all men, as a condition of happiness beyond the 
 grave. And what are they ? Read what the writers of 
 the Christian Bible say, and then judge for yourselves. 
 Very few quotations will suffice to show in what abomin- 
 able form the Creator has been represented by those 
 who declared themselves to be His messengers. 
 
 In the first place, he is represented as being addicted 
 to furious anger, and this to such a degree that were any 
 of his creatures to manifest the same disposition, they 
 would be looked upon as monsters. Take the following 
 examples : " The fierce anger of the Lord " Numbers 
 xxv., 4; "The anger of the Lord shall smoke" Deut- 
 eronomy xxix., 20 ; " Through the anger of the Lord it 
 came to pass " 2 Kings xxiv., 20 ; " Let the Lord be 
 angry" Genesis viii., 30; "And provoked the Lord to 
 anger" -Judges ii., 12; "The children of Israel have 
 only provoked me to anger " Jeremiah xxxii., 30 ; " And 
 I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make 
 them drunk in my fury " Isaiah Ixiii., 6. 
 
 Hatred and a fierce thirst for vengeance are attributed 
 to him in a similar manner: "I hate robbery for burnt 
 offerings" Isaiah Ixi., 8; "Because the Lord hated 
 us " - Deuteronomy i., 27 ; " Therefore have I hated 
 it" -Jeremiah xii., 8 ; " There I hated them, ... I 
 will love them no more" Hosea ix., 15; "Jacob have 
 I loved, but Esau have I hated" Malachi i., 23. To 
 illustrate the Almighty's revengeful tendencies, turn to 
 Exodus xx., 5, where we are told that He will visit the 
 iniquities of fathers upon the children, nay even upon four 
 generations of unborn children ; to Deuteronomy vii., 10, 
 " He repayeth them that hate him to their face, to 
 destroy them " ; to Isaiah xlvii., 3, " I will take venge- 
 ance " and Ixiii., 4, " The day of vengeance is in mine 
 
1 62 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 heart " ; to Romans xii., 9, " Vengeance is mine " ; and 
 especially to I Samuel xv., 2, 3, " Thus saith the Lord of 
 Hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel. 
 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." 
 
 Jealousy also, such as we find attributed to certain 
 gods and goddesses in pagan mythology, is set down as 
 one of God's characteristics: " I, the Lord, thy God, am 
 a jealous God" Exodus xx., 5 ; "They provoked him 
 to jealousy with strange gods " Deuteronomy xxxii., 
 16; "He is a jealous God" Joshua xxiv., 19; "Then 
 will the Lord be jealous for his land " Joel ii., 1 8 ; " God 
 is jealous and the Lord revengeful " Nahum i., 2 ; " I 
 am jealous for Jerusalem" Zechariah i., 14; "I will 
 give thee blood in fury and jealousy " Ezekiel xvi., 38. 
 
 Even ignorance is attributed to the Almighty, the 
 words that follow being put into His mouth (Genesis 
 xviii., 21): "I will go down now, and see whether they 
 have done altogether according to the cry of it which is 
 come unto me, and if not I will know." Job also repre- 
 sents the Omnipotent as condescending to ask Satan 
 about his doings as if He were not also omniscient. 
 
 They presume even, these writers under so-called inspir- 
 ation, to speak of His indulgence in scornful laughter ; 
 as in Psalm ii., 4, " He that sitteth in the heavens shall 
 laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision," and again, 
 lix., 8, " Thou, O Lord, shall laugh at them, thou shalt 
 have all the heathen in derision." 
 
 Fickleness and alternation of purpose, common human 
 infirmities, are represented as among His peculiarities. 
 In Genesis we are told that " it repented the Lord that 
 He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at 
 His heart." Yet it must be owned, the sacred writers 
 are not unanimous in attributing to God this tendency to 
 
God's Evil Passions 163 
 
 change of mind. Thus, in Exodus xxxii., 14, we read, 
 " The Lord repented the evil which he thought to do 
 unto his people " ; and in I Samuel xv., 29, "The strength 
 of Israel will not repent, for He is not a man that He 
 should repent." It is written in Psalms cxvi., 45, " He 
 repented, according to the multitude of His mercies" ; in 
 Jonah iii., 10, " God repented of the evil that He had 
 said " ; and in Jeremiah xviii., 8, " If a nation turn, I will 
 repent of the evil." Yet we find in James i., 17, "The 
 Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither 
 shadow of turning." 
 
 It would perhaps be almost sufficient to have cited the 
 Lord's alleged repentance over the superior being of his 
 own creation, which the same authority tells us He had 
 pronounced " very good " ; but we cannot omit to remind 
 the reader of the very curious story of Moses pleading 
 with the Lord, as it stands in Exodus xxxiii., 7-14. The 
 Lord told Moses that the Israelites were a stiff-necked 
 people, given up to idols, and announced their consequent 
 fate in these strange words : " Now, therefore, let me 
 alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and 
 that I may consume them." But Moses was emphatic 
 and plain-spoken in his remonstrance, for such it may be 
 justly termed. "Turn from thy fierce wrath," says he, 
 without flinching, " and repent of thy evil against thy 
 people." We know what ensued : " And the Lord 
 repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his 
 people." 
 
 But let us pass on, from the attempt to assimilate the 
 Creator and the creature, so far as passions and sensations 
 are concerned, and observe how this degrading process 
 has been applied to corporeal resemblance. Head, feet, 
 arms, hands, eyes, mouth, nostrils, back, and bosom, figure 
 more or less frequently but always with a familiarity 
 that ought to be revolting in the biblical descriptions 
 and allusions. 
 
1 64 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 " Ephraim is the strength of my head," says the 
 Psalmist lx., 7; Isaiah lix., 17, puts "a helmet of sal- 
 vation upon his head " ; and St. John the divine, Reve- 
 lations xix., 12, saw in a vision that "on his head were 
 many crowns." The footsteps and the feet of the Al- 
 mighty are often referred to ; as in Isaiah vi., 2, " With 
 twain He covered his face, and with twain He covered his 
 feet" ; Psalm Ixxvii. 19, "Thy footsteps are not known," 
 and Ixxiv., 3, " Lift up thy feet " ; Revelations i., 15, " His 
 feet like unto fine brass." Further than this we find, 
 Psalm cviii., 9, the homely expression : " Over Edom 
 will I cast out my shoe," coupled with that other most 
 undignified phrase, " Moab is my wash-pot." The arms 
 of the Almighty are often mentioned, sometimes as bared 
 for the execution of His vengeful purposes, sometimes as 
 opened for sheltering the righteous. The hand of the 
 Lord, as though it were a human hand, appears still more 
 frequently in the sacred Scriptures : Psalm Ixxv., 8, " In 
 the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red ; " 
 I Samuel v., 6, " But the hand of the Lord was heavy 
 upon them of Ashdod " ; Numbers xi., 23, " Is the Lord's 
 hand waxed short ? " ; Exodus ix., 3, " The hand is upon 
 thy cattle " ; Psalm Ixxiv., 2, " Why withdrawest thou 
 thy hand, even thy right hand ? Pluck it out of thy 
 bosom." This last citation serves to illustrate how the 
 Lord God is supposed to have a bosom, being more direct 
 than that one in John i., 18, " The Son which is in the 
 bosom of the Father." So constant are allusions to the 
 Almighty's mouth, and to what proceedeth out of it, that 
 we limit ourselves to one noteworthy instance. In the 
 Book of Numbers xii., 8, God is made to say with refer- 
 ence to Moses, " With him will I speak mouth to mouth, 
 even apparently, and not in dark speeches, and the simili- 
 tude of the Lord shall he behold." As to the eyes of 
 God, reference to them, in as it were a physical sense, is 
 continual. Thus, in Proverbs xv., 3, we read, "The eyes 
 
God Likened to Man Corporeally 165 
 
 of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the 
 good " ; in Deuteronomy xxxii., 10, " He kept him as the 
 apple of his eye" ; and in Psalm xxxiv., 15, " The eyes 
 of the Lord are upon the righteous." The verse last 
 quoted concludes thus, " and his ears are open unto their 
 cry," which reminds us that we omitted the u ears," when 
 naming the bodily points wherein God and man are fam- 
 iliarly assimilated in the Scriptures. Mention is also made 
 of the Almighty's nostrils : " By the blast of God they 
 perish," says Job iv., 9 ; " and by the breath of his 
 nostrils are they consumed." David (2 Samuel xxii., 9) 
 asserts that, because God was wroth, " There went up a 
 smoke out of his nostrils, and fire went out of his mouth 
 which kindleth coals." Is it not somewhat strange that 
 expressions precisely similar are applied by Job xli., 20, 
 21, to his description of the leviathan : " Out of his nos- 
 trils goeth smoke. . . . His breath kindleth coals " ? 
 Furthermore, Isaiah Ixv., 5, makes the Lord, with refer- 
 ence to " a rebellious people," use this expression : u These 
 are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day " ; 
 and in Leviticus xxvi., 31, Jehovah declares, " I will 
 not smell the savour of your sweet odours." On the other 
 hand, in Genesis viii., 21, we are told how the Lord God, 
 inhaling the scent of Noah's sacrifice on emerging from 
 the ark, " smelled a sweet savour." Lastly, as though to 
 lower still more these associations and similitudes, so 
 derogatory to all reverential feeling, Holy Writ informs 
 us that the Divine Being has a back. Jeremiah xviii., 
 17, puts this phrase in His mouth : " I will scatter them as 
 with an east wind before the enemy ; I will shew them 
 the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity " ; 
 and Isaiah says, xxxviii., 17, " Thou hast cast all my sins 
 behind thy back." Moses also, Exodus xxxiii., 23, 
 makes the Lord say, in anticipation of the promised inter- 
 view : " And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt 
 see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen." 
 
166 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 We have thus glanced in detail at some of the instances 
 in which the mysterious Founder and Ruler of the Uni- 
 verse is vulgarised and falsified in the Bible, by human 
 beings presuming to attribute to Him a share in their 
 own mental and corporeal faculties. To them might be 
 added the profane and inadmissible idea of Jehovah 
 speaking to Moses " face to face, as a man speaketh unto 
 his friend " Exodus xxxiii., 2 ; of God riding upon a 
 cherub and flying Psalm xviii., 10; of the Lord being 
 " a man of war," and of his wearing a " vesture " or a 
 " breast-plate " ; of the Lord coming down to see the Tower 
 of Babel Genesis xi., 5. As well might it be thought 
 in accordance with God's justice that He should, through 
 Moses, enjoin the Israelites to borrow jewels of gold and 
 silver from their Egyptian neighbours, when on the point 
 of departure through the Red Sea. They must have 
 known, as God must have known, that the pretended 
 borrowing would be nothing better than fraud and rob- 
 bery Exodus xii., 35, 36. 
 
 It has been well asked whether a mandate ever issued 
 from the lips of a blood-thirsty Oriental despot more terri- 
 ble than that concerning Amalek, which is quoted above ; 
 and whether we, at the peril of our salvation, are to 
 believe that such an injunction came from the Creator, 
 rather than from the mouth of the cruel-minded Samuel, 
 who " hewed Agog in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal." 
 To this may be added the query, with reference to several 
 of the foregoing citations, whether any Christian would 
 tolerate, in the way of illustration, a statue or picture, 
 wherein the Almighty Father was depicted as a human 
 being inflamed with human passions ; though, when the 
 ear alone is appealed to, we not only tolerate the idea, but 
 cling to it with such passionate earnestness as to persecute 
 with the extreme of resentment any one who will not 
 adopt it as an article of his creed. How also can the God 
 who affirms, " I am the Lord, I change not " (Malachi 
 
Blind Reliance on Scripture 167 
 
 iii., 6), be described by different individuals as constantly 
 varying, unless they themselves were giving utterance to 
 their own human conceptions of what a God should be ; 
 and even in this, differed amongst themselves? Is it not 
 more rational to believe that God has been clothed with 
 human attributes by man, rather than that the Lord of 
 all creation puts on the contemptible dress worn by 
 mortals who live in one of the smallest of the worlds 
 which He has made? Surely such considerations should 
 serve to wean us from that blind reverence to the identical 
 words of Scripture in which most of us have been educated. 
 Nor can this reverence be justified by affirming that the 
 language to which we have taken exception, is only 
 conventional or metaphorical. Who shall dare to say that 
 God cannot give such a description of Himself as is con- 
 sistent with His attributes except through a certain 
 phraseology ? The idea is impious, as every thoughtful 
 mind must recognise. At the same time it must be owned 
 that this habit of incorporating humanity with the God- 
 head has taken hold of all nations in all time, and has, so 
 to say, been rubbed into all theologies. How far this 
 arises from man's inability to comprehend what lies out- 
 side of and beyond himself, is touched upon elsewhere ; 
 but there can be no doubt that it has been fostered in 
 large degree by what a writer already cited has termed 
 the exigencies of the priesthood. 
 
 Without the fiction, says he, that the Almighty heard 
 and spoke in reply to a special class only, the hierarchy 
 could not exist. They feign, therefore, to have divine 
 powers a pretension readily conceded by those who are 
 unable or unwilling to think for themselves. By this 
 division of labour, the ecclesiastic becomes as implicitly 
 trusted as the lawyer or the physician. But, as there is 
 in all educated men a propensity to search out the founda- 
 tion of the claim to superiority which is advanced by 
 professional men generally, so also is there in some a 
 
168 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 strong determination to examine the claims of those who 
 assume the power to dictate to the Almighty what He is 
 to do with mortals when they become immortal. 
 
 If investigation and the light of modern science, acting 
 upon our finer sense, overthrow our faith in the Bible, as 
 an inspired record, they lead us to a more profound ac- 
 knowledgment of the Almighty's power, justice, and wis- 
 dom. " God is a spirit, and they who worship him must 
 worship him in spirit and in truth." This is altogether a 
 different thing from a blind reliance upon the utterances 
 of prophets and the interpretations of priests. 
 
 The most pernicious error of church teaching is that sin 
 can be compounded for, that the just punishment due to 
 sin can be evaded through what theologians call " The 
 scheme of salvation." Now the natural effect of this 
 popular dogma is, that those who believe, or think they 
 believe such teaching concern themselves more about the 
 escape they are to make from punishment, than they do 
 about the shunning of sin. While men act upon the idea 
 that the penalty for sin can be avoided or bargained for, 
 they are comparatively indifferent to any work of self- 
 discipline, or the correction of their faults. All this is 
 at direct variance with the teachings of God, through 
 His natural laws. He therein recompenses every man ac- 
 cording to his works. In this there is no prejudice, no 
 favour, no spite, no partiality, no escape from just penalty, 
 no possibility of losing a just reward, no bargaining, no 
 compromise, no evasion, no substitution. Any one of 
 these would be less just and good than for God to exact 
 the whole penalty attached to the breach of His inexor- 
 able law. He punishes to correct, to bring to repentance, 
 to save to the blissful end in store for us. 
 
 The third chapter in Genesis professes to give an ac- 
 count of man's first sin, and has been made the basis of 
 that fundamental article of the Christian faith, " The fall 
 of man." The conclusions drawn from this chapter are 
 
Man's Perfection 169 
 
 not warranted by the words of the narrative, which we 
 shall now proceed to show. 
 
 Not once in the Old Testament, either in the Law or in 
 the Prophets, is the story at all alluded to. All their no- 
 tions of God and man were totally at variance with the 
 idea of man having been made orginally perfect. Jesus 
 never alluded to this in any of his discourses ; on the 
 contrary, he declares that there is none perfect but God ; 
 and this, taken in connection with the fact that he no- 
 where intimates that man fell through Adam, ought to 
 be conclusive with all who believe in Jesus' Divinity, that 
 man was no more perfect at the creation than he was in 
 Jesus' day, or in our own. The first time that Moses* 
 story is appealed to as historical is in the writings of the 
 Apostle Paul. It is upon his probable acceptance of the 
 narrative, in an unwarranted literal sense, and upon false 
 inferences drawn by him from it, that the prevailing idea 
 of the utter corruption and curse of mankind through the 
 fall, and of their recovery or redemption by the substitu- 
 tion of a victim in their place, is founded. 
 
 But see what serious results this leads to. All who 
 believe the doctrine of Christian theology which is based 
 upon man's supposed original perfection and subsequent 
 fall, it is said, will be saved ; but all who do not believe 
 in it will be damned. To admit this is to represent God 
 as cursing the whole human family for the sin of one of 
 their number ; and only removing that curse from those 
 who believe in the shedding of the innocent blood of 
 a victim, of whom but a small minority have ever heard. 
 
 The error which lies at the root of this delusion is the 
 idea that man was orginally made perfect ; and that he 
 fell from that state of purity and perfection dragging with 
 him his whole posterity. Now we boldly assert that Adam 
 and Eve were not created spiritually perfect as God is per- 
 fect, but perfect as God intended that man should be. The 
 story itself not only does not say that they were ; it gives 
 
1 70 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 not the remotest intimation of such a thing. They are 
 represented as believing a serpent, or perhaps the evi- 
 dence of their own senses, rather than the words of God, 
 and as soon as they are tempted they yield at once. 
 
 The fact is, they could not have been made perfect. 
 There is no such thing as perfection in any created being. 
 If there were there would be more Gods than one : for 
 whatever is perfect is God. 
 
 But this inference is evaded by a qualification. The- 
 ologians tell us that they mean relative perfection not 
 that man could be made perfect as God is perfect, but 
 that he was made good and happy. This we admit ; God 
 could not make anything but what is good and happy. 
 But He could, and did, make beings who, when they were 
 produced by His wisdom and goodness, were not only 
 without a knowledge of physical cause and effect, but 
 without a knowledge also of moral cause and effect. 
 All that took place with regard to man's experience of 
 good and evil was, that being created with a free-will he 
 at once put that free-will into full exercise, and of course 
 learned what he did not know until the experiment was 
 tried. 
 
 Again, there is not a word in the story about everlast- 
 ing death, or the torment of the soul. " Ye shall surely 
 die," was understood by Adam and Eve as referring to the 
 death of the body; because the narrator goes on to de- 
 scribe their being driven out of Paradise lest they should 
 eat of the tree of life and live for ever. Nothing can be 
 plainer than that natural death is here meant. This view 
 of the subject is further enforced by the following declara- 
 tion : " Unto dust shalt thou return." The Apostle Paul 
 quotes it in that sense when he says, " By one man sin 
 entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death 
 passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," though the 
 first part of this assertion is shown elsewhere to be inac- 
 curate, inasmuch as science proves that death had entered 
 
Intimation of Redemption 171 
 
 the world long before the date assigned by theologists. 
 Again, there is no allusion whatever to a substitute or 
 sacrifice as the mode of removing the curse and appeas- 
 ing the wrath of God. There is not a single word spoken 
 by God to Adam and Eve about redemption or atone- 
 ment. If such a theory had been true if the narrative 
 in Genesis were supernaturally suggested it would surely 
 have contained some intimation of it when God pro- 
 nounced the curse. This being a matter of the very 
 highest importance, not only to Adam and Eve, but also 
 to their posterity, we cannot conceive, the goodness of 
 God precludes the bare idea, that He could have withheld 
 it from man. 
 
 The answer to this is, that God did, at once, inform 
 Adam of his intention ; that He gave him a distinct and 
 unmistakable intimation of it when He said : " I will put 
 enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy 
 seed and her seed : it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt 
 bruise his heel" (Genesis Hi., 15). But how can this be 
 called a plain and unmistakable intimation of the scheme 
 of salvation ? It is as dark a parable as any that could be 
 constructed ; and we think it so obscure, except as to the 
 natural enmity that exists between the two, that it would 
 be useless to argue on it. 
 
 Turn, in the next place, to the statement, " And the 
 Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of 
 Eden, to dress it and to keep it " (Gen. ii., 15). 
 
 Church theology inculcates the idea that labour was 
 imposed upon Adam in consequence of his first transgres- 
 sion ; but it is evident, from the above text, that previous 
 to Adam's sinning, as it is called, the dressing and keep- 
 ing of the garden was enjoined on him. This, no one 
 can deny, was bodily labour, by any fair interpretation. 
 Adam was also required to give names to every living 
 creature. Could he have done this, except at the ex- 
 pense of mental labour, even though every beast of the 
 
One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 field and every fowl of the air was brought to him for 
 this purpose ? 
 
 As a consequence of Adam's eating the fruit, God cursed 
 the serpent who tempted him, through Eve, as well as the 
 ground upon which he trod ; neither of which is supposed 
 to be morally accountable. The curse on the serpent, 
 such as it was, in any sense is applicable only to his phy- 
 sical nature. 
 
 And the curses referred to, which pertain to man, do 
 not necessarily grow out of man's moral offence. The fair 
 inference is the reverse of this. The sin, according to the 
 narration, was prompted by the craving of man's animal 
 nature, not at the expense of any moral delinquency, 
 such, for instance, as appropriating the fruits of a fellow- 
 being's labour, in a dishonest way. For, according to the 
 story, Adam and Eve were the only persons then upon 
 the earth, and being in harmony, it is said, in partaking 
 of the fruit, their action consequently involved no sin- 
 one against the other. 
 
 A sense of shame occasioned by the sudden discovery 
 of the nakedness of one's person does not involve the idea 
 of moral degradation ; it rather indicates a lively percep- 
 tion of the propriety of things ; and when this state of 
 things is accompanied with strenuous efforts to hide the 
 nakedness which caused the shame, as in Adam's and 
 Eve's case, it is highly deserving of praise. If the story 
 be credited, such must have been the view which God 
 took of the matter when He sympathised with them to 
 the extent of helping the naked pair out of their dilemma 
 by clothing them with skins, thus rewarding instead of 
 punishing them and showing that their course met God's 
 approbation instead of condemnation. Hence, the eaters 
 of the forbidden fruit could not have been deemed guilty 
 by God, at least in a moral point of view, else He would 
 have left them to the punishment which under His unal- 
 terable laws ever attaches to moral delinquencies. This 
 
The Story of the Fall of Man 1 73 
 
 view is fully sustained by the narrative of the matter in 
 question ; the only punishment which is indicated therein 
 being death of the body, and labour, which we assert is a 
 blessing and not a curse. 
 
 There is another view of this subject which is adverse 
 to theologians. The reading of Genesis leaves the im- 
 pression that a very short time only could have elapsed 
 between the eating of the fruit which it is alleged brought 
 death into the world, and the time of God's clothing the 
 naked pair with the skins of animals. Now, if it be true 
 that up to the eating of the fruit by Adam none of God's 
 creatures had died, it begets the query, how it came to 
 pass that there were skins of animals immediately at hand 
 in a fit condition for comfortable clothing. 
 
 If, to account for these inconsistencies, it be said that 
 God can do all things that He wills to do, we answer that 
 when men say God has done things totally inconsistent 
 with His uniform mode of action, and give no reliable 
 proof of the truth of their assertion, we have a right to 
 infer even more ; and to be quite sure that the story has 
 its origin in man's imagination and not in the doings of 
 God. This story in Genesis rests upon the sole authority 
 of Moses ; it is irrational, improbable, and contradictory 
 to itself ; but worse than this, the Church has founded a 
 theology upon it, totally unwarranted by the wording or 
 spirit of the narrative. 
 
 The gist of the theological system consists in their 
 claiming that Adam's alleged sin tainted his moral na- 
 ture ; and this enables them to transfer the final test of 
 the truth or fallacy of their dogma beyond the grave. 
 Thus, they elude detection of their error, since no man re- 
 turns thence to confront them. 
 
 One of the evils inflicted upon Adam according to the 
 narrative was additional labour, not labour primarily. 
 
 The ground, by virtue of the curse, became harder to 
 till outside than within the garden in which he was first 
 
174 One Religion: Many Creeds 
 
 placed. It was, therefore, the body and not the moral 
 nature of Adam that had to pay the penalty, if penalty it 
 be to labour, which we deny. 
 
 And again, Eve was visited with increased pain in 
 child-bearing, and not with any new source of sorrow. 
 This also pertains to the body. It is not a consequence 
 of moral guilt, not entailing inward reproaches, as when 
 one offends against the laws of chastity, for example. 
 And if these evils in our physical nature do terminate in the 
 death of the body, the death of the body is an advantage, 
 because it leaves the soul untrammelled and enables it to 
 draw nearer to God, who is the source of happiness. 
 
 " And the Lord God said, behold the man is become as 
 one of us to know good and evil " (Genesis iii., 22). If 
 this be true God looked upon man, after his transgression, 
 as more like Himself than before. He certainly became 
 a wiser being; and we cannot understand how wisdom 
 can be a curse to man. It brought with it a knowledge 
 that if we offend against the laws of God we must suffer 
 for it. But God was too good to allow us to go on suffer- 
 ing in this world for ever, for our short-sightedness and 
 folly. He therefore made it impossible for us to do so by 
 allowing death to terminate our career. That man might 
 not go further and take and eat of the fruits of life and 
 live for ever, God allowed death to be made the gate 
 through which we are to pass to a state of everlasting 
 progression in wisdom and felicity. 
 
 But to go further into this incredible narrative " And 
 they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not 
 ashamed " (Genesis ii., 25). This happy state of nudity 
 and innocence, then, was that which they gloried in before 
 the fall. But what next? When they discovered, by 
 eating of the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and 
 evil, that the condition in which they were was unseemly, 
 they experienced a sense of shame, as indicated by their 
 use of fig leaves, and they were afraid and went and hid 
 
The Story of the Fall of Man 175 
 
 themselves; and so when God found them thus, in order 
 to hide their nakedness, we are told, " Unto Adam also 
 and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and 
 clothed them " (Genesis iii., 21). 
 
 These, then, are the consequences of Adam and Eve's 
 eating of the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and 
 evil. Being redeemed or saved from them of course the 
 converse becomes the proper order of things. So that 
 when a man is redeemed or saved to eternal life by the 
 plan of salvation through Jesus, he might go naked and 
 feel no shame ! 
 
 Again, " Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from 
 the garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was 
 taken " (Genesis iii., 23). It appears from the scope of 
 this verse that God turned Adam out of Paradise to till 
 the ground outside of its limits, not because he ate of the 
 fruit by means of which he had assimilated himself to 
 God by gaining a knowledge of good and evil, but rather 
 lest Adam should partake of the tree of life and live 
 forever, and thus reverse one of the results of his partaking 
 of the fruits of the tree of knowledge, to wit, the mortal- 
 ity of the body. So God compromised the matter, being 
 content to let all the consequences of eating the forbid- 
 den fruit remain, except that the body should return to 
 the dust whence it was taken. And to make quite sure 
 that Adam did not render this inoperative He placed 
 a guard over the tree of life. This we conceive to be the 
 natural rendering of the story of " The Fall," and this, if 
 any credence is to be given to it at all, must be much 
 nearer the truth than the different and far-fetched con- 
 struction which the Christian Churches put on it when 
 they deduce from it the doctrine that man fell from the 
 original state of innocence, that he must be redeemed 
 therefrom by the sacrifice of Christ, and that our salva- 
 tion depends on our belief in this complicated dogma. 
 
 We submit then, is not the course which is attributed 
 
1 76 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 to God in the fable we have just criticised an imputation 
 against His omnipotence, His wisdom, and His stability 
 of purpose? His laws are immutable ; they never vary ; 
 and from the first they were framed for man's best inter- 
 ests and happiness. The death of the material portion 
 of animals is one of those laws which was in the order 
 of things from the first. Had it been otherwise, the 
 increase of the human race at the rate at which men 
 have multiplied since the creation would have been suffi- 
 cient to fill the earth so full that they could not find 
 standing room, not to say food enough to subsist upon. 
 No, God has a more beneficent purpose in view than to 
 make earth man's continual abiding place. He places 
 us here that he may train us for a much higher and 
 wider state of existence beyond the grave. Death, then, 
 was no accident ; neither was it visited upon man as a 
 punishment for his delinquencies, but as an important 
 step in his advance toward God. 
 
 What theologians term " The Fall of Man " is based 
 by them upon the fable in the first book of Moses, called 
 "Genesis," the substance of which is as follows: The 
 first human pair was placed in the garden of Eden, where 
 everything around them was in perfect harmony with 
 their nature, their tastes, and their appetites : " And the 
 Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden : and there 
 he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the 
 ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is 
 pleasant to the sight, and good for food." 
 
 In the first place, it is said, or may be inferred from 
 subsequent words, that in some respects Nature itself was 
 very different from what we find it now. Originally, 
 there were no such things as thorns, or briars, or noxious 
 weeds and plants infesting the ground and annoying and 
 perplexing the man who was placed upon the earth to 
 enjoy perpetual happiness thereon. These things sprang 
 up at, and in consequence of, the sin of Adam. 
 
Bible Account of the Fall of Man 177 
 
 "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast heark- 
 ened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the 
 tree of which I commanded thee saying, Thou shalt not 
 eat of it : cursed is the ground for thy sake : in sorrow 
 shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also 
 and thistles shall it bring forth to thee ; and thou shalt 
 eat the herb of the field." 
 
 The elements also were so propitious, and the climate 
 so congenial and healthy, that they suffered no inconven- 
 ience from the former, nor could the seeds of disease 
 be implanted within them by the latter, although their 
 physical construction was precisely what it is now. " They 
 were both naked," implying that, having neither the rigour 
 of coldness in winter nor the fierceness of heat in summer 
 to contend with, their bodies did not therefore require any 
 protection in the way of clothes. This is further implied 
 by the theological view that man if he had not fallen 
 was to live without labour, and hence could not have pro- 
 vided himself with clothing. Since animals also were to 
 live for ever, man could not be clothed with their skins ; 
 and yet, contrary as it may seem to this idea, God made 
 them garments or coats of skins, as soon as their sense 
 of shame made it necessary. Again, " For in the day 
 that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," implies 
 that but for an act of disobedience which he might or 
 might not commit neither death, nor its antecedents, 
 pain and disease, could have ever visited them. Neither 
 was the nature of the animals what it subsequently 
 became. They were all peaceful and happy and har- 
 monious, none carnivorous, but all gregarious and living 
 upon herbs : " And to every beast of the earth, and to 
 every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth 
 upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every 
 green herb for meat." Man himself was an entirely dif- 
 ferent creature to what he became immediately after eat- 
 ing the fruit of which God his Maker had commanded 
 
1 78 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 him not to eat. He was good and holy and just and true ; 
 and consequently he was perfectly happy. 
 
 This is, substantially, a picture of what is presented to 
 us from the pulpit concerning man and his estate before 
 he ate of the forbidden fruit. It is what is claimed by 
 theologians as a fair deduction from the account given 
 in the Book of Moses, to which we have referred. 
 
 But is it in accordance with the facts or phenomena of 
 Nature, and with the wisdom of God? If this dogma 
 of the Church be true, it results in lowering the attributes 
 of the Almighty, and in representing Him as a Being 
 whose laws and plans pertaining to all created things 
 were liable to be thwarted by a single act of His creature, 
 man ; and to the extent of necessitating an entire revision 
 of those laws and those plans. It results in an imputa- 
 tion upon His omnipotence, His wisdom, His goodness, 
 and His unchangeableness. It results in the theory that 
 man both constitutionally and morally is not the same 
 being that he was at his creation, or at the time when he 
 was first called to take upon him the original organism of 
 his type. In a word, it results in the imputation that 
 God, who, according to His very nature, never varies or 
 modifies or adapts His laws to any contingency, was 
 instead of being supreme so far subject to the caprice of 
 man as to be compelled to abandon His original plan, and 
 reconstruct or re-organise His laws pertaining to the vege- 
 table, animal, and spiritual affairs of our globe. Now, God 
 is a Being of absolute powers and perfections, of infinite 
 wisdom and goodness ; and by necessity, in carrying out 
 His designs at creation, He must have made everything 
 perfect both as a whole and in its several parts, so that 
 entire harmony ensues and no revision or amendment is 
 admissible. God made man with such faculties, physic- 
 ally and mentally and morally, as in His wisdom He 
 deemed best. He is omniscient and unchangeable. He 
 cannot therefore be turned aside in His purposes. That 
 
Man's Original Condition 179 
 
 infinite goodness and wisdom which originally governed 
 Him in His designs toward man, must ever remain 
 intact. Man was made perfect, as man, and no higher, 
 else he would have been something more, or other, 
 than man. Nothing is conceivable of God than that 
 everything which He has created', and the laws by which 
 His creation is governed, have been and must be from 
 first to last in perfect harmony each with the other, and 
 with His will and pleasure. It is indispensable that they 
 should be. But how does this accord with Christian 
 theology, according to which, a single breach of Adam's 
 duty wrought a total change in most, if not all, of God's 
 original ordinances in relation to man, the lower animals, 
 and even the plants ? 
 
 Let us look at this matter more closely. If God's 
 original design in regard to man and His ordinances for 
 the accomplishment of His designs were 'in exact con- 
 formity with each and every part of His general plan, 
 nothing wanting, nothing useless; and if His original 
 plan and purpose was what theologians assert it to have 
 been then certain properties and affections, which now 
 pertain to our nature, had no use or part in that organ- 
 isation. Up to the time of Adam's first transgression, 
 there could have been no repugnance to evil, since evil 
 was not then contemplated by God. There could have 
 been no preference for the good, since there was nothing 
 contrary thereto, there being no evil with which to con- 
 trast the good. Conscience could have had no existence 
 in man. Sin being a surprise to God, conscience to re- 
 buke it could have had no part in God's original design. 
 Modesty, that exquisite trait in the nature of man, could 
 have had no part in his original constitution, since God 
 did not foresee that the first pair would do that which 
 made their nakedness appear in a new light to them. 
 And yet, according to the narrative, the instant it was 
 called into requisition, modesty very naturally performed 
 
i8o One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 the duties of its office even before God had called the 
 offenders to account for doing that which required its 
 first blush. This shows that man was at first as now, 
 and is of itself fatal to the theological deduction from 
 the narrative as it stands. And now, before proceeding 
 to show, at some length, how absurd is the theological 
 view of the consequences entailed upon certain parts of 
 animal creation by Adam's fall, we interpolate one remark 
 that properly belongs to a more general consideration of 
 the subject. Theologians hold and repeat unceasingly 
 that death is but the passage or gate to heaven which 
 opens to those who believe. If this be so, it follows 
 according to the doctrine that Adam and all his posterity 
 were originally intended to dwell for ever in this lower 
 world that if Adam had not sinned we should all have 
 been deprived of that blissful abode, which we are led to 
 believe is a transcendently more happy place than was 
 even Paradise itself! So that, notwithstanding man is 
 said to have done very wrong in disobeying God, yet he 
 did the very best that he could for his own advantage. 
 The Church, perhaps, may be able to reconcile this diffi- 
 culty when it explains why man is permitted to eat meat, 
 though God said to him : " Thou shalt eat the herb of the 
 field." God's perfection is a guaranty of the exact fit- 
 ness and harmony of His creation as a whole, and as 
 seen in the various laws, means, and appliances for carry- 
 ing out His purposes. There is nothing wanting, nothing 
 useless each and every part being indispensable to the 
 accomplishment of His perfect end. Now this involves 
 that if God's original purpose in creating what pertains 
 to this earth was in accordance with the theory of the 
 Christian theology on the subject, to wit, that all God's 
 creatures were to live for ever happy and in harmony with 
 each other, committing no breach of His laws, having no 
 pain, misery, or discomfort, either of body or mind, then, 
 the instant Adam first disobeyed these laws, the harmony 
 
Instant Change in Animal Life 181 
 
 and fitness of all must have been changed, to produce 
 another harmony under the condition of things as they 
 now exist. Adam, himself, must necessarily have been 
 reorganised. He must instantly have been so trans- 
 formed as to adapt him to his present wants and his 
 present nature. In fact, this change relates alike to all 
 men, to the intuitions, instincts, and physical structure of 
 all, and to every property of the body and mind of all. 
 And thus, also, with the lower creation. All the birds, 
 fishes, animals, and insects that are now carnivorous 
 must have had their instinctive propensities altered. 
 New means of capturing, eating, and digesting such food 
 as they now eat must have been instantly furnished 
 them, to accommodate them to the new order of things 
 an immense work to be performed, as it seems to us, 
 on account of so unimportant a transaction as that to which 
 it is attributed. The beasts and birds of prey must have 
 been provided with sharp fangs and hooked claws to 
 enable them to secure their victims ; and the appliances 
 which they have for masticating flesh must have been 
 given them at the same time. All the animals and 
 birds that feed upon carrion must have had their crav- 
 ings of appetite adapted to such food and their sense 
 of smell made surprisingly keen to apprise them of its 
 locality at long distances. The hen must have been 
 gifted with the instinct that causes her to call her 
 chickens under her wings when the hawk is in sight. 
 The dog must have had the instinct given him that 
 warns him of danger when he smells a snake whose bite 
 he, intuitively, knows to be fatal. The instinct that 
 makes living things flee or otherwise strive to protect 
 themselves when their natural antagonist presents itself 
 must also have been called into requisition. In fact, 
 all the instincts and propensities that pertain to the 
 preservation of life and to defence at the approach of a 
 natural enemy must have been given to all living things 
 
1 82 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 the moment death became inaugurated because of Adam's 
 sin. 
 
 Again, all living creatures that, in their living state, 
 are designed as food for other living creatures must have 
 had their means and propensity for propagating their kind 
 materially increased to answer to the state of things that 
 then came about. 
 
 If God's purposes were that animated things should 
 not prey upon each other, why did He make such numer- 
 ous kinds and species of animals, birds, insects, and fish, 
 with organs, functions, instincts, and propensities espe- 
 cially adapted and only calculated for the purpose ? 
 Why did he not endow them with those other faculties 
 absolutely necessary for maintaining life according to 
 what theologians call God's original plan? That God 
 from their creation intended that one creature should 
 prey upon another is strongly indicated by the fact that 
 those animals, birds, and fishes of the larger series, which 
 are not liable to be used as food by others, propagate their 
 kind in much less abundance than do those which are 
 made to be devoured : What vast but what appropriate 
 disproportion is there between sharks and herrings, be- 
 tween hawks and sparrows, between tigers and buffaloes, 
 between swallows and insects on the wing ! 
 
 Again, it is certain that, to maintain the order and fit- 
 ness of things which God designed, animals of all kinds 
 require a certain area or space for their occupancy in pro- 
 portion to their numbers. It is also apparent that the 
 aggregate of animal life is materially increased by the 
 different kinds and varieties of species that exist, and 
 that the well being of each is promoted by the existence 
 of not over a certain number of another kind. That is to 
 say, there might have been too many of one or more kinds 
 to produce the best result. If this be true, it is probable 
 that the devouring of one by another is among the means 
 that Nature uses for preventing this inconvenience. There 
 
Death Indispensable 183 
 
 is another provision of Nature apparently tending to the 
 same end it has been ordained that an insect shall, under 
 certain contingencies, deposit its eggs in or on the body of 
 another living insect or animal of a different species. The 
 effect of this is to increase the number of one, and to 
 diminish that of the other kind. This provision of Nat- 
 ure, whereby insects and other animate things feed one 
 upon another and upon the eggs of each other, is, we 
 say, among the arrangements of God to maintain an 
 equilibrium or proper proportion between the kinds, and 
 to prevent the earth from being overstocked, as it soon 
 would be under the theological version of God's original 
 decrees. 
 
 The same arrangement prevails with regard to the birds 
 of the air, and the beasts of the field and forest. Life and 
 death are linked together, and depend on each other by 
 and through God's ordinances in such a way that it is not 
 possible that it can have been anything else than His 
 original purpose that they should both prevail. The prey- 
 ing of one species of animated nature upon another is 
 totally at variance with the dogmas of the theologians on 
 this very subject. They say that it was God's original 
 design that all living things that came into being on the 
 earth or in the waters should live for ever. The fallacy of 
 this is at once shown by the use of figures. At the rate 
 at which living things now multiply, the number would 
 very soon be so great, if all continued to live, that further 
 increase in numbers would be totally impracticable. This 
 result would render all the provisions that now exist for 
 the production and consequent perpetuation of animal life 
 perfectly useless. And yet these embrace so wide a range 
 and are so intimately interwoven with the organs, func- 
 tions, and instincts of animal nature that it is impossible 
 to conceive that God's plan for perpetuating the inhabit- 
 ants of the world was not at first as now. It is impossible 
 to conceive, for example, that the beautiful and pure rela- 
 
1 84 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 tionship which exists between parents and children should 
 not remain an ever-living and active principle a never- 
 ceasing symbol, in some degree parallel to the relationship 
 that exists between God, who is a Father and more than 
 a Father, and all His happy children, here and hereafter 
 a monument of His benign goodness to all the children 
 of men. To return to our point : even the living things 
 of the sea must have had their nature greatly changed. 
 Before death came into the world through Adam's sin, 
 they must have fed on the fruits and herbs of their own 
 expansive and aquatic fields. It is true that the primary 
 source whence food is derived for the growth and support 
 of animals is in the air, in the water, and in the earth. 
 It is also true that animals cannot draw their support 
 directly from the inorganic matter contained in these ele- 
 ments. It can only be converted into pabulum adapted 
 to their support by and through the instrumentality of 
 plants. Vegetation, therefore, links together animal life 
 and inorganic matter. Vegetation is the prime medium 
 in bringing the means of life and animation out of inert 
 matter. On the land, where plants are in greater abun- 
 dance and enjoy more of the elements of thrift than is the 
 case in the sea, their office is performed mose extensively ; 
 and the pabulum suitable for the sustenance of both large 
 and small animals is furnished in much greater abundance 
 than is the case in relation to those which inhabit the 
 waters, and derive their support through the medium of 
 animalcules. Out of this results the important office of 
 the animalcules that exist in such vast numbers in water. 
 They save up and accumulate, as it were, the comparative 
 lesser supply of food by aquatic plants. When inorganic 
 matter has once passed through the medium of plants 
 into suitable food for animals, it is retained in that state 
 through the instrumentality of animalcules, which serve 
 as a guard over every avenue of its return into its original 
 state. In this way abundant means of food is furnished 
 
The Food of Animals 185 
 
 to all the grades of aquatic animal life ; and thus the other- 
 wise too scanty vegetation of the waters is made sufficient 
 to the end in view. The plant product the organic 
 matter, be it vegetable or animal is seized upon in all 
 its stages of decomposition by the animalcules which exist 
 in myriads, and is thus converted into their own tissue, 
 and turned back into animal life in its various grades, 
 they themselves being preyed upon by larger classes of 
 animals. Now, all this is a part of a vast, complicated, and 
 yet harmonious system ordained by God, and made to 
 operate in perfect accordance with all His other systems. 
 This perfect whole is entirely at variance with the idea of 
 the theologians that God's original purpose was that each 
 individual creature in the sea, as well as on land, should 
 live for ever on vegetable matter alone that is to say, if 
 the inhabitants of the waters were to exist in anything 
 like the numbers in which we find them now. If vege- 
 table matter only was to be food for them, such food must 
 have been vastly increased in quantity. Otherwise, not 
 one aquatic animal could exist, in proportion to the thous- 
 ands that now teem in the waters. And the same would 
 have been the case, in a less degree, with land animals, if 
 all were dependent on vegetable food alone and one did 
 not prey upon the other. We conclude, therefore, that, 
 if the theological view of the original ordinances of God 
 in relation to animal creation is right, then the animal- 
 cules found both in fresh and salt water, in which decay- 
 ing vegetable or animal matter exists, had no office, or at 
 least not their present use, in the economy of Nature. 
 
 Let us look now at another branch of this interesting 
 subject. To ensure that the face of the earth shall be 
 perpetually clothed with verdure, most beautiful to the 
 eye and most pleasing to the taste, God has caused the 
 seeds of innumerable varieties of plants to be produced in 
 superabundance, to be wafted by the winds or carried by 
 the waters over and through hill and dale and valley, and 
 
1 86 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 sowed by the birds of the air and the beasts of the field 
 and forest. Numerous and manifold are the seeds thus 
 scattered abroad ; and these take root and spring up in 
 proportion to the space and fertility of the soil requisite 
 for the rearing of healthy specimens. The multiplicity of 
 seeds, and the varied and ample mode of distribution that 
 prevails, not only ensures that there shall be no lack in 
 numbers and dissemination ; it furnishes an abundance 
 from which to select the best samples. This God has 
 provided for by His unalterable laws, as well in the veget- 
 able as in the animal world. And those laws operate in 
 favour of the specimens of each variety whose incipient 
 stage gives the best promise for future excellence. The 
 young tree or bush that makes haste if we may so speak 
 to shoot above and overtop its neighbours, receives upon 
 its branches and leaves more light, more air, and more of 
 the rays of the sun, so essential to its growth, than is the 
 case with the less thrifty of its kind standing near by. 
 This is true, in various degrees, with every variety of plant 
 and herb. To that which hath, more is given. The un- 
 thrifty fall a prey to the strong of their own or other 
 kinds ; and this applies with equal if not with greater 
 force to animal as to vegetable life. The weak and un- 
 thrifty have impediments thrown in their way that the 
 strong know not of. To the same end, is the greater bel- 
 ligerent propensity of male than of female animals. It is 
 in order that the progeny may be sired by the more 
 healthy and vigorous of the respective kinds; and hence 
 a higher grade of excellence is maintained among the ani- 
 mal tribes than would otherwise be the case. From this 
 rivalry for precedence in the animal department of nature 
 as well as the vegetable, death frequently ensues. Even 
 death, we say, so far as we can see, is ordained to the end 
 that life may be more abundant, beautiful, and excel- 
 lent ; that freshness, buoyancy, and the green leaf may 
 predominate. Was this forced unexpectedly upon Omni- 
 
Beautiful Laws of Nature 187 
 
 potence, by the sin of Adam, or was it originally ordained 
 as the result of God's wisdom and goodness ? Although 
 we may not comprehend the length and breadth of God's 
 logic in all this, nevertheless our faith is complete that it 
 is and was right, first and last Christian theology to the 
 contrary, notwithstanding. The present order has, most 
 unquestionably, much to do with the keeping of all the 
 things of the earth fresh, beautiful, and more comely 
 than would otherwise be the case. 
 
 Upon the whole it is evident, therefore, that the laws 
 pertaining to the animal and vegetable portion of the 
 world were, at the first, adjusted to the order of things as 
 they now exist. Death and decomposition were intended 
 constantly to contribute to a new organisation of life and 
 beauty. If not, Adam's one mistake operated to convict 
 God of millions of mistakes, involving a radical change in 
 man and the lower animals to suit them to present circum- 
 stances. Now, which of these two propositions is the more 
 credible, and more in accordance with true religion and 
 reverence for our Maker that God made the blunder in 
 question, or that the story has its origin and advocacy in 
 the priesthood ? Grant that there was a time when the 
 first man had not performed any act, either good or bad, 
 pertaining to the duties for which he was held responsible. 
 So circumstanced, he was, of course, without committed 
 sin, and therefore personally innocent. Is not this true, 
 at some time, with regard to every man that ever arrived 
 at a moral accountability? In this respect at least, it is 
 evident that all men including Adam start on a per- 
 fect equality, to traverse their course through time and 
 in eternity. Now, that Adam was from the first gifted 
 with some agency over his volitions and actions, and that 
 his original nature and knowledge was not such as to 
 ensure that he would not err in the exercise of his limited 
 agency, is shown by the Bible story of his fall. That he 
 did err, precisely after the manner of all men, as soon as 
 
1 88 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 he was put to the test, is also shown by the same 
 account. 
 
 It is, therefore, difficult to see how it can be said that 
 Adam in any way differed, from first to last, from the 
 present type of humanity. Standing as a figure of the 
 first man, Adam was, at one period of his existence, guilt- 
 less of any committed or personal sin, and, to that extent, 
 in God's sight he was innocent, true, and good. Every 
 man arriving at a state of accountability is precisely in 
 the same condition. But, say the Churches, man's nature 
 is corrupt ; he is at enmity with God ; and this was 
 brought about by Adam's sin, where is the evidence ? 
 If all men, at one period of their lives, advance from the 
 same standpoint, all men like Adam, being fallible, are 
 not only liable but they are sure to err. Adam so erred, 
 without having been subject to the taint of corruption 
 as the theologians have it by the sins of any preceding 
 man. The Bible narrative on this subject leads to the in- 
 ference that, very early after he was put to the test of 
 choosing the good and avoiding the evil which is liter- 
 ally the business of life with all men, he did precisely 
 the same thing that all other men do. At times he did 
 what is right ; and at times he did what is wrong. It is 
 in that way we gain experience, and are trained to the 
 practice of virtue. God alone is always right, always good ; 
 and the idea that He originally created man short-sighted 
 and liable to err, as we now see him, militates nothing 
 against His goodness, since He has ordained that which 
 shall be effectual to the diminution of man's ignorance 
 and the supplying of his shortcomings, by His own infinite 
 knowledge and perfection. God has never been thwarted, 
 disconcerted, or interfered with, in the slightest degree, 
 by either man or devil. He is supreme in all things. His 
 plans and doings were all perfect from the first and need 
 no altering. They cannot be altered. The very idea of 
 God, when contemplated in the fulness in which it is man's 
 
God's Original Laws Unchanged 189 
 
 highest privilege to view Him, amounts to demonstration 
 that He is unchangeable. This alone is consistent with 
 the perfections of God, and in direct opposition to the 
 teachings of Christian theology. We insist, therefore, 
 that man and all the lower animals that now inhabit the 
 earth bear the same stamp and impress that God origin- 
 ally gave them ; and that human nature is ever the same 
 in its incipient stage subject to be assimilated more and 
 more toward God's perfections, under the influence and 
 teaching of His unchanging laws, ordained for the pur- 
 pose at man's creation. This may figuratively be termed 
 the partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 
 None are shut out from it. All eat of it, even in this 
 first stage of our existence ; but with various degrees of 
 success ; and in God's good time, none will fail to profit 
 by it. We shall eat, and live for ever. 
 
 If, on the other hand, it shall be alleged that God fore- 
 saw what Adam would do in the matter in question, and 
 provided all things beforehand so as to meet the exact 
 case, so say we ; and Adam as the representative of man- 
 kind is now as at first, and as God intended he should be 
 from the first. 
 
 In relation to the origin of man, we cite the following 
 extracts from Humboldt and other German writers, which 
 in substance repudiate the Hebrew tradition : 
 
 " We do not know," says Wilhelm von Humboldt in an 
 unpublished work, " either from history or from authentic 
 tradition, any period of time in which the human race has 
 not been divided into groups. Whether the gregarious 
 condition was original, or of subsequent occurrence, we 
 have no historic evidence to show. The separate myth- 
 ical relations, found to exist independently of one another 
 in different parts of the earth, appear to refute the first 
 hypothesis : and concur in ascribing the generation of the 
 human race to one pair. The general prevalence of this 
 myth has caused it to be regarded as a traditionary record, 
 
190 One Religion: Many Creeds 
 
 transmitted from the primitive man to his descendants. 
 But this very circumstance seems rather to prove that it 
 has no historical foundation, but has simply arisen from 
 an identity in the mode of intellectual conception, which 
 has everywhere led men to adopt the same conclusions 
 regarding identical phenomena, in the same manner as 
 many myths have doubtless arisen, not from any historical 
 connection existing between them, but from an identity 
 of human thought and imagination. It is in vain that we 
 direct our thoughts to the solution of the great problem 
 of the first origin ; since man is too intimately associated 
 with his own race, and with the relations of time, to con- 
 ceive of the existence of an individual, independently of 
 a preceding generation and age. 
 
 " Nothing remains but to embrace the opinion, that the 
 distinct characteristics of the human race were imprinted 
 at all times ; or that in general mankind does not descend 
 from one man and woman, from Adam and Eve, but 
 from several human pairs. 
 
 " Inasmuch, as it has never yet occurred to anybody to 
 sustain that all figs have sprung from a solitary primitive 
 fig, even as little can any one admit the whole of man- 
 kind to be derived lineally from a single human pair. 
 Wherever the conditions of life were found, life has 
 sprung forth." 
 
 According to these views the whole story in the Book 
 of Genesis relating to Adam and Eve which is the sole 
 authority as to the first human pair being placed in the 
 Garden of Eden is altogether fallacious, a view in which 
 we entirely concur. 
 
 Now, as the Christian theology is wholly based on the 
 story taken in its literal significance, upon the authority 
 of a single person who is claimed to have recorded it two 
 thousand years after its supposed occurrence, there is cer- 
 tainly left but a very slender foundation, whereon to build 
 one's hopes or fears of eternal salvation or destruction. 
 
Adam's Sin 191 
 
 We find that according to Bible narrative, Adam was 
 created in such a condition of life that had he not broken 
 the commandment of God, he would have enjoyed it in 
 the paradise of Eden, everlastingly. But he ate of the 
 tree of knowledge of good and evil, of which God had 
 told him : " Thou shalt not eat of it ; for in the day that 
 thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." And now, lest 
 he should put forth his hand and eat of the tree of life 
 and live for ever,God thrust him out of paradise. By which 
 it appears that if Adam had not sinned, he would have 
 had an eternal life on earth, both bodily and spiritually. 
 But, as he did, physical mortality became the lot, both of 
 him and his posterity. Not that actual death then 
 entered ; for Adam then could never have had children ; 
 whereas, he lived long after, and saw a numerous progeny 
 spring up around him. Where therefore it is said, " In 
 the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die " 
 (Genesis ii., 17), and, "unto dust shalt thou return" 
 (Genesis iii., 19), it must needs be meant that his body 
 would become mortal, and be sure to suffer death. 
 
 But added to this idea, the theology of the Christian 
 Churches teaches also that Adam's sin degraded the 
 spiritual nature of mankind. This doctrine is not war- 
 ranted by the language of the Bible. " For God doth 
 know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall 
 be opened ; and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and 
 evil" (Genesis iii., 5). " And the Lord God said, Behold, 
 the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil ; 
 and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the 
 tree of life, and eat, and live for ever : Therefore the Lord 
 God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the 
 ground from whence he was taken " (Genesis iii., 22, 23). 
 
 Now it is difficult to perceive how man's arriving at 
 a knowledge of good and evil, and thereby assimilating 
 himself to God, is to be construed into man's degradation 
 or fall. Is it not rather an advance in the right direction ? 
 
192 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Does not knowledge tend to elevate, rather than to de- 
 grade ? Some knowledge must be had of evil in order to 
 lead us to the highest appreciation of the good, the true, 
 and the right. God therefore trains man in the direction 
 of his own perfections, by rewarding virtue and punishing 
 vice, which tends to constantly increasing knowledge of 
 good and evil ; and thus man is conducted to the happy 
 destiny which God designed for him. 
 
 But to proceed witn the argument on the theory that 
 man did fall, and that it became necessary that some one 
 should restore him. 
 
 If, as it is said, Jesus has made satisfaction for the sins 
 of all that believe in him, and therefore recovers to all be- 
 lievers that " Eternal Life " which was lost by the sin of 
 Adam, it must, in this sense, be recovered for them on 
 earth. Herein, alone, is it that the comparison of St. Paul 
 holds good, when he says : " As by the offence of one, judg- 
 ment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the 
 righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men to 
 justification of life" (Romans v., 18, 19); or as he more 
 perspicuously expresses it, in those other words of his : 
 " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be 
 made alive" (i Corinthians xv., 22). 
 
 The place, then, wherein men are to enjoy eternal life, 
 which Jesus hath obtained for them, can be none other 
 than here, where, having first obtained it, they lost it ; 
 and where, last of all, they recover it again, through him. 
 For if, as in Adam all die, that is, if in Adam all have for- 
 feited paradise and eternal life on earth, and returned to 
 dust again, even so in Christ shall all be made alive, that 
 is, all shall be made alive on earth, in the flesh. If this, 
 we say, be not the meaning of the words, then words fail 
 to convey any adequate idea of the text. The Psalmist 
 not only corroborates, but he strengthens this view of the 
 subject. " For there," says he, that is, on Mount Zion 
 (the place which is made to represent Jerusalem upon 
 
Eternal Life on Earth 193 
 
 earth), " the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for 
 evermore " (Psalm cxxxiii., 3). John also, in the Reve- 
 lation, does the same thing : " To him that overcometh, 
 I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst 
 of the paradise of God" (Revelation ii., 7). This was 
 the tree of Adam's eternal life, which, from the wording 
 of the fable, was evidently intended to be on earth. But 
 for our further confirmation, the same Apostle says again : 
 " I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming 
 down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride 
 adorned for her husband" (Revelation xxi., 2). And 
 again, to the same effect, he remarks : " And he carried 
 me away in the spirit, to a great and high mountain, and 
 shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descend- 
 ing out of heaven from God " (Rev. xxi., 10) ; implying 
 that the new Jerusalem, the paradise of God, at the com- 
 ing again of Jesus, should come down to God's people 
 from heaven ; and not that they should go up to it from 
 earth. This differs nothing from that which the two men 
 in white clothing that is, the two angels said to the 
 Apostles who were looking upon Jesus ascending : " This 
 same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall 
 so come, as you have seen him go into heaven " (Acts 
 i., ii). This is equivalent to saying that Jesus will come 
 down to govern them under his Father, here, eternally ; 
 and not take them up, to govern them in heaven above. 
 It answers also to the restoration of the kingdom of God 
 instituted under Moses, which was a political government 
 of the Jews on earth. 
 
 Now referring again to the first part of the argument 
 if Adam and Eve had not sinned, and had lived on the 
 earth, together with their posterity, forever, it is manifest 
 that the earth could not have contained the aggregate. If 
 immortals could have generated as mankind do now, the 
 earth, in a short space of time, would not have sufficed 
 
 for them to live in. 
 13 
 
194 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Again, the joys of that " life eternal," in Scripture lan- 
 guage, are all comprehended under the name of Salvation. 
 Now, to be saved is to be secured, either respectively 
 against special evils, or absolutely against all evils com- 
 prehending want, sickness, and even death itself. If, 
 therefore, man was created an immortal being, not subject 
 to corruption, and having nothing in him that tends to 
 dissolution, and if he fell from that state of happiness by 
 the sin of Adam, it follows that to be saved from sin, in 
 his case, is to be saved from all the evils and calamities 
 that sin brought upon him. So that the meaning of the 
 Scriptural term, " remission of sins," is one and the same 
 with salvation from death and misery. This is manifest 
 from the words of Jesus ; when he cured a man sick of the 
 palsy, he began by saying, " Son, be of good cheer, thy 
 sins be forgiven thee " (Matthew ix., 2) ; and, being mur- 
 mured at by the Scribes for this act, asked them, "Whether 
 is it easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, 
 Arise and walk ? " (Matthew ix., 5). Of course, he meant 
 that the two things were synonymous that " Thy sins be 
 forgiven thee," and " Arise and walk " would produce the 
 same effect. Reason, too, teaches us that since death 
 and misery are, according to Bible teaching, the punish- 
 ments of sin, redemption from sin must also be redemp- 
 tion from death and misery ; that is to say, absolute 
 salvation. 
 
 But salvation may also be a special remedy against 
 particular evils and what are they ? Examples are the 
 best means of teaching us. " And he said, the Lord is my 
 rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer ; the God of my 
 rock ; in Him will I trust ; He is my shield and the horn 
 of my salvation, my high tower and my refuge, my saviour 
 thou savest me from violence. I will call on the Lord, 
 who is worthy to be praised : so shall I be saved from 
 mine enemies " (2 Samuel xxii., 2-4). " And the Lord 
 gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under 
 
Salvation Not Spiritual 195 
 
 the hand of the Syrians ; and the children of Israel dwelt 
 in their tents, as beforetime " (2 Kings xiii., 5). Now, 
 these quotations, and many others of a similar character, 
 which could be selected, most unquestionably have refer- 
 ence to the realisation of an earthly salvation, which is 
 described and marked out precisely at length in the fol- 
 lowing passages from the Book of Isaiah : " Look upon 
 Zion, the city of our solemnities ; thine eyes shall see 
 Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not 
 be taken down ; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be 
 removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. 
 But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of 
 broad rivers and streams ; wherein shall go no galley with 
 oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. For the 
 Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is 
 our King ; he will save us. Thy tacklings are loosed ; 
 they could not well strengthen their mast ; they could not 
 spread the sail ; then is the prey of a great spoil divided ; 
 the lame take the prey. And the inhabitant shall not 
 say, I am sick ; the people that dwell therein shall be for- 
 given their iniquity " (Isaiah xxxiii., 20-24). In these 
 words we have the place from whence salvation is to pro- 
 ceed, namely, " Jerusalem," " a quiet habitation " ; and 
 the eternity of it, " a tabernacle that shall not be taken 
 down," etc. Is it not, therefore, evident that the Script- 
 ures foretell that salvation shall be on this earth ! If this 
 is not sufficiently emphatic, examine the following texts 
 from the same prophet : " And they [that is, the Gentiles 
 who had any Jew in bondage] shall bring all your 
 brethren, for an offering unto the Lord out of all 
 nations, upon horses and in chariots, and in litters, and 
 upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain 
 Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring 
 an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. 
 And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, 
 saith the Lord" (Isaiah Ixvi., 20,21). Whereby it is 
 
196 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 manifest that the chief seat of God's kingdom, which is 
 the place from whence the salvation of the Gentiles was 
 to proceed, was Jerusalem. 
 
 But to pursue this subject still further: The prophet 
 Joel, in describing the day of judgment, says that God 
 will " shew wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, blood, 
 and fire, and pillars of smoke ; the sun shall be turned into 
 darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and 
 terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass 
 that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall 
 be delivered : for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall 
 be deliverance " (Joel ii., 30-32). Obadiah, in his single 
 chapter, says the same thing : " Upon Mount Zion shall 
 be deliverance, and there shall be holiness ; and the house 
 of Jacob shall possess their possessions" (verse 17) that 
 is, the possessions of the heathen. These possessions he 
 designates more particularly in the following verses, by the 
 title of " the Mount of Esau," "the Land of the Philis- 
 tines," "the fields of Ephraim," "of Samaria," " Gilead," 
 and " the cities of the South " ; and then he concludes 
 with these words, " the kingdom shall be the Lord's." 
 All these places are said to be for salvation, and for the 
 kingdom of God, after the day of judgment upon earth. 
 
 By examining the term " world," as made use of in the 
 Bible, this will become still more apparent. There we 
 have it referred to in three different senses, as the old 
 world, the present world, and the world to come. Of the 
 first, St. Peter speaks in the following language : " And 
 spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth per- 
 son, a preacher of righteousness, bringing the flood upon 
 the world of the ungodly" (2 Peter ii., 5) which evi- 
 dently means the world that existed from Adam to what 
 is called the Deluge. Of the present world, Jesus him- 
 self thus speaks : " My kingdom is not of this world ; if 
 my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants 
 fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews " (John 
 
One Article of Faith 197 
 
 xviii., 36). Jesus means the world then actually around 
 him, which was then, and which is now, inhabited by the 
 human race, as contradistinguished from the world over 
 which he expected to rule at his second coming. And of 
 this world to come to which Christ alluded, the Apostle 
 Peter again enlightens us : " Nevertheless we, according 
 to his promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth 
 wherein dwelleth righteousness " 2 Peter iii., 13. This 
 is also that world, whereunto Christ coming down from 
 heaven in the clouds, with great power and glory, shall 
 send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from 
 the four winds, and from the uttermost parts of the earth, 
 and thenceforth reign over them under his Father, ever- 
 lastingly. 
 
 The only article of faith which the Scriptures make 
 simply necessary to salvation is this, that Jesus is " The 
 Christ." By the name of Christ, at that time, was under- 
 stood "The King"; the anointed one; the one whom 
 God had before promised, by the prophets of the Old 
 Testament, to send into the world, to reign over the Jews, 
 and over such nations as should believe in him, under him- 
 self, eternally ; and to give them that eternal life which 
 was lost by the sin of Adam, namely, life everlasting 
 in the flesh upon earth. The aim of all the Evangel- 
 ists, who give us such a graphic description of the life 
 of Jesus, was to establish that one article of faith, that 
 Jesus is " The Christ." The sum and substance of Mat- 
 thew's Gospel is this, that Jesus was of the stock of David, 
 and that he was born of a Virgin. These are considered, 
 perhaps, the strongest marks by which the true Christ was 
 to be identified; but they are not all. They are con- 
 firmed, we are taught, by the following corroborative evi- 
 dence : The Magi came to worship him as such, that is as 
 " The King of the Jews." Herod, for the same cause, 
 sought to kill him. John the Baptist proclaimed him. 
 He declared himself ; and his Apostles also preached that 
 
198 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 he taught the law, not as a scribe, but as a man of author- 
 ity that is, as a man in a supreme position. He cured 
 diseases by his word only, and did many other miracles, 
 which it was foretold the Christ should do. He was saluted 
 king, when he entered into Jerusalem. He forewarned 
 his disciples, and others, to beware of any except himself 
 who should pretend to be Christ. He was taken, accused, 
 and put to death, for saying he was that king. The cause 
 of his condemnation, written on the cross, was, " Jesus 
 of Nazareth, The King of the Jews." All these, and 
 many other examples of a like character, teach (and teach 
 nothing more nor less than this) that men should believe 
 that " Jesus is the Christ." We gather these quotations 
 from the history of Jesus, written by Matthew. The 
 other three Evangelists who wrote of him, with some few 
 discrepancies, additions, and subtractions, say pretty much 
 the same things. The whole and sole design, therefore, of 
 the Evangelists was to impress and establish this one idea. 
 Indeed John makes it the sum total of his history. " These 
 things were written," says he, "that ye might believe 
 that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believ- 
 ing ye might have life through his name" (John xx., 31) 
 that is to say, life everlasting upon earth in the flesh. 
 The Apostles, even in the lifetime of Jesus, were sent to 
 preach the kingdom of God : " And he sent them to preach 
 the kingdom of God " (Luke ix., 2). And again : " As ye 
 go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand " 
 (Matthew x., 7). Now what can we gather from this but 
 that he sent them to preach that he was " The Messiah," 
 "The Christ," "The King," which was to come? Their 
 preaching, likewise, after his death, was the same. This 
 is manifest from an account which Luke gives in the Book 
 of Acts, of a riot which such preaching occasioned at 
 Thessalonica. " The Jews," says he, " which believed not, 
 moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of 
 the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the 
 
r 
 Jesus the Christ 199 
 
 city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and 
 sought to bring them out to the people. And when they 
 found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren 
 unto the rulers of the city, crying, these that have turned 
 the world upside down are come hither also, whom Jason 
 hath received ; and these all do contrary to the decrees of 
 Caesar; saying that there is another King, one Jesus" 
 (Acts xvii., 5-7). 
 
 Jesus himself, no doubt, at one period of his life, fa- 
 voured this idea. The following suggestion which he made 
 to the Jews with reference to himself evidences that he 
 did, " Search the Scriptures ; for in them ye think ye have 
 eternal life ; and they are they that testify of me " (John 
 v., 39). Of course he could have reference, in these words 
 to no other writings than those of the Old Testament, the 
 New Testament not then being in existence. Admitting, 
 then, that the Old Testament Scriptures do bear all the 
 marks whereby men might have known Jesus when he 
 came among them such as those to which we have before 
 referred, to wit, that he should descend from David ; be 
 born at Bethlehem, and of a Virgin ; and that he should 
 do great miracles by which it should be known that he 
 was come to be a temporal king ; and, The King of the 
 Jews, which he never was, still, does this warrant theo- 
 logians in putting a totally different construction on it, by 
 going further and saying that he was not only a temporal 
 king, but that he was the King of Kings, and Lord of 
 Lords? What authority have they for doing this? We 
 shall presently shew. 
 
 The principal evidence which Christians have to pro- 
 duce in support of the Divinity of Jesus is the working of 
 miracles. In order to claim credence for his miracles, 
 they are necessarily compelled to admit the validity of the 
 miracles of Moses and of the Old Testament generally, 
 some of which are said to have been wrought by persons 
 who were considered types of Jesus. We will examine 
 
200 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 into the nature of these first, therefore. Now it must be 
 admitted that there are some references made in the 
 Scriptures themselves to the power of working wonders, 
 even by men who were represented to be at variance with 
 God and His people. In fact, the ability to perform such 
 acts is conceded to them. But they are also said to have 
 been produced by magic and incantation. 
 
 For example, when we read that after the rod of Moses 
 had been cast on the ground, and had become a serpent 
 (Exodus vii., 10, 12), the magicians of Egypt did the same 
 by their enchantments. Again, after Moses had turned the 
 waters of the Egyptian streams, rivers, ponds, and pools 
 of water into blood (Exodus vii., 20, 22) the magicians 
 did so likewise by their enchantments. And again, when 
 Aaron had, by the power of God, brought frogs upon the 
 land (Exodus viii., 6, 7) the magicians also did so by their 
 enchantments, and they " brought up frogs upon the land 
 of Egypt." 
 
 Now enchantment is not, as many think it, a working 
 of strange effects by spells and words, but imposture and 
 delusion wrought by legerdemain ; and so far is it from 
 being supernatural, that the impostors who practise it do 
 not resort to the study either of science or of nature. All 
 they do is to impose upon the ignorance, stupidity, and su- 
 perstition of the most credulous. So that all that miracle- 
 working consists in is this, that the enchanter has made 
 himself master in the art of deception. It is, therefore, 
 not a good or laudable thing to do ; it is bad, wicked, and 
 detestable, and abhorrent to every sensible mind. 
 
 What a reputation for miraculous powers (before the 
 science of the course of the stars was discovered) might 
 not a man have gained had he truly foretold that on a 
 certain day, or at a certain hour, the sun would be dark- 
 ened ! A juggler, also, by handling the appliances of his 
 profession (if such tricks were not now ordinarily prac- 
 tised), might gain for himself such renown for ability to 
 
Some Miracles Explained 201 
 
 work miracles as would suggest that he was aided by the 
 devil, at least, if by no higher power. 
 
 But when we take a more sensible view of the matter, 
 and look upon the impostures which are wrought by con- 
 federacy, there are few things (however impossible they 
 may appear) that cannot be done or seem to be done. 
 And however glaring the fraud may be, it still finds dupes 
 enough ready to believe in it. Two men conspiring, one 
 to seem lame, the other to cure him with a charm, might 
 deceive a few; but many conspiring one to seem lame, 
 another to cure him, and all the rest to bear witness to the 
 cheat might deceive many men. 
 
 The seeming miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead 
 (if it were ever enacted) was, no doubt, the result of 
 collusion ; so also was the raising to life of the ruler's 
 daughter, and of the son of the widow of Nain. We hesi- 
 tate not to say the same in regard to all other instances 
 where the gaining of credence in miracle-working has been 
 attempted. 
 
 None of the miracles with which the old histories are 
 filled took place at a period of scientific culture. Scrutin- 
 ising observation, which has never once been deceived, 
 teaches us that miracles never happen, save in times and 
 countries wherein they are believed without examination, 
 and before persons whose minds are already prepared to 
 believe them. No miracle ever .occurred in the presence 
 of men capable of testing its mysterious character. 
 Neither common people, nor men of the world, are able 
 to apply the test. It requires much precaution and long 
 habits of scientific research. In our days have we not 
 seen almost all respectable people made dupes of by the 
 grossest frauds and the most puerile illusions? Transac- 
 tions said to be marvellous and attested by the whole 
 population of small towns have thanks to a severer 
 scrutiny been satisfactorily explained. And if it can be 
 proved that no contemporary so-called miracles will bear 
 
202 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 to be inquired into, is it not probable also, nay, is it not 
 more than probable, that the miracles of the past, which 
 have all been performed among an ignorant populace, 
 would equally present their share of illusion, were it pos- 
 sible to criticise them in detail ? 
 
 It is not, then, in the name of this or that philosophy, 
 but in the name of universal experience, that we banish 
 miracles from history. Up to this time the performance 
 of a miracle has never been proved. 
 
 In the aptitude of mankind to give too hasty belief to 
 pretended miracles, therefore, how very wisely put is the 
 caution in the beginning of the thirteenth chapter, and 
 again, at the end of the eighteenth chapter of Deuteronomy 
 that we take not any for prophets who teach any other 
 religion than that which God, through His messenger, 
 Moses, hath established ; nor any, though he teach the 
 same religion, whose prediction we do not see come to pass ! 
 
 Jesus taught another religion than that of Moses ; and 
 his prediction, that his second coming would be during 
 the lifetime of some who heard him so predict, did not 
 come to pass. By this it is proved that the Bible test 
 of a reliable worker of miracles is adverse to the preten- 
 sions set up in behalf of Jesus. He also failed to estab- 
 lish his claim, in relation to having been sent of God to 
 be temporal ruler of the Jews, either by miracles or other- 
 wise. Unfulfilled also is- the idea of Jesus in relation to 
 the destruction of the earth by fire and the formation of 
 a new one in its place, wherein he claimed that the right- 
 eous alone were to dwell, and were to be ruled over by 
 him. All of this was to take place, according to Jesus' 
 own prediction, before the generation of that day should 
 pass away ; yet now, after eighteen hundred years, it re- 
 mains unaccomplished. 
 
 We add a few remarks in regard to the pretended mir- 
 acles described by the writers of the New Testament as 
 having been worked by Jesus. 
 
Further Explanations 203 
 
 There is undoubtedly a class of diseases which may not 
 be cured by a charm, or by the force of imagination, or 
 immediately by soothing influences. 
 
 Of this sort was that of the woman with the issue of 
 blood of long standing. Yet there is another class of 
 complaints, or conceits, which may be so cured, or at 
 least appear for a time to be so. Hence the account 
 given in the Gospels, in many cases, corresponds to 
 appearances exhibited at the time. When Jesus dis- 
 missed the woman having the issue of blood, with the 
 words, " Thy faith hath made thee whole," he could not 
 have expressed himself more modestly, and it may be 
 that he spoke not altogether inappropriately. She may 
 in some degree have been benefited by her faith ; but 
 she could not have been instantaneously and entirely 
 cured of a disorder like the one in question. Faith, hope- 
 fulness, and buoyancy of spirits have a marked tendency 
 to produce beneficial effects, and generally do so in almost 
 all descriptions of diseases, but this in a way altogether 
 natural, never supernatural or miraculous. The firm 
 belief which many persons had in Jesus as a wonder- 
 worker no doubt had more or less influence, for a time at 
 least, as is evident from the fact that in his home at Naza- 
 reth, by reason of the unbelief of the people, it was only 
 in a few cases that he had succeeded (Matthew xiii., 58). 
 It was supposed, at the period in question, that there 
 were processes, more or less -efficacious, for driving dis- 
 eases away. On this account the occupation of exorcist 
 or conjurer was a regular profession, like that of physi- 
 cian, and it may be fairly assumed that Jesus had, in his 
 lifetime, the reputation of possessing the profoundest 
 secrets of this art. Many singular incidents were related 
 in connection with his cures, in which the credulity of the 
 people gave full scope for his encouragement, as at this 
 day. In Syria they regard as mad, or possessed by a 
 demon, people who are only somewhat eccentric. A 
 
204 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 gentle word in such cases often suffices to drive away the 
 demon. And such were, doubtless, the means employed 
 by Jesus. At that time, also, the fashionable form of 
 complaint among the Jews was possession of devils, which 
 accounts for his popularity as a caster out of them. We 
 have seen this morbid condition reappearing in our own 
 days in connection with the newly arisen belief in spirits 
 and devils. Nervous and mental diseases, which other- 
 wise would have appeared simply in the form of convul- 
 sions, periodical craziness, and the like, appeared in 
 connection with that superstition as madness, produced 
 by demoniacal possession, that could only be removed 
 by operating on the delusion. There is every probability 
 that as to the cause of this disease Jesus shared the ideas 
 of his age. Hence, on account of its frequently yielding 
 to his denunciation in the name of God, he considered 
 this fact a sign of the Messianic times, though he laid the 
 less stress upon the fact as regarded himself and his dis- 
 ciples, because he saw the same effect produced by others 
 whom, in this respect, he placed without hesitation on a 
 par with himself. 
 
 In cases of cure of this kind by the imagination, it 
 could not but happen sometimes that, with the excite- 
 ment, the imagined relief produced by it also passed 
 away, so that the old complaints returned. Jesus him- 
 self speaks of such relapses, not merely with reference to 
 sick persons who had been cured by himself, but gener- 
 ally, so that we may be sure that they had happened in 
 his own experience as well as in that of others. As 
 regards the re-possession, he explains it as the return of 
 the devil that had been driven out, with a fresh accession 
 of strength. We infer from this that he looked upon 
 the cause of these complaints as a supernatural one, and 
 his power of removing them as by no means absolute. 
 
 Now we have to speak of quite another description of 
 miracles, said to have been enacted by Jesus, which 
 
Different Miracles 205 
 
 involves the question whether God's laws in relation to 
 physical nature are invariably the same. The affimative 
 is at this day so well established by science and every 
 other available test that to argue the subject is frivolous. 
 We, therefore, deem it impossible that Jesus should ever, 
 by a mere blessing, have enormously increased existing 
 means of nourishment. It is impossible that he could 
 have changed water into wine. Nor can he, in defiance 
 of the law of gravity, have walked upon the water with- 
 out sinking. He cannot have recalled really dead men to 
 life. Narratives of this kind have their existence in fable 
 only ; never in fact. The gross ignorance and the dark 
 superstition of the people in Jesus' time make it perfectly 
 intelligible that even cures effected by means obviously 
 natural were considered as miracles. 
 
 If Jesus could cure some diseases supernaturally by the 
 mere word of command, why not all? Why resort to 
 manipulation, and the applying of spittle and clay to the 
 eyes of the blind, and the cleansing with water, according 
 to Bible narrative? Here is evidently a judicious dis- 
 crimination between complaints which may be affected 
 purely by the imagination and those in which it was 
 deemed necessary to resort to material appliances. Nat- 
 ural means were evident, while credit was given (for what- 
 ever good may have resulted) to supernatural means. 
 
 Again, the most wonderful and startling of all the mira- 
 cles said to have been performed by Jesus was that called 
 the raising of Lazarus. If this ever had the appearance 
 of being performed it is certain that Lazarus was not 
 dead ; and the presumption is that Jesus knew it. This 
 is to be inferred from the fact that he himself intimated 
 to his disciples that Lazarus was only asleep. Let any 
 candid reader examine the following narrative with a criti- 
 cal eye, and see if something of this kind of collusion 
 cannot be detected in it: " Therefore his sisters sent 
 unto him, saying, Lord, behold he whom thou lovest is 
 
206 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not 
 unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God 
 might be glorified thereby. . . . These things said he ; 
 and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleep- 
 eth ; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Then 
 said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep he shall do well. 
 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death ; but they thought that 
 he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said 
 Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am 
 glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye 
 may believe ; nevertheless, let us go unto him. . . . Jesus 
 saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldst 
 believe thou shouldst see the glory of God ? Then they 
 took away the stone from the place where the dead was 
 laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I 
 thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that 
 thou hearest me always ; but because of the people which 
 stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast 
 sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with 
 a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead 
 came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and 
 his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto 
 them, Loose him and let him go. Then many of the Jews 
 which came to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus 
 did, believed on him." 
 
 According to the testimony of the Apostle Paul, it was 
 a national peculiarity of the Jews to desire signs from a 
 man in whose doctrine they were asked to believe. Moses 
 was supposed to have spoken to the people before the 
 suppression of the rebellious adherents of Korah. Num- 
 bers xvi., 28, " Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath 
 sent me to do all these works ; for I have not done them 
 of mine own mind." "The Jews," St. Paul remarks, 
 " require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom " (i 
 Corinthians i. 22). 
 
 As the national legend of the Hebrews had attributed 
 
Jewish Tests of the Messiahship 207 
 
 to Moses, one of the most eminent prophets, a series of 
 such miracles as might then be read in the books held 
 sacred by them, it was natural that miracles should, in 
 like manner, be expected of every one who claimed to be 
 a prophet or the Messiah, and that a Teacher should not 
 be held in full estimation by the people if he were with- 
 out this proof of having received credentials from above. 
 Accordingly, it is quite certain, as we read in the Gospels, 
 that on more than one occasion, when Jesus put forward 
 pretensions which none but a prophet could put forward, 
 he was met by the demand for an accrediting sign. 
 " Master," said they, as we read in the Gospel of Mat- 
 thew, " we would see a sign from thee." On two other 
 occasions, likewise, they accosted him with the expres- 
 sions of a wish of this kind, and for what they define 
 more accurately as a sign from heaven Matthew xvi., i ; 
 Mark viii., 2. But Jesus refused to comply with their 
 demands. Up to this time his pretension went no fur- 
 ther than that he was a teacher sent from God. He 
 relied upon the excellence of the doctrine that he taught 
 as an evidence that he was sent; and this he declared. 
 He, therefore, returned a summary answer to the demand 
 for a sign. No sign, whatever, said he, shall be given to 
 this evil and adulterous generation. By the term " gen- 
 eration," we understand him to mean his contemporaries 
 generally, whose want of susceptibility and whose pervers- 
 ity in the case of the Pharisees and Scribes came under 
 his observation in a particularly glaring manner. It was 
 not until later, and probably after he had conceived the 
 idea that he was the promised Messiah, that he saw the 
 policy of yielding, as he did, to the importunities for a 
 sign. The answer that Jesus gave to the messengers 
 of the Baptist, who were sent to him in consequence of 
 a series of miracles which he was then performing, and 
 to which he appealed as a proof of his Messianic com- 
 mission, appears to stand in direct contradiction to his 
 
208 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 refusal to perform signs and wonders. When John the 
 Baptist sent to ask Jesus whether he was the promised 
 Messiah, or whether they were to look for another, John 
 must have been in doubt whether those miracles similar 
 ones to which had been performed by the prophets in the 
 Old Testament did, also, on this occasion, announce only 
 a prophet, or, lastly, and once for all, the Messiah. The 
 sequel has shown that Jesus was not the expected Mes- 
 siah, inasmuch as he never occupied the throne of David. 
 But, however Jesus might disclaim the performance of 
 material miracles, it was supposed, according to the mode 
 of thought of the period and of his contemporaries, that 
 miracles he must perform, whether he would or not. As 
 soon as he was considered a prophet (Luke vii., 16) 
 and we cannot doubt that he might attain this character 
 as well as the Baptist, even without the performance of 
 miracles and miraculous powers were attributed to him, 
 they came, of course, into operation. From that time, 
 wherever he showed himself, sufferers regularly crowded 
 upon him, in order only to touch his garments, because 
 they expected to be cured by doing so Matthew, xiv., 
 36; Mark iii., 10, vi., 56; Luke vi., 19. And it would 
 have been strange, indeed, if there had been no cases 
 among all these in which the force of excited imagination 
 or impressions, half spiritual and half sensuous, produced 
 either actual removal or temporary mitigation of disease. 
 Such effect was ascribed to the miraculous powers of 
 Jesus. 
 
 But, besides and beyond these signs as a test of the 
 truth of the mission of a prophet, there were other means 
 by which the Jews examined his claims, and particularly 
 the claims of one aspiring to the Messiahship. Their con- 
 ceptions of the Messiah, though different in different per- 
 sons, agreed nevertheless in this, that the Messiah, after 
 the opening of his kingdom, would continue to reign 
 over his followers for a period far exceeding the natural 
 
Jewish Tests of the Messiahship 209 
 
 duration of human life. According to Luke, his dominion 
 was absolutely to have no end. " He shall be great, and 
 shall be called the Son of the Highest : and the Lord God 
 shall give unto him the throne of his father David : And 
 he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; and of 
 his kingdom there shall be no end " (Luke i., 32, 33). 
 
 This idea we find borrowed from the prophets David, 
 Isaiah, Daniel, and others, where the duration of his 
 reign is said to be a thousand years, as in Revelation xx., 
 4. If he died at last, this death was to happen to all life 
 on earth, for the purpose of bringing about a change into 
 the super-terrestrial state. But in no case could he die 
 until he had finished his work and executed all that was 
 expected of him. In no case could he be cut off, as a 
 condemned criminal, submitting to superior power. 
 
 Now, both these contingencies had occurred to Jesus. 
 His ministry, as the pretended Messiah, was broken off ; 
 and it was broken off by the violence practised against 
 him by the Jews, even before it had fully begun. The 
 case, then, immediately after the decease of Jesus, be- 
 tween the Jews of the ancient faith and his adherents 
 stood as follows : The former said, " Your Jesus cannot 
 have been the Messiah, because the Messiah is to continue 
 for ever. He was not to die until after a long period of 
 dominion as the Messiah, at the same time enjoying 
 earthly life as all others. But your Jesus has died before 
 the time, by a disgraceful death, without having done any- 
 thing expected of the Messiah." On the other hand, the 
 latter said, "As Jesus, our Messiah, died so early, the 
 prophecies which promise to the Messiah that he shall 
 endure for ever can only have meant that his death 
 should not subject his soul to a continuance in hell, nor 
 his body to corruption" (Psalm xvi., 10; Acts ii., 21); 
 but that he should migrate into a higher life with God, 
 from whence he will return to earth at his own time, 
 in order to bring to a conclusion his work that was 
 
210 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 interrupted through your guilt." Now, which interpre- 
 tation is the more credible and probable? Let us look 
 further. 
 
 All the prophecies that can, with any consistency, be 
 construed to have any relation to the office of Jesus' Mes- 
 siahship, point to his sitting on the throne of David in 
 the capacity of an earthly king, and thence redeeming the 
 Jews from personal, and, perhaps, incidentally from some 
 degree of spiritual and mental bondage (Isaiah ix., 6, 7). 
 
 That the Jews at the time of Jesus' ministry among 
 them so understood it, will be seen by the following cita- 
 tion : " There came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 
 saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for 
 we have seen his star in the east, and are come to wor- 
 ship him. . . . And when he Herod had gathered 
 all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he 
 demanded of them where Christ should be born. And 
 they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is 
 written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land 
 of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda; for 
 out of thee shall come a Governor that shall rule my 
 people Israel " (Matthew ii., 1-6). This is further evinced 
 by the inscription which Pilate caused to be put on the 
 cross upon which Jesus was crucified, to wit : " Jesus of 
 Nazareth, The King of the Jews," and to which the Jews 
 objected, saying, " Write not The King of the Jews, but 
 that he said, I am King of the Jews" (John xix., 21). 
 He was accused, then, by the Jews of claiming to be their 
 king ; and it is evident that the accusation was a just one. 
 
 Indeed, even after his death, it was still the belief of 
 the Apostles that he was a Prince and a Saviour, and 
 that he was raised up to sit on the throne of David. In 
 the first sermon that Peter preached (which was on the 
 Day of Pentecost), he addressed himself thus to the as- 
 sembled multitudes that surrounded him : " Men and 
 brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch 
 
The Throne of David 2 1 1 
 
 David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre 
 is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and 
 knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that 
 of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would 
 raise up Christ to sit on his throne," etc. (Acts ii., 20). 
 And when this same Apostle and some others of his breth- 
 ren had been arrested for preaching in his name, after 
 the alleged resurrection and ascension of Jesus, Peter in 
 his defence remarked : " Him hath God exalted with his 
 right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give re- 
 pentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins" (Acts v., 31). 
 
 This proves that they still adhered to the idea that his 
 mission was to save the Israelites from bondage through 
 the medium of his being their Prince ; and from their 
 sins, by preaching repentance to them. But, was the son 
 of Mary, the wife of Joseph, who was called Christ, sent 
 to sit upon the throne of David ? 
 
 This was the question that was fairly presented to the 
 Jews, both by Jesus and his disciples before his death, 
 and by his Apostles after his death ; and it is quite cer- 
 tain that it took a political phase, and was canvassed, on 
 the side of the Apostles, with equal skill and ardour as 
 are such questions now. The point at issue was, belief 
 or non-belief as to whether Jesus, as the appointed of 
 God, was to occupy the throne of David. Human nature 
 and political intriguing having the same sway over men's 
 minds then as at present, it is not improbable that all 
 things, which were promised to those that believed, were 
 so promised in order to swell up a majority, so that Jesus 
 might be declared a King by acclamation, and the leaders 
 in that doctrine be thus enabled to divide the spoils. By 
 the flatteries of his immediate followers and of those 
 who espoused his cause, he was made to believe, without 
 doubt, that he was the person selected by God to serve 
 in the capacity here indicated ; and, hence, in view of his 
 princely honours and the high source of his appointment, 
 
212 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 he allowed others to call him, and called himself, " Christ," 
 "Lord," and "the Son of God," as was the manner of 
 the Jews in relation to persons who were held in high 
 estimation. 
 
 This was his attitude, and these were his claims, when 
 the question was being agitated, by the people, as to his 
 title to the Jewish throne. They were instilled and fos- 
 tered within him by the fanaticism of his followers, who 
 repeatedly proclaimed with shouts and acclamations that 
 he was the promised Messiah the King whom the Jews 
 expected to reign over them (Mark xi., 9). We read in 
 St. Matthew's Gospel that the multitudes that went 
 before and that followed cried, saying, " Hosanna to the 
 Son of David, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of 
 the Lord, Hosanna in the Highest." And again in St. 
 John, " that when he perceived that they would come, 
 and take him by force, and make him a King, he departed 
 again into a mountain himself alone." This he did, 
 probably, because, by his far-sightedness, he saw that 
 the time had not yet come for him to assert his right to 
 the position, there being, at that moment, no general 
 movement of the populace to support him in his claim. 
 
 When Jesus had completely given up his association 
 with Judaism he was filled with revolutionary ardour. 
 The innocent aphorisms of the first part of his prophetic 
 career, in part borrowed from the Jewish rabbis anterior 
 to him, and the beautiful moral precepts of his second 
 period, are exchanged for a decided policy. The Mes- 
 siah had come ; and he was the Messiah. The kingdom 
 of God was about to be revealed ; and it was he who 
 would reveal it. It was by crises and commotions that 
 it was to be established. " From the days of John the 
 Baptist," saith he, " until now, the kingdom of heaven 
 suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force" 
 (Matthew xi., 12 ) ; and again, " The law and the prophets 
 were until John ; since that time the kingdom of God 
 
A Kingdom to be Established 213 
 
 is preached, and every man presseth into it " (John 
 xvi., 1 6). 
 
 He had previously contented himself with quietly 
 teaching the doctrines of purity and truth. Now he pre- 
 sented a different attitude before the world. He was 
 above, and beyond, a mere simple teacher of morality. 
 He was a prophet, and more than a prophet, and to be 
 obeyed. A kingdom was to be established by him. 
 
 In his paroxysm of heroic will, he believed himself all 
 powerful. If the earth would not submit to his supreme 
 transformation, it must be broken up, purified by fire, 
 and by the breath of God. A new heaven and a new 
 earth would be created, and instead of men it would be 
 peopled with the angels of God. 
 
 A radical revolution, embracing even nature itself, was 
 now the fundamental idea of Jesus. But much darkness 
 mixed itself with even his most correct views. Some- 
 times strange temptations crossed his mind. In the 
 desert of Judea, Satan had offered him the kingdoms 
 of the earth. Not knowing the power of the Roman 
 Empire, he might, with the enthusiasm there was in the 
 heart of Judea, which ended soon after in so terrible an 
 outbreak, hope to establish a kingdom by the number 
 and the daring of his partisans. Many times, perhaps, 
 the supreme question presented itself Will the kingdom 
 of God be realised by force or gentleness, by revolt or by 
 patience ? Much vagueness no doubt tinged his ideas. 
 Our principles of positive science are offended by certain 
 of the dreams contained in the programme of Jesus. 
 
 There was a contradiction between belief in the ap- 
 proaching end of the world and the general moral system 
 which he advocated in prospect of a permanent state of 
 humanity. He prepared his disciples for treating the 
 civil powers with contempt by not deigning to make any 
 defence when brought before them. He wished to anni- 
 hilate riches and power ; and it was his dream to effect a 
 
214 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 great social revolution, in which rank would be over- 
 turned, and where all authority in this world would be 
 humiliated except his own, he fancying himself destined 
 to have supreme rule. 
 
 He gradually became more and more imperious. At 
 about thirty years of age, he made the proclamation of 
 his Messiahship, and the affirmation of the coming catas- 
 trophe in which he was to figure as judge, clothed with 
 the full powers which had been delegated to him by the 
 Ancient of Days. " The Father," said he, " judgeth no 
 man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son " 
 (John v., 22 ) ; evidently imagining that he, to whom the 
 title of the Son was given, would be appointed to judge 
 his fellow-creatures. His family were strongly opposed 
 to him, and plainly refused to believe in his mission or 
 pretensions. The Nazarenes, much more violent, wished, 
 it is said, to kill him by throwing him from a steep rock : 
 " And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these 
 things, were rilled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust 
 him out of the city and led him unto the brow of the 
 hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast 
 him down headlong " (Luke iv., 28, 29). 
 
 If Jesus conceived that he was the Messiah, and 
 referred the prophecy in Daniel to the Messiah, and 
 expected in accordance with it to come with the clouds 
 of heaven in his own person, as proclaimed by him, he 
 not only appears to us in the light of a fanatic, but we 
 see also an unallowable self-exaltation in a man's (and it 
 is only of a human being that we are everywhere speak- 
 ing) so putting himself above every one else, as to con- 
 trast himself with them as their future judge. And, in 
 doing so, Jesus must have completely forgotten how he 
 had on one occasion disclaimed the epithet of good, as 
 one belonging to God alone. 
 
 The title of " Son of David " was the first which he 
 accepted, probably without being concerned in the inno- 
 
Jesus the Messiah 215 
 
 cent frauds by which it was sought to secure it to him. 
 The universal belief was that the Messiah would be the 
 son of David, and like him would be born at Bethlehem. 
 The first idea of Jesus was perhaps not precisely this. 
 But public opinion on this point made him do violence to 
 himself. The immediate consequence of the proposition, 
 " Jesus is the Messiah," was this other proposition, " Jesus 
 is the son of David." He allowed a title to be given 
 him, without which he could not hope for success. In 
 this, as in many other circumstances of his life, Jesus 
 yielded to the ideas which were current in his time, 
 although they were not precisely his own. He associated 
 with his doctrine of the " kingdom of God " all that could 
 warm the heart and the imagination. It was thus that 
 we have seen him adopt the baptism of John, although 
 it could not have been of much importance to him. " The 
 woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, 
 which is called Christ : when he is come, he will tell us 
 all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee 
 am he " (John iv., 25, 26). It is evident that Jesus 
 made no such announcement in relation to himself during 
 the early part of his ministry. The remark of the woman, 
 and his reply, is proof that no such idea was then current. 
 And this is corroborated by John, while imprisoned, 
 sending to inquire of Jesus whether he laid claim to 
 being the expected Messiah. Now if the character and 
 mission of Jesus were what the theologians claim, it is 
 incomprehensible why his course and conduct in each and 
 every part, and as a whole, should not have been more in 
 conformity with our conception of a fair representation of 
 normal man and a perfect God than was the case. Jesus 
 was probably led to imagine that he was the expected 
 Messiah by the homage done to him by his admirers, and 
 those who deceived themselves about him. This idea, 
 however, he abandoned as far as he himself was con- 
 cerned ; and he must have felt (and felt most bitterly at 
 
216 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 the last) that he had been deceiving himself as to his 
 true position, otherwise he would not have exclaimed as 
 he did, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? " 
 (Mark xv., 34). 
 
 This one acknowledgment, of his subordination to God, 
 made so exactly after the manner of an ordinary man 
 disappointed in his aim and unexpectedly brought to the 
 last struggle of life, should set at rest, as we conceive, 
 the assumption that he was either the predicted Messiah 
 or co-equal with God. When he answered the woman as 
 he did, it is probable that he thought himself to be what 
 he said he was. He thought, likewise, no doubt, that 
 by gaining the confidence and credence of the people in 
 him as the Christ, it would favour his ascension to the 
 throne, as the King of the Jews. The great desideratum 
 with him and with his Apostles was, to induce the people 
 to believe that the person then among them was the 
 Christ, was the identical person to whom the Prophets 
 pointed as destined to rule as king over the Jews per- 
 petually, upon earth. A majority of such believers being 
 obtained, the road was plain and the way sure to the 
 aggrandisement of both him and themselves. And so 
 confident were they in their expectations of success that, 
 politician-like, they began to squabble and to importune 
 him, in advance, for the honours and spoils that would fall 
 to the lot of each, when he should have attained to the 
 throne. That this squabbling for place had relation to 
 temporal affairs matters pertaining to this life and not 
 to those beyond the grave, is shown by the Gospel itself. 
 St. Luke says (ix., 46), " Then there arose a reasoning 
 among them, which of them should be greatest " ; and 
 again (xxii., 24-29), "And there was also a strife 
 among them which of them should be accounted the 
 greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gen- 
 tiles exercise lordship over them ; and they that exercise 
 authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall 
 
Object of Christ and Apostles 217 
 
 not be so ; but he that is greatest among you, let him be 
 as the younger ; and he that is chief, as he that doth 
 serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or 
 he that serveth ? is not he that sitteth at meat ? but I 
 am among you as he that serveth ? Ye are they which 
 have continued with me in my temptations. And I 
 appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed 
 unto me ; that ye may eat and drink at my table, in 
 my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes 
 of Israel." Now, no one will deny, we presume, that 
 this has reference to temporal affairs, and that it was so 
 understood by those to whom it was spoken. If so, it 
 evidently accounts for the Apostles being stimulated to 
 use every available device for the purpose of making and 
 retaining believers ; and it is corroborated by the kind of 
 teaching or belief which Jesus was so solicitous to incul- 
 cate in relation to himself, as shown by reference also 
 to Gospel authority. St. Matthew (xxii., 41,42) says: 
 " While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus 
 asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ ? whose son 
 is he? They say unto him, The son of David." Again, 
 " And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the 
 temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of 
 David " (Mark xii., 35). His motive in asking these ques- 
 tions is unmistakable, and shows how anxious he was 
 to have his lineal descent traced from the House of David, 
 and consequently his title to the throne of the Jews estab- 
 lished, and believed in, and publicly proclaimed. Hence 
 his declaration : " Whosoever therefore shall confess me 
 before men, him will I confess also before my Father 
 which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before 
 men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in 
 heaven " (Matthew x., 32, 33). 
 
 The importance of confession before men is manifest, 
 and especially in such a case as this, where Jesus was to 
 be proclaimed as King. It is not at all an uncommon 
 
218 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 thing for men of influence to declare and commit them- 
 selves in favour of a certain political tenet, or on the side 
 of an individual who is an aspirant for a high position in 
 the government of a country ; and it is often the case 
 that the public announcement of such a course gives eclat 
 and impetus to the cause or party interest which is being 
 pushed forward. A large portion in all communities, who 
 do not take the trouble to think for themselves, are con- 
 tinually, heedlessly, and thoughtlessly following the lead 
 of prominent men. 
 
 Viewed in this light, the public avowal of Jesus had 
 a twofold advantage, first, of binding the new disciples 
 more firmly to the new faith, and, secondly, of increasing 
 the popularity of the pretender. But when viewed in re- 
 lation to religious matters one cannot avoid calling to 
 mind that precept which condemns such a course, and 
 which teaches us to be more modest and retiring. " He 
 that exalteth himself shall be abased ; but he that 
 humbleth himself shall be exalted." This will occur to 
 us more strongly when Jesus' avowal is viewed in relation 
 to the ostentation of the Pharisees, who sounded a trum- 
 pet before them in the synagogues and in the streets, that 
 they might be seen and heard of men, as Jesus himself 
 had noted and condemned. 
 
 All conceivable good was promised for simply believing 
 in Jesus' Divine right to the throne of his ancestors, and 
 the public committal to such espousal of Jesus' preten- 
 sions by baptism. The Apostles, like the politicians of 
 our day, had learned from experience that one party is 
 constantly winning back some portion of the converts 
 which the other has made ; hence, the policy of sealing 
 the new faith with a public pledge and formal act. 
 
 This temporal or worldly interest, it is evident, was the 
 great and only object that led and stimulated Jesus and 
 his disciples to encourage such zeal in the belief and 
 pledge in question. In all such efforts to propagate the 
 
Teaching against Hypocrisy 219 
 
 interests of their Master, the conduct of the Apostles was 
 true to the instincts of the most adroit politicians fully 
 up to the best party manoeuvring of our day and lacks 
 nothing in the adaptation of the means to the ends, pro- 
 vided double-dealing and false pretences are conceded to 
 be admissible in such matters. But, when men teach that 
 all who do not believe that Jesus was the person to whom 
 the Prophets had reference in their predictions, when 
 they assigned a king to the Jews, will be condemned by 
 God to everlasting torment, they teach what is opposed 
 to every rational and just view that can be taken on the sub- 
 ject ; and, as it has never been propounded to or heard of 
 by one in a thousand of the men born into the world, it is 
 impossible that anything which places God so directly at 
 variance with even man's sense of justice can be true. 
 
 When Jesus undertook to teach natural religion, which 
 is love to God and good will towards men manifested by 
 good works, he struck at the root and influence of the 
 whole system of the Jewish religion and priesthood. In 
 speaking of God as the Father of all mankind, he incurred 
 their displeasure, and raised their ire beyond measure ; 
 because they claimed that they alone were the children 
 of God. When he denounced their ceremonials, their 
 sacrifices, their pride, and their self-righteousness, he 
 brought upon himself a storm of persecution and abuse 
 which, at last, instigated them to murder him. That he 
 disapproved of, and highly condemned, their whole cere- 
 monial law and teaching as works of supererogation 
 and hypocrisy, the following denunciations against them 
 prove : " If ye had known what this meaneth, I will have 
 mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned 
 the guiltless " (Matthew xii., 7) ; " For, laying aside the 
 commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men as 
 the washing of pots and of cups ; and many other such 
 like things ye do " (Mark vii., 8) ; " Ye reject the com- 
 mandment of God that ye may keep your own tradition " 
 
220 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 (Matthew vii., 9) ; " And when thou prayest, thou shalt 
 not be as the hypocrites are ; for they love to pray stand- 
 ing in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, 
 that they may be seen of men " (Matthew vi., 5) ; " They 
 think that they shall be heard for their much speaking " 
 (Matthew iii., 7) ; " Your Father knoweth what things 
 ye have need of before ye ask him " (Matthew vi., 8). 
 
 Now, what could have been better calculated to raise 
 against Jesus the fierce indignation of the priests, than 
 such an unmitigated condemnation of the very things 
 they most trusted in, and from which they derived their 
 great power and influence ? The religion which he taught, 
 and which harmonises so beautifully with the true instincts 
 of natural religion, could not but become popular with the 
 common people, and to such an extent that the priesthood 
 were alarmed lest they should lose their long-enjoyed 
 ascendency. The result was that they could not rest sat- 
 isfied until they had succeeded in having Jesus arraigned 
 before the Roman authorities, on the double charge of 
 laying claim to be King of the Jews, and blasphemy ; 
 " But the Jews cried out saying, If thou let this man go 
 thou art not Caesar's friend : whosoever maketh himself a 
 king speaketh against Caesar" (John xix., 12); " Then 
 the high priest rent his clothes and saith, What need we 
 any further witnesses ? Ye have heard the blasphemy " 
 (Mark xiv., 63, 64). The plan adopted by his enemies was 
 to convict him by the testimony of witnesses ; and, by his 
 own avowal of blasphemy and outrage against the Mosaic 
 religion, to condemn him to death according to their law ; 
 and then to get their verdict sanctioned by Pilate, the 
 Roman Governor. The fatal sentence which Jesus had 
 really uttered : " I am able to destroy the temple of God, 
 and to build it in three days," was cited by two witnesses. 
 To blaspheme the temple of God was, according to the 
 Jewish law, to blaspheme God Himself. " And whoso 
 shall swear by the altar sweareth by it, and by all things 
 
Hatred of the Priesthood 221 
 
 thereon. And he that sweareth by the temple, sweareth 
 by it, and by him that dwelleth therein " (Matthew xxiii., 
 21, 22). Now, these crimes were punished by the law with 
 death : " And thou shalt speak unto the children of 
 Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his 
 sin. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he 
 shall surely be put to death" (Leviticus xxiv., 15, 16). 
 Accordingly, with one voice, the assembly declared him 
 guilty of a capital crime, which decision being confirmed 
 by Pilate, his execution took place. His conviction and 
 death, under the foregoing circumstances, it is well 
 known, were brought about at the instigation and by the 
 hatred of the priesthood, in consequence of his espousal 
 and persistent teaching of the religion of the heart and 
 conscience. He, it was, we all know, who was the great 
 champion and defender of the simple doctrines of love to 
 God and love to man, apart from the sacrifices and cere- 
 monies of the Jewish ritual. This, as we have said, greatly 
 incensed the priests, because it brought into disrepute 
 their whole system. It diminished the influence which 
 they had gained through their ceremonies and sacrifices, 
 and made them (themselves) unpopular. And, having 
 crucified him under these false pretences, by this act they 
 caused him to become a thousandfold more potent to do 
 the very thing they sought to get rid of by procuring his 
 death. This admirable trait in human character the en- 
 thusiastic espousal of the cause and the yielding of our 
 sympathies on the side of the oppressed and ill-used so 
 increased his popularity, that the views which he took of 
 religion, and his power of discrimination between the 
 good, the false, and the true, only served the more to in- 
 crease the popularity of natural religion. At the same 
 time it is to be observed that all this occurred in the midst 
 of the Jews, whose natural leanings and old habits induced 
 them, in course of time, to graft upon the purer doc- 
 trines that Jesus taught a portion of their own rites and 
 
222 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 ceremonies. Among these, sacrifice was pre-eminent. But 
 what was worse still, they took, as the basis of their creed 
 and worship, the sacrifice of the death of him to whom 
 such a creed and worship were so obnoxious as to merit 
 and receive his most unsparing and untiring opposition. 
 And in this connection it is important to bear in mind 
 that Jesus himself said not a word to justify this inter- 
 pretation of his death. On the contrary, he said every- 
 thing that he could against the principle of Judaism, on 
 which it all rests. His course in this respect is most 
 significant ; and if candidly considered, from a common- 
 sense point of view, will, as we conceive, leave this funda- 
 mental doctrine of the Christian Church without a rational 
 foundation to rely on. There is not the faintest allusion 
 in any of Jesus' discourses or parables to his being a 
 sacrifice for sin, or to God's requiring any blood to be 
 shed before He would forgive sinners. With this indis- 
 putable fact before us, it is incomprehensible how they 
 who now teach this doctrine can justify themselves in 
 allowing this Jewish excrescence to be grafted upon the 
 religion originally taught by Jesus. We can, to some 
 extent, excuse the Jews for carrying with them the doc- 
 trines to which they had been accustomed for ages, but 
 for others, who look with aversion upon the Jewish sacri- 
 fices, even of animal life, there can be no excuse. The 
 result is that a leading doctrine of Christian theology has 
 come down to us from that very class of men who hated 
 and stoned Jesus and put him to death. This is not only 
 a different mode of worship from that which he taught, 
 but it is at direct variance with it. 
 
 The Churches teach that Jesus came to abolish the old 
 Jewish law and its ceremonies, and especially that part of 
 the law which relates to sacrifices ; and that, as a substi- 
 tute therefor, he offered the shedding of his own blood 
 upon the cross as an atonement for the sins of the people. 
 
 Now, this teaching Jesus himself contradicts. He says 
 
Jesus Repudiates Sacrifice 223 
 
 he came to bear witness to the truth of the moral law, and 
 to call sinners to repentance. When he is asked what is 
 necessary to be done that we may inherit eternal life, 
 he gives full and explicit directions, comprised in what we 
 term the commandments. In them we do not find that 
 sacrifice of himself, or of anything else, is mentioned. 
 
 When he is asked the question referred to, he does not 
 seem to have entertained the idea that he was the pre- 
 dicted Messiah. Neither did he imagine that he was to 
 be made a substitute for the sacrifices of the Jewish reli- 
 gion. Hence, he had nothing whatever to say about 
 salvation through his atonement. 
 
 The young man who enquires of Jesus as to the condi- 
 tions of entering into eternal life is told to keep the com- 
 mandments. He says he has done so, from his youth up. 
 He is then told that, on account of this, he is not far from 
 the kingdom of heaven. But the reason assigned for 
 his not absolutely attaining thereunto is that he does not 
 exercise charity. He is allowed therefore, to go away 
 with the impression that if he can only do this he is safe ; 
 and yet we are told by the theology of the times that 
 there was something else necessary to which Jesus did not 
 make the remotest allusion. 
 
 Now, all this is irreconcilable and at variance with 
 God's indisputable justice and goodness. It is impossi- 
 ble to conceive that God should punish any one of His 
 creatures everlastingly for not believing that which they 
 never had the slightest intimation that it was any part of 
 their duty to God or man to believe. We defy any one 
 to find one single passage in the whole New Testament, 
 wherein Jesus declares it necessary, or wherein he even 
 solicits belief in himself as a sacrifice. He calls upon 
 men, we admit, to believe in him, as being the predicted 
 Messiah and as a true teacher ; but never as a true Saviour 
 of the souls of men beyond the grave, by any other means 
 than the saving efficacy of the doctrine which he taught. 
 
224 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 In order to show still more convincingly that Jesus did 
 not teach that anything else was necessary for salvation 
 than good works, and that no such thing as sacrifices, 
 either of slain beasts or of himself, was in any way 
 required, we now refer to the occasion when we were 
 taught upon what principle we shall all be judged. Jesus 
 there imagines himself to be the arbiter, who is to decide 
 between men and their God ; and, in so doing, assimilates 
 men under two conditions to a promiscuous flock of sheep 
 and goats. As a shepherd, says he, divideth his sheep 
 from the goats so will he divide the good from the bad ; 
 and he will set the sheep those who represent the good 
 on the right hand, but the goats the bad on his left. 
 " Then," he continues, " shall the King say to those on 
 his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
 the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
 world. For I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat : I 
 was a stranger and ye took me in : naked and ye clothed 
 me : I was sick and ye visited me : I was in prison and 
 ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, 
 saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered and fed thee ? 
 or thirsty and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a 
 stranger and took thee in ? Or when saw we thee sick, 
 or in prison and came unto thee ? And the King shall 
 answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inas- 
 much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these 
 my brethren, ye have done it unto me." He then goes 
 on to address, in their own proper character, those on his 
 left in a correspondingly diverse manner. 
 
 What then are the conditions here laid down as those 
 upon which men are to be acquitted or condemned by 
 the most solemn tribunal sitting upon men's actions that 
 could be pictured to the imagination ? Are they whether 
 a man believed in this dogma or that dogma ? Whether 
 the Jew attended to the strict observance of the sacrifices 
 and ceremonies of his religion or not? Whether the 
 
The Old Testament on Sacrifice 225 
 
 Christian believed in the sacrifice of Christ or not ? 
 Whether the Mohammedan believed in Mohammed or 
 not ? the Hindoo in Juggernaut ? or the Chinese in 
 Confucius? Nothing of the kind. Belief in no man is 
 required. Faith in no system is expected. The offering 
 of no sacrifice is looked for. What is requisite is simply 
 this, doing unto others as we would they should do unto 
 us ; love to God and love to man, manifested by our 
 works of charity and goodness, an amplifying, so to 
 say, of Jesus' final exhortation to the rich man already 
 mentioned. 
 
 But the Bible furnishes other evidence tending to the 
 same conclusions. The Old Testament is so full of the 
 condemnation of sacrifices and other superstitions from 
 the pens of prophets and others that only a limited num- 
 ber of examples can be selected for these pages. What 
 said Samuel to King Saul, after the latter had returned 
 from the slaughter of the Amalekites and brought with 
 him the best of the sheep and the oxen for sacrificial pur- 
 poses, contrary to the instructions which he had received 
 to slay all and spare none, neither man nor woman, infant 
 nor suckling, ox nor sheep, camel nor ass ? " Hath the 
 Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as 
 in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is 
 better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of 
 rams " (i Samuel xv., 22). What saith the Psalmist ? 
 " Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire ; mine 
 ears hast thou opened ; burnt offering and sin-offering 
 hast thou not required " (Psalm xl., 6). And again, " For 
 thou desirest not sacrifice ; else would I give it thee : 
 thou delightest not in burnt offering " (Psalm li., 16). 
 What saith the wise man Solomon ? " Keep thy foot 
 when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready 
 to hear than to offer the sacrifice of fools " (Ecclesiastes 
 v., i). What say the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, 
 and Malachi ? " To what purpose is the multitude of 
 
226 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 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 " (Isaiah i., 1 1). " Bring no more vain obla- 
 tions : incense is an abomination unto me : the new moons 
 and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away 
 with : it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting " (Isaiah 
 i., 13). " To what purpose cometh there to me incense 
 from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country ? your 
 burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices 
 sweet unto me " (Jeremiah vi., 20). " They sacrifice flesh 
 for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it: but the 
 Lord accepteth them not ; now will he remember their 
 iniquity, and visit their sins" (Hosea viii., 13). "The 
 Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and 
 the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that 
 offereth an offering unto the Lord of Hosts " (Malachi 
 
 ., 12). 
 
 Lastly, we cite this remarkable passage from Hosea 
 vi., 6) : " For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice ; and the 
 knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." Twice 
 did Jesus himself make distinct reference to this injunc- 
 tion, and emphasise its plain language by application to 
 actual circumstances. When the Pharisees reproached 
 him for eating with publicans and sinners, he said, " Go 
 ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy and 
 not sacrifice." When they reproached his disciples for 
 plucking ears of corn on the Sabbath day, he told them, 
 " If ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy 
 and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the 
 guiltless." 
 
 And Jesus' adoption of Hosea's very language leads us 
 on from the Old Testament to the New. Nor herein is 
 there need of further proof than this adoption affords 
 that Jesus himself attached no importance to sacrifices. 
 As to ceremonies this is the estimate that he set upon 
 
The New Testament on Sacrifice 227 
 
 them : " Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 
 crites ! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, 
 and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judg- 
 ment, mercy, and faith." Nevertheless, one scribe may 
 be excepted, he of whom St. Matthew relates that he 
 approved Jesus' outspoken doctrine, to the effect that 
 true religion consisted in loving God with all the soul, 
 and loving man as one's self. This, saith the scribe, is 
 more than whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And 
 when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said 
 unto him, " Thou art not far from the kingdom of God " 
 (Mark xii., 34). Surely one sentence of denunciation from 
 him who is considered the head and front of Christianity 
 ought to suffice for uprooting a system based essentially 
 upon the very principle denounced by him. Jesus throws 
 contempt upon sacrifice. The Christian churches exalt 
 and magnify it as the sine qua non in man's salvation. 
 Pay no heed to sacrifices, says Jesus. His churches say, 
 practically, let us make Christ himself part and parcel 
 of the system that he repudiates ! 
 
 Not having been influenced by personal contact with 
 Jesus, St. Paul apart from his frequent reference to the 
 comparative merits of faith and good works appears 
 never to have freed his mind from a certain ideal connec- 
 tion between sacrifice and salvation. It is true he warns 
 the Corinthians that " circumcision is nothing, and uncir- 
 cumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the command- 
 ments of God " ; and that he tells the Hebrews that " it 
 is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should 
 take away sins." But he tells these latter also that 
 " without blood is no remission " ; nay, he goes further 
 still, and would have the Hebrews believe that the sacri- 
 fice of Christ was needed on Christ's own behalf ! So 
 astounding is this dogma that it seems to have staggered 
 the Church itself, if one may judge by the eloquent 
 silence of the preachers in regard to it. The precise 
 
228 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 expression runs thus (Hebrews ix., 12): " Neither by the 
 blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he 
 entered in once into the holy place." Furthermore, the 
 very phraseology used by Paul, on two occasions, shows 
 how this sacrificial notion was rooted in him. He exhorts 
 the Romans "to present their bodies a living sacrifice, 
 holy, and acceptable unto God " ; and the Jews to " offer 
 the sacrifice of praise to God continually." 
 
 It has been established that Jesus nowhere either taught, 
 or gave countenance in any way to the worship of sacri- 
 fices, or to any other kind of worship, except that enjoined 
 by natural religion. The same cannot be said, however, 
 with regard to his Apostles after his death. It was then 
 that they began to foist their own habitual traditions 
 upon his unincumbered doctrine and thus to make worship 
 widely different from that which he had advocated. Nor 
 had they any consistency about them. They blew hot 
 and cold almost in the same breath. Sometimes they 
 preached one thing and sometimes another. Take for 
 example, that most inconsistent man of all, Peter, termed 
 by one branch of Christians the infallible founder of their 
 Church, and in whose power they put the keys to unlock 
 and lock both heaven and hell. What absurdities is he 
 not responsible for? Examine the first sermon which he 
 preached, as recorded in the second chapter of the book 
 of Acts. 
 
 This was an important occasion. It was an occasion 
 when, we are told, men from almost every country on the 
 face of the earth were gathered together at Jerusalem ; 
 and for the first and perhaps the last time heard an ex- 
 position of the doctrine of salvation from the mouth of 
 one who might be looked upon as qualified to teach it. 
 
 But what does Peter say in this discourse about either 
 the old sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood or the sacri- 
 fice of Jesus upon the cross? Not one word. He speaks 
 of Jesus as a man a man, mark you a man approved of 
 
The New Testament on Sacrifice 229 
 
 God ; as having, by the determinate counsel of God, 
 been taken and crucified and slain ; as having been raised 
 from the dead ; as having ascended to heaven ; and as 
 having been made both Lord and Christ. But he does 
 not utter a single syllable about Jesus having been made 
 a sacrifice ; still less does he insist, as the Church does, 
 that unless we believe in him as such, we cannot be saved. 
 No. Is it to be inferred, then, that those persons present 
 from every nation under heaven were to comprehend this 
 new and complicated dogma by intuition, and were then 
 to go and preach or tell it to their friends? Or are we 
 not rather in a more sensible and natural manner to say 
 that Peter neither intended, nor did they understand any- 
 thing of the kind ? The latter deduction is assuredly the 
 first one, and is corroborated by Peter's continued silence 
 on this point when he, together with the other Apostles, 
 was asked by those who were so much concerned : " Men 
 and brethren, what shall we do ? " His reply was : " Re- 
 pent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of 
 Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins " the baptism sig- 
 nifying a pledge to adhere to the teaching of Jesus as the 
 way to righteousness. Again, not one word was said 
 about Jesus being crucified as a sacrifice for sin. The 
 omission is the more striking from the fact that Peter was 
 fresh from communication with him. That he subse- 
 quently fell back into his old ways is on record. His 
 Master was not with him to keep him on the right path. 
 He had been slippery in his dealings with Jesus himself, 
 and is accused, by his associate Paul, of having played 
 fast and loose in the matter of circumcision, and in that 
 of eating with the Gentiles. Be this as it may, in course 
 of time they all conspired to make Jesus a substitute for 
 those sacrifices with which they were so fully imbued 
 that they could not cease to cling to them ; although they 
 found that those of the Jewish order were too gross and 
 too much opposed to his own teachings to be intermingled 
 
230 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 with his more refined teaching. When we say all, we 
 should probably except St. James. It is to be noted that, 
 in the five chapters of his general Epistle, he does not 
 once allude to the sacrifice of Jesus, and very sparingly 
 to Jesus himself, save when he declares that " the coming 
 of the Lord draweth nigh." In one memorable verse, 
 also, he gives his views of " pure religion and undefiled 
 before God and the Father," which consists in comforting 
 the afflicted, and leading a pure life not in believing that 
 man is saved only by the death of Christ. In another 
 verse he says concisely : " Thou believest that there is 
 one God ; thou doest well," not two Gods, or three. 
 
 The Church argues an analogy between the sacrifice of 
 Christ on the cross, under what it calls the new dispensa- 
 tion, and animal sacrifice, as practised under the old. 
 Now it is shown elsewhere, from the Old Testament, that 
 the whole system of sacrifice was rather tolerated than 
 approved by God. At the same time, there is not the 
 slightest evidence that Jesus and his disciples ever parti- 
 cipated in the sacrificial services of the Jewish synagogue, 
 though they frequented it, to read, or to teach, or to pray 
 therein. This we say is remarkable, and adds another 
 proof that Jesus and his Apostles, at all events during 
 his lifetime, never countenanced, by any means whatever, 
 sacrifices of any kind. Indeed, we are told that he took 
 a scourge of small cords and drove out the buyers and 
 sellers of the things that were used in the Temple, and in 
 this way showed his displeasure at their being brought 
 there at all, for any such purpose. 
 
 We submit from the evidence here presented, whether 
 any sober-minded man can conscientiously, and without 
 misgivings, stand by a system that God so unsparingly 
 denounced, and that Jesus himself never approved. 
 
 With a view of discussing this question in its every 
 phase, we proceed further to confirm what has hitherto 
 been said, in a more general way. Epiphanius says of 
 
Christ Denounces Sacrifice 231 
 
 the Ebionites Heares, xxx., 1 6 that in their pretended 
 Gospel of Matthew there occurs this expression of Christ : 
 " I am come to do away with sacrifices, and if you do not 
 cease to sacrifice, the anger of God will not cease from 
 you." 
 
 This horror of bloody sacrifices the Ebionites had in 
 common with the Essenes. Jesus had a conviction that 
 reconciliation with God was only attainable by purely 
 inward means. And hence his displeasure at the gross 
 materialism of the sacrificial service. 
 
 Thus did Jesus, not only by words, " have mercy and 
 not sacrifice " (Matthew xii., 7), but by his example, 
 condemn the whole system. And yet how remarkable it 
 is that this very system was at length engrafted upon the 
 pure natural religion which he advocated ! 
 
 Renan says, that one idea, at least, which Jesus brought 
 from Jerusalem, and which henceforth appears rooted in 
 his mind, was that there was no union possible between 
 him and the ancient Jewish religion. The abolition of 
 the sacrifices which had caused him so much disgust, the 
 suppression of an impious and haughty priesthood, and, 
 in a general sense, the abrogation of the law, appeared to 
 him absolutely necessary. From this time he appears no 
 more as a Jewish reformer, but as a destroyer of Judaism. 
 Certain advocates of Messianic ideas had already admitted 
 that the Messiah would bring a new law, which should be 
 common to all the earth. The Essenes, who were scarcely 
 Jews, also appear to have been indifferent to the Temple 
 and to the Mosaic observances. But these were only 
 isolated or unavowed instances of boldness. Jesus was 
 the first who dared to say that from the time of John, 
 the Law was abolished : " The law and the prophets were 
 until John: since that time the kingdom of God is 
 preached, and every man presseth into it" (Luke xvi., 
 1 6) ; that is to say, independent of any sacrifice. Now, 
 the Churches claim that the law of God required for the 
 
232 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 remission of sins, up to the time of the shedding of the 
 blood of Christ, the sacrifices enjoined by the ceremonial 
 law ; and that this shedding of his blood was accepted by 
 God as a crowning and final sacrifice for the remission of 
 the sins of all who believe in its efficiency. This is not 
 in accordance with Jesus' declaration that the law pre- 
 vailed not after John, whose death took place before that 
 of Jesus. Consequently, before the shedding of Jesus' 
 blood there was no sacrificial law in existence, and there- 
 fore it could not have been substituted for, or abrogated 
 by, the shedding of Jesus' blood as they claim. 
 
 When Jesus was driven to extremities, he lifted the 
 veil entirely, and declared that the Law had no longer 
 any force. On this subject he used striking comparisons. 
 " No man putteth a piece of new cloth into an old gar- 
 ment, neither do men put new wine into old bottles" 
 (Matthew ix., 16, 17; Luke v., 36.) This was really his 
 chief characteristic as a teacher. Jesus was no longer a 
 Jew. He was in the highest degree revolutionary ; he 
 called all men to a worship founded solely on the fact of 
 their being children of God. He advocated the religion 
 of humanity, established, not upon blood, but upon the 
 heart. He proclaimed the rights of man, not the rights 
 of the Jew ; the religion of man, not the religion of the 
 Jew; the deliverance of man, not the deliverance of the 
 Jew. 
 
 Following out these principles, Jesus despised all 
 religion which was not of the heart and conscience. The 
 vain practices of the devotees, the exterior strictness 
 which trusted to formality for salvation, had in him a 
 mortal enemy. The love of God, charity, and mutual 
 forgiveness were his whole law. Nothing could be less 
 priestly. The priest, by his office, ever advocates public 
 sacrifice, of which he is the appointed minister. We 
 should seek in vain in the Gospel for one religious rite 
 recommended by Jesus. Those who imagined they could 
 
Obscurity of the Bible 233 
 
 win the kingdom of heaven by saying to him, " Rabbi, 
 Rabbi," he rebuked ; and proclaimed that his religion 
 consisted in doing good. 
 
 Among the various books, or so-called divine records, 
 which are claimed to be supernaturally inspired, there are 
 none so obscure as the Bible. The teachings or sayings 
 of Jesus which are recorded in the Bible are mostly in 
 parables or riddles, whose meaning is so vague and 
 uncertain that no two persons would be likely to put the 
 same construction upon anyone of them. Jesus adopted 
 and continued this course of teaching to the perplexity 
 and astonishment of his disciples, notwithstanding he 
 was constantly importuned for his reasons for so doing. 
 In which cases, when he answered at all, he said he did 
 so that the prophecies might be fulfilled, or to prevent 
 the wise and prudent and the multitudes generally from 
 receiving and understanding the truth his teachings 
 being intended only for his disciples and babes. This is 
 inconsistent with the idea of Jesus being either God 
 or the Saviour of men. We cannot conceive of God's 
 shaping His course, professedly and especially, to suit the 
 vague prophecies of men, that He might the better gain 
 credence to His being God. Besides, such a course is 
 adverse, by its obscurity, to the Church's version of the 
 mission of Jesus, which teaches that he came to give 
 light, and thereby everlasting life to all men. He who 
 came to be the Saviour of all men, could not, surely, 
 studiously hide the means of salvation from any. The 
 preceding remarks have been suggested by the following 
 Bible quotations, which seem to us to be entirely at 
 variance with the idea that Jesus came to be the Saviour 
 of all men, 
 
 " And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why 
 speakest thou unto them in parables. He answered 
 and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know 
 the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it 
 
234 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be 
 given, and he shall have more abundance : but whosoever 
 hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he 
 hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables : because 
 they seeing, see not ; and hearing, they hear not ; neither 
 do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the 
 prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, 
 and shall not understand ; and seeing ye shall see, and 
 shall not perceive. . . . All these things spake Jesus unto 
 the multitude in parables ; and without a parable spake 
 he not unto them : That it might be fulfilled which 
 was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will utter things 
 which have been kept secret from the foundation of 
 the world" (Matthew xiii., 10-14, 34, 35). "I thank 
 Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because 
 thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, 
 and hast revealed them unto babes" (Matthew xi., 25). 
 '* And when he was alone, they that were about him 
 with the twelve asked of him the parable. And he said 
 unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery 
 of the kingdom of God : but unto them that are without, 
 all these things are done in parables : That seeing 
 they may see, and not perceive ; and hearing they 
 may hear and not understand, lest at any time they 
 should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven 
 them" (Mark iv., 10-12). Such is the Bible version of 
 the sayings of Jesus. Their import is totally inconsistent 
 with his pretended Divine mission. It is not in harmony 
 with Peter's remark that God is no respecter of persons. 
 Neither does it accord with the idea that God's creatures 
 are all alike the objects of His care and goodness. If 
 Jesus came, as a messenger from God, out of love and 
 kindness to mankind, to enable all to obtain eternal life 
 through his teaching, then it would seem, according to the 
 best human understanding, that all his teachings should 
 be such as all men could unmistakably comprehend and 
 
Sectarian Recrimination the Result 235 
 
 avail themselves of. God's teaching is heard and heeded 
 throughout the universe. To this premeditated obscurity 
 in the teachings of Jesus, and of the Bible record generally, 
 is due in a great measure the number and variety of sects, 
 and the difficulty in coming at anything definite on the 
 subject of religion or even theology. 
 
 It is well to notice some of the results of the many 
 constructions that have been put upon the Bible. In 
 illustrating its various readings and their results, we 
 quote from sundry authorities mentioned here below. 
 The innumerable sects and parties into which Christianity 
 is divided each laying claim to exclusive sanction and 
 authority from the Bible, each declaring its own views 
 right, and all who differ from it wrong are each supported 
 by Scripture texts of the most plausible aspect. " The 
 Trinitarian denounces the Unitarian, and the Unitarian 
 the Trinitarian; and both unite in condemning the Roman 
 Catholic in some of his peculiar doctrines. The Arminian 
 denounces the Calvinist's views, as a system consisting 
 of human creatures without liberty, doctrine without 
 sense, faith without reason, and God without mercy." 
 Archd. J or tin. The Calvinist on the other hand 
 represents Arminianism as " delusive, dangerous, and 
 ruinous to immortal souls." Close s Sermons. And the 
 Unitarians declare them both to be " mischievous com- 
 pounds of impiety and idolatry." Disc, on Priestly. 
 Archbishop Magee, on the other hand, denounces the 
 Unitarian system as " embracing the most daring impieties 
 that ever disgraced the name of Christianity ; and declares 
 that if Unitarianism be well founded, Christianity must 
 be an imposition." All sects join in denouncing the 
 Methodists " as misled fanatics, alienated from all know- 
 ledge of the true God." Divine Truth. The Church of 
 England denounces the whole body of dissenters " as 
 accursed, devoted to the devil, and separated from 
 Christ " Canon, v., vii. ; and the Bishop of London 
 
236 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Letters on Dissent declares them " to be actuated by 
 the devil, with the curse of God resting heavily on them 
 all." " The dissenters are not slow in retaliating on the 
 Church of England. They say that it is an obstacle to 
 the progress of truth and holiness in the land, that it 
 destroys more souls than it saves, and that its end is most 
 devoutly to be wished for by every lover of God and 
 man." Christian Observer. " The Roman Catholics 
 declare their Church to be ' the only true one,' while all 
 others join in denouncing them as the ' scarlet whore of 
 Babylon/ and a combination of idolatry, blasphemy, and 
 devilism.' " Cuns. Apostasy. " The Romanist retorts 
 again, by consigning every sect and description of 
 religionists to eternal damnation as heretics and schis- 
 matics, and their clergy as desecrating thieves and minis- 
 ters of the devil." Rheimss Test. 
 
 It would be an endless task to enumerate the names 
 and tenets of the various sects which constitute that 
 "chaos of confusion" denominated "the Christian Church," 
 all derived from this one book, the Bible, which is declared 
 to be an emanation from the Almighty, and a revelation 
 of His will to all men. 
 
 From the rapid advancement of civilisation, the increase 
 of the wealth and the luxuries of life, the clergy of mod- 
 ern times have found it necessary to make further changes 
 and modifications in the religion of Jesus, so as to accom- 
 modate it to their own views and the peculiarities of the 
 times. His name is still assumed as the foundation of 
 their religion ; but little attention is paid either to his 
 precepts or example. In reality, only the shadow of the 
 religion taught by Jesus now remains. 
 
 In view of all this, can the reader hesitate to acknow- 
 ledge that a religion so divided against itself has no 
 claim, either to be the true religion, or of Divine origin ? 
 Can any one imagine for a moment how, amidst such an 
 infinite mass of obscure texts, contradictory opinions, and 
 
Jesus and the Supernatural 237 
 
 glaring discrepancies, all seriously derived from the pages 
 of this book, it is a correct and useful system of religion ? 
 
 Truth belongs to all times and to all men. That the 
 truth is not evident in Scripture is proved by the 
 innumerable sects into which Christianity has split ; for 
 when truth is clear and evident it is impossible to divide 
 people into parties or factions. What would be the true 
 religion if there were no sects ? That in which all minds 
 must necessarily agree. Sectarianism and error are but 
 synonyms ; for " the word of God " can convey but one 
 meaning. We would only ask how many meanings have 
 the Scriptures, the assumed word of God, conveyed 
 count the different sects ! 
 
 People in all ages, from the inborn delight which man 
 derives from the wonderful and mysterious, have, at all 
 times and in all places, been readily persuaded to lend their 
 belief to the supernatural and the invisible ; hence one 
 great cause of the enormous superstructure in the Christ- 
 ian religion of prophecies and miracles, of dreams and 
 visions, of angels and devils, and other supernatural and 
 invisible agents, which have been worked up into the few 
 simple and truthful precepts which Jesus, during the 
 early part of his public career, enforced with so much zeal 
 and eloquence. 
 
 No great events in history have happened without hav- 
 ing given rise to a cycle of fables. At a certain period in 
 his career Jesus began to imagine that he saw in himself 
 traits of character corresponding to the Messiah. Perhaps 
 a sagacious observer might have recognised from this 
 point the germ of the narratives which were to attribute to 
 him a supernatural birth, and which arose, it may be, from 
 the idea, very prevalent in antiquity, that the incompar- 
 able man could not be born of the ordinary relations of 
 the two sexes, or in order to respond to an imperfectly 
 understood chapter of Isaiah, which was thought to fore- 
 tell that the Messiah should be born of a virgin. At 
 
238 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 times they connected him, from his birth, with celebrated 
 men, such as John the Baptist, Herod the Great, Chaldean 
 Astrologers, who, it was said, visited Jerusalem about this 
 time, and two aged persons, Simeon and Anna, who had 
 left memories of great sanctity. It was, especially, after 
 the death of Jesus that such narratives became greatly 
 developed. That he never dreamed of making himself 
 pass for an incarnation of God, is a matter about which 
 there can be no doubt. Such an idea was entirely foreign 
 to the Jewish mind ; and there is no trace of it in the 
 Gospels. Certain passages expressly exclude this idea, 
 and we only find it indicated in portions of the Gospel of 
 John, which cannot be accepted as expressing the thoughts 
 of Jesus. Sometimes he even seems to take precautions 
 to put down such a doctrine. The accusation that' he 
 made himself God, or the equal of God, is presented, even 
 in the Gospel of John, as a calumny of the Jews. In this 
 last Gospel he declares himself to be less than his Father 
 (John xiv., 28). Elsewhere he avows that the Father has 
 not revealed everything to him. He is Son of God, but 
 so are all men. He calls God his Father. Every one 
 should feel that God is more than a Father. " All who 
 are raised again will be sons of God " (Luke xx., 36). The 
 Divine son-ship was attributed in the Old Testament 
 to beings whom it was by no means pretended were equal 
 with God (Genesis vi., 2; Job i., 6, ii., i, xxviii., 7; 
 Psalm ii., 7, Ixxxii., 6; 2 Samuel vii., 14). The word 
 " son " has the widest meaning in the Semitic language, 
 and in that of the New Testament. The transcendent 
 idealism of Jesus never permitted him to have a very clear 
 notion of his own personality. He is his Father, his 
 Father is he. He lives in his disciples : he is everywhere 
 with them (Matthew xviii., 20 ; xxviii., 20). His disciples 
 are one, as he and his Father are one (John x., 30 ; xvii., 2 1). 
 In general the later discourses of John, especially chapter 
 xvii., express one side of the psychological state of Jesus, 
 
The Divinity of Jesus 239 
 
 though we cannot regard them as true historical docu- 
 ments. 
 
 No idea of the laws of nature marked the limit of the 
 impossible, either in his own mind, or in the minds of his 
 hearers. The witnesses of his miracles thanked God " for 
 having given such power unto men " (Matthew ix., 8). He 
 pardoned sins (Matthew ix., 2). He was superior to David, 
 to Abraham, to Solomon, and to the prophets (Matthew 
 xii., 41, 42; xxii., 43). We do not know in what form 
 or to what extent these affirmations of himself were 
 made. Jesus ought not to be judged by the law of our 
 petty conventionalities. The admiration of his disciples 
 overwhelmed him, and carried him away. It is evident 
 that the title of Rabbi, with which he was at first con- 
 tented, no longer sufficed him. There was no supernatural 
 for him, because there was no nature. Intoxicated with 
 infinite love, he forgot the heavy chain which holds the 
 spirit captive ; he cleared at one bound the abyss which 
 the weakness of the human faculties has created between 
 God and man. The belief that certain men are incarna- 
 tions of Divine faculties or " powers " was wide-spread. 
 For nearly two centuries, the speculative minds of Judaism 
 had yielded to the tendency to personify the Divine attri- 
 butes, and certain expressions which were connected with 
 the Divinity. Thus, " the breath of God," which is often 
 referred to in the Old Testament, is considered as a 
 separate being, the " Holy Spirit." In the same manner 
 the " Wisdom of God " and the " Word of God " became 
 distinct personages. This was the germ of the process 
 which has engendered the hypothesis of Christianity, and 
 all that dry mythology, consisting of personified abstrac- 
 tions, to which resort is had when desiring to pluralise 
 the Deity. 
 
 Jesus appears to have remained a stranger to these re- 
 finements of theology, which were soon to fill the world 
 with barren disputes. It was John the Evangelist, or his 
 
240 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 school, who afterwards endeavoured to prove that Jesus 
 was the Word, and who created in this sense quite a new 
 theology, very different from that of the " kingdom of 
 God" (see John, Gospel, i., 1-14; I Epistle, v., 7). The 
 essential character of the Word was that of Creator and 
 of Providence. Now, Jesus never pretended to have 
 created the world, or to govern it. His office was to 
 judge it, to renovate it. The position of president at the 
 final judgment of humanity was the essential attribute 
 which Jesus attached to himself and the character which 
 all the first Christians attributed to him (Acts x., 42). 
 At all events, the strictness of a studied theology by no 
 means existed in such a state of society. All the ideas 
 we have just stated formed in the mind of the disciples a 
 theological system so little settled that the Son of God, 
 this species of Divine duplicate, is made to act purely as 
 man. He is tempted he is ignorant of many things. He 
 corrects himself (Comp. Matthew x., 5, with xxviii., 19). 
 He is cast down, discouraged. He asks his Father to 
 spare him trials he is submissive to God as a son 
 (Matthew xxvi., 39). " He who is to judge the world does 
 not know the day of judgment" (Mark xiii., 32). He 
 takes precautions for his safety (Matthew xii., 14-16 ; xiv., 
 13). Soon after his birth he is concealed to avoid power- 
 ful men who wish to kill him (Matthew ii., 20). In 
 exorcisms, the devil cheats him, and does not come out 
 at the first command (Matthew xvii., 20; Mark ix., 25). 
 In his miracles we are sensible of painful effort through 
 exhaustion, as if something went out of him (Luke viii., 
 45> 4^ 5 John xi., 33, 38). The need Jesus had of obtain- 
 ing credence and the enthusiasm of his disciples heaped 
 up contradictory notions. To the Messianic believers of 
 the millenarian school, and to the enthusiastic readers of 
 the books of Daniel and Enoch, he was the Son of man ; 
 to the Jews holding the ordinary faith, and to the readers 
 of Isaiah and Micah, he was the Son of David ; to the dis- 
 
The Means of Proof 241 
 
 ciples he was the Son of God, or simply the Son. Others 
 without being blamed by the disciples took him for John 
 the Baptist risen from the dead ; for Elias ; for Jeremiah, 
 conformable to the popular belief that the ancient pro- 
 phets were about to re-appear, in order to prepare the 
 time of the Messiah (Matthew xiv., 2 ; xvi., 14 ; xvii., 3). 
 Honesty and imposture are words which, in our rigid con- 
 sciences, are opposed as two irreconcilable terms. In the 
 East they are connected by numberless subtle links and 
 windings. The authors of the Apocryphal books of 
 " Daniel " and of " Enoch," for instance, men highly 
 exalted, in order to aid their cause, committed, without a 
 shadow of scruple, an act which we should term a fraud. 
 Two means of proof, miracles and the accomplishment of 
 prophecies, could alone, in the opinion of the contempor- 
 aries of Jesus, establish a supernatural mission. Jesus, and 
 especially his disciples, employed these two processes of 
 demonstration, where Jesus had conceived that the pro- 
 phets had written only in reference to him. He recognised 
 himself in their sacred oracles ; he regarded himself as the 
 mirror in which all the prophetic spirit of Israel had read 
 the future. In many cases, these comparisons were quite 
 superficial, and are scarcely appreciable by us. They 
 were most frequently fortuitous or insignificant circum- 
 stances in the life of Jesus, which recalled to the disciples 
 certain passages of the Psalms and Prophets, in which, in 
 consequence of their constant preoccupation, they saw 
 images in him (Matthew i., 23 ; iv., 6, 14; xxvi., 31, 54, 56; 
 xxvii., 9, 35). The exegesis of the time consisted thus 
 almost entirely in a play upon words, and in quotations 
 made in an artificial and arbitrary manner. 
 
 As to miracles, they were regarded at this period as the 
 indispensable mark of the Divine, and as the sign of the 
 prophetic vocation. The legends of Elijah and Elisha 
 were full of them. It was commonly believed that the 
 Messiah would perform many (John vii., 34 ; Esdras xiii., 
 
 16 
 
242 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 50). In Samaria, a few leagues from where Jesus was, a 
 magician named Simon acquired an almost Divine char- 
 acter by his illusions (Acts viii., 9). Jesus was therefore 
 obliged to choose between these two alternatives either 
 to renounce his mission, or to become a miracle-worker. 
 It must be remembered that all antiquity, with the ex- 
 ception of the great scientific schools, and their Roman 
 disciples, accepted miracles ; and that Jesus not only 
 believed therein, but had not the least idea of an order 
 of nature regulated by fixed laws. His knowledge on 
 this point was in no way superior to that of his con- 
 temporaries. 
 
 The lapse of time has changed that which constituted 
 the power upon which the Christian theology is founded, 
 into something offensive to our ideas. Criticism experi- 
 ences no embarrassment in the presence of this kind of 
 historical phenomena. 
 
 With reference to our argument that there is One God, 
 and one only, we next invite the reader's attention to 
 forty-three selected texts, affirming that fact. 
 
 1. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex- 
 odus xx., 3). 
 
 2. " Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know 
 that the Lord is God; there is none else beside him" 
 (Deuteronomy iv., 35). 
 
 3. " Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine 
 heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon 
 the earth beneath: there is none else" (Deuteronomy iv., 
 
 39)- 
 
 4. " Hear, O Israel : the Lord our God is one Lord " 
 
 (Deuteronomy vi., 4). 
 
 5. " See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god 
 with me : I kill, and I make alive ; I wound, and I heal ; 
 neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand " 
 {Deuteronomy xxxii., 39). 
 
 6. " There is none holy as the Lord ; for there is none 
 
Texts in Favour of One God Only 243 
 
 beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God" (i 
 Samuel ii., 2). 
 
 7. " Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God : for there 
 is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, 
 according to all that we have heard with our ears " (2 
 Samuel vii., 22). 
 
 8. " For who is God, save the Lord ? and who is a rock, 
 save our God " ? (2 Samuel xxii., 32). 
 
 9. " And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no god 
 like thee in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who 
 keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk 
 before thee with all their heart " (i Kings viii., 23). 
 
 10. " And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, 
 O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cheru- 
 bims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the king- 
 doms of the earth ; thou hast made heaven and earth " 
 (2 Kings xix., 15). 
 
 11. " Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, 
 save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of 
 the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even 
 thou only " (2 Kings xix., 19). 
 
 12. " Thou, even thou, art Lord alone : thou hast made 
 heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the 
 earth and all things that are therein, the seas and all that 
 is therein ; and thou preserveth them all ; and the host of 
 heaven worshippeth thee " (Nehemiah ix., 6). 
 
 13. " That men may know that thou, whose name 
 alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth " 
 (Psalm Ixxxiii., 18). 
 
 14. " For thou art great, and doest wondrous things : 
 thou art God alone " (Psalm Ixxxvi., 10). 
 
 15. "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and 
 will not be afraid : for the Lord Jehovah is my strength 
 and my song ; he also is become my salvation " (Isaiah 
 xii., 2). 
 
 16. "O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest 
 
244 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou 
 alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made 
 heaven and earth " (Isaiah xxxvii., 16). 
 
 17. " Now, therefore, O Lord our God, save us from 
 his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may 
 know that thou art the Lord, even thou only " (Isaiah 
 xxxvii., 20). 
 
 1 8. "I am the Lord ; that is my name: and my glory 
 will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven 
 images " (Isaiah xlii., 8). 
 
 19. " For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of 
 Israel, thy Saviour ; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethi- 
 opia and Seba for thee " (Isaiah xliii., 3). 
 
 20. " I, even I, am the Lord ; and besides me there is 
 no saviour " (Isaiah xliii., n). 
 
 21. "I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no 
 God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not 
 known me " (Isaiah xlv., 5). 
 
 22. " That they may know from the rising of the sun, 
 and from the west, that there is none beside me : I am 
 the Lord, and there is none else " (Isaiah xlv,, 6). 
 
 23. " Verily, thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God 
 of Israel, the Saviour" (Isaiah xlv., 15). 
 
 24. " For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, 
 God himself that formed the earth and made it, he hath 
 established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to 
 be inhabited : I am the Lord, and there is none else " 
 (Isaiah xlv., 18). 
 
 25. " Tell ye, and bring them near ; yea, let them take 
 counsel together : who hath declared this from ancient 
 time ? who hath told it from that time ? have not I the 
 Lord ? and there is no God else beside me ; a just God and 
 a Saviour: there is none beside me " (Isaiah xlv., 21). 
 
 26. " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of 
 the earth ; for I am God and there is none else " (Isaiah 
 xlv., 22). 
 
Texts in Favour of One God Only 245 
 
 27. " Remember the former things of old : for I am 
 God, and there is none else ; I am God, and there is none 
 like me " (Isaiah xlvi., 9). 
 
 28. " Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, 
 and shalt suck the breast of kings : and thou shalt know 
 that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the 
 Mighty One of Jacob " (Isaiah lx., 16). 
 
 29. " I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, 
 I will not return to destroy Ephraim : for I am God and 
 not man ; the Holy One in the midst of thee ; and I will 
 not enter into the city " (Hosea xi., 9). 
 
 30. "Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of 
 Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me : for there is 
 no saviour beside me " (Hosea xiii., 4). 
 
 31. " And the Lord shall be king over all the earth ; in 
 that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one " 
 (Zechariah xiv., 9). 
 
 32. " And he said unto him, Why callest thou me 
 good ? there is none good but one, that is God : but if 
 thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments " (Mat- 
 thew xix., 17). 
 
 33. " And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou 
 me good ? there is none good but one, that is, God " 
 (Mark x., 18). 
 
 34. " And Jesus answered him, The first of all the com- 
 mandments is, Hear, O Israel ; the Lord our God is one 
 Lord " (Mark xii., 29). 
 
 35. "And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou 
 hast said the truth : for there is one God ; and there is 
 none other but he " (Mark xii., 32). 
 
 36. " And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me 
 good ? none is good, save one, that is, God " (Luke xviii., 
 19. 
 
 37. " And this is life eternal, that they might know 
 thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou 
 hast sent " (John xvii., 3). 
 
246 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 38. " As concerning therefore the eating of those things 
 that are offered in sacrifice unto idols we know that an 
 idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other 
 God but one " (i Corinthians viii., 4). 
 
 39. "Now a mediator is not a mediator of one; but 
 God is one " (Galatians iii., 20). 
 
 40. " One Lord, one faith, one baptism " (Ephesians 
 iv., 5). 
 
 41. "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, 
 the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. 
 Amen " (i Timothy i., 17). 
 
 42. " For there is one God, and one mediator between 
 God and men, the man Christ Jesus " (i Timothy ii., 5). 
 
 43. " Thou believest that there is but one God ; thou 
 doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble " (James 
 ii., 19). 
 
 Here we have forty-three selected texts affirming that 
 there is but one God. Five of these are the sayings of 
 Christ himself. Nine declare that God Jehovah is our 
 Saviour or salvation, and one is the endorsement of a 
 scribe to the affirmation of Christ that the Lord our God 
 is one Lord. Now this is remarkable. If Christ is God, 
 why is he- not so accredited both in the Old and New Tes- 
 taments ? This is not the case in either one or the other. 
 It is easy to make an assertion we admit, and if that 
 assertion is unsupported by good and reliable evidence it 
 is of no account. But if a man makes an assertion on the 
 authority of competent testimony, that assertion is entitled 
 to our respect and belief. Now it is asserted by a large 
 majority of the Christian Churches that Christ is God : 
 but whence do they derive their evidence to support 
 them in such an assertion ? We know of none that car- 
 ries any weight with it, and there is certainly none in the 
 Book which they rely upon as infallibly true. We assert 
 that Christ was not God ; and this on the testimony of 
 
Further Proof 247 
 
 God Himself, and the man Jesus whom the Churches 
 deify. Can God lie ? He says He is not a man that He 
 can lie: nor the son of man that He can repent. No one 
 can fail to see then, from the numerous foregoing texts, 
 that we have abundant Bible authority in support of the 
 unity of the Godhead ; and that man's final deliverance 
 from infirmity and affliction will be wrought out for him 
 by the One God, who is both his Creator, Preserver, and 
 Redeemer. 
 
 By way of further proof, however, we will devote some 
 space to viewing the subject through a variety of phases. 
 If Jesus were God why did he, at the time of his death, 
 commend his soul to God ? This we are told that he 
 most certainly did. "And about the ninth hour Jesus 
 cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani ? 
 that is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken 
 me ? " " And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice he 
 said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit : and 
 having said this he gave up the ghost." 
 
 Jesus, it is said, was to be a propitation for the sins of 
 mankind on the assumption that he was God and man, 
 and without sin. But is this assumption consistent with 
 the assertion that each and every part of the Bible is 
 true ? To be without sin, the Bible says, is to be good. 
 Sin, therefore, presupposes the absence of goodness. Was 
 Jesus good in this way ? As we have before shown, he 
 says himself that there is none good but one, that is, God. 
 He therefore could not be without sin, neither could he 
 be that propitiation for sin that he is said to be, being not 
 without sin. 
 
 Again, it is said that after his resurrection Mary met 
 him and, we presume, was about to take hold of him 
 when he said unto her, " Touch me not ; for I am not yet 
 ascended to my Father ; but go to my brethren and say 
 unto them I ascend unto my Father, and your Father ; and 
 to my God and your God." Now Jesus here represents 
 
248 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 himself as standing in the same relation to God as 
 did the woman to whom he was addressing himself. He 
 calls God his Father, in the same sense that he calls Him 
 her Father. If he, as he is said to have declared, was 
 one with the Father how could he be Father to himself ? 
 This is absurd. It makes the theory of the Divinity of 
 Jesus simply ridiculous. 
 
 Again, " Believest thou not that I am in the Father ; 
 and the Father in me? the words I speak unto you I 
 speak not of myself ; but the Father that dwelleth in me, 
 He doeth the works." The Father dwelleth in every man 
 in the same sense. 
 
 " For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sancti- 
 fied are all of one : for which cause he is not ashamed to 
 call them all brethren." " Then answered Jesus, and 
 said unto them, Verily, Verily, I say unto you, The Son 
 can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father 
 do : for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the 
 Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and show- 
 eth him all things that himself doeth ; and he will show 
 him greater works than these, that ye may marvel." 
 
 "And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my 
 cup, and be baptised with the baptism that I am baptised 
 with : but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not 
 mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it 
 is prepared of my Father." This is precisely the reply 
 that any man, seeking to establish a kingdom, might 
 make to such a question. 
 
 " Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of 
 him that sent me, and to finish his work," which was 
 to exhort to repentance, and love to God and man. " For 
 I have not spoken of myself ; but the Father which sent 
 me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and 
 what I should speak." " And I know that his command- 
 ment is life everlasting; whatsoever I speak, therefore, 
 even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." 
 
Jesus and the Father 249 
 
 So say the Quakers and others who conceive that they 
 have a call to preach. 
 
 " Jesus saith unto them, If God were your Father, ye 
 would love me : for I proceeded forth and came from 
 God ; neither came I of myself, but he sent me." 
 
 " If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my 
 love : even as I have kept my Father's commandments, 
 and abide in his love." 
 
 Any preacher of the Gospel might without any breach 
 of propriety so remark to his flock. 
 
 " At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, 
 and ye in me, and I in you." That is, the preacher and 
 congregation alike, serving God, each in his appropriate 
 way, may have the same mind as the Father within each 
 of them. 
 
 " He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, 
 he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be 
 loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will mani- 
 fest myself to him." 
 
 "That they all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, 
 and I in thee, that they also may be one in us ; that the 
 world may believe that thou hast sent me." Now, Jesus 
 might, with the greatest propriety, make use of such lan- 
 guage as this, and yet be nothing more than a teacher, 
 in whom was a large supply of God's illuminating mind 
 and goodness. He did, no doubt, earnestly and elo- 
 quently set forth, in the most graceful and glowing col- 
 ours, much that was pure in the eyes of men, and make 
 it attractive to them ; and, having the faculty to do this, 
 he found a ready witness and response in the hearts of 
 his hearers. All this, however, is by no means an evid- 
 ence that he was more than a teacher of extraordinary 
 ability. 
 
 During a considerable portion of His three years' min- 
 istry, Jesus fully persuaded himself that, by divine right, 
 he was entitled to the throne of David. He did not 
 
250 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 believe himself to be God, or to be equal with God ; but 
 without doubt he felt assured that he was the person 
 designated by the prophets who was to be the earthly 
 ruler and deliverer of the Jews; and this led him to 
 act in conformity with the idea. He fell naturally into 
 the custom of the times by identifying himself with 
 wonder-workers. He performed what are called miracles, 
 as many others did, to impress the people with a deeper 
 sense of the validity of his claim to so exalted a position. 
 
 Like other men, he was created " in the image of 
 God"; St. Paul says of him (Colossians i., 15): "who is 
 the image of the invisible God." But this did not make 
 him God, any more than it did other men, who are 
 created in that image. An image is not the thing itself. 
 Conspicuous traits in him were, a vivid perception of the 
 truth as written upon the hearts of men, an apt mode of 
 presenting it in its purity and beauty, and intense zeal in 
 portraying it. "To this end," says he, "was I born, and 
 for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear 
 witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth, 
 heareth my voice " (John xviii., 37). And this " truth " 
 comprised the two absorbing ideas of his life the one 
 that he was appointed to mount the throne of David, 
 and the other that he was sent of God to preach and 
 teach the way to heaven by the practice of religion in its 
 purity. Throughout nearly the whole of his ministry he 
 manifested extraordinary zeal and made the most strenu- 
 ous efforts in inculcating this double belief. Nor, con- 
 sidering his enthusiasm and the personal gifts with which 
 he was graced, need we wonder that many of those about 
 him gradually caught his spirit and espoused his cause. 
 With this his course of conduct was consistent, but 
 totally inconsistent with his being God or co-equal with 
 Him. 
 
 The terms Christ, Messiah, and The Anointed One are 
 synonomous. This will serve to explain how Jesus con- 
 
Church Doctrine 251 
 
 ceived himself to be entitled, by virtue of the prophecies, 
 to each or any of these appellations, and saw therein his 
 right to the throne of David determined. It was, in fact, 
 only with respect to these two pretensions that the claims 
 of Jesus were upheld before the Jewish people. It was 
 not until very late in his lifetime that he conceived the 
 idea of the destruction of the world, and the creation of 
 a new one wherein the righteous only should dwell, being 
 ruled over by himself everlastingly in the flesh. 
 
 The meaning which Church doctrine gives to belief in 
 Jesus at this day is totally at variance with each and all 
 of the views entertained by himself, and finds no warrant 
 either in the letter or spirit of his teachings, or in the 
 example which his life furnished when rationally inter- 
 preted. This makes Church theology a thing totally dif- 
 ferent from the religion of Jesus. The terms of salvation 
 and the only ones that he prescribed were love of God, 
 the Father, good works, and kind offices one towards 
 another. 
 
 Neither does he anywhere intimate, in any of his say- 
 ings or teachings, that these terms of salvation were to 
 be at all changed, added to, or diminished after his death. 
 It was left for the Apostle Paul, many years later, to put 
 forth a doctrine totally dissenting from that which Jesus 
 had taught with such marked effect during his ministry. 
 This doctrine of Paul, it is well known, is the basis of the 
 Christian theology of our day. In this the main features 
 are that Jesus voluntarily gave up his life to redeem 
 from the consequences of original sin all who should have 
 faith that he did actually suffer death for this express 
 purpose, that such atonement was both indispensable and 
 efficacious to the end in view, and that the real worth of 
 the sacrifice consists in the fact that the victim was co- 
 equal with God. 
 
 If the death of Jesus imposes a belief in this dogma 
 as an absolutely essential requisite to eternal life, it may 
 
252 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 be answered that belief therein is utterly beyond man's 
 will, seeing that it is inexplicable in itself and runs 
 counter to all we learn by study of God's dealings with 
 the world. It is, moreover, wholly out of the reach of 
 those who never heard of it, comprising by far the majority 
 of those beings whom God created in His own image. 
 Furthermore, we ask, is the death of Jesus to give the lie 
 to his life ? He preached, while alive, a doctrine that he 
 who runs may read. Is he, when dead, to be made the 
 centrepiece of a new and incomprehensible theory, under 
 which the burden of man's sins is to be shifted off his 
 own shoulders? If this be so, while at the same time 
 all the laws and obligations imposed by God upon man 
 are left in force, then most assuredly the way to eternal 
 life has not been facilitated, but impeded by this vicari- 
 ous offering on the cross. We hold that the death of 
 Jesus works no change in the requisites for our mode of 
 salvation. He himself never claimed that it involved 
 any change whatever. We contend, therefore, that Paul 
 was at fault, in promulgating the idea that it did. Paul, 
 too, is evidently at variance on these doctrinal points with 
 James, and with Peter also, during Jesus' lifetime at least 
 and until after Peter's own first sermon was delivered, 
 and yet it is from their conflicting views that the present 
 system of Christianity is derived, and by them that it is 
 sustained. 
 
 According to the authority of the Apostle Paul and 
 the Churches that identify themselves with his views, 
 the particular kind of faith or belief in Jesus which they 
 make indispensable for salvation could have had no ex- 
 istence before the death of Jesus. And the belief which 
 they imperatively demand is not that he will die at 
 some specified or indefinite time ; but that he did die. 
 The faith therefore upon which Paul and the Christian 
 Churches rely for salvation finds no analogy, precedent, 
 or support in the faith inculcated by Jesus and avowed 
 
Faith and Good Works 253 
 
 by his Apostles during his lifetime. The new creed, for 
 so it may well be called, materially changes the order of 
 worship, or of divine service. Jesus himself made God 
 the Father the crowning object of his worship. The 
 Churches, on the contrary, put Jesus prominently in the 
 foreground, God the Father, whom Jesus acknowledged 
 as the source and fountain of all that is good, being com- 
 paratively kept out of sight. 
 
 The extreme views of Paul and the fickleness of Peter 
 hereon do not need any further elucidation ; but the sub- 
 joined passage from the Epistle of James (chapter ii.) 
 serves to show that this Apostle maintained that men 
 have been, and may be, justified solely through good 
 works and the grace of Jehovah. And this view con- 
 forms with the largely preponderating weight of evidence 
 in the Scriptures ; to wit, that Jehovah is the one and 
 only true God, Redeemer, and Saviour of mankind, in 
 proof of which we have elsewhere cited voluminous texts. 
 The Apostle James says, " What doth it profit, my 
 brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not 
 works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be 
 naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto 
 them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled ; notwith- 
 standing ye give them not those things which are needful 
 to the body ; what doth it profit ? Even so faith, if it 
 hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may 
 say, Thou hast faith, and I have works; shew me thy 
 faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith 
 by my works. Thou believest that there is one God, 
 thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble. 
 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without 
 works is dead ? Was not Abraham our father justified by 
 works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 
 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by 
 works was faith made perfect ? And the Scripture was 
 fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was 
 
254 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 imputed unto him for righteousness and he was called the 
 Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is 
 justified, and not by faith only." 
 
 Abraham, it is true, is described as offering sacrifice ; 
 but it was in accordance with custom, his whole-souled 
 faith being based on God Jehovah, not Jesus. Therefore, 
 the only belief necessary in connection with good works, 
 to insure salvation, is belief in the Almighty Jehovah ; 
 and this is in flat contradiction to the doctrine of the 
 Churches. Thus we have Paul and the Churches, on one 
 side of this vexed and dogmatical question ; and Jesus, 
 James, Natural Religion, and the balance of biblical 
 authority on the other. 
 
 There is nothing in the Bible from Jesus showing that 
 he ever entertained the idea that man was created perfect 
 and fell from that state through Adam, or that his (Jesus') 
 crucifixion would prepare the way for man's restoration in 
 accordance with the scheme of Christian Theology ; neither 
 does the Bible furnish a single unequivocal declaration 
 from Jesus to the effect that he claimed himself to be 
 co-equal with God, nor does it contain a solitary word 
 from him that could bear such construction, which he did 
 not subsequently explain away, or which has not since 
 been proved to be erroneous. 
 
 In denying having claimed to be God, when the Jews 
 were about to stone him for what they deemed equivalent 
 to such a claim, he asserts that he made no such declara- 
 tion, or anything that could be construed into such, and 
 cites the Jewish laws, customs, and practices in support 
 of his assertion (John x., 33-36). 
 
 Furthermore, it is plain from the following texts that 
 the term God, as applied to Jesus, does not necessarily 
 mean God the Creator of the universe : " Your eyes 
 shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods knowing good 
 and evil " (Genesis iii., 5) ; " And the Lord said unto 
 Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh " (Ex- 
 
St. Paul's Teaching 255 
 
 odus vii., i); "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among 
 the gods?" (Exodus xv., 2) ; " For the Lord your God is 
 God of gods " (Deuteronomy x., 17) ; " Among the gods 
 there is none like unto thee, O Lord " (Psalm Ixxxvi., 8) ; 
 "Thou, Lord, art high above all the earth; thou art 
 exalted far above all gods " (Psalm xcvii., 9). 
 
 Again, what could be more emphatic than the follow- 
 ing language of the Apostle Paul? "For, though there 
 be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as 
 there be gods many and lords many, but to us there is 
 but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we 
 in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all 
 things, and we by him " (i Corinthians viii., 5, 6) ; " For, 
 therefore, we both labour and suffer reproach, because 
 we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, 
 especially of those that believe" (i Timothy, iv., 10). 
 
 Now, within these three texts, three points are laid 
 down with decisive clearness. One is that the living God 
 is the Saviour of all men, as distinguished from Jesus, 
 who is nowhere, in the Bible, absolutely called the living 
 God. Another is, that there is but one God, the Father 
 of all men, and consequently the Father of Jesus. The 
 third is, that all men are in God the Father and He in 
 them. The expression of Jesus, " the Father is in me, 
 and I in him," implied nothing more than that relation- 
 ship which exists between God and every one of mankind. 
 The same is true as to his saying, " I and my Father are 
 one" that is, I and my Heavenly Father are one in 
 purpose. Every man is an instrument in God's hands for 
 the accomplishment of His ends ; and inasmuch as God 
 has made sure that man shall co-operate with Him to 
 serve these ends, in the way and to the full extent of His 
 original intention, every man in a certain sense is one 
 in purpose with God. It is evident that this is all that 
 Jesus could have meant by the expression. The clos- 
 ing sentence in the last of the texts above quoted may 
 
256 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 perhaps be taken as illustrative of the changing or mixed 
 nature of Paul's religious views. A Pharisee himself, 
 and the son of a Pharisee, and brought up at the feet of 
 Gamaliel, he had nevertheless emancipated himself from 
 Jewish tradition, and was content to preach that true and 
 only religion which makes to use his own words " the 
 living God the Saviour of all men." Not yet an advoc- 
 ate of that awful doctrine of the Church which dooms the 
 great bulk of mankind to everlasting torment, he had, as it 
 were, a foretaste of its exclusiveness ; and this found vent 
 in his mild phrasing, " especially of those that believe." 
 But whatever Paul's trimming, or meaning, all men believe 
 that there is a God to whom they are accountable, know 
 right from wrong, and believe that virtue is more estim- 
 able than vice. But some men under the influence of this 
 belief, and actuated by its agency shape their daily con- 
 duct more in accordance with their duty to God, their 
 neighbour, and their own welfare than do others. Every 
 man, owing in some measure to the various circumstances 
 which surround him, is at different times more or less 
 governed by varying influences. Hence, exhorting men 
 to repent of their evil deeds, and to practise good works, 
 is among the services which one man may render to 
 another ; and in this Jesus made himself conspicuous. 
 He exhorted men to be mindful of and to practise the 
 religion of the heart and conscience ; and no doubt with 
 marked success and excellent effect. And since such 
 practice is the important thing, the all-in-all, for this and 
 the future life, and as the most stimulating influence 
 thereto came to the many by and through Jesus' instru- 
 mentality, under the natural promptings originally im- 
 planted in man, it might with truth be said that the 
 things that were all-important came from God, by and 
 through Jesus, in a natural way. Thus simply is explained 
 the expression in the text, " Christ by whom are all things, 
 and we by him." 
 
Jesus Never Claimed Divinity 257 
 
 The exhorting men to repentance and the practice of 
 good works, we say, was one among the services by which 
 Jesus made himself conspicuous. Repentance was the 
 great, the predominant theme of his life. It. was more 
 on his lips than any other. His name was more intim- 
 ately associated with it than with any other. It is evid- 
 ent, therefore, that he conceived that the great want of 
 the Jewish people, and particularly of the Jewish priest- 
 hood and others in authority, was repentance. And it was 
 for his persistent cry to this end, and his pretensions to 
 the Messiahship, that he suffered persecution and death. 
 On these two ideas he staked his all. And being instru- 
 mental in causing the Jewish people to repent and return 
 to a more consistent course, his disciples continued the 
 work in his name and under its prestige. 
 
 It is important here, however, to observe, that, accord- 
 ing to the record, Jesus in his last and most important 
 interview with his disciples spoke not a single word that 
 can, by the remotest inference, be construed as enjoining 
 upon them to preach or inculcate belief or faith in certain 
 claims since set up on his behalf. These were, that he 
 was co-equal with God, and that belief or faith in such 
 asserted dogma was indispensable to salvation. This 
 omission assists greatly in determining the much disputed 
 question of his relationship with God. As we before 
 remarked, there is no Bible record to show in a plain and 
 unmistakable manner that Jesus, out of his own mouth, 
 ever pretended to be co-equal with God, the Lord Jehovah. 
 On the other hand, there are numerous sayings of his 
 which disclaim, or are inconsistent with, any such preten- 
 sions. Take, for example, the following citations. He 
 had spoken of God as his Father ; on account of which 
 " The Jews took up stones and stoned him. Jesus 
 answered them, Many good works have I showed you 
 from my Father ; for which of these works do ye stone 
 me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work 
 
258 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 we stone thee not : but for blasphemy, and because that 
 thou being a man makest thyself God. Jesus answered 
 them, Is it not written in your law, I said ye are gods ? 
 If he called them gods unto whom the word of God came, 
 and the Scripture cannot be broken ; Say ye of him whom 
 the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou 
 blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God ? If I 
 do not the works of my Father believe me not. But 
 if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works : 
 that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, 
 and I in him " (John x., 31-38). This is equivalent to 
 saying that it did not follow, nor did he intend it to be so 
 understood, that because he said, " the Father is in me 
 and I in him," he therefore claimed equality with God 
 the Father and Creator of all mankind. In justification 
 of himself, he cites the licence which the Scriptures give 
 to call those men gods unto whom the word of God came. 
 It is evident, therefore, from this explanation of his hav- 
 ing said, " I and my Father are one," that he meant that 
 he was God only in the ordinary sense of the word ; that 
 by diligently doing the works of the one God, as others 
 had done unto whom the word of God came, he had the 
 same claim to such an honourable estimation and title. 
 In the event, however, of their not yet being prepared to 
 acknowledge even this subdued claim, he took the pre- 
 caution to refer them to the result of his works, as prov- 
 ing that he was engaged in promulgating God's will, less 
 entangled with error than was the case with their then 
 accepted teachers. 
 
 It may be well to bear in mind, too, that the Apostle 
 Paul nowhere gives] Jesus the title of the Living God ; 
 neither did he believe him to be the Saviour of men. 
 He speaks clearly to this point in two texts, one of which 
 has been already quoted : " For therefore we both labour 
 and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, 
 who is the Saviour of all men " (i Timothy iv., 10) ; "As 
 
Jesus' Mission 259 
 
 concerning therefore the eating of those things that are 
 offered in sacrifice to idols, we know an idol is nothing in 
 the world, and that there is none other God but one " 
 (i Corinthians viii., 4). 
 
 Christian theology maintains that Jesus came into the 
 world and took on him the form of a man, for the express 
 purpose of suffering crucifixion as a propitiation for the 
 sins of the world. This is in direct contradiction to Jesus' 
 own declared views on the subject. He says : " To this 
 end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, 
 that I should bear witness unto the truth " (John xviii., 
 37). In other words, he meant that his mission was to 
 preach natural religion, love to God, love to man, and 
 good works, uncontaminated by the dogmas of the Jewish 
 priests. This view is confirmed out of his own lips in 
 another place : " I will have mercy, and not sacrifice : for 
 I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repent- 
 ance " (Matthew ix., 3). In fact, what he here conceived 
 to be his relation to God and man corresponds exactly 
 with what any conscientious minister of the gospel might 
 say of himself, and forces the conviction that he esteemed 
 himself nothing more than man in any sense of the word. 
 This estimate is consistent with the every-day practice of 
 his life. " And Jesus went about all the cities and vil- 
 lages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the 
 gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and 
 every disease among the people " (Matthew ix., 34). 
 
 No other view than this of his own conception of his 
 vocation and office can, in our judgment, be derived from 
 the Bible. None other, we think, can be reached by any 
 fair and rational construction, unbiassed by preconceived 
 opinions imbibed from the false and forced constructions 
 of those who make it their business to mystify and en- 
 tangle the dogmas, theologies, and creeds of their own 
 invention with true religion with the religion of nature 
 with the religion of which Jehovah is at once the founder, 
 
260 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 the great high-priest, and the preserver, and of which 
 Jesus was, in much of his teachings, though not the 
 author, a remarkably true and zealous expounder. At 
 the same time, while there is no reliable proof that Jesus 
 is God, there is much to the contrary, which ought, as we 
 conceive, to be conclusive to all. The negative evidence 
 is so strong that no one can pretend that Jesus ever occu- 
 pied the throne of David in the capacity predicted or in 
 any other. This alone, in all fairness, should suffice for 
 the total discredit of all the prophecies upon which his 
 Messiahship has been based ; and would do so were it 
 not for the ingenuity, adroitness, learning, mental abil- 
 ity, and persistence of the leading priests in ancient and 
 modern times. The former, in an age when superstition 
 and ignorance favoured their designs, stimulated by pec- 
 uniary interest and a greed for domination, ensnared their 
 unsuspecting victims into a web of the marvellous and 
 mysterious, which for the unenlightened has a charm so 
 intricate, so subtle, and so strong that generations of 
 intellectual culture were required to extricate men from 
 its toils. As to the modern priesthood, while the craving 
 for wealth and power equally subsists in them, the mo- 
 ment the fallacy of their teaching is detected, they shape 
 and twist their theology, interpreting this passage of 
 Scripture symbolically, and that one literally, as serves 
 the occasion, so that it becomes well-nigh impossible to 
 bring them to an acknowledgment of the untenableness 
 of their position. Thus, if they cannot elude detection 
 as to the hollowness of many among their ingeniously 
 contrived devices, they at least find some loop-hole for 
 escape ; and the more they are pressed to the wall by the 
 intelligence of the age, the more vehemently they cry 
 out : " He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved ; 
 but he that believeth not shall be damned." Nor could 
 there be a more striking instance of clerical perversion 
 than occurs in reference to this denunciation. It is ap- 
 
Character of Jesus' Precepts 261 
 
 plied from a thousand pulpits to the whole complicated 
 theory of original sin, and redemption by the blood of 
 Christ. Under what circumstances did Jesus utter it? 
 With respect to the scheme, as it is well called, of salva- 
 tion ? Not at all. Immediately preceding the record of 
 these words is this verse (Mark xvi., 14) : " Afterward he 
 appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and up- 
 braided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, 
 because they believed not them which had seen him after 
 he was risen." Not a word here touching sin or sacri- 
 fice. It is only unbelief in his personal identity the 
 unbelief of his own disciples then before him that is so 
 unceremoniously denounced by Jesus. But the time is 
 fast approaching when all this cloud of error will be dis- 
 persed and the craft of a profession rendered futile. 
 Human physical slavery has been compelled to succumb 
 at the mandate of educated honesty. The enslavers of 
 human intellect must ere long lose their prestige over the 
 intellects of others and cease to prey upon the pecuniary 
 substance of their fellow-men. Conscience, common- 
 sense, and culture are fast gaining the mastery over 
 church, theology, and a dogmatic priesthood. 
 
 The doctrine of Jesus is nowhere more plainly laid 
 down than in his own description of the view that will 
 be taken of the conduct of men by the final judge of the 
 world. " I was," says he, " a hungered, and ye gave me 
 meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink : I was a 
 stranger, and ye took me in : naked, and ye clothed me ; 
 I was sick, and ye visited me : I was in prison, and ye 
 came unto me." In reply to the inquiry when these 
 things were done in his behalf, the King says that, Inas- 
 much as they were done to the least of his little ones, 
 they were done unto him (Matthew xxv., 35, 36). Such 
 is what Jesus considers to be requisite for entering into 
 the kingdom of heaven, that is to say, good works, which 
 are, practically, love to God and love to man. He con- 
 
262 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 ceives that there is nothing further required. The grand 
 aim of his own life, at least of the earlier parts of it, seems 
 to have been to manifest such a disposition. I am come, 
 said he, on another occasion, " not to destroy, but to ful- 
 fil the law " ; and the context shows that he had reference 
 to the moral law of God, which was over him in common 
 with all mankind. He therefore exhorted all about him 
 to strive for this one thing, to become obedient to the 
 laws of God, that they might be like Him, God. " Be ye, 
 therefore, perfect," said he, " as your Father also is per- 
 fect " (Matthew v., 48). His precepts and teachings in 
 detail, too, were all of this same character. " Blessed are 
 the merciful," said he, " for they shall obtain mercy. 
 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 
 Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the 
 children of God " (Matthew v., 7-9) ; " Do not commit 
 adultery; Do riot steal; Do not bear false witness ; De- 
 fraud not ; Honour thy father and mother " (Mark x., 
 19); "Forgive men their tresspasses " (Matthew vi. 14); 
 "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye 
 even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets " 
 (Matthew vii., 12). Now, what a catalogue of good works 
 does he here collect which, while they have no reference 
 to any peculiar sentiments of his own, are accepted and 
 inculcated by him as the teaching of God to all men, 
 through their intuitions and proper sense of right, and 
 which he considered himself as much bound to obey as 
 ourselves. And that he and others who lived by this rule 
 might be acknowledged as so doing, he gave a test 
 whereby men might judge in this matter: "Ye shall 
 know them by their fruits," said he; and again: "A 
 good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth 
 forth good things." He was a good man, but he claimed 
 to be nothing more. He nowhere speaks of himself as 
 God ; on the contrary, he almost invariably calls himself 
 "the Son of man", and defends himself from the charge 
 
Character of Jesus' Precepts 263 
 
 of calling himself God when using expressions that were 
 so construed, on the plea that such expressions were 
 allowable under the Jewish usages, without implying that 
 he made himself God. That this is his estimate of him- 
 self may be seen still more clearly. He quotes from the 
 Old Testament and "the first of all the command- 
 ments is, 'Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is ONE 
 LORD.' " He thus emphatically acknowledges that there 
 is but one God, which is equivalent to denying that he 
 himself was God. But if this is not deemed sufficient, 
 hear what he says further: " Worship the Father in spirit 
 and in truth " (John iv., 23) ; " Jesus said unto them, My 
 meat is to do the will of him that sent me " (John iv., 34 ; 
 " I speak not of myself ; the Father which sent me gave 
 me the commandments" (John v., 37); "My Father is 
 greater than I " (John xiv., 28). Now, are not these ex- 
 pressions equally applicable to and proper to be made by 
 all men who are teachers of true religion ? So far as our 
 knowledge extends, through our natural instincts and 
 intuitions, there neither is nor can be, any intermediate 
 grade of being or beings between God and man. 
 
 But is it claimed that he was sent by the Father and 
 that he was endowed with supernatural powers, because 
 he said : " And this is life eternal, that they might know 
 thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou 
 hast sent " (John xviii., 31). In the same sense God sends 
 every man into the world. It is the light of God in the 
 soul of man which is his true teacher: "That was the 
 true light which lighteth every man that cometh into 
 the world " (John i., 9) ; " Behold the kingdom of God 
 is within you" (Luke xvii., 21); "Fear not, for it is the 
 Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom " (Luke 
 xii., 32) ; " Blessed are they who hear the word of God 
 and keep it " (Luke xi., 28) that is, blessed are they who 
 hear and obey the voice of conscience and the teaching 
 of the external universe; "He that doeth truth cometh 
 
264 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that 
 they are wrought in God" (John iii., 21); " Jesus an- 
 swered them, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent 
 me" (John vii., i6)it would be well if all teachers could 
 conscientiously say this ; " Jesus cried and said, He that 
 believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that 
 sent me " (John xii., 44) which is of extreme significance 
 in determining this question, as it is equivalent to saying 
 that belief in him is a mere figure of speech, to indicate 
 belief in the God Jehovah. From this it is evident that, 
 wherever Jesus speaks of man's welfare as being advanced 
 by love to and belief in him, he simply means that man 
 is to believe in and love and practise the doctrines which 
 he is urging on the attention of his hearers, and these are 
 always of one and the same import, love to God and man. 
 Take collectively those exhortations of Jesus which are 
 recorded in the Bible ; and, although they are not always 
 in harmony or consistent with each other, the only ra- 
 tional deduction and conclusion to be drawn from them 
 is, that he conceived himself to stand in the same relation 
 to God as other men, except that he was inculcating a 
 purer doctrine than that taught by those about him. 
 And it is this separation of true religion from error, at a 
 day when it was so pre-eminently needed, that made him 
 dear to the people of that period and his remembrance 
 precious to succeeding generations. His saying, " believe 
 in me," meant nothing further than believe in the doc- 
 trines which I teach and which go by my name ; thus im- 
 plying that he is but as other men who advocate religion 
 in its purity. 
 
 By thus associating himself with other men in the duties 
 of his office and ministry, it is evident that, according to 
 his view, they all stand in the same relation to God ; that 
 he and they are all alike the recipients of God's love, all 
 alike subject to His laws, will, and guidance. The only 
 difference between him and those about him was, that he 
 
Character of Jesus' Precepts 265 
 
 set himself up as their teacher and that they acknow- 
 ledged themselves to be his disciples. This view of Jesus 
 and his vocation is far better supported by his own say- 
 ings and doings, than the position, attributes, and functions 
 assigned to him by the Christian Church. It may be that 
 at times he went a little beyond the natural teaching of 
 God to all men ; no doubt he did in some of the kindly 
 feelings and offices which he conceived should be enter- 
 tertained and practised by men one towards another. 
 Perhaps in some particulars they are too refined for gen- 
 eral observance and application. Indeed, it will be at once 
 recognised that they are more than average human nature 
 is capable of manifesting. Of such kind are these : " But 
 I say unto you that ye resist not evil : but whosoever shall 
 smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 
 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away 
 thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever 
 shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give 
 to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow 
 of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath 
 been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine 
 enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless 
 them that curse you, do good to them which hate you ; 
 and pray for them which despitefully use you and perse- 
 cute you " (Matthew v., 39-44). 
 
 Still, making allowance for these exaggerations, we 
 maintain that the only practical mode of manifesting 
 ardent love to God is the actual performance, with lively 
 diligence, of those things which are just, and true, and 
 good. This is inculcated by Jesus in most impressive 
 terms, some of which we have quoted, and his seal is put 
 upon the worth of this practical faith by his emphatic 
 saying with reference to charities, " Inasmuch as ye have 
 done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye 
 have done it unto me." Whoever follows this course 
 faithfully and sincerely we insist is a religious man in the 
 
266 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 fullest sense of the word, notwithstanding the combined 
 declarations of all Christendom to the contrary. 
 
 The denunciations of Jesus were as emphatic as they 
 could be against those who incidentally perverted his 
 teachings, which, though imparted by God to all men 
 without Jesus' aid, were so enthusiastically enforced by 
 him as to produce great uneasiness and consternation 
 amongst the corrupt rulers and priesthood of his time ; 
 indeed, so much so as to cause him to be falsely accused 
 and murdered on the cross, under pretence of judicial 
 authority. Among the rebukes administered by Jesus to 
 the priesthood of his day are there not some as applicable 
 now to that same class of individuals as they were then? 
 " For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the 
 tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups;. and 
 many other such like things ye do. . . . Ye reject the com- 
 mandments of God that ye may keep your own tradi- 
 tion. Making the word of God of none effect through 
 your tradition, which ye have delivered : and many such 
 like things do ye " (Mark vii., 8, 9, 13). 
 
 To the simple teachings of Nature and Jesus theo- 
 logians add that of natural depravity of man. This idea 
 is false in its conception. It is an imputation against the 
 wisdom and goodness of God and blasphemous in its 
 character. It implies that God is neither Omnipotent nor 
 Omniscient ; that He is unable to create and control all 
 things aright according to His will and pleasure. 
 
 Exciting terror in the minds of men, by teaching the 
 doctrine of eternal torment, is another imputation against 
 God's infinite goodness. These and many others of a 
 similar nature, we hesitate not to say, have had their 
 origin in the attempts of dishonest and designing men to 
 defraud their more honest and unsuspecting fellow-crea- 
 tures. Examples of this we have, even amongst the 
 earliest and perhaps more sincere followers of Jesus ; 
 nay, even amongst those who are called his Apostles. 
 
Ananias and Sapphira 267 
 
 Take the well-known story of Ananias and Sapphira as 
 a sample : " Neither was there any among them that 
 lacked : for as many as were possessors of lands or houses 
 sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were 
 sold, and laid them down at the Apostles' feet : and dis- 
 tribution was made unto every man according as he had 
 need. " And Joses, who by the Apostles was surnamed 
 Barnabas (which is, being interpreted, The son of consola- 
 tion), a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having 
 land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the 
 Apostles' feet " (Acts iv., 34-37). " But a certain man 
 named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a pos- 
 session, and kept back part of the price, his wife also 
 being privy to it, and brought a certain part and laid it at 
 the Apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath 
 Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to 
 keep back part of the price of the land ? While it re- 
 mained, was it not thine own, and after it was sold, was 
 it not in thine own power ? Why hast thou conceived 
 this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, 
 but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell 
 down and gave up the ghost : and great fear came on 
 them that heard these things. And the young men arose, 
 wound him up, and carried him out and buried him. And 
 it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, 
 not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter an- 
 swered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so 
 much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter 
 said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to 
 tempt the Spirit of the Lord ? Behold the feet of them 
 which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall 
 carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his 
 feet, and yielded up the ghost ; and the young men came 
 in, and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her 
 by her husband. And great fear came upon all the 
 Church, and upon as many as heard these things" (Acts 
 
268 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 v., i-n). The idea attempted to be inculcated by these 
 representations is, that God was so incensed and offended 
 with the persons who withheld a part of their possessions 
 for their own use, instead of giving it all to the Apostles, 
 that He, instantly, by an especial act, struck them dead. 
 Now, this we hold to be entirely at variance with God's 
 dealings with His creatures at this or any other time and 
 place, and the promulgation of such a story was, as we 
 conceive, a trick, a cheat, for the purpose of extorting 
 money from, and gainingdomination over, those susceptible 
 of being so wrought upon through their fears. If it shall 
 be suggested as possible that the death of these persons 
 took place in accordance with the natural workings of 
 God's universal and never-varying laws, we reply : Had it 
 been Ananias alone who was said to be stricken dead, we 
 might attribute his death to the effect of sudden shame 
 or fear acting upon a system deranged by high nervous 
 excitement. Rare as such cases are, they are not entirely 
 inconsistent with the physical laws of our being, nor alto- 
 gether beyond our natural experiences. But when a 
 second person, after so brief an interval, is put through 
 the same identical process of cross-questioning, condem- 
 nation, and collapse, even the most extreme credulity 
 takes alarm and shies off. One fortuitous coincidence 
 between Peter's denunciation and the breaking of human 
 heart-strings might be received as a possible circumstance. 
 Two such fortuitous coincidences, coming one close upon 
 another, pass all bounds of credibleness. If it be claimed 
 that the persons of the day of the early Apostles had 
 more tender consciences in regard to lying or false pre- 
 tence than those of our day, and, therefore, might be 
 more likely to die from a sense of shame on account of 
 having been detected in making false representations, it 
 so happens that we are not without means of testing the 
 susceptibility of the Apostles themselves, which at least 
 should not fall below that of the common people about 
 
Rational Explanation 269 
 
 them. It appears from Bible record that Peter, the ver- 
 itable Apostle who accused Ananias of lying, spoke 
 falsely when he denied knowledge of Jesus thrice in suc- 
 cession. But, when detected, he neither fell dead from 
 shame, nor was he stricken down by the Almighty. Again, 
 the character and the false spirit of Judas are indicated 
 by his betrayal of Jesus into the hands of his enemies, 
 and by his own thieving propensities. All this proves 
 that human nature was no better in the time of Peter and 
 Judas than now; and this puts it beyond possible credi- 
 bility that Ananias and his wife died (if death there was) 
 of a broken heart. 
 
 This leaves no alternative but to refer their death to a 
 supernatural cause. Now, we appeal to the rational and 
 common-sense men of our day, whether, if at this time, 
 and in any part of the world, an occurrence of the kind 
 under consideration were said to have taken place as a 
 supernatural and especial exhibition of God's vengeance, 
 for the cause assigned by the Apostle Peter, it would 
 receive the slightest credence ? And yet, this is the ver- 
 sion that Luke gives of the pretended phenomena. We 
 further submit whether the claiming of Peter that God in 
 His vengeance smote two persons dead in quick succession, 
 for the cause assigned, does not come with a particularly 
 ill grace from a person notoriously untruthful, from one 
 whom Jesus denounced as Satanic, and as savouring not 
 duly of the things of God. It is further submitted, 
 whether, if the death of the persons in question did occur 
 at the time and place, and under the circumstances nar- 
 rated, is it not more likely that it resulted from foul play, 
 instigated by the Apostles for base purposes, rather than 
 that the immediate cause of death was the upbraidings of 
 conscience, fear, or the supernatural visitation of God 
 manifested for the express purpose of frightening people 
 into putting all their property at the disposal of the 
 Apostles. And this trick, as we deem it, had for a time 
 
270 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 the expected effect ; and " great fear came upon all the 
 Church and upon as many as heard these things." These 
 people were evidently made to fear lest they should not 
 conform to the wishes of the Apostles, and thereby sub- 
 ject themselves to the summary vengeance of God in- 
 voked by them. And we are told that " by the hands 
 of the Apostles were many signs and wonders wrought 
 among the people. . . . And of the rest durst no 
 man join himself to them." Unclean spirits also, as we 
 say, were pretended to be cast out, another false pretence 
 for the gaining of power. " And believers were the more 
 added to the Lord, both men and women." 
 
 We have no doubt but that the character of this belief 
 was that, if they that is, all upon whom great fear 
 came did not blindly follow the bidding of the Apostles 
 in relation to the giving up all their property to them, 
 they could not escape the vengeance of the Lord, which 
 the Apostles would invoke against them. This presents 
 a dark picture of human nature ; but the odium pertains 
 but to a comparative few the mass of mankind are of 
 the better sort. 
 
 We are happy to believe that a large majority of the 
 enlightened men of our day and country not only disbe- 
 lieve that the man and his wife were stricken down by 
 God for the reason assigned by the Apostles ; they also 
 are shocked by the hypocrisy, and perchance the mur- 
 derous spirit, involved in the affair. But the Apostles 
 were not without their competitors and imitators in this 
 respect. There were at that time many different churches, 
 doctrines, and creeds, some of which preceded them. The 
 leaders of the earlier sects, perceiving that the new- 
 comers were even more greedy than themselves claiming 
 not only a part of men's substance, but the whole, feared 
 lest there would be nothing left. On this account, and 
 on account of the growing influence of the Apostles, they 
 often came in conflict with each other ; and one of the 
 
Unjustifiable Teachings 271 
 
 results of these feuds is thus set down. " The high priest 
 rose up, and all they that were with him, which is the 
 sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation. 
 And laid their hands on the Apostles, and put them in the 
 common prison " (Acts v., 17, 18). 
 
 We trace, also, in this transaction the germ of that 
 dominating and grasping spirit which was carried to so 
 revolting a pitch by the Christian Church during the 
 dark and middle ages, as is seen elsewhere in this work. 
 And yet there are many practices, in some of the Chris- 
 tian Churches, at the present time, which are only a little 
 less glaring and despicable. 
 
 A striking analogy exists between Peter's intimidating 
 process for raising revenue for the Church, and that which 
 yet so extensively prevails. We allude especially to the 
 menacing of the people by threats of everlasting punish- 
 ment if they do not embrace a particular dogma or article 
 of faith to the exclusion of many others. Might it not 
 be said, therefore, that here in Peter is the symbolic found- 
 ation of the Church, which is so faithful to his propens- 
 ities, and which, we augur, will not be able much longer 
 to withstand the flood of light, common sense, and reason 
 that menaces it, both in this and other countries ? 
 
 We proceed to point to some of the other devices, that 
 are resorted to at the present day, for swelling the coffers 
 of the Church, and which we conceive to be altogether 
 unjustifiable. Prominent among them is the preaching of 
 mystical and wonder-exciting dogmas and theologies, and 
 the exhibition of imposing ritualism, ceremonies, and 
 paraphernalia, the invention and traditions of men, so 
 appropriately condemned by Jesus in these pertinent 
 words : " For laying aside the commandments of God, ye 
 hold the tradition of men. . . . Making the word of 
 God of none effect through your traditions." Again, the 
 fable of Purgatory is instrumental in extracting large 
 sums from those who are made to believe that their 
 
272 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 deceased friends are suffering terrific torments therein, 
 and can only be released from it by the prayers of the 
 Church, which prayers can only be procured by money 
 forthcoming. The granting of indulgences by the Church, 
 which in plainer language means the privilege to sin, and 
 absolution from the consequences of sin neither of which 
 God ever grants may also be named as prolific and dis- 
 graceful sources of revenue to the Church. Representing 
 God as punishing the smallest sin everlastingly with the 
 most excruciating torment in a wrathful and vindictive 
 spirit unless the sinner has full faith that Jesus is 
 co-equal with Jehovah, and that he (Jesus) is the only 
 Saviour of men from everlasting punishment, entailed on 
 them by reason of the sin of Adam is another of the 
 whips with which they scourge the people. This threat- 
 ening with God's vengeance all who are not within the 
 pale of the Church is of the same character as the farce 
 enacted by the Apostles before mentioned, and is resorted 
 to with a similar view. Its object is to frighten into their 
 net all those who are susceptible of being so operated 
 upon, and thus, incidentally, to swell the Church's gain. 
 Such an intimidating process cannot be persisted in by the 
 clergy with an eye single to the spiritual and temporal 
 welfare of their hearers, while at the same time they have 
 a full knowledge of the existence of such Bible testimony 
 as is here cited : " Yet I am the Lord thy God from the 
 land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me : for 
 there is no Saviour beside me " (Hosea xiii., 4) ; u I am 
 the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour" 
 (Isaiah xliii., 3) ; " I, even I, am the Lord ; and beside me 
 there is no saviour " (Isaiah xliii., 1 1) ; " And all flesh shall 
 know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, 
 the mighty One of Jacob " (Isaiah xlix., 26) ; " We trust 
 in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, spe- 
 cially of those that believe" (i Timothy iv., 10) ; and we 
 insist that all men believe, as we heretofore endeavoured 
 
Restlessness of the Soul 273 
 
 to show. The appellation of the Living God is nowhere 
 in the Bible applied to Jesus. Peter called him the Son 
 of the Living God, but we have before shown that this 
 might be applied to other men as well as to Jesus. In 
 addition to the foregoing, however, there are in the Bible 
 a dozen or more texts directly affirming that there is but 
 one God, and not a word positively declaring that Jesus 
 is God co-equal with Jehovah. 
 
 But further proof of the erroneous dogmas and declar- 
 ations of the Church can be furnished: "All flesh shall 
 see the salvation of God " (Luke iii., 4, 6) ; " And the 
 glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see 
 it together : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it " 
 (Isaiah xl., 5). These texts give assurance that each 
 human being will be saved by the Lord God Jehovah, 
 to the enjoyment of His glory not by Jesus, as some 
 assert. They are also irreconcilable with the Church 
 dogma that the majority of mankind will be the subjects 
 of God's everlasting vengeance. If it shall be objected 
 that there is Bible authority for such a dogma, and suffi- 
 cient for it, then we say that this does but show that the 
 Bible is fallible, and the production of fallible men, since 
 God cannot contradict Himself. 
 
 If the human soul is placed upon earth as a preparatory 
 measure to fit it for an existence in eternity, the natural 
 inference is, that the soul retains its main characteristics 
 throughout, and there is nothing in the so-called Word of 
 God to contradict this idea. The soul naturally craves 
 constant progression from one state to another. A 
 continued state of rest, even unattended with pain or 
 want, cannot afford happiness ; nothing short of progress 
 from incident to incident, from new interests to new 
 interests can satisfy the soul to be happy it must be in 
 harmony with the gravitating influence which is ever 
 leading it on the great mission of assimilating itself to its 
 Maker. Restlessness is one of the great features with 
 
 18 
 
274 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 which God has endowed the soul, to the end that it may 
 never cease seeking Him and finding out more and more 
 the wondrous ways and mysteries of God, and glorifying 
 Him and yet the theologians tell us that beyond the 
 grave the blessings of Christ's kingdom shall be peace and 
 quietness for ever. " And my people shall dwell in peace- 
 able habitations and in sure dwellings, and in quiet rest- 
 ing places " (Isaiah xxxii., 18). This is adverse to the 
 great purposes of God. The course of the human spirit is 
 onward. 
 
 Man, so far as we know, is the only created being en- 
 dowed with qualities capable of comprehending and ap- 
 preciating the wisdom, goodness, and glory of God. 
 Shall his brief existence upon earth, while there is an 
 eternity before him, be the limit of time allowed to com- 
 plete his strivings to know God, the inexhaustible? no; 
 the normal condition of the human soul is neither per- 
 petual rest in peace or perpetual torment, but a never- 
 ceasing activity in cultivating and bringing itself more 
 and more to the appreciation of its Maker. The follow- 
 ing is quite as wide of the true nature of the soul as the 
 foregoing theological view. The Bible narrative in rela- 
 tion to our first parents is so construed by the Church as 
 to inculcate the idea that Adam and Eve and all their 
 posterity were originally intended by God to live a life 
 of ease, and without labour, pain, care, death, or anything 
 else to disturb them from a perfect state of peace, happi- 
 ness, and quietness, instead of experiencing the vicissi- 
 tudes incident to an active life of good works. A further 
 construction of the theologians put upon this fable would, 
 if true, present the matter thus : 
 
 If the first human pair had not eaten of the forbidden 
 fruit, no one of the human family would have perceived 
 that their nakedness was uncomely in the presence of 
 others ; in other words, there would have been no such 
 trait in human character as modesty. The inauguration 
 
Inferences 275 
 
 of modesty appears from the Bible narrative to have 
 been the very first consequence of disobedience of com- 
 mand, and it is apparent, as the story goes, that God 
 recognised the sensation of shame which Adam and Eve 
 experienced in consequence of their nakedness as being 
 praiseworthy, inasmuch as He, without delay, assisted 
 them in administering to it by making both for Adam 
 and Eve coats of skins and clothing them. Another in- 
 ference from the narrative in question is, that but for the 
 disobedience of our original parents, no one of the human 
 family would ever have become so assimilated to God as 
 to know good from evil. The further inference is that 
 man, by his first breach of Divine law, learned that the 
 true enjoyment of life and existence consisted in acting 
 in conformity to the law, which is equivalent to the par- 
 taking of the tree of life. 
 
 Now admitting, for the argument, that these Bible nar- 
 ratives are other than fables, it follows that but for origi- 
 nal sin we should have been without modesty, without 
 any knowledge of the difference between good and evil, 
 without any assimilation to God, and without knowledge 
 of the way which leads to life eternal ; in short, on a level 
 with the brute creation. 
 
 Now, if all these consequences of original sin were to be 
 abolished according to the Church version of the subject, 
 by resurrection through Christ, would we be the gainers 
 by such restoration to the original ignorance and absence 
 of shame of nudeness imputed to our first parents before 
 they had eaten the forbidden fruit ? 
 
 It has been remarked that Jesus was persuaded, during 
 the latter portion of his ministry, that he was sent to be 
 " The King of the Jews," and to preach a purer doctrine 
 to the people than that which was taught through means 
 of the Jewish priesthood. He was also surrounded by 
 those who favoured these ideas, and who were constantly 
 urging his claims to such a position and to such an office. 
 
276 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 When they had succeeded in convincing themselves on 
 this point, they were naturally desirous to bring others 
 to the same conclusion. And there can be no doubt but 
 that he also caught the spirit, and lent his voice to the 
 cry, " Believe and be baptised ! " This cry, from habit, 
 and from the consciousness that the doctrine which he 
 preached led to life and happiness here and hereafter, 
 was constantly in his mouth. In this way he was gradu- 
 ally led to associate himself with it. "Ye believe in 
 God," said he, " believe also in me" (John xiv., i). But 
 that it was nothing more than the doctrine which he pro- 
 claimed as the way to eternal life and in which he solicited 
 belief, we infer from the recprd of John the Evangelist, 
 who speaks of him in these words : " The same came for a 
 witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through 
 him might believe " (John i., 7). When this plain lan- 
 guage is considered in connection with the fact that he 
 denied that he was God or co-equal with God, it fully 
 warrants the view of his office and religious sentiments 
 which is taken in this work. 
 
 Now, the interpretation which the Churches put upon 
 belief in Jesus and the one here adopted cannot be re- 
 ceived together. So great is the difference between them 
 that they are totally inconsistent with each other. Jesus 
 either meant that eternal life would result from belief in 
 his doctrine of love to God, and good works, or he meant 
 that belief in his being co-equal with God insured eternal 
 life. If he meant that the latter must be added to a life 
 of good works, it is inconceivable why he did not make 
 such a declaration in plain and unmistakable terms, which 
 he never did, at least there is no such record in the Bible. 
 On the other hand, he did declare repeatedly and expli- 
 citly, in the plainest words and in the most impressive 
 manner possible, that the sum total of the requirements 
 for the inheritance of eternal life is love to the One God, 
 love to man, and good works. Such a belief as this. 
 
Belief in Jesus 277 
 
 when taken in the sense here advocated, shows " the 
 Religion of Jesus " to coincide and harmonise with the 
 religion of the heart, the conscience, and the common 
 sense of all mankind. In short, it is in unison with the 
 religion of nature and of the God of nature, and shares 
 this marked feature with the actuating principle that un- 
 derlies the religion of every people on the face of the 
 globe, however debased by the infusion of absurd dogmas 
 and the practice of repulsive rites. 
 
 The Church mode of interpreting the words of Jesus 
 makes our eternal happiness depend on our ability to 
 believe certain obscure passages of the Bible, contain- 
 ing accounts of what one person says in relation to 
 another ! 
 
 If belief comes at all, it must, of necessity, be involun- 
 tary. No man can have a real, honest faith, of the kind 
 just mentioned, except through intuition, or upon evid- 
 ence that is irresistibly convincing. Belief, therefore, 
 not being a matter of free agency, there can be no merit 
 in its adoption ; whereas, on the contrary, good works, 
 which a man may or may not do, constitute the only 
 acceptable mode of manifesting love to God. 
 
 Man's moral accountability to God for his conduct here 
 can have reference only to those actions over which man 
 himself has any control, that is to say, those which, by 
 virtue of his free agency, he may do or leave undone at his 
 own will and pleasure. Belief in Jesus as a God and a 
 Redeemer, which the system of Christianity demands as 
 indispensable to salvation, is not among the actions that 
 man can control at will ; neither is it among the convic- 
 tions that come to us spontaneously, or by the inevitable 
 consequences of nature's universal teaching. It is not 
 like the assurance that there is an overruling Intelligence, 
 to whose laws we are each and all accountable. Hence 
 the belief in question, if binding on us at all, must of 
 necessity be founded upon evidence, the sufficiency or 
 
278 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 insufficiency of which it is in the capacity of the reasoning 
 faculties to scan, weigh, and determine. 
 
 Again : " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting 
 life ; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life : 
 but the wrath of God abideth on him " (John iii., 36). 
 This suggests the inquiry, what does believing on the Son 
 mean ? Is it that his teaching, or that believing on him 
 personally as the Son, leads to everlasting life ? If we 
 may rely upon the explanation from Jesus' own mouth, to 
 believe in him was to believe in his teaching, and his 
 teaching is not his own but God's. He said rjimself, 
 (John vii., 16), " My doctrine is not mine but his that 
 sent me." In his solitary prayer, also recorded by St. 
 John in the I7th chapter of his Gospel, Jesus says in the 
 6th verse : " I have manifested thy name unto the men 
 which thou gavest me out of the world and they have 
 kept thy word " ; in the 8th verse, " For I have given 
 unto them the words which thou gavest me " ; and again, 
 in the I4th verse, " I have given them thy word." Thus 
 it is clear, on his own testimony, that it was God's doc- 
 trine that Jesus taught. What, also, said Paul, narrating 
 to Agrippa his own course after his own conversion ? 
 " Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient 
 unto the heavenly vision, but shewed first unto them of 
 Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts 
 of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should 
 repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repent- 
 ance." This is Paul's view of the obligations of Christian- 
 ity, in the way of teaching, even though the vision that 
 set him to work was in the form of the Lord Jesus. 
 Paul also, in the midst of Mars' Hill, at Athens, pro- 
 claimed (Acts xvii., 24, 27, 28) the " unknown " God 
 whom the Greeks ignorantly worshipped as " the God 
 that made the world and all things therein." He added, 
 furthermore, the remarkable declaration that the Lord is 
 not far from every one of us : " For in him we live, and 
 
Jesus as a Teacher 279 
 
 move, and have our being ; as certain also of your own poets 
 have said, For we are also his offspring." Herein we de- 
 tect the recognition of that great first principle of all 
 religion which is implanted in us by God Himself, and a 
 contradiction of the human dogma that consigns all men 
 to perdition outside of a chosen few of the elect. 
 
 Just in proportion as a man teaches and practises the 
 laws pertaining to his existence, in more or less purity, 
 the more or less conspicuously does God appear in him. 
 Now if any preacher of the present day were to commence 
 teaching the truths relating to man's well-being here and 
 to his happiness hereafter, unencumbered with Church 
 dogmas, as were the teachings of Jesus, his hearers would 
 know at once that his doctrine came from God. Their 
 minds and consciences would both bear witness to it ; and 
 it would seem to those who first heard it like a miracle 
 because of its novelty. That a religious teacher of our 
 day should inculcate love to God manifested by acts of 
 kindness, one towards another, as the total requisite for 
 man's highest enjoyment, would seem almost incredible- 
 And yet such was the teaching of Jesus both by precept 
 and example. It was his every-day vocation pursued with 
 untiring zeal before he conceived the idea that he was the 
 Messiah. No wonder Nicodemus expressed himself as 
 he did. He instantly recognised that the great celebrity 
 which Jesus had obtained grew out of the excellency and 
 purity of the doctrines which he taught ; that he was ad- 
 mirably adapted to his mission of promulgating and en- 
 forcing unadulterated truth ; and of so pointing out the 
 way that leads to eternal life, as to justify him in saying, 
 " I am the way, the truth, and the life." 
 
 But the religion which Jesus associated with belief in 
 himself is more fully illustrated by his last charge to his 
 disciples, when, to push forward the good work which he 
 had commenced, he sent them to teach all nations, to take 
 his mantle upon them, to avail themselves of his renown 
 
280 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 as a teacher, to assume his office, and to hand down to all 
 posterity the doctrines with which his name and fame 
 were identified. He charged them to preach repentance, 
 which is the turning point to a better course that which 
 works an aversion to sin and which leads to a higher life. 
 All this shows that he believed in himself as a teacher of 
 God's laws in relation to man. His course and teaching 
 evince that his genius lay particularly in that line, as was 
 the case also with Zoroaster, Mohammed, Buddha, Con- 
 fucius, and other celebrated founders of religious systems 
 and expounders of morals. In him, as in the above-men- 
 tioned persons, that peculiar faculty was most extraordin- 
 arily developed. He had a happy facility in laying bare 
 divine truths, and disentangling them of the bewildering 
 mazes into which designing men had woven them for 
 base purposes. 
 
 Such we believe to have been the character of Jesus ; 
 and we believe, also, that his endowments, like those of 
 the persons cited above, although extraordinary, were 
 natural and not supernatural. In virtue of such qualit- 
 ies he became obnoxious to the grasping priesthood of 
 the day, whom he never spared and by whom he was re- 
 lentlessly pursued, dragged before the tribunal, speciously 
 accused, and finally murdered. 
 
 But if Jesus conceived that belief in him signified that 
 which his followers claimed for him, and that he was God 
 as they claimed, we cannot comprehend how it was that he 
 did not make the subject so plain and unmistakable that 
 all mankind would have had their duty placed squarely 
 before them. Neither can we understand why their eter- 
 nal doom, for not exercising such a belief in him, was not 
 so emphatically taught them by natural intuition, or other 
 evidence, that they could not have misunderstood him. 
 How far this is from the fact, is indicated by the number 
 of sects into which Christianity is split. 
 
 And yet those who profess to be his disciples teach 
 
No Good Results from this Belief 281 
 
 that if men do not blindly believe just what they pro- 
 pound for them to believe, they are, for their contumacy, 
 to be condemned to everlasting punishment, and this too, 
 as before shown, in the face of an imperative law of 
 nature which makes either intuition, or other evidence, 
 indispensable to belief. We persist that the individ- 
 ual mind of the person to whom belief in anything is 
 propounded must be the final and sole arbiter. There- 
 fore every real not blind belief, in relation to Jesus, is 
 totally involuntary, and beyond man's control, and con- 
 sequently involves neither merit nor demerit. 
 
 This holds good, also, in relation to those who have 
 never had any such dogma presented to their minds ; and 
 is, therefore, not among the things for which God holds 
 them accountable. No one can believe a proposition 
 without convincing evidence of its truth, or withhold belief 
 in the face of such evidence. Nor can any man compre- 
 hend how it is that the simple fact of arriving at a state 
 of mind called belief in the Divinity of Jesus, and his sacri- 
 fice for sin, should entitle the believer to everlasting bliss, 
 while at the same time such belief offers no suggestion of, 
 or stimulant to, good works. 
 
 Action is the order of nature. It is, therefore, not 
 alone sufficient that man should have a proper conviction 
 of his duty he is required to act in accordance with it 
 as well ; but Church doctrine says, " Whosoever believeth 
 on me" meaning Jesus " shall inherit eternal life." And 
 this is repeated again and again, without addition, sub- 
 traction, or qualification. 
 
 On the isolated acceptance of this question of belief 
 hangs everlasting bliss ; on the converse, everlasting death, 
 say the clergy. We hold that no state of the mind can 
 receive countenance from God which is not productive of 
 an active life of good works. Jesus taught this, and it 
 was the only and the entire requisite which he made for 
 the inheritance of eternal life. 
 
282 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 How can an impression or a conviction that there are 
 two Gods, or three Gods, in place of one God, be of any 
 effect in inciting men to the performance of what all 
 recognise as duty to the exercise, for instance, of charity, 
 which St. Paul himself declares to be greater than faith 
 or hope ? Is there any specific or magnified virtue in a 
 subdivided Godhead ? Does it tend to clear up any of 
 the mystery in which the Supreme Being has, for the 
 present, been pleased to enwrap Himself from our know- 
 ledge, or to enhance our ideas of His wisdom and power, 
 to be told that Divinity is triune ? Are the attributes of 
 the Almighty more comprehensible or more striking, when 
 they are parcelled out into three divisions ; the Father's 
 portion being mainly wrath, the Son's portion being 
 mainly mercy, and the Holy Ghost's business being 
 mainly that of a medium ? We think they are not. We 
 can understand why it was, in pagan mythology, that 
 Cerberus, the dog who kept the gates of hell, was repre- 
 sented with three heads. Thereby it might be supposed 
 that his ability to bark and bite was tripled. But that 
 entry through the gates of heaven should also be guarded, 
 as it were, by a triplex ideal that conveys through it a 
 sense of weakness rather than of strength seems to us 
 a human device more strange and more unwarrantable. 
 Yet the theologians say that such belief is indispensable 
 to salvation, and that salvation is at once secured by 
 it. This involves the idea that a transcendent change 
 takes place in every new convert from a belief in one 
 God to a belief in three Gods from the moment of imbib- 
 ing the new notion ; and this is the turning-point, accord- 
 ing to them, between everlasting bliss and perpetual 
 torment. Carrying out this view, they assume a position 
 which we deem inconsistent with the teaching of Jesus 
 himself, who is claimed as the basis of their creed. It 
 is that however barren of good works a man's life and 
 conduct may have been, or however vicious he may have 
 
No Good Results from this Belief 283 
 
 been up to the last hour of his existence at this latest 
 moment a belief in Jesus being God and Redeemer acts 
 as an infallible passport to heaven. Now, this is tanta- 
 mount to a belief that entertaining a bare idea for a few 
 moments suffices to ensure eternal happiness, in despite 
 of a life of sin, while a life of well-doing, without the 
 entertainment of this idea, is counted but as dross, and 
 cannot save. We say, on the contrary, such promptings 
 of the human heart as are implanted by God, though 
 still under man's free control, tend exclusively to train 
 him to good works as between man and man. Shall then 
 the merit of a virtuous and useful life be made to hinge 
 upon credence in a certain number of Gods? Shall what 
 is meritorious to-day be damnable to-morrow and vice 
 versa ? It is indisputable that individuals are constantly 
 shifting from one side of this question to the other, 
 which involves, according to Christian theology, that the 
 individual, so often as he may change, becomes instantly 
 blessed or cursed, a saint or devil, a meet personage for 
 heaven or for hell. And here it may be said in passing 
 that we agree with Jesus, who implies that heaven and 
 hell are in men's consciences, and as applicable to this 
 side of the grave as to the other. In Matthew xii., 28, 
 he says: " The kingdom of God is come unto you"; 
 and in Luke xvii., 21, he speaks more strongly still: 
 " Behold the kingdom of God is within you." If this be 
 so, and if the difference of the beliefs in question works 
 the momentous difference that theologians maintain, it is 
 past comprehension why it does not exhibit itself in a 
 way not to be mistaken between the conduct and condi- 
 tion of those espousing the two sides respectively. Why 
 is the visible state of the individual the same when he 
 enjoys heaven by virtue of belief in the Trinity, and 
 when he is transferred thence to hell as a consequence of 
 his belief in the one God Jehovah only? Again, if it be 
 suggested that Jesus' mode of salvation, which is by good 
 
284 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 works, and the Church's mode, which is by faith alone in 
 Jesus, may be used in conjunction, we say that this 
 betrays a suspicion that the Church may be wrong, and 
 consequently that both may be wrong. To make this 
 appear more absurd, let us place them once more one 
 against the other. Jesus claims that on his mode of 
 salvation hangs all the law and the prophets, and that 
 it is the only and all-sufficient one. The Church claims 
 that its mode of salvation is the only one given under 
 heaven whereby men may be saved, and that it is 
 consequently all-sufficient. Now, two all-sufficient and 
 only modes of salvation combined are superfluous and 
 ridiculous. 
 
 It has been observed by a writer, often quoted, and 
 from whom much is borrowed in this instance, that Jesus 
 sought in every way to establish as a principle that his 
 Apostles were as himself (Matthew x., 40, 42, xxv., 45 ; 
 Mark ix., 40 ; Luke x., 16 ; John xiii., 20). It was believed 
 that he had communicated all the marvellous virtues to 
 them which he claimed had been delegated to him. 
 
 They prophesied and cast out demons, although certain 
 cases were beyond their power (Matthew xvii., 18, 19). 
 They also wrought cures, either by the imposition of 
 hands, or by the anointing with oil (Mark vi., 13; James 
 v., 14) one of the fundamental processes of Oriental 
 medicine. Lastly, like the Psylli of old, or like certain 
 Bengalese of our day, they could handle serpents ; and 
 they could drink deadly potions with impunity (Mark 
 xvi., 18 ; Luke x., 19). But, whilst with the lapse of 
 time all this pretence of supernatural power becomes 
 more and more repugnant to our perceptions of truth, 
 there is no doubt that it was generally received by the 
 primitive Church, that it held an important place in 
 the estimation of the world around, and that without it the 
 Christian theology would never have existed. Charlatans, 
 as generally happens, took advantage of this movement 
 
Working of Miracles 285 
 
 of popular credulity. Even in the lifetime of Jesus, 
 many, without being his disciples, cast out demons in his 
 name. The true disciples were much displeased at this, 
 and sought to prevent them. But Jesus, no doubt, saw 
 that it was better policy not to interfere with them 
 (Mark ix., 38, 39 ; Luke ix., 49, 50). It must be observed, 
 moreover, that the exercise of these claimed gifts had 
 to some degree become a trade. Carrying the logic of 
 absurdity to the extreme, certain men pretended to cast 
 out in the name of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. 
 
 They assumed that this sovereign of the infernal re- 
 gions must have entire authority over his subordinates, 
 and that in acting through him they were more likely to 
 make the intruding spirit depart (Matthew xii., 24, 28). 
 Some even sought to buy from the disciples of Jesus the 
 secret of the miraculous powers which had been confided 
 to them (Acts viii., 18, 19). This shows that there were 
 those of that day who esteemed these pretended miracles 
 as but ingenious tricks, which might be performed by 
 any one who was instructed in the mode and manner of 
 effecting them. 
 
 It was only after the death of Jesus that particular 
 Christian churches were established ; and they were con- 
 stituted purely and simply on the model of the syna- 
 gogue. Nor did they draw within their folds all those 
 who had been more or less intimately associated with 
 Jesus in person. Joseph of Arimathea, Lazarus, Mary 
 Magdalen, and Nicodemus did not, it seems, become 
 members of these churches, clinging in preference to the 
 tender and respectful recollections which they had in- 
 dividually preserved of him. 
 
 It is to be observed also that there is no trace in the 
 teaching of Jesus of an apparent canonical law ever so 
 slightly defined by him. It may be assumed, on the 
 contrary, that the idea of a newly written code and arti- 
 cles of religious faith could never have been entertained 
 
286 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 by him, for he deemed the true record to be inscribed 
 on men's hearts and already transcribed into the moral 
 commandments extant in the Jewish law. Not only did 
 he not write, but it would have been useless and adverse 
 to the spirit of such an infant sect to get up any so-called 
 sacred books, inasmuch as they believed themselves to be 
 on the eve of the great final catastrophe. It cannot be 
 too often repeated that when Jesus speaks of his king- 
 dom as not being of this world (John xxviii., 36) he means 
 the world which was then and is now inhabited by the 
 human race, and that his world to come is the one de- 
 scribed in 2 Peter iii., 13, in these words: ''Nevertheless, 
 we, according to his promise, look for a new heavens and 
 a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." The first 
 Christian generation lived almost entirely upon delusive 
 expectations and dreams. They conceived themselves 
 on the eve of seeing the then world come to an end ; they 
 looked for a new one, and they regarded as useless every 
 thing which only served to prolong the then state of 
 things upon that earth wherein they were living. Posses- 
 sion of property was interdicted (Luke xiv., 33 ; Acts iv., 
 32, and v., i, n). Although several of these disciples 
 were married, there was to be no more marriage on be- 
 coming a member of the sect (Matthew xix., 10, and fol- 
 lowing). The celibate was greatly preferred ; even in 
 marriage, continence was recommended (Revelation xiv., 
 4). At one time the Master seems to approve of those 
 who should mutilate themselves, in prospect of the com- 
 ing kingdom (Matthew xix., 12). Cessation from gener- 
 ating one's kind was sometimes considered as a sign and 
 condition of fitness for the impending change (Matthew 
 xxii., 30; Luke xxii., 35). The rule that Jesus sought to 
 institute was severe in the extreme. He required from 
 his associates a complete detachment from the ordinary 
 participation and interest in worldly matters, in absolute 
 devotion to his work of evangelising the world. Jesus, 
 
Jesus' Teaching Impracticable 287 
 
 during the latter part of his lifetime, apparently believed 
 that the impossible could be attempted with impunity. 
 He made no concession to necessity. He boldly preached 
 war against nature, and total severance from ties of blood. 
 " Verily I say unto you," said he, "there is no man that 
 hath left house or parents, or brethren, or wife, or child- 
 ren, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive 
 manifold more in this present time, and in the world to 
 come life everlasting." The kingdom of God here spoken 
 of is the kingdom to be established upon earth ; and the 
 world to come is like the present one, but in a regener- 
 ated state. His followers were not to carry with them 
 either money or provisions for the way, not even a scrip 
 or change of raiment. They must practise absolute pov- 
 erty, living on alms and hospitality. The Father would 
 send them His spirit from on high, which would become 
 the principle of all their acts, the director of their thoughts, 
 and their guide through the world. If driven from any 
 town they were to shake the dust from their shoes, de- 
 claring always the proximity of the kingdom of God, that 
 none might plead ignorance. "Ye shall not have gone 
 over the cities of Israel," added he, " till the Son of man 
 be come." 
 
 In his severe view of the exigencies of religion, Jesus 
 went so far as to abolish all natural ties. His require- 
 ments had no longer any rational bounds. Despising the 
 healthy limits of man's nature, he demanded that man 
 should exist only for him, that man should love him alone. 
 "If any man come to me," said he, "and hate not his 
 father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, 
 and sisters, and his own life also, he cannot be my dis- 
 ciple " (Luke xiv., 26) ; " So likewise, whoever he be of 
 you, that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my 
 disciple " (Luke xiv., 33). 
 
 Such was the substance of the public teachings of Jesus, 
 after he imbibed the visionary idea of his perpetual rule, 
 
288 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 either in the then world, or in the new world, which he 
 predicted would speedily come. And all this was de- 
 manded by him, solely for the sake of establishing a be- 
 lief that he was the Messiah predicted by the ancient 
 prophets to reign over the Jews perpetually upon the 
 earth. The harsh and gloomy feelings of distaste for the 
 world, and of excessive self-abnegation, which Jesus im- 
 posed upon himself and his followers in his later days, 
 withdrew him more and more out of the pale of humanity. 
 It is certain that this idea of Jesus, if only on account of 
 the celibacy and poverty it imposed, could not be carried 
 out in practice. Common sense revolts at such extra- 
 vagances; to demand the impossible is a mark of weak- 
 ness and delusion. 
 
 We may easily imagine that to Jesus, at this period of 
 his life, everything which was not the kingdom of God, 
 according to his idea of it, had absolutely disappeared. 
 He was, if we may say so, totally outside of nature ; 
 family, friendship, country, had no longer any meaning 
 for him. " Think not," said he, " that I am come to send 
 peace on earth : I came not to send peace, but a sword. 
 I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and 
 the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law 
 against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they 
 of his own household " (Matthew x., 34, 36 ; Luke xii., 
 51,53. " I am come to send fire on the earth ; and what 
 will I, if it be already kindled ? " (Luke xii., 49.) " They 
 shall put you out of the synagogues," he continued, " yea, 
 the time cometh that whosoever killeth you, will think 
 that he doeth God service " (John xvi., 2). 
 
 Sometimes one would have said that his reason was 
 disturbed. He suffered great mental anguish and agita- 
 tion (John xii., 27). The great vision of the kingdom of 
 God, which he fancied he was to establish, glistening 
 before his eyes, bewildered him. His disciples at times 
 thought him mad (Mark iii., 21, and following). His 
 
Jesus' Teaching Impracticable 289 
 
 enemies declared him to be possessed (Mark iii., 22 ; 
 John vii., 20, viii., 48). His excessively impassioned 
 temperament carried him incessantly beyond all rational 
 bounds. At this later period he disregarded all human 
 systems ; and his work not addressing itself to the reason, 
 that which he most imperiously required was an unques- 
 tioning faith faith in that which time and history have 
 demonstrated to have been visionary (Matthew viii., 10, 
 ix., 2, 22, 28, 29, xvii., 19 ; John vi., 29, etc). His pre- 
 vious gentleness seemed to have abandoned him ; he was 
 sometimes harsh and capricious (Matthew xvii., 16 ; 
 Mark iii., 15, 18 ; Luke viii., 45, ix., 41). His disciples 
 at times did not understand him, and experienced in his 
 presence a feeling akin to fear (Mark iv., 40; v., 15 ; ix., 
 31 ; x., 32). Sometimes his displeasure at the slightest 
 opposition led him to commit acts as inexplicable and 
 absurd as cursing a fig tree because it did not bear fruit 
 out of season (Mark xi., 12, 14, 20). 
 
 His struggle for the ideal against the real became in- 
 supportable. Contact with the world pained and revolted 
 him. Obstacles irritated him. His ideas concerning him- 
 self, as the Son of God, became disturbed, inconsistent, 
 and exaggerated. The fatal law which condemns all 
 impracticable ideas to decay, as soon as an attempt is 
 made to put them into operation, applied to his. But 
 even during the early part of the public ministry of Jesus, 
 and while his mode and manner of portraying the doc- 
 trines enjoined on man by natural religion was in many 
 respects unsurpassed, there was in his teachings a want 
 of consistency, an absence of that harmony which is con- 
 spicuous in all things which are unmistakably of God. 
 For while Jesus the God-Man, as the Church has it 
 failed to act perfectly his part as a man, he still more 
 signally failed to duly represent God, who, according to 
 Bible record, says, " I am the Lord, I change not " ; and of 
 whom Balaam says : " God is not a man, that he should 
 
290 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 lie." The Scriptures do not bear out this claim to un- 
 changeableness and infallibility in relation to Jesus. 
 Several phases of character or functions were assumed 
 at different times by Jesus, during the few years of his 
 public ministry. Each of these offices or missions was 
 totally inconsistent with the others, as we shall show. 
 
 Jesus claimed in the first place, that his mission was to 
 lead or point all men by his teaching to everlasting happi- 
 ness beyond the grave ; in the second place, he claimed 
 to be the Messiah appointed by God to rule mankind 
 upon this earth, whereon all men were to live for ever ; 
 thirdly, he claimed to be destined to rule everlastingly, 
 in person and in the flesh, over the whole human race, 
 all of whom were to be righteous and happy, upon a new 
 earth, to be substituted for the present one, which was 
 to be destroyed by fire. Now Jesus' first claim, that his 
 teaching pointed to everlasting happiness beyond the 
 grave, is inconsistent with his second claim, which in- 
 volved that no man, after the kingdom of God was 
 established under him, was to die or pass the grave. 
 His third assumption, which involved the destruction 
 of our present earth, and a continued existence on this 
 side of the grave, is alike inconsistent with his first 
 assumptions, inasmuch as teaching the way to happiness 
 beyond the grave to a people who were never to pass the 
 grave would be out of place ; and also inasmuch as he 
 could not possibly rule as the Messiah contemplated, on 
 this earth, since the earth was doomed to destruction. 
 Now it is plain that any one of these positions being 
 accepted as true, stamps the others as false. God cannot 
 be false to Himself ; He cannot be one manner of Being 
 to-day and another to-morrow. As regards their fitness 
 to the ordinary duties and relations of life and society, 
 it may be noticed further that many of the doctrines of 
 Jesus are irrational and altogether impracticable. 
 
 God, according to Moses and the Church, tells us on the 
 
Jesus' Code Visionary 291 
 
 authority of Paul's Epistle to Timothy that " all Script- 
 ure is given by inspiration of God," and that, conse- 
 quently, we must have faith in Moses' announcements. 
 God, we say, put man into Paradise " to dress and keep " 
 the garden of Eden ; and this, be it observed, before man 
 had been doomed to labour in the sweat of his brow. But 
 Jesus, after this so-called curse had been affixed upon 
 humanity, inculcated a manner of living entirely at vari- 
 ance with its existence. Men were to take no thought 
 not undue thought, but no thought whatever as to their 
 means of subsistence. If smitten on one cheek, they 
 were to turn the other cheek to the smiter. If robbed of 
 their coats, they were to give up their cloaks also. Never 
 gaining or acquiring, they were to give and lend without 
 stint. They were not to pay even funeral rites to the 
 dead, in the urgency of their haste to follow after Jesus. 
 They were, for the same end, to give up their natural 
 affections toward father, mother, wife, and child, im- 
 planted in man from the first, and shared in part by the 
 very beasts of the field. As to occupations, livelihood, 
 trade, industry, art, science, learning, the embellishments 
 of life, and the duties of man as a citizen all these mat- 
 ters are entirely ignored, or are dismissed contemptuously 
 as not worth thought or care. 
 
 How full of misery the world would have become, if 
 these injunctions had been obeyed, how starving and 
 utterly forlorn, it is needless to point out. But, without 
 dwelling upon the visionary tendencies of Jesus' code in 
 general, it cannot be inappropriate to remark how slightly 
 in these respects it has bound its followers. The name of 
 Jesus is for ever in their mouths ; but they have wandered, 
 it must be owned, very far from his teachings. If he 
 varied thrice in his own promulgated views as to his mis- 
 sion and purposes, they by way of a fourth variation 
 have saddled him with the dogma of spiritual salvation 
 through sacrifice of himself. If he preached poverty and 
 
292 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 self-abnegation, their Church has sought power and ac- 
 cumulated wealth, while they as individuals have entered 
 with full ardour and much success upon the multifarious 
 pursuits of man. 
 
 Having thus shown, as we conceive, that Jesus whom 
 the Church adores as perfect God and perfect Man was 
 neither a worthy representative of God's majestic attri- 
 butes, nor a fitting type of man under the various rela- 
 tions of life and under the nature which God has stamped 
 upon him, we ask what the conclusion must be. Who 
 shall say that God's representation of Himself through- 
 out the entire universe, and His impress upon broad 
 humanity, are not the true ones under which to live 
 and die? 
 
 It is probable that the reported raising of Lazarus from 
 death contributed sensibly to hasten the death of Jesus, 
 as is shown in the latter part of the nth chapter of 
 John's Gospel. The disciples related the fact, with de- 
 tails as to its performance, prepared in expectation of 
 controversy. 
 
 The other miracles of Jesus were transitory acts, spon- 
 taneously accepted by faith, and exaggerated by popular 
 fame, and were not often referred to after they had once 
 taken place. This raising of Lazarus was an event held 
 to be publicly notorious, and by which it was hoped to 
 silence the Pharisees. The enemies of Jesus were much 
 irritated at all this fame; and, therefore, a council of the 
 chief priests was assembled, and in that council the ques- 
 tion was clearly put: " Can Jesus and Judaism exist 
 together?" To raise the question was to resolve it ; the 
 high priest could easily pronounce his cruel axiom : " It is 
 expedient that one man should die for the people." The 
 priests saw, in the excitement created by Jesus, the prob- 
 able overturning of the Temple, the source of their riches 
 and honours (John xi., 48). In a general sense, Jesus, if 
 he had succeeded in all he proposed, would have really 
 
The Arrest of Jesus 293 
 
 effected the ruin of the Jewish nation. Hence the men 
 of order, persuaded that it was essential for humanity that 
 the existing belief should not be disturbed, felt themselves 
 bound to prevent the new spirit from extending itself. 
 But never was seen a more striking example of how much 
 such a course of procedure defeats its own object. Left 
 free, Jesus would have exhausted himself in a desperate 
 struggle with the impossible. The unintelligent hate of 
 his enemies, resulting in his persecution and death, con- 
 tributed to, or was in reality an incident without which 
 he never would have obtained the notoriety that has per- 
 tained in relation to him. The death of Jesus being re- 
 solved upon (Matt, xxvi., 15; Mark xvi., I, 2; Luke 
 xxii., i, 2), to escape from arrest he withdrew to an 
 obscure town called Ephraim, or Ephron, in the direction 
 of Bethel, a short day's journey from Jerusalem (John 
 xi., 54). It seems that about this time the apprehensions 
 of Jesus that his life was in jeopardy took hold of his dis- 
 ciples. All felt that a very serious danger threatened the 
 Master, and that they were approaching a crisis. At one 
 time Jesus thought of precautions, and spoke of swords. 
 There were two in the company. " It is enough," said 
 he (Luke xxii., 36, 38). He did not, however, follow out 
 this idea, seeing clearly that timid provincials would 
 not stand before the armed force of the great powers of 
 Jerusalem. There was, however, some show of resistance 
 on the part of the disciples on the occasion of the arrest 
 of Jesus. One of them Peter, according to an eye-wit- 
 ness (John xviii., 10) drew his sword and cut off the ear 
 of one of the servants of the high priest, named Malchus. 
 Jesus restrained this opposition, seeing the impossibility 
 of effectual resistance, especially against authorities who 
 had so much prestige ; and he was accordingly captured. 
 It thus appears that instead of Jesus having volunteered 
 to become a sacrifice for sin, according to the Christian 
 theology, he avoided being arrested and crucified, to the 
 
294 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 extent of his ability. Jesus' seeming anticipations of his 
 violent death, whether by crucifixion or otherwise, may 
 well have been the result of his having laid claim to the 
 Messiahship, and not the result of any supernatural fore- 
 knowledge, or of any voluntary offering of himself as a 
 ransom for the sins of the world. He was aware, from 
 current events, that whoever set up a claim to the Mes- 
 siahship put his life in jeopardy ; and, being an enthusiast 
 in common with others of his time, he did not hesitate 
 so to risk it. Thus he might naturally predict that it 
 would be the forfeit of his course ; and this is the more 
 likely, inasmuch as John was put to death by Herod for 
 having, as is vaguely suggested by Josephus, entered into 
 the politics of the times. This view is further corrobor- 
 ated by the frequent allusions of the Evangelists to 
 Jesus' reasons for moving from place to place. Occasion- 
 ally the cause assigned is a trivial one, such as the incon- 
 venient pressure of the multitude upon him. Sometimes, 
 also, the movement is recorded as a simple matter of fact. 
 But, until longer escape was impossible, the mention of 
 any danger immediately threatening the life or liberty 
 of Jesus was surely followed by a prudent retreat. John 
 the Baptist was beheaded ; " when Jesus heard of it he 
 departed thence by ship into a desert place apart " (Mat- 
 thew xiv., 13). The priests plotted against him ; " after 
 these things Jesus walked in Galilee ; for he would not 
 walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him " 
 (John vii., i). They took up stones to cast at him ; " but 
 Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going 
 through the midst of them, and so passed by " (John vii., 
 59). " They sought again to take him," says St. John in 
 his loth chapter, verse 39; and he adds, "but he escaped 
 out of their hands." 
 
 Now, although we are told by the Church, and anathe- 
 matised if we do not believe it, that Jesus volunteered to 
 die upon the cross, we must repeat that the Bible record 
 
His Crucifixion 295 
 
 proves precisely the reverse. If his zeal sustained and 
 bore him onwards until drawn within the fatal circle of 
 events, at least he evaded the penalty so far and as often 
 as he could ; while, even in the closing scene, it is diffi- 
 cult to find any marks of superhuman power. Had it 
 been possible we speak on his own authority as handed 
 down to us by his living followers he would have had 
 the last agony spared him. In immediate anticipation of 
 a cruel death, he prayed with more resignation than cour- 
 age, " Abba Father, all things are possible unto thee ; take 
 away this cup from me : nevertheless, not what I will, 
 but what thou wilt " (Mark xiv., 36). On the cross he 
 uttered the words inexplicable if we put faith in the 
 Christian theology ** My God, my God, why hast thou 
 forsaken me? " (Mark xv., 34). It is strange but not the 
 less true that many martyrs to the faith of Jesus have 
 shown a holier faith, and a more enduring resolution than 
 were exhibited by their Master, the Man-God himself. 
 And as there was nothing supremely heroic, assuredly 
 nothing Divine in the spirit in which Jesus encountered 
 death, nor anything uncommon in its manner, crucifixion 
 being an ordinary capital punishment in those days, so was 
 there nothing unique or mysterious in its apparent cause. 
 
 The course which the priests had resolved to take 
 against Jesus was quite in conformity with their own 
 established laws. The plan of the enemies of Jesus was 
 to convict him by the testimony of witnesses who had 
 been suborned, and by his own avowals, of blasphemy, 
 and of outrage against the Mosaic religion, to condemn 
 him to death according to law, and then to get the con- 
 demnation sanctioned by Pilate. 
 
 On the trial of Jesus, the fatal sentence which he had 
 really uttered : " I am able to destroy the temple of God 
 and to build it in three days," was cited by two wit- 
 nesses. To blaspheme the temple of God was, according 
 to the Jewish law, to blaspheme God Himself. The 
 
296 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 sentence was predetermined, and they only sought for 
 pretexts. Jesus felt this, and did not undertake a useless 
 defence. In the light of orthodox Judaism, he was truly 
 a blasphemer, a destroyer of the established worship ; and 
 the law punished such a criminal with death. With one 
 voice, therefore, the assembly declared him guilty of a 
 capital crime ; and Pilate's ratification of the condemna- 
 tion pronounced by the Sanhedrim was obtained, but not 
 without some reluctance on his part. In his eyes, it is 
 tolerably evident, Jesus was an inoffensive dreamer. But 
 he no doubt feared that too much indulgence shown to a 
 prisoner to whom was given the title of the " King of 
 the Jews," and who claimed to be the Messiah, might 
 compromise him. He could scarcely have acted otherwise 
 than he did. It was then neither Tiberius nor Pilate 
 that condemned Jesus. It was the old Jewish party. It 
 was the Mosaic Law. Now it is beyond question that 
 Jesus attacked this worship and aspired to destroy it. 
 The Jews expressed this to Pilate with a truthful sim- 
 plicity : " We have a law, and by our law he ought to 
 die." 
 
 The fate of Jesus was, therefore, the natural fate of a 
 religious reformer in a cruel age, and among a fanatical 
 people. And it made a very slight, a scarcely perceptible 
 sensation. In this it resembled his life. The life of 
 Jesus was passed entirely in the restricted world in which 
 he was born. During his life he was never heard of in 
 Greek or Roman countries. His name appears only in 
 profane authors of a hundred years later, and then only 
 in an indirect manner, as in Tacitus and Josephus in con- 
 nection with seditious movements provoked by his doc- 
 trine, or persecutions of which his disciples were the 
 object. The essential work of Jesus was to create around 
 him a circle of disciples whom he inspired with boundless 
 affection. His doctrine was so little dogmatic that he 
 never thought of writing it or of causing it to be written. 
 
The Coming Kingdom 297 
 
 Men did not become his disciples by believing this thing 
 or that thing, but in being attached to his person and in 
 loving him. A few sentences collected from memory and 
 especially the type of character he set forth, and the 
 impression he had left, were what remained of him. 
 Jesus was not a founder of dogmas or a maker of creeds. 
 His power over the hearts of men consisted in his preach- 
 ing the religion of the heart and conscience, to which 
 Church theologies and dogmas have since been added and 
 placed in the foregound, while Jesus crucified is the burden 
 of pulpit oratory to the exclusion of God. 
 
 If any one thing is conclusively established in the 
 New Testament, it is that Jesus and his disciples were 
 possessed with the idea of a coming kingdom of God, 
 changing the whole aspect of the world and its affairs. 
 Their ideas, even Jesus' own ideas as to what this king- 
 dom was to be and when it was to come, varied con- 
 siderably at various periods ; but it was ever present to 
 his mind and theirs in some shape, and its proclamation 
 was reiterated over and over again. The Evangelists 
 record how Jesus announced it with a fulness of detail, 
 and a splendour of phrase, that captivates all that is imagin- 
 ative in human nature. There is to be an abomination 
 of desolation ; and the sun is to be darkened, and the 
 moon is to give her light no longer, and the stars are to 
 fall from heaven ; and the Son of man is to come seated 
 on the clouds, and surrounded by angels with power and 
 great glory, and the Elect are to be gathered together at 
 the sound of a trumpet ; and the King is to pass judgment 
 on a multitudinous assemblage from every corner of the 
 earth, calling the righteous into many mansions standing 
 ready for them, and casting the wicked out into everlast- 
 ing fire prepared for the devil and his angels. The 
 Apostles continue to foretell this coming of the kingdom ; 
 but warned by the failure of their Master's prediction as 
 to the time of its coming are more reticent as to particu- 
 
298 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 lars, and less distinct in limiting the advent to the life- 
 time of any person or persons. In saying, however, that 
 the Apostles, so far as we know, were neither expansive 
 nor precise in dealing with this theme, we naturally 
 except St. John. He indeed, in his magnificent rhapsody 
 that bears the august name of " Revelation," may be 
 said to make amends for their shortcoming. He is 
 strangely precise, especially in naming three years and a 
 half for the duration of the world as it was, in his curious 
 arithmetical calculation of the one hundred and forty-four 
 thousand chosen ones of the house of Israel, and in his 
 sealing up Satan in the bottomless pit for an exact period 
 of one thousand years as though the Almighty took 
 pleasure in round numbers, and as though damnation 
 through all eternity was not a prominent feature in the 
 perverted creed that grew out of Jesus' doctrines. On 
 the other hand, how lofty are his imaginings ! How 
 marvellous a compound of the grand and the terrific ! 
 How they pass in bewildering, yet fascinating, succession 
 before us the seven mystic candlesticks, and the sea of 
 glass, and the beasts full of eyes before and behind, and 
 the golden vials full of odours which are the prayers of the 
 Saints, and Death on the pale horse, and the locusts like 
 unto horses prepared for battle, with the hair of women 
 and the faces of men and the tails of scorpions, and the 
 great red dragon, and the angels pouring out the vials of 
 God's distilled wrath, and the great city with its walls of 
 jasper and gates of pearls and foundations of sapphire, 
 chrysolite, topaz, and all kinds of jewels ! A magnificent 
 and fantastic poem is all this, we may well allow ; but if 
 asked what connection it has with the practical teaching 
 of Jesus, who condensed religion into two short and 
 simple dogmas, which it is needless to repeat here, we 
 should be compelled to turn to the clergy for an answer. 
 They would tell us probably that " all Scripture is given 
 by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for 
 
The Kingdom of God in the Soul 299 
 
 reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness " ; 
 and would bemoan our inability to perceive the force of 
 this remark from the pen of a man who is placed by 
 theologians in the position of a writer reviewing his own 
 works. They might point out, furthermore, how the 
 scholarship and research of learned commentators had 
 proved that certain parts of the apocalyptic vision elu- 
 cidated and tallied with certain parts of the prophetic 
 visions abounding in the Old Testament. But we confess 
 that our doubts as to the Divine inspiration or intrinsic 
 worth of this Revelation would not thereby be greatly 
 diminished, while doubts would be suggested as to studied 
 effort on the part of St. John to make the old and new 
 correspond. 
 
 It is to be observed, also, that not only were Jesus and 
 his immediate followers mistaken as to the manner in 
 which, and the exact time at which, this promised king- 
 dom was to come it has never come at all, though it is 
 confidently declared from pulpit to pulpit that not one jot 
 or tittle of Scripture can fail. If, therefore, they were 
 all mistaken on this point, is it not equally clear that 
 theologians must be mistaken in declaring Jesus to be 
 the Messiah? This precludes the idea of his being the 
 Saviour. Jesus lived upon earth ; so much we know. 
 But he certainly never sat upon the throne of David ; 
 neither did he burn up the world and hold its gathered 
 inhabitants to judgment. 
 
 The truth is, this breaking down, this crumbling away 
 of the kingdom of God as promised, drives us back to a 
 point to which we have already adverted in effect, to 
 the kingdom of God which exists within every human 
 soul. And it was to this in our belief that Jesus occa- 
 sionally referred in his earlier discourses before his sense 
 of man's need of spiritual affinity with his Maker had 
 been disturbed and then thrown into the background by 
 his enlarged and yet erroneous ideas concerning his own 
 
300 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 proper mission concerning his temporal rule in the first 
 place, and subsequently his new heaven and new earth. 
 This, at least, may be said : it is as true for us as for 
 Jesus' actual hearers, that this inner kingdom is already 
 established within us, nay, is part of our very nature, 
 though we may fail to comprehend it. It is for us to look 
 to it that neither tradition, nor superstition, nor an indol- 
 ent assent to prevailing dogmas, clogs our understand- 
 ing in this matter. It is for us to determine how soon 
 we shall free ourselves from all that is irrational, and 
 obscure, and fluctuating, and contradictory in theology. 
 It is easy for us at any moment, and without aid of priest, 
 or temple, or code, or teaching, to recognise as all-sufficient 
 that first and only true religion which was implanted in 
 man before any creeds were concocted, and will survive 
 in him as, one after another, their false claims to Divine 
 origin are exposed. 
 
 Jesus said unto his disciples, " It is not ye that speak, 
 but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you " 
 (Matthew x., 20). 
 
 " The words I speak unto you, I speak not of myself : 
 but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works " 
 (John xiv., 10). 
 
 " For I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which 
 sent me, he gave me a commandment what I should say 
 and what I should speak " (John xii., 49). 
 
 These quotations furnish direct evidence that Jesus 
 places himself precisely on the same footing with his dis- 
 ciples, with regard to God being both their Father 
 and his ; consequently, Jesus and his disciples were alike 
 the sons of God. And when he says that both he and 
 the disciples speak not of themselves, but are only the 
 monthpiece and instruments of God to speak His mind, 
 it follows likewise that Jesus and the disciples stand in 
 the same relation to God with regard to those traits and 
 functions of character and office that distinguish each in 
 
Jesus and the Apostles 301 
 
 common, and in which they were all engaged. This will 
 be seen to be the case more especially from the following 
 texts, which describe them to be all alike equally endowed 
 by God to work miracles. 
 
 Jesus said unto his disciples, " And these signs shall 
 follow them that believe ; in my name shall they cast 
 out devils ; they shall speak with new tongues. They 
 shall take up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly 
 thing, it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on 
 the sick, and they shall recover " (Mark xvi., 17, 18). If in 
 answer to this it is objected that the difference between 
 the ability of Jesus and that of his disciples to heal the 
 sick and work miracles is that Jesus and not God gave 
 power to the latter, the objection is answered by Jesus 
 himself, in the following terms : " The words I speak unto 
 you, I speak not of myself : but the Father that dwelleth 
 in me, he doeth the works" (John xiv., 10). 
 
 And in his own case, does he not acknowledge, by 
 thankfulness, that it was his Father, and not himself, 
 who raised Lazarus from the dead ? " And Jesus lifted 
 up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast 
 heard me" (John xi., 41) which shows that the miracle, 
 if it were a miracle, was worked by God, and not by Jesus. 
 And did not Martha, one of those who knew him best, 
 and whom he is said to have loved above all others, both 
 understand and express her understanding of the matter 
 by saying that she knew that whatsoever he were to ask 
 of God, God would give it to him (John xi., 22)? And 
 does not Jesus' silence on the occasion prove equivalent, 
 to giving assent to her ideas on the subject ? The miracle, 
 therefore, if wrought at all, was wrought by God the 
 Father in answer to the prayer of Jesus, and not by Jesus 
 himself in his own strength. This much we grant for the 
 strength of the argument against the Divinity of Jesus. 
 The presumption is, however, that no such miracle was 
 ever wrought ; but that the whole exhibition was gotten 
 
302 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 up to strengthen belief in Jesus, for the sake of furthering 
 his interests in relation to his occupying the temporal 
 throne of the Jews. 
 
 But again, we have shown that the Apostles were equal 
 to Jesus in all the qualities above enumerated, and 
 equality with God was never claimed for them ; how is it 
 then that these traits in the character of Jesus are cited 
 as proofs of his being co-equal with God the Father? 
 If the answer is that Jesus, on his own and also on the 
 authority of the Prophets, claims himself to have been 
 God, have we not shown also that such a view as this 
 has been falsified by Jesus himself, where he in various 
 places denies such a claim, either directly or by fair impli- 
 cation ? And as to the authority of the Prophets on this 
 subject, is not that set aside by their palpable errors in 
 connecting Jesus with the expected Messiah, who was to 
 be the temporal ruler, or king of the Jews, which he 
 never was ? Jesus neither claimed nor answered to the 
 description given of the expected Messiah, in the sense 
 put upon it by the Church. Nor could he have been, 
 unless he was co-equal with God, which again and again 
 he disclaims to have been. And if he had claimed to be 
 co-equal with God, he says himself, " If I bear witness of 
 myself, my witness is not true " (John v., 31). 
 
 Peter declares : " Neither is there salvation in any other : 
 for there is none other name under heaven given among 
 men, whereby we must be saved " (Acts iv., 12). 
 
 But is Peter a competent witness ? As regards his 
 veracity and good character, does he stand sufficiently 
 fair before men to be accredited ? Is his testimony of 
 much weight, under these or any other circumstances ? 
 Peter made a false assertion, and at three different times 
 repeated it. He thrice denied that he had any know- 
 ledge of Jesus, and more than once on his oath. His 
 conduct was also highly censurable and dishonest in the 
 transaction wherein he procured (or speciously lent him- 
 
God the Only Saviour 303 
 
 self to the procuring of) very unreasonable sums of money 
 from his converts, by exciting in them the fear of instant 
 death, for their non-compliance with his most exorbitant 
 demands for the support of himself and his associates. 
 (See an account of his conduct in this respect in another 
 part of this work.) 
 
 Why, the unjustifiable doings of Peter so incensed even 
 Jesus himself that he was constrained to administer to 
 him a rebuke, which for its severity exceeds anything 
 that Jesus ever uttered to him or any other of his dis- 
 ciples. " But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee 
 behind me, Satan ; thou art an offence unto me ; for thou 
 savourest not the things that be of God, but those that 
 be of men " (Matthew xvi., 23). 
 
 Now, in view of such offences as these, are we to be 
 asked to admit his testimony, either in this or any other 
 case? If he would lie, and cheat, and perjure himself, 
 would he hesitate to do all in his power to advance his 
 own interests by trying to persuade others to believe what 
 he did not believe himself ? We should say, he would 
 not. He may, however, and probably did, have reference 
 to Jesus being the only Saviour of the Jews from physical 
 bondage, by becoming their king. If he did, his test- 
 imony is more reasonable, and therefore more credible; 
 although he was mistaken. This is not the view which 
 Christian theologians take of it. They make it to mean 
 salvation from everlasting torment beyond the grave, for 
 original and actual sin. Peter's probable view of the 
 subject, untrue as it was, is more excusable than that of 
 the theologians, and especially when such texts as the 
 following are taken into consideration : " For I am the 
 Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour : 
 I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for 
 thee " (Isaiah xliii., 3). " I, even I, am the Lord ; and 
 beside me there is no Saviour " (Isaiah xliii., 2). " Tell 
 ye and bring them near ; yea, let them take counsel 
 
304 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 together; who hath declared this from ancient time? 
 who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? 
 and there is no God else beside me, a just God and a 
 Saviour; there is none beside me" (Isaiah xlv., 21). 
 " Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt 
 suck the breasts of kings; and thou shalt know that I 
 the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty 
 One of Jacob " (Isaiah lx., 16). " For therefore we both 
 labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living 
 God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that 
 believe " (i Timothy iv., 10). 
 
 Can any one attempt, seriously, to maintain the infalli- 
 bility of the Bible and the Divinity of Jesus with such 
 unmistakable and glaring contradictions as these before 
 his eyes? And these are but the thousandth part of 
 similar contradictions, some not quite perceivable at first 
 glance, but equally apparent and positive on a critical 
 examination. 
 
 All men, by internal and external evidence, combined 
 and coming immediately from God, are brought to the 
 conviction that there is an overruling Intelligence an 
 infinite Mind which is the Author and Governor of all 
 things and beings, including man. Man only, however, 
 it is believed, has an innate sense of right and wrong, 
 and of his accountability to God for the proper discharge 
 of his duty. This law of his being is, we say, universal. 
 But, if we go further and say that religion takes in any 
 other object of faith than the one supreme and good God, 
 we are at fault. No such innate or external evidence is 
 furnished to the entire race of men immediately from 
 God, with regard to the so-called supernatural faculties or 
 functions of Jesus. Nor have we any such grounds for 
 believing that he was other than man. God alone the 
 one God has the sole power to control all things, and is 
 the only Giver of all good things. God alone, therefore, 
 is, and should be, the only object of man's worship. His 
 
Worship of Jesus 305 
 
 bounties come to man directly, as they do to the lower 
 animals, and not by mediation. But whether or not these 
 bounties come through one mode or another, this in no 
 way affects man's obligations, or the worship due from 
 man to God. Neither does multiplying the objects of his 
 worship increase man's disposition to manifest grateful 
 emotions, or to perform good works. And this, for the all- 
 sufficient reason that no man, not excepting those who 
 profess to understand it best the Church dignitaries, 
 can comprehend such an anomaly as that Jesus can be 
 co-equal with God. Is not God infinite ; and does He not 
 fill the Universe? What room or occasion then can there 
 be for another infinite Being? 
 
 There is no end to the mystery which the doctrine 
 of the Trinity involves. It adds mystery to mystery. 
 There is one thing, however, in relation to God which is 
 indispensable to man's welfare, and that is, that he should 
 perceive what his duty is, both to God and man. This. 
 God has made sure that all men shall know, at all events 
 to the extent of their needs, by implanting within their 
 very nature the seeds which must, sooner or later, germ- 
 inate and bring forth their legitimate fruits under the 
 influences which God has spread around them. It would 
 be infinitely better, in our estimation, if man would attend 
 to the manifest instructions of the Almighty, instead of 
 running after false gods as do those who direct their 
 worship almost exclusively to Jesus. But, admitting that 
 Jesus was sent by God in the capacity claimed by His 
 worshippers, why should religious teachers have Jesus on 
 their lips continually, instead of directing their attention 
 to the Fountain of all that is good and great, who is en- 
 titled, above all others, to man's most profound devo- 
 tion? If, also, as is unceasingly preached, God did so 
 love the world as to send His only begotten Son to die 
 here for our sins, why is it that he who was sent is so 
 perseveringly pressed upon the attention in preference to 
 
306 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Him who sent? Is the messenger more worthy than the 
 Lord, through whose loving-kindness the messenger was 
 despatched ? 
 
 But the solution is easy. The sensibilities of the tender- 
 hearted and unsuspecting are readily worked up to a high 
 tension by overwrought and- overdrawn pictures of the 
 death scene of Jesus. This is a powerful lever in the 
 hands of the clergy wherewith to increase the number of 
 their disciples, and, incidentally, their own emoluments. 
 For the same reason " the blessed Virgin " and the infant 
 Jesus are much dwelt upon, to touch the sympathies of 
 parents, and mothers, and women generally, whose natural 
 affections yearn toward children. God has so constituted 
 us that our sympathetic organs and corresponding kindli- 
 ness are peculiarly alive in behalf of a mother and her 
 helpless offspring. And so even this precious trait in 
 human nature is seized upon by designing priests, and 
 wrought into the means for the acquisition of wealth. If 
 it be not so, why do they not direct, in their church serv- 
 ices, glorification and adoration to Jehovah, the Father 
 and instigator of all good emotions and deeds ? The 
 Scriptures tell us that God, the Father, is the Giver of all 
 good gifts, and that He is the Fountain from whence all 
 our blessings flow. He, therefore, should be the object 
 of our constant praise and adoration ; nor is there any 
 lack of material wherewith to portray God the Father in 
 a most beautiful and attractive aspect without resorting 
 to fictions. The most insignificant part of the sober truth 
 that pertains to God's excellence, rightly arranged and 
 brought to view, would present Him in a light so glow- 
 ing that the spiritual eye could scarcely withstand its 
 brightness. And if this be so, why attempt to divert the 
 heart's devotion and the soul's adoration from the Source 
 of all that is good and great by resorting to false pre- 
 tences? If the Church has a single eye to the glory of 
 God, and the good of men's souls, why does it not teach 
 
Ceremonies 307 
 
 them to worship God rationally and consistently? If it 
 should be said, however, that there certainly is great bene- 
 fit to be derived from leading persons' putting their faith in 
 religious creeds, even at the expense of an exaggeration 
 or perversion of the truth, the further question then pre- 
 sents itself as to whether the theologies in which the 
 clergy solicit belief are of themselves true ? 
 
 One denomination makes eternal life conditional on the 
 ceremony of baptism, and gives the authority of Jesus, if 
 not his command, for this requirement. Another declares 
 with equal confidence that he (Jesus) repudiates all cere- 
 monies as not being of the essence, or an indispensable 
 part, of religion. Baptism may be useful in its way 
 being performed before witnesses, it stimulates the weak 
 to perseverance in their resolves, and assists them to hold 
 on to their profession with more tenacity than they other- 
 wise might do. Any other act performed before men 
 with equal solemnity would answer the same purpose. 
 Water, it is true, is a fitting emblem of purity, but the 
 efficacy, if any there be in baptism, consists not in the 
 virtue of water being connected with the outward acts; 
 the charm or spell which accompanies it is the fear of 
 men's remarks in case of backsliding. The effect is ana- 
 logous to that of the laying on of hands when a temperance 
 pledge is given. Baptism was coupled with belief in 
 Jesus ; and was perseveringly persisted in by the first 
 Apostles and their immediate followers, to prevent the 
 backsliding of any who should subscribe to the preten- 
 sions of Jesus to the Messiahship. Incidentally, also, 
 it swelled the number of his followers, and thus might 
 prove the way to his being publicly proclaimed " King of 
 the Jews," and to their enjoyment of the worldly honours, 
 power, and emoluments connected with his ascent to the 
 throne. And so with all Church forms and ceremonials 
 that have at different times been practised. They are 
 not of the slightest utility so far as the right appreciation 
 
3o8 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 and practice of virtue is concerned though it may be 
 that ceremonies, enacted before men's eyes, make churches 
 more attractive, and draw larger and more imposing con- 
 gregations, serving at once to increase the power and 
 influence of the Church, and at the same time to fill its 
 coffers. 
 
 If the Church's theory is right with regard to God's 
 mode of salvation, no man can possibly comprehend 
 God's justice therein otherwise than by His placing it 
 within the range of each and every man's free will to be- 
 lieve or not to believe that Jesus, the son of Mary, is 
 co-equal with God and the only Saviour of mankind, which 
 it is absurd to say, He has done. For if this Church doc- 
 trine be the proper view of the subject, God's manifest 
 and overwhelming goodness demands such clear and un- 
 mistakable evidence on the side of truth as to make it pal- 
 pable to all men that each and all of them could believe 
 if they would ; and that to neglect or omit to believe, 
 from any cause whatsoever would entail upon them His 
 eternal displeasure and vengeance. It is evident to all 
 that such is not the case, but that the reverse of this is 
 the fact ; because the most overwhelming majority of 
 mankind never heard of Jesus at all. We are aware that 
 the objection or quibble which is put forward in reply to 
 this unanswerable argument is, that those who have not 
 heard of salvation through Jesus will be judged according 
 to the light they have. But the light which all men 
 have, we insist again, is the religion here advocated ; and 
 this is all-sufficient without church theologies, forms, or 
 sacrifices. Nothing but love to God, and kind acts to 
 His creatures, is required of any man as a condition of 
 salvation. 
 
 Jesus says that " from the days of John the Baptist 
 until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and 
 the violent take it by force " (Matthew xi., 12) ; or as it is 
 in Luke xvi., 16, " since that time the kingdom of God is 
 
Jesus' Teaching Not Uniform 309 
 
 preached, and every man presseth into it." Then in an- 
 swer to the accusation of the Pharisees, that he drives out 
 devils by Beelzebub, he points out that he does it, on the 
 contrary, by the Spirit of God, and therefore that the 
 kingdom of heaven is already among them (Matthew xii., 
 28). He says, also (John xii., 31): "Now is the judg- 
 ment of this world"; and (Luke x., 9): " The kingdom 
 of God is come nigh unto you"; and Mark says (i., 14, 
 15), "Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the 
 kingdom of God, saying, The time is fulfilled and the king- 
 dom of God is at hand." To the question, again, of the 
 Pharisees, as to when the kingdom of God shall come, he 
 makes answer that it does not come in an external, per- 
 ceptible manner, but it is within them, or already among 
 them (Luke xvii., 20, 21). In these passages the kingdom 
 of God, or heaven, is represented as that which is already 
 here present, and has been founded and opened by Jesus 
 during his life on earth, being within and about them to 
 whom he was speaking. Now the Churches say that no 
 man can enter the kingdom of God until he shall have 
 faith that Jesus voluntarily gave up his life and shed his 
 blood for the remission of original sin. But, up to the 
 time of Jesus' speaking, no such occurrence as the shed- 
 ding of his blood had taken place ; no such faith or belief 
 had been presented to any one for acceptance. These 
 wide discrepancies between the founder and the Church 
 that was built up must, with every reasoning mind, over- 
 throw any faith in Christian theology. 
 
 But it is not the Church alone that differs with Jesus. 
 He differs with himself, and his disciples differ with him. 
 We have just seen how he represents those around him as 
 having the kingdom of God in and about them ; in other 
 words, that God's perfect government was then in opera- 
 tion upon earth. That is, in all conscience, sufficiently 
 definite and explicit, and treats the kingdom, which he 
 looked for, as a fact accomplished. But how does it tally 
 
3io One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 with Jesus' subsequent postponing the kingdom with 
 his confession, as it were, that after all it had not absol- 
 utely made its appearance? It is in the I2th chapter of 
 John that Jesus is made to say, " Now is the judgment of 
 this world : now shall the prince of this world [Satan] be 
 cast out " ; it is in the I4th that he says, " The prince of 
 this world cometh, and hath nothing in me " ; and in the 
 i6th, " Yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you 
 will think that he doeth God service." This swaying to 
 and fro, this uncertainty as to time and the sequence of 
 events, this attainment and this passing away, this vague 
 advent of good and of evil, the predictions at once minute 
 in some particulars and shadowy in others, this jumble of 
 the past, the present, and the future all tend to confuse 
 the inquiring mind, and to leave the diligent reader of the 
 New Testament floundering in a strange quagmire of 
 triumphs and tribulations. The Church, indeed, professes 
 to see its way clear through all difficulties, interpreting 
 one obscure passage literally, and another metaphorically, 
 and another spiritually, and another locally, and another 
 historically. You can never find it at fault, for want of 
 explanation or excuse. But the light that it throws upon 
 the matter is little better than that of a dark lantern. 
 It can be turned on at will, or shut off at convenience. 
 There is another point. When Jesus apparently awoke 
 from the delusion that he had already established God's 
 kingdom on earth, he changed his ground, and connected 
 its coming with his own Second Advent. But herein the 
 foundation for Christian theology is still weaker. Accord- 
 ing to the Evangelical accounts, Jesus considered his 
 Second Advent so near that he told his disciples there 
 were some among those standing round him who should 
 not taste of death until they had seen the Son of man 
 coming in his kingdom (Matthew xvi., 28) ; that the then 
 living generation should not pass away until this had 
 taken place, i. e., until the Second Advent of the Son of 
 
Man's Destiny 3 11 
 
 man, with all its preparatory and attendant circumstances 
 (Matthew xxiv., 34). In particular he announced that 
 this last great event was to occur immediately after the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, prophesied by him just before 
 (Matthew xxiv., 34). In any case, he was greatly mis- 
 taken with reference to the date, for not only has that 
 generation passed away, but for eighteen hundred years 
 one generation after another has followed its destiny and 
 run out its allotted time, without his predicted Second 
 Advent's having taken place. Yet all this, from our point 
 of view, does not make the case at all worse. 
 
 For, in order to see that the prophecy of a man's return 
 in the clouds is something utterly groundless, we do not 
 require to know that it did not take place at the time 
 predicted. Jesus in prominent passages in Matthew (xxiv. 
 and xxv.) says that after certain lapses and mishaps in 
 the starry constellations, the sign of the Son of man will 
 appear in the heavens ; then, amid the lamentations of all 
 the nations of the earth, the Son of man will be seen 
 coming on the clouds with power and glory ; he will send 
 out his angels with a loud sounding trumpet, in order to 
 gather his elect from all the four winds ; and then will he 
 sit upon his throne to judge all men, to doom some to 
 everlasting fire, and welcome others into everlasting life. 
 Such a description resists every attempt to give it a 
 merely symbolical meaning ; and as the Christian Church 
 always understood it in the literal meaning of the words, 
 so it was certainly meant by Jesus. 
 
 It would appear from all this that man's destiny, his 
 transcendent bliss, or excruciating torment, for eternity, 
 is irrevocably determined during his probation in the 
 flesh ; that this probation results either in extreme happi- 
 ness or in extreme misery for all time to come ; and that 
 there is no lot or state intermediate for man. If this be 
 so, if man's destiny be altogether worked out in this life, 
 it is difficult to see why an eternity should be added to it, 
 
312 One Religion: Many Creeds 
 
 since few men live so good a life as to entitle them to an 
 eternity of bliss, and few so bad a life as to deserve an 
 eternity of torment. Moreover, what is to be meted out 
 as the relatively proper state beyond the grave of all the 
 various intermediate grades of merit or dement, between 
 those on the one hand who, according to the Church, merit 
 eternal bliss, and those on the other who merit eternal 
 torment ? 
 
 If we inquire of the Churches what reliable indication 
 there is on this side of the grave as to who will be among 
 the blest, and who among the accursed, beyond the grave, 
 we shall receive as many different answers as there are 
 different denominations or sects, all claiming Jesus for 
 their guide. The number of these sects is now so great 
 as to make it difficult to designate them ; and they are 
 every day increasing. This leaves us no rational course 
 but to rely for instruction upon this subject upon Him 
 who, as all mankind acknowledge, cannot deceive or en- 
 gender delusive hopes the Creator and Governor of the 
 Universe. The teaching from this Source is uniform, and 
 consistent with every-day experience. It is that there 
 are none perfectly happy in this life, and none perfectly 
 and irretrievably miserable ; that there is every possible 
 intermediate grade between the most happy and the most 
 unhappy ; and that the provisions of God to lead all men 
 to a more advanced state of happiness are unceasingly 
 operating, and cannot fail to accomplish the object God 
 designed. 
 
 Our experience on this side of the grave is at total 
 variance with the doctrine that mankind is divided into 
 two classes only, one being perfectly happy and the 
 other perfectly miserable. We cannot believe that our 
 present training by God and its results and our experi- 
 ence here should not in a degree foreshadow our state 
 beyond the grave. 
 
 With regard to the narratives in the Bible of occur- 
 
Man's Destiny 313 
 
 rences and sayings upon which the Christian theology of 
 our day claims to be founded, there is little of which we 
 can say for certain that it took place ; and of all to which 
 the faith of the Church especially attaches itself, the 
 miraculous and supernatural matter in the fate and de- 
 stiny of Jesus, it is far more certain that it did not take 
 place. But that the happiness of mankind is to depend 
 upon belief in such things as these is so absurd that the 
 assertion of the principle does not, at the present day, 
 require refutation. 
 
 But, as certainly as men have a common destiny, at- 
 tainable by all, so a knowledge of the conditions also of 
 reaching that object must be given to every man, and 
 that knowledge cannot be an accidental acquaintance 
 with history coming from without, but must be a neces- 
 sary knowledge attainable by faculties such as every man 
 can find in himself. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 WE now proceed to attempt a short account of some of 
 the most celebrated of those founders of theology 
 who were said to be inspired; and of the creeds held, and the 
 moral teachings inculcated by means of a priesthood or 
 through enacted laws among the most prominent sects into 
 which men have been divided. We shall add also a sketch of 
 the views concerning religion that were entertained by some 
 of the most intellectual persons in ancient times. This 
 account mainly consists of miscellaneous extracts, mostly 
 from the following books: God in History, by Bunsen; Essays 
 on the Belief of the Par sees, by Haug; Life and Teachings of 
 Confucius, by Legge; Description of the Burmese Empire, by 
 Yandy; the Koran, translated from the Arabic by Sale; Se- 
 lections from the Koran, by Lane; Ancient Faiths, by Inman; 
 Rig Veda, or .Hindu Scriptures, translated from the Sanskrit 
 by Wilson ; History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, by 
 Draper; History of Civilisation in England, by Buckle; The Ten 
 Tribes of Israel, by Mrs. Simon; The Dervishes, by Brown; The 
 Christian Bible; and The Talmud. Not only is the historical 
 portion of the several narratives taken from the above-named 
 books, but the views and remarks with which they are inter- 
 spersed are, with slight exceptions, those of the writers of the 
 works in question. The immediate object in compiling this 
 historical account is to show that the point of resemblance 
 that is common to every denomination or sect and the only 
 one common to them all is their teaching love and duty to 
 God and man, or, in other words, natural religion. This sug- 
 gests the important question whether this does not comprise 
 the whole of man's religious duty. 
 
 The present age is pre-eminently utilitarian. The Koran, 
 
316 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 the Zend Avesta, the Vedas, the Talmud, are read by the 
 learned and the wise of our times not with a sole view of 
 refuting them, any more than is the Bible so read. All litera- 
 ture in relation to the doings of man, whether religious, moral, 
 or legal, whensoever and wheresoever produced, is a part and 
 parcel of humanity. The judicious student seeks to under- 
 stand the phase of culture which begot these items of our 
 inheritance the spirit that moves upon their face and while 
 that which is dead in them is buried, we rejoice in that which 
 lives in them. Our stores of knowledge are enriched from 
 theirs. We are stirred by their poetry; we are moved to high 
 and holy thoughts when they touch the divine chord in our 
 hearts. The more extended the researches into the history 
 of man, the more reliable are the data, the clearer is the light 
 upon which and by which to determine the true character of 
 mankind and their relations to God. 
 
 ZOROASTRIANISM 
 
 The theology and religious precepts promulgated by Zoro- 
 aster from 1 200 to 1500 years B.C. among the Parsees have 
 their exponent in a book called Zend Avesta. The Zoroastrian 
 idea of the personality and attributes of the devil and of 
 the infernal kingdom coincide with the Christian idea; as 
 does that of the resurrection of the dead. Zoroaster is repre- 
 sented to have worked miracles; he was called the son of 
 Ormasdes, or God. The Parsees claim that their so-called 
 sacred books were all written by God and given to Zoroaster, 
 as His prophet, to forward them to mankind. 
 
 Zoroaster had convened the nobles of the land that he 
 might perform a great public religious act. Arriving at the 
 head of his disciples, the seers and preachers, he summoned 
 the princes to draw nigh and to choose between faith and 
 superstition. 
 
 " Make your choice!" he exclaims; "around man there is 
 a battle waging in the spiritual universe. Even while on 
 earth, he is surrounded by good and evil spirits. He is en- 
 dowed with all manner of good gifts and blessings; and his 
 
Zoroastrianism 3 1 ? 
 
 soul is in the hands of the Lord of the Universe, the Creator 
 and Governor of the world, the true God. Nevertheless, in 
 this world, Evil has an independent power from the beginning; 
 it must and will be ultimately overcome; but this can only be 
 effected by a sincere breaking with the Evil Power a personal 
 decision in favour of the Good and True. Choose now bless- 
 ing or cursing! You cannot serve two masters; and you cannot 
 hold fellowship with lies. One side or the other must yield." 
 The following is also a part of the recorded speech of Zoro- 
 aster on this occasion: 
 
 " I will now tell you, who are assembled here, the wise say- 
 ings of the most Wise, the praises of the living God. In the 
 beginning there was a pair of twins, two spirits, each of a 
 peculiar activity; these are the good and the base in thought, 
 and word, and deed. Choose one of the two spirits, be good, 
 not base! 
 
 "And these two spirits united created the first (the 
 material things); one the reality, the other, non-reality. To 
 the liars (the worshippers of the devas, /. <?., base), existence 
 will become bad, whilst the believer in the true God enjoys 
 prosperity. Of these two spirits you must choose one, either 
 the evil, the originator of the worst actions, or the true holy 
 spirit. You cannot belong to both of them (/. ^., you cannot 
 be worshippers of the one true God, and of many gods at the 
 same time). Thus let us be such as help the life of the future. 
 The wise, loving spirits are the greatest supporters of it. The 
 prudent man wishes only to be there where wisdom is at 
 home. He (Ahuramazda) first created through His inborn 
 lustre the multitude of celestial bodies, and through His intel- 
 lect the good creatures, governed by the inborn good mind. 
 
 " When my eyes beheld Thee, the essence of truth, the cre- 
 ator of life, who manifests His life in His works, then I knew 
 Thee to be the primeval spirit, thou Wise, so high in mind as 
 to create the world, and the father of the good mind." 
 
 Zoroaster claims to have received instructions from a 
 Supreme Being about the highest matters of human specula- 
 tion. He appears as a prophet before a large assembly of his 
 countrymen to propound to them his new doctrines. 
 
318 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 The Magi (or priests) of Persia were at one time split into 
 several sects, one of which was called the Mazda Kyahs, who 
 believed in the transmigration of souls, like the Brahmans (a 
 doctrine which is altogether strange to the Zend Avesta, 
 the sacred book of the Parsees). Another sect believed 
 in a revelation made by God to the first man, called 
 Gayomart by the Parsees, corresponding to the Adam of the 
 Bible. 
 
 " He therefore who, sacrificing his own selfish interests, 
 devotes himself to the Divine will, to goodness, shall receive 
 earthly power, strength, possessions. This earth with her 
 gifts is the heritage of the good, or is destined to become so." 
 This view pervades all the sayings of Zoroaster. 
 
 The Zoroastrian sacred book furthermore exhibits the 
 following teachings, which will compare advantageously with 
 those of the Bible. Lying is regarded as the most discreditable 
 thing by them; next to it is the incurring of debt, chiefly for 
 this reason, that the debtor is often compelled to tell lies. 
 Zoroaster acknowledged only one God. " You cannot be 
 worshippers of the one true God, and of many gods at the 
 same time." 
 
 " The prudent man wishes only to be there where wisdom 
 is at home. 
 
 " Wisdom is the shelter from lies, the annihilation of the 
 destroyer (the evil spirit). All perfect things are garnered up 
 in the splendid residence of the good mind, the Wise, and 
 the True, who are known as the best beings. 
 
 " Therefore, perform ye the commandments which, pro- 
 nounced by the Wise (God) Himself, have been given to man- 
 kind; for they are a nuisance and perdition to liars, but 
 prosperity to the believer in the truth; they are the fountain 
 of happiness. 
 
 " He first created through His inborn lustre the multitude of 
 celestial bodies, and through His intellect the good creatures, 
 governed by the inborn good mind. Thou living spirit, who 
 art everlasting, makest them (the good creatures) grow. 
 
 " Do not listen to the sayings and precepts of the wicked. 
 
 " Who are opposed in their thoughts, words, and actions to 
 
Zoroastrianism 3 i 9 
 
 the wicked, and think of the welfare of creation, their efforts 
 will be crowned by success. 
 
 " Blessed is he, blessed are all men, to whom the living 
 wise God of His own command should grant those two ever- 
 lasting powers (wholesomeness and immortality). For this 
 very good I beseech Thee (Ahuramazda). Mayest Thou 
 give me happiness, the good true things, and the possession 
 of the good mind! 
 
 " I believe Thee to be the best Being of all, the Source of 
 light for the world. Everybody shall choose Thee (believe in 
 Thee) as the source of light, Thee, Thee, holiest spirit Mazda! 
 Thou Greatest all good true things by means of the power of 
 Thy good mind at any time, and promisest us (who believe in 
 Thee) a long life. 
 
 " I will believe Thee to be the powerful holy (God). For 
 thou givest with Thy hand, filled with helps, good to the pious 
 man, as well as to the impious, by means of the warmth of the 
 fire strengthening the good things. From this reason the 
 vigour of the good mind has fallen to my lot. 
 
 "Thus I believe in Thee, as the holy God, Thou living 
 Wise! Because I beheld Thee to be the primeval cause of life 
 in the creation. For Thou hast made (instituted) holy customs 
 and words, Thou hast given a bad fortune (emptiness) to the 
 base, and a good to the good man. 
 
 " I believed in Thee, living Wise! in that Thou earnest with 
 wealth and with the good mind through the actions of which 
 our manners thrive. The everlasting laws, given by Thy 
 intellect, nobody may abolish. 
 
 " I will be mindful of the truth (to improve all good things) 
 as long as I shall be able. Mayest Thou grant me the truth, 
 tell me the best to be done. 
 
 " That I will ask Thee, tell me it right, Thou living God! 
 By what means are the present things to be supported ? That 
 spirit, the holy one, is the guardian of the beings to ward off 
 from them every evil, He is the promoter of all life. 
 
 "That I will ask Thee, tell me it right, Thou living God! 
 Who was in the beginning the father and creator of truth ? 
 Who made the sun and stars the way ? Who causes the moon 
 
320 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 to increase and wane, if not Thou ? This I wish to know 
 except what I already know. 
 
 " That I will ask Thee, tell me it right, Thou living God! 
 Who made the lights of good effect and the darkness ? Who 
 made the sleep of good effect and the activity ? Who made 
 morning, noon, and night, reminding always the priest of his 
 duties ? 
 
 " To become acquainted with these things, I approach 
 Thee, wise, holy spirit! Creator of all beings! 
 
 "Tell me good things to perform, the duties which are 
 enjoined by Thyself, Thou Wise! Which are communicated 
 for the welfare of all beings by the good mind. What good, 
 intended for the increase of life, is to be had, that may come 
 to me ? 
 
 " Instruct me right in the faith which, being the best of all, 
 may produce the good things, by means of words, and actions. 
 My heart wishes (it is my lively desire) that I may know Thee, 
 Thou Wise! 
 
 " To those among you who do not live according to the 
 sayings (of God), experience may be a help. 
 
 " God is endowed with good actions. Not is the being, 
 who creates all to be deceived. 
 
 " God delivered the word, the best to be heard by men. 
 Wholesomeness and immortality are by means of the good 
 mind's actions in the possession of the living Wise. 
 
 " By means of His power and His rule the generations gone 
 by subsisted, and also those to come will subsist on Him. The 
 sincere man's mind is aspiring to the everlasting immortality. 
 
 " Him, whom I desire to worship, Him, who knows the 
 truth, Him, the living Wise, as the source of the good mind, 
 the good action, and the good word. 
 
 " Him will I adore with our good mind, Him, who is always 
 propitious to us at day and night; He, the living Wise, 
 who through the sublimity of the good mind protects the 
 truth. 
 
 " Thou living God! Tell me the power necessary for hold- 
 ing up the religion. 
 
 "What man or what woman performs the best actions, 
 
Zoroastrianism 321 
 
 known to Thee, for the benefit of this life, promoting thus the 
 truth and spreading Thy rule through the good mind. 
 
 " To you I will speak; because you distinguish right from 
 wrong, the truth, contained in the ancient commandments of 
 the living God. I beseech you to assist me. 
 
 " Those who, by their base minds, cause mischief and ruin, 
 those who are devoid of all good works and find delight in 
 evil doings only such men are punished. 
 
 " Every one who is truly noble by means of the good inborn 
 mind will be rewarded. 
 
 " We praise all good thoughts, all good words, all good 
 deeds, which are and will be (which are being done and 
 which have been done) and we likewise keep clean and pure 
 all that is good. 
 
 " We strive to think, to speak, and to do only what of all 
 actions might be best fitted to promote the two lives (that of 
 the body and of the soul). 
 
 " We worship the promotion of all good, all that is very 
 beautiful, shining, immortal, bright, everything that is good. 
 
 ;< There shall not be overbearance nor low-spiritedness, nor 
 violence, nor deceit. Nor shall there be one of the other 
 signs through which men used to become defiled by the evil 
 spirit." 
 
 Zarathustra called into existence a new religious com- 
 munity to be founded on the principle of inviolable faith and 
 truth. 
 
 Ahuramazda, as the only Lord, grants blessings to those 
 who worship Him with a sincere heart, by speaking always 
 truth, and performing good actions. 
 
 A living faith in a moral order of the world can alone ex- 
 plain the influence which the Zoroastrian religion has now 
 exercised for three thousand years on the populations of 
 Western Asia. 
 
 The Zoroastrian system recognises one God, omnipotent, 
 invisible, without form, the Creator, Ruler, and Preserver of 
 the universe, and the last Judge. The worship of idols, and 
 indeed of any being except Ormuzd, is held in abomination ; 
 but a reverence for fire and the sun is inculcated, as they are 
 
322 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 emblems of the glory of the Supreme Deity. It is probably 
 true, however, that the multitude in the course of time have 
 forgotten that discrimination between the symbol and the 
 object of their adoration which was undoubtedly taught by 
 Zoroaster. To Ormuzd as the Source of all good is opposed 
 Ahriman, the cause of evil. To worship the good spirit and 
 hate the bad are the two fundamental articles of the Guebre 
 and Parsee creed. Prayer, obedience, industry, honesty, hos- 
 pitality, alms-deeds, chastity, and truthfulness are enjoined; 
 and envy, hatred, quarrelling, anger, revenge, and polygamy 
 are strictly forbidden. Fasting and celibacy are considered 
 displeasing to Ormuzd. 
 
 MOHAMMEDANISM 
 
 The Koran of Mohammed is a code of ritual, moral, and 
 criminal laws, as well as a rule of faith, or theology, and re- 
 ligious duty for a large portion of mankind. 
 
 The general religion of the Arabs, before Mohammed, was 
 the Sabian; though there were also great numbers of Christians, 
 Jews, and Magians among them. 
 
 The Sabians believe in one God, and produce many strong 
 arguments for His unity; but they also pay an adoration to the 
 stars, or to the angels and intelligences which they suppose 
 reside in them and govern the world under the Supreme 
 Deity. They endeavour to perfect themselves in the four in- 
 tellectual virtues, and believe that the souls of wicked men 
 will be punished for ages, but will afterwards be received to 
 mercy. Mohammed is said to have been born fifty-three 
 years before the Flight, which happened in the year 622 of 
 the Christian era. His father Abd- Allah was a younger son 
 of Abd-el-Muttalib, the chief of his tribe, and, dying very 
 young and in his father's lifetime, left his widow and infant 
 son in very mean circumstances, his whole substance con- 
 sisting of but five camels and an Abyssinian female slave. 
 Mohammed was instructed in the business of a merchant, 
 which business his uncle followed; and to that end he took 
 him into Syria, when he was but thirteen years of age, and 
 
Mohammedanism 323 
 
 afterwards recommended him to Khadeejeh, a noble and rich 
 widow, for her factor, in whose service he behaved himself so 
 well that by making him her husband she soon raised him to 
 an equality with the richest in Mekkeh. His age was then 
 five and twenty years, and hers was forty. After fifteen years 
 from the period of his marriage, his age being now forty, he 
 announced for the first time that he was sent by God to 
 restore the only true and ancient religion which had been 
 professed by Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and all 
 the prophets; or, in other words, to destroy the gross idolatry 
 into which the generality of his countrymen had fallen, and 
 by weeding out the corruptions and superstitions which the 
 later Christians and Jews had introduced into religion, to 
 restore it to its original purity, which consisted chiefly in the 
 worship of one God only. Christianity, wherever it was pro- 
 fessed, in the time of Mohammed was most grossly corrupted, 
 both in doctrine and in practice. The notion of the Divinity 
 of the Virgin Mary appears, from what is said by comment- 
 ators on the Koran, to have prevailed widely among the 
 Christians of Arabia. Some also at the Council of Nice 
 asserted that there were two gods beside the Father, namely, 
 Christ and the Virgin Mary, and were thence called the Maria- 
 mites. Others imagined her to be exempt from humanity, 
 and deified. This opinion is justly condemned in the Koran. 
 Other sects there were, of many denominations, within the 
 borders of Arabia, which took refuge there from the pro- 
 scriptions of the imperial edicts; and several of their tenets 
 the Koran confirmed. 
 
 With regard to the Jews, though they were an inconsider- 
 able and despised people in other parts of the world, yet in 
 Arabia, whither many of them fled after the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, they grew very powerful, several tribes and princes 
 embracing their religion. Mohammed at first showed great 
 regard for them, and many of their opinions, doctrines, and 
 customs were sanctioned by the Koran, but that people, 
 agreeably to their wonted obstinacy, were so far from being 
 his proselytes that they were among the bitterest enemies 
 he had, waging continual war with him, so that their reduction 
 
324 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 cost him infinite trouble and danger, and at last his life 
 a remarkable coincidence as between Mohammed and 
 Christ. 
 
 The eloquence of the Koran; the nature of its principal 
 dogmas (which required no one to whom it was preached to 
 renounce altogether his former faith); the general adaptation 
 of its civil and criminal laws to the existing constitution of 
 Arabian society; the political liberty which it conferred upon 
 the mass of its disciples (by making them equal in the eye of 
 the law), while it limited the power of those in authority (by 
 religious obligations); the smallness of the taxes which it 
 imposed; the simplicity, completeness, and consistency of its 
 whole code (which was to be observed always according to 
 its spirit rather than its letter), all this had an effect to make 
 his teachings acceptable. 
 
 Mohammed had certainly the personal qualifications which 
 were necessary for the accomplishment of his undertaking. 
 The Moslem authors are excessive in their commendations of 
 him, and speak much of his religious and moral virtues; as his 
 piety, veracity, justice, liberality, clemency, humility, and 
 abstinence. His charity in particular, they say, was so con- 
 spicuous that he had seldom any money in his house, keeping 
 no more for his own use than was just sufficient to maintain 
 his family; and he frequently spared even some part of his 
 own provisions to supply the necessities of the poor; so that 
 before the year's end he had generally little or nothing left. 
 God, says El-Bukharee, offered him the keys of the treasures 
 of the earth, but he would not accept them. The Eastern 
 historians also describe him as a man of an excellent judg- 
 ment, and a happy memory; and these natural parts were 
 improved by a great experience and knowledge of men, and 
 the observations he had made in his travels. They say he was a 
 person of few words, of an equal and cheerful temper, pleasant 
 and familiar in conversation, of inoffensive behaviour towards 
 his friends, and of great condescension towards his inferiors; 
 to all which were joined a comely, agreeable person, and a 
 polite address, which were of no small service in prepossess- 
 ing those in his favour whom he attempted to persuade. 
 
Mohammedanism 3 2 5 
 
 As to acquired learning (in the common acceptation of the 
 term) it is confessed that he had none at all, having no other 
 education than what was eustomary in his tribe. This defect 
 was so far from being prejudicial, or putting a stop to his 
 design, that he made the greatest use of it, insisting that the 
 writings which he produced as revelations from God could 
 not possibly be a forgery of his own; because it was not con- 
 ceivable that a person who could neither write nor read should 
 be able to compose a book of such excellent doctrine, and in 
 so elegant a style; and thereby obviating an objection that 
 might have carried a great deal of weight. And for this 
 reason his followers, instead of being ashamed of their master's 
 ignorance, glory in it, as an evident proof of his divine mission, 
 and scruple not to call him (as he is indeed called in the Koran 
 itself) the Illiterate Prophet. 
 
 Before Mohammed made any attempt abroad, he rightly 
 judged that it was necessary for him to begin by the conver- 
 sion of his own household. Having therefore conducted his 
 family to a cave in Mount Hera, near Mekkeh, whither he 
 had been accustomed to retire for a month in every year, for 
 the purposes of religious contemplation and worship, he there 
 opened the secret of his mission to his wife Khadeejeh. He 
 acquainted her that the angel Gabriel had just before ap- 
 peared to him and informed him that he was appointed the 
 apostle of God ; telling her that the angel had previously 
 addressed him, saying, " Recite," whereupon he said, " And 
 what shall I recite?" to which Gabriel answered, " Recite, 
 [commencing thus] In the name of thy Lord, who hath 
 created [all creatures] : he hath created man of a little clot 
 of blood. Recite, and thy Lord is the most Bountiful, who 
 hath taught [the art of writing] by the pen : He hath taught 
 man that which he knew not." Khadeejeh received this news 
 with great joy, swearing by Him in whose hand (that is, at 
 whose disposal) was her soul, that she trusted he would be the 
 prophet of his nation ; and immediately communicated what 
 she had heard to her cousin Warikah Ibn-Nowfal, who, being 
 a Christian, could write in the Hebrew character, and was 
 tolerably well versed in the Scriptures ; and he as readily 
 
3 26 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 came into her opinion, assuring her that the same angel who 
 had formerly appeared unto Moses was now sent to Moham- 
 med. This first overture the Prophet made in the month of 
 Ramadan, in the fortieth year of his age, which he therefore 
 usually called the first of his mission. The next person to 
 whom Mohammed applied was 'Abd-Allah Ibn-Abee-Kohafeh, 
 surnamed Aboo-Bekr, a man of great authority among the 
 tribe of Kureysh, and one whose interest he well knew would 
 be of great service to him, as it soon appeared, for Aboo-Bekr, 
 being gained over, prevailed also on 'Othman Ibn-'Affan, 'Abd- 
 Er-Rahman, Ibn-'Owf, Saad Ibn-Abee-Wakkas, Ez-Zubeyr 
 Ibn-El-'Owwam, and Talhah Ibn-'Obeyd Allah, all principal 
 men in Mekkeh, to follow his example. 
 
 These men were the six chief companions, who, with a few 
 more, were converted in the space of three years ; at the end 
 of which, Mohammed, having, as he hoped, a sufficient inter- 
 est to support him, made his mission no longer a secret. He 
 made the following speech : " I know not a man among the 
 Arabs who hath brought unto his people a more excellent 
 thing than that which I have brought unto you. I have 
 brought unto you happiness in this life and in that which is 
 to come ; for God (whose name be exalted !) hath com- 
 manded me to call you unto Him." 
 
 Mohammed began to preach in public to the people, who 
 heard him with some patience, till he came to upbraid them 
 with the idolatry, obstinacy, and perverseness of themselves 
 and their fathers ; which so highly provoked them that they 
 declared themselves his enemies, and would soon have pro- 
 cured his ruin, had he not been protected by Aboo-Talib. 
 
 Mohammed was not to be intimidated, telling his uncle 
 plainly that if they set the sun against him on his right hand, 
 and the moon on his left, he would not leave his enterprise ; 
 and Aboo-Talib, seeing him so firmly resolved to proceed, 
 used no further arguments, but promised to stand by him 
 against all his enemies. 
 
 The tribe of Kureysh, finding that they could prevail 
 neither by fair words nor by menaces, tried what they could 
 do by force and ill-treatment, using Mohammed's followers so 
 
Mohammedanism 3 2 7 
 
 very injuriously that it was not safe for them to continue at 
 Mekkeh any longer. In the sixth year of his mission Mo- 
 hammed had the pleasure of seeing his party strengthened by 
 the conversion of his uncle Hamzeh, a man of great valour 
 and merit, and of 'Omar Ibin-El-Khattab, a person highly 
 esteemed, and once a violent opposer of the Prophet. As 
 persecution generally advances rather than obstructs the 
 spreading of a religion, El-Islam made great progress among 
 the Arab tribes. 
 
 Mohammed was not wanting to himself. He boldly con- 
 tinued to preach to the public assemblies at the pilgrimage ; 
 and while doing so at the 'Akabeh (or Mountain Road, in the 
 route of the pilgrims from Mekkeh to Mount 'Arafat), gained 
 six proselytes, inhabitants of Yethrib (afterwards called El- 
 Medeeneh), of the Jewish tribe of El-Khazraj, who, on their 
 return home, failed not to speak much in commendation of 
 their new religion, and exhorted their fellow-citizens to em- 
 brace the same. 
 
 In the same year, which was the next year after the con- 
 version of the six men of Yethrib, twelve men of that city, of 
 whom ten were of the tribe of El-Khazraj, and the other 
 two of that of Ows, came on a pilgrimage, and made a vow 
 of obedience to Mohammed, which was to this effect, viz.: 
 That they should renounce all idolatry; that they should 
 not steal, nor commit fornication, nor kill their children (as 
 the pagan Arabs used to do when they apprehended that they 
 would not be able to maintain them), nor forge lies ; and 
 that they should obey the Prophet in all things that were 
 right. The next year, being the thirteenth of Mohammed's 
 mission, he chose twelve out of his followers, who were to 
 have the same authority among them as the twelve apostles of 
 Christ had among his disciples. 
 
 Hitherto Mohammed had employed persuasion only to effect 
 his enterprise. So far was he from allowing his followers to 
 use force, that he exhorted them to bear patiently those injuries 
 which were offered them on account of their faith ; and, when 
 persecuted himself, he chose to quit the place of his birth 
 and retire to El-Medeeneh, rather than to make any resistance. 
 
328 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 But when the opposition of his enemies had become so 
 great as to threaten the lives of himself and his followers, 
 and the latter were sufficiently numerous to take up arms in 
 self-defence, with a fair prospect of success, he proclaimed 
 that God had allowed him and his followers to defend them- 
 selves against the unbelievers. 
 
 When Mohammed's party had become sufficiently numer- 
 ous and powerful to put its laws in execution, by achiev- 
 ing repeated victories over enemies who might easily have 
 overwhelmed them but for want of union, the number of the 
 nominal Muslims was thereby rapidly increased, and the faith 
 of El-Islam indirectly propagated. 
 
 Thus was El-Islam established, and idolatry rooted out, in 
 Mohammed's lifetime (for he died the next year), throughout 
 all Arabia, except only El-Yemameh : where Museylimeh, 
 who set up also for a prophet, as Mohammed's competitor, 
 had a great party, and was not reduced until the time of the 
 Khaleefeh Aboo-Bekr. The Arabs being then united in one 
 faith and under one prince, found themselves in a condition 
 to make those conquests which extended the dominion of the 
 Muslims, and consequently their faith, over so great a part of 
 the world. 
 
 The Koran is universally allowed to be written with the 
 utmost elegance and purity of language, in the dialect of the 
 tribe of Kureysh, the most noble and polite of all the Arabs, 
 but with some mixture, though very rarely, of other dialects. 
 It is confessedly the standard of the Arabic tongue, and, as 
 the more orthodox believe, and are taught by the book itself, 
 inimitable by any human pen, and therefore it is insisted on 
 as a permanent miracle, greater than that of raising the dead, 
 and alone sufficient to convince the world of its divine origin. 
 
 To this miracle did Mohammed himself chiefly appeal for 
 the confirmation of his mission, publicly challenging the most 
 eloquent men in Arabia, which was at that time stocked with 
 thousands whose sole study and ambition it was to excel in 
 elegance of style and composition, to produce even a single 
 chapter that might be compared with it. 
 
 The style of the Koran is generally beautiful and fluent, 
 
Mohammedanism 3 2 9 
 
 but concise, and often obscure ; adorned with bold figures 
 after the Eastern taste, enlivened with florid and sententious 
 expressions, and in many places, especially where the majesty 
 and attributes of God are described, sublime and magnificent. 
 
 The burthen of the teaching of the Koran is the unity of 
 God, and the duty of man to man, it being laid down therein 
 as a fundamental truth, that there never was, and never can 
 be, more than one true religion ; for though the particular 
 laws or ceremonies are only temporary, and subject to altera- 
 tion, yet the substance of it, being eternal truth, is not liable 
 to change, but continues immutably the same. 
 
 Other parts of the Koran are taken up in giving necessary 
 laws and directions, in frequent admonitions to moral and 
 divine virtues, and, above all, to the worshipping and reverenc- 
 ing of the only true God, and resignation to His will. The 
 following are among its teachings : 
 
 The pious is he who believeth in God, and who giveth 
 money to the needy; those who perform their covenant with 
 men in adversity (or excessive poverty) and affliction (or 
 disease) and do that which is right (according to God's law), 
 they shall have their reward. 
 
 Those who do an evil thing shall be punished, but they 
 who have believed, and done good works, these shall be 
 rewarded. 
 
 These are they who have purchased error in exchange for 
 right direction, and their traffic hath not been profitable: on 
 the contrary, they have incurred loss. And God encompass- 
 eth the unbelievers by His knowledge and His powers, so that 
 they cannot escape Him. 
 
 Those who have believed in God and done righteous works 
 shall be rewarded, the hypocrites shall be punished. 
 
 The service of God is as the similitude of a grain that hath 
 produced seven ears, in each ear a hundred grains. 
 
 A kind speech and forgiveness are better than alms which 
 harm, or reproach, followeth. 
 
 Turn away evil by that which is better (as anger by patience, 
 and ignorance by mildness, and evil conduct by forgiveness) ; 
 and lo, he between whom and thyself (was) enmity (shall 
 
33 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 become) as though he were a warm friend: but none is endowed 
 with this disposition except those who have been patient; and 
 none is endowed with it* except him who hath great good 
 fortune. 
 
 Verily God commandeth justice, and the doing of good, 
 and the giving unto the relation; and He forbiddeth wicked- 
 ness and iniquity and opression: He admonisheth you that ye 
 may reflect. 
 
 Give the orphans when they come to age their substance, 
 and render them not in exchange bad for good, and devour 
 not their substance by adding it to your own substance; for 
 this is a great sin. 
 
 Those who do evil ignorantly, and then repent speedily, 
 unto them will God be turned; for God is knowing and wise. 
 
 Covet not that which God hath bestowed on some of you 
 preferably to others. 
 
 The honest women are obedient, careful in the absence of 
 their husbands; for that God preserveth them by committing 
 them to the care and protection of the men, seek not an 
 occasion of quarrel against them; show kindness unto parents, 
 and relations, and orphans, and the poor, and your neighbour. 
 Verily God will not wrong any one, and if it be a good action 
 He will recompense it with a great reward. 
 
 God is a sufficient patron; and God is a sufficient helper. 
 
 Those who believe and do that which is right, we will bring 
 into gardens watered by rivers, therein shall they remain 
 for ever. 
 
 And ye are also allowed to marry free women, living chastely 
 with them neither committing fornication, nor taking them for 
 concubines; observe justice when ye appear as witnesses, and 
 let not hatred towards any induce you to do wrong, but act 
 justly; the Lord renders the reward of their works. 
 
 Show kindness unto your parents, whether the one of them 
 or both of them attain to old age with thee, speak respectfully 
 unto them; and submit to behave humbly towards them, out 
 of tender affection. 
 
 Give unto him who is of kin to you his due, and also unto 
 the poor and the traveller. And waste not thy substance pro- 
 
Buddhism 331 
 
 fusely; let not thy hand be tied up to thy neck; neither open 
 it with an unbounded expansion, lest thou become worthy of 
 reprehension and be reduced to poverty. 
 
 Draw not near unto fornication; for it is wickedness, and an 
 evil way. 
 
 Meddle not with the substance of the orphan, unless it be to 
 improve it. Perform your covenant. And give full measure, 
 when you measure aught; and weigh with a just balance. 
 
 Walk not proudly in the land. 
 
 Whosoever resigneth himself unto God, being a worker of 
 righteousness, taketh hold on a strong handle; and unto God 
 belongeth the issue of all things. 
 
 Whosoever desireth excellence, unto God doth all excel- 
 lence belong; unto Him ascendeth the good speech; and the 
 righteous work will He exalt. 
 
 Those who believe, and put their trust in their Lord ; and who 
 avoid heinous and filthy crimes, and when they are angry for- 
 give; and who give alms. 
 
 He who forgiveth, and is reconciled unto his enemy, shall 
 receive his reward. 
 
 Let not men laugh other men to scorn, who peradventure 
 may be better than themselves ; neither let women laugh other 
 women to scorn, who may possibly be better than themselves. 
 Neither defame one another; nor call one another by oppro- 
 brious appellations. 
 
 Verily the hypocrites are those who act wickedly. 
 
 Consume not your wealth among yourselves in vain; nor 
 present it unto judges, that ye may devour part of men's sub- 
 stance unjustly, against your own consciences. 
 
 BUDDHISM 
 
 The foresight of the great founder of this system was just- 
 ified by its prodigious, its unparallelled, its enduring success 
 a success that rested on the assertion of the dogma of the 
 absolute equality of all men, and this in a country that for 
 ages had been oppressed by castes. 
 
 Buddhism arose about the tenth century before Christ, its 
 
33 2 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 founder being Arddha Chiddi, a native of Capila, near Nepaul, 
 1000 B. c. The Sanskrit words occurring in Buddhism attest 
 its Hindu origin, " Buddha " itself being Sanskrit for " intelli- 
 gence." After the system had spread widely in India, it was 
 carried by missionaries into Ceylon, Tartary, Thibet, China, 
 Japan, Burmah, and is now professed by a greater portion of 
 the human race than any other system of theology. Until 
 quite recently the history of Arddha Chiddi and the system 
 he taught have, notwithstanding their singular interest, been 
 very imperfectly known in Europe. He was born in affluence 
 and of a royal family. In his twenty-ninth year he retired 
 from the world, the pleasures of which he had tasted and of 
 which he had become weary. Leaving his numerous wives, 
 he became a religious mendicant. Profoundly impressed with 
 the vanity of human affairs, he devoted himself to philosophi- 
 cal meditation, by severe self-denial emancipating himself 
 from all worldly hopes and cares. For the name by which 
 his parents had called him, he substituted that of Gotama, or 
 "he who kills the senses." It is claimed that Gotama was 
 born under the shade of a tree, and that he overcame the love 
 of the world and the fear of death; under the shade of a tree 
 he preached his first sermon in a shroud, and under the shade 
 of a tree he died. 
 
 In four months after he commenced his ministry, he had 
 five disciples; at the close of the year they had increased to 
 twelve hundred. In the twenty-nine centuries that have 
 passed, since that time, they have given rise to sects count- 
 ing millions of souls, outnumbering the followers of all other 
 religious teachers. The system still seems to retain much 
 of its pristine vigour ; yet so much of all the systems of 
 worship as consists of creeds and theologies, gotten up by 
 particular men, is perishable. The religion given by God 
 to all men alone endureth. Gotama died at the advanced age 
 of eighty years; his corpse was burnt eight days subsequently. 
 
 But several years before this event his system must be con- 
 sidered as thoroughly established. It shows how little depends 
 upon the nature of a doctrine, and how much upon effective 
 organisation, that Buddhism, the principles of which are far 
 
Buddhism 333 
 
 above the reach of popular-thought, should have been propag- 
 ated with so much rapidity, for it made converts by preach- 
 ing, and not, like Mohammedanism, by the sword. 
 
 Shortly after Gotama's death, a council of five hundred 
 ecclesiastics assembled for the purpose of settling the doctrine. 
 A century later, a second council met to regulate the monastic 
 institution. In proclaiming the equality of all men in this 
 life, the Buddhists, as we have seen, came into direct collision 
 with the orthodox creed of India, long carried out into practice 
 in the institution of castes a collision that was embittered 
 by the abhorrence the Buddhists displayed for any distinction 
 between the clergy and laity. 
 
 The fundamental principle of Buddhism is that there is a 
 supreme impelling Power in the universe, a self-existent princi- 
 ple; it rejects inquiry into first causes as being unphilosophical, 
 and considers that phenomena alone can be dealt with by our 
 finite minds. 
 
 The Buddhist denies the immediate interposition of any such 
 agency as Providence, maintaining that the system of nature, 
 once arising, must proceed irresistibly according to the laws 
 which brought it into being. To the Brahman priesthood 
 such ideas were particularly obnoxious; they were hostile to 
 any philosophical system founded on the principle that the 
 world is governed by law, for they suspected that its tendency 
 would be to leave them without any mediatory functions, and 
 therefore without any claims on the faithful. Equally does 
 Gotama deny the existence of chance, saying that that which 
 we call chance is nothing but the effect of an unknown, un- 
 avoidable cause. 
 
 He will not, however, recognise any vicarious action. Each 
 one must work out for himself his own salvation. 
 
 The philosophical ability displayed in the Buddhistic creeds 
 is very great; indeed, it may be doubted whether Europe has 
 produced its metaphysical equivalent. 
 
 In its early ages, Buddhism had its fables, legends, and 
 miracles. Its humble devotees implicitly believed that Mo- 
 hamaia, the mother of Gotama, an immaculate virgin, con- 
 ceived him through a Divine influence, and that thus he was 
 
334 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 of the nature of God and man conjoined; that he stood upon 
 his feet and spoke at the moment of his birth; that at five 
 months of age he sat unsupported in the air; that at the 
 moment of his conversion he was attacked by a legion of 
 demons, and that in his penance-fasting he reduced himself 
 to the allowance of one pepper-pod a day; that he had been 
 incarnate many times before, and that on his ascension through 
 the air to heaven he left his footprints on a mountain in Ceylon 
 which is to be worshipped; that there is a paradise of gems, 
 and flowers, and feasts, and music for the good, and a hell of 
 sulphur, and flames, and torment for the wicked; that it is 
 lawful to resort to the worship of images, that there are spirits, 
 and goblins, and other superhuman forms, that there is a 
 queen of heaven; that the reading of the scriptures is in itself 
 an actual merit, whether their precepts are followed or not; 
 that prayer may be offered by saying a formula by rote, or 
 even by turning the handle of a mill from which invocations 
 written on paper issue forth; that the revealer of Buddhism is 
 to be regarded as the religious head of the world. 
 
 He alone who flees to Buddha, who clings to doctrine and 
 the Church he will understand right purely and clearly the 
 fourfold lofty truth. 
 
 The reader cannot fail to mark the resemblance of these 
 ideas to some of those of the Roman Church. 
 
 Decorated with these extraneous but popular recommend- 
 ations, Buddhism has been embraced by four tenths of the 
 human race. It has a prodigious literature, great temples, 
 and many monuments. Its monasteries are scattered from the 
 north of Tartary almost to the equinoctial line. In these an 
 education is imparted not unlike that of the European monas- 
 teries of the Middle Ages. It has been estimated that in 
 Tartary one third of the population are Lamas. There are 
 single convents containing more than two thousand indi- 
 viduals; the wealth the country voluntarily pours into them. 
 Elementary education is more widely diffused than in Europe. 
 It is rare to meet with a person who cannot read. Among the 
 priests there are many who are devout, and, as might be ex- 
 pected, many who are impostors. The result is that under 
 
Buddhism 335 
 
 the extensive education -and information that prevails through- 
 out these countries, the creeds and theologies based upon 
 their early fables, legends, and miracles are verging into in- 
 difference with the masses, as is the case among the educated 
 in Christian countries. 
 
 The formula under which they live is, " That creeds and 
 theologies are many. The Religion of Brotherhood is one; 
 we are Brothers." 
 
 They smile at the credulity of the good-natured Tartars, 
 who believe in the wonders of miracle-workers, for they have 
 miracle-workers, who can perform the most supernatural 
 cures, who can lick red-hot iron, who can cut open their 
 bowels and by passing their hand over the wound make 
 themselves whole again, who can raise the dead. In China, 
 these miracles, with all their authentications, have descended 
 to the conjurer, and are performed for the amusement of 
 children. 
 
 According to the most credible of the accounts that have 
 come down to us we find in the founder of the theology of 
 India a character so noble, self-sacrificing, and overflowing 
 with brotherly love, combined at the same time with such 
 sobriety in his mode of action that any idea of either impost- 
 ure or insanity in his case is utterly inadmissible. 
 
 Of the Buddhistic writings that have appeared since the 
 time of Burnouf, either in the original text or in translations, 
 the most important is the text of the oldest Pali book, which 
 is also regarded by all parties among the Buddhists as the 
 highest authority, the Dhamapadam, or " Footprints of the 
 Law," which is a collection of aphorisms. These, as well as 
 Westergard's labours, we owe to the praiseworthy encourage- 
 ment of the Danish government. 
 
 We give the following, selected from THE THREE THOUSAND 
 BUDDHA PROVERBS: 
 
 Though a thousand words should range themselves in the 
 empty swell of thy speech, 
 
 Far better is one speech full of meaning that shall give one 
 man rest. 
 
33 6 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Though a thousand words the hymn should number in the 
 empty swell of thy words, 
 
 Far better is a single word that shall bring rest to one man. 
 
 He who should conquer in battle ten times a hundred 
 thousand were indeed a hero; 
 
 But truly a greater hero is he who has but once conquered 
 himself. 
 
 To conquer one's self is a greater victory than to gain a 
 battle: 
 
 The victory of him who tames himself, who at all times 
 knows how to rule himself, 
 
 Neither God nor Gandava, neither Mara nor yet Brahma, 
 can frustrate such a victory, obtained by such a man. 
 
 Though one should offer a thousand sacrifices every month, 
 and offer them for a hundred years. 
 
 He who for only one moment contemplates himself in utter 
 repose, that is repose of conscience, he has performed a 
 better act of devotion than by a hundred years' sacrifices. 
 
 And though one should keep the sacred flame alight for a 
 hundred years in a forest, 
 
 He who for only one moment contemplates himself in utter 
 repose, 
 
 His one act of devotion is better than a hundred years' 
 sacrifices. 
 
 Whatever sacrifices the whole world might offer in a year; 
 
 Whatever sacrifice any might offer in the hope of reward; 
 
 That all is not worth one quarter so much as he who cher- 
 ishes reverence for the virtuous. 
 
 He who cherishes reverence in his heart, and ever honours 
 his superiors, to him shall be ever added these four gifts: 
 
 Long Life, Beauty, Joy, Power. 
 
 He who lives in lust for a hundred years, ever unquiet in 
 his heart, 
 
 Much better is a single day of a temperate thoughtful life. 
 
 He who lives in folly for a hundred years, ever restless, 
 
 Much better is a single day of meditation upon wisdom. 
 
 He who lives a hundred years, faint-heartedly, without en- 
 ergy of mind, 
 
Buddhism 337 
 
 Much better is a single day used with firm will and energy. 
 
 He who lives a hundred years, not reflecting on the origin 
 and end of life, 
 
 Much better is a single day of him who marks its origin and 
 end. 
 
 He who lives a hundred years, and does not behold the path 
 to immortality, 
 
 Much better is a single day of him who descries that path. 
 
 He who lives a hundred years and never discerns the lofti- 
 ness of the Law, 
 
 Much better is a single day of him who beholds the heights 
 of that same. 
 
 He who is invincible, whom no one in this world has power 
 to restrain; 
 
 Buddha, whose glance explores the Infinite; 
 
 Buddha, the Trackless, what track shall lead you to behold 
 him ? 
 
 He whom no lust can ensnare, whom none can allure to his 
 soul's poison. 
 
 The gods themselves envy those who never grow faint and 
 weary of heart, 
 
 But rejoice in continual repose, full of remembrance the 
 enlightened one's. 
 
 Man's birth is full of trouble, and full of toil is his life also. 
 
 Toilsome it is to hearken to true teaching, very toilsome is 
 the beginning of true enlightenment. 
 
 Not to do evil, to leave nothing good undone, to keep the 
 course of our thought ever pure: 
 
 This is commanded to Buddhas. 
 
 The best prayer is patience, ever gentle. 
 
 To Buddhas Nirvana is the name of that which is alone 
 good. 
 
 No tamer of his senses will he become who smites another ; 
 
 No penitent he who does harm to his neighbour. 
 
 To refrain at all times from angry words, and never to do 
 another injury; 
 
 To observe temperance in eating and in sleeping on a lonely 
 couch; 
 
33 8 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 To live in profoundest meditation, lo! this is enjoined on 
 the Buddhas. 
 
 A shower of wealth will not suffice to our desires; little joy 
 will covetous desires bring thee, but many sorrows, and wise is 
 he who understands this. 
 
 Not even revelling with the gods will give joy to a truly 
 wise man. 
 
 He who is truly wise, rejoices only in this, that desire is 
 dead within him. 
 
 Men who are still enslaved to fear seek many ways of refuge. 
 
 They flee to mountain and forest, and resort for shelter to 
 sacred trees. 
 
 But that is no sure sanctuary, the highest refuge it never is. 
 
 Never will that man be freed from pain who chooses such 
 for his refuge. 
 
 He who dutifully honours the men that are of quiet spirit 
 and without fear: 
 
 That is verily a good work, that can never be too highly 
 esteemed. 
 
 He who has put off sin is called good. 
 
 He who leads a silent life; 
 
 He who is free from self-love is called a tamer of the senses. 
 
 He whose body, words, and heart are altogether without 
 sin; he who holds these three in rein, yea, him do I call good. 
 
 He who has discerned the true meaning of the law of piety; 
 
 Let him reverence it evermore. 
 
 What will jewelled hair profit thee, O fool, or garments set 
 with costly fur ? 
 
 Unclean hast thou left thy heart, while decking thy outside. 
 
 He who has burst all fetters and trembles before nothing, 
 the unshackled, the truly free, him do I call wise. 
 
 The sage whose clear vision beholds high things, discerning 
 the true path and the false path, 
 
 Who has climbed to the heights of all things, him do I call 
 a Brahmana. 
 
 He who will not punish a beast that is weak, who will not 
 strike or suffer others to strike one that is strong, him do I 
 call a Brahmana. 
 
Buddhism 339 
 
 He who when assailed does not resist, but speaks mildly to 
 his tormentors; 
 
 He who grudges nothing to those who grudge him all, him 
 alone I call a Brahmana. 
 
 He who has put from him desire and hatred, pride and 
 hypocrisy; 
 
 As a grain that flies from the point of an arrow, him do I 
 call a Brahmana. 
 
 He whose speech is gentle, truthful, and ever instructive; 
 
 He who never utters a harsh word, him only do I call a 
 Brahmana. 
 
 He who strives not to obtain aught for himself, who never 
 doubts after he has once perceived the truth, he who has come 
 to know immortality, him alone do I call a Brahmana. 
 
 He who is pure as the moon, whose even spirit naught can 
 ruffle, who has quenched all lusts, him do I call a Brahmana. 
 
 He who has cast behind him all lusts, and wanders harmless 
 abroad; 
 
 He who has quenched his lusts, him only do I call a Brah- 
 mana. 
 
 The Noble one, standing like a stately bull, the Hero, the 
 Seer, free from all lust, the Pure, the Wise, him only do I call 
 a Brahmana. 
 
 The whole life and labours of this wonderful man are in 
 perfect harmony. He did not enter into open hostility with 
 the established religion, as regards the ancient rites connected 
 with the worship of fire. 
 
 Buddha prescribes to every disciple and follower certain 
 initial commands, of which four are purely ethical, and the 
 fifth a perfectly general injunction to temperance. Here is 
 the text: 
 
 I. Not to kill that which has life. 
 II. Not to steal. 
 
 III. Not to commit any unchaste act. 
 
 IV. Not to lie. 
 
 V. To drink no intoxicating liquor. 
 Only in later times were these expanded into ten, and then 
 
340 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 into fifteen commandments, by the addition of precepts about 
 externals. That he did not wish to have the third com- 
 mandment obeyed after the fashion of Origen is shown 
 by a fine saying forming the twenty-ninth of his forty-two 
 Theses. 
 
 " If the spirit, which is the master, be kept under control, 
 it follows of itself that his servants will also be restrained. 
 What does it avail if the power, but not the wish, to do wrong 
 be vanquished ? " 
 
 How strongly he was opposed to bodily austerities is proved 
 by this sentence in his first sermon : 
 
 " He who desires to become an object of respect (Arya) 
 must beware of two things, of sinful lusts, and of the bodily 
 austerities of the Brahmans." 
 
 Unregenerated, isolated, is every one who remains subject 
 to his desires, whether he be a laymen or an Arya. The old- 
 est comprehensive formula of the Buddhist faith, which has 
 been found under an ancient Buddha pyramid in India, in 
 innumerable inscriptions, and which regularly forms the con- 
 clusion of the sacred books, and in Ceylon, as well as in Bur- 
 mah and Thibet, all, even women and children, know by heart, 
 is this : 
 
 " The states of all beings which proceed from a cause, the 
 cause thereof has the Blessed One declared; what can heal 
 these states has the Hermit also declared." 
 
 What we have translated States or Conditions is called in 
 Sanskrit, Dharma; in Pali, Dhamma; and signifies originally 
 Law, Duty; and in a secondary sense, that which exists as 
 a legitimate, necessary consequence of a cause; hence, a con- 
 dition of being. If we ponder this simple aphorism we see 
 that it involves the " four venerable Truths," which form the 
 substratum, laid by Buddha's own hand, of the later meta- 
 physical erections : 
 
 Existence is suffering (pain). 
 
 Suffering is seen to be the necessary consequence of causes. 
 
 To this suffering an end ought to be put. 
 
 To this end there is a means, and this also has Buddha 
 taught. 
 
Buddhism 34* 
 
 The Sutra of the Forty-two Sayings of Buddha 
 
 There are ten modes in which men may practise virtue, or 
 contrariwise, vice. Of these ten vices, three have reference 
 to the body, four to the speech, three to the mind. The three 
 vices of the body are: murder, theft, and unchastity. Those 
 of speech are: lying, talking nonsense, harsh words, false wit- 
 ness; of the mind: avarice, malice, stupid unbelief in the 
 three precious truths, together with the cherishing of false 
 opinions. 
 
 When men have done many wrong things without feeling 
 repentance, the fruit of the evil that they have gradually 
 heaped together in themselves will come to ripeness; just as 
 rivers which are about to discharge themselves into the mighty 
 ocean, and are already deep, spread themselves out wide so 
 that they can with difficulty be crossed. In men who perceive 
 when they have done wrong and then reform, the laws of 
 virtue gather strength, and evil subsides more and more, so 
 that they are able to come to the way of perfectness. 
 
 When wicked men would fain do injury to good ones, it is 
 as though they cast forth their spittle against heaven. Heaven 
 cannot be defiled by their spittle, but only themselves. In 
 like manner, as when one tries to throw ashes upon another 
 against the wind, and the dust cannot reach the other, but 
 falls back on him who throws it, so is he who shows no honour 
 to the good himself degraded by the fact that he wished to 
 injure a good man. 
 
 In the world there are twenty things which are difficult, viz.: 
 it is difficult to confer a gift when one is poor; difficult to 
 learn the Way (the true religion of Buddha) when one is rich; 
 difficult to renounce life through the power of the Spirit; diffi- 
 cult to descry the law of the excellent doctrine; difficult to be 
 born again in the region where true Buddhas come into being; 
 difficult to have no desire when one has looked on something 
 pleasant; difficult it is for the powerful not to make use of his 
 power; difficult not to be angry with those who revile us; diffi- 
 cult to set about a work when one has no clear idea of it; 
 difficult to arrive at perfection, even when one has learned 
 
34 2 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 much about it; difficult not to despise those who have learnt 
 nothing; difficult to conquer self-seeking pride; difficult to 
 meet with a friend of virtue; difficult to learn the Way, when 
 one knows the self-will of one's own heart; difficult to sustain 
 a collision unmoved; difficult to put in practice the means 
 conformable to wisdom; difficult to act in consonance with 
 nature; difficult to attain to equanimity; difficult not to speak 
 of that which has to be done and to be avoided. 
 
 What is the highest virtue ? To keep one's feet in the Way 
 is the highest virtue. What is the chief greatness ? To act 
 in accordance with the laws of wisdom is the chief greatness. 
 Who is the chief of the powerful ? He who, while he himself 
 is full of toleration, commits no sinful act, men will assuredly 
 honour. Who is pre-eminently enlightened ? He who is with- 
 out spot and pure, has no unrighteous courses, is wholly clean, 
 and who knows in every age, from the beginning of the world 
 till now, all that is to be found in all the ten regions, though 
 it be unknown, invisible, quite unnoticed and unheard, with- 
 out desiring the least thing for himself; such an one is to be 
 called enlightened. 
 
 A being whose soul is affected by passion cannot perceive 
 the Way for his blinded eyes. If you throw five different 
 colours into turbid waters, and then stir them up together, the 
 persons who look therein will be unable to discern the reflec- 
 tion of their bodies. Just so, those whose souls are agitated 
 and obscured by passion are unable to discern the Way. 
 Those, on the contrary, who, full of faith, confess the whole 
 string of their faults, improve their ways, and show kindness 
 to the friends of virtue will discern the Way, just as a reflec- 
 tion becomes visible in water, so soon as it is cleansed from 
 impurities. When the spots of the soul are wholly cleansed 
 away, apprehension discovers whence she has come, and how 
 she has arisen, and toward what fields of Buddha she will 
 travel after death, and at the same time she comes to perceive 
 the virtues of the Way. 
 
 When we gaze on the sky and the earth, we ought to reflect 
 that they are not eternal. When we behold the hills and val- 
 leys, we ought to remember that they are not eternal. When 
 
Buddhism 343 
 
 we see the form and figure of objects increase and expand, 
 we ought to reflect that they are not eternal. If we think 
 thus, we shall soon reach the Way. 
 
 Although we attribute being to the elementary components 
 of the body, yet have they nevertheless no real subsistence. 
 For since their being ceases after a short time, and does not 
 endure for ever, they are like illusory semblances. 
 
 It is with those beings who, impelled by passion, strive after 
 glory, even as it is with the vapour of a smoker. When the 
 vapour of the tobacco is perceived and diffused abroad, it 
 cannot continue to subsist after the tobacco is consumed. So 
 will those foolish persons who strive after the vain glory of the 
 world, and do not labour to win the true glory, when they have 
 obtained that which they seek for, be poor and a prey to 
 regrets. 
 
 Beauty and wealth are like honey on the edge of a knife. 
 When little boys taste it, they wound their tongue and feel pain. 
 
 He who yields himself to passion is like a fool who takes a 
 candle and walks against the wind. Unless he throw the 
 candle away he will assuredly surfer smart by his hand being 
 burnt. He who surfers himself to be carried away by lust, by 
 anger, or by illusion, is, forasmuch as he has not been before- 
 hand enlightened by the Way, like unto those fools who, re- 
 fusing to throw away their candle, burn their hands and suffer 
 severe pain. 
 
 As a tree that has fallen into a river, if when swept by the 
 current it does not touch either shore, if it be not caught up 
 by men, or stopped in its course by good, or evil spirits, if 
 moreover it do not lie in a stagnant pool, and do not decay, 
 may actually come to reach the ocean ; even so I tell you, that 
 men who, if they learn the Way, are not befooled by passion, 
 nor seized by perverseness, who do not become unstable, but 
 strive with earnestness, of a truth may attain the Way. 
 
 O Shramana ! trust not in your own hearts. We must in no 
 wise trust to our own hearts. Exercise watchfulness ; do not 
 be ensnared by beauty, else it will bring you sorrow. You must 
 regard an old woman as a mother, those only a little older than 
 yourself as elder sisters, those younger as younger sisters. 
 
344 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 As one must run away with all speed if flame be kindled 
 among dry grass, so must men who would learn the Way cast 
 far away from them all objects calculated to excite passion. 
 
 If a man surrender himself to passion, it brings pain, and 
 pain brings fear. If passion remain far from him, no pain 
 springs up ; and if no pain, no fear. 
 
 As iron when it has been smelted and purified, gradually 
 wrought and refined by hammering, may be converted into all 
 sorts of vessels, so also will those who are learning the Way, if 
 their mind is gradually freed from all impurity, and if they 
 sedulously exert themselves, no doubt attain to perfect insight. 
 In the contrary case, they earn to themselves vexation ; from 
 vexation springs tribulation, and under sharp tribulation they 
 turn back from the Way ; thus do they heap sinful actions one 
 upon another. 
 
 Both the men who walk in the Way, and those who do not 
 so, alike experience sorrow. It is indeed hard to measure 
 how much suffering a being has to undergo from birth to old 
 age, and then in old age from sickness till his death. But if 
 the mind be bewildered through trouble, and have heaped sin- 
 ful acts upon itself, then the sufferings that will befall him on 
 account of all that he has done from his birth to his death 
 cannot be put in words. 
 
 O Shramanas ! as a laden ox that has fallen into a slough in 
 spite of all weariness struggles out to one or the other side 
 without ever thinking of rest, so must a right-minded man labour 
 for nothing but the Way seeing that the danger arising from 
 the slough of passion is much more urgent and avert from 
 himself the pain of the cycle [thus the " cycle " must be in 
 this life]. 
 
 Originally Buddhism was simple, ethical, and rational ; and 
 hence hostile to mythology, scholasticism, ceremonies, and 
 priestcraft. It was benevolent and humane in the highest 
 degree. It called all men without any distinction of quality 
 or position to its fold, opening to all the way of salvation, 
 which it teaches to be attainable by purity of conduct. " There 
 is but one law for all : severe punishment for crime, and great 
 
The Burmese 345 
 
 reward for virtue." " My law is one of grace for all ; like 
 heaven affording room for men and women, for boys and girls, 
 for rich and poor." " It is difficult to be rich and learn the 
 Way." The total number of Buddhists is about 290,000,000. 
 
 Right view, right sense, right speech, right action, right 
 position, right energy, right memory, and right meditation, 
 " such is the formula of faith," found upon many monuments 
 as well as in many books. The essence of Buddhistic moral- 
 ity is, " to eschew everything bad, to perform everything 
 good, to tame one's thoughts" this is the doctrine of 
 Buddha. 
 
 All the mythology, sacrifices, penances, hierarchy, scholas- 
 ticism, mysticism, which we find connected with it have been 
 superadded in progress of time in different countries and un- 
 der manifold circumstances. A general love of all beings is 
 its nucleus; each animal being our neighbour or possible relat- 
 ive. To love even our enemies, to offer our lives for animals, 
 to abstain even from defensive warfare, to gain the greatest of 
 victories by conquering oneself, to avoid all vices, to practise 
 humility and mildness, to be obedient to superiors, to cherish 
 and respect parents, old age, learning, virtuous and holy men, to 
 provide food, shelter, and comfort for men and animals, to plant 
 trees on the roads, dig wells, etc., such are the moral duties 
 of Buddhists. No religion is despised by them, religious wars 
 waged against dissenters have never been heard of among 
 them. " Honour your own faith and do not slander that of 
 others " is a Buddhistic maxim. The persecutions of Christ- 
 ians in Japan, China, Siam, etc., are occasioned by other than 
 religious causes, being commonly reprisals against their inter- 
 meddling habits. How different from the history of Christ- 
 ianity. 
 
 THE BURMESE 
 
 The following contains the main features of the theology 
 and religious precepts which have been taught among the 
 Burmese for the last twenty-five hundred years. 
 
 The Burmese Empire comprises the tract of territory 
 bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean, on the east 
 
34 6 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 by the kingdom of Siam, on the west by Bengal, and on the 
 north by the kingdom of Azen and the Chinese Empire. It 
 includes not only the kingdom of Ava, but likewise those of 
 Pegu and Aracan, together with the petty states of Martaban, 
 Sarvai, Merghi. 
 
 According to the sacred books and traditions of the Bur- 
 mese four gods have at different periods appeared in the pre- 
 sent world, and have obtained the state of Niban: Chaucasen, 
 Gonagon, Caspar, and Godama. It is claimed by the Bur- 
 mese theology that the law of the last-mentioned (to wit, 
 Godama) is at present obligatory among men. He obtained 
 the privilege of divinity at the age of thirty-five, when he be- 
 gan to promulgate his laws, in which employment he spent 
 forty-five years. Having thus lived to the age of eighty in the 
 practice of every good work, and having conferred salvation 
 on every living creature, he was assumed into the state of Ni- 
 ban. From that time until the year 1763 there have passed 
 two thousand three hundred and six years. 
 
 Godama spoke and taught as follows: " I, a god, after hav- 
 ing departed out of this world, will preserve my laws and my 
 disciples in it for the space of five thousand years." Having 
 likewise commanded that his statue and relics should be care- 
 fully kept and adored during this period, he thereby gave rise 
 to the custom of adoring them. 
 
 The books which contain the history of Godama represent 
 him as a king, who having laid aside the ensigns of royalty, 
 withdrew himself into a solitary place, put on the habit of 
 a Talapoin, and gave himself up to the study and practice 
 of virtue. 
 
 His merits, united to his generous abdication, procured 
 for him at the age of thirty the gift of divine wisdom. 
 This consists in seeing into the thoughts of all living beings, in 
 the foreknowledge of all future events, however distant they may 
 be, in the knowledge of the merits and demerits of all men; in 
 the power of working miracles, particularly by causing fire and 
 water to issue from his eyes at the same time, or fire from one 
 eye and water from the other; and finally in a tender love 
 toward all things living. Among other prodigies related of 
 
The Burmese 347 
 
 him we may notice the one said to have happened at his birth; 
 for he was no sooner born than he walked seven paces toward 
 the north, exclaiming: " I am the noblest and greatest among 
 men. This is the last time that I shall be born; never again 
 shall I be conceived in the womb." 
 
 During the forty-five years that he spent on earth after be- 
 coming a god he was continually employed in the promulga- 
 tion of his laws, and it is said that through his preaching 
 2,400,000,000 persons obtained the Niban. 
 
 Previous to his death he recommended that his statue and 
 relics should be preserved and adored. 
 
 These have hence become objects of veneration to all the 
 Burmese wherever they are met with; but they are more partic- 
 ularly worshipped, with greater pomp and by greater num- 
 bers, in the pagodas. These are pyramidal or conical 
 buildings made of brick, painted and gilded on the outside. 
 
 In these temples there is generally a niche in which is 
 placed the statue of Godama, though in some both the niche 
 and the statue are wanting. These are the public places of 
 adoration for the Burmese, and are generally set apart from all 
 other buildings and surrounded by a wall of the same materials 
 as the pagoda itself. 
 
 But the laws of Godama will be observed upon earth for the 
 space of five thousand years, reckoning from the day of his 
 death, five hundred and twenty years before Christ; from 
 which year therefore the Burmese begin their era. Of this 
 period two thousand three hundred and ninety years have al- 
 ready elapsed. As soon as it is at an end the laws of Godama 
 will cease to be binding, and another god must appear to 
 promulgate a new code for the government of mankind. 
 
 The principal duty of the Talapoins, or priests, is the Tera, 
 or preaching to the people; and in the performance of this 
 duty they ought to propose as their model the sermons of 
 Godama. The book which contains them is called Sottan, or 
 the rule of life, and is one of the principal works which the 
 Burmese possess. 
 
 The following is the best of the so-claimed true faith: 
 
 Is Godama the only true god in the world ? 
 
34-8 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Yes, Godama is the only true and real god, who knows the 
 laws of the four Sizza, and in whose power it is to raise to the 
 state of Niban. 
 
 For a thousand years beforehand the approaching appear- 
 ance of a new god was reported; but previous to his coming 
 six different pretenders, each with five hundred disciples, 
 started up and gave themselves out for gods. 
 
 Did these false gods preach and teach any laws ? 
 
 Yes, but what they taught is false and full of errors. 
 
 But when the true god, Godama, appeared did these false 
 gods renounce their doctrines ? 
 
 Some renounced and some did not ; and many have remained 
 obstinate to the present day. When Godama saw that many 
 persisted in their errors, he gave a challenge to them all, who 
 could work the greatest miracle under a mango tree. It was 
 accepted, but Godama gained the victory, at which the chief 
 of the Deitti was so vexed that he threw himself into a river 
 with an earthenware vessel tied about his neck. After the 
 death of their leader many of his disciples abandoned his false 
 doctrines, but others remained obstinate : for it is easy to draw 
 a thorn out of the hand or foot by means of the nails or the 
 megnac, but it is very difficult to eradicate false doctrine from 
 the hearts of the Deitti. 
 
 But are there no means of doing it? 
 
 Yes, it may be done by the doctrine of Godama, and by the 
 lessons of good men ; which are like a megnac, of great excel- 
 lence. 
 
 And what are these lessons and doctrines ? 
 
 First, that all who kill animals or do anything contrary to 
 the ten commandments are subject to the punishments allotted 
 to evil deeds. Then that those who give alms and practise the 
 ten good deeds, adore God, the law, and the Talapoins, will 
 enjoy the blessings attached to the performance of good works. 
 Secondly, that these two kinds of works, the good and the 
 bad, and these alone, accompany a man through his transmigra- 
 tion in future worlds in the same way as a shadow follows the 
 body to which it belongs ; and that these are the efficient 
 causes of all the good and evil that happen to living beings in 
 
The Burmese 349 
 
 this life or in the next ; of high and low birth ; of riches and 
 poverty ; of transportation to the seats of the Nat, and of con- 
 demnation to the state of animals or to hell. These, together 
 with the following, are the revelations made, and the precepts 
 taught by Godama. According to the species of their bad 
 works, the wicked are condemned to punishment. These 
 species are four, according to the Burmese sacred books. One 
 is called grievous, the other three are venial. 
 
 To kill one's own mother or father, to kill a priest or Tala- 
 poin, to strike or wound any god, as Beodat did who threw a 
 stone against the Godama, and to sow discord among Tala- 
 poins, are the five sins that constitute the grievous class ; for 
 which the wicked will have to suffer fire and other dreadful 
 torments in one of the greater hells, the whole duration of a 
 world. 
 
 This species of sins is called the first, because it is the first 
 to produce its effect : for although the individual who has 
 committed one of these five sins may have done many good 
 deeds, yet he cannot receive the reward till after this first 
 species is expiated by his having paid the penalty of that great 
 sin. 
 
 After this class come all sins of habit ; which, although in 
 themselves light, are nevertheless, on account of the evil habit, 
 considered as punishable in the greater hells. The fourth 
 and last species comprises all evil desires, and these are ex- 
 piated, not in the greater hells, but in the minor ones that sur- 
 round them. 
 
 All passionate, quarrelsome, fraudulent, and cruel men, all 
 who in their deeds, words, or desires, are either dishonest or 
 lascivious, will be cut to pieces after death, in one of the 
 greater hells, with instruments of burning iron, and afterwards 
 exposed to the most severe cold ; and the parts cut off return- 
 ing again to their former state will be a second time cut off, 
 and exposed to the same cold, and in these alternate torments 
 they will pass five hundred infernal years. 
 
 All those who by signs or words insult their relatives or 
 masters, priests, old men, or observers of the law, and all who 
 with nets or snares kill animals, will be condemned to one of 
 
35 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 the greater hells, there to be tormented upon a fiery bed by 
 continual lacerations with red-hot wire, and by being sawn 
 with fiery scythes into eight or sixteen pieces for the course of 
 one thousand infernal years. 
 
 Whoever does not assist his fellow-creatures, those who in a 
 state of intoxication commit unlawful and indecent actions, 
 they who dishonour or ill-treat others, will have their bowels 
 burnt up by a flame entering through their mouths ; and this 
 punishment will last four thousand infernal years. 
 
 Whoever takes away furtively or by deception, fraud, or 
 open force the property of others, such ministers and judges 
 as receive bribes for deciding suits unjustly, mandarins and 
 generals that desolate the enemy's lands, all who cheat by 
 false scales, weights, or measures, or who in any way appro- 
 priate to themselves the goods of others, as well as all who 
 steal or damage things belonging to priests and to pagodas, 
 etc., all such will be tormented in one of the greater hells 
 by fire and smoke, which penetrating through the eyes and 
 mouth and all the other inlets of the body will burn them alive 
 for the course of eight thousand infernal years. 
 
 Those who sell wines or poisons, or set fire to villages, cities, 
 or woods, in order to destroy animals, those who with poison 
 or arms or enchantments cause men to perish ; all these after 
 death, being hurled headlong from a very high mountain, will 
 be received on the point of a red-hot spit, and cut in pieces 
 by the infernal ministers with swords and spears : and this 
 punishment will last sixteen thousand infernal years. 
 
 All who honour not their parents, masters, and old men ; all 
 who drink wine or other inebriating liquors; all who corrupt 
 the waters of lakes or wells, or break up the roads; all dis- 
 honest dealers; they who speak bitterly and impatiently, or 
 beat with their hands or with sticks; those who despise the 
 counsel of honest men, and afflict their neighbour; evil- 
 speakers, detractors, the passionate and envious; such as 
 injure others, or torment them by putting them in chains; all 
 who in word, deed, or desire are guilty of evil; lastly, those 
 who afflict the sick with harsh words will be condemned to 
 these minor places of punishment, to be there tortured in 
 
The Burmese 351 
 
 proportion to the heinousness of their offences and evil habits. 
 Besides these hells, there is another, consisting of an immense 
 cauldron, full of melted copper, to ascend and descend which 
 from one surface to the other requires three thousand years. 
 To this task are condemned the lascivious, that is to say, 
 those who violate the wives, daughters, or sons of others; 
 and those who through life despising acts of charity and the 
 observance of holydays, give themselves up to drunkenness and 
 excess. Those equilateral spaces full of very cold water are 
 also, according to the Burmese books, so many hells; to which 
 are condemned all who offend or insult their parents or the 
 observers of the law. 
 
 Every one may gain merit or demerit, according to his 
 works, and so pass to a superior or inferior situation. 
 
 Rape, highway robbery, murder, and arson are considered 
 the principal capital offences. 
 
 False witnesses, who assert anything from passion, and not 
 from love of truth (and those who affirm what they have 
 neither seen nor heard), are severely punished with death. 
 
 Every species of good works, such as alms-deeds, chastity, 
 charity, kindness, diligence, patience, justice, magnanimity, 
 love, and moderation, is enjoined; all who adore God and the 
 law, will enjoy the blessings attached to the performance of 
 good works. 
 
 Good and bad works accompany a man through future 
 worlds, and are the efficient causes of all the good and evil 
 that happen to living beings in this life, or in the next. 
 
 We are forbidden to kill any living thing; to steal; to violate 
 the wives or concubines of another; to tell lies or to deceive; 
 and to use wine, opium, or any intoxicating liquor also, to 
 covet our neighbour's goods, to envy, and to wish misfortune 
 or death to others. 
 
 Whosoever abstains from all these evil deeds will increase 
 in virtue, till, at length, he will obtain the perfect happiness of 
 Niban. 
 
 Admit of no unlawful act, even though it be sought to be 
 committed in secret; by the observance of which, a man is 
 preserved from evil-doing. 
 
35 2 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Searching after the means by which the hearts of creatures 
 may put off all evil inclinations; 
 
 Thee, therefore, do we supplicate, who alone knowest all 
 these things, to reveal them to us. 
 
 To whom the god replied, know, that to keep far from the 
 company of the ignorant; to be always in the society of the 
 learned; and to give respect and honour to whom they are 
 due; overcoming any inordinate affection; by the choice of a 
 place of abode proper to one's station, and adapted for 
 satisfying all the common wants of life; by having always in 
 store some merit acquired in a former life; and by ever main- 
 taining in one's own person a prudent carriage; the comprehen- 
 sion of all things that are not evil; the knowledge of the duties 
 of one's state of life; and the observance of piety and modesty 
 in words; these are most excellent means by which we may 
 renounce all wicked actions. 
 
 By ministering to one's father and mother proper susten- 
 ance, by providing for one's wife and children, by the purity 
 and honesty of every action; by alms-deeds, by the observance 
 of divine precepts; by succouring in their necessities those who 
 are united to us by the ties of kindred; by everything else in 
 which there is no sin; by all these means may we be preserved 
 from evil deeds. 
 
 By such a freedom from all faults that not even the inferior 
 part of the soul manifest any affection for them; by the 
 abstinence from all intoxicating drinks; by the never-failing 
 practice of works of piety; by showing respect to all; by being 
 humble before all; by sobriety; by gratitude to our bene- 
 factors; and finally by listening from time to time to 
 the preaching of the word of God; by these means may 
 we overcome our inclinations, and keep ourselves from 
 sin. 
 
 The virtue of patience; docility in receiving the admoni- 
 tions of good men; frequent visits to priests; spiritual confer- 
 ences on the divine laws; frugality and modesty in our 
 exterior; the observance of the letter of the law; having ever 
 before our eyes the state into which living creatures will pass 
 after death; and, finally, the meditation of the happy reposes 
 
The Burmese 353 
 
 of the Niban; these are all distinguished precepts for preserv- 
 ing man from wickedness. 
 
 That intrepidity and serenity of mind which good men 
 preserve amid the calamities of life, in abundance and want, 
 in censure and praise, in joy and distress, in popularity and 
 abandonment ; the absence of all fear or inquietude of heart ; 
 the freedom from the dark mist of concupiscence: these are 
 rare gifts that remove a man far away from all affection to 
 evil. 
 
 Imprint well upon your heart the precepts I have just 
 delivered; let them be deeply rooted there, and see to put 
 them in execution, also hospitality to our guests, and to 
 travellers, ministering to the wants of the sick, and in times of 
 scarcity to those of all persons. 
 
 But all these are surpassed in merit by the adoration of God 
 and the law. 
 
 Godama confirmed all these his precepts, and added that 
 the real adoration of God does not consist in offering Him 
 rice, flowers, or sandal-wood, but in the observance of His 
 laws. 
 
 All who aspire to perfection must be careful to avoid the 
 works which do hurt to living creatures; by thus flying away 
 from evil, and ever seeking to acquire merit in this life, as 
 well as in future ones, they will at length attain to the Niban. 
 
 The works that do hurt to living creatures are murder, 
 theft, deceit, and adultery. 
 
 All those committed by judges, when on account of 
 presents, consanguinity, or friendship they decide unjustly, 
 when through hatred to the party who has reason on his side, 
 they pronounce against him, and finally when through fear or 
 respect of persons, as of mandarins, or rich or powerful men, 
 they commit injustice. Those offenders also are here com- 
 priseb! who do not divide property equally as they ought, 
 through love, fear, or hatred. 
 
 Besides this, a man must refrain from the things that are 
 called ruinous; which are, the love of intoxicating liquors, 
 the custom of wandering about the streets at unseasonable 
 hours, too great a passion for dancing, games, and spectacles, 
 
354 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 gaming, frequenting vicious company, lastly, slothfulness and 
 negligence in the performance of one's duty. 
 
 For from these spring six great evils. 
 
 Drunkenness is the cause of loss of goods and reputation, 
 of quarrels, diseases, immodesty of dress, disregard of honour; 
 unseasonable wanderings expose a man to great dangers, and 
 by keeping him from his family, oblige him to leave the chas- 
 tity of his wife and daughter unprotected; and, moreover, his 
 possessions are thus liable to depredations. 
 
 A passion for shows draws a man from his occupation and 
 hinders him from gaining his livelihood. 
 
 In gaming success is followed by intrigues and quarrels; loss 
 by bitterness and sorrow of heart, as well as dilapidation of 
 fortune; the gamester is incapacitated by law to give testimony. 
 
 Finally, frequenting the company of the vicious will lead a 
 man into the houses of women of ill-fame, into drunkenness 
 and gluttony, into deceit and robbery and all kinds of disorders. 
 
 Godama denounced the following: making show of friend- 
 ship without having its reality, professing a love which they 
 do not feel, giving little that they may receive much, and 
 being friends to a man only because he is rich or because they 
 have need of his favour. 
 
 Real friends are those who are such both in adversity and 
 prosperity; those who give good advice on proper occasions 
 even at the peril of their lives; those who take care of things 
 that belong to him whom they love; those who teach a man 
 what is good, who are delighted in his prosperity and sorrow- 
 ful in his misfortunes. 
 
 Children are, in particular, obliged to respect their parents 
 and to listen to their words and advice. 
 
 Parents, on the other hand, with respect to their children, 
 must keep them far from all wickedness; procure that they 
 always have good companions; they must instruct them and 
 teach them to give alms and do other pious works, and when 
 they have arrived at the proper age be careful to marry them. 
 
 The husband should speak to his wife respectfully; should 
 not ill-treat her, should not desert her to live with another 
 woman. 
 
The Burmese 355 
 
 A master should adapt the labours of his slaves to their 
 strength and capacities; should give them their maintenance, 
 should treat them well, but particularly be attentive to them 
 when sick. 
 
 Slaves should look to the interests of their masters in their 
 labours and take nothing but what is allowed them. 
 
 We should divide our goods and share them with the poor; 
 for the poor are our companions in the journey to a future 
 life. Alms given by a poor man are of greater merit than 
 alms given by a rich one. 
 
 The only faithful companions who will not desert us in the 
 life to come are our good deeds; and the only good that will 
 continue with us unaltered, even to old age, is the observance 
 of the law, for this no thief can take away. 
 
 Godama exhorts to lay aside every sentiment of pride; not 
 to let the affections be occupied by this world, not to give 
 ourselves up to the pleasures of sense, but to aspire to Niban 
 alone. Having what is sufficient to satisfy our hunger to-day, 
 we should not think of to-morrow; and having one coat, we 
 should not wish for another. 
 
 He admonishes not to look upon indecent objects, not to 
 listen to lascivious song, not to give way to murmuring, not to 
 exceed in the pleasures of the palate, and to restrain the hands 
 from unlawful touches and to observe modesty in our exterior. 
 
 Those who pride themselves in their birth or in their pos- 
 sessions can never reach to the Niban. All must observe 
 modesty in their five bodily senses; they must not run after 
 feasts and such vanities; they must not make use of any spe- 
 cies of vain and idle words; they must not take delight in 
 thinking of anything unlawful; they must extinguish in them- 
 selves all evil inclinations; they must not be scrupulous and 
 irresolute in acting; they must above all things be assiduous 
 in prayer and meditation; they must not seek after magnifi- 
 cence and superfluity; they must fly from sloth, lying, immod- 
 erate laughter, vain joy, and play; they must abhor sorcery 
 and not give credit to dreams; when abused or derided they 
 must not give way to anger, and when praised must not be 
 puffed up; they must not envy others their dress; they must 
 
356 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 not flatter benefactors to draw alms from them, nor preach 
 sermons in which they display their desire of them; they 
 must not admit of any bitterness or acrimony in talking, nor 
 deride, nor despise, nor injure others; they ought to accom- 
 modate themselves to the opinions of others, not to give occa- 
 sion for dissension; ought never to consent to any bad 
 thoughts, and he who does consent to them and take pleasure 
 in them shows that he has no fear of sinning, and is therefore 
 in a state of sinful cowardice. 
 
 But he who does not consent to such thoughts truly seeks 
 after sanctity. 
 
 All are once more recommended to shun vanity, to observe 
 modesty, and to consider that good works are our only hopes 
 and our only true friends, and thus the heart will be fixed in 
 doing all that is good. 
 
 He who speaks sweetly and with affability will have many 
 friends; but he whose words are bitter will have few or none. 
 
 In judging causes, the testimony of persons respectable by 
 their state in life and their wisdom, disinterested, and who 
 believe in the merit of good works, ought to be received. 
 
 If a husband surprise a man in adultery with his wife, he 
 may lawfully kill him. 
 
 THE HINDOOS. 
 
 In the following will be found the main features of Hindu 
 theology and religious teachings: 
 
 The Vedas, which are the Hindu scriptures, and of which 
 there are four, the Rig, Yagust, Saman, and Atharvan, are 
 asserted to have been revealed by Brahma. 
 
 They are based upon an acknowledgment of a Universal 
 Spirit pervading all things. Of this God they therefore neces- 
 sarily acknowledge the unity: " There is in truth but one 
 Deity, the Supreme Spirit, the Lord of the universe, whose 
 work is the universe. The God above all gods, who created 
 the earth, the heavens, the waters." 
 
 These scriptures convey the idea that there is a pervading 
 spirit existing everywhere of the same nature as the soul of 
 man, though differing from it infinitely in degree. 
 
The Hindoos 357 
 
 As to the relation between the Supreme Being and man, the 
 soul is a portion or particle of that all-pervading principle, 
 the Universal Intellect or Soul of the World. 
 
 The three Vedic divinities, Agni, Indra, and Surga, are not 
 to be looked upon as existing independently, for all spirits are 
 comprehended in the Universal Soul. They do not authorise 
 the worship of deified men, or of images, or of any visible 
 forms. They admit the adoration of subordinate spirits, as 
 those of the planets. They inculcate universal charity 
 charity even to an enemy: "The tree doth not withdraw its 
 shade from the wood-cutter." In the Institutes of Menu, a 
 code of civil and religious law, written about the ninth cent- 
 ury before Christ, though, like the Vedas, betraying a gradual 
 origin, the doctrine of the Divine unity becomes more dis- 
 tinctly mixed up with Pantheistic ideas. They present a 
 description of creation, of the nature of God and the soul, 
 and contain prescribed rules for the duty of man in every 
 station of life, from the moment of birth to death. Their 
 imperious regulations in all these minute details are a suffi- 
 cient proof of the great development and paramount power 
 to which the priesthood had now attained; but their morality 
 is discreditable. Their arbitrary and all-reaching spirit re- 
 minds one of the Papal system; their recommendations to 
 sovereigns, their authorisation of immoralities, recall the 
 state of Italian society as reflected in the works of Machia- 
 velli. They hold learning in the most signal esteem, but con- 
 cede to the prejudices of the illiterate in a worship of the 
 gods with burnt offerings of clarified butter and libations of 
 the juices of plants. They make a Brahman the chief of all 
 created things. 
 
 In their essential principles the Institutes follow the Vedas, 
 though, as must be the case in every system intended for men 
 in the various stages of intellectual progress from the least 
 advanced to the highest, they show a leaning toward popular 
 delusions. 
 
 A new ritual, instead of the Vedas, has come into use, these 
 scriptures being the eighteen Puranas, composed between 
 the eighth and sixteenth centuries. They contain theogonies, 
 
35 8 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 accounts of the creation, philosophical speculations, fragment- 
 ary history, and may be brought to support any sectarian 
 view, having never been intended as one general body, but 
 they are received as incontrovertible authority. In the " Bag- 
 havat Gita," the text-book of the modern school, the sole 
 essential for salvation is dependence on some particular 
 teacher, which makes up for everything else. The efficacy 
 which is thus ascribed to faith, and the facility with which sin 
 may be expiated by penance, has led to great mental per- 
 version and superstition, which finds its analogy in the Roman 
 Church, and somewhat in all the churches where faith in the 
 Divinity of Christ is held as indispensable to salvation. 
 
 Christna or Chrisna, also Vishnu, is one of the most popular 
 of all the Hindoo deities. An immense number of legends 
 are told respecting him, which are not worth recording here, 
 but the following, condensed from the Anacalypsis of Godfrey 
 Higgins, will well repay perusal. He is represented as the 
 son of Brahma and Maia, and is usually called " the Saviour," 
 or " the Preserver." He, being a god, became incarnate in the 
 flesh. As soon as he was born, he was saluted by a chorus of 
 devatars, or angels. His birthplace was Mathurea. He was 
 cradled amongst Shepherds. Soon after his birth he was 
 carried away by night to a remote place for fear of a tyrant, 
 whose destroyer it was foretold he would become, and who 
 ordered all male children to be slain (an episode marked in 
 the sculptures at Elephanta). By the male line he was of 
 Royal descent, though born in a dungeon, which on his arrival 
 he illuminated, whilst the faces of his parents shone. Christna 
 spoke as soon as he was born, and comforted his mother. He 
 was preceded by his brother Ram, who helped him to purify 
 the world of monsters and demons. Christna descended into 
 Hades, and returned to Vaicontha. One of his names is 
 " The Good Shepherd." An Indian prophet, Nared Saphos, 
 or wisdom, visited him, consulted the stars, and pronounced 
 him a celestial being. Christna cured a leper ; a woman 
 poured on his head a box of ointment, and he cured her of 
 disease. He was chosen king amongst his fellow cowherds. 
 He washed the feet of Brahmins, and when Brahma stole the 
 
The Hindoos 359 
 
 sheep and cowboys of his father's farm (Nanda's) Christna 
 made a new set. Christna had a dreadful fight with the serp- 
 ent Caluga. He was sent to a tutor, whom he astonished 
 with his learning. Christna was crucified, went into hell, and 
 afterwards into heaven. 
 
 Christna and his mother are almost always represented as 
 black. Christna's statue in the temple at Mathura is black, 
 and the temple is built in the form of a cross (Ptolemy calls 
 the place Matura Deorum). As Vishuu he is painted with a 
 Parthian coronet round his head when crucified. As Wittoba 
 he is painted sometimes with stigmata in his hands, sometimes 
 in his feet, and one of the pictures representing him has a 
 round hole in the side ; to his collar hangs a heart, and on 
 his head is a Linga yoni! In another picture he is called 
 Ballaji, and is contending with a seven-headed cobra. His 
 most celebrated temple is at Terputty. The date of Christna's 
 first mystic birth is about six hundred B.C. 
 
 Of the deities of the Veda, Agni and Indra, the former 
 comprises the element of Fire under three aspects: ist. As 
 it exists on earth, not only as culinary or religious fire, but 
 in the heat of digestion and of life and the vivifying principle 
 of vegetation; 2d. As it exists in the atmosphere, or mid- 
 heaven, in the form of lightning; and 3d. As it is manifested 
 in the heavens, as light, the sun, the dawn, and the planetary 
 bodies. 
 
 The defication of Indra is more consistent, as he has no 
 incongruous functions to discharge. He is a personification 
 of the phenomena of the firmament, particularly in the cap- 
 acity of sending down rain. This property is metaphorically 
 described as a conflict with the clouds, which are reluctant to 
 part with their watery stores, until assailed and penetrated by 
 the thunderbolt of Indra. 
 
 The Sun, Surya or Savita, occupies a much less conspicuous 
 place in Hindu worship than we should have anticipated from 
 the visible magnificence of that luminary, and his adoration 
 by neighbouring nations. 
 
 The sun, like Agni and Indra, is the giver of temporal 
 blessing to his worshippers; he is the source of light. 
 
360 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 The share of Agni and Indra in the production of rain, 
 and their fierce and impetuous nature, are figurative repre- 
 sentations of physical phenomena. 
 
 The following is contained in the Hindu Sacred Writings: 
 
 In the beginning there arose the source of golden light. 
 He was the one born Lord of all that is. He 'stablished the 
 earth and this sky. 
 
 He who gives life, he who gives strength; whose command 
 all the bright gods revere; whose shadow is immortality. 
 
 He who through his power is the one King of the breath- 
 ing and awaking world; he who governs all, man and beast; 
 who is the God to whom we shall offer our worship ? 
 
 He who by his might looked even over the water-clouds, 
 the clouds which gave strength and lit the sacrifice, he who 
 alone is God above all gods; who is the God to whom we 
 shall offer our worship ? 
 
 May he not destroy us he the creator of the earth; or he 
 the Righteous, who created the heaven; he who also created 
 the bright and mighty waters; who is the God to whom we 
 shall offer our worship ? 
 
 All who are wise of heart adore God the Begetter, bringing 
 him offerings of a devout heart with hymn of praise. 
 
 The air all around is full of the whispering of the wind, thy 
 breath. Those who are wise, the truthful seers, the ministers 
 of sacrifice, who raise on high the hymn of praise to thee. 
 Even to evil-doers is he merciful; may we all live before thee 
 without sin, faithfully observant of thy eternal laws. 
 
 However we break thy laws from day to day, men as we 
 are, O God. 
 
 Do not deliver us unto death, nor to the blow of the furi- 
 ous; nor to the anger of the spiteful! 
 
 May he, the wise, make our paths straight all our days; may 
 he prolong our lives! 
 
 The God whom the scoffers do not provoke, nor the tor- 
 mentors of men, nor the plotters of mischief. 
 
 Yearning for him, the far seeing, my thoughts move on- 
 wards, as kine move to their pastures. 
 
The Hindoos 3 61 
 
 Be pure and pious all, that your way may not go down to 
 the house of death, but that you may enjoy length of days, 
 and abundance of treasures. 
 
 As days succeed days, changing seasons with seasons, lo, 
 give, O Creator, these here to live, that the younger may not 
 leave their parent desolate. 
 
 God's coursers bear on high the divine Sun that he may be 
 seen by all (the worlds). 
 
 (At the approach) of the all-illuminating Sun, the con- 
 stellations depart, with the night. 
 
 With that light with which thou, the purifier and defender 
 from evil, lookest upon this creature-bearing world. 
 
 Indra abides, humbling the neglecters of holy acts in favour 
 of those who observe them, and punishing those who turn 
 away from his worship, in favour of those who are present 
 (with their praise). 
 
 This adoration is offered to the shedder of rain, the self- 
 resplendent, the possessor of true vigour, the mighty. 
 
 Verily, with thy bulk, thou fillest all the firmament; of a 
 truth there is none other such as thou. 
 
 May the gods, turning not away, be ever with us for our 
 advancement. 
 
 May the benevolent favour of the gods (be ours); may the 
 bounty of the gods, ever approving of the upright, light upon 
 us; may we obtain the friendship of the gods. 
 
 Let us hear gods, with our ears, what are good objects of 
 worship, let us see, with our eyes, what is good: let us engage 
 in your praises. 
 
 These divinities of the morning have spread light (over the 
 world). 
 
 The deities of the dawn have restored, as of yore, the con- 
 sciousness of (sentient creatures), and, bright-rayed, have at- 
 tended upon the glorious sun, bringing every kind of food to 
 the performer of good works. 
 
 Ushas cuts off the accumulated (glooms). The daughter 
 of the sky awaits the glorious sun. 
 
 We have crossed over the boundary of darkness. Ushas 
 restores the consciousness (of living beings). Bright-shining, 
 
362 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 she smiles, like a flatterer to obtain favour, and lovely in all 
 her radiance, she has swallowed for our delight the darkness. 
 
 May he, of whom the excellent measure (of all things), 
 through strength, eternally and everywhere cherishes heaven 
 and earth, propitiated by our acts, convey us beyond evil. 
 
 Ushas, endowed with truth, let the worker of iniquity 
 depart, for we shall overcome him with our chariot, through 
 thy assistance. 
 
 Let words of truth be spoken: let works of wisdom (be 
 performed). 
 
 At thy dawning, (Ushas), the various birds rise up from 
 their nests, and men who have to earn their bread quit their 
 homes; be glorified by this (my) hymn; graciously disposed 
 towards us, augment (our prosperity); and may we obtain 
 goddesses, through your favour, a hundred and a thousand 
 fold. 
 
 These wonderful (rewards) verily are for those who give 
 (pious) donations: for the donors of (pious) gifts the suns 
 shine in heaven: the givers of (pious) donations attain im- 
 mortality: the givers of (pious) gifts prolong their (worldly) 
 existence. 
 
 May those who propitiate (the gods) never commit degrad- 
 ing sin: may those who praise the gods and observe holy 
 vows never experience decay. 
 
 Agni, who gives pleasure (to his worshippers), being pleased 
 (himself) in like manner as men follow a path that leads to 
 happiness, who is the guardian of all these treasures, has 
 power (to distribute them). 
 
 Agni grants blessings to every (pious) worshipper and opens 
 for him the gates (of heaven). 
 
 Agni is a most amiable friend in human infirmity; the 
 beloved protector of all, he preserves us from the malignity 
 of sin. 
 
 Inasmuch as the hero, Indra, rightly judges men by their 
 deeds, therefore do the (pious); (men) worship him, that by 
 their own strength they may overcome (their foes). 
 
 The timid and anxious (worshipper) praises thee, who art 
 auspicious, for driving (away) thieves; for thou defendest (us) 
 
The Hindoos 363 
 
 from all beings, (as the reward) of our righteousness; thou 
 protectest us from the fear of evil sprits, (as the reward) of 
 our righteousness. 
 
 Whatever individual offers adoration preserve him entirely 
 unharmed from sin; preserve from sin the mortal who is 
 sincere in his devotion, who offers worship with praises. 
 
 Desirous of happiness, I adore him, whose protection is 
 ever nigh; who is the source of felicity; who, when devoutly 
 worshipped, blends with the thoughts of all (his worshippers): 
 (though) a deity. 
 
 Free from anger, and entitled to ample praise, be ever 
 accessible to us; be our leader in every encounter. 
 
 Agni, listen attentively when thou art praised, by us, and 
 repeat (those praises) to the gods who are entitled to worship; 
 to the royal (deities) entitled to worship. 
 
 Bestow, Agni, upon our excellent patron a boat ever fitted 
 with oars, (one that may render) our posterity prosperous, 
 and may bear mankind across (the ocean of life) to felicity. 
 
 He, the searcher, the accessible, has declared to mortals 
 (the knowledge of) their religious duties. 
 
 He who is visible to all, is the parent of that (pious) 
 progeny. 
 
 He, who is, as it were, the generator of men as well as of 
 heaven and earth, of whom creation has imbibed life, abides 
 with his glories. 
 
 (I ask thee to withhold thy favour) from him who, ac- 
 knowledging thee not as his lord, is chary of gifts, and from 
 him who rarely praises (the gods). 
 
 He amongst those (who are your followers), who observes 
 truth, who is considerate, who is commended by the wise. 
 
 The purpose of worshipping you is not the performance, 
 but (even by so much) I may attain to your glory, and there 
 is acquittance (of my duty). 
 
 May I attain his favourite path, in which God-seeking men 
 delight; (the path) in whose exalted station there is a (per- 
 petual) flow of felicity. 
 
 I glorify the mighty Heaven and Earth, those two, who 
 cherish their worshippers as children. 
 
364 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Verily I propitiate, by my invocations, the mind of the 
 benevolent father, and the great and spontaneous (affection) 
 of the mother (of all beings). The parents, with kindness, 
 have secured, by their excellent protections, the vast and 
 manifold immortality of their progeny. 
 
 These, your children, the performers of good works, and 
 of goodly appearance, recognise you as their great parents, 
 through experience of former (kindness); preserve uninter- 
 rupted stability in the functions of your progeny, whether 
 stationary or moving, (depending for existence) on none 
 other than you. 
 
 Heaven and Earth are the diffusers of happiness on all, 
 encouragers of truth. 
 
 I have beheld the Lord of Men with seven sons; of which 
 delightful and benevolent (deity) who is the object of our 
 invocation. 
 
 Who has seen the primeval (being) at the time of his being 
 born ? 
 
 Ignorant, I inquire of the sages who know (the truth); not 
 as one knowing (do I inquire), for the sake of (gaining) 
 knowledge; what is that One alone, who has upheld these six 
 spheres in the form of the unborn? 
 
 Let him who knows this (truth) quickly declare it; the 
 mysterious condition of the beautiful ever-moving (sun): the 
 rays shed (their) milk from his exalted head, investing his 
 form with radiance: they have drunk up the water by the 
 paths (by which they were poured forth). 
 
 The mother (earth) worships the father (sun) with holy 
 rites, for the sake of water; but he has anticipated (her 
 wants) in his mind. 
 
 Miiller says: The idea of revelation, and we mean more 
 particularly book-revelation, is not a modern idea, nor is it an 
 idea peculiar to Christianity. 
 
 Though we look for it in vain in the literature of Greece 
 and Rome, we find the literature of India saturated with this 
 idea from beginning to end. In no country, we believe, has 
 the theory of revelation been so minutely elaborated as in India. 
 
The Hindoos 365 
 
 According to the orthodox views of Indian theologians not 
 a single line of the Veda was the work of human authors. The 
 whole Veda is in some way or other the work of the Deity; and 
 even those who received the revelation, or, as they express it, 
 those who saw it, were not supposed to be ordinary mortals, 
 but beings raised above the level of common humanity, and 
 less liable, therefore, to error in the reception of revealed 
 truth. The views entertained of revelation by the orthodox 
 theologians of India are far more minute and elaborate than 
 those of the most extreme advocates of verbal inspiration in 
 Europe. The human element, called " paurusheyatva," in 
 Sanskrit, is driven out of every corner or hiding place; and as 
 the Veda is held to have existed in the mind of the Deity be- 
 fore the beginning of time, every allusion to historical events, 
 of which there are not a few, is explained away with a zeal 
 and ingenuity worthy of a better cause. 
 
 The poets of the Veda speak of their hymns as " god-given." 
 One poet says: "O god (Indra) have mercy! Sharpen my 
 mind, like the edge of iron. Whatever I now may utter, long- 
 ing for thee, do thou accept it; make me possessed of God! " 
 Another utters for the first time the famous hymn, the 
 " Gayatri," which now for more than three thousand years has 
 been the daily prayer of every Brahman, and is still repeated 
 every morning by millions of pious worshippers: "Let us 
 meditate on the adorable light of the divine Creator: may He 
 rouse our minds." This consciousness of higher influences 
 in those who utter praise and thanksgiving to Him who 
 made us, is the key-note of all religion, whether ancient or 
 modern. 
 
 The real history of man is the history of religion the 
 wonderful ways by which the different families of the human 
 race advanced toward a truer knowledge and a deeper love of 
 God. This is the foundation that underlies all history: it is 
 the light, the soul, and life of history. Man has but one his- 
 tory the religious and profane so-called are but one; a man's 
 religion has its best exponent in his every-day conduct, good 
 works and love to God being the first and only religion, theo- 
 logies and creeds being but as chaff. 
 
366 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 The whole population of the world has the same religion in 
 the various theologies and creeds held in the several countries. 
 31.2 per cent, are Buddhists, 13.4 per cent, are Brahmanists, 
 which together gives 44 per cent, for what may be called living 
 Aryan religions. Of the remaining 56 per cent., 15.7 are Mo- 
 hammedans, 8.7 per cent, nondescript heathens, 30.7 per cent. 
 Christians, and only 0.3 per cent. Jews. 
 
 CONFUCIANISM 
 
 The following contains some of the superstitions, worship, 
 and theology mingled by the priests of China with the moral 
 teachings of Confucius; together with a short account of his 
 early life and teachings. 
 
 Confucius, a great sage, moralist, and teacher, an active 
 advocate of the good, the right, the true, and the practice of 
 love and kind offices between man and man, has been the ob- 
 ject of adoration and worship in chapels, specially erected for 
 and dedicated to the purpose throughout the Chinese Empire, 
 for the last twenty-three centuries. He was born five hundred 
 and fifty-one years before Christ. He was the first-born of his 
 mother, who was married when she was quite young to a man 
 much older than herself. Among the legends current con- 
 nected with his birth, etc., are the following: During the 
 pregnancy of his mother, she dreamed that she was to have a 
 son, and that a four-footed beast knelt before her, and cast 
 forth from his mouth a slip or gem, on which was the inscrip- 
 tion, " The son of the essence of water shall succeed to the 
 withering Chow and be a throneless King." On the night 
 when the child was born, two dragons came and kept watch 
 on the left and right of the hill, and two spirit ladies appeared 
 in the air pouring out fragrant odours. As soon as the birth 
 took place, a spring of clear warm water bubbled up from the 
 floor of the cave, which dried up again when the child had 
 been washed in it. The child was born in a designated cave, 
 in obedience to a previous dream. The records which we 
 have of Confucius' early years are very scant. When he was 
 in his third year his father died. It is related of him that as 
 
Confucianism 367 
 
 a boy he used to play at the arrangement of sacrificial vessels, 
 and postures of ceremony. Of his schooling, we have no 
 reliable account. He tells us himself that at fifteen he bent his 
 mind to learning, but the condition of his family was one of 
 poverty. At the age of twenty he was employed as keeper 
 of the stores of grain. In his twenty-second year he com- 
 menced his labours as a public teacher, and at thirty had made 
 great progress in learning and wisdom, gained great and wide- 
 spread fame, and was surrounded by disciples. The benefit of 
 his wisdom and counsel was sought after by the high and low, 
 by princes, rulers, students, and inquirers after truth of all 
 classes. So high was the moral tone of all his axioms, and so 
 perfectly in accordance with man's innate perceptions of the 
 right and good were all his teachings, that the many drank 
 them in with the same avidity as they did the early teachings 
 of Christ, before they were adulterated with the theology of 
 the priests. 
 
 The number of temples erected to his memory is sixteen 
 hundred and sixty. One of them occupies ten acres of land. 
 The most famous temple in the Empire now rises over the 
 place of his grave on which is inscribed, " The Perfect Sage." 
 On the two festivals in the year sacred to his memory there 
 are sacrificed some seventy thousand animals of different kinds, 
 and twenty-seven thousand pieces of silk are burned on his 
 altars. Yet his religion is without priests, liturgy, or public 
 worship, except on these two occasions. Kang-he, the second 
 and greatest of the rulers of the present dynasty, in the twenty- 
 third year of his reign, set the example of kneeling thrice, and 
 each time laying his forehead thrice in the dust, before the 
 image of the sage. At first, the worship of Confucius was con- 
 fined to the country of Loo, but in A.D. 57 it was enacted that 
 sacrifices should be offered to him in the imperial college, and 
 in all the colleges of the principal territorial divisions through- 
 out the Empire. 
 
 About A.D. 628 began the custom, which continues to the 
 present day, of erecting temples to him separate structures 
 in connection with all the colleges, or examination-halls, of the 
 country. The sage is not alone in those temples. In a hall 
 
368 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 behind the principal one, occupied by himself, are the tablets 
 in some cases the images of several of his ancestors. On the 
 first day of every month, offerings of fruit and vegetables are 
 set forth, and on the fifteenth there is a solemn burning of 
 incense. But twice a year, in the middle months of spring and 
 autumn, when the first " ting " day of the month comes round, 
 the worship of Confucius is performed with peculiar solemnity. 
 At the imperial college the Emperor himself is required to 
 attend in state, and is in fact the principal performer. After 
 all the preliminary arrangements have been made, and the 
 Emperor has twice knelt and six times bowed his head to the 
 earth, the presence of Confucius' spirit is invoked in these 
 words, " Great art thou, O perfect sage! Thy virtue is full ; 
 thy doctrine is complete. Among mortal men there has not 
 been thine equal. All kings honour thee. Thy statutes and 
 laws have come gloriously down. Thou art the pattern in this 
 imperial school. Reverently have the sacrificial vessels been 
 set out. Full of awe we sound our drums and bells." 
 
 The spirit is supposed now to be present, and the service 
 proceeds 'through various offerings ; when the first of these 
 has been set forth, an officer reads the following, which is the 
 prayer on the occasion: " On this .... month of this .... 
 year, I, A. B., the Emperor, offer a sacrifice to the philosopher 
 K'ung, the ancient Teacher, the perfect Sage, and say: O 
 Teacher, in virtue equal to Heaven and Earth, whose doctrines 
 embrace the past time and the present, thou didst digest and 
 transmit the six classics, and didst hand down lessons for all 
 generations ! Now in this second month of spring (or autumn), 
 in reverent observance of the old statutes, with victims, silks, 
 spirits, and fruits, I carefully offer sacrifice to thee. With 
 thee are associated the philosopher Yen, continuator of thee; 
 the philosopher Ysang, exhibitor of thy fundamental prin- 
 ciples; the philosopher Ysze-sze, transmitter of thee; and the 
 philosopher Mang, second to thee. May'st thou enjoy the 
 offerings ! " 
 
 I need not go on to enlarge on the homage which the em- 
 perors of China render to Confucius. It could not be more 
 complete. It is worship, and not mere homage. He was un- 
 
Confucianism 369 
 
 reasonably neglected when alive. He is now unreasonably 
 venerated when dead. 
 
 At the present day, education is widely diffused throughout 
 China. In no other country is the schoolmaster more abroad, 
 and in all schools it is Confucius who is taught. In many 
 schoolrooms there is a tablet or inscription on the wall, sacred 
 to the sage; and every pupil is required on coming to school 
 on the morning of the first and fifteenth day of every month 
 to bow before it the first thing, as an act of worship. Thus, 
 all in China who receive the slightest tincture of learning do 
 so at the fountain of Confucius. They learn of him, and do 
 homage to him at once. 
 
 During his lifetime he had three thousand disciples. Hund- 
 reds of millions are his disciples now. For two thousand 
 years he has reigned supreme, the undisputed teacher of this 
 most populous land. Confucius is thus, in the Empire of 
 China, the one man by whom all possible lessons of social 
 virtue and political wisdom are taught. 
 
 Confucius did not trouble himself to account for the 
 origin of man, nor did he pretend to know about his here- 
 after. 
 
 As to creation and the final destiny of man, we suggest that 
 the innate consciousness of the totality of the human race is 
 that the soul is immortal, and destined to an eternity of more 
 or less happiness, in proportion as man discharges, under his 
 free-agency, the laws of his Maker which have relation to his 
 being, as they are revealed to him. 
 
 This is all that God has ever revealed to man on the subject, 
 and it is most unquestionably all that it is well for him to 
 know. If man could know with certainty all that would take 
 place in relation to his future life on earth, it would entirely 
 unfit him for happiness. 
 
 Among the things which Confucius taught were " truthful- 
 ness and sincerity," which were celebrated as highly and 
 demanded as stringently by him as ever they have been by any 
 Christian moralist. One of Confucius' disciples asked if there 
 was one word which would serve as a rule of practice for all 
 one's life, and was answered, " Is not reciprocity such a 
 
370 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 word ? " What you do not want done to yourself, do not unto 
 others. 
 
 The people in China, as elsewhere, believe, what is the be- 
 ginning and end of all wisdom, that the laws of the moral 
 order of the world correspond to the universal conscience. 
 
 The following declarations of Confucius and others among 
 the Chinese were made five hundred years before Christ. 
 
 The last years of the life of Confucius were devoted to 
 editing the Sacred Books, or Kings. As we now have them, 
 they come from him. Authentic records of Chinese history 
 extend back to 2357 B.C., while the Chinese philosophy origin- 
 ated with Fuh-he, who lived about 3327 B.C. He it was who 
 substituted writing for the knotted strings which before formed 
 the only means of record. Confucius edited the Yih-King, the 
 Shoo King, the She- King, and the Leke, which constitute the 
 whole of the ancient literature of China which has come 
 down to posterity. 
 
 In Shoo-King a personal God is addressed. The oldest 
 books recognise a Divine Person: They teach that there is 
 one Supreme Being, who is omnipresent, who sees all things, 
 and has an intelligence which nothing can escape, that He 
 wishes men to live together in peace and brotherhood. He 
 commands not only right actions, but pure desires and 
 thoughts; that we should watch all our behaviour, and main- 
 tain a grave and majestic demeanour " which is like a palace 
 in which virtue resides," but especially that we should guard 
 the tongue. " For a blemish may be taken out of a diamond 
 by carefully polishing it; but, if your words have the least 
 blemish there is no way to efface that." ** Humility is the 
 solid foundation of all the virtues." " To acknowledge one's 
 incapacity is the way to be soon prepared to teach others, for 
 from the moment that a man is no longer full of himself, nor 
 puffed up with empty pride, whatever good he learns in the 
 morning he practises before night." " Heaven penetrates to 
 the bottom of our hearts, like light into a dark chamber. We 
 must conform ourselves to it, till we are like two instruments 
 of music tuned to the same pitch. We must join ourselves 
 with it, like two tablets which appear but one. We must re- 
 
Confucianism 371 
 
 ceive its gifts the very moment its hand is open to bestow. 
 Our irregular passions shut up the door of our souls against 
 God." 
 
 "Man has received his nature from Heaven. Conduct in 
 accordance with that nature constitutes what is right and 
 true, is a pursuing of the proper path. The cultivation or 
 regulation of that path is what is called instruction. 
 
 " Man has received from heaven a moral nature by which 
 he is constituted a law to himself ; over this nature man re- 
 quires to exercise a jealous watchfulness; and as he possesses 
 it, absolutely and relatively, in perfection, or attains to such 
 possession of it, he becomes invested with highest dignity and 
 power. 
 
 " The way of the superior man reaches far and wide, and 
 yet is secret, the path of duty is to be pursued everywhere 
 and at all times while yet the secret spring and rule of it is 
 near at hand, in the Heaven-conferred nature, the individual 
 consciousness, with which no stranger can intermeddle. 
 
 " When one cultivates to the utmost the moral principles of 
 his nature, and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, 
 he is not far from the path. What you do not like when done 
 to yourself, do not do to others: serve my father as I would 
 require my son to serve me; serve my elder brother as I would 
 require my younger brother to serve me ; set the example 
 in behaving to a friend as I would require him to behave 
 to me. 
 
 " Be earnest in practising the ordinary virtues, and careful 
 in speaking about them; if in his practice he has anything de- 
 fective, the superior man dares not but exert himself, and if 
 in his words he has any excess, he dares not allow himself 
 such licence; have respect to his actions, and his actions have 
 respect to his words; is it not just an entire sincerity which 
 marks the superior man ?" 
 
 " The duties of universal application " are those between 
 husband and wife, father and son, elder and younger brother, 
 and friends. 
 
 The sincere or perfect man is he who satisfies completely 
 all the requirements of duty in the various relations of 
 
37 2 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 society, and in the exercise of government. " There is gov- 
 ernment when the prince is prince, and the minister is minis- 
 ter, when the father is father, and the son is son." 
 
 There is a sufficient foundation in nature for government in 
 the several relations of society, and if those be maintained 
 and developed according to their relative significancy, it is 
 sure to obtain. This was a first principle in the political ethics 
 of Confucius. 
 
 The moment the ruler ceases to be a minister of God for 
 good and does not administer a government that is beneficial 
 to the people, he forfeits the title by which he holds the 
 throne, and perseverance in oppression will surely lead to his 
 overthrow. 
 
 " Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness 
 with kindness. He who recompenses injury with kindness is 
 a man who is careful of his person. Filial piety and fraternal 
 submission! are they not the root of all benevolent actions?" 
 " Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom asso- 
 ciated with true virtue." 
 
 The philosopher said: "I daily examine myself on two 
 points: whether, in transacting business for others, I may 
 not have been faithful; whether, in intercourse with friends 
 I may not have been sincere." 
 
 " A youth, when at home, should be filial, and abroad, 
 respectful to his elders. He should overflow in love to all, 
 and cultivate the friendship of the good. 
 
 " Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. 
 
 " When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them." 
 
 Tsze-kung said, "What do you pronounce concerning the 
 poor man who yet does not flatter, and the rich man who 
 is not proud ? " The Master replied, " They will do; but they 
 are not equal to him, who, though poor, is yet cheerful, and 
 to him, who, though rich, loves the rules of propriety." 
 
 " He who exercises government by means of his virtue, may 
 be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place 
 and all the stars turn towards it." In the Book of Poetry 
 are three hundred pieces, but the design of them all may be 
 embraced in Mat one sentence "Have no depraved thoughts." 
 
Confucianism 373 
 
 The duties of filial piety must be performed with a cheerful 
 countenance. 
 
 The Duke Gae asked, saying, " What should be done in 
 order to secure the submission of the people ? " Confucius 
 replied, "Advance the upright and set aside the crooked, 
 then the people will submit. Advance the crooked and set 
 aside the upright, then the people will not submit." 
 
 Ke K'ang asked how to cause the people to reverence their 
 ruler, to be faithful to him, and to urge themselves to virtue. 
 The Master said, "Let him preside over them with gravity; 
 then they will reverence him. Let him be filial and kind to 
 all; then they will be faithful to him. Let him advance the 
 good and teach the incompetent; then they will eagerly seek 
 to be virtuous." 
 
 The Master said: " I do not know how a man without truth- 
 fulness is to get on. How can a large carriage be made to go 
 without the crossbar for yoking the oxen to, or a small car- 
 riage without the arrangement for yoking the horses ? " 
 
 The Master said: "For a man to sacrifice to a spirit which 
 does not belong to him is flattery. 
 
 " To see what is right and not to do it, is want of courage. 
 
 " He who offends against Heaven has none to whom he can 
 pray. 
 
 " If the will be set on virtue there will be no practice of 
 wickedness. 
 
 " Riches and honours are what men desire. If it cannot be 
 obtained in the proper way, they should not be held. Poverty 
 and meanness are what men dislike. If it cannot be avoided 
 in the proper way, they should be endured. 
 
 " The superior man does not, even for the space of a single 
 meal, act contrary to virtue. In moments of haste, he cleaves 
 to it. In seasons of danger he cleaves to it. 
 
 " If a man in the morning hear the right way, he may die 
 in the evening without regret. 
 
 " A man should say, I am not concerned that I have no 
 place I am concerned how I may fit myself for one. I am 
 not concerned that I am not known, I seek to be worthy to 
 be known. My doctrine is that of an all-pervading unity. 
 
374 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 " Be true to the principles of our nature and the benevolent 
 exercise of them to others. 
 
 " When we see men of worth, we should think of equalling 
 them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should 
 turn inwards and examine ourselves. 
 
 " The cautious seldom err. 
 
 " The superior man wishes to be slow in his words and 
 earnest in his conduct. 
 
 "Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practises it 
 will have neighbours." 
 
 The Master said: "I have not seen a firm and unbending 
 man. Some one replied, " There is Shin Ch'ang." " Ch'ang," 
 said the Master, " is under the influence of his lusts; how can 
 he be firm and unbending ? " 
 
 The Master said of Tsze-ch'an that he had four of the 
 characteristics of a superior man: in his conduct of himself, 
 he was humble; in serving his superiors, he was respectful; in 
 nourishing the people, he was kind; in ordering the people, 
 he was just. 
 
 " In regard to the aged, give them rest; in regard to 
 friends, show them sincerity; in regard to the young, treat 
 them tenderly." 
 
 The Duke Gae asked which of the disciples love to learn. 
 Confucius replied to him, there was Yen Hwuy; he loved to 
 learn. He did not transfer his anger; he did not repeat a 
 fault. Unfortunately, his appointed time was short and he 
 died; and now there is not such another. I have not yet 
 heard of any one who loves to learn as he did. 
 
 " They who know the truth are not equal to those who love 
 it, and they who love it are not equal to those who find delight 
 it it." 
 
 Fan Ch'e asked what constituted wisdom. The Master 
 said: "To give one's self earnestly to the duties due to men. 
 The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first 
 business, and success only a subsequent consideration. 
 
 "The wise are active; the virtuous are tranquil. The wise 
 are joyful; the virtuous are long-lived. 
 
 "The superior man, extensively studying all learning, and 
 
Confucianism 375 
 
 keeping himself under the restraint of the rules of propriety, 
 may thus likewise not overstep what is right. 
 
 " Perfect is the virtue which is according to the Constant 
 Mean! 
 
 " The man of perfect virtue, wishing to be established him- 
 self, seeks also to establish others ; wishing to be enlarged 
 himself, he seeks also to enlarge others. 
 
 "To be able to judge of others by what is nigh in our- 
 selves; this may be called the art of virtue." 
 
 The Master said: " The leaving virtue without proper culti- 
 vation; the not thoroughly discussing what is learned; not 
 being able to move towards righteousness of which a know- 
 ledge is gained; and not being able to change what is not 
 good; these are the things which occasion me solicitude. 
 
 " Let the will be set on the path of duty. 
 
 " Let every attainment in what is good be firmly grasped. 
 
 " Let perfect virtue be accorded with. 
 
 " Let relaxation and enjoyment be found in the polite 
 arts." 
 
 The Master said, " With coarse rice to eat, with water to 
 drink, and my bended arm for a pillow I have still joy in 
 the midst of these things. Riches and honours acquired by 
 unrighteousness are to me as a floating cloud. 
 
 " Do you think, my disciples, that I have any concealments ? 
 I conceal nothing from you. Could I see a man possessed of 
 constancy, that would satisfy me. 
 
 " Having not and yet affecting to have, empty and yet 
 affecting to be full, straitened and yet affecting to be at ease 
 it is difficult with such characteristics to have constancy. 
 
 " Hearing much and selecting what is good and following it, 
 seeing much and keeping it in memory: this is the second style 
 of knowledge. 
 
 " Is virtue a thing remote ? I wish to be virtuous, and lo ! 
 virtue is at hand." 
 
 The Master said, " The sage and the man of perfect vir- 
 tue how dare I rank myself with them? It may simply be 
 said of me, that I strive to become such without satiety, and 
 teach others without weariness. 
 
37 6 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 " When those who are in high stations perform well all their 
 duties to their relations, the people are aroused to virtue. 
 
 " There are three principles of conduct which the man of 
 high rank should consider specially important: that in his 
 deportment and manner he keep from violence and heedless- 
 ness; that in regulating his countenance he keep near to sin- 
 cerity; and that in his words and tones he keep far from 
 lowness and impropriety. 
 
 " It is by the Odes that the mind is aroused. 
 
 " It is by the Rules of propriety that the character is estab- 
 lished. 
 
 " It is from Music that the finish is received." 
 
 The Master said, "It is not easy to find a man who has 
 learned for three years without coming to the good. 
 
 "With sincere faith he unites the love of learning; hold- 
 ing firm to death, he is perfecting the excellence of his 
 course. 
 
 " Learn as if you could not reach your object, and were 
 always fearing also lest you should lose it." 
 
 There were four things from which the Master was entirely 
 free. He had no foregone conclusions, no arbitrary prede- 
 terminations, no obstinacy, and no egotism. 
 
 " The prosecution of learning may be compared to what 
 may happen in raising a mound. It may be compared to 
 throwing down the earth on the level ground. Though but 
 one basketful is thrown at a time, the advancing with it is my 
 own going forward. 
 
 " Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. 
 
 " The commander of the forces of a large State may be 
 carried off, but the will of even a common man cannot be 
 taken from him. 
 
 "The wise are free from perplexities; the virtuous from 
 anxiety ; and the bold from fear. 
 
 " A great minister is one who serves his prince according 
 to what is right, and when he finds he cannot do so, retires. 
 
 " Look not at what is contrary to propriety ; listen not to 
 what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to 
 propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety." 
 
-,--_ ---- /r^^s^r^ 
 
 Confucianism 377 
 
 Chung-kung asked about perfect virtue. The Master said, 
 " It is when you go abroad, to behave to every one as if you 
 were receiving a great guest; not to do to others as you would 
 not wish done to yourself; to have no murmuring against you 
 in the country, and none in the family. 
 
 " Be cautious and slow in speech. 
 
 " When a man feels the difficulty of doing, can he be other 
 than cautious and slow in speaking ? 
 
 " When internal examination discovers nothing wrong, what 
 is there to be anxious about, what is there to fear ? 
 
 " He with whom neither slander that gradually soaks into 
 the mind, nor statements that startle like a wound in the flesh, 
 are successful, may be called intelligent, indeed, may be called 
 far-seeing. 
 
 " Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles, and be 
 moving continually to what is right: this is the way to exalt 
 one's virtue. 
 
 " The art of governing is to keep its affairs before the mind 
 without weariness, and to practise them with undeviating con- 
 sistency. 
 
 " The superior man seeks to perfect the admirable qualities 
 of men. 
 
 " To govern, means to rectify. If you lead on the people 
 with correctness, who will not dare to be correct ? 
 
 " The man of distinction is solid and straightforward, and 
 loves righteousness. 
 
 " To assail one's own wickedness and not assail that of 
 others this is the way to correct cherished evil. For a 
 morning's anger to disregard one's own life, and involve that 
 of one's parents is not this a case of delusion ? " 
 
 Fan Ch'e asked about benevolence. The Master said, "It is 
 to love all men. 
 
 " Employ the upright and put aside all the crooked ; in this 
 way, the crooked can be made to be upright. 
 
 " Faithfully admonish your friend, and kindly try to lead 
 him. 
 
 " When punishments are not properly awarded, the people 
 do not know how to move hand or foot. 
 
One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 " If he cannot rectify himself, what has he to do with recti- 
 fying others ? 
 
 " In the management of business, to be reverently atten- 
 tive; in intercourse with others, to be strictly sincere. 
 
 " The ardent will advance and lay hold of truth ; the 
 cautiously - decided will keep themselves from what is 
 wrong . 
 
 " The superior man is affable, but not adulatory; the mean 
 is adulatory, but not affable. 
 
 " The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The 
 mean man has pride without a dignified ease. 
 
 " The firm, the enduring, the simple, and the modest are 
 near to virtue. 
 
 " He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to 
 make his words good. 
 
 " The way of the superior man is threefold. Virtuous, he 
 is free from anxieties; wise, he is free from perplexities; bold, 
 he is free from fear." 
 
 " What do you say concerning the principle that injury 
 should be recompensed with kindness ? " 
 
 The Master said, " With what then will you recompense 
 kindness ? 
 
 " Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kind- 
 ness with kindness. 
 
 " If a man take no thought about what is distant, he will 
 find sorrow near at hand. 
 
 "The superior man in everything considers righteousness 
 to be essential. He performs it according to the rules of pro- 
 priety. He brings it forth in humility. He completes it with 
 sincerity. 
 
 "What the superior man seeks is in himself. What the 
 mean man seeks is in others." 
 
 " Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice 
 for all one's life ? " The Master said, " Is not Reciprocity such 
 a word ? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do 
 to others. 
 
 " Specious words confound virtue. Want of forbearance in 
 small matters confounds great plans. 
 
Confucianism 379 
 
 " To have faults and not to reform them, this indeed 
 should be pronounced having faults. 
 
 "By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to 
 be wide apart. 
 
 " If you are grave, you will not be treated with disrespect. 
 If you are generous, you will win all. If you are sincere, 
 people will repose trust in you. If you are earnest, you will 
 accomplish much. If you are kind, this will enable you to 
 employ the services of others. 
 
 "Without recognising the ordinances of Heaven, it is im- 
 possible to be a superior man. 
 
 " The illustrious virtue is the virtuous nature which man 
 derives from Heaven. 
 
 " The cultivation of the person is the prime, radical thing 
 required from all 
 
 " Let there be daily renovation. What truly is within will 
 be manifested without. 
 
 " Riches adorn a house, and virtue adorns the person. The 
 cultivation of the person depends on the rectifying of the 
 mind. The regulation of one's family depends on the cultiva- 
 tion of his person. 
 
 " There are few men in the world who love, and at the same 
 time know the bad qualities of the object of their love, or 
 who hate, and yet know the excellences of the object of their 
 hatred. 
 
 " Act as if you were watching over an infant. If a mother 
 is really anxious about it, though she may not hit exactly the 
 wants of her infant, she will not be far from doing so. 
 
 " From the loving example of one family a whole State be- 
 comes loving, and from its courtesies, the whole State becomes 
 courteous. 
 
 " The ruler must himself be possessed of the good qualities, 
 and then he may require them in the people. When the ruler, 
 as a father, a son, and a brother, is a model, then the people 
 imitate him. 
 
 " When the sovereign behaves to his aged, as the aged should 
 be behaved to, the people become filial; when the sovereign 
 behaves to his elders, as elders should be behaved to, the 
 
380 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 people learn brotherly submission; when the sovereign treats 
 compassionately the young and helpless, the people do the 
 same. Thus the ruler has a principle with which, as a meas- 
 uring square, he may regulate his conduct. The ruler's words 
 going forth contrary to right will come back to him in the 
 same way, and wealth, gotten by improper ways, will take its 
 departure by the same. 
 
 "To love those whom men hate, and to hate those whom 
 men love; this is to outrage the natural feeling of man. 
 
 " Let there be activity in the production, and economy in 
 the expenditure. Then the wealth will always be sufficient. 
 
 "What Heaven has conferred is called THE NATURE; an 
 accordance with this nature is called THE PATH of duty; the 
 regulation of path is called INSTRUCTION. 
 
 " While there are no stirrings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, or 
 joy, the mind may be said to be in the state of Equilibrium. 
 When those feelings have been stirred and they act in their 
 due degree, there ensues what may be called the state of Har- 
 mony. This Equilibrium is the great root from which grow 
 all the human actings in the world, and this Harmony is the 
 universal path which they all should pursue. 
 
 " Let the states of equilibrium and harmony exist in perfec- 
 tion, and a happy order will prevail throughout heaven and 
 earth, and all things will be nourished and flourish. 
 
 " To show forbearance and gentleness in teaching others, 
 and not to revenge unreasonable conduct. 
 
 " When men try to pursue a course which is far from the 
 indications of consciousness, this course cannot be considered 
 THE PATH. 
 
 " In hewing an axe-handle, the pattern is not far off. We 
 grasp one axe-handle to hew the other, and yet, if we look 
 askance from the one to the other, we may consider them 
 as apart. 
 
 " When one cultivates to the utmost the principles of his 
 nature, and exercises them on the principle of reciprocity, he 
 is not far from the path. 
 
 " The superior man can find himself in no situation in 
 which he is not himself. 
 
Confucianism 
 
 " Happy union with wife and children is like the music of 
 lutes and harps. When there is concord among brethren, the 
 harmony is delightful and enduring. 
 
 "How abundantly do spiritual beings display the powers 
 that belong to them. 
 
 "We look for them, but do not see them; we listen to, but 
 do not hear them; yet they enter into all things, and there is 
 nothing without them; like overflowing water, they seem to be 
 over the heads, and on the right and left of their worship- 
 pers." 
 
 It is said in the Book of Poetry : " The approaches of the 
 spirits you cannot surmise; and can you treat them with in- 
 difference ? 
 
 " Such is the manifestness of what is minute ! Such is the 
 impossibility of repressing the outgoings of sincerity. 
 
 " He who is greatly virtuous will be sure to receive the ap- 
 pointment of Heaven. 
 
 ** The administration of government lies in getting proper 
 men. Such men are to be got by means of the ruler's own 
 character. That character is to be cultivated by his treading 
 in the ways of duty. And the treading those ways of duty is 
 to be cultivated by the cherishing of benevolence. 
 
 " Benevolence is the characteristic element of humanity. 
 Righteousness is the accordance of actions with what is right. 
 
 " If principles of conduct have been previously determined, 
 the practice of them will be inexhaustible. 
 
 " Sincerity is the way of Heaven. The attainment of sin- 
 cerity is the way of men. To this attainment there are re- 
 quisite the extensive study of what is good, accurate inquiry 
 about it, careful reflection on it, the clear discrimination of it, 
 and the earnest practice of it. 
 
 " Let a man proceed in this way, and, though dull, he will 
 surely become intelligent; though weak, he will surely become 
 strong. It is only he who is possessed of the most complete 
 sincerity that can give full development to his nature. 
 
 " He who cultivates to the utmost the shoots of goodness in 
 him. From those he can attain to the possession of sincerity. 
 This sincerity becomes apparent. From being apparent it 
 
382 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 becomes manifest. From being manifest it becomes brilliant. 
 Brilliant, it affects others. Affecting others, they are changed 
 by it. Changed by it, they are transformed. 
 
 " Heaven and earth are without any doubleness, and so 
 they produce things in a manner that is unfathomable. 
 
 " What needs no display is virtue. 
 
 " Learn the past and you will know the future. 
 
 " Grieve not that men know not you; grieve that you know 
 not men. 
 
 "The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply it; not 
 having it, to confess your ignorance. 
 
 " Worship as though the Deity were present. 
 
 " If my mind is not engaged in my worship, it is as though 
 I worshipped not." 
 
 MEXICO AND PERU 
 
 The social condition of Mexico and Peru, at the time of the 
 discovery of America, demonstrates what is claimed in the in- 
 troduction of this work, that similar usages make their appear- 
 ance spontaneously in the progress of civilisation of different 
 countries, showing how little they depend on accident, how 
 closely they are connected with the nature and organisation, 
 and therefore with the necessities of man. From important 
 ideas and great institutions down to the most trifling incidents 
 of domestic life, so striking is the parallel between the Ameri- 
 can aborigines and the Europeans that with difficulty do we di- 
 vest ourselves of the impression that there must have been some 
 intercommunication. Each was, however, pursuing an isolated 
 and spontaneous progress; and yet how closely does the pict- 
 ure of life in the New World answer to that in the Old! The 
 monarch of Mexico lived in pomp; wore a golden crown re- 
 splendent with gems; was aided in his duties by a privy coun- 
 cil; the great lords held their lands of him by the obligation 
 of military service. In him resided the legislative power, yet 
 he was subject to the laws of the realm. The judges held 
 their office independently of him, and were not liable to re- 
 moval by him. The laws were reduced to writing, which, 
 
Mexico and Peru 383 
 
 though only a system of hieroglyphics, served its purpose so 
 well that the Spaniards were obliged to admit its validity in 
 their courts and to found a professorship for perpetuating 
 a knowledge of it. Marriage was regarded as an important 
 social engagement. Divorces were granted with difficulty. 
 
 In the human hives of Europe, Asia, and America, the bees 
 were marshalled in the same way and were instinctively build- 
 ing their combs alike. 
 
 The religious state, that is, true religion, is a reflection of 
 that of Europe and Asia, as also their theology. Their wor- 
 ship was mixed up with imposing ceremonial. The common 
 people had a mythology of many gods, but the higher classes 
 were strictly Unitarian, acknowledging one almighty, invisible 
 Creator. Of the popular deities, the god of war was the chief. 
 With sedulous zeal the clergy engrossed the duty of public 
 education, thereby keeping society in their grasp. 
 
 The condition of astronomy in Mexico is illustrated, as it is 
 in Egypt, by the calendar. At the conquest, the Mexican 
 calendar was in a better condition than the Spanish. They 
 had sun-dials for determining the hour, and also instruments 
 for the solstices and the equinoxes. They had ascertained 
 the globular form of the earth and the obliquity of the ecliptic. 
 Their agriculture was superior to that of Europe; there was 
 nothing in the Old World to compare with the menageries and 
 botanical gardens. 
 
 They employed a currency of gold dust, pieces of tin, and 
 bags of cacao. In their domestic economy, though polygamy 
 was permitted, it was in practice confined to the wealthy. 
 The women did not work abroad, but occupied themselves in 
 spinning, embroidering, feather-work, music. Ablution was 
 resorted to both before and after meals; perfumes were used 
 at the toilet. The Mexicans gave to Europe tobacco, snuff, 
 the turkey, chocolate, cochineal. Like us, they had in their 
 entertainments solid dishes, with suitable condiments, gravies, 
 sauces, and desserts of pastries, confections, fruits, both fresh 
 and preserved. They had chafing-dishes of silver or gold. 
 Like us, they knew the use of intoxicating drinks; like us, 
 they not infrequently took them to excess; like us, they 
 
384 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 heightened their festivities with dancing and music. They 
 had theatrical and pantomimic shows. At Tezcuco there was 
 a council of music, which, moreover, exercised a censorship 
 on philosophical works, as those of astronomy and history. 
 In that city North American civilisation had reached its height. 
 The king's palace was a wonderful work of art. It was said 
 that two hundred thousand men were employed in its 
 construction. 
 
 The prevailing religious feeling is expressed by the senti- 
 ments of one of the kings, many of whom had prided themselves 
 in their poetical skill: " Let us," he says, " aspire to that heaven 
 where all is eternal, and where corruption never comes." He 
 taught his children not to confide in idols, but only to conform 
 to the outward worship of them in deference to public opinion. 
 
 To the preceding description of the social condition of 
 Mexico we shall add a similar brief account of that of Peru; 
 for the conclusions to be drawn from a comparison of the 
 spontaneous process of civilisation in these two countries with 
 the process in Europe are of importance to the attainment of 
 a just idea of the development of mankind. The most com- 
 petent authorities declare that the Mexicans and Peruvians 
 were ignorant of each other's existence. 
 
 The state of Peruvian civilisation is at once demonstrated 
 when it is said that these mountain slopes had become a 
 garden, immense terraces having been constructed wherever 
 required, and irrigation on a grander scale than that of Egypt 
 carried on by gigantic canals and aqueducts. Advantage was 
 aken of the different mean annual temperatures at different 
 altitudes to pursue the cultivation of various products, for 
 difference in height topographically answers to difference in 
 latitude geographically; and thus, in a narrow space, the Peru- 
 vians had every variety of temperature, from that correspond- 
 ing to the hottest portions of Southern Europe to that of 
 Lapland. In the mountains of Peru, as has been graphically 
 said, man sees " all the stars of the heavens and all the families 
 of plants." On plateaux at a great elevation above the sea 
 there were villages and even cities. Thus the plain upon which 
 Quito stands, under the equator, is nearly ten thousand feet 
 
Mexico and Peru 385 
 
 high. So great was their industry that the Peruvians had gar- 
 dens and orchards above the clouds; and on ranges still higher 
 flocks of lamas, in regions bordering on the limit of perpetual 
 snow. 
 
 Through the entire length of the empire two great military 
 roads were built; one on the plateau, the other on the shore. 
 The former, for nearly two thousand miles, crossed sierras 
 covered with snow, was thrown over ravines, or went through 
 tunnels in the rocks. 
 
 The public couriers, as in Mexico, could make, if necessary, 
 two hundred miles a day. Of these roads, Humboldt says 
 that they were among the most useful and most stupendous 
 ever executed by the hand of man. 
 
 In Cuzco, the metropolis, was the imperial residence of the 
 Inca and the Temple of the Sun. It contained edifices which 
 excited the amazement of the Spanish. 
 
 The Peruvian religion ostensibly consisted of a worship of 
 the sun, but the higher classes had already become emanci- 
 pated from such a material association and recognised the ex- 
 istence of one almighty, invisible God. They expected the 
 resurrection of the body and the continuance of the soul in a 
 future life. 
 
 To the Supreme Being but one temple was dedicated. It 
 was in a sacred valley to which pilgrimages were made. 
 
 Besides the sun, the visible god, other celestial bodies were 
 worshipped in a subordinate way. 
 
 As to the people, nowhere else in the whole world was such 
 an extraordinary policy of supervision practised. 
 
 They were divided into groups of ten, fifty, one hundred, five 
 hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, and over the last an Inca 
 noble was placed. Through this system a rigid centralisation 
 was ensured, the Inca being the pivot upon which all the na- 
 tional affairs turned. It was an absolutism worthy of the ad- 
 miration of many existing European nations. 
 
 The Inca, at once emperor and pope, was enabled in that 
 double capacity to exert a rigorous patriarchal rule over his 
 people, who were treated like children, not suffered to be 
 
 oppressed. Industry was encouraged ; for, with a worldly 
 
 25 
 
386 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 wisdom which no other nation presents, labour was here ac- 
 knowledged not only as a means but also as an end. It was 
 the boast of the system that every one lived exempt from 
 social suffering, that all enjoyed competence. 
 
 In their extraordinary provisions for agriculture, the national 
 Pursuit, the skill of the Peruvians is well seen. 
 
 A rapid elevation from the sea-level to the heights of the 
 mountains gave them, in a small compass, every variety of 
 climate, and they availed themselves of it. They terraced 
 the mountainsides, filling the terraces with rich earth. They 
 excavated pits in the sand, surrounded them with adobe walls, 
 and filled them with manured soil. On the low level they cul- 
 tivated bananas and cassava; on the terraces above, maize and 
 quinoa; still higher, tobacco; and above that, the potato. 
 From a comparatively limited surface they raised great crops 
 by judiciously using manures, employing for that purpose fish, 
 and especially guano. Their example has led to the use of 
 the latter substance for a like purpose in our own times in 
 Europe. The whole civilised world has followed them in the 
 cultivation of the potato. 
 
 We have dwelt at some length on the domestic history of 
 Mexico and Peru because it is intimately connected with one 
 of the philosophical principles which it is the object of this 
 book to teach; viz., that human progress takes place under an 
 unvarying law and therefore in a definite way. The trivial 
 incidents mentioned in the preceding paragraphs may perhaps 
 have seemed insignificant and wearisome, but it is their very 
 commonness, their very familiarity, that gives them, when 
 rightly considered, a surprising interest. There is nothing in 
 these minute details but what we find to be perfectly natural 
 from the European point of view. They might be, for that 
 matter, instead of reminiscences of the spontaneous evolution 
 of a people shut out from the rest of the world by impassable 
 oceans, a relation of the progress of some European or Asiatic 
 nation. The man of America proceeded forward in his course 
 of civilisation as did the man of the Old World, devising the 
 same institutions, guided by the same intentions, constrained 
 by the same desires. From the great features of his social 
 
Mexico and Peru 387 
 
 system down to the little details of his domestic life, there is a 
 sameness with what was done in Asia, Africa, Europe. But 
 similar results imply a similar cause. What, then, is there 
 possessed in common by the Chinese, the Hindoo, the Egypt- 
 ian, the European, the American ? Simply nothing but the 
 sameness of the endowments which constitute human nature 
 God working through man to produce His will and pleas- 
 ure. The same instincts, intuitions, incentives, and common 
 sense guide men all over the world. Man in his social pro- 
 gress, upon the free-will of which he so prides himself, in his 
 individual capacity gives way, or is modified by the action 
 and influence of others and the domination of general laws, 
 so that God's exact purpose in creating man shall be attained; 
 notwithstanding that individual man (short-sighted as he is) 
 has partial control over his destiny. 
 
 The free agency of the individual is so restrained by in- 
 stincts, intuitions, and other influences, that none can hope- 
 lessly stray from the path assigned to him. To each individual 
 bee the career is open; he may taste of this flower and avoid 
 that; he may be industrious in the garden, or idle away his 
 time in the air; but the history of one hive is the history of 
 another hive; there will be a predestined organisation the 
 queen, the drones, the workers. In the midst of a thousand 
 unforeseen, uncalculated, variable acts, a definite result, with 
 unerring certainty, emerges; the combs are built in a pre- 
 ordained way, and filled with honey at last. At the time 
 of the conquest the moral man in Peru was fully equal to the 
 Europeans, and we will add, the intellectual man also. Nor in 
 Spain, nor even in all Europe, was there to be found a political 
 system carried out into the practical details of actual life, 
 and expressed in great public works as its outward, visible, 
 and enduring sign, which could at all compare with that of 
 Peru. 
 
 Manco Capac is generally spoken of by historians as having 
 introduced the worship of the sun; this mistake seems to have 
 arisen from the title of the GREAT LIGHT, by which many 
 branches of the Indian people characterised the Creator, and 
 this is perfectly scriptural, as we are taught to consider the 
 
388 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 sun as a symbol or representation of that great moral Light 
 and Life which is emphatically called the " Sun of Righteous- 
 ness." The sun is illustrative of the Divine power and God- 
 head, as well as are all other works of the Creator; the term 
 Great Light, and its symbol the sun, seem to have been consid- 
 ered by historians a synonym; and therefore they have errone- 
 ously charged the Incas with the worship of the sun, instead 
 of the great moral Light by whom as men, and as a commun- 
 ity, they were greatly enlightened. 
 
 The following were among the regulations for governing the 
 people: There were judges in small controversies. Idleness 
 was punished with stripes. Each colony had a supreme judge. 
 Theft, murder, and adultery were punished chiefly by death, 
 in order not to leave a bad man more incensed or necessitated 
 to commit new crimes. 
 
 These laws had so good an effect that sometimes a year 
 passed without one execution. ..." After a long and re- 
 vered reign, at the approach of the last period of life, Mango 
 Capac called together all his children and grandchildren; he 
 told them he was going to repose himself with his Father. 
 To his eldest son he left his empire, and advised and charged 
 them all to continue in the paths of reason and virtue, which 
 he had taught them, until they followed him on the same 
 journey, and that this was the only course by which they 
 could prove themselves the children of the GREAT LIGHT, and 
 as such be honoured and respected. He commanded his suc- 
 cessor, whose name was Sinchi Roca, to govern his people 
 with justice, mercy, piety, clemency, and care of the poor; 
 and that when he should go to rest, etc., he should give the same 
 instructions and exhortations to his successor." 
 
 Inca Roca erected schools for the education of the princes; 
 it was a saying of this Inca that " If there be anything in this 
 lower world which we might adore, it is a wise and virtuous 
 man, who surpasses all other objects in dignity; but how can 
 we pay Divine honours to one who is born in tears, who is in 
 a daily state of change, who arrived but as yesterday, and who 
 is not exempt from death perhaps to-morrow." 
 
 Pacha Cutec (the reformer) made many new laws and regul- 
 
Mexico and Peru 3 8 9 
 
 ations; he was severely just, and was esteemed a wise monarch. 
 The following were some of his apophthegms: 
 
 " He who envies the wise and good is like the wasp which 
 sucks poison from the finest flowers." 
 
 " Drunkenness and anger admit of reformation, but folly is 
 incurable." 
 
 " He who kills another unlawfully condemns himself to 
 death." 
 
 " A noble and generous heart is known by the patience with 
 which it supports adversity." 
 
 " How ridiculous is he who is not able to count by quipos, 
 and yet pretends to number the stars." 
 
 The Inca Yupanqui was, by universal consent, surnamed 
 the charitable. His son Tupac Yupanqui preserved the con- 
 quests of his virtuous predecessors; he " governed his empire 
 with wisdom and mildness." The emperor at length, feeling 
 the approach of death, gave orders that his children " should 
 come into his presence to hear his last injunctions." He 
 recommended them by living in peace and justice to prove 
 themselves the true children of the Supreme Light. 
 
 Among other maxims of this Inca, he said: "Avarice and 
 ambition like other passions have no bounds of moderation: 
 the first unfits a man for the government of his own family, or 
 for any public employment; the second renders the under- 
 standing not susceptible of the counsels of the wise and 
 virtuous." 
 
 " In the kingdom of Acolhuan, the judicial power was 
 divided amongst seven principal cities. The judges remained 
 in their tribunals from sunrise until sunset. Their meals were 
 brought to them, that they might not be taken off from their 
 employment by the concerns of their families, nor have any 
 excuse for being corrupted. They were assigned possessions, 
 and also labourers to cultivate their fields. Those possessions 
 belonged to their office, and could not be inherited by their 
 sons. Every Mexican month (twenty days) an assembly of 
 judges was held before the king, in order to determine all 
 cases then undecided. If very intricate and perplexing, they 
 were, if not then decided, reserved for the grand solemn 
 
39 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 general assembly, which was held every eighty days, and 
 was called the conference of the eighty; at which all cases 
 were finally disposed of, and punishment pronounced on the 
 guilty." 
 
 He who at market altered the measures established by law, 
 was guilty of felony, and was severely punished. 
 
 A murderer forfeited his own life for his crime, even al- 
 though the person murdered was a slave. 
 
 " In the legislature of Acolhuan, if a nobleman was intox- 
 icated to the losing of his senses, he was thrown into a river 
 or lake; if a plebeian, for the first offence he lost his liberty, 
 for the second his life. And when the legislator was asked 
 why the law was more severe upon nobles than others, he 
 answered that the crime of drunkenness was less pardonable 
 in them, as they were bound in duty to set a good example." 
 
 Hardwick says: There is reason to believe that some of 
 these advances towards civilisation in Mexico should be dated 
 from a very high antiquity especially in Yucatan; that Mexi- 
 cans had borrowed largely from the Mayan builders, who al- 
 ready, in the dawn of history, had erected towns and palaces 
 and pyramid temples, rivalling those of Egypt in area and 
 magnificence; their creed, their laws, their ritual, and admin- 
 istrative principles had all assumed a very definite and dis- 
 tinctive character. 
 
 The wild man of America expresses a belief in some Great 
 Spirit (Mr. Schoolcraft says this doctrine is at the base of 
 their religion ; Mr. Prescott says " that the rude tribes in- 
 habiting the vast American continent had attained to the sub- 
 blime conception of one Great Spirit, the Creator of the 
 universe "), manifesting itself, not only as the root and basis 
 of all being, but in the light of a beneficent Creator. 
 
 The Mexican name for God is Teo-tl. The Mexicans beheld 
 in Him the being " by whom we live," " omnipresent, that 
 knoweth all thoughts and giveth all gifts," " without whom 
 man is as nothing," " invisible, incorporeal, one God of per- 
 fect perfection and purity," " under whose wings we find 
 repose and a sure defence." This Being also had been 
 worshipped by some elevated spirits, without image, sacrifice, 
 
The Talmud 39 1 
 
 or temple. He was called the " Cause of causes," and the 
 " Father of all things." 
 
 In the address of the Mexican high-priest, the language 
 runs as follows: "We entreat that those who die in war may 
 be graciously received by Thee, our Father." 
 
 The Mexicans conceive the proper home of the Divine 
 Being to be in the heavens; He is declared to be impalpable 
 as "night and air." 
 
 THE TALMUD 
 
 Among the ancient literature of the Hebrews was the Tal- 
 mud, containing the laws and compilations of expositions of 
 duties imposed upon the people by Scripture, by traditions, 
 by authority of their doctors, or by custom. The period of 
 time over which the composition of the Talmud ranges is 
 about one thousand years, and its origin is coeval with the 
 return from the Babylonish captivity. 
 
 " Six hundred and thirteen injunctions " (says the Talmud) 
 " was Moses instructed to give the people." David reduced 
 them all to eleven in the fifteenth Psalm : " Lord who shall 
 abide in thy tabernacle ? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill ? 
 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and 
 speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with 
 his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a 
 reproach against his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person 
 is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He 
 that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that 
 putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh a reward 
 against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never 
 be moved." 
 
 The prophet Isaiah reduced them to six (xxxiii., 15): " He 
 that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly, he that 
 despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from 
 holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from the hearing of 
 blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell 
 on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; 
 bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure." 
 
39 2 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 The prophet Micah reduced them to three (vi., 8): "What 
 doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, love mercy, and 
 walk humbly with thy God ? " 
 
 Isaiah once more reduced them to two (Ivi., i): "Keep ye 
 judgment and do justice." 
 
 Amos reduced them all to one (v., 4.): " Seek me and ye 
 shall live." 
 
 But lest it might be supposed from this that God could be 
 found in the fulfilment of His whole law only, Habakkuk 
 said (ii., 4.): " The just shall live by faith." 
 
 As God is pure, so the soul is pure. This purity is specially 
 dwelt upon in contradistinction to the theory of hereditary 
 sin, which is denied. 
 
 There is no everlasting damnation according to the 
 Talmud. There is only a temporary punishment even for the 
 worst sinners. No human being is excluded from the world 
 to come. The punishment of the wicked is not specified, as 
 indeed all the descriptions of the next world are left vague, 
 yet with regard to Paradise, the idea of something inconceiv- 
 ably glorious is conveyed at every step. 
 
 The " philosophy of religion " will be best comprehended 
 by some of those "small coins," the popular and pithy 
 sayings, gnomes, proverbs, and the rest, which, even better 
 than street songs, characterise a time. We have thought it 
 preferable to give them at random as we found them, instead 
 of building up from them a system of " Ethics " or " Duties 
 of the Heart." We have naturally preferred the better and 
 more characteristic ones that came in our way. 
 
 " Be thou the cursed, not he who curses. Be of them that 
 are persecuted, not of them that persecute. Look at Script- 
 ure: there is not a single bird more persecuted than the dove; 
 yet God has chosen her to be offered up on His altar. The 
 bull is hunted by the lion, the sheep by the wolf, the goat by 
 the tiger. And God said, ' Bring me a sacrifice, not from 
 them that persecute, but from them that are persecuted.' 
 ' Has God pleasure in the meat and blood of sacrifices ?' asks 
 the prophet. No; He has not so much ordained as permitted 
 them. It is for yourselves, He says, not for Me, that you offer. 
 
The Talmud 393 
 
 Even when the gates of prayer are shut in heaven, those of 
 tears are open. When the righteous dies it is the earth that 
 loses. The aim and end of all wisdom is good works. The 
 dying benediction of a sage to his disciples was: 'I pray for 
 you that the fear of heaven may be as strong upon you as the 
 fear of man. You avoid sin before the face of the latter: 
 avoid it before the face of the All-seeing.' * If your God 
 hates idolatry, why does He not destroy it?' a heathen 
 asked. And they answered him: 'Behold, they worship the 
 sun, the moon, the stars; would you have Him destroy this 
 beautiful world for the sake of the foolish ? ' 'If your God 
 is a " friend of the poor," ' asked another, ' why does He not 
 support them ? ' * Their case,' a sage answered, ' is left in our 
 hands, that we may thereby acquire merits.' ' But what a 
 merit it is! ' the other replied; ' suppose I am angry with one of 
 my slaves, and forbid him food and drink, and some one goes 
 and gives it him furtively, shall I be much pleased ?' ' Not so,' 
 the other replied. ' Suppose you are wroth with your only son 
 and imprison him without food, and some good man has pity 
 on the child, and saves him from the pangs of hunger, would 
 you be so very angry with the man ? And we, if we are 
 called servants of God, are also called ..His children. He who 
 has more learning than good works is like a tree with many 
 branches but few roots, which the first wind throws on its 
 face; whilst he whose works are greater than his knowledge is 
 like a tree with many roots and fewer branches, but which all 
 the winds of heaven cannot uproot.' " 
 
 Love your wife like yourself, honour her more than your- 
 self. Whosoever lives unmarried, lives without joy, without 
 comfort, without blessing. Descend a step in choosing a wife. 
 If thy wife is small, bend down to her and whisper into her ear. 
 He who forsakes the love of his youth, God's altar weeps for 
 him. He who sees his wife die before him, has, as it were, 
 been present at the destruction of the sanctuary itself around 
 him the world grows dark. It is woman alone through whom 
 God's blessings are vouchsafed to a house. She teaches the 
 children, speeds the husband to the place of worship and 
 instruction, welcomes him when he returns, keeps the house 
 
394 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 godly and pure, and God's blessings rest upon all these things. 
 The birds in the air even despise the miser. He who gives 
 charity in secret is greater than Moses himself. Honour 
 the sons of the poor, it is they who bring science into splen- 
 dour. Let the honour of thy neighbour be to thee like 
 thine own. Hospitality is an important part of Divine wor- 
 ship. There are three crowns : of the law, the priesthood, 
 the kingship ; but the crown of a good name is greater than 
 them all. 
 
 How can you escape sin? Think of three things: whence 
 thou comest, whither thou goest, and to whom thou wilt have 
 to account for all thy deeds; even to the King of kings, the 
 All-Holy, praised be He. Four shall not enter Paradise: the 
 scoffer, the liar, the hypocrite, and the slanderer. There is a 
 great difference between him who is ashamed before his own 
 self, and him who is only ashamed before others. It is a good 
 sign in man to be capable of being ashamed. One contrition 
 in man's heart is better than many flagellations. He who 
 walks daily over his estates finds a little coin each time. He 
 who humiliates himself will be lifted up; he who raises himself 
 up will be humiliated. Whosoever runs after greatness, great- 
 ness runs away from him; he who runs from greatness, greatness 
 follows him. He who curbs his wrath, his sins will be for- 
 given. Whosoever does not persecute them that persecute 
 him, whosoever takes an offence in silence, he who does good 
 because of love, he who is cheerful under his sufferings they 
 are the friends of God, and of them the Scripture says, "And 
 they shall shine forth as does the sun at noonday." Pride is like 
 idolatry. Commit a sin twice and you will think it perfectly 
 allowable. When the end of a man is come, everybody lords 
 it over him. The day is short, and the work is great; but the 
 labourers are idle, though the reward be great and the master 
 of the work presses. It is not incumbent upon thee to com- 
 plete the work; but thou must not therefore cease from it. If 
 thou hast worked much, great shall be thy reward; for the 
 Master who employed thee is faithful in his payment. But 
 know that the true reward is not of this world. " Have a 
 care in legal decisions, send forth many disciples, and make a 
 
The Talmud 395 
 
 fence around the law." " On three things stands the world: 
 on law, on worship, and on charity." 
 
 " Of all things, the most hated were idleness and asceticism; 
 piety and learning themselves only received their proper 
 estimation when joined to healthy bodily work. It is well 
 to add a trade to your studies ; you will then be free from 
 sin." 
 
 Before leaving this period of Mishnic development, we have 
 yet to speak of one or two things. This period is the one in 
 which Christianity arose; and it may be as well to touch here 
 upon the relation between Christianity and the Talmud. The 
 New Testament, written, as Lightfoot has it, " among Jews, 
 by Jews, for Jews," cannot but speak the language of the 
 time, both as to form and, broadly speaking, as to contents. 
 There are many more vital points of contact between the New 
 Testament and the Talmud than divines seem fully to realise, 
 for such terms as "Redemption," "Baptism," "Grace," 
 " Faith," " Salvation," " Regeneration," " Son of man," " Son 
 of God," "Kingdom of Heaven," were not, as we are apt to 
 think, invented by Christianity, but were household words of 
 Talmudical Judaism. No less loud and bitter in the Talmud 
 are the protests against " lip-serving," against " making the 
 law a burden to the people," against " laws that hang on 
 hairs," against "Priests and Pharisees." The fundamental 
 mysteries of the new faith are matters totally apart; but the 
 Ethics in both are, in their broad outlines, identical. That 
 grand dictum, " Do unto others as thou wouldst be done by," 
 is quoted by Hillel, the President, at whose death Jesus was 
 ten years of age, not as anything new, but as an old and well- 
 known dictum "that comprised the whole Law." "Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," is a precept of the Old 
 Testament, as Christ himself taught his disciples. The "Law," 
 as we have seen and shall further see, was developed, to a 
 marvellously and perhaps oppressively minute pitch. " The 
 faith of the heart " was a thing that stood much higher with 
 the Pharisees than this outward law. It was a thing, they 
 said, not to be commanded by any ordinance; yet was greater 
 than all. 
 
396 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 About 30 years B.C. Hillel became President. Of his meek- 
 ness, his piety, his benevolence, the Talmudical records are 
 full. A few of his sayings will characterise him better than 
 any sketch of ours could do. " Be a disciple of Aaron, a 
 friend of peace, a promoter of peace, a friend of all men, 
 and draw them near unto the Law." 4< Do not believe in thy- 
 self till the day of thy death." 
 
 " Do not judge thy neighbour until thou hast stood in his 
 place." "Whosoever does not increase in knowledge de- 
 creases." One day a heathen went to Shammai, the head of 
 the rival academy, and asked him mockingly to convert him 
 to the law while he stood on one leg. The irate master turned 
 him from the door. He then went to Hillel, who received 
 him kindly and gave him that reply, since so widely propa- 
 gated: "Do not unto another what thou wouldst not have 
 another do unto thee. This is the whole Law, the rest is mere 
 commentary." 
 
 EGYPTIAN HISTORY 
 
 It is ascertained to a certainty by the reading of hiero- 
 glyphics on the monuments of Egypt that as long as five 
 thousand years ago Egypt was an old country, and the wild 
 barbarian state, " when wild in woods the noble savage ran," 
 appears as remote from that period as from the present. 
 
 Art, luxury, even the vices of wealth and power are ap- 
 parent, but of the so-called state of nature nothing is to be 
 seen. The earliest king of all Egypt must have ascended the 
 throne about B.C. 3643, and the paintings in the tombs at Beni- 
 Hassan must date at least B.C. 2800; giving them at this time 
 an actual antiquity very little short of five thousand years: for 
 they bear the names of that far-famed king of the twelfth 
 dynasty whose extraordinary stature, extensive conquests, and 
 long reign are recorded by Manethon and Herodotus. His 
 name is variously written by the different transcribers: in 
 some it is Sesostris, in others Sesonchosis, and on the monu- 
 ments, Sesortesen. 
 
 It was at one of the most brilliant periods of the Egyptian 
 monarchy, therefore, that we have the elaborate representa- 
 
Egyptian History 397 
 
 tion of social life which these tombs afford: and this brilliant 
 period was apparently anterior by many centuries to the birth 
 even of Abraham. 
 
 At this epoch, five thousand years ago, the Egyptians were 
 skilled in the art of glass-blowing, the smelting and working 
 of metals, weaving, pottery, brick making, boat building, rope 
 making, preparing leather, making wine from the grape, writ- 
 ing, painting, sculpture; they had saws for the carpenter, 
 sickles for the reaper, scythes for the cutter of stubble, chisels 
 for the sculptor ; their buildings were supported by columns; 
 they had gardens elaborately laid out, boats covered like a 
 gondola to protect the passenger from the rays of the sun; the 
 rich enjoyed field sports in their preserves, which were stocked 
 with wild animals by the labour of slaves; ladies had their 
 social meetings, where they were entertained by flute players 
 and admired or criticised each other's dress; guests came to 
 feasts in chariots drawn by caparisoned horses, and were enter- 
 tained by tumblers and dancing girls, dressed in transparent 
 robes, for the manufacture of which Egypt was always famous. 
 
 From the above enumeration of what we are wont to term 
 the arts of civilisation, we might fancy ourselves introduced 
 to the dominions of a Hindoo prince of our own times. No! 
 It is the picture of an age of the world when primeval barbar- 
 ism has been supposed to have prevailed. 
 
 Trace back the Egyptians from the age of the great Se- 
 sortesen toward that of the founder of the sole monarchy, and 
 what do we find ? Pyramids, obelisks, gigantic statues, temples ; 
 all the evidences of wealth and power. Writing materials are 
 depicted on the monuments of the fourth dynasty. The age 
 of barbarism, like the rainbow, recedes at the attempt to 
 follow it. 
 
 The priests here, as in all other countries, were a favoured 
 class segregated from the rest by their learning and their 
 riches, no less than by their privilege of caste; despising the 
 ignorance of the lower orders, they devised ceremonies to 
 amuse, rather than to enlighten them; and thus perpetuated 
 and even increased this ignorance. All that we are told of the 
 mysteries, the secret doctrines, etc., which the Greeks affirm to 
 
One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 have been introduced from Egypt, confirms this; the religion 
 of the heart, which ought to have expressed itself in the sim- 
 ple prayer or thanksgiving which formed the first worship of 
 man, was exchanged for a set of ceremonies so complicated 
 that the complete knowledge of them became an art requiring 
 long instruction; the truth was hidden under a veil which com- 
 mon eyes were unable to see through; and the sacerdotal 
 caste arrogated consequence to itself for knowing what it had 
 itself originally concealed. 
 
 There is a tendency in mankind to keep that a secret which 
 is profitable; and it is seldom that any priesthood, existing as 
 a corporate body, has entirely escaped the dangerous influ- 
 ence of the spirit of caste. NOTE. It is to this probably that 
 most of the corruptions of Christ's teaching have been owing. 
 Man is discouraged by the priests from believing that the ap- 
 proach to his Maker is easy, or His laws simple as nature 
 itself; they are taught to despise the plain short order, " Wash 
 and be clean." Hence the gorgeousness of ceremonial wor- 
 ship. 
 
 In the paintings of Beni-Hassan, though the act of prayer 
 and the offering of incense are often represented, no figure of 
 the deity to whom this service was dedicated is given. At a 
 later period both paintings and sculpture abound with repre- 
 sentations of strangely misformed deities, which are receiving 
 the homage of their worshippers. Yet in the midst of all this 
 the books of the priesthood (for such we must imagine the 
 ceremonial ritual of which so many fragments are still exist- 
 ing) tell of a judgment after death, according to the actions 
 performed during life; of the immortality of the soul, and of 
 its reunion with the body. 
 
 We have no positive knowledge of the state of man in other 
 countries at the early period to which the monuments of Egypt 
 carry us back; but India, China, and Persia claim for them- 
 selves a civilisation as ancient, and there is no reason why 
 a state of things which we find certainly proved in one coun- 
 try should not have extended to others. Indeed, if we may 
 be allowed to reason from analogy, it is much more probable 
 that other nations should have reached to something near the 
 
Egyptian History 399 
 
 same point, than that Egypt should have stood alone. China 
 has been so much a sealed book, hitherto, that we can say 
 little as to its antiquities, or even as to its present habits; but 
 there is much in modern Hindostan which reminds us of 
 the state of manners depicted in the tombs of the ancient 
 Egyptians. 
 
 Within a short time the opinions here advanced have re- 
 ceived a further corroboration from the disinterment of sculp- 
 tures from the palaces or temples of the ancient Assyrian 
 empire, which mark a state of civilisation very similar to that 
 of Egypt. We find there a monarch sumptuously apparelled 
 and attended; horses harnessed to chariots; swords elabor- 
 ately ornamented on the hilt; dresses embroidered and fringed; 
 and a style of sculpture greatly resembling that of ancient 
 Egypt. 
 
 " The centre of the consciousness which the Egyptians pos- 
 sessed of God's agency in our history is the Osiris worship, the 
 oldest and most sacred portion of their religion. Osiris is the 
 Lord, the God and father of each individual soul, the judge 
 of men, who passes sentence strictly according to the right 
 and wrong, rewarding goodness and punishing crime. The 
 judgment held upon the souls of the dead is nothing else than 
 the reflection of that general theory of the universe according 
 to which the good prevails on earth in the midst of conflict, 
 while evil annihilates itself, promoting the good against its own 
 will. It involves the recognition that there is a solution of the 
 enigma of existence which is not to be found in the term of a 
 single life on earth, and yet which we are compelled to seek 
 after in order to explain this life. All guilt must be expiated 
 but the final issue, although reached only after the lapse of 
 unnumbered ages, will be the triumph of the good, the general 
 reconciliation, and a life in God will be the eternal heritage 
 of the soul. This thought pervades all the records we possess 
 respecting the trial held upon the deceased in Egypt. This 
 special mystery of the Egyptian religion implies a faith in the 
 two great fundamental laws of all religious consciousness the 
 unity of the human reason in the conscience, and the inde- 
 structibility of personal identity. All mankind are judged by 
 
400 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Osiris according to one standard." The foregoing are among 
 the religious views held by the Egyptians, 3000 years B.C. 
 
 STOICISM 
 
 Dugald Stewart says : " The Stoics were a large sect, and 
 of its members so many have been celebrated that a separate 
 work would be needed to chronicle them all. From Zeno, 
 the founder, down to Brutus and Marcus Antoninus, the sect 
 embraces many Greek and Roman worthies, and not a few 
 solemn pretenders. Some of these we would willingly intro- 
 duce ; but we are forced to confine ourselves to one type ; 
 and the one we select is Zeno." 
 
 He was born at Citium, a small city in the island of Cyprus, 
 of Phoenician origin but inhabited by Greeks. The date of 
 his birth is uncertain, probably about 350 years B.C. His 
 father was a merchant, in which trade he himself engaged until 
 his father, after a voyage to Athens, brought home some works 
 of Socratic philosophers ; these Zeno studied with eagerness 
 and rapture, and determined his vocation. 
 
 When about thirty, he undertook a voyage both of interest 
 and pleasure to Athens, the great mart both for trade and 
 philosophy. Shipwrecked on the coast, he lost the whole of 
 his valuable cargo of Phoenician purple, and, thus reduced to 
 poverty, he willingly embraced the doctrine of the Cynics, 
 whose ostentatious display of poverty had captivated many 
 minds. 
 
 The gross manners of the Cynics, so far removed from true 
 simplicity, and their speculative incapacity soon caused him to 
 seek a master elsewhere. 
 
 As a man, Zeno appears deserving of the highest respect. 
 So honoured and respected was he by the Athenians that they 
 entrusted to him the keys of the citadel ; and when he died 
 they erected to his memory a statue of brass. 
 
 Zeno the Stoic had a Roman spirit ; and this is the reason 
 why so many noble Romans became his disciples : he had 
 deciphered the wants of their spiritual nature. 
 
 Alarmed at the scepticism which seemed inevitably follow- 
 
Stoicism 401 
 
 ing speculations of a metaphysical kind, Zeno, like Epicurus, 
 fixed his thoughts principally upon morals. His philosophy 
 boasted of being eminently practical, and connected with the 
 daily practices of life. But, for this purpose, the philosopher 
 must not regard pleasure so much as virtue, nor does virtue 
 consist in a life of contemplation, but in a life of activity. 
 
 Zeno taught as follows : Not to regard pleasure so much as 
 virtue, nor does virtue consist in a life of contemplation and 
 speculation, but in a life of activity ; for what is virtue ? Vir- 
 tue is manhood. And what are the attributes of man ? Are 
 they not obviously the attributes of an active as well as of a 
 speculative being ? and can that be virtue which excludes or 
 neglects man's activity ? Man was not made for speculation 
 only ; wisdom is not his only pursuit. Man was not made for 
 enjoyment only ; he was made also to do somewhat and to be 
 somewhat. 
 
 If the universe be subject to a general law, every part of 
 that universe must also be duly subordinate to it. The con- 
 sequence is clear : there is but one formula for morals, and 
 that is, " Live harmoniously with nature," both individual and 
 universal nature. 
 
 The Stoics placed the supreme good in rectitude of conduct 
 without any regard to the event. They taught that nature 
 pointed out to us certain objects of choice and of rejection, 
 and amongst these some to be chosen and some to be avoided 
 more than others, and that virtue consisted in choosing and 
 rejecting objects according to their intrinsic value. 
 
 " The Stoics in the character of their virtuous man included 
 rational desire, aversion, and exultation; included love and 
 parental affection, friendship, and a general benevolence to 
 all mankind." 
 
 Nor did they exclude wealth from among the objects of 
 choice. The Stoic Hecato, in his Treatise of Offices, quoted 
 by Cicero, tells us, " That a wise man, while he abstains from 
 doing anything contrary to the customs, laws, and institutions 
 of his country, ought to attend to his own fortune. For we 
 do not desire to be rich for ourselves only, but for our child- 
 ren, relations, and friends, and especially for the common- 
 
402 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 wealth, inasmuch as the riches of individuals are the wealth of 
 a State." 
 
 By the Stoics, virtue was supposed to consist in the affec- 
 tionate performance of every good office towards their fellow- 
 creatures, and in full resignation to Providence for everything 
 independent of their own choice. 
 
 " The Stoic enlisted himself as a willing instrument in the 
 hands of God for the good of his fellow-creatures. For him- 
 self, the cares and attentions which this object required were 
 his pleasures, and the continued exertion of a beneficent affec- 
 tion, his welfare and his prosperity." 
 
 Upon the whole, it cannot be disputed that the leading doc- 
 trines of Stoicism are agreeable to the purest principles of 
 morality and religion. Indeed, they all terminate in one 
 maxim : That we should not make the attainment of things 
 external an ultimate object, but place the business of life in 
 doing our duty, and leave the care of our happiness to Him 
 who made us. 
 
 It was the precepts of this school which rendered the sup- 
 preme power in the hands of Marcus Aurelius a blessing to 
 the human race, and which secured the private happiness and 
 elevated the minds of Helvidius and Thrasea under a tyranny 
 by which their country was oppressed. 
 
 CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY 
 
 In ancient Rome the political institutions, and therefore, 
 civil liberty, were the organs of religious consciousness. 
 
 Now, if we take both these series of development as a whole, 
 we shall readily convince ourselves that in some particular 
 branches history shows nothing elsewhere equal in splendour to 
 the phenomena presented by the religious consciousness of 
 classical antiquity. This holds good more especially of its 
 manifestations in public life. In this field, freedom forms a 
 constant unit. And where else do we find so high a level at- 
 tained by the community at large, combined with that public 
 spirit and readiness to make sacrifices for the common wealth 
 of a beloved and free fatherland which ever betokens a high 
 
Cicero 403 
 
 grade of culture, as among Greeks and Romans ? Where so 
 organic an unfolding, elaboration, and permanent fruitage of 
 art and poetry ? Where so finished a form of historical and 
 philosophical composition ? 
 
 And the social no less than the public life of this ancient 
 world is much more thoroughly interpenetrated with the 
 sense of divine sanction than is that of our modern world. 
 
 The comparison of the parallel phenomena presented by 
 Aryan Christendom and classical antiquity must leave a 
 depressing impression on the impartial observer. 
 
 The Romans had no hereditary sacred code, relating to 
 spiritual and moral things, similar to those of the Hebrews, 
 or even such as the Greeks possessed in that early period we 
 have in view. Nor, again, had the Romans any prophets, 
 either in the same sense as the Hebrews, or such as the 
 Greeks were familiar with. 
 
 The Romans were not mere warriors and conquerors. 
 They had their wise law-givers, who made efficient regula- 
 tions, and adhered to them, from Servius Tullius onwards; 
 courageous statesmen, and upright judges. 
 
 CICERO 
 
 Cicero, who lived B. c. 106, says that Law, properly 
 understood, is no other than right reason, agreeing with 
 nature, spread abroad among men, ever consistent with itself, 
 eternal, whose office is to summon to duty by its commands, 
 to deter from vice by its prohibitions, which, however, to 
 the good never commands or forbids in vain, never influences 
 the wicked, either by commanding or forbidding. In con- 
 tradiction to this law, nothing can be laid down, nor does it 
 admit of partial or entire repeal. Nor can we be released 
 from this law either by vote of the Senate, or decree of the 
 people. Nor does it require any commentator or interpreter 
 besides itself. Nor will there be one law at Athens, and 
 another at Rome, one now, and another hereafter: but one 
 eternal, immutable law will both embrace all nations and at 
 all times. And there will be one common Master, as it were, 
 
404 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 and Ruler of all, namely, God, the great Originator, Ex- 
 positor, Enactor of this law; which law, whoever will not 
 obey, will be flying from himself, and having treated with 
 contempt his nature, will, in that very fact, pay the greatest 
 penalty, even if he shall have escaped other punishments, as 
 they are commonly considered. 
 
 All men acknowledge that which we are led by nature to 
 suppose, namely, that there are gods. 
 
 Surely the mighty power of the Infinite Being is most 
 worthy of our great and earnest contemplation. 
 
 Ignorance is inconsistent with the nature of the gods, and 
 imbecility with their majesty. 
 
 Is he worthy to be called man, who attributes to chance, 
 not to an intelligent Cause, the constant motions of the 
 heavens, the regular courses of the stars, the agreeable pro- 
 portion and connection of all things, conducted with so much 
 reason that our intellect itself is unable to estimate it rightly. 
 When we see machines move artificially, as a sphere, a clock, 
 or the like, do we doubt whether they are the production of 
 reason ? And when we behold the heavens moving with a 
 prodigious celerity, and causing an annual succession of the 
 different seasons of the year, which vivify and preserve all 
 things, can we doubt that the world is directed by a reason 
 most excellent and Divine ? 
 
 Among men there is no nation so savage and ferocious as 
 not to admit the necessity of believing in a God. From 
 whence we conclude that every man must recognise a Deity. 
 
 The law of virtue is the same in God and man. 
 
 What nation is there which has not a regard for kindness, 
 benignity, and gratitude? What nation is there in which 
 arrogance, cruelty, and unthankfulness are not reprobated 
 and detested ? 
 
 There is no expiation for the crimes and impieties of men. 
 The guilty, therefore, must pay the penalty, and bear the 
 punishment; not so much those punishments inflicted by 
 courts of justice, which were not always in being, do not 
 exist at present in many places, and even where established 
 are frequently biassed and partial, but those of conscience; 
 
Pindar 405 
 
 while the furies pursue them, not with burning torches as the 
 poets feign, but with remorse of conscience, and the tortures 
 arising from guilt. 
 
 PINDAR 
 
 Pindar, the Theban, a Greek Poet, born about B.C. 520, 
 had extraordinary honours paid to him during his life, and 
 after his decease. His odes and religious hymns were chanted 
 in the temples of Greece before the most crowded assemblies, 
 and on the most solemn occasions. The priestess of Apollo 
 at Delphi declared that it was the will of that divinity that 
 Pindar should receive half of the first fruits offered at his 
 shrine. The Athenians erected a statue of brass in honour 
 of him. 
 
 Pindar speaks of the divine load-stars of this earthly life, 
 virtue, piety, and reason, which ponder on the seriousness of 
 life, and pious reverence for moderation. In no case does he 
 refer man to omens and dreams and auguries. 
 
 The Hellenes possessed no sacred historical records, and 
 therefore escaped the dangers of deducing intellectual dog- 
 mas of belief from historical traditions or symbolical legends 
 and fables. 
 
 Pindar proclaimed that in human destinies a divine law 
 rules, and this is the same law which the wise and pious man 
 discovers in his own bosom. 
 
 There exists an Order of the World: it is a Moral Order. 
 It subsists not only for the brief earthly existence of the soul, 
 for it is of a divine nature; but already here below it regul- 
 ates human destinies with a divine authority. 
 
 Again, he declares that human things have their origin 
 and subsistence by virtue of the divine element which resides 
 in them. 
 
 The self-seeking principle in individuals or states. 
 
 Pindar preached this doctrine, not after the fashion of an 
 Orphic theologian: he set it before all men's eyes in the 
 events and experiences of actual life. If any one expects to 
 escape the notice of the Deity in doing aught, he errs. 
 
 As many as have steadfastness, to keep their soul altogether 
 
406 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 from unjust actions, accomplish their way on the path of 
 Zeus. 
 
 Hateful is deceitful speech, meditating guile, ill report that 
 maketh mischief. May I never have this character, Father 
 Zeus, but may I hold to the guileless paths of life. 
 
 As to what shall befall us, no sure presage attends men, 
 whereby they may foreknow the decrees of Providence. 
 
 Hope binds the frame of man with strong enchantment. 
 
 The bitterest end awaits the pleasure that is contrary to 
 right. 
 
 PLATO 
 
 Plato first established himself at Athens as a lecturer about 
 386 B.C. 
 
 Plato says that, in order to be happy, a man must be at 
 once wise, brave, temperate, just. 
 
 He does not, indeed, lay his main stress on the retribution 
 and punishments which follow injustice, because he repre- 
 sents injustice as being in itself a state of misery, to the un- 
 just agent: nor upon the rewards attached to justice, because 
 he represents justice itself as a state of intrinsic happiness to 
 the just agent. 
 
 The just man will be well-esteemed and well-treated by 
 men; he will also be favoured and protected by the gods, 
 both in this life and after this life. The unjust man, on the 
 contrary, will be ill-esteemed and ill-treated by men; he will 
 be disapproved and punished by the gods, both while he 
 lives, and after his death. Perhaps for a time the just man 
 may seem to be hardly dealt with and miserable the unjust 
 man to be prosperous and popular but, in the end, all this 
 will be reversed. 
 
 Man is happy or miserable, in and through himself, or 
 essentially; whether he be known to gods and men or not 
 whatever may be the sentiment entertained of him by others. 
 
 Plato declares that it is impracticable and impious to at- 
 tempt to appease the displeasure, or to conciliate the favour 
 of the gods by means of prayer and sacrifice. 
 
 He accounts it a greater crime to believe in indulgent 
 
Epicurus 407 
 
 and persuadable gods, than not to believe in any gods at 
 all. 
 
 Every one loves, desires, or aspires to happiness: this is the 
 fundamental or primordial law of human nature, beyond 
 which we cannot push inquiry. Good, or good things, are 
 nothing else but the means to happiness: accordingly every 
 man loving happiness, loves good also, and desires not only 
 full acquisition, but perpetual possession of good. 
 
 EPICURUS 
 
 Epicurus, a Greek Philosopher, 280 B.C., in his letter to 
 Mencecus gives his Code of Morals, and mode of life, at some 
 length, which are as follows: " No one," he says, " ought to 
 think himself too young or too old for philosophic contempla- 
 tion; since it is the great business of man to consider what is 
 requisite to the living well: happily as regards himself, and 
 worthily as regards his relations to society. And in the first 
 place as a needful constituent of this knowledge, we must 
 take care that, believing God to be an immortal and perfectly 
 happy Being we attribute nothing to Him that is inconsist- 
 ent with these attributes." Seneca reproached Epicurus with 
 reverencing God only as a parent, to be honoured and wor- 
 shipped for His excellence, without thinking of any gain to be 
 obtained by so doing. 
 
 " The wise man," continues Epicurus, " will not consider 
 the loss of life an evil, but as food is chosen for its quality, 
 rather than its quantity, so he will endeavour to make his life 
 pleasant rather than long. It is needful to satisfy our physi- 
 cal wants in a certain degree, both for the sake of living in 
 comfort, and in order to keep the body tranquil, so as to leave 
 the mind free from disturbance; for our endeavour should be 
 to avoid suffering and perturbation; since pleasure is the great 
 object of life. But it is not every kind of pleasure that will be 
 sought by a wise man; for luxurious feasts are not needful to 
 him who by temperance and exercise has made his bread and 
 water sweet to his taste; therefore when I speak of pleasure as 
 ihesummum bonum, I do not mean licentious pleasures; for he 
 only enjoys a truly happy life who examines his desires by the 
 
One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 light of sober reason and determines which ought to be qual- 
 ified, which repressed. In short, no man can live happily who 
 does not live wisely and justly, and no man can live wisely and 
 justly without being happy, for virtue and happiness cannot 
 be separated. Nay, were it possible, it would be better to 
 live wisely and to be unhappy, than to be irrational and for- 
 tunate. One who acts on these principles lives among men 
 as if he were already a god; he has nothing about him that re- 
 sembles the brute animal, but though a man, he lives among 
 the immortals." 
 
 SOCRATES 
 
 Socrates, who taught 430 years B.C., remarks that honour- 
 able things are good things, and that every one without ex- 
 ception desires good. On this point all men are alike; the 
 distinctive features of virtue must then consist in the power 
 of acquiring good things, such as health, wealth, money, 
 power, dignities, etc. But the acquisition of these things is 
 not virtuous, unless it be made consistently with justice and 
 moderation. 
 
 Socrates recommends virtue on the ground of its remuner- 
 ative consequences to the agent, in the shape of wealth and 
 other good things. He and Xenophon agree in the same 
 doctrine, presenting virtue as laborious and troublesome in 
 itself, but as being fully requited by its remunerative conse- 
 quences in the form of esteem and honour, to the attainment 
 of which it is indispensable. 
 
 " When I have learnt," says Socrates, " which are my worst 
 and which are my best points, I shall evidently be in a condition 
 to cultivate and pursue the latter, and resolutely to avoid the 
 former. 
 
 " My mission from the gods," says Socrates, " is to dispel the 
 false persuasion of knowledge, to cross-examine men into a 
 painful conviction of their own ignorance, and to create in 
 them a lively impulse towards knowledge and virtue. 
 
 " Justice, which is good both in itself, and by reason of its 
 consequences, I rank among the noblest qualities. 
 
 " The just man should act with a view to good. 
 
Socrates 409 
 
 " The just man is happy, and the unjust miserable." 
 
 Socrates maintains that justice is good, per se, ensuring the 
 happiness of the agent by its direct and intrinsic effects on the 
 mind, whatever its ulterior consequences may be. He main- 
 tains indeed that these ulterior consequences are also good: 
 but that they do not constitute the paramount benefit; or the 
 main recommendation of justice; that the good of justice, 
 per se, is much greater. 
 
 The fundamental principle (Socrates affirms) to which cities 
 or communities owe their origin is existence of wants and 
 necessities in all men. No single man is sufficient for himself: 
 every one is in want of many things, and is therefore com- 
 pelled to seek communion or partnership with neighbours and 
 auxiliaries. Reciprocal dealings begin: each gives to others, 
 and receives from others, under the persuasion that it is better 
 for him to do so. 
 
 In regard to religion, the raising of temples, arrangement of 
 sacrifices, etc., we know nothing about these matters. We 
 must examine them, and see where we can find justice and 
 injustice. 
 
 Justice is in the mind what health is in the body, when the 
 parts are so arranged as to control, and be controlled pursu- 
 ant to the dictates of nature. Injustice is in the mind what 
 disease is in the body, when the parts are so arranged as to 
 control and be controlled contrary to the dictates of nature: 
 virtue is thus health, beauty, good condition of the mind; vice 
 is the disease, ugliness, weakness of the mind. 
 
 It is profitable to a man to be just, and to do justice, /*/- se, 
 even though he be not known as just either by gods or men, 
 and may thus be debarred from the consequences which would 
 ensue if he were known. It is unprofitable to him to be un- 
 just, even though he can continue to escape detection and 
 punishment. As health is the greatest good, and sickness the 
 greatest evil of the body, so justice is the greatest good, and 
 injustice the greatest evil of the mind. 
 
 Socrates says that the gods are good, and therefore cannot 
 be the cause of anything except good. The gods must be an- 
 nounced as causes of all the good which exists. No poetical 
 
One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 tale can be tolerated which represents the gods as assuming 
 the forms of different persons, and going about to deceive 
 men into false beliefs. 
 
 A perfectly reasonable man will account death no great evil. 
 
 If a man passes his life pleasurably until its close, it may 
 be said that he has lived well; at least, provided he lives tak- 
 ing pleasure in fine or honourable things. 
 
 To do wrong is worse than to suffer wrong, as well as more 
 disgraceful. 
 
 If a man be punished for wrong-doing, he suffers what is 
 just, and the punisher does what is just. 
 
 We ought to do continues Socrates what is pleasing for 
 the sake of what is good: not vice versa. But everything 
 becomes good by possessing its appropriate virtue or regula- 
 tion. The regulation appropriate to the mind is, to be temp- 
 erate. The temperate man will do what is just his duty 
 towards men: and what is holy his duty towards the gods. 
 He will be just and holy. He will therefore also be cour- 
 ageous; for he will seek only such pleasures as duty permits, 
 and he will endure all such pains as duty requires. Being 
 thus temperate, just, brave, holy, he will be a perfectly good 
 man, doing well and honourably throughout. The man who 
 does well, will be happy: the man who does ill, and is wicked, 
 will be miserable. 
 
 Everything has its own fixed and determinate essence, 
 not relative to us nor varying according to our will and 
 pleasure, but existing, per se, as nature has arranged. All 
 agencies, either by one thing upon other things, or by other 
 things upon it, are in like manner determined by nature, 
 independent of our will and choice. 
 
 XENOPHANES 
 
 Xenophanes maintained that there was but one God, identi- 
 cal with, or a personification of, the whole Uranus. " The 
 whole Kosmos, or the whole God, sees, hears, and thinks." 
 The divine nature, he said, did not admit of the conception 
 of separate persons, one governing the other, or of want and 
 imperfection in any way. 
 
Grecian History 4 11 
 
 HERAKLEITUS 
 
 Herakleitus says: " Every man, individually considered, was 
 irrational: reason belonged only to the universal or to the 
 whole, with which the mind of each living man was in con- 
 junction, renewing itself by perpetual absorption, inspiration 
 or inhalation, transition, and impressions through the senses." 
 
 PROTAGORAS 
 
 Protagoras asserts that no good citizen can be without a 
 sense of justice and of shame. 
 
 GRECIAN HISTORY 
 
 Orpheus, a Thracian, visited Egypt and brought from thence 
 the doctrines with which he afterwards corrupted the simple 
 religion of Greece. The doctrine he taught was that of One, 
 Self-existent God, the Maker of all things, who is present to 
 us in all His works; but this great truth was disguised under 
 a mass of fables. 
 
 Orpheus taught that the One Supreme Deity was the Source 
 of all, and that tutelary gods of air, fire, earth, etc., were in 
 fact only emanations of His power made manifest to men by 
 visible and tangible objects. But when the Most High was 
 no longer to be approached by the vulgar, the especial mani- 
 festations were soon individualised, and a polytheism, which 
 probably the first introducers of this mysterious doctrine 
 never contemplated, was built upon it. 
 
 The mysterious doctrine of Orpheus, which gave tangi- 
 bility and distinctness to the notions of the Deity, soon struck 
 the imagination of the poet. Homer and Hesiod took it up 
 and finished the individualising process by giving names and 
 forms to the various sub-deities of the different powers of 
 nature. Yet these were for a long time only the poetical 
 version of the old belief: the one Supreme God still held the 
 reins, and Destiny was looked up to as the ruler of these 
 sub-gods no less than of men. 
 
One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 SACRED BOOK OF THE MEXICANS 
 
 We gather the following from Miiller: A book called Popol 
 Vuh, and pretending to be the original text of the sacred 
 writings of the Indians of Central America. The Popol Vuh 
 is a literary composition in the true sense of the word. It 
 contains the mythology and history of the civilised races of 
 Central America, and comes before us with credentials that 
 will bear the test of critical inquiry. 
 
 Popol Vuh means the book of the people, and refers to the 
 traditional literature in which all that is known about the early 
 history of the nation, their religion and ceremonies, has been 
 handed down from age to age. We find material for studying 
 their character, for analysing their religion and mythology, for 
 comparing their principles of morality, their views of virtue, 
 beauty, and heroism, with those of other races of mankind. 
 This is the charm, the real and lasting charm, of such works 
 as that presented to us for the first time in a trustworthy 
 translation by the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg. There are 
 some coincidences between the Old Testament and the 
 Quiche* MS. which are certainly startling. Yet even if a 
 Christian influence has to be admitted, much remains in these 
 American traditions which is so different from anything else 
 in the national literatures of other countries, that we may 
 safely treat it as the genuine growth of the intellectual soil of 
 America. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM " POPOL VUH " 
 
 The Quiche* MS. begins with an account of the creation. 
 The Quich6s believed that there was a time when all that ex- 
 ists in heaven and earth was made. All was then in suspense, 
 all was calm and silent; all was immovable, all peaceful, and 
 the vast space of the heavens was empty. There was no man, 
 no animal, no shore, no trees; heaven alone existed. The 
 face of the earth was not to be seen; there was only the still 
 expanse of the sea and the heaven above. Divine beings 
 were on the waters like a growing light. Their voice was 
 heard as they meditated and consulted, and when the dawn 
 
Sacred Book of the Mexicans 413 
 
 arose, man appeared. Then the waters were commanded to 
 retire; the earth was established, that she might bear fruit, 
 and that the light of day might shine on heaven and earth. 
 
 " ' For,' they said, ' we shall receive neither glory nor hon- 
 our from all we have created until there is a human being 
 a being endowed with reason.' ' Earth' they said, and in a 
 moment the earth was formed. Like a vapour it rose into 
 being, mountains appeared from the waters like lobsters, and 
 the great mountains were made. Thus was the creation of 
 the earth, when it was fashioned by those who are the Heart 
 of heaven, the Heart of the earth; for thus were they called 
 who first gave fertility to them, heaven and earth being still 
 inert and suspended in the midst of the waters." 
 
 Then follows the creation of the brute world, and the 
 disappointment of the gods when they commanded the animals 
 to tell their names, and to honour those who had created them. 
 Then the gods said to the animals: 
 
 " You will be changed, because you cannot speak. We 
 have changed your speech. You shall have your food and 
 your dens in the woods and crags; for our glory is not perfect, 
 and you do not invoke us. There will be beings still that can 
 salute us; we shall make them capable of obeying. Do your 
 task; as to your flesh, it will be broken by the tooth." 
 
 Then follows the creation of man. His flesh was made of 
 earth terre glaise. But man was without cohesion or power, 
 inert and aqueous; he could not turn his head, his sight was 
 dim, and though he had the gift of speech, he had no intellect. 
 He was soon consumed again in the water. 
 
 And the gods consulted a second time how to create beings 
 that should adore them, and after some magic ceremonies, 
 men were made of wood, and they multiplied. But they had 
 no heart, no intellect, no recollection of their Creator; they 
 did not lift up their heads to their Maker, and they withered 
 away and were swallowed up by the water. 
 
 Then follows a third creation, man being made of a tree 
 called " tzite"," woman of the marrow of a reed called " sibac." 
 They, too, did neither think or speak before Him who had 
 made them, and they were likewise swept away by the waters 
 
4H One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 and destroyed. The whole nature animals, trees, and stones 
 turned against men to revenge the wrongs they had suffered 
 at their hands, and the only remnant of that early race is to 
 be found in small monkeys which still live in the forests. 
 
 Three attempts, as we saw, had been made and had failed. 
 We now hear again that before the beginning of dawn, and 
 before the sun and moon had risen, man had been made, 
 and that nourishment was provided for him which was to 
 supply his blood, namely, yellow and white maize. Four men 
 are mentioned as the real ancestors of the human race, or 
 rather of the race of the Quiche's. They were neither begot- 
 ten by the gods, nor born of woman, but their creation was 
 a wonder wrought by the Creator. They could reason and 
 speak, their sight was unlimited, and they knew all things at 
 once. When they had rendered thanks to their Creator for 
 their existence, the gods were frightened, and they breathed a 
 cloud over the eyes of men that they might see a certain 
 distance only, and not be like the gods themselves. Then, 
 while the four men were asleep, the gods gave them beautiful 
 wives, and these became the mothers of all tribes, great and 
 small. These tribes, both white and black, lived and spread 
 in the East. They did not yet worship the gods, but only 
 turned their faces up to heaven, hardly knowing what they 
 were meant to do here below. Their features were sweet, so 
 was their language, and their intellect was strong. 
 
 A legend which is current among the Thlinkithians, who 
 are one of the four principal races inhabiting Russian America, 
 is as follows: They believe in a general flood or deluge, and 
 that men saved themselves in a large floating building. When 
 the waters fell, the building was wrecked on a rock, and by 
 its own weight burst into two pieces. Hence arose the differ- 
 ence of languages. The Thlinkithians with their language 
 remained on one side; on the other side were all the other 
 races of the earth. 
 
 Neither the Esthonian nor the Thlinkithian legend, how- 
 ever, offers any striking points of coincidence with the Mosaic 
 accounts. The analogies, therefore, as well as the discrepan- 
 cies, between the ninth chapter of Genesis and the chapter 
 
Beliefs of the American Indians 415 
 
 here translated from the Quiche* MS. require special atten- 
 tion. 
 
 BELIEFS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 
 
 Miiller says that the Greenlander believes that when a man 
 dies his soul travels to Tonigarsuk, the land where reigns 
 perpetual summer, all sunshine and no night; where there is 
 good water, and birds, and fish, seals, and reindeer without 
 end, that are to be caught without trouble, or are found 
 cooking alive in a huge kettle. But the journey to this land 
 is difficult; the souls have to slide five days or more down a 
 precipice, all stained with the blood of those who have gone 
 down before. And it is especially grievous for the poor souls 
 when the journey must be made in winter or in tempest, for 
 then a soul may come to harm, or suffer the other death, as 
 they call it. 
 
 The native tribes of the lower end of South America believe 
 in two great powers of good and evil, but likewise in a num- 
 ber of inferior deities. These are supposed to have been the 
 creators and ancestors of different families, and hence when 
 an Indian dies his soul goes to live with the deity who pre- 
 sides over his particular family. These deities have each 
 their separate habitations in vast caverns under the earth, 
 and thither the departed repair to enjoy*the happiness of be- 
 ing eternally drunk. 
 
 Messrs. Lewis and Clarke give the following account of the 
 belief in a future state entertained by another American tribe, 
 the Mandans: 
 
 " Their belief in a future state is connected with this tradi- 
 tion of their origin: The whole nation resided in one large 
 village underground near a subterraneous lake. A grape- 
 vine extended its roots down to their habitation and gave 
 them a view of the light. Some of the most adventurous 
 climbed up the vine, and were delighted with the sight of the 
 earth, which they found covered with buffalo, and rich with 
 every kind of fruit. Returning with the grapes they had 
 gathered, their countrymen were so pleased with the taste of 
 them that the whole nation resolved to leave their dull 
 
416 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 residence for the charms of the upper region. Men, women, 
 and children ascended by means of the vine, but when about 
 half the nation had reached the surface of the earth, a corp- 
 ulent woman who was clambering up the vine broke it with 
 her weight, and closed upon herself and the rest of the nation 
 the light of the sun. Those who were left on earth made a 
 village below where we saw the vine villages; and when the 
 Mandans die they expect to return to the original seats of 
 their forefathers, the good reaching the ancient village by 
 means of the lake, which the burden of the sins of the wicked 
 will not enable them to cross." 
 
 Catlin's account of the Choctaw belief in a future state is 
 equally curious. They hold that the spirit lives after death, 
 and that it has a great distance to travel towards the west; 
 that it has to cross a dreadful, deep, and rapid stream, over 
 which, from hill to hill, there lies a long, slippery pine log, 
 with the bark peeled off. Over this the dead have to pass 
 before they reach the delightful hunting-grounds. The good 
 walk on safely, though six people from the other side throw 
 stones at them; but the wicked, trying to dodge the stones, 
 slip off the log and fall thousands of feet into the water which 
 is dashing over the rocks. 
 
 BELIEF OF THE NEW HOLLANDERS 
 
 The New Hollanders, according to Mr. Oldfield, believe 
 that all who are good men and have been properly buried 
 enter heaven after death. Heaven, which is the abode of the 
 two good divinities, is represented as a delightful place, where 
 there is abundance of game and food, never any excess of 
 heat or cold, rain or drought, no malign spirits, no sickness 
 or death; but plenty of rioting, singing, and dancing for ever- 
 more. They also believe in an evil spirit who dwells in the 
 nethermost regions, and, strange to say, they represent him 
 with horns and a tail. 
 
 OF THE ICELANDERS 
 
 The following traditions in relation to creation are con- 
 tained in the book Edda, the sacred book of the Icelanders. 
 
Belief of the Icelanders 4 T 7 
 
 " 'T was the morning of time, 
 When yet naught was, 
 Nor sand nor sea were there, 
 Nor cooling streams ; 
 Earth was not formed, 
 Nor heaven above ; 
 A yawning gap there was, 
 And grass nowhere." 
 
 In the Edda, man is said to have been created out of an 
 ash-tree, and God is portrayed as follows: " Who is first and 
 eldest of all gods?" He is called " Allfadir," the Father 
 of All, the Great Father, in our tongue. He lives from all 
 ages, and rules over His realm and sways all things, great and 
 small. He made heaven and earth, and the sky, and all that 
 belongs to them; and He made man, and gave him a soul that 
 shall live and never perish, though the body rot to mould, or 
 burn to ashes. . All men that are right-minded shall live, and 
 be with Him in a place called " Vingolf "; but wicked ones 
 fare to Hell and thence into Niflhell, that is, beneath in the 
 ninth world. 
 
 CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY NO RESTRAINT 
 
 We have heretofore remarked that all motives to virtue have 
 their only foundation in, and all good works proceed from, the 
 moral faculties that is, the conscience and the instincts 
 originally given to man; and that the evil-doings of man find 
 their only check or restraint in this reflex of God in man. 
 There is no restraint found in the Christian theology or else- 
 where, not found in every man's conscience; while on the 
 other hand, history shows us that Christianity has been the 
 most powerful of all agents in stifling the voice of conscience 
 and in bringing horrors and calamities upon mankind. The 
 assertion may seem a startling one, but its truth can scarcely 
 be denied by the reader who follows us through the dismal 
 record of great crimes committed by people supposed to be 
 specially chosen of God and enjoying His immediate super- 
 vision, by others taking the Old Testament as their guide, and 
 
4*8 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 by others still whose iniquities and atrocities were perpe- 
 trated in the name of Jesus. We propose to glance succes- 
 sively at the bloody contentions of the early Church; at the 
 crimes and corruptions of the Church during the Middle 
 Ages; at the Crusades; at the persecutions of the Jews by the 
 Christians; at the sacrifice of human life in the so-called holy 
 wars waged by Christians for theological opinions alone; at 
 the persecution of the Protestants by the Catholics; at the 
 massacre of St. Bartholomew, under a king one of whose 
 titles was the " Most Christian "; at the cruel course of Spain 
 in overrunning and despoiling Mexico and Peru. 
 Let us commence with the 
 
 CONTENTIONS OF THE EARLY CHURCH 
 
 From the Trinitarian controversy, which began in the reign 
 of Constantine about A.D. 323, we may date the introduc- 
 tion of rigorous articles of belief, which required the sub- 
 missive assent of the mind to every word and letter of an 
 established creed, and which raised the slightest heresy of 
 opinions into a more fatal offence against God and a more 
 odious crime in the estimation of man than the worst moral 
 delinquency or the most flagrant deviation from the spirit 
 of Christianity. 
 
 Such was the question which led to all the evils of human 
 strife hatred, persecution, bloodshed. 
 
 The distribution of the superior dignities of the Church 
 became an object of fatal ambition and strife. The streets of 
 Alexandria and of Constantinople were deluged with blood by 
 the partisans of rival bishops. 
 
 In the latter, an officer of high distinction, sent by the 
 Emperor to quell the tumult, was slain and his body treated 
 with the utmost indignity by the infuriated populace. 
 
 The triumph of the Catholics in Egypt was accompanied by 
 every variety of plunder, murder, sacrilege, and outrage, and 
 Arius himself was probably poisoned by Catholic hands. The 
 followers of St. Cyril of Alexandria, who were chiefly monks, 
 filled their city with riot and bloodshed, wounded the prefect 
 
Contentions of the Early Church 419 
 
 Orestes, dragged the pure and gifted Hypatia into one of 
 their churches, murdered her, tore the flesh from her bones 
 with sharp shells, and, having stripped her body naked, flung 
 the mangled remains into the flames. In Ephesus, during the 
 contest between St. Cyril and the Nestorians, the cathedral 
 itself was the theatre of a fierce and bloody conflict. Con- 
 stantinople, on the occasion of the deposition of St. Chrysos- 
 tom, was for several days in a condition of absolute anarchy. 
 After the Council of Chalcedon, Jerusalem and Alexandria 
 were again convulsed, and the bishop of the latter city was 
 murdered in his baptistry. Athanasius stands out as the 
 prominent character of the period in the history of Christian- 
 ity. That history is one long controversy, the life of Athana- 
 sius one unwearied and incessant strife. It is neither the 
 serene course of a being elevated by his religion above the 
 cares and tumults of ordinary life, nor the restless activity of 
 one perpetually employed in a conflict with the ignorance, 
 vice, and misery of an unconverted people. Yet even now 
 (so completely has this polemic spirit become incorporated 
 with Christianity) the memory of Athanasius is regarded 
 by many wise and good men with reverence which in 
 Catholic countries is actual adoration, in Protestant ap- 
 proaches towards it. 
 
 A council was held at Tyre, in which Athanasius was de- 
 posed and Gregory appointed in his stead. Scenes of sav- 
 age conflict ensued: the churches were taken, as it were, by 
 storm; the priests of the Athanasian party were treated with 
 the utmost indignity; virgins scourged; every atrocity per- 
 petuated by unbridled multitudes, embittered by every shade 
 of religious faction. Athanasius returned for a time to Alexan- 
 dria, but was again deposed. 
 
 The Arians exacted ample vengeance for their long period 
 of depression: houses were plundered, monasteries burned; 
 tombs broken open to search for concealed Athanasians, or 
 for the prelate himself, who still eluded their pursuit; bishops 
 were insulted; virgins scourged; the soldiery encouraged to 
 break up every meeting of the Catholics by violence, and even 
 by inhuman tortures. The Duke Sebastian, at the head of 
 
420 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 three thousand troops, charged a meeting of the Athanasian 
 Christians. No barbarity was too revolting; they are said to 
 have employed instruments of torture to compel them to 
 Christian unity with the Arians; females were scourged with 
 the prickly branches of the palm tree. 
 
 Persecution was universal persecution by every means of 
 violence and cruelty; the only question was, in whose hands 
 was the power to persecute. Bloodshed, murder, treach- 
 ery, assassination, even during the public worship of God 
 these were the frightful means by which each party strove to 
 maintain its opinions and to defeat its adversary. The most 
 unaggressive and unobtrusive forms of paganism were perse- 
 cuted with the same ferocity. 
 
 To offer a sacrifice was to commit a capital offence and 
 yet the offering of Jesus as a sacrifice for man's sin is claimed 
 as the foundation of Christian theology. To hang up a simple 
 chaplet was to incur the forfeiture of an estate. 
 
 Contrast with this the policy of the pagan Emperor Julian, 
 thus described by his favourite orator: 
 
 "He thought that neither fire nor sword could change the 
 faith of mankind: the heart disowns the hand which is com- 
 pelled by terror to sacrifice. Persecutions only make hypo- 
 crites who are unbelievers throughout life, or martys honoured 
 after death." He strictly prohibited the putting to death 
 the Galileans his favourite appellaton of the Christians as 
 worthy rather of compassion than of hatred. Julian revoked 
 the sentence of banishment pronounced against Arians, Apolli- 
 narians, and Donatists. He determined, it is said, to expose 
 them to a sort of public exhibition of intellectual gladiatorship. 
 He summoned the advocates of the several sects to dispute in 
 his presence, and presided with mock solemnity over their 
 debates. His own voice was drowned in the clamour, till at 
 length, as though to contrast them, to their disadvantage, with 
 the wild barbarian warriors with whom he had been engaged: 
 " Hear me," exclaimed the Emperor; " The Franks and the 
 Alemanni have heard me." " No wild beasts," he said, " are 
 so savage and intractable as Christian sectaries." 
 
 During the reign of Anastasius, two hundred Eastern monks, 
 
Later Crimes of the Church 4 2 1 
 
 headed by Severus, were permitted to land in Constantinople; 
 they here found an honourable reception. Other monks of the 
 opposite faction swarmed from Palestine. The two black- 
 cowled armies watched each other for some months, working 
 in secret on their respective partisans. 
 
 At last there was a wild, fierce fray; the presence of the 
 Emperor lost its awe, he could not maintain the peace. The 
 Bishop Macedonius took the lead. Men, women, children, 
 poured out from all quarters; the monks, at the head of the 
 raging multitude, echoed their religious war-cries. 
 
 Throughout Asiatic Christendom it was the same wild strug- 
 gle. Bishops were deposed quietly; or, where resistance was 
 made, the two factions, fighting in the streets, in the churches; 
 cities, even the holiest places, ran with Christian blood. 
 Milman's History of Christianity. 
 
 LATER CRIMES OF THE CHURCH 
 
 In A.D. 498 the feuds of the Roman clergy broke out on 
 the customary occasion of the election of a new pope. Each 
 party elected their pope. The two factions encountered with 
 the fiercest hostility; the clergy, the senate, and the populace 
 were divided; the streets of the Christian city ran with blood. 
 The contest was decided^by Theodoric, the Gothic King of 
 Italy. But not long after, the sanguinary tumults between 
 the two factions broke out with greater fury: priests were slain, 
 monasteries fired, and even sacred virgins treated with the 
 utmost indignity. 
 
 With the power of the clergy increased both those other 
 sources of influence, pomp and wealth. 
 
 Distinctions in station and in authority naturally lead to 
 distinctions in manners, and those adventitious circumstances 
 of dress and habits which designate different ranks. The 
 ministering functionaries multiplied with the rapidly increas- 
 ing variety and pomp. 
 
 At the festival of a martyr the day closed with an open ban- 
 quet in which all the worshippers were invited to partake. As 
 the evening drew on, the solemn and religious thoughts gave 
 
422 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 way to other emotions, the wine flowed freely, and the healths 
 of the martyrs were pledged, not unfrequently to complete 
 inebriety. Dances were admitted, pantomimic spectacles were 
 exhibited, the festivals were prolonged till late in the evening, 
 or to midnight, so that other criminal irregularities profaned, 
 if not the sacred edifice, its immediate neighbourhood. 
 
 A demoniac accused the Bishop Fortunatus of refusing him 
 the rights of hospitality; a poor peasant receives the possessed 
 into his house, and is punished for this inferential disrespect to 
 the Bishop by seeing his child cast into the fire and burnt be- 
 fore his eyes. A poor fellow with a monkey and cymbals is 
 struck dead for unintentionally interrupting a Bishop Boniface 
 in prayer. 
 
 In A.D. 726, the Emperor Leo issued an edict commanding 
 the total destruction of all images and the whitewashing of 
 the walls of the churches. The thronging multitude saw with 
 horror the officer mount the ladder. The women seized the 
 ladder, threw down the officer, and beat him to death with 
 clubs. The Emperor sent an armed guard to suppress the tu- 
 mult; a frightful massacre took place. The pious were pun- 
 ished with mutilations, scourgings, exile, confiscation; the 
 schools of learning were closed, a magnificent library burned 
 to the ground. 
 
 At the accession of Constantine Copronymus two religious 
 parties divided the Empire. A battle took place near Ancira, 
 fought with all the ferocity of civil and religious war. The 
 historian expresses his horror that, among Christians, fathers 
 should thus be engaged in the slaughter of their children, 
 brothers of brothers. 
 
 Charlemagne was prodigal of grants of land to churches and 
 monasteries. But these estates were not always obtained from 
 the pious generosity of the king or the nobles. The stewards 
 of the poor were the spoilers of the poor. They compelled 
 the poor freeman to sell his property, or forced him to serve 
 in the army, and that on permanent or continual duty, and so 
 to leave his land either without owner, with all the chances 
 that he might not return, or to commit it to the custody of 
 those who remained at home in quiet, and seized every op- 
 
Later Crimes of the Church 423 
 
 portunity of entering into possession. No Naboth's vineyard 
 escaped their watchful avarice. 
 
 The payment of tithe originated in the following manner: 
 Pepin had commanded the payment of tithe for the celebra- 
 tion of peculiar litanies during a period of famine. Charle- 
 magne made it a law of the Empire: he enacted it in its most 
 strict and comprehensive form, as investing the clergy in a 
 right to the tenth of the substance and of the labour alike 
 of freeman and the serf. The collection of tithe was regulated 
 by compulsory statutes: the clergy took note of all who paid 
 or refused to pay; the contumacious were three times sum- 
 moned, if still obstinate, excluded from the Church; if they 
 still refused to pay, they were fined over and above the whole 
 tithe, six solidi; if further contumacious, the recusant's house 
 was shut up; if he attempted to enter it he was cast into 
 prison. This tithe was by no means a spontaneous votive 
 offering of the whole Christian people it was a tax imposed 
 by imperial authority, enforced by imperial power. It had 
 caused one, if not more than one, sanguinary insurrection 
 among the Saxons. It was submitted to in other parts of the 
 Empire, not without strong reluctance. 
 
 In A.D. 974, during the pontificate of Benedict VI., Boni- 
 fazio, a Cardinal Deacon, seized the unsuspecting Pope and 
 cast him into a dungeon where shortly after he was strangled. 
 Bonifazio assumed the papacy; but he had miscalculated the 
 strength of his faction in one month he was forced to fly 
 from the city. Yet he fled not with so much haste but that he 
 carried off all the treasures, even the sacred vessels from the 
 church of St. Peter. 
 
 Suddenly the fugitive Bonifazio re-appeared in Rome, seized 
 the Pope, imprisoned him in the Castle of St. Angelo, of 
 which important fortress he had become master, and there put 
 him to death by starvation or by poison. He exposed the 
 body to the view of the people, who dared not murmur; he 
 seated himself, as it seems, unresisted, in the papal chair, but 
 soon after died. The people revenged themselves for their 
 own base acquiescence in his usurpation by cowardly insults on 
 his dead body, by dragging it through the streets. 
 
424 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 For twelve years Benedict IX. ruled in Rome, in the words 
 of one of his successors, Victor III., leading a life so shame- 
 ful, so foul and execrable, that he shuddered to describe it. 
 He ruled like a captain of banditti rather than a prelate. 
 Adulteries, homicides, perpetrated by his own hand, passed 
 unnoticed, unrevenged. He became deeply enamoured of his 
 cousin. The father refused his daughter unless the Pope 
 would surrender the papacy. 
 
 He actually sold the papacy to an arch-Presbyter, named 
 John. 
 
 There were at one time three popes, by themselves, or by 
 their factions, engaged in deadly feud. They laid aside, or 
 taught each other to despise, their spiritual arms; they en- 
 countered with the carnal weapons of ordinary warfare. 
 Milman's History of Latin Christianity. 
 
 For ten dreary years, A.D. 1198, with but short intervals 
 of truce, Germany was abandoned to all the horrors of civil 
 war. The repeated protestations of Innocent that he was not 
 the cause of these fatal discords, betray the fact that he was 
 accused of the guilt; and that he had to wrestle with his own 
 conscience to acquit himself of the charge. It was a war, not 
 of descisive battles, but of marauding, desolation, havoc, 
 plunder, wasting of harvests, ravaging open and defenceless 
 countries; war waged by prelate against prelate, by prince 
 against prince; wild Bohemians and bandit soldiers of every 
 race were roving through every province. Throughout the 
 land there was no law: the high roads were impassable on ac- 
 count of robbers; traffic cut off, except on the great rivers, 
 from Cologne down the Rhine, from Ratisbon down the 
 Danube; nothing was spared, nothing sacred, church or cloi- 
 ster. Some monasteries were utterly impoverished, some 
 destroyed. The ferocities of war grew into brutalities; the 
 clergy and sacred persons were the victims and perpetrators. 
 The wretched nun who, it is said, was stripped naked, an- 
 ointed with honey, rolled in feathers, and then set on a horse 
 with her face to the tail, and paraded through the streets, was 
 no doubt only recorded because her fate was somewhat more 
 horrible than that of many of her sisters The Abbot of St. 
 
Later Crimes of the Church 4 2 5 
 
 Gall seized six of the principal burghers of Arbon, and cut off 
 their feet, in revenge for one of his servants who had suffered 
 the like mutilation for lopping wood in their forests. 
 
 In these times A.D. 1200 began the persecutions of the 
 so-called heretics; for men were beginning to weary of the 
 narrow and complicated theology of the Church, and to be- 
 lieve only that which they found in their own hearts. Fires were 
 kindled and heretics burned in Oxford, in Rheims, in Arras, 
 in Besancon, in Cologne, in Treves, in Vezelay. In this latter 
 stately monastery the Archbishops of Lyons and Narbonne, 
 the Bishops of Nevers and Laon, and many abbots and great 
 theologians sat in solemn judgment on some, it should seem, 
 poor ignorant men, called Publicans. They denied all but 
 God, they absolutely rejected all the sacraments, infant bap- 
 tism, the Eucharist, the sign of the cross, holy water, the effi- 
 cacy of tithes and oblations, marriages, monkhood, the power 
 and functions of the priesthood. Appeal was made to the 
 whole assembly: "What shall be done with them?" "Let 
 them be burned! Let them be burned! " And burned they 
 were, to the number of seven, in the valley of Ecouan. 
 
 In the market-place of Milan were raised, here a cross, there 
 a blazing pyre. The heretics were brought forth, commanded 
 to throw themselves before the cross, confess their sins, accept 
 the Catholic faith, or to plunge into the flames. A few knelt 
 before the cross; the greater number covered their faces, 
 rushed into the fire, and were consumed. In Cologne, also, 
 heretics were thrown into the flames. 
 
 But in the twelfth century, heresy became rampant, bold, 
 undisguised. The desperate Church was compelled to resort 
 to the irrefragable argument of the sword and the stake. Woe 
 to the prince or to the magistrate who refused to be the execu- 
 tioner of the stern law. 
 
 In many places the people were delighted at seeing a priest 
 keep a mistress, that the married women might be safe from 
 his seductions. What humiliating scenes did the house of a 
 priest in those days present! The wretched man supported 
 the woman and the children she had borne him with the tithes 
 and offerings. His conscience was troubled: he blushed in 
 
One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 the presence of the people, before his domestics, and before 
 God. The mother, fearing to come to want if the priest should 
 die, made provision against it beforehand, and robbed her 
 own house. Her honour was lost. Her children were ever a 
 living accusation against her. Despised by all, they plunged 
 into quarrels and debauchery. Such was the family of the 
 priest! 
 
 If we go higher in the hierarchical order, we find the corrup- 
 tion not less great. The dignitaries of the Church preferred 
 the tumult of camps to the hymns of the altar. To be able, 
 lance in hand, to reduce his neighbours to obedience was 
 one of the chief qualifications of a bishop. Everywhere the 
 bishops were continually at war with their towns. The citizens 
 demanded liberty, the bishops required implicit obedience. If 
 the latter gained the victory, they punished the revolters by 
 sacrificing numerous victims to their vengeance. 
 
 And what a spectacle was presented by the pontifical throne 
 in the times immediately preceding the Reformation! Rome, 
 it must be acknowledged, had seldom witnessed so much in- 
 famy. Rodrigo Borgia, after having lived with a Roman lady, 
 had continued the same illicit connection with one of her daugh- 
 ters, named Rosa Vanozza, by whom he had five children. 
 He was a cardinal and archbishop, living at Rome with Van- 
 ozza and other women, visiting the churches and the hos- 
 pitals, when the death of Innocent VII. created a vacancy in 
 the pontifical chair. He succeeded in obtaining it by bribing 
 each cardinal at a stipulated price. 
 
 On the day of his coronation, his son Caesar, a youth of 
 ferocious and dissolute manners, was created Archbishop of 
 Valencia, and Bishop of Pampeluna. He next celebrated in 
 the Vatican the marriage of his daughter, Lucretia, by festivi- 
 ties, at which his mistress, Julia Bella, was present; and 
 which were enlivened by licentious plays and songs. " All the 
 clergy," says an historian, " kept mistresses, and all the con- 
 vents of the capital were houses of ill-fame." 
 
 Thus had the clergy brought not only themselves but their 
 faith into disrepute. Well might Luther exclaim: The ec- 
 clesiastical order is opposed to God and to His glory. The 
 
Later Crimes of the Church 4 2 7 
 
 people know it well; and this is but too plainly shown by the 
 many songs, by proverbs and jokes against the priests, that are 
 current among the commonalty, and all those caricatures of 
 monks and priests on every wall, and even on the playing- 
 cards. Every one feels a loathing on seeing or hearing a priest 
 in the distance. The evil had spread through all ranks; the 
 corruption of manners corresponded with the corruption of faith. 
 
 "We Italians," says Machiavelli, "are indebted principally 
 to the Church and the priests for having become impious and 
 immoral." 
 
 A great agitation prevailed at that time, A.D. 1517, among 
 the German people. The Church had opened a vast market 
 upon earth. From the crowds of purchasers, and the shouts 
 and jokes of the sellers, it might have been called a fair, but 
 a fair conducted by monks. The merchandise that they were 
 extolling, and which they offered at a reduced price, was, 
 said they, " the salvation of souls." Tetzel, a monk, who 
 played the chief part at these sales, delivered the following 
 sermon: "Indulgences," said he, "are the most precious and 
 the most noble of God's gifts. 
 
 " Come, and I will give you letters, all properly sealed, 
 by which even the sins that you intend to commit may be 
 pardoned." " There is no sin so great that an indulgence can- 
 not remit." 
 
 " But more than this," said he, " indulgences avail not only 
 for the living, but the dead. For that repentance is not even 
 necessary." 
 
 "Priest! noble! merchant! wife! youth! maiden! do you not 
 hear your parents and your other friends who are dead, and 
 who cry from the bottom of the abyss: We are suffering hor- 
 rible torments! a trifling alms would deliver us; you can give it, 
 and you will not! " 
 
 "At the very instant," continued Tetzel, "that the money 
 rattles at the bottom of the chest, the soul escapes from purga- 
 tory and flies, liberated, to heaven." 
 
 For particular sins, there was a particular tax. For poly- 
 gamy it was six ducats; for sacrilege and perjury, nine ducats; 
 for murder, eight ducats; for witchcraft, two ducats. 
 
428 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 In a letter given at Rome, under the seal of the Fisherman, 
 in November, 1517, Leo requires of his commissary of in- 
 dulgences 147 gold ducats, to purchase a manuscript of the 
 thirty-third book of Livy. Of all the uses to which he applied 
 the money of the Germans, this was undoubtedly the best. 
 Yet it was a strange thing to deliver souls from purgatory to 
 procure the means of purchasing a manuscript of the history 
 of the Roman wars. 
 
 A married schoolmaster, desiring to enter holy orders, ob- 
 tained his wife's consent with this view, and they separated. 
 The new priest, finding it impossible to observe his vow of 
 celibacy, and unwilling to wound his wife's feelings, quitted 
 the place where she lived, and went into the see of Constance, 
 where he formed a criminal connection. His wife heard of 
 this and followed him. The poor priest had compassion on 
 her, and, dismissing the woman who had usurped her rights, 
 took his lawful spouse into his house. The procurator-fiscal 
 immediately drew up a complaint ; the vicar-general was in a 
 ferment; the councillors of the consistory deliberated . . . 
 and ordered the curate either to forsake his wife or his bene- 
 fice. The poor wife left her husband's house in tears, and 
 her rival re-entered it in triumph. The Church declared itself 
 satisfied, and from that time the adulterous priest was left un- 
 disturbed. Milman's Latin Christianity. 
 
 THE CRUSADES 
 
 In the spring of 1096 a large body of the lower orders, 
 under the lead of Peter the Hermit, and under the guidance 
 of a goose and a goat, began to march across Germany. They 
 were compelled to divide, and the smaller party, led by a 
 Burgundian knight, Walter the Penniless, going in advance, was 
 annihilated in Bulgaria. The larger party suffered severely, 
 and was guilty of great atrocities; but Peter brought the bulk 
 of it to Constantinople, where he was joined by Walter. They 
 were landed in Asia, where they were nearly all destroyed by 
 the Turks, Peter having left them. 
 
 A third division, consisting of Germans, was led by a monk 
 
The Crusades 429 
 
 named Godeschal, and was massacred in Hungary. A fourth, 
 estimated at two hundred thousand, and composed of various 
 peoples, was led by some nobles, from Germany, but it was 
 destroyed by the Hungarians, after having perpetrated terrible 
 outrages. 
 
 The siege of Jerusalem during the first crusade was closed 
 with an assault, and a massacre of almost unequalled atrocity. 
 No barbarian, no infidel, no Saracen, ever perpetrated such 
 wanton and cold-blooded atrocities of cruelty as the wearers 
 of the cross of Christ who, it is said, had fallen on their 
 knees and burst into a pious hymn at the first sight of the 
 Holy City on the capture of that city. Murder was mercy, 
 rape tenderness, simple plunder the mere assertion of the con- 
 queror's right. Children were seized by the legs, some of 
 them plucked from their mother's breasts, and dashed against 
 the walls or whirled from the battlements. Others were 
 obliged to leap from the walls; some tortured, roasted by slow 
 fires. They ripped up prisoners, to see if they had swallowed 
 gold. Of seventy thousand Saracens there were not left enough 
 to bury the dead; poor Christians were hired to perform the 
 office. Every one surprised in the temple was slaughtered, till 
 the reek from the dead bodies drove away the slayers. The 
 Jews were burned alive in their synagogue. Even the day after, 
 all who had taken refuge on the roofs were hewn to pieces. 
 
 At the surrender of Acre, during the third crusade, the 
 crusaders, in violation of their word, butchered five thousand 
 Mussulmans who had been left in their hands as hostages. 
 
 Bootless carnage distinguished the Crusades from almost all 
 other wars; the unseemly spectacle of crimes, cruelties, un- 
 bridled licentiousness, strife, jealousies, and treacheries too 
 often prevailed in the Christian camp. 
 
 To all who embarked in the Crusades the Pope promised, on 
 their sincere repentance, the remission of all their sins and 
 eternal life in the great day of retribution. Those who were 
 unable to proceed in person might obtain the same remission 
 in proportion to the bounty of their offerings. 
 
 The Crusaders advanced to the siege of Constantinople, 
 a Christian city, in the name of Christ. 
 
43 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Nicetas, himself an eye-witness and sufferer in these scenes, 
 contrasts the discipline and self-denial of the Mohammedans 
 who under Saladin stormed Jerusalem, with the rapacity, the 
 lust, the cruelty of the Christian conquerors of Constanti- 
 nople. They spared neither religion, nor age, nor sex; they 
 practised fornications, incests, adulteries in the sight of men; 
 abandoned matrons and virgins dedicated to God, to the lewd- 
 ness of grooms. Many rushed at once to the churches and 
 monasteries. In the church of Santa Sophia the silver was 
 rent off from the magnificent pulpit; the table of oblation, 
 admired for its precious material and exquisite workmanship, 
 broken to pieces. Mules and horses were led into the churches 
 to carry off the ponderous vessels; if they slipped down on the 
 smooth floor they were forced to rise up by lash and spur, so 
 that their blood flowed on the pavement. 
 
 A prostitute mounted the Patriarch's throne and screamed 
 out a disgusting song, accompanied with the most offensive 
 gestures. 
 
 Instead of the chants the aisles rung with wild shouts of 
 revelry or indecent oaths and imprecations. 
 
 But, according to the theory of the Church, the erring be- 
 liever was as declared an enemy to God as the Pagan or the 
 Islamite: in one respect more inexcusable and odious, as 
 obstinately resisting or repudiating the truth. The heretic 
 appeared to the severely orthodox Christian as worse than the 
 unbeliever; he was a revolted subject, not a foreign enemy. 
 Civil wars are always the most ferocious. Excommunication 
 from the Christian Church implied outlawry from Christian 
 society; the heretic forfeited not only all dignities, rights, 
 privileges, immunities, even all property, all protection by 
 law; he was to be pursued, taken, despoiled, put to death, 
 either by the ordinary course of justice, the temporal author- 
 ity was bound to execute, even to blood, the sentence of the 
 ecclesiastical court, or, if he dared to resist by any means 
 whatever, however peaceful, he was an insurgent, against whom 
 the whole of Christendom might, or rather was bound at the 
 summons of the spiritual power to declare war; his estates, 
 even his dominions if a sovereign, were not merely liable to 
 
The Persecution of the Jews 431 
 
 forfeiture, but the Church assumed the power of awarding the 
 forfeiture as it might seem best to her wisdom. 
 
 The army which should execute the mandate of the Church 
 was the army of the Church, and the banner of that army was 
 the cross of Christ. So began crusades, not on the contested 
 borders of Christendom, not in Mohammedan or heathen 
 lands, in Palestine, on the shores of the Nile, among the 
 Livonian forests or the sands of the Baltic, but in the. very 
 bosom of Christendom; not among the implacable partisans 
 of an antagonistic creed, but among those who still called 
 themselves by the name of Christians. Milman's History of 
 Latin Christianity. 
 
 THE PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS 
 
 When the horde of fanatics under the command of Peter 
 the Hermit was assembled near the city of Treves, a murmur 
 rapidly spread through the camp that while they were ad- 
 vancing to recover the sepulchre of their Redeemer from the 
 Infidels, they were leaving behind worse unbelievers, the mur- 
 derers of the Lord. In the words of Jewish tradition, no 
 doubt generally faithful in its record of their calamities, " the 
 abominable Germans and French rose up against them, peo- 
 ple of a fierce countenance, that have no respect to the persons 
 of the old, neither have they mercy upon the young; and they 
 said: 'Let us be revenged for our Messiah upon the Jews 
 that are among us, and let us destroy them from being a 
 nation, that the name of Israel may be had no more in remem- 
 brance; then will we go to the East.' " With one impulse the 
 Crusaders rushed to the city, and began a relentless pillage, 
 violation, and massacre of every Jew they could find. In 
 this horrible day men were seen to slay their own children to 
 save them from the worse usage of these savages. Women 
 having deliberately tied stones round themselves that they 
 might sink, plunged from the bridge to save their honour and 
 escape baptism. Their husbands had rather send them to 
 the bosom of Abraham than leave them to the mercy, or 
 rather the lustful cruelties, of the Christians. The rest fled to 
 
43 2 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 the Bishop's palace as a place of refuge. They were received 
 by the Bishop, Engelbert, with these words: " Wretches, your 
 sins have come upon you; ye who have blasphemed the Son 
 of God and calumniated his Mother. This is the cause of 
 your present miseries, this, if ye persist in your obduracy, 
 will destroy your body and soul for ever." The same bloody 
 scenes were repeated in Metz, in Spiers, in Worms, in May- 
 ence, in Cologne. The locust band passed on; everywhere 
 the tracks of the Crusaders were deeply marked with Jewish 
 blood. A troop under Count Emico offered the same horrid 
 sacrifices to the God of Mercy in the cities on the Maine and 
 the Danube, even as far as Hungary. 
 
 There was at Seville a fierce popular preacher, Ferdinand 
 Martinez, Archdeacon of Ecija. During the reign of John I. 
 his inflammatory harangues against the obstinacy and the 
 usury and the wealth of the Jews had excited the populace. 
 The Jewries were attacked; and a general pillage, violation, 
 and massacre took place of men and women, old and young. 
 Fire and sword raged unresisted through these quarters of the 
 city. The streets of noble Seville ran with blood and the 
 wild voice of the Archdeacon in the pulpit rose over all, and 
 kept up the madness. Four thousand Jews perished in the 
 massacre. 
 
 The terrible example of their impunity, the fame of the 
 blood which they had shed without rebuke, the wealth which 
 they had acquired without restitution, spread throughout the 
 kingdom. Hardly more than a year had passed, when in one 
 day August 8th the populace rose in Cordova, in Valencia, 
 in Toledo, in Burgos. Each of these cities, says a Spanish 
 author, was another Troy. All the horrors of a town taken by 
 storm were suffered by the Jewries: plunder, rape, massacre, 
 conflagration. 
 
 In 1492 appeared the fatal edict commanding all unbaptised 
 Jews to quit the realm of Spain in four months. 
 
 For three centuries their fathers had dwelt in this delightful 
 country, which they had fertilised with their industry, enriched 
 with their commerce, adorned with their learning. Yet there 
 were few examples of weakness or apostasy; the whole race, 
 
The Persecution of the Jews 433 
 
 variously calculated at 166,000, 300,000, 650,000, or 800,000, 
 in a lofty spirit of self-devotion we envy not that mind which 
 cannot appreciate its real greatness determined to abandon 
 all rather than desert the religion of their fathers. They left 
 the homes of their youth, the scenes of their early associa- 
 tions, the sacred graves of their ancestors, the more recent 
 tombs of their own friends and relatives. They left the syna- 
 gogues in which they had so long worshipped their God, the 
 schools where those wise men had taught who had thrown a 
 lustre which shone, even through the darkness of the age, 
 upon the Hebrew name. They were allowed four months to 
 prepare for this everlasting exile. The unbaptised Jew found 
 in the kingdom after that period was condemned to death. 
 The persecutor could not even trust the hostile feeling of his 
 bigoted subjects to execute his purpose, a statute was thought 
 necessary, prohibiting any Christian from harbouring a Jew 
 after that period. Many were sold for slaves ; Christendom 
 swarmed with them. The wealthier were permitted to carry 
 away their movables, excepting gold and silver, for which they 
 were to accept letters of change or any merchandise not pro- 
 hibited. Their property they might sell; but the market was 
 soon glutted and the cold-hearted purchasers waited till the 
 last instant to wring from their distress the hardest terms. A 
 contemporary author states that he saw Jews give a house for 
 an ass and a vineyard for a small quantity of cloth or linen. 
 Yet many of them concealed their gold and jewels in their 
 clothes and saddles; some swallowed them, in hopes thus 
 at least to elude the scrutiny of the officers. The Jews con- 
 sider this calamity almost as dreadful as the taking and ruin of 
 Jerusalem. For whither to fly ? And where to find a more 
 hospitable shore ? Incidents which make the blood run cold 
 are related of the miseries which they suffered. Some of 
 those from Aragon found their way into Navarre; others to 
 the sea-shore, where they set sail for Italy, or the coast of 
 Morocco; others crossed the frontier into Portugal. " Many 
 of the former were cast away or sunk," says a Jewish writer, 
 " like lead into the ocean." On board the ship which was con- 
 veying a great number to Africa the plague broke out. The 
 28 
 
434 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 captain ascribed the infection to his circumcised passengers, 
 and set them all on shore, on a desert coast, without pro- 
 visions. They dispersed: one, a father, saw his beautiful 
 wife perish before his eyes fainted himself with exhaustion 
 and, waking, beheld his two children dead by his side. 
 
 In Portugal the king named a day for all Jews to quit the 
 kingdom and appointed certain ports for their embarkation. 
 Before that time he issued another secret order to seize all 
 children under fourteen years of age, to tear them from the 
 arms, the bosoms of their parents, and disperse them through 
 the kingdom, to be baptised and brought up as Christians. 
 The secret transpired, and, lest they should conceal their child- 
 ren, it was instantly put in execution. Great God of Mercy, 
 this was in the name of Christianity! Frantic mothers threw 
 their children into the wells and rivers they destroyed them 
 with their own hands. One mother threw herself at the feet 
 of the king as he was riding to church. She had already lost 
 six children; she implored that her youngest might be spared 
 to her. The courtiers repelled her with scorn and ill-usage. 
 The king told them to let her go, " the poor bitch deprived of 
 her whelps! " Milman's History of Christianity. 
 
 ALBIGENSIAN WAR 
 
 Never in the history of man were the great eternal princi- 
 ples of justice, -the faith of treaties, common humanity, so 
 trampled under foot as in the Albigensian war. Never was 
 war waged in which ambition, the consciousness of strength, 
 rapacity, implacable hatred, and pitiless cruelty played a 
 greater part. And throughout the war it cannot be disguised 
 that it was not merely the army of the Church, but the Church 
 itself in arms. Papal legates and the greatest prelates headed 
 the host and mingled in all the horrors of the battle and the 
 siege. In no instance did they interfere to arrest the massa- 
 cre, in some cases they urged it on. "Slay all, God will 
 know His own," was the boasted saying of Abbot Arnold, 
 Legate of the Pope, before Beziers. Arnold was the captain- 
 general of the army. Hardly one of the great prelates of 
 France stood aloof. 
 
Albigensian War 435 
 
 In A.D. 1207 the army appeared before Beziers, which, in 
 the strength of its walls and the courage of its inhabitants, ven- 
 tured on bold defiance. The Bishop Reginald of Montpellier 
 demanded the surrender of all whom he might designate as 
 heretics. On their refusal of these terms the city was stormed. 
 A general massacre followed; neither age nor sex was spared; 
 even priests fell in the remorseless carnage. In the Church 
 of St. Mary Magdalene were killed seven thousand by the 
 defenders of the sanctity of the Church. The account of the 
 slain is variously estimated from twenty thousand even up to 
 fifty thousand. The city was set on fire, even the cathedral 
 perished in the flames. The law of conquest was put in force. 
 The lands of a heretic were as the lands of a Saracen. 
 
 The barbarity at Lavour passed all precedent, even in this 
 fearful war. A general massacre was permitted; men, women, 
 children were cut to pieces, till there remained nothing to kill 
 except some of the garrison, and others reserved for a more 
 cruel fate. Four hundred were burned in one great pile, 
 which made a wonderful blaze, and caused universal rejoicing 
 in the camp. Aymeric of Montreal, the commander, was 
 brought with eighty nobles Lavour seems to have been 
 thought a safe place of refuge before De Montfort. He 
 ordered them all to be hanged; the overloaded gibbets broke 
 down; they were hewn in pieces. Giralda, the Lady of La- 
 vour, was thrown into a well, and huge stones rolled down 
 upon her. The bishops preached in vain to five hundred 
 heretics, but converted not one; sixty, however, they burned 
 with great joy. 
 
 In 1487, Innocent VIII., the father of the Romans, issued a 
 bull against the Waldenses. "To arms," said the pontiff, 
 " and trample these heretics under foot as venomous serpents." 
 
 At the approach of the legate, followed by an army of 
 eighteen thousand men and a number of volunteers who 
 wished to share the spoils of the Waldenses, the latter aban- 
 doned their houses and took refuge in the mountains, caverns, 
 and clefts of the rocks, as the birds flee for shelter when 
 the storm begins to lower. Not a valley, nor a wood, nor a 
 rock escaped their persecutors; everywhere in this part of the 
 
43 6 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 Alps, and particularly on the Italian side, these poor disciples 
 of Christ were hunted down like beasts of prey. At last the 
 Pope's satellites were worn out; their strength was exhausted, 
 their feet could no longer scale the steep retreats of the 
 " heretics," and their arms refused to strike. 
 
 The Reformation had made considerable progress among 
 the people of the Netherlands during the reign of Charles V., 
 and Philip, soon after his accession, undertook to root out 
 entirely the new doctrines and to restore the exclusive suprem- 
 acy of the Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 An insurrection of the Protestants breaking out in Flanders, 
 August 14, 1566, Philip determined to resort to the most severe 
 measures to suppress Protestantism, and accordingly the cruel 
 Duke of Alva, a soldier of great reputation, was sent to the 
 Netherlands in 1567, with a powerful army of Spanish vet- 
 erans; and for six years the country suffered under a tyranny 
 which, for extent and ferocity, has few parallels in history. 
 
 After the execution of Huss A.D. 1415 the Hussite war 
 broke out in all its fury. Of all wars, none was so horribly 
 remorseless, ostentatiously cruel as this a war of races, of lan- 
 guages, and of religion. It was a strife of revenge, of reprisal, 
 of extermination, considered to be the holiest of duties. On 
 one side no faith was to be kept, no mercy shown to heretics: 
 to cut off the spreading plague by any means was paramount 
 to all principles of law or gospel. On the other, vengeance 
 was to be wreaked on the enemies of God's people, and there- 
 fore the enemies of God; to root out idolatry was the mission 
 of the Bohemians; mortal sin was to be cut off with the right- 
 eous sword; and the whole priesthood, all monks, friars, nuns, 
 were so utterly depraved, according to their sweeping con- 
 demnation, that it was only to fulfil the Divine commandment 
 to extirpate the irreclaimable Order. These terrible theories 
 were relentlessly carried into more terrible practice. Kutten- 
 burg, the second city in the realm, the rival of Prague, Catho- 
 lic and German as Prague was Hussite and Bohemian, burned, 
 beheaded, hanged all who would not retract their opinions. 
 They bought the prisoners taken in war for a few groschens a 
 head five times as much for a preacher as for a common 
 
Persecution of Heretics 437 
 
 man and executed them without trial, without mercy. They 
 are charged with having put to death sixteen hundred men. 
 The Hussites, wherever they could, perpetrated horrible re- 
 prisals; for so many of their brethren as were burned, they 
 hanged as many monks or friars. Milman's History of Latin 
 Christianity. 
 
 THE PERSECUTION OF THE HERETICS 
 
 After the Albigensian Crusade, when the open war was at 
 an end, the Church still pursued her exterminating warfare 
 against her still rebellious subjects. The Inquisition contin- 
 ued its silent, but not less inhuman, hardly less destructive 
 crusade. 
 
 That tribunal, with all its peculiar statutes, its jurisdiction, 
 its tremendous agency, was founded during this period. Its 
 statutes, framed after the successful termination of the war, in 
 order absolutely to extirpate every lingering vestige of heresy, 
 form the code of persecution, which not merely aimed at sup- 
 pressing all public teaching, but the more secret freedom of 
 thought. It was a system which penetrated into the inner- 
 most sanctuary of domestic life, and made delation not only 
 a merit and duty, but an obligation also, enforced by tremen- 
 dous penalties. 
 
 The court sat in profound secrecy; no advocate might ap- 
 pear before the tribunal, no witness was confronted with the 
 accused: who were the informers, what the charges, except the 
 vague charge of heresy, no one knew. The suspected heretic 
 was first summoned to declare, on oath, that he would speak 
 the truth, the whole truth, of all persons whatsoever, living or 
 dead, like himself under the suspicion of heresy. If he re- 
 fused, he was cast into a dungeon a dungeon the darkest in 
 those dreary ages the most dismal, the most profound, the 
 most noisome. No falsehood was too false, no craft too crafty, 
 no trick too base for this calm, systematic moral torture, 
 which was to wring further confession against himself, denun- 
 ciation against others. It was the deliberate object to break 
 the spirit. The prisoner was told that there were witnesses, 
 
43 8 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 undeniable witnesses against him; if convicted by such wit- 
 nesses, his death was inevitable. In the meantime his food 
 was to be slowly diminished till body and soul were prostrate. 
 He was then to be left in darkness, solitude, and silence. 
 Then were to come one or two of the faithful, dexterous men, 
 who were to speak in gentle words of interest and sympathy: 
 " Fear not to confess that you have had dealings with those 
 men, the teachers of heresy, because they seemed to you men 
 of holiness and virtue; wiser than you have been deceived." 
 These dexterous men were to speak of the Bible, of the Gos- 
 pels, of the Epistles of St. Paul, to talk the very language, the 
 scriptural language of the heretic. " These foxes," it was 
 said, " can only be unearthed by fox-like cunning." But if 
 all this art failed, then came terror, and the goading to despair. 
 " Die you must bethink you of your soul." Upon which, if 
 the desperate man said, " If I must die, I will die in the true 
 faith of the gospel," he had made his confession: justice 
 claimed her victim. 
 
 The Inquisition had three penalties: for those who recanted, 
 penance in the severest forms which the Church might enact; 
 for those not absolutely convicted, perpetual imprisonment; 
 for the obstinate or relapsed, death death at the stake. Such 
 was the procedure, of which the instructions may now be read 
 in their very words. Two inquisitors were appointed in every 
 city, but the bishops needed no excitement to their eager zeal, 
 no remonstance against mistimed mercy to the heretics. At 
 the Council of Narbonne was issued a decree that there were 
 not prisons vast enough to contain those who deserved impris- 
 onment for life. 
 
 A division of the Franciscans, calling themselves spirituals, 
 were loud in their denunciations of the corruptions of the 
 Church. John XXII. was too sagacious not to foresee the 
 peril; too arrogantly convinced, and too jealous, of his su- 
 preme spiritual authority not to resent; too merciless not to 
 extirpate by the most cruel means these slowly working ene- 
 mies. Soon after his accession, bull followed bull equally 
 damnatory. The Inquisition was committed to Michael di 
 Cesena, still the faithful subject of the pope, and to seven 
 
Persecution of Heretics 439 
 
 others. Twenty-five monks were convicted, and sentenced first 
 to degradation, then to perpetual imprisonment. They were 
 brought to the stake and burned at Marseilles. They were 
 condemned for the heresy of denying the papal authority. 
 
 The prisons of Narbonne and of Carcassonne were crowded 
 with those who were spared the last penalty. Among these 
 was the friar Deliciosus of Montpellier, a Franciscan, who had 
 boldly withstood the Inquisition, and was immured for life in 
 a dungeon. He it was who declared that if St. Peter and 
 St. Paul should return to earth, the Inquisition would lay 
 hands on them, as damnable heretics. At Toulouse the pub- 
 lic sermons of the Inquisition took place at intervals, and 
 these sermons were rarely unaccompanied by proofs of their 
 inefficacy. Men who would not be argued into belief must 
 be burned. The corollary of a Christian sermon was a holo- 
 caust at the stake. 
 
 In England a statute was necessary to legalise the burning 
 of heretics. The judgment was passed in the ecclesiastical 
 court or that of the Inquisition. The statute bears the ill- 
 omened appellation, " For the Burning of Heretics." The pre- 
 amble was directed in the most comprehensive terms against 
 the new preachers. These preachings, schools, books, were 
 strictly inhibited. The bishop of the diocese was empowered 
 to arrest all persons accused or suspected of these acts, to im- 
 prison them, to bring them to trial in his court. " If he shall 
 refuse to abjure such doctrines, or having abjured, relapse, 
 sentence is to be recorded: a writ issued to the sheriff of the 
 county, the mayor or bailiff of the nearest borough, who is to 
 take order that on a high place in public, before the face of 
 the people, he be burned." 
 
 Nor was this statute an idle menace; the primate and 
 the bishops hastened to make examples under its terrible 
 provisions. 
 
 And when, later than this, Luther struck at the root of 
 Roman Catholicism, though the power of the Church was on 
 the wane, persecution was again resorted to. Milman's His- 
 tory of Latin Christianity. 
 
 Fanaticism grew fiercer every day; evangelical ministers 
 
440 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 were expelled from their churches; magistrates were banished; 
 and at times the most horrible punishments were inflicted. 
 In Wiirtemberg, an inquisitor named Reichler caused the 
 Lutherans, and, above all, the preachers, to be hanged upon 
 trees. Barbarous ruffians were found, who unfeelingly nailed 
 the pastors by their tongues to a post; so that these unhappy 
 victims, tearing themselves violently from the wood to which 
 they were fastened, were horribly mutilated in attempting to 
 recover their liberty, and thus deprived of that gift which 
 they had long used to proclaim the gospel. 
 
 At Landsburg nine persons were consigned to the flames, 
 and at Munich twenty-nine were thrown into the water. 
 
 Leclerc, one of the French reformers, was sentenced to be 
 burnt alive, and taken out to the place of execution. Here 
 a fearful scene awaited him. The cruelty of his persecutors 
 had been contriving all that could render his punishment 
 more horrible. Near the scaffold men were heating pincers 
 that were to serve as the instruments of their rage. Leclerc, 
 firm and calm, heard unmoved the wild yells of the monks and 
 people. They began by cutting off his right hand; then, taking 
 up the burning pincers, they tore off his nose; after this, they 
 lacerated his arms, and when they had thus mangled them in 
 several places, they concluded by burning his breasts. After 
 these tortures Leclerc was burnt by a slow fire, in conformity 
 with his sentence. 
 
 It has been estimated that the number of persons burned 
 alive under Torquemada, the first grand inquisitor, amounted 
 to 8800, those under Deza to 1664, and those under Cardinal 
 Ximenez to 2536. 
 
 THE MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW 
 
 The massacre of St. Bartholomew was planned by the in- 
 famous Catherine de' Medici, to take place at the celebration 
 of the marriage of Henry of Narvarre and Marguerite de 
 Valois, with the object of exterminating the nobles and gentry 
 of the Huguenot party, while plunged in the festivities of that 
 joyous occasion. The city gates were shut and guarded, and 
 
The Spaniards in Mexico 44 1 
 
 all the Catholic inhabitants were ordered to illuminate their 
 houses, both as a distinguishing mark, and as a means of 
 giving sufficient light by which to carry on the work of 
 destruction. Orders were also dispatched to the royal gov- 
 ernors of the principal cities of all the provinces to commence 
 the same massacre at the same hour, and, although, in some 
 instances, the humanity of the officers led them to disobey 
 their orders, the instructions were too generally followed. 
 Coligni was run through the body, in spite of the resistance of 
 some of his household, and thrown out of the window at the feet 
 of the Duke of Guise, who sat on horseback, coolly awaiting 
 the performance of the dreadful deed, and when the bloody 
 corpse was flung before his charger's hoofs on the pavement, 
 dismounted and wiped the clotted gore from the victim's 
 features with his handkerchief, in order to assure himself that 
 there had been no mistake; when the fatal tocsin rang from 
 the Church of St. Germain, the horrid slaughter began on 
 the instant, and was deliberately prosecuted during several 
 days, both in the capital and the large provincial towns. 
 Neither sex nor age was spared. 
 
 THE SPANIARDS IN MEXICO 
 
 
 
 The Spaniards entered Mexico with the sole intention of 
 conquest. Setting aside the question of right, in this inten- 
 tion, we will speak only of their manner of conducting this 
 conquest. 
 
 While occupying the city of Cholula, Cone's, fearing some 
 treachery on the part of the Indians, determined to make an 
 example of them that would strike the whole nation with ter- 
 ror. Large numbers of the Indians being gathered in a 
 square of the city, the fatal signal, the discharge of an arque- 
 buse, was given. In an instant every musket and cross-bow 
 was levelled at the unfortunate Cholulans in the court-yard, 
 and a frightful volley poured into them as they stood crowded 
 together like a herd of deer in the centre. They were taken 
 by surprise, and made scarcely any resistance to the Spaniards, 
 who followed up the discharge of their pieces by rushing on 
 
44 2 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 them with their swords; and, as the half-naked bodies of the 
 natives afforded no protection, they hewed them down with as 
 much ease as the reaper mows down the ripe corn in harvest 
 time. Some endeavoured to scale the walls, but only afforded 
 a surer mark to the arquebusiers and archers. Others threw 
 themselves into the gateways, but were received on the long 
 pikes of the soldiers who guarded them. Some few had bet- 
 ter luck in hiding themselves under the heaps of slain with 
 which the ground was soon loaded. 
 
 While this work of death was going on the countrymen of 
 the slaughtered Indians, drawn together by the noise of the 
 massacre, had commenced a furious assault on the Spaniards 
 from without. But Cortes had placed his battery of heavy 
 guns in a position that commanded the avenues, and swept off 
 the files of the assailants as they rushed on. In the intervals 
 between the discharges, which, in the imperfect state of the 
 science in that day, were much longer than in ours, he forced 
 back the press by charging with the horse into the midst. 
 The steeds, the guns, the weapons of the Spaniards were all 
 new to the Cholulans. Notwithstanding the novelty of the 
 terrific spectacle, the flash of firearms mingling with the 
 deafening roar of the artillery, as its thunders reverberated 
 among the buildings, the despairing Indians pushed on to 
 take the places of their fallen comrades. At last, forced to 
 give way, they flung themselves into the wooden turrets that 
 crowned the temple and poured down stones, javelins, and 
 burning arrows on the Spaniards as they climbed the great 
 staircase, which, by a flight of one hundred and twenty steps, 
 scaled the face of the pyramid. But the fiery shower fell 
 harmless on the steel bonnets of the Christians, while they 
 availed themselves of the burning shafts to set fire to the 
 wooden citadel, which was speedily wrapt in flames. 
 
 All was now confusion and uproar in the fair city which had 
 so lately reposed in security and peace. The groans of the 
 dying, the frantic supplications of the vanquished for mercy, 
 were mingled with the loud battle-cries of the Spaniards as 
 they rode down their enemy. The tumult was still further 
 swelled by the incessant rattle of musketry, and the crash of 
 
The Spaniards in Mexico 443 
 
 falling timbers, which sent up a volume of flame that outshone 
 the ruddy light of morning, making altogether a hideous con- 
 fusion of sights and sounds, that converted the Holy City 
 into a Pandemonium. As resistance slackened the victors 
 broke into the houses and sacred places, plundering them of 
 whatever valuables they contained, plate, jewels, which were 
 found in some quantity, wearing apparel, and provisions. 
 Cortes, in his letter to Charles the Fifth, admits three thou- 
 sand slain, most accounts say six, and some swell the amount 
 yet higher. 
 
 It was common for the Aztecs to celebrate an annual festi- 
 val in May in honour of their patron war-god. The Span- 
 iards gave their consent to this feast on condition that they 
 should come without weapons. They assembled accordingly 
 on the day appointed to the number of six hundred, at the 
 smallest computation. 
 
 Alvarado and his soldiers attended as spectators, some of 
 them taking their station at the gates, as if by chance, and 
 others mingling in the crowd. They were all armed, a cir- 
 cumstance which, as it was usual, excited no attention. The 
 Aztecs were soon engrossed by the exciting movement of the 
 dance, accompanied by their religious chant, and wild, dis- 
 cordant minstrelsy. While thus occupied Alvarado and his 
 men, at a concerted signal, rushed with drawn swords on 
 their victims. Unprotected by armour or weapons of any 
 kind they were hewn down without resistance by their assail- 
 ants, who, in their bloody work, says a contemporary, showed 
 no touch of pity or compunction. Some fled to the gates but 
 were caught on the long pikes of the soldiers. Others, who 
 attempted to scale the Coatepantli, or Wall of Serpents, as it 
 was called, which surrounded the area, shared the like fate, or 
 were cut to pieces or shot by the ruthless soldiery. The 
 pavement, says a writer of the age, ran with streams of blood, 
 like water in a heavy shower. Not an Aztec, of all that gay 
 company, was left alive! It was repeating the dreadful scene 
 of Cholula with the disgraceful addition that the Spaniards, 
 not content with slaughtering their victims, rifled them of the 
 precious ornaments on their persons! On this sad day fell 
 
444 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 the flower of the Aztec nobility. Not a family of note but had 
 mourning and desolation brought within its walls. 
 
 And now, with all allowance for the ferocity of the age and 
 the laxity of its principles, it must be admitted that these are 
 passages which every Spaniard, who cherishes the fame of his 
 countrymen, would be glad to see expunged from history; 
 passages not to be vindicated on the score of self-defence, or 
 of necessity of any kind, and which must for ever leave a dark 
 spot on the annals of the Conquest. And yet, taken as a 
 whole, the invasion was conducted on principles less revolting 
 to humanity than most, perhaps than any, of the other con- 
 quests of the Castilian crown in the New World. Prescott. 
 
 THE SPANIARDS IN PERU 
 
 Soon after the Spaniards entered Peru the Inca consented 
 to visit them and to come unarmed. He entered Caxamalca 
 at the head of a large number of his people, and was received 
 in one of the squares of the city by Pizarro's chaplain, who, 
 after explaining the Christian belief, and dwelling particularly 
 on the pope's authority over all nations, concluded with be- 
 seeching the Peruvian monarch to abjure the errors of his own 
 faith, and embrace that of the Christians now proffered to him, 
 the only one by which he could hope for salvation; and, fur- 
 thermore, to acknowledge himself a tributary of the Emperor 
 Charles the Fifth, who, in that event, would aid and protect 
 him as his loyal vassal. 
 
 The eyes of the Indian monarch flashed fire, and his dark 
 brow grew darker as he replied: " I will be no man's tributary. 
 I am greater than any prince upon earth. Your emperor 
 may be a great prince; I do not doubt it when I see that he 
 has sent his subjects so far across the waters; and I am willing 
 to hold him as a brother. As for the pope, of whom you 
 speak, he must be crazy to talk of giving away countries 
 which do not belong to him. For my faith," he continued, 
 " I will not change it. Your own God, as you say, was put to 
 death by the very men whom he created. But mine," he con- 
 cluded, pointing to his deity, then sinking in glory behind 
 
The Spaniards in Peru 445 
 
 the mountains, " my God still lives in the heavens and looks 
 down on his children." 
 
 Pizarro saw that the hour had come. He waved a white 
 scarf in the air, the appointed signal. The fatal gun was fired 
 from the fortress. Then, springing into the square, the Span- 
 ish captain and his followers shouted the old war-cry of " St. 
 Jago and at them." It was answered by the battle-cry of 
 every Spaniard in the city, as, rushing from the avenues of 
 the great halls in which they were concealed, they poured into 
 the plaza, horse and foot, each in his own dark column, and 
 threw themselves into the midst of the Indian crowd. The 
 latter, taken by surprise, stunned by the report of artillery 
 and muskets, the echoes of which reverberated like thunder 
 from the surrounding buildings, and blinded by the smoke 
 which rolled in sulphureous volumes along the square, were 
 seized with a panic. They knew not whither to fly for re- 
 fuge from the coming ruin. Nobles and commoners, all 
 were trampled down under the fierce charge of the cavalry, 
 who dealt their blows, right and left, without sparing, while 
 their swords, flashing through the thick gloom, carried dismay 
 into the hearts of the wretched natives, who now, for the first 
 time, saw the horse and his rider in all their terrors. They 
 made no resistance, as, indeed, they had no weapons with 
 which to make it. Every avenue to escape was closed, for the 
 entrance to the square was choked up with the dead bodies of 
 men who had perished in vain efforts to fly; and such was the 
 agony of the survivors under the terrible pressure of their 
 assailants that a large body of Indians, by their convulsive 
 struggles, burst through the wall of stone and dried clay 
 which formed part of the boundary of the plaza! It fell, 
 leaving an opening of more than a hundred paces, through 
 which multitudes now found their way into the country, still 
 hotly pursued by the cavalry, who, leaping the fallen rubbish, 
 hung on the rear of the fugitives, striking them down in all 
 directions. 
 
 Meanwhile the fight, or rather the massacre, continued hot 
 round the Inca, whose person was the great object of the 
 assault. His faithful nobles, rallying about him, threw them- 
 
44 6 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 selves in the way of the assailants, and strove by tearing them 
 from their saddles, or, at least, by offering their own bosoms 
 as a mark for their vengeance, to shield their beloved master. 
 Thus they continued to force back the cavaliers, clinging to 
 their horses with dying grasp, and, as one was cut down, 
 another taking the place of his fallen comrade with a loyalty 
 truly affecting. 
 
 The Indian monarch, stunned and bewildered, saw his faith- 
 ful subjects falling round him without fully comprehending his 
 situation. The litter on which he rode heaved to and fro, as 
 the mighty press swayed backwards and forwards ; and he 
 gazed on the overwhelming ruin, like some forlorn mariner, 
 who, tossed about in his bark by the furious elements, sees the 
 lightning's flash and hears the thunder bursting around him 
 with the consciousness that he can do nothing to avert his 
 fate. At length, weary with the work of destruction, the 
 Spaniards, as the shades of evening grew deeper, felt afraid 
 that the royal prize might, after all, elude them ; and some of 
 the cavaliers made a desperate attempt to end the affray at 
 once by taking Atahuallpa's life. But Pizarro, who was nearest 
 his person, called out with stentorian voice, " Let no one, who 
 values his life, strike at the Inca " ; and, stretching out his arm 
 to shield him, received a wound on the hand from one of his 
 own men, the only wound received by a Spaniard in the 
 action. 
 
 The number of slain is reported, as usual, with great discrep- 
 ancy. Pizarro's secretary says two thousand natives fell. A 
 descendant of the Incas swells the number to ten thousand. 
 
 It was not long before Atahuallpa discovered, amidst all the 
 show of religious zeal in his conquerors, a lurking appetite 
 more potent, in most of their bosoms, than either religion or 
 ambition. This was the love of gold. He determined to 
 avail himself of it to procure his own freedom. 
 
 In the hope, therefore, to effect his purpose, by appealing to 
 the avarice of his keepers, he one day told Pizarro that if he 
 would set him free he would engage to cover the floor of the 
 apartment on which they stood with gold. Those present lis- 
 tened with an incredulous smile ; and as the Inca received no 
 
Civilisation and Theology 447 
 
 answer, he said with some emphasis that " he would not 
 merely cover the floor, but would fill the room with gold 
 as high as he could reach " ; and, standing on tiptoe, he 
 stretched out his hand against the wall. Although this ransom 
 was paid, the Spaniards on some frivolous accusation sen- 
 tenced him to death. When the sentence was communicated 
 to the Inca, he exclaimed, " What have I done, or my children, 
 that I should meet such a fate ? And from your hands, too," 
 said he, addressing Pizarro, " you, who have met with friend- 
 ship and kindness from my people, with whom I have shared 
 my treasures, who have received nothing but benefits from my 
 hands ? " In the most piteous tones, he then implored that 
 his life might be spared, promising any guaranty that might 
 be required for the safety of every Spaniard in the army, 
 promising double the ransom he had already paid, if time were 
 only given him to obtain it. 
 
 Finding, however, that he had no power to turn his con- 
 queror from his purpose, he recovered his habitual self-posses- 
 sion, and from that moment submitted himself to his fate with 
 the courage of an Indian warrior. 
 
 CIVILISATION AND THEOLOGY 
 
 Many of these cruelties were committed by those who 
 prided themselves on being in the head and front of the 
 civilisation which is claimed to have sprung from the teaching 
 and influence of Christian theology, but which, in fact, has 
 sprung up in these our times as it has, in other times, in 
 Egyptian, Grecian, Roman, and South American communities 
 under the advantages afforded by the accumulation of wealth, 
 which goes hand in hand with mental culture and the develop- 
 ment of the arts and sciences, each fostering and forwarding 
 the other. The discovery of the art of printing has been of 
 immense service in increasing and perpetuating civilisation in 
 later days, by diffusing and retaining knowledge for the 
 benefit of each succeeding generation, and by bringing mind 
 into collision with mind. 
 
448 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 PRINTING AND CIVILISATION 
 
 But the inventor of the printing-press was denounced by the 
 Christian theologians of his day as being in league with the 
 devil, inasmuch as copies of the Bible could be produced by 
 means of printing with a celerity and in quantities never 
 before heard or dreamed of thus leading the way to the dis- 
 covery of the cheat which the theologians were practising on 
 the masses. Now, however, the Church authorities seize upon 
 the evident and rapid advance in intellectual culture and 
 knowledge in Christian countries, as compared with others, and 
 claim that this is due entirely to the promulgation of Christ- 
 ianity ; whereas, it is due entirely to the circumstance that 
 the printing-press was invented and put into operation in a 
 Christian country, in despite of the theologians who denounced 
 it. That the dark side of human nature here presented is the 
 exception and not the general rule, even in Christian countries, 
 we freely admit. It is one of the objects of this work to main- 
 tain that the good, the true, and the kind in human nature 
 largely predominate, notwithstanding the habit of the clergy 
 of representing unregenerate men that is, all not within the 
 pale of, and paying tithes to, the Church as utterly corrupt 
 and having no good in them. This habit of dilating so con- 
 tinually on the darker side of human nature amounts to a 
 gross and palpable libel on the species. Theologians, habitu- 
 ally measuring character by its aberrations, and estimating 
 strong and passionate natures by their failings, rather than by 
 their virtues which largely predominate, have fallen into 
 a signal injustice. And this is the more inexcusable, inasmuch 
 as in their own sacred volume, the Psalms of David are a con- 
 spicuous proof how a noble, tender, and passionate nature 
 could survive, even in an adulterer and a murderer. 
 
 Now, from whatever cause this persistent course of the 
 Christian theologians, in representing man in his natural state 
 as altogether under the empire of evil, proceeds, whether from 
 love of denomination, interest, or other causes, nothing can be 
 more certain than that excellence, and not vice, is prominent 
 and distinctive in human nature in its most primitive state. 
 
Printing and Civilisation 449 
 
 The more the intellectual faculties are cultivated and lend 
 their aid to the moral perceptions and kindly promptings of 
 the heart, the more rapid is the advance in the pursuit of the 
 good, the right, and the virtuous. But good greatly prepon- 
 derates over evil, even in the incipient stages of human society. 
 Benevolence is more common than cruelty. The sight of 
 suffering produces pity, rather than joy. Gratitude, not in- 
 gratitude, is the normal result of a conferred benefit. The 
 sympathies of man naturally follow heroism and goodness. In 
 fine, virtue and not vice, love and not hate, predominate in 
 human nature ; while vice itself is usually but an exaggeration 
 or distortion of tendencies that are in their own nature per- 
 fectly innocent. 
 
 We have herein presented to notice some of the great crimes 
 known to history, that have been committed by the inhabitants 
 of Christian countries, who are understood to have had the 
 benefit of the teachings of the Church. And we would remind 
 those who attempt to build up Church interests, and prove its 
 beneficial effects upon man, by contrasting the moral conduct 
 of Christian nations with that of heathen, that when fairly 
 made Christians lose rather than gain by the comparison. 
 As to attributing the advanced state of mental culture and 
 civilisation to the influence of the Church, rather than to that 
 of the art of printing, the cause of truth will be served by 
 calling attention to certain doings of the Church here given, 
 before the printing-press came into use. 
 
LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED 
 
 AND FROM WHICH EXTRACTS HAVE BEEN MADE 
 
 Essays on the Language, Writings, and Religion of the Par sees, 
 by Martin Haug. 
 
 Ancient Faiths Embodied in Ancient Names, by Thomas 
 Inman, M.D. 
 
 Sangermano's Burmese Empire, by Tandy. 
 
 The Rig- Veda Sanhita, translated by Wilson and Cowell. 
 
 Legge's Life and Teachings of Confucius. 
 
 Grote's Plato. 
 
 The Ten Tribes of Israel, and Mexican Antiquities, by Mrs. 
 Simon. 
 
 The Koran, by George Sale. 
 
 A Voice from the Ganges. 
 
 The Dervishes, by J. P. Brown. 
 
 A Brief View of Greek Philosophy, by a Pariah. 
 
 Philosophical Theories, and Philosophical Experience, by a 
 Pariah. 
 
 The works of Thomas Hobbes, Dugald Stewart, John Stuart 
 Mill, Lord Macaulay, Dr. Channing, Theodore Parker, Hum- 
 boldt, J. G. Fichte, and George Combe. 
 
 The Bridgewater Treatises, by Drs. Chalmers, Whewell, and 
 others. 
 
 Bishop Colenso on the Pentateuch. 
 
 Bun sen's God in History. 
 
 Buckle's History of Civilisation in England. 
 
 Lecky's History of European Morals, from Augustus to 
 Charlemagne. 
 
 Kenan's Life of Jesus. 
 
 New Life of Jesus, by Strauss. 
 
45 2 One Religion : Many Creeds 
 
 The Divine Government, by Southwood Smith. 
 Fellowes' Religion of the Universe. 
 The Universal Church. 
 Maurice's Religions of the World. 
 McCausland's Adam and the Adamites. 
 Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation. 
 Prescott's Conquest of Mexico and of Peru. 
 Essays and Reviews. 
 
 Draper's Intellectual Development of Europe. 
 Hansel's Bampton Lectures. 
 Froude's Short Studies on Great Subjects. 
 Ecce Homo. 
 
 Force and Matter, by Louis Biichner. 
 Lewes' History of Philosophy. 
 The State of Man before Christianity. 
 S. W. Hall's Law of Impersonation. 
 
 Discussion of the Unity, Duality, and Trinity of the Godhead. 
 Bernard's Cambridge Free Thoughts. 
 Quarterly Review on " The Talmud." 
 F. W. Newman's Phases of Faith. 
 What is Truth ? 
 
 Coupland's Incentives to the Higher Life. 
 Leigh Hunt's Religion of the Heart. 
 The Creed of Christendom, by W. R. Greg. 
 The Method of the Divine Government, by Dr. McCosh. 
 Pindar and Cicero in Bohn's Classical Library. 
 Indigenous Races of the Earth. 
 
 Milman's History of the Jews, of Christianity, and of Latin 
 Christianity. 
 
 Chips from a German Workshop, by Max Mtiller. 
 D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation. 
 Christ, and other Masters, by Archdeacon Hardwick. 
 Appleton's Cyclopedia. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 BERKELEY 
 
 Return to desk from which borrowed. 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 
 NOV 16 1947 
 
 REC'D LD 
 
 JUL 1 19S7 
 
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 JAN 3 1962 
 
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 J AMI? 1962 
 
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 LD 21-100m-9,'47(A5702sl6)476 
 
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