With the characteristic moral teaching of the Christian Bible, presented in the preceding chapter and throughout this work, we see not how to escape the conviction that the Bible has inflicted, and must necessarily inflict, a demoralizing influence on society wherever it is read and believed. It is morally impossible for any person to read and believe a book sanctioning, or appearing to sanction, so many species of crime and immorality without sustaining more or less moral and mental injury by it. For whatever views he may entertain with respect to the numerous crimes therein reported as having been committed with the approval, and often at the command, of a just God, it must naturally and inevitably have the tendency to weaken his detestation of those crimes, and also weaken his zeal and effort to extinguish them and other similar crimes now existing in society. It must also lower his conception of the moral attributes of Deity. However honest, and however naturally opposed to such immoralities at the outset, it is impossible for him to entertain the belief that they were once approved, or even connived at, by a morally perfect being, without becoming unconsciously weakened in his feelings of opposition to, and his hatred of, such deeds. It may be alleged that these practices are at war with those precepts which enjoin us to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and that of loving our neighbors as ourselves, &c. This is true; but reason and experience both teach us, as an important lesson in moral and mental philosophy, that, when a book which is accepted as a guide for the conduct and moral actions of men contains contradictory precepts, the people will seize on and reduce to practice those most consonant with their natures, and most congenial to their natural feelings and Inclinations. Hence it can easily be seen, that as the animal feelings and propensities which lead to the commission of crime, when unduly exercised, have always been stronger with the masses or the populace than the moral feelings, they have consequently always been more disposed to yield a compliance with those precepts which sanction, or appear to sanction, the commission of crime, than those which are condemnatory of crime. All persons in whose minds the animal propensities are the strongest will seize with eagerness the least authority, or appearance of authority, for committing those crimes which they are naturally inclined to commit, and for which they are glad to find a license or encouragement to commit. Under such circumstances they will ignore the virtuous precepts, and yield a compliance with those of an opposite character. Therefore Christian professors who expect the Bible to exert a moral influence in reforming the world and freeing it from crime, because it contains some beautiful and sound moral precepts, will be disappointed; for those precepts will be neutralized, and their effects destroyed, by those of an opposite character. A majority of the people in all countries have always possessed a strong inclination for committing those crimes which, we have shown, the Christian Bible appears to sanction. Hence the Bible, with all its counteracting precepts, will only add fuel to the fire, for the reason already pointed out. Those who do not know this must be ignorant of the most important principles of moral science, and the elements of human nature. Right here is where Christians commit a serious mistake. They scatter their Bibles among the heathen by the thousand, assuming that it will have the effect to moralize and civilize them, while they can find a warrant in it (as shown in the preceding chapter) for every species of crime they have been in the habit of committing. This is a solemn error they have been committing for ages. Hence their missionary labors, instead of reforming the heathen, have only tended to demoralize them, where they have not been counteracted by the more rational religion of science and nature, as they have been in many cases. Many facts could be adduced to prove this statement, some of which may be found in Chapter 50. ("Bible a Moral Necessity"). Wherever the Bible has been introduced, without the arts and sciences to counteract its influence (as in Abyssinia and the Samoan Islands), crime has increased. History proves that wherever the Bible has been circulated without any counteracting influences, both in Christian and heathen nations, it has had the effect to weaken the moral strength of the people, lower their natural appreciation of virtue and a true moral life, and has had a tendency to popularize crime by making it more respectable. It is therefore an unsuitable book to circulate as a guide for the moral conduct of man in any country.
The word "science" is from the Latin scire ("to know"). Hence every statement incompatible with the teachings and principles of science is simply ignorance arrayed against knowledge. It may surprise some who have been taught that the Bible contains "a perfect embodiment of truth," or who believe, with the redoubtable Dr. Cheever, that "the Bible does not contain the shadow of a shade of error from Genesis to Revelations,"—it will doubtless surprise all such persons to be told, that, so far from Dr. Cheever's statement being correct, "the Holy Book," by a fair estimate, is found to contain more than nine thousand scientific errors alone; i.e., more than nine thousand statements and assumptions which conflict with the established principles of modern science, besides errors in morals and history, &c.
This, perhaps, should not be a matter of surprise to any person after viewing the character and condition of philosophy and the wide-spread scientific ignorance which reigned over the world at that period. Let it be borne in mind that science was the book which does not contain several errors of this character but just budding into life, and philosophy had attained but a feeble growth amongst that portion of the earth's inhabitants who constituted the representatives of the Jewish and Christian religion. Not only does their history and their writings show that they were, for the most part, ignorant of what little science there was in the world,—which was small compared with the present period,—but they opposed it whenever they came in contact with it. Every thing was ascribed to supernatural power. The word "science" only occurs twice in the Bible,—once in the Old Testament, and once in the New; and, in the latter case, it was used for the purpose of condemning it. Paul advises Timothy to "beware of the babblings of science" (1 Tim. vi. 20). The word "philosophy" is used but once in the Bible, and then not to recommend it; but Paul uses it to condemn it, as he does science, or at least to discourage it: "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain conceit" (Col. ii. 8). It will be observed, then, that there is apparently a veto placed upon the study of science and philosophy in the only two instances in which reference is made to them in the Bible. We can not wonder, therefore, that its devout disciples have in all ages, until a very recent period, set themselves squarely against the propagation of science and philosophy. It was but carrying out the spirit of their Bible. The early Christians, almost to a man, discouraged the study of science, and condemned and persecuted those who attempted to propagate its principles, and even put some of them to death. Copernicus was persecuted for setting forth principles of astronomy which conflicted with the teachings of the Bible; Galileo was sentenced to death because he taught the rotundity and revolution of the earth in opposition to the Bible, which declares, "The earth has foundations, and can not be removed" (Ps. civ. 5); and Bruno suffered the penalty of death for teaching substantially the same doctrine. And every discoverer in science was condemned and persecuted. Much was written by the early fathers in acknowledgment of the incompatibility of science with religion and the teachings of the Bible, and to warn the pious disciple of the danger of occupying his mind in the investigation and study of science. Even Eusebius, the popular ecclesiastical writer of the third century, and one of the most intelligent Christians of that age, acknowledged he had a contempt for "the useless baubles of the philosophers:" "We think little of these matters, turning our souls to the exercise of better things." And Lactantius, a Christian of the same century, pronounced the study of physical causes of natural things "empty and false." And St. Augustine, "a shining light of the Church," treated with contempt the notion that the earth is round, as "trees on the other side would hang with their tops down, and the men there would have their feet higher than their heads." He condemns it as false, "because no such race is recorded in Scripture among the descendants of Adam." What profound reasoning! Martin Luther utters his malediction against astronomy in the following language: "This false Copernicus will turn the whole art of astronomy upside down; but the Scripture teacheth another lesson, when Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, and not the earth." Of course Joshua's order for the sun to stop knocks the science of astronomy on the head, and extinguishes it for ever with all true Bible believers; and men have had to outgrow their Bibles before they could accept the teachings of astronomy. When we take into consideration the almost boundless acquisitions that have been made in the field of science since the invention of the printing art, and the many discoveries evolved in every department of science and art, now classified into a long list of new sciences, and which throw a flood of light on almost every thing taught by the ancients in morals, religion, or science, we should not be surprised to find more or less error in every thing they taught. Let us look for a moment at the long list of sciences now taught in our schools, most of which were unknown two hundred years ago: Astronomy, geology, chemistry, mineralogy, meteorology, pneumatics, hydrostatics, mechanics, psychology, paleontology, anthropology, ethnology, archaeology, biology, history, chronology, botany, zoology, philosophy, physiology, ornithology, geography, mathematics, optics, acoustics, phrenology, animal magnetism, &c. The facts and principles now comprised in these several branches of science have mostly been developed within a comparatively recent period of time; and almost every department of science here enumerated embraces facts and discoveries which reveal important errors in the religious creeds of the ancient representatives of the Christian faith. To illustrate this statement, we will cite some examples:—
1. Astronomy.—More than forty errors in astronomy will be found exposed in Chapter 15, treating on the Mosaic account of creation; and here may be added a few more to the number. Several texts in the Bible speak of the stars falling to the earth, or traveling in some lawless direction. Even Christ committed this error. (See Mark xiii. 25.) How ridiculous is this conception when viewed in connection with the fact that these stars are many of them larger than the earth! Saturn is about a thousand times larger, and Jupiter twelve hundred times larger, than our planet. John speaks of one-third of the stars falling at once (Rev. xii. 4). If these two large planets (Jupiter and Saturn) should be of the number, our little earth would fare rather badly, though it is evident they could not all have room to strike it. If they should strike it from opposite sides, they would effectually grind it to powder. The inspired writers of the Bible seem to have had their minds so filled with heavenly things, that there was but little room left for scientific knowledge appertaining to the earth. The idea of the sun being made "to rule by day, and the moon and stars to rule by night," as taught in Gen. i. 16, discloses still further the ignorance of Bible writers on astronomy.
2. Geological Errors.—The story of the creation in Genesis (as exposed in Chapter 15 of this work) contains many geological errors. Almost every statement, in fact, conflicts with the teachings of geology, and especially the assumption that the earth, with the retinue of worlds which roll through infinite space, was brought into existence by a fiat of Omnipotence, and only about six thousand years ago; while many facts in geological science disprove its creation, and prove that it existed hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years ago. For the numerous Bible errors under this head, see Chapter 15.
3. Errors in Geography.—The language applied to the earth by various writers of the Bible show quite plainly that they entertained very erroneous conceptions of its form and size, and the laws that govern it. Such language as "the foundations of the earth" (Ps. civ. 5; Job xxxviii. 4), "the ends of earth," "the corners of the earth," "the pillars of the earth" (1 Sam. ii. 8), clearly indicate that Bible writers entertained the common erroneous conceptions of that age, that the earth is a flat, square, angular figure, only inhabited on one side. Matthew, who represents Christ as seeing all the kingdoms of the earth from the top of a mountain, plainly discloses the same error.
4. Errors in Ethnology.—The Bible assumption of the origin of man within a period of six thousand years, and the descent of the whole race from a single pair, is directly at variance with the teachings of ethnological science, which discloses the true history of man, and proves, according to Agassiz and other modern naturalists, that the human race has descended from at least five pairs of original progenitors. See a work entitled "Types of Mankind," compiled from the writings of the ablest naturalists of the age.
5. Archæology, which treats of antiquity, presents us with nearly the same series of scientific facts to disprove the Bible history of man. It presents us with many facts in the history of the ancient empires of India, Egypt, Greece, China, and Persia, which directly contradict many statements found in the Christian Bible, which the want of space compels us to omit any notice of here. (See chapters on Bibles.)
6. Biology.—The Bible statements which make a son two years older than his father (2 Chron. xxi. and xxii.), a girl only three years old when she married, and two millions of people spring from seventy persons in two hundred and fifteen years, are all at variance with the teachings of biology.
7. Botany.—The origin of thorns and thistles, and the preservation of the whole vegetable kingdom during Noah's flood, as inferentially taught by the Christian Bible, conflict with the present established principles of botany.
8. Zoology.—This science, which discloses the true history of animal life, completely disproves some statements of the Bible relative to the animal kingdom. The hare is pronounced unclean in Leviticus, "because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof" (Lev. xi. 6). Here are three incorrect statements. The hare does not chew the cud, and does divide the hoof, and is not unclean (i.e., not unsuitable for food).
9. Ornithology.—The writer who represents God as showering down nine hundred square miles of quails, three feet thick, around the Jewish camp to serve as food (see Numb. xi. 32), must have been ignorant of the size of this bird, if not of the whole feathered tribe.
10. Physiology.—The apostle James must have been ignorant of the science of physiology when he declares the prayers of the elders of the Church would heal the sick (Jas. v. 15). It is not denied but that the presence of the elders could exercise a healing influence on the sick; but it should be ascribed to their magnetism, and not to their prayers. The numerous cases in which disease is represented by Christ and his disciples as being produced by devils or evil spirits, and a cure effected by ejecting the diabolical intruder, shows them to have been ignorant of physiology; as does also the story of the sons of God cohabiting with the daughters of men (Gen. vi. 4), and producing a race of giants which, according to the Book of Enoch, were three hundred cubits high. Rather tall specimens of humanity. Their heads would be above the clouds, so that they could not see which way they were traveling. This story finds a parallel in the traditions of India, which once produced a race of giants so tall that they could neither sit down in the house, nor stand up out of doors. Their eyes were so far from the ground that they could not see their feet. All these stories originated in an age which was destitute of a knowledge of physiology; and, as this amalgamation of Gods with human beings did nothing to improve the race, the story is destitute of a moral, and proves (if it proves any thing) that the Gods were no better than men.
11. Mental Science.—The two hundred texts which represent the heart as being the seat of the mind or soul furnish conclusive evidence that the writers were ignorant of the first principles of mental science. "My heart uttereth understand ing," and "a pure heart," are examples. "An upright liver," or "a pure liver," would be just as sensible language. There is not one text in the book that implies a knowledge of the brain as being the organ of the mind, which is a scientific fact now well established.
12. Animal Magnetism.—The exposition of this science by Mesmer, Deluse, Townsend, and other writers, renders it clearly evident that the phenomena of witchcraft, trance, and many cases of spiritual vision, were nothing more nor less than the products of animal magnetism superinduced by the action of mind on mind, or the control of the mind by magnetic substances,—the science of magnetism being entirely unknown in that era of the world. Every case reported of restoring life to a dead person by Christ, Elijah, Elisha, and other God-men, if they had any foundation in truth, are explained by the principles of this science. Similar cases have been witnessed in modern times.
13. Philosophy.—The science of philosophy, in its matured aspect, is of modern origin, and furnishes the true explanation for many of the "mysteries of godliness," and other mysteries of the Christian Bible, which, by the illiterate writers of that age, were ascribed to the direct manifestation of deific powers. They are now known to be natural occurrences, instead of supernatural, as assumed by the writers. The Bible story of the rainbow furnishes one example. Moses must have been ignorant of philosophy when he selected the rainbow as an evidence there should be no rain in the future insufficient quantities to inundate the earth again, when it is known that the rainbow is a certain evidence of rain, as it is produced by the rain in the act of falling. This is but one of many errors which the ignorant, illiterate Bible writers have made for want of knowledge on scientific subjects, such as the history of creation, the story of the flood, &c. The several cases in which thunder is spoken of as being the voice of God disclose great ignorance of philosophy; and several instances in which God promises to take away the sickness of the people evince an entire ignorance of the natural laws which control health and disease. (See Exod. xxiii. 25; Deut. vii. 15.)
14. Mathematics.—The Bible is deficient in many cases with respect to the correct observance of the rules and principles of mathematics. Its assumption that there can be but one God, and at the same time acknowledging three, furnishes a striking proof of this. Its enumeration of the families and tribes furnishes another evidence of this. Its calculation of numbers rarely coincides with the names. For example: Matth., in his gospel, states there are forty-two generations from David to Joseph; but his list of names only makes forty-one. And Matthew says, "From Adam to David are fourteen generations;" but, by counting his list of names, we find but thirteen. The date of Methuselah's birth and his age, when compared together, extend his age ten months beyond the inauguration of the flood. How he sustained life, and avoided drowning during that time, must be one of the "mysteries of godliness." These are a few specimens of Bible mathematics.
15. Chemistry.—A specimen of Bible chemistry is found in the story of "fire and brimstone descending from heaven together" without a coalescence, or the chemical combination and product which usually result from a contact of these two elements. Another specimen is presented in the process of manufacturing a golden calf by merely casting gold ear-rings, finger-rings, &c., into the fire; and also Moses' invention for grinding the same gold into powder, and sprinkling it on the water, and compelling the people to drink it. No process is known in modern times by which gold can be ground to powder, nor for holding it in solution if ground and thrown into water. The specific gravity of all gold now in use causes it to sink to the bottom as soon as it is thrown into water. Bible chemistry seems to differ from natural chemistry.
16. Pneumatics.—Had Jehovah been acquainted with this science, he could not have become alarmed about having his kingdom invaded by the builders of Babel; for we learn, by an acquaintance with the principles of this science, that the air becomes so rarefied as we ascend, that we soon reach a point where human life must cease. Hence it was unnecessary to confound the language of the people in order to arrest the completion of the tower. They would have been compelled to desist before they had got many miles from the earth.
17. Acoustics.—Moses must have been ignorant of this science, or presumed his readers would be, when he related the numerous cases of himself and Joshua and others reading and talking to two millions of people, some of whom must have been several miles distant. No human voice in modern times could reach one-half of such an audience.
18. Hydrostatics.—This science teaches us that several cases reported in the Bible of the waters of rivers and seas being separated and erected in perpendicular columns so as to form embankments, are contradicted by all the laws governing fluids, and hence are wholly incredible. The sciences of optics, meteorology, philology, and psychology might also be included in the above list as being ignored and practically set aside by Bible writers. And yet, in the face of all these facts, Dr. Cheever says, "There is a beautiful harmony between the principles of science and the teachings of the Bible throughout the whole book." And this seems to have been the universal conviction of the disciples of the Christian faith before the progress of scientific discovery in modern times laid bare the errors of the Holy Book. Since that juncture in biblical theology culminated, a new theory has been set on foot to dispose of the scientific errors of the Bible. We are told, as an apology for these errors, that "the Bible was designed to teach religion and morality, and not science." This is too true; but a true system of religion must be based on the principles of science. The plea also discloses a scientific ignorance on the part of the objector in not knowing "there is science in every thing." Hence it is impossible to write on any subject without coming in contact with the principles of science, which you must either conform to or violate. Persons destitute of scientific knowledge, as were Bible writers, are liable, in their ignorance, to stumble into scientific errors in writing on any subject.
THE question is frequently asked by Bible adherents, What would be the moral condition of society without the Bible? Would it not again relapse into barbarism? Such questions manifest an ignorance of history and the moral instincts of the human mind, and are easily met and answered by other questions indicating broader views. We ask, then, what was the moral condition of the world, or that portion of it included in the Jewish nation, during the two thousand years which elapsed before any part of our Bible was written? Was it any worse than the next two thousand years after it was written? And what is the moral condition of five-sixths of the human family now, who never had our Bible? Facts in history prove that the morals of some of the nations included in this class are superior to that of any Bible nation, either now existing, or figuring in past history. Take, for example, the Japanese. We will present the testimony of an English officer, Col. Hall. Reporting his own observations and experience, he says, "During more than a year's residence in Japan, I never saw a quarrel among young or old. I have never seen an angry blow struck, and have scarcely heard an angry word. I have seen the children at their sports, flying their kites on the hill; and no amount of entangled strings, or kites lodged in the trees, provoked angry words or impatience. In their games of jackstones and marbles, I have never seen an approach to a quarrel among them. They are taught implicit obedience to their parents; but I have never seen one of them chastised. Respect and reverence for the aged is universal. A crying child is seldom seen. We have nothing to teach them out of the abundance of our civilization."
And a description of this nation by Dr. Oliphant fully confirms the above. He says, "Universal testimony assures us, that, in their domestic relations, the men are gentle and forbearing; the women, obedient and virtuous. Every department of crime is less in proportion to the population than in Christian countries. The native tribunals prove their competency to deal with criminals by giving general satisfaction. Unlike any Christian country, locks and keys are never used; yet theft and robbery are almost unknown. Although we had the most tempting curiosities with us, and left them laying about our lodgings for months, not one of them was carried off, though our room was sometimes crowded with people. During the whole of our stay in Yeddo, we never heard a scolding woman, nor saw a disturbance in the streets, nor a child struck or otherwise maltreated. In case of disputes between neighbors, their children are often selected as arbiters, and always give satisfaction. And parents in their old age often give their properly and the entire management of their affairs into the hands of their children, who never betray their trust." Now, it must be evident to every reader, that no such a moral picture of society can be presented of any Christian country. And yet the Christian Bible is not only scarcely known among them, but they have resisted the most determined efforts of the Christian f missionaries, for more than two hundred years, to introduce it and circulate it amongst them, and have kept it out by positive prohibition most of the time. Do such facts tend to confirm the statement often made by devout Christians, that "the Bible must be introduced and read by the people before they can have good morals in any country"? As a still further proof of the erroneousness of this statement, we will now contrast the state of morals in the most religious Christian countries with that of the heathen nation just referred to. And this moral picture of our country is from the pen of a Christian writer, the celebrated Parson Brownlow. He tells us, "The gospel is preached to the people regularly all over the country.... And yet, notwithstanding all this, rascality abounds in all classes of society.... Cheating and misrepresentation are the order of the day. In politics there is very little patriotism! or love of country. In religion there is more hypocrisy than grace; and the biggest scoundrels living, crowd the church with a view to hide their rascally designs, and more effectually serve the Devil. Pious villains, as sanctified as the moral law, are keeping false accounts, and resort to them for the sake of gain.... In a word, rascality abounds among all classes." Now look on this picture, and then on that. We will now present another contrast. We will look at another specimen of morality among the heathen. The portraiture is furnished us by the celebrated Christian missionary, Dr. Livingstone. Speaking of some of the African tribes he encountered in his travels, he says,
"The inhabitants have many wise laws and politic institutions, which would not discredit any nation in Europe. They are not a warlike people, but appear to hold martial achievements in great contempt or abhorrence. They have such a nice sense of justice and equity, that they will by no means make any encroachments on the territory of their neighbors. Their dealings with each other are characterized by mutual confidence, which Chris-tians would do well to imitate." No man is afraid of being cheated. No precautions are used to prevent theft and robbery; and yet no theft and robbery are committed. Their goods to be sold are stored in an open bazaar, left without any attendants, and the purchaser fixes his own price, and leaves what he considers a fair equivalent in its stead; and all parties are satisfied.
It would seem, then, that, while in Christian countries "it requires two to make a bargain," in heathen countries it requires but one. Here, then, we have the morals of a heathen nation, who not only knew nothing of Christianity, but would not condescend to talk with the missionary on the subject, but put him off with the plea, "It makes no difference what a man's religion is, if his morals and practical life are right." Sensible reasoning
We will now turn another leaf in Christian history with the inquiry, Is every country honored with the name of Christian distinguished for morality, and every nation stigmatized as heathen practically immoral? We will present another specimen of Christian morality from the pen of that popular Christian writer, Mr. Goodrich. Speaking of the moral condition of one of the oldest Christian nations now existing (the Abyssinians), he says, "They are restless, savage, and brutal, almost beyond any known tribes of men." The Scotch traveler, Mr. Bruce, was at Gondar, the capital; and he tells us that he seldom went out without seeing dead human bodies lying in the streets, left to be devoured by the dogs and hyenas. Alnary, who lived there some years since, says he was invited to a feast, where, amongst the dishes he was offered, was flesh with warm blood. We are told the people eat the flesh from the cattle while alive; and sometimes, after a large piece has been cut out, the skin is drawn over it, and the bleeding beast driven on its way. Sometimes, when a party is assembled for a feast, and are seated, the oxen are brought to the door, the flesh is cut off the living animal, and the meat devoured while the agonized brutes are filling the air with their bellowings....
And the manners of the people in other respects are horrible in the extreme. Yet, strange to say, they profess Christianity, and have numerous churches. Their saints are almost innumerable, and surpass in miraculous power those of the Romish Church. The clergy do not attempt to prevent divorces, nor even polygamy. In confirmation of the above graphic picture, we will quote also from an English geography by Guthrie and Ferguson, F.R.S. (p. 923): "The inhabitants of Abyssinia consist of Christians. Some ecclesiastical writers would persuade us that the conversion of Abyssinia to Christianity happened in the time of the apostles; but others state that this was after,—: in the year 333. There is no such thing as marriage in Abyssinia, and no distinction made between legitimate and illegitimate children, from the king to the beggar." Here, then, is "Christian" morality, and here is a specimen of Christian "free-lovism" too, in a country where the Christian Bible has been circulated by the thousand, and read and adored for at least fifteen hundred years. Such facts furnish a complete refutation of the popular Christian assumption that "true and pure morality is inseparable from Christianity and the Bible."
The truth is, the Bible alone has never done any thing to advance the cause of either morality or civilization in any country, because it is interdicted from improvement. It may be asked here, Why is it, then, that both religion and morality prosper in most countries where the Bible has been introduced? The answer to this question is found in the important fact, overlooked by the Christian world, that the arts and sciences generally accompany, or soon follow, the introduction of the Bible; but, where this has not been the case, and the Bible has been circulated alone, as in the case of Abyssinia, no progress whatever has been made towards the establishment of true morality or a rational religion, or any of the adjuncts of civilization, thus proving that the causes for the moral growth and improvement of society are outside of, and independent of, the Bible, and, we will add (in view of the many immoral lessons taught in the book), in spite of the Bible. A little rational reflection must convince any unbiased person that Bibles, in the very nature of things, must retard the moral and intellectual advancement and prosperity of society in every respect, notwithstanding they contain many good and beautiful precepts, for representing, as they do, the imperfect state of morals in the age and country in which they were written; while their teachings are assumed to be a finality in moral and religious progress, and hence are not allowed to be transcended in precept or practice. The consequence is, society would be pinned down immovably and perpetually to the same barbarous religion and morals of that age, if it were not pushed forward by the irresistible influences of the arts and sciences. Hence we owe our advancement and prosperity not to Bibles, but to causes adequate to counteract and overcome their adverse influences.
An additional argument to prove the Bible is not a moral necessity to teach the practical duties of life is the fact that that class of persons known as "infidels," who entirely reject the book as a guide or as a moral instructor on account of its very defective and contradictory system of morals, are admitted by leading orthodox journals and representative men in the nation to possess better moral characters and habits, and to lead better moral lives, than Bible believers. As a proof of this statement, we will here present the most wonderful and humiliating concessions of that leading religious journal of the nation, "The New-York Evangelist." On this subject it speaks thus: "To the shame of the Church it must be confessed that the foremost men in all our philanthropic movements, in the interpretation of the spirit of the age, in the practical application of genuine Christianity, in the reformation of abuses in high and in low places, in the vindication of the rights of man and in practically redressing his wrongs, in the moral and intellectual regeneration of the race, are the so-called infidels in our land. The Church has pusillanimously left not only the working oar, but the very reins of salutary reform, in the hands of men she denounces as inimical to Christianity, and who are doing with all their might, for humanity's sake, that which the Church ought to be doing for Christ's sake; and if they succeed, as succeed they will, in abolishing slavery, banishing rum, restraining licentiousness, reforming abuses, and elevating the masses, then must the recoil upon Christianity be disastrous in the extreme. Woe! woe! woe to Christianity when infidels, by force of nature or the tendencies of the age, get ahead of the Church in morals, and in the practical work of Christianity. In some instances they are already far in advance. In the vindication of truth, righteousness, and liberty, they are the pioneers beckoning to a sluggish Church to follow in the rear." To this we will add the testimony of another orthodox writer (the eminent Catherine Beecher) as to the superior practical morality of infidels as compared with that of Christians. She says, in her "Appeal to the People" (p. 319), "It has come to pass that the world has been improving in practical virtue, while the Church has been deteriorating. The writer, in her very extensive travels and intercourse with the religious world, has had unusual opportunity to notice how surely and how extensively this fact has been observed and acknowledged by the best class of clergymen and laymen." She says one of the most laborious Episcopal bishops of the Western States declares, that "the world is growing better, and the Church is growing worse." She next cites the testimony of an eminent lawyer and church-member who is carrying on an extensive financial business throughout the country, and who makes the remarkable statement, that "the better class of worldly men are more honorable and reliable in business than the majority of church-members." (Let the reader mark this statement.) And this declaration was concurred in by another eminent lawyer, banker, and church-member, who is doing a more extensive business in the North-western States than any other man. And he states that the most extensive business-man in Central New York has arrived at the same conclusion as the result of his observation. And the greatest business-man in Boston is also referred to, whose experience led him to this conclusion. And other business-men in different parts of the country testify to the same effect. We may, then, set it down as the universal testimony of business-men that infidels and outsiders are more honest, more reliable, more truthful, and more honorable than church-members.
What a fatal argument these facts furnish against the religion and morality of the Christian Bible! They indicate that the religion and morality of nature and science are superior.
It will be perceived, from the preceding orthodox testimonies, that the class of people usually stigmatized as infidels are the true exemplars in practical morality, and the true benefactors of society. And Christian countries owe them a debt of gratitude for all the reforms and improvements which have proved such signal blessings to society within the last few hundred years, and for their own elevation out of the groveling ignorance of barbarism into the glorious sunlight of civilization. What withering self-reproach, what shameful mortification and self-condemnation, they ought therefore to feel in view of having committed so many of them to the flames, or otherwise maltreated and killed them! For, according to the above Christian testimonies, they were the world's real benefactors; and the following list will show that those victims perished at the hands of Christians as infidel martyrs: In 1511 Herman of Ryswick was burned for heresy; in 1546 Aonius Polearius was hung, and then burned for skepticism; in 1574 Geofroi Vallie was burned for publishing a heretical book; In 1546 Stephen Dolet, a printer and bookseller, was burned at Paris for atheism; in 1579 Matthew Hamont had his ears cut off, and was then burned alive, in England, for denying that Christ is God; in 1583 John Lewes was burned at Norwich, Eng., for "denying the Godhead of Christ;" in 1589 Francis Kett, a member of a college in Cambridge, Eng., was burned for holding "divers detestable opinions against Christ, our Savior;" In 1611 Bartholomew Legate was burned to ashes at Smithfield for denying that Christ was God; in 1644 Edward Wightman was burned at Litchfield for denying the divinity of Christ; in 1619 Lucilio Yanini, an Italian, was burned for atheistical opinions; in 1574 John Gonganelle was poisoned for his infidelity by the Holy Sacrament; in 1629 Alexander Leighton had his nose slit and his ears cut off, and was imprisoned for eleven years for publishing a work against miracles. To make the matter short, without extending the list, it has been estimated that forty thousand perished at the hands of Christians in forty y ears for infidelity, heresy, or other opinions deemed unsound by orthodox. And thus it will be perceived that infidelity has had its martyrs as well as Christianity; and that Christians, in putting these men to death, were robbing the world (according to "The New-York Evangelist")of its real benefactors. Oh, shame! Christianity, where is thy blush?
A recent work by a Christian writer states that there are now employed in the work of converting the heathen to Christianity fifteen thousand missionaries, and that they succeed in converting about ten thousand a year. From this statement, it appears that ten thousand missionaries make annually one convert apiece, while five thousand make none. And the cost the writer estimates to be about twenty thousand dollars for each convert. C. Wiseman estimated it, about thirty years ago, to be ten thousand dollars apiece. And, while these ten thousand converts were made, the heathen population increased in numbers five millions. Thus it appears they increase two hundred times faster than they are converted. How long will it take, at such rates, to effect the entire conversion of the world? and what will be the cost? All the gold ever dug from the mines of Golconda and California would be but a drop in the bucket compared with the requisite amount. The question naturally arises here, Do the results justify such an enormous expenditure of time and treasure, say nothing of the loss of health on the part of the missionaries? A learned Hindoo stated, in a speech made in London in 1876, that the conversions made in India are confined principally to the low, ignorant, superstitious class, who do not possess sufficient sense and intelligence to know the difference between the religion they are converted to and the religion they are converted from. Are such converts worth ten thousand or twenty thousand dollars apiece? The case suggests the story of the Hibernian who stated his horse had but two faults: "First, he is hard to catch; second, he is no account when caught." The heathen must be hard to convert if it requires an expense of ten thousand dollars apiece, and of but little account when converted if they know nothing about the nature of the religion they are converted to. There are various considerations which go to prove that the hundreds of millions of dollars expended annually in this enterprise are worse than wasted:—
1. One missionary, becoming discouraged at the prospect, once made the statement that nine-tenths of the converts have not sense enough to understand the Christian religion, nor moral principle enough to live up to its precepts, and that a considerable portion of them relapsed into heathenism. It should be borne in mind that it is not the most intelligent nor the most moral portion of the heathen who profess to embrace Christianity, but generally the credulous, ignorant, and fickle-minded class, who are ready for any change that may be offered.
2. No real good seems to be accomplished by the introduction of the Christian Bible among the heathen, but much evil. Its thousands of bad moral precepts and bad moral examples, and its sanction of every species of crime, must inevitably have the effect to weaken their moral resolutions, and deepen them in the commission of crime. And hence, as missionaries themselves indirectly confess, crime has increased in almost every nation where missions have been established. It is true, that, in those nations where the arts and sciences have been cultivated, they have operated to some extent in counteracting the bad moral lessons they learn by reading the Bible; and in some cases, in this way, some improvement has been made. But no instance can be found in the history of the missionary enterprise where any improvement has been made in the morals of the people, where their instruction has been confined to the Bible, without the arts and sciences. On the contrary, their morals have grown worse, or remained unimproved, as in Abyssinia and the Samoan Islands, where, after more than a thousand years' instruction in Bible religion, without the arts and sciences, they are still in the lowest stages of barbarism. (See Chapter 50.)
3. It is a policy that must be deplored by every true philanthropist, that the Christian world expends millions of dollars every year to convert the heathen to a religion that can neither improve their morals or their intellect, but inculcates bad lessons in morals and science, and, in many cases, is a worse religion than that already established in those countries. (For evidence, see Chapter 50.)
4. And this policy becomes still more reprehensible when coupled with the fact that there are sixty thousand Christians living in a state of want, beggary, destitution, and suffering, in Christian cellars in New-York City; and two hundred thousand, including Boston and Philadelphia, who are in a state of degradation and suffering almost beyond description, who might be relieved and placed in a situation to improve their morals and their physical condition comfortably if the millions of money, time, and labor were spent on them which are uselessly expended on foreign missions. Think of two hundred thousand church-members living in dark, damp, dreary, sickly cellars, with grim starvation daily staring them in the face, while their purse-proud Christian landlords are living in luxury over their heads. No such cruel, inhuman religion can be found in any heathen nation.
5. And then the missionary enterprise inflicts physical evils, as well as moral, upon the foreign heathen. It introduces habits and customs amongst them, which, in some cases, destroy their health, as well as corrupt their morals. Look, for example, at the Sandwich Islands. Since the establishment of Christian missions amongst them, the population has decreased thirty per cent. Twenty thousand children in schools in 1848 are dwindled down to eleven thousand. Marriages have decreased, and divorces have increased. Nine hundred divorces took place in four years, while previous to the introduction of Christianity, we are told, divorces were almost unknown. Missionaries, ignorant of physiology and the laws of mental science, and in total disregard of natural law, establish habits among the heathen which destroy both their health and their happiness.
6. The people in several heathen countries have proved to be sharp-sighted and intelligent enough to detect the errors in the Bible and religious system presented to them by the missionaries. Bishop Colenso states, that, while serving as missionary among the Zulus tribe, some of the natives started objections to statements found in the Bible which had not occurred to his own mind. And this fact made him resign his mission and return home, and read his Bible with more care, which resulted in detecting hundreds of errors in the Holy Book, which he has published to the world in a large volume. We are informed that the Hindoos told some of the missionaries while among them, that such a God as the Christian Bible describes would not be allowed to run at large in their country. He would be taken up as a criminal.
7. The natives in several countries where the missionaries have been operating, on becoming acquainted with the character of the teachings of the Christian Bible, have raised objections to its being circulated amongst them, and, in some cases, have besought the missionaries to leave. The Rev. Mr. Hall, a missionary in India, states that a public meeting was called at Madras by the natives to draw up a petition to Lord Stanley of England to send no more missionaries, and also entreat him to withdraw those then operating there; and such was the interest manifested that the meeting called out ten thousand people. The Chinese, also, have manifested strong opposition to the movements of the missionaries among them; while the Japanese have kept out from amongst them both Bible and missionaries by positive law until a recent period.
8. The inhabitants of the Friendly Isles, of Honolulu, of India, and also of Japan, have all discussed the subject of sending missionaries to this country to improve the morals of the Christians; and it is certain that some of them are practically acquainted with a better system of morals than that which prevails in this country.
Here we will note the remarkable circumstance that a learned Hindoo has recently held a two days' debate with a Christian missionary, which excited such an interest that it drew together from five to seven thousand of the natives, who desired to see the missionary beat in the debate. A writer states that the Hindoo handled the missionary's arguments as a cat would a mouse, thus intimating that the missionary was completely vanquished in the logical contest; and yet this Hindoo is called a "heathen." Pshaw! It would be a blessing to Christian countries to be supplied with a few millions of such heathen. It would improve both their morals and their intelligence.
Note.—Many anecdotes are afloat tending to prove the superior moral honesty of the Hindoos and other "heathen." As a traveler was walking the streets of an Asiatic city with one of the natives, he proposed to step into a store and purchase some article. "No," said the native: "see that chair in the door to let us know the merchant is absent."—"What!" exclaimed the traveler: "do merchants go away and leave their goods exposed in that way?"—"Yes," responded the honest native, "where there are no Christians about."