A handbook of Freethought : $b containing in condensed and systematized form a vast amount of evidence against the superstitious doctrines of Christianity
Religion
A handbook of Freethought : $b containing in condensed and systematized form a vast amount of evidence against the superstitious doctrines of Christianity
Christianity -- Controversial literature; Free thought
"The reason why there was no Devil in the early books was because
none was needed then. The gods considered themselves as being
quite equal to any emergency that might arise in the way of
wickedness."--M. D. Conway.
In other words, the Devil is a myth coming out of the terrible
darkness of remote ages. Every fear that the primitive man and men
of barbarous races have had, painted devils before their minds of
every description. The master mind has said:
"'Tis the eye of child-hood
That fears a painted Devil."
The thought that millions of people commonly well informed on general
matters, still believe in this barbarous myth, must shock and oppress
like an incubus every sensitive and well-informed mind. Such people can
smile pleasantly over the homely myth of Santa Claus, but the Devil
is altogether a different personage. An old lady was once told that
the Devil was dead. She sat silent for a moment, and then replied,
"Well, you may think so, but we hope for better things."
As the horrid doctrine of witchcraft under the light of advancing
knowledge has had to retire into the background of oblivion; as the
Puritan doctrine of infant damnation has been relegated to the limbo
of forgetfulness; as hell's fire has burned to ashes and the ashes
become cold, so too, is the doctrine of a personal Devil retreating
from the minds of all sensible people.
SOUL FARRAGO.
What is, and Where is the Soul?
Until the Greek philosophy taught the world how to use and abuse
abstract notions, immaterialism was not an attainable phase of
thought. (Prof. Bain, "Mind and Body," p. 143.)
Thought necessarily supposes conditions. To think is to
condition, and conditional limitation is the fundamental law of
the possibility of thought. For, as the greyhound cannot outstrip
his shadow, nor (by a more appropriate simile) the eagle out-soar
the atmosphere in which he floats, and by which alone he may be
supported; so the mind cannot transcend the sphere of limitation,
within and through which exclusively the possibility of thought
is realized. (Sir William Hamilton, "Philosophy" p. 456.)
In this paper an attempt is made to answer two very important
questions, namely: What is, and where is the soul? in such fashion
that everybody will be satisfied that he has a soul, and the exact
spot it occupies in his mundane tabernacle. Here are a number of
opinions on this subject, by the most learned men the world has ever
produced. In a multitude of counsel there is wisdom. The first witness
I shall put upon the stand is:
Pythagoras: (6th c. B. C.) The soul is number and a harmony. Taught
the doctrine of metempsychosis. His disciples held the soul to be
an aggregate of particles of great subtilty pervading the air in
constant agitation.
Heraclitus: (6th c. B. C.) The soul is a spark of the stellar essence:
"Scintilla stellaris essentia."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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