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
A friend of mine meeting me in the streets of Chicago one day,
without much ceremony propounded the above question; "Say, Brother
Bell," he began, "I would like to have you tell me what becomes of
a man's soul when he dies?" In reply I said, "Do you see that man
walking on the other side of the street?" "Yes," he said, "that is
old Johnson." I then called his attention to the peculiar movement
of the old gentleman. "See what a peculiar gait he has." He assented
that our friend's gait was peculiar. As we were contemplating him,
he stopped to look in a store window. When he halted I turned to my
questioner and asked, "Where has Mr. Johnson's gait gone since he
stopped walking?" He very candidly acknowledged that a man's gait
was not a thing, not an entity, but a mode of motion, and that when
the body ceased to move, there was no gait. I asked him if thinking
(the soul) was not a motion or activity of the brain, and that when
it ceased to act, if there was any soul or thinking left. I have a
very distinct remembrance that he talked a long time and said nothing.
Some Soul Questions.
1. Where does the soul come from?
2. Is the soul an entity or nonentity?
3. Of what is the soul composed?
4. When does the soul enter the body, before or after birth?
5. In what part of the body is the soul located?
6. If the soul is located in all parts of the body what becomes of
that part of the soul contained in an amputated part of a living body?
7. Is the soul an organization independent of the body?
8. Does the soul develop as the body develops?
9. Is the soul of an infant of the same size and weight as the soul
of an adult?
10. Is the soul of a negro of the same color as the soul of a
caucasian?
11. Is the soul of an idiot as well developed as the soul of an
intelligent person?
12. When does the soul leave the body, at death or at the resurrection
day?
13. If the soul leaves the body at death, where does it sojourn while
waiting for the resurrection morn?
14. If a living person was placed in an air-tight jar, and the jar
sealed hermetically, at death how would the soul make its exit?
15. After leaving the body what direction does the soul pursue to
reach its final destination?
16. What length of time does it require for the soul to reach its
final destination?
17. Where and at what distance from the earth is the soul land located?
18. Has the soul the physical organs indispensible to mental action
and consciousness?
19. If not, of what use would the soul be?
20. Is the soul sensible or insensible to pain?
21. Of what shape is the soul?
22. Of what color is the soul?
23. Does the soul retain its sex?
24. When and where are the souls made, or did they always exist?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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