Its laws and regulations for the control of conduct should be just, wise, perfect, and perfectly adapted to the accomplishment of the ends desired. It should contain nothing calculated to make man cruel, revengeful, vindictive or infamous. It should be filled with intelligence, justice, purity, honesty, mercy and the spirit of liberty. It should be opposed to strife and war, to slavery and lust, to ignorance, credulity and superstition. It should develop the brain and civilize the heart. It should satisfy the heart and brain of the best and wisest. It should be true. Does the Old Testament satisfy this standard? Is there anything in the Old Testament--in history, in theory, in law, in government, in morality, in science--above and beyond the ideas, the beliefs, the customs and prejudices of its authors and the people among whom they lived? Is there one ray of light from any supernatural source? The ancient Hebrews believed that this earth was the centre of the universe, and that the sun, moon and stars were specks in the sky. With this the Bible agrees. They thought the earth was flat, with four corners; that the sky, the firmament, was solid--the floor of Jehovah's house. The Bible teaches the same. They imagined that the sun journeyed about the earth, and that by stopping the sun the day could be lengthened. The Bible agrees with this. They believed that Adam and Eve were the first man and woman; that they had been created but a few years before, and that they, the Hebrews, were their direct descendants. This the Bible teaches. If anything is, or can be, certain, the writers of the Bible were mistaken about creation, astronomy, geology; about the causes of phenomena, the origin of evil and the cause of death. Now, it must be admitted that if an Infinite Being is the author of the Bible, he knew all sciences, all facts, and could not have made a mistake. If, then, there are mistakes, misconceptions, false theories, ignorant myths and blunders in the Bible, it must have been written by finite beings; that is to say, by ignorant and mistaken men. Nothing can be clearer than this. For centuries the Church insisted that the Bible was absolutely true; that it contained no mistakes; that the story of creation was true; that its astronomy and geology were in accord with the facts; that the scientists who differed with the Old Testament were infidels and atheists. Now this has changed. The educated Christians admit that the writers of the Bible were not inspired as to any science. They now say that God, or Jehovah, did not inspire the writers of his book for the purpose of instructing the world about astronomy, geology or any science. They now admit that the inspired men who wrote the Old Testament knew nothing about any science, and that they wrote about the earth and stars, the sun and moon, in accordance with the general ignorance of the time.