Lectures of Col. R. G. Ingersoll, Volume I: Including His Answers to the Clergy, His Oration at His Brother's Grave, Etc., Etc.Ingersoll, Robert Green
Religion
Lectures of Col. R. G. Ingersoll, Volume I: Including His Answers to the Clergy, His Oration at His Brother's Grave, Etc., Etc.
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
"And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, Hell cast thyself down,
for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee; and
in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy
foot against a stone.
"Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God." (Matt. iv, 1 7.)
Is it possible that anyone can believe that the devil absolutely took
God almighty, and put him on the pinnacle of the temple, and endeavored
to persuade him to jump down? Is it possible?
"Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and
showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
"And Saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou will
fall down and worship me.
"Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
(Matt. iv, 8-10.)
Now, the devil must have known at that time that he was God, and God
at that time must have known that the other was the devil. How could
the latter be conceived to have the impudence to promise God a world in
which he did not have a tax-title to an inch of land?
"Then the devil leaveth him; and, behold, angels came and ministered
unto him." (Matt. iv, 11.)
"And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of
the Gadarines.
"And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of
the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
"Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no,
not with chains,
"Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the
chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in
pieces; neither could any man tame him,
"And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and tombs, crying
and cutting himself with stones.
"But when he saw Jesus afar off, he came and worshiped him.
"And cried with a loud voice and said, What have I to do with thee,
Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee by God, that thou
torment me not.
"(For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.)
"And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered saying, My name is
Legion: for we are many.
"And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the
country.
"Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine
feeding.
"And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine that
we may enter into them.
"And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out,
and entered into the swine; and the herd ran violently down a steep
place into the sea (they were about two thousand), and were choked in
the sea." (Mark v, 1-13.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account