E-text prepared by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Lisa Reigel, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net/) from page images generously made available by the Making of America Collection of the University of Michigan Digital Library Production Service (http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/) Note: Images of the original pages are available through the Making of Americal Collection of the University of Michigan's Digital Library Production Service. See http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;c=moajrnl;g=moagrp;xc=1;q1=Barker;rgn=full%20text;cite1=Barker;cite1restrict=author;view=toc;idno=AJK2731.0001.001;cc=moa MODERN SKEPTICISM: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE LAND OF DOUBT AND BACK AGAIN. A Life Story by JOSEPH BARKER. Philadelphia: Smith, English & Co. 1874. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by Rev. Joseph Barker, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. Jas. B. Rodgers Co., Printers and Stereotypers, Philadelphia. CONTENTS. PREFACE, 7 CHAPTER I. Introduction.--My early life.--Enter the Church.--The Ministry.--Happy days.--Sad change.--How happened it? 17 CHAPTER II. Causes of unbelief.--Vice.--Other causes.--Constitutional tendencies to doubt.--Disappointed expectations about Christianity.--Mysteries of Providence.--Misrepresentations of Christ and Christianity in human creeds.--Church divisions.--Ignorant advocates of Christianity.--Wrong principles of reasoning.--False science, 19 CHAPTER III. Another cause of unbelief.--Bad feeling between ministers or among church members.--Alienates them from each other.--Then separates them from the Church.--Then from Christ.--How it works.--My case, 26 CHAPTER IV. Origin of the unhappy feeling between me and some of my brother ministers.--Tendencies of my mind.--Rationalizing tendency.--Its effects.--Reading.--Investigations.--Discoveries, 30 CHAPTER V. Modification of my early creed.--Unscriptural doctrines relinquished.--Scriptural ones adopted.--Some doctrines modified.--Theological fictions dropped.--Eager for the pure, simple truth as taught by Jesus.--Doctrine of types given up.--Other notions relinquished.--Alarm of some of my brethren at these changes, 44 CHAPTER VI. How preachers and theologians indulge their fancies on religion.--John Wesley.--His resolution to be a man of one book.--What came of his resolution.--His sermon on God's approbation of His works,--unscriptural and unphilosophical throughout.--Illustrations and proofs.--And Wesley was one of the best and wisest, one of the most honest and single-minded of our theologians.--What then may we expect of others?--Evils of theological trifling.--Mischievous effects of mixing human fictions with Divine revelations, 55 CHAPTER VII.