“Another view. A church established by law or by some means may be considered a very respectable, proper and orthodox thing and all that, but what can it do to relieve me of my individual responsibility to God? I am not answerable to the church for the eternal welfare of my soul. I myself must look to that. Go to church, believe in the church, accept its creeds. Some of this may be a help to me, to quicken my thoughts, enlarge my understanding, but I deny any divine power or authority in it over me. Will the church take my place and be judged for me, relieving me of any final judgment? If not, how can I rely on it when there is a final settlement between God and myself? At last I am to stand naked and alone. This is the truth. ‘Thou wast alone at the time of thy birth; thou wilt be alone in the moment of death; alone thou must answer at the bar of the inexorable Judge.’ “Nothing can come between me and God. I am what I am, and so shall I remain forever. “If I could get some one to do my thinking, to believe for me and to relieve me of all mental and moral responsibility in the end; if any one of these ecclesiastical leaders, from the self styled infallible pope down to the street Salvation Army shouter, could give me a quittance from sin and a sure deed to an inheritance in heaven, it would be well to trust them. Not one of them is sure of heaven himself. Yet they uphold their different creeds as if the Almighty had written and signed them with His own hand. Their assurance is only equaled by their impudence, when they demand of every one, ‘Believe as I tell you,’ as if the eternal destiny of human souls was in their say so. “The church can be a kind of a human mutual aid society, and has its place in the world, but nothing more. I must live my own life, die my own death and remain what I make myself; and I cannot see how God, or angels, or men can change this inevitable condition for me. “If I could sell out, deliver myself over to the church or some body, get rid of life, of myself, but I do not know how it can be done, nor do I know of anyone who could make the purchase and give me a release from all further responsibility. “The fact is, everything in the world is so desperately human. All humanity is on the same level plane. None can rise higher than the rest. Yes, it is true that some claim to know, to have entered into the secret councils of the Almighty and to understand all His plans, and so are able to dictate to the rest, but when investigated they really know no more than others. They have evolved a lot of theories from their inner consciousness, nothing more; most frequently the less they really know, the more bold and dogmatical they are.