26. Non-agreement of those who profess to accept it. If the Bible were the work of God there would be no disagreement in regard to its teachings. Its every word would be as clear as the light of day. Yet those who profess to accept it as divine are not agreed as to what it means. In the Christian world are a hundred sects, each with a different interpretation of its various teachings. Take the rite of baptism. Baptism is enjoined by the Bible. But what is baptism? The three leading Protestant denominations of this country are the Baptist, the Presbyterian, and the Methodist. I ask the Baptist what constitutes baptism, and he tells me immersion; I ask the Presbyterian, and he tells me sprinkling; I ask the Methodist which is proper, and he tells me to take my choice. Sectarianism is conclusive proof that the Bible is human. 27. Inability of those who affirm both a human and a divine element in it to distinguish the one from the other. Confronted by its many glaring errors and abominable teachings, some contend that a part of it is the work of man and a part the work of God. And yet they are unable to separate the one from the other. If a hundred attempts were made by them to eliminate the human from the divine no two results would be the same. Their inability to distinguish this supposed divine element from the human is proof that both have the same origin--that both are human. 28. The character of its reputed divine author. The Bible is an atrocious libel on God. It traduces his character, and denies his divinity. The God of the Bible is not this all-powerful, all-wise, and all-just Ruler of the universe, but a creature of the human imagination, limited in power and knowledge, and infinite only in vanity and cruelty. 29. The belief of primitive Christians in its divinity not an immediate conviction but a growth. Had the books of the Bible been divinely inspired their divinity would have been recognized at once. When they originally appeared they were believed and known to be the works of man and accepted as such. Referring to the Old Testament, Dr. Davidson says: "The degree of authority attaching to the Biblical books grew from less to greater, till it culminated in a divine character, a sacredness rising even to infallibility" (The Canon of the Bible, p. 274). Of the New Testament Dr. Westcott says: "It cannot, however, be denied that the idea of the inspiration of the New Testament, in the sense in which it is maintained now, was the growth of time" (On the Canon of the New Testament, p. 55). The admitted fact that these books were originally presented and received as human productions, and that the idea of inspiration and divinity was gradually and slowly developed by the priesthood, is conclusive proof that they are of human and not of divine origin.