The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 04 (of 12): Dresden Edition—LecturesIngersoll, Robert Green
Religion
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 04 (of 12): Dresden Edition—Lectures
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
I compared what was really known about the stars with the account of
creation as told in Genesis. I found that the writer of the inspired
book had no knowledge of astronomy--that he was as ignorant as a Choctaw
chief--as an Eskimo driver of dogs. Does any one imagine that the author
of Genesis knew anything about the sun--its size? that he was acquainted
with Sirius, the North Star, with Capella, or that he knew anything of
the clusters of stars so far away that their light, now visiting our
eyes, has been traveling for two million years?
If he had known these facts would he have said that Jehovah worked
nearly six days to make this world, and only a part of the afternoon of
the fourth day to make the sun and moon and all the stars?
Yet millions of people insist that the writer of Genesis was inspired by
the Creator of all worlds.
Now, intelligent men, who are not frightened, whose brains have not been
paralyzed by fear, know that the sacred story of creation was written by
an ignorant savage. The story is inconsistent with all known facts,
and every star shining in the heavens testifies that its author was an
uninspired barbarian.
I admit that this unknown writer was sincere, that he wrote what he
believed to be true--that he did the best he could. He did not claim
to be inspired--did not pretend that the story had been told to him by
Jehovah. He simply stated the "facts" as he understood them.
After I had learned a little about the stars I concluded that this
writer, this "inspired" scribe, had been misled by myth and legend, and
that he knew no more about creation than the average theologian of my
day. In other words, that he knew absolutely nothing.
And here, allow me to say that the ministers who are answering me are
turning their guns in the wrong direction. These reverend gentlemen
should attack the astronomers. They should malign and vilify Kepler,
Copernicus, Newton, Herschel and Laplace. These men were the real
destroyers of the sacred story. Then, after having disposed of them,
they can wage a war against the stars, and against Jehovah himself for
having furnished evidence against the truthfulness of his book.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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