And the church has done this because it regarded this life as a period of probation--a time to prepare--to become spiritual--to overcome the natural--to fix the affections on the invisible--to become passionless--to subdue the flesh--to congeal the blood--to fold the wings of fancy--to become dead to the world--so that when you appeared before God you would be the exact opposite of what he made you. What has the church done? It pretended to have a revelation from God. It knew the road to eternal joy, the way to death. It preached salvation by faith, and declared that only orthodox believers could become angels, and all doubters would be damned. It knew this, and so knowing it became the enemy of discussion, of investigation, of thought. Why investigate, why discuss, why think when you know? It sought to enslave the world. It appealed to force. It unsheathed the sword, lighted the fagot, forged the chain, built the dungeon, erected the scaffold, invented and used the instruments of torture. It branded, maimed and mutilated--it imprisoned and tortured--it blinded and burned, hanged and crucified, and utterly destroyed millions and millions of human beings. It touched every nerve of the body--produced every pain that can be felt, every agony that can be endured. And it did all this to preserve what it called the truth--to destroy heresy and doubt, and to save, if possible, the souls of a few. It was honest. It was necessary to prevent the development of the brain--to arrest all progress--and to do this the church used all its power. If men were allowed to think and express their thoughts they would fill their minds and the minds of others with doubts. If they were allowed to think they would investigate, and then they might contradict the creed, dispute the words of priests and defy the church. The priests cried to the people: "It is for us to talk. It is for you to hear. Our duty is to preach and yours is to believe." What has the church done? There have been thousands of councils and synods--thousands and thousands of occasions when the clergy have met and discussed and quarreled--when pope and cardinals, bishops and priests have added to or explained their creeds--and denied the rights of others. What useful truth did they discover? What fact did they find? Did they add to the intellectual wealth of the world? Did they increase the sum of knowledge? I admit that they looked over a number of Jewish books and picked out the ones that Jehovah wrote. Did they find the medicinal virtue that dwells in any weed or flower? I know that they decided that the Holy Ghost was not created--not begotten--but that he proceeded. Did they teach us the mysteries of the metals and how to purify the ores in furnace flames? They shouted: "Great is the mystery of Godliness." Did they show us how to improve our condition in this world? They informed us that Christ had two natures and two wills. Did they give us even a hint as to any useful thing?