The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 07 (of 12): Dresden Edition—DiscussionsIngersoll, Robert Green
Religion
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 07 (of 12): Dresden Edition—Discussions
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
_Answer._ Well, I do not know. It has been reported that the American
Bible Society appointed a committee to hunt for errors, and the said
committee returned about twenty-four to twenty-five thousand. And
thereupon the leading men said, to correct so many errors will destroy
the confidence of the common people in the sacredness of the Scriptures.
Thereupon it was decided not to correct any. I saw it stated the other
day that a very prominent divine charged upon the Bible Society that
they knew they were publishing a book full of errors.
_Question_. What is your opinion of the Bible anyhow?
_Answer._ My first objection is, it is not true.
Second.--It is not inspired.
Third.--It upholds human slavery.
Fourth.--It sanctions concubinage.
Fifth.--It commands the most infamously cruel acts of war, such as the
utter destruction of old men and little children.
Sixth.--After killing fathers, mothers and brothers, it commands the
generals to divide the girls among the soldiers and priests. Beyond
this, infamy has never gone. If any God made this order I am opposed to
him.
Seventh.--It upholds human sacrifice, or, at least, seems to, from the
following:
"Notwithstanding no devoted thing that a man shall devote unto the Lord
of all that he hath, both of _man_ and _beast_, and of the field of his
possession, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy
unto the Lord."
"None devoted, which shall be devoted, of men, shall be redeemed; but
shall surely be put to death." (Twenty-seventh Chapter of Leviticus,
28th and 29th verses.)
Eighth.--Its laws are absurd, and the punishments cruel and unjust.
Think of killing a man for making hair oil! Think of killing a man for
picking up sticks on Sunday!
Ninth.--It upholds polygamy.
Tenth.--It knows nothing of astronomy, nothing of geology, nothing of
any science whatever.
Eleventh.--It is opposed to religious liberty, and teaches a man to kill
his own wife if she differs with him on religion; that is to say, if he
is orthodox. There is no book in the world in which can be found so much
that is thoroughly despicable and infamous. Of course there are some
good passages, some good sentiments. But they are, at least in the Old
Testament, few and far between.
Twelfth.--It treats woman like a beast, and man like a slave. It fills
heaven with tyranny, and earth with hypocrisy and grief.
_Question_. Do you think any book inspired?
_Answer._ No. I do not think any book is inspired. But, if it had been
the intention of this God to give to man an inspired book, he should
have waited until Shakespeare's time, and used Shakespeare as the
instrument. Then there never would have been any doubt as to the
inspiration of the book. There is more beauty, more goodness, more
intelligence in Shakespeare than in all the sacred books of this world.
_Question_. What do you think as a freethinker of the Sunday question in
Cincinnati?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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