The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 11 (of 12): Dresden Edition—MiscellanyIngersoll, Robert Green
Religion
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 11 (of 12): Dresden Edition—Miscellany
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
in all ages, to answer the questions of origin and destiny, and to
account for the phenomena of life, have all been substantial failures.
In the presence of demonstration there is no opportunity for the
exercise of faith. Truth does not appeal to credulity--it appeals to
evidence, to established facts, to the constitution of the mind. It
endeavors to harmonize the new fact with all that we know, and to bring
it within the circumference of human experience.
The church has never cultivated investigation. It has never said: Let
him who has a mind to think, think; but its cry from the first until now
has been: Let him who has ears to hear, hear.
The pulpit does not appeal to the reason of the pew; it speaks by
authority and it commands the pew to believe, and it not only commands,
but it threatens.
The Agnostic knows that the testimony of man is not sufficient to
establish what is known as the miraculous. We would not believe to-day
the testimony of millions to the effect that the dead had been raised.
The church itself would be the first to attack such testimony. If we
cannot believe those whom we know, why should we believe witnesses who
have been dead thousands of years, and about whom we know nothing?
Third.--The Principal of King's College, growing somewhat severe,
declares that "he may prefer to call himself an Agnostic, but his real
name is an older one--he is an infidel; that is to say, an unbeliever."
This is spoken in a kind of holy scorn. According to this gentleman, an
unbeliever is, to a certain extent, a disreputable person.
In this sense, what is an unbeliever? He is one whose mind is so
constituted that what the Christian calls evidence is not satisfactory
to him. Is a person accountable for the constitution of his mind, for
the formation of his brain? Is any human being responsible for the
weight that evidence has upon him? Can he believe without evidence? Is
the weight of evidence a question of choice? Is there such a thing as
honestly weighing testimony? Is the result of such weighing necessary?
Does it involve moral responsibility? If the Mosaic account does not
convince a man that it is true, is he a wretch because he is candid
enough to tell the truth? Can he preserve his manhood only by making a
false statement?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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