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
Then we find plenty of evidence that he wished to reform the religion
of the Jews; to fulfill the law, not to abrogate it Then there is still
another change: he has ceased his efforts to reform that religion and
has become a destroyer. He holds the Temple in contempt and repudiates
the idea that Jerusalem is the holy city. He concludes that it is
unnecessary to go to some mountain or some building to worship or to
find God, and insists that the heart is the true temple, that ceremonies
are useless, that all pomp and pride and show are needless, and that it
is enough to worship God under heaven's dome, in spirit and in truth.
It is impossible to harmonize these views unless we admit that Christ
was the subject of growth and change; that in consequence of growth and
change he modified his views; that, from wanting to preserve Judaism as
it was, he became convinced that it ought to be reformed. That he then
abandoned the idea of reformation, and made up his mind that the only
reformation of which the Jewish religion was capable was destruction. If
he was in fact a man, then the course he pursued was natural; but if he
was God, it is perfectly absurd. If we give to him perfect knowledge,
then it is impossible to account for change or growth. If, on the other
hand, the ground is taken that he was a perfect man, then, it might be
asked, Was he perfect when he wished to preserve, or when he wished to
reform, or when he resolved to destroy, the religion of the Jews? If
he is to be regarded as perfect, although not divine, when did he reach
perfection?
It is perfectly evident that Christ, or the character that bears that
name, imagined that the world was about to be destroyed, or at least
purified by fire, and that, on account of this curious belief, he became
the enemy of marriage, of all earthly ambition and of all enterprise.
With that view in his mind, he said to himself, "Why should we waste our
energies in producing food for destruction? Why should we endeavor to
beautify a world that is so soon to perish?" Filled with the thought of
coming change, he insisted that there was but one important thing, and
that was for each man to save his soul. He should care nothing for the
ties of kindred, nothing for wife or child or property, in the shadow of
the coming disaster. He should take care of himself. He endeavored, as
it is said, to induce men to desert all they had, to let the dead, bury
the dead, and follow him. He told his disciples, or those he wished to
make his disciples, according to the Testament, that it was their duty
to desert wife and child and property, and if they would so desert
kindred and wealth, he would reward them here and hereafter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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