15. "Go and teach all nations," &c. Why issue an injunction that could
not possibly be carried out? It never has been, and never will be,
executed, for three-fourths of the human race have never yet heard of
Christianity. It was not, therefore, a mark of wisdom, or a superior
mind, to issue such an injunction.
16. "And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned." What intolerance, bigotry, relentless
cruelty, and ignorance of the science of mind are here displayed! No
philosopher would give utterance to, or indorse such a sentiment.
It assumes that belief is a creature of the will, and that a man
can believe anything he chooses, which is wide of the truth. And the
assumption has been followed by persecution, misery, and bloodshed.
17. "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall
receive." (Matt. xxi. 22.) Here is an entire negation of natural law in
the necessity of physical labor as a means to procure the comforts of
life. When anything is wanted in the shape of food or raiment, it is
to be obtained, according to this text, by going down on your knees
and asking God to bestow it. But no Christian ever realized "all things
whatsoever asked for in prayer," thought "believing with all his heart"
he should obtain it. The author knows, by his own practical experience,
that this declaration is not true. This promise has been falsified
thousands of times by thousands of praying Christians.
18. "Be not called rabbi." "Call no man your father." (Matt, xxiii.)
The Christian world assume that much of what Christ taught is mere idle
nonsense, or the incoherent utterings of a religious fanatic; for
they pay no more practical attention to it than the barking of a dog.
And here is one command treated in this manner: "Call no man father."
Where is the Christian who refuses to call his earthly sire a father?
19. "Call no man master." (Matt, xxiii.) And yet mister, which is the
same thing, is the most common title in Christendom.
20. He who enunciates the two words, "'Thou fool.' shall be in danger of
hell fire." (Matt, xxii.) Mercy! Who, then, can be saved? For there is
probably not a live Christian in the world who has not called somebody a
"fool," when he knew him to be such, and could not with truthfulness be
called anything else. Here, then, is another command universally ignored
and "indefinitely postponed."
21. "Swear not at all, neither by heaven nor earth." (Matt, v.) And yet
no Christian refuses to indulge in legal, if not profane, swearing which
the text evidently forbids.
22. "Men ought always to pray." (Luke xviii.) No time to be allowed for
eating or sleeping. More religious fanaticism.
23. "Whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant" (Matt.
xx. 27); that is, no Christian professor shall be a president, governor,
major-general, deacon, or priest. Another command laid on the table.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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