National Republican., 1881-10-22
The gospels were men Of unImpeaohablo char.

of the gospels were men ofunimpeachablo Of char
acterT'
LII THIS IS ANSWERED BY SAYING
"thatnothing was said by the observation-disclosures
against the personal honesty Of the Evangelists"
How is this known7 II Christ performed the
miracles recorded in the New Testament why
would the Jews put TO death q man able TO raise
their dcad7 why should they attempt to kill the
Master Of death7 How did It happen that man
who had done so many miracles was so obscure so
unknown, that one of His disciples had to be
bribed to point Him out7 Is It not strange that
the ones He had cured were not His disciplesr
Can we believe, upon the testimony Of those about
whose character we know nothing, that Lazarus
was raised from the dead2 What became OF Laza-
rusY We never hear OF him again. It seems to
me that he would have been an object of great
interest. People would have said: He Is the man
who was once dead" Thousands would have In
qured of him about the other world would have
asked him where he was when he received the
information that he was wanted on earth His
experience would have been vastly more inter-
estng than everything else in the New Testament.
A returned traveller from the shores Of eternity
one who had walked twice through the valley Of
the shadow-would have been the most interest
ing Of human beings.
DID THE JEWS BELIEVE THAT CHRIST
was clothed with miraculous power7 Would they
have dared to cruelty man who had the power
TO clothe the dead with life7 Is IL not wonderful
that no one at the trial Of Christ said one word
about the miracles He had wrought Nothing
about the sick He had healed, nor the dead He
had raised7 Is II not wonderful that Josephus, the
best historian the Hebrews produced, says nothing
| about the life or death of Christ; nothing about
the massacre of the infants by Herod; not one
word about the wonderful star that visited the sky
at the birth Of Christ nothing about the darkness
that fell upon the world for several hours In the
midst of day; and failed entirely to mention that
hundreds of graves were opened, and that multi
tudes OF Jews arose from the dead and visited the
Holy City2 1t II not wonderful that no historian
ever mentioned any of these prodges2 and is 1t
not more amazing than all the rest that Christ
Himself concealed from Matthew, Mark, and Luke
the dogma Of the atonemont, the necessity of be-
lief, aud the,mystery of the second birth2
THE TRUE POSITION, IN NY JUDGMENT,
is that the natural is not to be discarded because
found In the company of the miraculous; neither
should the miraculous be believed because asso-
ciatcd with the probable There was in oil prob
ability such man us Jesus Christ He may have
| lived In Jerusalem. He may have been lcruci6ed; !;
but that lie was the Son of God, or thut lie was
raised from the dead and ascended bodily 10
heaven, has never been, and In the nature Of
things can never be, substantiatcd Ny doctrine
is that there is only way to be saved, and that
| Is to act in harmony with your surroundings-to
/
A Being of inhuie wisdom has no right to create
person destined to everlasting pain. For the
honest inhdel, according to the American Evan
gelical pulpit, there is no heaven For the upright
atheist, there is nothing in another world but
punishment. Mr.. Black admits that lunatics and
idiots are in no danger of hell This being so, his
God should have created only lunatics aud idiots.
Why should the fatal gift Of brain be given to any
human being, IL such gift renders him liable to
eternal hell? Better be lunatic here aud an an
gel there. Better be an idiot in this world, If you
can be seraph in the next
| FOR NEARLY TWO THOUSAND YEARS
| Judas Iscariot has been cxecrated by mankind
and yet, If the doctrine OF the atonement is true,
upon his treachery hung the plan of salvation.
Suppose Judas had known Of this plan-known
that he was selected by Christ for that very pur.
pose, that Christ was depending on him And
suppose that he also knew that only by betraying
Christ could he save either himself or Others what
ought Judas to have done2 Are you willing to rely
upon an argument that justifes the treachery of
that wretch? insisted upon knowing how the
snIcrings of an innocent man could satisfy justice
for the sins of the guilty i have insisted, and
still insist. that II Is impossible for finite man to
commit crime deserving infinite punishment,
and upon this subject Mr.. Black admits that no
eternity" and, consequently neither the priest
nor the policeman" knows anything with GER
tainty
| REGARDING ANOTHER WORLD.
He simply insists that in shadowy figures we are
warned that very marked distinction will bC
made between the good and bad In the mex
world" There Is "a very marked distinction" IL
this, but there is this rainbow ON the darkes
human cloud: The worst have hope of reform
All insist Is, IL there Is another life, the bases
soul that finds its way to that dark radiant shor
will have the everlasting chance Of doing right
Nothing but the most cruel ignorance, the mos
heartless superstition, the most ignorant thcolog.
ever imagined that the few days of human lif
spent here, surrounded by mists and clouds o
darkness, blown overl lifes sea by storms and TEN
pests OF passion, fixed for all eternity the condi
ton of the human race If this doctrine be tru
this life is but net, in which Jehovah catche
souls for hell.
FOR THE MAN CHRIST
for the rcformer who loved his fellow men-fo
the man who believed In IN infinite Father, VIII,
would shield the innocent and protect the just
for the martyr who expected to be rescued fror
the cruel cross, and who at last, finding that II
hope was dust cried out In the gathering gloom
death "My God My God Why hast Thou fol
saken meY'-for that great and suffering maj
mistaken though He was, have the highest ad
mration and respect. That man did not as be
lieve, claim a miraculous origin; he did not prt
tend TO heal the sick nor mise the dead. Il
Claimed simply 10 DC a man, ana taught HIS ie
, lowmen that love is stronger far than hate. II
! life was written by revercnt Ignorance. Lovir
credulity belitted HIS career with feats of juggle
. and magic art, and priests wishing TO persecu
and slay, put In His mouth the words Of hatrt
and revenge. The theological Christ is the In
possible union Of the human and divine-ma
!. with the attributes of God, and God with tn
? limitations and weaknesses Of man.
CHRISTIANITY, FOR A THOUSAND YEARS,
taught memory TO forget and reason to beiev
!; Not one step was taken in advance Over Il
!, manuscripts of philosophers and poets prizes
~ with their ignorant tongues thrust out devout
scrawled the forgeries of faith. For thousan
!, years the torch Of progress was extinguished
- the blood Of Christ and His disciples, moved
i" ignorant zeal. by insane, cruel creeds, destroy,
= with fame and sword hundred millions of the
= fellow men. They made this world hell. But
cathedrals had been universities; ifdungeons of Il
], In9uisition had been laboratories; II Christia
IS had believed in character instead OF creed fifth
n had taken from the Bible all the good and throw
y away the wicked and absurd II domes of tempt
= had been observatorles; IL fprests had been ph
10 arts: If asrology had been astronomy If Il
y, been science; If religion had been humanity,
,e would have been q heaven filled with love, wi
ht liberty, and JOY.
"A MAGAZINES.