The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-10-23
ghe aahi pay gagIe aasednesaau 9orme @etober

he bought a field with the money. Mat
thew says that Judas hanged himself.
Peter says that he fell down and burst
asunder Which of these accounts are
| true?
Paul saws that Jesus after his resur-
rection appeared to the twelve disciples
| According to Paul, Jesus appeared TO
Judas with the rest. Certainly Paul
had rot heard the story of the betrayal
| The Christians are compelled to say
| that Christ intended to be sacrificed
| that he selected Judas with that end
| in view, and that he refused 20 defend
himself because he desired TO be cruel
fed. All this is in accordance with the
horrible idea that without the shedding
of blood there is no remission of sin.
God has caused the volcanoes TO de-
YOUR the good and the bad, his cyclones
to wreck and rend the generous and the
cruel, his fiodS to drown the loving and
the hateful, his lightning TO kill the vir-
tuous and the vicious, his famines to
starve the innocent and criminal, and
his plaques TO destroy the wise and
good, the ignorant and wicked. He
has allowed his enemies TO imprson to
to torture, and to kill his friends. He
has permitted blaSphemers to fay his
worshippers alive, to dislocate their
joints upon racks, and to burn them at
the stake. He has allowed men TO en-
slave their brothers and to sell babes
from the BREASTS of mothers. This
shows his importantly. Ministers ask,
Is it possible for God to forgive man
And when think OF what has been suf-
fered-of the centuries. of agony and
tears. ash, Is it possible for man to
forgive God?
Tc L. Cd
an inference? Can We think of being
without form, without body, without
parts, without passion? Why should
We speak of a being without body as
of the masculine gender?
EXISTENCE OF GOD
Of the existence of such a being there
can be- in the nature of things, no EVIL
dence. Confronted with the universe,
with fields of space sown thick with
stars with all there is of life, the wise
man, being asked the origin and desti-
ny of all, replies, Il dwO not know.
These questions are beyond the powers
of my mind The theologian arrives
at the unthinkable, the inconceNable,
and he calls this God. The scientist
arrives at the unthinkable. the incon-
eeivable. and calls it the Unknown The
I theologian insists that this inceivable
governs the world, that it, or he, or she,
or they, can be influenced by prayers
and ceremonies, that it, or he, or they,
Furnishes and rewards, that il, or he,
or they has priests and temples.
How is ii established that Christ was
the Son of God? 1t is said that Joseph
was told so in a dream by an angel.
How could Joseph know that he had
been visited by an angel in a dream!
Gould he know that the visitor was an
angelo 1t all occurred in a dream and
poor Joseph was asleep. What IS the
testimony Of one who was asleep worth?
How was it possible for Mary to know
anything about the Holy GhoSp?
Christ, according to the faith, is the
second person In the Trinity, the Fa-
ther being the first and the Holy Ghost
the third. Each of these three persons
is God. Christ is his own father and
his own son. The Holy Ghost is nei-
ther father nor son, but both. The son
was begotten by the father, and the
father is just as young as his son. The
Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father
and Son, but was equal to the Father
and Son before he proceeded; that is to
say, before he existed, but he is of the
same age of the two. Nothing ever
was, nothing ever can be, more per-
fectly idioric than the dogma Of the
ing reached its limit. nothing more
could be said, except Let US pray"
THINGS HE NEVER SAID.
I think that Christ in his utterances
was true to his theory. to his philosophy.
If l find in the Testament saying of
contradictory character l conclude that
some of those sayings were never ut
tered by him. ne said unto him: Be
hold thy mother and thy brethren stand
without, desiring to speak with thee"
And he answered: who is my mother
nd bn hrat ho
stretched forth his hand toward his di-
sciples and said: Behold my mother
and my brethren" / don't believe he
ever said it. If he did, I don't like it.
like man who loves his mother be she
good or bad.
Christ seemed to rely absolutely on
the protection of God until the darkness
of death gathered about him, and then
he cried: My God. my God. Why hast
thou forsaken me?" From the interpola-
tions, legends, accretions, mistakes, and
falsehoods of the New Testament is it
possible TO free the actual man? Clad in
mist and myth. hidden by the draperies
of gods, deformed, indistinct as faces in
clouds, Is 1t possible to find and recog-
niZe the features, the natural face of the
actual Christ? The contradictions are
gross and palpable and demonstrate
that the New Testament is not inspired,
and that many OF its statements must
be false.
If We wish to save the character Of
Christ, many of its passages must be
thrown away. We must discard the
miracles. or admit that he was insane
or an impostor. We must discard the
passages that breathe the spirit of
hatred and revenge or admit that he
was malevolent. The church must ad-
nit that the writers OF the New Tesla
ment We're uninspired men-that they
made many mistakes.
His Gospel has been carried by mill
ions 10 all parts Of the globe. and his
story has been told by the self-denying
and faithful to countless thousands of
the sons OF men. In his name has been
preached charity, forgiveness and love.
He IL was who. according to faith,
brought immortality to light. and many
have entered the valley OF the shadow
with their hands in his, All this is
true, and IL II were all, how beautiful,
how touching, how glorious Ii would be.
But it is not all. There is another side.
In his gospel was found the dogma of
eternal pain, and his words added an
infinite horror 10 death. His gospel
filled this world with hatred and revenge
made intellectual honesty crime: made
happiness here the road to hell; de-
nounced love as base and bestial; and
destroyed the liberty of man. 1t would
have been far better had the New Tes-
timent never been written-far better
had the theological Christ never lived.
THE REDEMPTION.
We have also the scheme OF redemp-
ton. According TO this scheme" by
the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden
OF Eden, human nature became evil. cor
rupt and depraved. There is no sense
In sacrifice. never was. and never viii
be. Make restitution. repsration. undo