The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1899-08-12

road 10 Osta to die for Christ They
tired to whip il out % him. they tined
to scare il out Of him. they thought
they would give him enough Of il by
putting HIN on snail diet, and denying
him a cloak. Gnd condemning him IS a
criminal, and bowling at him through
the streets; but they could not freeze
il out Of him. and they could no, sweat
it Out of him. and they could not pound
il gu Of him 50 they tried the surgery
Of the sword. snd one summer day in
&c he WAS dec2PitAsed- Perhaps :hs
mightiest intellect Of the 900 years
Of the worlds existence hoodwinked.
cheated. cAiOled, duPed by the Chris.
tian religion.
All. that is the remarkable thing
about This decision Of Christianity II
ovsrpower the strongest intellects
Gather the critics, secular and rsli.
gious, OF this century together and put
= vote to them As TO which Is the
greatest hook ever written. and by a
large majority they Will say Paradise
LOST Who wrote Paradise LOSt?"
One Of the fools who believed In this
Bible. John Milton. Benjamin Prank
lin surrendsred 10 this delusion, il you
may judge from the letter that he
wrote 10 Thomas Paine, begging him
to destroy The Age Of Reason" in
manuscript aud never let it 70 into
type. and writing a~fterward, in his old
days: -of this Jesus Of Nazareth /
have 10 say Of the system Of morals
De left and the religion He has given US
are the best things the world has ever
seen or is likely TO see" Patrick Henry,
the electric champion Of liberty, en-
shaved by this delusion, SO that he says:
The book worth all other books put to-
gether is the Bible" Benjamin Rush,
the leading ply siologist and anatomist
Of his day. the great medical scientist
what did he say? The only true and
perfect religion is Christianity" Isaac
Newton, the leading philosopher of
his time-what did he say? That man
surrendering to this delusion of the
Christian religion, crying out: The
sublimest philosophy on earth is the
philosophy Of the Gospel" David
Brewster, at the pronunciation Of whose
name every scientist the world over un-
covers his head. David Brewster saying:
'oh, this religion has been & great light
to me, q very great light all my days."
President Theirs, the great French
statesman, acknowledging that he
prayed when he said: Il invoke the
Lord God, in whom | am glad TO be-
lieye." David Livingstone, able to con-
quer the lion, able to conquer the pam
Their, able to conquer the savage, yet
conquered by this delusion, this hal
lucinAtion, this great swindle Of the
ages, SO when they find him dead they
find him on his knees. William Z. Glad
stone, the strongest intellect in Eng
land, unable TO resist this chimera, this
fallacy, this delusion Of the Christian
religion, went TO the house Of God
every Sabbath, and often. al the inyi-
tation Of the rector. read the prayers to
the people. II those mighty intellects
are overborne by this delusion, what
chance is there for you and me2
Besides that, ! have noticed tina.
first rate infdels cannot be depended
on for steadfastness In the proclama-
ton Of their sentiments. Goethe, a
leading skeptic, was 50 wrought upon
by this Christianity that in a weak
moment he cried out: my belief in the
Bible has saved me In my literary and
moral life" RoSseau, one of the most
eloquent champions OF infdelity,
spending his whole life warning
against Christianity, cries out: "The
majesty of the Scriptures amazes me-"
Altemont, the notorious infdel, one
would think he would have been safe
against this delusion Of the Christian
religion. Oh, no! After talking against
Christianity all his days, In his last
hours he cried out: "Oh, Thou bias
phemed but most indulgent Lord God,
hell itself is a refuge IL 1t hide me from
Thy frown!" V~oltaire, the most talent
ed infdel the world ever saw, writing
$50 publications, and the most Of them
spiteful against Christianity, himself
the most notorious libertine OF the cen
tury-one would have thought he could
have been depended upon for stead
fastness in the advocacy Of infdelity
and In the var against this terrible
chimera, this delusion Of the Gospel.
But no; In his last hour he asks for
Christian burial and asks that they
give him the sacrament Of the Lord
Jesus Christ Why, you cannot de-
pend upon these first rate inidels; you
cannot depend upon their power to re-
sist this great delusion OF Christianity.
Thomas Paine, the god OF modern
skeptics, his birthday celebrated In
New York and Boston with great en-
thusiasm-Thomas Paine, the paragon
Of Bible haters-Thomas Paine, about
whom his brother infdel, William
Carver, wrote in a letter which l have
at my house, saying that he drank a
quart Of rum q day and was too mean
and too dishonest to pay for it-Thom-
as Paine, the adored Of modern inf.
delity-Tbomas Paine, who stole an
other mans wife In England and
brought her TO this country-Thomas
Paine, who was so squalid and so
loathsome and so drunken and so prof
ligate and so beastly In his habits.
sometimes picked out OF the ditch,
sometimes too filthy to be picked out
Thomas Paine, one would have thought
that he could have been depended on
for steadfastness against this great de-
fusion.
But no. In his dying hour he begs
the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy. Pow
erful ~delusion, all conquering delusior,
earthquaking delusion OF the Christian
religion. Yea, II goes on. II is SO i'm
pertinent, and II Is so overbearing, this
chimera OF the Gospel, that having
conquered the great picture galleries
Of the world, the old masters and the
young masters, II is not satisfied until
1t has conquered the music Of the
world. Look over the programme Of
any magnificent musical festival and
see what are the great performances
and learn that the greatest Of all the
subjects are religious subjects.
Yes, this chimera Of the Gospel Is not
satisfied until II goes on and builds IT,
self into the most permanent architec-
ture, so IL seems as II the world Is new
er to get rid of II. What are some Of
the finest buildings in the world? st.
Paul's, ST, Peters and the churches
and cathedrals Of all Christendom.
Yea, this impertinence Of the Gospel,
this vast delusion, IL not satisfied until
II projects itself, and In one year gives,
contributes, s6,250,OOo 10 foreign mis-
sions, the work OF which Is TO make
ounces and fools on the other side Of
the world-people we have never seen.
Deluded ~doctors-220 physicians meet.
ing week by week in London In the