In the days of Thomas Paine the Church believed and taught that every
word in the Bible was absolutely true. Since his day it has been proven
false in its cosmogony, false in its astronomy, false in its chronology,
false in its history, and so far as the Old Testament is concerned,
false in almost everything. There are but few, if any, scientific men
who apprehend that the Bible is literally true. Who on earth at this
day would pretend to settle any scientific question by a text from
the Bible? The old belief is confined to the ignorant and zealous.
The Church itself will before long be driven to occupy the position of
Thomas Paine.