437. The Standard of Right

According to Mr. Black, the man who does not believe in a supreme being

acknowledges no standard of right and wrong in this world, and therefore

can have no theory of rewards and punishments in the next. Is it

possible that only those who believe in the God who persecuted for

opinion's sake have any standard of right and wrong? Were the greatest

men of all antiquity without this standard? In the eyes of intelligent

men of Greece and Rome, were all deeds, whether good or evil, morally

alike? Is it necessary to believe in the existence of an infinite

intelligence before you can have any standard of right and wrong? Is it

possible that a being cannot be just or virtuous unless he believes in

some being infinitely superior to himself? If this doctrine be true, how

can God be just or virtuous? Does He believe in some being superior to

himself?

Ingersollia Gems of Thought from the Lectures, Speeches, and Conversations of Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, Representative of His Opinions and Beliefs · 第 459 / 549 题