IF it is, it should be a book that no man--no number of men--could
produce.
It should contain the perfection of philosophy.
It should perfectly accord with every fact in nature.
There should be no mistakes in astronomy, geology, or as to any subject
or science.
Its morality should be the highest, the purest.
Its laws and regulations for the control of conduct should be just,
wise, perfect, and perfectly adapted to the accomplishment of the ends
desired.
It should contain nothing calculated to make man cruel, revengeful,
vindictive or infamous.
It should be filled with intelligence, justice, purity, honesty, mercy
and the spirit of liberty.
It should be opposed to strife and war, to slavery and lust, to
ignorance, credulity and superstition.
It should develop the brain and civilize the heart.
It should satisfy the heart and brain of the best and wisest.
It should be true.
Does the Old Testament satisfy this standard?
Is there anything in the Old Testament--in history, in theory, in law,
in government, in morality, in science--above and beyond the ideas, the
beliefs, the customs and prejudices of its authors and the people among
whom they lived?
Is there one ray of light from any supernatural source?
The ancient Hebrews believed that this earth was the centre of the
universe, and that the sun, moon and stars were specks in the sky.
With this the Bible agrees.
They thought the earth was flat, with four corners; that the sky, the
firmament, was solid--the floor of Jehovah's house.
The Bible teaches the same.
They imagined that the sun journeyed about the earth, and that by
stopping the sun the day could be lengthened.
The Bible agrees with this.
They believed that Adam and Eve were the first man and woman; that they
had been created but a few years before, and that they, the Hebrews,
were their direct descendants.
This the Bible teaches.
If anything is, or can be, certain, the writers of the Bible were
mistaken about creation, astronomy, geology; about the causes of
phenomena, the origin of evil and the cause of death.
Now, it must be admitted that if an Infinite Being is the author of
the Bible, he knew all sciences, all facts, and could not have made a
mistake.
If, then, there are mistakes, misconceptions, false theories, ignorant
myths and blunders in the Bible, it must have been written by finite
beings; that is to say, by ignorant and mistaken men.
Nothing can be clearer than this.
For centuries the church insisted that the Bible was absolutely true;
that it contained no mistakes; that the story of creation was true;
that its astronomy and geology were in accord with the facts; that
the scientists who differed with the Old Testament were infidels and
atheists.
Now this has changed. The educated Christians admit that the writers of
the Bible were not inspired as to any science. They now say that God,
or Jehovah, did not inspire the writers of his book for the purpose of
instructing the world about astronomy, geology, or any science. They
now admit that the inspired men who wrote the Old Testament knew nothing
about any science, and that they wrote about the earth and stars, the
sun and moon, in accordance with the general ignorance of the time.
It required many centuries to force the theologians to this admission.
Reluctantly, full of malice and hatred, the priests retired from the
field, leaving the victory with science.
They took another position:
They declared that the authors, or rather the writers, of the Bible
were inspired in spiritual and moral things; that Jehovah wanted to make
known to his children his will and his infinite love for his children;
that Jehovah, seeing his people wicked, ignorant and depraved, wished to
make them merciful and just, wise and spiritual, and that the Bible is
inspired in its laws, in the religion it teaches and in its ideas of
government.
This is the issue now. Is the Bible any nearer right in its ideas of
justice, of mercy, of morality or of religion than in its conception of
the sciences?
Is it moral?
It upholds slavery--it sanctions polygamy.
Could a devil have done worse?
Is it merciful?
In war it raised the black flag; it commanded the destruction, the
massacre, of all--of the old, infirm, and helpless--of wives and babes.
Were its laws inspired?
Hundreds of offences were punished with death. To pick up sticks on
Sunday, to murder your father on Monday, were equal crimes. There is
in the literature of the world no bloodier code. The law of revenge--of
retaliation--was the law of Jehovah. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a
tooth, a limb for a limb.
This is savagery--not philosophy.
Is it just and reasonable?
The Bible is opposed to religious toleration--to religious liberty.
Whoever differed with the majority was stoned to death. Investigation
was a crime. Husbands were ordered to denounce and to assist in killing
their unbelieving wives.
It is the enemy of Art. "Thou shalt make no graven image." This was the
death of Art.
Palestine never produced a painter or a sculptor.
Is the Bible civilized?
It upholds lying, larceny, robbery, murder, the selling of diseased meat
to strangers, and even the sacrifice of human beings to Jehovah.
Is it philosophical?
It teaches that the sins of a people can be transferred to an animal--to
a goat. It makes maternity an offence for which a sin offering had to be
made.
It was wicked to give birth to a boy, and twice as wicked to give birth
to a girl.
To make hair-oil like that used by the priests was an offence punishable
with death.
The blood of a bird killed over running water was regarded as medicine.
Would a civilized God daub his altars with the blood of oxen, lambs and
doves? Would he make all his priests butchers? Would he delight in the
smell of burning flesh?