HUNDRED ERRORS
THE exaltation of men to the character and homage of divine beings
has always had the effect to draw a vail over their errors and
imperfections, so as to render them imperceptible to those who worship
them as Gods. This is true of nearly all the deified men of antiquity,
who were adored as incarnate divinities, among which may be included
the Christian's man-God, Jesus Christ. The practice of the followers of
these Gods has been, when an error was pointed out in their teachings,
brought to light by the progress of science and general intelligence,
to bestow upon the text some new and unwarranted meaning, entirely
incompatible with its literal reading, or else to insist with a godly
zeal on the correctness of the sentiment inculcated by the text, and
thus essay to make error pass for truth. In this way millions of the
disciples of' these Gods have been misled and blinded, and made to
believe by their religious teachers and their religious education, that
everything taught by their assumed-to-be divine exemplars is perfect
truth, in perfect harmony with science, sense, and true morals. Indeed,
the perversion of the mind and judgment by a religious education has
been in many cases carried to such an extreme as to cause their devout
and prejudiced followers either to entirely overlook and ignore their
erroneous teachings, or to magnify them into God-given truths, and thus,
as before stated, clothe error with the livery of truth. This state of
things, it has long been noticed by unprejudiced minds, exists amongst
the millions of professed believers in the divinity of Jesus Christ.
Hence the errors, both in his moral lessons and his practical life, have
passed from age to age unnoticed, because his pious and awe-stricken
followers, having been taught that he was a divine teacher, have assumed
that his teachings must all be true; and hence, too, have instituted no
scrutiny to determine their truth or falsity. But we will now proceed to
show that the progress of' science and general intelligence has brought
to light many errors, not only in his teachings, but in his practical
life also. In enumerating them, we will arrange them under the head
MORAL AND RELIGIOUS ERRORS.
1. The first moral precept in the teachings of Christ, which we will
bring to notice, is one of a numerous class, which may very properly
be arranged under the head of Moral Extremism. We find many of his
admonitions of this character. Nearly everything that is said is
oversaid, carried to extremes--thus constituting an overwrought,
extravagant system of morality, impracticable in its requisitions; as,
for example, "Take no thought for the morrow." (Matt, v.) If the spirit
of this injunction were carried out in practical life, there would be
no grain sown and no seed planted in spring, no reaping done in harvest,
and no crop garnered in autumn; and the result would be universal
starvation in less than twelve months. But, fortunately for society, the
Christian world have laid this positive injunction upon the table under
the rule of "indefinite postponement."
2. Christ's assumed-to-be most important requisition is found in the
injunction, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness,
and all else shall be added unto you." (Matt. vi. 33.) His early
followers understood by this injunction, and doubtless understood it
correctly, that they were to spend their lives in religious devotion,
and neglect the practical duties of life, leaving "Providence" to take
care of their families--a course of life which reduced many of them to
the point of starvation.
3. The disciple of Christ is required, "when smitten on one cheek," to
turn the other also that is, when one cheek is pommeled into a jelly by
some vile miscreant or drunken wretch, turn the other, to be smashed up
in like manner. This is an extravagant requisition, which none of his
modern disciples even attempt to observe.
4. "Resist not evil" (Matt. v. 34) breathes forth a kindred spirit. This
injunction requires you to stand with your hands in your pocket while
being maltreated so cruelly and unmercifully that the forfeiture of
your life may be the consequence--at least Christ's early followers so
understood it.
5. The disciple of Christ is required, when his cloak is formally
wrested from him, to give up his coat also. (See Matt, v.) And to carry
out the principle, if the marauder demands it, he must next give up his
boots, then his shirt, and thus strip himself of all his garments, and
go naked. This looks like an invitation and bribe to robbery.
6. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth." (Matt. vi. 19.) This
is another positive command of Christ, which the modern Christian world,
by common consent, have laid on the table under the rule of "indefinite
postponement," under the conviction that the wants of their families and
the exigencies of sickness and old age cannot be served if they should
live up to such an injunction.
7. "Sell all that thou hast,... and come and follow me," is another
command which bespeaks more piety than wisdom, as all who have attempted
to comply with it have reduced their families to beggary and want.
8. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
Then he must hate it, as there are but the two principles, and "from
hate proceed envy, strife, evil surmisings, and persecution." Evidently
the remedy in this case for "worldly-mindedness" is worse than the
disease.
9. "He that cometh to me, and hateth not father, mother, brother, and
sister, &c., cannot be my disciple." (Luke xiv. 26). This breathes forth
the same spirit as the last text quoted above. Many learned expositions
have been penned by Christian writers to make it appear, that hate in
this case does not mean hate. But certainly it would be a slander upon
infinite wisdom to leave it to be inferred that he could not say or
"inspire" his disciples to say exactly what he meant, and to say it so
plainly as to leave no possibility of being misunderstood, or leave any
ground for dispute about the meaning.
10. "Rejoice and be exceeding glad" when persecuted. (Matt. v. 4.) Now,
as a state of rejoicing is the highest condition of happiness that can
be realized, such advice must naturally prompt the religious zealot
to court persecution, in order to obtain complete happiness, and
consequently to pursue a dare-devil life to provoke persecution.
11. "Whosoever shall seek to save his life, shall lose it," &c. (Luke
xvii. 33.) Here is displayed the spirit of martyrdom which has made
millions reckless of life, and goaded on the frenzied bigot to seek the
fiery fagot and the halter. We regard it as another display of religious
fanaticism.
12. "Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake." (Matt. x. 12.)
How repulsive must have been their doctrines or their conduct! No
sensible religion could excite the universal hatred of mankind. For it
would contain something adapted to the moral, religious, or spiritual
taste of some class or portion of society, and hence make it and its
disciples loved instead of hated. And then how could they be "hated of
all men," when not one man in a thousand ever heard of them? Here is
more of the extravagance of religious enthusiasm.
13. "Shake off the dust of your feet" against those who cannot see
the truth or utility of your doctrines. (Matt. x. 14.) Here Christ
encourages in his disciples a spirit of contempt for the opinions of
others calculated to make them "hated." A proper regard for the rules of
good-breeding would have forbidden such rudeness toward strangers for a
mere honest difference of opinion.
14. "Take nothing for your journey, neither staff, nor scrip, nor purse"
(Mark vi. 8); that is "sponge on your friends, and force yourselves on
your enemies," the latter class of which seem to have been much the most
numerous. A preacher who should attempt to carry out this advice at the
present day would be stopped at the first toll-gate, and compelled to
return. Here is more violation of the rules of good-breeding, and the
common courtesies of civilized life.
15. "Go and teach all nations," &c. Why issue an injunction that could
not possibly be carried out? It never has been, and never will be,
executed, for three-fourths of the human race have never yet heard of
Christianity. It was not, therefore, a mark of wisdom, or a superior
mind, to issue such an injunction.
16. "And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned." What intolerance, bigotry, relentless
cruelty, and ignorance of the science of mind are here displayed! No
philosopher would give utterance to, or indorse such a sentiment.
It assumes that belief is a creature of the will, and that a man
can believe anything he chooses, which is wide of the truth. And the
assumption has been followed by persecution, misery, and bloodshed.
17. "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall
receive." (Matt. xxi. 22.) Here is an entire negation of natural law in
the necessity of physical labor as a means to procure the comforts of
life. When anything is wanted in the shape of food or raiment, it is
to be obtained, according to this text, by going down on your knees
and asking God to bestow it. But no Christian ever realized "all things
whatsoever asked for in prayer," thought "believing with all his heart"
he should obtain it. The author knows, by his own practical experience,
that this declaration is not true. This promise has been falsified
thousands of times by thousands of praying Christians.
18. "Be not called rabbi." "Call no man your father." (Matt, xxiii.)
The Christian world assume that much of what Christ taught is mere idle
nonsense, or the incoherent utterings of a religious fanatic; for
they pay no more practical attention to it than the barking of a dog.
And here is one command treated in this manner: "Call no man father."
Where is the Christian who refuses to call his earthly sire a father?
19. "Call no man master." (Matt, xxiii.) And yet mister, which is the
same thing, is the most common title in Christendom.
20. He who enunciates the two words, "'Thou fool.' shall be in danger of
hell fire." (Matt, xxii.) Mercy! Who, then, can be saved? For there is
probably not a live Christian in the world who has not called somebody a
"fool," when he knew him to be such, and could not with truthfulness be
called anything else. Here, then, is another command universally ignored
and "indefinitely postponed."
21. "Swear not at all, neither by heaven nor earth." (Matt, v.) And yet
no Christian refuses to indulge in legal, if not profane, swearing which
the text evidently forbids.
22. "Men ought always to pray." (Luke xviii.) No time to be allowed for
eating or sleeping. More religious fanaticism.
23. "Whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant" (Matt.
xx. 27); that is, no Christian professor shall be a president, governor,
major-general, deacon, or priest. Another command laid on the table.
24. "Love your enemies." (Matt. v. 44.) Then what kind of feeling should
we cultivate toward friends? And how much did he love his enemies when
he called them "fools," "liars," "hypocrites," "generation of vipers,"
&c.? And yet he is held up as "our" example in love, meekness,
and forbearance. But no man ever did love an enemy. It is a moral
impossibility, as much so as to love bitter or nauseating food.
The advice of the Roman slave Syrus is indicative of more sense and
wisdom--"Treat your enemy kindly, and thus make him a friend."
25. We are required to forgive an enemy four hundred and ninety times;
that is, "seventy times seven." (Matt, vii.) Another outburst of
religious enthusiasm; another proof of an overheated imagination.
26. "Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matt. v.
48.) Here is more of the religious extravagance of a mind uncultured
by science. For it is self-evident that human beings can make no
approximation to divine perfection. The distance between human
imperfection and a perfect God is, and ever must be, infinite.
27. Christ commended those who "became eunuchs for the kingdom of
heaven's sake" (Matt. xix. 12)--a custom requiring a murderous,
self-butchering process; destructive of the energies of life and the
vigor of manhood, and rendering the subject weak, effeminate, and
mopish, and unfit for the business of life. It is a low species of
piety, and discloses a lamentable lack of a scientific knowledge of the
true functions of the sexual organs on the part of Jesus.
28. Christ also encouraged his disciples to "pluck out the eye," and
"cut off the hand," as a means of rendering it impossible to perpetrate
evil with those members. And we would suggest, if such advice is
consistent with sound reasoning, the head also should be cut off, as a
means of more effectually carrying out the same principle. Such advice
never came from the mouth of a philosopher. It is a part of Christ's
system of extravagant piety.
29. He also taught the senseless, oriental tradition of "the
unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost"--a fabulous being who figured
more anciently in the history of various countries. (See Chapter
XXII.) No philosopher or man of science could harbor such childish
misconceptions as are embodied in this tradition, which neither
describes the being nor explains the nature of the sin.
30. We find many proofs, in Christ's Gospel history, that he believed
in the ancient heathen tradition which taught that disease is caused by
demons and evil spirits. (See Luke vii. 21, and viii. 2.)
31. Many cases are reported of his relieving the obsessed by casting out
the diabolical intruders, in imitation of the oriental custom long in
vogue in various countries, by which he evinced a profound ignorance of
the natural causes of disease.
32. Christ also taught the old pagan superstition that "God is a God of
anger," while modern science teaches that it would be as impossible for
a God of perfect and infinite attributes to experience the feeling of
anger as to commit suicide; and recent discoveries in physiology prove
that anger is a species of suicide, and that it is also a species of
insanity. Hence an angry God would be an insane God--an omnipotent
lunatic, "ruling the kingdom of heaven," which would make heaven a
lunatic asylum, and rather a dangerous place to live.
33. And Christ's injunction to "fear God" also implies that he is an
angry being. (See Luke xxiii. 40.) But y past history proves that "the
fear of God" has always been the great lever of priestcraft, and the
most paltry and pitiful motive that ever moved the human mind. It has
paralyzed the noblest intellects, crushed the elasticity of youth, and
augmented the hesitating indecision of old age, and finally filled the
world with cowardly, trembling slaves. No philosopher will either love
or worship a God he fears. "The fear of the Lord" is a very ancient
heathen superstition.
34. The inducement Christ holds out for leading a virtuous life by
the promise of "Well done, thou good and faithful servant," bespeaks a
childish ignorance of the nature of the human mind and the true science
of life. It ranks with the promise of the nurse of sugar-plums to the
boy if he would keep his garments unsoiled. (For the remainder of the
two hundred errors of Christ, see Vol. II.)
There are many other errors found in the precepts and practical life
of Jesus Christ (which we are compelled to omit an exposition of
here), such as his losing his temper, and abusing the money-changers by
overthrowing their counting-table, and expelling them from the temple
with a whip of cords when engaged in a lawful' and laudable business;
his getting mad at and cursing the fig tree; his dooming Capernaum
to hell in a fit of anger; his being deceived by two of his disciples
(Peter and Judas), which prompted him to call them devils; his implied
approval of David, with his fourteen crimes and penitentiary deeds, and
also Abraham, with his falsehoods, polygamy, and incest, and his implied
sanction of the Old Testament, with all its errors and numerous crimes;
his promise to his twelve apostles to "sit upon the twelve thrones of
Israel" in heaven, thus evincing a very limited and childish conception
of the enjoyments of the future life; his puerile idea of sin,
consisting in a personal affront to a personal God; his omission to say
anything about human freedom, the inalienable rights of man, &c.
THE SCIENTIFIC ERRORS OF CHRIST.
That Jesus Christ was neither a natural or moral philosopher is evident
from the following facts:--
1. He never made any use of the word "philosophy."
2. Never gave utterance to the word "science."
3. Never spoke of a natural law, or assigned a natural cause for
anything. The fact that he never made use of these words now so current
in all civilized countries, is evidence that he was totally ignorant of
these important branches of knowledge, the cultivation of which is now
known to be essential to the progress of civilization. And yet it
is claimed his religion has been a great lever in the advancement of
civilization. But this is a mistake--a solemn mistake, as elsewhere
shown. (See Chap. XLV.)
4. Everything to Christ was miracle; everything was produced and
controlled by the arbitrary power of an angry or irascible God.
He evidently had no idea of a ruling principle in nature or of the
existence of natural law, as controlling any event he witnessed. Hence
he set no bounds to anything, and recognized no limits to the possible.
He believed God to be a supernatural personal being, who possessed
unlimited power, and who ruled and controlled everything by his
arbitrary will, without any law or any limitation to its exercises.
Hence he told his disciples they would have anything they prayed for in
faith; that by faith they could roll mountains into the sea, or bring
to a halt the rolling billows of the mighty deep. He evidently believed
that the forked lightning, the out-bursting earth-shaking thunder,
and the roaring, heaving volcano were but pliant tools or obsequious
servants to the man of faith. And he displays no less ignorance of the
laws of mind than the laws of nature; thus proving him to have been
neither a natural, moral, nor mental philosopher. He omitted to teach
the great moral lessons learned by human experience, of which he was
evidently totally ignorant.
5. He never taught that the practice of virtue contains its own reward.
6. That the question of right and wrong of any action is to be decided
by its effect upon the individual, or upon society.
7. That no life can be displeasing to God which is useful to man.
8. And he omitted to teach the most important lesson that can engage
the attention of man, viz.: that the great purpose of life is
self-development.
9. That no person can attain or approximate to real happiness without
bestowing a special attention to the cultivation and exercise of all
the mental and physical faculties, so far as to keep them in a healthy
condition. None of the important lessons above named are hinted at in
his teachings, which, if punctually observed, would do more to advance
the happiness of the human race than all the sermons Christ or Chrishna
ever preached, or ever taught.
10. And then he taught many doctrines which are plainly contradicted by
the established principle of modern science, such as,--
11. Diseases being produced by demons, devils, or wicked spirits. (See
Mark ix. 20.)
Christ nowhere assigns a natural cause for disease, or a scientific
explanation for its cure.
12. His rebuking a fever discloses a similar lack of scientific
knowledge. ( See Luke iv. 39.)
13. His belief in a literal hell and a lake of fire and brimstone (see
Matt, xviii. 8) is an ancient heathen superstition science knows nothing
about, and has no use for.
14. His belief in a personal devil also (see Matt. xvii. 88), which is
another oriental tradition, furnishes more sad proof of an utter want of
scientific knowledge, as science has no place for and no use for such a
being.
15. Christ taught the unphilosophical doctrine of repentance, as he
declared he "came to call sinners to repentance" (Matt. ix. 13)--a
mental process, which consists merely in a revival of early impressions,
and often leads a person to condemn that which is right, as well as that
which is wrong. (For proof, see Chapter XLIII.)
16. The doctrine of "forgiveness," which Christ so often inculcated,
is also at variance with the teachings of science, as it can do nothing
toward changing the nature of the act forgiven, or toward cancelling its
previous effects upon society. Science teaches that every crime has its
penalty attached to it, which no act of forgiveness, by God or man, can
arrest or set aside.
17. But nothing evinces, perhaps, more clearly Christ's total lack of
scientific knowledge than his holding a man responsible for his belief,
and condemning for disbelief, as he does in numerous instances (see Mark
xvi. 16), for a man could as easily control the circulation of the blood
in his veins as control his belief. Science teaches that belief depends
upon evidence, and without it, it is impossible to believe, and with
it, it is impossible to disbelieve. How foolish and unphilosophical,
therefore, to condemn for either belief or disbelief!
18. The numerous cases in which Christ speaks of the heart as being
the seat of consciousness, instead of the brain, evinces a remarkable
ignorance of the science of mental philosophy. He speaks of an "upright
heart," "a pure heart," &'c., when "an upright liver," "a pure liver,"
would be as sensible, as the latter has as much to do with the character
as the former.
19. And the many cases in which he makes it meritorious to have a right
"faith," and places it above reason, and assumes it to be a voluntary
act, shows his utter ignorance of the nature of the human mind.
20. And Christ evinced a remarkable ignorance of the cause of physical
defects, when he told his hearers a certain man was born blind, in order
that he might cure him. (Matt. vii. 22.)
21. And Christ's declaration, that those who marry are not worthy of
being saved (see Luke xx. 34), shows that he was very ignorant of the
nature of the sexual functions of the human system.
22. Nothing could more completely demonstrate a total ignorance of the
grand science of astronomy than Christ's prediction of the stars falling
to the earth. (See Luke xxi. 25.)
23. And the conflagration of the world, "the gathering of the elect,"
and the realization of a fancied millennium, which he several times
predicted would take place in his time, "before this generation pass
away" (Matt, xxiv. 34), proves a like ignorance, both of astronomy and
philosophy.
24. And his cursing of the fig tree for not bearing fruit in the winter
season (see Matt. xxi. 20), not only proves his ignorance of the laws of
nature, but evinces a bad temper.
25. Christ indorses the truth of Noah's flood story (see Luke xvii. 27),
which every person at the present day, versed in science and natural
law, knows is mere fiction, and never took place.
And numerous other errors, evincing the most profound ignorance of
science and natural law, might be pointed out in Christ's teachings,
if we had space for them. It has always been alleged by orthodox
Christendom, that Christ's teaching and moral system are so faultless as
to challenge criticism, and so perfect as to defy improvement. But this
is a serious mistake. For most of his precepts and moral inculcations
which are not directly at war with the principles of science, or do not
involve a flagrant violation of the laws of nature, are, nevertheless,
characterized by a lawless and extravagant mode of expression peculiar
to semi-savage life, and which, as it renders it impossible to reduce
them to practice, shows they could not have emanated from a philosopher,
or man of science, or a man of evenly-balanced mind. They impose upon
the world a system of morality, pushed to such extremes that its own
professed admirers do not live it out, or even attempt to do so. They
long ago abandoned it as an impracticable duty. We will prove this by
enumerating most of its requisitions, and showing that they are daily
violated and trampled under foot by all Christendom. Where can the
Christian professor be found who, 1. "takes no thought for the morrow"
or, 2. who "lays not up treasure on earth," or, at least, tries to do
it; or, 3. who "gives up all his property to the poor;" or who, "when
his cloak is wrested from him by a robber," gives up his coat also;
or who calls no man master or mister (the most common title in
Christendom); or who calls no man father (if he has a father); or who
calls no man a fool (when he knows he is a fool); or who, when one cheek
is pommeled into a jelly by some vile miscreant or drunken wretch,
turns the other to be battered up in the same way; or who prays without
ceasing; or who rejoices when persecuted; or who forgives an enemy four
hundred and ninety times (70 times 7); or who manifests by his practical
life that he loves his enemies (the way he loves him is to report him to
the grand jury, or hand him over to the sheriff); or who forsakes
houses and land, and everything, "for the kingdom of heaven's sake." No
Christian professor lives up to these precepts, or any of them, or even
tries to do so. To talk, therefore, of finding a practical Christian,
while nearly the whole moral code of Christ is thus daily and habitually
outraged and trampled under foot by all the churches and every one of
the two hundred millions of Christian professors, is bitter irony and
supreme solecism. We would go five hundred miles, or pay five hundred
dollars, to see a Christian. If a man can be a Christian while openly
and habitually violating every precept of Christ, then the word has no
meaning. These precepts, the Christian world finding to be impossible
to practice, have unanimously laid upon the table under the rule of
"indefinite postponement." They are the product of a mind with an
ardent temperament, and the religious faculties developed to excess, and
unrestrained by scientific or intellectual culture. A similar vein
of extravagant religious duty is found in the Essenian, Budhist, and
Pythagorean systems. As Zera Colburn possessed the mathematical faculty
to excess, and Jenny Lind the musical talent, Christ in like manner was
all religion. And from the extreme ardor of his religious feeling, thus
derived, sprang his extravagant notions of the duties of life. This
peculiarity of his organization explains the whole mystery.
CHRIST AS A MAN, AND CHRIST AS A SECTARIAN.
To every observant and unbiased mind a strange contrast must be visible
in the practical life of Jesus Christ when viewed in his twofold
capacity of a man and a priest. While standing upon the broad plane of
humanity, with his deep sympathetic nature directed toward the poor,
the unfortunate, and the downtrodden, there often gushed forth from
his impassioned bosom the most sublime expressions of pity, and the
strongest outburst of commiseration for wrongs and sufferings, and
his noble goodness and tender love yearned with a throbbing heart to
relieve them. But the moment he put on the sacerdotal robe, and assumed
the character of a priest, that moment, if any one crossed his path by
refusing to yield to his requisitions of faith, or dissented from his
religious creed, his whole nature was seemingly changed. It was no
longer, "Blessed are ye," but "Cursed are ye," or "Woe unto you." Like
the founders of other religious systems, he was ardent toward friends
and bitter toward enemies, and extolled his own religion, while he
denounced all others. His way was the only way, and all who did not walk
threin, or conform thereto, were loaded with curses and imprecations,
and all who could not accomplish the impossible mental achievement of
believing everything he set forth or urged upon their credence, and
that, too, without evidence, were to be eternally damned. All who
climbed up any other way were thieves and robbers. All who professed
faith in any other religion than his were on the road to hell. Like the
oriental Gods, he taught that the world was to be saved through faith in
him and his religion. All who did not honor him were to be dishonored
by the Father. And "without faith (in him and his religion), it is
impossible to please God." He declared that all who were not for him
were against him; and all who were not on the same road are "heathens
and publicans." His disciples were enjoined to shake off the dust from
their feet as a manifestation of displeasure toward those who could not
conscientiously subscribe to their creeds and dogmas. Thus we discover
a strong vein of intolerance and sectarianism in the religion of the
otherwise, and in other respects, the kind and loving Jesus. Though
most benignantly kind and affectionate while moving and acting under the
controlling impulses of his lofty manhood, yet when his ardent religious
feelings were touched, he became chafed, irritated, and sometimes
intolerant. He then could tolerate no such thing as liberty of
conscience, or freedom of thought, or the right to differ with him in
religious belief. His extremely ardent devotional nature, when roused
into action in defense of a stereotyped faith, eclipsed his more noble,
lofty, and lovely traits, and often dimmed his mental vision, thus
presenting in the same individual a strange medley, and a strange
contrast of the most opposite traits of character. That such a being
should have been considered and worshipped as a God, and for the
very reason that he possessed such strange, contradictory traits of
character, and often let his religion run riot with his reason, will be
looked upon by posterity as one of the strangest chapters in the history
of the human race. But so it is. Extraordinary good qualities, though
intermingled with many errors and human foibles, have deified many men.
Note. One Christian writer alleges, in defense of the objectionable
precepts of Jesus Christ, that "He taught some errors in condescension
to the ignorance of the people." If this be true, that he taught both
truth and falsehood, then the question arises, How can we know which is
which? By what rule can we discriminate them, as he himself furnishes
none? Or how are we to determine that he taught truth at all? And then
this plea would account for and excuse all the errors found in the
teachings of the oriental Gods. If it will apply in one case, it will in
the other. And thus it proves too much.