"What shall we believe and do in order to be saved?" is an all-important
query, and one which daily occupies the minds of millions of earth's
inhabitants of all countries and all climes. There are ten thousand
answers to this question, and they are as conflicting as the confusion
of tongues at the Tower of Babel No two religious orders, and scarcely
any two religious believers agree with respect to the all-important
answer to be rendered to this all-important question. To prove this, we
will interrogate the disciples of all the leading religious orders who
have found a place in the world's history, and compare their answers,
and observe the result. Commencing in the order of time, the disciples
of the Vedas will be the first we will interrogate, as they represent
the oldest religious faith that has ever been promulgated in the world.
I. HINDOO'S ANSWER TO THE QUESTION.
Well, brother Hindoo, will you be so good as to answer this question,
"What shall we do and believe in order to be saved?" "Oh, yes!" responds
the devout worshiper of Brahma, pointing to a stone arched pagoda.
"Go and prostrate yourself in that holy building, made venerable by a
thousand years' devotion, and offer up prayer and praise to Brahma, and,
if you have committed any sins, implore his forgiveness. You must also
believe in his Holy Book, the Vedas, and obey its precepts, which
enjoin virtue and holiness, and forbid theft, robbery, murder, lying,
dishonesty, adultery, and other crimes; and you must not only believe
in the Holy Book as God's revealed will to mankind, but you must believe
_it is all true,--every word of it_. You must believe, also, that it
existed in the mind of the great God Brahma _from all eternity_; and
some nine thousand years ago was revealed by him to certain holy
men, known as rishis, or prophets, who recorded it in a book for the
instruction and salvation of the world; and that this divinely revealed
and perfect book contains all knowledge, past, present, and future, and
_all the religion necessary to save the whole human race_. And, if
you would become a true-born saint [i.e., in Christian language,
"regenerated and born again"], you must read the Holy Book through upon
your bended knees. [And thousands of its most pious and devout disciples
have performed this humble and laborious task.] And if you would
advance still farther in soul-purification and true sanctity, so as to
become a thrice-born saint [for they hold that the oftener you are born
the better], then you must commit the divine volume all to memory. [And
many of them, we are assured, have accomplished this herculean task.]
But you can not attain to complete and perfect holiness as a Hindoo
saint, unless you forsake the busy scenes of life, retire to lonely
places, and devote yourselves to a life of religious contemplation." By
leading this austere, self-denying life, they hold that men and women
can attain to complete holiness, and draw near to the spirit of God, and
become so exalted in his favor as to receive important revelations from
him, and be enabled by him to perform great miracles, such as casting
out devils, raising the dead, handling fire without being burned, and
swallowing poison without being killed or injured, and finally become
Gods, and ascend to heaven in mortal bodies after the manner of Enoch
and Elijah. In one respect some of the sects are much more consistent
than Christian professors. Believing, as Christians have always
professed to do, that sickness is often sent by God as a punishment for
sin, they never send for a physician, nor allow one to treat the case;
because, as they argue, trying to cure it would be trying to counteract
the judgment of God, and thus bring down his vengeance upon the heads of
those guilty of this sin. Here Christians might learn an important moral
lesson of the heathen,--that of living up to the doctrines they preach.
We have, then, the Hindoo answer to the question, "What must we do and
believe in order to be saved?"
THE EGYPTIAN'S ANSWER.
Well, brother disciple of the old Egyptian religion, let us hear your
answer to the question, "What must we do and believe in order to be
saved?"--"Well," replies the believer in this ancient order of faith,
"if you would make a sure thing of escaping the pangs of hell, and being
saved in the heavenly mansion, you must not neglect to pray daily to the
great God Tulis, crucified some twenty-eight hundred years ago for the
sins of mankind; and, if you have committed any sin, you must pray to
him to have them canceled from 'The Book of Life.' [For the ancient
Egyptians believed and taught that our evil deeds, as well as our good
deeds, are recorded in 'The Book of Life,' in which St. John represents
(see Rev. 22-19.) our good deeds alone as being registered.] And, if
you would make a sure thing of being saved in 'the day of judgment,' you
must intercede with Divine Mercy to erase your evil deeds from this Book
of Life, so that they will not stand against you in that solemn hour."
Here we find a few of the duties enumerated which the disciples of that
ancient system of religion believed and taught were necessary to be
comprised in your religious creed in order to be saved in the great day
of accounts.
THE CHINESE ANSWER.
We will now interrogate the representative of the religion of "The Five
Volumes," and hear his answer to this most important question that ever
occupied the thoughts of the human mind. Well, then, brother Chinaman,
please tell us what we shall do and believe in order to reach the
heavenly kingdom when compelled to quit the things of time. "Why, the
most important thing of all is, to perform your daily vows to God, and
worship him through images prepared to represent him, whether those
images are made of wood or stone or metal, though you are not to
consider these images as the veritable living and true God." For no
nation was ever so brainless or stupid as to believe that idols or
images made of mere inanimate matter were living beings, much less a
living God. No! the images which have been represented by Christian
writers as being objects of worship in numerous heathen countries have
been nothing more than mere imaginary likenesses of the Divine Being,
and were gotten up for the same purpose that Christian men obtain
photograph likenesses of their absent friends, and hang them on the
walls of their dwellings. The object is simply to keep the images of
our friends impressed on our minds in their absence; and the same motive
actuates the idolater in making supposed images of an absent God. The
object is simply to have something before them that will keep them in
remembrance of him, and his laws and commandments,--a very laudable
motive, most certainly. They are idolaters, it is true; and so are all
nations who believe in a personal God, whether called Jew, pagan,
or Christian: for idolatry is defined to be "image-making and
image-worship;" and both of these acts all religious nations have been
addicted to (Christians not excepted). This can be seen in a moment,
when we look at the essential nature of idolatry; that is, the making
and worship of images. All images are first formed in the mind. The
Christian forms his conception of a personal God in his mind; and the
pagan does the same. Both thus make their mental images of God. The only
difference in the two cases is, the pagan goes one step farther, and
represents his image in wood, stone, or metal; but it is no more an
image than while it existed only in the mind. Then it is evident there
is no essential difference between them. Both are idolaters. For a
further elucidation of this subject, see the chapter on idolatry. And,
if you would be saved by the Chinese religion, there are some
practical duties you must perform. You must live up to the golden rule
incorporated in their Bible nearly twenty-five hundred years ago. You
must also observe the rite of water-baptism; for it has been a religious
ordinance amongst them for several thousand years. And, if you would
attain to complete holiness, you must be kind to all human beings, and
even all animals. Kill no living thing, and eat nothing after sundown.
Then you can be saved by their religion.
THE PERSIAN'S AND CHALDEAN'S ANSWER.
Brothers of the religion of Iran, can you tell us what to do and believe
in order to be saved? "Yes, indeed. First of all, you must believe
'God's Living Word,' the Zenda Avesta; for that is the meaning of the
term. _Zenda_ means 'the life' or 'the living,' and Avesta, 'the word
of God.' And you must live up to its holy precepts, which will keep you
from committing sin, and prompt you to lead a virtuous life. You must
also say grace, both before and after eating, as that was their ancient
custom. But you are forbidden to speculate in any of the necessaries of
life so as to cause suffering among the poor. And their Bible declares
that he who hoards up grain, and holds it for a high price, is
responsible for all the famine and all the misery that may take place
among the people. [I would recommend modern Christian speculators
to borrow this heathen code, and learn from it some important moral
lessons.] To insure salvation under this religion, you most also believe
in 'Mithra the Mediator,' crucified for the sins of the world some three
thousand three hundred years ago by wicked hands, but in no case make
any idols or images of God; for their religion practically condemns
idolatry."
THE JAPANESE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION.
We will now hear from a "heathen" nation distinguished for good sense,
good morals, and practical honesty.
Tell us, then, brother Japanese, what we must do and believe in order to
be saved. "Well, first of all, you must keep the Christian Bible out of
your houses. Don't suffer it to enter your doors. Let all Bibles alone,
and obey the inward monitions of your own souls. Your own conscience and
experience and moral sense will teach you that it is wrong to lie, wrong
to swear, wrong to steal, wrong to cheat, wrong to get drunk, wrong to
fight, and wrong to kill." Now let us learn something about the moral
character and practical lives of this "heathen nation," who, for
more than two hundred years, have kept Christian Bibles and Christian
missionaries out from among them, most of the time by positive law. Dr.
Oliphant and Col. Hall, who both spent some considerable time amongst
them, state that they are an honest, upright, moral, and sober people.
With respect to honesty of dealing, sobriety, and abstinence from
swearing, quarreling, fighting, or any of the common vices of society,
the best authorities assure us that no Christian nation on earth will
compare with them; and yet they conscientiously refrain from reading
the Christian Bible. (See Chapter L. of this work.) What a startling
disproof is here furnished to the declaration of Christian writers that
the introduction of the Christian Bible, and the establishment of the
Christian religion amongst the heathen, are essential to the existence
of good morals amongst them! In many cases more good would be effected
by reversing the practice, and sending heathen missionaries into
Christian nations, as the pious pagans of China, India, and the Friendly
Isles have all been talking of doing; and some of the godly people of
India have already entered upon the work.
THE MAHOMEDAN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION.
Brother disciple of the Koran, will you please to tell us what the one
hundred and fifty million of followers of the great prophet believe is
necessary to do and believe in order to be saved? "Yes, certainly.
The devout believers in this soul-saving religion have understood this
question for more than a thousand years, and know exactly how to answer
it. You must believe that the Holy Book (the Koran) is God's last
revelation, and his last will and testament to mankind; and you must
shape your practical lives by its precepts, which will make you 'true
saints,' and honest, upright, and righteous men and women. You must
also believe that the great prophet is the true, holy, and appointed
messenger of God, and that Allah is the only true God. To believe, as
Christians do, that God is divided into three persons or beings, or
three attributes, or three branches, known as Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, is not only a monstrous absurdity, but a monstrous sin and an
unpardonable blasphemy; and no man or woman who holds such doctrine can
be saved. God is but one, and Allah is his name, and you must worship
him seven times a day; and on the sabbath day (Friday) you must present
yourselves at the mosque with the Holy Book in your hand, which, having
kissed, you are then to place it upon the holy altar, and listen
while the priest explains its great truths and its profound and godly
mysteries." And "on such occasions," says Major Denham, "tears flow in
abundance, as under Christian preaching."
Here, then, you have the terms of salvation and the road marked cut to
heaven by the believers in the Koran.
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES' ANSWER TO THE QUESTION.
And now, brethren of the Christian faith, we will listen with attention
to your answer to the important question, "What shall we do and believe
in order to be saved?" But Christian sects are so numerous, and their
views so conflicting, we can only find room for the answers of a few of
the leading churches.
THE CATHOLIC'S ANSWER.
Well, brother Roman Catholic, as you represent the oldest Christian
denomination in existence, we will first hear from your Church in answer
to this great question, "What shall we do and believe in order to be
saved?"--"Well, the question is easily answered. You must believe that
the Bible is the inspired word of God; that Jesus Christ is the son of
God; and that St. Peter, succeeded by the Pope, is his vicegerent on the
earth. You must also worship, or at least believe in the divinity of, the
Father, son, and Holy Ghost, and the Virgin Mary; and adhere to the
various rites and ceremonies of the Church."
THE GREEK CHRISTIAN'S ANSWER.
Well, brother disciple of the Greek Church, "what shall we do and
believe in order to be saved?" What do you think of the Roman Catholic's
answer? Is it correct? "No, indeed: far from it. It is an insult to God
the Father and God the Son both to put either St. Peter or the Pope at
the head of the Church. That is the office and mission of Jesus
Christ the Savior; and he will never save you while you believe such
blasphemous doctrine." Away then goes the old mother-church, with her
hundred and fifty millions of souls, down into the bottomless pit, being
ruled out of heaven by the Greek Church; that is, doomed to eternal
perdition, according to the testimony of the Greek Church.
THE PRESBYTERIAN'S ANSWER TO THE QUESTION.
Well, brother of the Presbyterian order, we will now listen to your
answer to the great question, "What shall we do and believe in order to
be saved?" How about the Greek Christian's answer to the question? Is
it right? Does he hold the true doctrine, or not? "No: very far from
it, indeed. Like the Roman Christian, he believes in the divinity of the
Virgin Mary, and consequently he is an idolater and no idolater can
be admitted into the kingdom of 'Heaven." So away goes the old Greek
Church, with her seventy million disciples, down into the world of
endless woe, if the testimony of our Presbyterian brother is to be
relied upon. And thus two-thirds of all Christendom, comprising the
disciples of the Romish Church and the Greek Church, are doomed to an
endless hell, according to their own witnesses.
THE UNITARIAN CHRISTIAN'S ANSWER.
Our Unitarian brother will now please come forward, and tell us "what
we must do and believe in order to be saved." Do you indorse any of the
answers already obtained, or agree with any of the churches which have
been interrogated upon this subject, or not? "No: very far from it."
What! you don't dissent from the views of the Presbyterian Church upon
this question, do you? "Yes, I do: for they worship 'the man Christ
Jesus' (as Paul truly calls him), and, being but a man, they are
idolaters (like the Roman and Greek Christians) for worshiping him as a
God, and therefore cannot be saved, according to the Bible. He was born
as a man; he lived as a man; he ate as a man; he walked as a man; he
talked as a man; he slept as a man, and finally died as a man. And he
calls himself 'the son of man' more than forty times, which would make
him a man. For these and various other reasons we believe he could not
have been a God, but only a man; and therefore those who worship him as
a God are guilty of idolatry,--the most heinous sin a man can commit,
according to the Bible. And hence they can not possibly be saved, if the
Bible teaches truly." Away then goes four hundred Protestant sects to
the regions of eternal torment, if the testimony of Christian witnesses
is to be believed and accepted in the case.
THE JEW'S ANSWER TO THE QUESTION.
Brother Jew, can you show us the road to salvation, or tell us what to
do and believe in order to be saved? "Oh, yes! it is a plain question,
and easily answered. You must believe that the Old-Testament Scriptures
are the inspired word of God, and believe in its miracles and
prophecies, though you are not to interpret or construe any of its
prophecies as foretelling the coming and mission of Christ; for, as
we wrote them, we of course know exactly what they teach, and how to
understand them. And we know most positively that they do not foretell
the coming and mission of any such a being as Jesus Christ as the
promised Messiah."
"Now, look here, you wicked Jews," exclaim a hundred Christian sects,
"you are denying 'the Lord who bought you' and therefore can not be
saved." So six millions of Jews are consigned by their Protestant
brethren to endless torment,--given over to the buffetings of Satan to
all eternity.
Brother Methodist, perhaps you can do something towards settling this
vexed and puzzling question, "What must we do and believe in order to
be saved?"--"Certainly," exclaims the pious disciple of Wesley. "It is
perfectly plain, and easily answered. You must believe in the Bible as
the revealed will and word of God, and in Jesus Christ 'the Son and sent
of God;' and pour out your souls in prayer and praises to God, and shout
'Glory' to his holy name."--"Stop! stop!" cries out the good, pious,
quiet, broad-brimmed Quaker. "You can not be saved in that way. You
drown the inward monitor of the Holy Spirit, which must be listened
to and obeyed in order to insure salvation. You, by your noisy way of
worshiping God, drown the voice of this inward monitor, and consequently
hear and heed not its admonitions; thus proving that you know nothing
about the true way of worshiping God, or what true religion is. And
therefore there is no chance for you to be saved." And thus two millions
of Methodists are doomed to eternal woe by their Quaker brethren.
THE BAPTIST'S ANSWER
Brother Baptist, will you give us your opinion, or answer the
question, "What shall we do and believe in order to be saved?"
--"Oh, yes! the Bible is so plain upon that subject that no honest
reader can misunderstand it. You are to believe in the Bible; believe
in Jesus Christ, and live up to his precepts; and believe in, and
practically observe, the sacred ordinance of water-baptism,--without
which, according to the Bible, it is impossible to reach the kingdom, or
inherit life everlasting."--"Stop, stop!" exclaims the drab-cloth Quaker
again. "I perceive that the Baptists, as well as the Methodists, are not
on the road to salvation. No man or woman can be saved who believes in,
and relies upon, the external and carnal rite of water-baptism. It is a
reliance of such outward performances that causes millions of ignorant
and unconverted heathen to sink to endless ruin every year. They and you
are dwelling in the outer court, and practically know nothing about the
true religion essential to salvation, and hence can not be saved."
--"Now, look here," exclaims the Campbellite Baptist, "water-baptism is
one of the positive ordinances; and the Bible declares that no man or
woman can be saved without a compliance with all the ordinances, from
the least to the greatest. Therefore there is no chance for you infidel
Quakers to get to heaven; but you will, sooner or later, be consigned to
the pit 'where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.'" And
thus we might pursue the conflicting jargon of answers through all the
churches. But we stop confused and confounded amid chaos, confusion, and
contradiction. All seems to be wild conjecture and blind guess-work
with regard to what we must do and believe in order to be saved. There
appears to be no way of learning any thing about the road to salvation
by the churches. What is to be done?
THE QUAKER'S ANSWER.
Brother Quaker, as you profess to get light from above, perhaps you
can throw some light on this dark question. We have not yet heard
your answer to this puzzling question. Can you tell us "what to do
and believe in order to be saved"? "Most certainly I can," replies the
inspired disciple of Fox and Penn. "There can be no mistake about what
the Bible teaches on the subject. It is perfectly plain, and easily
understood. You are to retire into the quiet, and turn your minds inward
with a prayerful desire to know the will of God. In this state of mind,
open your Bible and you will learn that you are to do justly, love
mercy, and walk humbly with God, and become established in the true
faith: for the Bible declares that, 'without faith, it is impossible to
please God;' that is, faith in his beloved Son, whom he sent into the
world to die a propitiatory offering for the sins of man."--"What!"
exclaims the Hicksite Quaker, "do you mean to teach the dark and bloody
doctrine of the atonement? Do you mean to say that we have to swim
through blood to get to 'the house of many mansions'? If you do, you are
egregiously mistaken. You are teaching and preaching an old, worn-out,
bloody, heathen doctrine that never did and never can save a single
soul."--"Now, look here," cries the Orthodox Quaker, "the Bible
declares, 'There is no other name given under Heaven whereby men can be
saved than that of Jesus Christ;' and you are blaspheming his name by
denying the efficacy of his death and sufferings. Therefore your chance
for salvation is a hopeless one. You will be lost, and consigned to the
pit where there is eternal weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth."
So away go both the Quaker orders, each booked by the other for eternal
perdition. But we most stop, or we will swell this chapter on the war of
conflicting creeds to a volume. We have now interrogated all the leading
churches relative to what it is necessary to do and believe in order to
make a sure thing of salvation, and escape the awful and dreadful fate
of endless damnation. And what is the result? No two churches--and it
could easily be shown that scarcely any two Christians--agree upon this
all-important question, upon which they tell us is hung the salvation of
the world. As we have shown, the churches all virtually shut the door of
heaven against each other. They are _all off the track, all on the road_
to eternal damnation, according to the testimony of their own witnesses.
In the name of God, what is the use or sense, then, of professing to
believe in the Bible, or claiming to be Christians, when it is thus
demonstrably proved that nobody knows any thing about what the Bible
teaches, or what it takes to make a Christian? The picture we
have presented is no mere fancy sketch. It is not the work of mere
imagination. Hundreds, if not thousands, of quotations could be
furnished from the writings of eminent Christian writers of the
different churches to show that it is a solemn reality, and that they
differ in the way, and as widely, as we have represented. And what is
the solemn lesson taught by it? Why, the absolute impossibility of our
finding the road to heaven through the churches and it is an entire
waste of time, besides being demoralizing to the mind, to attempt it.
We are often told by the orthodox Christians, by way of defending their
creeds, that the churches are agreed upon all the leading doctrines of
the Christian faith.
Well, let us see how this is, and whether they in reality agree upon
_any thing_. We will institute another court of inquiry, and briefly
examine and compare the views of the various churches relative to the
cardinal doctrines of the Christian religion.
1. _Moral Depravity_.--The first in order will be the fall and depravity
of man.
Well, brother Calvinist, as you hail from the oldest Protestant Church,
we will first solicit your views upon this all-important question. We
wish to know whether you believe that man fell from a state of purity,
and became morally depraved by the fall. "Oh, yes! we believe he fell so
low that he became _totally depraved_ by the fall; so that _all men_ are
now the children of wrath, born in sin, and conceived in iniquity, and
covered with corruption from the crown of the head to the sole of the
foot."
Brother Arminian, what do you think of this view of the matter? Is it
Bible doctrine, or not? "No: it is neither according to the Bible, nor
according to common sense, but a damnable doctrine, that will send any
man's soul to hell who believes in such outrageous doctrine. It is not
only untrue, but it is demoralizing to rob man so completely of his moral
attributes as to make him feel like a brute, and, consequently, act like
one."
2. _Man's Restoration._--How is this to be effected, brother Calvinist?
"Why, by the outpouring of the blood of Christ, the propitiatory
offering." Brother Arminian, is this true Christian doctrine? "No, it is
not. Man's salvation is effected in no such a way. Every man is to work
out his own salvation. I can prove it by the Bible."
3. _Endless Punishment_.--Most Protestant sects hold and preach that
the wicked, when they die, are consigned to a place or state called "the
bottomless pit." (How they are kept in it with the bottom out, the Lord
only knows, or perhaps we should say the Devil). But the Universalists
affirm that the Bible teaches no such doctrine, but tells us that, "as
in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive;" which proves,
as they affirm, the ultimate salvation of all the human race. But the
Restorationists prove that there is "a mediate place for souls, which is
neither heaven nor hell, but a preliminary and a temporary abode for all
souls, good and bad." And there is another class of Christians who find
in the same book a still different doctrine, that of the _absolute and
total destruction_ of the wicked. They quote Phil. 3-19. Which of these
four Christian sects teach the true Bible doctrine? Who can tell?
4. _Divinity of Christ_.--Most of the Protestant sects tell us that the
Bible makes a belief in the supreme divinity of Jesus Christ essential
to salvation; but the Parkerite Christian, the Hicksite Christian, and
the Unitarian Christian affirm that it does not, that it only makes him
a perfect or superior specimen of manhood. Which is right? Who can tell?
5. _Polygamy_.--Most of the churches once believed that polygamy is a
Bible doctrine, and practiced it for eight hundred years. But now they
tell us it is not. The Mormons, however, declare that it is sanctioned
in the Old Testament, and not condemned in the New, and hence is a Bible
doctrine. Which is right? How can we tell?
6. _Marriage_.--Nearly all the sects hold that marriage is a Bible
institution. But the Shakers declare that it is not, and quote Christ's
own words to prove it as found in Luke 20-35. "The children of this
world marry and are given in marriage; but they who shall be counted
worthy of that world, and the resurrection, neither marry nor are given
in marriage." They reasonably conclude that those who shall not be
considered worthy of being saved (which includes all married people)
will not be saved, being cut off by Christ's positive prohibition of
marriage. Which is right? Who can tell? The text, however, furnishes a
consoling hope for old bachelors and old maids, to say the least.
7. _The Sabbath_.--Most of the churches keep the first day of the week
as the Bible sabbath. But the Seventh-day Baptists affirm that it is
not, that the seventh day of the week is the true sabbath of the Lord;
while other sects tell us that Christ, both by precept and example,
labored to do away with all sabbath observances and all holy days. Which
is right? Who can tell?
8. _The Godhead._--All Trinitarians teach that there are _three persons
in the Godhead_. The Paulite Christians say there are but two, while the
Unitarians affirm there is but one. Which is right? Who can tell?
9. _Baptism_.--The churches are not agreed with regard to baptism as to
what it is, how, and when it should be applied, and on whom it should
be administered. Some hold to dipping, some to douching, and some to
sprinkling, as the scripture mode of administering it. Which is right?
Who can tell?
I should prefer the dipping process. It would do something toward saving
the body of the sinner from disease, if not the soul from hell, _if
frequently applied_. He should be baptized once a week, if not once a
day, with water and soap. We have now enumerated nearly all the leading
doctrines of the Christian faith, and shown that the views of the
churches, with respect to them, are about as different as day from
night. The important query then arises, What progress have we made
towards determining, by the Bible or by the churches, what we must do
and believe in order to be saved? Why, about the same progress the boy
had made toward reaching the schoolhouse, who, on being interrogated
by the teacher as to the cause of his late appearance, replied, "Why,
master, you see the road was so slippery, that, when I attempted to take
one step forward, I slipped two steps backward."--"How did you manage to
get here, then?" asked the teacher. "Why," replied Tom, "I turned round
and went the other way." I would suggest that the churches try this
policy of turning round, and going the other way. My conviction is
they would find the true road to salvation much sooner, and be better
prepared to settle the question as to what they should do and believe in
order to be saved. It is a question, however, they never can settle. The
Bible is a very old book; and, the farther we get away from the age in
which it was written, the more difficult it will become to understand
it: for human language, and even human thought and the meaning of words,
are constantly changing. These circumstances will constantly augment the
difficulty of ever understanding any old Bible, or of determining what
it teaches or designed to teach with respect to an important doctrine.
10. _The Number of Hells_.--When the disciple of the Christian faith
talks of a hell in the presence of a Hindoo, he tells him he don't
know any thing about the matter: that there are no less than three
institutions of this kind. But here the Mahomedan rises up, and says,
"You, too, are totally ignorant on the subject; for there are no less
than seven institutions of this character. One of them is set apart for
Christians who believe in the divinity and atonement of Christ." Lieut.
Lynch, of the United-States navy, says that a Mahomedan told him, "No
man or woman can be saved who believes that God was born of a woman,
and then became a malefactor to a human tribunal; for the doctrine is
blasphemous." Which of all these opinions is right? Who can tell?
11. _Bible Doctrines constantly changing_.--The increase of
intelligence, and the growth and expansion of the human mind, have the
effect to change the views of the people generally and constantly upon
almost every subject that occupies the mind; so that the creeds of
the churches are constantly changing. Hence the Bible is made to teach
widely different doctrines in different ages; and what is Christianity
to-day is infidelity to-morrow, and _vice versâ_. (See Chapter lviii.)
And so thorough is the change wrought upon the meaning or interpretation
of nearly all the important texts in "God's perfect revelation," that
it virtually makes a new Bible for each generation. I will present some
proofs and illustrations of this statement by comparing the doctrine of
the churches of the last century with those of the present. In the
days of Jonathan Edwards, a hell, constituted of a lake of fire and
brimstone, was preached in nearly all the Christian churches; also the
doctrine of infant damnation, when the Methodists sang that beautiful
and charming hymn,--
"For hell is crammed
With infants damned,
Without a day of grace;"
also the doctrine of predestination, the doctrine of election and
reprobation, the doctrine of purgatory, the doctrine of Christ's descent
into hell, &c. All these and other similar doctrines were preached in
nearly every pulpit nearly every sabbath; and the preacher who would
have neglected to preach these doctrines would have been denounced as
on the road to hell. But now the clergyman who should attempt to preach
these old Calvinistic tenets would be denounced as "an old fogy." Hence
the important query arises, When were the churches preaching Bible
doctrine, _then or now?_ Who can tell? Such changes are unceasingly
going on. Important changes are sometimes made in the popular creed in
a few years' time, as we will cite a case to prove. Just before the
last war the peace doctrine was becoming quite popular in nearly all
the churches, and sermons were often preached from such texts as the
following: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall
they learn war any more." But, when the war broke out, new texts were
hunted up, and the preaching all ran in the opposite direction. "Cursed
be he who holseth back his sword from blood" (Jer. xlviii. 10); "He who
hath not a sword, let him sell his coat, and buy one,"--then constituted
the texts for a sound sermon. _Now it is evident that a book which thus
teaches opposite doctrines virtually teaches nothing. Its moral force is
destroyed. If a man wants to perform a certain act to-day, and an act of
an opposite character to-morrow, and can find a warrant for both in the
Bible, then it is evident the Bible can have no effect whatever towards
changing his course of life_. When every moral duty is both commanded
and countermanded, and every crime both sanctioned and condemned, as
appears to be the case with the Christian Bible, then it is evident that
a man with the Bible would act exactly as the man without the Bible; for
_whatever he may naturally feel inclined to do, or whatever he wants to
do, he finds Bible authority for_. Hence it is evident the Bible can't
change his conduct in the least; for it merely tells him to do what he
wishes to do, and had made up his mind to do. I will prove this position
by citing several cases for illustration. We will suppose a man has
become convinced by observation, or his own experience, that it is wrong
to drink intoxicating liquors, and wants Bible authority for preaching
temperance. He can find it by turning to Isa. v. 22: "Woe unto them that
are mighty to drink wine." But a friend of his, a member of the same
church, living in the city, where there is great demand for intoxicating
beverages, wants to make some money by selling it. He finds the
authority for that act also in Deut. xiv. 26: "Thou shalt spend thy
money for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for
whatever thy soul lusteth after." Another Christian becomes very
angry, and filled with the spirit of a murderer towards a neighbor, and
concludes to kill him. He finds Bible authority for it in the text,
"Go ye out and slay every man his companion, every man his brother, and
every man his neighbor" (Exod. xxxii. 27). Another pious Christian has
become convinced, by "the logic of history," that all war and fighting
is wrong, and hence concludes to preach the doctrine of peace. He
finds Bible authority for that in the Decalogue: "Thou shalt not kill."
Another devout Christian, whose common sense has taught him that it
is wrong for one human being to enslave another, wants Bible authority
against the practice. He finds it in the text, "Thou shalt proclaim
liberty through all the land," &c. Another godly saint, living in a
slave-holding country, and being both a tyrant and a mammon worshiper,
wants Bible authority for trafficking in the blood and bones of his
fellow-beings. He finds it in Lev. xxv. 45: "Of the heathen round
about you shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids, and they shall be your
possession for ever;" so he knows it is all right. And thus this
exposition might be continued so as to show that there is no crime,
no sin, no vice, and no wicked deed but that is both sanctioned and
condemned by "God's Holy Word," and no moral duty that is not both
commanded and countermanded; thus proving it to be absolutely impossible
to follow it as a guide without being led into the commission of every
species of sin, crime, and abomination, as well as prompted to the
practice of virtue. Every person who has not made shipwreck of common
sense must see at once that it is utterly impossible to learn any thing
about what is right and what is wrong, what is sin and wickedness, and
what is virtue, what is morality and what is immorality, or what he
should approve, and what condemn, what he should do and what leave
undone, or, finally, any thing about the duties of life or the rules and
principles of morality, by such a book. What can such a book, then, be
worth, either in the cause of religion or morality? Where, oh! where
is the common sense of Christendom? It is wonderful to what extent
rationality and good sense have been banished from the human mind in
all Bible countries by a false and perverted education. It can not be
wondered at that we have so many antagonistic churches with innumerable
conflicting creeds, when we examine and learn something about the
endless contradictions and confusion of the teachings of the book on
which they are founded.
SIX HUNDRED ROADS TO HEAVEN.
We are swamped with endless difficulties in determining what to do and
believe in order to be saved either by the Bible or the churches, when
we look at the fact that there are, as some writers have computed, more
than six hundred conflicting churches, each one claiming to preach and
to teach the only true and saving faith of the gospel and yet differing
heaven-wide with respect to what constitutes that true and saving faith.
They point out six hundred roads to heaven, when Christ says there
is but one,--"One Lord, one faith, and one baptism." The churches are
simply guessing institutions, and their creeds so many stereotyped
systems of guess-work. How much has been learned, or what important
questions have been settled, either in religion or morals, by the nearly
two thousand years' reading and study of the Christian Bible? The
six hundred jarring churches, and their constantly increasing number,
furnish a sufficient answer to this question. What a ludicrous aspect
would the cause of science now be in, and what torrents of ridicule
and contempt would be poured upon our institutions of learning, if they
differed in their principles, or with respect to the principles of any
branch of science, as the churches differ with respect to the doctrine
of the Bible! We will illustrate by an imaginary examination of the
students of one of our institutions of learning with respect to their
attainments in mathematics. A class having recited, we will interrogate
each one separately. "Well, John, as you have been studying figures
several years, can you now tell us how many are twice two?"--"Yes, sir:
twice two are six."--"Very well: take your seat. The next student will
rise. James, can you tell us how many are twice two?"--"Yes, I can:
twice two are eleven."--"Very well: be seated, and let Tommy rise.
Tommy, as you are a diligent student, and have been through the
arithmetic and the principal text-books, please tell us how many
are twice two."--"I will. It is a plain case: twice two are
fourteen."--"Very well: stand aside. That intelligent-looking boy yonder
we will hear from now. Well, Moses, can you tell us, as the result
of your five years' close study of mathematics, how many are twice
two?"--"Certainly I can. To be nice and exact about the matter, twice
two are nine and a half."--"Very well: I am done with you. There is one
more student to be interrogated. Well, Solomon, can you do any thing
towards settling the disputed question, how many are twice two?"--"Yes:
I am astonished there should be any difference of opinion about the
matter, when it is plain that no person who is really in earnest to
understand it can fail to see that twice two are seventeen." Such an
institution of learning as this would be broken up as a nuisance in
less than two hours after it was known to exist; and yet it furnishes a
striking illustration of the character and condition of our theological
institutions in which are professedly taught the science of Christianity
and the Bible. The difference among the professors and students of
theology is as great and important as in the former supposed case; and
were not the eyes of the soul put out, and the Christian sectarians
rendered blind by their false or mistaken teachers, they would see that
this is a true picture of their condition. We will institute another
illustration. The Christian churches are virtually six hundred
guide-boards professedly pointing the way to heaven. Let us suppose a
traveler, hunting his way to "the Queen City of the West," finds on
a hill a tree or post, to which are nailed six hundred guide-boards
pointing in six hundred different directions, and all labeled "To
Cincinnati." How much would he learn from them about the proper road to
travel to reach the city? The chance of striking the right course would
lay within six hundred guesses; and those guesses could be made as well
without the guide-boards as with them. And it is equally certain, and
most self-evidently certain, that the road to heaven could be found
as well if there were no churches and no Bibles pointing six hundred
different directions. Indeed, the chances of finding it would be much
better without them, because the minds of the people are confused and
confounded, and their time wasted, their mental and spiritual vision
darkened, and their judgments weakened, by attempting to grope their
way through such a labyrinth of chaos, confusion, and uncertainty, which
really incapacitates them for searching and finding the right way and
the sure road "to the kingdom."
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY BIBLE TRANSLATIONS AND COMMENTARIES.
When we learn that there have been no less than one hundred and
fifty different translations and commentaries upon the Bible put in
circulation, we can see at once that this is calculated to greatly
augment the difficulty of ever arriving at any thing like a unity of
belief among the churches, or of settling the question as to what it is
necessary to do and believe in order to be saved, or of finding the road
to heaven through the churches. Translation after translation of the
Bible has been made by different churches, each one alleging that all
preceding translations were full of errors. The learned Dr. Robinson of
England has estimated that some of the modern translations of the Bible,
made for the special purpose of getting the errors out of "the Holy
Book," contain the frightful number of one hundred and fifty thousand
errors; and the American Christian Union, now engaged in translating
the Bible, declare that our present popular version, translated by
fifty-four of the most learned Christian scholars, and which has long
been an established standard authority in a large portion of Christendom
and regarded as nearly perfect, yet contains twenty-four thousand
errors. How many more translations we are to have, God only knows. The
thought occurs here, that, by the time all the errors are gotten out of
the Bible in this way, there will not be much of it left,--that it
will not be much larger than "Poor Richard's Maxims," or a common-sized
almanac. Now, to show the utter impossibility of establishing any
doctrine or settling any question in theology by the Bible, or of
learning any thing about what constitutes Christianity, or what we are
to do and believe in order to be saved, we have only to compare some of
these translations together, and observe the wide difference in their
teachings, and the fatal contradictions in their doctrines and precepts.
We will cite a few examples by way of proof and illustration. In our
translation, known as "King James's Bible," a text makes Christ say,
"A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see I have" (Luke xxiv. 39);
but, in the most popular translation in Europe (the Royal), this text
is made to read, "A spirit hath not flesh and blood, as you see I have
not." Here is a direct contradiction. One of these Bibles makes Christ
say he is a spirit, and the other that he is not, which is a flat, and
almost a fatal, contradiction. Now, where on earth is the tribunal to
which we can appeal to find out which of these translations is right? or
how can the matter be settled? Again: the text which in our own version
is made to read, "There are three that bare record in heaven,--the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," reads in another translation, "There are
three witnesses,--the water, the blood, and the spirit," which knocks
the trinity and divinity of Jesus Christ both out of the Bible, so far
as they are founded upon this text. We will cite one more example:
"The wonderful Messianic prophesy" as it is called (found in Isa. ix.
6.),--which reads in our translation, "Unto us a child is born, unto us
a son is given, he shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father," &c.,--is made in another translation to say,
instead of "the Mighty God," "the Mighty Hero," and, instead of "the
Everlasting Father," "the Father of the everlasting age," &c., which
shows that the text is not a prophecy at all, and has no more reference
to Jesus Christ than to Mahomet. "The Mighty Hero" is not a term that
is ever applied to God but to bloody warriors. Now, who is to settle the
question as to which of these translations is the right one? It will be
observed, then, that we have, in the fifty contradictory translations
of the Bible, no-less than fifty contradictory moral codes and
fifty contradictory systems of doctrines, which are virtually fifty
assumed-to-be-perfect revelations from God (of course, all infallible).
Now, let us multiply the number of Christian sects (six hundred) by the
number of Bible translations and commentaries (one hundred and fifty),
and we will have indicated the number of roads marked out to heaven by
the churches. The result is ninety thousand (600 X 150 = 90,000).
Here, then, we have ninety thousand roads leading to "the house of many
mansions," which suggests the conclusion that nobody can possibly miss
getting there; for we must presume that it would be impossible to travel
in any direction without striking one of these numerous roads: so that
the world of sinners may be comforted with the assurance they will all
be saved. "The broad road" they are traveling must be intersected at
many points by some of these many pathways to paradise; and they have
only to turn off at the last crossing to be landed safe in "kingdom
come." They have therefore ninety thousand chances of being saved by
traveling "the broad road," if they prefer that to one of "the straight
and narrow roads." This soul-saving system may be regarded as a
lottery scheme in which there are eighty-nine thousand nine hundred and
ninety-nine blanks, and but one prize. Who would risk a farthing in such
an investment, with eighty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine
chances against drawing any thing? Certainly no person with common sense
or any intelligence. We will use an illustration. We will suppose the
proprietor of a brick building comprising ninety thousand, bricks, one
of which contains a gold medal worth one thousand dollars, says to
one of his neighbors, "Sir, the walls of this building comprise ninety
thousand bricks, and one of them contains a gold medal worth one
thousand dollars. If you will step to it, and put your finger on it, you
can have it." Can we suppose he would be very sanguine about winning the
gold medal? Certainly not. We will make another illustration. We will
suppose the Queen of England sends a company of a thousand men to
Australia to dig for a treasure known to have been buried there during
a war, the locality of which she describes in writing so accurately that
she presumes there can be no difficulty in finding it. In a few weeks
she dispatches a messenger to the island to ascertain what progress the
miners are making. But imagine his surprise, on reaching the place, to
learn that the laborers are divided up into six hundred companies, and
each company stoutly insisting that the spot where they are digging
answers exactly to the locality described by the written instrument.
Now, on the messenger reporting the case to the queen, what would
she conclude--ay, what could she conclude--but that she had made some
serious blunder or omission in her attempted description of the place?
It is not possible that an explicit revelation of the matter could
have led to such endless confusion and disputes. In like manner we are
morally compelled to conclude--yes, every principle of reasoning and
common sense impels us to the conclusion--that God has made a serious
blunder in attempting to give forth a perfect revelation to the world,
if (as it seems) he has left it so ambiguous, so unintelligible, and so
contradictory in its doctrines and teachings, that six hundred churches
have risen up, and are now disputing about what its doctrines and
teachings are. These six hundred churches comprise a hundred and fifty
millions of guessing Christians, all guessing their way to heaven,
with ninety-thousand chances against their ever reaching the heavenly
kingdom. To "the angel host" looking down, observing this infinite
diversity, demoralization, and conflict among the disciples of
the Christian faith, it must be regarded as a species of religious
monomania; for we may assume that no intelligent mind, which is not
blinded by religious superstition, could be drawn into such a delusion
as to conclude that such a book or such a religion or revelation is from
an all-wise and all-powerful God, or that it is necessary to believe it,
or that it is possible to believe it in any rational sense, or that
it can have the remotest connection with our salvation. It makes God
a fool, man a lunatic, religion a farce, and the Bible superlative
nonsense. Revelation is defined to be "the act of making known." But
what is made known by a book whose language is so contradictory and so
ambiguous that no two persons in a million agree with respect to all
it teaches? Every preacher and teacher simply makes known his ignorance
whenever he assumes to know what the Bible teaches; and yet i is called
"a perfect revelation of God's will." It is an assumption that makes
God an ignoramus and a tyrant to suppose he would give forth a perfect
revelation to the world, and require us to accept it as such on pain
of endless damnation, and yet leave it in such a jumbled, bungling, and
unintelligent condition that it is impossible to understand it. Such an
assumption certainly borders on blasphemy. We would charge him with no
such driveling nonsense. It is the legitimate prerogative of reason to
assume that a perfect being could make a perfect revelation or Bible,
the language of which should be so absolutely perfect and plain that no
person of ordinary understanding could possibly fail to understand every
text, every word, and every syllable of it, and no two persons could
possibly differ about the meaning of one text in the whole book. Such
a revelation or Bible, and only such, could be ascribed to an all-wise
God. Even men and women can now be found who are so far master of human
language that they can write books so plainly that there can be no
dispute about the meaning of one sentence in them. To assume, then, that
an infinitely wise God could not produce such a book is to place him
lower in the scale of intelligence than a common schoolboy. When,
therefore, I find the Christian Bible so far from possessing such
characteristics, I set it down as _prima-facie_ evidence that an
intelligent and all-wise God had nothing to do in originating it. And if
he were not superior to, or incapable of, such human weakness, he would
reject with contempt and disdain the honor, or rather dishonor,
ascribed to him in the authorship of such a book,--such a medley of
contradiction, ignorance, superstition, and barbarism as is ascribed to
him.
It is sometimes alleged (as we have already observed) in defence or
mitigation of the endless disputes among Christian professors about the
teachings of the Bible, that this disagreement does not appertain to any
of the essential doctrines of Christianity, but only to minor points, or
doctrines of minor importance. But such an admission is fatal either
to their honesty or to their good sense. It concedes that the quarrels
among the churches for ages has been about mere trifles, not worth
spending breath about. It concedes that it is "non-essentials," or mere
trifles, that keep them apart, and that have led them to build five
or six churches, and hire five or six priests, in every little village
throughout the country, at an expense of many thousand dollars. It is
certainly a criminal waste of time and money to spend it by the million
for churches and priests to propagate doctrines which they themselves
admit possess no real intrinsic importance. It shows they have been
actuated by selfish, dishonorable, and ignoble motives in fighting each
other for a thousand years, and in some cases murdering each other
by the thousand, for a difference of opinion they admit to be of no
importance. Those murdered Christians and devout Bible-believers were
charged with preaching damnable doctrines and devilish heresies; but
now we are told it was minor and unimportant doctrines that they were
quarreling about, and for which they were tortured and killed for
preaching. Yes, non-essential doctrine! _O tempora! O mores!_ But they
make a serious blunder when they talk about non-essential doctrine; for
their Bible teaches that all doctrines are essential,--that there is
no such thing as a non-essential doctrine; for it first proclaims
"one Lord, one faith, and one baptism," and then declares that "he who
offends in the least, offends in the whole."
These two declarations taken together prove (if they prove any thing)
that there is no "non-essential doctrine," and that the slightest
departure from the right faith, or the least disregard of the _most
trivial doctrine_ of the Christian creed, will land the soul of the man
or woman in endless perdition who is guilty of it. The solemn question
arises here, then, Who can escape eternal damnation? For, if there is
only one true faith, then the hundred and forty thousand different and
conflicting faiths cherished and propagated among Christians must all
be wrong but one,--a fact which impels us to the awful and inevitable
conclusion that not one Christian in a thousand--no, not in ten
thousand--can be saved by these terms of the gospel. The thought
sometimes occurs to the writer, that no truly enlightened person,
possessing a true moral dignity of character, could consent to hang his
salvation upon a book which, after eighteen hundred years of the most
critical investigation and explanation by the most learned minds
in Christendom, still remains a mystery with regard to all its most
important doctrines, so that more than six hundred churches are now
disputing about what it teaches; and the difficulty is still increasing
by the uprising of new churches with new creeds and new interpretations
of the Bible. Let the reader observe the striking difference in the
harmony of views which prevail in the various scientific societies
throughout the country and those of the churches, and he will discover
at once that there is no science in our religion. Take for example the
astronomical societies. They are all perfectly agreed with respect to
what the great Bible of nature teaches concerning that science. There
is no contention and no dispute with respect to the doctrines and
principles of that grand revelation of nature, because they are all
susceptible of proof and demonstration. Were it otherwise,--were
the amateurs and students of that science divided into six hundred
conflicting factions, like the churches, each with a different theory
with respect to what it teaches,--one contending that the sun rises in
the east, another that it rises in the west; one arguing that the sun
is the revolving center of our solar system, another contending that
the earth is; one teaching that the starry orbs which roll their massive
forms through infinite space are mere wax tapers stuck in the azure
vault to light this pigmy planet, or mere peep-holes for Gods to look
out upon our world; and one arguing that they were all knocked up in a
single day out of that singular substance called nothing, and another
that they are the outgrowth of other worlds, or have existed from
all eternity. Had the author, who was once a member of one of those
societies, observed such a chaos of confusion and conflict of opinion,
he would have discovered at once that nothing is realty known about the
science of astronomy,--that what is called such is nothing but a jargon
of conflicting dogmas and wild speculations. Hence he would not have
remained with them a single day after making such a discovery. Having
learned that the churches are in such a condition, he withdrew, and
has not been a member of one of those discordant institutions for many
years. He considers it a waste of time to be a member of a religious
body which only increases this difficulty and confusion. He has but one
life to live, and does not wish to waste that in a mere wild-goose chase
after religious speculations that can never be settled. Why fool away
our lives in chasing theological butterflies that can never be caught,
when there is a hundred times as much to be learned within the domain of
positive science as can be acquired in a lifetime, that is practically
useful and calculated to enlarge the boundaries of our knowledge and
elevate us to a higher plane of happiness, while the occupancy of the
mind with theological dogmas is only calculated to "lead to bewilder,
and dazzle to blind"?