Mark, Luke, and John could not have been eye and ear witnesses of matters they relate, or they would have related them without those contradictions; that the book ascribed to Matthew as the inspired word of God is not only unreliable, but full of misstatements and falsehoods, and the pretended authority given to Peter was the work of irresponsible and designing men. At all events, whoever the author of Matthew xvi. 18, 19, some sagacious gentlemen were shrewd enough to appropriate them for their own use and behoof, and made them a base of operations, with many and singular claims since added, to delude the masses, whom for centuries they have designedly kept in ignorance, and with indulgences, promises of pardon, and the auricular confession have been eminently successful in obtaining enormous sums of money, political power, and personal aggrandizement, and are very likely to continue to do so for some time to come.

ARE THE CLAIMS AND TEACHINGS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE MORALS OF THE JESUITS ADAPTED TO THE CITIZENS OF OUR FEDERAL REPUBLIC? ALSO

SOME UNRELIABLE CHRIS

A

TIAN DOGMAS

FEW men some centuries ago came together and decided that certain manuscripts contained the inspired word of God, and thereafter in due time these manuscripts were put together in book form, and this book was called the Holy Bible. From this book various religious organizations now in existence found spiritual help and formulated their respective creeds, each claiming for its followers pardon of sins and promise of a safe passage to Paradise, if its teachings and instructions were obeyed, none of which promises have been followed with flattering results as far as heard from. I venture to say there is no subject on which educated and ignorant men alike know so little of, and claim to know so much of, and will fight for, as the history and truth of what they consider their religion, the same being a belief in some creed. Early impressions on the sensorium are seldom changed, and the difficulty of eradicating opinions and habits formed in infancy aids the increasing evil. Hence, for centuries a small number of ignorant men have ruled a paying mass of ignorant men and women.

The Christian dogma as stated by St. Paul, its first inventor, is as follows:

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." This may be expanded into the following propositions, as given by S. Laing, "Modern Science and Modern Thought " (Watts & Co., London):

1. That the Old Testament is miraculously inspired, and contains a literally true account of the creation of the world and of man.

2. That, in accordance with this account, the material universe, earth, sun, moon, and stars, and all living things on the earth and in the seas, were created in six days, after which God rested on the seventh day.

3. That the first man, Adam, was created in the image of God and after His own likeness, and placed, with the first woman, Eve, in the Garden of Eden, where they lived for a time in a state of innocence, and holding familiar converse with God.

4. That by an act of disobedience they fell from this high estate, were banished from the Garden, and sin and death were inflicted as a penalty on them and their descendants.

5. That after long ages, during which mankind remained under this curse, God sent His Son, who assumed human form, and by his sacrifice on the cross appeased God's anger, removed the curse, and destroyed the last enemy, death, giving a glorious resurrection and immortal life to those who believed on him.

Since the foregoing creed was formulated it has attracted some of the ablest men of various nations and is claimed to have been helpful to mankind, but its continuance as a creed would seem to be

inconsistent with facts adduced from modern science, which most clearly proves that the world was not made as described in Genesis, that animals were not created in one or two days and spread over the earth after having been shut up in the Ark forty days. That man is not descended from an Adam created in God's image, there being at the time claimed millions of people living in China, India, and other countries. That the accounts given of such important matters in writings professedly inspired are manifestly untrue. And when asked for proof of life everlasting, with saints and angels, the reply is, actual proof cannot be known until we are dead. That if facts contradict the inspired word of God, all the worse for facts. A Chinese gentleman, charged with putting broken glass bottles on top of his house and fences to keep off the evil spirits, when told it was ridiculous and absurd, and was asked to prove they kept them off, replied, "Prove it does not keep them off," and up to this time one claim has proved as difficult of demonstration as the other. In one of the old Norse Sagas there is a saying of an aged warrior when asked what he thought of the new religion, replied, "I have heard a great deal of talk of the old Odin and of the new Christ, but whenever things have come to a real pinch I have always found that my surest trust was in my own right arm and good sword." For centuries the world has made no determined efforts to disprove priestly dogmas, but the right arm, the intelligence, the moral force of the twentieth century is gently running them off

the course.

The wind that once filled the clerical sails is gone by, and they now have to take to the oars and pull for a harbor where the errors and superstitions of antiquity are no longer claimed to be the foundations of truth, justice, and morality, and where any authority of what is called religion, which excludes examination, is destructive of all intelligence, and comprises an intolerable despotism over the consciences of men, is no longer sufferable or recognized. But in its place the religion of to-day, which looks for proofs of the immortality of the soul, that every man is responsible for deeds done in the body, that the divine law of compensation is ever present, and admits of no pretended power, authority, or intermediary between man and the All Wise Intelligence, whom no one can even comprehend, and that everything is governed by law. "A religion which teaches that a loving father could not inflict punishment on millions of unoffending creatures for an act of disobedience on the part of a remote ancestor, and require the vicarious sacrifice of an only son as the condition of forgiving the offense and removing the curse, or that the existence of a personal God, the divinity of Christ, the inspiration of the Bible, and the reality of miracles are necessary truths beyond the scope of reason."

It were wise that educated men only, learned in the sciences, and having nothing to do with speculative opinions, should fill the places now held by men of inferior ability, who would devote all their energies to teaching Plato's sublime mo