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diff --git a/old/40978-h/40978-h.htm b/old/40978-h/40978-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 7dd2f38..0000000 --- a/old/40978-h/40978-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3328 +0,0 @@ -<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> - -<!DOCTYPE html - PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > - -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> - <head> - <title> - Watson Refuted, by Samuel Francis, M.D. - </title> - <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> - - body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} - P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } - H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } - hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} - .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } - blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} - .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} - .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} - .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} - div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } - div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } - .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} - .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} - .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; - margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; - text-align: right;} - pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} - -</style> - </head> - <body> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Watson Refuted, by Samuel Francis - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Watson Refuted - Being an Answer to The Apology for the Bible, in a Series - of Letters to the Bishop Of Llandaff - -Author: Samuel Francis - -Release Date: October 8, 2012 [EBook #40978] -Last Updated: January 25, 2013 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WATSON REFUTED *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger - - - - - -</pre> - <div style="height: 8em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h1> - WATSON REFUTED - </h1> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <h2> - BEING AN ANSWER TO THE APOLOGY FOR THE BIBLE. <br /><br /> IN A SERIES OF - LETTERS TO THE BISHOP OF LLANDAFF. - </h2> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <h2> - By Samuel Francis, M.D. - </h2> - <p> - <br /><br /><br /> - </p> - <h4> - Pudet me humani generis, cujus mentes et aures talia fern potuerunt.<br /> - <br /> —Div. Augustin. <br /><br />LONDON: <br /><br /> PRINTED and PUBLISHED BY R. - CARLILE, 55, FLEET STREET - </h4> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> - <blockquote> - <p class="toc"> - <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> ADVERTISEMENT. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> WATSON REFUTED </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> LETTER I. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> LETTER II. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> LETTER III. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> LETTER IV. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> LETTER V. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> LETTER VI. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> LETTER VII. </a> - </p> - </blockquote> - <p> - <br /> <br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - ADVERTISEMENT. - </h2> - <p> - I had written a considerable part of another work, containing strictures - on religion. The appearance of the Bishop of Llandaff's pamphlet, and the - number of editions that have been published for the purpose of encouraging - its sale among the poorer classes, induced me to take up the pen expressly - in answer to this publication, that I might undeceive the multitude, and - show that, under the imposing title of a Bishop, Dr. Watson has been - guilty of the most gross misrepresentations, and, whether intentionally or - from ignorance, has deceived his readers, while, under the pretence of - meekness, he triumphs in the detection of a few errors, committed by a man - who does not pretend to be a Theologian, or to be possessed of any great - learning. He has uniformly passed over the weighty arguments of the Age of - Reason, and stopped at a few immaterial inaccuracies. I hope, in the - following sheets, to show, that the learned Professor of Divinity has - committed errors in the Natural Sciences and History, which would be - inexcusable in any author; but, when coming from a dignified Clergyman, - who wishes to dictate to the nation, their detection cannot fail to show - to the public, how necessary it is for men to employ their faculty of - reason, and not to yield it to those whose profession is to teach things - they acknowledge to be above reason, and incomprehensible. I shall, as - soon as my other avocations permit, give the world a tract upon religion - in general, with strictures on the Jewish and Christian systems. For this - reason, I shall not, in the present pamphlet, enter deeply into any - abstract reasoning, but confine myself chiefly to the detection of the - errors contained in the Apology for the Bible. - </p> - <p> - S. F. - </p> - <p> - London, Aug. 15, - </p> - <p> - 1790, <br /> <br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - WATSON REFUTED - </h2> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - LETTER I. - </h2> - <h3> - MY LORD, - </h3> - <p> - You have thought it not inconsistent with your dignity as a Bishop, to - oppose the <i>Age of Reason by Thomas Paine</i>, and I, as a member of the - community, find myself called upon to expose your reasoning, and stop the - career of error. You disclaim controversy; but if your candour is any - thing more than a vain boast, I entertain hopes of seeing the defender of - Christianity again step forward to answer my arguments, if he deems them - of sufficient weight to disturb his quiet. I am sincerely glad to find a - dignified churchman begin a dispute with men, whom formerly the pious - members of the Church would have deemed fit victims for the fire or the - gallows; at the same time, I feel deep regret, that the Bishop has not yet - altogether laid aside the clerical passion for the extermination of the - heterodox. I hope, says Dr. Watson, that there is no want of charity in - wishing, that Mr. Paine's life had been terminated long before his - publication. This may be consistent with Christian charity, but nature and - reason teach us ugly unbelievers another doctrine: and, however inveterate - I may be against those of the clergy who persecute and deceive the - multitude, I confess, that the death of a person, whom I conceive to be - acting for what he thinks the public good, would give me no pleasure; and - the Bishop allows the purity of Mr. Paine's motives. The wish of the - philosopher is, let reason guide us, and all parties have freedom of - debate. No dogmatical dictates of bigotted priests, no passive obedience - to the mandates of inquisitors, nor to the persecutions so often fomented - by churchmen. To the progress of letters, during this century, we owe the - mildness and condescension of clergymen: till philosophy taught us, the - clergy never discovered, that persecutions for heresy and witchcraft, or - inquisitions and popery, were horrid institutions. Dares Dr. Watson - affirm, that freedom of inquiry was ever suffered on religious subjects? - that people were allowed to examine the grounds of the doctrines taught by - the Church? No, Sir, your predecessors of all beliefs have ever persecuted - philosophers and inquirers into truth, both in science and in religion. - Neither Galileus nor Rousseau escaped the malevolence of the opposers of - science; and in the Bible they found authorities for their inveterate - opposition to the progress of truth and knowledge. The New Testament - informs us, that the wisdom of God is foolishness to man, that human - learning produces nothing but pride 1, and that the poor in spirit gain - the kingdom of heaven. - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - 1 "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain - deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of - the world, and not after Christ." Colos. ii. 5, 8. - - "Cum sit nobis divinis literis traditum cognitiones - philosophorum stultas esse, ad ipsum re et argumentis - docendum et; ne quit bouesto sapieutię nomine inductus, aut - inanis eloquentię splendore deceptus, humanis malet quam - divinis credere." - - Lactantius, Inst. lib. i. chap. 2. -</pre> - <p> - Under these and other similar pretences, have barbarous priests led their - credulous followers to massacres in the name of their God; by means of - that touchstone word, <i>Faith</i>, they made the multitude forget that - their leaders were but men. Now, Sir, we have grown bolder: knowledge - being no longer confined to clerical seminaries, priests are not kings. - The church totters; and a single pamphlet, you say, "has unsettled the - faith of thousands." Now, that you cannot stifle reason, you pretend to - liberality of sentiment. - </p> - <p> - The natural historian, or the astronomer, fears not the publication of - opinions contrary to his own, except from a scholastic habit, learned in - the clerical seminaries, which still disgrace almost every country. The - chemist eagerly peruses all theories; the divine alone refuses to argue - with his opponents, and trembles at the very name of reason. I differ in - my philosophical opinions from Mr. Paine; my principles extend so much - farther than his, that I suspect I come under the class which you are - pleased to call madmen, and every clergyman would affect to despise, but - dare not argue with, before an unprejudiced tribunal. These, Sir, are the - effects of superstition, and the cunning policy of the Church. The Bible - is hardly suffered to be read in Catholic countries. The English reformers - could not go so far; their revolution sprung from a dawn of philosophy. - The English clergy, however, would confine us to the reading of that - unintelligible farrago, and the still more insufferable commentaries upon - it. So did the scholastics with Aristotle; their bigotted partiality to - this author was nearly of the same force with the priestly attachment to - the Bible. They retarded science; but the motives of the clergy are - stronger. By the Bible they live; and it is not uncommon to hear the - parson deride in private what he preaches from the pulpit. - </p> - <p> - But to your first letter. - </p> - <p> - After the pious wish for Thomas Paine's death, you proceed to state how - miserable the adoption of his doctrines would render the "unhappy - virtuous." Fear not such a dire event: the <i>pious</i> are few in number, - and of those, few have the courage to open a book controverting their - opinions, and which, they are taught to believe, contains nothing but - blasphemies But, should chance lead them to a detection of their errors, - they would only become less devout, and more useful citizens. Freed from - the prospect of hell and heaven, they will have leisure to think of this - world, in which they live somewhat like hermits, loving only their - priests, and ready to sacrifice victims to credulity. - </p> - <p> - You say, that guillotine massacres were not the effect of the Popish - religion, but of the disbelief of this system. This deserves some - consideration. It is not true, that the majority of the people of Paris - were unbelievers. No, Sir, they swore to the miracles of Abbe Paris, and - were as ready to give testimony to the wonderful cures and prodigies - operated by his intercession, as the Jews or Christians have been to vouch - for theirs. The fact is this: the lively disposition of the French, the - unintelligibility of their religion, and the shameful conduct of the - priests, turned their attention to the more serious object of politics; - but this event could not immediately change the nature of the murderers of - the Protestants on St. Bartholomew's day. Does your Lordship imagine, that - the peasants of La Vendee are models of morality? If you think so, I must - undeceive you. Nothing but ignorance prevails in that district; like the - ancient crusaders, they are led solely by their priests, who, by means of - certain words which early habits and superstition have made their - followers respect, and, together with want of communication with the rest - of France, have inflamed them, and driven them to slaughter: even miracles - have not been wanting in that part of the country; but in this, as in many - other instances, they have disappeared, on the arrival of incredulous - troops, whose hearts are perhaps hardened by God, like the Egyptians of - old. Since God diminishes men's faith in proportion as he gives them human - wisdom, let us not endeavour to controvert this heavenly will, by - endeavouring to make the enlightened people of the eighteenth century so - credulous as in the former days of ignorance. The Bishop allows, that the - higher classes of every country all lean towards infidelity; they are more - guided by reason, and reason is the avowed enemy of faith, it being the - criterion of faith, that it contains natural impossibilities. It is - unfortunate that so many sects pretend to faith, and differ so much among - themselves; and that to explain their faiths, they use the weapons of - reason against one another. This of itself proves, that faith is but a - cant word, since the faithful argue about what comes not under human - knowledge. Thus all religious sectaries, whether Christians, Jews, - Mahometans, Boodzoists, or Bramins, as staunchly believe contradictory - doctrines, while, in the inquiries that depend on their reason, we find - that, wherever men have long been civilized, they have, in astronomy, in - physics, or ethics, come in general to the same conclusions. The language - of the philosopher is understood in Pekin as well as in Rome; but the - religious fanatics of every country differ in their opinions, and consider - all but themselves as dreamers and impostors. The Bramin laughs at the - story of Noah and the ark, the stopping of the sun, and the incarnation of - God; while the Christian shows the same contempt for the incarnation of - Vishnu, and other articles of the Braminical faith. The exercise of reason - alone shows us the true limits of our intellectual faculties. Ignorance of - this is the cause of all reveries in science, as in religion; it is only - superstition that incites men to launch beyond their conceptions. - </p> - <p> - You accuse of infidelity all those who commit crimes against society. When - we answer, that the Jewish and Christian religions have deluged the world - with blood, you reply, that it is not as being Jews and Christians, but - because they were wicked. At the same time, I hope you allow, that the - Spartans, the Athenians, the Romans, the Chinese, did not commit half the - atrocities which disgrace Jewish history, the aera of the crusades and the - Christian persecutions, of the invasion of America, the massacres of - heretics, &c. The candid observer must therefore conclude, that right - and wrong is not confined to sects; that the Christian religion, whatever - its precepts may be, has not been able to prevent crimes, while nations - who knew not so much as the name of Moses or Christ, produced a Confucius, - an Aristides, a Socrates, an Epaminondas, a Cincinnatus. Among these - nations, who knew not the Lord Jehovah, we find Archimedes, Epicurus, - Demosthenes, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, while the chosen people of God, and - their successors, the Christians, borrowed their language, the very names - of their gods, and the little science they knew, from these despised - infidels. It was not the oracle of Delphos, the augurs, or the sybils, - that enlightened the Greeks and Romans. The rabble credited them, as the - ignorant Jews and Christians did their prophets and apostles. In short, - morals cannot be invented; there cannot be two systems of morality. The - precepts must be directed to principles existing in the heart of man. - Ignorance conceals from nations the rule of conduct, in the same manner - that it prevents them from knowing geometry; the moment they study either, - they are put in the road of truth. No wonder, then, that in the times of - the greatest oppression, when frightened into certain doctrines by the - stories of nurses and parents, many learned men should not have been able - to conquer their first prejudices. You certainly know the time when - astrology and the philosopher's stone were in fashion; the believers in - these reveries were men of science. Van Helmont, Stahl, Boyle, and - innumerable others were possessed of this madness. You can be no stranger - to the numerous wretches that suffered for witchcraft and necromancy, and, - upon the very brink of death, confessed they were guilty. - </p> - <p> - The next reflection the Doctor makes, is respecting gospel moderation, for - which purpose he quotes, "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? - to his own master he standeth or falleth." Yet has this been done by all - Christian rulers; and the clergy are at this moment, in express defiance - of this maxim, about to send missionaries to disseminate principles that - have ever produced internal dissensions, and without which infidels have - lived in perfect happiness. It is, perhaps, an excess of piety; but cool - observers pretend, that it is the high priest, not the High God, that they - are going to preach: to fill their knapsacks is the first object of these - pilgrims, and their God is made subservient. Unluckily for the Bishop, he - could not adduce a more detestable maxim, to show his charity, than that - which I have just quoted: it is the pivot of Oriental despotism; it - teaches passive obedience to all classes; the father is the tyrant of his - children, the nabob of his subjects, the emperor of all: it is a maxim - whose tendency is to root in men's minds, that we are the property of one - another, and may be inherited as cattle. To those of my readers who are - pleased with it, I wish a thorough experience of its effects. - </p> - <p> - The remainder of your first letter contains observations to which I - perfectly accede. Your conclusion against Thomas Paine is perfectly fair. - Any apparent deviation from moral justice in the world must prove as much - against the goodness of God, as a similar inconsistency in his immediate - actions and commands proves against revealed religion. My Lord, we are in - the abyss of error; your question with Thomas Paine is about the - comparative absurdity of the two Opinions. The deistical notions of your - adversary do not agree with his reasonable tenets; but I readily grant, - that, to a religious person, nothing is incredible; and that the greater - the inconsistencies, the more sublime the system. But let me ask your - Lordship, what you conclude against one, who, like myself, is not a Deist? - and repeats, with the first philosopher of the age, that there are only - four possible hypotheses upon the causes of the universe: 1st. That they - are purely good. 2dly. That they are malicious. 3dly. That they are a - mixture of good and evil. And, lastly, That they neither possess - benevolence, nor any other passions. The two first hypotheses are equally - contradicted by daily experience, the mixture of good and evil is too - apparent: the third is denied, by the steadiness of the laws of nature: - the last, then, only is admissible. - </p> - <p> - You next proceed to justify several actions of the Jews, which you and the - Bible are pleased to call God's commands. I must decline following your - reasoning; for the very existence of such crimes as the Jews ascribe to - their enemies, and which, they say, were so repugnant to God, would of - themselves prove against the goodness of that Being. His frequent threats, - and the extermination of so many miserable nations, is a poor expedient; - like that of a man, who, attempting to make a machine, and foiled in his - endeavours, gloried in breaking it in a thousand pieces. How much more - ridiculous is that sublime Artificer, who employs the same means which - impotence or malevolence give rise to in his wretched children. I am glad - you have no recourse to the silly causes of atheism, as given by that - illustrious dreamer, Plato. - </p> - <p> - The world has too long been imposed upon by ridiculous attempts to vilify - atheists, and show their nonexistence. That name has been a cant word, - like Jacobin in France, and Whig and Tory in England, which every person - applies to his neighbour as it best suits him. In Catholic countries, all - who dare think are heretics; among Protestants, they are atheists. Being a - word of opprobrium, it has ever been used as a powerful engine in the - hands of the clergy. The question is upon the truth of systems, not upon - the character of those who profess them. If this were the discrimination, - and the palm given to that religion that has had the greatest number of - honest men, the Christian system would certainly lose the contest. - </p> - <p> - The Bishop seems to think, that savages have not so perfect a notion of - God as we imagine: religion, he supposes, begins as it were in express - revelation. This is but the fancy of a clergyman, unsupported by any - proofs; but at least it shows, that the Bishop involuntarily acknowledges, - that reason alone can hardly give us the idea of a ruling Being. The - savage, it is true, does not discourse in a metaphysical jargon; he wants - expressions: but I wish the Doctor would inform me in what our Catechism - definition of God is clearer than the notions of the rudest savage, who, - trembling at the approach of thunder and violent convulsions of nature, or - enjoying the genial sun and fertilizing inundations, imagines all the - world to be animated with his own passions. The thunder is a mark of - wrath, while the blessings are signs of a propitious genius. To conciliate - these imaginary beings, to avert their wrath, is the grand object of - superstition. Schoolmen conceal, under their mystical jargon, the real - materials which their gods are made of; they conceal that the Supreme - Artificer is the offspring of fancy, the figurative and unphilosophical - symbol of nature, to which they give human dispositions: in all religious - systems men are the type of their gods. Your letter concludes with a - remark sufficiently extraordinary, that most Deists of your acquaintance - disbelieve the mysterious conversations of God, his miracles, and such - other stories, because they are too wonderful, and against the order of - nature. Your reply is curious: because we never have seen the like of - them, does it follow that they are untrue? Give me leave to tell you, my - Lord, that you have forgotten the rules of logic: you know, that in all - cases, but of demonstration, the philosopher does nothing but weigh - probabilities. Any thing that is conceivable is possible: but are we - therefore to believe in the existence of witches or necromancers? Are we - to give credit to the world having sprung from an egg? That Mahomet - divided the moon? That the sun stood still? That astrology is a science? - Yet what reason have we to disbelieve them? The respective supporters of - these opinions may say with the Doctor, that nothing can be too wonderful, - and that, because these things have not happened in our time, it does not - follow they should be untrue. I acknowledge, with the Doctor, that many - Deists admit a Being as inconceivable as any religious mystery; therefore - it may seem ridiculous in them to stop their credulity; since we call God - just, when nothing but a concatenation of causes and effects can be - perceived in the world; when we proclaim him benevolent, while the world - is full of vice, while millions perish in misery, and continual calamities - befal mankind; while, in short, most men have the gloomy prospect of - damnation before them. These are greater miracles than an universal - deluge, making a woman from a rib, or God's countenancing the atrocious - murders of Jews. He that will believe one wonder, has no plea for doubting - the rest. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - LETTER II. - </h2> - <h3> - MY LORD, - </h3> - <p> - Your second letter begins with some nice distinctions between authenticity - and genuineness. The whole reasoning seems to amount to this, that a book - may be authentic, although not genuine, and <i>vice versa</i>. To this - proposition we were no strangers; but piety makes your Lordship forget - some other considerations. When the proofs of authenticity depend in a - great measure upon the genuineness of a book, then the authenticity falls - to the ground the moment we prove it spurious. Thus the Jews strenuously - maintained, that the Pentateuch had been written by an inspired man at a - particular time. But if Moses is shown not to have written these books, I - trust you will not declare them authentic, without other very solid - proofs. When a whole nation is proved to be mistaken respecting the author - of a work, we ought not hastily to credit their legends. Moreover, logic - teaches us, that in proportion as events are incredible, they require a - stronger testimony to prove that they have actually taken place. A battle - may have been fought, a city may have been destroyed, but miracles being - against the order of nature, no testimony can be strong enough to prove - them, we must again appeal to faith. It is so much easier for men to be - deceived or imposed upon, or for persons designedly to mislead their - credulous followers, that unless it were more miraculous that a man should - be mistaken, than that the miracle happened, we ought not to give credit - to such fables. If we drop this rule of logic, we shall readily believe - prodigies of all sorts, whether wrought by Moses, Jesus Christ, Mahomet, - St. Antony of Padua, or any modern wonder-workers, witches, magicians, - astrologers, or magnetisers. Mr. Paine no where asserts, that because a - book is not genuine, it must be false; but certainly he might assert this - of the Bible. You say, that if the works of Titus Livius had been ascribed - to another, they would nevertheless be true; how would you ascertain it? - If the whole Roman nation supposed them to have been written by a - particular author at a certain time, and should we be enabled to point out - many passages evidently written in a posterior age, would you, without any - other proofs, join in the assent to the authenticity of the history, upon - a tradition so vague, and already proved false in so material a point? - Although I am no Bishop, I would only imagine, that as to probable events - contained in such spurious books, there might have been some grounds for - them; but I would receive them with great caution; and, at any rate, never - would I establish a system of history, much less of religion, upon the - productions of an ignorant people: in all cases, events related against - the order of nature are to be considered as the reveries of dark ages. To - elucidate your principles, you mention Anson's voyage, written by Robins, - under the name of Walter, to prove that a spurious work may contain a true - history; but, my Lord, do you forget, that this was written at a time when - the whole nation knew that Lord Anson had made such a voyage, and every - man in his fleet could testify the particulars of it? But if our - posterity, four or five centuries hence, should discover a book purporting - to be written by a Mr. Walters, detailing the voyage of Admiral Anson, and - if in that book they should meet a passage speaking of the late revolution - in France, or of the author's death and burial, would not that strike at - the authenticity of the whole? Would any part be believed that was not - corroborated by the evidence of respectable contemporary authors? All that - could be inferred would be from the nature of the events related, such as - the accurate description of countries, and such other particulars as - marked either the period of the observations, or their truth: in the first - case, they might suspect the work to be interpolated; in the second, they - would value it only for the accuracy of information. It is different with - scientifical and historical works: a spurious book of science may contain - truths, they stand for themselves, they are the same at all times and - places. Not so in history: the truth here depends on the universal consent - of nations, on the testimony of authors of credibility confronted with - each other, and in all cases relating things probable. When we read in a - Chinese history, that the goddess Amida peopled the world by bearing male - children from under one arm, and females under another, or, in the - Mahometan writers, that the trees spoke to the founder of that sect, would - a man credit any circumstance, however probable, related in such - histories, without the strongest collateral proofs? And should we further - discover, that these histories detailed events posterior to their author's - death, would not this make the whole still more improbable? Your remark - upon this subject is singular: you say, that if Joshua, Samuel, or Moses, - declared themselves the authors of the works ascribed to them, then to - prove these books spurious would at once destroy their genuineness and - authenticity. I would reason thus: Moses does not say, that he was the - author of the Pentateuch; why then do we believe that he wrote it? You - would, no doubt, answer, that the tradition of the Jews proclaims him - such. I retort, that if the genuineness of a book may be proved by - tradition, we ought as much to argue against the authenticity of a work, - from having proved the general belief of its genuineness to be founded on - error, as if the author had said, I am the author of this book. This we - shall, in the sequel, prove to be the case with the books of the Old - Testament. The addition of an express declaration of Moses would add no - authenticity to the Pentateuch, since it is as easy to forge a work where - the author speaks in the first as in the third person. - </p> - <p> - Your next remark is concerning miracles. I have already observed, that no - testimony can give them belief. You maintain, that the degree and kind of - evidence for the prodigies recorded in the Bible exceeds that for any - other wonders. How this happens I am unable to comprehend. I know they are - contained in a book composed by the priests of the most credulous and - ignorant nation that perhaps ever existed; and the authority of these - unknown and obscure persons, is all the evidence we have for crediting - their stories. An English Bishop tells his countrymen, that the miracle of - the sun standing still is better supported than the prodigies of Abbe - Paris, Mesmer, and the late Labre at Rome, than the numerous Indian, - Chinese, and Popish miracles, of which a great part are attested by - magistrates, divines, physicians, and the most enlightened classes of - society; while the wonderful repast of the angels with Abraham, or the - marvellous tale of Jonah's three days' residence in the belly of a fish, - depends upon the authority of a book which we shall prove to be spurious, - to have been lost for several ages, and to be compiled, if not altogether - composed, by some Jewish scribes, who were, as they themselves - acknowledge, the only men versed in the scriptures of the nation. I - thought you would have known sacred history better than at the present day - to make such unsupported assertions. Have you forgotten the wonders of the - magicians of Pharaoh? Do you not recollect the express acknowledgment of - Moses himself, that there may be miracles and prophecies performed by men - who adored not the Lord Jehovah? Does he not say, in chap. xiii. of - Deuteronomy, "If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, - and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to - pass whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, &c.—that - prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, <i>because he - hath spoken to you to turn away from the Lord your God</i>." It is not - because he is a false prophet, but because he is not a prophet of Jehovah. - Does not this at once show the grossness of the conceptions of the Jews, - and the sophistical mode of arguing of their legislator? For I would ask, - How did Moses prove himself the oracle of God? Or how did Jesus Christ - show himself the Son of God, but by their pretended miracles? Why then - believe the testimony of a miracle in one instance, and not in another? - But the Jews certainly imagined, that there were several gods, and that - they quarrelled with each other, as kings are used to do; therefore it was - natural that one set of prophets should try to exterminate another, and be - as inveterate against them as the Lord Jehovah was against Baal, or other - rival gods. If the reader imagines I speak at random when I say, the Jews - believed in other gods, I refer him to Judges, chap. xi. ver. 23, 34, - where it is said, "So now the Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the - Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldst thou not possess it? - Wilt thou not possess that which <i>Chemosh thy god</i> giveth thee to - possess? So whomsoever the Lord our God shall drive out from before us, - them will we possess." There cannot be a fairer parallel. - </p> - <p> - I can hardly imagine a Bishop ignorant of the augurs, oracles, and sybils - of the Greeks and Romans, and of the implicit belief these nations had in - them; the truth of their prophecies was fully as well established as the - prophecies of the Jews. Neither were miracles uncommon among the heathens. - You have, no doubt, read St. Ambrose and Origen, and have found in the - works of these and other fathers, that the only difference between the - miracles of the Christians and infidels, was, that the former were - operated by God, and the latter by the devil; and could I be satisfied - that Satan took up Jesus Christ to the top of that high mountain, (now - unknown to geographers) from whose pinnacle all the world could be seen, - this would surprise me as much as to see Jesus Christ, or any other - wonder-worker, bringing a dead man to life. I am ashamed to have inveighed - so long against silly prejudices; but I could not avoid calling upon your - Lordship, to point out the difference between gospel-miracles and the - ridiculous tales believed in all dark ages, and of which we find so - copious collections in the works of the first fathers. The axiom of - philosophers, that no human testimony can establish the credibility, of - miracles, you have left unanswered. You say it has been confuted an - hundred times: had you given the confutation of it, we would have been - able to ascertain the truth of your assertion. You are writing for the - multitude, and being a dignitary of the church, ought to furnish the - people with arms to oppose reason. Perhaps the unsuccessful attempt of Dr. - Campbell has deterred you from at least recapitulating the principal - answers to this proposition. Till you can prove that the great mass of - mankind are not very fallible and easily deceived by any impostor, or that - they are disposed and capable to examine the truth of reports spread about - prodigies, you will never be able to persuade men of sense, that events - impossible are to be believed upon the testimony of those who not only - are, but have constantly been, the slaves of credulity in all countries. - </p> - <p> - You then show, that Mr. Paine's objections to the genuineness are not new. - This is true; and I am surprised you have quoted so few supporters of his - opinions. Your attempt to prove the genuineness of the Pentateuch, by - direct evidence, is ridiculous. What! Maimonides, ten centuries after the - destruction of the Jews, a Jew himself, and writing at a period so remote - from the supposed date of the books of the Old Testament, is, by Dr. - Watson, called a direct evidence of the genuineness of the Pentateuch. - Juvenal, a poet, who in more than one place ridicules the credulity of the - Jews, says, that they believe in Moses—so do the Europeans allow - that the Indians believe in Brama.—We question not the general - traditions of the Jews, but the credit they deserve; and I shall next - proceed to show, that the books of the Pentateuch are spurious, and - undeserving of credit. The name of Moses and the Jews were unknown to the - famous Phoenician historian Sanchoniato, of whom Eusebius has preserved us - some extracts; he has never mentioned a word about this famous legislator: - had he done so, Eusebius was too strenuous an advocate <i>for</i> - Christianity not to have recorded it. The books of the Jews were concealed - from all the world before the famous Greek translation made at the - instance of Ptolemy Philadelphia. Josephus himself acknowledges, that no - heathen knew the Jewish books, which he endeavours to explain, by some - miraculous interference of God to keep them from the impious. It is - evident, that the insignificance and ignorance of the Jews were sufficient - to screen them for a long time from the search of philosophers. Upon the - early history of the Jewish nation, however, we have the testimony of - several of the ancient writers. Manetho, and Chaeremon, Egyptian - historians, give the most unfavourable account of this nation. Lisimachus - does not favour them any more; and, although he differs about the name of - the king who expelled them from Egypt, yet he agrees in calling them a set - of men infected with leprosy, and the meanest of the subjects of the king - of Egypt. Diodorus Siculus is as hard upon these wretched Jews. In short, - the opinion of their being the vilest and most ignorant of men, has - prevailed among all antiquity. All the writers about them agree in stating - that they never produced any work in science; indeed, that they never - improved any branch of useful knowledge. Many of these authors mention - Moses as a priest of Heliopolis, who led them out of Egypt, and gave them - a religion. Diodorus Siculus informs us, that the God of Moses was Jau, or - Jahouh, which is the true pronunciation of Jehovah; and Plutarch (de - Iside) says, that the Thebans adored this God, and had not images in their - temples, because Jau signified the general principle of life, the soul of - the world. - </p> - <p> - Strabo, in his Geography, book 16, informs us, that Moses, who was an - Egyptian priest, taught his followers to worship the God Jahouh, without - representing it by emblems. This was the God of the Thebans, the soul of - the world. The Jews have even preserved the name of Tsour, or giver of - forms, and commonly translated by the word creator in chap. xxxii. of - Deuteronomy. Herodotus affirms, that the Jews or Syrians of Palestine - borrowed circumcision from the Egyptians. Diodorus says the same; and even - Philo and Josephus do not deny it. A great many other rites were copied by - the Jews from this nation. It is, therefore, of great consequence to - ascertain the age in which the Jewish books were written; for if we can - prove that all the fundamental points of their religion were copied from - their masters the Egyptians, or borrowed from the Babylonians during the - captivities, then the reader will judge of the truth of the clerical - opinion, that a handful of hordes were the favourite people of God; that a - set of ignorant and credulous vagabonds taught science to the Chinese, - Indians, and Egyptians, and preserved nothing among themselves but some - ridiculous accounts of their origin, and a collection of absurd prodigies. - If we succeed in pointing out from what sources Jewish mythology is - derived, there will be but little difficulty in unravelling the principal - fables contained in the Pentateuch and other Jewish books. We are pretty - well acquainted with the allegories of the heathen mythologies. - </p> - <p> - I am ready to grant that several of Mr. Paine's objections are not valid, - and often trifling; but I declare, once for all, that I do not think - myself bound to follow Mr. Paine in every instance. I shall direct my - remarks, rather to disprove your reasoning, than to defend every objection - of your opponent; at the same time, I shall avoid repeating what he has - advanced, and you have not disproved. The chief proofs against the - genuineness of the Pentateuch have been overlooked by Mr. Paine. I shall - state them briefly. - </p> - <p> - First. It was believed, by all the best informed old fathers of the - church, that the Jewish books had been absolutely lost during the - captivity, and that Esdras had written them from inspiration; or, that he - collected the Pentateuch, and all other canonical books, out of whatever - records he could find, and put them together. 1 In either case, their - authority is greatly invalidated; and the more so, as the fourth book of - Esdras, adopted by the Greek church, and generally deemed authentic, says - expressly, that Esdras dictated the holy books during forty successive - days and nights, to five scribes, who were continually writing. This tale - shows sufficiently the general belief that he was the restorer of the long - lost books of the law. In our second book of Nehemiah, or, properly - speaking, Esdras, it is said, that Ezra, or Esdras the scribe, who was - above all the people, brought the book of the law to the people, and then - the people rejoiced much in being instructed in the law of God, that when - they found there the commandment of the Lord ordering the Jews to perform - the feast of the booths, there was great gladness, "and all the - congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made - booths, and sat under booths: for, since the days of Joshua the son of - Nun, unto that day, had not the children of Israel done so.". If the Jews - had even forgotten a feast, the memory of which every father would - transmit to his son, is this not an evident proof that they had no books - in the captivity? Again, in chap. vii. of the 1 book of Esdras, it is - said, that Esdras "had very great skill, so that he omitted nothing of the - law and commandments of the Lord, but taught all Israel the ordinances and - judgments." - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - 1 Porro Esdram sancti patres docent iostanratorem suisse - sacrorum librorum, quod non ita intelligendum est, quasi - scripturę sacrę omnes perierint in eversione civitatis, et - templi Nabuchodonosor, et ab Esdra divinitas inspirato - reparatę fuerint, ut fabulatur auctor, L, IV. Esdrę C. XIV. - Sed quod Scripturas Mosis, et prophetarum in varia volimina - descriptas, et in varia loca dispenreas, et tempore - captivitatis non diligenter conservatas, Esdras summa - diligentia collectas ordinaverit, et in unum quasi corpus - redigerit. Bellarmin de Script. Ecclesiast. page 22. -</pre> - <p> - Can any man, after this, doubt that Esdras is the compiler of all the - books which the Jews had not known for many centuries? And are we, who - laugh at the Catholic councils, to trust to the word of a Jewish scribe? - it is further stated in 2 Chronicles, chap. xxiv. ver. 15, that Hilkiah - the priest found a book of the law of God <i>given</i> by Moses, and sent - it by Saphan to king Josias, who heard it read, which shows that it must - have been very short; and, by the context, it would appear to have been - the law strictly speaking; another proof that these records were - altogether scattered, and are all without authority, since it was so easy - to forge them among a people who seemed to preserve no more than a - traditional law. Again, although, in the older Jewish books, such as Kings - and Chronicles, we find the name of Moses often mentioned, yet no word - answering to the five books of Pentateuch is to be found. The Code of laws - of Moses seems to have been forgotten; for Solomon ornamented the temple - with calves, in express contempt of that law, and this while he was the - favourite of God, and the wisest man in the world. The very confusion that - pervades the books ascribed to Moses, shows them to have been - compilations. Jerome, who was one of the most learned of the fathers, - confesses that he dares not affirm that Moses is the author of the - Pentateuch; he even adds, that he has no objection to allow that Esdras - wrote the books in question. 1 - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - 1 Sive Mosen dicere volueris auctorem Pentateuchi, sive - Esdram ejuadem iustauratorem operis, non recuso. Hieronim. - Op. Tom. IV. p. 134. Apud Edit. Paris 1706, -</pre> - <p> - Secondly. We know that no canon of books ever existed among the Jew's till - the time of the synagogue under the Maccabees. Before their reign, there - had never existed among the Jews any such council; and, if the word occurs - in the Pentateuch, it is a fault of the transcribers and composers, who - lived when there was a synagogue, and is not to be understood in any other - acceptation than a collection of priests. The Pharisees of the second - temple chose the books they thought best among a multitude of forgeries. - The Talmud relates, that this synagogue were about to reject the Book of - Proverbs, Ezekiel's prophecies, and Ecclesiastes, because they imagined - these writings contradictory to the law of God; but a certain Rabbin - having undertaken to reconcile them, they were preserved as canonical. A - prodigious number of forged Books of Daniel, Esdras, and of the Prophets, - were then in circulation; and to distinguish the genuine from the false - works became absolutely necessary. This doubt and uncertainty conspires to - render the decision of the synagogue very doubtful; particularly, as we - shall show in the sequel, that many passages of the Prophecies are written - evidently about the time of this choice of sacred books, and inserted in - them, probably by some cunning priest, as the oracles of Sybil were forged - to suit Cęsar. - </p> - <p> - Thirdly. The similarity of the mysteries of the Jews to those of the - Babylonians, is too glaring not to let us see the origin of Genesis in - particular. The creation in six days is a perfect copy of the Gahans, or - Gahan-bars, of Zoroaster; the particulars of each day's work are literally - the same. The serpent was famous among the Babylonians. The mythological - deluge of Ogyges and Xissuthrus, are symbols of changes arising on earth, - as they imagined, from the revolutions of the heavenly bodies. These, a - little ornamented by the historical narration of Deucalion's inundation - related by Berosus, is the pattern of Noah's flood; the ark of Osiris and - emblematical dove and raven were Egyptian hieroglyphics. The man and the - woman in Paradise is a mere copy of Zoroaster's first pair. The original - sin is Pandora's box. The Talmud of Jerusalem says expressly that the Jews - borrowed the names of the angels, and even of their months, from the - Babylonians. The Elohim, or Gods, (not God), are said in Genesis to have - created the world. It was not Jehovah, but the genii or gods that are in - the Hebrew called makers of the world. And these are the very genii, who - according to Sanchoniatho, were by Mercury excited against Saturn. - </p> - <p> - Fourthly. We ask, in what language was the Pentateuch written, if it - really was the work of Moses? It is known that Hebrew is a dialect of the - Phenician, and that the Jews spoke Egyptian for a very long time before - they adopted the language of the people among whom they dwelt. In Psalm - lxxxi. we learn that the Jews were surprised to hear the language of the - people beyond the Bed Sea. If, therefore, Moses, or any person of that - age, is the author of the Pentateuch, it is evident that the Hebrew books - are mere translations. What degree of credit does a nation deserve, who - have been able to take for originals books that were in the face of them - translations? Is it right to persecute men, as priests have done while - they had power, for refusing to give credit to this tissue of - contradictory and absurd fables? - </p> - <p> - Fifthly. In the books of the Old Testament, we find abundant proofs that - they have been written in an age greatly posterior to that of Moses. In - Genesis, chap. xii. ver. 6, we find these words, "And the Canaanite was - then in land." This implies another period when the Canaanite was not in - the land, which, we learn from the Bible, did not happen till after David, - and could not therefore be written by Moses. The beginning of Deuteronomy - is certainly not written by him; for he never passed the Jordan; he died - upon Mount Nebo, to the eastward of it. The English translation has in - chap. i. v. 5, of this book, said, "on this side of the Jordan," for "on - that side," which is in the original. The translator has taken similar - liberties very often. In chap. xxxiii. we find this expression, "There - never was in Judea so great a prophet as Moses," and such could be pointed - out in many places. Here needs no comment to show that such passages could - only be written in a posterior age, and when there had been several - prophets after Moses. Thomas Paine mentions many other passages, which I - shall consider when I come to your next letter. - </p> - <p> - The above considerations would be sufficient to invalidate the genuineness - and authenticity of any historical book: but here we find that the - credulity of bigots requires less proof for the authority of a work, - which, according to them, is the fountain of faith, than for Ossian's - poems, or any other book of no consequence. If a common historical work - contains fables, impossible events, and anachronisms; if its age is not - ascertained; if we are certain that it was unknown for many centuries; if - we are even ignorant whether it is an original or a translation, who would - give the slightest credit to such a book? Yet are enlightened nations led - by the testimony of the Jews, a people credulous beyond measure, extremely - ignorant, almost continually in slavery, and dispersed. This is the nation - that pretends to give an account of the creation, and, with a vanity - peculiar to an insignificant people, to assume the supremacy among - nations, and arrogate to themselves the exclusive protection of Jehovah, - and dare make their Adam the common stock of mankind. You allow, my Lord, - that several passages have been interpolated in the Pentateuch. No person - in the least acquainted with the history can deny that it has suffered - great alterations; 1 and I have already noticed the opinion of the best - informed fathers of the church upon the non-existence of the Pentateuch, - several centuries prior to Esdras. I now beg to be informed, how we are to - decide, if Hilkiah, in the reign of Josias, collected from tradition, or - some old book he found in a chest, the precepts of the law? and whether - the other famous scribe, Esdras, did not compile from hearsay, and some - imperfect and scattered manuscripts of no authority, together with a great - many Babylonish traditions, those venerable five books of Moses? We are - informed, in one of the books that bears his name, that Esdras was the - wisest of his cotemporaries, and therefore a very fit and probable person - to write books out of old legends. - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - 1 Multa in Hebraicis et Gręcis codicibus vitia esse - ostendimus. Malta mendacia in rebus minutis, eorum pars - uliqua non exigua nostra editione vulgata extat.—-Marian - pr. edit. vulg. cap. 21. -</pre> - <p> - If the books of the Old Testament were composed at so late a period, no - wonder then that we find all the mysterious part of them so much like the - religion of the ancients, and particularly of the Babylonians, and the - historical part made up of heterogeneous matters, which in our days, - unassisted by any profane writer of that age, we can make nothing of. I - shall mention a few of the most striking points of resemblance between the - Jewish and other mysteries. Abraham, the most famous of their patriarchs, - has ever been celebrated in India. This they seem to have brought from - their native country, Arabia. We have already noticed, that their account - of the creation is exactly copied from Zoroaster, who says, that the world - was made in six periods of time, called by him the thousands of God and of - light, meaning the six summer months; in the first, God made the heavens; - in the second, the waters; in the third, the earth; in the fourth, trees; - in the fifth, animals; and in the sixth, man. The Etrurians and the - Hindoos have very similar traditions of the highest antiquity, which, - though they were emblems at first perfectly understood, astronomers - afterwards converted them into periods, comprehending as many years as was - required for different revolutions of the planetary system. - </p> - <p> - Thus, while the Hindoos and Persians called the days or ages of the world, - each of many thousands of years; the Jews, ignorant of astronomy, and fond - of the marvellous, comprised all within six common days. Their firmament - or heaven of crystal, and its windows, are absurdities not peculiar to - them; the feast of the Pascha, which signifies passage, is of Egyptian - origin, and was in reverence for the passage of the sun at the vernal - equinox: the sacrifices of calves or oxen, the ceremony of the scape-goat, - are Egyptian and Indian; the latter, in particular, have a ceremony - altogether the same with that of the scapegoat. It is too long to insert - here, but I refer my readers to Mr. Halhed's introduction to the code of - Gentoo laws for information on this head. The distinction between pure and - impure animals was first made by the Egyptians; the ladder seen in Jacob's - vision, is exactly a copy of that with seven steps in the cave of Milthra, - representing the seven spheres of the planets, by means of which souls - ascended and descended. It is also the mythology of the Hindoos, whose - antiquity no man at the present day can venture to deny. The seven - candlesticks, and the twelve stones are Egyptian, and were emblems of the - seven planets, and twelve signs of the Zodiac. The serpent is the most - famous Egyptian hieroglyphic; it signifies eternity, or the sum of all - things. The fasts before feasts are also derived from this nation. The - Jewish high-priest, like the Egyptian, wore an image of sapphire, being - the emblematic picture of truth, upon, his breast: in short, the - Egyptians, their masters, gave them the first ideas of mysteries, which, - in the course of time, they mingled with the Chaldaic; and Manetho informs - us, in the extract given by Josephus in his first book against Appian, - that, in authors of great authority, he found the Jews to have been - distinguished in Egypt by the name of captive pastors, which Josephus - artfully enough has attempted to convert into captive kings. These are the - men whom sacred historians pretend to have taught the Egyptians all their - arts. These wretches, despised of all nations, were themselves the - emphatical admirers of the wisdom of the East. Their legislator was an - Egyptian priest, and learned all that he knew from them; and you would - persuade us that a set of Arabian hordes had founded the Egyptian empire, - simply because they, like the Irish, are pleased to say that they were - antedeluvians. I pardon the Jews for their credulity; but Europeans in the - 18th century ought not to think as the inhabitants of Palestine. If we - give credit to all the reports of the origin of nations, we may give up - all pretensions to common sense. - </p> - <p> - The immortality of the soul is shown, by the learned but superstitious - Warburton, never to have been mentioned in the Pentateuch; nor the notion - of hell, or of future rewards and punishments. There is nothing more - certain, however, than that the Pharisees, long before Christ, strenuously - maintained the immortality of the soul, and in some measure adopted the - doctrine of transmigration of souls, which they had got from the Greeks - and other nations. - </p> - <p> - The Sadducees, founding themselves upon the Bible, fervently denied a - future life. The Essenians, according to Philostratus, were Pythagoreans, - both in their morals, belief, and mode of life, except that a few of the - Jewish articles of faith, such as the necessity of circumcision, were - mingled with their creed. Josephus himself acknowledges the similarity - between the Essenians and the Plisti among the Thracians, to whom - Zamolxis, the disciple of Pythagoras, taught his doctrines: The - Therapeutes, the pattern and ori—gin of Christian morals, were - reckoned amongst the Jews to be the most holy among the Essenians. They - sacrificed their passions to God; they never swore, but made simple - affirmations; they lived, as it were, in convents; they despised bodily - pain: when they entered their state of perfection, they abandoned their - property, wives, children, and all earthly concerns; they lived upon bread - and water and salt; and spent the six days of the week in interpreting the - allegorical sense of the Bible. They revered the Sabbath with a most - scrupulous exactness; then they assembled in places set apart for - religion, the men ranged on one side, and the women on the other, - separated by a division four feet high, to prevent temptation. Then they - sung praises to God, and preached; they obeyed all the laws of their - country, but never would execute any order to hurt another person. They, - like the Pythagoreans, thought themselves possessed of the gift of - prophecy; they, like the Pythagoreans, believed in the great year, whence - arose the famous millennium of the Christians. The three sects of Jews—Pharisees, - Sadducees, and Essenians, lived all in perfect harmony; the incredulous - Sadducees not being considered as heretics, but often attaining the - dignity of high-priests. This suffices to show, that the Jews borrowed - from other nations those very mysteries which the ignorance of writers has - misled mankind to consider as the special revelations of Jesus Christ. - </p> - <p> - I have insisted so much upon this circumstance, because there is not a - single article of Christian morals, nor one religious tenet, contained in - the New Testament, that was not known before Jesus Christ was born. And - the Christian religion, like that of the Jews, is a corruption of the - mythologies of the nations they brand with the name of infidels. - </p> - <p> - I return to your book. It is now needless to answer your logical - inference, that if Esdras is the compiler of the books of the Pentateuch, - they may still be true. I have already said, that we are not to sacrifice - our reason to the compilations or works of a Jewish scribe, who borrowed - evidently so much, and who pretended to divine inspiration and - conversations with the angels. When I began to read your book, I was - impressed with the idea of your candour; sorry am I to see the malevolence - with which you treat Mr. Paine, and how much you misrepresent his just - aspersions on the conduct of Moses. Your language almost persuades me that - you do not differ from the gentlemen of your profession. Could Moses - affirm, as you pretend he might, that he never persecuted any man? What! - that monster, who, although married with a Midianite, ordered thousands of - his credulous followers to be murdered, because one of them had slept with - a Midianite, whom Josephus states was his wife! What! when his brother and - coadjutor makes a golden calf to the people, this impostor, instead of - punishing him, orders 3,000 men to be murdered, and appoints Aaron his - successor! Because Korah, Da-than, and Abiram, could not suffer to see him - usurping all the power, he murders them, although Korab was the descendant - of Levi. This is Moses, who says, like Bishop Watson, that he "was a very - meek man!" Were these continual murders necessary to instruct ignorant - idolaters who followed the example of their priests? Have not the founders - of our faith been the most cruel murderers? But all this we are told was - the immediate orders of the Lord Jehovah, a merciful God. How feeble - appears the power of this great God! He is continually repenting, and - always obliged to renew his covenants with a set of wretches, who, - although they enjoyed his special protection, always forsook him, and only - fulfilled his commands strictly when they were ordered to massacre. They - might have been the favourite people of God, but I am sure they were the - disgrace of men. You talk of idolatrous nations sunk in vice. I know of - none so barbarous as the Jews, whose legislator was obliged to fly from - Egypt for murder, a perfect assassin. The laws concerning paternal power, - which you support, are horrid. Their having been adopted by many nations, - is a proof of the general prevalence of superstition, ignorance, and - despotism. I have nothing to answer to your discourses on tythes. The - Bible is preached up, because it teaches passive obedience, donations to - the church, and such other acts of <i>public utility</i>. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - LETTER III. - </h2> - <p> - After what I have observed above, it will be useless to say much as to - your third letter, in which you examine minutely the passages Thomas Paine - has pointed out to prove the Pentateuch not genuine. First, As to the - objection taken from the name of Dan, I never thought it specious. This is - not the case with the very next one, which is of very great weight. The - writer, after enumerating a number of Arabian names, concludes in these - words, "These are the kings that reigned in Edom, before there reigned any - king over the children of Israel." Contrary to my expectations, you - acknowledge this to have been written after the Jews had kings. Many of - your brethren have attempted to deny it by quibbles! but you say that this - does not invalidate the authority of the book: wonderful! if your <i>alma-mater</i> - taught you, that an evident lie or contradiction in any book, particularly - of remote antiquity, and relating histories unsupported by impartial - authors, does not create a suspicion, which approaches to certainty, that - the book is not authentic; if you think so, I must give up arguing with - you. It may be an interpolation, you observe. How did you learn this? You - will at least leave, me the right to suppose, and you cannot deny that the - presumption is against you, an absurdity in a book is a reason for - distrusting the rest. I have probability on my side; for the Jew who - forged this passage, either from piety or ignorance, might have forged the - whole book, or so interpolated it, as to destroy its credibility. At any - rate, the detection of falsehood in a history, is not a motive to suppose - it true. It requires an excess of piety to break through all the rules of - logic and common sense. How does it happen, that the Lord Jahovah does not - provide better against such mistakes creeping into the book of the law of - his favourite people? It could seem as if he had done it on purpose to - create incredulity, and enjoy the pleasure of punishing unbelievers, as of - old, he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he might have a pretext to inflict - calamities on him and his people. - </p> - <p> - My Lord, what credit would we give to a history of William the Conqueror - that had the following sentence, after naming different persons, <i>And - these were the names of the Kings of England before George the Third came - to the throne</i>; for what purpose could any person insert such a - passage? He must have been absolutely mad. It could only get into the work - from its being compiled during the reign of George the Third, and arising - from a forgetfulness of the writer, or ignorance of the transcriber: in no - case could it be inserted in a book, which you say was kept in the public - records, and over whose purity the whole Jewish learned men would watch; - you must either give up your argument from the public records of this - people, and no longer deem them great authority; or, if you persist in it, - I leave you to reconcile the most palpable interpolations and forgeries - with the scrupulous attention with which you suppose the Jews preserved - the word of God. But what is most curious in this passage is, that we find - it verbatim in 2 Chronicles, chap. i. ver. 43, and you seem to glory in - discovering this similarity of the passages. "Why might not," you say at - the end of your fourth letter, "the author of the book of Chronicles have - taken them, (meaning the names of the kings of Edom, &c.), as he has - taken many other genealogies, supposing them to have been written in the - book of Genesis by Samuel?" Another acknowledgment of more interpolations - in Genesis. - </p> - <p> - But, Sir, who gave you the right, you who exclaim so much against the - unsupported assertions of Thomas Paine, to suppose that the author of - Chronicles copied an interpolation from Genesis, knowing, as he must have - done, that it was interpolated by Samuel? - </p> - <p> - Would he not rather, to make the book consistent, expunge it? Could he be - so ignorant as not to see the contradiction? What is more strange, how - came Samuel to introduce such a passage? The tendency of it could only be - to weaken the authority of Genesis; but, allowing all your groundless - suppositions to be true, do you not see that they only prove the ignorance - of Samuel and of the Jewish history writers, and at once destroy the - superstructure you have in your following letters raised upon the supposed - accurate records of the Jews? The supposition of Samuel being the author - of the interpolation, is like an historian, who, to the history of Charles - the First, should add some accounts, concluding with observing, that all - this took place before George the Second, or should even venture further, - and instruct us in some prominent features of the French revolution: yet - this is the case with the passage in question; for it is unquestionable - that the Jews had never a king till the time of Saul; that, under Moses - and the Judges, they held kings in detestation. The fact is very plain. In - Chronicles, the passage has an obvious and clear sense; for there an - account of the kings of Israel is given, and the sentence now under - consideration precedes it. Indeed, the whole chapter xxxvi. of Genesis is - almost literally the same with chapter first of Chronicles; and every - unbiassed man will conclude, that the former is copied from the latter. - That little concluding expression, before <i>there reigned any king over - Israel</i>, certainly marks its date; and there is nothing more probable, - than that when Esdras and the scribes compiled these books, they should - insert in Genesis the posterity of Esau, as far as the history of Genesis - went, and that this unlucky passage should by mistake be copied too. I - acknowledge, that an interpolation, when we can prove the period of its - insertion, does not destroy the validity of a book, if the rest of the - facts are consistent, and supported by collateral proofs; but the Bible is - an unconnected rhapsody, written by we know not whom, without order, - arrangement, or a shadow of method. Besides, it is the word of God; and - what, in a profane writer, would be a slight error, is here a most - material fault; if our future happiness depends, as you suppose, on our - believing this book, which certainly can never take place while such - reasons for scepticism remain. In proportion to the importance of an - event, so we must be careful in examining the grounds upon which it - stands, or else we must be like those whimsical men, who will require the - best evidence for the truth of a trifling report, but find no repugnance - in crediting the most marvellous events upon trust. - </p> - <p> - Mr. Paine properly concludes, that Genesis is a book of stories, fables, - traditions, or invented absurdities, or downright lies; and this I not - only affirm with him, but will prove to my readers, that it is in no - respect deserving of more credit than the fabulous and early history of - all nations. Next follows your rhapsody upon the beauty of the Bible and - the truth of it. Pardon me if I think it like a madman's reveries. Even - the men of your profession have long ago given up such a ridiculous - conceit. Whoever has read eastern literature, or the late translation from - the Shanscrit, will find that the same style with that of the Bible - pervades all eastern compositions. In all of them we find the frequent use - of allegory, and a quaint and formal manner of expression. Divest the - Bible of its Oriental garb, and put it into common language, you will - find, except the episode of Joseph, and two or three other passages, it is - absolutely illegible. I have already shown the Pentateuch to have been a - very modern work, and the Jews to have borrowed every thing from other - nations. No wonder then that the <i>Abram</i> should resemble the <i>Brama</i> - of the Hindoos, or that a few names in the supposed genealogies of the - Jews should be like those of the Assyrians, Medes, &c. Genesis gives a - description of creation truly beautiful! We did not spring from - grasshoppers, nor the world from an egg; but the wise Moses informs us, - that we were made of clay and a little breath. This may be sublime to you; - but the philosopher is never elated by fables so absurd. It is not true - that Genesis is the oldest, nor a very old book. Sanchoniato, the Hindoo - books, those of the Egyptians and Chinese, are of much higher antiquity - than Moses. In vain has Mr. Maurice struggled to dazzle our understandings - with his incoherent suppositions, to prove that the Hindoos borrowed their - religion from the Jews, from a set of Arabian hordes, from the slaves of - the Egyptians, from a petty nation, who, as Julian says, never produced a - single work, and whose credulity has ever been proverbial. The - astronomical records of the Chinese prove, that there were men and - astronomers in that country at the time when the wretched Jews would make - us believe the world was inundated from the windows of heaven, and no - creatures existing but Noah, his family, and the beasts in the ark. - Further, Souciet mentions an eclipse of the sun recorded in the Chinese - history, which happened 2155 years before Christ, which is but 236 years - after the Deluge; a time when, the Bible informs us, the earth was only - inhabited by the sons of Noah, while Egypt was then so peopled, that - 90,000 cities could not contain the inhabitants, and China was not less - so. The Hindoo astronomical observations, as far as they have been - examined by the most learned astronomers of the age, such as Baillie, Le - Gentil, and others, carry their antiquity between four and five thousands - beyond our ęra; for a proof of which, I refer you to Mr. Playfair's - excellent paper, in the second volume of the Edinburgh Philosophical - Transactions. The Hindoo religious books contain, besides, a great many of - the ideas afterwards adopted by the Jews. The long lives of antedeluvians, - in particular, are the exact copy of the Iogues of the Indians. The - Dwapaar Iogue, the latter part of which answers to the period of Noah, was - when men's lives were limited to a thousand years; and Methuselah we know - did not live so long. They have, too, their mythological deluge, or the - incarnation of Vishnu into a fish. For an account of which I refer my - readers to Volney, and to Mr. Maurice himself. The former gentleman is a - good judge of ancient literature; he pretends that he can prove, that most - of the chapters of Genesis, supposed to contain names of persons, are - mythological: the posterity of Noah is, according to Volney, no more than - a geography of the world as known to the Jews. I have not read Mr. - Volney's memoir which I understand he has published on this subject; but, - when I consider the late period when Genesis and the other books were - composed, and how much the Jews borrowed from the Egyptians and - Babylonians, how much the deluge of Noah and his ark resemble the emblems - of Osiris; in short, when I reflect on the unintelligibility and apparent - absurdity of Genesis, on the impossibility of the Deluge, and of the not - less absurdity of the population of the world so soon after that calamity, - I confess I am much inclined to despise the whole performance. There have - been various suppositions upon the meaning of the names mentioned in - Genesis. Adam has been said to signify, in many parts of Asia, the first - day of the week; and Enoch, the seventh successor of Adam, to be the same - with Saturn, or the seventh day. Thus Assur, Elam, Lud, Madai, Javan, and - Tiras, which are said to be the founders of the Assyrians, the Elamites, - the Lydians, the Medes, the Ionians, and the Thracians, may very probably - be nothing else than the enunciation of the names of these countries; for, - between Assur and Assyria, or Lud and Lydia, there is not a very great - difference. We know that Egypt is by the Arabs called <i>Masr</i>, which - has the same consonants with the Hebrew <i>Misraim</i>, whose plural - termination implies properly the inhabitants of Egypt. In the Bible, <i>Misraim</i> - is called the founder of that kingdom. We also know, that Syria is called - <i>Barr-el-sham</i>, or the country to the left. The inhabitants of - Thebaid are called the sons of Cush. Again, we find several names of towns - very much resembling those of the supposed founders of these monarchies; - Sur, or Tyre, is not unlike Assur. These are conjectures; I pretend to - found nothing upon them; but, at least, they are probable. Your Genesis, - on the contrary, as it is commonly explained, contains palpable lies. It - supposes a deluge, which neither did nor could take place; it destroys the - human race, when we know that nations were then in existence. Lastly, it - talks of the founders of nations, which existed long before that period. - But, even had Genesis been written at the time of Moses, it might be worth - while to inquire into the import of his genealogies; but, being a very - modern compilation, collected by an ignorant people, partly from - tradition, partly from scattered and mutilated records, it does not - deserve the serious attention of the philosopher. - </p> - <p> - You next attempt to justify the conduct of God towards the Canaanites, - whose great crime was to defend their own country, and to adore their own - gods instead of the God of the Jews. When a man makes an apology for such - conduct, we only can answer by an appeal to the feelings of men, from - which alone we derive notions of humanity. It was natural for the adorers - of a Phenician Jehovah to be the enemies of the Babylonish Baal: both - these gods sprang from the wild fancies of men. The jealous God of the - Jews, the all-wise, omnipotent, and benevolent, could not convert the - worshippers of another god, without exterminating whole nations, even to - the little children; but this barbarous mandate came from the priests, who - have in all countries, and all systems of Religion, adopted this method of - conversion. You state, that Moses "gave an order that the boys and women - should be put to death; but, that the young maidens should be kept alive - for themselves;" and, that you "see nothing in the proceeding, but good - policy combined with mercy. The young men might have become dangerous - avengers of what they would esteem their country's wrongs; the mothers - might have again allured the Israelites to the love of licentious - pleasures, and the practice of idolatry, and brought another plague upon - the congregation; but the young maidens, not being polluted by the - flagitious habits of their mothers, not likely to create disturbance by - rebellion, were kept alive:" and you add, that "the women children were - not reserved for the purposes of debauchery, but of slavery; a custom (you - acknowledge) abhorrent from our manners, but every where practised in - former times, and still preserved in countries where the benignity of the - Christian religion has not softened the ferocity of human nature." Is - extermination an example of the mercy of priests and their gods, "whose - justice is subservient to mercy," "whose punishments originate in his - abhorrence to sin,"—and whose commands to massacre, to butcher, and - to exterminate, "are only benevolent warnings?"—You dare Mr. Paine - to prove, that the young women were kept for debauchery; and you - triumphantly add, "that if he does, you will allow Moses to be the horrid - monster he describes him, and the Bible a book of lies, wickedness, and - blasphemy." Do you think, that consigning to slavery thirty-two thousand - maids, is consistent with the benignity of God? I do not hesitate to - consider this worse than merely making them the partners of licentious - pleasures. But, in what consisted the wonted wisdom of a God, whom you - describe as ever solicitous to lessen the influence of sin? Let me ask - you, if the young women were not as liable to incite the passions of the - Jews as their mothers, and whether their slavery would not increase the - opportunities for debauchery? Could it be consistent with humanity, much - less with the mercy of an all powerful God, to put to death all the boys - of a nation, merely because they might in time revenge the insolent - invaders of their country? Were all the male children already polluted - from their birth? It would have been easy for them to convert them to - another religion, but to your God it was impossible. The bloody invaders - of America pursued not another plan, even after "the benignity of the - Christian religion softened the ferocity of human nature." Have these - Christian invaders any where respected the chastity of women when they - made them slaves? And have the Jews, God's chosen nation, at any period, - either while under his protection, or since he abandoned them, shown - themselves more virtuously inclined than other people; were they ever - prevented by the striking manifestations of his mercy, his power, and his - justice, from going away to adore other gods, and falling into all sorts - of wickedness? In short, if the Bishop rests his defence of Moses and the - Bible upon this passage, I am willing to appeal to the judgement of all - mankind. If any person can believe it consistent with the benevolence of - omnipotence, to sacrifice whole nations to be massacred and plundered by a - few hordes of bloody Jews; if he can think this to be part of a grand - scheme for the good of mankind, he must give up all pretensions to reason, - common sense, and humanity. But it is time the world should see, that this - holy book the Bible, "which, in weight of authority, and extent of - utility, exceeds all the libraries of the philosophers," contains - pretences for all bad actions, and stifles the laws of humanity and - morality. Upon this book have inquisitors, crusaders, and religious men, - founded pretences for the most diabolical persecutions, avowedly - undertaken for the express purpose of unrooting infidelity, and for the - glory of the Lord. Every man who reads the word of God is warranted to - reason thus: God has ordered murder and robbery; he has instigated his - favourite people to exterminate whole nations; therefore I can do no - better than to imitate the Almighty; and every crusader may pretend to - have the same authority from God as Moses; and miracles are never wanting - to prove it. Because Abraham was a pimp, and his wife a prostitute, so may - any person be, without losing the patronage of the God of Abraham. Every - man, in short, may imitate the meek Moses, the humane David, without - fearing to incur the displeasure of the Almighty. Thus Ravaillac thought - he was doing as holy a deed, when he attempted the life of Henry; as - Dominic, or Torquemada, when butchering the wretched heretics, who had the - misfortune to fall a prey to their bloody zeal. The whole Old Testament is - so filled with barbarous stories, that if they did not excite laughter by - their improbability, they would freeze the blood in, the veins of any man - endowed with humanity. What an irksome task have those undertaken, who - have attempted to reconcile the horrible crimes of the Jews with the mercy - and wisdom of the Creator? Has ferocity forsaken Christians as you - insinuate? Have the modern religious fanatics yielded in cruelty to the - Jews? Those two religions have successively inundated the earth with the - blood of innocent victims. Have not the followers of Christ constantly - preached passive obedience to the church, have they not frequently - relieved the people of their oaths, and have they not fomented most of the - civil wars that laid waste all Europe? It is well that priests have not - been able to persuade mankind of late, that the minister was the oracle of - God. The pride and foolishness of science has put this out of their power; - they cannot lead nations as they did the Jews; we are not so easily - persuaded of the immediate manifestations of God's commands to the priest. - We know science too well to believe that the pillar of fire that went - before the Israelites was God himself. We might have shown the people, - that a pan with red-hot substances would have the appearance of a fire by - night, and a cloud of smoke by day, a custom practised, from time - immemorial, by the caravans. Although, my Lord, the wisdom of God may be - foolishness to man, I acknowledge I am neither fond of crediting - absurdities, nor have I so much faith as to take the work of priests for - supernatural mandates of Providence; when they speak in their usual - senseless and unintelligible language, I conclude that it is either to - dazzle the ignorant multitude, or I look upon their dreams as the - consequence of dire superstition, the first effect of which is to make us - unacquainted with ourselves, under the imposing aspect of familiarising us - with imaginary beings. At the conclusion of my remarks upon the Old - Testament, I shall give a few extracts from those books, wherein my - readers may see the character of the Jews and their God in glaring - colours, and judge whether any honest man would not tremble at the - thoughts of having done as much injustice, and committed such atrocities - as this Jehovah. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - LETTER IV. - </h2> - <p> - You enter again upon your favourite topic, genuineness and authenticity. I - shall not repeat what I have already said. I confess my great surprise at - your laying such stress upon the most trifling and false of your - arguments. You now strive to prove, that a book may contain a true - history, although it should be anonymous. Pray, my Lord, do you think, - that to prove a book spurious, when it is believed to be genuine, is a - demonstration of the truth of the contents? You thus leave us uncertain - whether Joshua be a genuine book. You have sadly confused yourself in the - maze you have created. To put it beyond a doubt that the sun stood still, - you appeal to the book of Jasher, which Joshua mentions in the following - words, "Is not this written in the book of Jasher?" And in like manner, - you refer to other books frequently quoted as authorities in the Bible. - Does your zeal blind you so far as not to let you perceive, that this very - argument may with redoubled strength be retorted against you? for if an - author, who is said to write his own history, appeals to another book for - a proof of his actions, that book must be of much greater authority than - his own: we cannot avoid believing the writer of the work alluded to had - better information. In short, the book appealed to contains the only - authentic testimony. Now, permit me to ask you, who could be better - authority than Joshua himself, writing at a time when we must suppose many - of his soldiers who had witnessed the miracle were alive? What is this - anterior book which Joshua respects so much? Was it written by himself, - then it would be idle to quote it; and, at any rate, whoever had written - it, it is evident that the author of the book of Joshua has no proofs of - his own, but rests solely upon the book of the Holy, or of Jasher. This - circumstance proves clearly, that the writer of the Book of Joshua - composed his book out of some more ancient memoirs, which being lost, we - can say no more of their authority than for that of any old tales. You - talk of the public records of the Jews as confidently as a Member of - Parliament speaks of the papers in the Tower. Do you know at what period - the Jews began to keep written records, and do you also know, whether - those that were kept existed when the books of the Old Testament were - compiled? Had you been instructed in these particulars, and had you been - not altogether divested of candour, you might have informed your readers, - that, previous to the time of kings, we have not a shadow of proof of the - existence of any historical records among the Jews. We, no doubt, read, - that there was a book of the law of Moses, in which Joshua wrote something - too respecting the renewal of a covenant. This seems to be the only - written record among the Jews, and it contained nothing but religious - precepts, or the law, strictly speaking. In Joshua, chap. viii. ver. 31, - we read, "As Moses the servant of the Lord commanded the children of - Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses and ver. 32, He - wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in - the presence of the children of Israel and ver. 35, He read all the words - of the law, the blessings, and curses, according to all that is written in - the book of the law of the Lord, and there was not a word of all that - Moses commanded which Joshua read not before the congregation of Israel." - We know, likewise, that this law was written in the circumference of an - altar composed of twelve stones. This is the only book either Moses or - Joshua were ever said to have written; the writers of the Pentateuch, and - of the other books, certainly never meant to inscribe them to Moses, - Joshua, &c.; they bore the names of books of Moses, of Joshua, Judges, - &c. because they treated of these personages. What then do you infer - from the quotation of books by the Bible authors, except that they all - wrote in very modern times, when they wanted the corroboration of more - ancient books, whose date and authority we are equally strangers to? This - book of the law, which you so triumphantly mention as a book written and - existing a few years after Moses, turns out to be nothing more than what - is contained in Exodus, chap. xx. to chap. xxiv. to which Joshua added - some detail about the third covenant of God. - </p> - <p> - I beg the reader will observe, that the writer of the Book of Joshua does - not mention the second, third, or any other book of Moses, but simply - notices the book of the law of God. Now this great book was written upon - twelve stones, and in Exodus we find the precise commandment of Moses to - build the altar, and to read the commandments at the feast of tabernacles; - so that it contained not one line of history, and could have no authority. - It was a law written upon stones, which Moses, in Exod. chap. xxiv. v. 7, - is said to have read to the people: "And he took the book of the covenant, - and read it in the audience of the people." This covenant, and - particularly the repetition of it after the disobedience of the Jews, is - the only part of the Scriptures that Moses ordered to be preserved with a - religious care. Nothing of the most important parts of Genesis or the - other five books is ever mentioned in the commandments of the law of God: - the writer of the law certainly knew not that the Pentateuch existed. Had - Moses written such a work, would he have failed to recommend to the - Levites to keep the precious records of mankind, the sublime account of - the creation? Did not the whole of the faith of the Jews depend on their - being acquainted with the history of their forefathers, who were under the - immediate protection of God? The ten commandments every person knows from - the light of nature; no nation has ever mistaken them; but the origin of - mankind is a subject of great darkness, and which the Jews ought to have - preserved most carefully. Certain, however, it is, that excepting a few - rites, the Jews lost not only their books, but even the recollection of - their feasts, during their captivity. The other books referred to in the - Bible prove, that those left are mere collections of borrowed stories, and - pretended abridgements of books of greater authority, which are - unfortunately lost, and leave a wide field for scepticism, particularly - upon improbable or contradictory accounts. As to the belief that the books - of the Old Testament are inspired, it is a tale, which, after what we have - stated, even a child would laugh at. - </p> - <p> - You next seriously endeavour to corroborate the ridiculous miracle of the - sun and moon standing still. You are as unsuccessful in historical as in - scientifical arguments. The story in question is so stupid, that the bare - mention of it marks a man's credulity, so as to render him the object of - compassion. That an ignorant fanatic should attempt to defend such - absurdities, would be a matter of no surprise; but to witness a Regius - Professor of Divinity, a natural philosopher, bring forward facts from - profane history to prove the truth of so bare-faced a lie, denotes at - least your want of prudence. I cannot persuade myself that you seriously - believed what you wrote; I cannot think you capable of falling at once - into the most gross astronomical and historical error. I shall state the - matter briefly. There was a tradition in all antiquity, and particularly - among the Egyptians, relating to that motion of the earth's axis which has - been observed by astronomers, and whose complete revolution round the four - cardinal points takes up no less than 9,160,000 years. In the course of - this revolution, it necessarily happens, that the sun will rise where it - sets, that north will be south, and so on. The Egyptian priests pretended - that this revolution had taken place in their country without changing the - climate, while the Babylonians maintained, in the time of Alexander, that - 140,000 years had elapsed since their first astronomical observations. - This, no doubt, was the time that must have elapsed since the earth moved - north and south. The Egyptian priests, long before Herodotus, had lost - their knowledge of astronomy, which accounts for their mistake. It is - evident, that the displacement of the earth's axis must be accompanied by - the heaviest gravitating matter, and, therefore, what is now land, has - been and will, in the course of ages, become sea. Now, my Lord, what has - the Egyptian tradition to do with the sun stopped by the robber Joshua? - What connection has the stoppage of the sun, or rather the earth's motion, - with the sun rising where it sets? Were the thing possible, the sun would - nevertheless rise in the east. Besides, does Joshua say the sun changed - its course? Had this been the case, (I am ashamed even of the - supposition), how could the earth change its axis in an hour, without - shattering the whole globe, without inundating vast tracts of country, and - tearing others asunder to reestablish the equilibrium of gravity? Study - and consider; do not attempt to ridicule the little learning of Thomas - Paine, when you fall into such absurdities. Read Chinese history, and you - will find that their careful astronomers did not perceive the long day and - night. It was probably the sun of Judea only that altered its course; they - did not seem to be enlightened by the same luminary. Those who believed - that heaven was made of crystal, could find no difficulty in crediting - this silly story. I have insisted so much upon this, because you ought to - know the common principles of astronomy, and somewhat of history. Here - again you appeal to the book of Jasher: it deserves no more consideration. - To deem an appeal to a lost book evidence of a prodigy, because the author - affirms it, is a degree of credulity which may gain the kingdom of heaven; - but, in the republic of letters, such believer will pass for a very - contemptible reasoner. - </p> - <p> - These are the miracles, and the histories, better attested than the - History of the Twelve Knights Of Charles the Great, and such other foolish - tales. Surely, none can believe that 19,000 men fought against the - Midianites, and murdered a prodigious number, without having lost a man, - and disbelieve the famous battles of the knights, in many of which six men - fought several thousands; the conversation of the devil with Cromwell, or - the miraculous appearance of God to almost all the knights and warriors - among the Catholics. The sacred phial of Rheims, and the chapel of - Loretto, were both conveyed in a manner you know well, and which few men - in the two countries dare controvert. They too appeal to their books of - Jasher. The tale of making the sun stand still has not even the merit of - novelty; this luminary had long before stopt his career, out of respect to - Bacchus. Neither is the shower of hail-stones new, for Jupiter of old sent - a shower of hail upon the rebellious sons of Neptune. - </p> - <p> - As to Joshua having written the book that goes under his name, we have, - besides what has been stated, the strongest evidence against the - genuineness of this performance. The death of Joshua is recorded in chap. - xxiv. and it is related exactly in the same style as what precedes it. The - writer even mentions several events posterior to the death of the son of - Nun. You have passed over the arguments of Thomas Paine drawn from this - passage, "The Jebusites dwelt with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto - this day." It was natural for you to overlook a passage, which - demonstrates that the book of Joshua was not written until after David, - when, and not before, the conquest of the Jebusites took place. It is - beyond a doubt, that they never dwelt with the Jews in the time of Joshua, - since, in the first part of the above quoted passage, he says, "As for the - Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not - drive them out." How then did the Jews inhabit Jerusalem in the days of - Joshua? I refer the reader to the Age of Reason, and to an answer to it by - Mr. David Wilson, for further information, on this head. In the latter, he - will be amazed at the weak subterfuges used by the author to evade the - strength of the objection by Mr. Paine. But this is not the only event - related in Joshua, which did not take place till some time after his - death. Almost the whole of chap. xvii. contains facts of this nature. - Where the portion of Manasseh is described, it is said, in ver. 12, "Yet - the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those - cities, but the inhabitants would dwell in that land." It is added, "And - it came to pass, when the children of Israel waxed strong, that they put - the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out." Now this - certainly did not take place during the life of Joshua, for in the very - same chapter, he promises those of the tribe of Manasseh success against - the Canaanites. In the preceding chapter, v. 10, there is a passage of the - same kind, "And they (the Ephraimites) drove not out the Canaanites that - dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt among the Ephraimites unto this - day, and some under tribute." This needs no comment: let any person ask - himself when this came to pass, and they will at once find out the credit - due to books containing such shameful anachronisms and falsehoods. In - chapter first of Judges, purporting to contain the history of the Jews - after Joshua, the reader will find a faithful copy of the passages quoted, - not excepting the taking of Jerusalem. Let himc ompare ver. 8, 27, 28, 29, - and following, with the detail of distribution of lots to the tribes, in - chap. xvi. and xvii. of Joshua the same events are told in the very words, - and apply to two different periods. This is a strong instance of the - disorder that pervades the whole of these books, and how undeserving of - credit, even in the most probable events, is what you call sacred writ. We - are constantly reading over accounts of the same events, sometimes said to - be written by dead men, and never marking time; for <i>it came to pass</i>, - which is the Bible phrase, does not fix the period when the event took - place. These books bear all the marks of being the productions of some - persons at a very late period, and to have suffered great interpolations. - Joshua is, in the face of it, a continuation of Deuteronomy, Judges of - Joshua, and so on through the remainder. - </p> - <p> - You pass on to Judges. It requires neither great knowledge nor ingenuity - to discover, that this book is an unconnected farrago put together by some - unknown person. You do not attempt to say any thing in its favour. Sad - falling off from the paths of faith! Formerly it would have been a heresy - to assert that Judges was a book of no authority: now, even a Bishop has - nothing to say in its defence. You then proceed to Ruth, and endeavour to - blot out the apparent infamy of her conduct, with what success, I leave - the reader to judge, after he has perused her history. Next follow your - subtle distinctions between the inspired and non-inspired part of the - Bible, which may be very intelligible to an inspired Bishop, but cannot - fail to appear a mere dream to a man in his senses. Notwithstanding Austin - and your other brethren, this distinction rests upon nothing but fancy. - Your request is very moderate. "Receive the Bible," you say, "as composed - by upright and well-informed, though in some points, fallible men, (for I - exclude all fallibility <i>when they profess to deliver</i> the word of - God), and you must receive it as a book revealed to you in many parts by - the express will of God, and, in other parts, relating to you the ordinary - history of the times." Bravo! A Catholic is as reasonable in his demands. - He only asks a little credulity to believe the inspired when <i>they - profess to be so</i>. It is truly a childish request, begging the question - at every word. To believe the Bible to be inspired is the grand point. The - reasoning you employ is in perfect consonance with the absurdity of your - wishes. You disbelieve a history if you find it inconsistent, but revere - it, and swear by the author, if he wrote by inspiration. Swedenburgh could - not wish more faith in his adherents. You say <i>receive it</i>, as the - inquisitors said <i>imprimatur</i>; but philosophers weigh the ground of - their belief; they detect the Bible writers, prophets, and inspired men, - in palpable contradictions in history; and you will obstinately insist on - our believing the most improbable of all their stories, because their - absurdity persuades the faithful that they were revealed by their God in - dreams.——You have acknowledged yourself, in a subsequent - letter, that the history and mystery of the Bible are so interwoven, that - if one falls the other cannot be maintained. Why did God mingle his - important and sublime precepts with such ridiculous trash, so as to induce - mankind to disbelieve them both? Suppose I should meet a peasant coming - from a fair, pretending he had seen the king with his guards, and if I - should find this to be untrue, would I not deserve to be laughed at, if I - credited that he had wrestled with a spirit, or that he was carried up to - heaven? This, however, is the case with the Bible. Here we are told that - the sun stood Still to protract the bloodshed of that villain Joshua, - while, in another place, we read that a city was taken 370 years before - that event. Your vaunted prophets were soothsayers, psalmists, and - orators, who were generally employed in writing the public records. It is - a word applied in the Bible to holy men. These prophets, like the augurs - of the heathen, were often detected in falsehoods, and, in the time of - Samuel, it would appear, by the Bible itself, that to raise ghosts was a - trade as common as that of tailors in our days. - </p> - <p> - You now come to Samuel. You are candid enough to acknowledge with Hartley, - that he could not have been the author of the second book, nor of most of - the first that go under his name, yet this has been the opinion of the - church; and I know of no direct proofs that he wrote the remainder: by - what logic do you or Hartley conclude, that Samuel wrote any part of the - books ascribed to him? An author is proved not to have written most part - of a work ascribed to him, who then would, without direct proofs, proclaim - him the writer of some small passage, or any particular part of the work? - Who but a clergyman would build a system upon a mutilated, spurious, and - insignificant collection of absurdities and wonders? It is, I allow, - probable that Samuel wrote something: your quotations prove no more; but - what this was, we are, I presume, equally unacquainted with. That the - scribes also composed some records of the lives of their kings, I will not - deny. The question is, what degree of credit does the mutilated, - contradictory, and fabulous collection, said to be made out of these - records, deserve? - </p> - <p> - In the time of Charles the Great, some persons probably recorded his - actions. Is this a reason for any man to believe the fabulous legends we - have of him, written in the dark centuries? The legends of the Egyptian - and Greek gods, and their collection of oracles, were not only credited by - whole nations, but proclaimed true by councils much wiser than the - synagogue. The records of the saints were undoubtedly made few years after - their death, in ages far more enlightened, after the invention of the - press, written by the then most learned men of society, (the monks), who - certainly were not inferior to the Jewish scribes, yet these legends - contain often nothing but collections of absurdities and miracles. Read - the <i>Flores Sanctorum</i> of the Romish church, and you there will find - miracles in every page, and the lives of saints a tissue of prodigies. I - need not add, that very few learned men among the Papists give credit to - the absurdities contained in these books. It is even the opinion of the - best informed men, that the monks have written lives of saints who never - existed. - </p> - <p> - You acknowledge the wickedness of the kings of Israel and Judah; but you - take care to observe, that this was not owing to their religion. - Impertinent assertion! Was not Saul dethroned because he was humane enough - not to cut Agag in pieces? Did not the Lord Jehovah love the man after his - own heart, who put the miserable inhabitants of Rabah under saws, axes, - and arrows of iron; who made them pass through the brick-kiln? Did not - this Jehovah approve the base murder of Adonias? Was it the same Jehovah - who said to Jonah, that he was not so unjust as to sacrifice the whole - city of Nineveh for their sins, because there were thousands in it who did - not know between good and evil; and who yet, the Jews tell us, commanded - the extermination of whole nations, without even sparing the little - children? Did not the plagues which he sent to Pharaoh and David fall upon - thousands of innocent individuals? At least, do not the Jewish books - affirm it? Such horrors could only be respected by the Jews; such absurd - miracles could only be credited by the most ignorant of men. You pretend, - that the partiality of God to the Jews proceeded from their being the only - nation that believed in the unity of God, and who have preserved their - belief on this head unshaken till the present day. Are you in earnest, can - you assert this before men of common information? Do you take Englishmen - for idiots to be deceived by your assertions? Are you ignorant of the - adoration of the Ethiopians? Do you forget that the wise men among the - heathens said, <i>Colitur forma pro Jove?</i> Did you never peruse any - account, of the Chinese, or of the Hindoos? Do they not admit one supreme - agent, an all-wise, intelligent, &c. being, and whose inferior agents - they represent by symbols? The Hindoos have even all the metaphysical - refinement of our divines; and their definition of God is fully as - perspicuous as that given in our Catechism. I have avoided to give long - extracts in this pamphlet; but, that the authority of an English Bishop - may not be a presumption to many that I am making false assertions, I - shall transcribe a passage from a commentary upon the Reig Beid, a book - unquestionably of the remotest antiquity. - </p> - <p> - "Glory be to Goneish! that which is exempt from all desires of the senses, - the same is the mighty Lord. He is simple, and than him there is nothing - greater. Brehm, (the spirit of God), is absorbed in self-contemplation; - the same is the mighty Lord who is present in every part of space. Brehm - is one, and to him there is no second; such is truly Brehm. His - omniscience is self-inspired, and its comprehension includes all possible - species," &c. It is true, we are not here told that God is a jealous - God, that he visiteth the iniquities of the father even unto the fourth - generation. I could adduce fifty passages from the Greeks and others to - prove my position, but it is needless. The point is still to know whether - these notions make men better, whether they are founded on truth, and, - indeed, whether all gods are not the work of the fancy of man, nature - allegorised. <i>Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor</i>, says the philosopher; - can you disprove it? I suspect not, and that all the subtle reasoning of - divines destroy themselves. The world is the ultimate of human reason. We - adore the idols either of our hands or of the brain, and mistake them for - existences. The region of chimeras exists beyond the universe; our - prattling upon it is but a play of words. Jehovah himself, when he said, I - am that I am, called himself pretty plainly Pan, or the great whole. - </p> - <p> - But if the unity of God be the only gracious belief in the eyes of the - Creator, I do not see that Christians are entitled to his favour, because - they make him three. What was the belief of the Jews? Had they any very - refined ideas of their God? They thought him corporeal, incessantly - speaking and moving among men, jealous, revengeful, powerful, whose angels - ate with Abraham, who himself strove to kill Moses in a public house; they - imagined him repenting of his deeds; and, in all respects, a poor - contemptible being, the offspring of Jewish fancy. He is throughout the - Bible an Asiatic Sultan, who, like the merciful God of Mahomet, puts to - the sword, and smites with plagues thousands, as a tribute to his infinite - mercy. I refer the reader to the collection of extracts from the Bible, in - a subsequent letter, for proofs of my assertions. The Jews admitted, - besides other gods, such as Chemosh, several beings subordinate to God, - but superior to man, as the serpent which tempted the mother of mankind. - They had exterminating angels and cherubims, the Elohim or Genii that made - the world, &c. But why dwell upon such topics, when it is evident that - all the Jewish mythology is of Chaldean origin, and our theology a copy of - that of Plato? - </p> - <p> - You proceed in your attempt to reconcile the justice of God with his - goodness, and, in the height of your reverie, you imagine that the - sufferings of the Jews were parts of a grand scheme for the general good - of mankind. What, and when are we to see the good effects of their - barbarities? We may see reason counteracting the evil of superstition, - rendering men humane; but I apprehend, that, if your reasoning was - generally adopted, every highwayman would be much inclined to think - himself sent by Providence for good and wise purposes, and if chance - should bring about a happy event at the end of his career, which he - thought the consequence of his deeds, he would triumph in his crimes, and, - like Moor in the Robbers, exclaim, "If for ten I have destroyed, you make - but one man blest, my soul may yet be saved!" This has been the language - of persecutors. They destroy mankind to make them happy in the next world—tortures, - burning, and beheading, are but purifications. The worst is, that the - famous divine scheme of general good, has never been one jot more advanced - than when the Jews were enduring the greatest calamities, and committing - atrocities. I count not the effects of reason, for faith is alone the - godly faculty; reason destroys it. I close my observations upon this - subject with repeating the old question of Epicurus, which your brethren - have as yet left unanswered; either God can prevent evil and does not - choose it, or he chooses it and wants power to avert calamities from his - creatures. In the first instance, he is a malevolent despot, a character - we ought to abhor; in the second, we see him an impotent and secondary - being, which raises our contempt. Reconcile this with his infinite power, - wisdom, and goodness, and show us that he is not formed after the image of - man, or else let unbelievers hold their opinions in peace. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - LETTER V. - </h2> - <p> - Your fifth letter begins with stating the importance of the concession of - Thomas Paine, that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah are genuine. You - triumph, and think it a silent acknowledgment of the reality of the - prophecies mentioned in those books. Stop, my Lord, your <i>alma-mater</i> - surely has not taught you to draw such conclusions. In a genuine book - there may be contained incredible events, as in Tacitus, Suetonius, and - almost all existent histories. It is your duty to prove that the - prophecies there related are not among those popular stories which are apt - to gain general credit, whether they are or are not forgeries written - after the events. Before we know when Jeremiah wrote, and what is the - meaning of the writings under his name, no man is warranted to triumph at - the testimony of the Jews after the captivity; since it is a point, in - which all parties agree; that their canon and books were compiled at that - period, and nobody ever questioned the credulity of the Jews. You proceed - to state your notions of the history of the Old Testament; it is all a - matter of opinion; and, as you do not support it by any proofs, we must - still continue to regard the contradictions and impostures contained in - the Old Testament as proofs of its having been the work of ignorant - fanatics. I pass over your effusions: that metaphysical disquisitions - teach us the limits of our faculties, I strenuously maintain; and if you - mean nothing else, we are agreed. That our notions of time and place are - not the bugbears which the scholastics would persuade us, is to me - unquestionable; that both in science and religion we affix no ideas to - many words, I grant; that certainty in philosophical disquisitions is not - easily found, I also allow; but, that a man tired with the arduous task of - reasoning, of discerning between truth and falsehood, should seek in - polemics or superstition a consolation for his ignorance, I consider as a - proof of the impaired state of his faculties; he is like the thirsty - traveller, who, burnt by the scorching sun, seeks to relieve his distress - by drinking of the first water he meets, without regarding its purity. - Your acknowledgment that it is possible even for a Bishop to err in - matters of religion, gives me real pleasure. To consider our creed as a - matter that admits of doubt, is a great step in the road of truth. You - say, "May God forgive him that is in an error." Your wish is humane; but, - if God be the Creator of mankind, he cannot be offended at the conclusions - we may draw, after having employed the faculties he has given us. I wish - too that mankind should forgive them that are in an error; but, I hope, - they will recollect the long sway of superstition, and its danger to - mankind; may they decide in favour of that system which is conformable to - reason, and has the greatest tendency to improve society! - </p> - <p> - You next proceed to show the propriety of the angel ordering Moses to pull - off his shoes, which you say is a mark of reverence to God. Is it then by - such ridiculous customs that you reconcile your omnipotent and all-wise - God? Too long have men substituted rites for morality. O superstition! - that makes the Asiatics eat the excrements of the lama, the Papists devour - their God; that persuades all Christians that water washeth away sin; and, - that if a child happens to die before his face is sprinkled, he must - inevitably suffer everlasting torments: led by this, men despise society, - and tremble at ceremonies invented by their priests. - </p> - <p> - I shall not go at great length into the particular contradictions which - are found in the enumeration of the families that returned from Babylon. - There certainly are great mistakes in the sums; and where precision was to - be expected more than in any thing preserved in the record of the people - of God, we find them committing the most gross errors, even when they - attempt to be peculiarly exact. It is curious, that the individual sums - are altogether different in the different accounts, and, therefore, that - there must have been a much greater number of errors than you would - persuade your readers. - </p> - <p> - You come to the book of Job; and confine your remarks to disprove the - objection of Mr. Paine, drawn from the name Satan, which, he says, is - there for the first and only time mentioned in the Bible. Your answer, - that it is repeatedly to be found elsewhere in the Old Testament, is just - but it certainly does not prove Job to be a Jewish book. We know that <i>Sathan</i>, - as well as the names of all the angels, are Chaldean; and as I have - already shown, that the Scriptures are compilations written after the - captivity, it is not wonderful that this name, together with many others, - should be found in the Hebrew Bible. As you say nothing in favour of the - book of Job, I shall only observe, that it is not only the opinion of - Abenezra, but even of Jerome, the author of the Vulgate, that it is not a - Hebrew book, the idiom being in many instances altogether different from - the style of that language, and very frequently bearing marks of its - Arabic and Syriac origin, as the reader may see in his preface to Job in - the Vulgate edition of the Bible. The resemblance between Job's Satan and - Momus is so striking, that we cannot help recognising the author to have - been a Gentile; and thus are the Jews deprived of a book, which, at least, - contains no murders, and shows more knowledge than that nation ever - possessed. Your remark as to the generality of the belief of a benevolent - and a malevolent being, certainly does not prove that the Gentiles - borrowed this notion from the Jews; you ought to have known history - better, and that the wars of the Gods and angels formed part of the creed - of many nations, not only before a book of the Bible existed, but even - before the birth of Moses. Dionysius and Osiris had already fought against - the evil genii: the famous Vishnu has been from the highest antiquity the - enemy of Chiven. That the numerous mythological systems which have ever - existed, sprang from the report of the fathers of the Jewish nation, may - appear probable to a clergyman; it is but a pious whim; to me it is a - proof, that all religious systems have sprung from the fancy of men. The - philosophers among the heathens understood by the evil and bad genii - nothing more than the influence of the good or bad seasons, which, - personified by ignorant or cunning priests, have by the vulgar been deemed - real personages. Besides, where do you find in the Pentateuch any accounts - of the Devil? I only see the serpent, an emblem I have already said, - copied from the Egyptians, but by the Jews considered a real snake, which - talked and walked upright. It was but a poor imitation of the Ahrimanes of - Zoroaster. - </p> - <p> - Concerning the utility of prayers, and the tendency of those of the Jews, - I shall say nothing. It is a certain fact, that Solomon, the wisest of - men, and who made excellent prayers, killed his brother; while many of - those heathen tribes, abhorred by the Jews, had no other crime than to - adore images; and, if superstition among them sometimes produced the - abominable practice of human sacrifices, they never carried their piety so - far as to exterminate whole nations. Besides, the Jews had not even a - pretence to despise their neighbours for offering human sacrifices. The - case of Jephtha shows plainly that this barbarity was common among God's - people. I am utterly surprised at your misplaced exclamations upon the - morality of the heathens. Far be it from me to stand forward as the patron - of heathenish superstition; it is the mother of ours, and I abhor the - common stock; but, my Lord, you ought not to confound the rites of the - Greeks with their morals. The Athenians possessed virtues which we in vain - look for among the despicable Jews. They possessed knowledge, and their - philosophers had more sense than to believe the tales of the priests. - Epicurus taught peaceably, and was revered by all, while the vulgar of his - country firmly believed their mythology. Such an instance never happened - among the Jews. Jehovah would quickly have sent a plague among Epicurus - and his followers, or ordered his priests "to kill every one his neighbour - and his friend, and hang them up before the sun." Your holy brethren would - think nothing of a burning match on the occasion; if it were in your - power, atheists would not exist long. But you talk so confidently of the - adoration of images among the Gentiles, that we would imagine the Jews - were all philosophers. Do you forget their reverence to the holy of - holies, which none could approach; the ark of the covenant, and the - calves? Or has the story of the five golden mice, for looking at which - fifty thousand and three score and ten Israelites were smote by the Lord, - escaped you? - </p> - <p> - Your rhapsody upon the sublimity of Bible composition, and its superiority - to all profane writers, is a proof of the strength of early imbibed - prejudice. I lament to see a man of your learning think so much like an - old woman. The proverbs, to be sure, are wonderful compositions, and prove - the great gift of wisdom bestowed by God upon Solomon! What indeed can be - more sublime than the following, which I beg leave to add to the specimens - given by your Lordship! "The horse leech hath two daughters, crying, Give, - give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea four things say - not it is enough; the grave, and the barren womb, the earth that is not - filled with water, and the fire that saith not it is enough."—"There - be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea four which I know not; - the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon the rock, the - way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid."—"There - be three things which go well, a greyhound, an he-goat also, and a king."—"It - is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honour of kings is to - search out a matter."—"When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, - consider diligently what is before thee, and put a knife to thy throat if - thou be a man given to appetite."—"Buy the truth, and sell it not."—"A - whore is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow pit."—Excellent - Solomon! Hear also this wise king in Song of Songs. "How beautiful are thy - feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! The joints of thy thighs are like - jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman; thy-navel is like a - round goblet which wanteth not liquor; thy belly is like a heap of wheat - set about with lilies; thy two breasts are like two young roes that are - twins; thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fish pools in - Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim; thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon, - which looketh towards Damascus." Whether this alludes to one of Solomon's - concubines, or our mother, the church of Jesus Christ, the expressions are - equally applicable, beautiful, and simple; they are worthy of a man "wiser - than Ethan the Ezrehite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of - Mehol," who, I dare say, were wise men. Upon the whole, I agree with you, - that Solomon, the illustrious offspring of the man after God's own heart - and the virtuous Bathsheba, was not "a witty jester." As to what you call - his "sins and debaucheries," these holy books were certainly not written - with a view to make us avoid them. Solomon is set before us as a pattern - of wisdom and goodness; and the number of his wives and concubines is - exultingly recorded as a proof of his greatness, as much as his treasures, - which exceed all conception, and the number of his horses, which exceed - all belief. - </p> - <p> - Your pious belief in the inspired prophecies of Isaiah, is natural to a - superstitious and credulous mind. The philosopher who doubts before he - gazes, sees in what you call prophecies nothing else but scraps of history - or legend. He receives with diffidence all predictions. He is aware of the - great ease with which forgeries may be passed among the vulgar for - prophecies. When pretended predictions are made, they are altogether - overlooked; even the ignorant think not of them till they are said to be - accomplished; the learned despise them in both instances; and it is not - till after their authenticity has gained a sort of general belief, that - the philosopher thinks of enquiring when and how they were made. At this - period he can find no evidence of their history, but from the credulous - who have been imposed upon by them. Besides, no prophecy is ever direct, - it always has an equivocal meaning, and is explained to suit the events - which have happened. Religious enthusiasts write in such a mystic language - upon the sins of mankind, and the judgements that are to come upon them, - and in so general and ambiguous terms, that it is easy for a subtle - interpreter, or a visionary fanatic, to explain them according to his own - system. Have not the bears of the Apocalypse been made to signify by - turns, the Pope and the Devil? Has not the New Jerusalem been sometimes - taken for a real flying town, seen in the air by the first fathers of the - church, as Tertullean informs us? Do not other divines tell us that it - means the kingdom of heaven? Have not scripture divines, even in the first - ages of the church, pretended that the verses of Virgil, <i>Jam redit et - Virgo, redeunt Sa-tumia regna, jam nova progenies ccelo demittitur alto;—natte - mets vires, mea magna potentia solus, and talia perstabat memorans, - fixusque manebat</i>, were clear prophecies of the Virgin Mary, and Jesus - Christ? It might be worth enquiring at this time, whether the Roman Bard - was inspired by the Holy Ghost? Lastly, I may ask, does your Lordship - believe in the many prophecies that have of late appeared of the French - revolution? - </p> - <p> - But we have more reasons to declare the pretended clear prophecies of the - Bible to be fables. In many instances they are so accurate, and so unlike - these passages which we know to have been written previous to the events - to which they are applied, or those which are not yet fulfilled, that no - philosopher can pronounce them to have been written historically. Thus, we - find Jacob announce to his twelve sons, the heads of the twelve tribes of - Israel, the fate of their posterity; the situation of the district to be - occupied by the Israelites in the land of Canaan, two hundred years before - Joshua parcelled out this land in lots to the Israelites; the kind of life - the different tribes would lead; the small number of the posterity of - Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, as well as the power of Judah; all which are - related as exactly as if the patriarch had seen the throne of David and - Solomon with his own eyes. Some of the supposed predictions of Isaiah and - Daniel, are even more minutely correct. You have treated the question of - the genuineness and date of works very lightly; you think it is of no - great consequence to ascertain the genuineness of the different books of - the Bible. Let us for a moment suppose, that by some accident, the age of - Virgil had been forgotten, or the sixth book of his Ęneid been ascribed to - a writer of the age of Ęneas; would not the Romans be entitled to regard, - as a most wonderful prophecy, the lively representation given by Anchises - of the future heroes of the republic, the two Cęsars, and the young - Marcellus? - </p> - <p> - To resume our subject: I remind you of the passage already quoted from - Bellarminus, that it was the opinion of the fathers of the church, that - the Prophets, among other books, had been collected and arranged by - Esdras. I have also stated the selection of genuine works by the - synagogue, during the reign of the Maccabees, when the Talmud says that - the forgeries of Daniel, Esdras, &c. were prodigious. The destruction - by Antiochus Epiphanus of the already broken Jewish books, written by - Esdras, may be collected from what is said in Maccabees, chap. i. ver. 56 - and 57. "And when they had rent in pieces the books of the law which they - found, they burnt them with fire, and whosoever was found with any of the - books of the Testament, or if any consented to the law, the king's - commandment was, that they should put him to death." - </p> - <p> - It is without reason that you triumph at the application which Thomas - Paine makes of the prophecy of Isaiah, in chapters xliv. and xlv. No man - that reads the passage can hesitate for a moment to declare it a narrative - of the deliverance of the Jews by Cyrus, after the seventy years - captivity. Cyrus is mentioned by name, as well as his command to rebuild - Jerusalem, and his victories over the nations, above one hundred years - before the event. Will you then, without any proofs of Isaiah having - written this book, insist upon calling it a prophecy? And have not - sceptics been justified in their disbelief of the genuineness of such - books? Mr. Paine, however, has overlooked a more remarkable prophecy in - this book, which has been tortured into an application to Christ. This is - contained in chapter lxiii. ver. 1. "Who is this that cometh from Edom, - with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, - travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in. - righteousness, mighty to save." And again, in chap. ii. (talking of the - supposed Christ) Isaiah says, "And he shall judge among the nations, and - shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into - plough-shares."—"And the idols he shall totally abolish." Can this - possibly allude to Christ? Did he come from Edom in mighty power, in rich - garments? Was his march so terrible? Was he the man who trampled all in - his fury; who with his own arm brought salvation to himself, and was - upheld by his fury; as also mentioned in chap. lxiii.? Do not these - pretended prophecies also apply to Judas Maccabeus, who delivered the Jews - from the tyranny of Antiochus Epi-phanus? And is it not also a proof of - the mutilated state of the works of the prophets to see details about - Cyrus intermingled with others applying to Judas Maccabeus? I say nothing - of Daniel, for his <i>prophecy</i> I shall consider particularly - afterwards, and show its true meaning; at present, it may be sufficient to - say, that the similarity between the book of Ezra and Daniel proclaim them - to be from the same hand; but both have evident marks of having been - considerably mutilated. When philosophers cannot ascertain the age of - pretended predictions, they consider their clearness as a demonstration of - their being histories. Who tells you that the books which the synagogue, - like the Nicene council, chose, were not either altogether written, or - considerably interpolated, to adopt them to the times? The great question - is always, what authority had the synagogue to decide, and whether their - decision ought to influence men of sense, any more than the determination - of the Popish councils. - </p> - <p> - As a proof of the absurdity of the application of prophecies, I shall here - quote one, which is apparently clearer than any in the whole Bible, and is - adduced by the most famous divines as an unquestionable prediction of - Christ. It is in Micah, chap. v. ver. I. "Now gather thyself in troops, O - daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us; they shall smite the - Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, - though thou be little among thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he - come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have - been from of old, from everlasting." Here even the birth-place of Christ - is mentioned, the insults offered to him, his existence from everlasting, - and his coming to save Israel. And Matthew, chap. ii. ver. 6, and John, - chap. vii. ver. 43, both expressly refer to that passage as a prophecy. - Hear now what follows in ver. 5, of the same chapter of Micah: "And this - man shall be the peace, when the Assyrians shall come into our land: and - when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven - shepherds, and eight principal men." Can this apply to Jesus Christ? Were - the Syrians in the land when he came? Were not the Romans masters of - Judea? Your rules of belief are admirable: a little faith, wherever you - meet contradictions, absurdities, or wonders, is an invaluable - prescription, common to the Bramin, the Musselman, and the Christian. Do - but believe that Mahomet is a prophet, that he went up to heaven and saw - the eternal Father, and you will go through the other articles of the - Mahometan faith without difficulty. Do but admit the gospel of Barnabas - where Mahomet is predicted, and we have no reason to say that it is less - authentic than our gospel, and the work is done; but, I may say with you, - "Proof, proof is what I require, and not assertion." - </p> - <p> - We will not relinquish our reason in obedience to the despotic mandates of - the credulous. - </p> - <p> - You allow that the miracles of the Jews fall to the ground, if the history - of that nation is proved false. I beg you to observe, that if it is true, - it does not follow that the miracles are. If you can believe that the - history of the Jews is well authenticated, and without numerous - contradictions, and if you can exculpate the writers from bad motives, and - a desire to deceive, and if you can rely upon their wisdom, you then will - really prove yourself a Christian, a man of uncommon faith. The history of - the Jews, every where confused, containing prodigies, deserves no more - credit than their antedeluvian tale. Even Chinese history, supported by - astronomical observations, is beyond a certain period rejected by all men, - from the fables it contains. If you are disposed to believe, I advise you - to read the fabulous history of China and of Hindostan, in the holy books - of the respective nations, which are adopted by whole nations, and are, at - least, more beautiful than the Jews. - </p> - <p> - I have purposely omitted to speak of Ecclesiastes. I find here several - Epicurean notions, a disbelief of a future life, the propriety of enjoying - themselves in this life, and other sensible remarks; which prove that the - writer enjoyed more common sense than most of his countrymen. - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - LETTER VI. - </h2> - <p> - You begin your sixth letter by attempting to disprove the arguments of - Thomas Paine upon Jeremiah. You acknowledge the disorder that prevails in - the writings of this prophet; and you modestly assure us, that you do not - know the cause; no more do I: and whatever incidents might have occasioned - it, I am certain that, as it stands, it deserves no degree of credit. In a - former part of your pamphlet you grant, that the history of the Jews is so - connected with the prophetical part, that if the former was done away the - latter could not stand; and now you inform us, "that prophecy differs from - history, in not being subject to an accurate observance of time and - order." This you think a matter of no importance, but, in my opinion, it - is very material to know if a prophecy is written after the events it - alludes to. I shall not follow far, either your Lordship or Mr. Paine, in - proving several of the prophecies of the Bible false; but if they are not - prophecies, why should we trouble ourselves with disproving them. If they - are scraps of history, we know that of the Jews to be so contradictory, - imperfect, so completely without order, that one historical extract, of - prophecy, will often contradict another; but much more generally these - prophecies are strict enough, being copied from history, and embellished - with a little of the figurative style of prophecy. As to Jeremiah, the - works that go under his name, as well as those of Isaiah, appear on the - face of them to be a collection of extracts from different historians. - </p> - <p> - While we know so little of the history and genuineness of these writings, - we cannot possibly draw any conclusion concerning them, except that they - are in the utmost disorder, and that when writers intermingle history with - prophecy, we are at a loss to know which is which. I cannot forbear to - mention the ludicrous story of Elisha, the children, the bears that - devoured the children of men, as you are pleased to call them. Whether - Elisha did this as a prophet, I cannot but declare my abhorrence at your - approbation of such abominable cruelty, to murder individuals because they - bestowed the appellation of Baldhead on another. According to the laudable - custom of the church, you appeal to a miracle, and conclude, that if God - wrought a miracle it must have been just. I suppose this comparatively as - when he destroys whole cities for the sins of a few; but this is the very - ground on which every crusader supported his massacres; and every man may - imitate the conduct of Ahod, the treacherous murderer, patronised by - Jehovah, without incurring the blame of a Bishop. Whether the ridiculous - tale which you take for a sign of God, most probably of his cruelty, - converted any person, is not known; but as the event most undoubtedly - never happened, you may suppose what you please. To murder them is not the - way to ingratiate ourselves with our fellow-citizens. If any person set a - few bull-dogs on some children, and pretended to do so by authority from - heaven, he would most undoubtedly be taken up by our officers of justice. - In what respect do these brutal prophets differ from Mahomet, who decided - all disputes by the sword? Their business was to exterminate and murder by - the direct commands of God. - </p> - <p> - The writings of Ezekiel are considerably truncated. The very beginning of - his prophecies shows it. The conjunction and texture of the whole work - refers to something that ought to have preceded it. He begins saying, - "That in the 30th year the heavens opened, and he saw visions of God." And - in ver. 5, he adds, "That the Lord had inspired him often in Chaldea," - which refers to some prophecies written in that period. Besides, - Josephus's work, book 10, chap. ix. of the Jewish antiquities, says, "That - Ezekiel had prophecied that Zedekiah should never see Babylon." This is no - where found in Ezekiel, but, on the contrary, in chap. xi. and xii. he - says, "That the king would be carried a prisoner to Babylon." - </p> - <p> - As to Daniel, I have already noticed the great similarity between the - first book of Esdras and his, and the probability that they came from the - same author. The seven first chapters, except the first, were written in - Chaldean, and are by the most learned thought to be taken from Chaldean - chronologists. It is also thought by men of great learning, that the books - of Esdras, Daniel, and Esther, were altered a long time after Judas - Maccabeus, because it appears evident that Esdras could not have written - the whole of them, since Nehemiah carries the genealogy of Jesuhga, the - sovereign Pontiff till Jaddua, the sixteenth in number, who after the - defeat of Darius went to meet Alexander. And Nehemiah, ver. 22, "The - Levites, in the days of Eliashib, Joiadah, and Johanan, and Jaddua, were - recorded chief of the fathers; also the priests, to the reign of Darius - the Persian." We have no reason to believe that Esdras or Nehemiah could - survive fourteen kings of Persia, Cyrus having been the first who gave the - Jews permission to rebuild the temple, from whom to Darius there are 230 - years. - </p> - <p> - I now come to the famous prophecy of the seventy weeks of Daniel, which - you exultingly mention as the most wonderful, and, at the same time, the - most incontrovertible prediction in existence, one which never can fail to - confound the most perverse unbeliever. If I prove, that so far from being - the surprising prophecy you pretend, it has altogether a different - meaning, and can nowise apply to the coming of Christ, I shall think - myself fully excused, if I do not go through every individual prediction - in the Bible. The passage alluded to is in Daniel, chap. ix. ver. 24, to - 27, as follows: "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon - thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, - and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting - righteousness, and to seal up the vision, and prophecy, and to anoint the - most holy. Know, therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of - the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah, the - prince, there shall be seven weeks; and threescore and two weeks the - streets shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And - after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for - himself; and the people of the prince that shall come, shall destroy the - city, and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and - unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm - the covenant with many, for one week; and, in the midst of the week, he - shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease; and for the overspreading - of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, - and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." - </p> - <p> - This passage is generally applied to the coming of Christ. The seventy - weeks are supposed to mean weeks of years, or seven years each. Now it is - evident, that it cannot apply to Jesus Christ; for if from going forth of - the commandment in the time of Artaxerxes Longimanus, until the coming of - the Messiah, there were to be seven weeks or forty-nine years, how does - this agree with what follows? "After threescore and two weeks (or three - hundred and seventy-four years) shall Messiah be cut off." And again, "He - shall confirm the covenant with many for a week." Did then Jesus Christ - live four hundred and twenty-three years, or are there two Messiahs - predicted? Dr. Frideaux acknowledges that some parts of this prophecy are - so injudiciously printed in the English translation of the Bible, that - they are quite unintelligible; his alteration is in the punctuation, and - according to it we read, that, <i>from the going forth of the commandment - to restore and build Jerusalem, to the Messiah, the Prince, shall be seven - weeks, and threescore and two weeks</i>; and in verse 27, he puts the half - of the week, instead of the midst. The explanation of the prophecy as thus - altered, he gives as follows. From the commandment given to Ezra by - Ar-taxerxes Longimanus, to the accomplishment of it by Nebemiah forty-nine - years, or the first seven weeks; from this accomplishment to the time of - Christ's messenger John the Baptist sixty-two weeks, or four hundred and - thirty-four years; from thence to the beginning of Christ's public - ministry, half a week, or three years and a half; and from thence to the - death of Christ, half a week, or three years and a half; in which half - week he preached and confirmed the gospel with many; in all, from the - going forth of the commandment, till the death of Christ, seventy weeks, - or four hundred and ninety years. - </p> - <p> - In the first place, we confidently assert that Dr. Prideaux followed his - fancy, not the original Hebrew, when he altered the punctuation. He is, - however, justified in the alteration of half of a week; but, granting all, - let us see how it applies. Did the Messiah come after seven weeks from the - commandment of Ar-taxerxes Longimanus? The explanation only says, that - Nehemiah finished the work which Ezra began. What has this to do with the - Messiah coming at the end of the first seven weeks? The prophet says, that - after threescore and two weeks, the street and the wall shall be built. - Again, and previously, that after the commandment for the city to be - built, the Messiah shall come in seven weeks. The learned divine, on the - contrary, makes Daniel say, that John the Baptist began to preach the - kingdom of the Messiah sixty-nine weeks after the commandment, and in the - first seven weeks he talks of nothing but building the temple. Again, how - does the oblation cease in half a week? In fact, the same objection occurs - here, as to the passage as it is written in our Bibles. Daniel speaks - quite clear, when he says, that "from the going forth of the commandment - to restore and build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah, the Prince, shall be - seven weeks." If we find, in whatever explanation of the prophecy, that - Christ did not come forty-nine years after this commandment, and that he - did not live four hundred and thirty-four years afterwards, the whole must - be an untruth. And, if the first period of seven weeks is united with that - of threescore and two, that is, if the period of rebuilding the city, and - of the coming of the Messiah be the same, then let divines inform us - whether this really came to pass, and reconcile it with what follows, in - ver. 26, that the city is to be destroyed at the same time. Did Christ - confirm any covenant with many for seven years? - </p> - <p> - Let us attempt to unriddle this enigma. The passage evidently talks of two - Messiahs, or makes one live upwards of four hundred years; and is - altogether unintelligible as it stands. For the better understanding of - it, I shall quote some previous part of the same chapter, ver. 1. "In the - first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, - which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. 2. In the first year - of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books, the number of the years - whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would - accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 3. And I set my - face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayers and supplications, with - fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. 4. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, - and made my confession, and said." After this follows his prayer, until - the 20th verse; and, in the 21st the angel began to unfold a prophecy to - Daniel, which begins in verse 24, and he promises to explain the mystery - that had so much grieved Daniel, that is, the prophecy of Jeremiah; then - follows the passage I have quoted: the alterations I conceive ought be - made in the reading of which, I now proceed to mention. In verse 25, the - sentence stops after the seven weeks, as it is in the English Bible, - because in the original we find here the stop Atnach. In verse 26, instead - of, <i>shall Messiah be cut off?</i> we ought to read, <i>the oblation - shall cease</i>. This is the real meaning of the expression in the - original, according to Tertullian, Eusebius, and Theodoretus. Eusebius - says, <i>Unctum (vel Christum) nihil aliud esse quam successionem - Pontificum, quos unctos nominare S. Literae consueverunt.</i> The Hebrew - properly signifies <i>perdetur unctio</i>. Theodoretus understands by this - word, the same as <i>sacerdotes uncti. Excidetur unctus,</i> signifies the - same as the <i>oblation shall be abolished</i>; for the verb <i>excido</i> - does not always signify to kill, but is applied to whatever falls into - disuse that was once in practice, or any thing that perishes. It is in - this sense used in many parts of Kings and Chronicles. Samuel says, <i>excidi - de altare</i>. In Jeremiah, chapter xxxvii. ver. 18, the verb is used in - the same sense, <i>non de sacerdotibus Levitis excidet ur homo coram me</i>, - which is given in English, "neither shall the priests, the Levites, <i>want - a man</i> (or cease to have a man) before me." In verse 27, "and he shall - confirm the covenant with many for one week," means no more than the - exemption of calamities, and is tantamount to, <i>he shall let many remain - in peace</i>, as in Genesis, chap. vi. ver. 18, it is used in this sense. - </p> - <p> - To understand the real meaning of this pretended prophecy, the reader will - remember, that Daniel mourned for the 70 weeks of captivity prophesied by - Jeremiah; the vision of Daniel took place in the first year of Darius, - King of Chaldea, that is, in the year 162 of Nebuchadnezzar; but, in chap. - x. of Daniel we learn, that he ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh - and wine into his mouth, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. Now, the - term weeks is used in the Bible indiscriminately for weeks of years, or of - days; here it appears clear it signifies the former, particularly as the - whole relates to the 70 years of Jeremiah; and the angel, in chap. x. ver. - 14, tells Daniel, in the same figurative style, "Now I am come to make - thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days, for yet - the vision is for many days." If then Daniel wept three weeks of years, or - 21 years, from the destruction of the temple, in the year 141 to the time - of the vision in 162, (the angel, chap. x. ver. 13, says, that the prince - of Persia withstood him 21 days, or years), it is easy to see what Daniel - means. Jeremiah had prophesied a captivity of 70 years, of these, three - weeks or 21 years were past; therefore Daniel, after entreating God to - tell him "how many more years were wanting," received for an answer what - follows, "At the beginning of thy supplications, the commandment came - forth, and I am come to show thee."—"Seventy weeks are determined - upon thy people to seal up the vision and prophecy," that is to complete - the prophecy of Jeremiah; and we find,-therefore, that from the issuing - the commandment to restore the Jews, and to build Jerusalem, or more - properly from the revelation of the angel, (exitu Verbi), promising that - Jerusalem should be rebuilt, ver. 23, to the coming of the Messiah, the - prince, or Cyrus, who freed the Jews from the captivity, there were to be - seven weeks, or 49 years, which, added to the three weeks already past, - made the 70 years of Jeremiah. Cyrus is by Isaiah called the Lord's - anointed: "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand - I have holden, to subdue nations before him for Jacob my servant's sake." - Cyrus gave, at that time, liberty to the Jews, as the reader may see in - Ezra. It is evident, that the word commandment cannot mean any express - order to build Jerusalem, for the angel says, just before he reveals the - prophecy, "at the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came - forth we know that Daniel began to address prayers unto heaven, at a time - when there was no order to build the temple, on the contrary, the Jews - were in captivity. - </p> - <p> - This is the most difficult part of the pretended prophecy, the remainder - is plain. There shall be 62 weeks till the rebuilding of the wall. The - writer alludes here to the building of the first temple under Zerubbabel - and Jeshua, and then to the rebuilding of the wall, and restoration of the - temple by Judas Maccabeus, after its profanation by Antiochus Epiphanes. - The period of this last event is by the prophecy made to extend to 63 1/2 - weeks, or 444 years. Let us see if chronology confirms this supposition. - The temple was destroyed in the 141st year of Nabuch, or 4107 of the - Julian period; add to this 444 years, or 63 weeks and a half, and we have - the year 4551, or the second year of Judas Maccabeus, according to - Josephus; who also informs us, that having conquered his enemies, he then - built a wall about Sion, which is clearly meant in the words, "the street - shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times," 1 Maccab. - chap. iv. ver. 60. At that time also "they builded up the mount Sion with - high walls," &c. Troublous the times certainly were; the Jews were - fighting against the cruelty of Antiochtis Epiphanes. It is certain then, - that after 343 years, or 69 weeks, the wall should be built, and although - it was not really completed till about ten years after, it is presumable - that the loose historian, or prophet, did not choose to alter the - beautiful idea of 70 Weeks. We know how superstitiously the Jews respected - not only the number 7, but all its different affections. We are besides - informed, in the first book of Maccabees, that after the first depredation - of Antiochus, the people rebuilt the city of David, and made walls and - forts; this happened some years before the building of the wall by Judas, - and brings the prediction nearer to historical accuracy. - </p> - <p> - The next part of the prophecy is, "And after threescore and two weeks - shall sacrifices cease;" this means in the course of the week that - succeeds the 62. And, no doubt, Antiochus Epiphanes abolished them in the - seventh year of his reign, as we read in I Maccab. chap. i. "And the - people of the prince that shall come, shall destroy the city and the - sanctuary." This Antiochus most certainly did, "and went up (Antiochus) - against Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude, and entered proudly - into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altars, also he took the - hidden treasures, and there was great mourning in Israel," 1 Maccab. J. - "And the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war - desolations are determined." The coming of Antiochus into Jerusalem is - pompously detailed in the first book of Maccabees: the Jews compared a - great calamity, or an invading and irresistible army, to a flood. Let us - proceed with the remainder: "And he shall confirm the covenant with many - for a week," this alludes to the first seven years of the reign of - Antiochus, during which he did not interfere with the worship of the Jews, - although he gave liberty to those who chose to be heathens to follow their - respective worship: it was in the end of the sixth, and in the beginning - of his seventh year that he attacked the Jews, destroyed the temple, - plundered it of its riches, and made himself the tyrant of Judea. - </p> - <p> - The last part of the passage is as follows: "And in the half of a week he - shall cause the oblation and sacrifice to cease," and, I have only to - observe, that, from the taking of the city by Antiochus, to the absolute - forbidding Jewish worship, there elapsed about three years and a half, or - half a week, for he came to Jerusalem in the 143d year of the kingdom of - the Greeks, and the erecting of idols was in the year 145; after which, he - continued to persecute the Jews, and promote idolatry, until the year 148. - Now Antiothus attacked Jerusalem at the end of his sixth year, to which, - if we add two years and three months, we have pretty exactly the period of - half a week, or three years and a half. The expression, "the spreading of - abominations," evidently alludes to what is said in Maccabees, chap. i. - ver. 34. "Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the 145th year, - they (the followers of Antiochus) set up the abomination of desolation - upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Judah, on - every side." Daniel says, chap. xii. ver. 11, speaking of his vision, "and - from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the - abomination that: maketh desolate set up, there shall be (that is between - the first interdict of Antiochus, and the setting up of idols) 1290 days;" - which is a little more than three years and a half. The wonderful prophecy - is then unriddled, it becomes a contemptible piece of history in an - affected style. I trust the explanation which I have given, after Marsham, - will appear satisfactory. I challenge Bishop Watson to produce a plausible - explanation of the passage according to the sense of the church. It may - not be improper to observe, that Clemens Alexandrinus, many of the - fathers, Calmet, and other persons of great knowledge, have flatly denied - the application of the weeks of Daniel to Jesus. Those who espouse your - cause lose sight of the context of Daniel, they forget chronology, and - evince to what a pitch of delusion their minds have arrived. - </p> - <p> - This is the famous prophecy that silenced the Jewish rabbins of Venice; it - is of a pattern with Daniel's four beasts; the fourth is also a story of - Antiochus Epiphanes and Judas who slays the beast. Judas is the son of man - coming in clouds; he is the person of whom the prophets speak, and who has - most ridiculously been distorted to Jesus Christ. This farrago of - prophecies seems to have been the production of Esdras or some very late - writer; and I am not sure, but the doctrine of the Pythagorean millennium - gave rise to some of the expressions in both writers, about the beasts: - they seem to have sprung from the same origin with those of the - Apocalypse; and with the four Indian horses, they crept among the Jews, - together with many other Chaldean mythological ideas: the Ancient of - Ancients appears in his fiery car as Osiris triumphant, or Chreeshna - conquering Chiven; the books are opened before him, as his kingdom is - everlasting, like that of Vishnu with the Vedams. But visions so - ridiculous as that of Daniel deserve not our consideration; whatever be - their source they are but reveries, and may serve to amuse idle people in - their ridiculous speculations about the world's end. Like Swedenburgh, men - may dream, and interpret their own dreams, and like him have the - mortification to be laughed at for the non-accomplishment of their - predictions. We have had of late another Daniel in Mr. Brothers; he too - saw beasts, and, what is more, he understood their meaning; but - unfortunately we are not Jews, and he is cruelly imprisoned in a madhouse. - </p> - <p> - I have now followed your animadversions on the objections of Thomas Paine - upon the Old Testament; and I trust I have shown that you have in no - degree been a more successful labourer in the cause of Judaism than your - predecessors; even your wonderful prophecy of Daniel is converted into a - mere historical tale, and the application Jesus Christ makes of it to - himself is accordingly proved to be ridiculous, the more so, as it comes - from the Son of God. I have a few more observations to make, before I - leave this book. I cannot pass in silence the gross blunder you have - committed, when you refer Mr. Paine to Ferguson for an astronomical proof - of the miracle of the total darkness at the crucifixion of Jesus. An odd - conceit, upon my word! You might know that the event is omitted by all the - authors of eminence who wrote at that time; that even Pliny passes it - unnoticed. Lest you should mislead the reader with your groundless - assertions, I shall state the matter as it stands in reality. You avoid - learned disquisitions to be intelligible, but you ought not to have been - so deficient of authority, where it is most needed. Besides the gospels, - the darkness is not mentioned in any author; but divines have attempted to - prove the event from a supposed passage of Phlegon, related by Eusebius; - it is in the following words: "In the fourth year of the two hundred and - second Olympiad, there was the greatest eclipse ever seen; it was night at - six, and even the stars could be seen." This passage has long been - disregarded by men of knowledge; it alludes to an eclipse, not to a - miraculous darkness. Both Mr. Ferguson and you have blundered in - chronology and astronomy. It is certain, in the year of Christ's - crucifixion, according to the common chronology, there could have been no - eclipse of the sun visible at that time at Jerusalem; Ferguson, therefore, - concludes it a miracle. But you ought to have known, that the fourth year - of the two hundred and second Olympiad, is not the year of the crucifixion - in any system of chronology; that there was an eclipse of the sun, in the - year mentioned by Phlegon, in the month of November, which, however, was - not central; and you know that Jesus is said to have died at the time of - the full moon in March, or in the beginning of April. Besides, had even - such a darkness taken place, are you ignorant of the existence of comets, - and would not one passing between the earth and the sun eclipse that - luminary? Have not such miracles taken place if we credit historians? The - death of Caesar was preceded by wonderful prodigies, and a comet made its - appearance immediately after. The supposed miraculous influence of comets, - and their being prophetic signs, was once an article of faith throughout - all Europe, and the ancient history of every country records many events - which the authors maintain arose from comets. - </p> - <p> - Your reflections on prophets I cannot pass unnoticed. You pretend to make - a distinction between dreamers, and impostors, and true prophets. You - acknowledge the number of soothsayers and fortunetellers among the Jews; - but you maintain that they were altogether distinct from the true - prophets, and appeal to Jeremiah, who puts the Jews on their guard against - false prophets. Does not every quack, every impostor, do the same, and - caution the world to beware of counterfeits? You might have saved a great - deal of trouble, had you condescended to produce your proofs of the - genuineness of the writings of the prophets; and then we might enquire - concerning the works of these augurs. You pretend that a sure mark of the - reality of a prophet is his predicting bad things, for a fortune-teller - always prophecies good. Pardon me if I suppose you a follower of Mr. - Brothers. For surely the destruction of London was not a most desirable - event. It is in vain you attempt to turn Mr. Paine into ridicule for his - definition of a prophet. He most justly calls them strolling-poets, - fortune-tellers; being in Judea what the gipsies, the augurs, and the - astrologers have been in other nations. The Hebrew word <i>Navi</i> - signifies nothing but an orator, a public speaker, and is by the Jews - applied, in a forced way, to soothsayers and diviners. It is - incontrovertible that they existed among the Jews in colleges, and were - brought up to the business. Their chief employment was to write the - chronicles of the times. The name prophet is given in the Bible - indiscriminately with that of holy man. Among the Hebrews, the first book - of Kings was called the prophecy of Samuel. Abel is called repeatedly in - the New Testament a prophet, (see Matth. chap. xxiii. ver. 31 and 35, and - Luke chap. xi. ver. 50 and 51), although we have no account of his having - predicted any. Among the Jews there certainly were fortune-tellers, - necromancers, and witches, all of which you rank among the impostors. But - had not the witch of Endor a real power of incantation? Did she not most - wonderfully raise up the spirit of Samuel? Or are we to look upon the - story of the witch of Endor in the same light as those of modern witches? - That the prophets of the Jews were repeatedly deceived, we cannot have the - smallest doubt when 400 of these gentlemen told a downright lie to Ahaz. - But you have a very easy expedient in all these cases. When a prophet - tells a lie, you may, as was done in this particular case, attribute it to - a design of God to cheat the person who consults his oracles, just as - Jupiter did of old to Agamemnon when he sent him the false dream. - </p> - <p> - You reproach Thomas Paine for want of candour. He has not, you say, - examined the general design of the Old Testament There he would find the - benevolence of the God of the Jews, and his infinite goodness in selecting - them from among the nations, in preserving them from idolatry. If he chose - this people he has certainly exposed them to continual sufferings, and all - for no other purpose than to teach mankind that idolatry is the greatest - of crimes; that to avoid it, murder, plunder, the crusades, the - inquisition, persecution, may all be laudable means for the preservation - of the faith of nations. Thus, the cherished people, who were most - intimate with their God, committed the most enormous crimes, under the - pretence of preserving pure their adoration of the implacable God Jehovah. - Did not all the endeavours of Jehovah to rescue nations from idolatry - prove fruitless? This despicable creature man has been able to effect what - mighty Jehovah never accomplished. Science is the only antidote against - all kinds of superstition. Did Cicero adore stocks or stones? Or did ever - any learned man among the heathens humble himself before idols? Has not - the principal branch of the church of Christ been notorious idolaters? But - what avails all this? Have you proved that the Heathens "emulated in the - transcendent flagitiousness of their lives, the impure morals of their - gods?" You assert it; but unluckily it is one of the many unsupported and - assumed propositions in your pamphlet. Did nations necessarily imitate the - conduct of their gods, I would tremble at being among the followers of the - bloody Jehovah. The heathens were certainly dreamers in their adoration of - the planets; we are taught by science, that these bodies resemble our - earth in the general laws that govern them. It was natural for rude men to - gaze at the sublimity of the stupendous fabric, the refulgency of the sun; - the blessings derived from his genial influence could not be contemplated - without admiration by the amazed and fearful savage. Idolatry is - ridiculous: but have you proved that Jehovah deserves more to be revered - than the Great Whole of nature, whether called Pan, or otherwise disguised - in emblems, than the harmony of the planets designed by symbols, the - generative powers by Venus, or the vivifying light emanating from the - bright orb of Apollo? Confess at least, that the allegorical adoration of - nature could only deceive the multitude who were kept in ignorance by - their priests. If you are candid, you must acknowledge, that the - Polytheists were tolerant, that the Atheists or Deists lectured close, to - the temple. They did not exterminate nations, establish inquisitions, - murder unbelievers as the Jews, and the Christians; although, as you - observe, they received the gift of God through Jesus Christ, and were made - alive by the covenant of grace. - </p> - <p> - In what consists the superiority of the Jewish or Christian notions of - God? Jehovah is a being incomprehensible; he is a jealous and a revengeful - God, he hardens men's hearts, and sacrifices whole nations to a particular - people, who, in their turn, are sacrificed for the boasted scheme of - general good, which is never the nearer being accomplished. He must be - adored and revered, and yet he does not make himself known to man. He does - not even show himself face to face to any but Moses. You pay no great - compliment to his omnipotence, when you observe, that "probably he could - not give to such a being as man a full manifestation of the end for which - he designs him, nor of the means requisite for that end;"—and, "that - it may not be possible for the Father of the universe to explain to us, - infants in apprehension, the goodness and the wisdom of his dealings with - the sons of man." Jehovah, in short, equally the offspring of fancy with - the Heathen Jupiter, is as cruel as Moloch, and, like other productions of - the brain, an invisible phantom, to which priests give the passions of a - tyrant; and, in their desire that he should reign alone, that men should - not worship other deities, his ministers have preached up this God, and - the multitude, eager to admire what they cannot comprehend, have followed - the mandates of the pretended interpreters of his will. Still, however, - the greatest number of ignorant men are, and will ever be, idolaters; in - vain their spiritual guides preach up incomprehensible and ideal beings in - an unintelligible jargon; man will always seek to satisfy his senses. Even - the immediate presence of Jehovah, and his horrid massacres, could not - prevent the favourite nation from following other gods. Even the inspired, - the wise, the royal Solomon forsook "the God of Israel, holy, just, and - good," for "the impure rabble of heathen Baalim." - </p> - <p> - According to your nations, according to the doctrines of the Jewish and - the Christian churches, the sole aim of God has been to be exclusively - adored, and jealousy is his prominent feature. It is not in the pursuit of - knowledge, or in the practice of morality that he delights. The precepts - of social virtue occasionally scattered through the Old, as well as the - New Testament, can make little impression when contrasted with the - vindictive cruelty of the Deity. The Jewish Jehovah requires nothing of - his followers but their compliance in executing his bloody commands - against nations whom he calls impious, because he has not revealed himself - to them. The man after his own heart, is the murderer of thousands of - innocent people. Christ orders his followers to despise the reason he has - given them, to avoid pleasure, to hate the world, and to love pain, to - pray, and to spend their lives in continual mortification, and in gazing - over unintelligible mysteries to acquire his kingdom. If they fail to - believe in him, whether from ignorance or from conviction, he punishes - them with eternal damnation, or as <i>Saint</i> Athanasius emphatically - expresses it in his celebrated creed, "Whosoever believeth in these things - shall be saved; and whosoever believeth not shall be damned." - </p> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> - <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - LETTER VII. - </h2> - <p> - I now bring under review a few passages from <i>Holy Writ</i>, which I - leave to your Lordship to explain, and which scoffers pretend to say are - undeniable proofs of the stupidity of the Jews, and gross ideas they had - of God. I shall follow the order of the books without attempting an - arrangement. - </p> - <p> - Genesis, chap. iii. ver. 1. "Now the serpent was more subtle than any - beast of the field which the Lord had made; and he said unto the woman, - yea hath God said," &c. - </p> - <p> - This Mr. Serpent would make a fine figure in Ęsop's fables. They say it - means the Devil, but how does that appear? - </p> - <p> - In ver. 22. and 23. "And behold the Lord said, the man is become one of - us, (i. e. one of us Gods), to know good and evil, And now lest he put - forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for - ever; therefore, the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to - till the ground from whence he was taken." - </p> - <p> - This shows strongly that boasted attribute of God, Jealousy. Is it - consistent with a Deity to punish this pair, and all their progeny, for - their attempt to know good from evil? We here find that the priests have - made God expressly after their own image. God's selfishness prevented men - from eating of the other tree, which would make him live for ever. <i>Queritur,</i> - then, at what period of the world did the soul of man become immortal? Was - it not till Jesus Christ came? And was this tree a type of him, as the - bread and wine are at this day? It appears also, that it was not one, but - two trees, that were prohibited! - </p> - <p> - Ib. chap. xxxii. ver. 24. "And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a - man with him, until the breaking of the day; (this shows the antiquity and - high authority of sparring); and when he saw that he prevailed not against - him, he touched the hollow of his thigh (Mendoza like): and the hollow of - Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, let - me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, unless - thou bless me. And he said unto him, what is thy name? And he said, Jacob. - And he said, thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; (which, - in Chaldee signifies seeing God); for as a prince hast thou power with God - and with men, and hast prevailed. (Or, as the Vulgate more correctly - translates, for if thou hast been to oppose the Lord, how much more shall - thou prevail against men). And Jacob called the name of the place Penial: - for I have seen God face to face." This passage requires no comment. - </p> - <p> - Exodus, chap. iii. ver. 4. "And when the Lord saw that he (Moses) turned - aside to see, God called unto him out of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. - And he said, here am I." This is a pretty play at bo-peep. - </p> - <p> - Ib. ver. 14. "And God said unto Moses, I am that I am; and he said, thus - shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you." - </p> - <p> - Divines hold this passage to be a great instance of sublimity!!! - </p> - <p> - Ib. ver. 21. "And I will give this people favour in the sight of the - Egyptians, and it shall come to pass, that when ye go away, ye shall not - go empty, but every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, jewels of silver, - and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and - your daughters, and ye shall spoil the Egyptians." - </p> - <p> - Here the Jews made God after their own image; and the dealings of that - nation in silver, gold, and clothes, at this day, show that they have not - forgotten their God. It is not easy for divines to reconcile this with - God's other precept in the eighth commandment. - </p> - <p> - Ib. chap. iv. ver. 24. "And it came to pass by the way in the inn, (by the - way, were there inns then in Egypt?) that the Lord met him (Moses) and - sought to kill him!!! Then Zepporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the - foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet." - </p> - <p> - This business of the circumcision is brought in rather by the head and the - shoulders, and the cause of it is not quite clear; but it is very evident - that the Lord could not kill Moses. - </p> - <p> - Ib. chap. xxxii. ver. 27. "And he (Moses learning that the Jews had made a - golden calf), said unto them, (the sons of Levi, i.e. the priests,) thus - saith the Lord God of Israel, put every man his sword by his side, and go - in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his - brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour; and the - children of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and there fell of the - people that day about three thousand." - </p> - <p> - Ib. chap. xxxiii. ver. 9. "And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the - tabernacle, the pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, - and the Lord (who was in the pillar) talked with Moses." - </p> - <p> - In this manner modern goddesses stop their carriages at shop-keepers' - doors at this day. - </p> - <p> - Ib. ver. 90. "And he (God) said, thou canst not see my face, for there - shall no man see me and live." God must here have forgotten his dialogue - with Adam and Eve, his wrestling with Jacob, and conversations with Moses. - In Numbers, chap. xii. ver. 6 and 8, he says, "Hear now my words: If there - be a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will make myself known to him in a - vision, and will speak to him in a dream," but, "with thee (Moses) will I - speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches, and the - similitude of the Lord shall you behold." - </p> - <p> - Ib. chap. xxi. ver..5. "And the people spoke against God, and against - Moses, wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the - wilderness, for there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our - soul loatheth this light bread." No wonder the Jews tired of living upon - manna without water, but the Lord taught them not to grumble. "And the - Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and - much people of Israel died." When God was tired of making his serpents - bite the poor devils, he said unto Moses, "Make thee, a fiery serpent, and - set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass, that every one that is - bitten when he looketh upon it shall live." This is below all the tricks - of necromancers. - </p> - <p> - Ib. chap. xxv. "And the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters - of Moab. And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the - Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, take all - the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, - that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. And - Moses said unto the judges, slay every one of these men who were joined - unto Baal-peor. And behold one of the children of Israel came, and brought - unto his brethren a Midianitish woman, in the sight of Moses, &c. And - when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he - rose from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; and he - went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them - through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly, so the plague - was stopped from the children of Israel, and these that died in the plague - were 24,000." As a reward for this, the Lord gave Phinehas the everlasting - priesthood, "because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for - the children of Israel." - </p> - <p> - Ib. chap. xxvi. Dathan, Korah, and Abirim strove against Moses and Aaron, - and the earth swallowed them up, and the fire devoured 250 men. - </p> - <p> - lb. chap. xxxi. ver. 16, there was a plague among the congregation of the - Lord, on account of the tres pass against the Lord, when he ordered thus, - "Now, therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every - woman that hath known man by lying with him; but all the women children - that hath not known man by lying with him, keep for yourselves." For the - observation on this passage, I refer my reader to Bishop Watson, and the - former part of this work. - </p> - <p> - The following ought to be the fate of all idolatrous people, and has been - happily practised in the discoveries made by most European nations. - Deuteronomy chap. xiii. ver. 13. "Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants - of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all - that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword." - </p> - <p> - Joshua, chap. vi. v. 21. "And they utterly de-, stroyed all that was in - the city, (Jericho), both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, - and ass, with the edge of the sword. And they burnt the city with fire, - and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels - of brass, and of iron, they put it into the treasury of the house of the - Lord." - </p> - <p> - Chap. x. Joshua being attacked by five kings, and they having taken - shelter in a cave, he caused great stones to be rolled to the mouth of the - cave, till he followed and destroyed the people, then he ordered the five - kings to be brought out from the cave, "And it came to pass, that when - they brought out those five kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all - the men in Israel, and said unto the men of war, come near, put your feet - upon the necks of these kings, and they came near, and put their feet upon - the necks of them. And afterwards Joshua smote them, and slew them, Joshua - took Makdekah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king - thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that were therein; - he let none remain." And so he did in all to 31 kings, as related in this - and the following chapters, and all this by the express command of God, - who made the sun and the moon both stand still to witness these unprovoked - atrocities. But this was just; God having given that country to his chosen - people the Jews, as in latter times his vicegerent the Pope gave America - to the Portuguese and Spaniards, who, Joshua-like, exterminated the kings - and people, because they were not Christians. This, as you say, serves the - general scheme of God's benevolence towards mankind. - </p> - <p> - Judges, chap.i. ver. 4. And the Lord having delivered the Canaanites and - the Perizzites into the hands of Judah, "They slew of them in Bezek 1000 - men. But Adonibezek fled, and they pursued after him, and caught him, and - cut off his thumbs, and his great toes." lb. ver. 19- "And the Lord was - with Judah, and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain, but <i>could - not</i> drive out the inhabitants of the valley!" Why? "Because they had - chariots of iron." Chap. iv. recounts the manner in which Deborah and - Barak delivered Israel from Jabin and Si-aera. Ver. 21. Then Jael, - Hebber's wife, (to whose tent Sisera had fled), "took a nail of the tent, - and a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail - into his temples, and fastened it into the ground, (<i>a goodly nail</i>), - for he was fast asleep and weary, so he died." Chap. 5, contains the <i>beautiful</i> - song of Deborah and Barak, which I particularly request my reader to - peruse, as a finished piece of scripture praise of good words. Chap. xxi. - relates, that the Israelites having sworn not to give their daughters to - the Benjamites, and the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead not having come up to - Minzeh, "the congregation sent 19,000 men of the valiantest, and commanded - them, saying, go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge - of the sword, with the women and the children: utterly destroy every male, - and every woman that hath lain by man;" but, having found 400 young - virgins that had known no man by lying with any male," they gave them to - the sons of Benjamin, "and yet so they sufficed them not." So as they had - sworn not to give them wives of their own daughters, "therefore, they - commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, go and lie in wait in the - vineyards, and see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloch come out to - dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every - man his wife." - </p> - <p> - First Samuel, chap. vi. The ark of the Lord having been among the - Philistines seven months, they, unwilling to send it back empty, asked the - priests and diviners, what they should send in it as a trespass offering? - "they answered, five golden emerods, and five golden mice,—-and ye - shall give glory unto the God of Israel,—and make a new cart, and - take two milch kine, and take the ark of the Lord and lay it on the cart;" - and they did so, "and they of Beth-shemesh lifted up their eyes, and saw - the ark, and rejoiced to see it,—and the men of Beth-shemesh offered - burnt-offerings, and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the Lord,—and - he smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of - the Lord, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and - ten men." Gracious God! Blessed Jews! - </p> - <p> - Second Samuel, chap. xxiv. ver. 1. "And the anger of the Lord was kindled - against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, go number Israel - and Judah." (In first Chronicles, chap. xxi. ver. 1, it stated, "and Satan - stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.") And having - thus instigated David to do what is good policy in a king, God, of his - infinite mercy, said unto David by his prophet Grad, David's seer, (an - officer of the household in those days), "I offer thee three things: shall - seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land, or wilt thou flee three - months before thine enemies, or that there be three days pestilence in thy - land?" And David having chosen the latter, "the Lord sent a pestilence - upon Israel, and there died of the people 70,000 men but the Lord is ever - merciful, for, "when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to - destroy it, the Lord <i>repented</i> him of the evil, and said to the - angel that destroyed the people, it is enough, stay thou thine hand," <i>Delirant - reges, plectuntur Achivi</i>. - </p> - <p> - 1 Kings, chap. ii. David being upon his death-bed, having made peace with - God, and purified his heart, called Solomon to him and gave him his last - charge. As to Joab, the son of Zeruiah, he said, "do according to thy - wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace,—and - behold thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, which cursed me, but he - came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the Lord, saying, I - will not put thee to death by the sword; now, therefore, (<i>proceeds the - man after God's own heart</i>), hold him not guiltless; for thou art a - wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him, but his hoar head - bring thou down to the grave with blood." Solomon having succeeded his - father, the first act of his reign was to put to death his brother - Adonijah. - </p> - <p> - 1 Kings, chap. xi. ver. 4, "Solomon's heart was not perfect with the Lord - his God, as was the heart of David his father, for it came to pass, that, - when he was old, his wives turned his heart after other gods." But why go - through such barbarous details? All along we find imprecations against - those who despise the prophets, and praises lavished upon murderers, - traitors, and assassins. This is the people "selected by the wisdom of - God, that they might witness to the whole world in successive ages his - existence and attributes, that they might be an instrument of subverting - idolatry, of declaring the name of the God of Israel throughout the whole - earth a people, who are to us witnesses of the existence, and of the moral - government of God."—This is the Old Testament, which you presume to - say afforded matter for the laws of Solon, and a foundation for the - philosophy of Plato,—which has been admired and venerated for its - piety, its sublimity, its veracity, by all who <i>are able to read and - understand it!!!</i> This is the God who maketh the sun to rise on the - evil and on the good, who is all perfection, all wise, and all powerful, - and whose mercy is above all his other attributes." - </p> - <p> - THE END. - </p> - <div style="height: 6em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Watson Refuted, by Samuel Francis - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WATSON REFUTED *** - -***** This file should be named 40978-h.htm or 40978-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/9/7/40978/ - -Produced by David Widger - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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