The Bible of Bibles; Or, Twenty-Seven "Divine" Revelations. Kersey Graves
that has given a moment's ease to my tortured mind.... I trust that other men... have not the anguish of spirit which I have. But I confess, when I look on a world of sinners and sufferers, upon death-beds and graveyards, and upon a world of woe filled with hosts to suffer for ever; and when I see my friends, my parents, my family, my people, my fellow-citizens—when I look upon a whole race—all involved in this sin and danger; and when I see the great mass of them wholly unconcerned; and when I feel that God only can save them, and yet he does not do it,—I am struck dumb. It is all dark—dark—dark to my soul; and I cannot disguise it" (Practical Sermons, p. 124). There, reader, you have the candid confession of an honest-minded, orthodox, and one of the ablest and most talented writers that ever wielded the pen in defense of the Christian faith. And if such a talented and logical mind could find no reason, consistency, or moral principle in the dogmas of orthodoxy, we may readily ask, Who can? Thousands of other orthodox clergymen have doubtless been perplexed with the same difficulties, but have not had the honesty to confess it. Those who do not now perceive them can find the reason by putting their hands on their own heads. They will find their intellects or logical brains defective. Moral philosophers now find no difficulty in solving any of those problems which so much perplexed the mind of Mr. Barnes. They are all false and unfounded dogmas, except the prevalence of death and disease in the world. And these casualties are now known to be amongst the wisest and most useful dispensations of nature. (See chapter headed Natural and Moral Evil.) And had Mr. Barnes ascended to the plane of mental and moral science, instead of remaining down in the dark, orthodox, theological cellar, trying to squeeze truth out of old, dead, dried-up, dusty, theological dogmas, he would have readily found the solution to all his problems, and would have rejoiced in thus emerging into the glorious sunlight of truth.
BIBLES USEFUL IN THEIR PLACE.
We do not question but that Bibles served a useful purpose for those nations and tribes by whom and for whom they were written; but as they only represent the imperfect moral and religious conceptions of that age, and have always been sacredly guarded from improvement, to make them the rule of action for any subsequent age would be to stop all moral and religious improvement. It is strikingly evident that society can make no improvement while it follows a Bible which is interdicted from improvement. It must remain stationary, with respect to religion and morals, so far as it is tied to an unchangeable book. Bibles in this way become masters of human thought, and shackles for the soul, and thus inflict serious evils upon society by their tendency to stop all moral, and religious progress. Three thousand or ten thousand years may elapse, and no improvement can be made in the religion or morals of the people while the Bible from which they emanate is prohibited from improvement. Thus Bibles inflict a death-like torpor and stagnation upon the moral and intellectual progress of society so far as their precepts are lived up to; that is, so far as the assumption that there can be no improvement in the teachings of the Bible is practically observed. It is the source of a pleasing reflection, however, to know that most Bible believers habitually violate their own principles by trampling this assumption under foot. Otherwise we would have remained eternally in a state of barbarism.
CHAPTER IV.—THE BEAUTIES AND BENEFITS OF BIBLES.
Thebe is displayed in all Bibles a devout recognition of moral principles, and a strong manifestation of moral feeling. The disciples of all Bibles manifest an ardent aspiration for something higher, something nobler,—a mental struggle to reach a higher plane. This moral aspiration is displayed in almost every chapter; and there are in all Bibles veins of beautiful thought coursing through their pages. All of them contain moral precepts which are in their nature elevating and ennobling, and which, if practically recognized, would have done much to improve the morals and enhance the happiness of their disciples; and all Bibles are valuable as fragments of religious history, and as indicating the state of religion and morals of the people who originated them. Their numerous outbursts of religious feeling indicate the depth of their devotion; while their many noble moral aphorisms indicate an appreciation of, and a desire for, a higher moral life than they were able to practice because of the strength of their animal feelings. This is especially true of the Jews, and also of the early Christians. They had a partial perception of a true moral life, and a desire at times to practice it; but that desire was counteracted and held in check by their still stronger animal natures and animal propensities.
A HIGHER PLANE OF DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN ATTAINED.
There can be no question, from the light derived from the twofold avenues of science and history, but that the great principle of universal progress, which is carrying every thing forward to a higher plane and state of perfection, has elevated the most advanced nations of the present age beyond and above the religion and morals prevalent in the world when the Jewish and Christian Bible was written, which makes it very unsuitable for the present advanced state of society. An investigation of the science of anthropology discloses the very significant and important fact, that the religious feelings of the founders and early representatives of the Jewish and Christian religions were under the control of their animal natures, which accounts for their frequent use of obscene language, and their frequent indulgence in the practice of every species of crime with the full sanction of the principles of their religion. And they cherished the conviction that those things had the divine sanction.
LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE.
The moral and religions feelings of the early Jews and Christians co-operated with their animal propensities; and the latter held supreme sway over the former: while the moral and religions feelings of the most advanced minds of the present day co-operate, not with the animal, but with the intellectual. This makes a very important and very marked difference, and makes the semi-animal religion of the past very unsuitable for the present age. Please note this point, friendly reader.
BIBLE WRITERS HONEST.
It may readily be conceded that the writers and compilers of all Bibles were honest, and that all the errors which those Bibles embrace, and the crimes which they sanction, were honestly believed to be right, and in accordance with the will of God. For all sacred history teaches us, as an important lesson of human nature, that no errors are too gross, no crimes too enormous, no statements too false or absurd, no contradictions too glaring, and no stories too preposterous or too ridiculous, to receive the fullest indorsement of the most honest and pious minds, and to be even cherished by them as God-given or divinely revealed truths, when such has been their teaching every day of their lives, in connection with the habitual suppression of the voice of reason, and the inherited conviction of their truth deeply implanted in the mind, derived from a thou sand preceding generations. A strong and unyielding cord of religious conviction thus grows in the human mind, which no reason, no philosophy, and no science can ever sever or even shake. It becomes a moral canker, which no remedy can reach, or arrest in its progress. It seems to grow into the very heartstrings. Such is the strength of religious prejudice, such the weak side of human nature. Three hundred millions of people believe in the Hindoo religion, one hundred millions in the Chinese religion, two hundred millions in the Mahomedan religion, and one hundred and fifty millions in the Christian religion,—all for the same reasons, because their parents so believed, and taught them, and their neighbors still believe it; and surrounding