“ The Bible is at war with man’s reasoning powers; and, like a land pirate, has held up false lights, which instead of conducting man to the haven of happiness and safety, has caused him to make shipwreck on the rocks and shoals of religious dogmas. Man is lost in no other sense than that, the loss of his reason. To recover that, and bring it into full exercise, is all the Saviour he needs. His moral path is as clear as light. God, or Nature, has made it a law of man’s existence that he must love happiness, ease, and enjoyment ”

“ It is the uncertainty of what Christianity really is, which has caused so much evil in the world; and this has arisen from the dark and obscure mode of teaching attributed to the Son of God. Those Christians who have embraced views so opposite to each other, but who have taken them from the same Word of God, have, in every age, been the most implacable enemies, and have seldom failed, when power has been in their hands, to inflict the most cruel torments on those who differed from them. Indeed, the history of the Christian Church is one continued record of persecution and cruelty. ”

“ On the contrary, Infidel morality has no alloy. It is unadulterated. Like pure gold, it is current at all times, and in all places. Like the bright orb of day, it shines by its own native brightness. Its principal attribute is humanity, which, in its exercise, is not confined to creeds, or professions; but like the bountiful hand of nature, it dispenses its blessings even to the unthankful and unworthy. If justice demands its aid, the balance is held even without regard to color or clime. ”

“ Let those who are but little acquainted with Astronomy, contemplate the grandeur of the universe, and ask if it be possible that a Being who arranges all, and who governs all with that exactness which overwhelms not only the ignorant and untaught man, but also the most profound and learned of the human race, should thus act? Mark well the infinite wisdom which is apparent in the vast universe of which man forms but so small a part! ”

“ I will not wholly take it away from the seed of David, because I promised him that he should not want a man to sit on his throne; but I will, for the wickedness of Solomon, cause discord among the tribes, that will induce them to fight against each other. It is not for the thousand women that Solomon had, which would not fail to create discord and all manner of misery; neither for putting to death his brother: all that I could have tolerated—but he changed his religion, and worshipped strange gods; I will rend the nation asunder, never more to be united. ”

“ Can we reasonably conclude, that a Being of infinite wisdom and goodness would have sent his Son to the Jewish nation, without giving them any evidence of his being the Messiah, and then have taken advantage of their unbelief to deal out judgments against them?
If Jesus was sent into the world to die, and by dying, became “a sacrifice for the sins of mankind,” then the Jews, by putting him to death, brought to maturity what God had ordained should come to pass. ”

“ Hence the miracles and wonders, credited by them, of the most extravagant nature, that never did and never could take place; and unfortunately, for the peace and happiness of mortals, by giving credit to such things, they, for ages, shut up every avenue that would otherwise have led them to the temple of truth.
To believe the account of Adam’s transgression, in connection with all the circumstances attending it, to be a matter of fact, appears hardly possible for any man of sane mind. Yet millions there are, who never have had a doubt of its being literally true. ”

“ It has been reserved for the Christian Religion to depict hell in all its awful terrors. The New Testament represents hell as a place of torment by fire never-ending, where the unfortunate occupants are forever burning, but kept alive, and never consumed. The hell of the Greeks and other nations is less horrible, being represented as the abode of darkness, humiliation, and sorrow. But Christianity has a God in heaven, and a Devil in hell, forever contending with each other, like gladiators of old for the prize; and that prize is the human race. ”

“ The Holy Ghost, that was to be the comforter, soon made them any thing but comfortable!
This good news, or Gospel, proved to be most unfortunate news to the inhabitants of this world. Thousands and tens of thousands of human beings came to a premature or violent death by rack and torture; the fires of martyrdom were lighted up, and millions of madmen gave glory to God. This is but a mere outline of the horrors arising from faith in the glorious plan of human redemption; and thus mortals when they became believers in the Redeemer’s kingdom, ceased to act as men, and became downright devils. ”

“ God, or nature, has so arranged things as to induce mortals to practise virtue, and to be kind to every thing that possesses life and feeling; because, by acting agreeably to the laws of your own organization, you become happy in yourself, and have the additional pleasure of making others happy also. What excuse, then, can men have for neglecting the duties they owe to every thing that has life and feeling? Do they need a revelation to inform them that they ought to be just and humane? Do they require information from heaven to inform them that cruelty to man or animals is wicked? ”

“ The followers of John Calvin think the faith of the disciples of John Wesley but little better than the faith of devils, “who believe and tremble.” It has been because men have judged by their faith, and not by moral rectitude, that one Christian sect has persecuted even to death, others who have borne the Christian name. It was this spirit of intolerance that propelled John Calvin to cause Servetus to be burnt by a slow fire, not because he was a wicked man, nor was it for want of faith in the Christian religion, but because the faith of Servetus did not agree with the faith of John Calvin. ”

“ This wanton shedding of blood, by the mere calling down from heaven judgments, by an old fellow wrapped up in a bear’s-skin, and called a man of God, is too barefaced a lie for the present state of society. There is not one word of truth in the whole marvellous story. Jehovah’s murdering the people for the vices of their rulers, is anti-republican; and if men would consult their reason, and employ common sense, the Christian priesthood would be ashamed to preach of a God of mercy, and, at the same time, ascribe to him injustice and cruelty. ”

“ No longer standing on the fearful precipice of faith, trembling at every step, or chain-bound in a state of inaction, the Infidel cheerfully travels on in the practice of justice and humanity with a calmness of mind to which the Christian is a stranger. He has no angry God to dread, nor any tempting Devil, against whom the Christian must forever be on the watch.
All human beings on arriving at maturity, find themselves placed by an unknown power in a world, in which they will have to enjoy pleasure or happiness, and also to endure pain. ”

“ The very nature and spirit of the Christian religion, is intolerant. It says, “Whosoever believes, shall be saved; and he that believeth not, shall be damned.” This is the firm ground on which the Christian stands, and where he must continue to stand. If he quits this strong hold, he ceases to be a Christian, and, of necessity, becomes an Infidel. It follows, then, that believers in the Divine authority of the Bible must continue to be, what they always have been, intolerant and persecuting. How differently do those feel who have given up all ideas of Divine Revelation! ”

“ What folly, then, to suppose, that after all that had been done for God’s favorite people, they should have been so neglected, and there should be nothing but slaughter and blood throughout the land of promise! What madness, to believe that the Author of the Universe should permit such carnage, and his whole attention seem to be directed to the foolish quarrels of an unfortunate race, who, by some imposture, had been taught to consider their nation as his peculiar choice! ”

“ To conclude—Of all the impositions that ever have been palmed on the inhabitants of the earth, destructive of “peace on earth and good will towards men” that of the Jews being God’s chosen people, is one of the greatest; the Jehovah of the Bible, being nothing but an imaginary God, to cheat the World into the faith of his being the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe. ”

“ And even in the present day, man has yet to learn the inutility of every attempt to discover any thing as to the being and nature of a Supreme Power that is supposed to govern the universe. We are lost in wonder and admiration when we contemplate the mighty universe! but of the Grand Regulator of all, we are, and no doubt shall ever remain, in total ignorance. It is a libel on man, then, to teach that human beings are at enmity against God. ”

“ Can we, then, believe that the Almighty Ruler of all worlds would have sent his Son to teach mankind something that should involve the human race in a never-ending quarrel, by teaching so obscurely that two persons, equally honest and intelligent, should form opposite opinions; knowing, as the Almighty must, that such teaching would engender hatred and malice, and be the cause of producing unheard of cruelty and torture? ”

“ If the doctrine of saving faith be true, the thief or murderer, if the law lays hold of him, and the fear of the gallows induces him to rely on Jesus, goes directly to heaven; whereas, if he had been honest and virtuous, but had not faith in Christ, he might have died in his sins and gone to hell! Oh! how consistent is Orthodox salvation with justice and truth! In one case, the Orthodox Christian is in truth consistent. It is this: that in this life, even in New York, a man will not be admitted as a church member, however virtuous. He must be a sinner, or he cannot be admitted. ”

“ He requires no Bible, no Saviour; he is never lost; he has no incomprehensible doctrines to support or defend. Unlike the sectarian, he feels no disposition to persecute others who differ from him in matters of faith; he has no angry God to propel him on to fight for his glory; he can balance up every night his moral account of the day; and if he has followed out the law of his nature, by augmenting his own, and also the happiness of his fellow beings, and lightened the load of human ills around him, he in truth is the good man, be his faith little or much. ”

“ Nothing can be more unreasonable and unjust. If such doctrines as these had, in in the time of Jesus, been practised, he would have drawn a host of idlers after him. Besides, to teach such an unqualified practice as the one proposed to the rich man, must, at that time, have convinced every well-informed man how very unfit Jesus was to regulate society. I well know that Christians will consider this mode of examination of the sayings and doings of Jesus, as wicked and horrible; as opposing the weak judgment of man to the infinite wisdom of God. ”

“ On the contrary, the Jehovah of the Bible is depicted as being more unstable than mortals. Ye Jews and Christians! in vain do you vindicate the character and conduct of your God towards the human race, by saying that “he ought to do what he pleases with his own.” The conduct of the most cruel and unjust tyrant that ever lived can with more truth and propriety be exonerated than your God; because a tyrant, however wicked and cruel, may have to contend with those who are capable of doing him an injury, and self-defence on his part may form some excuse for his actions. ”

“ Can a man on earth be found who can believe the foregoing account to be any thing but fabulous? If this account is matter of fact, what degrading ideas are connected with the existence of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness! If there is any thing Divine about this foolish tale, it then follows, that the Almighty Power that presides over all worlds,—that astonishing Wisdom which strikes us dumb in contemplating the harmony and surprising adaptation displayed in the universe,—associated with such madmen and fools as Samson, and hundreds of others whose freaks are recorded in the Bible. ”

“ So completely hoodwinked is man, that he attends weekly, and pays well into the bargain, to hear the priest deal out endless damnation to nine-tenths of the human race; and it is ten chances to one that he also is included among the subjects of the Devil! Should an Orthodox preacher, for a few Sundays, preach on moral subjects, and consider that morality was the one thing needful in the Christian Church, the congregation would complain that their souls required more substantial nourishment. The preacher must return to the old mode of teaching, and again shake them over the lake of fire! ”