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HA-nONALSECULARSOCffiTV
“THERE WAS WAR
IN HEAVEN.”
jlnfiòtl Sermon
Delivered to the Portsmouth Branch of the National Secular Society
BY
ROBERT FORDER.
, ‘ And there was war in Heaven : Michael and his angels
plight against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his
mg els.”—Rev. xii. 7.
ONE
PENNY,
LONDON:
R. FORDER, 28, STONECUTTER STREET, E.C.
1887.
�28, S-ton4.cu-W^c S-tre-^t, S.S.
�r \ \
*l Mib ifjere was Mar in tjcaucn.”
(Bev. xii. 7.)
"Friends,—The text that has just been read cannot
"but bring forcibly to your minds the picture of the ter
rible affray in the celestial regions, which may indeed be
described as “ the cause of all our woe.” To ascribe the
entry of sin and misery into the1 world as due to our first
parents eating fruit that was forbidden them by Jehovah
is obviously a mistake, for the vanquished leader of the
rebel host was only continuing the strife in another
portion of the victor’s dominions, when-Ae persuaded’
poor Eve that that apple was both pleasant to the eye, -agreeable to the taste, and requisite to give the know
ledge that she then lacked. The fall, therefore, was a
defeat of Jehovah, and an effect of the war being trans
ferred to the new-made earth, to which Satan had been
so unceremoniously hurled.
But where, when, and how did this unbloody war
begin? Do your priests tell you? Is it explained in
your catechisms or made clear in your creeds ? Do any
of the ministers of the Gospel ever venture to fix a date?
No. It is left to the preachers of the gospel of freethought . to faithfully set before their friends. the time '
when this conflict began and the causes that led to the
outbreak of hostilities. God’s holy word, aided by one
of his. faithful servants, John Milton by name, shall be
requisitioned into our service, with an occasional aid
from more profane but equally well-informed sources, so
determined are we that the whole truth shall be fully set
forth. ’
.............
. .
�Jehovah, then, once upon a time alone with his
three selves, made out of what they alone know, a,
company of beings generally known as archangels,
seraphs, cherubim, and the rank and file known as
angels. When this was is not known. But as Jahveh
is the only “ eternal,” it must have been after his devel
opment. These seem to have been all male, as none of
the gentle sex are mentioned. Some impious mortals
have not hesitated to name their children after t]u?
highest of these beings, for Michael, Gabriel, and.
Raphael are by no means uncommon amongst Irishmen,
and Jews. If it is any consolation to my lady hearers,
I may at once cheer them with the welcome news that,
unlike many of the wars that have desolated the earth,
the cause of this one was' not woman. And women
ought to be glad when, together with this testimony as
to the non-existence of feminine aboriginal angels, there
is the negative evidence of the whole of the Bible that no
women have got there, coupled with the undeniable
assertion of St. John the Divine that “ there was silence
in heaven about the space of half an hour ” (Rev. viii. 1).
Bor this wise provision Milton even compliments Jahveh,
but he almost upbraids him for giving Satan such an
opportunity by making a woman upon earth. Hear
him :—
“ O, why did God,
Creator wise, that peopled heaven
With spirits masculine, create at last
This novelty on earth, this fair defect
Of Nature, and not fill the world at once
With men as angels without feminine!
Or find some other way to generate
Mankind ?”
But the divine John had, we are told, a termagant wife,
and this must be his excuse for his impious and ungallant
thought.
The archangels, then, were named, and among them
was Lucifer. Jahveh, who certainly could not have
*
foreseen the consequences that resulted from the creation,
of this being, must have made him imperfect, for ho
sooner or later showed signs of having a will of his own,
growing at last into open rebellion against his Maker.
But let us pause here, and ask, from our experience of
�(5)
similar events amongst us, whether there must not have
Jbeen a reason for this insubordination ? Rebellion is
'always brought about by the tyranny of rulers or the
'ambition of rivals. .Which was it, think you, that
actuated Lucifer ? Is it possible to imagine that abuses
had crept into the imperial government ? Were services
-required of a degrading and unworthy character? Or
Hid his highness the Devil fancy he could boss the con
cern with a view to the greatest happiness of the greatest
number? Was his employment that apportioned after
wards to the four-headed beasts, and which is vividly
depicted for us by the other John in his Revelation,
who rest not day and night saying, Holy, Holy, Holy,”
“before the great white throne ? This occupation would
certainly after a time become tedious, and there would
be some excuse for trying to bring such antics to a close.
Or had Satan charge of the stables of the heavenly
toenagerie, and did he ask for a change of duties and get
■refused? No one knows. But he rebelled ; and we find
from the fact of his following being numerous that a
"Spirit of dissatisfaction must have been prevalent among
the angels also. Here let me quote, with approval, a
remark from the article “ Satan” in Smith’s Bible Dic
tionary : “ We cannot, of course, conceive that anything
essentially and originally evil was created by God.”
Therefore it follows that circumstances over which
Jahveh had no control led up to a feeling in myriads of
his angels that things were getting very bad there, and
that radical reform was necessary. Lucifer unfurled the
banner of revolt, and
“ Hoping by treason foul to get
Into the great Jehovah’s seat;
And drawing in by wiles and snares
■Angels of all sorts unawares,”
............. ■ >
< ’
wept into the fight in earnest. Here Holy Scripture fails
Ils when we ask for particulars. We know nothing as to
the beginning of hostilities—who sent the declaration of
war; whether either side was equally well armed ;
whether the commissariat had been properly attended
to ; and whether adequate preparation had been made
for the nursing of the sick and the wounded. But Mil
ton assists us here; for ammunition appears to ba.vetutt,
short on the Imperial side, and Michael’s followers
.
�“ From their foundations loosening to and fro
O' ■ ' They plucked the seated hills with all their load.”
’’
‘These they hurled at the rebel hosts, and terror was
naturally excited in their breasts when they saw coming
thick upon them
.
&
“ The bottom of the mountains upward turned.”
But Nick was not to be outdone by Mick at this game
and, giving the order, “ Up, lads, and at ’em ! ” to his
■Captains, they,
“ In imitation, to like arms
Betake them, and the neighboring hills uptore i
So hills amid the air encountered hills,
Hurled to and fro with jaculation dire I
That underground they fought in dismal shade.”
£
,
"What carnage ! And heaven is a holy place, my friends >
there no sin or sorrow can enter; there all is joy and love’
Is it ? . Ask your Christian teachers for a guarantee thatwar will not occur there again. Look at the danger
into which you are needlessly running by going there,
now that it is the home of most of the scoundrels
that have desolated the earth ; of atrocious murderers—
wretches who have been assured by priests, while on the
very point of being "jerked to Jesus,” that they were
going straight to glory ! There is infinitely more pro
bability of a row there now than there was when all the
inhabitants of the celestial regions were aboriginals, and
had not incurred the risk of being corrupted by the miscreants that have gone there during the last six thousand
years.
But to the field again. Besides this Brobdignagiaq.
ammunition, cutlery was brought into use, although it is
difficult to understand how immortal beings could slash
and maim one another. Yet so it was, for
“ The girding sword with discontinuous wound,
Passed through him, but the ethereal substance closed, 7
Not long divisible.----- Yet soon he healed.”
• This peculiar action of “ ethereal substance ” prompted
Cobbett to remark : “I am abused for my notions of
Milton and Shakespeare ; but why abuse me ? 1 If there?be persons who are delighted with the idea of an angef
being split down the middle, and of the two halves com-
�(f)
ing (slap !) together again, intestines and’ all, they
surely let me pass without abuse for not haying sb re
*
fined a taste.”
;
The conflict raged for a long time, with varying for?
tune, Satan displaying generalship not unworthy of a>
Wellington or a Napoleon. Milton even seems proud of
his prowess and gallantry, for thus he . sings his valor in
the fray:—'
.
D,
r
, .
’
-:
“ ........................ ... down they fell
'
By thousands, angel on archangel rolled.
‘
..................... Satan beheld their flight,
And to his mates thus in derision called :
‘ O, friends, why come not on these victors proud ?
Erewhile they fierce were coming.’”
;
, •»
•'
.;
, J
But all great battles must come to an end; and so»
Jahveh finished this bloodless struggle by pursuing Satan:
.
“ With terrors and with furies to the bounds
<;
And crystal wall of heaven, which, opening wide,
c- Rolled inward, and a spacious gap disclosed.
.
4,., . Into the wasteful deep eternal wrath
Burnt after them to the bottomless pit.
’ .
Nine days they fell.”
•' J
?
:
' • - .
Here Milton’s genius seems to. have deserted him, for,’
if the pit was bottomless, they would still be tumbling,
and Satan would be powerless. But the other John aversthat they were cast out into the earth, though this state
ment is curiously contradicted by Christian theologians,
who have invented a hell in which to preserve him. This,
assertion may seem to Christians present to be a very,
reckless one indeed ; but it is the opinion of the writer Of
the article “ Hell,” in Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, a
view that we may fairly take to be that of all’ the eminenttheologians who contributed to that important biblicalcyclopaedia. Hear what Hell is. “ This is the word,'
generally and unfortunately used by our translators tb>
render the Hebrew Sheol. It would, perhaps, .have beenbetter to retain the Hebrew word Sheol, or else render it
always by ‘ the grave,’ or ‘ the pit.’............. .The Hebrew
ideas respecting Sheol were of a vague description. Gen
erally speaking, the Hebrews regarded the grave as the
*
end of all sentient and intelligent existence.” It may bet
*
Urged that Jesus often used, the words hell and hellfire ;>
hut we must not allow the ignorance? of! a poor Jew, see
?
*
�/
(8)
Ing that there Js no evidence that he understood a word
of Hebrew, to influence us on this question. His reported
passionate and revengeful speeches, in which those words
'occur, were probably invented' by artful priests in the
Second or third century of our era. Besides, the Revised
Version has generally substituted Sheol for “ Hell ” in
the Old Testament ; and Hellophiles are sadly distressed
in consequence.
Satan, then, was hurled from heaven to earth; «.nd
here we may now expect to find him. It would be nnfa.ir
to charge him with that artful trick of chousing Jahveh
in Eden, but for the fact that orthodox Christians iden
tify him with the serpent. Of this there is no evidence
whatever, and the view cannot be supported by a single
Sentence from the Hebrew books. We first find him and
Michael “at it again,” contending about the body of
Moses (Jude 9), but whether for a dissecting room or in
the interest of rival undertakers “ no one knoweth unto
this day. Certain it is, however, that Mick showed due
and proper respect to his whilom confrere, and subsequent
antagonist, as he dared not bring a railing accusation
against him, but simply said at the end of the conflict:
“ The Lord rebuke thee.” Certain it is, therefore, that
Satan secured the body of Holy Moses, either for an
hospital or for some professional Mr. Mould, Round
three for Satan.
Pursuing our inquiries about this time, we find that
Nick, having entered into a kind of treaty of peace with
Jahveh, again became on friendly terms with his rival.
“ There was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among
them” (Job i. 6). Of course he did; what was to prevent
him? “Ha! how do, Sate?” said Jahveh. “ All right,
old boy; how are things up here?” replied Nick. “Very
quiet indeed; scarcely any addition to our circle,” says
Jahveh, “ since you sent most souls another way by that
Eden escapade of yours, old man.” “ No recriminations,
let byegones be byegones!” sharply replied the Old One,
a reply which brought Jahveh back to the novelty of the
situation. “Where have you been lately, Satan? ” said the
elder Old One in his blandest tone; to which the younger
Old One answered: “ Oh, only having a run up and
down the earth.” “ And how are matters generally in
�(9)
that neighborhood,” queried the Omniscient, “ and by
the bye, do you ever get as far as Uz?”* “ Oh, yes, I
have a country house there, and generally spend a part
of the autumn in the locality.” “ Do you know a big pot
down there named Job ? ’’ “ Know him well, as well as
I know you. Saw his missus home from a party the
other night—Job, who keeps good hours, having gone
home early.”
“What’s your opinion of the old chap, Satan—tell us
the truth now? I consider him to be a right good sort, in
fact there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an
upright man.” “Is he?” said Satan; “you don’t know
him as well as I do. See what you have done for him,
made his fortune for him, blessed him with a large
family, enabled him to become prime minister of his
country, and protected him on every hand. Take these
advantages from him, and he’ll repudiate you at once.”
“ I don’t believe it; but I know, Satan, you’re a man
of your word. Promise me you won’t hurt the old
fellow, and you may try the experiment of depriving him
of all his property, knocking his house down about his
ears, and you can even go so far as to smite his sons and
daughters; but don’t meddle with Job, and respect his
missus.” “ That’s a bargain, Jahveh; you may trust me
to keep my word respecting Job, and nothing wTould
induce me to harm his missus. Ta, ta! ”
Now, if the story in the Book of Job be true (and we
must assume that it is), Satan went straight from
Heaven to Uz, and played the devil with poor Job in
real earnest. The Sabeans carried off all his oxen and
donkeys, the Chaldeans stole his camels, and, probably,
in order that nothing should be left, God himself lent a
helping hand in this work of destruction by dropping
down fire from Heaven on the poor sheep, being rewarded,
no doubt, by “ a sweet savour ” of which we know from
holy writ that he was' exceedingly fond. In this general
destruction, my friends, do not forget that the whole of
Job’s servants, with the exception of three or four, were
Either burnt to death by God or murdered by those bands
. * Only Jahveh and Nick knew this country. “ Whether the
name of Uz'survived to classical times is uncertain.”—Die. of the
Bible.
'
�that, fell, on his. flocks; and,, to complete this- hellish.
Satan-Jahveh experiment, a hurricane was sent which
wrecked the house of Job’s eldest son, in which were
gathered Job’s other sons, and daughters, all of whom
met with a violent death. O■•! friends, it was a dreadful
thing to fall under the notice of the living God; but,
fortunately for humanity, he is dead now, or gone, on a,
journey, or is asleep. Amid all this carnage and des
truction it is satisfactory to. state of Satan that he was
a man of his word; he faithfully kept the promise he.
made to Jahveh not to harm Job. Bound four for Satan»
Satan returned, to Heaven on the next Levée day, pre
sumably to report progress, for the conversation is a
repetition of the former interview, Jahveh again asking
Nick what was his opinion of Job. If the Devil’s
character has not been grossly misrepresented, his
Christian enemies have credited him with being possessed
of craft, cunning, and deceitfulness to such a degree
that even saints have for a time been deceived by him.
We may, therefore, assume that Nick took in the sitúa-,
tion at once, laid his plans accordingly, and reasoned
thus: “I have with very little difficulty got round my
old enemy, and have bamboozled him by blarney sufficient
to allow me to go and punish, with his permission (al
though I could have done it without), one of his most
obsequious followers ; and if I. only humor him a little
*
more, I have no doubt I can get round him and obtain
his permission to go and torment old Job with small-póx,
fever, or blotches. . I will therefore tempt him.” So
Satan acted; poor old Jahveh fell into the trap, not;
without some suspicion, however, that Nick was diddling
him, for he pathetically reproached Satan with having
“ movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.’’
“Skin for skin,” said Nick, “all that aman hath will
he give for his life. Put forth thine hand now, and touch'
his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee- to thyface.” The historian of the transaction has suppressed1
the remainder of the conversation, but let us try and
fill up the hiatus. Jahveh exclaimed : “I don’t believe
it.” “ Try him,” said Satan, “ and see if I don’t know^
him better than you do.” “ Well, Sate, “ replied Jabyqh,
** most honorably have. you .kept your word in conducting
the last mission; make me a solemn promise bn your
�’<11)
yvord as a devil that you won’t take his- life from him,
and a further experiment shall be tried.” “ I will swear
it, if you doubt me,” began Nick ; but he was instantly
stopped by Jahveh exclaiming : “ No—no oath; I myself
sware one once to Abraham and have been unable to*
perform it. Your word is sufficient.” Here the inspired,
chronicler comes. again to our aid. “Behold, he is in
thine hand; but spare his life.” Off went the old onn
to Uz, “ and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of
his foot to his crown.” You will notice, my friends, how
‘clearly every fact is stated in this holy book; you cannot
possibly mistake the character of these boils. They
were sore boils ; boils that were not sore were none of
Satan’s production.
Poor Job seems to have had a sour-tempered wife, like=
Milton, for, instead of at once making him some strong,
linseed-meal poultices, or looking him up a box of Hollo
way’s'ointment, she began reproaching him, Job getting,
out of her way by going out and lying down on the dust
heap in the back-yard, scraping his boils with a piece of
a broken tea-cup. There’s a spectacle, my friends L
there’s an incentive to be good ! What an awful example,
of serving Jahveh faithfully 1 Beware of him, shun him.
as you would the----- boils. But in order that theremay be no doubt whatever of the truth of this event,
the narrative relates that-Job had three friends ; and soaccurate is the book in small matters, as well as great,
that it descends to telling their names. There was.
Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar“
the Naamathite; but where these countries were the:
Devil only knows. These three men began comforting,
poor Job by tearing up their coats and throwing dirt om
their heads—actions which by no stretch of the imagina?
tion can be considered as cures for boils ; they finished,,
however, by sitting down on the ground by Job’s midden
“ for seven days and seven nights, and none spake a.
word to him.” Tins round must certainly be given tothe Devil. Score : Devil four, God one.
You will have noticed that after Satan’s repulse hewas cast out into the earth, and all his angels were castout with him ; and the history in Job certainly corrobo—
•See Genesis, xxvi—3.
�■Tates this, for it speaks of him walking up and down in
it then. Subsequently we find him playing pranks with
¿David, tempting him to take a census of his kingdom —
*
a little eccentricity indulged in by us every decade in
Great Britain and Ireland, just to show that we are still
faithful to the Prince of this world, and respect his coun■sel and follow his advice. True, a few devoted followers
■of Jahveh the younger indignantly protested against this
-device when it was first adopted; but they were met
with scorn and derision in Parliament and in the press.
Satan again triumphed, and the result of his victory in
this bout has been of immense advantage to his subjects
here. Jahveh waxed angry with David for taking that
first census, and, possibly being afraid to engage in open
¿hostilities with Satan, resolved to punish the old Jewish
¿king. So he sent to David a certain fortune-teller, named
Gad, with a message of a most engaging nature. “I,
.■Jahveh, am determined to be revenged for this your action in following the advice of Satan: choose, therefore,
how you will be punished. You can have three years of
famine,, or three months in flight before your enemies, or
I will gird my angel Michael with one of my best Dam
ascus blades, and he shall have three days’ sport among
your people.” David, feeling assured that Satan would
stand by him, chose the last alternative, and Jahveh’s
-deputy went at it with a pestilence, and smote 23,333J
•persons per day for three days—70,000 in all. Not a
bad three days’ work, was it ? Consider, too, how just
naid moral it was—killing the people for being counted,
-and sparing the king who counted them, and Satan who
“ moved ” the king thereto. It is only fair to say that
-another writer in this blessed book declares that it was
Jahveh himself who “ moved ” David to number his sub
jects ; but that is manifestly impossible, as it would
make of Jahveh a fool as well as a murderer. Besides,
"the writer shows his ignorance of the details of the affair
■by making the three years’ famine into seven. It is
possible to believe that three are equal to one; but to
/require assent to the proposition that three are equiva
lent to seven is rather too much—even for the faithful. .
Satan and his angels are more frequently met with in
* I Chron. xxi. 1.
�( 13 ) ;
later times.- When Jesus was led up by the spirit into-y
the wilderness, it was on purpose to be tempted by the ,
Devil. On another occasion we find some of Satan’s,
angels taking up their abode inside the body or bodies of
a man or men (for Matthew and Mark relate the story ■
differently as to the number; and, while one lays the
scene in Gergesha, the other is positive that it was at
Gedara). In this affair we learn that the devils knew <
Jesus although they were inside the man, and begged of ■
Jesus, if he evicted them, to permit them to take up their.
residence inside two thousand pigs that were in the neigh- ,
borhood. This being conceded, the pigs—doubtless won- •
dering what the devil was the matter with them—ram
headlong “ down a steep place into the sea,” and were-'
drowned. The news of this destruction of these Jews’
pigs brought the people out of the city, and they very
naturally “besought him that he would depart out of •
their coasts.”
This is not the only story told of devils in God’s Word.
Jesus, in choosing his twelve apostles, admitted that one.
of them was a devil; and, in another place, we have this,
apostle identified, when Jesus says to Peter: “ Get thee,
behind me, Satan.” In those authentic productions of
the early Christian writers we have numerous instances,
of the trouble caused by devils to the Christian Church.
Some of these veracious writers descend to particulars f
and thus enable us to estimate their power in this fight.
Hear St. Cyprian : “They (the devils) insinuate them
selves into the bodies of men, raise terrors in the mind,,
distortions in the limbs, break the constitution, and bring
on diseases—yet, adjured by us in the name of the true
God, they presently yield, confess, and are forced to quit
the bodies which they possessed.” This work of exor
cism went on for more than a thousand years, the Church
drawing up a form of prayer to drive devils out of dwell
ings—an operation which took seven days to perform.
The whole of this office has been preserved by Bourne in
his Antiquities, and I will cite a pertinent remark of
Brand, another antiquary, in introducing it in his work :
“ Here follows the tedious process for the expulsion of
Daemons, who, it should seem, have not easily been
ferretted out of their quarters, if one may judge of their
unwillingness to depart by the prolixity of the subsequent
�removal-warrant, which I suppose the Romish clerical
bailiffs were not at the trouble of serving for nothing.”
Rather Montfaucon has recorded, in his Journey, an in
stance of how these devils vexed the faithful in later
times. In the Church of St. Maria del Popolo, at Rome,
ie found an altar bearing upon it an inscription in the
Latin tongue, which his English translator renders thus:
'“This altar, solemnly erected by Pope Paschal II., in
"this place, upon a Divine Inspiration, by which he soon
<lrove out the tall Devils who, sitting on the Nut Tree,
cruelly insulted the people as they passed by, was, by
the authority of Pope Urban VIII., removed to the higher
place,, where you now see it, in the year of our Lord;
1527.” To-day it is not uncommon, among people that
are very religious and very ignorant, to believe in the
raising and laying of the Devil. I know that in Norfolk '
it is a widespread form of this Bible superstition, and the
charms employed to remove the Evil. One are many and'
quaint. Saying the Lord’s Prayer backwards, whilst.
walking round the parish church, is one of these ; but a
much easier method is to be found in the Jewish records.
Eor the use of those who may at any time be troubled
by having the Devil in their houses, we will relate how
he was got rid pf. There was a young man named Toby,'
who fell dn love with a young lady named Sara, and,
like most young men under similar circumstances, he ‘
proposed marriage to her. The girl was young and ;
pretty, and she had been married to seven men, all of
whom went to bed on their wedding-night well and
strong, but all were found dead beside her the next
morning. The Devil was in love with her, and was de- '
termined that no one but he should be her spouse.
When Toby discovered this he was not quite so anxious
to make her his wife. However, one evening he went
down to the river Tigris to wash himself, when a fish '
jumped up and sought to devour him. No doubt it was
Jonah’s whale on the rampage again ; but Toby eluded
it. Looking round he saw the angel Raphael, who
shouted: “Toby, put in your hand and pull out that;
fish.” A fish that is about to swallow you is the sort of .
fish to pull out with your hand. Toby did so. Then
Raphael gave instructions to Toby to take out the heart,
liver and gall, and put them away safely. The fish' was1'
�015 )
¿ext cooked and eaten for supper by Toby and the angel,
after which they both jogged on together to Ecbatane.
Here we may remark that whenever the angels came
down to. earth they were noted for indulging in a goodSquare meal; in Abraham’s time roast veal was the billOf fare ; in this it is roast fish. Perhaps up above they
are restricted to manna, and are glad of a change when:
Put visiting. On the way, the angel assured the young man
that he could now safely marry the girl, but the fate ofher seven husbands troubled, poor Toby. He, however,,
being assured by the angel, went to the girl, proposed,
and was accepted. Raphael gave him instructions how
to “ lay ” the Devil, and after they had supped, they
brought the girl to Toby’s bedroom ; he made a fire in it
and put the heart and liver of the fish on it “ and made
a smoke therewith.” You may take it for granted that
if he had kept those organs of that fish long he would,
have made a stink also ; and this is borne out by the
statement of the writer, who says : “ The which smell,
when the evil spirit had smelled, he fled into the utter-,
most parts of Egypt, and the angel bound him.” So you
see, my friends, that if you should be troubled by Satan,
leave holy water,.prayers, and signs of the cross alone—
give him a dose of ^stinking fish!
There was war in Heaven; but let us again remark
that it was only discovered by the last writer in the
Bible. Similar tales were prevalent with nearly all the
peoples from most remote antiquity. In the Persian,
Etruscan, Indian, Egyptian, and Assyrian cosmogonies
this story is variously related, and there has recently
Been unearthed what are known as the Chaldean
creation tablets, which have been translated by the late
George Smith. In editing a popular History of Baby- ■
Ionia, written by Mr. Smith, the Rev. A. H. Sayce, an
Oxford professor, says : “ Connected with these creation,
tablets are others which describe the fall of man,
brought about by the tempter, the great dragon Tiamatu
(Tehamtu), or the ‘ Deep,’' as well as another series
which recounts the war of Merodach, the sun-god, with
Tiamatu and her allies. This- war reminds us of the1*
Biblical passage (Rev. xii. 7), in which it says there wash
war in heaven.” (History of Babylonia from the Monu
ments, p. 53.) ' Remind us, good heavens ! remind us of
�( U )
what ? Why, that the early Christians cribbed from the
old, hated Babylonian sun-myths their pretended origin,
of the Devil, and-foisted it on a credulous and ignorant
people as a revelation from God. ’ .
Such, then, is the origin of this story, which has
been of enormous advantage to priests in all times, but
which is now laughed at and derided by the wisest and.'
best of men. Let us all do our best to exorcise this
wretched superstition from earth—by logic, if you like,,
by reasoning, if you will, but, more potent than either of
these, by ridictile and laughter, as adopted by us
to-night.
Tilly » DE VII/S t PULPIT.
Forty-six Discourses by the Rev. Robert Taylor, B.A.
734 pages, cloth, 2/- (postage 6d.)
For delivering two of these Discourses the author was
indicted for Blasphemy, and sentenced, on July 4, 1831,
to two years’ imprisonment, to pay a fine of £200, and to
find two sureties for £250 each for five years.
THE TRUE SOURCE OF CHRISTIANITY;
OR, A VOICE FROM THE GANGES.
By AN
INDIAN
OFFICER.
IN PAPER COVERS, Is.; CLOTH, Is. 6d. POST FREE
Frauds and Follies of the
Christian Fathers.
By JOSEPH MAZZINI WHEELER. Price Threepence.
BSF The icorks of Voltaire, Paine, Volney, Holyoake,
Bradlaugh, Besant, Foote, Ingersoll, and other Free
thinkers, always in stock. Orders to the amount of one
shilling sent post free.
R. Forder, 28, Stonecutter Street, E.C.
�
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Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Pamphlet
Dublin Core
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Title
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"There was War in Heaven" : an infidel sermon, delivered to the Portsmouth Branch of the National Secular Society
Creator
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Forder, Robert
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 16 p. ; 19 cm.
Notes: Part of the NSS pamphlet collection. Publisher's advertisements on back cover. Text taken from Rev. xii. 7 'And there was war in heaven...'.
Publisher
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R. Forder
Date
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1887
Identifier
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N274
Subject
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Secularism
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<p class="western"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" name="graphics1" align="bottom" width="88" height="31" border="0" alt="88x31.png" /></p>
<p class="western">This work ("There was War in Heaven" : an infidel sermon, delivered to the Portsmouth Branch of the National Secular Society), identified by <span style="color:#0000ff;"><span lang="zxx"><u>Humanist Library and Archives</u></span></span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</p>
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application/pdf
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Text
Language
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English
Bible. N.T. Revelation
NSS
Original Sin