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Text
To
the
Young Men’s Literary
and
Social Union of the
City of Indianapolis, this Lecture
is most
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR.
Gentlemen :
Accept the best I know and the best I can give you.
Endeavor
to hasten the time when there shall be a dominion of reason engender
ing a just and powerful new public life in the minds and actions of our
nation.
*
��On the source of all civilization and the
means of
PRESERVING OUR CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
A survey of the history of nations shows to every clear
sighted searcher after truth, that mankind is generally pro
gressing to a better state as to physical, moral and intellect
ual improvement.
Although generations are constantly coming and disappear
ing, we observe, nevertheless, that all the seeds of culture
and enlightenment which have been cast by individuals before
hundreds and thousands of years into the wide furrows of
time, have, through all change, not been lost, but ripen to
charming blossoms and yield finally delicious fruits.
As the stars rise and set in the firmament, and even the
remotest and smallest one does not appear there in vain,
but is shedding its mild and twinkling light, just so is the
smallest intellectual power never lost, but has been, and is, ir
radiating the whole human race by its salutary beams, until
the sun of knowledge will rise and shine in full glory to the
later generations.
Men make not only gigantic progress in arts and sciences,
but also in morals, and therefore become generally better,
more civilized and judicious.
Prejudice, superstition, fanaticism, intolerance and mania
of persecution vanish daily more and more, and nearly every
where speak the laws loudly and energetically of equality, of the
civil rights of all men, of people’s sovereignty, and antiquated
political principles are changed, altered or abolished by de
grees according to the spirit of the times.
Slavery and vassalage have not only been abolished ne
everywhere in civilized Europe, but also in our beloved Union,
the model of all republics, they are torn up by the roots by a
majority of the people with unprecedented vigor and sacri
fices.
�4
We ask now who and what was it that produced such a
high state of human culture in the United States ? Who
and what is it, that is yet unremittingly promoting the same?
Was and is it the Republican Party, by laborious exertions
and continued efforts of its great statesmen and distinguished
orators ? Yes. What then is the source of civilization gen
erally?
And we receive upon these questions a double answer.
Some maintain, that the practical philosophy, namely: 1.
The common ethics as the doctrines of the value, end and aim
of human actions generally. 2. As moral philosophy (pre
-cepts of virtue and manners) by application of the common
ethics to the internal spiritual life of man; and 3. Politics as
application of the common ethics to the external social rela
tions as well as the theoretical philosophy, namely: 1. The
common metaphysics of manners or the common doctrine of
the duties of man; 2. The metaphysical doctrine of virtue; and
3. The metaphysical politics or jurisprudence being the sinew
of life of all improvements, and ennobling of the nations,
and others assert that Christianity is the main-spring of all
civilization of mankind.
In regard to the public and secret human evils and crimes,
•civil and personal miseries, infirmities and failings, and es
pecially all the hinderances of beneficial progress and im
provement of culture, there is a conflicting opinion between
the panegyrists of Christianity and the admirers and retainers
of philosophy. One party is laying them to the charge of the
other, and treat its subject disdainfully and contemptuously,
■nay, very often also with violent passion, and both refer us to
historical facts.
The Christian theologians, the reverend
preachers, decry philosophy, or human wisdom, as they please
to term it, in their works as well as from their pulpits, and
'proclaim to,all the world, that it is the source where all the
errors and faults came from and are still coming, by which
the community is and has been always deluged everywhere.
It can not be imagined, they say, any frivolity or indiscre
tion which has not been represented once by a philosopher.
The philosophy is, as the French thinker Bayle confessed
in the 17th century, an escharotic powder, consuming the
putrid flesh as long as there is any of it, but afterwards it cor
rodes sound flesh, marrow and bones.
The philosophers maintain, on the contrary, that as long as
there are positive religions, we hear of fanatics, wonders, wars,
impostors and deceived people.
It is true, that there are also penitents, visionaries and
�5
hypocrites in China and Turkey as well as in Europe and
America ; but there is no religion in existence upon the whole
face of the earth, where such a spirit of intolerance is prevail
ing as in that religion confessed and taught by Christian
priests.
Early in the first centuries when the Christians had risen to
dominion and power, they refused the Jews and Heathen all
kinds of human feelings with an unparalleled hard-heartedness
and a shocking ferocity and did not grant them justice or tol
eration.
The severity of the rage of persecution of the Christian
Emperors, Lords and Bishops grew fiercer from year to year
and from century to century.
In all the cities of the great Roman Empire, the heathen
temples were closed by force, and all the public property of
the heathen was confiscated in order to enrich the Christian
churches.
They stoned, murdered and plundered a great many nonchristians, and thought to serve God by this crying sin.
They did not teach, dispute and fight with words and ex
pressions, but with Auto Da Fee, poniards, tortures and dun
geons.
A religion that produced such effects, a religion which excited
so much hatred and intolerance, and stimulated bloody perse
cutions against all persons entertaining different opinions or
which authorized to rob and plunder property belonging to
others has surely not contributed to promote civilization and
culture, but to a very great demoralization.
And indeed since Christianity has been an established re
ligion in the Roman Empire, all the beautiful and bright
virtues of antiquity, by which it has been victorious in three
continents, became weaker and weaker and expired finally al
together, ;ind degeneracy and immorality were coming on
originated by very obliging priests of the alone-saving faith
who had always had in store heavenly remissions of Chris
tian sins and vices and a purification from Christian guilt.
If we study history, says the philosopher, with an unbi
assed mind, and lay aside the Christian spectacles to see
the ancient facts, we must confess, that Rome, once crowned
with glory and the ruler of the earth, fell dangerously sick
during the time of several Christian emperors and died finally
of the effects of Christianity. They endeavored to establish
christendom by force and by the edge of the sword.
Yes, the spirit of Christian intolerance has been growing
in such a degree, that it engendered even among the differ
�6
ent Christian sects the most formidable religious wars with all
heinous crimes.
From 772-803 the emperor Charles, the Great, persecuted
the Saxons furiously.
He drove them by thousands' into the rivers in order to be
baptized.
4500 prisoners refusing to become Christians, he ordered to
be slaughtered at once, and forced their commander, Wittekind, to be baptized and to embrace Christianity.
In the 11th century all the Christians who were considered
as heretics, were burnt alive as Manichees, and a great many
Jews were either converted by force or cruelly murdered.
In the 12th century Count Emich, of Lciningen, and Arch
Bishop Ruthard, of Mainz committed horrible massacres
among the Jews on the Rhine ; because some Monks pre
tended to have found upon the grave of Jesus a letter from
heaven in which the conversion of Jews was demanded in de
finite terms.
In the 13th century Pope Inocence the III., and Gregor
IX. founded the formidable inquisition, the court of condem
nation of intellectual freedom, and the Franciscans, Domini
cans, the hounds of the Lord, or Jacobins and the Carme
lites became the terror of the free thinking Christians and
of the Jews. The great German poet, Haller, remarks with
a just indignation :
“Cruel tyrant, cursed rage of fanatics,
Glowing always wild against heretics,
Thou didst not rise out of Cerberus foam
"Which vents in hell’s solitary gloom,
No ! Thou art born of the sainted breast,
And thy parent is priest’s boiling chest.
Speaking but of love with pious care,
And yet showing fury everywhere.
Ere a Pope a sovereign became
And a man assumed God’s holy name,
All who did not go the priesthood's path,
"Were made victims of their fiendish wrath.
Who had drowned with blood the ground of Toulouse? "
The poet alludes here to the atrocious actions of the inqui
sition established at Toulouse 1229, which ordered all heretics
to be buried alive.
1484 an Inquisition was introduced in Spain which, up to
the year 1808, offered up to God 343,000 innocent human
creatures as sacrifices, by which this pretended pious institu
tion tortured and murdered the bravest men.
And besides these cruelties generally committed, how
�7
shocking was the fatal'destiny of millions of poor Jews in the
Christian empires!
A lamb among seventy wolves, as Jewish Bards bitterly
lament in their elegies.
The Jews, who have been commanded in the Pentateuch,
(Lev. xix: 34,) to love the stranger like themselves, without
any distinction of nation or creed, and have never flinched
from their duty; the Jews who watched with scrupulous
care and anxiety ovei’ the most holy human records, and their
only crime was the belief in a primitive cause, namely in one
God, were hated, despised, plundered and murdered cruelly
everywhere.
Instead of pitying such a noble people, which were spread
over the whole world, and having compassion on them, sup
porting the weak and protecting them against violence, rob
bery and spoliation, they preferred to treat them with inhu
man and unjust severity, and to oppress them with heavy, ex
orbitant taxes.
The only relief they offered them was either to take the
cross or to die shamefully.
And, indeed, there has been no public or natural calamity
which has not been attributed to the unfortunate Jews.
Thus, for instance, maintained the Pope 1569, that on ac
count of the Jews an earthquake happened in Ferarra in Ita
ly, although the Duke well remarked, that he can hardly be
lieve it; because 12 Christian Churches fell into ruins at that
time, and not one Jewish Synagogue.
I could speak volumes on this subject, how the Jews have
been wilfully misrepresented, nicknamed and disgraced by the
clergy, to disseminate and to nourish a hatred against them
among their Christian brethren, and to raise persecution
against this unhappy but meritorious and innocent people.
I will, however, says the philosopher, restrict myself to the
only fact how Christians have treated their own brethren in
faith.
1572 thirty thousand Protestants, or Hugenots, so called as
a nickname, because they were only allowed to hold Divine
services at night, like a certain specter Hugo, were cruelly
massacred in all the provinces of France, and this action was
considered as a work of Christian piety.
This terrible slaughter lasted 30 days.
It is generally known under the name Bartholomew-massa
cre, for which the Pope, the Holy Father of the Catholics
proclaimed a year of jubilee.
1618-48 raged, in the name of Christianity, the 30 years’
�war, and a fiendish carnage was committed in a great many
empires. And if we look into the history of England we
find, that even there have been offered up a great many hu
man sacrifices on the Christian altar.
There were either the Catholics or the Roundheads, or the
Presbyterians or Puritans, etc., etc., who, as soon as they had
the power, persecuted cruelly all who differed with them in
religious opinions, treated them with severity and suppressed
them.
Should or can all this be called Christian civilization?
Yes, when the pious Spanish Christians came as strangers
hither to America, they murdered forty millions of men, wo
men and children, who had not given them any offence or harm,
drove away the others, and took in possession their land,
houses, and all their property.
Indeed! not humanity, enlightenment, culture and admin
istration of justice, but blind fanaticism followed everywhere
the footsteps of Christianity.
It is impossible, says the philosopher, that Christianity can
or could ever favor the progress of mankind ; because it teach
es explicitly, as the Reverend Theologians maintain, that rea
son is a weak, blind, corrupted and seducing leader, and that
we shall take our understanding into custody of the faith, as
it reads in the 1st Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians x: 5,
“ Casting down imagination, etc., and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
Hence Christianity teaches, that we shall not inquire about
the most important human affairs reasonably, but shall believe
without any investigation.
It enjoins a passive credulity and puts reason to sleep.
Nay! it banishes the spirit out of the province of reality
and puts shackles upon good sense, the only leaders of men
to reach a higher perfection.
It is like a circle which can never progress.
It extinguishes the sun in the empire of ideas, and there
fore it has been and is only the author of spiritual sight.
Now it is a decided fact, that our religious, political and
iiterary horizon is enlarging more and more, and that our
views, experience and knowledge have greatly increased, and
grow still to an extent which the illustrious age of the Greeks
and Romans could not imagine.
The question is obtruding therefore upon the mind of every
close observer of humanity—Who and what has effected this
gigantic progress ?
A great many would certainly exclaim, it is Christianity
�§
that produced this progressive state of human affairs, what
ever the philosophers may gainsay it; because only in such
empires, where the majority of the citizens are Christians, civ
ilization and culture are going onward and upward.
But here I have to remark, that it is an erroneous conclu
sion : hoc propter hoc, namely, if we infer from the acciden
tal coinciding of two events, that one is the cause of the othei*.
I will illustrate and prove this now by the following exam
ple : Suppose it is raining and my table is standing near the
window, and I would draw a conclusion ; as my table is stand
ing near the window, therefore it is raining out of doors to
day.
Every reasonable man would admit, that this is a false in
ference, because the two appearances depend on different
causes and are not connected at all.
It is just the same case with Christianity and civilization.
Both met accidentally together; but the origin, growth and?
blossom of civilization we do not owe to Christianity, but to*
other causes.
To convince ourselves from this fact, we shall endeavor to
observe closely the course which civilization has taken since
the remotest time until now.
If we gaze upon the colossal ruins which we find in Theban
in Egypt, that has been destroyed 4,000 years ago, we must
make the conclusion, that civilization was highly advanced in
Egypt at that time.
For we perceive, that the use of sculpture, of the art of
printing, of the fine enamel works, of glass and precious met
als which have been made there by the Egyptians, was in such
a degree of perfection, that it is proved beyond doubt art and
science had then attained a remarkable development.
And so it is reported in the ancient literature, that thou
sands of years ago, before Christianity was thought of, as
tronomy, physics, hydraulics, chemistry and mathematics flour
ished in Egypt, and the philosophers studied everything that
was useful, considering the study of man and nature as the
highest prosperity.
We find, furthermore, in the records of the past, that peo
ple flocked hither from all quarters in order to be instructed
in Egyptian schools.
Thus Herodotus, the father of history, tells us, that the
Greeks borrowed a great portion of their arts and sciences from
the Egyptians. Under the expression Egpptians, however,
is not only meant the heathen, but is also included the Egypt- ian Jews.
�10
Although a great many are inclined to consider now a days
the Jewish monuments of knowledge as obsolete, others as
containing dangerous errors, shaking the prevailing estab
lishments in the empire of reason in their very foundations,
and finally others as self-complacent pride, they are neverthe
less such productions which the great philosophers, Pytha
goras, Plato and Aristotle considered as the most pre
cious treasures of wisdom and fountain-head of knowledge,
and did not hesitate to draw much from their sources.
The historical report about the intimate intercourse of the
■Greek sages with the Jewish philosophers is not a fiction of
proud Rabbis as some, perhaps, may suppose, but is very old
and is stated by heathen and Christian authors.
Thus relates Eusebius (praep. Evang, ix : c. 3.) Kleanthus,
a disciple of Aristotle informs us, that Aristotle had an ac
quaintance with a Jew in Palestine -who was educated in
the Egyptian school, with whom he conversed about philo
sophical subjects, and confessed, that he learned more from
the Jew than the Jew could have learned from him.
Even so remarks the very reliable ancient historian, Philo,
that the learned Jews in Alexandria have shown to the hea
then, without restraint and in a clear manner, the foolishness,
groundlessness, perversity and immorality of their heathen
rites and doctrines.
All those heathen who aspired for truth and morality paid
homage to the Jewish religious principles.
Aye, even Princes of Greek Macedonian origin, became
true adherents of Judaism. Hence, it must be admitted by
every lover of truth, that the Egyptian Jews had a great
share in promoting the civilization of nations.
Thus acknowledges also Numenius of Apamen, that the
great philosopher, Plato has been nothing else but an Athe
nian speaking Moses.
It is therefore obviously proved by all this, that the schools
of the Alexanderian Jews gained a very great reputation, and
that there must have been among them many original think
ers, so that Pythagoras, Plato and Aristotle were considered as
their disciples.
Egypt has consequently been the seat of learning and cul
ture, where all the ancient literati have learned arts and sei
fences that reached us through the middle ages.
Thales who was born at Milet, 640 b. c. e., established
first in his fatherland the knowledge which he acquired in the
schools of Egyptian priests. Pythagoras who was born 534
b. the c. e., initiated himself like Thales into the mysteries of
�II
Egypt in order to transplant scientific researches of this coun
try to his native land, and has given by that means another
direction to the studies, having employed their method of ex
perience.
He and his disciples .had already very correct ideas of the
parallax, the general arrangements concerning the different
parts of our solar system and of the place occupied by the
earth.
They maintain that the earth revolves around the sun, that
the comets have their periodical revolutions, and that the stars
are even as many suns around which other stars are moving.
A truism which has been attacked until the time of Galileis.
A hundred years later, namely, 434 b. the c. e. appeared
Plato.
He was already a philosopher when twenty years of age
and acknowledged after having heard Socrates, a primitive
general cause as a supreme being, describing it in Timaeus
as the father of the universe, and maintained like his great
teacher, Socrates, that the human soul is immortal, and that
mankind will merely gain its destiny upon earth by a true
philosophy.
These heathen philosophers laid down fundamental maxims,
as Christianity did, and could not teach them better in later
times.
I pass now over in silence all other philosophical systems
■of the Greeks and Romans, and will only mention some facts
that the heathen made constantly progress in the civilizing
arts and sciences.
In a memorable poem entitled, “De natura rerum,” com
posed by Lucretius, a cotemporary of Cicero, (106 b. c. e.)
we find the very correct idea that the fall of heavy bodies is
not alike respecting all bodies, a minute description of the
flash of lightning, etc., etc.
In Seneca are observations given about the magnifying
which glass globes produce by refraction and concave mir
rors by reflection and even some other ones about the colors
of the rainbow, forming themselves by prisms and about the
decrease of heat in the highest regions of atmosphere.
Pie speaks of different colors of the stars and maintains,
that the comets have a regular course, and that the earth
quakes are engendered through .the fire in the centre of the
terrestial globe.
Plinius (23 after the c. e.) gives us some views in his natural
�history about the formation of electricity by friction and about
different electric appearances.
The ancient literati seem, according to Plinius, to have oc
cupied themselves with conducting the lightning.
He says in reference to Tullus Hostilius : (Plin. lib. ii: c. 53.)
“ Quod scilicet fulminis evocationem imitatum parum rite
Tullum Hostilium ietum fulmine.”
That is, in the same moment, when he tried to carry down
the lightning in the same manner as Numa, (716 b. the c. e.)
but unskillfully was Tullus killed by the lightning.
We find also in Lucan, a Roman poet, (38 b. the c. e.) in
reference to the same subject a very remarkable passage:
“* «- -» ® Aruns dispersos fulminis ignes,
Colligit, et terra moesto cum murmure condit.”
(Lucan Phans. i, 606.)
That is, “It is said of Aruns, who was very experienced in
the motions of the flash of lightning, that he collected the
fire scattered in the air, and buried it in the earth.”
Probably these ideas occasioned Benjamin Franklin to dis
cover the conduction of lightning.
Even so have passed over to the Greeks and Romans the
chemical arts which the Egyptians exercised with the most
happy results.
For the Egyptians were very skillful in the art of dying
stuffs, in the manipulation of metals, in the cleaning of soda
or natron, and extracting the kali of the ashes.
Next to them the Phoenicians have had a very extensive
knowledge in the arts which depend on chemistry.
They were expert in the use of copper, gold, silver, lead,
tin and iron.
They understoood how to win these metals of their ore, to
alloy them and to produce different metallic mixtures, for in
stance, litharge, vitriol, etc., etc.
Thus was mankind flourishing more and more, and became
always richer in spirit, inventions, discoveries and all kinds
of human culture.
But as soon as Christianity began spreading over the Roman
Empire, all knowledge, arts and sciences died away, and the
development of civilization was retarded and checked.
For all colleges and acadamies, where the sciences were
taught by non-christians were closed by force, and instead of
studying the subjects, they commenced wrangling and quarrel
ing about mere expressions and words, and all sunk into bar
barity and extreme darkness. Such was the state of affairs
�13
•until the 8th century, when Leo, the Isaurian, this furious
iconoclast threatened with banishment the last remnants of
sciences and arts.
His cruelty was so great that he let burn at night twelve
clergymen, who were his ecclesiastical counsellors, but did not
participate in his abhorrence against images.
Everything seemed consequently to contribute to the des
truction of sciences, and all the exertions of human spirit
from the whole antiquity in. Egypt, Asia, Greece and Italy
would have been lost altogether from civilization if a great
many books had not escaped the banishment on account of
having been partly preserved in monastries and partly by the
Arabians, who by their intercourse with the Jews and Greeks,
became acquainted with scientific knowledge, and interested
themselves indefatigably for culture, philosophy, medicin and
natural history, and preserved thus the original works of the
Greeks and Romans.
They established universities in Asia, Africa and Europe,
especially in Cordova in Spain, where the most eminent Greek
works have been translated and studied, and promoted the
sciences generally, so that their seats of learning have also
been frequented by Christians.
During that time when they restricted themselves in the
Christian states to the cloisters, where the most renowned
Bishops condemned the study of the ancients and did no
thing else, but compose biographies of saints, collected le
gends, draw up a register of heretics, wrote excommuni
cations and anathemas. Yes, during that time it was judged
in Christian courts, not according to wise and just laws,
but by ordeals or so-called God’s judgments? and, for in
stance, if the suspected person could plunge the bare arm
to the elbow in boiling water without being hurt, or could
walk barefoot and blindfolded over nine red hot plowshares
laid lengthwise of unequal distances and escaped unhurt, or
could conquer in duel, or could swallow the sanctified morsel
without bursting, or could stay with stretched arms in the
form of a cross the longest time, was argued innocent, be
cause this was an evidence that God let such persons conquer.
During the time, I say, when all the^e went on in the Chris
tian Empire, the study of sciences, arts and literature, and
the endeavors for the civilization of nations were to be found
among the Mohammedans.
Though Charles, the Great, from 768-814, had established
schools which were superintended by men whom he called
from England and Ireland, and where the study of rhetoric,
�14
dialectis and astronomy were pursuod with great ardor, ail
those schools were nearly closed during the reign of his suc
cessors immediately after him, namely, under Ludwig, the pi
ous, and Charles, the bald, and Europe was plunged in dark
ness until the 13th century.
In the 13th century appeared Roger Baco, a Franciscan
Professor at Oxford, with the surname “ Magnus, ” and who
was also called “ Doctor admirabilis, ” the wonderful teacher.
It came into his mind, probably occasioned by the study of
Pythagoras, to consult nature through experiments, and to
shake off the yoke of scholastic authority.
This was, However, an unprecedented innovation, and caused
him severe persecutions.
Iln was sentenced by a Franciscan General to an imprison
ment for life and to live on bread and water ; because of hav
ing tried to destroy prejudices with which his age was filled up.
He was afterwards released with a proviso, that he should not
meddle any more with physics.
Hence, it was Christianity which threw all sorts of ob
stacles in the way of civilization, checked, suppressed and
choked it altogether in the 14th century. Only from the
time jn the 15th century when a revival of the original class
ical works took place and the old system of the Greek, Ori
entals and the so-called Philosophy of Moses were looked for.
Especially as the example given by Copernicus, Kepler,
Galilei Toricelly and others in natural philosophy was crown
ed with the most happy results, the minds were stirred up for
imitating in philosophy generally, civilization commenced its
course with renewed vigor.
The positive religion was then from day to day much less
considered as a source or standard of philosophical knowledge,
and the exclusive right of giving the last decision on all sub
jects in question was geneially adjudged to reason.
Although the inquisition condemned, in the year 1515, the
system of Copernicus, who revived the idea of Pythagoras,
that the earth revolves on its axis, and declared such an idea as
false, philosophic, absurd and heretical, Galilei defended nev
ertheless the Capernican system in the year 1616.
He was forced, indeed, in his 69th year of age, to abjure
this system before the Court in Rome in the following man
ner : I abjure, condemn and curse the error of the motion
of the earth, but in spite of that, he taught, that the earth
moves on its axis.
He was afterwards arrested, as it was expected, and sen
tenced to an imprisonment for life.
�15
A violent struggle of reason with the mechanism of usages
took place everywhere, and the opposition to the superior
criticism of the positive religion which it arrogated over rea
son, became stronger more and more.
The spirit itself wrestled with old established customs in
order to give continually new life and stir in the march of in
tellect, and to render great services to truth, beauty and jus
tice.
Hail to those unterrified philosophers who were not afraid
of suffering persecution, and risked even their lives and liberty
in order to build the truth on unshakable pillars, and to trace
qut the way to the coming generations which shall be taken to
find out new truisms, and to promote civilization.
Jf now the Asiatics and a great many other nations are
benumbed in the midst of their cultivation, it is not on ac
count of not having embraced Christianity, but of being un
der the tyrannical dominion of ancient customs.
Thus, for instance, a philosophy was and is prevailing
among the Arabs now exactly as it was in vogue among the
Christian nations in the middle ages, when positive religion
was the center and rule of all reasonings, demanding an un
conditional blind faith, and checking all progress and devel
opment.
Hence it follows, that only since the revival of the Platonic
philosophy in Italy, from whence it spread extensively abroad,
out of which came the pure systems of better wisdom, ancient
civilization and culture have also been revived, and are con
stantly promoted and developed.
The bold searcher after truth ventured to run the risk of
being burned alive or tortured by the so-called holy inquisi
tion, and threw light with the torch of truth upon the works
of darkness in all its relations and bearings.
The great salutary principle of religious liberty and free
dom of conscience which they laid down and pleaded with a
convincing force, conquered finally, and a mild, social bond
entwines itself by degrees around nations, trying to come
always nearer together in order to unite for common purposes.
It is true, that the maturity of reason in the present time,
is thriving very slowly; but the surer, it seems to me, will
the high aim be gained.
For it is merely founded on intellectual power, freedom of
conscience, natural rights, high talents for the arts, and a true
morality.
If now this high spiritual position of humanity shall be
preserved for the later generations, it is obviously necessary
�1«
that they do not waste thousands and millions of dollars for
Christian Mission and Tract Societies, but rather to establish
Universities in this country also, as they are flourishing in
Europe, where they proved always as the best center of all
scientific knowledge and progressive enlightenment.
For Universities, emancipated from hierarchical power and
from the influence of every religious party or sect, are, as
they were, the locomotives of hiiman spirits, leading them with
the rapidity of lightning onward and upward.
It is high time to make the public aware of the indispensihle necessity of such institutions; because every close obser
ver of our public affairs will surely, with great sorrow, ascer
tain that the priests of different denominations endeavor, like
the polypes with their tenticles, to catch every opportunity to
meddle with politics, and nestle, wherever it is possible, their
illiberal, absurd and antiquated ideas.
The Universities would be the most powerful armies to pro
ject us .against the clerical drawbacks and corruption, and
would also be the formidable monitors on the stormy ocean of
life to secure us our free institutions.
Yes, a free University in every State of the Union, would
De like a shining sun enlightening all the classes of people,
and promoting the welfare and prosperity of all nations as
well as of every individual in particular, without any distinc
tion.
...
Such institutions only will be the means by which a reli
gion, founded on incontestible reasonable arguments, will be
established for all mankind, diffusing brotherly love towards
all nations, virtue and justice more -and more, so that every
’barbarity and war and war-hoop will disappear for ever.
They will bring on the time which the prophets have fore
seen, and the poets have dreamed, that nation against nation
*will never wage war any more, and nowhere shall force reign
-supreme, but only strict justice shall decide all and every
thing.
Ilappy they who can promote such a great work crowned
with blessings. But thrice happy will be those who shall live
then to see, when the history of all nations will not be filled
with bloody military exploits, nor with the victories of diplo
matic contrivances, but with the general happy achievements
of the gigantic progress of civilization and culture of [all
mankind.
�
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Victorian Blogging
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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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Lecture on the source of all civilization and the means of preserving our civil and religious liberty
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Kalisch, Isidor
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [Indianapolis]
Collation: 16 p. ; 22 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Delivered to the Young Men's Literary and Social Union of the City of Indianapolis. Inscription on front page: Presented to Rev. Moncure D. Conway by the author. Author's name and date of publication from KVK.
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[Indianapolis Journal Co. printers]
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[1864]
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G5374
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Freedom of religion
Human rights
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Lecture on the source of all civilization and the means of preserving our civil and religious liberty), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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Text
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English
Civil Liberties
Civilisation
Conway Tracts
Freedom of Religion
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Text
WEV.
■,■.••-■•*
CHARLES WATTS’S WORKS.
The Teachings of Secularism Compared with Orthodox Christianity. Is , by post Is. 2d.
Christianity :
Origin, Nature,
its
Secularism ; Destructive
The Glory
of
Agnosticism
and
and
Influence. 4d., by post 5d.
Constructive.
3d., by post 4d.
Unbelief. 3d., by post 4d.
Christian Theism ; Which is the More Reason
and
able ? 3d., by post 4d.
A Reply to Rather Lambert’s “Tactics
post 7d.
of
Infidels.”
6d., by
Theological Presumption : An Open Letter to the Rev. Dr. R. F.
Burns, of Halifax, N.S. 2d,, by post 2jd.
The Natural and the Supernatural} or, Belief and Knowledge.
3d., by post 4d.
Evolution and Special Creation. 3d., by post 3jd.
Contents :—What is Evolution ?—The Formation of Worlds—The
Beginning of Life upon the Earth—Origin of Man—Diversity of Living
Things—Psychical Powers—The Future of Man on Earth.
Happiness
Science
in
Hell and Misery
in
Heaven, 3d., by post 3jd.
Bible. 4d., by post 5d.
and the
Bible Morality : Its Teachings Shown to be Contradictory and
Defective as an Ethical Code. 3d., by post 3|d.
The Bible Up
Date. 2d., by post 2|d.
to
The Superstition
of the
Christian Sunday.
3d., by post 4d.
Education: True and False. (Dedicated to the London School
Board.) 2d., by post 2jd.
Secularism: Its Relation
to the
Social Problems of the Day.
2d., by post 2Jd.
Christianity : Defective (and Unnecessary.
Watts. 3d., by post 3|d.
Secularism; Is
it
By Mrs. Charles
Founded on Reason, and is it Sufficient
to Meet the Needs of Mankind ?
Debate between the Editor of the “Evening Mail” (Halifax, N.S.) and
Charles Watts. With Prefatory Letters by G. J. Holyoake and Colonel
R. G. Ingersoll, and an Introduction by Helen H. Gardener. Is., by
post Is. 2d.
�HA/T78
CHRISTIANITY
AND
CIVILIZATION:
Why Christianity is Still Professed.
BY
CSS’fMS W®TTg
Author of ‘ ‘ The Teachings of Secularism Compared wit Orthhodox
Christianity," “Secularism: Constructive and Destructive,”
“ Evolution and Special Creation,” “The Glory of Unbelief,”
“Saints and Sinners: Which?” “ Bible Morality,”
“ Christianity: Its Origin, Nature and Influence”
“ Agnosticism and Christian Theism : Which
is the More Reasonable ?” “ Reply to
Father Lambert,” Etc., Etc.
LONDON:
WATTS & CO., 17 JOHNSON’S COURT, FLEET ST., E.C.
PRICE
THREE
PENCE.
�1
�CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION,
It would be difficult to select two other words which are used x
as extensively as “ Christianity ” and “ civilization,” about
which there are such vague and conflicting notions as to their
meaning. If we ask Christians for a definition of their faith,
it will be found that the answers given are as varied as they are
numerous. The reply of a Roman Catholic will differ widely
from that of a Protestant, while the meaning given to Christi
anity by a member of the Church of England would not be the
same as the one furnished by the adherents of the many dis
senting sects. A decided lack of harmony would be perceptible
between the definitions offered by Unitarians and Trinitarians,
by Quakers and Salvationists, by Swedenborgians and Christadelphians. The expounders of what is termed the “higher
criticism ” present a conception of Christianity the very oppo
site to that taught by the school represented by Dr. Talmage
and the late C. H. Spurgeon. The same diversity as to the
nature of the Christian faith obtains among nations. In Spain
it has proved a cruel oppression, in Rome a priestly domination,
in America a commercial commodity, in Scotland a gloomy
nightmare, and in England an emotional pastime. This dis
similitude as to the character of the “ new religion ” appeared
immediately after the alleged death of Christ. According to
the New Testament, Paul preached a system of a philosophical
character compared with that of Jesus. The Christianity of
Paul was widely different from that of his “ divine Master.”
The character of Christ was submissive and servile, that of
Paul defiant and pugnacious. We could no more conceive
Christ fighting with wild beasts at Ephesus, than we could
suppose Paul submitting without protest or resistance to those
�4
CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION ;
insults and indignities which are alleged to haye been heaped
upon Christ. Neither could we for one moment imagine Paul
advising his disciples when anyone smote them on one cheek
to offer them the other. Paul introduced by his personal
character a certain amount of boldness and energy into the
Christian propaganda, and by the character of his mind he
largely modified the Christian system. In fact, each successive
age has left its mark and impress upon Christianity. No
system was ever less rigid and more plastic. It has certainly
come up to the injunction of St. Paul “ to be all things to
all men.” Persons of the most contrary dispositions and
of the most opposite natures have been its great illustrators,
expounders, and living representatives. It has found room for
all temperaments ; the ascetic and luxurious enjoyer of life ;
the man of action and the man of contemplation ; the monk
and the king : the philanthropist and the destroyer of his race;
the iconoclastic hater of all ceremonies, and the superstitious
devotee. All these opposites have found refuge within the
pale of Christianity. But this heterogeneous family is by no
means the result of any all-embracing comprehensiveness in
the system of Christ, but rather the effects of a theology
characterized alike by its indefinite, incomplete, and undecisive
principles.
These different and contradictory views which are entertained
as to what Christianity really is, prove that its truths are not
self-evident, but that they depend, for their interpretation and
manifestation, upon the education and surroundings of their
professors. This deprives the faith of any just claim to infal
libility and to a “ divine origin.” For, if the reason of man
has to decide its meaning, one uniform conception of what it
teaches is impossible, and the criterion by which its claims are
tested is a human one. The term “ Secular Christianity ” we
regard as a misnomer, for the system has no consistent signifi
cation if the notion of what is called the supernatural is ignored.
The inspiration that induced Christ to say and do what is
ascribed to him in the four gospels, was considered to have
�WHY CHRISTIANITY IS STILL PROFESSED.
5
emanated from above. The power that moves and regulates
the whole system of Christianity is designated by its believers
as supernatural. Christ did not teach from purely secular
motives, but through the belief that he was doing the will of
his ‘ Father in heaven.” The leading features of the teachings
of the New Testament are: reliance upon a supernatural
power, faith in Christ, belief in the efficacy of prayer, and in
the immortality of the soul; also that poverty is a virtue, that
submission is a duty, and that love to man should be subordin
ate to love to God. These principles, however consoling they
may be to some, must, from their nature, check the pi ogress of
civilization. The extent of their retarding influence depends
upon the degree of1 veneration in which they are held by their
professors. With some Theists and Unitarians these theologi
cal notions are less dangerous, because such Christians are
less dogmatic and less orthodox.
But with a Wesleyan, a
Baptist, or a member of the Salvation Army, such notions
frequently lead to conduct antagonistic to general improvement.
With these latter Christians, Christ is “all in all,” and they are
ever ready to exclaim :
“No foot of land do I possess,
A stranger in the wilderness,
I all their goods despise.
I trample on their whole delight,
And seek a city out of sight,
A city in the skies.”
For:
” Nothing is worth a thought beneath,
But how I may escape the death
That never, never dies.”
Such is the complex character of the Christian religion,
which its enthusiastic devotees boast has been the cause of
modern civilization. “ See,” they exclaim, “ how it made men
free, established liberty, abolished the corruptions of Rome,
liberated the human mind from heathen darkness, gave peace
to the world, and introduced a new and pure religion.” To
put the matter mildly, all this is pure assumption and nothing
�6
i 1
a
CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION:
more, and this we hope to show beyond all possible doubt.
We shall endeavor to prove that Christianity does not contain
the elements which have produced civilization, butthat modern
progress is the result of agencies the very antithesis to New
Testament teachings. Before doing this, however, we ask,
when and where did Christianity cause the changes above
mentioned ? What we call civilization means a condition of
society where movements are in operation that will banish
barbarism, and in its place establish culture and the right of
personal freedom. Now, in what nation has Christianity ac
complished this result ? It is no credit to any faith to have
destroyed Roman learning, and then to have plunged Europe
into a state of mental darkness.. Yet this is what the early
Christians did, as the history of the Middle Ages amply testifies.
The monuments of Christianity are huge buildings erected at
the expense of the blood and muscle of unremunerated laborers.
True, Christianity produced architecture, and so it did monk
ish lying chronicles. It incited Europe to a state of ferment,
and also inspired the Crusaders to wage their unholy wars; it
lighted the fires of Smithfield and Oxford, and it established
the Holy Inquisition and the Star Chamber, wherein human
beings were tortured and cruelly put to death. The adherents
of this “ new religion ” have spread war, strife, and desolation
among nations in their attempt to subdue races who were -no
more savages than were the Christians themselves. This was
the work of the promoters of the “new and pure religion. ’
Christianity was erected upon the ruins of Greek and Roman
philosophy, but it failed to give birth to principles that could
be practically carried out in daily life. All that tends to pro
duce a state of civilization and to supply the needs and ensure
the refinement of a people, does not date its inception from the
introduction of Christianity, for that lacks not only any
scheme of education, but much of its teaching encourages un
thrift and favors despotism.
We are told that the Christian clergy were the scholars of the
nation for a thousand years, although the Christian Mosheim
�WHY CHRISTIANITY IS STILL PROFESSED.
7
says, in his “ Ecclesiastical History,” that “ The bishops in
general were so illiterate, that few of that body were capable of
composing the discourses which they delivered to the people.”
Even the clergy, who were comparatively learned, kept all their
knowledge to themselves, while the general masses were steeped
in ignorance and moral degradation. Christianity has estab
lished churches, but when did it give the artisan any ownership
in them ? For centuries the Christian Church has been the
opponent of all literary, political, and social advancement. It
did not found mechanics’ institutes, free schools, or unsectarian
universities. But it did close the avenues of learning against
those who did not swear by its faith. Its Protestant supporters
argued against giving Roman Catholics and Jews their civil
rights. Henry (afterwards Lord) Brougham, once asked in the
House of Commons how the bishops could condemn perjury,
when they declared before God that they were moved by the
Holy Ghost to accept many thousand pounds a year for preach
ing “Blessed be ye poor ?” The fact is, money is at the root
of religion, as established in England, and we see in every
cathedral pile an emblem of a petrified faith.
Many able expounders of Christianity, failing to recognize the
true causes of civilization, urge that it has produced what they
term “ a change of heart,” and that this change has a more
beneficial effect upon the general conditions of society than
secular agencies have. Now, we fail to discover any proof of
this allegation. Western civilization is the result of the culti
vation of the intellect far more than it is of the fostering of the
emotions. In transforming society from what it was to what
it is, the teachings of science have proved more efficacious than
the preaching of sermons, and the brain power of such master
minds as Galileo, Newton, Watt, and Stephenson has been a
greater civilizing factor than all the emotional force manifes
ted by the host of divines who have contributed to the history
of the Christain faith. We hope to show that the improve
ments of modern life are not the outcome of putting into
practice the injunctions of Christ, but rather the consequence
�8
CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION :
of following the truths born of such geniuses as those whose
names we have mentioned. The discovery of coal and of
electricity, the mechanical inventions of the last two hundred
years, the control of the lightning, and the navigation of the
seas, have been the potent agencies in bringing about modern
civilization. But these agencies have been secured through the
medium of cultivated intellects and are not the result of any
Christian “ change of heart.”
Experience amply testifies that if we keep our bodies in a
healthy condition and properly drain our land, the probability
is that if epidemics come upon us they will soon depart, and'
these duties are neglected, it is likely that diseases may not
only visit us, but that they will linger in our midst despite any
“ change of heart ” that might have taken place. If, however,
by this phrase is meant, that men should cease to do evil and
learn to do good, then we do not deny the advantages of such
a change, but we contend that intelligence and secular agencies
are necessary to render such advantages serviceable for all
civilizing purposes. We further assert that before a person’s
character is changed for the better, the conditions which surround
him must be improvedr; for, as Spencer has shown, a moral
character cannot emanate from immotal surroundings. Thus
the very “ change of heart ” spoken of depends upon the
superior environment caused by external influences. Moreover,
we find that this “ change of heart ” has not induced Christians
to seek to remove slavery, religious inequalities, political
z wrongs and social injustice ; neither has it inspired them with a
desire to encourage education or to favor the discovery and
the application of the sciences. In the face of these facts, it
cannot be consistently said that the Christian’s “ change of
heart ” has brought about the civilization of the nineteenth
century.
Persons with unbiased minds, and who are capable of general
izing facts, will doubtless recognize that civilization is not the
result of any one thing, or of the efforts of any one man, and
least of all of those of a person who possibly might have lived
�WHY CHRISTIANITY IS STILL PROFESSED.
9
in Palestine two thousand years ago. The progress of a nation
is to be attributed to efforts of many men of different genera
tions ; and also to a combination of circumstances that have
been in operation during all ages, preparing the way for the
advancement of a higher condition of things. For instance, if
it had not been for the scientific discoveries of a Watt, a Dalton,
and a Black of the last century, the application of the sciences
with which their names are associated would not have been
capable of being so easily applied to the ends of general utility
in this present age. It is equally true that for the freedom
from theological intolerance which we possess to-day, we are
indebted to the persistent and fearless advocacy of the Freethought pioneers of past ages, as well as to the efforts of
Freethinkers of more recent times.
We are aware that many of the most able thinkers entertain
different views from ours as to the cause of human progress,
but the question is, Whose views are supported by historical
facts and by general experience ? If the sources of civilization
are contained in the New Testament, how is it that at the
time when its teachings were observed, more than at any other
period, civilization was comparatively unknown ? It is only
within the present century, when scepticism and reliance on
mundane resources have been and still are so prevalent, that
real progress to any great extent has been accomplished.
Moreover, we know too well that two of the principal civilizing
agencies—science and general knowledge—have been bitterly
opposed and continually retarded by those very persons who
professed to be the exemplars of Christ’s teachings. When
the facts of modern science were first proclaimed, they were
denounced as untrue by Christians who for centuries constantly
condemned them as being antagonistic to the welfare of the
people. New truths that were demonstrated by early scientists
were regarded by believers in Christianity as instances of the
insanity of the discoverers, and every fossil wonder disclosed
was referred by Christians to the limited explanation of the
Noachian deluge. Finding threats and intimidation failed to
�IO
CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION:
check the advance of truth, persecution and imprisonment
were the weapons used by Christian hands towards those who
investigated the laws of nature, and who sought to make such
laws known to their fellow creatures. Dr. Ferguson, in. his
work, “The Penalties of Greatness, ” acknowledges that.the
Roman Catholic Church was the first to extinguish the light of
reason. But truth existed in spite of the deadly agencies
which' surrounded it. Not only did this . Christian Church
employ means to prevent the least difference of opinion. on
religious subjects, by the' invention of the most finished instru
ments of torture, but science itself became the object of burning
jealousy and persecution, and men were made to deny the
very laws of nature.
Dr. Dick, in his work, the “ Philosophy of .Religion,” shows
that the Protestant Church exhibited a similar spirit of perse
cution. The same may be said of Christians in their morerecent treatment of such men as Lyell, Darwin, Huxley, and
Tyndall. Dr. White’s “Warfare of Science ” contains innum
erable facts showing how scientific men have been' denounced
by Protestants and charged with promulgating theories that
were said to be injurious to the welfare of mankind, And yet
the very knowledge that these men endeavored to impart is
now admitted to be among the most potent factor? in sustaining
and improving our civilization. For as Buckle observes,
“ Real knowledge, the knowledge on which, all civilization is
based, solely consists in an acquaintance with the relations
which things and ideas bear to each other and to themselves ;
in other words in an acquaintance with physical and mental
laws.”
No one can seriously question the fact that general education
has played a, most important part in producing and in increasing
civilization, yet it has taken the Christian world nearly eighteen
hundred years to arrive at the conclusion that ,it is - necessary
that the people should have adequate means of instruction at
their command.
Every step taken towards obtaining a
national system of education has been determinedly opposed
�WHY IS CHRISTIANITY STILL PROFESSED.
II
by men who were the leading expounders of the Christian faith.
And the most resolute opponents of our present public schools
areto be found in the Christian ranks. Buckle states that
where Christian governments “have not openly forbidden the
free dissemination of knowledge, they have done all they could
to check it. On all the implements of knowledge and on all
the means by which it is diffused, :such as papers, books,
political journals, and t.he like, they have imposed duties so
heavy that they could hardly have done worse, if they had
been the sworn advocates of popular ignorance. Indeed,
looking at what they have actually accomplished, it may be
emphatically said that they have taxed the human mind.”
Civilization is not an invention, but a growth ; a process
from low animal, conditions to higher physical, moral, .and
intellectual attainments. The real value of civilization consists
in its being the means whereby the community can enjoy-per
sonal comfort and general happiness. Now the elements that
have contributed to such a societarian condition, are those
that Christianity has not concerned itself with, either as
originator or as promoter. The lesson of all history teaches
the fact that the. progress of a people depends upon their
knowledge of, and their obedience to organic and inorganic
laws. This great truth has not been sufficiently recognized by
the expounders of Christianity. On the contrary, following in
this particular the example of their Master, they have
urged that man’s principal attention should be directed to the
alleged supernatural, and to the considerations of a life beyond
the grave. The secular affairs of existence have been deemed,
by the consistent professors of Christianity, as being of only
secondary importance. This disregard of mundane duties is,
no doubt, the logical sequence of believing such teachings of
the New Testament, as : “ He that loveth his life shall lose it;
and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it - until life
eternal” (John 12 : 25). Also, “Everyone that hath forsaken
houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife,'
or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hun-
�12
CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION,'
dred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life ” (Matt. 19 : 29),
This is actually offering a premium for neglecting the require
ments of this world, and for ignoring the natural promptings of
humanity.
In any accurate history of the advancement of the human
race, the influence of external forces must be duly considered.
The emotions of our nature have doubtless played an active
part in civilizing processes, but external conditions have also
proved potent factors in all progressive movements. For
instance, the geographical position and climate of nations have
always had a marvellous effect upon the .temperaments and the
beliefs of individuals, thus either marring or improving
the development of civilization. An observant traveller can
readily discern the difference between the temperament of the
inhabitants of the Swiss and of the Italian sides of the Alps,
or between those who reside on the English and on the French
side of the Channel. The Swiss are as solemn as their snow
capped mountains, and the Italians are as lively as the English
larks whose songs accompany the dawn of the summer mcrn.
The mental calibre of the French, as a rule, differs in many
respects from that of the English ; and a faith that may satisfy
an Oriental mind, would probably be found inadequate to
meet the requirements of the Western intellect. This is a
feature in the process of civilization that Christianity has not
taken into account ; for it prescribes the same faith for all
nations and for all people, despite the varied climates and the
different localities in which they are born and trained. Buckle
has shown that man’s progress is the result of his physical
environment; for it has been found to be impossible to establish
a high civilization in certain countries, and under certain
climatic influences. Take, for instance, the people of Asia, and
of Africa ; also the Abyssinians. In spite of all the efforts of
Christian missionaries civilization in those countries is at its
lowest ebb. As a writer aptly remarks; “ If it were the Church
that created civilization, then we should see similar results in
different latitudes, and among different races. But the facts
�WHY CHRISTIANITY IS STILL PROFESSED.
T3
are opposed to this claim. Wherever there is a high civilization,
there is a good soil and a temperate climate.” This fact
proves that it is not to Christianity that we owe civilization,
but rather that it depends for its manifestations upon the
healthy conditions of society and its surroundings.
Briefly summarized, it appears to us that the principal causes
of modern civilization are : The development of the intellect,
this rules the world to-day; the expansion of mechanical genius,
this provides for the increased needs of the people ; the exten
sion of national commerce, this causesan inter-change of ideas ;
the invention of printing, this provides for the circulation of
newly-discovered facts ; the beneficial influence of climate, this
affects the condition both of body and mind ; the knowledge
and the application of science, these reveal the value and the
power of natural resources; the spread of scepticism, this
provides for the vindication of the right of mental freedom :
the practical recognition of political justice, this forms the
basis of all just governments ; and finally, the establishment of
the social equality of women with men, this secures the eman
cipation of women from that state of domestic servitude and
general inferiorityin which theology had for centuries kept them.
The question here to be considered is, are the causes of civiliza
tion just named, even indicated in the New Testament? We sub
mit they are not, for if the following injunctions were implicitly
obeyed, there would be a complete stagnation of all civilization.
“ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world,”
“ For what is a man profited if he gain the whole world and
lose his own soul ?” “ Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and
his righteousness and all these things [food, clothes, etc.] shall
be added unto you. Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh
not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple,” “ Take no
thought for your life,” “Resist not evil,” “ Blessed be ye
poor,” “ Labor not for the meat which perisheth,” “ Let every
man abide in the same calling wherein he was called,” “ Submit
yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake,” “ Let
every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no
�*4
CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION.
'
power but of God. .... Whosoever therefore resisteth the
power resisteth the ordinance of God-, and they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation?’ “ Wives submit your
selves to your own husbands,” “ As the Church‘is subject unto
Christ, so let the wives be to their husbands in everything,”
‘ What therefore God hath joined; together let‘no man put
asunder,” “ Servants be subject to your masters with all fear;
not only to the good and gentle, but also to the frowaird,” " Lay
not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,” Give to him that
asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not
thou away,” “ Lend hoping for nothing again,” “ He that taketh
away thy goods ask them not again,” Forgive your brother who
who sins “ until seventy times seven,” “ Whosoever shall not
receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of thaf
city, shake off the dust of your feet,” “ If any man preach any
other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be
accursed,” “ If any man teach otherwise, an’d consent not to
the wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ
.... he is proud, knowing nothing. ...... from such
withdraw thyself,” “Of whom is• HymenSeus and Alexander,
whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to
blaspheme.”
...
Here are a few passages from the Scriptures, the highest
Christian authority, which enjoin conduct that cannot possibly
promote .civilization, but must necessarily retard it. The
teachings herein set forth are, neglect of the world, personal
indifference to human needs, non-resistance of wrongs, to regard
poverty as a blessing, abject submission to “ the powers that
be,” the subjection of woman, the giving up all for Christ,
reckless lending without any conditions for the return of the
loan, and the encouragement of a bitter spirit of prosecution.
Well may the late John S. Mill exclaim, in his work on Liberty,
“ That not one Christian in a thousand guides or tests his
individual conduct by reference to those [New Testament]
laws.” The reason why those laws cannot be obeyed in the
nineteenth century is because, as Mill further states, the
�WHY CHRISTIANITY IS STILL PROFESSED.
i5
morality of Christ is,, “ in many important points incomplete
and one-sided, and unless ideas and feelings not sanctioned by
it had contributed to the formation of European life and
character, human affairs would have been in a worse condition
than they now are Other ethics than any which can be
evolved from exclusively Christian sources must exist side by
side with Christian ethics to produce the tn oral regeneration of
mankind.”,
f.
.
■
...It.may be asked by. professors pf the Christian faith, .“If
Christianity is so unprogrest?ive in its nature,, and so muchopposed to a high condition of civilization. as.: ypu allege ■ that
it is, how is it that the profession of Christianity is so extensive
to-day?” . .
.
. .
In estimating th,e position that a system occupies in a. com-’
munity, it is necessary to distinguish between its profession
and its practice. It must be evident to.the impartial observer,
that while the name Christianity is still retained in our midst,
its essential principles have become impotent as a factor in
daily, life. As. James Cotter Morison observes in his “Service
of Man”: “There seems to be no exception to:the rule, that
the older religions grow, the; more infirm dodhey become, the
less hold do they, keep on ; the minds, of welhinformed and
thoughtful men. . Their truths, once accepted without question,
are gradually doubted, and i,n the end denied by , increasing
numbers. . . . All the chief dogmas of the Christian. . . . Creeds
have been for several centuries before the* world.. They: were
once, not only believed, but adored. Now .the: numbers who
doubt or dispute .them are increasing every day.- Time has.
not been their friend, but their enemy. , ... Religious truth
begins with undoubting’ acceptance, and after a shorter or.
longer period of supremacy, with the growth of knowledge and
more severe canons of criticism, passes gradually into the cat
egory of questioned and disputed theories, ending at last in
the class of rejected and exploded errors.” The proceedings
at recent Congresses and Conferences, amply justify the truth
of the above statements . At the present time the Churches
�l6
CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION .'
are rent by intestine divisions, and assailed on all sides from
without by all that is vigorous, intelligent, liberal, free, and
progressive in our modern civilization. Christianity stands now
as the mythologies of Greece and Rome stood at the period
when it arose. The gods were more numerous than ever
before, the temples more magnificent, the sacrifices and
festivals more splendid, the priesthood more arrogant; but
living faith had deserted them, the intellect of the age despised
them, and its loftiest morality condemned them ; therefore,
despite their wealth, pomp, and power, they were irrevocably
doomed to destruction.
History repeats itself, hence a similar state of the decay that
marked the career of the religions of Greece and Rome, has
characterized the history of Christianity. The truth of this
allegation will be obvious to those who study the variety of
stages through which the faith has passed. True the name
has been retained, but not the faith the name was once sup
posed to represent. People in different nations and different
ages have accepted the term Christianity, and applied it to a
theological and ceremonial system arranged in accordance with
their education and their habits. The Christianity introduced
into this country by Augustine in the sixth century, was not
the Christianity taught in the East. The faith of the Middle
Ages was not the faith that is professed in the nineteenth
century.
Dean Milman, in his “ History of Civilization,” observes :
“ Its (Christianity’s) specific character will almost entirely
depend upon the character of the people who are its votaries . . .
It will darken with the darkness and brighten with the light
of each succeeding century.” Lord Macaulay says with
no less truth than brilliancy : “ Christianity conquered Pagan
ism, but Paganism infected Christianity. The rites of the
Pantheon passed into her worship, and the subtleties of the
Academy into her creed.” Francis William Newman, in his
“ Phases of Faith,” also remarks : “ I at length saw how
untenable is the argument drawn from the inward history of
�.
* '
“if 27::
i.U rf?,'
WHY IS CHRISTIANITY STILL PROFESSED.
17
Christianity in favor of’its superhuman origin. In fact, this
religion cannot pretend to self-sustaining power. Hardly
was it started on its course when it began to be polluted by
the heathenism and false philosophy around it. With the
decline of national genius and civil culture it became more and
more debased. So far from being able to uphold the existing
morality of the best Pagan teachers, it became barbarized itself,
and sank into deep superstition and manifold moral corruption.
From ferocious men it learned ferocity. When civil society
began to coalesce into order, Christianity also turned for the
better, and presently learned to use the wisdom first of Romans,
then of Greeks ; such studies opened men’s eyes to new appre
hensions of the scripture and of its doctrine. By gradual and
human means, Europe, like ancient Greece, grew up towards
better political institutions and Christianity improved with
them.”
Thus, according to these authorities, it will be seen that the
adherence to’ Christian theology which was observable in its
primitive history is no longer perceptible. The aim and
desire of modern reformers are to base morals, politics, and
commerce on the principles of utility. Human instincts are
found to be too strong, the necessities of life too potent, the
exigencies of existence too imperative to allow the standard of
two thousand years ago to regulate the actions of to-day. The
political world is now conductedon secular principles ; scientific
research is unfettered by theology, and is therefore secular ;
and the practical ethics of modern society are utilitarianism
and are therefore secular. Our civilization is indissolubly
connected with these three important facts.
So extensively is the change—produced by the sceptical
tendency of the age—progressing that we are continually
hearing of some avow'al either upon the part of a prelate, a
clergyman, or a learned professor, of a new view of the Chris
tian faith, or of a modification of the once popular theology.
The nature of the new departure depends, of course, upon the
intellectual status and the social position of those, who either
�i8
CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION:
give up altogether the profession of their old beliefs, or who so
modify those beliefs that they may be considered more in
harmony with the requirements of the age. But a general
agreement appears to exist amongst the superior intelligent
expounders of Christianity that the ideas that were for centuries
entertained as to the character of their faith, and of its sanc
tions, can no longer be supported in the face of modern criti
cism. It cannot be doubted that many of the new views that
are being promulgated as to what Christianity really is, strike
at the very root of the system as it was taught in former times.
Still, despite this fact, there is such a manifest desire to retain
the name of Christian upon the part of a large section of so
ciety, that it may be useful to inquire what the magic influences
are that impel so many persons to tenaciously cling to a name
that represents no practical principle in the actions that govern
the well-being of the community.
It has been frequently urged by orthodox believers, that if
all the facts of Christianity could be disposed of, Christian ex
perience would still remain, and that it is this which gives the
consolation that no criticism can destroy. Probably this will
explain why a large number of persons continue to adhere to
the profession of Christianity. It, however, reduces the basis
of their faith to the level of fanaticism, for the same reason
could be given with equal force in justification of the mani
festation of the wildest enthusiasm associated with the worst
forms of superstition. It is the old idea that a thing is true
because one feels it to be so. This is an assumption that
assuredly should find no support from thinking persons, inas
much as it could be cited to prove the truth of the greatest
errors that have ever degraded the human mind. The savage,
who worships his idol of wood and stone, derives consolation
from his abject prostration. Why should Christian mission
aries seek to rob him of his source of supreme comfort ? The
answer is, because the poor savage is thought to be mistaken
in his useless and humiliating devotion. For a similar reason
we remind the orthodox professor that the consolation exper
�WHY CHRISTIANITY IS STILL PROFESSED
19
ienced from a faith destitute of any practical value, and which
consigns the majority of the human race to everlasting torture
is unworthy of man, and would be a disgrace to any God.
Besides, the probability that such consolation is based on
fiction is not very complimentary to the power of truth. 1 he
lesson of experience is, that it is more serviceable to the world
to revere what is true than to sacrifice the general results of
reality for the selfish satisfaction of personal consolation.
It is, however, impossible to argue profitably with people
who do not use their mental faculties, and hence the greatest
delusions that take possession of the human mind often remain
unchecked and irremovable. On the other hand, when the
intellect is brought into play, the result is the growth of new
ideas. The attempts made by any of the clergy to explain
away theobjectionablefeaturesof certain doctrines are prompted,
possibly, by their desire to retain their position in the Church,
which is their only means of obtaining the necessaries of
life. Those who have qualified themselves only for the
theological profession know the difficulties that beset them
when doubts enter their minds as to the truth of the creeds
they profess. They may preach “ Blessed be ye poor,” but
personally they dread poverty, and they do their best to avoid
sharing its “ blessings.” They may advise their congre
gations, in the words of Jesus, to “Take no thought for your
life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your
body, what ye shall put on. Behold the fowls of the air : for
they sow not neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet
your heavenly Father feedeth them.” So far, however, as the
clergy themselves are concerned, they find it necessary to be at
times exceedingly anxious for the morrow, and, rather than
having faith that their “ heavenly Father ” will feed and clothe
them, their concern is how to get cash to purchase food, drink,
and clothes. It is not surprising, therefore, that clergymen
and ministers with more than “a living wage” hesitate to give
up the name by which they live. A change would perhaps mean
ruin, and self-preservation is the first law of nature even among
�20
CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION.
clericals, where personal and family interests are concerned.
Besides, every man has not the courage to sever his connec
tions with old institutions, old friends, and the comforts oflife.
Thus a second reason is discovered why many persons remain
professors of Christianity. They see no chance of providing
for their daily bread outside of the Christian body, and con
sequently they prefer to bear the ills they have—in clinging to
an empty name—than fly to others they know not of.
In some cases men remain Christians in name because they
persuade themselves that they can harmonize their new depar
ture with modern discoveries. It has been so with astronomy
and geology. At first these sciences were denounced as being
heretical, now they are accepted as agreeing with Christian
teachings. It was the same with that terribly destructive agent
Evolution, which to theology meant revolution The only
way a man could remain in the Christian ranks, and agree
with Darwin’s theory, was to contend that it agreed with the
Bible, and, as a sort of final indication of friendship for the
distinguished sceptic, they buried him in Westminster Abbey.
It is remarkable how. easy some people find it to rest under
false convictions, particularly when such convictions are backed
by pecuniary gain and found to be in accordance with fashion
able opinions. Then people become like Goldsmith’s vicar in
his “ Deserted Village,”
‘ ‘ Remote from towns he ran his godly race,
Nor e’er had changed, nor wished to change his place ”
The tendency at the present time within the Churches is to
raise new theological ghosts as fast as the old ones are laid. We
are now face to face with a fresh enemy to the long cherished
notions of the Christian profession. It is a movement that
commenced years ago outside the pulpit, and it bears the high
and dignified name of “The Higher Criticism.” Looking at
the results already achieved by this destructive criticism, the
question again arises, Why do men remain professors of
Christianity ? The answers that we have already given explain
why some of the clergy continue in the fold, but what are the
�WHY CHRISTIANITY IS STILL PROFESSED.
21
reasons that so many of the laity linger therein ? The reply is
in the first place because they are too intellectually indolent,
and they find it more convenient to accept things as they are
than to examine and study the value or otherwise of what they
are asked to believe. If we look at the attendance at an
ordinary church or chapel, who do we discover occupying the
pews ? Mostly women and children, who do not concern
themselves about criticism, either higher or lower. In fact
the indifferent section of believers constitute the large majority
of professors of Christianity. Such persons never doubt and
never inquire. Changes of opinion are the result of causes
that seldom affect the intellectually lazy. With them it is not
a question of mental honesty, hut a case of inactivity of mind,
which results in a deep slumber, that only ignorance induces.
To excite the general mass of mankind to any perceptible
degree of serious thought, a volcanic eruption in the intellectual
world would be required. So long as persons are contented
to “ shut their eyesand open their mouths,”or while they are too
idle to use their faculties in thinking for themselves, they will
probably remain Christians in name. Orthodox folks are too
prone to rely upon others as to what they shall believe ; it saves
a degree of mental exercise for which the many have but
little taste or inclination. This seems to account for the
persistence of belief in all ages and in all countries, whether
Christian or not. Hence millions of our fellow-mortals remain
in the faith and follow the customs of their fathers, having no
desire for, or conception of change. In all the great religious
communities of the world we find that men adopt a faith ; it is
not really a belief at all, for the road to intelligent belief is
through the portals of doubt and investigation, in the absence
of which true belief is not formed
As a further illustration that indifference is a prominent
' cause of the name of Christianity being perpetuated, we may
mention the case of shopkeepers and commercial men, whose
indifference is intensified by self-interest. They attend church
either to please their customers or to gain some relief from
�22
CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION.
the anxieties pertaining to their weekly labors. They listen to
the sermons, but they pay little or no heed to what they hear.
It is the fashion to attend “ a place of worship,” and they
consider that their business success depends upon their going
with the multitude, at least outwardly. The clergyman or
minister is too shrewd to talk to such persons about the grave
discussions going on in popular reviews, or new books of here
tical tendency. And if the preacher does allude to the subject,
it is for the purpose of showing that if his hearers have heard
that anything has gone wrong with the faith or the Church,
they need not be alarmed, it is only the spite of “ infidelity,”
and he will see to the matter and put all things right. Sup
posing the educated, reading young men of his con
gregation express any doubts, the minister may deliver a
course of sermons, not allowing any discussion, in which he
boldly asserts that the Bible and the Church still rest on an
impregnable rock, against which many sceptics have been
dashed to pieces in trying to blast it with “infidel ” powder.
He concludes by urging that the faith of Jesus has its hold
upon the human heart, satisfying al) its desires and longings,
and that to yield up this faith would be followed by conse
quences appalling to contemplate. These appeals to ignorance
and uncontrolled emotion succeed, for a time, in suppressing
doubt, stopping inquiry, and securing a profession of a faith in
the acceptance of which reason and investigation have had no
part.
In addition to those who remain professing Christians from
interested motives, from aversion to change, or through inherit
ing the belief of their parents, there are others who have what
they term “ intelligent convictions ” of the truth of the faith
they avow'. They believe in Jesus as an historical character,
whose life is truly recorded in the gospels. Conflicting texts
may be found in the scriptures, doubts may be expressed by
Bible critics as to the genuineness of the gospels, it may be
found difficult to explain many events described in the New'
Testament. Nevertheless, the professors of Christianity from
�WHY IS CHRlSTlANrTY STILL PROFESSED ?
23
“conviction” accept the declaration that “God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Believers of this class are easily made professors of Christianity,
and are as easily kept so, for they feel sure that their belief
secures for them safety in “ the world to come.” The doctrine
of rewards and punishments has always been a powerful factor
in the promulgation of the orthodox faith. The Devil has
been the clergyman’s best friend, and now that it is acknowledged that the belief in the existence of such a being was a
delusion, and that hell was a fiction, Christianity is losing its
former influence over the human mind—the faith has to be
reconstructed to suit requirements of this sceptical age. Of
course those who believe “ in Christ and him crucified,” have
only an ideal founded upon an imaginary Christ. They ignore.
the elementary facts of nature, for in the constitution of man
and of nature in general there is going on a perpetual struggle
for existence, which does not harmonize with the alleged love,
of God for the world. It may be said that the existence of
so much suffering and misery in the world is a mystery, but if
this is so, it does not dispose of the fact that such drawbacks
to man’s happiness are here, and no God of love is apparently
disposed to remove them. Besides, it is difficult to believe
that “ God so loved the world,” that he sent his son to be
tortured on the cross to achieve a purpose which God, if he.
were all-powerful, could have accomplished without this
exhibition of cruelty and injustice. Those persons who remain
’Christians because of their desire to believe that Christ was.
really their crucified Savior, can never full}' recognize the.
horrible nature of “ the agony and bloody sweat,” the sufferings;
endured by the man of sorrow and grief,, and the sadness
experienced by him when abandoned by his,God: at the hour
of death. They also ignore, in the person of Christ, the
scientific fact , that death is the terminatiQn of life, for he is
supposed to have performed more wonderful things after his
death than he did before.
�24
CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION.
Briefly stated, it may be said that the thoughtless multitude
adhere to the profession of Christianity because they are either
too indifferent to oppose it, or they cling to the belief through
tear of punishment hereafter; or still further, they adhere to
the old faith in consequence of their inability to understand
what-is to replace the orthodox belief. Among persons of
intellectual ability there are two considerations that principally
induce them to favour the continuation of the profession of
the Christian name. They suppose that it is to their interest
to be thought in accord with the fashionable belief of the day,
and they are impressed with the idea that the masses are kept
in check by believing that the doctrine of hell-fire is a true one.
Thus the profession of Christianity is perpetuated through
mental laziness, lack of intellectual capacity, consideration of
self-interest, or through the notion that fear, even if based on
fiction, is necessary to keep the uninformed in order and sub
jection. While the triumphs of political and scientific inquiry,
in dismissing from men’s minds despotic and erroneous views,
have been numerous, theology is still making desperate
struggles to cling to its old positions. It will require, probably,
more than one generation of educated persons to eliminate
from the human mind the ideas that cause men and women to
remain professors of Christianity. Although we may believe,
with Shelley, that the evil faith will not last for ever, it dies
hard nevertheless. In the persistent warfare with this evil,
supported as it has been by so many varying interests, many
brave reformers have exhausted their energies, while other
toilers have had to give up the battle. The magnitude of the
undertaking to reform the religious world reminds us of Butler’s
lines :—
Reforming schemes arc none of mine,
To mend the world’s vast design ;
Like little men in a little boat,
Trying to pull to them the ship afloat.
�
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Christianity and civilization: why Christianity is still professed
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Watts, Charles [1836-1906]
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Christianity
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8 V2-5.2
bJ6 6 O
NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY
CHRISTIANITY:
H’S NATURE & INFLUENCE ON CIVILISATION.
A LECTURE
By
Charles
Watts, Secretary of
Secular Society.
the
National
It requires no profound knowledge of the human mind, to
enable us to recognise the fact that some persons indulge
in certain delusions, until such delusions become to the
persons who indulge them, apparent realities. A striking
illustration of the truth of this statement is furnished in the
two great assumptions, which are entertained extensively
throughout Christendom at the present time. First, it is
supposed that what is termed Christianity, is sufficiently effi
cacious to remove all the evils of life ; and in the second place,
it is stated that England enjoys a high state of civilisation
in consequence of the adoption of Christian principles.
Hitherto, it has been the habit of Christian advocates, not
only to ignore all in society that is evil and defective
as belonging to their system, but Also to credit Chris
tianity with all improvements which have taken place in
modern times. It matters not whether it be a steam
engine, an electric telegraph, a printing press, the repeal of
the stamp and paper duties, the establishment of working
men’s clubs, an industrial exhibition, or the co-operative
companies ; all are attributed by Christians to the influence
of their faith. All such steps of progress are regarded by
them as the gift of God to his creature man. While inquiring
into these pretensions, and ascertaining how far such allega
tions are correct, the investigation shall be two-fold. We
will endeavour to discover, if possible, to what extent the
blots and blemishes which remain upon our civilisation are
to be attributed to Christianity, and also, whether the pro
gress that has been made, is the result of Christian influ
ence; or whether, on the contrary, it is not the natural con
�sequence of the adoption of principles antagonistic to New
Testament principles.
As a rule, man is supposed to know himself better than
anyone else knows him. But there are many important in
stances, where other people can estimate a person more cor
rectly than he can estimate himself. They will take a more
dispassionate view of his character. They will be in a better
position to compare him with others, and thus judge more
accurately of his relations and comparative place in the scale
of humanity. As with individuals, so it is with systems, and
with generations. An age is incapable in many respects
of properly knowing itself. It has only one test by which
to estimate its merits and demerits. It cannot compare
itself with future ages, which lie in the womb of the un
known. It can only judge of itself by times gone by. And
as every age, even the darkest and most lethargic, is, in
some instances, more advanced than its predecessor, a survey
of itself is extremely apt to assume the form of self-gratulation.
Various designations have been given to the different
phases of Christianity. We have had descriptions of “ He
retical Christianity,” “ Muscular Christianity,” “ Objection
able Christianity,” “ Secular Christianity,” and “ Super
natural Christianity.” Now it may be necessary here to in
timate that Ido not coincide with those who consider that
what is termed “ Secular Christianity” is identical with
Freethought principles. Christianity appears to me to be
objectionable under whatever name it may be presented to
us. Of course there are many things taught in the New
Testament which are admirable and worthy of acceptation, but
then such beauties do not belong exclusively to Christianity.
The practical portion of the Sermon on the Mount was in
existence long before the time when Christ is supposed to have
taught in Galilee. The phrase “ Christianity” cannot be
consistently used without conveying in some degree the idea
of supernaturalism. The inspiration that induced Christ to
say and do what is ascribed to him in the Four Gospels,
was considered to have emanated from above. The power
that moves and regulates the whole system of Christianity
is designated by its believers as supernatural. The term
“ Secular Christianity” is therefore a misnomer. Christ
never uttered one word, or performed one action purely from
Secular motives, but thinking he was doing the will of his
�3
“ Father in Heaven,” he did it all for the 11 Glory of God.’’
It is important that this fact should be remembered, because
we live in an age perhaps unsurpassed in the history of the
world for the promulgation of systems, having for their professedobject the advancement of mankind. It becomes thereforea duty that we should be judicious as to the terms we use,
as well as the mode we adopt to secure the triumph of prin
ciples which we believe are essential to the permanent wel
fare of society. Many valuable systems are frequently de
prived of much of their vitality, and some of the best efforts of
men rendered comparatively useless through the lack of the ob
servance of this very necessary precaution. The temporary
success of bad and erroneous principles is often to be attri
buted to the fact that the manner in which they are pre
sented to the world is the result of careful study, and wellmatured thought.
In studying the nature of Christianity, we recognise one
or two features which are identical in all its different phases.
Reliance on a supernatural power, faith in Christ, belief in
the efficacy of prayer, and the immortality of the soul, are
tenets professed, more or less, by most Christian sects. In
addition to this, the New Testament distinctly teaches that
poverty is a virtue, that submission is a duty, and that love to
man should be subordinate to love to God. Now these prin
ciples, however consoling they may be to some, from their
nature have checked and must check the progress of civilisa
tion. The extent of their retarding influence depends upon the
degree of veneration in which they are held by their profes
sors. With Tbeists and Unitarians these theological notions
are less dangerous, because such Christians are less dogmatic
and less orthodox. But with a Wesleyan or a Baptist the
profession of such notions frequently leads to conduct anta
gonistic to general improvement. With these latter Chris
tians, Christ is “ all in all.” In vain do we look to their
teachings forthose principles that are necessary to a progres
sive civilisation. On the contrary, experience has proved that
as a rule, they have been injurious, and in proportion to their
adoption has the Secular welfare of mankind been retarded.
And we cannot expect aught else. The object of Christ was to
teach his followers how to die, rather than to instruct them
how to live. If therefore we press the question, “ What is
Christianity?” the answers given by the Christian world will
be as varied as they will be numerous. The reply lrom a mem-
�ber of the Church of England, would differ widely from the
answer given by a Latter-day Saint. The fact is, according to
the education of the individual, and the intelligence of the
nation, so are the notions entertained as to what constitutes
Christianity. For instance, religion with Mazzini is very
different to the religion of Archbishop Manning. The faith
cherished by Garibaldi, is not precisely the same article of
belief as that indulged in by the present ruler of France.
The Christianity of Professor Huxley is as different to the
doctrines taught by Richard Weaver, as is the religion of a
Maurice to that of C. H. Spurgeon. The same diversity
exists in reference to nations. In Spain religion, is cruel
oppression, in Scotland it is a gloomy nightmare, in Rome
it is priestly dominion, while in England it is simply.emo
tional pastime. All these different phases of Christianity
indicate that theological opinions depend on surrounding
circumstances, and cannot therefore be the cause of the civi
lisation of the world.
.
To test the power of Christianity in organising a civilised
state of society, it is only necessary to suppose a company
of men and women going to some uninhabited island, and
there attempting to form a constitution to meet the require
ments of modern society based upon the teachings of the
New Testament. First they must seek, the kingdom of
Heaver, and love not the world or the things of the world.
This would at once put an end to all human effort, because
if a person is not to love the world, his interest will be at
once gone from things below, and directed to things above.
It is impossible to get persons long to work.for anything
which they hate. Under a system of despotism, a certain
amount of labour may be ground out of serfs or slaves, but
once give a nation its freedom, and the inhabitants will only
strive in a cause which they love. Secondly, they must take
no thought for their bodies nor even their lives. This would
prevent them studying the laws of health. Sanitary reform
or physiological science would be deemed unnecessary. Hos
pitals would be superseded by a rapid increase of “ God’s
Peculiar People.” The recent unfortunate case of the two
persons who were committed for manslaughter because they
practically carried out New Testament teaching, is a. potent
answer to the alleged efficacy of Christianity for civilising
purposes. The “ Peculiar People ” relied upon faith and
prayer, instead of science and medicine, and, as a reward for
�5
their Christian devotion, death and imprisonment were the
results. Then Christians in this island must take no
thought for the morrow. Economy and a desire for the
future of this world would thus be entirely ignored. It would
be a crime to establish post office savings’ banks, inasmuch
as laying up treasures on earth is strictly forbidden. The
thought of a divorce must not be entertained for a moment,
because “ whosoever God has joined together, let no man put
asunder.” Those who are fortunate to be rich, must get rid
of their riches, as they are pronounced in the New Testament
to be a curse. If an enemy is cruel enough to invade this *
Christian island, the inhabitants dare not interfere, because
Christ told them to “ resist not evil.” Should the invading
powers succeed and establish themselves as governors of the
island, then the inhabitants must quietly submit, as “ the
powers that be are ordained of God.” If they are smitten on
the one cheek, they must offer the other to be operated upon
in a similar manner. Now, I submit, that a people living
under a constitution framed by these Christian rulers would
not be very progressive ; neither would they be very happy.
Apart from the menial dependent subjection in which they
would be placed, they would have to listen to the comforting
assurance that at the last day they will have to give an ac
count for every idle word spoken through life. Need we
wonder any longer that Christians are such “miserable sin
ners,” believing as they do that their final doom may depend
upon words spoken in the jubilant and joyous moments of
life?
But modern professors of Christianity will ask, if their
system is so unprogressive in its nature, how is it that men
of intellect, of determination, and of scientific culture have
accepted it as their faith ? And they further inquire how it
is that under the influence of Christianity, civilisation in
England has progressed so rapidly ? As these questions are
considered by the religious world as very important, it may be
necessary hero hriefly to examine them. Now the whole fal
lacy in coni/<fc&ton with the first question lies in the interpre
tation given the words “ their faith.” Any one acquainted
with the early history of Christianity will know that the faith
of Jesus as he preached it, and the faith of the Christiana
in 1868, are two entirely different things. Even if we
accept the alleged dates of Christian chronology to be
historically correct, Christianity began to alter and modify
�itself immediately after the death of Christ. Paul preached
a system of a philosophical character compared with that of
Jesus. The Christianity of Paul was widely different from
that of his “ divine Master.” The character of Christ
was submissive and servile; Paul’s was defiant and pugna
cious. We could no more conceive Christ fighting with
wild beasts at Ephesus, than we could suppose Paul sub
mitting without protest or resistance to those insults and
indignities which are alleged to have been heaped upon
Christ. . Neither could we for one moment imagine Paul ad
vising his disciples when anyone smote them on one cheek,
to offer them the other. Christ was an illiterate peasant;
Paul, when compared with his master, was a polished
philosopher. Paul introduced by his personal character
a certain amount of boldness and energy into the Chris
tian propaganda, and by the character of his mind he
largely. modified the Christian system. In fact, each
successive age has left its mark and impress upon Chris
tianity. No system was ever less rigid and more plastic.
It has certainly come up to the injunction of St. Paul,
“ to be all things to all men.” Persons of the most con
trary dispositions and the most opposite natures have been
its great illustrators, expounders, and living representatives.
It has found room for all temperaments : the ascetic and the
luxurious enjoyer of life; the man of action and the man of
contemplation; the monk and the king; the philanthropist
and the destroyer of his race : the iconoclastic hater of all
ceremonies, and the superstitious devotee; Cromwell and
Cowper; Lyell and Wesley; St. Augustine and Dr. Pusey;
John Milton and C. H. Spurgeon. All these and many
other similar opposites have found refuge within the pale
of Christianity. But let it be distinctly understood that
this heterogeneous family is by no means the result of any
all-embracing comprehensiveness in the system of Christ,
but rather the effects of a Theology characterised alike by
its indefinite, incomplete, and undecisive principles. No
man of action can possibly be a true and consistent believer
in Christianity, for many of its teachings are the very incar
nation and inculcation of forbearance and suffering. They
clearly and emphatically teach submission to physical evil,
tyranny, and oppression. They inculcate an unprogres
sive and retarding spirit; they draw the energies and desires
of men from the duties of this life, fixing them on an un—
�7
certain and unknown future. Until, therefore, Christians
can prove to us that their principles are capable of pro
ducing uniformity of character ; until it is satisfactorily ex
plained that the precepts, as propounded by Christ, contain
the elements of that greatness which has invariably charac
terised the lives of eminent statesmen, philosophers, and
poets of all ages ; until it can be shown by an appeal to
authority and experience that the principles as taught in
the New Testament are compatible with progress and
human advancement; until the course pursued by Christ
when on earth is adopted by his professed followers of to-day
and made to harmonise with reason and humanity—I say,
until these things are accomplished, Christianity will be
incapable of furnishing a code of morals by which all suc
ceeding generations shall be governed, and to which the
great intellects of the world shall finally succumb.
The notion entertained by many that the present civilised
condition of England is the result of Christian influence is
decidedly fallacious. The progress of a nation cannot be
attributed to any one thing or any one age, but rather to a
combination of circumstances which have been in operation
during many ages. For instance, had it not been for the
scientific discoveries of a Watt, Dalton, and Black of the
last century, the application of these sciences with which
their names are associated, would not have been so easily
applied to the ends of' human utility in this present age; had
it not been for the great French Revolution the name of
liberty, for it is but little more, would not exist to-day in
France; and had it not been for many attempts at revolu
tion in this country, many concessions to liberty which we
now enjoy, would never have been extorted. The Reform.
Bill of last year, incomplete as it is, would never have passed
the House of Commons but for the meetings in Trafalgar
Square, and the demonstrations in Hyde Park, Birmingham,
Leeds, and other places. Disraeli boasted that he had edu
cated his party; far be it from me to attempt to rob the
Premier of the laurels he won in going through that painful
operation, but it seems to me that the best lesson the Tories
received in the reform educational course was from the Re
form League and their co-workers. It is equally true that
for the partial freedom from religious intolerance which we
now enjoy we are as much indebted to the Franklins and
Paines of the past, as to any of their representatives of the
�present. But waiving this point, I ask, is it true that we
have a high state of civilisation? Notwithstanding an “Open
Bible,” and “ general dissemination of Gospel truths,” which
we have had in this country for the last 300 years, can it be
denied that the major portion of our rural population are
sunk in the deepest ignorance and the most depraved
wretchedness ? Is it not a reproach upon Christian influ
ence that, after three centuries of the rule, discipline, teach
ing, and. example of 20,000 clergymen and a host of Dissent
ing ministers, that the very classes of society which have
been most under their direction and control, should be the
greatest stigma upon our social condition ? Can it be alleged
that anything like an approach even to a proper adjustment
ef the relations between capital and labour has been arrived
at? Those who pride themselves on the present state of
Christian civilisation should ask themselves the question,
does labour receive anything like a fair quota of the results
of the wealth towards the production of which it contributes
more than the “ lion’s share ?” Can an age or a country
be considered civilised in which so large an amount of abject,
and, to all appearance, hopeless poverty prevails ? Have
we not ignorance, sickness, and sorrow existing on every
hand ? Are there not thousands who wake every morning
tortured with anxiety as to how they are to obtain food for
the day, and when the hour for sleep again returns, they
know not where to lay their heads ? Parade the glories of
Christian civilisation to those unfortunate creatures who are
driven to misery, shame, and madness by the want of the
necessaries of life. In noticing the deplorable condition of
“ Christian ’’ England, the Morning Star recently asked—
“When shall starvation die out of the land? When shall
we cease to hear that in one part of the country a man lies
dead of a debauch on roast goose, while in another a woman
perishes of sheer hunger, with her teeth locked in the flesh
of her own arm ? Must we wait till East London sits down
to this sickening meal ? Can Government, Whig or Tory,
do nothing ? Within two years, more than a million of human
beings under its care have died of starvation alone.” Witness
the fate of many of England’s daughters who, amidst Chris
tian civilisation, have either to drag out a wretched existence
by continual slavery, as pictured in the “ Song of the Shirt,”
or else to sink into utter ruin and hopeless degradation. It
is an insult and mockery to tell such victims of a misruleu
�9
world that their position is the result of their own conduct.
One of the principal causes of such calamities is to be found
in promulgating doctrines which destroy man’s energy in
worldly pursuits, rendering him a dependent, povertycheiished suppliant.
The history of Christianity is a glocmy illustration of its
influence and tendency to maintain those conditions which are
unfavourable to individual progress and national greatness.
Among other requisites to a civilised condition of society it is
necessary to have national wealth, the cultivation of the
sciences, the acquirement of knowledge, and freedom of
inquiry. Without these agencies, civilisation as we under
stand the term cannot exist. How far then has Christianity
encouraged these agencies ? Now it is certain that the Reli
gion of the New Testament is opposed to material wealth.
While poverty is there magnified as a virtue, riches are de
nounced as a vice. If those who had wealth were to sell
that which they had, and give it to the poor, as Christ com
manded them, and at the same time omit to accumulate any
more, individual and national bankruptcy would be the
result. The influence of religion on scientific pursuits is
well known to students of history. The great impediment
to the progress of scientific truth in the past, has been reli
gious bigotry. First, such sciences as geology were alleged
to be untrue; every fact demonstrated by early writers
was regarded as an instance of the insanity of the writer,
and every fossil wonder disclosed, was referred to the
limited explanation of the Noachian deluge. Finding that
threats and intimidation failed to check the advance of truth,
persecution and imprisonment were the weapons used by
Christian hands towards those whose crime consisted in in
vestigating the laws of nature, and making those laws
known to their fellow-creatures. Dr. Ferguson in his
“ Penalties of Greatness,” acknowledges that theology, as
embodied in the Christian church, was the first to extinguish
the light of reason. But truth existed in spite of the deadly
agencies which surrounded it. Not only did the church
employ means to prevent the least difference of opinion on
religious subjects, by the invention of the most finished in
struments of torture, but science itself became the object
of burning jealousy and persecution, and men were made to
deny the very laws of nature. The same spirit pervades to
& certain extent a portion of the Christian world at the pre
�10
sent day. Every scientific discovery, opposed as it is to
popular theology, is suspected with pious horror by orthodox
Christians. The Morning Advertiser and other orthodox
papers have denounced such men as Huxley, Darwin, and
Sir Charles Lyell as enemies to the welfare of mankind.
“ Real knowledge,” says Buckle, “ the knowledge on which
all civilisation is based, solely consists in an acquaintance
with the relations which things and ideas bear to each other
and to themselves ; in other words, in an acquaintance with
physical and mental laws.” The history of the Christian
religion proves that the object and aim of its advocates have
been too frequently to discourage and prevent the acquisi
tion and dissemination of this scientific knowledge.
Not only has Christian influence affected the acquirement
of scientific knowledge, but it has also interfered with the
progress of general education. Fortunately at the present
time, many professed Christians are advocating a national
system of education, but this advanced policy is not the re
sult of their faith, but a proof that the Secular aspirations in
man are less fettered by theological restriction, than they
were in the palmy days of Christianity. It has taken the
Christian world nearly eighteen hundred years to arrive at
the conclusion that the people ought to have adequate means
of education at their command. As recently as fifty years
ago, pamphlets were written by clergymen warning the nation
against the horrid democratic consequences of giving to the
labouring classes education. In our time it is Freethought
which has extorted, not the Church which has granted, Natio
nal Education. Dr. Johnson, the great lay pillar of the Church
in the last century, had the honesty to state that he objected
to education for the poor, because it would teach them politics.
He might have added with equal truth, that it would teach
them to think for themselves, instead of allowing the Church
to do it for them. At last, the hour of victory, partial though
it was, arrived. The educational Reformers had their triumph.
The legislature decreed that to some extent education should
be national. £20,000 were voted for that purpose. Then
it was that the Church again exerted her influence. Find
ing she could not resist the progressive stream, she sought
io pollute it and destroy its refreshing power. Failing
to prevent, she endeavoured to contaminate. And what
is the result ? National education is but half accomplished.
Thousands are growing up as monuments of imperfect edu
�11
cation. Believing that the “ wisdom of this world is foolish
ness with God,” the Christian governments, in the words of
Buckle, “ Where they have not openly forbidden the free
dissemination of knowledge, they have done all they could
to check it. On all the implements of knowledge and on all
the means by which it is diffused, such as papers, books, poli
tical journals, and the like, they have imposed duties so
heavy that they could hardly have done worse if they had
been the sworn advocates of popular ignorance. Indeed,
looking at what they have actually accomplished, it may be
emphatically said that they have taxed the human mind.”
Fortunately many of these impediments have been removed,
not, however, with the free consent of the Christian world.
This victory was achieved by the dauntless efforts and heroic
sufferings of Freeihought martyrs in the face of Christian
opposition and Christian persecution. Domestic loss, pecu
niary ruin, and the horrors of imprisonment, were the prices
paid for the removal of those hindrances to the people’s
educational advancement.
Doubtless the power of Christianity has been great upon
the civilisation of the world. Nothing influences the human
mind either for good or for evil more than the Christian’s
notion of supernaturalism. If a person is induced to have
absolute faith in the fatherhood and sovereignty of God, he
deems it his first duty to carry out that which he considers
the will of that God. Hence it is, that during intellectual
periods men’s notions of Deity have been refined and culti
vated ; and, as a consequence, oppression and persecution
for scepticism have been more rare. While on the other
hand, when the multitude held rude ideas of divinity, the
pure and chaste were sickened at the scenes of cruelty
and bloodshed which were enacted in accordance with
what was supposed to be the “ will of God.” If any
doubt existed upon this point, it would only be necessary
to study carefully Buckle’s “History of Civilisation.” In
that work ample proof is given of the contracting influence
of religion. Nothing tends more to limit progress than the
attempt to prevent freedom of opinion, and the enforcement
of penalties for the exercise of this right. “During,” says
Buckle, ‘‘ almost 150 years Europe was afflicted by religious
wars, religious massacres, and religious persecutions; not
one of which would have arisen, if the great truth had been
recognised that the state had no concern with the opinions
�1*4
of men, and no right to interfere, even in the slightest
degree, with the form of worship which they may choose t<.
adopt.” The same writer goes on to show that the increase oi
perjury and hypocrisy has been the result of the policy oi
the Christian governments, arriving at the conclusion that
it is folly to ascribe the civilisation of a nation to any
creed.
Unfortunately Christianity appeared at a very inoppor
tune period of history, just when there was no indication
that the world would throw off supernaturalism. The old
Pagan creed which Christianity supplanted, was by far the
better of the two, because it contained most promise for the
world. The Roman religion sat but lightly upon the Romans.
It was just a body of mythological tales, which perhaps was
useful in the world’s infancy, but which was certainly not re
quired in.its more matured age. The grand feature of the old
Pagan faith was its true tolerant spirit. Death for religious
belief was unknown to the Romans. They allowed every one
to worship according to his or her own conscience. Per.
secution for non-belief was reserved for Christianity. As
soon as the disciples of Christ possessed the power, the^
commenced by persecuting those who did not accept then
faith, and endeavoured to crush all systems that were anta
gonistic to their own. Instead of Christians talking sc
foolishly of the depravity of the ancients, it would be far
better if they endeavoured to emulate Pagan Rome in their
love of toleration. Even from the New Testament we learn
the extreme reluctance with which the Roman Gfovernor of
Judea signed the death-warrant of Christ. The Romans
were so tolerant—in other words, they were so little religious,
and therefore, so ripe for becoming converts to Secularistie
truth—that whenever they conquered a new territory, they
at once added to their own number of Gods those whom they
found to be worshipped by the inhabitants of their new con
quest. Now, if Queen Victoria, by royal mandate, were to
order to be added to the objects of English worship, all the
gods worshipped by her coloured subjects, all over the world;
if, whenever we achieved a new conquest, it became the
duty of the Archbishops and Bishops, the Spurgeons and
Cummings, to add a new batch of deities to the objects of
worship, what would be the result? Why religion would
fall rapidly into contempt, and mankind would see at once
its utter folly and absurdity. This is precisely what was
■
�id
fast happening amongst the Romans and all through their
empire, when Christianity came upon the scene, stopped the
progressive spirit, and deferred the reign of human happiness.
If we take a historical glance at countries where Chris
tianity was professed, and at one time, to a large extent,
acted upon, we shall at once recognise the influence it pos
sessed on national progress. First, we may take Scotland,
[n the most comprehensive sense of the word, Scotland at
no very remote period was strictly a religious nation, and
what were the fruits cf that religion ? The most miserable
and unprogressive state it is possible for a civilised people to
live in. And let it be distinctly understood that Mr. Buckle
in his “History of Civilisation,” attributes this non-progressive spirit, this lack of happiness, entirely to the fatal in
fluence of religion. And can we expect aught else? Here is a
country acting, as far as a people can possibly act, upon the
principles of Christianity. And what do we find ? “An entire
absence of all true toleration ; an aversion even to innocent
gaiety; a desire to limit the enjoyment of others, and a spirit
of bigotry and persecution ; yet in the midst of all this,” as
Buckle properly observes, “ there existed a gloomy and
austere creed. The churches were as crowded as they
were in the middle ages, and were filled with ignorant wor
shippers, who flocked to listen to opinions of which the
middle ages alone were worthy.” What effect has such
reaching had upon the Scotch mind ? Has it imparted to
the people any progressive aspirations ? If we read th6
history of Scotland during the seventeenth and part
of the eighteenth century, we shall find that Buckle
stated the truth, when he said that “ Some of the noblest
feelings of which our nature is capable, the feelings of love
and of gratitude, were set aside, and were replaced by the
dictates of a servile and ignominious fear.” But the sad
effects of Christianity were not confined to Scotland. If we
take England during wnat is Known as the “ dark ages,”
the brightest era of Christianity, then she had no rival:
assisted by kingcraft she ruled the civilised world through a
thousand years, without one ray of light, without any addi
tion whatever to the arts and sciences, and then bequeathed
to mankind a heritage of cruelty, bloodshed, and persecution.
In the middle ages there was a. great impetus given towards
science and philosophy. Some of the most splendid intellects
that ever appeared in the world, and that might, under more
�favourable conditions, have adorned humanity, enlightened
society, and held on progress, appeared in those days. But
their intellects were stifled and rendered comparatively useless
by the influence of Christianity. Those were the times when
Christianity was paramount, unrestrained, and untrammelled,
when the blood, the genius, and the chivalry of Europe were
all wasted in the mad and useless crusades, when in one
expedition alone, instigated by fanatical priests, no less than
560,000 persons were sacrificed to the superstition of the
cross. Do we require a proof of the legitimate effects
of Christianity ? Behold the history of the seven cru
sades, which will for ever remain a lasting monument of a
Wood-stained faith. For nearly 200 years did the followers
of Christ lay desolate one of the finest and most romantic
portions of the known world, and laid prostrate thousands of
human beings. Do we wish to know the sad influence of
religion ? Bead the history of the Christian Emperor Con
stantine, who with the sword in one hand and the cross in
the other, pursued his slaughtering and relentless career.
Go to the streets of Paris, when in the fifteenth century they
flowed with the blood of defenceless Protestants, and when
10,000 innocent persons were massacred by the believers in
a meek and lowly Jesus. Visit the valleys of Piedmont,
which were the scene of a most inhuman butchery, when
women were suffocated by hundreds in cofined caves by
the bearers of the cross. Study the history of the Inquisi
tion, to whose power three millions of lives were sacrificed
in one century. Peruse the records of the actions of a King
Henry the E'ghth, a Queen Mary, and a Queen Elizabeth,
in whose Christian reigns hundreds were either condemned
to die at the stake, or to endure revolting cruelties in loath
some dungeons, because they differed from the prevailing
faith of those times. These were the effects of religion when
it had absolute power. When Christianity exercised her
legitimate influence, the maxim was ‘‘ Philosophy is the
handmaid of Theology,” every philosopher, therefore, who
did not so philosophise as to bring up new arguments to
support some one of the absurd tenets of Christianity, had
either to submit to a life of seclusion and persecution, or to
an immediate death. But Christianity not only interfered
with the high intellects of the earth, she also influenced
every relation of life. The sum of almost all history for,
centuries after Christ may be compressed in a few sentences.
�Avery rascality that tings and nobles wished to perpetrate
they got the bishops and priests to consecrate and make
holy. Had it not been for the strong Christian notions of
those sovereigns, James I. and Charles I., in all probability we
should not have found such an abominably unpatriotic period
succeeding the splendid era of Queen Elizabeth, And how
lamentable it is to think that the noble-hearted English
puritans, with men like Falkland, Cromwell, and John
Milton at their head, lost all their chance of reforming the
nation and establishing those ameliorations which certainly
were so very necessary, through their unfortunate slavery
to Christianity. Never did men exist whose minds by
nature were more magnificently tolerant and truly secularisiic than those of Milton and Cromwell, if the religious
element had been kept apart. But unfortunately it mastered
Cromwell, or perhaps to do him justice, it mastered bis
contemporaries, and they mastered him, and. then he sick
ened the very country he had saved, by forcing upon them
a religion they were weary of. The fate of Christianity was
sealed in England the day that Cromwell died. Some writers
have made it the great reproach of the reign of Charles II.
that it was “ Godless,” yes, but its godlessness was the one
redeeming trait of that “ Merry Monarch’s” reign. Reckless
as he was, during his reign reforms were accomplished, the
results of which cannot be too highly appreciated,. It was
during his reign that a law was passed which deprived the
Dishops of the power to burn those who differed from them in
theological opinion. It was during his re gn that the clergy
were deprived of the privilege of taxing themselves, and were
compelled to submit to the ordinary mode of assessment.
It was during his reign that a law was passed, forbidding
bishops to administer the oath by which the church had
hitherto compelled suspected persons to criminate them
selves. It was during his reign that it was settled, that the
taxation of the people should be decided by their own repre
sentatives, and it was during-his reign that certain restrictions
on the press were removed, whereby knowledge had a better
opportunity of being disseminated among the masses of the
people. Notwithstanding the calamities occasioned by the
great Plague, and the great Fire of London, greater improve
ments, says Buckle, were effected, and more progress made
during this reign than had been accomplished during the
twelve previous centuries of English history. The o-ha-
�19
racier of Charles II. as a whole was one not to be
emulated; but living amidst a profligate court, venal
ministers, and constant conspiracies, he was enabled to
recognise two great obstacles to the nation’s welfare ;
these obstacles . were the spiritual tyranny of the priests’
and the territorial oppression of the nobles. Having
but little regard for theological dogmas, he was determined
that such Christian evils should be swept away.
If Christianity contained any real remedy for existing evils,
it would have displayed itself ere now. It has had every ad
vantage in its favour; the influence of the priests, the patron
age of kings, the alliance of the great and powerful, the use of
untold wealth, the command of the armies, first place among
the councillors of nations, the willing subjection of the
populace, the command of their affections, and the dominancy of their fears. Science, art, education have humbled
and enlisted themselves in its train. The brightest intellects
of humanity have laid their treasures at its feet. The ties
of domestic affection, the bonds of the social compact, the
political relations of ruler and ruled, all have surrendered
themselves to its influence. It has been absolute.monarch
of the world. Yet with all these advantages it has proved
unable to keep pace with a progressive civilisation.
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
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>
Creator
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
Publisher
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
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Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Christianity : its nature & influence on civilisation; a lecture
Creator
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Watts, Charles [1836-1906]
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: 16 p. ; 20 cm.
Notes: Publication date from KVK (OCLC WorldCat). Part of the NSS pamphlet collection.
Publisher
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[s.n.]
Date
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[1868]
Identifier
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N660
Subject
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Christianity
Rights
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Christianity : its nature & influence on civilisation; a lecture), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
Christianity
Civilisation
NSS