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NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY
DARK SIDE OF CHRISTIANITY
SHOWING IT UNREASONABLE AND IMPRACTICABLE.
BY CHARLES C. CATTELL.
Author of “ Laconics” “ Which is the True Religion T ¿re., Av,
As I believe it is not legal to say that Christianity is not
true, I only contend that it is unreasonable and imprac
ticable. Think of the millions of people known to live on
this globe, and then listen to the talk of the Christian, you
would imagine that all the world followed his prophet and
professed his faith. The fact is, only a few of the millions
even profess to be Christian; and these are so divided,
that we may say with truth the Christian party in this world
is split up into sects. The sects are so numerous that a
man may many times change his Church, and yet continue
to be what is called a Christian. When dissatisfied with
the Church he may take refuge in the Chapel, and chapels
exist in almost endless variety; and if all these fail him, he
may set up on his own account and be a Free Christian 1
If there is only one Christianity—only one true way to
heaven—the multiplication of sects must be a great source
of confusion to the would-be believer. The Christian passes
from one sect to another in search of the true Church; his
life is a series of changes, being everything by turns, and
nothing long. Some unsettled spirits spend their whole lives
in search of the true Church. Sometimes this ends in urn
belief—that is, unbelief in churches and chapels, and the
reasons given for this form of doubt are often too con
temptible to appear in print. These people “take their
stand on the Bible,” and even they have different ways of
looking at the Bible. Some read it as literal, others as
figurative or poetic, or philosophic, or symbolic, or pro
phetic, or spiritual—or the Lord knows what ! Christian
parties differ so much, that the only thing they are heartily
agreed on is, that the unbeliever ought to be put down !
Yet each sect contends that it alone is right, and every other
wrong. This is the only justification that each sect can urge
for its separate existence. I take the decision of all, which
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is,, that they are each of them wrong. This extraordinary
conclusion is easily explained, by the fact that all the lead
ing points in each are but dreams, matters of conjecture and
fancy.
This great variety is proof to me that nothing is known,
nothing is certain, nothing is demonstrable in any of the
faiths—it is all imagination,, myth, fiction.
Towards the Christians I bear no ill-will, and forgive all
their persecution of me. Times and manners have happily
changed during the past twenty-five years, and in spite of
Christianity the life of an unbeliever is not so rough as it
was—there is less ignorance, and consequently less hatred..
Only once during my life has the peace of Birmingham.been
disturbed 15y contending sects, and that once sufficiently
showed the state of society which would result if Christians
were allowed to exhibit their feelings, and express their
opinions of one another, uncontrolled by the unbelievers,
the indifferent, and the magistrates. It required a secular
army to prevent the saints destroying each other. The
frenzy, the excitement, the ungovernable fury of a believer
would, if unchecked, turn the world into a bedlam, and in
stead of being harmony and peace, society would be one
uninterrupted scene of bloodshed and robbery. Sensible
men have a wholesome horror of theological strife. All
my little efforts have had one object—the subjugation of
bigotry and intolerance, and the increase of liberty and. jus
tice. Freedom for all mankind, consistent with the rights
of each other, that is my doctrine, and when once fully esta
blished, people will be amazed at their ignorance and folly:
they will wonder what power bewitched them, what dia:
bolical influence prevented the adoption of so beneficqnt a
doctrine.
If Christianity had started with this doctrine of universal
freedom, and preached and practised it, what a different
world we might have seen !
Unhappily, the declarations of Christianity on this subject
are most unreasonable, and the results, as declared in the
history of the Christian world, have been most deplorable.
“He that believeth not, shall be damned.” (Markxvi.).
This assumes that a man can believe or not by his own
effort, as though evidence—facts—had nothing to do with
either belief or unbelief. Custom and interest can make
liars and hypocrites, but evidences control, belief.
The truest sentence ever uttered cannot influence any man
unless he understands the language in which it is expressed.
�That two and two make four every one admits who under
stands what is meant, but none other. Men do not believe
unless they understand. But “believe or be damned” is
not only inconsistent with the laws of thought—it ignores
the other declarations of the same book. For instance—
“ It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his
good pleasure.” (Phil. ii.). Again—“ By grace. are you
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift
of God.” {Eph. ii.).
St. Paul (2 Cor; iii.) goes so far as to state that we are
not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves.
The Master settles this point (John vi.)—“No man can
come to me except the Father draw him.”
Yet St. Paul confirms the opposite doctrine taught by the
same Master, when he writes (2 Cor. vi.J—“ Be ye not un
equally yoked with unbelievers : what part hath he that
believeth with an Infidel ?” He grows quite fierce on the
subject (Gal. i.)—“Tf an angel from heaven preach any
other gospel, let him be accursed,” which, I presume, means
something disagreeable.
This condemnation of all unbelievers, this separation of
men into believing and unbelieving, and this cursing of all
teachers contrary 01 opposed to Christ, lie at the root of
that terrible movement which was carried on for centuries
by fire, sword, and chains^ till the sceptical spirit arose
which shamed the Christian world, and bid it hold its mur
derous hand. The practice of the Christian world for ages
may be read in the awful language of Moses (Deut. xxxii.).
Substitute the Christian Church for the word God in those
verses, and you have a picture of its mode of dealing with
the unbelievers.
It has been urged that this spirit of persecution could not
come from God, because he is a God of love, and that all
the cruelty perpetrated in his name is to be attributed to the
wickedness of God’s servants, that it is antagonistic to his
holy nature.. In order to test this, let us inquire into God’s
character, as given in his. own book. Only a few examples
can be given, and I do not say that these are true, but we
read that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”
The 2 Thessa ii. it, speaking of those who receive not the
love of truth that they might be saved,, says, “' For this
cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie: that they all might be damned,” Other
persons, the same writer continues,, have been chosen from,
the beginning to salvation.
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Another instance may be found in i Kings xxii. 22,
wherein the Lord accepts the services of a spirit who offers
to deceive Ahab, by being a lying spirit in the mouth of all
his prophets—“Now, therefore, behold, the Lord had put
a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets.” Again,
“ If the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I
the Lord have deceived that prophet, and will stretch out
my hand upon him and will'destroy him,” &c. (Ezek. xiv. 9.)
On one occasion the people complained of having no
bread and no water, “ And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people, and much
people of Israel died.” (Numb. xxi. 6.) On another occa
sion it is related that “ the Lord rained upon Sodom and
upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of
heaven, and he overthrew those cities and all the inhabitants,
and that which grew upon the ground.” (Gen. xix. 24.)
Some persons do not believe the Lord would do anything
wrong, but Amos ch. iii. says, “ Shall there be evil in a city
and the Lord hath not done it?” Again, in Micah i. 12,
“ For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good,
but evil came down from the Lord upon the gate of Jeru
salem.” The following is very clear: “ I form the light,
and create darkness ; I make peace, and create evil. I the
Lord do all these things(Is. xlv.).
It would be impossible in the space allotted for this essay
to even name the battles the Lord is said to have arranged,
to say nothing of the number killed and wounded, and the
cities made desolate ; but one transaction in which he was
concerned is too important to be passed over. In Gen. vi.
the Lord is described as planning the wholesale destruction
of all the inhabitants of the earth. We are here told in the
most exact language that “ every living substance was de
stroyed.” “ Noah only remained alive, and they that were
with him in the ark,” and this was done by the Christian s
’ God. The author of Christianity is here described as
planning and superintending a scheme of the most cruel
and revolting character that the world has recorded—sup
plying all the gigantic machinery for effecting this terrible
slaughter of all the creatures he had been at the trouble to
make. What makes the case still worse and more awfully
tragic, is the fact that the same God continued the existence
of the* same kind of creatures which he knew would neces
sitate the cruel death of his only son. An impartial student
of these statements will be able to form an estimate of the
character of the God of the Bible.
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A person who makes others in the image of himself to be
destroyed, or that he may destroy them himself, is one to
whom the attribute love is misapplied. Yet in books and
sermons, and even on the walls of our great cities, we read
the extraordinary sentence, “ God is love 1” It is the love
of a father who destroys his own children. The less love
people have of this kind, the better for mankind. Yet this
same God is the author of Christianity—the Christian ideal
of perfect love, mercy, and justice. Millions say they love
this God; can this be possible ?
The story of Christianity, according to the Bible, begins
in the Garden of Eden. A man and woman, the father and
mother of us all, are placed in a Garden, surrounded by
circumstances which are certain sooner or later to bring about
the fall of man. The penalty attached to, the act of disobe
dience is death ; and if this plan had been carried out, there
would have been no sinners, no Christianity, no Saviour, and
no salvation—in fact, no human race, according to this tale.
The fall of man is the cause of Christianity, and Chris
tianity requires the fall of man to justify its existence. One
necessitates the other. That both were portions of God’s
plan is obvious, for “ Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world.” (Acts xv.)
No talk about free-will or the wickedness of the devil will
set aside the important fact that all that which men glory in
calling Christianity, owes its origin to the transgressions of
Adam and his wife. Now, if we admit a devil in the
Garden, and a free-will in Adam, and grant that no Gospel
and ho Christ were possible without these, the fact still re
mains that only one source of power exists to whom we can
refer to the origin of the devil and the free-will, for by God
“ were all things created that are in heaven and earth, visible
and invisible.” (Col. i.)
There is no escape from the conclusion, that whatever
happened in the Garden, or in man, was in accordance with
the will and plan of God, who is the maker and ruler of all
things. To admit any other power, would be to limit the
power of the Almighty, or to recognise more Gods than one.
An unbiassed reader of the third chapter of Genesis
would infer that before the fall, no labour except that of
tending the Garden of Eden was contemplated. After the
fall, Adam is discharged from his situation and is sent forth,
or, as we should now put it, is “ condemned to hard labour
for life ” among thorns and thistles. Now is it not a fact,
that the whole of our modern civilisation is the result of the
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combined labour of the human race? Every ship that
floats, every train that runs, every thing in our houses or
on our bodies, every comfort we possess, every science, and
every printed word we read, attest the value of human
labour ! Yet in spite of all these world-wide facts, this
book speaks of labour as the punishment for some fabled
sin against some imaginary God who once dwelt in some
corner of the earth, when its inhabitants consisted of him
self, his gardener, and the gardener’s wife 1 This is indeed
a tale for children in understanding. Yet the Christian
often boasts that civilisation, which is the result of continu
ous labour, is owing to his faith and his book.
Admitting that some calamity involving the eternal in
terests of mankind did happen, in the place and manner de
scribed by the Bible, it must have been by the will of God,
in spite of the will of God, or without God’s will interfering .
whichever it was, either his goodness, his power, or his love
for mankind, must be disbelieved after this.
But what did he do to repair the injury? He destroyed
every living substance, “except those m the ark.
he sent his only son to be put to death, so that by is
blood we shall be saved from wrath” (Rom. v.) What
wrath ? Whose wrath ? God is love !
The death of Christ is in harmony with the character of
God, as before described. Judas betrays him so that he
may be put to death (Mark xiv.), and he submits to this
frightful death by the will of God—yet in the same chapter
(v. 21) he himself says it had been good for Judas if he
had never been born. Never been born I If he had not
been born, had not been a devil, Christ would not have
been betrayed and died, and nobody would have been
saved ! Without a Judas the scheme could not have been
carried out. But John’s words (c. vi.) settle this point:
“ For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that
believed not, and who should betray him.
_
Here, then, we have God the father planning the death
of his only son by means specially adapted to secure his
destruction. If a man had done this, we should use very
strong language against him and his plan. _ If God, the allpowerful, could not have “ saved ” mankind without sacri
ficing Jesus, he could have prevented their being lost
if he liked.
_
, ,
What a strange story is this. A good God puts to deatn
an innocent God to deliver wicked people from the wratii
of a God of love. If God the creator had put to death the
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first sinner, Adam, there would have been no wicked; or,
failing in that, if he had prevented the building of the ark,
all the wicked might have been drowned. God’s ways are
not as our ways. So much the better for us.
To rectify the evil doings of mankind, God did not send
a race of Christs with absolute power over sin and tempta
tion, but only one innocent Christ to suffer for the guilty
sinners—and still the sinners go on sinning, just as though he
had not come. What would the civilised world say if we pro
posed to hang one innocent man to save all the murderers ?
What would virtuous men and women say if all the
governments in the world combined and put one innocent
person to death in order to release all the offenders against
the laws and morality of the whole world ? The unso
phisticated moral sense of the world would be shocked at
such a proposal. Rather let all men suffer for their own
wrongs, and all the criminals be hanged, than one innocent
person be put to death. How long will mankind profess
to follow so unreasonable a creed ? This may Be divine,
but it is inhuman, cruel, a scheme of blood.
What a strange story I The Son dies to appease the
wrath of God the Father ; the 'Son being equally God and
equally wrathful, why not the Holy Ghost die to reconcile
him ? And, lastly, the third person being equally God,
and equally wrathful, why not the first person die to recon
cile him ? In the end all would be crucified. The illus
trious pagan could not believe in an expiring crucified infi
nite God. Surely no man in his senses does believe in
such an unreasonable story as this. Men only believe they
believe.
On the bright side of this story it is not necessary for me
to dwell. Jesus, as a patriot, exposing the priests, and
dying at the hands of an ignorant and bigoted misguided
multitude, is not the theological Jesus who has done all
the mischief I deplore. It is not against a reformer of
abuses and a benevolent advocate of human rights, that
any Freethinker has one word to say. So soon as the
Gospel is made to mean the intellectual and social eleva
tion of man, it will cease to be all that it is and has been.
Happily for society, the desire for intellectual and social
progress is growing stronger than the belief in the Gospel.
To return. This scheme being carried out, Christ having
died to save the world, is the world saved ? Certainly not.
After all this agony and bloody sweat, another element is
ixffrodued men must believe, and these signs shall follow
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them that believe (Mark xvi.)—they shall cast out devils,
they shall take up serpents, “ and if they drink any deadly
thing, it shall not hurt them, they shall lay hands on the
sick, and they shall recover.”
Now, if only those are believers who can do all these
wonderful things, how many are there alive at the present
time? Is it true that any of the Christians of to-day can
take poison, play with serpents, and cure the sick, better
than the Freethinker ? To show these signs, a person must
have a different skin and stomach to what man has, or every
time a dose of poison is swallowed, God must work a miracle
to prevent it operating. Any sane man would hesitate
before risking his life to show such signs as these, even to
convert an unbeliever. He would argue in favour of the
doctrine rather than attempt his conversion by example.
Only a few fanatics exist in the whole world who rely on
miracle for the cure of diseases. Mankind in general, in
cluding so-called Christians, rely on science and the men
who have studied the curative art, for relief in cases of
physical and mental suffering. Then where are the Chris
tians—“ them that believe ?”
We know it is written (James v.), “ And the prayer of
faith shall save the sick;” but if so, why do Christians sub
scribe to the “medicine men,” to hospitals, and infirmaries?
Is it because they do not believe ? Surely their method
would be less painful to the patient and less costly to society 1
If nearly the whole of Christendom not only ignore their
own method, but adopt the Secular scientific method, where
are the Christians—“them that believe?” The doctrine
is impracticable, that’s the answer. There are but few
real believers, but many sincere persons believe that they
believe.
Test this matter another way. If there were any believers
alive, the following words would have a public importance
that no unbeliever could ignore and no doubter dispute,
“ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth in me,
the works that I do he shall do also—and greater works
than these shall he do.” (John xiv.)
Take the cream of the Christian party—all the bishops
and ministers of the Gospel on the face of the earth—can
they, combined, even feed another five thousand, or fast
forty days, or raise the dead, or walk on the sea, or see all
the world off Snowdon? Without asking them to do “greater
works than these,” if they cannot do even these, where are
the Christians—“ them that believe ?”
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To get rid of these difficulties, the followers of Jesus,
who are clever, contend that these extraordinary powers
ceased with the early Christians ; but I tell them that signs
of belief are more needed now than ever, and further, that
I believe they are to-day just as able to show these signs as
the early Christians, and not more so. Where people, are
ignorant even to-day, Christians do not lack pretensions
to being superior to other people in doing impossible
things.
A great deal is urged by preachers and defenders of
Christianity in favour of its broad humanity, on the ground
that it enjoins love even to enemies, and that you are to
bless even those that curse you. Those who have read
history know what Christians did to their enemies and
opponents. They destroyed them. But what does the
Master himself say ? “ Whosoever shall offend one of these
little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a mill
stone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into
the sea.” (Mark ix.)
Again, “ Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will
I also deny before my father, which is in heaven.” (Matt, x.)
The same sentiment is repeated in another place (Mark
viii), and another writer (2 Tim. ii.) says emphatically, “If
we deny him, be also will deny us.”
Again (John xii.)—“ He that rejecteth me, and receiveth
not my words, bath one that judgeth him, the word that I
have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
Any one impressed with the notion that Christ is a forgiving
and generous spirit should read what will take place at this
“last day ” (Matt. xxv.). Here all nations are gathered to
gether, like boys at school, or regiments of soldiers, and
are put to the “ right ” or the “ left ” amongst the “ sheep ”
or the “ goats.” Now for the mercy and love to enemies
-—“ Then shall he say unto them on the left-hand—Depart
from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the
devil and his angels.” In other words (2Thess. i.)—“The
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty
angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know
not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his
power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and
to be admired in all them that believe.”
• It is playing fast and loose with language, to preach the
love of Christ in the face of such cruel and revengeful de-
�IO
-clarations as these, which could proceed only from the
mouth of a despot or a savage.
By way of reply to this, it may be urged that this awful
-doom may be avoided, but not unless you believe. All the
“ fearful and unbelieving ” are to go into the lake which
burneth with fire and brimstone (Rev. xxi.), where their
worm dieth not, -and the fire is never quenched.
Instead of being so easy for mankind to escape, there is
the greatest difficulty, and the whole of the preaching which
declares that heaven is open to everybody, and hell only
open to those who seek it, is as nearly as possible the re
verse of the truth.
“ Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to
destruction. Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which
leadeth unto life, and /¿w there be that find it.” (Matt, vii.)
Was the road made narrow purposely ?
As regards the narrow road and the strait gate, we are
distinctly told that “ many will seek to enter in and shall
not be able ” (Luke xiii.) And this could not be otherwise,
since “ many are called, but few chosen ” (Matt, xxii.) In
the day when the Son of Man is revealed, we read that “ in
that night there shall be two men in one bed, the one shall
be taken and the other shall be left ” (Luke xvii.) One
class of men are certain to be shut out, << for it is easier for
a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to
enter into the kingdom of God ” (Luke xviii.) The only
hope for the bishops and the rich supporters of the Church
is to give away all their wealth to their rich relations before
they start on their celestial journey. There is another class
that will hardly get into heaven—“ them that are without
to them “ all these things are done in parables, that seeing
they may see and not perceive, hearing, they may hear and
not understand, lest at any time they should be converted ”
{Mark iv.)
The idea that Jesus came into the world to open up a
broad road for everyone to walk to glory in is but an idea,
not a fact, since he was not sent save to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel (Matt, xv.) And the Lord “ made the
wicked for the day of evil ” (Prov. xvi.) So they have no
chance whatever, and never had any. And St. Paul (Rom. ix.)
defended this as being in harmony with God’s character 1
Even the conditions of discipleship would deter many
from following Jesus, since their love of humanity is higher
than their love of a sect or a leader, and such could not
comply with—“ If any man come unto me, and hate not
�IT
liis father, mother, wife, children, brethren, sisters, &c., he
■cannot be my disciple” (Luke xiv.) It has been urged
that this text is not the pure word of God, that it means
something different; all objectionable texts ought to mean
something different to what they say. For instance, how
absurd to suppose that a follower of Christ should “ hate
his brother,” when we know in that case he. would be .a
“ murderer,” and 11 no murderer hath eternal life abiding in
him ” (i John iii.)
Those who believe the mission of Jesus to be peace, love,
harmony, and goodwill, either do not believe the word, of
God, or require great latitude in interpreting the following
remarkable words : “ I am come to send fire on the earth ”
(Luke xii.); “ Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on
earth? I tell you nay, but rather division” (Luke xii.);
“ Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I come
not to send peace, but a sword. I am come to set a man
at variance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law ”
(Matt, x.)
So far as my observation and reading enable me to judge,
this is the only part of the Gospel of glad tidings and great
joy which has been successfully taught, and the only part
that has been universally adopted in practice.
I believe the amount of family discord, persecution, and
war, caused by. professing religionists, to be almost as great
as has been produced by all other causes put together.
Books have been published to show that Christianity
means pure Democracy, Republicanism, universal liberty,
and all sorts of good things. To judge of these repre
sentations we must appeal to the Book, and truth compels
us to state that there are no such declarations to be found
in it. St. Paul says (Romans xiii.) the powers that be are
ordained of God, and if you resist them you will be damned.
The great patriots that have resisted the powers that be—the
hope of the world and friends of man—are thus all damned.
In Luke xix. we read : “ A certain nobleman went to
receive a kingdom, but the citizens hated him, and said—
We will not have this man to reign over us.” It concludes,
“ But those mine enemies that would not that I should reign
over them, bring them hither and slay them before me.”
These two statements, if they apply to the question at
all, or have any meaning, would appear to teach govern
ment by divine right against the will of the people. If
they illustrate the politics of Jesus, let us be thankful for
�12
his assurance—“My kingdom is not of this world.” (John
xviii.) Submission to governments by divine appointment
received a severe check when the English cut the king’s
head off, and when the French stirred the world by their
mighty revolution.
But the Gospel teaches men not to resist evil—if our
coat is taken, to hand over our cloak; and if our goods are
taken away, not even to ask for them back again! (Matt, v.;
Luke vi.)
Mr. Mill has well said these are texts to pelt adversaries
with, but Christians are not remarkable for anything besides
repeating these texts on Sundays and on special occasions.
Even a Christian does not practise the philosophy of
letting others take from him what he wants and has worked
for himself. The most extreme social theory never pro
poses that another shall take the loaf from my mouth to
fill his own. To do this would be to encourage all sorts
of insult and robbery. The Christians are not such lunatics
as to put these doctrines in practice, but “he that believeth
not shall be damned.”
The Gospel is a message to the poor, we are told, and a
very poor message it is. The poor ye have always with you;
they shall never cease out of the land. “ Blessed be ye
poor;” “Blessed are ye that hunger now” (Luke vi.)
There is a strange contrast between being blessed and
being poor. The one means being in tranquil possession
of good things : the other means wanting proper food,
shelter, comfort, and the means of living a long, pleasant,
and healthy life. Absolute poverty is a state of Christian
perfection, but very few of the bishops are perfect, or care
to be, only those who sit on benches without velvet even
approach perfection among the flock. But “ If thou wilt
be perfect, sell all thou hast, and give to the poor ” (Matt,
xix.; Luke xviii.; Mark x.) “ He that believeth not shall be
damned.”
Suppose this carried out, if one county sells out and
distributes to the poor, and each follows in succession till
the whole nation becomes perfect, it must then sell to some
foreign country, and distribute to some other country, and
when we all become perfect we shall be without a dinner
or a shilling. Very few Christians wish to become perfect,
but “ he that believeth not shall be damned.”
Consistent with this view of poverty is, “ Lay not up
treasures on earth, take no thought for the morrow, for
your life, or what you shall eat, drink, or wear” (Matt, v.)
�i3
Suppose all Europe were converted—ceased to be provi
dent, industrious, and to prepare for the future—how long
would society hold together? Next season the people of
Europe would plant no seed ; they would be imitating the
lords, and bishops, and the lilies of the field, which neither
toil nor spin. The result would be no harvest—no food.
Hence famine and disease would carry them all to glory so
soon as they became perfect Christians. The inhabitants
of these countries would cease to exist, and their Christianity
would recommend itself, by example, only to some nation
desirous of committing suicide !
So soon as Christianity is put into practice, this sinful
world will become the inheritance of the unbelievers. Of
course I shall be told the Christians have more sense than
to put into active service such directions as the Gospel
gives—but “ he that believeth not shall be damned.” To
carry out these doctrines would necessitate constant miracle;
but “ the age of miracles is passed,” saith the wise Shakspere. Science has banished the Deity in our day from all
active or providential interference, and has become itself the
only providence of man. No thoughtful, scientific man
believes that such supernatural aid in this world is either
possible or desirable. The hope of man. now is in know
ledge, industry, and the universal reign of justice.
Miracles reported to have happened are urged in favour
of Christianity being true, but as other systems offer the
same kind of evidence, this does not specially assist the
Christian, and it is not obvious that any doctrine which is
not true and reasonable without miracle, would be so with
miracle. Moreover, Jesus himself shows the futility of
miracles when he says (Luke xvi.) “If they hear not Moses
and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one
rose from the dead.” But did miracles ever happen ? What
is a miracle ?
Let us look at one recorded miracle, that of the loaves and
fishes, the most useful, if it could be wrought. According
to Luke (ix.) an evening party or pic-nic was held away from
the towns and cities, and the natural question arose about
refreshment. About 5,000 men, besides women and chil
dren, formed the party. After inquiry, it was found that
there were only five loaves and two fishes amongst them all.
They sat down on the grass, and were waited on by the
disciples, and were all filled, and twelve baskets of frag
ments remained after this.
Now at a moderate computation each of these fishes,
�14
which one writer describes as “small fishes,” must haveweighed over 2,5oolbs.r and each of the loaves i,ooolbs.r
and the time required to hand it round in the manner de
scribed, at the rate of serving one every minute, would be
over seven hours, long before which time had expired, the
whole party had gone home, according to the Gospel, fer
tile day began towear away before they commenced. Before
evening had come they were alLsent away. (Matt xiv.)
It is highly improbable that “ a lad ” had such loaves and
fishes “ in a basket,” and if not, Jesus must have enlarged
the fishes to the magnitude described, or contracted the
stomachs to fit the occasion. But this is not left doubtful,
because after all had eaten, there were eleven basketsfull’
more than before the eating began.
It is unreasonable to suppose this event ever happened,
and the impracticability of dividing these seven small sub
stances into seven or eight thousand parts, of sufficient mag
nitude to fill an ordinary human stomach, is plain to any
person who devotes five minutes to the consideration of the
subject. To say it was “a miracle” is not to prove that
such an event ever occurred.
Besides, the belief that such an event took place' two
thousand years ago, will not fill one- empty stomach to-day,
and if those who believe can do greater works, why don't they r
i
In a nation containing a million paupers and people dying
of starvation in its greatest cities, such a power of feeding
the empty no benevolent being in heaven or on earth could
refuse to exercise. This is a miracle in print, but in a
country with a national system of education, with the laws of
nature understood by all, and in the presence of a free press,
such a miracle could not be performed. Such is my opinion.
If such a tale were told by the disciples of any other pro
phet, the Christians themselves would reject it as imposture.
And, in my opinion, all the other miracles are like unto this,
evident impossibilities—mere tales.
It is often urged that Christianity must be true because
the early disciples and followers of Jesus had no inducements
to take up the doctrine, that none of their material interests
could be served by it. Let Jesus answer this powerful argu
ment m his own words. Peter said, Lo, we have left all and
followed thee, “ what shall we have I" Jesus said, “Ye
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.” Again, “ Verily I say unto you, there is no man
that hath left house, brethren, sisters, mother, wife, children,
or lands for my sake and the Gospel’s, but he shall receive
�i5
an hundred-fold’ now in this time, houses, brethren, sisters,,
mothers, children, and lands, with persecutions, and in the
world to come eternal life.” (Matt, xix.; Mark x.)
These offers are so tempting, that I have often wondered
why the whole of the Jews did not join the movement for
that reason only. The reader will observe that the word.
“ wives ” does not occur in the “ hundred-fold/’ but “ per
secutions ” does. This, and the fact that they may have
doubted the security, may be offered as a partial explanation.
The Gospel is preached as the charter of freedom to the
oppressed sons of toil. St. Paul advises men to obey their
masters, “with fear and trembling ” (Eph. vi.) If a man haslabour to sell, what has he to fear if the master buys and
pays, for it ? “ Servants, obey your masters in all things
(Col. iii.) “ Be content with such things as ye have,” and
says he himself is contented in any state (Phil, iv.) What
sublime doctrine for nigger-drivers, but how about the nigger ?To him this means perpetual bondage. No man ever raised
himself by being contented, by obeying everybody, or by
living in fear of and trembling at all above him ! The
religion of Christ is much beloved by women. The greatest
apostle writes •. “ Wives submit yourselves unto your own
husbands, as unto the Lord; as the- Church is subject to
Christ, so let wives be to their husbands in everything”
(Eph. v.)
Can anything be more degrading than the entire submis
sion of one half the world to the other half? Because a
human being happens to be a woman—a wife—is that any
reason why she should sink her individuality ? Surely the
black people of America are in a nobler position than this.
But women are getting wiser than the Gospel, and the serf
dom of Paul is being superseded by women becoming
citizens of a free state. This new fashion becomes a woman,
and may it endure when the writings of Paul are forgotten.
The great struggle in modern Europe has been, and is, an
endeavour to reverse all the texts quoted, to counteract the
operation of them, to oppose them, and supersede them.
Instead of all this, called Christianity, we have great efforts
to drive slavery out of existence, to raise the labourer by
co-operation, to institute governments by the people for the
people, to encourage prudence and forethought, savings
banks, sick societies, life insurance societies, sanitary im
provements, improved dwellings, education, and all other
conceivable means for the prevention of evil and the increase
of human comfort.
�i6
Christianity is often defended by quoting sensible, moral
texts borrowed from Secular or Pagan writers, incorporated
in the New Testament, and opposite texts can be quoted in
reply, as shown in this paper. Let Christians admit that
Christianity in its theory is wrong, and that Pagan or Secular
moral teaching is right, then my opposition ceases, not till
then.
.
Apart from the doctrines which some pretend to believe,
and no one attempts to practise, I reject the Jesus whose
father was a god or an angel, who could fast, forty days, see
all the world off the top of one mountain, raise the dead for
no practical purpose, leaving Socrates, Confucius, Plato, and
Aristotle still under ground. I do not believe m the Jesus
who could walk on the sea, and not teach, others how to do
it, feed many thousands on next to nothing, and not leave
the secret how he did it, who could wither a. fig-tree and
get nothing off it, send into the sea innocent little pigs that
belonged to somebody else, who could speak of a glorious
time and not stay to realise it, keeping the word of promise
to the ear, but breaking the heart full of expectation. 1 do
not believe in the Jesus who came to save.the world and
left without saving it, leaving it as full of ignorance and
crime as when he entered it, promising to come again and
upset everything except himself and his own party. 1 do
not believe in the Jesus who went out of the world as mys
teriously as he came into it, leaving men gazing and watch
ing for his second appearance before, they tasted death.
(Matthew xvi.) His divided, persecuting, inconsistent fol
lowers still wait. Let them wait. In the meantime,' we
advise men to look for something better—to throw away
these childish superstitions, to work out their own redemp
tion by intelligence and self-reliant effort—for there, is
nothing more injurious to mankind than this Christian
deified error.
SECOND EDITION.—PRICE TWOPENCE.
Printed and Published by C. Watts, 17, Johnson’s Court, Fleet Street,
London, E.C.
�
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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>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Pamphlet
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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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The dark side of Christianity, showing it unreasonable and impracticable
Description
An account of the resource
Edition: 2nd ed.
Place of publication: [London]
Collation: 16 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: Tentative date of publication from KVK. Part of the NSS pamphlet collection.
Creator
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Cattell, Charles Cockbill
Publisher
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[C. Watts]
Date
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[1870?]
Identifier
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N119
Subject
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Christianity
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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 (The dark side of Christianity, showing it unreasonable and impracticable), 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
NSS