The Bible of Bibles; Or, Twenty-Seven "Divine" Revelations. Kersey Graves

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ shape, and color?

      2. How large is his body?

      3. Does it occupy more than one planet?

      4. If not, how can he be present in other worlds?

      5. What is his physical type—Malay, Mongolian, Anglo-Saxon, or African?

      6. What is his complexion—white, black, or tawny?

      7. What is the color of his eyes and hair?

      8. What are the dimensions of his body and the length of his arms and legs?

      9. What is his position—lying, sitting, or standing?

      10. How is his time occupied?

      11. And as personality implies sex, and one sex not only implies the other sex, but creates a necessity lor the other sex, we are driven to ask, who is God's wife, and where is she?

      12. Are they both on the same planet?

      13. And have they ever been divorced? Or is he still a bachelor?

      14. And as sex also implies offspring, we desire to ask, how many children have they had?

      15. And whether they are all boys?

      16. And, as personality also implies parentage, this brings up the question, who was God's father, grandfather, etc.

      17. And as personality implies the susceptibility to anger, and the Bible-God is often represented as getting angry, and anger has been shown to be a species of insanity, would not this imply and prove that heaven is ruled by an insane God—an omnipotent luuatic?

      18. And would not this virtually make heaven a lunatic asylum, and consequently a very unsuitable and disagreeable place to live in?

      As all these and many other absurdities are involved in the assumption of a personal God, it is difficult to see how any reasonable being can swallow the doctrine.

MORE BIBLES.

       Table of Contents

      As the notices of several bibles prepared for the first edition were left out from fear of making the book too large, I have concluded to insert a brief notice of some of them here.

      1. Dhammapada, or "Path of Virtue." This sacred book has constituted the moral and religious guide of several hundred millions of Hindoos for many centuries. It is probably the oldest record of the Budhistic faith. It is assumed to be a collection from the pitakas, which are principally compilations from the discourses of the incarnate god Gautama, written out by his disciples. It was pronounced genuine and canonical by a famous council which met in 246 B. C., under the reign of King Asoka. Max Müller says, "Its moral code, taken by itself, is one of the most perfect the world has ever known." Spence Ilardy, and' Johnson, both speak highly of the work. It contains many wise, beautiful, and lofty moral precepts, of which we will give a few specimens:—"Haste to do good." "Give to those who ask." "Master thyself, and then thou canst control and teach others." "Select for friend? the best of men." "Be just, speak truly, act nobly," etc.

      2. Tripitika. This book is divided into three parts hence its name, which means "the three pitikas." Like the Dhammanada, it is a history of some of the gods, and sets forth their lives and precepts. It forbids the commission of sin, and enjoins the practice of the highest virtues. "In no system," says Amherly, "is benevolence and charity more emphatically inculcated." Chastity is recommended, and a life of spotless virtue in every respect enjoined. The former work appears to be made up principally by selections from this.

      3. Other sacred books might be mentioned, such as "The Paradise of Fo," "Confucius and his Disciple," "Catena of the Chinese Budhistic Scriptures" "The Baghavat Gita," "The Sanhita," "Sudras" (appendages to the Sunhita), "Divine Opherisms of Kanada," "The Uphanishads" (a commentary on the Vedas), "Saddharma Pundosika" (another commentary), "Worship and Psalmody of the Maharades," etc. Some of these works are either other titles for those previously described, or are additions, appendages, or commentaries. And thus it will be observed the world is full of bibles and scriptures.

THE LEADING POSITIONS OF THIS WORK.

       Table of Contents

      We maintain, 1st, That man's mental faculties are susceptible of a threefold division and classification, as follows: First, the intellectual department; second, the moral and religious department; third, the animal department (which includes also the social).

      2d, That all Bibles and religions are an outgrowth from some or all of these faculties, and hence of natural origin.

      3d, That all Bibles and religions which originated prior to the dawn of civilization in the country which gave them birth (i.e., prior to the reign of moral and physical science) are an emanation from the combined action and co-operation of man's moral, religious, and animal feelings and propensities.

      4th, That the Christian Bible contains (as shown in this work) several thousand errors,—moral, religious, historical, and scientific.

      5th, That this fact is easily accounted for by observing that it originated at a period when the moral and religious feelings of the nation which produced it co-operated with the animal propensities instead of an enlightened intellect.

      6th, That, although such a Bible and religion may have been adapted to the minds which originated them, the higher class of minds of the present age demands a religion which shall call into exercise the intellect, instead of the animal propensities.

      7th, That, as all the Bibles and religions of the past are more of an emanation from the animal propensities than the intellect, they are consequently not suited to this age, and are for this reason being rapidly abandoned.

      8th, That true religion consists in the true exercise of the moral and religious faculties.

      9th, As the Christian Bible is shown in this work to inculcate bad morals, and to sanction, apparently, every species of crime prevalent in society in the age in which it was written, the language of remonstrance is frequently employed against placing such a book in the hands of the heathen, or the children of Christian countries; and more especially against making "the Bible the fountain of our laws and the supreme rule of our conduct," and acknowledging allegiance to its God in the Constitution of the United States, as recommended by the American Christian Alliance. Such measures, this work shows by a thousand facts, would be a deplorable check to the moral and intellectual progress of the world.

      10th, If any clergyman or Christian professor shall take any exceptions to any position laid down in this work, the author will discuss the matter with him in a friendly manner in the papers, or through the post-office, or before a public audience.

      Kersey Graves.

      Richmond, Indiana

THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.

       СКАЧАТЬ