Page images
PDF
EPUB

Be this as it may, the account given by Moses and all other supernaturalists of the creation of man is certainly very incorrect and erroneous. We are told by the ancient heathen mythologists, that the first pair of the human race were formed by one Prometheous, who moulded them out of clay, and by the assistance of Menerva, stole fire from heaven to animate them. Moses says, "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul (Genesis, Chap. 2d, Verse 7). There is so great a resemblance between these two accounts of the creation of man, that it is highly probable one was borrowed from the other. In the latter case however they are said to have been formed by God himself, but in the former by a Demi-God, who was afterward severely punished for the act. This story of the formation of man as told by Moses, may go down well enough with those who have never reflected on the subject--but if we enquire into the nature of the materials of which they are said to have been made, we shall perceive that it is absolutely impossible, and that the story is in the highest degree absurd and ridiculous.

1

Man as we now find him is evidently composed of the most refined particles of matter, and not of coarse clay or the dust of the ground. The food on which he lives is derived mediately or immediately from the earth. Vegetables when growing extract the richest and purest substance of the soil. These vegetables are eaten by animals, and their purest essence becomes a part of the bodies of those animals. Man feeds upon these animals and the better kinds of vegetables, of which his corporeal existence is of course composed. This it is true proves that the materials of which we are made are derived from the earth-but not as the bible says, that we were created of the coarse unpurified dust of the ground. But on the contrary that we are now and all our progenitors must necessarily have been composed of the purest essence and most refined particles of matter, which are alone capable of being organized into animal life.

It follows therefore that Moses's account of the creation of man is false, and whenever and by whatever means man has been produced, he was created of the same pure essence of which he is now composed, and not such coarse and barren materials as Moses has told us. I am aware that pious christian will exclaim that "Nothing is impossible with God," and therefore he could make them out of any materials. But while I acknowledge the power of God to be infinite, I

shall contend that there are some things which are naturally ; impossible in themselves, which infinite power itself cannot perform and in order to illustrate my meaning, it is necessary only to state that the supreme power of God is incompetent to any effort which includes in its nature a pointed contradiction for instance, he cannot make a man feel and not feel at the same time. The law of sensation is at war with this he cannot make a man exist and not exist in one and the same instant.-Consistency is the property of wisdom and truth.

JUVENIS.

Religious Queries for solution, ta all believing Christians.

FIRST:

How high was the tower of Babel, and if it had been raised more than half way to heaven, what would have prevented the power of attraction in the heavenly bodies, from drawing off the upper works and thus preventing its completion?

SECOND. By what power did the witch of Endor raise up Samuel? Was it by the power of God, or by the power of the devil? If you say it was the former, you inlist God on the side of witchcraft, and attribute to him the character of a wizard—if you say by the latter, then it will follow since the devil can work miracles, that henceforth no system of religion can be proved divine on account of evidence drawn ་ས་མ་ from miracles. If miraculous operations can be attributed to infernal as well as celestial power, the great pillar of christianity will be swept away, and it will be impossible here. after from this species of proof, to say of any book whether it be diabolical or divine.

THIRD. What connection is there between cutting of a man's hair and the loss of his strength? See the wonderful story of the wonderful Sampson, related in the 16th chapter of the book of Judges. If this be divine revelation, then God help the benighted mind of man! If there be in all christendom a man of common sense who can see in this 16th chapter of Judges, aught but extravagant fiction, he must see with other eyes than those of reason and common sense; and above all, if he can see in it the majesty of God, he must be marvellously inspired indeed.

SUBLIME SENTIMENT.

T HE supreme creator, the eternal God has a right to command the homage of the human heart-but I do not mean by the word God any of those immoral mischievous malignant phantoms, patrons of particular nations, whether Jews or Gentiles-I do not mean any of the beings who may be called upon by venal and unprincipled priests, to throw the varied vails of contradictory superstitions over the infernal intrigues which may tinge the earth with human blood, from the banks of the Danube to Nootka Sound.-I mean by the word God, the God of allnature and of all worlds-of whose existence no mind can doubt without being involved in inextricable absurdity, but in search of whom overstretched idea bursts, and thought rolls back on darkness!

"Lessons to a Young Prince."

THE very worst effect of an excessive self-love is the over

weaning conceit of one's self, relatively to devotion, and the punctual discharge of religious duties. This is sure to declare itself in a contempt of every one who does not make the same parade of sanctimony. Not a day passes in which people of this cast do not sacrifice some innocent victim at the altar of their malignant passions. Surmises is their very food, slander their delight, altercation the whetstone of their wit, rancour the fire which animates their discourse, and revenge the mobile of their actions. For gluttony, imperiousness, avarice, and cruelty, they are noted-the loss of a dollar sets their soul in an uproar, and under the cloak of devotion they trample on common probity. But they indeed distinguish themselves by a strict attendance on divine service, and their preparations at the approach of high festivals. The word christianity is perpetually on their tonguesvisiting the sick they affect an agonizing tenderness-they pay a most profound respect to the clergy, and sigh and groan about the spread of infidelity: but after all their hypocrisy, these hypocrites deceive their own consciences more than the world they are the detestation of the truly good, and men of common understanding laugh at their farcical sanctimoniousnes..

s—in

IN the year 1728, Mr. Latham who had been lately induc

ted to the vicarage of the holy cross, near Shrewsbury, presented a petition to the bishop of Litchfield and Coventry, praying that a picture representing our Lord and saviour upon the cross might be removed out of the church. A counter petition was also presented, signed by the parishioners, but being unsuccessful and the picture removed, they severely lampooned the vicar. The following lines are a specimen of thespirit shewn on that occasion:

*** The parson's the man,

Let him what he can,

say

Will for gain leave his God in the lurch;
Could Iscariot do more,

Had it been in his power

Then to turn his Lord out of the church?

[blocks in formation]

THE PROGRESS OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. (Continued from our last.)

OUT whatever difference of opinion might subsist between the Orthodox, the Ebonites, and the Gnostics, concerning the divinity or the obligation of the Mosaic law, they were all equally animated by the same exclusive zeal, and by the same abhorrence for idolatry which had distinguished the Jews from the other nations of the ancient world. The phi

losopher, who considered the system of polytheism as a composition of human fraud and error, could disguise a smile of contempt under the mask of devotion, without apprehending that either the mockery or the compliance would expose him to the resentment of any invisible, or, as he conceived them imaginary powers. But the established religions of Paganism were seen by the primitive christians in a much more odious and formidable light. It was the universal sentiment both of the church and of heretics that the dæmons were the authors, the patrons, and the obje ts of idolatry. rebellious spirits who had been degraded from the rank of angels, and cast down into the infernal pit, were still permitted to roam upon earth to torment the bodies, and to seduce the minds of sinful men. The dæmons soon discovered and abused the natural propensity of the human heart towards devotion, and artfully withdrawing the adoration of mankind from their creator, usurped the place and honors of the supreme Deity.

(To be Continued.)

Those

GIBBON.

FOR sale by the editor, (price 1 dollar) at No. 26 Chatham-street, the PRINCIPLES OF NATURE, or a Develope ment of the Moral Causes of Happiness and Misery among the Human Species, second edition, with five new chapters, upon the following subjects :-Origin of Moral Evil, and the means of its Ultimate Extirpation from the Earth; that Moral Principles are not founded upon Theological Ideas, nor upon any Sectarian Modification of these Ideas, but upon a basis as immortal and as indestructible as Human Existence itself; Universal Benevolence; Moses, Jesus, and Mahomet; Philosophical Immortality.

PUBLIC DISCOURSES,

UPON MORAL and PutLOSOPHICAL SUBJECTS, will be delivered by the Editor every Sunday evening, at 6 o'clock, at Snow's long room, No. 89 Broad-Way.

NEW-YORK:

PRINTED and published by the editor, at No. 26 Chathamstreet, price 2 dollars per annum, one half paid in advance every six months.

« PreviousContinue »