Natural Man

by Arthur B. Moss

They were told that he made all other animals for man's pleasure and assistance. They believed it.

They were told that he made the sun and the stars to give light to the earth. They believed it.

They were told that he made the earth. They believed it. That it was flat, and they were flats enough to believe that also.

But they were not told who made God; what intelligent mind designed him before he was made; who made the intelligent mind that designed the God that made the world out of nothing. These matters were allowed to remain impenetrable mysteries.

In course of time morality improved. The would-be murderer found that there were men in the nation who could defend themselves against all assaults of the enemy; and that the only way to be secure from attack was to promise not to be the aggressive party.

And the thief found that if he stole others would steal from him; that only by being honest could he hope to have his own property protected.

Though very early in the progress of man laws had been made against murder and theft, it was not until men saw that their own life and property were at stake, and that unless they were peaceful and honest themselves they ran a risk of losing all they had, that anything approaching harmony existed among the people of the nations that were on the high road to civilisation.

Among savage races, murder, theft and other crimes are almost as rife as ever; and it is only when barbarous races come in contact with races higher up the scale of life that their morality manifests rapid improvement.

Scepticism is the sign of a healthy mind. Doubt and unbelief invariably arise as the result of earnest inquiry and vigorous thought. Except among the philosophical Greeks and cultured Romans, doubts concerning the truth of theology were not openly expressed, even by the few, until many centuries after the Christian era began.

Of course, among the early Christians there were many who doubted; some who denied the divinity of Jesus; many who questioned the truth of the resurrection; among the Brahmins and Buddhists, many who were sceptical on dogmatic points of their faith. But it was not until the middle of the sixteenth century that we find men questioning the pretensions of theologians, and exposing with admirable fearlessness and candor the errors of theology.