Let not Christians, then, say that persecution and intolerance are the abuses of Christianity. Its very essence is congenial with blood and torture in all their horrid forms. The moral precepts of the Gospel never have nor ever will so far neutralize the doctrines of the Bible, as to guarantee the human race in trusting power in the hands of the disciples of Jesus. They always will, according to the New Testament, prefer the man of orthodox faith, to men in common, however virtuous.
Having shown the injustice and cruelty of drowning all the inhabitants of the earth,—on account of the wickedness of some who ought to have been made an example to society at large,—let us inquire, what end was obtained by so universal a destruction? Have the human race been more moral, and, on the whole, more virtuous, since the flood than before? If they have not, (and that they have not, the Bible itself fully proves,) it then follows, that no moral good resulted from their being destroyed; and instead of the Lord’s anger being softened down, it would rage in all its former fury. If the Lord really said to Noah, what the Bible records, “that it repented him that he had made man on the earthy and it grieved him at his heart” it is as much as to say,—“I can bear this distracted state of mind no longer; I will try you and your family, Noah, and ease myself of the disappointment I have endured from the wickedness of my creation; I will have a better race on the earth which I have made, or man shall cease to exist.”
But did a better race succeed? No; for Noah, in time, became intemperate, and in a fit of intoxication became an object of contempt to one of his sons, who, so far forgot his duty to his intoxicated father, that instead of concealing his folly and shame, he exposed it. When Noah awoke from his slumber, and discovered what had taken place, he began most heartily to curse his son and his posterity for ages to come, and also to prophesy evil concerning them, which prophecy, according to the Bible, the Lord approved of and brought to pass. Here, again, Jehovah is disappointed; that is, if he expected a moral world better than the one he had destroyed.
Turning, then, with detestation from an account which represents the Governor of the Universe as having drowned a world and repented he had made it, and also of being grieved at heart, we will notice Noah’s preparing the ark and making ready for his singular voyage. Nothing short of repeated miracles could have completed the embarkation of Noah, his family, and the living cargo, or freight. A miracle must have been wrought on all those beasts, whose savage nature had made them a terror to man, in order that they might become tame, and be conveyed to the vicinity of the ark. Another miracle must have been in continual operation on all those who were engaged in procuring the beasts, birds, and reptiles, to induce them to labor without any remuneration for their toils, but the certainty of being left to perish by the flood. A continuation of miracles must follow on, to induce the then population to stand quiet, up to their necks in water, and not to make an effort to force their way into the ark before it was closed up; and also to enable Noah and his family to attend to feeding and keeping clean their respective cages and dens. The water, also, to drown the world, and cover the highest hills, must be created for this express purpose, and then reduced again into its native nothingness. For, from an accurate calculation, it would require one hundred and eight times as much water as is now on the face of the earth, to cover the highest mountain, admitting its height to be no more than twenty thousand feet, and there are mountains still higher. It would follow, therefore, that after the flood, one hundred and eight oceans must be annihilated, there not being room for so much water on the earth.
From what has been said concerning the flood, it is clear that no such thing really took place, but that the whole is fabulous; because, the deluge is said to be in consequence of the Lord’s being grieved at the wickedness of the antediluvians. This is no reason why he should destroy them, even admitting the possibility of the fact. His grief could not be lessened by so doing, as men since the flood have been equally wicked as before; and have continued so, down to the present time. If the Lord was grieved then, and repented at having made man, he is still unhappy and continues to repent, because the evil that caused him then to grieve and to repent, is not removed.
The reader is requested not to lose sight of one thing that is equally glaring both in the Old Testament and the New—that the Jehovah of the Jews is always blundering and making mistakes; the choice he often makes does not answer the end purposed, but falls short. Another and another plan is pursued; still, some striking failures take place. The God of the Bible is as unlike the Supreme Power that governs the material universe, as the swarthy African is unlike the fair complexion of the temperate zone.
As the main object of this work is to prove, as clear as the nature of argument will admit, that the Jehovah of the Jews is not the Supreme Ruler of Nature, let us examine their respective characters. The God of the Jews, in his acts, is governed by no correct principle of justice; he is changeable, and subject to all the passions that, in turn, agitate the minds of mortals. How different is the Ruler of the World, of whom we know nothing, abstracted from the material universe! In the government of the material world, we discover that “order is heaven's first law”; that a regular arrangement of causes and effects pervade every department of nature. In it, there is no doing and undoing; no derangement in the wonderful, adaptation of cause and effect, of principles and consequences. In the laws that rule the universe, nothing happens that has the appearance of falling short of ends intended to be carried out; these laws depend not on the will or conduct of mortals; but the more we are acquainted with them, the more we are compelled to admire the wonderful wisdom and harmony of the mighty whole.
Is the kingdom of grace, or, in other words, does the Old and New Testaments present to us a God any way similar to the power that rules the world? The God of Nature, an expression used to convey no other meaning than the power that mingles itself with the mighty whole,—does this power show any thing like partiality to nations, or to sects and parties? Do the general laws, by which the world is governed, indicate any thing in their author of a vindictive or vengeful character. Any thing like disappointment or regret? Does the prosperity of nations, or of individuals, depend (abstractly considered) on whether they worship one, or many Gods, or none at all? On the contrary, the Jehovah of the Bible is depicted as being more unstable than mortals. Ye Jews and Christians! in vain do you vindicate the character and conduct of your God towards the human race, by saying that “he ought to do what he pleases with his own.” The conduct of the most cruel and unjust tyrant that ever lived can with more truth and propriety be exonerated than your God; because a tyrant, however wicked and cruel, may have to contend with those who are capable of doing him an injury, and self-defence on his part may form some excuse for his actions. A tyrant may have to come in contact with others, his equals in power and physical force. But the Christian God is above any personal injury; he has no rivals; possessing all power, all knowledge, nothing can take place by him unforeseen. If mortals, by their conduct, call forth his anger, he chooses to be angry. The human race did not ask for existence; he alone was the projector. If mortals, in the course of their career through life, (as foreseen by him) deserve punishment, he felt happy in punishing them. Ye ministers! prate, then, no longer against the “unblushing Infidel”; for, as you maintain that the God of the Bible is the author of the universe, we leave you to blush at the horrible character you portray of him whom you hypocritically call a God of love! Oh! heavens! what dreadful consequences have resulted from the Jehovah of the Jews being worshipped as the author of nature! The worshippers of such a God have in all ages partaken, more or less, of his character for cruelty, injustice, and intolerance; and under this banner “whole armies have marched forth to glut the earth with blood.”
Viewing, then, the Bible account of the deluge, in which the innocent were destroyed with the sinner, as but a fabulous tale, had I a voice loud enough to make all mankind hear, I would boldly and fearlessly proclaim it a falsehood, disgraceful to God, and too foolish to obtain credit in the present age.