The truth shall set you free > Religion
THE BIBLE OF 27 BIBLES (1 christian with 2000 errors) 1879 -KERSEY GRAVES
Prometheus:
THE
BIBLE OF BIBLES;
https://archive.org/details/bibleofbiblesort00grav
CONTAINING
A DESCRIPTION OF TWENTY-SEVEN BIBLES, AND AN
EXPOSITION OF TWO THOUSAND BIBLICAL
ERRORS IN SCIENCE, HISTORY, MORALS,
RELIGION, AND GENERAL EVENTS;
ALSO A DELINEATION OF THE CHARACTERS OF
THE PRINCIPAL PERSONAGES OP THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE,
AND
AN EXAMINATION OF THEIR DOCTRINES.
BY
KERSEY GRAVES,
AUTHOR OP “THE WORLD’S SIXTEEN CRUCIFIED SAVIORS,” AND
^ “THE BIOGRAPHY OF SATAN.”
1879.
BY LYDIA M. GRAVES,
ASSISTANT AUTHORESS.
LIST OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
The Leading Positions of this Work.....................9
CHAPTER I.
The Signs of the Times. — The Coming Revolution. — Reason
WILL SOON TRIUMPH.................................11
CHAPTER II.
Apology and Explanation. — Jehovah not our God. — Relation-
ship of the Old and New Testaments..............17
CHAPTER III.
Why this Work was written. — The Moral Truths of the
Bible. — Why resort to Ridicule. — The Principal Design
of this Work. — Don’t read Pernicious Books. — Two Thou-
sand Bible Errors exposed. — All Bibles Useful in their .
Place........................................... 20
/
CHAPTER IY.
Beauties and Benefits of Bibles. —A Higher Plane of Devel-
opment has been Attained. — Bible Writers Honest.—
General Claims of Bibles.............................28
TWENTY-SEVEN BIBLES DESCRIBED.
CHAPTER Y.
The Hindoo Bibles. — The Yedas.—The Code of Menu. — Ram-
AYANA.—MAHABARAT. — The PURANS. —ANALOGIES OF THE
Hindoo and Jewish Religions.—Antiquity of India . . 32
CHAPTER VI.
The Egyptian Bible, “The Hermas.” —Analogies of the Egyp-
tian and Jewish Religions. — Antiquity of Egypt
42
4
LIST OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
PAGE
The Persian Bibles. — The Zenda A vesta. — The Sadder. — Anal-
ogies of the Persian and Jewish Religions. — Antiquity of
Persia.............................................46
CHAPTER VIII.
The Chinese Bibles.—Ta-Heo (Great Learning). — The Chun
Yung ; or, Doctrine of the Mean. — The Book of Mang, or
Mencius. — Shoo King; or, “Book of History.”— Shee
King; or, “Book of Poetry.” — Chun Tsen, “Spring and
Summer.” — Tao-te King ; or, Doctrine of Reason. — Analo-
gies of the Chinese and Jewish Religions. — Antiquity of
China..............................................50
CHAPTER IX.
Seven other Oriental Bibles. — The Soffees’ Bible: The “Mus-
navi.” — The Parsees’ Bible: The “Bour Desch.” — The
Tamalese Bible: The “ Kaliwakam.” — The Scandinavian
Bible: The “Saga;” or, Divine Wisdom.—The Kalmucs’
Bible : The “ Kalio Cham.” —The Athenians’ Bible : “ The
Testament.” — The Cabalists’ Bible: The “ Yohar ; ” or,
Book of Light......................................55
CHAPTER X.
The Mahomedan’s Bible : TnE “Koran.” — The Mormons’ Bible :
“The Book of Mormon.” — Revelations of Joseph Smith.
— The Shakers’ Bible: “The Divine Roll” .... 57
CHAPTER XI.
TnE Jews’ Bible : TnE Old Testament and TnE Mishna . . 61
CHAPTER XII.
TnE Christians’ Bible : Its Character................62
CHAPTER XIII.
General Analogies of Bibles. — Superior Features of TnE
Heathen Bibles..................................65
CHAPTER XIV.
The Infidels’ Bible..................................68
LIST OF CONTENTS.
5
TWO THOUSAND BIBLE ERRORS — OLD-TESTAMENT
DEPARTMENT.
CHAPTER XV.
PAGE
A Hundred and Twenty-three Errors in the Jewish Cosmogony.
— The Scientists’ Story of Creation.............73
CHAPTER XVI.
Numerous Absurdities in the Story of the Deluge . . v„^8tT
c
CHAPTER XVII. ' ~
The Ten Commandments, Moral Defects of ... 96
CHAPTER XVIII.
Ten Foolish Bible Stories : A Talking Serpent and a Talking
Ass. — The Story of Cain. — The Ark of the Covenant.—
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. — Daniel and Nebuchad-
nezzar. — Sodom and Gomorrah. — The Tower of Babel. —
Stopping the Sun and Moon. — Story of Samson. — Story
of Jonah ......................................100
CHAPTER XIX.
Bible Prophecies not Fulfilled......................121
CHAPTER XX.
Bible Miracles, Erroneous Belief in................124
CHAPTER XXI.
Bible Errors in Facts and Figures...................128
CHAPTER XXII.
Bible Contradictions (232).......................... 134
CHAPTER XXIII.
Obscene Language of the Bible (200 cases)...........145
CHAPTER XXIV.
Circumcision a Heathenish Custom. — Fasting and Feasting in
Various Nations................................149
CHAPTER XXV.
Holy Mountains, Lands, Cities, and Rivers..........151
6
LIST OF CONTENTS.
BIBLE CHARACTERS.
CHAPTER XXVI. page
Jehovah, Character of............................153
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Jews, Character of...........................157
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Moses, Character of..............................160
CHAPTER XXIX.
The Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Character of . 166
CHAPTER XXX.
David: His Numerous Cremes. — Solomon, Character of. — Lot
and his Daughters............................173
CHAPTER XXXI.
The Prophets : Their Moral Defects. — Special Notice of Eli-
jah and Elisha...............................177
CHAPTER XXXII.
Idolatry: Its Nature, Harmlessness, and Origin.—All Chris-
tians either Atheists or Idolaters...........187
BIBLE ERRORS-NEW-TEST AMENT DEPARTMENT.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Divine Revelation Impossible and Unnecessary .... 212
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Prdieval Innocency of Man not True...............219
CHAPTER XXXV.
Original Sin and Fall of Man not True..............222
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Moral Depravity of Man a Delusion................224
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Free Agency and Moral Accountability Erroneous . . .227
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Repentance : The Doctrine Erroneous
231
LIST OF CONTENTS.
7
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Forgiveness fob Sin an Erroneous Doctrine
CHAPTER XL.
An Angby God, Evils of the Belief in
CHAPTER XLI.
Atonement fob Sin an Immobal Doctbine .
CHAPTER XLII.
Special Pbovidences an Ebboneous Doctbine
CHAPTER XLIII.
Faith and Belief: Bible Ebbobs bespecting
CHAPTER XLIY.
A Pebsonal God Impossible ....
PAGE
. 236
. 239
. 242
. 246
, 250
253
Note.—In the twelve preceding chapters it is shown that the cardinal doctrines of
Christianity are all wrong.
CHAPTER XLY.
Evil, Natural and Moral, explained
CHAPTER XLYI.
A Rational Yiew of Sin and its Consequences
CHAPTER XLYII.
The Bible sanctions every Species of Crime .
CHAPTER XLYIII.
The Immoral Influence of the Bible
255
261
266
285
CHAPTER XLIX.
The Bible at War with Eighteen Sciences
287
CHAPTER L.
The Bible as a Moral Necessity .
296
CHAPTER LI.
Send no more Bibles to the Heathen
303
CHAPTER LH.
What shall We do to be Saved?
307
CHAPTER Lin.
The Three Christian Plans of Salvation
334
8
LIST OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER LIV. page
The True Religion defined................................352
CHAPTER LY.
‘ All Scripture given by Inspiration of God ” . . . . 356
CHAPTER LYI.
Infidelity in Oriental Nations : India, Rome, Greece, Egypt,
China, Persia, and Arabia...........................368
CHAPTER LYII.
Sects, Schisms, and Skeptics in Christian Countries . . . 378
CHAPTER LYIII.
Modern Christianity one-half Infidelity..................384
CHAPTER LIX.
The Christians* God, Character of........................399
CHAPTER LX.
The One Hundred and Fifty Errors of Jesus Christ . . . 401
CHAPTER LXI.
Character and Erroneous Doctrines of the Apostles . . 407
CHAPTER LXII.
Erroneous Doctrines and Moral Defects of Paul and Peter . 408
CHAPTER LXni.
Idolatrous Veneration for Bibles: Its Evils .... 420
CHAPTER LXIY.
Spiritual or Implied Sense of Bibles : Its Objects . . . 425
CHAPTER LXV.
Wiiat shall we substitute for the Bible?................432
CHAPTER LXVI.
Religious Reconstruction ; or, the Moral Necessity for a
Religious Reform...................................433
Conclusion
437
THE LEADING POSITIONS OE THIS WORK.
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 depart-
ment (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-opera-
tion of man’s moral, religious, and animal feelings and pro-
pensities.
4th, That the Christian Bible contains (as shown in this
work) several thousand errors, — moral, religious, histori-
cal, 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
10
THE LEADING POSITIONS OF THIS WORK.
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 acknowl-
edging 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 in-
tellectual 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 OE BIBLES.
CHAPTER I.
TEE SIGNS OE THE TIMES.
We live in the most important age in the history of the world.
No age preceding it was marked with such signal events. No
other era in the history of civilization has been characterized by
such agitation of human thought; such a universal tendency
to investigation ; such a general awakening upon all important
subjects of human inquiry; such a determination to grow in
knowledge, and cultivate the immortal intellect, and mount to
higher plains of development. The world of mind is in com-
motion. All civilized nations are agitated from center to cir-
cumference with the great questions of the age. And what
does all this prove ? Why, that man is a progressive being;
that the tendency of the human mind is onward and upward;
and that it will not always consent to be bound down in igno-
rance and superstition. And, thanks to the genius of the
age, it is the prophecy of the glorious reformation and regene-
ration of society, — an index of a happier era in the history of
the human race. Old institutions are crumbling, and tumbling
to the ground. The iron bands of creeds and dogmas, with
which the people have been, so long bound down, are bursting
asunder, and permitting them to walk upright, and do their own
thinking. In every department of science, in every arena of
human thought and every theater of human action, we see a
progressive spirit, we behold a disposition to lay aside the tra-
il
12
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
ditions and superstitions of the past, and grasp the living facts
of the age. We everywhere see a disposition to abandon the
defective institutions, political and religious, which were gotten
up in the childhood of human experience, and supplant them
with those better adapted to the wants of the age. In a word,
there is everywhere manifested a disposition and determination
to unshackle the human bod}7, and set free the human mind, and
place it with its living aspirations on the road to the temple of
Truth. An evidence of the truth of these statements the reader
can gather by casting his eyes abroad, or by reading the peri-
odicals of the day. At this very time nearly all the orthodox
churches are in a state of commotion. The growing light and
intelligence of the age, penetrating their dark creeds and dog-
mas, are producing a sort of moral effervescence. The question
of “hell” is now the agitating theme of the churches. Pos-
terity will ridicule us, and class us with the unenlightened
heathen, for discussing a question so far behind the times, and
one so childish and so absurd in this intelligent and enlightened
age. To condescend to discuss such a question now must be
hell enough for scientific and intelligent minds. And other
important religious events mark the age. When the Roman-
Catholic Church, through its Ecumenical Council, dragged the
Pope from his lofty throne of usurped power, and robbed him
of his attribute of infallibility, it proclaimed the downfall of the
Pope and the deatli^knell of the Church. Already thousands
of his subjects refuse longer to bow down and kiss the big toe
of his sacred majesty. His scepter has departed, his spiritual
power is gone, his temporal power is waning. And the same
spirit of agitation is operating as a leaven in the Protestant
churches also. All the orthodox churches arc declining and
growing weaker by their members falling off. The Methodist
Church has recently lost more than two hundred of its preachers ;
and the Baptist Church, according to the statement of a recent
number of u The Christian Era,” has lost twenty-two thousand
of its members within a period of five years. The agitation in
the churches is driving thousands from their ranks, while many
who remain are becoming more liberal-minded. The orthodox
Quaker Church has, in many localities, “ run clear off the track.”
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
Prometheus:
13
It has abandoned its old time-honored peculiarities in dress and
language, once deemed by them sacred, and essential to true god-
liness. The use of 44 thee ” and 44 thou ” is laid aside by many
of its members; and even leading members have given up the
44 shad-bellied coat,” and the round-crowned hat with a brim
broad enough to 44 cover a multitude of sins.” They no longer
wait for 44 the Holy Ghost ” to move them to preach; but, as a
member once remarked, 44 they go it on their own hook, like the
Methodists, hit or miss.” Music, once regarded by many of
them as an emanation from 44 an emissary of the Devil,” is now
admitted into many of their churches. Thus it will be seen they
are making some progress. The light without is benefiting
them more than 44 the light within.” All the orthodox systems
committed a fatal error at the outset in assuming that their
religions' were derived directly from God, and consequently
must be perfect and unalterable, and a finality in moral and
religious progress. Such an assumption will cause the downfall,
sooner or later, of any religious body which persists in propa-
gating the error. Religious institutions, like all other institu-
tions, are subject to the laws of growth and decay. Hence, if
their doctrines and creeds are not improved occasionally to
make them conform to the growing light and intelligence of the
age and the principles of science, they will fall behind the
times, cease to answer the moral and religious wants of the
age, and become a stumbling-block in the path of progress.
Common sense would teach us that the doctrines preached by
the churches two hundred years ago must be as much out of
place now as the wooden shoes and bearskin coats worn by the
early disciples would be for us. Their spiritual food is by no
means adapted to our moral and religious wants. We are under
no more moral and religious obligation whatever to preach the
doctrines of original sin, the fall of man, endless punishment, in-
fant damnation, &c., because our religious forefathers believed in
these doctrines, than we are morally bound to eat beetles, locusts,
and grasshoppers, because our Jewish ancestors feasted on these
nasty vermin, as we learn by reading Lev. xi. Why is it that
in modern times there has arisen great complaint in all the
orthodox churches about the rapid inroads of infidelity into
14
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
their ranks? It is simply because, that while the people are
beginning to assume the liberty to do their own thinking, the
churches refuse to recognize the great principle of universal
progress as applicable to their religion, which would and should
keep their doctrines and precepts improved up to the times.
Instead of adopting this wise policy, they try to compel their
members to be content with the old stale salt junk of by-
gone ages, in the shape of dilapidated, outgrown creeds and
dogmas; but it will not do. It is as difficult to keep great
minds tied down to unprogressive creeds as it would be to keep
grown-up boys and girls in baby-jumpers. Enlightened nations
are as capable of making their own religion as their own
laws ; that is, of making its tenets conform to the natural out-
growth of their religious feelings as they become more ex-
panded and enlightened. And it is a significant historical
fact, that great minds in all religious nations have wholly or
partially outgrown and abandoned the current and popular
religions of the country. It is only moral cowards, or the igno-
rant and uninformed, who throw themselves into the lap of the
Church, and depend upon the priest to pilot them to heaven.
Moses, Jesus Christ, Mahomet, Martin Luther, John Wesley,
Emanuel Swedenborg, George Fox, Elias Hicks, and many
other superior minds, strove hard unconsciously to rise above
the religion in which the}7 were educated; and all succeeded in
making some improvement in its stereotyped doctrines or prac-
tices. The implied assumption of the churches, that their
doctrines and precepts are too perfect to be improved and too
sacred to be investigated, and their Bible too holy to be criti-
cised, is contradicted both by history and science; and this
false assumption lias already driven many of the best minds of
the age from their ranks. Theodore Parker declared that all
the men of great intellects had left the Church in his time,
because, instead of improving their religion to keep it up to the
times, they bolt their doors, and hang curtains over their win-
dows to keep out the light of the age. There could not be one
inch of progress made in any thing in a thousand years with
the principle of non-progression in religion adopted by the
churches ; for, if it will apply to religion, it will apply with still
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
15
greater force to every thing else : and hence it would long ago
have put a dead lock upon all improvement, had it not been
counteracted by outside counter-influences. It is because a
large portion, and the most enlightened portion, of the community
have assumed the liberty and moral independence to think and
act for themselves, that society has made any progress either in
science, morals, or religion. A religion which sedulously
opposes its own improvement can do nothing essential toward
improving any thing else, unless forced into it by outside influ-
ences ; and it can not feel a proper degree of interest in those
improvements essential to the progress of society. On the con-
trary, it must check the growth of every thing it touches with
its palsied hands. Here we can see the reason that no church
in any age of the world has inaugurated any great system of
reform for the improvement of society, but has made war on
nearly every reform set on foot by that class of people which it
has chosen to stigmatize as “ infidels.” Such a religion will
decline and die in the exact ratio of the enlightenment and
nrogress of society.
The Coming Revolution.
That there is a general state of unrest in the public mind, at
the present time, on the subject of religion, must be apparent to
every observing person. Theological questions, long since re-
garded as settled for ever, are being overhauled and discussed
with a freedom and general interest far transcending that known
or practically realized at any previous period. This is premoni-
tive of a speedy religious revolution. That it will come sooner
or later is as certain as that seed-sowing is succeeded by har-
vest. Reforms no longer move with the snail’s pace they did a
century ago. This is an age of steam and electricity ; and every
thing has to move with velocity. We cherish no unkindly feel-
ings toward any church or people ; but we must rejoice that the
strongholds of orthodoxy are being shaken, and error exposed,
and that creeds are loosening their iron grasp upon the immor-
tal mind. Old, long-cherished dogmas, myths, and blinding
superstitions are passing away, to make room for something
better.
16
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
Yes, the signs of the times indicate the dawning of a brighter
day upon the world, — a day which shall be illuminated by the
rays of reason and science.
And, if this work shall contribute any thing toward speed-
ing the dawning of that glorious era, we shall feel amply re-
warded for the labor and personal sacrifice required in its pro-
duction.
Reason will soon Triumph.
The march of science and the rapid growth of the reasoning
faculties peculiar to this progressive age are daily revealing the
errors of our popular theology, and exposing their demoralizing
effects in repressing the growth and healthy action of the intel-
lect, and perverting the exercise of the moral faculties. And
this progressive change and improvement must be a source of
great rejoicing to every true-hearted philanthropist, and fur-
nishes a strong incentive to labor with zeal in this field of re-
form. It should be borne in mind, that all the dogmas and doc-
trines of our current religious faith originated at a period before
the sun of science had risen above the moral horizon, and ante-
rior to the birth of moral science, and hence, like other produc-
tions of that age, are heavily laden with error.. But rejoice,
O ye lovers of and laborers for truth and science! the dark
clouds of our gloomy theology are rapidly receding before the
sunlight of our modern civilization, and will soon leave a clear
and cloudless sky! And all will rejoice in having learned and
practically experienced the glorious truth, that true religion
is not incorporated in Bibles, or inscribed on the pages of any
book, and cannot be found therein, but is a natural and sponta-
neous outgrowth of man’s moral and religious nature, and is
u the most beautiful flower of the soul.”
APOLOGY AND EXPLANATION.
17
CHAPTER II.
APOLOGY AND EXPLANATION.
Although books are constantly issuing from the press, and
the country kept literally flooded with new publications, }Tet but
few of them meet the real wants of the age, and many of them
are of no permanent practical benefit to the world. Such a work
as is comprised in “ The Bible of Bibles 99 is a desideratum. It
has been long and loudly called for. It is a moral necessity, and
partially supplies one of the great moral wants of the times. It
is true, hundreds of works have been published embracing criti-
cisms on the Bible, and attempting to expose some of its numer-
ous errors, and portray some of its evil influences upon those
who accept it as a moral guide. Yet it is believed that the
present work embraces the first attempt to arrange together, or
make out any thing like a full list of, the numerous errors of
u the Holy Book.” And yet it falls far short of accomplishing
this end; for, although more than two thousand errors are
brought to notice, a critical research would bring to light sev-
eral thousand more. It will be observed by the reader, that there
has been a constant effort on the part of the author to abridge,
contract, and compress the contents of the volume into the
smallest compass possible to be attained compatible with per-
spicuity. Every chapter, and almost every line, discloses this
policy. In no other way than by the adoption of such an expe-
dient could two thousand biblical errors have been brought to
notice in a single volume. The adoption of the most rigid rules
of abbreviation and compression alone could have accomplished
it; and this policy has been carried out even in making cita-
tions from the Bible. Such superfluous words and phrases have
been dropped as could be spared without impairing the sense or
18
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
real meaning of the text. And yet, with this unceasing effort to
compress and abridge the work, it falls so far short of portray-
ing fulty all the errors and evils which a critical investigation
shows to be the legitimate outgrowth of our Bible religion, that
the author contemplates following it with another work, which
may complete an exposition of nine thousand errors now known
to be comprised in u the Holy Book.” The title will probably
be, “ The Bible in the Light of History, Reason, and Science.”
He intends also to rewrite and republish soon, and probably
enlarge, his u Biography of Satan,” so as to make it entirely a
new work.
I. Jehovah.
The author desires the reader to bear it specially in mind
that his criticisms on the erroneous conceptions and representa-
tions of God, as found in the Christian Bible, appertains in all
cases to that mere imaginary being known as the Jewish Jeho-
vah, and has no reference whatever to the God of the universe,
who must be presumed to be a very different being. The God
of Moses, who is represented as coming down from heaven, and
walking and talking, eating and sleeping, traveling on foot
(and barefoot, so as to make it necessary for Abraham to
wash his feet) ; and who is also represented as eating barley-
cakes and veal with Abraham (Gen. xviii.) ; wrestling all night
with Jacob, and putting his thigh out of place; trying to kill
Moses in a hotel, but failing in the attempt; and as getting van-
quished in a battle with the Canaanites ; and also as frequently
getting mad, cursing and swearing, &c.,—such was the char-
acter of Jehovah, the God of the Jews, — a mere figment of
the imagination. Hence lie is a just subject of criticism.
II. Tiie Relationship of the Old and New Testaments.
Some of the representatives of the Christian faith, when the
shocking immoralities of the Old Testament arc pointed out,
attempt to evade the responsibility by alleging that they do not
live under the old dispensation, but the new, thereby intimat-
ing that they arc not responsible for the errors of the former.
But the following considerations will show that such a defense
is fallacious and entirely untenable : —
APOLOGY AND EXPLANATION.
19
1. It takes both the Old and the New Testaments to consti-
tute “ the Holy Bible,” which they accept as a whole.
2. Both are bound together, and circulated by the million, as
possessing equal credibility and equal authority.
3. Both are quoted alike by clergymen and Christian writers.
4. The New Testament is inseparably connected with the
Old.
5. The prophecies of the Old form the basis of the New.
6. Both are canonized together under the word u holy.”
7. Nearly all the New-Testament writers, including Paul,
indorse the Old Testament, and take no exception to any of
its errors or any of its teachings. For these reasons, to accept
one is to accept the other. Both stand or fall together.
Note.—Christ modified some of Moses’s errors, hut indorsed most of the Old Testa-
ment errors.
20
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
CHAPTER in.
WHY THIS WORE WAS WRITTEN.
There are in this and other Christian countries more than
one hundred thousand clergymen who spend a portion of each
recurring sabbath in presenting the claims, and dilating upon
the beauties and benefits (some real and some imaginaiy), of
the religion of the Christian Bible. They claim that it is the
religion for this age, and a religion that should be adopted by
the whole human race; but they present but one side of the
picture, and but one phase of the argument. A witness before
a jury is required to “ tell the truth, and the whole truth ; ” but
the priesthood dare not do this with respect to the errors and
defects of their religion. They ’would lose their congregations
and their salaries also. But few clergymen possess the moral
courage to turn state’s evidence against their pockets or their
“ bread and butter.” It is a sad reflection that they are hired,
and required to conceal whatever errors ma}' loom up before
their moral vision in the investigation of the principles of their
religion, or the Bible on which it is founded. They are placed
in the position of an attorney who is sworn to be true to his
client at any sacrifice of truth and moral manhood. Whatever
ma}T be their moral convictions with respect to the sinfulness or
evil consequences or demoralizing effects of continuing to
preach the intellectually dwarfing and morally poisoning doc-
trines originated in, and adapted only to, the dark and undevel-
oped ages of the past, when the race was under the dominion
of the animal and blind propensities, yet they must do it. They
must continue to preach these errors, to sustain these evils, and
maintain their false positions, or lose their salaries and their
popular standing in society. It is a vcr}T unfortunate position
WHY THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN.
21
to be placed in; but, self-interest being the ruling principle of
the age, we cannot reasonably expect the clergy will do any
thing toward enlightening the people on the errors and immoral
influences of their religious doctrines, or the substitution of a
better system, until human nature has advanced to a higher
moral plane. On the contrary, we must expect they will con-
tinue to blind the people, pervert the truth, magnify every
imaginable good quality of their religious system ; while, on the
other hand, they will as sedulously attempt to hide every defect
which either they or others may discover in their Bible. This
state of things in the religious world imposes upon the moral
reformer the solemn necessity of employing the most effectual
lever, and of adopting every available moral means, to counter-
act this morally deleterious influence of the clergy, and arrest
the tide of evil which follows in their wake as the legitimate
fruits of a course of conduct dictated by policy instead of prin-
ciple.
II. The Moral Truths of the Bible.
Some of our readers will doubtless be disposed to ask why we
have not occupied a larger portion of this work in exhibiting the
beauties and benefits of the religion and system of morals set
forth in the^Bible. The answer to the question is fully antici-
pated in the preceding remarks. It is simply because fifty
thousand tongues and pens are almost constantly employed in
this work. They do it and overdo it. This renders it a work of
supererogation on our part; while, on the other hand, we find
the errors and evils of the Bible and. its religion, which they
overlook or neglect to expose, so very numerous, that we can
not exhibit them in a single volume, unless we allow but a lim-
ited space to a repetition of what is done by them every week.
This is our reason for appearing to pursue a one-sided policy.
III. Why Resort to Ridicule?
We hope we shall not be misunderstood or condemned by any
reader for appearing to indulge frequently in a spirit of levity
in attempting to expose the logical and moral absurdities of the
Bible. We have assumed this license more from an appre-
hended moral necessity than from a natural disposition. Ridi-
22
Prometheus:
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
cule is now generally acknowledged by moralists to be a most
potent weapon for the demolition of error. Moral and religious
absurdities, according to Cicero, can be arrested and put down
much sooner by “ holding them up to the light of ridicule, than
by any othqr means that can be employed.” Let no one, then,
oppose the use of such means simply because it may disturb a
sensitive feeling in his own mind, derived from a false educa-
tion. A critical investigation of religious history discloses the
important fact, that the conviction established in the popular
mind that it is wrong to indulge in a feeling of levity when
writing or discoursing on religious subjects is the work of the
clergy. Having discovered that many of the narrations of
their Bible, and likewise many of the tenets of their creeds, are
really ridiculous when examined in the light of science, reason,
and sound sense, in order to prevent these ridiculous features
of their systems from being exposed, they taught the people
that ridicule is entirely out of place in matters of religion, and
that such feelings, or language expressive of such feelings,
should be entirely suppressed. And it is principally by the
invention of this expedient, and the establishment of this con-
viction in the public mind, that the clergy have succeeded in
keeping the ridiculous errors of their creeds conceal^ from age
to age. And to continue this policy longer is only to yield to
their interests, and prolong those evils still longer which have
been perpetuated for centuries by the adoption of this expedi-
ent. No other argument or apology is m^cessaiy than this as a
justification of the limited extent to which the language of ridi-
cule has been employed in this work. is an egregious error,
which is the offspring of an erroneous education and habit, to
suppose that ridicule is more out of place on religious subjects
than on other subjects. 0. S. Fowler has fully established this
as a scientific fact on phrenological grounds. We should be
quite sorry to wound the feelings of any sensitive mind b}^ any
language made use of in this work, and hope this explanation
will prevent such results.
Tiie Principal Design of this Work.
As a critical examination of the Christian Bible discloses the
fact that it contains several thousand moral and scientific
WHY THIS WOBK. WAS WHITTEN.
23
errors, and as experience proves the tendency of such errors
is to corrupt the moral feelings and check the intellectual
growth of all who read and believe 44 the Hoty Book,” we have,
since arriving at this conviction, considered it to be our duty
not only to expose these errors, but also to discourage the
habitual reading of the Bible with any other view than to learn
its real character. And more especially do we earnestly advise
parents not to place the Bible in the hands of their children till
they arrive at an age when a more mature judgment can enable
them to discriminate between its truths and its errors. And
we likewise entreat all moralists and philanthropists, and all
lovers of truth and virtue, as they desire the moral growth and
moral reformation of the world, to exert their influence to stop
the shipment of the Christian Bible to foreign lands to be cir-
culated among the uncultured and credulous heathen. Here is
disclosed one of our principal reasons for writing this work.
We wish to make it a voice of remonstrance against placing
any of those morally defective books called Bibles in the hands
of the ignorant and impressible heathen, or the children of
Christian countries, until their minds become sufficiently forti-
fied by age and experience to resist or withstand the demoral-
izing influe*pe of their bad precepts and bad examples as ex-
posed in this work.
Don’t Read Pernicious Books.
The Quaker Church /of which the author was once a mem-
ber) have a clause in^their discipline forbidding their members
to read pernicious books, which are defined by one of the found-
ers of the Church (Wiliitoi Penn) to be 4 4 such books and pub-
lications as contain language which appears to sanction crime or
wrong practices, or teach bad morals.” And hundreds of cases
cited in this work prove that the Christian Bible may be ranked
with works of this character. If the advice of the Hindoo
editor had been complied with many years ago, —to 44 revise all
Bibles, and leave out their bad precepts and examples,” and
change their obscene language, — the Christian Bible might now
be a very useful and instructive book. But we are willing to
leave it to the conscience of every honest reader, who places
24
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
truth and morality above Bibles and creeds, to decide, after
reading this work, whether the Bible, with all its ennobling pre-
cepts, does not contain too strong an admixture of bad morality
to make it a safe or suitable book to be relied on as a guide in
morals and religion. According to Archbishop Tillotson, Bibles
shape the morals and religion of the people in all religious coun-
tries,— they are derived from the examples and precepts of
these u Holy Books.” If this be true, we most solemnly and
seriously put the question to every Bible reader, What must be
the effect upon the morals and religion of Christian countries of
such moral examples as Abraham, Moses, Noah, Isaac, Jacob,
David, Solomon, and nearly all the prophets, with their long
string of crimes, as shown in this work? Let us not be guilty
of the folly of suffering our inherited, stereotyped predilections,
and exalted veneration for u the Holy Book,” to rule our moral
sense, and control our judgment in this matter, but muster the
moral courage to look at the thing in its true light. Let us be
independent moralists and philanthropists, rather than slaves to
Bibles and creeds. “ Every book,” says a writer, “ has a spirit
which it breathes into the minds of its readers ; ” and, if it con-
tains bad morals or bad language, the habitual reading of it will
gradually reconcile the mind to those immoral lessons, and
finally cause them to be looked upon as God-given truths. Such
is the omnipotent force of habit. And we appeal to all Bible
readers to testify if this has not been their experience. All
Christian professors, when they first commenced reading the
Bible, doubtless found many things in It which shocked their
moral sense, did violence to their reasoning faculties, and morti-
fied their love of decorum. But a p'ersevcrance in reading it,
through the force of habit and education, has finally reconciled
tlieir minds to those immoral lessons, and blinded the judgment,
so that they arc not now conscious of their real character and
deleterious influence upon the mind.
Two Thousand Bible Errors.
One of the strongest and most soleuin lessons of human ex-
perience, and proofs of the blinding effect of a false religious
education, may be found in the fact that the two thousand Bible
WHY THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN.
25
errors brought to notice in this work have been overlooked from
age to age by the great mass of Bible readers. So absolutely
and deplorably blinded have they been in some cases, as to lead
them to conclude, like Dr. Cheever of New York, that “ the
Bible does not contain the shadow of a shade of error from
Genesis to Revelation.’’ Such a perversion and stultification
of the reasoning faculties was never excelled in any age or
country. St. Augustine furnishes another striking illustration
of the total wreck of mind and moral principle which an obsti-
nate determination to accept the Bible with all its errors is
capable of effecting. Having found a great many absurdities in
the Bible which he could not reconcile with reason and sense,
and hence discovering he must either give up his Bible or his
reason, he chose the latter alternative, and declared in his
“Book of Sermons” (p. 33), “I believe things in the Bible
because they are absurd. I believe them because they are
impossible ” (as glaring an absurdity as ever issued from human
lips). Such a desperate expedient to save his Bible and creed
from going overboard shows that they had demoralized his
mind, and made a complete wreck of his reason. This is the
writer who declared he found and preached to a nation of people
who had but one eye, and that situated in their foreheads, and
another nation who had no heads, but eyes in their breasts. It
seems a pity that this single-eyed nation became extinct; for
Christ declared, “ If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be
full of light.” Such an embodiment of light might have done
much to enlighten the world. And this St. Augustine is the
writer whom Eusebius pronounces “ the great moral light of
the Christian Church.” And St. Irenseus furnishes another
deplorable example of the prostration or perversion of the moral
faculties by accepting the Bible as a standard for morals when
he justified the crime of incest by pointing to the example of
“righteous Lot” and his daughters. The celebrated Albert
Barnes was made a victim of great mental suffering for many
years by his laborious but ineffectual attempts to reconcile the
Bible with the dictates of reason. Hear what he says about the
matter. We will present the case in his own language : “ These
difficulties (of reconciling the teachings of the Bible to rea-
26
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
son) are probabty felt by every mind that ever reflects on the
subject; and they are unexplained, unmitigated, and unremoved.
I confess, for one, that I feel them, and feel them more sensibly
and powerful^ the more I look at them, and the longer I live.
I do not understand them, and I make no advance toward
understanding them. I do not know that I have a ray of light
upon this subject which I had not when the subject first flashed
across soul. I have read what wise and good men have
written upon the subject; I have looked at their theories and
explanations ; I have endeavored to weigh their arguments, —
for m}^ whole soul pants for light and relief on these questions :
but I get neither; and, in the anguish and distress of my soul, I
confess I get no light whatever. I see not one ray to disclose
to me the reason why sin came into the world, why the earth is
strewn with the, dying and the dead, and why man must suffer
to all eternity. I have never seen a particle of light thrown on
these subjects that has given a moment’s ease to my tortured
mind. ... I trust that other men . . . have not the anguish
of spirit which I have. But I confess, when I look on a world
of sinners and sufferers, upon death-beds and graveyards, and
upon a world of woe filled with hosts to suffer for ever ; and when
I sec m}r friends, my parents, my family, my people, m}T fellow-
citizens — when I look upon a whole race — all involved in this
sin and danger; and when I see the great mass of them wholly
unconcerned ; and when I feel that God only can save them, and
yet he does not do it, — I am struck dumb. It is all dark —
dark — dark to my soul; and I cannot disguise it ” (Practical
Sermons, p. 124). There, reader, you have the candid confes-
sion of an honest-minded, orthodox, and one of the ablest and
most talented writers that ever wielded the pen in defense of the
C'liristian faith. And if such a talented and logical mind could
find no reason, consistency, or moral principle in the dogmas of
orthodoxy, we may readily ask, Who can? Thousands of other
orthodox clergymen have doubtless been perplexed with the same
difficulties, but have not had the honesty to confess it. Those
who do not now perceive them can find the reason by putting
their hands on their own heads. They will find their intellects or
logical brains defective. Moral philosophers now find no diffi-
WHY THIS WOBK WAS WRITTEN.
27
culty in solving any of those problems which so much perplexed
the mind of Mr. Barnes. They are all false and unfounded dog-
mas, except the prevalence of death and disease in the world.
And these casualties are now known to be amongst the wisest
and most useful dispensations of nature. (See chapter headed
Natural and Moral Evil.) And had Mr. Barnes ascended to the
plane of mental and moral science, instead of remaining down in'
tne dark, orthodox, theological cellar, trying to squeeze truth
out of old, dead, dried-up, dusty, theological dogmas, he would
have readily found the solution to all his problems, and would
have rejoiced in thus emerging into the glorious sunlight of
truth.
Bibles Useful in their Place.
We do not question but that Bibles served a useful purpose
for those nations and tribes by whom and for whom they were
written; but as they only represent the imperfect moral and
religious conceptions of that age, and have always been sacredly
guarded from improvement, to make them the rule of action for
any subsequent age would be ter stop all moral and religious
improvement. It is strikingly evident that society can make no
improvement while it follows a Bible which is interdicted from
improvement. It must remain stationary, with respect to reli-
gion and morals, so far as it is tied to an unchangeable book.
Bibles in this way become masters of human thought, and
shackles for the soul, and thus inflict serious evils upon society by
their tendency to stop all moral, and religious progress. Three
thousand or ten thousand years may elapse, and no improve-
ment can be made in the religion or morals of the people
while the Bible from which they emanate is prohibited from
improvement. Thus Bibles inflict a death-like torpor and stag-
nation upon the moral and intellectual progress of society so
far as their precepts are lived up to; that is, so far as the
assumption that there can be no improvement in the teachings
of the Bible is practically observed. It is the source of a pleas-
ing reflection, however, to know that most Bible believers habitu-
ally violate their own principles by trampling this assumption
under foot. Otherwise we would have remained eternally in a
state of barbarism*
28
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
CHAPTER IV. .
THE BEAUTIES AND BENEFITS OF BIBLES.
There is displayed in all Bibles a devout recognition of mora
principles, and a strong manifestation of moral feeling. The
disciples of all Bibles manifest an ardent aspiration for some-
thing higher, something nobler, — a mental struggle to reach a
higher plane. This moral aspiration is displayed in almost
every chapter; and there are in all Bibles veins of beautiful
thought coursing through their pages. All of them contain
moral precepts which are in their nature elevating and enno-
bling, and which, if practically recognized, would have done
much to improve the morals and enhance the happiness of their
disciples ; and all Bibles are valuable as fragments of religious
histoiy, and as indicating the state of religion and morals of the
people who originated them. Their numerous outbursts of
religious feeling indicate the depth of their devotion; while
their many noble moral aphorisms indicate an appreciation of,
and a desire for, a higher moral life than they were able to prac-
tice because of the strength of their animal feelings. This is
especiallj’ true of the Jews, and also of the early Christians.
They had a partial perception of a true moral life, and a desire
at times to practice it; but that desire was counteracted and
held in check by their still stronger animal natures and animal
propensities.
A Higher Plane of Development iias keen Attained.
There can be no question, from the light derived from the
twofold avenues of science and history, but that the great prin-
ciple of universal progress, which is carrying every thing for-
ward to a higher plane and state of perfection, has elevated the
THE BEAUTIES AND BENEFITS GF BIBLES.
29
most advanced nations of the present age beyond and above the
religion and morals prevalent in the world when the Jewish and
Christian Bible was written, which makes it very unsuitable for
the %)resent advanced state of society. An investigation of the
science of anthropology discloses the very significant and impor-
tant fact, that the religious feelings of the founders and early
representatives of the Jewish and Christian religions were under
the control of their animal natures, which accounts for their
frequent use of obscene language, and their frequent indul-
gence in the practice of every species of crime with the full
sanction of the principles of their religion. And they cherished
^the conviction that those things had the divine sanction.
f
Look at the Difference.
Prometheus:
The moral and religious feelings of the early Jews and Chris-
tians co-operated with their animal propensities; and the latter
held supreme sway over the former: while the moral and reli-
gious feelings of the most advanced minds of the present day
co-operate, not with the animal, but with the intellectual. This
makes a very important and very marked difference, and makes
the semi-animal religion of the past very unsuitable for the pres-
ent age. Please note this point, friendly reader.
Bible Writers Honest.
It may readily be conceded that the writers and compilers of
all Bibles were honest, and that all the errors which those Bibles
embrace, and the crimes which they sanction, were honestly
believed to be right, and in accordance with the will of God.
For all sacred history teaches us, as an important lesson of
human nature, that no errors are too gross, no crimes too enor-
mous, no statements too false or absurd, no contradictions too
glaring, and no stories too preposterous or too ridiculous, to
receive the fullest indorsement of the most honest and pious
minds, and to be even cherished by them as God-given or
divinely revealed truths, when such has been their teaching
ever}7 day of their lives, in connection with the habitual sup-
pression of the voice of reason, and the inherited conviction of
their truth deeply implanted in the mind, derived from a thou-
30
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
sand preceding generations. A strong and unyielding cord of
religious conviction thus grows in the human mind, which no
reason, no philosophy, and no science can ever sever or even
shake. It becomes a moral canker, which no remedy can reach,
or arrest in its progress. It seems to grow into the very heart-
strings. Such is the strength of religious prejudice, such the
weak side of human nature. Three hundred millions of people
believe in the Hindoo religion, one hundred millions in the
Chinese religion, two hundred millions in the Mahomedan reli-
gion, and one hundred and fifty millions in the Christian re-
ligion,— all for the same reasons, because their parents so
believed, and taught them, and their neighbors still believe it;
and surrounding influences have caused them to continue in
their erroneous belief.
After the illuminating rays of the sun of science had to some
extent dispelled the religious errors of our early education,
the case was so plain, that we entered upon the work of trying
to convince others, with sanguine hopes of success. But expe-
rience has established the conviction in our mind, that if ever}7
text of the Christian Bible were a falsehood, and every line of
their creeds an absurdity, there are many devout admirers of
the book who could never be made to see it, because they are
ruled by their religious feelings, and not by their reasoning fac-
ulties ; and hence they will live and die in their moral and
religious errors. But we rejoice in the omnipotent power of
truth, which will finally dispel all error from progressive minds.
General Claims of Bibles.
More than twenty sacred books have been 'found in various
countries, which, if not in all cases denominated Bibles, have
at least been venerated and used as such, and, properly speak-
ing, arc Bibles. Hence we shall call them Bibles. The list in
this chapter comprises nearly all which recent research has
brought to light. A brief synopsis of the character and contents
of each will be presented, so far as a comparative view with the
Christian Bible seems to make it requisite.
All of these Bibles possess some common characteristics: —
1. All of them were claimed to be inspired.
THE BEAUTIES AND BENEFITS OF BIBLES.
31
2. All were claimed to be an embodiment of wisdom and
knowledge far transcending the ordinary attainments of man.
3. All were penned by inspired men, who were shielded from
the possibility of erring while writing them.
4. Each Bible is a finality in religious knowledge.
5. Each one is an authority from which there is no appeal.
6. It is a sin to question or doubt the truth of any of them,
or to suggest the possibility of their containing errors.
7. Some of them were written by God, some by angels, and
others by inspired men.
8. Each one points out the only safe and certain road to
heaven.
9. He who is a disbeliever in any one of these holy books
is an infidel.
10. Each one is to effect the salvation of the whole human
race.
32
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
CHAPTER Y.
TWENTY-SEVEN BIBLES DESCRIBED.
The Hindoo Bibles. — I. The Yedas.
The Veda is considered to be the oldest sacred book of the
Hindoos, and is evidently the oldest Bible now extant. There is
avast amount of evidence to prove that it was written long before
the time of Moses, which establishes the fact that it borrowed
nothing from the Jews or Jewish writings. They purport to be
the inspired utterances of very ancient and holy saints and
prophets, known as Rishis, who received them directty from the
mouth of the great God Brahma about nine thousand years ago,
after they had existed in his mind from all eternity. These
“ holy men,” by their devout piety and unreserved devotion to
the cause of God and religion, it was believed, had attained
to true holiness and heavenly' sanctity. The Yedas treat of the
attributes of God, and his dealings with the human race; his
invisibility and spirituality; his unchangeableness, omniscience,
omnipotence, and omnipresence; the nature and binding force
of his laws; the doctrine of future rewards and punishments;
frequent and wonderful display of divine power, called miracles,
&c. It contains, likewise, many noble, lofty, and beautiful
moral precepts. It also treats, to some extent, of astronomy,
medicines, and government. The Ma}T number of u The New-
York Tribune” for 1858 contains a very interesting account
of the recent translation of the Yedas into the English language,
from which we will make a few extracts: u The whole of the
Veda is now being published for the first time by the East-
India Coinpan}', by which the reader will learn that most of the
odious things which have been charged to it are false. They
ore not found therein. They are Christian forgeries; such as
TWENTY-SEVEN BIBLES DESCRIBED*
33
the burning of widows on the funeral pile of their husbands, the
marriage of children, the doctrine of caste, &c. None of these
things are taught or countenanced by the Vedas. The man who
believes in the Vedas approximates to a Christian.99 (Mark
this statement, Christian reader!) Mr. Greeley further say s:
6 ‘ The highest authority for the religion of the Brahmins is the
Vedas. The most elaborate arguments have been framed by
its devout believers to establish its divine origin and absolute
authority. They constantly appeal to its authorit}r, and, in
controversj7 with Mahomedan and Christian missionaries ” (Ma-
homedans have missionaries among them, observe), u they
invariably fall back on the Vedas,—referring to it with great
confidence in support of any thing they wish to establish as di-
vine. There is no doctrine of Christianity which has not been
anticipated by the Vedas.” What is that you say, Mr. Gree-
ley? “ They have all the doctrines of Christianity! ” Is that
possible? All the holy and inspired doctrines of Jesus Christ,
the great divine Lawgiver and Savior of the world, found in an
old heathen Bible, written more than two thousand years before
a single line of the doctrines of Christ was penned ! Here is one
of the most astounding announcements ever made to the world.
The reader, perhaps, will suppose that Mr. Greeley was an infi-
del ; but here, again, is something most astonishing: Mr. Gree-
ley was up to this time a sound member of a Christian church,
and withal a truthful writer. Such an announcement ought to
have startled the whole Christian world, and set them to inves-
tigating the matter. But, like the disciples of all the heathen
religions, they are immovably fixed in the errors of their faith,
and turn a deaf ear to all criticism, and all honest inquiry relat-
ing to the truth of its claims. Such is the tenacity of their
inherited convictions of being right, their assumption of infalli-
bility, their aversion and opposition to investigation, that, if
every- line of their Bible was a falsehood, but few of them would
find it out.
There are four works which come under the name of Vedas,
known as the Rig Veda, Yojur Veda, Sama Veda, and Athar-
va Veda. Each of these Bibles is constituted of various books,
probably the work of different writers. Each Veda is accompa-
34
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
nied by psalms or hymns, known as the 66 Sanhita,” and also
by a sort of prose treatise or commentary, called the 44 Brah-
mana,” which possesses a ritualistic or didactic character, — all
of which were believed to be inspired. 44 Never has the theory
of inspiration/’ sajTs Mr. Amberly, 44 been pushed to such ex-
tremes as in the case of the Yedas. They were believed by
some to be the direct creation of Brahma/’ while the hymns
which accompany them were claimed to be the inspired produc-
tions of hol}r men and prophets (Rishis). The Vedas was the
standard authority in all cases ; and any doctrine, opinion, or
statement at variance with the Vedas was to be rejected as
false. 44 And as for a contradiction in the Holy Book/’ says
Mr. Amberly, 44 the thought was not to be entertained for a
moment as possible.” Such a conclusion they ascribed to the
reader’s wrong interpretation of its language. Such was the
extreme veneration in which the book was held, that every text,
word, and even sjdlable, was counted. A Brahmin was not al-
lowed to marry till after he had devoted several years to study-
ing the Holy Book ; And, to attain to complete holiness, the dis-
ciple must commit the Rig Veda to memory, or read it through
on his bended knees. The Vedas represent God as being44 one
and indivisible,” and “merciful to sinners.” And Brahmins
and Budhists, when they pray for sinners or for their enemies,
manifest a spirit of kindness and forgiveness not equalled by
Christians.
The Budhists had many churches and many priests, wiio
taught the people to lead virtuous lives, and to avoid the com-
mission of every species of crime, including the use of intoxi-
cating drinks. And in no other s3Tstem was ever benevolence and
charity, and also chastity, more emphatically enjoined, or more
consistently practiced. The Vedas teach that every good act
has its reward, and every bad act its punishment. Its disciples
are taught that many saviors (Budlias) have appeared on earth
at different periods to suffer and die for the people; the last of
which was Guatama, cotemporary with Christ. lie is an object
of great veneration amongst them, and prayers are often ad-
dressed to him. Many tales are told of his goodness, self-
denial, suffering, and sacrifice for the people, which leads to the
TWENTY-SEVEN BIBLES DESCBIBED.
35
conclusion that he was a pure, holy, and unselfish being. He
gave utterance to many noble and morally exalting precepts.
His principal precepts were comprised in six commandments:
1. “ Not to kill any living creature.” 2. u Not to steal.” 3.
“ Not to commit unchastity.” 4. “ Not to lie.” 5. “ Not to
drink intoxicating drinks.” 6. “ Not to lay up treasures upon
earth.” These are a few of his leading precepts, and which he
himself practiced. In the observance of the last precept, he
and his followers have excelled almost every Christian on earth,
as their Bible contains the same precept, but none of them try to
practice it. Hence the Hindoos are in this respect much better
Christians than the Christians themselves. Here it may be
noted that the Hindoos, like the disciples of the Christian faith,
have had various ecclesiastical councils to settle the canon of
their Bible or some controverted doctrinal questions. One of the
most noted of these councils was called under the reign of
King Asoka in the year 246 B.C. It was constituted of seven
hundred “ learned and accomplished priests.” But they could
not stop the progress of infidelity, as they essayed to do. It con-
tinued to increase till another council was called under the reign
of King Kanishka, and another revision of the sacred text took
place. But, as in Christian and Mahomedan countries, it tended
rather to unsettle than to settle the popular faith. Nothing can
arrest the intelligence and growth of progressive minds. Skep-
ticism and infidelity will continue to increase whenever the mind
is unfettered by priestcraft, till the last credal institution is
swept from the face of the earth, and ceases to curse the human
family.
II. The Institutes op Menu.
“ The Code of Menu,” or “ Institutes of Menu,” constitutes
another sacred book of the Hindoos. The Rev. Mr. Allen says
of it: u It is a code of religious and civil laws, and makes a
part of the Hindoo Scriptures.” It is in many respects simi-
lar to the Vedas, and is almost equal to it in age; and, like
the Vedas, it is a standard of faith and a guide for moral action.
Hindoos call it Menu Darma Shastra, u the ordinances of God.”
“As these ordinances, or divine laws,” says Mr. Allen, “pro-
fess to be of divine origin, kings have no authority to change
36
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
them. Their duty was to administer their governments accord-
ing to their teachings.55 All classes of people were required to
live up to them. “ In these respects,55 says Mr. Allen (p.
3G6), u the}" resemble the laws given by Moses, and contained
in the Old Testament.55 These Institutes treat on the subject
of creation, the doctrine of future rewards and punishments,
and also define many of the duties of life.
III. Rama yana.
With respect to age, the Ramayana is generally ranked next
to the Code of Menu, and is equally adored as a holy and in-
spired book, and u maybe classed,55 sa}Ts Mr. Allen, “ with the
Hindoo Scriptures.55 It treats of the war in Heaven, in which
the dragon, or serpent-devil, was cast to the earth. To put an
end to his ravages here, the Savior and incarnate God Chrishna
was sent down. Christ, we are told, u came to destroy the devil
and his works.55 Col. Sherman tells us, in his u Recollections
of an Indian Official,55 that u the people (Hindoos) assured us
this Bible was written, if not b}r the hand of the Deit}r himself,
at least by his inspiration; and, if asked if any absurdity that
may be pointed out in the book be true, they reply with great
na.vete, ‘ Is it not written in the Holy Book? and how could it
be there, and not be true? 5 5 5 — exactly the same defense that is
often set up for the Christian Bible by its educationally warped
admirers. It is believed the great Hindoo prophet, Vyas, wrote
much of this Bible, or “ Inspired Poem,55 as some call it.
IV. Tiie Maiiabarat.
The origin of this sacred book is considered to be very nearly
co-equal with that of the Rama3~ana. It has an appendix, or
epistle, called the u Baglcavat Gita,55 which, on account of its
high tone of spiritually, has attracted much attention in Europe.
The Hindoos believe the Maliabrat is highly inspired, and that
cver3T event noticed in it was recorded before it took place ; thus
making it in the highest degree prophetic. “Its author, the3r
claim,55 sa3’s Mr. Allen, “is no other than the incarnate God
Chrishna, of whose life it treats.55 That profound Oriental
scholar, Mr. Wilkins, thinks this and the other sacred books of
TWENTY-SEVEN BIBLES DESCRIBED.
37
India are more than three thousand years old, as is evidenced
by sculptures in solid rocks.
Y. The Purans, or Poe an as.
Prometheus:
The Hindoo Holy Scriptures, when arranged together in one
book, are known as the Barta Shastra, of which the Poranas
constitute a part. The last-named work treats of the creation
of the world, and its final destruction and future renovation,
the u great day of judgment,5’ Divine Providence, &c. ; also
the ordinances and rules for worship, &c.
VI. Analogies of the Brahmin and Jewish Religion.
Brahminism and Judaism are each old forms of religion.
Each was superseded by a new and improved form of religion.
Each has a story of creation. Jehovah and Brahma both cre-
ated the sun, moon, and stars (so believed by millions).
1. The spirit of both moved upon the face of the waters.
2. The world is spoken in to existence by both Jehovah and
Brahma.
3. The Hindoos had an Adimo and Iva, the Hebrews an Adam
and Eve.
4. In each case every thing is to produce after its kind.
5. Man is in each case the last and crowning work of the
whole creation.
6. Both stories set man as a ruler over subordinate creation.
7. Light in each case was spoken into existence.
8. Jehovah and Brahma each occupied six days in the work
of creation.
9. There is a primitive paradise and state of moral purity in
each story.
10. A tree whose fruit produced immortality is noticed in each
cosmogony.
11. A serpent figures in each, and outwits Brahma and Jeho-
vah.
12. Man in each partakes of the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
13. The doctrine of the fall is found in each account. The
means for man’s restoration is provided in each case.
14. Each sacred legend has a story of a war in heaven.
38
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
15. The soul is the breath of life, or breath of God, in each
cosmogony.
16. Labor is imposed as a curse in each case.
17. A moral code of ten commandments is found in each sys-
tem. Not to kill is the first command in each decalogue. Steal-
ing is interdicted in each decalogue. Adultery is condemned in
each. Bearing false witness is forbidden by each.
18. Both Brahmins and Jews lost their cc Holy Law,” or
u Laws of God.” One had a Hilkiah, and the other a Bishen,
to find the law.
19. Each had an established order of priesthood. The priest-
hood was hereditary in each case: a tribe or family furnished
the priests in each case.
20. Both claimed to be God’s pet and holy, or peculiar,
people ; and both styled other nations barbarians or aliens.
21. Both holy nations were forbidden to marry with others;
and both were too holy to eat with barbarians.
22. Each had a ceremonial law prescribing numerous rites.
The church ceremonies were performed by priests in each.
23. The priests were forbidden to eat meat in both cases.
24. Both Jews and Brahmins worshiped by bloody sacrifices.
Both had their favorite sacred annuals. Animal sacrifices were
by each to arrest public calamities.
25. One interdicted beef, and the other pork, as food.
26. Both prescribed purification after touching dead bodies;
and each religion had a law of purification. Bathing was a
mode of purification in each religion.
27. Each has its “holy” places, times, days, cities, moun-
tains, rivers, &c. India, as well as Judea, was considered a
holy land.
28. Each had its holy ground. Both drew off their shoes on
entering upon hoi}' ground or holy places.
29. Both had their holy days, and the same in most
cases.
30. Mount Mera was no less holy than Mount Sinai or Mount
Iloreb. Jordan was a sacred river in one case, and Ganges
in the other. Jerusalem was a u holy ” city with the Jews, and
Benares with the Hindoos.
TWENTY-SEVEN BIBLES DESCBIBED.
39
31. Hofy fasts and feasts were a part of each religion. Both
made a holy feast at full moon.
32. Each had its holy fires.
33. Both had their holy mysteries kept sacredly guarded.
34. Each prepared and kept holy water for ceremonial
purposes.
35. Both anointed themselves with “ holy ointment.”
36. Each claimed to have the only true and “ holy faith.”
37. “Holy temples” were familiar terms to each. Their
temples were constructed in a similar manner. Each had a
“ sanctum sanctorum,” or “holy of holies.” Only the holy
priest of both entered the interior sanctum.
38. Both had their drink-offerings (called turpin by the Hin-
doos) .
39. Both sprinkled their door-posts with blood.
40. One had a scape-goat, and the other a scape-horse.
41. Both taught that the sins of the father were visited upon
the children.
42. Religious pilgrimages were practiced by each.
43. Both acknowledge and teach one supreme God. Inferior
deities, or angels, are believed in by each. God’s omniscience,
omnipotence, and omnipresence are taught in both Bibles.
44. God is represented to be invisible by each. And “God
is a spirit,” and infinitely wise and good, is taught in each.
45. To love God supremely is recommended by each.
46. Both taught that God was a God of power, and assisted
them in their battles.
47. Both taught that a knowledge of God is essential.
48. Silent meditation upon the Lord is recommended by
each.
49. God was to each a refuge in danger and trouble.
50. The government of each was a theocracy, God the
executive.
51. Both religions were constituted largely of external rites.
In each the priest was the expounder of the holy books and laws.
“Patriarchs” was one of the sacred orders of each system.
Holy “prophets” figure conspicuously in each system. Both
priests and people were in each case believed to be inspired.
40
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
52. And each had its witnesses to prove the truth and fulfill-
ment of its prophecies.
53. Both held their Holy Bibles as an inspired guide of right
and wrong.
54. One Bible was from Jehovah, and the other from Brahma.
55. Ezra was inspired to compile the Jewish Bible, and Vyas
the Brahmin.
56. Each religious order had a holy ark containing something
sacred.
57. A story of a deluge is found in the Bible of each.
58. The corruption or wickedness of societ}r caused the flood
in each case.
59. The Brahmins had their patriarch Satyavrata, answering
to Noah.
$ 60. Each was forewarned of the flood.
0 61. Eight persons were saved in each case.
62. In each story a large vessel is prepared. Animals were
saved by pairs in each case. A rainbow is spoken of in each
flood story.
63. For Shem, Ham, and Japhet, the Hindoos have a Sherma,
Charma, and Jyapheta.
64. Charma was condemned to be u a servant of servants,”
» like Ham.
65. Human life was in each traditionally spun out to nearly
a thousand years.
66. One day a thousand years with God, in each system.
% 67. Both have stories of persons ascending to heaven.
68. Budha was cast into the fiery furnace like the three holy
children.
69. Musavod was a giant in strength like Samson.
70. Rhambha was changed to a pillar of stone, like Lot’s
wife to salt.
71. Mahendra was carried through the air like Ilabakkuk.
72. A story of Budha answers to that of Daniel in the lions’
den.
73. Idolatry is discouraged, but occasionally practiced by each.
74. Witchcraft was believed in by each.
75. Here are presented sixty-eight striking analogies.
TWENTY-SEVEN BIBLES DESCRIBED.
41
VII. Antiquity of India.
Having presented a long list of analogies between the Hindoo
and Jewish religions, we will proceed to prove the prior exist-
ance of the Hindoo system, and leave the reader to deduce his
own inferences. “In times coeval with the earliest authentic
records,” says a writer, “the Hindoos calculated eclipses, and
were venerated for their attainments in some of the arts and
sciences.” According to the learned astronomer Baily, their
calculations in astronomy extended back to the remote period
of seventeen hundred years before Moses; and some of the
ancient monuments and inscriptions of India bespeak for its
religion a very remote antiquity. Some of our modern learned
antiquarians have expressed the opinion that the Sanscrit lan-
guage of the Brahmins is the oldest language that can be traced
in the history of the human race. They also state that this lan-
guage was extant before the Jews were known as a nation; and
neither it nor their religion has ever been known to change.
These facts are sufficient to establish the existence of the Brah-
min and Budhist systems of religion long prior to the earliest
records of the Jewish nation.
Note. —Here we desire to call the attention of the reader to the very \
remarkable statement of Col. Dow in his “History of India.’’ He tells
us that “the Hindoos give a very particular account of the origin of the
Jewish religion ” (pref. v.). They say that a pious Hindoo by the name
of Rajah Tura apostatized from the faith, for which he was banished to
the West, where he established a system of religion, which became after-
wards known as the Jewish religion. Tura only needs a change of one
letter to make Tera, the father of Abraham. Let the reader make a note
of this.
42
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
CHAPTER VI.
THE EGYPTIAN BIBLE.
The “Hermas.”
The sacred books, the u Hernias,” or “Books of Hernias,”
were believed by the Eg}q>tians to have been dictated b}T the
God Isis, and inspired by him. In their collected capachy
they constituted the Egyptian Bible, and were believed to con-
tain “the sum total of human and divine wisdom.” Their
great age is undisputed. They treat of the creation of the
world, the attributes of God, and the theogony of the inferior
deities, which answer to angels in the Christian system, as
the}r hold the same office, and are apparently the same kind of
beings. The “ Hermas,” like all other Bibles, recognize but
one supreme God, whom it declares to be just, holy, morally
perfect, invisible, and indivisible, and whom it recommends to
be worshiped in silence. This “Holy Book” contains some
lofty and soul-inspiring moral sentiments and useful precepts.
Analogy of the Egyptian and Jewish Religions.
Modern archaeological researches in Egypt have disclosed a
very striking resemblance between the ancient Egyptian religion
and that found in the Jewish Old Testament, which, with the
evidence of the greater antiquit}7 of the former, has fastened the
conviction upon the mind of every impartial reader of liistoiy,
that the Jewish religion was constructed from materials obtained
in Egypt and India; and this conclusion is corroborated by
the Bible itself, which tells us Moses was skilled in all the
wisdom and learning of Egjqit, and was by birth an Egyptian.
When we compare the doctrines, precepts, laws, and customs of
the two religions, wo find but little difference between them.
THE EGYPTIAN BIBLE.
43
Even to the ten commandments there is a striking resemblance.
The account of the creation and the order of its development
is essentially the same in both. 1. The Egyptians had a
leader filling the place of Moses by the name of Hermes ; and
his writings were held in similar estimation, as they were be-
lieved to be inspired and dictated by Infinite Wisdom. 2. The
Egyptians had a priesthood of wealth and power, and possess-
ing the same sacerdotal caste as those of the Jews. 3. And
the priesthood, Mr. Pritchard tells us (Debate 116), was heredi-
tary, and confined to a certain tribe, as was that of the Jews.
According to Diodorus Siculus, and also Mr. Wilkinson, nearly
all their ceremonies were essentially the same. 4. And their
religious temples were constructed upon the same model, with an
outer court and an inner court,—a, sanctum sanctorum. 5. The
Egyptians had numerous prophets like the Jews. And Herod-
otus says, u The art of predicting future events came from the
Egyptians.” 6. The Egyptians had an ark, or shrine, which
served as an oracle, and was carried about on a pole by a pro-
cession of priests, as the ark of the covenant of the Jews was
by the Levites. The Bev. John Kendrick, in his 6 ‘ Ancient
Egypt,” acknowledged that he believed u the ark of the cov-
enant of the Hebrews was constructed on the model of the
Egyptian shrine.” 7. Kitto, in his “ Cyclopedia,” says the
Egyptian sphinxes explain what is meant by the cherubims of
the Jews. 8. In their selection of animals for sacrifices, we find
the same rules were adopted. Each were controlled by.the singu-
lar fancy of choosing a red heifer. 9. Each had their scape-
animals to carry away their sins, —the Egyptians an ox, and the
Jews a goat. 10. Both practiced circumcision. And we have
the authority of Herodotus for saying the Jews and Phoenicians
borrowed the custom of the Egyptians. 11. Both Jews and
Egyptians took off their shoes when approaching a holy place,
which, with the Egyptians, was in the temple. 12. Both believed
in one supreme, over-ruling God, and many subordinates, known
either as angels or deities, which, in their character and their
offices, were essentially the same. And a hundred other analo-
gies might be pointed out, which indicate the Oriental origin of
Judaism.
r
4 4
TIIE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
Antiquity of Egypt.
As a full comparison will show that the religion of ancient
Egypt and that of the Jews were essentially alike, not only in
their general features but in their most minute details, with
respect to most of their doctrines, precepts, and customs, the
question arises, How came this resemblance? It is out of the
question to consider it merely fortuitous : that one grew out of
the other, or both were derived from a common source, we are
compelled to admit. To determine which was the parent sys-
tem we have only to ascertain which possesses the greater an-
ti quity. This question is very easily settled. A large volume
of facts is at our command which tend to prove that the Eg}qp-
tians were in a high state of civilization before the Jews were
known to history. The Bible itself partially recognizes this *
fact hy its frequent allusion to Egypt as a wise and powerful
nation, able at all times to exercise superior swa}T over the Jews,
and whose wise men, or magicians, could compete with not only
the Jews, but their God, in the performance of miracles ; that
is, with the Jews and their God to help them, in achieving the
most astounding feats. They could make any thing that Jeho-
vah could, with the exception of lice. The remote antiquity of
Egypt can be proved by a few facts. The Egyptians have a
carefully preserved list of sixty-one kings, who ruled the empire
between Mcnes and Amasis, with names and ages given, whose
aggregate reign comprises a period of more than seven thousand
years. Herodotus says they computed with great care and accu-
racy. Manetho tells us Mcnes reigned seven thousand seven
hundred years ago, which places him more than seventeen
hundred years before Adam. Engravings on monuments,
and writings on papjTus, confirm the statement of Manetho.
^Ynd then hieroglyphics on the pyramids of Egypt, with names,
dates, and figures which have recently been deciphered, enable
us to trace the antiquity of Egypt back eight thousand years,
when^she is shown to have been in a high state of civilization.*)
Another fact: Layard and Rawlinson, who recently visited Egjqpt
as commissioners or agents of the British Government, state that
fragments of pottery have been recently found by digging in the
Valley of the Nile, which, by counting the successive layers, or
THE EGYPTIAN BIBLE.
45
deposits, made b the annual overflowing of the river, are shown
to be not less than eleven thousand years old. Such facts
amount to demonstration, and can not be set aside. And Mr.
Wilkinson, in his u Manners and Customs of Ancient Egypt,”
adduces another kind of evidence to show the impossibility of
Egypt having obtained her religion from the Jews. £He says,
u The first glimpse we obtain of Egypt shows us a nation far
advanced in the arts and customs and institutions of civilized
life.” (^And this was six or seven thousand years ago; while
the most conclusive evidence can be adduced to show that no
essential change has been made in her religion since the inscrip-
tions were made on the monuments, some of which bear evi-
dence of being eight thousand or nine thousand years old^ If
there has been no essential change in her religion for eight thou-
sand or nine thousand years, it is prima facie evidence that she
did not borrow any of her religious tenets of the Jews. Such
facts settle the question more conclusively than the most elabo-
rate argument could do, '
46
THE BIBLE OF BIBLES.
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