THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON. THURSDAY, JANUARY
Jeh ovah ’s Prom ise to Israel.
I I give this lan d .” (C an aan ) Three
years elapse.
Gen 13:14 16 “ Lift
[Them who by faith and patience in
up now’ thine eves and look from
h e rit th e prom ises. H eh. VI-12]
For the T orch of R eason :— In the place w here thou a rt, northw ard
th is age of reason, to blindly accept an d southw ard and eastw ard and
any person’s assertions w ithout due westward for all the land which thou
investigation is to court confusion seest to thee, will I give it, and to
and retard if not pervert the cause thy seed for ever. And I will m ake
of tra tb . If the book called the thy seed as ¡he dust of the e s ’tbi.
H oly Bible be the word of the so th at if a m an can num ber the
divine creator ami perpetuator of dust of the earth , then shall thv •>
th is universe, it is the plain duty 1 seed also he num bered.-’ Four years
of all reasoning hum an beings to later 1913 B. C. Gen. 15-5 “ Look
now toward heaven and tell the stars
satisfy them selves of th at fact.
We have schools of learning if thou he able to num ber them , and
alm ost w ithout num ber,
which he said unto him , so shall thy
delve into the intricacies and m ys seed be.
Now’ to one brought up to believe
teries of G od’s works as expressed
to us in n ature, and men have in a personal God and a chosen
lived who devoted their lifes to people,there is nothing inconsistent
the reveal ami explanationtion in the story as told so far, but to a
world, of some of the hidden won reasonable believer, th e following
ders of n atu re; we say this is right. certainly seems queer: (verse 13)
E ducate the young, th a t the world “ Know of a surety th a t th y seed
m ay know more of the great book shall be a stranger in a land that
is not theirs and shall serve them ;
of nature.
W hy then, in reading the bible, and they shall afflict them four
when we see one in hum an a ttr i hundred years.” (verse 18) “ In the
bute ascribed to God, and honestly sam e day the Lord m ade a cove
doubt it, should we not candidly n a n t with A bram , saying, Unto
investigate this so-called word of th y seed have I given this land
from the river of Egypt unto the
God.
It is our reasonable du ty to great riv e r,th e river E u p rh a te s etc.
T hus far no conditions are re
prove all things, retain the true
aud reject the false. M any, no quire«! of Abram. It seems to be an
doubt will say, “ W hy should I in unconditional promise, repeated at
vestigate, when so m any good and intervals for eight years (1921-1913),
educated people, accept, believe but in 1898 B. ('., as recorded in
and teach the divinity of the bible?” Gen. 17:1-22 and twent v-thfee
Prue, this is an easy way in which y ears after the first promise, the
to dispose of this m atter, but is it a Lord makes circumcision the cove
reasonable or even a ju s t way? n an t “ between me and you, and
We all know it to be a deplorable thy seed after thee.” (verse 10)
The famous test of A biaharn’s
fact, th a t educated people are not
all learned. Among the m u lti faith as recorded in Gen. 22 where
tudes of college graduates, few in is stated th a t God com m ands
are fitted for original th in k A braham to “ take now thy son,
ing, and to fall in with estab th in e only son Isaac, whom thou Inv
lished custom s and the usages of est, and get thee into the land of
the age is generally the quickest Mori all, and offer him there for a
and best way to affluence and ease. burnt offering upon one of the
Especially is th is tru e of the m ountains which 1 will tell thee
A b rah am ’s willingness io
clergy; schooled in linguistic lore, of.”
they accept w ithout question, the he guilty of such an outrageous
established order of things, as tau g h t violation of all p aren tal affection
in their different schools of divinity brands him as unw orthy of the
and we have the ridiculous anom aly nam e of father. T h a t a righteous
of college-bred people, declaring a u an d upright m an should lie (verse
thority for tru th , instead of tru th 5) and deal treacherously w ith,bind
and m ake ready to butcher bis
for authority.
W ith these few introductory re only son, is just about at par with
m arks we now’ wish to inquire into the idea of a loving heavenly
the foundation of the religion of the father com m anding such a thing.
Jews, viz, Jeh o v a h ’s promises to To believe this part o f the bible to
be divine is asking too much of poor
Israel.
According to the accepted c h ro n frail hum anity, if this is the eter
ology of the bible, about 1921 B. C. nal, unchangeable God’s dealings
as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3 “ Now with m ankind, from such a God
.he Lord God had said unto A bram , may we all be delivered.
In the vear 1706 B. C. occurred
Get thee o u t out of thy country aud
from thv kindred, and from thy the em igration of the children of
From being
fath e r’s house, unto a land th a t I Israel to Egypt.
the
favored
guests of
will shew thee; and I will make of first
I
the
Egyptians,
they
in course
ih e e a great nation, aud I v» ill bless
thee, aud m ake thy nam e great, of time become slaves of th at peo
and thou sh alt be a blessing, and I ple; but in 1491 (E x. 13:4) they
will bless them th a t bless thee, and came forth out of bondage, leaving
curse him th a t curseth thee: and in but 215 years as the tim e of their
thee shall all families of the earth be residence in Egypt, yet Gen. 15:13
blessed.” (ver 7) “ Unto thv seed w ill, states that God said th at 400 years
7, 1897.
should th ey be afflicted by the
One more promise recorded in
strange people, etc.
“ holy w rit-’ we w ish to notice before
God also said the Isiaelitesshonld closing, see Gen’. 8:21, “ The Lord
he unnum bered for m ultitude, yet said ‘Neither will I again smite
according t o their liistorv, correct any more every thing living, as I
census of th e in h ab itan ts were a l have done.’ ” Yet later Zephaniah
ways procurable, even in the most records “ I will u tterly consume all
prosperous periods of Ju d aism , ami things from off the land saith the
! W'*< ci tie . i.o 11»-
.«i.J
o ’iuo’ o v n or r-vjc-. ♦rt-.’.v;
the river Egypt to the Euphrates. beast—the fowls of the heaven
The prom ise God m ade to the and the fishes of tin* sea— and I will
Jews he never fulfilled, and their ¡cut off m an from off the la n d .”
liistorv from the time they lied to, How intelligent people can believe
ami stole the borrowed articles of and teach the divinity of such stuff
the E gyptians (E x. 3:18-22 and is almost past comprehension, and
12:35-36) until the extinction of the how an intelligent people can justify
Jewish nation was one of rapine, the expenditure of m illions of dol
bloodshed and war.
lars an n u ally in order to propogate
We believe we have correctly ami this divinity idea is equally inex
completely quoted the scriptures plicable. There is less wonder at
concerning the promises to Is the growth of crim e am i suffering
rael, ami the records of history and hum an w ant, when we consider
make plain to us, how little of d i the vast am ount of money, time and
vinity there could possibly be in energy wasted upon the “ thus saith
T homas S mith .
connection with the foundation of the L ord” idea.
the Jew ish nation.
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