THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY,
JANUARY 14,
1897.
If A Man Die Shall He Live Again? go a few years’ purgation in a n i
C o n tin u e d F ro m
2 n d . P a g e.
varv. Nor does it ever encum ber
itself with what is wholly useless,
for any Known p u r p o s e . If heaven
and hell exist, it m ust he from
suprem e necessity. M ankind has
occupied the globe for a period so
vast th at the science of m a th e m a t
ics halts when it comes to com pu
tation by years. To accom m odate
the great*collection of souls accu
m ulated in th at vast period, th e
ology has invented two regions
wholly outside of an y th in g know n;
one is to hold the saints, the other
the sinners, but as only a beggarly
portion goes to heaven, hell gets
the balance, and S a ta n ’s subjects
far outnum ber the Lord’s. How
can an y sane person believe th at
nature, which does nothing nut
com prehensible by reason, wastes
energy by tak in g charge of such
useless realm s, for no other purpose
but to rew ard the saints anti to r
m ent the sinners?
But, it is said th a t doubt of
a futu re life is a dreadful, cheerless
doctrine. People
want t » be
lieve thev * are to live alw ays.
But
*
is the doctrine reailv more cheer
ful, th a t death is not endless rest,
th a t the sorrows and woes of life
are perchance to be repeated on
an other field, and th a t we are to
be tried for the frivolous acts and
fau lts of this life at some future
and u n certain period, so th a t no
one can know his u ltim ate destiny
u ntil the celestial court passes sen
tence? Is not faith in such a
cheerless prospect far more terrible
th a n bidief th at death is the end of
all th a t can h arass or vex us?
All history proves th a t the more
ig n o ran t the nation or person, the
more ce rtain ty prevails th a t souls
will live aft'T death. Ignorance is
not troubled by the doubts th at
afflict intelligence. The fetish of
ignorance corresponds with its
credulitv. The b a rb a ria n is far
more certain of what he does not
even pretend to know a n y th in g
about, th an the enlight med m inds
of in telligent investigators after a
long research. Ghosts and the like
are alw ays in stock for the ignor
an t. T hat men can convi rs<> with
sp irits is an article of prim e the
ological faith.’ It is bla<ph any to
inquire what proof exists th at a
soul or spirit survies tie* cassation
of hum an lif •.
Som ething ha<
t ni' rged from nothing, and the
negation of a th in g is evident* • of
its existence. It i- praved about,
preached about, talk <1 about a- an
assum ed fact, and v» t not an at in
<»f evid'mc • is off red t > bolster up
th<* a-sum ntion.
I'h* th ’ologv of the I’u Idhi-t,
a for n of b*li*f hebl by nearly
o <e th i I of th* hum m
race,
>ea- h *’ 'b a ’ D ' h fin d end of souls
is • xtincti *n, an I iln»t heaven is
at a n nent ot tbisem id tern. T h at
s m l' an* n > i n : >»■ al, l»i t U” ' tr-
A
mal forms to expiate errors com
m itted during life. But like all
theologies,the B uddhists assum e
the existence of spirits as much eas
ler th an to prove it. Of ail relig
ious system s, this is th e most p h il
osophical and in accordance with
reaso n ✓ .
It d e a ls hut little
: Dealers» hi General -Merc h a ad: ; < :
•■A.
w ith
the su p ern a tu ral, discards all m ir
acles, and tu rn s them over to the
juggler, the m ountebank and the
C hristian m issionary. W hile B ud
dhism
em bodies
m any errors
fastened on its pure doctrines by
priests, it must he pronounced th e
most scientific system th a t has a p
peared on the globe. It is a relig
ion w ithout m ysteries, and accepts
life and its condition as n atu re has
made them , without the addition
of annexes, like heaven or hell, or
the personality of devils and a n
gels, t * keep guard over these a l
leged abodes of departed spirits.
H . A . Tenney. In F reethought M ag
azine.
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•
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