Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (April 15, 1897)
T H E TORCH OF REASON, S IL V E R T O N , O R EG O N , TH U R SD A Y , A P R IL 15, 1897. The Licensed Preacher. BY “ OLD M ORTALITY.’ ’ Mv L ittle Ones— My poor old heart is very sad today, m ade so bv the late eastern papers which inform m e th a t never in the h is tory of the world has there been such a w ide-spread interest taken in religious m atters as now. One paper states th a t Moses is a m yth, an d th a t the story of Jo n a h is a wild-goose n arrativ e not wor th y of Baron M unchausen. A New Y ork divine tells his flock th a t the H oly Bible is a com pilation of dream s, m iracles, ghost, witch and v u lg ar stories quite unfit for a refined person to read. These th in g s m ake me sad, for w hat will the harvest be when all men and women become interested enough to stu d y religious history for the purpose of the inform ation they m ay derive from it. My lit tle ones, w arn your parents against such a step. D uring a series of serm ons in the P lym oth church a t B rooklyn, N. Y., Rev. L ym an Abbott som ew hat astonished the ign o rant and illiter ate of his congregation by affirm ing th a t some of the books of the Bible m ight properly be regarded as mere works of fiction. Rev. H en ry W ard Beecher, would you have died could you have know n th a t such words as these would have been u ttered in your dear old p u lp it in th is the declin ing years of th e 19th cen tu ry ? Should the few intelligent men th a t now’ occupy the pulpit of A m erica conclude to tell all they know about the Jew Bible, w hat would the harv est he a t the birth of the ‘2 0th century? Then, again, suppose all of our 20,000 editors of new spapers and m agazines should publish w hat they know’ about the Bible and the m illions of falsehoods th a t are hourly told by m any sky pilots in order to keep it from being flung into the rubbish-pile along with th e thousands of o th er m yths and su p erstitions of a by-gone time. Should these editors tell the facts in the case, 1 reiterate, w hat would the h arv est be? Echo answers: W hy every one of you would have to vacate yo u r pulpits and earn your bread and salt by the labor of your now* over-soft hands. And your Joss houses, churches and tem ples would soon be transform ed into tem ples of learn ing and sci ence; th a t’s w hat the harvest would be. To cast us 113,000 sky pilots out into th is practical and every-day world W’ould be a most h u m iliatin g tra n sa c tio n — a fate th a t few of us could endure, owing to the fact th a t our business h as been not of this earlh. It is to be hoped th a t coun try editors can be boycotted into silence for a few’ m ore years, or un- til we sh all have learned how to saw wood. W ealthy city editors are independent and outspoken— they cannot be frightened into s i lence. The poor crossroad editor would starve stone dead if it were not for a soup bone given him now and then by some ch aritab le person—to keep these well in h an d is now’ the duty of the “cloth.” But w hat will the harvest be when these men grow strong and in d e pendent enough to tell of the m ill ions of lives th a t have been sacri ficed, and the rivers of blood th at have run down and reddened the sea, in order to sustain our now- tottering cause? Even prayer is being assailed by some of these independent city pa pers. They say prayer is of pagan origin and th a t there has never been a prayer answ ered, and per haps there never will be. Some city m inisters have even now’ be come quite asham ed of th is re ligious exercise and do not offer up prayers in th eir pulpits. How a s tonishing! W hat will the harvest be if these things continue? O thers have been telling you th a t God m ade th is ea rth 6000 years ago in six days of tw enty-four hours each, and on the seventh d ay ’ feel ing som ewhat fatigued (it m ust have been h a rd work for him to build this world in so short a tim e and do the job out of nothing) he sat down and took a rest. Yes, they have been tellin g you of these w onderful perform ances and you have paid them well for so doing; but now’ along comes an honest geologist who has dug down to the ancient and beautiful city of N ipur th a t was builded more than 9000 years ago. My dear congregation, I am sorry for you and your children th a t you have been forced to accept as facts the m any false teachings of my brother sky pilots, for in fact this earth was not created 6000 years ago in the space of six days, but has taken m illion upon m illion of years in its slow form ation. To tell you the unvarnished tru th is som ething I delight in, for should I do otherw ise you would not come nigh this tabernacle, though you love to he hoodw inked, hum bugged, hoodooed, bamboozzled, buncoed, brow-beaten, frightened and lied out of your cash, and there are those who intend to go on, and on, lying to you old m en, women and children, ju s t so long as they can keep the school teacher and the in telligent and independent editor aw ay from you and you have a copper left in your purse to pay for the innocent little fairy tales, snake, whale, l>ear and witch stories and other trash th a t is kept constantly in stock, an d ever on ta p for your special endarkenm ent. But brothers there is a tim e has tening h itherw ard when they can not pull the wool over your eyes, nor will they lie able to draw the Continued on e ig h th page. Liberal Books < X K K > ^ < X > 0 < > < h ?C h X X X X > < X X K - > C > < X X X K X > < X > < K X K > < X X > 0 < > 0 \> W X X X )< X > < K M X )J < K > < > < X > < X > < K > O < > < K X > < K X > FOR SALE A t tlie “ T o rc h of R e a so n O ffic e T H E EVOLU TION OF T H E D E V IL By H enry F ran k , th e in d ep en d en t preach er of New York C ity . The m ost learned, accu rate, scientific and philosophical an aly sis of bis Sa tan ic m ajesty ev er lief ore p u b lis h e d ; 66 p a g e s........................ ...... 25c PR A Y E R Its uselessness and unscientific a ssu m p tio n . Some one h u n d re d a u th o rities quoted to show th a t p ray e r can n o t, in the n a tu re of th in g s, lie answ ered. By H en ry M. T a b e r .................................................................. 10c IN PLA C E OF C H R IS T IA N IT Y An answ er to th e co n stan tly repeated qu estio n s which C h ristia n s ask : “ W hat are you going to give us in place of th e religion of C h risti a n ity ? ” By H en ry M. T a b e r............................................................................. 10c T H E E A R T H NOT C R E A T E D E xposes th e fallacy of p o p u lar cosm ic th eo ries; 39 p a g es...................... 15c JO H N TY N D A LL M EM ORIAL W ith frontispiece of Professor T yndall and articles by H olyoake, M ills, W atts, Underw ood, W akem an, H uxley am i o th e r s ...................... 15c C H A R LES DARW IN H is life and w hat th e world owes to h im . W ith p o rtra it and illu s tra tions. By B. O. Fow ler am i T. B. W akem an ............................................ 15c L IB E R A L IZ E D C H R IS T IA N IT Y A collection of evidence, m ostly ad m issio n s of the clergy, th a t th ere is a g reat change taking place in ch u rch d o ctrin es. By H e n ry M. T a b e r. 10c GOD IN T H E C O N STITU TIO N In g erso ll’s best arg u m en t in behalf of th e e n tire sep aratio n of ch u rch am i sta te . By K. G. In g e rso ll........................................................................... 10c C H U R C H AND STA TE The Bible in th e public schools and th e new A m erican p a rty . By “ Jefferson” ...................................................... ..................................................... 15c COSMOLOGY AGAINST TH EO LO G Y By “ V in d e x ” ........................................................................................................... 10c T H E R E L IG IO N OF H U M A N IT Y By J . Leon B en w ell............................................................................................... 15c R E L IG IO N AND SC IEN C E “ R econciliation” refuted. By “ C o rv in u s” ................................................... 25c D W IG H T L. MOODY An interview . By Susan H . W i x o n ............................................................... 5e SEC U LA R SUNDAY SCHOOL Q U A R T E R L Y A neat little book on science and m o rality w ith lessons for 13 weeks, for p rim ary , in term ed iate and a d u lt classes. By J . E . an d M. P . H os m er .............................................................................................................................. 10c W O R LD ’S PA R LIA M EN T OF R E L IG IO N A laughable burlesque rep o rt of th e noted p arliam en t. D. K. T e n n e y .. 10c W H A T W OULD FOLLOW ON T H E E F FA C E M E N T OF C H R IS T IA N IT Y T his is a sp len d id m issionary book and an eye-opener for orthodox people. By George Jaco b H o ly o a k e .............................................................. 10c T H E MYTH OF T H E G R E A T D ELU G E A com plete and overw helm ing refu tatio n of th e Bible stories. By Ja m es M. M cCann ................................................................................................. 15c B IB L IC A L M YTHS Shows plainly th e u n reaso n ab len ess and a b su rd ity of m ost of th e Bible sto ries. Bv Professor Daniel T. A m es................................................. 10c L IF E AND C A R E E R GF C H A R L E S B RA D LA U G H By George Jaco b H o ly o ak e........ : ........................................................................ 15c PRO G R ESS OF EV O LU TIO N A R Y TH O U G H T A ddress before th e C ongress of E v o lu tio n ists held in Chicago, Sep- tem b er, 1K93. By B. F. U n d e rw o o d ............................................................... 6c JE H O V A H IN T E R V IE W E D Or O rthodoxy from H ead q u a rte rs. Good for dyspeptics w h o d e sire to laugh and grow h e a l t h y ....................................................................................... 6c W H A T C O N STITU TES A F R E E T H IN K E R By H . L. G reen . .*................................................................................................. 4c STA N D IN G UP FOR JE S U S O r w hat th e ed ito r of the F re eth o u g h t M agazine th in k s of J e s u s .......... 6c BRUNO M ONUM ENT IN ROME For fram ing. A beautiful o rn a m e n t for a F re e th in k e r’s hom e in place of su p e rstitio u s o rn a m e n ts ..................................................................... 12c B IB L E AND CHURCH D EG R A D E WOMAN A m ost conclusive refu tatio n of th e claim th a t wom an owes h e r a d v ancem ent to the Bible or th e c h u rc h . By E lizab eth Cady S ta n to n .. 10c W H Y AN E X PU R G A T E D B IB L E T he w rite r, a m in iste r of th e gospel, here endeavors to prove th a t the Bible teaches w hat is false, w h at is im m oral, am i w h at is obscene. By Rev. E . IL K e en s............................................................................................. WWW* ------------ ■ Any of the Above Books Sent Post-paid on Receipt of Price. 9c