3
T H E TORCH OF REASON, S IL V E R T O N , OREGON, JU N E 1, 1899.
he got through with it th e label
bad three ugly m ark s on it. T he
an strutted off down the aisle
like a game cock who had v a n
quished his adversary. I could
have made the m arks myself, h u t
Uncle Samuel w ouldn’t have paid
me for doing it like he does th e
other man. This ended my exper
ience with the custom s officials and
I consider th at I got off lucky. It
was near dark when we crossed the
high bridge over the N iagara river,
but I got a good view of the rapids,
•255 feet below. I could not see the
falls, but will stop on my retu rn
and take in the sight, which I will
try to describe to th e readers of th e
Torch.
East Orange, N. J.
For the Torch of Reason.
Only a Dream.
RY CHARLES K ENT TE N N EY .
Jesus, who is called C hrist,” an d surdity of the story it is quite evi
Luke, 3:23, tells us th a t “ Jesu3, dent th a t it was but a dream , and
the supposed son of Joseph, the th at is all th a t is claim ed for it;
son of H eli,” etc.), ever had any and from the ch aracter of the
such a dream , he certainly would dream it is more th an probable
th a t Joseph had been eating mince
be the only person knowing the
pie before retiring. In all serious
fact, and his statem ents would, if ness, however, an in stitu tio n of the
he were known to be a perfectly m agnitude and power of the C hris
tru th fu l person, be proper evidence tian church for good or evil in the
th a t he had had such a dream ; but world should have som ething more
su b stan tial for its foundation th an
on the co n trary , he never, a t any
the mere unsupported statem ent of
tim e, made an y such claim . M at one m an, th a t it was rum ored th at
thew says he did so dream , but his an o th er m an a t a previous time
statem ent was m ade long after the had had a dream th at a child was
alleged occurrence, was based at to be born w ithout a physical
father.
best on rum or, and how could he,
The fact w ould seem to be th a t
or any one else, say th a t on a p a r the originators of C h ristian ity ,
ticu lar occasion a certain person having adopted the Old T estam ent
had a dream on any p a rtic u la r with the story of A dam ’s fall, m ust,
subject? From the circum stances to bring it support, adopt some
method of salvation, and as a p a rt
of the case no one could know
of the scheme the m iraculous cont
w hether he had such a dream u n ception and saving powers of C hris-
less he related it, and no one claim s were invented, or ra th e r borrowed
th a t he ever did. M atthew ’s sta te from older traditions. W ith this
m ent, therefore, is of som ething object in view, the New T estam ent,
a collection of m any w ritings, was
th a t he could not possibly have w ritten, and as m ost men were
known a n y th in g about with any wholly ignorant, the supposed ru
degree of certainty.
mored dream of Joseph very well
B ut suppose he did dream “ the answered the purpose; and from
angel of the Lord did appear unto th a t tim e un til the present the New
Testam ent account has been ac
him in a dream , saying, ‘Joseph, cepted by the faithful as absolute
thou son of D avid, fear not to take truth. As President Lincoln once
un to thee M ary th y wife, for th a t expressed it, when asked to w rite a
which is conceived in her is of the testim onial for a book, “ F or any
H oly G h o st’ ” ? I t was, after all, one who would like a book of thia
kind, this is ju st the kind of a book
but a dream , and dream s are not he would like.” To those who
realities. T hey are the product of base their faith on stories of this
an active im agination while the kind, we suppose this is ju st the
body has tem porarily suspended kind of stories they like; but for
operations; they are nothing su b us, we desire som ething more sub
sta n tia l or real. This dream did stan tial th an a rum ored dream of
not dem onstrate the tru th of th a t 1900 years ago upon which to baes
which was dream ed. From the ab our judgm ent.
“Then Joseph, h er husband, be
ing a good man and not w illing to
make her a public exam ple, was
about to put h er away p riv ily .”
Matt. 1:19.
‘•But when he th o u g h t on these
things, behold, the angel of th e
Lord appeared u nto him in a
dream, saying, ‘Joseph, thou son of
David, fear not to take unto thee
Mary th y wife, for th a t which is
conceived in her is of the H oly
Ghost.’ ” M att. 1:20.
“ For she shall bring forth a son,
and thou s h a ltc a ll his nam e Jesus,
for he shall save his people from
their sins.” M att. 1:21.
“ Then Joseph, being aroused
from his sleeping, did as the angel
of the Lord had bidden him , and
took M ary unto him , his wife.”
Matt. 1:21.
This is the stcry of the d iv in ity
of Christ, and upon it rests the
foundation of the C hristian church,
an organization which for m any
centuries ruled the destinies of the
people of the known world, both as
to the present and supposed future,
and whose effects are today felt by
nearly every living being.
As the foundation to support
such a structure as the C hristian
church should he based on absolute
truth and reason, it is well to a n a
lyze the verses quoted and see if
there is any su b stan tial foundation
for the faith in the divinity of
Christ, the bedrock of C h ristian ity .
In considering this subject, there
are two prim ary questions to be d e
termined: F irst, w hether Joseph
ever had any such a dream ; and
(second) if he did, is a dream suf
ficient upon which to base a faith
and rear thereon an organization
to rule and guide th e destinies of
the hum an race, now and here
after?
If Joseph (who is the only m an
in the world who ever had two
fathers, for M atthew , 1:16, tells us
th at “ Jacob begets Jo seph, the h u s
band of M ary, of whom was horn
RIGHT
LIVING
. . . IS A BOOK OF . . .
S ix ty
E x c e lle n t
C h a p te rs
*
On the following and
kindred Subjects:
S e lf C o n tro l
S e lf R esp ect
W h a t is M o ra lity
W h a t is Ignorance
Fraud a C rim e
H a b it, 2n d N a tu re
P oliteness
W isdom
E tc , e tc ., e tc .
One of these chapters is
Worth more to
Young and old than the
Price of the book.
...
IT SHOULD BE IN . .
EVERY . HOME!
b ou nd c o p y, p o s t p a id .
A G E N T S W AN TED .
--------A D D R E SS--------
ToiîGh of Reason
SHOULD HELP TO BUILD
The Liberal University
S ilverton
-
O regon
AT SILVERTON, OREOON.
Six Tracts to Promote
1. It will help many young men and young women
to a higher education who otherwise will grow up
without its great advantages.
2. It will educate workers for the great forward
march of Freethought and Progress.
3. It will forever silence the accusation that Secu
larists have never done anything.
4. It will hasten the time when Reason and Love
will reign, and when superstition and hate will be
forever gone.
5. It will give you an opportunity to build yourself
and others a monument, while you yet live, that will
do a million times more good than the most costly-
one of cold, senseless marble.
If all help a little, w e can accom plish
m uch. W ill you help a little?
Scenti ic
W isdom
V
In Place of Christianity:
1 Can Sms be Forgiven?
2 Does Christianity or Science Promote Civil-
3
4
5
|6
iligion or Science More Reliable?
ition and Comparison of Religions.
Belief in Miracles Benefit?
JU ST T H E T H IN G
to hand to your Christian friends. Send
2 cents for 6, or 6 cents for 25 tracts,
to E liza M owry B liven , Brook
lyn, Conn., or send 10 cents
for 50, either kind or as
sorted kinds, to
THE LIBERAL UNIVERSITY CO,,
Silverton
•
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