to some extent at least, made himself
familiar with the sacred books of other people. Dr. Briggs knows
that no human being knows who wrote a line of the Old Testament.
He knows as well as he can know anything, for instance, that Moses
never wrote one word of the books attributed to him. He knows that
the book of Genesis was made by putting two or three stories
together. He also knows that it is not the oldest story, but was
borrowed. He knows that in this book of Genesis there is not one
word adapted to make a human being better, or to shed the slightest
light on human conduct. He knows, if he knows anything, that the
Mosaic Code, so-called, was, and is, exceedingly barbarous and not
adapted to do justice between man and man, or between nation and
nation. He knows that the Jewish people pursued a course adapted
to destroy themselves; that they refused to make friends with their
neighbors; that they had not the slightest idea of the rights of
other people; that they really supposed that the earth was theirs,
and that their God was the greatest God in the heavens. He also
knows that there are many thousands of mistakes in the Old Testament
as translated. He knows that the book of Isaiah is made up of
several books. He knows the same thing in regard to the New
Testament. He also knows that there were many other books that
were once considered sacred that have been thrown away, and that
nobody knows who wrote a solitary line of the New Testament.

Besides all this, Dr. Briggs knows that the Old and New Testaments
are filled with interpolations, and he knows that the passages of
Scripture which have been taken as the foundation stones for creeds,
were written hundreds of years after the death of Christ. He knows
well enough that Christ never said: "I came not to bring peace,
but a sword." He knows that the same being never said: "Thou art
Peter, and on this rock will I build my church." He knows, too,
that Christ never said: "Whosoever believes shall be saved, and
whosoever believes not shall be damned." He knows that these were
interpolations. He knows that the sin against the Holy Ghost is
another interpolation. He knows, if he knows anything, that the
gospel according to John was written long after the rest, and that
nearly all of the poison and superstition of orthodoxy is in that
book. He knows also, if he knows anything, that St. Paul never
read one of the four gospels.

Knowing all these things,