ed
to say there was a time when slavery was right, when polygamy was the
highest form of virtue, when wars of extermination were waged with the
sword of mercy, and when the creator of the whole world commanded the
soldier to sheathe the dagger of murder in the dimpled breast of
infancy. The believer of inspiration of the bible is compelled to say
there was a time when it was right for a husband to murder his wife
because they differed upon subjects of religion. I deny that such a
time ever was. If I knew the real God said it, I would still deny it.

Four thousand years ago, if the bible is true, God was in favor of
slavery, polygamy, wars of extermination and religious persecution.
Now we are told the devil is in favor of all those things, and God is
opposed to them; in other words, the devil stands now where God stood
4,000 years ago; yet they tell me God is just as good now as he was
then, and the devil just as bad now as God was then. Other nations
believed in slavery, polygamy, and war and persecution without ever
having received one ray of light from heaven. That shows that a
special revelation is not necessary to teach a man to do wrong. Other
nations did no worse without the bible than the Jews did with it.

Suppose the devil had inspired a book. In what respect would he have
differed from God on the subject of slavery, polygamy, wars of
extermination, and religious persecution? Suppose we knew that after
God had finished his book the devil had gotten possession of it, and
written a few passages to suit himself. Which passages, O Christian,
would you pick out now as having probably been written by the devil?
Which of these two, "Love thy neighbor as thyself," or "Kill all the
males among the little ones, and kill every man, but all the women and
girls keep alive for yourselves"--which of those two passages would
they select as having been written by the devil?

If God wrote the last, there is no need of a devil. Is there a
Christian in the wide world who does not wish that God, from the
thunder and lightning of Sinai, had said: "You shall not enslave your
fellow-man!" I am opposed to any man who is in favor of slavery. If
revolution is needed at all it is to prevent man enslaving his
fellow-man.

But they say God did the best He could; that the Jews were so bad that
He had to come up kind of slow. If He had told them suddenly they must
not murder and steal, they would not have paid any respect to