Metonic cycle--those who believed in the
indestructibility of matter, and that spirit proceeds from or is evolved
through it. It was an effort on their part to solve the problem of the
existence of evil, and was far more satisfactory to the reasoning
mind than was the literal translation of the story of the woman, the
forbidden apple, and the talking serpent in Genesis.

Original sin of which woman is said to be the cause, and the necessity
for a spiritual (male) savior to deliver man from the wretchedness which
she had produced, are doctrines which took their rise in the grossest
ignorance, and in an entire misconception of the natural truths which
had previously been set forth by the figure of a dying sun-god. Original
Sin and a Vicarious Atonement--doctrines by means of which man has
attempted to evade moral responsibility and the legitimate results of
evil-doing--have, by weakening his moral sense, and by shifting the
responsibility of his deeds upon another, resulted in greatly lowering
the standard of human conduct.

Science teaches that the penalty for sin is inherent in it, and that
virtue is its own reward; the so-called Christian doctrines assert that
although a man's sins be as scarlet, they may, simply through a certain
belief, become white as wool. It has been claimed that a belief in
original sin caused all the human sacrifices in ancient times and that
it "converted the Jews into a nation of cannibals."

That the system which has borne the name of Christianity is an outgrowth
of Sun, Serpent, and Phallic faiths is so plainly proven by the facts
brought out by later research as no longer to be a matter of reasonable
doubt to those who have given any considerable degree of attention to
this subject. The more exalted ideas which from the time of Zoroaster
to that of Jesus had been struggling for existence, and which through
various means had been gradually gaining a foothold, were, by the influx
of Crishnaism, soon choked out, and mythical Christianity, which was
but a gathering in of the grosser forms of the prevailing Hindoo faith,
mounted the throne of the Roman Empire.

During the nineteen hundred years that have elapsed since the
inauguration of this system, little has been understood concerning the
real philosophy of Christ--a philosophy which is seen to be simply a
recognition of those higher scientific truths enunciated by an ancient
race.

The fact is observed in these later times that the altr