y
often talk of the existence of God and the divinity of Christ as being
no less certain than their own existence.

Properly speaking, faith is trust. This involves a wide latitude beyond
our knowledge. If we trust a friend, we have faith in him, and we act
upon that sentiment. But we are sometimes deceived, and this shows that
our faith was in excess of our knowledge. Sometimes, indeed, it is
quite independent of knowledge. We trust people because we like them,
or because they like us. This infirmity is well known to sharpers and
adventurers, who invariably cultivate a pleasing manner, and generally
practise the arts of flattery. The same principle holds good in
religion. It was sagaciously remarked by Hume that we ought to suspect
every agreeable belief. The mass of mankind, however, are not so
fastidious or discriminating. On the contrary, they frequently believe a
thing because it _is_ pleasant, and for no other reason. How often have
we heard Christian advocates prove the immortality of the soul to the
complete satisfaction of their auditors by simply harping on man's
desire to live for ever! Nay, there have been many great "philosophers"
who have demonstrated the same doctrine by exactly the same means.

Religious faith, to borrow a definition from _Chambers's Dictionary_,
is usually "belief in the statement of another." There are a few mystics
who profess to hold personal intercourse with God, but the majority, of
mankind take their religion on trust. They believe it because they
were taught it, and those who taught them believed it for the very same
reason. When you trace back the revelation to its beginning, you always
find that it is derived from men who lived a long time ago, or who
perhaps never lived at all. Mohammed vouches for the Koran. Yes, but who
will vouch for Mohammed?

Thomas Paine well said that what is revelation to the man who receives
it, is only hearsay to the man who gets it at secondhand. If anyone
comes to you with a message from God, first button your pockets, and
then ask him for his credentials. You will find that he has none. He
can only tell you what someone else told him. If you meet the original
messenger, he can only cry "thus saith the Lord," and bid you believe or
be damned. To such a haughty prophet one might well reply, "My dear sir,
what you say may be true, but it is very strange. Return to the being
who sent you and ask him to give you better credentials. His word may
be p