he hell hurled at my head from the pulpit, only excited my
indignation--it was so unjust--nor did the God of the Old Testament fill
me with aught save indignation and disgust. Lost in a quagmire of doubts
and perplexities, I inquired of my preceptors as to the authorship of
the book that held up for adoration a being so stern, relentless, and
unjust as God; and in answer to my inquiries was told that I was very
wicked to talk in such a way about the Bible; that it was God's own
book--divinely inspired--in fact, written by God Himself. Then I
inquired if the original manuscript in God's handwriting was still in
existence; and was told I was very wicked and must hold my tongue. Yet I
had no idea of being in any way irreverent or blasphemous; I was merely
perplexed, and longed to have my difficulties settled. Failing this,
they grew, and I began to question whether the terms "merciful" and
"almighty" were terms that could be applied with any degree of
consistency to the scriptural one and only Creator. Would that God, if
He were almighty, have permitted the existence of such an enemy (or
indeed an enemy at all) as the Devil? And if He were merciful, would He,
for the one disobedient act of one human being, have condemned to the
most ghastly and diabolical sufferings, millions of human beings, and
not only human beings, but animals? Ah! that's where the rub comes in,
for though there may be some sense, if not justice, in causing men and
women, who have sinned--to suffer, there is surely neither reason nor
justice in making animals, who have not sinned--to suffer.

And yet, for man's one act of disobedience, both man and beast have
suffered thousands of years of untold agonies. Could anyone save the
blindest and most fanatical of biblical bigots call the ordainer of such
a punishment merciful? How often have I asked myself who created the
laws and principles of Nature! They are certainly more suggestive of a
fiendish than a benevolent author. It is ridiculous to say man owes
disease to his own acts--such an argument--if argument at all--would
not deceive an infant. Are the insects, the trees, the fish responsible
for the diseases with which they are inflicted? No, Nature, or rather
the creator of Nature, is alone responsible. But, granted we have lived
before, there may be grounds for the suffering both of man and beast.
The story of the Fall may be but a contortion of something that has
happened to man in a former existence,