Experimental investigation of the spirit manifestations, [electronic ...

ON THE MORALS OF CHRISTIANS. 207the book of Moses failed in those particulars, which are of paramount iuiportancc.1091. Ill the Bible, God is represented as susceptible oi Jcalouai/j ofwrath, of authorizing the butchery of three thousand Israelites for worshippinga goldeu calf; sanctioning the massacre of the whole nation of theMidianitcs, with the reservation of the virgins for violation by the bloodymurderers of their kindred ; the outrageous deception and fraud on thepart of Jacob ;swindling the Egyptians by borrowing their ornaments withintention of purloining them ] hardening the heart of Pharaoh, yet afflictinghis subjects for the obduracy thus produced ; instructing Saul tosurprise and massacre the Amalekites, even to each "sucklinr/ hale, for awrong done by their ancestors some hundred years before, as authorizingthe hewing down with a sword the regal prisoner Agag in coldblood, and sanctioning "^^ the destruction of whole pagan communities byDavid.f••I quote here the language of Samuel, the wicked pope of Judea, to Saul, respectingthe destruction of the tribe of Amalck ": Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember thatnhich Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up fromEg3-pt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare themnot j but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the peoplewith the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of thesheep, and of the oxen, and of the failing?, and the lambs, and all that was good, andwould not utterly destroy them :but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyedutterly."One would think here was butchery enough to satisfy a devil, but it does not satisfy theGod of the Bible. Saul is deposed for giving quarter to Agag, and not carrying his revengeso far as to destroy the flocks and herds as well as the captive king, of whom thebloodthirsty, blasphemous pontiff becomes himself the cold-blooded executioner, hewingAgag to death he/ore the Lord.they worship.Dr. Berg alleges that men are assimilated to the god whomAVhat ought then to be the effect of worshipping the God thus described inthe Bible ?How does this comport with thearc to return good for evil ?extravagant precepts of Christ, agreeably to Avhich weThere cannot in the history of any pagan country be found an instance more glaring, ofthe unjustifiable perpetuation of revenge, than this putting a whole people to the swordfor a wrong done by their ancestors some hundred years before.If examples draw us, while precepts do no more than lead, according to the proverb,what influence are such examples of the morality of the Bible likely to produce in thosewho arc taught to view it as the word of God?From the pernicious influence of such religious errors may the nohle sjiirits of our jyi'ogenitorsrelieve us and our offspring !j- Shakspeare's king, in the tragedy of Hamlet, is made to express this correct sentimentin the midst of his villainy: "Pray I cannot, be my inclination sharp as 'twill." Why ?because he still retained the objects for which he sinned.But though David had exposedUriah to be killed to obtain his wife, he retained her in despite of his professed penitence.Yet of this man Jehovah is represented as saying, "I took thee from the sheepcote,from following sheep, that thou shouldst be ruler over my people Israel, and I have beenwith thee wheresoever thou hast walked, and have cut ofl" all thine enemies from beforethee, and have made thee a name of the great men that are in earth."Thus God is represented as the constant companion, and, of course, accomplice of his