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

270 INFLUENCE OP SCRIPTUREof all his posterity, are considered by orthodoxy as having fallen,doomed to eternal punishment, unlessas beingby being morally regenerated, principallyby a blind belief in the allegation of certain priests, who do notae:ree auion^ themselves as to what we arc to believe.1382. But what had souls unborn to do with the acts of Adam andEve? Is it conceivable that the soul of the child is begotten by thesouls of its parents, or to be inferred that it is a spiritual being, created byGod for the body, which the progenitors beget in their corporeal capacity ?(See Seneca's opinion, 1230.)How could a dumb snake, belonging to theclass of reptiles, very low comparatively in intellectual capacity, acquirepower of speech and reason without a special miracle on the part of God,either directly or indirectly through Satan, acting with the cognizance of hisdivine master. This reptile, previously created without feet, because ihcdevil merely assumed his form, is doomed as a 'piinishment to crawl onhis belly, in the only way in which he could move consistently with hisorganization, independently of the sentence ! ! ! Would it be any greaterpunishment to cause snakes to creep on their bellies than quadrupeds togo on their feet?Since none of the genera of serpents are endowed withreason or speech, how could they be responsible for the acts of an animalwhich, being endowed with those attributes, would not belong to theirorder ? It must have been a peculiar reptile, in the form of a snake,created for the special purpose of tempting Eve. If, with Milton, it beassumed that it was Satan, in the form of a serpent, who tempted her ?how could serpents be responsible for the crime ?World least moral when the Christian cJiurch liad most sway.— Honourand mercantile credit more trusted than religion.— Virtue due more tothe heart than to sectarianism.— Bigotry acts like an evil spirit.1383. It will be perceived, that when the church had the world mostcompletely under its sway, there was the least morality; but as the artsand sciences grew up, in despite of religious intolerance, morality improved.Thus a system has been established, which while violating, more especiallythe most emphatic monitions of Christ, tends to enforce those rules of conductwhich are necessary to the welfare of society. But an auxiliaryprinciple—honour—has come into operation, which often restrains thosewho are not influenced by religion, nor by pure morality. Honour, likethe fear of hell, may make a man act more nobly, or more honestly, withoutimproving his religious principles or his heart. Hence the saying,^^ Honour among thieves," and likewise among unprincipled gamblers.1384. Mercantile honour, under the name of mercantile credit, is anotherimportant substitute for real heartfelt integrity. The ill consequencesof a loss of worldly consideration, or of those advantages whichresult from the ability toborrow, or to postpone payment with consent ofthe creditor, is a motive for punctual payment, when a debt equally due.