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

416 RELIGIOUS ERRORS OF MR. MAIIAN.mundane guardian spirit; will bold up this, to my mind, barbarous andpreposterous Pentateuch as the word of God, I am obliged to meet themupon the ground thus stated ; but there are other highly respectable clergymen,who concur in questioning that the Pentateuch existed until afterthe return of the Jews from their captivity; and there is evidence, agreeablyto the quotations I have made, that this alleged work of divine inspiration,or icord of God, as stated in the Second Book of Chronicles, and 22dchapter of the Second l^ook of Kings, has no better foundation than theword of the priest Hilkiah and his accomplices.2026. The Rev. Mr. Norton, in a laborious investigation, shows that,according to internal evidence, almost all the important facts stated inGenesis and Exodus are inconsistent with each other or the circumstancesunder which they are alleged to have happened.2027. Mr. Mahan conceives that the willingness of the believers in thegospel to sacrifice their lives in testimony of the sincerity of their convictionproves the truth of revelation. "Wherefore, then, does not theirexposure to the slaughtering sword of the partisans of Moses prove thesincerity of the Israelites in their worship of their idol ? No wise knavewould do any thing so absurd. History shows that many of those whohave been most willing to make sacrifices for their belief have been greatfanatics. Their willingness to suffer only proves the intensity of their belief,not the truth of the miracles which they believe.2028. Having first assumed, contrary to the fact, that the mission ofChrist was generally accredited in the contemporaneous pagan communities,Mr. Mahan claims this to be evidence of the facts stated by the evangelists.2029. But if the belief in a mission by contemporaries is evidence in itsfiivour, is not the disbelief of contemporaries evidence on the other side ?Is not the flict that Moses could only expel idolatry from the Hebrews bythe sword, a proof that he was unable to convince them by any adequateevidence of his claims to inspiration ?2030. This surmise, respecting the inadequacy of the facts and reasoningwhich Moses had to advance in favour of his pretensions as a missionaryof Jehovah, appears to be fully justified in the history given byJosephus. From the following language, which this distinguished Jewishhistorian alleges to have been held by one of the Israelites, it is evidentthat Moses was then viewed as no better than Mohammed or any of theusurping popes of Christendom. "While Protestants sanction such religiousdespots as Moses and Samuel, they ought not to complain of the papaldespots of Christendom, (note to 1091.)